Soul Sister Time

My first view of this beautiful country on the bus ride from the airport in Tel Aviv.  We arrived at sunset and the clouds look like God's hand of blessing over us.   I feel the hand of God's blessing in so many ways and I just landed! House of Simon the Tanner where Peter saw a vision to welcome Gentiles. It is the same port where Jonah fled to Tarsus to avoid preaching to Gentiles. This is where my journey begins, a Gentile deeply loved by the great Hebrew God! Door where Simon the Tanners home may have been Day Two: Journey to Jerusalem beings in Israel (January 31, 2012) JOY! My tears have turned to joy. Preparation for this pilgrimage included packing and shopping. The most important preparation I made was to open my soul. The soul that has devoted itself to God journeys along a rarely traveled path that soars. The soul that loves God guides a person’s senses just like someone with sight will guide a friend who’s blind. On this path of love the soul experiences tr

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess (Deuteronomy 11:8).   I decided through tears that I would go on

            John the Baptist was all about it; it is the only response that God asks us to make—with His help of course.   Repentance, so vital to our relationship with God, is often avoided by most church goers.   Isn’t that why we joined the church?   So we can get away from recognizing our need for repentance.   Don’t we earn a free pass?   Aren’t we building up bonus points by our frequent attendance and Bible reading?             Perhaps I am alone in this spiritual reality.   I love God.   I love God’s love for me.   I love His creation.   I’m amazed by His word.   I know repentance is important, but I don’t go there very much.   Peter Storey wrote: Repentance is not so much a condition for forgiveness as a consequence of it . [i]    Perhaps I would change my heart for repentance if I focused more on God’s forgiveness than my deadly deeds.             Speaking of John the Baptist, it was all so simple to him.   He had no back-up message.   He delivered the same lesson no matter

            Winter is fully here.   My winter coat, gloves, scarves and boots stand ready in the front of my closet.   It took me a little while of going through the motions of living in winter before I really stopped to see it.   Seeing winter is about seeing the value of a hard freeze.   It’s about consenting to God and recognizing His wisdom in giving us the seasons—even seasons that appear harsh.             I first learned the value of seeing winter during a time when I was freezing spiritually.   My heart and soul was numb from the harsh realities I faced, and I found myself as barren as a fruit tree in the middle of winter.   It was the hardest season of my life.   God didn’t send spring in answer to my desperate cries; rather He told me to look around at winter and to really see it.             Today, as I walked a familiar path, I was brought back to the lesson from when I first saw the winter.   It was the creek that beckoned me to see the spiritual benefits of winter.   Fro

            With all the commotion of Christmas, it would be easy to let the Feast of Epiphany (January 6) and its short season (January 7-February 21) before Lent begins to slip away between the two major festivals of the church (Christmas and Easter).   It would be a shame to do so, as Fr. Thomas Keating points out: Epiphany is the crowning feast of Christmas.   We tend to think of Christmas as the greater feast, but in actual fact, it is only the beginning.   It whets our appetite for the treasure to be revealed in the feasts to come.   The great enlightenment of the Christmas-Epiphany Mystery is when we perceive that the divine light manifests not only the son of God has become a human being, but that we are incorporated as living members into his body.   This is the special grace of Epiphany. [i]             I forced my husband to leave the undecorated tree up until after Epiphany this year—though he likes to bring things back to order by New Year’s Day at the latest.   I wanted

            The theme— Create in Me a Clean Heart for the New Year —has been resonating with me for some time.   A New Year is always something to look forward to.   It brings hope that changes for the better are just around the corner.   Cleaning out the old is one way to make room for the change we desire.   I spent New Year’s Eve cleaning my house and organizing my closet and desk.   There’s a lot more that needs attention in the organized chaos of my life, but I feel good about the change that has already been accomplished.               Cleaning up is one of the best ways to feel new.   Just like a hot shower after a sweaty workout, the feeling of cleanliness penetrates to the soul.   Refreshing a body, or a room, is a desired change.   So what can happen if you start your cleaning effort by focusing on your soul?   What about some soul cleansing for the New Year?             There’s nothing more cleansing for the soul than confession and self-examination.   John describes it con