Dear Friend,

I have one of these solar-powered, rotating crystals on the window in my sewing room/home office. Being on the third floor and facing east, it gets a lot of sun in the morning and so tiny rainbows circles my space almost continually. I both appreciate the beauty and whimsy of it, but also the reminder that things look different when we shift, even slightly, to look at them from a different perspective. (The article below does that in ways I found illuminating.) I’m not sure I’m very good at doing that, but I’m inclined to think that practicing might be a spiritual discipline.

With gratitude,
Pastor Sarah

Are We Allowed to Dream When the World is On Fire

by Gabby Llewellyn

I appreciate people who are able to look at things from different perspectives, or who can look at history or even the present day and see it through a particular lens. This article does that. Here’s my favorite quote:

“maybe life is more about recognizing part of living is never giving up the fight— while also buying groceries?”

Read the full article here.

A Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night

Apollo’s Fire & Amanda Powell

I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole and came across this video a few days ago and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s just fun.

Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

The MET

This video showcases churches in Ethiopia that were carved out of rock. But instead of being carved/built from the bottom up, they were carved from the top down. They’re amazing to see.

Morning Prayer

by Maren Tirabassi

God, I wake,
and it is not Christmas morning
but I know a child of God is born
whose parents have heard –
“no room, no room.”

God, I wake,
and it is not Easter sunrise,
but I know someone is resurrected,
from loss or addiction,
depression or doubt.

God, I wake,
and it is not Pentecost,
but I know someone has found a voice
for new and unexpected words.

God I wake,
and it is not Good Friday,
but I know someone has died —
betrayed, denied, body broken,
and it is not justice.

God, I wake,
and it is ordinary time,
which does not mean — no holiday,
but that they are all there,
and I will be called —
to follow a star, push a stone,
hear the gospel
in someone else’s language,
and make pieta of my knees.

God, guide me into the holy-day
that is this one. amen.