Dear Friend,

I recently read an article by Rev. Dr. Adam Hearlson, a seminary classmate and pastor, about the classic “Footprints in the Sand” poem that was so popular in the 1980s and 1990s (you can read it in the image above if you don’t know it). The power of the poem, “lies in the power of reflection. The poem assures us that in looking backward, Christ might make meaning of moments of silence and hardship. The poem reminds us that the past is not random and brutal, and we do not walk this journey alone and without help.” But Hearlson goes on to argue that the poem is incomplete because it fails to recognize that there is more to our story with Christ than just that Christ carries us. Hearlson writes that there are moments in our lives when we carry Christ into the world. And there are moments when we step on Christ, when Christ lays down so that we might be able to walk across him in certain situations.

Hearlson ends his article with, “I am going to write a poem that no one will buy, called “Butt-prints.” There, you see those, those two butt-prints; that’s where that person sat with me and wept. They were like Christ to me. That is where that person didn’t feel the need to move me forward but sat with me in my pain, where her silence made room for my growth and my understanding.”

The power of the poem lies in the power of reflection. Our ability to look back and see things more clearly than we were able to see them at the time. I wonder—when you look back at different periods of your life, what prints do you see in the sand? And how do you make sense of them?

Something to ponder,
Pastor Sarah

You Know Your Triggers —
Now, Find Your Glimmers

by Ashley Abramson

I recently came across this idea of glimmers and found it very appealing as a spiritual practice. Essentially, glimmers are the opposites of triggers. Instead of things that elicit in you a negative or stressful reaction, glimmers create feelings (even if fleeting) of peace, safety, connection.

“Here’s the idea: The body gets stressed-out and hyped-up when it senses a threat, and returning to homeostasis can sometimes take a bit of strategy. According to polyvagal theory, external cues of safety –– a friend’s kind eyes, cuddles from a puppy, comforting words from a partner –– activate the “social engagement system,” which acts like an off-switch to the sympathetic response. … Because the nervous system is conditioned to look for threats (it helps us survive!), it takes some work to notice beauty (and to use it to regulate your nervous system).”

Read the full article here.

There are Giants in the Sky

Daniel Huttlestone from Into the Woods

We introduced our children to the movies Newsies recently and when it ended, Disney+ pulled up the preview for Into the Woods, so that was the next movie we watched and ever since watching it, this is the song that Hannah asks to have played on repeat. I like it as well, both its musicality and the lyrics, which I’ll put below—particularly the part when Jack realizes how his new (high and scary) vantage point changes his view of the world below and his life. If you’re not familiar with the musical/movie, this part is about Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk fame.

There are giants in the sky!
There are big, tall, terrible giants in the sky!

When you’re way up high
And you look below
At the world you’ve left
And the things you know
Little more than a glance
Is enough to show
You just how small you are

When you’re way up high
And you’re on your own
In a world like none
That you’ve ever known
Where the sky is lead
And the earth is stone
You’re free to do
Whatever pleases you
Exploring things you’d never dare
‘Cause you don’t care
When suddenly there’s

A big, tall, terrible giant at the door
(A giant?)
A big, tall, terrible, lady giant sweepin’ the floor
And she gives you food
And she gives you rest
And she draws you close
To her giant breast
And you know things now
That you never knew before
Not ’til the sky

Only just when you’ve made
A friend and all
And you know she’s big
But you don’t feel small
Someone bigger than her
Comes along the hall
To swallow you for lunch

And your heart is lead
And your stomach stone
And you’re really scared
Being all alone
And it’s then that you miss
All the things you’ve known
And the world you’ve left
And the little you own
The fun is done
You steal what you can and run

And you scramble down
And you look below
And the world you know
Begins to grow
The roof, the house and your
Mother at the door
The roof, the house and the world you never thought to explore
And you think of all the things you’ve seen
And you wish that you could live in between
And you’re back again
Only different than before
After the sky

There are giants in the sky!
There are big, tall, terrible, awesome, scary, wonderful
Giants in the sky

The Amazing AI Super Tutor for Students and Teachers

Sal Khan

Nancy Iversen forwarded me an email this week that included a link to this video and I found it fascinating. Likely you’ve heard about the powerful new AI ChatGPT and all of the controversy it is stirring up. In this Ted Talk, Sal Khan, the founder of the online Khan Academy, talks about how they are leveraging this technology to help education, both students and teachers. It’s an interesting take on the question of how we will respond to this new technology in schools and other places. I particularly appreciate the ways in which Khan and his team have approached the technology as something that we can partner with and use to help make us better humans. 

We are Trapped

Carol Penner

Open our eyes, Lord, to the modern yoke;
the burden of our consumer culture,
the debt that holds people fast,
the myth of success which has us by the throat.
We confess that we are trapped.

You offer the possibility of release;
you loose the shackles of greed,
freeing us from the urge to acquire at any cost,
relieving us from the treadmill of busyness.

We are your new releases,
telling a story for this generation.
Feeding the hungry. we whisper peace,
clothing the naked, we murmur hope,
sheltering the homeless, we declare your faithfulness.

Amen.