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New Article From Creating Wome Ministries

What Do You Envision When You Pray?

As I was making dinner tonight, I had the television turned to a rerun of a situation comedy called, "The King of Queens." It's a filler show for me, companionable background banter to set my mind on a clear path of relaxation after a full day of thinking. This particular episode had the main characters, Carrie and Doug, landing themselves into Sunday Mass because they felt guilty running into their priest at the fish market. Unable to hold out the priest's silence and stare, after asking them when he would see them at church, "Sunday it is," pops out of Doug's mouth, much to his wife's frustration.

Doug settles into the idea pretty easily. Carrie must be dragged to church, literally, and only warms up to praying when she prays for a raise and it comes through. She hadn't quite envisioned such success, but having achieved it, there was no stopping her. Until she prayed for her priest to choose another fish at the market so she could have what she wanted, and the dear father ends up with food poisoning. Her husband suggests they should "leave prayer to the people who know what they are doing with it."

He has a point.

We all eventually come to a fork in the road, and the decision must be made. Are you ready for the power and impact that prayer can have in your life, or not?

Rosanna Arquette was. An actress, Ms Arquette spoke of her life-changing prayer experience on, "The View," several years ago. Her daughter was hospitalized with a severe illness that the doctors were not altogether sure they could cure. While sitting by her daughter's bedside, she prayed, and she literally felt the room fill with angels, large, beautiful angels sent from God to lift her daughter up in healing strength. The angels supported her and her daughter through her healing and restoration to full health. Ms Arquette's summation: "Prayer works. God is good."
The two stories, even though one is fictional, one very much grounded in reality, share a common thread, the belief that the power of prayer is very real, and does affect daily life. And so we return to the same question. Are you ready for the power and impact that prayer can have in your life, or not?

Are you ready to expand your understanding of how God works among us? Are you ready to visualize God in all kinds of new ways? Going back to Jesus' directives about prayer found in Matthew's gospel, are you ready to receive and offer forgiveness, for yourself, your neighbors and God? Are you ready to pay attention to events and lives around you for answers to your prayers? Are you ready to really commit to this relationship with God called prayer and all it can imply for your future?

I'm sure you have heard this time-honored phrase: you get back what you put into it. This is no more true than the relationships in our lives. How close do you feel to your spouse, your children, your friends, even your pets, if you aren't able to spend quality time with them? Most of us probably feel pretty miserable, somewhat guilty. Stretched out over time, and in the extreme, the minimized relationship becomes one of neglect and personal ruin. The distance becomes destructive and devastating. The joyful interplay, the teaching and learning and personal growth, all the God stuff of life falls away, unless we are willing to turn back in time, and really focus on the relationships that fill our lives with gladness and wholeness. What we put into our relationships does come back to us. The power to change our lives, for the better or the worse, is in the relationships we choose for our lives, and how we choose to managed them.
Our relationship with God, and how we choose to manage it, is no different. There is another time-honored saying, be careful what you pray for because it may happen. I would add, whether you think you are ready for it or not. This isn't a threat, but a promise to yourself to pay attention to your life, your belief in God, and how you think that plays our in this very real world we inhabit together. What we put into our prayer lives, our communication with God, will come back to us, if we open ourselves to the power and impact that God offers to us in the most profoundly simple and straight forward ways.

One of my previous jobs was managing a furniture store. When customers came in to make their purchases, it was part of my job to ask them questions to determine their needs, and how our product could help them meet their needs. What room will this chair be going into? What other prints are on the walls? How large/small is the room? All those questions to narrow down what they need, then the clincher: What kind of car do you drive? The company I worked for did not deliver, and even though the majority of the items we sold needed to be assembled once the customer brought them home, the question of transportation could be a deal-breaker. Will this item fit in you house? And, will this item be fit in your car so you can get it to your house? We had an easy pick up area, and we always helped customers put the boxes into their cars, but they still had to make the final decision for themselves. All the effort was usually quite worth it because even a small addition or shift in a room can transform it completely.

Not so different from prayer and God's response to us as you may think.

If we choose this relationship with God in the first place, then choose again, over the course of time to deepen that relationship, some things inside us are going to need to be moved around, adjusted, to make room for God to work. We also must consider the avenue we are creating by which God's presence will be brought to this new, open space in our hearts, minds and souls. God will meet us at the door and help us load up, but we will still need to be responsible for unloading and bringing the boxes inside, opening them up for ourselves, and placing them in these new spaces. Even a small prayer can transform a life completely.

How do you envision your life changing as you invest more deeply in your prayer life? Have you made way for the power and impact of God's response? Do you have room in your life for all that God has for you? Good questions to consider, now and over the course of a lifetime.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 6:12 PM 0 comments

In This Moment

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls left me speechless.

Having never visited the Falls until last week, I wasn't sure what my response would be. Walking across Rainbow Bridge into Canada under the war, bright sun gave me good view of the United States Falls, the picture I had seen many times on postcards. Our first true introduction to the Falls, both Canadian and U.S., came, as for many, through a journey around the bottom of the Falls on The Maid of the Mist, a small ferry with enough courage, strength and plastic rain coats for millions of tourists to embrace the power and magnificence of this natural wonder up close and personally.

I came away from The Maid a little damp and steamy, but feeling I had missed something.
Next we spent some time on the Behind the Falls tour, a trip through humanmade tunnels built into the sedimentary rock , in front of which rushes millions of gallons of water per minute. The hallways leading to the observation portals and decks were slick with the Great Lakes water that feeds the Niagara river before it tumbles on to the rest of its path. The mustiness almost overpowered the celebrity visitor bios and historical plaques dotting the walls under dim lights.
Stepping out onto the observation deck meant entering into another world. What I discovered was the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, a spectacle that put the U.S. Falls firmly in their place. The Maid of the Mist had been far too close an encounter to grasp their power and majesty. The cool mist brushed my face when the wind shifted, as if to help me find myself in this picture, as the water continued to thunder relentlessly in front of m.

Later in the day, after the butterfly exhibit, the gift shops and the scenic bus tour, we came to the Niagara river Rapids. Dipping to the shore, several hundred feet down in a very quick elevator, brought us face to face with the category six rapids, the most dangerous in the world. One of my traveling companions pondered out loud that what we were watching was only half the actual effort of the Falls power: the other half was channeled into electrical power for use in homes and businesses. The frothy turbulence before us was almost overwhelming. What would twice this energy look like?

At nine that night, the sun set, and the lights came on to highlight the natural beauty of the Falls. Hundreds of people gathered all along the Table Rock observation area, silent except for small exchanges. All eyes gazed at the Falls, U.S. and Canadian, as the thunderous roar continued, the mist stirred up a massive pot of sparkles and dancing light, and the night sky twinkled with another age-old wonder.

Finally, I smiled.

I'd made the connection to the memory that had been whispering at the back of my mind all day. "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream." What was before me was only half what the mighty Niagara had to offer. We've managed to redirect a powerful river to serve our needs in a practical way. So, what does God's justice, full-flowing, look like? What would it mean for us to clear the way for its refreshing strength to carve out enough for everyone-enough food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care? Enough peace, good will, kindness and love? Enough of whatever it took to make the world whole and right?

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 10:16 AM 0 comments

In This Moment

Summertime

Summer is very evident outside my door: eighty degrees and a clear redefinition of humidity. Thank you, God, for fans, air conditioners and cold drinks to sustain the body and refresh the soul.

Summer is manifesting itself in other ways too. Children are freed from the routine structures of their classrooms. Vacations welcome us to rest and revitalize. Visitors from across the country, and across the street, reconnect over new adventures and renewed acquaintances with familiar summer rituals. Vacation Bible School comes to mind as one of those summer rituals, an annual event during my Wisconsin childhood. One week in particular stands out among them, more in retrospective than in the living of the events. The legacy is what has stayed with me forty years later.

Our church was perfect for hosting these programs. A huge Christian Education building, directly linked to the sanctuary, surrounded by plenty of grass and trees, and the parking lot across the street all played their supporting roles. There was enough space for all of us to be and to grow. The facility offered a generous framework for the rich minds and spirits of our leaders to work. This particular year offered an interesting new opportunity: rather than meeting in the morning or early afternoon, we would gather from late afternoon to early evening for our summer study time.

And so, Monday through Friday of that week, we came together as the Vacation Bible School community. We worshipped, prayed, sand songs, studied scripture, played games together, and created art projects to share with our families. We shared snacks and brown bag meal times with one another, and closed our time together each evening with a vesper service before scrambling out the front doors of the church to be greeted by our parents, who would walk us home, asking us what we had learned that day.

The simplicity and grace of that week is still so clear because it occurred to me several years ago that that week encompassed a whole theology of life, passed on to my generation from a group of people who were role models of faith in action in the real world. The beauty and truth of those days are lasting because I saw the theology they embodied throughout the year, not just during that week. The Vacation Bible School teachers worshipped, prayed and sang songs with us in all seasons. They talked about how scriptures had impacted their lives, and how they saw God at work in the world. We all participated in the Advent workshop candle trimming and ornament crafting. The Women's Fellowship annual bazaar rivaled any mini-mall/cafe combo within a hundred mile radius for abundance and creativity. We shared many meals together over the years, and more than a few vesper services with sunsets over the lake as the evening meditation.

Blessed by their generous gift, I am twice more blessed by the memory, and my own desire to embody this legacy in the hope of passing it on to the next generation.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 10:58 PM 0 comments

In This Moment

Romans 8 and the G-8 Summit

The G-8 Summit concluded this past week, eight men from leading industrialized nations, including the United States, having gathered in Scotland over an ambitious and historic agenda: eradicate extreme poverty on the African continent in our lifetime. Although these leaders meet annually, it was this year's agenda that drew international attention.

From Diane Sawyer's Brad Pitt interview several weeks ago, to the profound impact of the Live 8 Concerts around the world over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, most of the world is aware of the three point plan presented by Bob Geldof and Bono, organizers of the Live 8 Concerts: In order to help Africa move itself forward and heal, we, the wealthiest countries of the world need to increase aid, forgive the debt Africa owes to us and remove trade barriers that hinder African exports. The G-8 leaders agree they want to see Africa move forward, but do not agree on how to help make that happen. Britain came into the meeting wanting to offer more upfront aid, while our own United States government baulked at the idea.

The One Campaign website, designed to promote African relief efforts by obtaining the support of one person at a time, framed the basic desires of this movement: "We believe that in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves, now is the time to join with other countries in an historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDs and extreme poverty."

There are a number of reasons why this comes down to the very practical basis of why we should help people we don't know who live, quite literally, half way around the world: We are called to do so by our faith.

How many places does scripture direct us to care for those who have less than us, not out of pity, but because we can? How often did Jesus preach among his community members about sharing wealth, appreciating each person's contribution, and humanity as a whole? Do you remember the parables that Jesus told about investing resources wisely, instead of making the conscious choice to squander them, or hoard them away so no one could benefit from them, including the person doing the hoarding? The Bible is pretty clear about God's intent among us regarding distribution of wealth.

The Bible is also quite straight forward about forgiveness: When we are able to forgive each other, God also forgives us. Forgiveness of a burdensome, crushing financial debt seems to be one of the most gracious, simple and generous things we can do as a country to assist another country in creating stability within its own borders. Does the portion of the Lord's Prayer dedicated to exactly this premise mean anything if we cannot live into our words, repeated thousands of times in each of our lifetimes, in real, concrete ways? If, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," doesn't include forgiveness of financial debt, what does it mean? We did not create the United States without help. Do we still owe France for what they contributed to our cause 229 years ago?

I believe our faith also speaks to the equality of worth of each person in God's creation. I Corinthians 12 is focused on this understanding as it discusses the distribution of God's wealth of Gifts among all believers. Everybody gets at least one. Everybody. Which means that helping people help themselves isn't so much charity as it is an act of reciprocity, free trade if you will, of God's spirit among believers of a shared faith. What is vitally important to remember is that, as St. Francis of Assisi wrote," It is in giving that we receive." When we give, someone else is able to give back, and the flow of abundance is made complete and continuous in God's grace.
During Ms Sawyer's interview with Brad Pitt, he paused over the idea that our generation can be know as the people that eradicated extreme poverty. He expressed humble awe at how incredible it would be to be remembered for making such a difference in the world for so many people. He is right.

Romans 8 is frequently quoted, at least parts of it. Verses thirty-one through thirty-six express such confidence in God that, even though the list seems crushingly endless on what can attempt to separate us from God's love, verse thirty-eight reminds us that, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." We aren't just conquerors, we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us. As the world turns to recreate a relationship of support, forgiveness and reciprocity with Africa, we are not alone.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 8:27 PM 0 comments

In This Moment

On Letter Writing

When is the last time you wrote a letter?

I'm going to be very specific in my definition of the word letter. By letter, I don't mean an email, I don't mean a post it note slapped to the front of the refrigerator, and I really don't mean a text message or instant message darting across a computer screen of any size or shape. By letter I mean a good old fashioned, sit down, pen to pretty paper event in which you express something of yourself to another person. When completed, it gets sealed in an envelope, addressed, stamped and mailed via the U.S. Postal Service, which is actually still in business, despite our fierce alliance with and allegiance to all things internet.

Obviously, the internet is a powerful tool in our world culture. Disseminating information is quicker and easier because of the web, and those are both good things, most of the time. But sometimes it is good to take things slower, and to invest them with more in-depth luxury, and handwritten letters can teach us that.

Love letters, for example, are best contemplated, poured over, edited and proofed a few times before being sent out with a wish, a prayer and a kiss. I think this is especially true at the beginning of a relationship, but perhaps even more so as a match settles in to everyday routine and comfortable habits. There is profound joy and delight in discovering someone thinks enough of you to take the time and thought to put together a message, in their own hand, just for you.
Thank you notes are more than an obligatory expression, but a recognition that what someone else has done for you is honored and appreciated. True gratitude, not just a flimsy, "Hey, thanks," matters. It changes us into something more than we were, and is a stepping stone to who we will become.

Letters asking forgiveness give us time to think, and to develop the wisdom necessary to carry out a difficult, but liberating task. I recently sat in on a teleseminar during which the coordinator reminded everyone several times to have their pens ready to take notes because writing down information solidifies its presence in the brain more fully than listening by itself. That remembrance is most crucial in such an important task as forgiveness, particularly of oneself.
The Bible expresses a fine measure of support for letter writing. The Epistles are letters written to various communities at specific times and moments in their histories for specific reasons. Understanding that communicative process between writer and receiving community gives us insight into their worlds, how they lived and applied their faith in daily events. The same can be said for our communication today, and the necessity to save enough of our interpersonal dialogue so people in the future know us as more than technological addicts who forgot how to be with one another.

I am grateful that the following passage, taken from Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth, survived: "Do we need as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."
My assumption is that if we do not make time or have time to write out a love letter, a thank you note, or a message asking forgiveness, we do have the opportunity to live these letters out in our actions, our being in the world. It is clear we can "read" each other, in our words, behaviors and mannerisms. Knowing what is evident in your own heart and mind and soul, how do you think people read the letter you are sending each day?

Until next time, God's blessings.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 10:19 AM 0 comments

10% OFF SALE THIS WEEK ONLY

Creating Women Ministries is offering a special sale to encourage you to sample our journals, seminars and workshops at a savings of 10% off your entire purchase.

July 10-17 is a great week to check out our website, browse through the pages at your leisure and then complete your visit with a trip to our online shopping center. We offer a secure shopping experience with Paypal, or you may send a check or money order and still receive this week's special savings.

Whether you chhose a journal, seminar or workshop, you won't be disappointed. We look forward to your visit at www.creatingwomenministries.com. Remember, the sale ends Sunday, July 17, so don't delay.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 1:25 PM 0 comments

In This Moment

In This Moment, a new feature from Creating Women Ministries, is a semi-weekly column dedicated to pondering and exploring everyday issues and world events in a theological context. From balancing our checkbooks and balancing our lives, to living in our own worlds and living in the world community, there is room to welcome God and each other to a conversation that can find us on common ground.

Join us, starting the week of July 10, for In This Moment. We also welcome your suggestions for future subjects for this column. Contact us at creatingwomen@irun.com with your ideas.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 1:12 PM 0 comments

New Prayer Seminar Available

The Prayer Seminar, first in the Seminar Series from Creating Women Ministries, is now available.

The Creating Women Ministries Seminar Series provides opportunities for small group study in an informed and informal framework. Each seminar, comprised of a series of eight to ten articles, followed by discussion questions, can be used for ongoing classes, personal devotions, short term "mini studies," or as individual discussion studies whenever a group of friends feels the desire to gather and talk about their faith. Less structured than our workshop series, the Seminar Series offers great freedom and flexibility. Use these resources as you feel is appropriate for you or your group.

The Prayer Seminar covers a number of topics, including defining prayer and how it is used in our culture, when and how we pray, and considering our own prayer experiences. Each article and accompanying discussion questions provides ample material for one to two hours of meeting time and allows for a variety of leadership and leadership styles.

The Prayer Seminar 46 pages PDF format $9.95

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 10:19 PM 0 comments

Weekend Musings

It's the weekend!

Those are truly three of the best words strung together in a sentence in the English language. Summer is a particularly good time to really luxuriate in relaxing over a second or third cup of coffee on a Sauurday morning, the newspaper sprawled out across the dining table. What's going on in your town this weekend? Perhaps an arts festival or a yachting regatta? Is your backyard beckoning you back after a week of making its way without your undivided attention? Or are there church gatherings, a cookout or camping trip that will welcome you among friends and family?

Whatever your plans, consider these seven words, equally wonderful when strung together: Bidden or not bidden God is present. These words introduced the home of Carl Jung, noted psychologist, to guests from above his fron door. They also found their way to my kitchen wall. The words serve to remind us that whatever we are doing, wherever we go, whomever we are with, God is also with us. We are cared for, loved and never alone.

Have a fantastic weekend.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 10:17 PM 0 comments

Celebrate the Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July Everybody!

I can hear fireworks in the background as I write these words, which brings back childhood memories of watching fireworks over the bay, about a block from my parents house. The bright colors and designs in the sky juxtaposed against the serenity of their own reflections in the placid water underneath. Almost the entire town lined the grassy banks, settled onto blankets with only the pows and bangs of the displays, and our own oohs and ahs , as sound effects.

As many citizens of the United States, I am prone to ponder our history this weekend, my own part in helping to create who and what we are as a country and what I would like to see us become during my lifetime. I go back to my grandmother's motto: Whether you know it or not you live by what you believe. I pray to continue to be conscious of my beliefs, how they are developing and growing, and how who and what I am can contribute in a positive way to our culture. I also believe that everything we do makes a difference. Just as every person who has gone before us has made their mark, so do we each day of our lives.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 9:41 PM 0 comments