1 Samuel 19:18 - "Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all . . ."
Dear Friends in Christ -
In the summer, we all need and want a change of pace. But when I talk to many of you and to my friends from around the community, I'm not hearing much of a difference from the rest of the year.
"How are you?" I ask.
"Busy." "Crazy busy." "Tired." These are the most common responses.
Now the school year pace seems to have set in year round. It seems that folks have just traded in one set of obligations for another set, one way of overcrowding the calendar with another way of overcrowding the calendar.
This isn't just a work problem or a family problem, it's a SPIRITUAL problem.
The good news is that we're only about 2/5 of the way into summer. It's not too late. YOU can, with God's help, center down, refocus and receive what you need. Though fear ('what will people think if I change our plans now?'), exhaustion ('I'm too tired to make the call'), and anxiety ('we haven't done it that way before'), may at first loom large, wouldn't you rather take a step in faith and risk getting what you need than go along and get the same old unfulfilling results?
In today's Old Testament reading, David is facing some pretty difficult situations. He manages to get through it by escaping to talk to a trusted mentor and friend.
Maybe you need time with a friend, too. Maybe you need something else. Talk to God. Make a change. It's not too late.
Blessings,
Janet+
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Treasure found at camp
Dear Friends in Christ -
What I enjoy most about camp is that it takes me back to the basics . . . sitting on dirt watching skits around the campfire, being silent at prayer time to hear the birds, seeing the slithery snakes and the little brown bunnies on my morning walk.
The isolation from "everything" allows me to get down to some things that I've let sit on back burners for a while . . . including a backlog of email. (Yes, there's an email connection available here, though mercifully not "too" available). I'm ashamed to say that I've had emails languishing unanswered since LAST summer. People - friends, parishioners, people I've handed my card to in line at the grocery store - send me emails that I don't always have time to get to. Sigh.
In digging through the pile of miscellaneous things, I found a significant amount of trash (let's face it, there's some humor but not a lot of depth in most of those "pass it on" emails). But today I also found a real treasure . . . a video clip from this site called TED . . . the clip is about really getting to the heart of things in our lives. When you get a chance, pour yourself a cup of iced tea, and watch . . . it may just change your life . . . really!
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
Slowly breaking open into more greater deeper LIFE,
Janet+
What I enjoy most about camp is that it takes me back to the basics . . . sitting on dirt watching skits around the campfire, being silent at prayer time to hear the birds, seeing the slithery snakes and the little brown bunnies on my morning walk.
The isolation from "everything" allows me to get down to some things that I've let sit on back burners for a while . . . including a backlog of email. (Yes, there's an email connection available here, though mercifully not "too" available). I'm ashamed to say that I've had emails languishing unanswered since LAST summer. People - friends, parishioners, people I've handed my card to in line at the grocery store - send me emails that I don't always have time to get to. Sigh.
In digging through the pile of miscellaneous things, I found a significant amount of trash (let's face it, there's some humor but not a lot of depth in most of those "pass it on" emails). But today I also found a real treasure . . . a video clip from this site called TED . . . the clip is about really getting to the heart of things in our lives. When you get a chance, pour yourself a cup of iced tea, and watch . . . it may just change your life . . . really!
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
Slowly breaking open into more greater deeper LIFE,
Janet+
Monday, July 4, 2011
Independence Day
Dear Friends in Christ -
Around holiday times, I always search for a fresh way to express the connection between the event of the day and our souls. Today I want to share with you a piece by the Rev. David Anderson, a priest who ministers down the road from here. His words below on "True Freedom" invite us to reflect on Christ's invitation to us to be really, fully free.
A blessed Independence Day to you!
Faithfully,
Janet+
True Freedom
I don't know if it's true, but someone once told me that domesticated birds can be trained to sit by an open window---and not fly away. You put their perch next to an open window, but you tie one foot to the perch, so that when the bird attempts to fly out the window, it can't. You do this for days and weeks, and before long the bird stops trying to fly out that window. It's impossible. Eventually, you can untie the foot and the bird will sit by that open window and never try the "impossible."
That reminds me of the circus elephant, trained to sit quietly with his foot chained to a stake in the ground. At first, the trainer chains the elephant's leg to a stake driven deep into the ground: it's impossible even for an elephant to yank it free. The beast tries of course, heaves on the spike, but to no avail. Once the elephant has learned that stakes are impossible to fight against, you can drive a little picket into the ground that a rabbit could probably pull out, and the elephant no longer even tries. He knows what he knows.
The Fourth of July always brings us hot dogs, parades and speeches about freedom. America is indeed the "land of the free," and we ought to be proud of our liberty. But political liberty is not the same as spiritual freedom. You can have all the political liberty in the world, and still be a soul in chains. You can be like that bird by the window, that elephant tethered to a toothpick.
True freedom dawns when we recognize that the real bondage is deep within our hearts. Somehow we've been trained to sit still, not even to try the "impossible" anymore. It takes soul work, but God is in the business of freeing hearts. Now that's a liberty worth celebrating.
Pass the mustard!
Around holiday times, I always search for a fresh way to express the connection between the event of the day and our souls. Today I want to share with you a piece by the Rev. David Anderson, a priest who ministers down the road from here. His words below on "True Freedom" invite us to reflect on Christ's invitation to us to be really, fully free.
A blessed Independence Day to you!
Faithfully,
Janet+
True Freedom
I don't know if it's true, but someone once told me that domesticated birds can be trained to sit by an open window---and not fly away. You put their perch next to an open window, but you tie one foot to the perch, so that when the bird attempts to fly out the window, it can't. You do this for days and weeks, and before long the bird stops trying to fly out that window. It's impossible. Eventually, you can untie the foot and the bird will sit by that open window and never try the "impossible."
That reminds me of the circus elephant, trained to sit quietly with his foot chained to a stake in the ground. At first, the trainer chains the elephant's leg to a stake driven deep into the ground: it's impossible even for an elephant to yank it free. The beast tries of course, heaves on the spike, but to no avail. Once the elephant has learned that stakes are impossible to fight against, you can drive a little picket into the ground that a rabbit could probably pull out, and the elephant no longer even tries. He knows what he knows.
The Fourth of July always brings us hot dogs, parades and speeches about freedom. America is indeed the "land of the free," and we ought to be proud of our liberty. But political liberty is not the same as spiritual freedom. You can have all the political liberty in the world, and still be a soul in chains. You can be like that bird by the window, that elephant tethered to a toothpick.
True freedom dawns when we recognize that the real bondage is deep within our hearts. Somehow we've been trained to sit still, not even to try the "impossible" anymore. It takes soul work, but God is in the business of freeing hearts. Now that's a liberty worth celebrating.
Pass the mustard!
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