Wordle is a website you can use to analyze the words you have been using in your blog (or any document) and creates a picture of words that gives greater prominence to those words you use the most. I am rather proud of this word cloud. I am not proud of the word cloud created from my quilting blog.
This word cloud looks like the normal words of a seeker, a lover of God, of words and of life. The other cloud — and I don’t think it is probably a coincidence that I chose one cloud to appear white and the other surrounded by darkness, do you? — the other cloud appears self-centered, self-serving and just silly.
But let’s not forget, it isn’t just our words that we have to watch, it’s the way we use them. You can roll your eyes and turn your head with hand on hip and say, “Your smile is SO pretty,” but we all know that a different meaning is conveyed than the words alone imply.
As I stand to pray and praise or kneel to confess in church, do you think that God takes all that into consideration? Aren’t our actions and intentions just as important as our words? I know they are, I just have to remind myself every once in a while. When we use this medium — the written word over blog or email — we don’t have the opportunity to give emphasis to the emotions underlying our words with the language of our bodies.
This is my concentration for the week, my area of study. Bringing full awareness to what I am communicating…not only with my mouth, but in my life. The Book of Common Prayer General Thanksgiving says it so much better…
“…And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days…”

There is a Lutheran Angel named Dorothy, I have mentioned her before. She is truly a blessing to me. She brings me the quarterly devotional and now, for the second year, she has given me a 

Sometimes we find friends through our work, sometimes through our family and sometimes we find our friends because they live near us. But the true friends of the heart we usually find because we are walking on the same path.
There is only a few more weeks left of this liturgical year, I’m anxious to be awake and aware and ready for this coming year. When I open my Prayer Log I am only somewhat surprised to see that it really has been exactly 30 days since my last visit. I greet my Prayer Log with a fond and familiar smile and smooth its pages with my hand, petting the beautiful pages. I have missed it, and I realize that I am glad that I have missed it. It’s good to have friends, I have good friends.




