I was thankful to be walking in the sunshine although there was a chill in the air. I never know what new flower may be blooming or what old friend I may meet. Today I met Verna, gray hair like me she picks up garbage at her complex. She is a joy to talk with, not because she has had no problems but because she has come through difficult times.
Walking for me is good for the body and for the soul. It is good for me physically and emotionally. A time for thinking of others and able to see some problems with a clearer eye.
"Of all the exercises I think walking is the best." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Scripture tells us to walk as children of the light who leave the darkness behind.
We can walk and talk with God where ever we are: at home, or a busy street, in the store or even in a hospital. We do not walk alone. We can pray for guidance and wisdom.
We will be walking into a difficult situation in our church and I can only hope there will be compassion and grace. The atmosphere has been so different with the new substitute minister and now the news is our past minister who has been on stress leave is returning. Some have been very wounded by his past messages and it will be hard for them to have him come back.
Is he ready and strong enough?
I do believe some will walk out I am afraid. Our church is already fragile.
Words will have to be chosen carefully.
"Discretion will protect you" Proverbs
"God is a shield to those whose walk is blameless." Proverbs
Walking as a community can be difficult so I hope and pray that God will be at work in all our hearts and that the forgiveness of the Easter message will penetrate our hearts and minds.
6 comments:
That will be interesting to see what happens when your pastor comes back to work again.
I got out in the back yard to tidy up for a bit and enjoyed a bit of the sunshine. We worked from 7 in the morning till about 2. A very long day for me as I am use to sitting all day, not being on my feet.
Randy got a call he has to come into to work tonight at midnight so we shut everything down and did a quick grocery shop. Not really sure how to use any of the new appliances yet so you did not tackle anything ambitious like actually cooking, just grabbed some ready made food at Save-On-Foods.
I am meeting a lady from my work tomorrow at the dog park as she is house/dog sitting at her daughters house who is not far from me. It will give Randy a chance to get some sleep in the morning and then the goal is to move the family room back in. We will so how that goes, so far most of our plans for the day do not and up happening.
Sandra
Sounds like my life Sandra as I plan my day
and before you know it is over and the plans
have not worked out.
Dad and I both had a better sleep even though
we had coughing fits before bed.
I am not well enough for church and it is easy to
feel out of things.
Another rainy morning.
Enjoy your walk!
Love mom
Love mom
I very much agree that walking is good for mind and body. And so I should go for a walk this morning. We will see if I actually do.
As for your returning Minister, it might be a good exercise to try and imagine "what would Jesus do?"
Two basic examples (but might be others, and I am exaggerating for effect at times, but, you know, sometimes Jesus do too):
EXAMPLE 1 And so it came to pass that the rabbi who had been sick and sent away to recover returned to the synagogue and some members said, "it is a sign of the devil that he has been ill and now he seeks to return and spread his illness and rely on our generosity again ; I will not listen to him for fear of hearing the word of the devil in disguise." And Jesus, hearing these words said, "Yes, dude, I'm down with that. Maybe we should stone him to death to teach the devil a lesson?"
EXAMPLE 2 And so it came to pass that the rabbi who had been sick and sent away to recover returned to the synagogue and some members said, "it is a sign of the devil that he has been ill and now he seeks to return and spread his illness and rely on our generosity again; I will not listen to him for fear of hearing the word of the devil in disguise." And Jesus, hearing these words said, "Who better that those have had the breath of illness, death, and evil on their face will know the truth of life and the importance of God's love? I will listen to the returning rabbi for what I can learn. Do we all not face sickness and death?"
Love,
Rick
Rick
Dad and I had a chuckle reading your comments.
Can I quote you?
I do not know what the majority are feeling because I
am out of the know.
Some times church can make us uncomfortabe
which we may need.
Hope you had a walk
Dad does not want me to go so thats my reason I have to do it.
Just a bit of old age rebellion.
Love mom
Pretty sure Dude was not in the bible.
Ken
walk carefully....well that would be worrisome, for sure, if the minister is preaching things that are unacceptable to some. I would imagine that the bishops..not sure what the United church higher minsters are called, would not be aware of the problem.
Perhaps as Rick suggested in #2, give him a chance and if some parishioners are not happy, have a meeting and address the problem with the bishops.
That is, if it is a justified problem...just not something a few are having a problem with.
I do like the idea of asking "what would Jesus do" and learned that from our minister, Judy and it has been very helpful in some questionable situations.
I am sure your church cannot loose many more parishioners as so many cannot.
Did I tell you about the school bus and our walk? Not sure if I did. I gathered the dogs into a driveway as the bus approached and it slowed down and stopped. I had my two on leashes and two neighbours dogs running loose...she opened the door, gave a big smile and threw out dog biscuits for them. I gave her a big smile..couldn't wave because my hands were full of leashes and collars. Sure made my day.
Did Ken and family escape the bad storm that tore through parts of Australia? I have a friend who has 12 children, and they had a major storm roll through and it downed large trees that damaged vehicles and trailers. they are all safe thankfully. Can you imagine having 12 children? WOW. They are strong Catholics and dress in all homemade dresses for the girls and old fashioned clothes for the boys. They make a lot of their own foods and have animals, like goats and rabbits that they eat. Very interesting, good living people. Daring to be different in these times.
Today is a beautiful day and one to start cleaning up after the cold and mess that winter creates. That means cleaning the sunroom for me. Everything tracks in there all winter, sand, salt and birdseeds. The squirrel, the little devil, got in through the pet door and made a big mess eating the peanuts in the pail. You would think he would be thankful and clean up afterwards! haha. Also wipe down the old fridge out there and start to use it again. The overnight temps can still get well below freezing, but soon they won't.
How are you and Larry feeling Beth? Are your coughs getting better? Are you getting more energy now? I sure do hope so.
Well I am off to do some housework, baking, lemon cupcakes, and then a walk with the dogs. We will travel up Ateah Rd...north because it is up hill and less muddy. Then on to the highway where we can walk along the paved shoulder and there isn't much traffic this time of year. there are houses along the way and the community centre with the post office and the municipal shop as well in case I see the cougar. Not really worried, but not walking on any bush trails right now. Which I love to do!
Have a great day!
Love, Nancy
PS that was unforgivable for the pharmacy to make you wait that long. Can you phone and order it and then pick up? that is what we do.
Post a Comment