Worship has been much on my mind recently, not necessarily the liturgy or the music or whether to be online or in person for Christmas services, but mostly I’ve been pondering the innate human need to worship, and its various manifestations.
The idea of being wrapped up, especially as the nights grow colder here in Maine, evokes a sense of coziness and warmth.
Back when my middle-aged sons were little boys, another young mom from church handed me a copy of Thomas Merton’s
I think we need a virtual army of intercessors, led by this patron saint of desperate causes, to help us through our own current “difficult time.”
I smile as the 4-year-old shows me Butterscotch, her much-loved bunny; Butterscotch proceeds to die two days later, and I cannot help or hold the child in her grief.
Howard Thurman writes, “In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.”
Students found the idea of a week in silence more alarming than a week detoxing from substance abuse, but as full time high school English teachers, my husband and I treasured the time in silence and prayer.
“Grandma, where’s your mean picture?” asks my seven-year old grandson.“Mean” picture? Our house is full of family photos, paintings, icons – but I can’t think of any “mean” pictures.
At the local library yesterday, my four-year-old granddaughter listened to stories about stars, and about how everything on earth – including the Earth itself — is made from the debris of exploding stars, known as supernovas.
Jesus with gray hair? That’s not an image I’d ever imagined, not until my six-year-old granddaughter created one.