Day 27

In the face of the struggle for freedom,
Give us strength.
In the face of decision about freedom,
Give us wisdom.
In the practice of freedom,
Give us guidance.
From the dangers of freedom,
Give us protection.
In the life of freedom,
Give us joy.
In the way in which we use our freedom,
Give us a clear vision

(South American Council of Churches
"A Litany for Human Rights," All Year Round
British Council of Churches, 1988)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

In what way do you act on your own freedom?
In what ways are you enslaved?
Pastor Patty Fox 40 Days with 40 Christian Mystics

Really difficult questions today. I think we're (I am) enslaved, or at risk of enslavement, to the standards of our society which don't match with the teaching of Jesus. It takes a lot of courage to step away from that and give yourself over to radical love, radical hospitality and radical inclusion. Our lives are so complex but we're enslaved to that complexity. I wish for a life of radical simplicity; loving, serving and sharing. Having the ability to make that choice, to decide what shape my life will take, is the ultimate freedom.

Day 26

Home is a movement,
a quality of relationship,
a state where people seek to be "their own",
and increasingly responsible for the world.

(from The Journey is Home by Nelle Morton; theologian and Christian Educator)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Take a moment to sit quietly.
Consider when you have felt most "at home".
Imagine that place or time or experience.
Recall the sounds, smells, the texture of it.
Breath in a blessing and exhale a blessing
for the home that allows you to be "your own".
Pastor Patty Fox 40 Days with 40 Christian Mystics

For me home is being with those people who make me feel the most comfortable, the most loved; the most like myself. Our relationship with God should feel like home.

Day 25

Life is
A blue sky framed by firs.
Guilt, joy, frustration, contentment;
So many moments
That make up a day.
In all of this
Gratitude spills out
Like sap running freely from the tree.
God is good
We fail
We harm
We forget
but God is always good.
And this God
Lives in me.

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

How would you describe your day? 
Where do you see God in the moments of your day?
Pastor Patty Fox 40 days with 40 Christian mystics

Today was good. Today was joyful. Today was really busy! I spent time with my husband (we're often on opposite shifts), did some paperwork, spoke with friends, baked brownies, went to a mini-concert at my son's school (huge privilege for a working mum), I had the final session with a girl I'm preparing to receive her first communion and her sister who's getting confirmed, I cooked for my family and we all ate together, I made bath bombs with my daughter, coloured her hair, attended an event at church and had a drink with my church family after that!
I'm home now, a dog on either side and I look back at a busy day absolutely jam-packed with love, laughter and seeing the face if God reflected back at me everywhere I looked. Not all days are like that, but today was a good day.

Day 24

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

(From Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Read each line of the verse below slowly and in rhythm with your breath.

The true light,
which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world

John 1:9
Pastor Patty Fox 40 days with 40 Christian mystics

My heart breaks for those whose religion (especially Christianity) is a serious of "dos" and "do nots". Faith is not a set of divinely ordered rules to restrict us, it's something which sets us free, causes us to shine and reveals God's love in the world through us.

Day 23

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God".  Matthew 5:8

"This may well be the most important of all the beatitudes - from the perspective of wisdom it certainly is.  But what is purity of heart?  This is another of those concepts we have distorted badly in our very morality-oriented Christianity of the West.  For most people, purity of heart would almost certainly mean being virtuous, particularly in the sexual arena.  It would be roughly synonymous with chastity, perhaps even with celibacy.  But in wisdom teaching, purity means singleness, and the proper translation of this beatitude is, really, "Blessed are those whose heart is not divided" or "whose heart is a unified whole"...According to Jesus, this enlightenment takes place primarily within the heart.  when your heart becomes "single" - that is, when it desires one thing only, when it can live in perfect alignment with that resonant field of mutual yearning we called "the righteousness of God," then you "see God"."

(from The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind by Cynthia Bourgeault)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Heart of mine,
so often scattered into pieces,
be knit together.
Gaze upon the face of the Divine,
and know that there lies essential mercy.
Be a single entity
beating with each pulse
a rhythm of love,
yearning for God.
Pastor Patty Fox 40 days with 40 Christian mystics

Not only did Jesus preach that our hearts should be unified, he declared that our whole lives should be- if we are unified beings there will be a congruence between what we say, do and think. If the law is written in our hearts it will show itself in every aspect of our lives. Blessed are the unified in heart, because they reveal God to others.

Day 22

Every element has a sound,
an original sound from the order of God;
all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.
(Hildegard of Bingen)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Accept this offering of sound for your practice of prayer:
"Tosavalsen"

Pastor Patty Fox 40 days with 40 Christian mystics

Today Pastor Patty shares something of herself with us- her music. It's intimate- personal. We, like the elements, each have our own sound- our speech, our singing, our playing. We may not have skill, it may sound awful to others, but if we're using it in praise I'm sure it sounds beautiful to God.

Day 21

The person who dives for pearls
is never satisfied to come up with shells.
Neither should those who aim at virtue
be satisfied
with honors and reputation.

The more virtue parades itself,
the more it desires to be seen and acclaimed,
the less likely it is
to be real and true.

True virtue and personal attractiveness
are not rooted and supported
in pride, self-sufficiency, and vanity.
These produce a life lived
strictly for show.
It blooms brilliantly
and quickly withers away.

Having the appearance of virtue
may be fine for those
who do not seek it,
who accept it indifferently,
and who do not mistake the shell for the pearl.
But it can become very dangerous and hurtful
to those who cling to it,
and take delight in it.

For if someone
is truly wise, truly learned,
truly generous and noble,
their gifts will flower
in true humility and modesty.

A really great soul
will not waste itself on such empty goods
as rank, honor, and form.
It has higher aspirations.

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

All Through the Day; seek the pearl, not the shell.

(from Set Your Heart Free; The Practical Spirituality of Francis de Sales)
Pastor Patty Fox 40 days with 40 Christian mystics

I think we very often miss the pearl because all we see is the shell.