Dear Friend,
Do you ever find yourself gazing at images like the one above, hoping that if you stare long enough, you might be able to speed time and make it summer? No? Just me? I don’t think my toes have been fully warm in since last week. I know we are called to find God in every season, but I’m pretty sure God is hibernating with the bears and that we should be as well. Nevertheless, time marches on, thank goodness.
With prayers that you’re staying warm,
Pastor Sarah
something Worth reading
Cause for Alarm
by Rachel Hackenberg
We have an ongoing debate in our household as to how much news one should watch, particularly news of a political nature that makes your blood pressure rise. I’m of the not very much, if any at all opinion, but I will admit that there are times when I appreciate being married to someone who can alert me should there be something I need to know. Regardless of how you feel about watching the news, this article feels important—particularly her reminder that faith cannot be lived as a reaction.
“In my social media feed, there’s a funny video of an emu overreacting to a loud noise by running haphazardly around the pasture with panicked energy, its legs churning, its neck swinging in high alert. A voiceover for the emu shouts: “They’re coming for the eggs! They’re coming for the eggs!”
“I giggle every time that video appears. I also wish it wasn’t so accurate.
…
“When the emus take over, when our alarm churns its legs and swings its neck and runs around the pasture in endless circles, our capacity to respond—productively and from a faithful core—falters. When anxious emus are only satisfied by an increase in anxious emus, the cause becomes secondary. When the cause is secondary, the response is reactionary. And faith cannot be lived as a reaction.”
something worth hearing
The Circle of Life
Stellenbosch University Choir
something worth watching
Listening to the Quiet
Harrison Ford | E. O. Wilson Foundation
The cinematography in this video is incredible, but I also love the imagery of listening to the quiet. With all of the political activity of this week, listening for the quiet sounds quite appealing.
something worth praying
A Prayer for 8th Grade Boys
by AJ van Tine
Spirit of the divine masculine,
Grant us the strength to nurture in ourselves,
And in every young person we have the privilege to know
The gifts of patience, curiosity, and compassion.
To the boy at the edge of adulthood,
To the boy at the brink of despair:
For you who feel rejected, or not enough,
For you who feel the unfairness of the world,
But don’t know what to do with it:
May your longing for belonging
be met with compassion as well as structure,
And as you strive for your place in this world
May you choose always the gentler,
more cautious, and wiser ways of being.
As you explore reactions and test limits,
May your edgy jokes be met with firm boundaries rooted in curiosity rather than shame.
As you practice tenderness and vulnerability,
May your heartfelt tears be met with warm embraces infused by solidarity rather than
ridicule.
As you experience the highs and lows of life,
May you feel your every emotion fully, naming and making friends with each one.
As you gather knowledge and chart your own path,
May you be savvy to the lies of charlatans who would tempt you with the easy path of
blaming others.
As you seek companionship and physical affection,
May you respect boundaries and strive for mutually beneficial relationships of trust and
safety.
As you make friends and build community,
May they bear the marks of true belonging,
The belonging that doesn’t make you to cut off parts of your own self to fit in
The belonging that doesn’t ask you to blame others
The belonging that doesn’t require you to treat others as less-than-human objects
The belonging that welcomes all your joy and sorrow and anger and confusion and humor
and experiments and mistakes, and loves you through it all,
With a love that will tell you when your words and actions hurt others
With a love that will heal your own hurt as well.
To the boy at the edge of adulthood,
To the boy at the brink of despair,
To the boy hearing his own story in this prayer,
To the boy yearning to grow beyond what has come before:
May you grow strong by showing compassion
Grow brave by being vulnerable
Grow wise by thinking critically
Grow fair by listening deeply
Grow virtuous by accepting boundaries
Grow powerful by seeking truth
Grow resilient by knowing thyself
May you know love
May you choose gentleness
And may you flourish into the great potential unfolding before you.
Amen
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