Polly died on Sunday, August 29 surrounded by her family. I was taken back by the simple innocence of her faith in God. Polly barely had a week to digest her fate, yet she did it with an openness to God that I have rarely seen.
Native Americans believe that people with special needs are especially close to God. After listening to her testimony of faith, I believe this as well. Polly became a teacher of life and faith to anyone who was open to her words.
I am grateful to have crossed paths with her. Polly reminded me to love God with all of my mind, my heart and my soul. I hope she is enjoying her palace in the sky with the little garden filled with yellow flowers.
When I lift up an A & W root beer later, I will join many others as we speak out, "To Polly".
On the journey,
Alecia
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Hurried Lives
A hurried life implies that a Christian has lost the balance between abiding in God's grace and abounding in God's work. As promised here are the observations John Ortberg concerning the matter from his book, The Me I Want to Be.
1. When can I expect the tension between abiding and abounding to go away? The short answer is when you die! Jesus faced the same issues. Read Mark 1.
2. Who is responsible for getting the tension right?
While the church can be helpful in pointing folks the right direction, the answer is that each individual must continue to seek the balancing point. Often times balance is a moving target, depending on life stage and and obligations.
3. Each person needs certain practices and systems in place.
For me it is not the traditional quiet time, rather it is meditating on a passage while walking. There are a myriad of ways to abide in God's presence. The key is determining which is life-giving and brings you to the presence of God.
4. It is critical to abandon the hope of pleasing everyone.
Because of time restraints, we did not speak about this one in service; however, people pleasing or living up to another's observations sabotages many spiritual lives.
5. Recognize destructive patterns in life, such as:
* Chronic sense of never enough time
* Physica tension in the body
* Inappropriate escapist behavior
* Pre-occupied or inability to be fully present.
I would be interested in hearing what practices work for you.
On the journey,
Alecia
1. When can I expect the tension between abiding and abounding to go away? The short answer is when you die! Jesus faced the same issues. Read Mark 1.
2. Who is responsible for getting the tension right?
While the church can be helpful in pointing folks the right direction, the answer is that each individual must continue to seek the balancing point. Often times balance is a moving target, depending on life stage and and obligations.
3. Each person needs certain practices and systems in place.
For me it is not the traditional quiet time, rather it is meditating on a passage while walking. There are a myriad of ways to abide in God's presence. The key is determining which is life-giving and brings you to the presence of God.
4. It is critical to abandon the hope of pleasing everyone.
Because of time restraints, we did not speak about this one in service; however, people pleasing or living up to another's observations sabotages many spiritual lives.
5. Recognize destructive patterns in life, such as:
* Chronic sense of never enough time
* Physica tension in the body
* Inappropriate escapist behavior
* Pre-occupied or inability to be fully present.
I would be interested in hearing what practices work for you.
On the journey,
Alecia
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Me I Want to Be -- Confession
Perhaps the most significant aha moment in John Ortberg's book, The Me I Want to Be, was the discussion on confession. In a world that celebrates Christianity Lite where the spiritual walk is based on the desires of the consumer (me), it was an important reminder of the place of confession in a healthy life. It was good to re-read 1 John and the call to living in the light.
The act of confession will make its way more prominently in worship this fall. In worship it will look like a more intention addition to our time of prayer or communion. In a small group, the aspect of accountability is a more natural progression of our spiritual journey. It is not added in corporately per se, but much more relationally.
Reading the book reminds me to thank my covenant group sisters for walking alongside me in life.
Along the journey.
Alecia
The act of confession will make its way more prominently in worship this fall. In worship it will look like a more intention addition to our time of prayer or communion. In a small group, the aspect of accountability is a more natural progression of our spiritual journey. It is not added in corporately per se, but much more relationally.
Reading the book reminds me to thank my covenant group sisters for walking alongside me in life.
Along the journey.
Alecia
Monday, August 2, 2010
The Me I Want To Be
John Ortberg's book, The Me I Want to Be, has been a great summer read for me. Ortberg writes:
I'm a grown man, I thought. I do not know how many years of life are before me. I cannot wait anymore. When I was going to school, I was preoccupied with good grades or getting cute girls to like me. As the years went by, I became preoccupied with work and my circumstances because I thought they would make me feel alive. I can't wait anymore to be that man, I thought.
I realized this then, and I know it now: I want that life more than I want anything else. Not because I think I'm supposed to, not because it says somewhere that you should. I want it. There is a me I want to be.
As I am being reminded periodically by faithful servants in the church, I am nearly 50! I think the questions Ortberg poses are good food for fodder throughout our lives. Am I the me I want to be -- at this point in my journey. Having two weeks of vacation helped immensely in helping to shake out the cobwebs and chew on these questions. I look forward hearing from you as you look at your journey. Are you on stuck or are you continuing to emerge into the person God has called you to be?
On the journey,
Alecia
I'm a grown man, I thought. I do not know how many years of life are before me. I cannot wait anymore. When I was going to school, I was preoccupied with good grades or getting cute girls to like me. As the years went by, I became preoccupied with work and my circumstances because I thought they would make me feel alive. I can't wait anymore to be that man, I thought.
I realized this then, and I know it now: I want that life more than I want anything else. Not because I think I'm supposed to, not because it says somewhere that you should. I want it. There is a me I want to be.
As I am being reminded periodically by faithful servants in the church, I am nearly 50! I think the questions Ortberg poses are good food for fodder throughout our lives. Am I the me I want to be -- at this point in my journey. Having two weeks of vacation helped immensely in helping to shake out the cobwebs and chew on these questions. I look forward hearing from you as you look at your journey. Are you on stuck or are you continuing to emerge into the person God has called you to be?
On the journey,
Alecia
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