Praise, Worship and Reflection in Scotland and England
I haven’t posted on my blog in a while because I decided to unplug myself from the computer. Initially, it was a tough decision to make. But in my quest to slow down and live in the present moment, I chose not to take my laptop with me on a choir tour to Scotland and England. I did, however, take my camera and a journal.
This was the final day of our trip, singing in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England.
Bill Stein, our wonderful Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood, Missouri, orchestrated this trip for our choir to sing at some of the most magnificent cathedrals in the world.
Here’s a small sample of our tour. It was wonderful to worship with others across the world and to experience the splendor of these exquisite structures that were built to the glory of God.
This is the Outside of St. Paul’s.
This is Winchester Cathedral (yes, the song was about this cathedral) – Winchester has the longest Nave (principal area of the church) in the United Kingdom.
The above picture is our practice and below is after our performance.
This is Old Souls on the campus of Oxford University. The sky had changed instantly from rain to sun and the light hitting the buildings only lasted for a few minutes.
Coventry Cathedral was the only cathedral that was damaged during World War II. The cathedral was almost completely destroyed during the Blitz. A modern cathedral was built connected to the remains of the old cathedral. After seeing the devastation, the minister of the church said a prayer, “Father Forgive.” These words are in the ruins as well as the new cathedral. Two cross beams had burned and fallen in the shape of a cross. The beams are on display in the new Coventry Cathedral with a replica outside where the beams were originally found.
Father Forgive
York Minster Cathedral
Singing at York Minister. Seeing the choir in this huge space will give you an idea of the size. The sound in these cathedrals was amazing. When we finished a powerful song the sound reverberated throughout the space for several seconds.
York Minster has the most glass of any cathedral. During World War II all of the glass was removed and hidden in the countryside to protect it.
This is just a piece of Durham Cathedral. It was impossible to get a view of the entire structure. There were no pictures allowed inside. The columns were 22 feet round. It was the first of the large cathedrals on our tour.
This is a view from the top of the tower.
St. Giles is in Edinburgh, Scotland and is the birthplace of the Presbyterian Church. This was our first stop and was very special.
Our director, Bill Stein, had the opportunity to play the pipe organ shown here. He is an incredible musician and the music filled the entire space.
Every cathedral had a place to reflect in prayer and to light a candle. I took an opportunity to light a candle and say a prayer in each space.
This trip was not only a gift in having a wonderful experience but it gave me the gift of how important it is to live in the present moment. It was the first trip that I have ever taken where I forgot what day or time it was. I wasn’t worried or thinking about anything else but being present in each moment.
It’s taken me a while to adjust to getting back into the routine of life. The reason, perhaps, is not wanting life to be routine. To be continued…..
Fairy Tales and Happily Ever After
Don’t you just love fairy tales and the promise of happily ever after?
Robert and I just saw the Disney movie, Tangled. It’s the story about Rapunzel, the princess who was taken from her parents as a baby and held captive in a tower until her eighteenth birthday. Along comes Flynn Rider, a dashing, handsome bandit on the run who finds the tower escaping from the guards that were chasing him. Rapunzel schemes to use Flynn to carry out her dream of leaving the tower for a day to visit the source of the lights that she sees every year on her birthday.
As with every Disney movie, good triumphs over evil, dreams are fulfilled and there is always a happy ending with the guarantee of life happily ever after.
Real life isn’t depicted after the closing credits. There is no sequel – Tangled 2 – tangled in bills, making ends meet, and finding energy to remain close long after the relationship begins. Of course, princesses may not have to worry about such concerns. The majority of us have many stressors in “real” live.
Like Rapunzel, we do our own escaping by being entertained for a few hours lost in dreams of fantasy free from worry.
But I got to thinking about happy endings and happily ever after and thought that as Christians, we know the end of our story. We have a happily ever after.
In Tough Economic Times Count Your Blessings Not Your Money
It’s been an interesting year as our household has gone from two incomes to zero. On one hand, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I didn’t say that there have been mornings of feeling panic and anxiousness. But on the other hand, those feelings didn’t last long especially when we count our blessings each day and how rich we are – the word rich doesn’t always translate to cash.
We have looked at this tough economic time in our lives as a blessing. Frankly, we were a little unconscious when it came to money. Never being big spenders or living beyond our means, we never focused on a strict budget either. Now our circumstances require that we watch every penny we spend. We have scaled back our spending dramatically. With every purchase we make we now are forced to make a choice. Continue reading
Who Can You Set Free Today by What You Say or What you Do?
Have you been set free or are you weighed down with the burdens of life?
There are some days, weeks, even months when living a life guided by God seems so easy. There is a flow that happens. Joy fills one’s heart. You wake up in the morning and feel a sense of gratitude for everything.
But then doubt and fear can set in. This has certainly been the case with trying to grow a business from the ground up. You’re putting your heart, soul and energy into it, but at the end of the day or week or month, there is no consistent revenue for the effort. It can seem overwhelming. It’s easy to want to give up and go find a “job” and work for someone else.
When we face challenges like this, it is particularly important to lean on your family. In this case, I mean our family of faith. Brothers and sisters in Christ.
That also means having a solid place of worship to attend to be lifted up in the presence of God with like-minded believers. If ever there was a time I needed church, it was last Sunday. I had hit a valley again.
The sermon was called, “The Power of the Spoken Word.” Continue reading
Maneuvering Through Life’s Troubled Waters
Robert and I embarked on a week-long adventure in the state of Arkansas. We rented a condo on a lake and plotted a week’s worth of hiking trails and other nature-based excursions.
One of our outings included taking a canoe trip down one of the many rivers located around the area where we stayed. Since we could both count the number of times that we had been canoeing, we told the park ranger that we wanted to go canoeing, but we needed to have a river that was not challenging with lots of rapids since we were pretty much novices.
He enthusiastically recommended a river where the cub scouts and boy scouts went floating. He assured us that the trip would be uneventful. Hah!
When you Hear the Word Repent – What Image Comes to Mind? Confession? The Image of a Crazy Person? – Here’s the True Meaning of Repent
You’ve seen the image in movies and on street corners – A disheveled person with wild, hair, holding a cardboard sign with the scribbled words in bold, black print – Repent! The End is Near! – Or Repent! The Kingdom of God is Near! Sometimes they’re shouting and sometimes they have a look of quiet madness.
When we see someone like this on the street, our reactions are varied; we snicker, ignore them, feel uncomfortable or just dismiss them as crazy and go about our business.
The most famous person for declaring this word, repent, was John the Baptist. In the third chapter of Matthew, Jesus is beginning his ministry. This is when we meet John the Baptist, a wild, crazy, preacher who eats locusts with wild honey as his meal of choice. He went around the Desert of Judea preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
The English translation of repent means to feel sorry for a past action and to feel such remorse for that action as to change your ways. Interpreting this raving lunatic preacher shouting, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” we hear the message as – “You better confess and change your ways before it’s too late!” But that’s not what he was saying at all. Continue reading
Modern Day Good Samaritan – A Random Act of Kindness
There always seems to be depressing headlines in the news, but I heard a story this week about some good news. It’s the story of a modern day Good Samaritan (the original, in case you wanted to look it up, is in the book of Luke 10:30-37). The story comes from my mother, and it was too good not to share.
Are You Tending to Weeds in Your Garden?
Robert and I were at dinner a few weeks back. We had the entire section of the restaurant to ourselves until an older gentleman came in and sat down at the table next to us. The waiter greeted his customer on a first-name basis and proceeded to take a beverage order from him. When he returned with the man’s drink, the waiter asked his customer if he had a computer and if he spent time on the Internet. The customer said, “Yes.” The waiter proceeded to tell him that over the weekend he had gone on the Internet to catch up on some things including looking at his FaceBook account. Before he knew it, two hours had flown by. The waiter said, “Isn’t it crazy how time seems to fly by in double time when you get on the computer?” He continued, “We’ve had so much rain that my garden was getting overgrown with weeds. I only had so much daylight to work with over the weekend and I really needed to get out and tend to the weeds or they would have taken over my garden! I had to stop wasting time on the computer!”
Robert and I both heard this exchange and we looked at each other. Without saying a word, we smiled because we had grasped the true meaning of the dialogue. The waiter brought our food and we ate our dinner without sharing our thoughts. The next day I told Robert that I needed to write about the conversation that we overheard at the restaurant. Robert immediately asked, “The one with the waiter and the weeds?”
This story was a great illustration of how we choose to spend our time and what is truly most important. If the waiter had spent all afternoon on his computer, the weeds would have continued to take over his garden. He knew that he only had so much time to tend to his weeds and he made the right choice to put an end to his time on the computer. Continue reading
God Bless Fathers On Earth and In Heaven
Father’s Day is coming, a time when Dad’s have their day. Father’s Day cards are filled with messages of, “Relax, You’ve Earned It!” and images of men sitting in front of the television with their feet propped up in a recliner and their trusty remote, beverage of choice and snacks at their side.
What does it really mean to be a father? I believe that being a father is one of the toughest jobs in the world, especially being a good father. As a daughter who was estranged from her father numerous times in her life, you will be surprised to hear what I have to say. This is a post for all of the men out there – well, for everyone that will pay attention.
But first, I wanted to send my prayers and blessings to those who have lost their fathers/husbands. For many this is a difficult week of experiencing loss. I have no words other than that my heart goes out to you.
To those fathers and husbands protecting our freedom and serving in our armed forces, I lift up a prayer for peace and comfort for your families and for your safe return home.
To the loving and supportive fathers out there, I admire you and acknowledge you.
Being a great father is not easy in our society. As a whole, our culture has lost the practice of good manners and being civil to one another. There is an overall lack of respect, especially between children and parents. Gone are the days of statements like this classic one from the Bill Cosby show where he would say to one of his misbehaving children – You know I brought you into this world, I’ll take you out. Those words meant, “Don’t mess with Dad.” If those words were said now, the kid would be contacting a lawyer.
Seeking and Finding Abundant Wholeness
In order to attain abundant wholeness, we must experience many peaks and valleys. Until we walk through our dark times, we can’t experience true light. (Watch my video Help for Dark Times.)
So, when you are faced with sadness, doubts and fears, be prayerful and examine these feelings to address a buried issue that may have never come to the surface. My favorite way of dealing with feelings is to journal and get it all “out” and down on paper. It can be a healing, transforming act.
When I start thinking about what I want to share with you, so many times scripture will pop into my head. On this subject of seeking and finding abundant wholeness, these two verses bubbled up (an expression my pastor uses a lot).
John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Jude: 2 – “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.”
Yes, we are meant to live a life full of abundant wholeness. However, people and circumstances (thieves) come to steal that from us. Many times our deepest wounds happen when we are children and we are defenseless. We stuff the hurts down so deep that we build a literal fortress around our hearts. Denial and avoiding pain are the bricks that we build up over time, one by one, to keep out the hurt.
As of this writing, I have come out of one of my darkest valleys, and it feels great to be moving in a positive direction and feel abundant wholeness. Getting in touch with these buried feelings is a key to spiritual growth. If we are not growing, we are lifeless. To be continued…..
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| Monday |
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May 14, 2012 |
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But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. |
| Tuesday |
| May 15, 2012 |
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And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. |
| Wednesday |
| May 16, 2012 |
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Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. |
| Thursday |
| May 17, 2012 |
| Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 |
| Friday |
| May 18, 2012 |
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Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. |
| Saturday |
| May 19, 2012 |
| For the Lord takes delight in his people. Psalm149:4 |
| Sunday |
| May 20, 2012 |
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Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. |
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