The journey theme has always held a special attraction for me. Life itself is a journey! I saw this advertisement of a cruise to Alaska: “Make your journey worthy of your destination.” In other words, let that particular company take you to that special place in the special ways that only that particular company can! I thought how well that fits the journey of life and faith as well - we, too should make our journey worthy of our destination!
Living in Jackson Springs, I find myself surrounded by nature, with each season having its own special beauty and gifts. Ecclesiastes reminds us “for everything there is a season…” and each season has unique lessons to teach and gifts to bestow to those with hearts to receive.
Years ago I read, Seasons of the Heart, by Sister Macrina Wiederkehr. “The seasons of the heart change like the seasons of the fields. There are seasons of wonder and hope, seasons of suffering and love, seasons of healing. There are seasons of dying and rising, seasons of faith.” This book does a great deal to help make our journey worthy of our destination! We have an understanding of God walking with us on life’s journey, and it’s important to recognize that God walks with us through the seasons of our hearts as well.
Sister Macrina offers this as one of her prayers for the journey:
“Jesus, you are the only One who can free what is captive
in me. You lead me out of my self-made prison and bring
to me the good news of a year of jubilee. May this be that
happy promised year. May this be the year when I let you
all the way into my life. May this be the year when
everything that is ruined, lying fallow, and unrooted in
my life be raised up, renewed, and discovered. May this be
the year when I give my energy to my heart’s desire.”
May our journey through the changing seasons of the year remind us of the journey through the changing seasons of our hearts as well.
Elizabeth
It’s important to make time to read about what the larger church is doing and how individual congregations are addressing issues of the day. Today I read about the work of Creation Justice Ministries.
With climate change and other factors contributing to scorching conditions in various parts of the world, that ministry hosted a webinar to help churches spring into actions, from becoming cooling centers to advocating for environmentally friendly legislation.
One example came from the Rev. Sylvia Harris of Wesley United Methodist Church in Phoenix, Arizona – and yes, we can learn much from the ministries of other denominations! The church converted a dormant preschool into a cooling and respite center in the city’s south mountain area, where many people struggle with the effects of systemic oppression, homelessness and poverty. With the help of seed grants, community partnerships and some donated labor and goods, the center has given people — and their pets — a cool, comfortable place to stay while also providing food, showers, a laundry facility, and referrals for other services, such as housing.
“What we have found is the more that we reach out and make known what we’re doing, the more God shows up to provide in the spaces and places that we would not have been able to do this otherwise,” Harris said. “We served over 700 people over the course of four months last summer through this work” and received heartfelt testimony, such as, “I really thought I was going to die this summer and then found you guys, and now, I was able to live one more summer.”
People also have talked about the love, acceptance and peace they’ve experienced at the center. That’s because “they were seen as people,” Harris said. “They weren’t seen as a problem, and they were welcomed fully, as they were.”
It’s inspiring to read of the creative ministries addressing the concerns of the day – and challenging as we consider addressing the needs in our own neighborhood. God is always doing new things among us, for those with eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand!
Elizabeth
Food Lion was very crowded this morning before the Fourth of July. Lots of folks were shopping for fireworks, red, white and blue paper goods and patriotic desserts.
As I waited in one of many endless lines, I was drawn to a frail, elderly gentleman waiting in a line two aisles over. He had only a bag of cough drops and a box of band-aids in his buggy, though he’d been pondering over some Krispy Crème Donuts displayed at the end of the check-out counter, all decked out in red, white and blue. He put the donuts in his basket, and opened his change purse to count his money, then put the donuts back and continued his wait. When he got to the front of the line, he put his two items on the counter. The checker rang up his purchase and he carefully counted out the correct change.
At that moment an act of kindness warmed the hearts of all who were watching. A man a little further back in that line pushed forward with that box of donuts and a twenty-dollar bill, saying “You forgot your donuts, sir! Happy Fourth of July.” The checker smiled and rang up the donuts and handed them to the gentleman, along with the change from that $20 dollar bill! What kindness!
My heart recalled a story I told in yesterday’s sermon, of an older priest talking with a younger one – “O Jesus Christ, is it you again?” The older priests asks this each time one of the least ones comes across his path …. “O Christ, is it you again?” I looked again at the frail elderly gentleman smiling warmly and cradling that box of donuts and these words filled my heart: “O Christ, is it you again?”
In yesterday’s sermon, I shared this quote: “The diminishing acts of kindness in America have been noted by sociologists in recent years … and it’s been said that if our way of life breaks down, it won’t be because we don’t have brains to solve our problems, but because we have forgotten how to be connected to each other in meaningful ways.”
I’m so thankful for this experience, and the act of kindness that blessed one of God’s children and challenged all who were a part of this moment to remember the blessing of random acts of kindness! As we celebrate another birthday of our beloved nation, let’s do something about those “diminishing acts of kindness in America.”
Elizabeth