Time in prayer

Long ago, through prayer, I was blessed with a miraculous, intense healing of mind, body, and soul. As I have prayed the years since, I cannot specifically claim that “I” have caused anything equally miraculous to happen. I do know that I find incredible peace and rest when I let go of my “chattering voices” and in stillness, feel the incredible connections with God and His Creation.  And I do accept what Oswald Chambers writes: “The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the ‘answer.”

“God will probably not be interested in how many things we included in our day, but how much of our day included Him.” All Zobe-Nolan

Zumwalt_Prairie, Wallowa_Mts

White_Island, Bay_of Plenty_NZ

Whale Island

Whale Island, or Moutohora in Maori (meaning whale), lies five and half miles off the coast of Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty, of North Island, NZ. It is the remnant of a volcano. Purchased by the government in 1984, the island still displays its history with active hot springs-- including a warm sand beach where access is not allowed.  The Department of Conservation has eradicated goats and rats and reintroduced native birds, bushes and trees. 

Meg and I enjoyed a late afternoon kayaking adventure paddling around the island with an outfitter, KG Kayaks. We returned in a gorgeous sunset. We had hoped to see blue penguins coming back on shore for the night, and dolphin. No such luck, but we were well entertained by seals doing wonderful ballet movements as we paddled close to the rocks where they hung out. We also enjoyed the lovely pohutukawa trees that bloom in December and are only found on coastal areas of North Island. We had missed doing this trip on earlier visits.  In the future, it is now on our “to do” list.

Whale Island from Air New Zealand flight to Whakatane

Meg paddling around Whale Island with KG Kayaks

Whale Island, KG_Kayaks

Kayaker with seal on right on rocks

Seal, Whale Island

Whale Island from Ohope beach

"Freedom comes when you know with your heart that you are loved."

"Freedom comes when you know with your heart that you are loved.  If you could accept and believe that you are unconditionally love and embraced,  you could go all over the world and never be lonely…In our personal relationships a moral life is not enough. We must also live the mystical life, a life which is embraced by the God who says, "I love you fully and unconditionally."  Henri Nouwen

Mt_Harris_OR, Union_County_OR

Ohope, Bay_of_Pleanty

His Creation, His Grace

“Our superficial, restricted self is uncomfortable and fights being revealed.  But deeper within us is the longing for God, placed within our true self by God.  We come to God as we are: caught by sin and longing for God; and we are always met by God’s grace and mercy.”  Wendy Wright

Ohope, BAy_of_Plenty, Whakatane

Reciprocal love

       God calls us to participate in a reciprocal relationship of love, but too often we are too busy, too "moral" (in our own eyes), too self centered to respond. More than three thousand years ago, when the people of Israel were forming their relationship with him, Yahweh instructed the Israelites to show their love for him by "walking in his ways and holding tight to him." As we know, then and now, we fail in this walk. Yet God never gives up on us. He "delights in showing us unfailing love." 

And so at this time of year, we are again reminded of how much our Creator cares for us.  We could not recognize his love in the abstract, so he came to live with us, to join us on our journey, to listen to our story.  As Henri Nouwen writes, "the God of love who gave us life sent his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles, but can always trust that he walks with us."

Pentecost

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday which, next to Easter, is the most important event in the life of the Church and of the followers of Christ. The incarnation of Christ is more than a story.  At Pentecost, through the Holy Spirit, His presence becomes personal to each of us ordinary people, regardless of the time or place in which we live. Each of us continues to "receive this gift of God dwelling within us to provide direction, courage, comfort, hope, companionship, and peace." It is a power that gives us the strength to do far more than we can ever possibly imagine.