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Receptivity and offering: My presence

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 27 2022

“God, I am here. You are here. Amen.” Episcopal minister Debie Thomas describes a period in her life when those were the only words she could pray.

She writes, “I couldn’t say ‘thank you’ and mean it. I couldn’t say ‘help,’ because I was tired of asking for help. I didn’t feel capable of awe or reverence. The only honest prayer I could make was a prayer of bare-bones presence, mine and God’s.”

In an article in Christian Century, Rev. Thomas describes her journey from a place of discouragement and numbness to an experience of God’s goodness in each present moment. For her,...

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Receptivity and offering: The journey

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 20 2022

I read, then re-read, a dialog a friend posted on Facebook. The author, John Roedel, wrote a book called Hey God. Hey John. What Happens When God Writes Back.This dialog between Roedel and God reminded me how often I focus on results rather than the journey, and how deeply I want the results to be good. Right now.

As I remember Jesus' resurrection and as I try to live in in the joy that he is alive and real and with me, I want to offer to Jesus my willingness to look for his hand in the journey of my life. I...

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Receptivity and offering: Dependence

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 13 2022

A morning prayer: “Faithful God, I have awakened to your new day. Let me rejoice and be glad in it. I turn to you at its threshold because I depend completely on your strength. I have not made myself, cannot keep myself, could never save myself. And so, loving God, I give myself to you for this day – my creator, keeper and savior.” —Cornelius Plantinga, Morning and Evening Prayers

Dr. Plantinga was one of my favorite seminary professors. He came to Seattle from Calvin Seminary, where he was a theology professor at the time, to teach an intensive for Fuller Seminary’s Seattle extension....

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Receptivity and offering: Hands

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 6 2022

The other day I donated blood, and the woman who took my blood pressure had a tattoo of a cross at the base of her thumb. I didn’t ask her what it means to her because I was so busy having a light-bulb moment. I wondered what it would be like to put a cross on the base of my thumbs and use that as a way of offering my hands to God.

As a writer, offering my hands to God in service has particular resonance, but I also use my hands for hugs, cooking, folding laundry, and a host of other...

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