Author: SusannahDB

Book Review-The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

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You know those books that you keep reading long after you should be sleeping? This was one of those books for me. A dear friend recommended this book to me because her book group at church was reading it. I didn’t read any reviews or descriptions and just started reading. I kept reading and reading because I wanted to see how it would end.

It is hard to explain this book without revealing too much about the plot. Who is on this boat? What are we to learn from this boat ride?

The reviews for this book are mixed with some people loving it and others not enjoying it. I think a book that evokes questions and receives very different reactions is worth a read. So, if you do give this book a read, let me know so we can talk about it! Happy Reading!

Brew a Cup of Tea

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When I read this poem by William Gladstone, I loved the words so much that I knew I wanted to share them. I encourage you to brew yourself a cup of tea and read these words. Take another sip of tea and read these words again. Maybe even keep sipping and reading until you feel what he is describing deep within yourself. My wish is that all of us will feel solace and see the beauty in creation regularly after reading these words and savoring our favorite cup of tea.

When the world is all at odds
And the mind is all at sea,
Then cease the useless tedium
And brew a cup of tea.
There is magic in its fragrance,
There is solace in its taste;
And the laden moments vanish
Somehow into space.
And the world becomes a lovely thing!
There’s beauty as you’ll see;
All because you briefly stopped
To brew a cup of tea. -William Gladstone

A Benediction for Pentecost

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I love Pentecost. I love the joy when churches encourage people to wear the colors of flames and the sanctuary sparkles with reds, oranges, and yellows. I love that this celebration exists solely in the church-no Pentecost specials at the local restaurants or Pentecost gifts to buy. I love the faithful people who each year seek to be creative using doves, fire, language, and colors to celebrate this important day in the life of the church.

As we prepare to once again celebrate Pentecost, I share with you this benediction.

Beloved, go! Go out into this world filled with the Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit give you words when you have none. Let the Spirit stop your tongue when listening is the answer. Let the Spirit strengthen you when the way ahead is hard. Remember Jesus said he would not leave us alone and would send us a Comforter. Let the Spirit enfold you and comfort you and keep you until we are together again. Go in peace and bring the peace and fiery flames of Holy Spirit with you wherever you go. Amen.

Taize, France

My Cup Runneth Over

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I went to a funeral. Given my work as a hospice chaplain and years spent working in churches, I would guess I attend many more funerals than the average person. I went to this funeral not because I was leading the service. I went because I wanted to hear that this person was at peace. I needed to hear the familiar words of comfort.

This person’s story is not mine to tell as happens in the work I do. I will share that I have never met someone before who so wanted to believe that God loved him and had forgiven him for “everything”. He wanted to believe and could not fathom despite all reassurances that God loved him and God forgave him. So together we wrestled with these big concepts. We prayed together. I brought him communion. He said he trusted in God’s love. And on my next visit, the same questions came up.

Over our time together, there were moments of peace for him. He felt like he had a purpose and could understand God’s plan for this time in his life. And then those doubts would creep in again. He would ask me to pray saying he didn’t know if he could say the right words. So I would pray and reassure him that there are no right words and God doesn’t ask for words at all.

The last time I saw him I reminded him of our conversations and God’s love and forgiveness. I let him know that God was ready to receive him and he could ask God all the questions with which we had wrestled.

I went to his funeral to hear the words of peace he had so longed to believe. And in the 23rd Psalm, I heard “my cup runneth over”. This image of his cup running over was what I needed. I felt like the amazing abundance of God’s goodness which was hard for him to comprehend here on earth was now real and those words were the reassurance I needed to hear.

Faithful One, open up our awareness so we may realize the ways you communicate with us. You take our doubts and show us your goodness. You take our worries and provide us comfort. You take our sadness and sit with us where we are. When we pay attention, you remind us that our cups runneth over. Amen.

I’m So Excited! A Prayer for those times you are too excited to sleep

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Does this ever happen to you? A long awaited good thing is about to occur. You want and need sleep. If sleep comes, it might be in short bursts. Each time you look at the clock you wonder why you are awake again. The internet is full of explanations for why and what to do about it. Search out those answers if you are interested.

Here’s my story. The alarm is set for 5:30 am to catch a flight to see my family who I last saw 8 months ago. To say I am excited is an understatement! I have done all the things to go to sleep and I keep waking up. So, while I try to go back to sleep for the twentieth time, here is the prayer I prayed.

God of All Good Things, You created us in your image and so wonderfully. In the middle of the night, I wonder why you didn’t give us an off switch. Just a simple way to slow our swirling thoughts and excitement down for a bit for sleep before a big, big day. I’m not telling the Creator of All how we should have been made. Just wondering how to get a little rest before my alarm goes off in two hours and fifteen minutes. Just wondering and wondering. Thank you for the ability to feel so much excitement that we can’t sleep. Thank you for long awaited reunions and other joyous celebrations that have us awake as we count down the minutes until we can get started on the big event. Thank you for creating us not as robots and instead as beings filled with emotions too big to be contained by sleep. As I close my eyes to try again to sleep, grant me rest, Holy One, and if good rest doesn’t come before my alarm then grant me the energy to enjoy the big day tomorrow. Big yawn. Amen.

Seeing these smiles makes it so worth it.

Book Review-Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

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This week I read two books. One took me the full two weeks of library loan to finish. I won’t be sharing anymore about that book here. And one book I read in two days. I read past my bedtime. It was a book I wanted to finish and also wanted to stop reading to make my time with the book last longer.

When I share that the book I could not put down is a book about a woman in her early twenties who has leukemia, you might wonder why this book captured my attention and interest with such intensity. It is because we do not talk honestly about illness in this country. We don’t talk about how confusing and challenging it is to be ill. We don’t talk about the emotional and physical demands on caregivers. We don’t talk about how illness changes relationships. This book tackles all these topics and so much more.

It has been over a year since I first heard about this book while watching CBS Sunday Morning with my mother-in-law. I meant to write down the title and read it. I didn’t. And reflecting on it, I don’t think the time was right then. In the midst of my raw grief for my mother, this book may have been too much then. The author was back on CBS Sunday Morning again recently. Immediately, I joined a wait list at my local library for this book. And the time was right for me to read it.

I encourage you to read this book. In these pages you will witness the ways cancer affects someone who has it as well as everyone around that person. You will read about life after cancer which isn’t as easy as it might seem. And I hope you will find insight as well as empathy for the many people who live with cancer.

Judge Not (Matthew 7:1)

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In a conversation with a hospice patient, he said to me that he felt like the first verse from the 7th Chapter of Matthew is the most important and most difficult lesson in the Bible. Whether you agree or disagree with his statement, this verse deserves some consideration and attention. “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7:1).

As the dialogue continued, we reflected on how many times we had judged others in our short conversation. We had judged others in so many ways for so many reasons as we talked. As we pointed out the times the other had judged, we were both surprised at how often we had judged others. We repeated the verse again together and said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.”

This conversation has stayed with me as a good reminder of how easy it is to judge someone else. I can quickly judge a person or persons without ever knowing the full story. To reduce the number of times I resort to judgement, I have been repeating this verse over and over. I repeat this verse to remind myself to slow down and consider if I am judging someone else.

Compassionate One, you urge us to leave our judgements behind. The hard part is that we know that judging comes natural to us. We must do the hard work of living out this verse. We don’t want to be judged, so why are we judging? Help us, Holy One. Let this verse live in our minds and thoughts. Write this verse on our hearts so we may live it out in our daily actions. Strengthen us so that judgement will not be our first response. Let us respond first with compassion. Amen.

Pray with Confidence

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Recently I was sitting by the bedside of a woman who asked me to pray with her. I prayed. We opened our eyes and she said I have never been good at praying in front of other people. I said would you like to practice with me? I would be glad to hear your prayer. So, she prayed slowly in her own words. When she ended her prayer, she thanked me and I encouraged her to keep praying by herself and with others.

Imagine my joy when her nurse shared with me her story from visiting this woman the very next day. This newly confident pray-er had asked the nurse if the nurse would listen to her prayer. The nurse said she prayed with confidence and a sense of peace.

What opportunities do we have each day to affirm each other? To remind each other to step outside our comfort spots and do what scares us a little. Look for times to receive this gift and to share it.

Holy One, some days it feels like we have to be perfect in order to try. Remind us that you accept us as we are and you see the good in us. Help us to hear kind words from others and believe them. Inspire us to affirm what we see in someone else. You don’t ask for perfection instead you ask for our efforts. Today, Loving God, we give what we have because it is all a gift from you. Hear our prayer. Amen.

A Prayer for a New Month

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I love the feeling of crisp new notebook. Clean pages ready for me to scribble all over. I am trying to look at each new month in much the same way. New opportunities waiting for me. What will this month hold? Good days and hard days. Laughter and tears. Probably some weather that I don’t love. And so many opportunities.

God of Endless Possibilities! We begin a new month today filled with promise. We bring to this new month all that we are-our joys and sorrows, our dreams and failures, our memories of the past and our wishes for the future. All of this is present as this new month begins. Whatever this month holds, we are grateful to know we do not walk this way alone. You are present with us. You guide us if we only pay attention. You support us when we relax enough to be supported. You love when we seem most and least lovable. As this new month begins, we open ourselves to the possibility of goodness in our lives and goodness to share with others. Open us to receive what is to come. Amen.

Praying Through Disappointment

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Ugh! That has been my word of the week. I had great plans which got sidetracked by that which has been sidetracking many of our plans for the past two years. Everyone is fine. We are pivoting and making new plans.

I know I am not alone in this. Every single person I have talked to today had questions about how to know what is the right thing to do, and when is it safe to do this, and how do I know? So many questions with no easy, right answers. The only right answer for me was to create a prayer for times of disappointment. When you need this prayer, I invite you to pray with me.

Why, God? Why? I don’t even have the words to express my disappointment. I am sad and might cry. I am mad and would like to use up some of this angry energy in a productive manner. I don’t want to make a plan b, plan c, and plan d and throw them all out the window when plans must change again. I want to stop being so disappointed with how things are going in my community and my country. Truthfully, God, I wanted to be done with COVID by now and would like to be living in life after COVID. We all know that isn’t our reality, and so I hand over to you one more big bag of disappointment. Add it to the pile! I know you will hand me back some patience, a glimmer of hope, and so much love as you see this pain and hurt too. So with my next deep breath, I will hold tightly to the hope and feel surrounded by your love. I will remain patient for different days ahead and know that this disappointment won’t last forever. Amen.