by Christine Sine,
I am getting ready for summer. Our retreat on Saturday was an important step in that direction but I have also created a new garden that I will help focus my reflections during the season. I even took the plunge and bought a small fountain for my desk.
When I started thinking about dismantling my Easter/Pentecost garden, I was thinking my new design would revolve around special symbols of summer for me but God had other ideas.
You may remember that a few weeks ago my Meditation Monday was inspired by Psalm 32:8-9 especially the line God’s eyes are my guide. As I thought about the coming season those were the words that came to me again. Then on our recent retreat to the Washington coast, I found this beautiful piece of driftwood on the beach, that looked as though it had eyes in it. 
I also found a piece of dried kelp that looked like a pair of spectacles – perfect objects for my new garden! I embellished it with a stream of pebbles and a few plants then had fun painting a couple of rocks while reflecting on my theme. Because the garden didn’t look quite finished, I casually threw in the latest addition to my heart shaped rock collection. I also purchased a small table top fountain so that I could more fully visualize the pebbles in my garden as the stream of my life through which God is guiding me.
Would you believe it – it was those heart shaped rocks so casually thrown into the garden that have become my focus of attention this week. And I am sure this is only the start of the lessons God intends to reveal to me as I reflect on my new creation. That is part of why I am drawn to create gardens like this. The revelation of God they provide comes both in the creating anding and the later times of reflecting. They are such a special form of spiritual practice for me.
Over the weekend I was reading a passage from Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love. She wrote this book in response to 15 visions she experienced following a severe illness and then spent the rest of her life seeking the meaning of them. Revelations of Divine Love, is a tender meditation on God’s eternal and all embracing love.
And from the time that the vision was shown, I desired often to know what our Lord’s meaning as. And fifteen years and more afterwards I was answered in my spiritual understanding, thus: ‘Would you know your Lord’s meaning in this thing? Know it well that love was his meaning. Who showed it to you? Love. What did he show you? Love. Why did he show you? For love. Keep yourself therein and you shall know and understand more in the same. But you shall never know nor understand any other thing forever.’
Thus I was taught that love was our Lord’s meaning. And I saw quite clearly in this and in all, that before God made us, he loved us, which love was never slaked nor ever shall be. And in this love he has done all his work, and in this love he has made all things profitable to us. And in this love our life is everlasting. In our creation we have a beginning. But the love wherein he made us was in him with no beginning. And all this shall be seen in God without end.”
Wow. Love is our Lord’s meaning in all things. God’s love is never slaked. It is from everlasting to everlasting. This morning I turned on my fountain, picked up my heart shaped rock and held it tightly in my hand. I felt as though I was transported into a cool tree covered glade in a forest, sitting beside a stream with the love of God gently enfolding me. God’s eyes guide me and God is my tower of strength because of God’s great love for me and because of God’s desire that divine love might be expressed through my thoughts and actions and it looks as though I need lots of reminders to make that happen.”
So as I look around me this week I wonder: What makes me aware of God’s love, just as this garden and its heart shaped rock have? And in what ways do I express that love? I hope you will join me in not only reflecting on these questions but also considering how you could put them into action.
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize from St Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle WA. The stained glass window is in the rear of the church at St Andrews.
Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756
by Lisa DeRosa
My husband and I are taking a road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana this summer. It will be our first visit to this breathtaking land. We plan to hike and I cannot wait to discover the birds and other creatures that we will encounter on the trail. Of course, knowing that I will get to experience the breeze, the scents, the birdsongs, and the feeling of the earth under my boots is intoxicating, but I am truly looking forward to being away from the noise. The city, planes, traffic, construction… just man-made noise. Looking back at my journals from the last year, I noticed how much I was impacted by the noise.
Now, please let me preface with this comment that absolutely horrific things happened during last year as we all struggled with the pandemic, racial injustices, political strife, rampant wildfires, and so much more. I am not discounting any of those things in what I am about to say. But I miss the stillness that lockdown brought to our city. Maybe I had not noticed before, but the birds seemed to sing louder and I don’t think it was just because the planes were not constantly flying overhead. They gladly filled in the gaps where our noise used to drown them out. I took time to pause during the day, opened the windows, and went outside just to listen to them. Not that they have left since the planes and traffic have returned, but they are muffled more so than they were during this time.
Because I am learning to be okay with silence, I know that the birds in the background are a good way for me to ease into this practice. Becoming familiar with the intention of calming my racing mind and slowing down my anxious thoughts, the birds are helping me to settle into that place. A fountain or other sounds of nature help too. But focusing on the birds brings me to remember this verse:
Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap—and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you.
My heavenly Father is with me, providing, and caring for me even more than the birds that he also provides for. God cares for humans as his image bearers and other aspects of his creation, too. Not one or the other. Both. I also desire to care about and use my gifts, talents, and treasures to show my love for both.
Today, we celebrate World Environment Day, the 49th celebration and we look forward to the 50th next year in 2022. Like other posts I wrote about Earth Day, World Water Day, etc., I encourage you to check out what this movement of motivated image-bearers are doing for creation care. Their call to action is enticing to me:
REIMAGINE. RECREATE. RESTORE.This is our moment.
We cannot turn back time. But we can grow trees, green our cities, rewild our gardens, change our diets and clean up rivers and coasts. We are the generation that can make peace with nature.
Let’s get active, not anxious. Let’s be bold, not timid.
Like I wrote in past posts, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the devastation and state that our planet is in. But we cannot let that stop us! We can all start somewhere!
Starting Somewhere
Because I am a detail-oriented person, I am thinking ahead about what to bring on this trip, mainly, the essentials for any hike: snacks, water, sunscreen, bug spray, proper hiking boots and clothes, etc. How can I keep creation care in mind as I prepare for this trip? I think through the environmental impact of each item and how I can choose to lessen my ecological footprint.
- Sun Bum Sunscreen lotion or spray – I love Sun Bum because it is eco-friendly but is also great at protecting against UV rays. I use this everyday while I sit outside to work and it keeps me from burning.
- Deet-free Bug Spray – This is on my list to purchase! Glad to see that it has good reviews too!
- Boxed water – I have not tried this because we use reusable water bottles, but this would be a great alternative to single use plastic water bottles.
- I pack snacks in Tupperware or other reusable containers rather than buying individually wrapped snacks. We usually reuse cleaned yogurt or sour cream containers because they are lightweight for hiking.
- We buy our hiking clothes and sometimes boots from second hand stores or thrift stores which help to extend the life of the clothes before they end up in the landfill. I have a sewing machine and love hemming clothes (I am 5’4″ so I have some experience in this area) which makes it easy to get name-brand clothes for cheap with a little fixing.
You might be thinking, well, that’s great, Lisa, but I don’t hike, so this is not helpful for me! I am glad you said something! While I used hiking as an example, this process of thinking through your ecological footprint can be used with other activities as well. The above items are the basics for many activities but here are a few more ideas:
Beach Time
Heading to the beach this summer? Going with kiddos? Or, do you just really like making sand castles? There is such a thing as eco-friendly sand castle toys!!! Check these out: 26 Piece Beach toys made of wheat straw materials!
Berry Picking
Support a local berry patch or farm and pick your own berries. Bring a basket or other non-plastic container to carry the berries in. If you can, choose organic! This is better for your body, the health of the farmers, and for the soil which is full of microorganisms that are negatively impacted by pesticides.
What activities do you like to do during the summer and how can you keep creation care in mind? Please share with us!
by Lilly Lewin,
Tomorrow, June 5th, Christine Sine and I will host a retreat called “Making Time for a Sacred Summer.” You can still register HERE and join us! We are recording it, so if you are busy on Saturday, you can still participate when you have some time in the future. One of the activities we are doing is creating a Summer Sacred Space, a way to focus our prayers and practices this summer using elements and objects that remind us of summer. When you think about summer, what pops into your mind? What tastes, smells, games, or symbols remind you of the summer season?
Make a list. Ask your friends or family or look back at photos from years past to help you remember.
Jesus used everyday things he saw along the way to help his followers learn about God’s Kingdom. Things such as lilies, seeds, wheat fields, fish in fishnets, etc. So, like Jesus, we can use things we see everyday to help us connect with him.
We are inviting participants to create a centerpiece, an altar space, or even a portable kit to take with us and use to help us engage God and pray more intentionally during the days ahead. Even if you can’t make the retreat with us, you can create a Sacred Space Centerpiece to pray with this summer!
One of the ways I start to create a Sacred Space centerpiece is to go to the Dollar Store. It’s a great place to get inspired! You can also do a scavenger hunt around your house to collect items that remind you of summer and things that might inspire you to pray!
In the photo above, I’ve used several items that remind me of Summer… all found at the Dollar Store or around my house. I call this my SUMMER PLANTING CENTERPIECE or SUMMER OF GROWTH CENTERPIECE.
We are all starting a new season of the year. We are starting a new season in the pandemic with many of us getting vaccinated and now having a chance to see friends and family and doing more things out and about. There are signs of hope and new life! What signs of NEW LIFE are you noticing around you? How could these be things to add to your Summer Sacred Space?
As I created this centerpiece, I began to consider and pray with these items and asked several questions:
SEEDS & GARDEN GLOVES:
What new things are God growing in me?
What new things need to be planted in me this season?
What weeds might need pulling?
What seeds of love and compassion can I plant in my own life and the lives of those around me this summer?
BUG CATCHER and NET
One of my summer memories from childhood is chasing and catching Lightening Bugs/Fireflies. Back then, my mom would punch holes in the metal jar lid and my siblings and I would run around the yard and catch the bugs. We would have a jar filled with thee small flash lights to watch for the evening. Now that I’ve moved back to the South, I still love watching for that first lightening bug to appear, and I love the magic as they come out of the grass each evening. It’s the wonder of God’s creation! It’s a Miracle! I’m using the bug catcher and net to remind me to have childlike wonder this summer. I’m asking Jesus to help me see small miracles and the magical beauty each day! In bugs, butterflies, flowers, clouds, blades of grass etc.
What things bring you a sense of wonder? Ask Jesus to surprise you! What miracles in nature are you thankful for today?
BADMINTON BIRDIE (shuttlecock)
Another of my summer childhood memories is playing Badminton in my grandparent’s back yard. We would play with my cousins and hit the “birdie” over the net, back and forth, for hours! The Birdie/Shuttlecock reminds me that I need time to play this summer! We’ve all had quite a year! We need to feel God’s pleasure as we engage in fun and in playful activities in the coming weeks. How can you play more this summer? Ask Jesus to show you how. Pray for yourself and your family to have space to play and be filled with the joy of playfulness!
MAGNIFYING GLASS
The magnifying glass is my reminder to look deeper, to take time this summer to look more closely at where I really am. I am asking Jesus to show me details, to help me see the things I’ve learned during these hard months of the pandemic. I am asking Jesus to help me take the time to actually process all the things I’ve been feeling. Ask Jesus to help you look closer at where you are and where you’ve been in the last few months. Take time to pray and process your feelings, your pain, your highs and your lows. You might want to journal or create in art in response to this.
BUTTERFLY BOX
The Butterfly Box is a symbol for me of new life and transformation. The caterpillar actually turns into a special goo as it becomes a new creature, the butterfly! We’ve had to go through a lot of “green goo” this year. A lot of change, pain and metamorphosis. While the “green goo stage” is hard to live through, it means we are getting very close to the good stuff! We have to go through it to get to the beauty of the Butterfly! Take time to talk to Jesus about where you are today… are you feeling closer to the caterpillar than the butterfly? Or, are you still stuck in the green goo stage? Allow Jesus to be with you in your current state. Ask Jesus to continue to transform you into his image this summer. And when you see a caterpillar or a butterfly, remember that Jesus is with you in all the stages of your life!
Like the beautiful butterfly, what reminds you of HOPE and New Life? Take some time to say thank you to Jesus for these things. Add some of these things to your own Summer Sacred Space.
Portable Sacred Space
What things will you use in your Summer Sacred Space to inspire you to grow and pray? I’d love to see what you create!
I will share more ideas for your Sacred Space Centerpiece and your PORTABLE SACRED SPACE next week. Also, you are invited to join me in an 8-Week prayer practice adventure called THE GIFT OF A SACRED SUMMER. This is something you can do on your own, with your small group, or your family, and/or with your whole church community! There are activities and experiences for all ages! You can learn more and download the kit at freerangeworship.com.
Hope to see you on Saturday for the retreat! Make Time for a Sacred Summer!
by Tom Sine,
Make this a Sacred Summer by creating ways to flourish that reflects the teachings of Jesus!
“Don’t Languish, Flourish”
The welcomed ending of the pandemic for many of us is not only an opportunity to restart our lives. It is also an opportunity to join those who are creating their best lives.
This summer is an opportunity for people of faith to discover a new vision of flourishing that will not only enrich your own life but also make a difference in the lives of others who are still struggling to restart their lives from the deadly grip of the pandemic recession.
For those who have embraced a Christian faith, I have some very good news. Following Jesus was never intended to simply be a devotional add-on to our “real lives”. For those that have embraced this mistaken assumption, I have some very good news.
Jesus has alway invited his followers to embrace a vigorous whole-life faith that is focused on not only loving God, but also loving and making a difference in the lives of our neighbors… 7 million of whom face eviction from their homes come July 2021 as well as high levels of unemployment.
In 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change, I state, “The Jesus who rides on donkey’s back comes announcing the good news of the empire of the mustard seed. The even better news is that God can use our individual lives to bring real change in the lives of others…”. (2020s Foresight, 111)
Al Tizon, who heads Serve Globally in the Covenant Church, “challenges readers in his book Whole and Reconciled to discover in scripture an alternative vision of the good life of God that is found more in making a difference in the lives of others than in pursuing a life of acquisition.” (2020s Foresight, 111-112)
Even secular research documents people who are discovering a more satisfying way of life in making a difference in the lives of others. Dr. Vander Welle and his research team sampled 13,000 adults. They found that participants who volunteered two hours a week “experienced higher levels of happiness, optimism and purpose in life, compared to those who did not volunteer at all.” Perhaps Jesus not only calls to care for others. Perhaps the creator God designed us to flourish most fully when we take time every week when we find ways to make a difference in the lives of others.
Are you ready to join those who are fed up with languishing and are ready to join others in a little compassionate flourishing this summer?
In 2020s Foresight, we invite readers to join those who are interested, as followers of Jesus, to join a QUEST FOR THE BEST LIFE group. (2020s Foresight, 114-130)
Would you like to start a summer QUEST FOR THE BEST LIFE group in your community or congregation? Quest for the Best has four simple steps to enable you to join those who are already replacing languishing with flourishing:
- As we slowly begin to get the worst of the pandemic behind us, we encourage you, and everyone in your group, to identify and list the specific barriers that are keeping you from connecting to God and reaching out to your neighbors.
- Work with others in the group to identify new ways the Creator God can use your ordinary lives to both be a difference and make a difference to those still struggling to overcome the pandemic recession.
- Discuss how you and others in the group can help one another to shift from consumer-focused lives to lives that are flourishing as you create ways to express God’s compassionate purposes in your community.
- Work with your neighbors that are struggling to both identify innovative ways to respond that reflect the compassion of Jesus and enable neighbors to shift from languishing to flourishing too.
In the article, “Need a Reset? Take the 10-Day Fresh Start Challenge”, the author makes an important observation, “While some people did develop healthy new habits during the pandemic lockdowns, it’s not to late if you spent your pandemic days just getting by. The good news is that the end of the pandemic is probably a more opportune time for meaningful change in our own lives than when you were experiencing the heightened anxiety of lockdowns.”
“I think many of us have realized during the pandemic that some of the things we were doing before COVID-19 weren’t the kind of things leading to flourishing in our lives”, said Dr. Santos to the New York Times.
For people of Christian faith, summer is a wonderful, opportune time to refocus our lives around what we know matters most. It is an opportunity to join those traveling from languishing to flourishing. It is an opportunity to create our best lives in the way of Jesus. It is an opportunity to join those that are creating ways to enable others that are still dealing with the pandemic recession to become self-reliant and experience a little flourishing too.
Why don’t you consider hosting a QUEST FOR THE BEST LIFE group in your home or church this summer as the first step in creating a flourishing future for you and your loved ones? And also imagine the difference it could make in working with friends and neighbors who are still struggling with the pandemic recession.
Let us know if a QUEST FOR THE BEST LIFE group not only enables you and yours loved ones but also struggling friends and neighbors to discover the gift of a new life of flourishing too.
Please contact me and let us know how your QUEST FOR THE BEST LIFE group goes for you or if you have any questions. We would love hear your stories and struggles.
Check out the book I wrote with my friend, Dwight Friesen, for more resources to enable you and your friends to create you best lives in this time of opportunity: 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change. It is available on Amazon right now at a reduced price and has questions at the end of each chapter so it can be used as a study book.
We will send you a free 45-minute webinar to help you start your study group. I am also available to join one of the final sessions of your study group by way of Zoom at no charge.
Adapted from the original post on NewChangemakers.com
This is a three part series on NewChangemakers.com. The third and final post will look at innovative change-making for those who are still struggling with the pandemic recession.
It’s not too late to register for Making Time for a Sacred Summer retreat with Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine on June 5, 2021.
by Ana Lisa de Jong,
Love in the branch,
the rising anchored trunk,
the leaves, blossoms, seed pods.
The wind spreading the gift.
New roots from old.
The birds, the bees, the butterflies.
Everything a link.
Linking love, that grows its arms
around us.
‘It is love alone’ – alone,
but not.
Love is a chain,
the same chain that
flushed your parents cheeks
when they looked upon you,
held you in their embrace.
Love in the branch,
the vine,
giving worth to everything.
To us each.
No life without
this love indwelling,
connecting us to Heaven.
For more poetry by Ana Lisa, please check out LivingTreePoetry.com.
Final days to sign up to join us for Making Time for a Sacred Summer virtual retreat with Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin!
When?: June 5, 2021 from 10am to 1pm Pacific Time (Convert Time Zone)
Where?: Virtually through Zoom
How?: Register and pay here
Cost? $24.99 for the 3 hour retreat and the recording after the session
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