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Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. C.S. Lewis

Are you freezing in the midst of a spiritual winter?

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It’s “Connect with God” Week here at Heartspoken. The third week of each month this year will focus on ways to strengthen your connection with God. Please don’t get hung up if “God” is not your preferred word for your Higher Power. I will use “God,” but you may be more comfortable with one of [...]

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Goodbye to Baby Jesus

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As a life-long Episcopalian, I recognize today, January 6, as The Feast of Epiphany, the end of the twelve days of Christmas and  a celebration of the revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ. It coincides with the Jewish Feast of Lights and shares some of its symbolism. [...]

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Music Connects Us All

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Today I was happily  reminded that some things have the power to connect us across boundaries of culture, race, age, and geographical distance. The famous ”Hallelujah Chorus” from  Messiah, by George Frideric Handel , has been performed thousands of times. The English-language oratorio was composed in 1741 and first performed in Dublin in 1742, with a premiere in [...]

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Come as a Child

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Introducing Connection Messenger Sherry Woodcock, author, blogger, and spiritual teacher. This is an excerpt from her new book, Daily Spiritual Tools. Sometimes I find myself too busy. It’s a tendency I learned in childhood, taking on too much responsibility for things to try to keep my world safe. I’m not complaining; I’m definitely not the [...]

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Joyful Giving: Connecting With God’s Purposes

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This was one of a series of articles I wrote for the parish newsletter of my Episcopal church in Shenandoah County, VA, as part of our annual “Joyful Giving” campaign. Our leadership group is called the Vestry, and the regional organization of the church to which we belong is called The Diocese. I share it [...]

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Lest We Forget…

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Can it really be ten years since the terrible attacks on American soil that took place on September 11, 2001? We all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard about it, and that whole day was surreal. For thousands, the nightmare has not ended because of everything from [...]

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Ten Ways to Talk to God

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You have to pick up the phone! Whatever your name for a higher power — God, Source, Spirit, Universe — that power cannot connect with you if you don’t pick up the phone! But what on earth does “picking up the phone” actually look like in the development of our spiritual life? The answer is far [...]

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Fourth of July Reflections on America

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My husband and I  have just experienced an incredible drive up the coast of California between Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as visits to Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco and Muir Woods. We enjoyed breathtaking vistas of rugged coastline and walked a trail gazing up at immense redwood trees. The [...]

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Don’t worry…be happy!

I’m participating with a wonderful group of women from around the world in a “Play in May” program (coordinated by our Heartspoken Connection Messenger Cyndi Briggs of The Sophia Project), and we’re exploring ways to increase playfulness in our lives. Sandy Phocas (www.co-creativeevolution.com) shared this amazing four minute video. Watch it, think about it, and LIVE [...]

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Why does God make us wait?

My good friend, Cindy Hunter sent me a copy of Russel Kelfer’s poem “Wait” this week, not realizing how perfect the timing was for me to be reminded of this important spiritual message. My journal is filled with the phrase, “Oh, for a burning bush…”  In this age of instant information from a search engine [...]

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The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KX2-J6uS-o”

There are at least two Connection insights that Easter gives me today: I believe that Jesus Christ, through his life and teaching, his death and resurrection, bridged the chasm between man and God and created forevermore a way to strengthen our connection with God. I believe that unless we take those lessons and become conduits [...]

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“Grace Notes:” A Daily Devotional

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BOOK REVIEW: Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim by Philip Yancey I found this daily devotional very satisfying and inspiring…reminiscent of Frederick Buechner’s work. It consists of excerpts from Yancey’s other writings, some of which I had already read…some others, I’ve added to my To Read list. To me, the strength of this [...]

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“Indelible Ink:” Life-Changing Books

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Book Review: Indelible Ink: 22 Prominent Christian Leaders Discuss Books That Shape Their Faith edited by Scott Larsen with foreword by Philip Yancey I thoroughly enjoyed this book…and for different reasons than I expected. I ordered it because the foreword is by one of my favorite Christian authors, Philip Yancey, and because the title and [...]

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“In the Likeness of God”

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Book Review: In the Likeness of God by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey I’ve been reading this in small doses for a long time, because there’s so much depth and wisdom here. This particular edition (which I read on my Kindle) was actually a special edition combining two of Brand and Yancey’s co-authored works: [...]

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Connect with your Inner Artist

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Introducing Nature Connection Messenger/Artist: Jackie Catteron Sometimes you come across a work of art that is so full of light and warmth and beauty that you just wish you could meet the artist. That happened to me last year when I bought some beautiful notecards featuring birds and flowers and country scenes that just…well, they [...]

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Weirdly Wonderful Orchid Sex

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Okay, so call me a voyeur, but Mother Nature has really outdone herself in devising clever ways to ensure that her beautiful creations propagate themselves successfully. I was mesmerized listening to NPR’s Science Friday yesterday as Flora Lichtman regaled listeners with “An Orchid Explosion:” the story of the orchid genus catasetum, about which Charles Darwin [...]

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When does Giving become Giving too Much?

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This may seem like a strange topic for someone who is passionate about learning to make and cultivate important Connections, but the cold hard truth is that all of our important connections with other people should also have boundaries. If you are someone who loves to do things for others, even when you don’t expect [...]

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New Year…but not so Happy

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Nothing is certain and nothing can be taken for granted. My planned “Happy New Year” wish to my readers seems hollow in the face of a phone call I just received telling me that a fine young man who was in my daughter’s high school class and whose parents are friends of mine was killed [...]

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Joyful Giving: A New Connection with Money

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Our connection with our own money informs so much of our behavior and attitude to others in life, as well as our Connection with Self and our sense of well-being. It’s the time of year that many churches are conducting Stewardship Campaigns. The Stewardship Chairman at my little church has done an amazing job over [...]

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Are you singing in the dark?

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Todays meditation on Acts 16:25-40 (in which Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God and inspiring other prisoners, even after they had just been flogged) from Forward Day by Day was first published in 1962. Authors are always anonymous: “The world always listens when we Christians sing in our midnight hour. What wins people [...]

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