Megan's prayer: Kara's "Sunshine"

You are the silver line
Making all things beautiful

If I look hard enough, I can normally find the good in a situation. The problem is, it's so easy to settle on the bad, and not look any further.

Why does it happen this way? Wouldn't the world be a much happier place if people focused on the good instead?

Chris' prayer: Kara's "Sunshine"

God is everywhere. And, as often as I've heard that, and as well as I know that, sometimes I forget it. I tend to pigeonhole God; I expect to find him only in church on Sunday, or during our youth ministry program Sunday night, in a Christian book I'm reading. I'm certain that I miss His presence fairly regularly because I'm not expecting Him to be outside of this neat little box that I've made for Him.

For instance, awhile ago for my church's website, I wrote a blog about my surprise in discovering a new Kirk Franklin song on, of all places, the local rap/hip-hop station. I was just flipping through the stations, trying to find something for the last couple of minutes of my car ride, almost ready to give up and listen to commercials or the new Hanson song, or whatever happened to be playing, when I heard this awesome beat coming from the hip-hop station. I was shocked to find out, a handful of seconds later, when the voice was singing about Jesus. It was just not expected at all.

I felt similarly tonight, when hearing Sunshine for the first time. God can be in....techno music?!


Lyrics

Jen's prayer: Kara's "Sunshine"

even when its raining inside
You fill my heart with sunshine

This song...though I suppose could be taken to be kind of cheesy...was perfect for today! It actually was raining outside and I have been learning this week the importance of receiving joy from God and solely him. Jesus fills my heart with sunshine even on the rainy days. I just have to learn how to receive that sunshine instead of focusing on the rain.

Katie's prayer: Kara's "Sunshine"

You are the silver line
making all things beautiful

Last year, I was sitting in adoration and noticed a book that was just calling out to me to be read. He's a little excerpt of the page I turned to...

"In today's Eucharistic Scriptures, the Lord throws our repented sins far into the ocean, into the very depths of the sea (Mi 7:19). Then He puts up a huge sign marked: "No Swimming!" Yet some of us don't really understand God's amazing love. We put on a spiritual wetsuit, dive into the ocean to retrieve our guilt, and spend years feeling guilty for having caused God and others so many problems. We're more comfortable in our prison of guilt than in being set free by Jesus.

The Lord doesn't want us to move back into prison after He's set us free. He grabs the guilt we recovered from the sea and tramples it under His feet (Mi 7:19). Jesus is serious. He really doesn't want us to take back that guilt. At this point, some of us are tempted to feel guilty about feeling guilty. This is why Jesus tells the story about the prodigal son. Jesus wants to see the guilty party — with music and celebration (Lk 15:23, 25)."

Once during confession, a priest informed me that God would somehow use my sin to help others. Make no mistake, God does not will us to sin, but when we do, God uses that to change our lives and others for the better. (that's the silver lining) Sometimes I have trouble seeing that silver lining. I feel guilty about my sin, diving down into that ocean over and over again, instead of turning to God and finding the silver lining.

Catie's prayer: David Crowder Band's "Come Awake"

Shine, shine, Oh shine
We will shine

I think many times in my life I have been afraid to shine. Afraid to shine because I don't want the spotlight, afraid that I will be in the spotlight and mess up, whatever. However God doesn't want us to hide our light, he wants us to show it to the world. He wants us to make him, make his love known to all those whom we encounter. If we hide our light we can't do that. There's this quote that I absolutely love, that I might have used on here before. But if I did it's good enough to be said again.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."