"Someday At Christmas"

This is an old song that has touched me in a new way this Advent Season.

We're waiting for someday. We're waiting for Christ to come again so that we are truly free. We're hoping for that better world, but what are we doing to bring that better world about?

Someday has become distant to far too many of us. We've come to accept "Maybe not in time for you and me."

Where's the HOPE of ADVENT?

Could it be that we rush through this season to Christmas, thus we're not prepared? Have we become too comfortable with the darkness?

Someday at Christmas we will be better prepared to receive the light God has freely given us.

Someday at Christmas the gifts we share will really reflect our love and compassion.

Someday, Someday, we will embrace our witness to Christ's Love in our lives. 

Hopefully, it will be in time for you and me.

Prayers for timone #15

from K. Worthen
"dr. timone, It is my prayer that the Lord will go with you and bless you in the new position. Be assured that my thoughts and prayer will be with you. Yours in Christ"

This is the last in a series of prayers that were shared with me in May. What blessings I've received from people. I am indeed grateful to have people pray for me.


So what am I doing with these blessings?

I'm stretching myself each day to fulfill God's call on me. As many of you know, this is not an easy journey. But our God is a faithful God.

But what about the violence? How is my work addressing humanity's attack on humanity?
I'm sick about this killing of innocent people. I'm sick about this killing of people caught doing wrong.

Why have we upped the amount of violence perpetrated against another?

I'm writing this entry after seeing the video of Laquan McDonald who was murdered by a Chicago Policeman October 2014. It's too much!!! Why God are we doing this to one another?

I wish I could un-see the video.

How is what I'm doing helping God's people? How am I making a difference?

O God, please help us.

Prayers for timone #14

from C.White.
"Praying for your success, for your happiness, for peace in your spirit and blessings for your students. Love you and wishing you all the best."

Shape-shifting peace. Just when I think I have peace, something happens to disrupt it. That's when I realize that I have the wrong peace. The peace I'm seeking "surpasses all understanding." This shape-shifting peace is the wrong peace--it's the peace I think I can get on my own.

How many times must I go back to the beginning to get this message? Seventy times seven? Perhaps. But there I go, back to Jesus who is the source of peace who's peace I seek each day. Christ's Peace.

In a time when life is devalued, I am seeking Christ's Peace more diligently. I have gotten waylaid by the shape-shifting peace, but I'm staying in the fight. Too many of us are living under the belief that we do not matter. That belief is causing all manner of destruction.

Christ's Peace breathes new life into us.
Christ's Peace shows us how to love one another.
Christ's Peace asks for nothing, it GIVES.
Christ's Peace opens to greatness and shares that greatness.

Are you like me, fooled by shape-shifting peace?

Prayers for timone #13

from J. Welborn
"Hi timone--What can I say? You are a blessing to this world, this nation, our community--
And especially to me!
May God continue to bless you and give you perfect peace as your mind is stayed on Him!
Cannot wait for our slushies this summer!
You are my hero--
hero--
friend--
sister in Christ!
Peace"

We don't always know what we mean to others until they tell us. I am humbled by the above words. I forget that God is working through me, therefore, people are touched by Her Grace. To discover again that I am helping to make manifest God for another is truly amazing.

Are you aware of what you bring? Are you allowing God to shine through?

What God asks is often uncomfortable, yet I am learning that God's comfort moves with me. I need just step out on faith. I need only to believe.

These last few months I have been teaching 2 courses: Introduction to Black Spirituality and Women in the Church: Bound Freedom. Both courses have stretched me to see more clearly God's image in my own life. In sharing the various authors' work with my students, I have discovered something else to love about myself: God within. Emmanuel with me. What a joy it has been.

Prayers for timone #12

from K. Guignard
"When trouble seems to come and you feel like you are drowning remember you know a man who walks on water."

The truth of the matter is "trouble don't last always."

I am certain that Jesus helps me:

• through the rain
• through the storm
• through the mess
• through the downs
• through the UPs
• through the joys
• through the pain
• THROUGH!!!

When I FINALLY said yes to Jesus, my life changed for the Better. The One who walks on water will journey with you to a new level where you find things are better. But please don't confuse better with no pain, no worries, no headaches. Those things will be there, but the JOY associated with journeying with Jesus is AMAZING!!!!

Allow Jesus help you through.

Prayers for timone #11

from L. Easter
"God has Blessed You. May He keep you always with great faith to lead others in all the things you do."

"As I look back over my life, and I think things over, I can truly say, that I've been blessed. I've got a testimony."

I have great wisdom about our lives when we look back. We see more clearly how we messed up. What we don't always see is how God made a way. We stay so focused on the errors, the faults, the failures, that we miss that God brought us out. I've got a testimony is all about PRAISING GOD!!!! It's all about looking back and seeing NOT the faults, but the Grace and Mercy way that God moved us forward.

I didn't desire to be a leader. I like observing things, but I also don't like things to go wrong if I can do something about it. In speaking up, I was pushed forward. "What happened to the background Jesus???!!! I thought I was cool there." LOL!! NOT according to God.

So, "I've got a testimony." God will do it. Won't He will!!!

Prayers for timone #10

from O.Easter
"Dear God,
Thank you for your gift of Timone. Thank you for her contributions to the Church, the Tolton Program, and all she has taught.
Please continue to give her grace upon grace as she works to open people's minds to know you more deeply.
Please grant her good health and strength. All this I ask in Jesus' name."

I don't often think of myself as "gift". I struggle like many people with my value and worth. Then God's AMAZING grace washes over me and I realize I am made in the image and likeness of God and therefore, I am gift. I am working my way toward the understanding that my imperfections reflect not my shortcomings, but serve as reminders of how much I need God in my life.

These days, I'm working to invite God into my shortcomings instead of berating myself for their existence. When God is invited in, AMAZING GRACE transforms our shortcomings into ways to see more clearly, love more deeply.

Each of us is GIFT. Let's treat each other with the excitement that comes with giving and receiving a gift.

Blessings.

Prayers for timone #9

"timone, I pray that God continues to give you strength and eloquence to exemplify His Glory. Thank God for the gift that is you. And may the Holy Spirit continue to walk with you."

That's the thing: for God's Glory. How often do you get tripped up thinking that if's for your own glory? I know I have my share of failings, thinking that everything that is occurring in my world is all about me. Note: my world. Even my language has me speaking about me, myself and I, when I should be speaking about God's world.

The shift that needs to take place is that I don't shrink from glory, but that I proclaim it as God's Glory. I need to shine. I need to grow. I need to transform. Why? So that God's Glory can be revealed.

So,...I'm getting my mind right, cause my heart is already there.

Prayers for timone #8

from J. Reid
"Dear timone, I ask God for your blessings as you journey on to a new and exciting time in your life. I ask God that His presence always be felt and appreciated as you touch those that come into your life. Peace!"

God is so amazing!!! that even as we age, the journey can still be exciting and things can be new. I remember thinking, as a young girl, that when I made it into my 50s I had surely better have done all I wanted by then otherwise I'd be too old to do it. Now?? Well now that I'm in my 50s what is old? LOL!!

God is so amazing. This leg of the journey is awesome!! Well so were several of the previous legs. But I digress. This let of the journey is awesome!! God opened a door that I never saw myself entering. She clearly spoke words of encouragement and offered hospitality.

May we not limit God with our own imaginings.
May we open our hearts to God's workings.
May we walk boldly into the possibilities.
May we appreciate one another by saying so.
Then

            may we know PEACE.

The Applause of Leaves

I am currently at St. John's School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville MN waiting for the start of the Co-Workers Retreat: Imaging the Ministry to start. Since I had about 3 hours, I decided to walk down to the lake. I left my phone in my room charging. I didn't take anything with me.

While sitting on a tree stump watching families play in the water, I became drowsy. I closed my eyes and allowed God total access to me. That's when I heard it: the applause of leaves. It was a beautiful sound. One I had not heard before. I sat so still, not wanting to interrupt and then it happened: total peace within. Once I acknowledged the peace, the sound was gone.
And on I sat,
marveling at the works of God,
praising God.

Below is the lake from my guest room window. Because I didn't take my phone with me, you don't get a view from outside.

Prayers for timone #7

from A. Lyke
"Timone,
I know that our ministerial paths will intersect as we embark on new journeys. Stay blessed and continue to be a gift to the People of God. A."

I am definitely embarking on a new leg of my journey. As of 31 May 2015, I am no longer the Thursday Formation Director for the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union. I have been feeling "some kinda way" about this. I started as a scholar in the Tolton Program in January 1996 and had been with it up til now. Wow!!!

I am now joining the faculty of the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago full-time and my world is so changing. I never thought that I would be back in the classroom after leaving St. Joseph High School (Westchester IL) in June 2004. Yet here I am. And I'm LOVING it.

To be true to what I preach to other ministers/teachers: BALANCE, I'm counting on my husband to make sure I re-cre-ate properly.

May all of us recognize ourselves as gifts to be shared with God's People.

Peacefulness

Prayers for timone #6

from K. Lymore
"timone, May the God of our ancestors continue to order your steps in Him. May your comings and goings be blessed. Lord, give timone wisdom, grace and mercy to walk in her new assignment. Let timone decrease as You continue to increase in her. Amen.

Congratulations on your promotion."

"Order my steps in Your Word dear LORD. Lead me, guide me everyday."
I've been spending some time going back over my life to learn some things and to answer people's questions about this or that. I've found the journey quite enlightening. I discovered that God has been ordering my steps for quite some time. I wasn't aware of this in my early years, but lately I'm too aware of what God is asking. True truth: sometimes I want to not know. True truth #2: I'm so glad that I do know.

The grace and mercy that God has bestowed on me is not just for me. HOLLA!!!! It's for anyone who wants it.

Prayers for timone #5

from B. Stewart
"Dear timone,
May God's Grace continue to shine upon you."

Forget trying to be worthy of God's Grace. Forget trying to earn God's Grace. We are neither worthy nor can we earn it. That's what makes God so amazing--GRACE freely given to us no matter what we've done or what we haven't done.

But here is the rub, accepting God's Grace. For much of my life, I struggled to accept what God so freely gave to me. I kept turning my back, refusing to allow God in. In my confusion and chaos I closed God out, so set against anything good. Don't get me wrong, I did want good. I longed for joy. But in the fog of the enemy I kept turning in circles thinking I was moving forward.

Then one day, too exhausted, I clearly heard God speak to me. She was calling me out of my chaos. Finally, I let go of my way and took His hand.

Now, it's not about what God will do, it's about me keeping my face turned toward God's Grace shining upon me.

Peacefulness

Prayers for timone #4

from C. Cattledge
"Dear timone, I am not surprised about your success. You are God's amazing gift. May he always Bless you and your family! Love, C."

I'm surprised by my successes. I'm surprised by what our amazing God has done/is doing in me/through me. I focused a great deal of my early life on what was wrong with me. I struggled to see God's amazing gift in me. In my early 30s I thought I was doomed to live a life of hellish unhappiness. Then I said "YES" to God and the transformation began. The long journey to this point has not been easy. I have NOT always welcomed what God was doing. I didn't readily get on the "bandwagon" of being conformed to Christ. No. I fought and discovered the futility of that fight. Living is SOOOOOOOO much better with God. Easier? Not always. More fulfilling? Filled with purpose? Yesssssss Indeed!!!

As you continue your journey toward Christ's Peace, don't fret. With Christ it's ALL Good.

Peacefulness

Prayers for timone #3

from C. Riley
"God our loving father and provider, I thank you for this awesome and most Holy woman Dr. timone. Lord I know that all things are possible through you and I ask you to continue to Bless her as she begins her new journey at Loyola as an assistant professor. Lord this great lady reflects justice, peace, love and hope for all that she encounters. May your Blessings continue to surround her and keep her attentive to your call. I love her as a friend and mentor. Amen."

God is so GOOD!! Sure there are things happening that challenge this belief. But I will not be moved. I have "come too far" and God has done so much that I can only sing God's praises!! As difficult as it can be to carry my cross, doing so is easier than living life without God.

Life in God is my way even as I stumble; even when I fall. Life in God is my way. Thank You LORD for the continuous call.

Peacefulness

Prayers for timone #2

Prayers for timone #1 introduces this series of reflections.

from T. Carter:
"God and Gracious God, Thank you for bringing Dr. Timone Davis into my life. Thank for the stretching poking and prodding you have prompted her to do to me. Through the gifts you have given her, she has made me a stronger person. Thank you God for the gift of Timone. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Becoming our best selves. I take serious the role God has given me: to journey with people and move them along to their best selves. This isn't easy work as it often puts me in the position to say the hard things; to seek the hidden. Most of us want to move on from our place of complacency, heartache, confusion, chaos, boredom, etc. to a place of service to others. We just get stuck along the way. God has asked me to help people get out of the mud, muck, mire. God has asked that I work at moving people past their known to God's unknown. I said yes. T. Carter's prayer is a testament to that work: God's gifts.

I invite you to say yes to the gifts God has given you to serve others.

Peacefulness

Prayers for timone #1

On Saturday, 16 May 2015 the Tolton Community celebrated another successful academic year with the End-of-Year Celebration. The prayer service we had featured handwritten prayers from those in attendance for the honored people. I was one of those persons.

I have decided to share those prayers in my blog. Pray with me as I share these prayers.

from G. Spearman, class of 2004
"Blessings and Balance to you today and always. Congrats!"

This prayer invites me to remember that no matter how much I have to do because God is Blessing me, I must seek to have BALANCE. This prayer also calls to the work Orlando and I will be doing on our first book proposal.

Stay tuned as I read a different prayer and write about it here.

Peacefulness

Today?

I can feel the Holy Spirit moving me along.

Christian Living

Christian Living is in Christ. "Everybody knows that."
But many of us are not spending time with Christ so that we fully understand our own Christian Living.

It amazes me how some Christians profess their love for Christ, yet are too busy with worldly things to spend time with Christ.
It amazes me how some Christians want to grow in faith, yet don't make time to nurture that growth.
It amazes me  how some Christians want to know what Christ is calling them to do, yet don't acknowledge  Christ when He speaks.

Christian Living cannot be done without Christ. Don't you know that?

Order My Time LORD

Order my time LORD so that the work of my hands may accomplish the tasks You set before me. Order my time LORD so that I I do not waste it on things that do NOT praise You. Order my time LORD so that You may be glorified in the products I create. Order my time LORD so that I rest accordingly; so that I take time to play; til I notice once again You in ALL.

Order My Time LORD.

SIMPLY

I'm beginning the journey towards living simply. I've accumulated many things, knick knacks, trinkets, jewelry, and they now have places of honor in storage containers. What's the point of that?

I started my Lenten Journey with a reflection by Rev. Dr. Julie Tomaine entitled, "Living Simply: Embracing the Gift of Peace," and that reflection keeps calling out to me. So today I've decided to fully commit to the process of living simply. What does that mean for me? For one it means sharing on a large scale. It means opening my jewelry box and giving away the earrings that I'm no longer wearing. As many of you can attest, I've been wearing the same pair of earrings since 9/11. So why do I have the rest?

Why are we holding on to "things" that get in the way of our God? Why do we tune in to those things before we seek out God's voice?

Simply is going to be quite a journey for me, but I am ready for this endeavor. I long to clear away all that blocks me from getting closer to our God.

Simply.

REARRANGE

Move around.

Make the changes necessary to be more available to God.

God is trying to reach you, but you might need to rearrange things in your life so that you can allow God's Spirit to better to you.

Sometimes when I'm lost or confused, I stand in the middle of my living room and imagine how to rearrange the furniture. Then the moving begins. Surely it doesn't seem to make sense, but once I rearrange the living space, my spiritual clutter is gone.

Are you like me? Do you find yourself rearranging furniture, things and people so that you can gain better clarity?

Perhaps while you are rearranging things you find stuff behind the couch or under the chair that needs to be thrown out. Well,...Throw it away. While you're rearranging things, realign your priorities. Allow God to breathe into you God's breath of LIFE.

Blessed Lenten Journey

Moving Away from THE Clock

So much of what we do is regulated by THE Clock. We make appointments that require time. We meet people for lunch at a certain time. We stress ourselves with being early, on time or late. Projects have deadlines that are tied to THE Clock.

"What time is it?" 

Well I'm learning to move away from THE Clock and into Kairos = God's Time.

I have practiced kairos for the last couple of days and oh what an AMAZING!!!  experience. Oh I have been working, but I didn't allow THE Clock to dictate how I moved in and out of my various projects.

I started off by sleeping "late" (0700-0730). Though I knew I had many things to do I went on to my yoga practice. As a matter of fact I worked out to a new video. THE Clock kept moving, but I wouldn't allow my time with God to be skipped so there I was sitting with God in morning prayer. 

By the time I had showered, eaten breakfast and sat at my desk, THE Clock said that I was off track. I didn't budge. I stayed away from THE Clock and I got more done than I had been getting done when I was watching time.

Moving Away from THE Clock has really been freeing. Truth is, it's been relaxing. I have been able to open myself more fully to God's voice thereby moving in the direction God is nudging me.

"What time is it?"

Now it's your turn to move away from THE Clock. Try it! Take a day and just let the sweet Spirit of God move you to and through what you need to do and be about. Then brace yourself for the amazing peace that will flow through you.

"What time is it?" Time to move away from THE Clock and live in the Spirit. 

Peacefulness