Mary van Balen

‘The rich man replied, “Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too.” “They have Moses and the prophets,” said Abraham “let them listen to them..” “Ah no, father Abraham,” said the rich man “but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him, “If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”’
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31


Sometimes I think if only God would speak more clearly, I would be able to find the path to follow, the job to take, the place to move. Luke's gospel tells me otherwise. God is speaking. The difficulty is more on the listener's end.

The story about a man stranded on the roof of a house during a flood comes to mind. He is sure God is going to save him, so when someone comes in a boat, a helicopter, and a raft, he declines their offer of help: "God will save me," he says. After he drowns and goes to heave he walks up to God and complains: "You said you would save me. What happened?"

"I sent you someone in a boat, a helicopter, and a raft. What else did you want?"

The man could not see God's hand in the offers of help missed his chances. Luke is saying the same to the rich man who begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers' house to warn them not to repeat the behavior that landed the rich man in hell. Read More 

It is you that the Lord our God has chosen to be his very own people out of all the peoples on the earth. It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know then that the Lord your God is God indeed, the faithful God who is true to his covenant and his graciousness for a thousand generations towards those who love him and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:6,8-9



Todays short reading from Liturgy of the Hours speaks to us of God's loving care and faithfulness. Perhaps because sleep evades me more often at night lately, Divine watchfulness and compassion is particularly important as I turn off the house lights and crawl into bed.

I am including a beautiful prayer from Jim Cotter's "Prayer at Night's Approaching." It's simplicity and confidence in God's presence has helped me let go of the day's unfinished business and the future's unknown to find rest and peace in God's embrace. Read More 

You visit the earth and water it,
make it abundantly fertile.
God's stream is filled with water...
...Thus do you prepare the earth; you drench plowed furrows,
and level their ridges.
With showers you keep the ground soft,
blessing its young sprouts...
your paths drip with fruitful rain.
The untilled meadows also drip...

Morning Prayer Ps65,10-13


Last night, I lay in bed listening to the storm. Thunder rumbled, lightening illumined pulled window shades, and rain pummeled the roof. Storms at night comfort me as I lay in darkness, trying to put the days events to rest. Rain. Water. Ancient symbols of God's blessings fell all round me. Springtime earth soaked it up. So did I.

A few nights ago, I visited my sky gazing friend, Melanie, to celebrate the super moon. I arrived while she was still at church, so looping a monocular around my neck and sliding a camera in my pocket, I took a slow walk around her property.

The first thing I noticed was the boggy path, covered with earth-hugging green and oozing water at every step. Read More 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.' Gospel Luke 6:36-38








While in Thailand, I discovered a postage stamp that pictured the goddess with a thousand arms. Not knowing the story of the thousands arms and thousand eyes, I did a little research and discovered that this goddess, Guan Yin, is one who hears the sounds or cries of the world. She listens and with her thousand eyes finds those who suffer or need help. Her arms allow her to snatch them out of their suffering or to keep evil at bay. Guan Yin is a Buddhist Bodhisattva of compassion.

I was drawn to the image as an expression of Divine compassion, emphasizing the feminine face of God. Today's reading instructs us to be instruments of compassion in the world.  Read More 

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
‘I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you.’
So Abram went as the Lord told him.

Genesis 12:1-4

The first reading today tells the story of Abram's call from God to leave his home and follow God to some unnamed place. Abram does as he is instructed, even with scanty information.

As Jaques Guillet points out in his article on "Blessings" in "Dictionary of Biblical Theology," this blessing marked a turning point, it was a "new kind of blessing." After many chapters of curses after sin made its entrance into the world, God addresses Abram with a blessing not only for himself or his family, but for all peoples on the earth. This is the beginning of the unfolding of salvation history.

Why Abram? Scriptures do not tell us, but they do record his (and Sara's) response; obedience. What did it mean for he and Sara to leave family, friends, homeland for an unknown destination? Did the ones behind think the couple was crazy or odd? How did they explain their move to people who worshiped many gods?

While no history of Abram and his wife are given, we know they were people of faith. That alone is enough to answer "Why them?" People with faith strong enough to enable them to trust their lives and their future to an unknown God.

When unknowns fill our lives, we might remember Abram and Sara, their trust that led through difficult times, but eventually to great blessings. God did not abandon them, nor will we be left alone. God walks with us.
 Read More 

Bless the Lord, all his works,
praise and exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, you heavens;
all his angels, bless the Lord.
Bless the Lord, you waters above the heavens;
all his powers, bless the Lord.
Bless the Lord, sun and moon;
all stars of the sky, bless the Lord.

Dn 3, 57-63


This evening, if you are able to look east as the moon hangs over the horizon, you will be treated to a sight that occurs only once every eighteen years: A super moon. It occurs when the full moon phase coincides with the moon's closest pass by the earth, the perigee. For unexplainable reasons, the moon appears huge when it hovers at the horizon and shines through trees, houses, or other objects in the foreground. Tonight's view will be stunning for those in locations free of clouds.

Such a sight can make one's heart beat a faster; one's breath come quicker. Accustomed to the majesty of the universe, not giving a thought to the fact that we are spinning through space, a smallish planet circling a medium sized star, we can take a moment to be still, and standing beneath the sky, remember that we are also standing in the midst of a universe beyond our understanding. We can drink in the glory of the night sky and sing the praises of the One who set these wonders in motion.
© 2011 Mary van Balen

Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live.


Mid Morning Prayer (Terce) Isaiah 55:3






Isaiah's words from today's Liturgy of the Hours are short and to the point. Why does something as simple as "pay attention" need said, especially when the result is vitality of spirit? Many times my columns, articles, and blogs include references to being present to the moment. Writer, Don Murray, says writers have a few "themes" that provide a core for their works.

Being present to God in the moment is one of mine. Why write about it, coming at it from different directions over and over again? It resurfaces because as much as I know its importance, being faithful to its practice is difficult.

Attentiveness needs time to bear fruit, like planting a seed and watering it. The sprout does not appear immediately, but without water, it will not appear at all.

Lent calls us to attentiveness. God's Spirit may lie quiet and unnoticed in our souls, like plants resting out of sight all winter long. Taking time to be with the Holy One in the stillness of our hearts, in quiet moments snatched from a busy day, nurtures God’s life in each of us and promises to bring it to bloom.
© 2011 Mary van Balen Read More 

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.





If you attended a Catholic School, today is a day you may remember as one that required wearing some bit of green. No matter that you had not a drop of Irish blood in your veins. Being of Dutch descent, I once rebelled and wore orange instead. Only once.

Patrick left two documents that are believed to be authentic and from them we gather most of what we know about him, "The Confession of Saint Patrick"detailing much of his life. What remains with me is not the hagiography, the ridding the Emerald Isle of snakes (Some say it never had snakes, and the legend grew from Patrick's battles with the Druids.), or even using the shamrock to illustrate the mystery of the Trinity.  Read More 

When in Creation

When in creation life is lost, the powers of God seem weak.
When young and old are swept away by rivers in the streets,
We seek the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day,
and pray to God that lives be saved and hope will find a way.

Where is the goodness of our God when seas force life to die?
Where is the powerful love of God when people hurt and cry?
Lord, how your wonders are displayed, wher e’er I turn my eye,
O God, our help in ages past, be with the world today.

from: © Tommy Shephard (26 December 2004) published by the United Methodist Church, Board of Discipleship


Some images coming out of Japan are too painful to look at for long. Unimaginable suffering. In the face of such tragedy, prayer seems inadequate.

Thinking of Psalms of Lament, I spoke with Kathryn Rickert, a friend who is an adjunct professor at Seattle University who has made a study of the Biblical prayer of lament and asked about our faith response in such times.

"Part of the problem.... from where we are safe and sound in the USA, is that we can' t actually lament
unless we see ourselves in the disaster with the people of Japan. From this distance, we are praying for them. To pray for is not the same as to lament with."

Those of us not in the midst of the unfolding catastrophe in Japan still have lamenting to do.  Read More 

Eternal Spirit,
Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love Maker,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The Hallowing of your Name echo through the universe!
The Way of your Justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your Heavenly Will be done by all created beings!
Your Commonwealth of Peace and Freedom sustain our hope and come on earth!
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For your reign is the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

Version of the Lord's Prayer
Jim Cotter in the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer


In today's gospel, Matthew 6:7-15, Jesus admonishes his disciples not to babble on and on when they pray as the pagans do. Since God already knows their needs, their prayer can be simple. Jesus then teaches them the prayer we call the "Our Father" or "The Lord's Prayer."

Years ago, while attending a writing workshop/retreat directed by Madeliene Le'Engle, I was introduced to the above version of the prayer as we gathered each evening to pray compline.  Read More