speech and silent moment

God the Father has only spoken one Word, his Son.
Sometimes we make music for the Lord in conversation --
for speech is a blessed gift.
Sometimes we rest together side by side, in the presence of the Word;
a deep sharing can then take place.
The divine Word will instruct us.
Perhaps what we all need is to listen a little more attentively
to the stirring of his Spirit within us,
that we may know the time to speak
and the time to be silent,
so that both speech and silence
will be used only for God’s glory

written by a Modanna House worker

tarshish moment

in Tarshish

one can have a wonderful religious career

without having to deal with God

eugene peterson

longing moment

longing to live in the truth of the unseen

not just survive the obvious

hidden moment

The tiny hand of the fearless child
can slip through the bars of the prison of egoism.
He is the one who can open the lock and set free.
And God hides himself in the child.

Jean Vanier

standing moment

she stands
in quiet solitude

with a silent shudder
in the midst of an unexpected coolness
her leaves begin to fall
slowly at first
then in a bit of a rush
laying out a blanket of poured out life

gnarled and grey
she stands

in a new nakedness
freshly vulnerable
one by one
she drops her branches
incapable of bearing their weight

aching in the open wound of great loss
she stands

no longer able to offer shade
or nourishment
she stands

facing an uncertain horizon

she stands

while entering a sacramental season of waiting
in acceptance of her approaching winter

killing moment

The bullet that kills is

only the final instrument of the hatred

that began being nurtured in the heart

long before the gun was picked up

Henri Nouwen

dew moment

Christians are like the several flowers in a garden
that have each of them the dew of heaven,
which,
being shaken with the wind,
they let fall at each other's roots,
whereby they are jointly nourished,
and become nourishers of each other.
John Bunyan


so grateful for the dew that has nourished my roots ...........

worship moment

The test and core of all life is worship.
All of us worship.
We worship!
Question is: what, who is the object of bowing worship?
The method of darkness is to instill fear --
to get worship!
What you fear you worship.
Who you fear,
there is the altar of your worship.

Martha Kilpatrick

Ruth moment

As I travel I find so many women full of spiritual potential
who feel trapped by depression, disappointment, grief, shame and physical pain.
Yet when they look to the church for help
they often find that the patriarchal attitudes of the Old Testament are alive and well.
The church has failed
when it comes to helping women discover and implement their spiritual gifts.
Women's ministry has focused on trivial things
like fashion shows and recipes
when God desires to train His daughters to win souls, disciple new believers, start and run businesses, fund kingdom enterprises and transform communities.
We have ignored the message of the book of Ruth—
and as a result many women have remained spiritually barren
when it was God's intention that they become dangerous weapons that make the devil tremble.
Women please hear me.
Jesus has included you in His plan!
Allow Him to reveal to you how much He loves you
and how He desires to use you.
He wants you to leave a spiritual legacy,
just as Ruth did.
May you be filled with the same courage, faith and determination that marked her life.
J. Lee Grady

giving moment

THE GIVING TREE - by Shel Siverstein

"Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy" -
And so begins the story of a tree being happy
because she is able to make the boy happy.
At first the boy desires nothing but to climb on her branches,
eat her apples
and lie in her shade.
But as the boy grows,
so do his desires.
Because of the tree's love
she gives her apples for him to sell for money to have real fun,
her branches that he might build a house for a wife and family,
her trunk so he could build a boat and sail away from the boredom of life.
One day the prodigal returns to the tree that loves him.
By now she has given him everything:
all that remains of her is an old stump.
The boy,
now an old man,
needs only a quiet place to sit and rest.
And the giving tree gives once more.

gift moment

How do we make our deaths gifts for others?
Very often people's lives are destroyed,
harmed,
or permanently wounded by the deaths of their relatives or friends.
We have to do whatever we can to avoid this.
When we are near death what we say to those who are close to us,
whether in spoken or in written words,
is very important.
When we express gratitude to them,
ask forgiveness for our shortcomings
and offer forgiveness for theirs,
and express our sincere desire that they continue their lives without remorse
but remembering the graces of our lives,
then our deaths can become true gifts.
Henri Nouwen

talk moment

Talk must always come from a place of silence

and not from a place of aggression and power

joy moment

Where there is no joy there can be no courage;
and without courage all other virtues are useless.
Edward Abbey

Love and joy help give us not only the will to persist through adversity,
but also to blossom,
to find meaning in life
and develop our potential as human beings

tear moment

You can draw near to God even though you cannot say a word.

A prayer may be crystallised in a tear.

A tear is enough water to float a desire to God.

Charles H. Spurgeon

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty;

to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves,

more and more peace,

and to reflect it onwards to others.

And the more peace there is in us,

the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.

Etty Hillesum

reality moment

when we idealize our community

the fall from the sky of our ideal

into the pit of reality

can be crushing

simple moment

I am more and more convinced

that the times we struggle to "find" God

are because we are not simple enough

in our approaching Him

a pastor
a tired shepherd
a weary sojourner
with bloodied feet
from the States
has spent most of this week with me .......

he needed a hidden spot
to rest
to weep
to be seen
and be heard

he spoke of many things
but one statement ripped my heart to shreds ........

he has recently discovered
that while at seminary
he was raped of his intimacy with God
by religious theology .............

knowledge had become his lover

achieving position had displaced his passion

it was only as he dared to speak those words
the well of grief
and loss
and pain
and loneliness
was uncapped ...........

tremble moment

Thus says the LORD:
"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble
and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word."
(Isaiah 66:1,2; ESV)

anorexic moment

The anorexic body

Have we become an anorexic body?

Do we see ourselves as spiritually fat when in fact we are wasting away?
Have we lost the taste for temple food after years of filling up on fast food?
Is the truth no longer palatable because it might offend?

Anorexia kills slowly

One by one internal organs quietly stop functioning
The heart slows and eventually stops
Lungs become deprived of oxygen
Life sustaining blood no longer flows throughout the body
Gangrene sets in
Members are rendered useless and require amputation

Anorexia kills silently

Whose mirror are we looking into
Whose reflection do we see
Whose reflection do we seek

Anorexia kills

Have we become an anorexic body?