• Develop a breath prayer for yourself. A breath prayer combines your name for God with your deepest longing. It is a simple sentence that can be prayed over and over, at all time and in all places. Use your breath prayer today and the rest of the week.

I love the breath prayer. In my counseling, it is the single-most offered spiritual practice that I give to folks. This simple, four or five word prayer, can be used in every situation - washing dishes, driving, falling asleep, working, caring for children. I find my breath prayer to be particularly useful when I am anxious, when negative thoughts or fears are overtaking me or when I am angry. 

I have used the "Jesus Prayer" as my breath prayer for years: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." I find that I emphasize different words of that prayer on different occassions. But it never fails to bring me to a centering, quiet, peaceful place, particularly when that is the last thing I feel or am seeking. How has your breath prayer helped you?

Turbo Group - November 15 reflection

• Spend time in prayer for our congregation. During worship services today, invest your full attention and devotion to God in the times of silent and corporate prayer. Pray for the worship leaders: Rev. Sharon Vandegrift, our guest preacher; the lay readers and liturgists; the Children’s Worship leaders and nursery volunteers; the musicians. Ask God to work through them to glorify and praise God’s holy name. 

When I woke up today, I was so excited for worship. I'm always excited to gather with God's people but for the past few Sundays, my level of thrill has been rising. I can feel God's presence from the moment I begin to awake. We celebrated Consecration Sunday today, the time of the year when we offer to God our financial gifts. I said special prayers for our guest preacher, the Rev. Sharon Vandegrift, and for all who would attend. These Sunday morning prayer times are so meaningful because it reminds and humbles me to consider the number of people who freely and joyfully offer their gifts and talents to serve God and God's people. Thank you, Holy One, for being a Creator who is worthy of our praise. 

Turbo Group - November 14 reflection

• The Lord’s Prayer is the most common prayer in all of Christianity. Read it in Matthew 6:9-13 and in Luke 11:2-4. In this prayer, Jesus teaches us how to pray and for what to pray. Spend 15 minutes with the Lord’s Prayer today. What is God revealing to you as you pray this ancient prayer?

I love the Lord's Prayer, because no matter where you go, in whatever language it is prayed, it just feels right. In nursing homes, where many residents suffer memory loss or seem unresponsive, when we start to pray the Lord's Prayer, people perk up and start following along, even offering the prayer in their own way.

Tonight, our United Methodist Women hosted two Native American women who live in Delaware. For an hour, they instructed us on the ancient and modern ways of their culture, heritage and traditions. Two parts of their testimony resonated with me as I spent time with the Lord's Prayer. First, the phrase "give us this day our daily bread." The women, Bo and Reggee, shared that in Native American tradition, when hunting, the men ask for the life of the animals they see, only kill those necessary for the group to eat and use, and offer thanks for the gift. What a powerful testimony to the interconnectedness of life - we recognize the gift of daily bread, only take what is offered, and offer thanks for it.

The phrase, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" also brought me to a place of repentance. Native Americans has suffered so terribly for hundreds of years at the hands of those of us who call ourselves American citizens. Our government and our people have visited unspeakable acts of atrocity upon individuals and entire tribes and nations of native people. But as the women spoke, even though they were honest and forthright about the experiences, they were not bitter or condemning. Their attitude was one of forgiveness. Some of what they shared was painful to hear, but it was spoken and shared in love. It made this phrase of the Lord's Prayer very real to me.

Turbo Group - November 13 reflection

• Spend today reflecting on the pattern of prayer in your own life. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22. When do you find yourself praying? What are the circumstances or encounters that lead you to prayer? Review your day and note the times and occasions that you spent in prayer.

I resonate with the admonition to "pray without ceasing" because of the frequency of my brief prayer requests, petitions, moments of listening and supplication. I am blessed to experience prayer in so many forms throughout the day. At least once a day, I pray aloud with someone, either in person or on the phone. I share grace with my family at meals. We pray spontaneously when emergency vehicles go by. I pray as I read scripture or prepare for a Bible study or sermon. I pray with a notebook, with a journal, with colored pencils, in nature. How have you experienced prayer this day?

The challenge comes, however, in rooting and grounding ourselves in a prayerful lifestyle. If prayer is communication with God, then for us to pray without stopping is to be in a constant, attentive, intentional conversation with God. And I certainly fall short there. When I'm short with my husband, impatient with my children, panicked about a forgotten responsibility or chugging along relying on my own steam, my conversation with God has been interrupted. Where in your life is your conversation strong? Where does it falter?

Turbo Group - November 11 reflection

• Read James 1:19-27. James instructs his readers in balancing devotion and personal piety with acts of justice and service. How can Christian community balance these two calls? What is the danger in giving priority to one over the other?

The book of James is so clear and forthright. He pulls no punches. In this passage, right at the beginning of the book, he lays out one of his key points about Christian community - we must be doers not only hearers of the word. In verses 23-25, James makes the point that we learn the word of God, it is written on our hearts, when we go out and do what it says. For those of us who are experiential learners, this is truly good news!

One of the dangers of a privatized faith is that our relationship with God becomes an end in itself, not an relationship that blesses others with signs of God's love through Jesus. Christian community, fellowship with other followers of Jesus, can help us balance the being and the doing. When our lives get out of sync, our group members can help us align our spirits. If we live too far in doing and we are not connecting with the source of life through prayer and Bible study, we lose our perspective. When we devote all of our time to the inward practices and do not move outward to serve, we close our spiritual lives to the revelation that God offers us in one another.

Turbo Group - November 10 reflection

• Read John 13:31-35, where Jesus gives the New Commandment to love.  What is stirred within you when reading and reflecting on this passage? What does it mean to love in the way Jesus shares? Spend time meditating on the love of Jesus.

This passage is the Gospel lesson for Maundy, or Holy, Thursday, the night when we remember Jesus' last supper with his disciples. We call it "Maundy" from the Latin word mandatum, which means commandment. In this lesson, Jesus gives a new commandment to his small group, his closest friends: to love one another just as Jesus loves us. 

I am filled with awe and joy when I read this passage. I also am touched with repentance and seek forgiveness because of all the ways I do not love others as much as Jesus loves me: selflessly, unfailingly, fully, eternally. I think of how our lives would be completely transformed if we spent just one day loving every person we meet like Jesus loves us. Imagine if we loved our children and family members with endless compassion and grace. How would our places of work or our schools be changed if we spoke with every person in gentle, loving tones? 

A small group is so important because in that relationship of trust and understanding, we can model Jesus' love for each other and we can try out what it means to love and to be loved like Jesus. What does it mean for you to follow this new commandment?

Turbo Group - November 9 reflection

• Read Matthew 18:15-20. In this passage, Jesus addresses how to handle conflict in the community, ending with the reminder that when two or three are gathered, Jesus is there.  How does this affirmation by Jesus affect how Christian small groups operate? What does it mean for you that Jesus is present?

There is something very powerful about being a part of something bigger than ourselves, whether it's participating in a sports team, attending a concert or voting in an election. It's even more powerful to participate in something where Jesus is present. When we gather with fellow followers, we are not gathering as mere men and women; we are gathering with the Divine. Remembering that Jesus is the "third guest" at our conversation can change the way we speak to one another, our tone, and even the flow of our discussion. Remembering and recalling Jesus' presence also opens our heart to the movement of the Spirit, giving us revelation, comfort and sustenance.

Reaffirming Jesus' presence provides us with a powerful connection to the reality of God. Have you ever experienced his presence in a way that was real or memorable?

Turbo Group - November 8 reflection

• Spend time in prayer for our congregation. Lift up all of the small groups that enable our weekly worship: Sunday School classes, music ministry, fellowship groups, the prayer chain. Pray for those members who are not connected with other Christians. 

Loving, giving God, thank you for West Grove United Methodist Church. I praise you for your body that you have knit together and the bonds that are made by the power of your Spirit. Lord, I raise up to your light and love each person connected to our family of faith, whether they have visited one time or been a member their entire lives. Meet each one's needs, physical, mental, emotional, financial. Protect them from all harm. Awaken our hearts and spirits that we may grow in grace and love.

Thank you for the men and women, boys and girls, who give of their gifts and talents to serve you, praise you, and lead your people in worship. For all who use their voices to sing, their fingers to play, their arms to care for children, their eyes to read, their ears to hear, anoint them with the power of your Holy Spirit that their offerings will be used to share your love.

Thank you for loving relationships you give to us with one another. For members of our faith family who are isolated or alone, show us how to reach out in love. Help us form places of connection, safety and trust. Guide us as we develop this new ministry of small groups, that those who are most in need of connection and those called to offer will be brought together in relationships of joy and peace. We ask all of this in your son's name, Amen.

Turbo Group - November 7 reflection

• "John Wesley preached: . . . Christianity is essentially a social religion, and . . . to turn it into a solitary religion is indeed to destroy it. By Christianity I mean that method of worshipping God which is here revealed to man by Jesus Christ. When I say this is essentially a social religion, I mean not only that it cannot subsist so well, but that it cannot subsist at all without society, without living and conversing with other men. (Source: Albert Outler, ed., Sermons I, vol. 1, The Works of John Wesley,"Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, Discourse the Fourth." Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1984; 533:26-534:1.)                                                                                                                                            Do you agree or disagree with Wesley’s assessment of the “social” nature of Christianity? Where do you see your spiritual journey at this point – as a social venture or as a more isolated one? Spend time in prayer over where God is calling you – to share more of your journey with others or to draw closer in quiet prayer, or both."

I love this quote from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement in the 1700s. Wesley had a very healthy understanding of both the private and the public nature of Christianity. The Christian journey is both inward and outward. We must meet God in the silence of prayer, scripture reading and reflection. It is where our souls are fed. But we can't leave our experience with God in our heads and hearts. It is in community where we have our leadings from God affirmed, our miscues noted, our minds and hearts opened.

John Wesley had a very structured system of small groups to introduce people to the Christian walk, to grow their faith, deepen their connection with Christ, and move toward spiritual perfection. Even in meeting in a small group with other pilgrims on a weekly journey, the average length of time between exploring the Christian life and claiming a saving, justifying relationship with Christ was two years! Two years of intense, intentional, focused journey with a committed group of folks. Many Christians do not experience that type of small group ever, much less for two years.


In the small group, the private and the public face of the Christian faith find a safe meeting place. In a group of trust, accountability, openness and welcome, the soul finds a safe place to show up, to borrow a phrase from author Parker Palmer in Hidden Wholeness. We can experience the voice of God speaking through others, through prayer, and through the Scriptures. Where do you see the place of the small group in the social and private practices of faith?

Turbo Group - November 6 reflection

Last night, 12 people (a perfect God-number!) gathered to begin a five-week "Turbo Group" small group experience. We have another five or six who are interested in the journey. I praise God for these pilgrims that are willing to journey with us as we discern God's desire for us for small group ministry at West Grove UMC.

Each day we will reflect and pray about small group ministry, and I will blog my reflections and prayers here. Here is today's question:

• Read  Acts 2:43-47. If you have time, read Acts 1 and 2 to understand the context of this first extended community of Christians. The disciples went from a fearful group hiding out in the upper room after Jesus’ crucifixion to a bold and fearless group that lived in the open and attracted new believers. What made the change? How does this passage speak to you as you learn more about the need for Christian friendship and companionship?

As I said last night, this is one of my all-time favorite Bible passages. I love the depiction of the early followers of Jesus living in such harmony, equality and joy. As many commentators have pointed out, that harmony did not last long - look at all of the division and dissension that Paul and the other Epistle writers address in their letters to early church communities!

I believe the coming of the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way was the beginning of the change in the disciples. But I also believe that in addition to the boldness and power they drew from the Spirit, they also had the witness and companionship of one another. The disciples and the women with them had shared a great deal together. They had eaten meals, sat at the feet of Jesus, slept under the stars together and witnessed the execution of their leader. They had huddled together in fear and then in awe as the risen Jesus came to them. They had been through a lot with one another!

This passage, and the focused picture of a group of people seeking the joy of the Lord with their entire beings - their time, their homes, their families, their resources, their worship - speaks to me of the imperative to travel the Christian journey with others. Joy is multiplied when we are with others. Burdens are shared. Generosity is modeled and encouraged. Endurance is possible. We can go farther and deeper on our journey when we have traveling companions.

What about you? What is your reflection on this passage?