Daily
Vitamins for the Soul
A
sampling of Signposts devotions
by Renée Miller
As
one of the most popular of explorefaith's Signposts
writers, Renée Miller has offered numerous visitors insightful
words of healing, guidance and comfort. Now those visitors can access
Renee's devotions at any time in the newly published Daily Vitamins
for the Soul, slim volumes containing a month of devotions
for carrying with you wherever you go. Below is a sampling from
each volume, to get you in the habit of taking your Daily Vitamins.
from
Volume 1 |from Volume 2 [work]
from Volume 3 [truth]| from
Volume 4 [angels]
Day
10
I
caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. —Job
29:13b
God
can clothe even the most shattered of hearts with joy. We may be
in the midst of brokenness. We may feel abandoned, isolated, or
unwelcome. We may be cut off from the very ones who make us want
to raise our eyes from sleep each new morning. We may know the sadness
that cuts as painfully as the thinnest, sharpest scalpel. We may
feel the impotence of being unable to help ourselves. We may wonder
if the endless ache will ever abate. When we are in times like these,
joy can seem like the most unattainable possibility of all. Because
we cannot even make sense out of our situation, we cannot imagine
how we could possibly move toward joy.
The
eye of heaven is never turned away from our broken spirits. God
sees and weeps. God reaches out and grasps our sliced heart and
with the gentlest touch takes the threadbare fibers and slowly weaves
them back together. It can feel as though nothing is happening but
gradually the sorrow dissipates and then we simply wake one morning
and notice that joy is trickling through the veins where the blood
of brokenness has been. The silent unseen compassionate One has
snatched us out of the land of the dead and given us new life.
O
God, when the fibers of my heart are torn and tattered rescue
me from despair by the dew of your joy.
Day
18
But
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
—Luke 2:19
There
are some things that are too significant to spit out without thinking.
The tongue can be just a little too quick to loose itself with reports
of everything from gossip to inspiration. But, some things need
gestation before they can or should be brought forth. Like the most
rare and precious oil that is guarded protectively in the darkness
of an exquisite and expensive urn, they are so important that they
need to be carried and cared for with vigilance in the dark womb
of the heart.
To
accomplish this great purpose, the tongue needs to learn to be silent.
It is not an easy habit to develop. It takes practice. It is not
easy to remain silent when we feel we have something that needs
to be communicated, or when we feel a need to “get something
off our chest,” or when we want to show our mental prowess,
or when we want to testify to some incredible or miraculous event
in our lives. It is like purchasing a much-desired gift for someone’s
birthday, and not being able to wait until their birthday to give
it to them. When we submit to that movement of urgency swirling
inside us, there is a flatness that rests around the edges of the
giving and receiving of our gift.
But,
there comes a time when what has been held, pondered, chewed on,
dwelt with inside the heart, can be given out in gentle and measured
beats. At the proper moment the words can be spoken that will lift
others from their despair, that will give others news of goodness,
that will give others the opportunity to see things in an entirely
new way. The critical thing is to be still enough to discern when
a thing needs to be pondered in the heart, and when the time has
come for it to be birthed. So quiet your tongue, open your heart,
and let the stillness reveal the right time for your words to be
delivered.
O
God, let me not fear that all will be lost if I refrain from speaking
what seems to be so important.
[return
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from
Volume 2
Day
5
They
shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity. —Isaiah
65:23a
We
can never really know the full end of the labor that we offer to
the world. We are able to see the short-term results of our work,
and we can project some of the outcomes, but the full impact of
our work remains hidden to us. From time to time, the truth of this
actually seeps stealthily into our consciousness, and without warning,
a free-floating angst wafts over us. We begin to question what our
life counts for, and if who we are and what we do in the world makes
any real difference at all. We begin to notice we are ambivalent
about the work we do and even about our place in the universe.
As
surely as the dawn breaks across a darkened sky, and spring melts
away winter, and seeds planted deep in the black earth push up to
greet the sun’s warmth, so the work we do is always a part
of the unfolding miracle of life. It doesn’t matter what the
actual labor is because it is not the labor alone that transforms
the world. It is the heart and soul, the body and mind, the feelings
and compassion that we bring to the work that transform the world.
In the end, our life does count, and what we do does make a difference,
simply because it is us doing it.
O
God, as pebbles in a stream glitter under the reflection of the
sun, let my soul shine out in my work through the reflection of
your love.
Day
13
Thus
all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished.
Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated,
and stored the silver, gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries
of the house of God. —II Chronicles 5:1
It’s
wonderful when the work is done. We all know the feeling that accompanies
the completion of a project. Our spirit feels lithe and buoyant.
We want to celebrate, we want to talk, we want to give in to all
the energy flowing inside our veins. It’s a rush to feel that
something we have planned and prepared for has come to fruition.
It’s often the promise of that rush that keeps us going in
the work we are doing when it is boring, or riddled with unforeseen
problems, or sabotaged by others, or emotionally or physically draining,
or when its worthiness is questionable, or when we want nothing
else but to simply stop it. We know that at the other end of the
work lies a feeling so fulfilling that even the greatest difficulty
that threatens us is never more than the slightest scratch experienced
by a child whose excessive eagerness has led to a skinned knee.
But,
while we enjoy the feeling that is lobbed over us when our labor
is complete, it is the work itself that is responsible for the feeling.
It could be easy to desire to rest forever in the feeling of supple
nimbleness, but that supple nimbleness is the result of the labor
that claimed our being, our time, our worrying, our creativity,
our problem-solving capacity, our blood, our sweat, our tears. Oh
yes, the feeling when the work is done is wonderful. But it might
be more significant to be attentive to the movement of our mind
and emotions in the very midst of the work—for it is then
that we are truly and fully alive.
O
God, like the tightrope walker who must be attentive even to the
last step before reaching the platform, keep me from rushing ahead
only to find myself falling uncontrollably to my own creative
death.
[return
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from
Volume 3
Day
3
You
desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in
my secret heart. —Psalm 51:6
The
Holy One searches for truth with in us. That truth is there and
has been there from the moment that we became living beings, but
as we trammel our way through the rocky and curvy canyons of life,
we are regularly separated from that truth. The divine spark that
blazed when we were created becomes a dimly lit ember as layer after
layer of life shrouds that spark from view. The Holy One desires
truth in our core, not because the Holy One needs it, but because
we need it. We need to be re-connected with that spark that still
burns in the nucleus of our soul so that we might taste the feast
of peace.
But,
the pathway for that re-connection can often feel strangely elusive.
Much of our search for meaning, our search for balance, our search
for self-worth is really a search to be reconciled with the truth
that lies soundless in that divine spark within our soul. The way
to complete the search is to ask God for wisdom. Wisdom is more
than mere knowledge—it is the ability to discern what is true.
In other words, wisdom makes it possible for us to recognize the
truth within ourselves when we see it. When we pray for wisdom,
the Holy One answers our prayer and deep in the cavern of our secret
heart, that wisdom of heaven becomes the oxygenating influence that
again sets the divine spark within us ablaze.
O
God, look for truth deep within me, and let me see that truth
through your own eyes.
Day
6
Those
who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth
from their heart… —Psalm 15:2
Truth
and untruth always begin in the heart before they are ever unleashed
from the mouth. The heart twirls around information and consequences
to determine how much truth is safe to tell and the mouth acts on
the decisions of the heart. We know how this works. When we are
asked a question whose answer could put us at risk, we quickly run
the question through the door of our mind to think of possible answers.
But,
like a stream of water seeking the lowest place, the question flows
back and down into the cavern of our heart where the possible answers
are considered at a feeling level. If we feel too fearful of the
truth, we will temper it, massage it, or deny it altogether. It
will be our feeling about the truth that will ultimately determine
the words that are formed and spoken from our mouth.
Perhaps,
this is one reason why Jesus insisted that our hearts remain pure.
When our hearts are pure we cannot hide the faces of truth and untruth.
They stand out in bas-relief on a pure and empty canvas in our heart
and the decisions we make about the words we will speak cannot be
placed under the cover of not knowing, or forgetting, or not wanting
to hurt someone else. We are immediately aware that the desire to
speak untruth is really the desire for self-protection. When our
hearts are pure, the truth and untruth are as clear as the day and
we make our choices in the full light of the sun.
O
God, scrape my heart clean of the clutter that keeps me from being
truthful with myself about the words of truth and untruth that
I speak.
[return
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from Volume 4
Day
17
The
angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers
them.
— Psalm 34:7
At
times our lives are like castles without protective moats—completely
open and vulnerable to the wiles and vagaries aimed at us—work,
responsibilities, demands, expectations, relationships, difficulties,
sadness. We feel defenseless. It seems that while we are attending
to one aspect of our existence, we are also trying to exercise vigilance
over another that feels particularly at risk.
Just
then, we can find ourselves “taking a hit” in yet another
area of life. We can easily identify with the proverbial saying,
“When it rains, it pours....” We long to reach out and
be cared for. We ache to live the life of the ideal child—held
safely apart from every danger in the embrace of a loving parent.
We wish to have someone else keep watch over our life for a while.
We want the unrest to go away and leave us at peace.
The
defending angels create that place of safety. They set up camp around
us. We may feel exposed and susceptible, but in the quiet space
where human sight is often blind, there they take up residence,
not to soothe and comfort, but to defend and deliver. Are you poised
to feel the protection of the defending angels even when they are
hidden from your sight?
O
God, in the silent space of my fear and disquiet, surround me
with the heavenly presence—the company of angels—and
set my heart at rest.
Day
20
Do
not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that
some have entertained angels without knowing it. —Hebrews
13:2
They
could be anyone—anywhere—at any time. Cloaked in human
skin, hesitant to unveil themselves, they travel humbly and anonymously
through creature time. The disguised angels are here to remind us
of God’s presence in our lives and in the universe, to care
for the undisclosed needs of our soul, to watch over the unfortunate
situations we get ourselves into, to guide us into new ways of being,
to bring a holy balance to the distortions of our lives.
Because
they can be so easily missed, we need to be on the lookout—always
prepared to encounter them even in the most ordinary of circumstances.
Knowing they might “show up” at the most unexpected
times reminds us to keep our hearts open. We really cannot turn
anyone away from the hospitality of our hearts, because that very
one may be one of the disguised angels. When we are tempted to narrow
our friendships, exclude those who are different from us, busy ourselves
with no one but those who form our small network, then we risk missing
the Divine Presence in our midst.
We
risk being deaf to the word of God to us—the word that has
the potential to completely alter our lives and unlock the gates
that keep us enclosed in our safe, but surprisingly fragile existence.
Perhaps the most important message the disguised angels bring is
that we are meant to live open-armed, openhearted, open-spirited—because
the Divine can be encountered at any instant. Are you poised to
welcome the disguised angels who will break you out from the bars
of sheltered safety and lead you into the uncharted mystery of God?
O
God, do not allow my eyes and heart to close like a curtain across
my little life. Keep me alert to the presence of your mystery.
Copyright
©2006 Renée Miller
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