What Do You Think?
Good morning... At 9:46 am yesterday, he texted me, "Reading through John this morning. Checkout John 14:16-17 and let me know what you think." So I googled the passage on Biblegateway.com and perused five different translations of these two verses. I settled in on the most detailed one, the Amplified Bible version, a translation hosting the heading "Role of the Spirit." Jesus says: "And I will ask the Father, and He will give [...]
One Week From Today
Good morning... One week from today, we will host another four-week class on the Enneagram, an ancient tool used to identify our own core need as a unique child of God. Once our deepest drive is discerned, we will learn to track our spiritual growth as God's Spirit awakens our True Self. This time I will be teaching with a long time friend and colleague, Rev. Catherine Boothe Olson from Northside Church. As [...]
Savor Sabbath: Live As One
Good morning... We are designed to live in oneness with the intimate and immense God of our universe. In our posts this week, we have traveled through everyday choices. If the will of God is the way of life, will we get all wrapped up in it? Monday: One of you shared: “I became convinced years ago that that the more people we love (and the more deeply we love them) the more heartache [...]
So Will I (100 Billion x)
Good morning... At 4:41 am I finished and sent yesterday's post Way of Life. Before climbing back in bed, uncharacteristically, I set my alarm. I was coaxed awake for a second time at 7:30 am. I enjoyed a cup of coffee on our back porch before my 8:30 am walk-and-talk. I was to meet up with a long-time friend at Chastain Park. My morning was going great. Hot coffee. Cool weather. Prayerful journalling. [...]
Way Of Life
Good morning... As we gathered for communion in a small church in the woods, the pastor extended gentle words of invitation: "The will of God is the way of life, and we want to get all wrapped up in it." Jotting the sentence in my bulletin, I return to the statement now. If the will of God is the way of life, I ask, "LORD, what is Your will for me right now?" [...]
Choose Joy In Deep Loss
Good morning... "Sue, Thank you for your post this morning," she wrote after yesterday's message Flip On The Light. "Watching the movie clip made me smile and cry, which surprised me. I think it is a lot of things wrapped into one." She went on to explain, "One of the greatest compliments that I have received, since our 7-year-old daughter died of cancer, is from a dear friend who told me how much that [...]
Flip On The Light
Good morning... The following movie clip from the 2013 film About Time depicts the difference between plodding through a mundane day and developing the art of noticing joy along life's ordinary way. We can look down, hold back, feed tension, be annoyed, and this next twelve hours can add up to a very "tough day." Yet, there is another choice. We can choose to live the same twelve hours noticing life's subtle sweetness. [...]
Relish Real Life
Good morning... Getting up regularly in the wee hours of the night, I often drift to sleep when we sit down to watch a movie. This weekend we watched About Time, a 2013 film that tickled my heart, waking up my full attention. Enjoy these smiley quotes from this endearing movie. Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus [...]
Do NOT Be My Friend
Good morning... With loss after loss after loss, it feels like tragedy swarms like bees around me and my husband. I sometimes feel like whispering a warning to people, "Do NOT be our friend." My fearful thinking continues: "Because if you are our friend, deep pain may descend." Then one of you wrote me a truly touching email last week. It shifted my perspective about friendship with us, from being a contagious curse [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Comforted
Good morning... Our posts from this week start and end with a video of a statue created by God through the young hands of Michaelanglo. The statue is named the Pieta, which is an Italian term for pity (compassion, commiseration, condolence, sorrow, sadness, sympathy). It is a sculpture depicting Mary lamenting over the lifeless body of her son Jesus resting in her arms. Monday: "Isn’t it amazing that Michelangelo created the Pieta when he was in his [...]
Rest Here
Good morning... "Hi Sue," one of you wrote earlier in the week, after watching the video of Michaelanglo's statue, the Pieta. "The words of healing and strength from you and others is always needed and much appreciated. I hesitated to share my Pieta experience since it doesn’t reflect deep sorrow or grief, but it shares a small taste of a very different emotion." "At age 17, in 1964," she went on to share, [...]
A Eulogy for Cole
Good morning... It was Saturday, July 6th, the first morning of our family's vacation at my mother-in-law's log cabin on a tiny lake in Pennsylvania. I was leisurely floating on an intertube, chatting with my sister-in-law, when my husband Steve and my son Kyler called me over with these words, "Hey mom. Come here for a second. There is something we need to tell you." I paddled over to their intertubes, and Kyler [...]