“Be still, and know that I am God!” – Psalm 46:10
What does it mean to you to be still? How often are you still? Why do you think God is telling us here to be still? What does it mean to know that God is God?
The following is a prayer by the late author Wilferd A. Peterson.
Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, admidst the confusions of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves
With the soothing music of the sighing streams
That live in my memory.
Help me to know
The magical restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend or to make a new one;
To pat a stray dog,
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day
That the race is not always to the swift;
That there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life's enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of my great destiny.
Sometimes being still means just slowing down a little bit. The Hebrew verb translated “be still” also means something like letting go. We often try to keep pushing on in life in such a way that we forget that God is in control. Sometimes we just need to be still, to let go, to slow down, and let God be God so that we can rejoice in life’s little miracles.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Minister's Minute from September Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy
Yesterday I met someone for the first time. It was filled with those moments that we all have when you meet someone for the first time. There were plenty of moments filled with that awkward silence we all know. Awkward because for some reason when we first meet another we need to fill the space with words, we can only sit in silence we people we know or people we aren’t paying attention to at all.
There was the getting to know you questions some without verbs. “Where you from?”
“California. Where you from?” The thing about a lot of those questions is that they don’t quite inspire conversation. “Where have you visited?” Again only one word answers. “What do you do?” Sometimes this question moves people on toward having more of a conversation. In my line of work I have found that the moment someone finds out what I do the person changes the way he or she was interacting with me. One moment we are having a casual getting to know each other conversation, the next moment is… well it’s just a little different.
Sometimes people feel like they have to tell me where they go to church which I have taken to mean is their way of letting me know that they believe in God. It is as though they are saying, “Hey listen I believe so you don’t need to pressure me into going to your church.” And if they didn’t tell me that I might invite them, if we got to that place where an invitation would seem appropriate that is, because I love my church. I love the people, I think the Spirit moves in that place, I know people who have discovered their God at that place and I have seen miracles happen there.
Other times the person tries to stop talking to me. Maybe such people have been hurt by religion so many times that they can no longer deal with it. That happens a lot, religious people being like all other kinds of people (even if we don’t like to admit it) hurt people. If I had not felt the call of God there are some “religious” people I have met that would keep me from ever wanting to be a part the whole mess. So I say what I do and those people who have been hurt by religion see me as all that has hurt them. I don’t blame them, but I do wish they would try to get to know me, and often times I would like to get to know them too. Maybe if we kept talking grace would show up and talk too, and who knows maybe even healing would happen.
Then there are the people who want to talk to me all the more. Maybe they are religious or maybe their not, maybe they believe in God or maybe they don’t, but they want to talk about God, because for some people God is just too interesting not to talk about. These people tell me their stories and want to hear mine. They share their ideas of the divine, their struggles, their joys, their sorrows, their anger, and whatever else, because when we actually take the time to talk about God we realize that we can talk about everything, nothing is off limits, and maybe that is why God is just so interesting in the first place.
This guy I met he was the third type. He didn’t come out and say it, but he kept bringing up God. First it was kind of as a joke because he told me he didn’t believe in God, but he just couldn’t stop himself. And after awhile there we were, talking all about God. I wasn’t trying to get him to believe, but I am not ashamed to tell him why I believe. And I don’t believe in order to be “saved” so much, I believe because the world I live in is so much better with God. I believe because when I see the beauty that is all around me sometimes I can see God. I believe because I have seen ordinary events become holy moments and I have no idea how it happened. I believe because I have seen people in love, and something about love always makes God seem closer. I believe because… well because… well I have no idea really, but I love it, and I wish everybody else could have that love too. Life with God is so much better than life alone, but so many of us choose to be all alone. Your not alone, and I’m not alone, and if we could offer the world anything it would be telling people about a God who is so interesting that we cannot help it.
At the end of our time together this guy I had just met said, “thank you.” Maybe he’ll never believe in God, but I hope he wants to keep talking about God because if he does some day he might just find himself believing and have no idea why.
Riding the wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
There was the getting to know you questions some without verbs. “Where you from?”
“California. Where you from?” The thing about a lot of those questions is that they don’t quite inspire conversation. “Where have you visited?” Again only one word answers. “What do you do?” Sometimes this question moves people on toward having more of a conversation. In my line of work I have found that the moment someone finds out what I do the person changes the way he or she was interacting with me. One moment we are having a casual getting to know each other conversation, the next moment is… well it’s just a little different.
Sometimes people feel like they have to tell me where they go to church which I have taken to mean is their way of letting me know that they believe in God. It is as though they are saying, “Hey listen I believe so you don’t need to pressure me into going to your church.” And if they didn’t tell me that I might invite them, if we got to that place where an invitation would seem appropriate that is, because I love my church. I love the people, I think the Spirit moves in that place, I know people who have discovered their God at that place and I have seen miracles happen there.
Other times the person tries to stop talking to me. Maybe such people have been hurt by religion so many times that they can no longer deal with it. That happens a lot, religious people being like all other kinds of people (even if we don’t like to admit it) hurt people. If I had not felt the call of God there are some “religious” people I have met that would keep me from ever wanting to be a part the whole mess. So I say what I do and those people who have been hurt by religion see me as all that has hurt them. I don’t blame them, but I do wish they would try to get to know me, and often times I would like to get to know them too. Maybe if we kept talking grace would show up and talk too, and who knows maybe even healing would happen.
Then there are the people who want to talk to me all the more. Maybe they are religious or maybe their not, maybe they believe in God or maybe they don’t, but they want to talk about God, because for some people God is just too interesting not to talk about. These people tell me their stories and want to hear mine. They share their ideas of the divine, their struggles, their joys, their sorrows, their anger, and whatever else, because when we actually take the time to talk about God we realize that we can talk about everything, nothing is off limits, and maybe that is why God is just so interesting in the first place.
This guy I met he was the third type. He didn’t come out and say it, but he kept bringing up God. First it was kind of as a joke because he told me he didn’t believe in God, but he just couldn’t stop himself. And after awhile there we were, talking all about God. I wasn’t trying to get him to believe, but I am not ashamed to tell him why I believe. And I don’t believe in order to be “saved” so much, I believe because the world I live in is so much better with God. I believe because when I see the beauty that is all around me sometimes I can see God. I believe because I have seen ordinary events become holy moments and I have no idea how it happened. I believe because I have seen people in love, and something about love always makes God seem closer. I believe because… well because… well I have no idea really, but I love it, and I wish everybody else could have that love too. Life with God is so much better than life alone, but so many of us choose to be all alone. Your not alone, and I’m not alone, and if we could offer the world anything it would be telling people about a God who is so interesting that we cannot help it.
At the end of our time together this guy I had just met said, “thank you.” Maybe he’ll never believe in God, but I hope he wants to keep talking about God because if he does some day he might just find himself believing and have no idea why.
Riding the wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Good News at Bad Times
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. – Psalm 23:1 (KJV)
What does this verse mean to you? Have you ever uttered it before? When did you say this verse? Did you need comforting? Does this verse tell you anything about how to lead your life? If so what?
The following is a prayer first prayed by Thomas Merton:
My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Life isn’t easy and we all know it. Sometimes in the midst of the pain and fear it seems as though everything is collapsing in around us, we all know this too. At such times it is good to recite that famous verse, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Those words are as powerful now as they ever were. They are filled with ancient comfort and incredible wisdom. Just like that prayer is. Now we’ve all prayed it. We have each prayed that our lives be filled with a desire to please God. And somewhere in the middle of praying that prayer and reciting that verse we discover that God is with us no matter how bad life might seem. Even if it is awful we aren’t alone, and that’s good news no matter what.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
What does this verse mean to you? Have you ever uttered it before? When did you say this verse? Did you need comforting? Does this verse tell you anything about how to lead your life? If so what?
The following is a prayer first prayed by Thomas Merton:
My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Life isn’t easy and we all know it. Sometimes in the midst of the pain and fear it seems as though everything is collapsing in around us, we all know this too. At such times it is good to recite that famous verse, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Those words are as powerful now as they ever were. They are filled with ancient comfort and incredible wisdom. Just like that prayer is. Now we’ve all prayed it. We have each prayed that our lives be filled with a desire to please God. And somewhere in the middle of praying that prayer and reciting that verse we discover that God is with us no matter how bad life might seem. Even if it is awful we aren’t alone, and that’s good news no matter what.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Division and Forgiveness
After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned. – Titus 3:10-11 (NRSV)
Have you ever caused divisions? What did you do? Did people offer you the chance to repent? Did you? What happened? Have you ever admonished someone who was divisive to stop for the sake of everyone? What happened? How is someone who does not stop “self-condemned”?
A couple of nights ago I had a dream. It was one of those long restless dreams that make us feel groggy when we wake up, like we didn’t have any sleep at all. In the dream I did something awful and was caught in the midst of my wrongdoing by a group of good friends. What they caught me doing shocked them because my action hurt them badly. In a testament to their friendship they begged that I apologize.
I didn’t, I refused, and even though I knew I had done wrong I thought, “Who are they to tell me to apologize.” My pride got in the way just as it often does in my waking life. Again they begged me to apologize in order that we could move on, in order that the person I hurt the most could get over the pain. In my refusal things turned from bad to worse, a fight ensued and the division I had caused only got worse until I was all alone.
It was just a dream, and yet so often such things happen in the real world. The late British writer Charles Williams once penned the words, “Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven.” In my dream I refused to be forgiven, because I refused to admit I had done wrong (even though I knew that I had), and all I then did was make people hurt worse. I ended up all alone, and in that way I suppose I can see how someone who causes divisions is being self-condemned; all alone due to a pride that keeps him from accepting forgiveness. These words to Titus are still good for us to remember, because sometimes we are the ones causing the division.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Have you ever caused divisions? What did you do? Did people offer you the chance to repent? Did you? What happened? Have you ever admonished someone who was divisive to stop for the sake of everyone? What happened? How is someone who does not stop “self-condemned”?
A couple of nights ago I had a dream. It was one of those long restless dreams that make us feel groggy when we wake up, like we didn’t have any sleep at all. In the dream I did something awful and was caught in the midst of my wrongdoing by a group of good friends. What they caught me doing shocked them because my action hurt them badly. In a testament to their friendship they begged that I apologize.
I didn’t, I refused, and even though I knew I had done wrong I thought, “Who are they to tell me to apologize.” My pride got in the way just as it often does in my waking life. Again they begged me to apologize in order that we could move on, in order that the person I hurt the most could get over the pain. In my refusal things turned from bad to worse, a fight ensued and the division I had caused only got worse until I was all alone.
It was just a dream, and yet so often such things happen in the real world. The late British writer Charles Williams once penned the words, “Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven.” In my dream I refused to be forgiven, because I refused to admit I had done wrong (even though I knew that I had), and all I then did was make people hurt worse. I ended up all alone, and in that way I suppose I can see how someone who causes divisions is being self-condemned; all alone due to a pride that keeps him from accepting forgiveness. These words to Titus are still good for us to remember, because sometimes we are the ones causing the division.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
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