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Prayers of releasing/receiving/returning while walking

Lynne Baab • Tuesday June 6 2023

Twenty years ago, in August, I marked my six-year anniversary as an associate pastor at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle. A couple of things happened in 2003 that felt like nudges from God, briefly bringing to my awareness that perhaps I was approaching the time to leave that pastoral position. I did my best to ignore those nudges because I REALLY did not want to leave. I loved the congregation, my colleagues, and my ministry responsibilities.

In December 2003, Dave and I went on vacation to San Francisco, and I walked the outdoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral. I had visited the cathedral...

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Creative prayer using our hands

Lynne Baab • Thursday March 28 2019

About ten years ago I led a worship service at a retreat. The setting was intimate, unlike the Sunday worship services at church where the leader—sometimes me—usually stood some distance away from the congregation. At the end of the retreat worship, I said a benediction. To my surprise, several of the younger women sitting close to me turned their hands so their palms faced up. They looked as if they were trying to catch the benediction in their hands.

I had often said, “Now, receive the benediction” before I ended a worship service, and these women looked as if they were taking...

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Spiritual practices that help us journey

Lynne Baab • Friday November 20 2015

The first time I walked a labyrinth, there were about six other people walking it at the same time. I found myself bemused by the parallels between my walk in the labyrinth and my journey of faith. At some moments walking the labyrinth, a person would be beside me, walking on his or her own path right beside mine. Then our paths would diverge. I was reminded of close friends from certain points in my life, friends who shaped me and cared for me, but who have moved away and who I seldom see. Yes, we got to walk together for...

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Life in a two-beat rhythm

Lynne Baab • Thursday June 26 2014

Have you ever walked a labyrinth? I’ve done it maybe a dozen times, and several of those times I have had a pressing issue that I wanted to pray about. My pattern in those times is to pray my desires on the way in, then stand restfully at the center for a few moments, enjoying God’s peace. On the way out I pray in a different way, sometimes expressing my willingness for God’s desires about the issues. I might ask God to open me to unexpected answers to my prayers or I might simply thank God for the fact that the...

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