And you thought I had petered out ...

Here's the sixth entry in revmerrill's public journal for Lent, 2008. Crucify

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Here's the fifth entry in revmerrill's public journal for Lent, 2008. On Self

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Here's the fourth entry in my public journal for Lent, 2008. On Being Fruitful

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Oops. I forgot Entry 2.

Here's the second entry in revmerrill's public journal for Lent, 2008. You Are Dust

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Here's the third entry in revmerrill's public journal for Lent, 2008. God Remembers

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Here's the first entry in my public journal for Lent, 2008. Introduction

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Father Eric and I have our monthly podcast conversation Keeping A Holy Lent just in time for Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008.

You will find a version of the hymn Forty Days and Forty Nights here.

The Genesis story is told in Genesis 3:1-24.

The Bartimaeus story is told in Mark 10:46-52.

Our music is Dawn by Josh Winiberg available at beatpick.com

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What a humbling experience! Today's podcast is a sermon I wrote but neither read nor preached. The voice you will hear is my sister, Gail, reading for her faith community I called the sermon Sorrow and the Rich Young Man

For your listening enjoyment, I present Daily Writings for January 5-13

Here are my daily writings from http://revmerrill.vox.com/ Daily Writings 2

Here's an audio version of my intentions for 2008 and other updates on me. You can hear my dog chewing on his bone, too.

Revmerrill_20071231

revmerrill

Originally posted on revmerrill.vox.com

This is a reading of my daily writings from December 19 thru December 24 on

Here's an audio using synthesized speech to read my last week of posts. Daily Writings for December 19 thru 24

Originally posted on revmerrill.vox.com

Let's see if Daily Writings 1 gets picked up in the feed now.

ON BEING A WRITER

This is not a new idea for me--to be a writer. Nevertheless, it came to me so clearly yesterday afternoon--a mouthful of Black Bean and Butter Squash chili in my moth, the spoon in my hand, Madeleine L'Engle's Miracle on 10th Street playing on my Victor Reader Stream.

"I can do this," I said to myself. I knew it was an answer to the call I have been sensing God is initiating in me. "I CAN write about my life, spiritual matters and I can draw the two together.

Advent, L'eNgle writes, is about listening. I have been at a loss to know how to listen to what God wants me to do precisely. I know Jesus has called me to follow but where? How?  Scripture keeps coming into my mind:

"Therefore, bring forth fruit worthy of repentance." Matthew 3:8

"Tell those who have a fearful heart, 'Be strong. Don't be afraid.'" Isaiah 35:4

These texts have jumped off the pages the Gospeler has read on successive Saturday evenings. Yes, true enough. I have been afraid. I know I am to do a new thing, but how shall I bring it forth?

Bringing forth is biblical language for birth. How is this new direction, repentance, to be brought to fruition in my life?

Yesterday I made contact with a blind woman in Italy. She shared links and web sites to make accessing the Hebrew text of the Old Testament possible. What did this mean for me? To learn, to grow, to become reacquainted with these texts I love so well. I spent the morning downloading different chapters of the Tanak and listening to them, my Hebrew so poor I could only pick out the words Israel, Lord, God, child, earth or land. The word one or alone kept coming up. I turned to Deuteronomy:

"Hear, Israel: the LORD is our God; the LORD alone.  Deuteronomy 6:4

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." Deuteronomy 6:5

Theresa of Avila said, in her fifth mansion, that the contemplative must love her neighbor as herself because that is the way she demonstrates her love of God.

Didn't L'engle say, quoting John of the Cross, that our judgment will consist only on whether or not we loved?

The author of the Cloud of Unknowing calls contemplative prayer the way of love.

So the path leads, not to Italy as a friend suggested, in jest I think, but to the contemplative life. I knew that before. I just didn't want to face it. That way will consist in listening to God, in writing and in loving God and neighbor.

NANOWRIMO now makes sense. I needed to demonstrate to myself that I could consistently write. One day I wrote over 9,000 words. In the span of three days I wrote about 15,000 words. They weren't pretty words. The writing was quite tortured, designed to generate word count. However, I can do it.

I also learned that I can write every day and when it is a good time for me to write. I write most consistently after dinner and the dishes are cleaned up.

I have expanded this essay today. It is still a shaky undertaking. It is more suitable for blog posting than for inclusion in a book. Nevertheless, it is a beginning.

Originally posted on revmerrill.vox.com

Sadly, another cross posting. I have a backlog of podcasts to do for the church so I want to get them done before I do something new here. I am started to blog here, however, so there is some new content. Contemplative Prayer Cross Posting 

Originally posted on revmerrill.vox.com

nanowrimo is taking my time and there's been lots of activity at The Voice of the Winged Ox so I'm cross-posting yet again. I hope you enjoy Conversation on Healing

Originally posted on revmerrill.vox.com