Coffee & Conversation

From the website “Journey to the Cross”
Friday, March 5, 2010
http://www.d365.org/journeytothecross/

Dear God, at your earliest convenience, could you please send me a detailed list of your plans for my life and for the world? That would really help me out and I promise I won’t tell anyone. Thanks!

Oh, if only life were so easy and God were so clear! Sure, God is pretty evident when you see a beautiful sunset or a child born or when a stranger offers words of encouragement. But that day-to-day life thing – not so much.

A hallmark of our faith is that at the end of the day, we are claimed by God to be part of God’s unfolding of life and creation. We are not always going to know how we fit into that unfolding, but we believe that we are somehow part of its realization. While this could be daunting and overwhelming, it is also a chance for us to embrace the art and dance of faith. We struggle with God’s word to us through scripture to guide our lives. We navigate the nuances of communal discernment. We come to God in prayer, lifting our voices to God, seeking to know God’s will. What an amazing gift of faith we have, knowing God so deeply that we trust God without even knowing where God may be leading us!

Bruce Reyes-Chow

Amazing God, open my heart and mind to your presence during this season of Lent. Allow me the wisdom to trust in the unfolding of your hopes in my life and in the world. Amen.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:57-58

Lent for me is a time when I make a conscious effort to get closer to God, through prayer, meditation, attending church services, reading, writing, and listening. I typically do not watch TV very much, and I usually find plenty of miscellaneous “busy” stuff to fill the time I would otherwise be stuck in front of that little box. But during the 40 days of Lent, I try to simplify even more, to give myself plenty of quiet time, when I do nothing except the basic things I listed above. Not only is this experience calming and relaxing, but I really do find that I can establish a peaceful and tranquil environment and let my mind be completely open to whatever thoughts and dialogue come to me. There are so many resources that I come in contact with to stimulate my thoughts and help to make my meditation time more meaningful. It might be something I read, something I see, something I hear, or a conversation with another person. I start to really think about it, and before long, I am understanding on a deeper level, listening for whatever God is trying to tell me through the particular resource. This year, a resource I have found particularly valuable is the Daily Lenten Devotional by members of the St. George Church Family. I am so thankful to all the contributors, for their thoughts and explanations, insights and the lessons learned. Reading a page each day gets me in the right frame of mind to start my quiet time where my own thoughts can flow freely. As suggested in the Devotional, I have also started a Lenten Journal which is helping me capture my thoughts, feelings and experiences during this contemplative time of year. One habit I have started this Lent is to start each day with some personal affirmations, to get the day started off the way I want to, and to remind myself of the actions and behaviors I choose to embrace and those that I choose to release. It is really working for me and I wanted to share the practice to help anyone else who would like to try it. Here are my affirmations – feel free to use these, or add your own personal ones that have the most meaning to you.

TODAY, WITH GOD’S HELP:

• I CHOOSE TO BE AT PEACE WITH MYSELF;
• I CHOOSE TO ACCEPT MYSELF AS I AM, AND OTHERS AS THEY ARE;
• I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY AND JOYFUL;
• I CHOOSE TO EMBRACE HOPE AND POSITIVE ENERGY;
• I CHOOSE TO FEEL CONFIDENT AND ABLE TO DEAL WITH ANYTHING CALMLY;
• I CHOOSE TO FORGIVE OTHERS AND ACCEPT FORGIVENESS FOR MYSELF;
• I CHOOSE TO EAT FOOD THAT NOURISHES AND STRENGTHENS MY BODY AND CONTRIBUTES TO MY HEALTH AND MY WELL BEING;
• I CHOOSE TO ENJOY EVERY EXPERIENCE THAT COMES ALONG;
• I CHOOSE TO CARE FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS WITH DEEP LOVE;
• I CHOOSE TO SEE ALL DIFFICULTIES AS OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE ME STRONGER;
• I CHOOSE TO RELEASE ALL ANGER, FEAR AND GUILT COMPLETELY;
• I CHOOSE TO RELEASE ALL NEGATIVE EMOTIONS;
• I CHOOSE TO RELEASE ALL STRESS AND ANXIETY;
• I CAN ACCOMPLISH ANY TASK WITH EASE;
• I INTEND THAT MY ACTIONS HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT;

TODAY, I AM THANKFUL TO GOD AND I AM GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE.

- AMEN -

Just wanted to share some positive energy for today! Came across this article from the website www.the-benefits-of-positive-thinking.com. Lots of great stuff. Check it out if you get a chance!

The Best Positive Phrases You Can Have Now

It’s not always easy to keep a positive attitude. Some of us choose to use positive phrases and affirmations repeated with intention to maintain a positive attitude. The best positive statements contain powerful words and make us feel great about ourselves, the world and the future. I have collected the following phrases for you. They are powerful sentences that aim to uplift you and help you have a positive attitude. I like chucking some of these phrases into my Affirmation Ticker, which displays them for me smoothly rolling by on a bar across the top of my computer screen – a great way to be inspired whenever you’re at your computer! Wait no more, and grab your positive phrases here…

* I accept life as it comes. Every day I become more and more the complete person I truly am.

* I intend to make a positive impact on the people I come in contact with.

* I am willing to forgive myself and learn from my mistakes to become a better person.

* I appreciate all acts of kindness that many people have toward me.

* I am thankful for being alive.

* I keep a flexible attitude toward changes in life.

* I welcome the future with a happy and open attitude.

* I intend to be more kind toward the people I come in contact with daily.

* I am grateful for all the possibilities that lie before me at present.

* I choose to be kind to myself.

* I am open to receive more wisdom every day.

* I choose to live my life with a purpose and give back to the world.

* I decide to release myself from old patterns of thought that no longer serve me.

* I choose to see all the opportunities that are presented to me daily.

* I forgive everyone that has ever done wrong to me. I choose to release all resentments. I choose peace and freedom.

* I choose to live my life daily to the fullest always in the present moment.

Have a great day

Sunset on Fort George Island

We sit on the porch alone together at twilight.
“Soon,” I whisper, “the sun will set and our sky will change.
The show will begin.”
“The eye of God will come and all His glory will perform just for us.”

We are like children filled and overflowing with anticipation,
as if running down the stairs on Christmas morning
to see what new shinnies the man in red has left behind.

Spellbound, first we see a soft blue, we point and say,
“Oh, that’s the color we should paint our bedroom.”

Then, with each inch the sun retreats below our marsh:
the pink, warm golds, deep blue – crimsons and orange.
We just gaze, almost a strange glare in silence engulfed and flooded
by the presence of God.

I don’t think either one of us is breathing….?

For a moment I remember back to the time when He and I started this journey together.
We had nothing – we were both children – both alone.
We had held each other and declared,
“We can do this!”

Yes, we are breathing.

Here we are now, engulfed and submerged in this Shangri-La.
We feel hidden as if we have been sitting here alone together for centuries,
taking in all knowledge of what we see.
In the silence of our shambhala
we become conscious of great noise filling our lull.

Can there be soft noise?

In our stillness we now see the other world,
we hear the other world also along with us at the closing of our day, their day.
They are lifting their voices, their essence, to their God, our God.

First a song from the wren, soft and sweet, calling earnestly.
Crickets using drums to communicate, a familiar cry of the marsh hen
and off to the left frogs begin to harmonize.
There is life all around us giving praise.

Not wanting to be left out,
the tall cedars begin to sway, dancing with the music from the breezes.
We close our eyes and feel their soft touch on our up turned faces
as they ask us to join them in their evening dance.

With one last gift to be given us on this memorable evening – just off to the northeast, slightly into our right ears,
we hear the peacocks offering up roaring cries, their last prayers for this night,
from high atop the massive oaks where they retreat and retire for protection.

Now He and I join hands as black silhouettes against a sea of color
slowly slipping away to become our night sky.
Our breath is good.
Our breathing in time.
“We are happy.”

He looks at me, deep, intensely – into all I am – we smile –
Is this what Paul meant when he said, “to be in constant prayer”?
I think so!

The phone rings.
My thoughts are yielded.
It’s Kammy.
I laugh out loud!

- Elizabeth Slover 2006

Liz & Dave celebrate 40 years of marriage on November 23, 2009

I have recently enrolled in the American Red Cross’s Nurse Assitant Training class.  It is a 7 week course that teaches me everything that I need to know in order to pass the State Board Examination to become a Certified Nurse’s Assistant.  I was guided into this by a friend of mine who told me the test was easy.  I found that I could get certified quickly, and with my recent trials in Resume submissions, I needed to make a decision that would effect the course of my future.  I went to the first class with some preconceived notions of what a CNA does.  I figured that the low man on the totem pole would get all the glorious jobs pertaining to human body wastes…and that part is true.
It turns out that there is so much more to this station.  It was explained that I will be the life blood of the day to day functions of the facility that chooses me.  I am the one who gets to interact with the patient/client/resident the most.  I will be the one that can be the most helpful to their spiritual condition!!!  It was after I left that night that I felt the regeneration of my personal spark.  It is an exciting feeling to know that I am not only choosing a new feild to work in, but also a profession that will need me.  I feel this energy of enthusiasm that is pouring out of me.  I am glad that I have this opportunity and am hopeful that in a setting where the patient who checks in will be on a diminishing road, I may be the one who can make their stay have the best ending.

–Trisha

It is amazing to me when I think about how much my friends mean to me.  For a long time my definition of a friend was off-center. A few weeks back – before the weather turned – I went to the Talbot Island State Park with one of my new and true friends.  It was a beautiful day and the company was wonderful too.  Susan, Lilly, Samie, and I walked through the wooded path down to a secluded beach.  I was fearful that Sammie would get sunburned, waterlogged, and scared. My anxiety was quieted just by being with Susan.  We had a wonderful time ,and she planned for things that I had not thought of.  Everything went smoothly; Sammie had a great time with Lilly playing on the beach.  The value of my friendship helps enrich my life with activities that I thought may have been too overwhelming for me to handle by myself.  We enjoyed watching the girls playing and just spending time together.  So, thank you, my friend!

–Trisha

It’s amazing what you find out when you actually talk to people!  Over the past few months, I have come to know many wonderful people at St. George’s.  Each week that passes by, I meet more new people and enjoy finding out about so many common interests.  Maybe it is because our congregation is based on St. George Island, such a beautiful and serene place, that the people in and around the church seem to match.  I was telling someone today that I had never felt really sure about becoming a member of any church since I arrived in America in 1976, that is, not until I found St. George’s.

I grew up in a church family, a small parish, and the church really was a part of our every day lives.  Our vicar, Mr. Evans, was a jolly, middle aged Welsh man (with a thick Welsh accent) who rode around everywhere on his bicycle as he did not own a car.  He and Mrs. Evans lived in the parish vicarage, a small, simple cottage type house, nothing fancy.  Mr. Evans knew everyone in the parish, especially the children.  He knew your name, when you were born, where you lived, etc.  He instinctively knew where we were supposed to be at any given time.  Should he come upon us while out and about on his bicycle,  he would simply give us “the eye” and we knew we were caught and better get back to what we were supposed to be doing.  He was never stern or cross with us.  I don’t ever remember him raising his voice.  He didn’t have to.

We didn’t have a church secretary, or office staff (or even an office for that matter).  Mrs. Evans took care of all the church business, including making cakes and cookies to take around to the sick and elderly.  If anyone in the parish needed anything, they would just go and knock on the front door of the vicarage.  The church survived on donations from the weekly collections, two services on Sundays and one on Wednesday, as well as more substantial donations from the wealthier parishioners.  Since I was in the choir and spent quite a bit of time in and around the church, I was sometimes “recruited” to help out with various tasks.  I remember going with Mr. Evans one day to empty the donation boxes as it was time to do the books.  By the main door entrance, there were 4 letter box type  holes in the wall so that people could select which area of need they wanted to donate to.  One was flowers, another was building & grounds, another was for the sick & poor, and I forget what the last one was for.  My mother would give us a handful of spare change on Sundays to put in the donation box.  I always carefully considered which one I would pick, trying to make sure that over a period of time I had covered all the bases.  It was a small but empowering decision to make each week.  I would see others making the same kind of deliberations, and the ensuing satisfaction after the decision was made and the money put in the right box.

To my great surprise, when Mr. Evans took out his church keys to open up the boxes, there was one big hole in the wall, with all the money in one place, not the four individual boxes.  My wide eyes and open mouth prompted Mr. Evans to explain this newly revealed system, and once I understood the concept, it was a much broader and more powerful lesson than it first appeared to be.  As the leader and caretaker of the church, Mr. Evans was responsible to see that all needs were met to the best of his ability.  There were never enough donations to cover everything.  There were the “must have to survive” priorities, and the “nice to have” extras.  He said that while it is nice to have the church filled with flowers, or get new bible covers, or something like that – it was much more important that an elderly parishioner had help to pay her heating bill in a harsh winter month or that a young mother had enough food for her children.  He said (with a twinkle in his eye) that sometimes it was good to go a couple of weeks without any flowers, because donations in the “flower” box would go up considerably.   He said that God works in the same way – the priorities have to get taken care of first, and that we shouldn’t worry about anything we pray for.  All the prayers go into the same box, then it is up to God to take care of all the needs, in His order, not ours.  It all made sense and I could see from his explanation that it was a really good system after all.  I still enjoyed putting my coins in each of the 4 boxes, and watching others making their selections.  The difference was that I now knew something a little extra, something about the  good purpose of the box(es)… and I knew that because of the system,  and a call for more flower donations, Mr. Evans could take care of the needs of the church.  It just gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling

I was just sitting here looking at Angel’s post which has a link to a really great on-line resource for “children of all ages” (like me!) As I clicked on some of the different links to various stories in the bible, my mind drifted back to days of long ago sitting in my small neighborhood church, St. Peter’s in London, England. Ours was a very small parish, we typically had only a handful of children in our solitary bible class. Our Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Chapman, was also the wife of our very talented organist/music director, as well as the lead soprano in our choir of about ten, and I’m sure fulfilled many other roles as well. We sat in a small area in one corner of the church where we had a small alter with a statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched in front of him. Underneath, it said “Suffer not little children, come unto me”. It was the “Children’s Corner”, adorned with books, pictures, a few simple toys and some cushy pillows. The church was built in the 1700’s, and is a typical “Church of England” – large, stone walls, tall steeple, old wooden pews (certainly no carpet!) – very plain and quite austere. It was always cold in the church (even in the summer) as the parish could not afford to keep it heated, except for this one small area, which always seemed warm and cozy. As we sat and listened to the stories of Joseph and his dream coat, David and Goliath, Adam and Eve … it felt like such a safe and secure place to be, looking into the arms of Jesus, it was like he was right there with us, protecting us. As I sat tonight and looked through some of these lessons again, it evoked those same feelings. The stories are all the same, it’s just a different generation of children now, and a slightly different format! How wonderful it always seems to see things through the eyes of children. So simple, so pure.  With so many things in our lives constantly changing, it is comforting to read the same words that I remember from more than 40 years ago.  Here we are in the next century (I hate to say!) with instant access to everything on line, which is great for the most part – I have certainly enjoyed it this evening re-connecting so easily to these great memories. But it is sad in some ways too, as I wonder how many people these days are missing out on the human connection, the actual foundation of memories for the years ahead. The joy in knowing a Mrs. Chapman. The reassurance and comfort of that special safe place we can journey back to in our minds where the actual seeds of our faith were firmly planted. I wish that every child could begin their life journey with this same blanket of protection. It is sad to think that so many children are not given this opportunity as the church has become less and less important in all too many busy lives. Children are our future and there is no more precious gift than the one of faith. It is a gift we can give to a child and also to God who works through us. The time spent with a child, planting seeds of faith through the stories of the Bible, is such a privilege and honor, an act of love. So thank you to all the teachers, story-tellers, parents, grand-parents and everyone who takes the time to share faith with a child. If only we could reach every single one…  As for me, I’m brushing up on some of the old stories.  You never know when opportunity will knock.  :-)

I am so grateful that children start out small.  They are sweet and soft and loveable…then they start growing.  Occasionally, the monster within rears its ugly head.  It is at that moment that I can reflect to the times of innocence and bliss.  When JT becomes unmanagable, Sammie does something impromtu that helps me see the humor in the situation instead of the frustration.

I remember listening to my mother tell me over and over how she stood on the front porch watching me climb aboard the school bus for the first time as a kindergartener chanting “breathe, breathe, breathe” to herself. She has so often said “How tiny you seemed climbing up those big steps! And all I could think was I’m not ready for this.” Upon hearing this yet again whenever some major event would be happening in my life, I would just roll my eyes and think, “Oh, Mom.” Now I’m a mother, and just sent my first off to kindergarten. I held back my tears and took deep long breaths and found myself thinking the same thing as my mother had…and in that moment, the overwhelming love and never-ending attachment that a mother can have towards her children was so clear and deep. From generation to generation, we pass this along and learn that the depth of love we have is not just expressed in the energy we must find to care for our children day in and day out, but also in the strength we must find to step back and let them make that next big move in their journey towards finding their own way.