LEARNING TO BUILD OUR PROTECTIVE BOUNDARIES

LEARNING TO BUILD
OUR PROTECTIVE BOUNDARIES – is for our Spiritual health and the welfare of the sacred work we do. Long ago in the history of the church, the idea developed that we are expected to be “nice” to everyone and at all costs to ourselves. The image of the suffering servant gets mixed up in this, confusing the purpose of being a loving disciple. We are called to love one another as we love ourselves. This is very different from the idea of never-ending niceness. In the various places in scripture where we are called to love, we find there is an end goal God has in mind. That goal is for all of us to have a loving relationship with God and each other. This is a relationship of choice and it takes strength of mind and heart to come to that. This is not at all like an attitude of being nice with no point to it or goal in mind. Everything in the universe has purpose. To reject that is to be unengaged in the real life God offers. Being nice is a momentary expression that puts our own effectiveness at risk. The Christian life requires us to be intentional about the way we make decisions and treat one another. Part of learning to do all this involves developing ways to protect us from distractions, deliberate misdirection and the evil intention of the world.

Imagery plays an important part in developing our boundaries. In many passages, the Bible uses the images of bulwark, armor and stone walls to help us think of the protection God offers us. These impenetrable objects do not serve us in thinking of the barriers we need to defend ourselves against the sophisticated and subtle ways the world has of trying to penetrate our boundaries. The barriers the Holy Spirit can help us develop are permeable to love, not solid like stone or metal. That means we are able to send love through these shields, while also receiving the unselfish love of those who have no agenda or selfish intent and still remain shielded from the world’s harmful intentions. Boundaries have intent and purpose behind them. As we grow, we can begin to trust in these protective shields until one day, all of a sudden, we know we have a strength and confidence we stand in as we face challenges. This will feel different from the way we have faced difficult or unknown circumstances before. Temptations will come and we will find ourselves standing firmly in our confidence to resist their pull. It is both a glorious and humbling feeling. This is the power of the Holy Spirit shining in us, giving us the strength to withstand what the world is throwing at us. As long as we stay rooted in our connection to the Spirit, that strength will remain in us, helping us withstand the pull of distractions and selfishness from others who do not have the same focus for their lives. We can develop our own image of what our protection looks like. We might think of a ring or fence of iron or greenery that is our barrier between us and the world. Some think of a sphere or bubble that may be any color we choose. Have fun with this, as we rely on the strength it offers through the power and unconditional love of the Holy Spirit.

Strong Spirit, we are grateful that you have this system of protection we can tap into and use for our lives. Continue to show us how to build our defenses, while always remaining open to the give and take of unselfish love.  Amen.     PEACE

This is No. 2 in a series about Building and Using Spiritual Boundaries.

LEARNING TO EMBRACE SPIRITUAL BOUNDARIES

LEARNING TO EMBRACE
SPIRITUAL BOUNDARIES – will potentially protect us from harm and allow us to live a more confident life. I am speaking about a set of boundaries built in the unconditional love God gives us. These are limits we set as we live and encounter the actions of others. Some of these may be the “I will not go there” kind and others are from the perspective of the kind of life we determine to live. This extends to not only the activities we decide not to do. It also will include the people we spend our time around and the goals and activities we want to pursue. The undisciplined life may hit some good experiences some of the time. There will also be many bad or unproductive times. One of the great blessings of living a directed life is the joy we are given through God’s grace, while facing each day with the assurance that we will be successful in most of what we do for God, as long as we are connected. An important part of that directed life is learning to set boundaries for ourselves, in order to protect the potential for loving and serving God. Many have been overwhelmed, burned out, led astray and become lost for lack of boundaries. These are developed as we grow spiritually, finding that we are not meant to be everything for everyone. We are not called to do for others as a way of being “nice”. This also acknowledges the personal responsibilities others need to take for their own lives. Boundaries are an important part of focusing on what we are called to do, while coming to terms with those things for which we have no interest or talent.

Jesus tells the disciples, in Luke 9, to shake the dust from their shoes when the people of a village didn’t receive them. Here, Jesus is helping them to learn boundaries. In Ephesians 4, we hear Paul recognize the results of becoming more mature in our understanding of our place in the work of the faith.  “ 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love,” Learning to embrace our boundaries and then realizing that they will give clarity to what our life is about and the ability to recognize those who threaten our purpose are all gifts of growing, while learning to protect ourselves from selfish outside influences. There will always be those who would rather someone else do things for them, instead of doing the harder things and taking responsibility for themselves. It is not loving to succumb to these folks. They are trying to tear down our boundaries. Selfish people are not real friends. The Holy Spirit will help us see this and move on to the work we are called to do. Jesus shows us through many stories, of how he was not distracted by provocative stories or behavior. We are not to fall for this either. Just because there are cries for help, they need to be examined through the guidance of the Spirit. This is an important discipline, lest we lose our way and become ineffective in our life’s work. We seek the boundaries we need, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, just as we seek truth in love.  Guiding Spirit, teach us to set boundaries, so that we may discern the work we are called to do and learn the limits of ministry. Show us how the limits will strengthen our focus and the ability to bear fruit, in service to God.  Amen.     PEACE

This is No. 1 in a series about Building and Using Spiritual Boundaries.

LEARNING TO DRIVE AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

LEARNING TO DRIVE
AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE – to reduce stress and even save your life. It can also be a means of love and mercy. Which experience would you choose? We could choose to simply start out driving or go through a short process to engage the power of love and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This method can be applied to all sorts of situations in our lives. This will also work when we are preparing for and going through a challenging meeting or getting through a long repetitive set of tasks. Whatever we may face in a day, this will support our experience and add to our understanding of how the Spirit remains with us throughout our day. This builds on methods and disciplines we have already been discussing here. These include the practice of meditation to start our day, establishing a prayerful connection to our Creator, relying on the trust we place in that connection, while allowing love to become the lens through which we see others around us.

This spiritual practice of driving begins with the way we start our day. We start with a grounding meditation, where we connect to the core of the earth, the center of the energy in our world. We can think of ourselves as trees with deep roots, connecting us to the core of creation. Then, through prayer and meditation, we establish our spiritual connection to whatever we rely on outside of ourselves. I say it this way because we need not be Christian to use this method. This can be as short or long a process as we need it to be. As we repeat this practice, it may become possible to begin in quiet concentration and then continue as we go about our routine, in a prayerful way. One important aspect of all this is to make sure we leave our home in a bubble of protection. We can pray to get help in setting this up. It requires us to visualize this protection and ask for help in maintaining it until we return home later. This is not something we do. It is what we allow to be done in us. This is a cocoon of loving energy that protects us from negativity and harm. I have a friend who thinks of his as a green sphere of energy, that is permeable only to love. So with our protection in place, we are ready to drive. We take with us a trust in the love of the universe, which for Christians is embodied in Christ. As we begin our journey, we are watchful for the unexpected. When another driver does something untoward, we employ forgiveness and mercy for whatever may be on their minds that causes erratic behavior. We send them love and wishes for their day to improve. We may send out prayers to other drivers for better thinking as they interact in traffic. As I back out of my driveway, I always begin with a prayer for all I encounter on the road to arrive safely at our destinations. This is all done in an attitude of trusting a power greater than we can imagine. If at any point in our trip we begin to feel anxious, we only need to pray to renew our trust in this powerful love. When we arrive in safety, we can express gratitude that we have once again been sustained by this unconditional love, or at least are learning to rely on the guidance we have available to us. As we use this practice, it will become more a part of who we are and will feel natural to us to send love to others. Hopefully, the lessons of driving with a loving attitude will spill over into learning to do our jobs with love as well.  Loving Spirit, we are grateful for the ways in which you show us how to live a life of love. May allowing your love to permeate our driving experiences lead to other arenas where we can show loving reactions to less than ideal situations. Support our acts of mercy by showing us the ways to love others.  Amen.     PEACE

BEING GOD’S PEOPLE

BEING GOD’S PEOPLE
IN THE WORLD – is a tricky path to follow. I can remember how frustrated I was when I was young. It seemed as though I was always either getting in trouble with someone or disappointing them. Then I began to learn that there were times when things went right, and I determined to figure out why this happened. It wasn’t something obvious, and it took a while to come to a partial understanding. The most disheartening part of it all was that I never intended anything but love for everyone I encountered. It tore me up inside when others couldn’t see that, especially when it was “church people.” How could they think I would want to do things that hurt others? I didn’t realize until later that it said more about them, than it did about me. We all have the same struggle to learn to live with God. I assumed, being older, that they knew more about this than I did.

As I got older, I knew that some of what I went through was just suffering, to learn that the world is not always a hospitable place, and not even all those in local churches are loving, or following the kind of life we are called to live. Even though I grew up in the church, it took me a long while to learn that when things went right, through no doing of my own, it was God, doing something powerful and loving. I had learned before that, that when I worked with God, I got better results than I did on my own. Two short passages, that occur together in Luke, chapter 9 meant a lot to me then.  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”   It gave me the courage to follow the path God had set before me. Then earlier in that same chapter, this helped me come to terms with the folks in local churches who are not always intending to follow Jesus:  5 “If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Knowing Jesus said this helped to take the sting out of the hurt. Then this verse from John 12: 26 follows up on verse 24 from Luke:  “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”    For me, this really spells out how connected we can be to God, as we do what God has asked us to do. The world is a tricky place to live in while doing the work of God, but we are never alone in that work. We are loved, given God’s power and tools, and supported in every way we need it. When we are open to God and finally learn how to access all this, the path is less tricky, and life is much more joyful.   Loving and supportive God, thank you for all the love and care you offer us. We never need to be alone in what we do. Guide us so that we may see you with us, as we walk the difficult paths in this world.    Amen.       PEACE

SHOW GOD’S CREATIVE LOVE

SHOW GOD’S CREATIVE LOVE
BY THE WAYS WE HELP OTHERS – serving unselfishly. I saw a man in Home Depot with a service dog, and it got me curious. He did not look blind and my DH and I had just been talking about all the ways service dogs are being helpful to people in need of support. In doing some research I found many organizations that are working in service dog training, to support many disorders. The one that most interested me was the work being done for soldiers with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. I found a group of volunteers who have put together “Operation Delta Dog”, exclusively for veterans with PTSD and TBI, that involves rescue dogs. I am very impressed with the work they have already done and are doing to improve the lives of both the vets and the dogs. Centered in northeastern Massachusetts, they network with dog rescue groups, even at a distance, to find good candidates for training. The dogs are fostered sometimes, given an assessment for readiness, and then introduced to a veteran. They then go through training together for about a year. The dogs learn to assist the vet in the individual ways they need support. It does wonders for both vet and dog. The site has vignettes of each dog in training and the ones that have graduated from the program. Most of the dogs have been in a kennel for a long time and may have been mistreated. One had even been shot and was overcoming his own dog form of PTSD. It gives the veterans a sense of helping the dog, as well as receiving help. What a great reciprocal relationship for the two partners, and it is all about love. If you are interested in supporting such a wonderful enterprise, see the link below. It takes more than $20,000 including all expenses to complete the training for one veteran/dog team. I intend to support them, and I am spreading the word, of the kind of love God wants us to show to one another, even our animal companions.

This is an example of taking something we love and turning it into a huge benefit for others. This group has taken loves and interests that coincided into a real ministry, even though it isn’t called one. God works through those who are unaware of the reason they are doing good, knowing it is the right thing to do. They are following God’s grace working in them to bring love and healing to others.   God of all creation, we thank you for those who do your work unawares. Help us to recognize and support this and other instances you help us discover. We ask a special blessing for this group, who are giving new life to traumatized veterans and their canine helpers. They are surely spreading your love in the world.    Amen.        PEACE

http://www.operationdeltadog.org/

BALANCING LOVE FOR OTHERS

BALANCING LOVE FOR OTHERS
WITH LOVE FOR OURSELVES – is as important as breathing. We are here to make love connections. If we think of the cultural reference “no one is an island” and apply that to our call to love one another, we may see the truth of our creation. We are all put here to love. That extends from our creator to everyone we will ever meet. It may sound challenging. If we allow ourselves, with the spiritual help available to us, to come into the power of love innate in us, we will be able to do this. The reason we are here is to love. When we accept that as a fact, we will begin to know within us just how to do that. It may be a life-long process to learn how. I promise, though, it will be filled with fun and adventure when we do it.

When Jesus called us to “Love our neighbors as ourselves”, he did not mean to love at all costs. Loving ourselves means we protect ourselves from all influences that would limit our ability to continue loving others. In practical terms, this means we need to learn how to set boundaries concerning what we allow others to do to us and with us. As a melodramatic example, if someone says they are our friend and then pressures us to rob a bank with them, as a way of showing loyalty to them, we will need to protect ourselves with boundaries. Sometimes, we will need to say how far we are willing to go in an endeavor and other times it will communicate just by the way we react emotionally and spiritually. Using meditation and grounding exercises is vital for us to begin learning what our boundaries need to be. We will be supported by the Holy Spirit in seeing a clear picture of who we are as a person, both blessed and directed by God. As we grow in our sense of who we are, we will know what we can do to build on who we are, while also learning what may diminish who we are. God does not intend that we love others by hurting ourselves. When we engage in loving others, we do not have strings attaching that act to us. Think of sending bubbles of love that will go to others and float there while they decide if they can accept the gift. Freedom to choose is as important for the recipient as it is for us to choose to give love in the first place. Giving love, compassion and mercy are activities of the heart, not the head. So engaging the heart, the center of our life-force, demands we do it in a protected way. The Holy Spirit is our chief advocate and guide, to teach us how to love from strength, not a wild abandon. Meditation keeps us connected and protected, in whatever way seems best for us. Oh guardian Spirit, we rely on you to show us how to love ourselves and also show love to others you present to us. Help us learn how to balance our call to love others with our call to also love ourselves. We are grateful for our lives. Show us how to best fulfill our life’s call, with glory and honor.  Amen.     PEACE

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN JESUS’ LIFE

IMPORTANT EVENTS
IN JESUS’ LIFE – help us understand how God’s plan was worked out through Jesus, and so they can happen in our lives too. We looked at Luke 4, where Jesus reads the prophecy from Isaiah 61, in his own hometown. There is a discussion that follows this that is quite pivotal to the events in Jesus life. He was talking about the famines in Elijah’s time, where many Israelites died, and in Elisha’s time when many had leprosy, yet only one was saved during all that time, a foreigner [read this as gentile] named Naaman, who was a Syrian. The Jews, hearing Jesus say this, got very angry and actually pushed Jesus to the edge of a cliff. “They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.”  This is an early foreshadowing of Jesus’ death at the hands of the Jews. According to God’s plan, this was not the time for Jesus to die. Much more needed to be accomplished, before that part of the plan would happen. Just as God had a plan for the life and earthly ministry of Jesus, God has a bigger plan for those that love God, and are committed to following God’s plan in our own lives. God provided a way to move past the fear, and Jesus walked away.

In our own strength, it is hard to turn off the fear that we hear every day, because it is everywhere we turn. So much of what we see or hear has either a blatant or subtle underlying intended message of fear. The world has an ulterior motive for us being fearful. We buy things because of fear, or we believe what we are told because we are programmed with fear. We live our lives fearing that someone will kill us, or someone we know and love will be killed. How could this be the kind of life we are called by God to live. So, we need to find ways of turning off the fear messages and replace them with the message of love from God. The crowd intended that Jesus be fearful of their action against him. We need to look at the action Jesus took. He refused to be fearful, and knowing what God needed him to do, walked away. I’m not suggesting that we get ourselves into an argument with those that disagree with us, but God has resources that we will be blessed with, in order to work out God’s plan in small ways as we live our own lives, listening to God. Just as God gave Jesus power to do his work, so God gives us both power and tools to do the work God calls us to do. We are able to access all this in the stillness of meditation and prayer.  Loving God, we thank you for the ways you have, through your grace, for helping us see a different world of love than the world of fear and evil. Help us show your more loving world to others we encounter, by allowing you to work through us, and thereby doing what you need us to do, using the power and tools you make available to us. In the name of Jesus, we pray.  Amen.     PEACE

THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF SHOWING LOVE

THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF SHOWING LOVE – in ordinary ways.

LAYING OUR INTENTIONS AT GOD’S FEET

LAYING OUR INTENTIONS
AT GOD’S FEET IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT ASPECT OF PRAYER – and is the most honest way to live in a relationship with God. We all have intentions for what we are doing each day, whether we express them specifically or not. They may not be anything different than what we do every day or have done daily for years and years. But if we want to live in an honest and loving relationship with God, it takes an awareness of what we may take for granted. It may be difficult for many of us to accept that God really wants to be part of the details of our daily lives. But we have help from God to learn just how to accomplish this.

In 1 John 4, we hear this affirmation as a part of a larger reminder of just how much God loves us, because he gave us the gift of the life of Jesus, God’s beloved son.   13 “God has given us the Spirit as proof that we live in God and God is in us.” Since God demonstrated the extent of love and commitment to us in these ways, might we pray for ways to be able to accept these great gifts? When we trust God, we will find the Holy Spirit working within us, to bring us closer to God. 15 “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in God’s love.”   Therefore it is not as difficult as the world would have us think, to open ourselves to God and plan our day, or discuss the events of the day with God, as they are happening. This is one way we build our relationship with God. As we live in the love and grace God provides, it will become part of who we are. We will be a transformed child of God and a source of love in a world so much in need of it.  Gracious and loving God, we thank you for making us a part of your work of love and grace, in order to transform the world. Help us live into this work you have called us to do, letting go of our fear of failure. With you, there is only strength and success when we become a channel for your love and mercy. May we trust that you have the future in your hands, and will make us a vital part of your work.  Amen.     PEACE

WHEN WE LOVE GOD

WHEN WE LOVE GOD
FIRST, ALL THE REST – will happen by God’s gracious actions. How does this happen? Prayer is one important part of the strategy to put God first. What do we pray for, when we are setting God as our goal?  We ask for God’s help in whatever words come to us. We could use a written prayer, except then we are expressing someone else’s thoughts and feelings. God is waiting for us to express our own deepest desires. So a big part of loving God is acknowledging that God is already with us and even admit to ourselves that we have at times perhaps listened to the urgings of the Holy Spirit.

Another step is to become more aware of creation in all its complexities, express gratitude for it, and then delight in all its glories and surprises. Long ago in Psalm 37, those who loved the Lord expressed this to others: 4 “Take delight in the Lord, and God will give you your heart’s desires.”   This does not refer to frivolous desires. If we are truly intending to love God with our whole selves, God is the one who will help bring it into being. Which leads us directly to the next verse in the Psalm,  5 “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust God, and God will help you.”   It cannot be explained any plainer than that. When we intend to love God, God is the one who will help us do it. There just aren’t any fancy ways to go about it, but only in an honest and sincere frame of mind, in all humility and with an open heart. From there, God will help us transform into what we have asked God to do.  Dear God, who first loved us unconditionally, help us love you entirely and without reservation. Guide us in taking the steps we need, when we need to take them. Help us respond to your ways of reaching out to us, so that we may be transformed.  Amen.     PEACE