Remnants

Rachel Hackenberg  ( http://rachelhackenberg.com/preparing-for-lent/) offers prayer writing prompts throughout Lent.  I will be doing my best to keep up!  I hope that you will use them as a springboard for your own prayers.

Isaiah 10:21 (NRSV): "A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God."

The prophet Isaiah foreshadows warring years for Jerusalem and a scattering of the people, but he also claims with hope that a remnant of the Israelites will be saved from the destruction in order to rebuild the nation. Despite all that will be lost, those who remain will be Israel's good news.

Remnants.
Sometimes it seems as if remnants are all that's left.......

A remnant of joy.
A remnant of patience.
A remnant of creativity.
A remnant of energy.
A remnant of faith.
A remnant of trust.
A remnant of awareness.
A remnant of health.
A remnant of anticipation.
A remnant of peace.
A remnant of contentment.
A remnant of love............. for God .............. for myself ............. for others.

Many of those remnants have been to hell and back.
It is easy to remember when they were ripped from the whole.

I am afraid I will never be whole again.

Please God, weave me into something new.

Friday Five: Almost Groundhog Day Edition

Rev. Pat Raube, at RevGalBlogPals writes:

I have to admit: I never thought much about Groundhog Day.

Then I saw that movie. And an odd holiday that seems to be a remnant of an obscure Pennsylvania German custom took on all sorts of new meaning.

So, in of the movie and the day, I present you with this Almost Groundhog Day Edition of the Friday Five!

1. The Holiday:  On a scale of 1-5 (with 1 representing, "Hey! Stop hating on the most awesome season ever!" and 5 representing, "Green. NOW."), how much are you hankering for spring? And what is, to you, a true sign that it is actually on its way?

I'd give it a 3.  It's almost/already spring here, which I love.  I'm not looking forward to the "traditional" spring months here because they bring blowing sand and increasingly hot temperatures. However, spring is not really here until the trees start to bud.


2. The Film: Seen it? If yes, Love it? Hate it? Meh?

Enjoy it.  Love the theme of possible change and redemption.  Love comedy.  Like Bill Murray.

3. The Meaning: If you could relive one day of your life, what one would it be?

It's actually two days:  the days our sons were born/came home with us, and their adoption days.

4. The Meaning, Part 2: If you had to relive one day of your life over and over until you got something right (a la the Bill Murray character in the film), what day would that be?

 Not sure about this one.  I try not to live in the past and with regret.  If I think about it for too long, there are several I can come up with!


5. The Meaning, Part 3: If you had to design a life-changing experience for a fairly despicable human being (as is, for example, the Bill Murray character at the film's start), what would it be? How, given all sorts of unlikely powers to bend time and take control of another person's personal growth, would you do it?

I think of a recent experience where another pastor, from a different tradition and with a different understanding of scriptural interpretation than mine, shouted me down at a ministerial meeting ("I rebuke you!  I rebuke you!" ) while talking about a hot button issue.  I'd not change him to believe as I do, but to be open to a new understanding of scripture and being able to hear me.

I don't really want that power;  too tempting!  :)

Thanks for the Friday Five, Pat!  It was fun!

And for the rest of you, if you could change someone or something, what would it be?