pray share chat 10/18/2023 Beholding

 

1.  Meditation 

https://youtu.be/LLeqY9ingRY?si=O0x1wwfJAzJAuCP5

2.  Song

https://youtu.be/SSTH3SCQZlc?si=CqIQayyD18KkhCes

3.  Narrative 

https://www.thelivingwater.com.au/blog/beholding-when-deep-calls-unto-deep-and-joy-leaps-in-the-heart

By Roland Ashby

Behold, I bring you good tidings! (Luke 2:10)

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.” So said St Irenaeus in the second century.

While the first part of the quotation, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive” is often quoted, the second part, which makes clear that being alive is conditional upon beholding God, is often ignored. Perhaps because it is not understood.

“The word Behold is arguably the most important word in the Bible”, argues theologian Maggie Ross, who laments that while it occurs over 1,300 times in the King James Bible, it has disappeared in most modern translations. “And with it have vanished the contemplative threads that are woven into the original languages.”[1]

It’s important, she believes, because it “recognises that something outside ordinary experience is happening.” It describes, she says, an experience or encounter that is outside the mind’s “conceptual and linguistic framework and therefore its ability to describe”.[2]

Moreover, “Behold is a word that alerts us to pause, however briefly, to be vigilant, because something new, something startling, is about to be revealed.”[3]

It describes a process, she believes, in which the mind is “temporarily brought to silence”, a death which leads to “the arrival of a new perspective”, a resurrection. “If we live in beholding we continually live in a new creation.”[4]

Franciscan priest Richard Rohr says that someone who is truly beholding “is silenced with the utter gratuity of a thing. We let it give us a leap of joy in the heart and in the eye.”

“Once we decide to behold,” he adds, “we are available for awe and wonder, to be present to what is, without the filter of our preferences or the false ledger of judging things as important or not important. A much broader, much deeper, and much wider field of perception opens up, becoming an alternative way of knowing and enjoying. The soul sees soul everywhere else too: ‘deep calls unto deep,’ as the psalmist says (42:7). Centre knows centre, and this is called ‘love.’

“Beholding happens when we stop trying to ‘hold’ and allow ourselves to ‘be held’ by the other. We are completely enchanted by something outside and beyond ourselves. Maybe we should speak of ‘behelding’ because, in that moment, we are being held more than really holding, explaining, or understanding anything by ourselves. We feel ourselves being addressed more than addressing something else... it becomes an epiphany and the walls of your world begin to expand.”[5]

St Irenaeus believed that contemplation of nature is “the initial step for all of us to come to knowledge of God”. So I invite you, when you next take a walk or work in the garden, to pause and behold something which takes your eye. It may be a flower, a tree, the sky, a bird. Continue looking at it until, as it were, you are seeing it for the first time. What do you notice that you haven’t noticed before? Be totally present to it, beyond any label or concept, and let all thoughts of past and future fall away.

Allow time for wonder and enchantment to rise, for “joy to leap in heart and eye”, and be filled with gratitude for its “utter gratuity”.

 

 

[1] Maggie Ross, Silence: A User’s Guide, Volume 2: Application (Darton Longman Todd: 2018) 132-133.

[2] ‘Freefalling in the love of God’: an interview with Maggie Ross, published on Living Water on 22 October 2020. See: https://www.thelivingwater.com.au/blog/freefalling-in-the-love-of-god

[3] Maggie Ross, Silence: A User’s Guide, Volume 2: Application (Darton Longman Todd: 2018) 129.

[4] Ibid. 129.

[5] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Just This (CAC Publishing: 2017), 99–101.

4. Prayer

Oh Lord, You know my heart better than I know it myself. You know my struggles and You hold each hope and fear in Your caring hands. Teach me, LORD, to be still and to know that You are God. 

You are in Your holy temple; let all the earth, including my mind and heart, be silent before You, resting in Your sovereignty. Like Elijah, teach me to wait for Your still, small voice and quiet the earthquakes and blazing fires in my life. 

Replace my restless doing with inner calm, and help me, like Mary, to sit at Your feet in quiet adoration even if there are a million things clamoring for my attention. Just as You spoke over the tumultuous sea and storms, so speak over my heart Your shalom. 

“Peace. Be still,” You said to them, and immediately they quieted. Teach my heart to cease striving and to know– to yada, to have an intimate and deep, personal, first-hand experience–that You are God. 

Help me cultivate a quiet heart, like a baby content in its mother’s arms, no longer coming to You with a “gimme” spirit but instead calmly nestling against Your heart. Help me find quietness  and happiness in intimate communion with You. You will be exalted over all the earth, and You’ve got the details of my day covered. I can rest in You. 

Amen

5. Meditation

https://youtu.be/AATOBmQ93JQ?si=P-57jrTX7ZnpsS-5

6. Song

https://youtu.be/qeHcf_EtZ6A?si=YzSizqebhoZpFRac

Paula’s prayer meeting oct 11 2023

 https://youtu.be/NvqSsO2-vTA?si=NdeGWq_hFC2CNXRT

The Heavens are Telling of the Glory of God  

Colossians 1:16   For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him

John 1:1–3   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

Revelation 4:11   “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” 

Hebrews 11:3   By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Jeremiah 32:17   ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.’

 

Low salt low carb instant pot shepherds pie

 

Shepherd's Pie and Mashed Cauliflower in one Instant Pot?  Yes, Ma'm.  Instant Pot comes with a trivet and this recipe employs its use to the hilt to accomplish the stacking approach.  The shepherd's pie is cooked right in the pot, trivet is positioned above it and the cauliflower is placed in a seven inch container to hold the cauliflower florets.

The recipe and idea of using the stacking method to cook both the pie and cauliflower was adapted from the book The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook by Megan Gilmore. I tweaked the original recipe by using tomato paste, miso paste, nutritional yeast and bay leaves to enhance the depth of flavor of the filling. I also added green peas to the vegetable medley at the end.

Instant Pot Vegan Shepherd's Pie with Mashed Cauliflower

Adapted from the book The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook by Megan Gilmore.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 carrots, cut in half inch pieces
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, roughly cut
• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dry rosemary
• 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce or more to taste
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1 head cauliflower cut into small pieces
• 1 tbsp miso paste or more to taste
• 8 ounces frozen green peas

1. Add all the ingredients EXCEPT the cauliflower, miso paste and green peas in the Instant Pot and mix them. 

2. Place the trivet on top of the vegetables and put a seven inch oven safe bowl on top. Place the cauliflower florets and 1/2 cup water in the bowl. 

3.  Securely place the lid and be sure the steam release valve is in the Sealing position.

4  Select Manual/Pressure Cook to cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. 

5. When the cooking cycle is done, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes.   At the end of ten minutes, move the steam release valve to Venting position to allow the remaing pressure to escape.  

6. When all the pressure is released the floating valve will drop, and you can now open the lid. Using an oven mitt remove the trivet and the bowl out of the pot. 

7,  Remove the bay leaves from the vegetable filling and add the miso paste with stirring and adjust the other seasonings. Add the frozen green peas and stir.  

8. Mash the cauliflower with nondairy milk, salt and pepper in the bowl with a fork or transfer in a blender.

9. Serve the vegetable filling in a large bowl or individual bowls 

topped with mashed cauliflower.

Understanding God’s ways

 1. Meditation 

https://youtu.be/IoblMfQY9i0?si=KH9MXTdhA5zKExxv

2.  Song

https://youtu.be/1zo3fJYtS-o?si=JxxrgCrFqpVvZI6c

3.  Narrative 

THE WAY OF JESUS

Following Jesus’ Way

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” —Mark 8:34–35 

Richard Rohr shares how Jesus’ message and way is intended to change our lives with its counter-intuitive wisdom and call:   

A blatant contradiction between message and action is holding us back in every part of the world. Christians too often preach a self-absorbed gospel of piety and religiosity, rather than a “lifestyle gospel.” The gospel is so radical that if we truly believed its message, it would call into question all the assumptions we currently hold about the way we live, how we use our time, whom we relate to, how we marry, and how much money we have. Everything we think and do would be called into question and viewed in a new way. [1]  

I believe that we rather totally missed Jesus’ major point when we made a religion out of him instead of realizing he was giving us a message of simple humanity, vulnerability, and nonviolence that was necessary for the reform of all religions—and for the survival of humanity. We need to dedicate our lives to building bridges and paying the price in our bodies for this ministry of reconciliation (Ephesians 2:13–18). The price is that we will always, like all bridges, be walked on from both sides. Reconcilers are normally “crucified,” and the “whole world hates them,” because they are neither on one side nor the other. They build the vulnerable bridge in between, which always looks like an abdication of ground to the supposedly “true believer.”  

Jesus is a person and, at the same time, a process. Jesus is the Son of God, but at the same time he is “the Way.” Jesus is the goal, but he’s also the means, and the means is always the way of the cross.  

For all authentic spiritual teachers, their message is the same as their life; their life is their message. For some reason, we want the “person” of Jesus as our “God totem,” but we really do not want his path and message of “descent” except as a functional theology of atonement: this is what Jesus needed to do to “save us.” We do not want to see the cross as the pattern of life and a path for our own liberation. We prefer heavenly transactions to our own transformation. 

The way of the cross looks like failure. In fact, we could say that Christianity is about how to win by losing, how to let go creatively, how the only real ascent is descent. We need to be more concerned with following Jesus, which he told us to do numerous times, and less with worshipping Jesus—which he never once told us to do. [2] 

References:  

[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Good News According to Luke: Spiritual Reflections (New York: Crossroad, 1997), 47. 

[2] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go, rev. ed. (New York: Crossroad, 2003), 80−81. 

4.  Prayer 

Almighty God, in you are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of your Word; and give us grace that we may clearly understand and freely choose the way of your wisdom; through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

5.  Meditation 

https://youtu.be/m1k8qWA93NA?si=ePlsvPPehazGAgme

6.  Song

https://youtu.be/51Bx1UwLc0U?si=_Cw6MD5yvm2tynCI

 

Pray share chat 9/27/2023 Non judgmental Attitude

 1. Meditation 

https://youtu.be/Mp0XAzyqpdo?si=DcBSSbL2hwNJNI1_

2. Song

https://youtu.be/j0ZXeIFm8u0?si=8nM0EE7MffCBUjfa

3.  Narrative 

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation Seven Themes of an Alternative Orthodoxy Seventh Theme: Reality is paradoxical and complementary. Non-dual thinking is the highest level of consciousness. Divine union, not private perfection, is the goal of all religion (Goal). You Must Start With Yes  Meditation 5 of 52

By teaching “Do not judge” (Matthew 7:1), the great teachers are saying that you cannot start seeing or understanding anything if you start with “no.” You have to start with a “yes” of basic acceptance, which means not too quickly labeling, analyzing, or categorizing things as in or out, good or bad, up or down. You have to leave the field open, a field in which God and grace can move. Ego leads with “no” whereas soul leads with “yes.” The ego seems to strengthen itself by constriction, by being against things; and it feels loss or fear when it opens up. “No” always comes easier than “yes,” and a deep, conscious “yes” is the work of freedom and grace. So the soul lives by expansion instead of constriction. Spiritual teachers want you to live by positive action, an open field, and studied understanding, and not by resistance, knee-jerk reactions, or defensiveness, and so they always say something like “Do not judge,” as judging is merely a control mechanism. Words and thoughts are invariably dualistic, but pure experience is always non-dualistic. You cannot really experience reality with the judgmental mind, because you are dividing the moment before you give yourself to it. The judgmental mind prevents you from being present to the full moment by trying to “divide and conquer.” Instead, you end up dividing yourself and being conquered. Adapted from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, pp. 46-47, 49-50; and When Action Meets Contemplation (MP3) The Daily Meditations for 2013 are now available  in Fr. Richard’s new book Yes, And . . . .

4.  Prayer 

Abba Father, the giver and sustainer of life. How bountiful is your mercy and rich your compassion. I approach you humbly today asking you to deliver me from a critical and judgmental spirit. Lord, I am reminded that I am not beyond the reach of temptation, hardships, troubles, or even making mistakes. May I never take this for granted, that I too can be in the same position as the people toward whom I am expressing judgment and criticism. Your Word reminds me that I am saved by your grace and not by my good works, so I have no reason to boast or be high-minded. Lord, I repent for being quick to pass judgement both in speech and thought. For every time my words or actions of judgment and condemnation have hurt someone, Father, I repent.

Lord, I pray that I will not focus on the faults or shortcomings of others. Help me to see others through the eyes of grace. Please help me to not judge people based on their outward appearance. I am reminded of the story when you sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be king, and you told Samuel that “man looks at the outward appearance but you look at the heart”. I pray that I will not reject or condemn others because they don’t conform to my idea of holiness or meet my standards. Lord, please set me free from religiosity and may I focus on teaching people the truth of Jesus Christ rather than man made rules and requirements. Lord, I ask you to create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me, deliver me from pride and self-righteousness, clothe me with humility, and fill me with love. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Psalm 103:8, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 John 1:9, John 15:12, 1 Samuel 16:7, Colossians 2:20-23, Psalm 51:10, Luke 18:9-14

5 meditation 

https://youtu.be/AATOBmQ93JQ?si=k8xsalGmRxn5NLYD

6. Song

https://youtu.be/7bqkTMO5fW8?si=BtGLS64VLbRFc-RA

pray share chat 9/20/2023 Life never ends

 1.  Meditation

https://youtu.be/G2K_UJySuPQ?si=hwkU_I8HgOUuRJuw

2.  Song

https://youtu.be/bqxtFUwM3-o?si=sGegv5tn20sAENZj

3.  Narrative

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation The Common Wonderful  You Are Going to Die AND Life Never Ends Friday, April 25, 2014

The fifth message of the common wonderful: It is true that you are going to die, and it is also true that “Neither death nor life, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, not any height nor depth, nor any created thing can ever come between us and the love of God”(Romans 8:38-39). It seems that we are born with a longing, desire, and deep hope that this thing called life could somehow last forever. It is a premonition from Something Eternal that is already within us. Some would call it the soul. Believers would call it the indwelling presence of God. It is God in us that makes us desire God. It is an eternal life already within us that makes us imagine eternal life. It is the Spirit of God that allows us to seriously hope for what we first only intuit. Thus Paul loves to variously call the Spirit “the first fruits, “the promise,” “the pledge,” “the guarantee,” or, as it were, the first installment of what is, in fact, the full and final situation. All spiritual cognition is actually recognition: The Spirit within you knows the truth, you slowly intuit the truth, and faith allows you to finally and fully grasp this truth—which cannot be proven but only experienced. God, by every religion’s best definition, is love (1 John 4:16). What follows, of course, is that if we are God’s creatures, then love is what we are too, at our deepest core and final identity. When we live consciously within this love, we will not be afraid to die, because love is eternal, and that core self is indestructible. “Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8). You already know that intuitively Adapted from Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation,

4.  Prayer

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

5.  Meditation

https://youtu.be/xvcG4vFeLRQ?si=IGsrkNc1kWlT-qwy

6.  Song

https://youtu.be/8RHek8k5WoY?si=nZmolUz40aWKaDVg

Paula's Prayer Meeting via zoom 9/13/2023

 

https://youtu.be/855D-RkS4WQ?si=ED9CxYQA4j2wWYYE

The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.

O God, strength and friend of the forsaken, we praise you in Jesus who bore the burden of our sins with a forgiving heart.  Help us to walk in his spirit.  We know a world of pain and anger that dots our history with war and division.  Teach us how to respect our differences and to forgive as we have been forgiven.  Give us the grace to realize the unity for which Jesus prayed.  We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen 

 With your wisdom O God, teach us to love and be loved.

God open my ears to hear.

In You we live and move and have our being, You are all in all.

 

 

 

 

The mushrooms give these burgers a great umami taste. The black beans that is part of the burger play another role; its liquid or aqua fava act as the egg replacement!  

I skipped the sautéing step of the mushroom mixture as was done in the original recipe. I was careful not to over-pulse the mushroom mixture in the blender preventing pasty textures and the need to evaporate liquids. 

I also air-fried the patties instead of frying them in a skillet in oil. 

Mushroom Burgers

Adapted from this site

Ingredients 

• 1 medium onion, quartered 
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely 
• 8 oz mushrooms, chopped in half if large
• 3/4 cup chopped walnut
• 1/2 can black beans, drain saving its liquid or aqua fava
• 1 cup panko crumbs 
• 1/4 cup saved black bean liquid or aqua fava
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, vegan or soy sauce 
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Directions 

Place onion, garlic, mushroom, and chopped walnut in a blender or food processor. Pulse till mixture is coarsely chopped but not pasty. 

Transfer mixture in a bowl. 

Place beans in a blender or food processor till they are coarsely chopped. 

Add the chopped beans, Panko crumbs, Worcestershire sauce and saved black bean juice or aqua fava into the mushroom mixture and mix till well blended.  Refrigerate the burger mixture for 20 minutes. 

Form into 6 large patties or 9 small ones. 

Air fry for 15 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.