Politics

Where Freedom Lives

Rev Kathy

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What a time for those of us who are interested in politics! It isn’t just about amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties. Not this time!

It isn’t that we are so focused so much on a specific outcome, victory for a particular party. It is more that we are interested in the candidates, marking every move, every speech, watching for signs that reveal their true character. We look for sincerity in public service. We look for compassion in serving the people. We look for knowledge and wisdom. We look for maturity and experience. We look for the man or woman who has at heart the best interest of our country.

Often what we find is rancor, insults, divisiveness, even hate speech. We find self-serving individuals who lust for the power of elected office. We find persons devoid of high standards and ethical views. We find ordinary candidates who seldom rise above themselves to reach greatness.

It is fair to say, I think, that most Americans long for a president that sincerely desires to serve the people, and who will do so with integrity. As for me, I am appalled, concerned and disappointed to hear so much language of hate and exclusion. I am disappointed to observe a land divided and fractured. And I am most disappointed when certain presidential candidates cause divisiveness to have its way in America.

It is so important that we sincerely care about what goes on around us. It is important that we do not turn a blind eye to the rhetoric that holds the power to destroy us. It is important that we are engaged citizens, working, speaking out and praying for what is best for our country.

“Remember, it didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with politicians dividing the people with ‘us vs. them.’ It started with intolerance and hate speech and when people stopped caring, became desensitized, and turned a blind eye.” ~ Andi Shenker Saidowitz

With eyes wide open, with a heart that cares deeply for our right to freedom, with hands at work to help preserve all that is good about America, we move forward with hope and with faith in our forever destiny. We move forward in love for the country that nurtures us. We long for the place where freedom lives and where we live in the light of freedom. We labor to preserve it in all the ways we are able. That is how we cling to our legacy.

“When an American says that she loves her country, she means not only that she loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. She means that she loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a person can draw the breath of self-respect.” ~ Adlai Stevenson (paraphrased)

Life storms, Risk

Keep On Keeping On

Rev Kathy

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Life has often been a stormy way for me. The good news is that I have survived many of the storms in my life. And the poet asks us the question: “Who is happier? The person who has braved the storm and lived to tell it or the person who stayed securely on the shore and merely existed?”

I’m glad I braved the storms. I’m glad I took the risks. I’m even glad I endured some losses. I suffered. I wept. I was often angry. I made many more messes than I could possibly clean up. Whatever corner I backed myself into was worth it. The battles I fought were worth fighting. The friends I lost were not really friends in the first place. To be sure, I did much more than just exist. I weathered the storms, and I survived to live another day.

Life has taught me to move on, to get beyond hurts and bad feelings, to reach out again and again for happiness, in spite of the risks. I have learned to keep on keeping on, no matter what. I love the words of Steve Maraboli:

“Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.”

Spirituality or Religion?

On Spirituality

Rev Kathy

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I have been asked many times to explain the difference between religion and spirituality. So today, I will give it a try.

Most of us long for a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and that Longing typically involves a search for meaning in life. We call that longing for connection spirituality, a universal human experience that touches every person. Spirituality asks its own questions about life and identity, such as:

Am I a good person?
What is this feeling I have deep inside myself?
What does it mean to abide with the Divine?
What is the meaning of my suffering?
What is my connection to the world around me?
Do things happen for a reason?
How can I live my life in the best way possible?

Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, says that “spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or the sacred.”

Perhaps the most meaningful explanation of spirituality comes from its root: The word spirituality comes from root words in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that all mean wind, breath, or air—that which gives life.

In my spiritual quest, I look for the breath that restores my life, the fresh wind of the Spirit that carries me on the wings of the morning, the air that allows me to breathe in the world that surrounds me.

 

Spirituality and Religion

While spirituality may incorporate elements of religion, it is generally a broader concept. Religion and spirituality are not the same thing, nor are they entirely distinct from one another. The best way to understand this is to think of two overlapping circles like this:

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Venn Diagram of Religion and Spirituality

– In spirituality, the questions are: where do I personally find meaning, connection, and value?
– In religion, the questions are: what is true and right?
Where the circles overlap is the individual experience, which affects the way you think, feel, and behave.

 

Obviously, spirituality is difficult to define. Words do not seem adequate to describe something that is swirling inside every person. It’s a soul thing, and everyone has a unique soul. But, as always, the words of Bishop Steven Charleston offer us the most eloquent description.

I have been thinking about the cycle of spirituality. It is very much like the rain cycle. First we rise up into the clouds, seeking out inspiration, and then we return to earth, entering into the ground of reality to bring forth new life. Spirituality only works when that cycle continues. Too much time in the clouds and we disconnect. We fail to nourish our own world. Too much time on the ground and we wither. We miss finding renewal. Spirituality is a process, a balance, a constant movement between the high winds of wonder and the organic struggle for the birth of hope.

Hope, Sorrow

Gentle Hands

Rev Kathy

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Sadness and sorrow . . . frequent companions. There is no escape from times of sadness in this life. We feel like victims of sad times that are difficult to navigate. Sorrow assails us at times, unrelenting in its sway over us. Yet, we do not have to let sorrow have its way. We have the resilience to overcome our days of sadness. Most importantly, we have a God who is always with us as we suffer. I have pondered this quote and allowed the words to penetrate my spirit.

We are not alone in our sadness or our sorrow. There is a quiet spirit that shares our deep emotion, aware of our feelings, our hopes too fragile to even acknowledge for fear they will disappear like smoke, our longings held tightly in the silence of our worry. We are not alone, for a presence stands beside us, there, if only we will trust it, reaching out in whispers eloquent of a love that will never leave us, no matter how hard the path ahead. We are not alone, and never will be, for the one who gave us life holds that life, in hands as gentle as they are strong. – Steven Charleston

I am content to rest in those strong, gentle hands, knowing I am not alone, knowing that God’s love will never leave me. When I am in the silence of my worry, I am confident of the hands that hold me close. Thanks be to God.

Child protection

Failure to Protect

Rev Kathy

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Looking back on various dates leads to nostalgia at best, horrific memories at worst. Almost exactly 53 years ago yesterday – on May 2 in 1963 – the Children’s Crusade began in Birmingham, Ala. as thousands of school aged children marched to protest segregation and were met with hoses, attacked by police dogs, and jailed.

It’s a scene we can hardly imagine today, and yet there are so many ways even in 2016 that we fail to protect our children. There should be no child in America going to bed hungry. No child in this country should have to sleep in alcoves on city streets. Children should not be victims of trafficking. Children should not have access to weapons and drugs. Children should not be used as pawns between warring parents. Children should not be victims of court-ordered abuse. Children should not be continually surrounded by violence. Children should not be incarcerated, rather they should be offered restorative justice. Children should not be physically, emotionally, spiritually, educationally or sexually abused.

Children should live in loving, nurturing families. They should attend clean, safe schools where they can get a quality education. They should have health care and mental health services.
They should be a part of caring, protective communities.

Shame on us if we fail to protect every child.
If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. NRSV

 

Courage, Inspiration

Life Lessons

Rev Kathy

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Often we learn life lessons from unusual places. These are some of my favorite life lessons gleaned from a most unlikely source. Enjoy a dozen life lessons from Dr. Seuss.

  1. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
  2. You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes.
    You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
  3. So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life is a great balancing act. 
  4. Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!
  5. If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn. Go, the most wonderful stuff.
  6. Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
  7. If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.
  8. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.
  9. It is better to know how to learn than to know.
  10. Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person no matter how small.
  11. Today you are you. That is truer than true.There is no one alive who is youer than you.
  12. Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

 

Contemplation

No Words

Rev Kathy

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Today, I have no words, at least none that seem meaningful. I have learned not to struggle with my writing, but instead to let it be what it is. Today it is nothingness. Expressions won’t come to me. Phrases are forced. So it is time to simply be quiet, to let my spirit speak to me, and to refrain from doing all the talking. So I’ll cross the bridge ahead quietly, silently, embracing the peaceful quiet of the morning sky and the dark ripples of the river that flows below.

I think our deepest love finds its voice when we have run out of words to express it. There is no language that can capture what a lifetime has brought to be, the private journey of a single soul through the twists and turns of time. We are the sum of what we feel when feeling defies reason and runs to places no logic has ever seen. As careful as we are to wear our masks among the crowd, alone we know the untamed extravagance of a spirit that wants to care more than to control. So let us, each one, in silence share our truth, seeing in one another’s eyes the mirror of our own silent story.

Bishop Steven Charleston

Adventures, Dreams, Risk

The Sky That Calls Me

Rev Kathy

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Getting older brings various limits. What used to be an adventure now feels risky, even dangerous. Digging a flower garden is more of a challenge. Making up a bed is harder than it used to be. Lifting heavy things can leave one with days of back pain.

A long road trip sometimes feels prohibitive. A long plane trip seems out of reach. The worse thing is that taking risks can be frightening, and chasing dreams and adventures sometimes feels impossible.

And yet the sky still calls out to me, opening up before me with new dreams and fresh adventures. Only I can decide not to lean on the age-old excuse, “I’m too old!” As I do many times, I bask in the inspiration of Bishop Charleston.

Fly before the wind that lifts you, soaring on wings outstretched to the sun. Do not feel constrained to stand below, afraid to take the risk, but trust in your own imagination, in the wild ideas that others cannot yet see. Let them pull you from the common ground and up to a different horizon, a far vision of what might be if only you can reach it. Already you feel a stirring to do something different. Go with that first breeze and see how far it can take you. You were not born to plod the earth, but to test the limits of the sky that calls you.

The sky still calls me. I still want to soar. What if I still can? What if dreams and adventures are still possible for me?

There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,

And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh, but my darling,
What if you fly?

― Erin Hanson

Contemplation, God's Faithfulness

Psst!

Rev Kathy

 

imageStout’s Point, Petitjean State Perk, Arkansas

Psst! Sometimes it seems that God is so quiet toward us that we can barely hear. Maybe he uses “psst!” To get our attention. Which means we have to be listening to hear God’s voice. In my experience, God does not shout. God simply prompts very quietly, as if he wants us to learn more about paying attention.

God can be maddeningly hard to get. Sometimes we have these encounters when God breaks into our lives with power and answers our prayers. In those times, God waters the garden of our faith, making it lush and green. And then there are seasons when an unrelenting silence descends. We cry to God in our confused anguish and God just seems silent, absent.

The holy is not loud. It is more like a still, small voice that speaks to us when we are attuned to it. And that’s the secret, I think, being attuned to the holy moments, waiting patiently for God to nudge us, listening carefully lest we hear a holy “psst!”

To be in that listening place, we must clear our lives of everyday chaos. We must be attentive to our spiritual journey. And we must spend some time in prayer and contemplation. Sounds straightforward, but it is not that easy for those of us with full schedules and multiple responsibilities.

The bottom line, though, is this: I want to hear from God. I want to be still and quiet enough to to hear God, even if God’s only utterance is a holy “psst!” If I hear that, we can go on from there to grander communication. And that’s so important!

Inspiration, Joy

Joy!

Rev Kathy

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You shall go out with joy, be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth before you into singing, and all of the trees of the field will clap their hands. – Isaiah 55:12

What an expression of pure joy! It’s the kind of joy I long to experience, to live my life in praise to God. Such joy doesn’t come naturally for me. The toils of life push me down, and often disturb my joy. Problems and concerns often assail me. But I believe that there is a secret to finding joy, prayer and singing.

It works every time, no matter how grave your circumstance. Sincere prayer, giving praise to God with your whole heart, and singing songs of joy are remedies for the blues. And God desires that we experience that kind of joy.

I think it’s all about making life’s journey a spiritual journey. Wendell Berry writes about such a journey.

The world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our own feet, and learn to be at home.

When my journey turns the corner leading to sadness and I am feeling melancholy, my cousin always says, “Be joyful!” That is very good advice. Feeling joy brightens my journey and invigorates my physical, spiritual and emotional being.

And so today, I embrace joy!

Contemplation, Faith

By the Light of the Moon

Rev Kathy

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Just a few days ago, April 22, the moon was full and so beautiful. It’s comforting to know that you can count on the moon to wax and wane according to schedule. And yet, every common moon is miracle to me, its beauty mesmerizing for me every time I see it.

It’s my job to notice it, to never take it for granted, to see it with eyes that are open to miraculous sights. It is completely my job to sit under its light and to allow it to enlighten my small world. It’s my soul work to allow the moonlight to illumine my contemplation and to inspire me to a better life.

Most of all, it is up to me to thank God for the moon and all creation, given to us to enrich our existence. The Psalmist expresses it best:
To God who made the great lights,
For God’s lovingkindness is everlasting:
The sun to rule by day,
For God’s lovingkindness is everlasting,
The moon and stars to rule by night,
For God’s lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 136:7-9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“By the light of the silvery moon,” the title of a song published in 1909, always reminds me of the ethereal color when the full moon lights the sky. Gazing upon it is a special life experience, not to be missed. When I lift up my eyes toward the light of the moon, I always contemplate the astounding handiwork of God and give thanks.

peace

Deep Peace

Rev Kathy

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I search for deep peace, not a superficial kind of peace, but a peace deep enough to touch my soul. I search for a peace deep enough to heal a frantic spirit, to calm my very being.

There are disturbers of peace all around us . . . from health concerns, to family upheavals, to the noise of traffic and the cries of violence. We suffer through all the things that rob us of peace and we struggle to find our peace again.

A Biblical blessing proclaims, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

A Gaelic Christian blessing soothes our chaotic spirits with these beautiful words:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.

– Adapted from an old Gaelic rune

Faith, Miracles

Miracles!

Rev Kathy

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Miracles surround us every day, but sometimes we fail to notice them. As for me, I do believe in miracles that make life worth living. Sometimes I notice them only after they are over. But at other times, I find myself right smack dab in the middle of a working miracle. It’s magical. It enlarges my life and boosts my faith. It makes me look forward with joy to another day of life.

I often wonder how many people actually believe in miracles. I wonder if people are able to transcend a mundane life and instead experience a magical life of miracles, small and large. I have discovered, though, that miracles are not magic tricks. Miracles are a product of deep faith and living life on a soul level, embracing not only our physical world, but clinging tightly to our spiritual world.

My son recently told me a story about my one-year old grandson, Jalen, who was born with end stage kidney disease. As they consulted with the doctor recently, they learned that Jalen no longer needed dialysis and the many medications e was taking. The nurse looked at the doctor with surprise and asked, “Is this a miracle baby?” The doctor responded, “Yes!”

Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one person took as chance, a person of faith took as a sign. A loved one recovering from disease, a fortunate business deal, a chance meeting with a long lost friend. It wasn’t the grand doctrines or the sweeping ideals that seemed to make believers out of people. It was the simple magic in the world around them.

― Brandon Sanderson, The Hero of Ages

And that phrase describes miracles well: “simple magic in the world.” Don’t forget, the most important thing to know about miracles is that they happen.

Contemplation, Gardening for the Soul

The Peace of God

Rev Kathy

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Anxiety overrules contentment. In fact, anxiety can easily have its way in our lives, making a shambles of all that we have accomplished. We humans spend a great deal of time building our comfortable nests, making life a positive experience.

I am expending my energy on my flower garden. It’s filled with ferns and flowers that give me positive energy. I can breathe deeply in my garden, exhaling all the cares and toils that come my way. I am happy in my garden, and it is a place of solitude and peace.

Anxiety can wreck it for me, so I do all that I can to hold anxiety at bay. There are several things that make me anxious, including my health and the possibility of a kidney transplant. But anxiety adds nothing good to my life. Instead, I work hard to fill my spirit with peacefulness. It is the peace of God that guards my heart and mind.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Grace, healing

Mountaintop Moments

Rev Kathy

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Mountaintop experiences . . . so few and far between. They are the special times we long for, those times when we experience God in fresh, new ways. We travel along life’s dusty roads hoping for just one mountaintop moment. And on occasion, we do find ourselves with God on a high mountain. It’s worth the long wait.

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

(Matthew 17:1-2, New International Version)
We meet you on the mountaintop, O God, hoping for a glimpse of your glory. Hoping for a moment sacred and holy. We meet you, having ascended from a mundane existence. We meet you, hoping that your usual silence with us will turn into hearing you speak to us of greater times. We meet you hoping to transcend the ordinary and to find, in your presence, a holier moment of grace.

We linger on the holy mountain, O God, waiting for your transfigured presence, and hoping beyond hope that you will change us, if only for this moment in time. And then we descend into our world, the ordinary place we live, but we are not the same. We are no longer ordinary, because we have experienced you, heart and soul, in a fresh, new way.

We give you thanks, O God, for mountaintop moments.

Amen.

Family, Home, simple joys

Simple Pleasures

Rev Kathy

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Today will be a quiet day, a day to recuperate from our 12 hour trip from Little Rock. We had rain, stormy rain, and traffic delays at every turn. The trip was exhausting. But we spent an exhilarating week with family, good friends, and our three grandchildren.

We were so tired we slept late this morning, our bodies moving toward normal through extra rest. Our emotional and spiritual selves will need their own special kind of re-creation. That part of us took a hit because we had to say goodbye to our grandchildren and our son. So today we will spend a day close to home.

We need rest and peace. We need the simple pleasures of home.

After all, I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.  ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

Courage, Family, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Home, Uncategorized

The Coming of the Dawn

Rev Kathy

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It’s a brand new morning filled with possibility. It’s also the day we leave our Little Rock home to go back home to Macon. So there is emotion involved, bittersweet feelings that remind me that we are once again leaving behind our son, our grandchildren, and a host of lifelong friends. We cannot straddle two states very well. We cannot cure the sadness of distance with FaceTime or Skype. This situation simply is what it is, and we will have to navigate the emotions of having family far from us.

I have no doubt that when night falls on us tonight in Georgia, we will feel at home and content. We will nurse a little sadness, yes. We will work with melancholy feelings for a while. But we will be in our home, our safe place and our place of rest and peace. I will be glad to see my garden and marvel at how it has grown in a week. I will be very glad for my own bed. Night will find me in my place.

Once again, Bishop Steven Charleston describes my emotions in his eloquent writing.

“It is quiet now. All the cares of this long day are drifting away. There is peace in the house, and in the garden, and over the fence into the wide world beyond, a peace that passes beneath the trees and through the fences, circling the moon in a spiral of silver light, following the night air, going into places where lonely hearts hide, searching for the wounded among us, comforting the dreams of the innocent. It is quiet now, for the love of God walks this night, as every night, gently seeking, seeking those who need love the most, as they wait, wait for the coming of the dawn.”

Missing my grandchildren, I will “need love the most.” But I know that the words are real and true: “. . . the love of God walks this night, as every night, gently seeking, seeking those who need love the most, as they wait, wait for the coming of the dawn.”

Courage, Inspiration, simple joys

What Is Holy Is Not Tame

Rev Kathy

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“So tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

I love that question! And even at my age, I love being able to answer it. Even with a serious illness hanging over me, I have plans for my one wild and precious life. The passing years, in fact, make life even more precious. My goal for life is not only to make it precious, but to also make it wild . . . one last wild ride that takes in the magnificent world around me!

My goal is to have experiences that can be described with words similar to the words of Bishop Charleston:

I have seen the Spirit moving behind the gathering clouds, with wings the color of rainbows. I have watched the light of creation split the sky, as angels pound the drums of heaven. What is holy is not what is tame, what is divine is as wild as a desert rain. Love is not a timid breeze, but a storm of change, sweeping the comfortable before it like leaves, blowing the dust off our ordered lives, challenging us to dare the elements of our own vision. What is holy is not what is tame, so when you stand to pray, stand facing the wind.

I agree that what is holy is not tame at all. So blow through my life, refreshing breeze. Rearrange me, storm of change. I am standing facing the wind with great anticipation!

healing, Hope, Uncategorized

Healing Waters

Rev Kathy

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I have spent the past two years healing from end stage kidney disease. That does not mean I’m cured. But it does mean that I’m healed enough to have regained my strength and a semblance of normalcy in my life. My dialysis takes eight hours each day, but it has become an accepted part of my “new normal.”

Do I wish I had healthy, functioning kidneys? Of course I do. But I have embraced healing that is my reality, and it’s not a bad life. I have learned that beyond any doubt that the physical, emotional and spiritual parts of me are inextricably interconnected. Genuine healing occurs when all three are well balanced. This kind of healing has its way with the illness, and in very significant ways, thwarts the disease process. I am blessed to experience healing. It is as if God is leading me into healing waters that begin a process of being made well, in the Spitit, the soul, the mind and the body. Healing is not a noun, it is a verb, and it is a continual process within me.

Until God completes that miracle process, I rest on these words:

“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls my life.” – Akshay Dubey

Faith, Family, Inspiration, Love

My Weight in Their Hands

Rev Kathy

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I worshipped at my home church yesterday. What a blessing it was to be with the people that prayed and nursed me through the most serious days of my illness! In many ways, they played a role in my eventual return to health. And it is such a blessing to know that they will also pray me through my eventual kidney transplant.

They are what Christ’s Community is all about. New Millennium Church became a true faith community for me during my darkest days. They prayed. They brought meals. They stayed in close touch. They believed in my healing. They were as Toni Morrison describes in this passage:

“They encouraged you to put some of your weight in their hands and soon as you felt how light and lovely it was, they studied your scars and tribulations…”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

And so, with my weight in their hands, I began to get myself back, physically, emotionally and spiritually. They were, for me, the reality of miracle. Today, I am healthy enough to be considered a candidate for a kidney transplant. Through that process, I know that New Millennium will pray.

“I give thanks to God upon every remembrance of you.” – Philippians 1:1