by Liz | Feb 13, 2005 | main
Have you ever been in a place – a prayer service or just a gathering – where you came away KNOWING that the Presence of God was in that place? Where it was so vibrant you could just about touch it?
Friday evening we celebrated Our Lady of Lourdes and the first Friday of Lent with a healing service. There were about 50 who gathered to pray – this included the 20 or so who received the annointing for the sick. I was not one receiving the sacrament, but as I listened to Nancy speak about healing, I understood that I have experienced deep healing in the last few years.
Had this been 6 years ago, I would have been in there to receive the sacrament of annointing of the sick – or I should have been (whether I would have done it then or not is a different question). Nancy alluded to the fact that one common denominator for those who Jesus healed was that each person who was healed was open to being healed. When I made the doctor’s appointment several years ago ( 7? 8? ) and sat down and said “I think I may be depressed” – that opened the door for healing. Before that, I had been immobile – kind of like the paralytic who sat by the pool at Silaom for 34 years, unable to get into the healing waters because no one could/would assist him. So, perhaps, the healing had to begin before I could even get to the office.
It’s been slow, but after some pharmaceutical assistance and years of counselling there is a wholeness growing inside. An acceptance of who I am. An acceptance that I too am broken as are all humans, but that I am also created perfect – in the image of God/Goddess – creator of us all. A paradox, but a truth to be accepted. On Friday night, the power of healing of mind, spirit and even body came sharply into focus and nearly knocked me over with powerful reality.
A friend remarked that I sounded surprized by the fact it can happen. And I guess I was – I knew it, but Friday night I KNEW it. I’ve heard that if it’s not news, it’s not the Gospel. The Gospel was proclaimed to me in a small Catholic Church on Friday night, 11-Feb-2005.
by Liz | Feb 5, 2005 | main
Why do I try to help people in need? It hit me yesterday that that the answer is in the question: Need. I listen to those around and hear phrases like “no one is more deserving of help than ….” and yesterday that just struck me as off-base. Mine is not to judge deserving, mine is to respond to needs when I can. Mine is not to say “That person doesn’t deserve my help – she’ll just squander the assistance” or “That guy deserves a lot of help — he’ll do something with the help.” The judging can be left to God.
This is just not coming out the way I want it to. Perhaps I’ll have to rewrite it later. For now, I just need to create a reminder that it’s not about deserving – it’s about responding to another person’s needs.
by Liz | Feb 2, 2005 | Reading List
What’s So Amazing About Grace?
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by Liz | Feb 2, 2005 | main
My sisters – the 3 other women that I share breakfast and life with on Wednesday mornings – are truly my sisters in Christ. It’s amazing what happens week after week. One of the questions we reflect on is “when was I most aware of Christ’s presence this week?” Doh! What always seems to happen is one or more of us starts with the statement: “I just don’t remember a close moment….” and then the week comes into a different focus and we become aware of the times when we were touched, or even shouted at by God/dess. “I couldn’t see Christ yesterday during… — but all I could think of was that I need to pursue a new ministry working with….” You get the idea.
One thing that it seems women understand instinctively is the need for community and sharing. In my group, we have an agreement that we can say whatever we are thinking or feeling. The others don’t have to agree or disagree, but listen and love. As with small groups like this, the rule is “what is said here, stays here.” (hence the very generic quote above).
by Liz | Jan 31, 2005 | main
When I set this site up, JF sent me the quote “Traveller, there is no road. It is made by walking.” A bit of wisdom from a member of the International Association of Charity. This seems to converge with a story I heard once that shed light on the proclamation of Jesus – “I am the Way.”
It seems a soldier was downed somewhere in SE Asia during one of the recent conflicts (can’t call them wars, you know.) He was rather desperate, being lost in the thick jungle where it was nearly impossible to determine friend or foe. A local villager appeared and said “Follow me. I’ll lead you out – to safety.”
“You’ll show me the road?” asked the soldier.
“There is no road. You have to follow me, I am the way you get out.”
That seems to be what I am bumping up against repeatedly. There is no syllabus, there is no paved road, not even a pig trail. So, I follow the leading of God/Goddess/Jesus/Spirit. And my! what an adventure.
I’ve seen signposts as we walk:
- the need within myself to image (not imagine) God as the Feminine Divine and learn to appreciate the very fact of my being: I am female, and created in the image of God. The need to recognize that this is not to become an exclusive view.
- Just as I venture into the Feminine I am confronted with truth that comes from the traditional male-centric Catholic faith. I had the first real talk I’ve ever had with the pastor at St. Michael’s and discovered someone I could talk to.
- friend or foe is still difficult to determine. Some people I expect to be “friend” come back to me as non-comprehending impediments. Some that I suspect to be “foe” turn out to share an understanding and an openess to discussing some ideas.
Go figure.
