Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-filled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every week, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.} 

Gospel

Luke 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else. 
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --
greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. 
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Think

Great graces cannot be obtained without humility. When you yourself experience humiliation, you should take it as a sure sign that some great grace is in store. ~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

(H/T Fr. Michael Taylor, who really nailed it in the homily;-)

Pray

Oh, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Act

Think of a time when you have been humiliated. Forgive. Then reach out to that person.

How can I pray for you this week?

What story are you writing?

A week ago, my husband gathered us all in the living room to share news that would rock our world. My father-in-law, whom we had tucked into bed the previous night and left sleeping at home, had died peacefully in his sleep. I canceled all my writing obligations. The only thing I wrote all week was note or two for a eulogy for my husband to deliver.

When a family gathers at a funeral to celebrate the life of someone dear and to console one another in their grief, the words of a eulogy can have tremendous power. Eulogies are gifts, even more for the people who mourn than for the deceased. As I went about my business all last week, tending to the myriad of details I had previously never even considered, deviating so far from my original plan for the week that it was barely recognizable, I considered what makes a good eulogy—not what makes a stylistically good eulogy, what makes stirring oration, but what makes the summation of one’s life “good.” What really is a life well lived?

One thing struck me again and again. All those clichés about living like you’re dying and not being able to take it with you? They are rooted in absolute truth. My husband’s father was a few weeks shy of turning 90 when he died. He lived a long, full life of honor, serving admirably both in the military and in the marketplace. But when I took the time to ask his young adult grandchildren what lessons they learned from his life, the answers were all tucked into little and hidden moments.

 I know there are people who will beg to differ, but I think a life well lived puts relationships before resumes. A life well lived is one where all of the big decisions and most of the little decisions are made with the intent to meaningfully engage in the hearts and the souls of the people God has entrusted to us. The things that matter most in life are the things that are mostly hidden from the world; the gentle movements of hearts towards one another. A life well lived is a life full of those moments.

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Often, the big decisions that frame a genuinely good life come at the expense of power or money or worldly acclaim. We have to sacrifice an opportunity or a promotion or a bigger paycheck to invest instead in a boy in a baseball cap or a marriage straining as a family expands.  We choose a job closer to home, turn down the chance to travel, or perhaps we choose to stay at home and forego a paycheck altogether. The questions we ask ourselves when such decisions are to be made are questions of eternal significance and the answers often contradict the message of the world.

Did you ever stop to think what could be said about you in the first few days after you die? One of the greatest management principles going is to begin with the end in mind. I am not theologically astute enough to offer here an idea of what happens to a soul right after one dies, but I have to think that God is more concerned with the hidden moments of the heart than He is with the resume. I have to think that the peace in leaving and the peace we leave are both about the way we loved when we still had time. And I can tell you firsthand, what people remember are the ways that you loved.

One day, someone will write our eulogies. Right now, we are writing our lives. From my perspective, in the front pews, with the people experiencing great loss, the lives best lived are the ones that seize all the little opportunities offered each one of us every day to stop and have a conversation, to offer our help, to serve in the smallest, least noticed ways. What really defines the life of a truly great man are the decisions--big and small--he makes to live a life that is a genuine expression of love.

Just Being Audrey

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Let’s go back a couple weeks or so, back to when I thought the most stressful thing about the fall would be four birthdays in the same week. We kicked off Birthday Week, the Friday before it really began. All about birthday traditions, we happily said , “Yes!” when my friend Megan suggested that last year’s tea in Leesburg become a tradition. Yes, ma’am we’d love to do it again this year and every year forever!

Tea is always fun. The tea house has an authentic vintage vibe and the ladies are truly British, so it’s the real deal.  They’ve gotten their gluten-free menu down nicely since last year, too.

As an added treat, Megan gave the girls a copy of Just Being Audrey.

Such a perfect book for them!

It’s a nicely illustrated storybook that brings to life a young Audrey Hepburn who wanted nothing more than to be a ballerina. We see an age-appropriate glimpse of living in hiding during World War II and then we are treated to the grown up Audrey—first an actress and then an activist speaking for children who could not speak for themselves.

It’s a sweet, sweet book. It reminded me of a book my friend Mindy recommended to me years ago, an Audrey book for grown-ups. Her best friend from home wrote a book called How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life. It popped up as an Amazon recommendation once for me and I scrolled through reviews to find Mindy’s name. Since Mindy is pretty much not on the internet, the whole thing startled me. So, I asked her about it at soccer one day and she shared a little insight to the author. If you’re an Audrey Hepburn fan, you’ll love the way Audrey’s philosophy of life is brought to life in the pages. In Mindy's words, 

This is the perfect book to give for birthdays, hostess gifts, Christmas, Mother's day, graduation, or any special event in a woman's life. I sent it home with 15 ladies who attended a baby shower, and it has inspired several Audrey "film-festivals." Her thoughts on how to carry oneself with style, dignity and grace will translate to any generation. "How to be Lovely" should be on every woman's night stand.

So there you go, a little Audrey Hepburn rabbit trail and a perfectly lovely birthday tea.

{{For more about our Storybook Year, please visit here.}}

needle & thREAD

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I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

I haven’t much sewing nor reading on which to report. I’m definitely yearning for some quiet morning hours in which to sew and some quiet evening hours in which to read. They are not presenting themselves just yet. I promised a picture of Sarah wearing her flannel Class Picnic Blouse. There she is, playing with helicopter seeds. Don't you love those?

I did begin to craft a dress for Katie this morning. I’d love to work some more today and finish it tomorrow. We shall see.

 

In the reading department, I’m still very slowly working my way though Living into Community. It’s great book, one that makes me want to reach for the highlighter incessantly. But I’m learning something about myself in the reading: my reading habits have been affected by my internet habits. I’m much more distractible than I used to be. I read a quote and have to fight the urge to Google the person who said it. I’m restless and can’t settle in to do the work of reading something so meaty. Needless to say, this observation about myself greatly disturbs me. It also makes me want to persevere—because it is a worthwhile book.

My friend Linda asked me to David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (interesting thoughts on conversion in link). She asked me to read it because she wants to talk about it. That’s a guarantee I’ll read a book. Any book Linda wants to talk about is a book I’ll read. I’ve just begun. It’s my downstairs book. Living into Community is my upstairs book. Last week, when I was resolving some long lingering doubts and wonderings, I resolved to change some habits. One of them is “internet reading.” I’ve always been a voracious reader, but until recently it was “nose in a book” reading, not internet reading.  I think the “nose in a book” me is more peaceful. Peaceful is good.

So tell us all about your reading and stitching!

Happy Birthday, Mary Beth!

Sweet Mary Sunshine,

I know that you are no great lover of birthdays. And I know that you face this day as you’ve faced the last ten days—with a very heavy heart, but I want to stop a moment and talk about the miracle of you.

You burst into our lives in a flurry of pink. It’s hard to remember that once you were the “little sister, “ so well do you play the role of big sister. But once, you were the baby. I remember one day, when you were about three months old, catching a glimpse of you sitting in your carseat on the kitchen floor. We were just about to leave house and I was gathering the big boys (they were little then). The light played across the floor and caught your face in a halo. Perfect little girl.

That moment is still bright in my memory. I think about it all the time. I saw so clearly the gift you are, the girl you’d be. Pure love shining in the light in the center of our home.

God is so good!

“They say” that mothers should not try to be their daughters’ best friends. And, of course, they are absolutely right. Mothers should, however, endeavor to raise their daughters to be the kind of women they would choose as best friends. And one day, a girl becomes a young woman and her mother sees that that young women is indeed her best friend.

Thank you for being the best friend I could ever hope to have.

I love you.

Mama