ken wilson online

Saturday morning prayer is usually about the sermon. So rather than mediate on a psalm (4 is up next) I let things spin out from the sermon, third in the happiness series on the role of focused attention through gratitude and pondering-dwelling on the good as forms of meditation. Mechanics of prayer this morning: lit a candle, read over the sermon notes based on Philipians 4: 1-9, then closed eyes and gave myself over to the focused attention practice of gratitude (meaning decided to spend a chunk of time in prayer to let my mind/heart/brain focus on things I’m thankful for.)
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I gotta say that this parking every morning with a psalm in the soaking sort of way is so very delightful. Having angsted over the communication part, it must be said, holy moley, why haven’t I spent my life doing this? It’s one of the curiosities of getting older. I stumble into something like this–a way of praying especially that connects especially and I feel this regret for mucking about for years with other kinds of praying that seem more like pious worry or introspection or something that required enormous amounts of will power to come back to next time. I must be a slow learner.This morning, it was the second part of psalm 3.
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Day 2 of psalm 3 for lectio. Still on the first few verses, Robert Alter translation: [arggh, difficult to write it in Word Press the with the poetic stanzas--alas!]

More awarenss of the ubiquity of foes; it’s not me, it’s just part of being human. We were wired, our brains that is, to react to foes of all kinds, so the “fight and flight” response, alarm, and all that is a major part of our inner life. Read in the NYTimes today an article about terrorism. The chances of being killed by a terrorist are equivalent to one’s chances of drowning in the toilet. But the fear of terrorism has a discernible, measurable efffect on increased heart disease risk. Even with major terrorist events, more people are likely to die of the effects of the increased fear, which wears out the body faster. So alarm, fear, and things like cortisol released in the body when fear is happening are a big deal. All generated by our inward response to the presence of “foes.”
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Erin Zindle gave me a CD or a song she wrote and performed with her group, the Ragbirds, the week after Christmas.  I finally got a chance to listen to it in the car tonight after dropping Grace off at Donnell and Maria Wyche’s for her youth group.  It was a one track CD so it repeated and I listened to the song all the way home.  About the sixth time through just started to cry, and did all the way home.  Not in the habit, either.  The song was so beautiful.  A simple song about being home for Christmas and the miracle of family and closeness.  By the time I got home, had to sit in the driveway and cry it off.  Just looking at my house from the driveway, knowing Nancy was inside. Grace had stayed for a couple of night’s at Donnell and Maria’s so I had her suitcase and what not in the car to bring back into the house.  That got me going again, just carrying in my daughter’s things.  What is it about gratitude?    

Starting a new sermon series in the new year on happiness…what got me thinking: several different women who when asked, how are you doing? replied, blessed! or I’m having a blessed day….people I don’t know, just running across in the course of a day. They’ve got some secret, these women. (The image was created by Jeff Hill.)