02.28.08
Posted in General Blog Post at 2:49 pm by Pastor Don
Dear Friends:
I’m soon to head from Africa, Sierra Leone to be exact, and I’m packing some things to bring along. What does one take? As I do this, I’m reminded of what one really needs in order to be. I’m reminded of a hymn that says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” What do I really need to “pass through”?
I struggle at times with being suffocated by stuff, and I long to unstuff myself. I am going to a country where that issue is mute, as poverty and unemployment ravage the ideas of accumulating stuff. Instead, there is the common yearning for a warm meal, a place to lie down, a school for children to attend, and joy. What is that joy? Perhaps that joy is when I know that I’m an answer for someone’s prayer and I respond, perhaps when I’m seeking to be a pencil in the hand of God, perhaps when I’m seeking to be an instrument of God’s peace, and finally when I am that pencil, that instrument.
As I travel, it reminds me that my spiritual journey calls me to travel light, because where I’m going, all pilgrims do travel light. As I muse over these thoughts of traveling light, and using my resources to be placed in God’s hands, it’s then that I discover that for which I hunger the most: joy. Contentment, peace of mind, these are the wonderful gifts of life, and I’ve learned that I find them and receive them regularly when I’m unstuffed by stuff, when I’m traveling light, and when I’m seeking to be a pencil in the hand of God. God’s blessing to you. When I come back, stop by, the light will be on, and the coffee will be fresh. Joy to you, my friend.
Pastor Don
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02.15.08
Posted in General Blog Post at 5:44 pm by Pastor Don
Dear Friends:
Lenten greetings! I trust that you are making it through the Lenten season and allowing for a good couple of stoops in your life. I’m here pictured getting down on my knees with one fine young man, Karl. Getting down on my knees puts me at eye level with Karl, and allows me to look a little more closely at his world. Getting down on my knees has a way of also getting me out of my normal world, and allowing new opportunities to bubble into my spiritual journey.
Getting on our knees may happen in prayer, it may happen when I’m looking for something, or when I’m serving. Jesus got on his knees didn’t he? Remember that night at the Last Supper? Nobody appeared ready to wash the disciples’ feet that night, until Jesus took a basin and a towel and proceeded to take a stoop and kneel, and indulged himself in service. Then afterward, he called all his disciples to do the same. Get involved in serving and be willing to take a stoop and kneel. My own experience with this dynamic of stoop and kneel is always full of joy and purpose, for I find then in many ways, I am about the work of the Lord.
How about you? What do you find in the stoop and kneel? I trust that you will find Jesus. For Jesus also says, “As you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it unto me.” Lenten blessings. Stop by. The light’s on, the coffee’s fresh.
Pastor Don
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02.01.08
Posted in General Blog Post at 5:23 pm by Pastor Don
Dear Friends:
February, and how goes it with your soul? Are you like the woman who after being wished by her pastor to “Have a good day,” responded by saying, “Pastor, I’m sorry, but I’ve made other plans.”
One of my blessings in January was to visit Anna, born just within the last week. Anna, born of wonderful parents, comes with many possibilities and gifts, and reminds me that God is not finished with humanity. God continues to bless humanity with new voices, new thoughts, new possibilities.
For me, I have to remind myself to be open to the blessings of God. Imagine if I tried to hold Anna without opening my arms, without flexing my hands. It’s hard to receive God’s blessings with closures created by fear and despair. It’s also hard to extend blessings to Anna or others with closed hands and unextended arms.
Living with God, accepting and sharing God’s blessings means that I have to open myself to God, to others, and to myself. A person wrapped up in himself/herself makes a very small package. I would challenge you to extend yourself, open up, and allow the Spirit of God to become a reality for you. Allow yourself to be blessed, so that you can be a blessing.
Stop by. The coffee’s fresh. The light is on.
Pastor Don
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