Good morning…
Our Saturday breakdown in communication really had no rhyme and no reason. I checked everything I knew to check and found no sign of why we got “Oops. This Page Could Not Be Found!” instead of our post “So It Was With Marian.” In my life “no rhyme or reason” usually has God’s fingerprints all over it, so I slow down at this speed bump to examine more closely the benefits of our breakdown.
- Our blog is interactive and breakdowns encourage our “back and forth.” Some of you wrote in response to our Oops. “No message on your website today. Boohoo for me.” “Good morning! The link doesn’t seem to work? Lovingly.” “Sue, your daily message went to a cannot display link. Can I help in any way?”
- When our Plan A does not work, we intuit God’s way to a personalized Plan B. “You know what I did yesterday? When I saw the “oops”…I simply went to your web page, SueToYou.com, and pulled up Marian’s message there. Lots of avenues to God’s truth?.” “I was able to access yesterday’s message by just going to the Previous messages. So, you still blessed me yesterday as you always do.” “I opened the message yesterday to get the oops but then was so impressed with my ability to go to Friday’s message & click next & it was there! I’m sure that was a God thing but I thought you’d get a smile or some satisfaction out of knowing that you didn’t leave us all high & dry! You are amazing & thank you for your daily dedication to our spiritual growth!!!”
- When a breakdown occurs, large or small, we are wise to wonder, “What is happening right now that God’s enemy might want to roadblock?” I go back to our blog post “So It Was With Marian” to realize that the enemy of God would love us to get stuck in a formal, external religion that preaches “an ethic of obedience to more requirements,” forcing us to blend into “the prevailing collective attitude,” with “an outwardly pleasing personality but a separation from creativity as well as pain,” our pain and the pain of others. In contrast, God speaks through wise people like John A. Sanford: “The teachings of Jesus are like a beautiful cut diamond; they can be viewed from many angles, yet each angle points to the same center,” helping us to marvel at “the unfolding of the whole personality that is within us all.”
- Marian had a Breakdown/Spiritual Awakening, much like my deep depression following our painful move in 2003, much like Brene Brown’s wake-up call in 2007. Unraveling into more of our God-given True Self, all three of us were “able to see the creative elements in the midst of our violent upheaval and to move from sickness to health, from obedience to creativity, from formal, outward religion to a religion connected meaningfully to our own inner world.”
- With this blaring surround sound, now God offers the perfect opportunity to announce our upcoming Women’s Lenten Communion Service. The speaker this year, Lou Winship, will share with us what she lovingly calls her “Coming Apart/Spiritual Awakening” during her candid talk entitled “My Love Story: What’s Yours?” Mark your calendar and plan to join us in the Chapel at Northside Church (2799 Northside Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30305) on Tuesday, March 12th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Bring a friend and enjoy this sacred evening.
Slowing down at life’s speed bumps, we awaken spiritually: You (unplanned breakdown) tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing (Genesis 50:20, CEV).
…Sue…
