Author: Cindy Lee

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First Steps – November 26, 2018

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a local Rabbi about the concept of Thanksgiving. He told me of a Jewish prayer that is uttered first thing in the morning. The moment one awakes and before one’s feet hit the ground, there is a prayer of thanksgiving for another day of life. Gratitude is an attitude and state of being. It is the doorway to joy.

The task for all of us is, “Can we see everything in terms of gratitude?” Normally when we think of gratitude or thanksgiving, we focus on the big four: Faith, Family, Health, and Freedom. For right reasons, we are thankful for God’s love, our core relationships, good health, and the freedoms we enjoy by living in the United States.

But is that everything? My rabbinical friend would say the real test is whether you can be thankful when the alarm goes off early in the morning, when the gutters need to be cleaned out, or when you have to pay your taxes? What about when you have to cleanup the kitchen, get the oil changed in your car, or wait in line at the grocery store? Can we be thankful for those things? After all, the alarm clock is a reminder that you are alive, the gutters mean you have a home to live in, the taxes we pay mean we live in a country that has freedom as its core value, the kitchen mess means you have food to eat, the changed oil means you have a vehicle, and the grocery line means you have enough to purchase food. As menially frustrating as each task may be, the larger lesson is to see everything as a gift that has been given by God.

This week I hope you will join me in this prayer: “Gracious God, help me to see beyond the surface level of things. Teach me the joyful lesson that all things are a gift. Lord, I want to be this type of person who is grateful in everything. Cultivate that spiritual trait inside of me. Amen.”

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Hebrews 12
  • Tuesday – Hebrews 13
  • Wednesday – James 1
  • Thursday – James 2
  • ​Friday – James 3

 

Please Pray for:

  • Our nation and our leaders.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • Those that are suffering and grieving.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction completion of the New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • The United Methodist Church.
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First Steps – November 19, 2018

This week—Thanksgiving Week—kicks off the holiday season for many of us.  Life is now full-speed ahead!  As I look at my calendar I see nothing but one event after another.  Although many events are packed with fun and merriment, they are taxing.  So, if you’re life is like mine, then I offer some words of wisdom from Beth Richardson, a Christian devotional writer.

She wrote:

Humans process 500,000 bits of information per day. That works out to 110 bits of information per second. While this may sound quite impressive, it quantifies the fact that our nervous systems can barely process two conversations taking place at the same time. … It’s not about our ability to multitask … it’s just how we’re made.

That must be why many of us are feeling quite overwhelmed and short on time. …

During the last ten to fifteen years, many of us have added cell phones, e-mail, the web, and a 24/7 urgency to our environment. …

There isn’t, of course, any way to create more minutes in a day or more days in a week. It’s not healthy to get by on less sleep or learn better how to multitask. I think the key to finding time lies in a couple of things:

 Being intentional about spiritual practice. I must sink my roots deep into God’s Spirit every day. When I take time for God, it makes a difference in how I function in the day . . .

 Carving out space inside for God — no matter what situation I’m in. Finding time is not just about “clock time,” it’s also a combination of discipline and internal spaciousness that helps me connect with God even when I’m sitting in traffic, overcome with anxiety, or surrounded by a crowd.

As we begin this wonderful but crazy time of the year, remind yourself that you control your own schedule so be intentional and carve out the needed space for God.

 

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Hebrews 7
  • Tuesday – Hebrews 8
  • Wednesday – Hebrews 9
  • Thursday – Hebrews 10
  • ​Friday – Hebrews 11

Please Pray for:

  • Our nation and our leaders
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community
  • Those that are suffering and grieving
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • The United Methodist Church.

 

 

 

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First Steps – November 12, 2018

Dr. Timothy Tennent, current President of Asbury Theological Seminary, recently wrote an article where he said, “We often long for peaceful, calm waters with as little disruption as possible. It is disruptive to see the culture in chaos, the church in crisis, and challenges at every turn. But, when we look at the Bible, we regularly see how God moves in that liminal space which we call “disruption.” The old saying, “God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable” is truer than we sometimes care to admit. But, all through the Scriptures we see God taking ordinary people, with their sometimes-limited vision, and calling them forth to become full participants in His mighty acts of salvation.”

I don’t know about you, but I often don’t see disruption as a good thing.  Yet, if I know that a disruption will create something inside of me that I long for (nature of Christ) and will witness to God’s goodness in the world, then perhaps I should view God’s disruptive grace differently.

Maybe not all disruptions are bad. What do you think? Look for God’s disruptive grace this week. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned.

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Hebrews 2
  • Tuesday – Hebrews 3
  • Wednesday – Hebrews 4
  • Thursday – Hebrews 5
  • ​Friday – Hebrews 6

Please Pray for:

  • Our nation and our newly elected officials
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community
  • Those that are suffering and grieving.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • The United Methodist Church.
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First Steps – November 5, 2018

Our capacities for compassion are deepened when we stay grounded in the sacred truth of our belovedness. Did you know that is how God sees you? So often we forget and start believing the lies that we are not worthy of love. We seek the source of value in our work, wealth, physical appearance, and in others while deep within, a longing lingers. We long for the face of God to remind us of His care.

The walking with God invites us to remember that our belovedness is as secure as the air we breathe. It is the ground on which we have our being. In fact, God’s face is smiling as we speak. We deepen our connection with this compassionate God in various ways — prayer, meditation, solitude, retreat, worship, ritual, fellowship, and community. Every moment we recall God’s grace in our life, we connect with God’s presence in the world. Beloved! Look for God’s grace in your life. Know of his love.

 

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Titus 2
  • Tuesday – Titus 3
  • Wednesday – Jude
  • Thursday – Philemon
  • ​Friday – Hebrews 1

 

 

  • Please Pray for:
  • All Saints’ Sunday and all those gone before us.
  • Our nation and our leaders
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community
  • Those that are suffering and grieving.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • The United Methodist Church.
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First Steps – October 29, 2018

The other day I had the unique privilege of spending a few moments with a couple just after they celebrated the birth of a child.  When I entered the room I saw a beautiful baby resting silently in the loving arms of her mother.  No words were needed to express her love for her child.  Granted, there will be many future moments where the mother will sing or speak to her baby, but there will be countless hours of silence where the baby is simply held by both mother and father.  The baby cradled in the arms of either parent will be enough for trust, safety, and intimacy.

Contemplative prayer is resting silently in the arms of God.  No words are needed.  Throughout the history of the church, contemplation is a quiet awareness of God.  It is a consciousness that goes deeper than words or thoughts can express.  It is resting in God.  If Meditation is thinking about something and it meaning, then contemplation is a deeper awareness beyond the scope of words.

As she held her child, there were no words spoken or needed yet there was great awareness.  This week, seek to be aware of God’s presence in your life.  Look for it.  No words are needed to do this.  Silently pray for God’s presence to envelop you.  Trust in his grace.

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – 2 Timothy 1
  • Tuesday – 2 Timothy 2
  • Wednesday – 2 Timothy 3
  • Thursday – 2 Timothy 4
  • ​Friday – Titus 1

Please Pray for:

  • The people devastated by damage from Hurricane Michael.
  • Our nation and our leaders.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • Those that are suffering and grieving.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • The United Methodist Church.
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First Steps – October 22, 2018

Last week I shared this quote from Jean-Pierre de Caussade that said:
“We will be perfect when we are in complete cooperation with God. The way toward this perfection is slow and hidden from our observation. There are many books written about these things. There are many theories and theological explanations. If we want, we can go to school and learn about all of this. We might even become competent to teach and write about it ourselves. Maybe we will even begin to give others some spiritual direction. To have only an intellectual understanding of our faith is to be like a sick medical doctor living among healthy people. 

You don’t need to understand how medicine works in order to be cured. All you have to do is take it. You can be warmed and cheered by a fire without knowledge of combustion and chemistry. If we are thirsty, we want to drink of water rather than a book that explains thirst. Holiness is not the result of study. If we have a thirst for holiness, reading about it will only make us thirstier!”

Another aspect to personal holiness that I find comforting is that one’s intent is important—maybe what is most important.  Often people get caught up in “how to” or “what steps are needed,” as if to think that once one has completed the necessary steps then all will be at rest. I’m not sure that is the whole truth for personal holiness. There are definitely things that one does, but equally important is the desire of the person. Maybe the best question is, “Do I want to cooperate with God?” If so, then surely God will be with us in the process of growing in our faith.

For many parents, they are aware of this truth. A child might not perform perfectly and sometimes even get it all wrong. But if the intent is good, pure, or innocent, then the parent is pleased and happy with the child. Why would it be any different when it comes to God? Personal holiness is a process where the intent behind an action is as important as the action itself.

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – 1 Timothy 2
  • Tuesday – 1 Timothy 3
  • Wednesday – 1 Timothy 4
  • Thursday – 1 Timothy 5
  • ​Friday – 1 Timothy 6

Please Pray for:

  • The people devastated by damage from Hurricane Michael.
  • Our nation and our leaders.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • Those that are suffering and grieving.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • The United Methodist Church.
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