Journal Keeping

Mary stood at the fork in her life’s road. Her response to Gabriel would set the course of the rest of her years. Her offering: “May it be to me as you have said.”

During Advent, I love to dive into the mystery of God’s coming to us. I just keep pondering, what does this mean? I love how one songwriter phrased the mystery: “veiled in flesh the Godhead see.”

God has created us to find joy in the beauty and goodness we find all around us.

The flesh that God has worn is ragged and torn. This is the reality of Good Friday, one we contemplate during the sacrament of Communion.

At the heart of the gospel, we find that we have broken our network of relationships.

I am seen and known, naked and exposed. I know it is true.

God keeps us as the apple of his eye, right in the center of his vision. Imagine the scene after Jesus had been taken into custody: Peter follows at a distance, sits down with people around a fire in the courtyard. His face glows in the light of the fire. A servant girl recognizes him. She leans closer, looking at him. Peter feels her stare. She makes her accusation: “This man was with him.”

Feeling weary but unsure how to come to Jesus? Sometimes our lives hit a bump and we become lost in the swirl of uncertainty or the fog of grief. Sometimes we run ourselves ragged to the point of having absolutely nothing left to give. Feeling weary, exhausted, or like your spiritual life isn’t working the way it used to? Perhaps like me, you feel unsure about how to come to Jesus when the normal ways just don’t engage you as they have. Know that the Lord of heaven and earth is with you.

One beautiful morning, Henry Van Dyke (1907) was staying with the president of Williams College where he had been invited to preach. Van Dyke was an ordained Presbyterian minister but served most of his career (1899-1922) as a professor of English literature at Princeton University. Many concerns in the news troubled them during those bleak days before World War I. Moved by the beauty of the Berkshire Mountains, joy broke through. Van Dyke was inspired to write.

I didn’t have a very robust understanding of worship and I had never given much thought to creation’s connection to it. What are the essential elements of praise?

For the past year, my ten-year-old grandson and I have been zooming for an hour, four days a week. It’s been delightful. We talk about whatever interests us and explore the world via Google maps. This week, besides talking about Minecraft skins and the size of Alaska, we traveled to see where the Japanese snow monkeys live, learned about sea otters’ fur (a million hair follicles per square inch!), and watched teams of Alaska sled dogs run the 1,000 mile Iditarod in thirty degrees below zero temperatures. Yesterday, he asked me how we can know who God is since he is invisible. Great question!

The beauty of creation reflects the beauty of her Creator. Our God is supremely beautiful. His beauty delights us and calls forth our gratitude and praise. When we hear creation singing, her choir invites us to take off our shoes and enter into the holy of holies to join in. Creation teaches us who we are and our relationship to the Maker of heaven and earth.

When we sit along Kauai’s south shore with vacationers from all over the world, gathering night after night to enjoy the beauty of sunset, I know why everyone is there. We love the beauty of the changing sunset colors; we delight to watch the sea turtles come ashore to rest. It’s mesmerizing. Simply gorgeous. For my husband and me, it’s also holy.

I’ve been on a journey these past two years. I’ve found new ways to pray as I’ve come to understand more about the theology of our Creator, his creation, and how joy, beauty, and light are gifts our Creator God gives to us. I’ll be sharing my journey on my blog. I hope you’ll walk with me and discover new ways to pray.

I’ve come to understand God longs for us to look beyond joy and beauty to see him, our Savior, the Giver of all good gifts.

I have found that when my mind cannot engage with the Bible or come up with words to pray, I can still pray with joy in my heart. I now know how to let joy and beauty lead me to Jesus.

A few years ago, I decided I wanted to create my own book that would help me when I wanted to enter into a time of worship. I wanted to copy verses of Scripture, prayers of praise and confession, thoughts from books I was reading, and my personal reflections. This personal Book of Worship became a treasure.