Have you ever had a day or moment when you felt like there were so many things coming at you that you clutched your head saying “I can’t take this anymore?” Life can make so much noise that you cannot think and the noise is all you hear.
Walking in church on Sunday reminded me of this kind of noise. A security alarm was stuck...ringing and ringing and ringing. We had a key to silence it but that only lasted a couple of minutes. Just not enough!!! After the majority of people left the church building, I silenced the alarm once again. Pastor Aj said to me “The silence sounds SO good and silent.”
Sometimes we live our lives with continual blaring noise and even forget how wonderful the silence is. We forget how relaxing, yet energizing the silence can be. Maybe that is something that you need to add to your life of faith. As we are talking about “Dangerous Prayers” on Sundays leading up to Easter, just maybe you could step away from the noise and into the silence with God. In my message Sunday, I shared about the Jewish practice of covering your head with a prayer shawl (called a tallit) understanding that a quiet place with God has been created. I sometimes think of that as a private tabernacle. If you are a mom or dad, imagine what a family member may say if they came upon you in a quiet room, sitting on the floor, with a covering over your head. I know--your family would probably tease you about that!!! Mom or Dad has lost it!!! But imagine the example you are setting for them and the benefit for you.
I believe we will lose our minds and souls if we don’t take moments to ground ourselves in God and to renew our souls! Why not try? Let me know what you discover!
Blessings, Patti
Archived Posts
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values
In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with
Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.
They have been conquered...
Patience and Trust
Sunday, in my benediction (which traditional folks did not hear) I talked about the Marshmallow Test. The original results of that test with children was that those who could delay gratification did better in life than those who could not.
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.