Hasten - What Elie Wiesel Taught Me About Prayer

Well-known Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, died July 1. He was a prolific writer with thirty books to his credit. His first book, Night, chronicles his experiences after his family was captured by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp.

I found a copy of Night for a dollar at an antique store one day when I was looking for a hard-back copy of an old book for an art project.

Night is a description of Elie Wiesel's time in two concentration camps, Auschwitz (May 1944 to January 1945) and Buchenwald (January 1945 to April 1945). Stories of beatings, lack of food, extreme exercise, marching for hours, and humiliation made me wonder how he survived. Most of the prisoners did not. His mother and younger sister died in May 1944 and his father in January 1945.

Elie was a devout Jew. As a young boy he was devoted to study of the Talmud. His interest in Jewish law centered his life. He continued to pray and practice Jewish rites even when he was in Auschwitz.

Shortly before being transported to Auschwitz, Jews were told to place clothing and items they wanted to save in backpacks. All of the Jewish families in Elie's hometown, Sighet, Transylvania, left their homes and gathered in ghettos created in the center of town. They stayed in the ghetto until the day the cattle cars came to take them away.

Walking by his home the day he left, Elie commented -

     "I looked at my house in which I had spent years seeking my God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later. Yet, I felt little sadness. My mind was empty." (page 19)

I was taken by his words "...seeking God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later."

Jews do not believe their Messiah has come. They are still waiting.

Reading Night and portions of another book Elie Wiesel wrote, All Rivers Run To The Sea, his devotion to prayer, study of scripture, and Jewish tradition impressed upon me his urgent desire for the coming of the Messiah and for what life would be like when that happened. He persevered with hop that practicing his faith would bring about the Messiah's arrival.

Christian Prayer and Jewish Prayer

Reflecting on Wiesel's life prior to the Holocaust caused me to think about the purpose of our Christian practice of prayer. When we pray for peace do e have faith that our prayers will result in peace? When we pray for love, do we believe love will come?

I am reminded of a passage in Mark 11:24, where Jesus tells the disciples, "When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it." Jesus is saying, if you desire peace, pray using these words - "Thank you God for the peace I feel." You may not feel peace immediately, but praying with a grateful heart will bring comfort until peace comes.

Elie Wiesel believed that fasting would hasten the coming of the Messiah. His heart believed that through fasting the Messiah would appear. He was praying as Jesus directed, "believing that he had already received," a prayer of faith, trust and gratitude.

What do we believe we can hasten through completing prayer, study of God's Word, fasting and acts of love and service? How can we hasten God's kingdom with all people we meet?

Elie Wiesel's faith sustained him through life in two concentration camps. When he was barely alive, beaten to the core, his life with God remained strong --- I think it is because he prayed, believing and God strengthened him to make it through.

Prayer: God, you have given us an example of a young man deep in faith who believed that he could hasten your coming through fasting and devotion to your Word. Let us believe, too, that praying with faith, trust, and belief, we too can hasten your kingdom and mold us more completely into your image. Amen.

The Sustaining Presence of Rituals - Everyday, Liturgical and In Illness

Ritual - an established procedure for a religious or other rite; a book of rites or ceremonies

Most everyone has rituals for beginning their day - awakening, a shower, eat, go to work, stay at home, have lunch and dinner, exercise, sleep. That's a basic outline with individual modifications.

Athletes sometimes observe rituals before a game - eating certain foods, listening to favorite music and wearing the same clothes. Before I jump into the pool to swim, I ask God to bless my time in the water, making those moments holy and meditative.

My ritual each morning links me to God shortly after I awaken. I go to my desk, say the Lord's Prayer out loud twice, pray for my family and friends, record my gratitude from the previous day, reflect on a few verses of scripture, and if a word or image surfaces, I record it. These practices observed before I go downstairs ground my day in God.

Now that I am retired, I have the luxury of spending more time in the morning reading the Bible and in prayer. When I worked, however, I developed an abbreviated form of centering using my 30 minute commute to pray and then read a prayer before I got out of my car. Sometimes it's necessary to be creative and find a meaningful ritual with God.

Coffee Ritual

The March, 2016, issue of O:The Oprah Magazine, had a short feature called "Coffee Mate." The author describes how she got to know the barista who filled her coffee order each morning. He always greeted her with a smile and asked how her day was going. She, in turn, got to know him as he shared stories about his family and desire to return to school. She said, "I've never told him my last name, yet he knows me from the milestones to the minutiae. Sure he's a total stranger, but when he asks how I'm doing, he actually wants to know."

My daughters, Sarah and Anna, stop each morning for coffee on their way to work. They enjoy  camaraderie and familiarity with the baristas who take their orders. When I asked my older daughter, Sarah, what she thought about "Coffee Mate," she replied, "It's all about the ritual."

And it is. There is something sustaining about being greeted by the same face at the coffee shop each day. Often the barista has the coffee waiting before an order is place.  Exchanging pleasantries and conversation builds a connection that can be foundational to the day.

Rituals to Sustain in Challenging Circumstances and Illness

Rituals can offer secure attachments for all stages of life. For moments of celebration such as a birthday or graduation, we often have cake with words honoring the occasion scripted on the top. Invitations are sent, family and friends gather. Sometimes cards and gifts find their way to the person of honor. We know the pattern for celebration - the ritual for gathering and honoring has been set in place for many generations.

Daily living often brings challenges, such as job loss or serious illness as well as frustrations or inconveniences  like a broken computer, a tooth crown that comes off, glitches in event planning or a flat tire. Rituals to sustain in these circumstances can involve coming to church.

I grew up attending the Episcopal Church that uses it's Book of Common Prayer. This book contains all of the services of worship for the calendar year. Holy Communion is celebrated the first Sunday of the month followed by three Sundays that use the service of Morning Prayer. For the occasional fifth Sunday, Morning Prayer is repeated.

Despite growing up in an unpredictable, chaotic home, I knew what to expect on Sunday. I came to love the comforting presence of the service rituals that became familiar over the years. The words and liturgy buried deeply in my heart, grounding me closer to God over time.

The January 18, 2016, Patheos blog (http://www.patheos.com/blogs) had an article about the importance of liturgy written by Jonathan Algner who lives with depression. "The Black Dog, The White Pill and Liturgy" describes the importance of liturgy as follows:

"If it wasn't for liturgy, I really might have been done. My depression is worlds better than it was last fall, but there are still times when I feel disconnected. I don't always feel my faith. I don't always feel God's presence. I don't always believe.

But I still go to church, and I say and sing and pray when my heart is often unable to do so.

Even when I don't believe, I say it anyway, " I believe in God, the Father Almighty.."

Even when I don't mean it, I pray it anyway, "Thy kingdom come, they will be done ...."

Even when words fail, I listen anyway, "The body of Christ broken for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you."

And I know that I am no longer alone.

It's restoring.

Renewing.

Reconciling.

And it's life giving. Even if all I can do is muster the energy to show up and do my job, the ritual of the liturgy, the word and sacrament, nourishes my faith at its weakest points and gives me strength to carry on."

What rituals form your day?

What rituals are meaningful in worship and help practice your faith?

Prayer: God, part of our forming closer to Your image involves rituals to increase an awareness of Your presence to sustain us at all times. Guide us as we seek You each day. Amen.

E

A Special Annotated Gift

A few weeks ago (June 20) I introduced Hannah Brencher's book, If You Find This Letter. I liked Hannah's idea of writing letters to strangers; I wrote a stack of my own to leave for others in various places around town.

Having enjoyed Hannah's book so much, I bought two copies, one for each of my daughters. The book brought up memories reminding me of Sarah and Anna. Hannah mentions her mother's habit of writer her letters at college - I did the same and continue to write to each one frequently as both live far away.

I read one book through the lens of Sarah's life experiences and the other through Anna's. Throughout the book, whenever I found descriptions that linked our lives to Hannah's, I wrote a note or underlined the sentence or paragraph.

For example, on page eight, Hannah describes the lunch her mother made and gave her shortly before the train left to take her to her first job in New York City. "Without unfolding the square mess of silver (aluminum foil), I knew it was two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Four slices of whole wheat bread." In Sarah's book, in the margin next to that passage, I commented, "Remember your elementary school lunches - peanut butter and jelly every day on crumbly homemade bread."

Page 142 brought to mind Hannah's favorite coffee shop. "The Blend was a little coffee shop Libby and I had discovered as we made our way toward Arthur Avenue one morning." This sentence merited a pencil drawing of a coffee cup as well as underlining, since both girls enjoy coffee shops and relish their coffee each morning.

I saw so many connections between Hannah's life and my daughters'. I couldn't resist purchasing two copies of the book, underlining, drawing little pictures with my pencil and adding my own comments.

My oldest daughter, Sarah, celebrates her birthday this month. One of her gifts was my annotated copy of If You Find This Letter, along with ten notecards I embroidered in case she decides to write a few notes to others.

Our family tradition on birthdays is to give the non-birthday celebrant a "sibling box" of small remembrances. This year, Anna will receive her annotated version of the book along with ten notecards.

My prayer is that these two sweet daughters will spread words of affirmation and encouragement in Colorado and Oregon, here and there, at some of the places they like to visit.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for words from others that awaken memories and make connections in joyful and surprising ways. I am so grateful for the wonderful gifts of my daughters and the fun we have together. Bless the writing in the book that enlivened my memory; bless my annotations that will fill their hearts with joy. Our lives are always in your hands. Amen.

God's Consolation in Art

I came to learn the value of art later in life, when I was almost 50. Nurturing creativity in my two young daughters was always a priority. We had in our home, blank sheets of white paper, crayons, markers, paint and scissors available for their use by the time they were a year old.

I'd read long ago in the Christian Science Monitor that if a parent wanted to have a creative child, do not purchase coloring books, but give them sheets of blank paper. I followed this guideline and ended up raising an art teacher and a marketing specialist who writes a blog and arranges pieces of jewelry for enticing Instagram messages at an independent business.

My own creativity was squelched growing up because my mother saw crayons and coloring as a waste of time. Our only box of crayons spent most of the time on the top shelf of the coat closet. Art in elementary school was hit-or-miss as the classroom teacher, back in the fifties, taught all subjects as well as the "specials" art, music and gym. When we did have art, perhaps a few times a year, every project looked the same as we followed the teacher's directives.

No room was allowed for individual expression nor were variations encouraged. Being locked into copying the teacher's example for color and design seemed robotic, against a child's natural inclination to experiment with color, form or design.

Art Awakening.

When I was approaching 50, I discovered my non-dominant left hand could draw. Drawing connected me to God and became prayer. Art projects touched and opened my soul in ways that deepened my connection to God, and awakened my creativity.

In the July/August, 2013, issue of Alive Now, a publication of The Upper Room, I had a short reflection published:

                              What comes from God

                              Brings me to God.

                              God prays by creating,

                               I create to pray.

These words describe my process of co-creating with God, making art that deepens my faith and nurtures my art.

God's Presence Through Art

Through the years since art awakened, God has walked beside me through various trials and challenges with peace coming through the completion of art projects.

For example, my parents died four days apart in January, 2013. My relationship with my mother and father was difficult, making the way I grieved them a challenge. I searched the internet for articles and talked with a few professionals about how to grieve people who were not responsible parents.

One day, my art teacher, who was aware of my emotional turmoil, suggested we make paper from the stack of sympathy cards I received. I tore over 100 cards into small pieces, and we made eight sheets of paper. I took the tiny, torn pieces of cards we did not use, dried them, and stitched them together. I thought the sheets of paper would be the path to restoration, but it turned out completing this piece designed by God's leading became the source of healing I sought. When the project was done, I finally reached a place of peace related to my parents' passing.

A Source of Comfort

Art continues to be a source of comfort and healing. For example, a week ago Tuesday, I had a day that challenged me with memories surfacing from the past, creating great anxiety, confusion and anger.

Every Tuesday I am a volunteer chaplain at a local hospital. Fortunately I was able to greet and help the people who came my way with care and interest while inside I was experiencing emotional turmoil. That night, I couldn't fall asleep. I asked God for an image to represent my struggle, knowing from past experiences an image is a communication from God. Copying the image and seeing what the image brings, becomes a way to pray, and stay present.

I thought about the layers of my self, what people saw and how I responded compared to the layers behind me that were stacked with memories filled with anger, frustration and anxiety.

I got out of bed, went to my desk, placed a piece of white paper on the board I use to cut paper, removed my X-acto knife from the glass apple cup and cut a series of long rectangles. Cutting the paper released the inner tension and turmoil that had resided in me all day. Then I went back to bed and slept.

The rectangles sat on my desk for a day before I wove them together, then sewing the woven pieces on a square of fabric. While I was completing the project God brought me the word -assurance- that anchored my work. The woven piece was an assurance of God's presence with me.

Later, I found four references in the Bible for the word "assurance." I copied these scriptures and have reflected on them in the following days. The image and word "assurance" remind me I am in God's presence always, no matter what is happening.

Art, lately discovered, but richly pursued, is a source of companionship as I have worked through hard times. God is always present when people are not, offering understanding, strength and comfort.

Art, God and You

Your path with God and art may be different from mine. You may or may not have images to use, but opening your heart to God can bring ways to receive that will relate to your interests. God knows how to reach you with insights, perspectives for days of celebration and challenge.

How to start -

1. Open your heart to God, asking God to enter.

2. I believe art can be a way to work through difficult times or celebrate life. You don't have to create a masterpiece; merely experimenting with color and paper can get you started. For example, get a sheet of white paper and a basic set of watercolor paints. Think about how you feel then find a color that matches your feelings. Paint lines using these colors. Be alert for stirrings that may happen in your heart. Listen to what God might be saying to you. Allow time to rest with your art.

3. Return to the art in a few days. Listen to the art. What does it say? What does God say to you through what you created?

4. Bring a specific event or moment in your life as you interact with the paint and paper. Where does God enter? What image comes? How does God speak to you through the image?

5. Keep your interaction with the paints and paper simple. Allow time to explore fully what you put on paper and how God comes. I have spent several weeks on a simple piece of artwork, sitting with the art and listening to God. There is no hurry. Sometimes it takes awhile to hear a message God wants to convey.

Prayer: God, art museums all over the world are filled with artist's interpretations of your message. You can speak to us too as we gather paper and paints. We can respond to scripture and paint our perspective. We can related to an image that has come to us in a new way. Art can offer an avenue of healing and growth, and moving deeper into you and our created selves. Open our hearts and guide our hands. Amen.

Staying Within Reach of Jesus

Jesus was talking to a group of people when a woman came behind him. She had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years. Hoping to be relieved of her difficulty, she pushes through the crowd with great faith, desiring only to touch the hem of Jesus' cloak.

When she reached the cloak, Jesus turned around. He felt power go out of him and said, "Courage my daughter! Your faith has made you well." At that moment the woman was healed of her infirmity. The simple act of touch cloth, Jesus' cloak, made her well.

I, too, find healing and peace when I touch cloth while I quilt, imagining I am in the crowd right next to Jesus.

My interest in quilting began in 1973 when Mike began serving churches in rural North Carolina while in seminary at Duke University. One summer he pastored two small churches. Often the families invited us for lunch or dinner. We were glad to eat a "true Southern meal" and especially enjoyed getting to know the families, their hobbies and interests.

Most of the women quilted. They were proud of the quilts that they made, showing me stacks of sewed beauty in various colors and patterns. They told me the story contained within each quilt that involved the choice of fabric and design. I could tell that the quilts were a source of pride, containers of family history as well as a source of warmth and comfort on cool nights.

When we returned to Indiana following Mike's graduation, he received an appointment to a church in New Castle, east of Indianapolis. Remembering how much I like the quilts made by the women in rural communities, I took a beginning quilting class at the local YMCA.

A group of women at the church who learned about the class I was taking, gave me a generous supply of fabric scraps from their stash. I had a ready supply of fabric to begin my first quilt - the perfect project for a long Indiana winter.

Cutting the fabric, sewing the squares together and arranging the squares into a nine-patch pattern brought a feeling of peace to my heart. Was I experiencing a connection to Jesus' cloak like the woman long ago?

As I quilted, I remembered the scripture passage where that story is found, Matthew 9:20-22. Placing myself in these passages, I imagined myself touching Jesus' cloak as I manipulated the fabric into a colorful quilt. I truly believed the peace that came whenever I touched cloth was as if I , too, was in the crowd that day reaching for Jesus, content with feeling the hem of his garment.

Recently I read Still Life: A Memoir of Living with Depression by Gillian Marchenko. Early in the book, she references this same scripture in her desperation to find a way out of living with depression.

"There is a story in the New Testament about a woman who hemorrhaged and bled for years. Jesus walked by her one day in a village, and she reached out and grabbed on to his robe. Feeling power leave him, he turned and saw her. 'Take heart,' daughter, he said, 'your faith has healed you.'" I thrust my hands out in front of me. I am a little girl lost in a dark house alone. I need to find that robe. I want to be healed."

Through the years I have made many quilts for my daughter's twin beds, quilt for their dolls and stuffed animals. Quilt-making began for me in 1976 and continues today when I make small quilted pieces to give friends, for pillows or decorations. The feeling of peace that began when I first picked up and sewed fabric squares together and then rhythmically moved the needle in and out of two layers of fabric and one layer of batting, remains today, keeping me in touch with Jesus, the source of all I need.

Prayer: God, many ways connect us to you. Taking a portion of your life and blending with our stories and circumstances keeps us in your life-giving touch. Amen.

What Does It Mean - My Faith Is Tested?

In the YMCA locker room, I chatted with Judy, a woman I see there frequently. She has custody of her eight-year-old granddaughter. Admiring Judy's stamina to raise a youngster, I always ask what her granddaughter is doing. We talked that day about summer vacation, Judy explaining how she is challenging her granddaughter to read and complete math and English workbooks two levels above her grade.

"You certainly value education,"

"Education is key," Judy replied. She told about her friend whose full-time job at a local hospital was recently reduced to part-time, putting a financial hardship on the family consisting of four children.

"This job situation has really tested my faith," her friend commented.

We talked a few minutes loner before I went to dry my hair.

Reflecting on Judy's words about her friend, made me wonder: How is our faith tested?


Thoughts on Faith

We can assume or hope all who believe in God have faith that is foundational, an anchor that grounds our interactions and responses to all events.

But what does it mean to have our faith tested? Is our faith only tested when bad things come our way?

Do we ask questions of God when we are confronted with an unpleasant challenge, emotionally, personally, professionally? When unexpected illness or other medical uncertainties come our way, is  our faith tested by asking God, "Why is this happening to me? How can this be?"

When "life is good" and things go our way, can we say our faith is strong or tested? When something unpleasant happens to us or to someone we care about, do we automatically say, "my faith is being tested?" Or, is our faith tested when we see a homeless person and question how to respond with some change, purchasing a hamburger or cup of coffee, or walking by?

Whatever trial or test comes our way - life brings those things. We aren't immune to them. It's our response that either brings us closer to God or takes us further away.

Reflection Questions:

1. How do I describe my faith?
2. What is a test of my faith?
3. What does this test reveal?
4. How do I respond? Is questioning God appropriate?

Examples from the Bible about Testing Faith

Looking at Genesis chapter 22, we hear God speaking to Abraham: "Sometime later, God tested Abraham. 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.'"

God continued with specific instructions for Abraham to follow. Can you imagine how difficult this test was for Abraham? Abraham, however, complied with faithful obedience. Just in the moment when his knife was raised to slay his son, God intervened.

An angel of God called to Abraham from heaven: "Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him. Now I know that you have obedient reverence for God, because you have not kept back your only son from him."

In the New Testament, I wonder if Mary's faith was tested when the angel delivered the news that she was pregnant with Jesus? Her astonished response, "How can this be?" (Luke 1:34) might suggest a momentary waver in faith.

How do others answer the question - What does it mean to have your faith tested?

After I found examples from the Bible of people whose faith was tested, I decide to ask some of my own friends what they thought. I asked, "What does it mean to have your faith tested?"

One person answered: "My faith was tested when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So many thoughts ran through my head when given that news among which was 'why me?' I was more afraid than anything, but I fairly quickly realized I was in God's hands and prayed for mercy that He would see me through whatever happened."

Another friend replied:  "My faith was tested when my life plans didn't go along with God's plan for me. I could have walked away, but I chose to stay with the Lord and accept the life He has blessed upon me. It has taken many years to fully accept my new situation, but by putting my trust in Him despite my frustration and heartbreak for this path, my faith has strengthened."

Another person shared these thoughts: "What does it mean to have your faith tested? Good question. It seems tied to trials in 1 Peter and in James 1:2-4. 'Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.' Trials seems to be the testing of our faith. When I talk about trusting in God or having hope and then life falls apart do I still believe? Do I still trust? Do I still have hope? The trial stretches me to see if I will stick it out and hold to what I said I  believed."

I spoke with my neighbor who shared these thoughts: "My faith is tested when I see a world that hates God, and it seems like evil is winning. If God is just, why doesn't he right some wrongs now? Why do miracles not happen any more?"

A long-time friend remembered a time when her faith was tested: "In March of 2015, our adult daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Our family was in shock and shut down with fear. I was angry - how could this possibly be? My own mother died of a brain tumor when I was six. My daughter lost her mother-in-law to a brain tumor in 2012. How would my son-in-law handle all of this with two small daughters? This did not seem fair, and I was quick to tell that to God. When my faith was tested, I was surrounded by my family, friends and church - they took care of us and got us through. They were the hands and feet of Christ. This is what helped me to keep my faith during this difficult time."

As for me, my faith is tested when I don't feel the flow of God's presence through my soul. Usually I feel God's presence when I write or complete art. When art and words stop, I am perplexed. "Where are you God? I believe, but I don't see signs of your presence?"


How to Respond When Our Faith is Tested

When our faith is tested, however we perceive these times, it seems the only words to say to God are, "I can't get through this (name the trial or situation) without you. Increase my faith and trust in you so that I can receive the care you will offer." Have we failed whatever trial or test by asking or questioning God? I think not, especially if you still believe in God's presence at all times. You can end with, "Affirm my belief despite not seeing."

Reflection Questions

1. When do you feel your faith tested?
2. How does that feel?
3. How do you respond?

Prayer: God, we do have moments and circumstances that test our faith. We wonder how to respond when life brings events that shake our foundations. Steady us during these times with comfort and the knowledge that you are with us always. Amen.

A Slice of Life

One day in May, at my favorite consignment store, I found a 2016 Mary Engelbreit calendar/datebook. Artist, Mary Engelbreit, captures delight and fun in the childlike expressions, clothing and sayings that are part of each drawing. For a dollar, I bought a book of sunshine.

"Who would want to get rid of a brand new calendar only five months into the year?" I wondered, carrying my purchase out to the car with excitement.

I was so eager to look at the pictures, I flipped through the book at stoplights all the way home. I leaned the calendar against the wall in my office so I could enjoy the cover from any angle where I sat.

About a month later, I picked up the calendar to see the art once again. Opening to the first page, which was the last week of December, 2015, I found entries written more like a journal than a listing of events and appointments. The writing continued through January 11, then stopped.

At first I hesitated to keep reading, as I felt like an intruder to someone's private writing. The notes included daily activities with an infant (teething), a preschooler (playing with dinosaurs), describing household chores like folding laundry, going to the grocery store, eating out, getting young children to sleep, allergy testing, haircut, visiting an elderly aunt after a funeral, preparing for vacation, and drinking hot chocolate after playing in the first snow of the new year.

The last entry on January 11, says, "two days until we leave for Florida!"

Reading these thirteen entries, I received a glimpse of a mother's life, a "slice of life."

It's not the first time I've been part of "a slice of life." For example, whenever we moved, we left behind our own "slice of life" and entered a new church, where I felt I was starting to read a book in the middle, jumping in halfway through that church community's story.

Baskets are prime merchandise I look for at garage sales. When I have a new-to-me basket, I wonder its history. Where was it purchased? What did it hold? In this case, I can only guess about the past, but I provide a new "slice of life" to the basket, making new memories with use.

A friend gave me a stack of incomplete quilts already pieced - leftover squares, triangles and hexagons - given to her or purchased at yard or estate sales. They sat in my closet for a few months, but I finally brought down her pile of fabric shapes and got to work. When I handled the pieces, I realized I was again part of a "slice of life." I wondered about the woman who put the quilt pieces together? What was her name? Where did she live? How did she choose the fabric? Why was she making the quilt? I wish the fabric could talk!

"Slice of life" can provide opportunities for our imaginations to wonder about circumstances, people and events. Encounters with people as we go through our days, at work, in the store, at the library, at the gas pump, are our own "slices of life" where we can spread God's love. We don't need a lot of time or even words to be a source of blessing to another. Even a smile, a non-verbal affirmation, is love.

The image below shows how God envelops our heart in God's heart - the only requirement to fill a "slice of life" with love.

I am sorry the young mother who began the year with prolific writing was unable to continue. She was providing "slices of life" that in the future would have been fun to revisit and remind her of busy days with young children. However, I am blessed with bright pictures by one of my favorite artists who brings joy and delight to my own "slices of life."

Reflection Question: What "slices of life" did you find today?

Prayer: God, open our hearts today to realize "slices of life can become moments to fill others with your love. Amen.