Sunday-Ps.119-137-144 is our selection for today. Agian this hymn to god’s instruction , torah, is a very long piece. I assume it is included to link with Zacchaeus, “ I am small and despised, but I do not forget your precepts.” Following the ways of god can make us appear small and even despised at times.when have you felt small? What gives you an lenalrged sense of self? Does it connect to god?
Monday-to another person, or to your sense of divine Presence. Now, pause... in the silence: "Try to remember what you already know." What do you already know about patterns of how the Spirit has worked in your life in the past? What has helped you through previous struggles? What spiritual practices help you get in touch with your best Self? Make some notes in your journal or notebook.
Tuesday- "One of the great functions of art is to help us imagine what it is like to be not ourselves, what it is like to be someone or something else, what it is like to live in another skin, what it is like to live in another body, and in that sense to surpass ourselves, to go out beyond ourselves." Adrienne Rich, quoted by Mary Chapin Carpenter
Wednesday-Carrie Newcomer-”what makes life most marvelous and deeply satisfying happens in the small moments and infuses our ordinary days.” She does a workshop here at 2PM that explores more deeply this important insight in matter spiritual. we spend so much time looking for mountaintop experiences that w elose the depth and power of the everyday. What small moment has been important to you of late? What small moment has had an important impact on you through the years?
Thursday-Anne Lamott writes: "The third great prayer, Wow, is often offered with a gasp, a sharp intake of breath, when we can't think of another way to capture the sight of shocking beauty or destruction, of a sudden unbidden insight or an unexpected flash of grace. 'Wow' means we are not dulled to wonder.... 'Wow' is about having one's mind blown by the mesmerizing or the miraculous: the veins in a leaf, birdsong, volcanoes." .
Friday-Like a lot of people, i have struggles with money offerings for the church. I was a member of congregations for a long time, so i do know both sides of the church a bit. I know I reject church fundraising that use the tithe as a model and prefer Paul’s injunctions much more.I do know I resist the current schemes to only give to programs one likes, so as to avoid the organizational responsibilities inherent in any organization, including building maintenance.Building an organization is a testament to its future. I do not get where we got it into our heads that we have to agree with everything it does, but that we stand behind its presence.
Saturday-I make a habit of trying to have quotes for our reflective service, but we are not having it this Saturday due to a wedding and a concert. anyway, here’s one “be faithful in small things for therein your strength lies” (Mother Theresa) Bigness brings problems of its own of course. Do you think being faithful in small things is an element of character, similar to do things anonymously or unseen? I mean more than from a tiny acorn comes a mighty oak but that the small has intrinsic worth and fits our limited fallible nature better than grand schemes. How does this apply to spiritual life?
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