STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

The Parable of the Dried Hydrangea:

Consider a bed of Hydrangeas along a backyard fence. In the late fall, the multiple flowering lace tops are all dried up. The shrub appears no longer capable of any future glory. There might even be a temptation to cut it down and throw it into the compost bin. Do not be deceived by appearance.

Although the Hydrangea looks lifeless throughout the winter, do not fret. In the spring, the dried-up and inert woody canes will produce leaves and buds. Bundles of flowers will bloom, year after year.

So it is with the Kingdom of God. Do not disregard or discard the Kingdom because it looks dried up. In season, it will grow and flower in places that appear lifeless. Abundant flowering lace tops and broad leaves will flourish from the old woody canes.

A Question to Ponder:

What seems dried up in your life that longs for new growth?

STEP THREE: PRAY

I offer the following prayer for you to use today as you pray at mealtime.

Living God, you bring the gift of life. Enliven this meal with your presence. Bless the food on this table and those who gather around it. Revive our lives so that we might bear the hope of your resurrection in what we do and say. Through Jesus, Amen.