Sunlight into Our Hearts

Clouds over Mokuleia on the North Shore of Oahu

Good Evening, God!

I’m just back from a weekend Women’s Retreat at Camp Mokuleia on the North Shore of Oahu. A lovely time of laughing and singing — and, for me, praying one on one with women who asked me to do that.

Praying with people is something I get to do every Wednesday morning as our Women’s Prayer Group at church meets and shares prayer requests and praises over cups of coffee. But, praying one on one with another human being . . . is special.

I don’t mean praying for Big Things like Peace, Refuges and Orphans. I mean praying for our hurting selves and our loved ones — in all our myriad dilemmas. That’s HARD. Because it means opening up our Hurting Self

We hide our Hurting Self from our neighbors, our friends, and even from ourselves. We try so hard to bury our Deep Sorrows and our Dark Worries. Ah, God, as Brene Brown would say — we are hiding our SHAME!

After all, God, it is the nature of humans to make mistakes. Hmm. Maybe that should be an ongoing verb. We all continue to make mistakes — and, worse yet, we keep on denying and hiding them.

In a world that hides mistakes — mistakes compound themselves.

Hiding Our Mistakes allows us to THROW STONES at those Poor Souls who make “public mistakes” — like the woman in the Bible who was taken in adultery.

The men brought the woman before Jesus expecting that the woman would be declared guilty and stoned to death. Jesus wrote in the dirt, then looked up and looked around and said “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.”

I believe, God, that Jesus wants to HEAL us of our shame . . . that Jesus wants to help us open up our deep dark dungeon places to His Love . . .  to His Light . . . as we pray . . . two or three . . . together.