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Pilgrimage Summer 2013

yarnThis summer holds many things for me. This is my smorgasbord summer, chock full of ordination requirements, classes, travel, and moving.  It is the summer where I will pack up my things at the beginning of May in Richmond Indiana and unpack a mere carload of them in a yet to be found home in San Francisco at the end of August. It is the summer where my Sherpani carry-on suitcase and I (a splendid birthday gift from a dear friend) will become close companions. It is a summer where I fear I could feel disconnected, homeless, overwhelmed, and unraveled.

Thanks to the wise spiritual direction and coaching of Amy and Martha, and the wisdom of the many saints who have pilgrimed before, I choose to be intentional about this journey. This summer is a pilgrimage. This summer is a beautifully connected series of events, which will be woven together with a divine thread that is already at work.  A journey of calling. A journey of discovery. A journey of adventure and service, exploration and growth.  An inward journey threading through the outward journey.

As part of intentionally paying attention to this Weaving of the Spirit, I am going to work on a prayer shawl as I travel.  Stitch after stitch in the foundation of cream-colored-cotton, creating a continuous framework. A framework that I will then weave in yarns and ribbons, colors and memories from each of the places I sojourn.

On this pilgrimage I remember that we are always held and breathing in the body of God, present in the gratitude, the beauty, the brokenness and the stories.  And that we do not walk alone.

And so I invite you, any of you, to pilgrim with me this summer. Whatever your plans are, whatever your travel itinerary might hold. Join in a summer of paying attention to what the Great Weaver is doing in your life. Together we can notice what practices sustain on the journey. Share snapshots of your pilgrimage, as I share mine.

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Praying the News: Disrupted

“Life (as usual) Disrupted” 


God of continuity, God with us in disruption.
We come to you claiming your Name as a Being of Love,
not a being of destruction.

We call to you as the force of Good,
Redemption,
Hope,
and Life.

We call to you as the God who is present in loss,
confusion,
shattering
and disruption.

We recognize Your presence in the rays of Light,
As neighbors connect to neighbors,
As help and relief come together and are offered,
As four-year-old’s learn what it is to be without electricity,
As front loaders roll through rivered streets,
picking up grandmothers off of porches,
As we watch the news on our laptops,  from our cozy  homes in Indiana, Colorado, California and Montana and we pause,
and connect to those we know and do not know,
As priorities are examined,
And we hold those we love close,
As we slow and bow in awe and humility at the force that Nature is,
As we wonder, the parts we play in the interconnected world we live in,
As we are interrupted,
Disrupted.

Disrupted.

Disrupted.
1. to cause disorder
2. to destroy the normal continuance or unity; interrupt.
3. Break apart
4. Broken apart


When we are disrupted,
Shine Your Light into our hearts and lives,
Show us Your Way as you bring healing in the cracks and crevices,
May we notice,
pause,
and be present to,
the precious,
the sacred,
to
Life.


When disruption comes,
May we use it,
to
Breakthrough our apathy,
Crack our stagnancy,
Shatter our certainty,
Crumble our consumerism,
and slice through our isolation.


May we be present
alongside our fellow sojourners on this planet,
present to the interconnectedness of all,
conscious in our actions and thoughts,
purposeful in our choices and intentions,
awake to life.


Awaken us, O Holy One,
When life is disrupted.