Life on The Potter’s Wheel
July 19, 2012
It’s been an interesting few weeks, the kind of time where things feel more unraveled than together. The kind where goofy things keep happening and you’re horrified to realize you’re the one doing them. The kind of time where I discover I have been softer clay in The Potter’s hands even though it really didn’t have all that much to do with me being obedient or responsive but more because I’ve unintentionally done just really squirrely things that have me feeling rather small and discovering sometimes that’s the best place to be.
During this season there have been many times when I’ve really sensed that the Lord wanted me to consider two specific ideas: 1) What does it mean to pray without ceasing 2)Gratitude
A couple of weeks ago at our Potter’s Wheel gathering on Sunday evening we were talking about gratitude. Lois, one of our group, mentioned that some time before she heard about a gratitude exercise which encourages a person to be open to getting stretched beyond those maybe few things that quickly come to their minds when they think about things they’re grateful for. The idea is that each day for a month you identify five things that you’re grateful for. Sounds easy enough but here’s the tricky part. You do this every day for a month and you cannot repeat anything that you’ve already listed. Believe me it starts getting harder rather quickly and then a remarkable thing happens. You start noticing things you hadn’t even considered. Then you start noticing how that changes how you view more and more things and that gratitude begins to expand and go deeper. I’ve noticed many little things that bring me to a place of gratitude and then that moves me to a place of worship and I’ve found myself rejoicing to God for some of the most remarkable things that I would never have thought about. For me it’s not the big things rather it’s the very little things that I truly believe God has brought to my awareness. Let me highlight a few just from this week.
v A glass of cold iced tea in the afternoon
v Driving past a beautifully green corn field in Iowa (yes it truly exists along I-80) and this field is so dense and tightly planted that it actually reveals the rolls of the ground where it’s planted and it’s just breathtaking.
v A really good sneeze
v Praying with friends in the morning
v Going into my day know I have friends praying for me
v Hope in a God who is gracious so that when I really goof I receive the Lord’s mercy new each morning.
Seriously, those are some that have just come to my mind this week. Now I can’t tell you that I’ve written these down every day and that I’m going to have a long list at the end of the month. But I will tell you it’s giving me new things to bring before the Lord in prayer. It’s opening up a new idea of praying without ceasing. I find the gratitude grows exponentially and joy follows.
Yesterday, I met with my friend Jamie. Jamie ministers to college students and she’s going to be working on a new campus this fall so we met there to pray for the campus, the students and all the other people who are part of that community. As we sat in the chapel on campus and prayed we were looking through Scripture for those passages that might pop out to us. As I turned through Colossians I came to Colossians 4:2 and it’s really stuck with me since. “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” I’m discovering that as I do this…the joy builds.
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A couple of special notes about our Sunday gatherings over the next couple of weeks. I’m going to be traveling to Chicago for the last of my classes for the Spiritual Direction certification I’ve been pursuing through North Park Seminary. Laura Stack was gracious in leading the gathering last Sunday and this Sunday Louise Mathis will be leading. Because of the extraordinary heat forecasted for Sunday, we’ll gather again at The Roasterie Café at 63rd and Brookside Blvd. Because Hillcrest’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, July 29th, we won’t be gathering that evening but will come together again the next Sunday, August 5th. Hopefully we’ll be back on The Courtyard at Second Church at 55th and Brookside. We’ll watch the weather and let you know. We want everyone to be safe so stay tuned for more details.
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I’m grateful to be journeying with you…
On the Potter’s Wheel!
God’s Peace,
Mary
