by Christine Sine
I mentioned last week that I am starting a busy travel season and part of what I am discovering is that flying is becoming a great place to listen, learn and reflect. My last trip to Texas was no exception.
Standing in line for my plane (no it wasn’t the one in the photo) in Dallas I started talking to the woman in front of me and soon had a lively and engaging discussion going. It was obvious that we were connecting at a deep level. Just before we boarded she asked me what I did for a living and when I mentioned that I wrote books for a Christian audience she suddenly disengaged and took a step back, a look of pain on her face. We boarded the plane in silence and discovered we were sitting next to each other.
I knew exactly what had changed her attitude. In our early conversation she had mentioned that she was in a same sex relationship and now she was sure that I would start Bible bashing her with my theology.
I turned to her and shared that I had just come from a Baptist church in Waco where the congregation decided not just to accept gay couples but to perform gay marriages. In response there had been picketed demonstrations in the parking lot, hate mail in the post, abusive and offensive language and behavior directed at congregational members. Professors at the local seminary were told they couldn’t attend. It has been horrible but they have stood their ground believing that this is the loving thing to do.
Her eyes lit up as she realized I was not rejecting her but accepting her and she shared with me some of the pain and struggle of her own life. Growing up in a Catholic family she hid her developing sense of sexual identity. When she finally “came out” and let those she loved know, she was rejected by both her biological and church family. “I am still spiritual but I could never go back to my church and my family doesn’t want me either.” she confessed with tears in her eyes.
I have so many friends who have gone through this kind of trauma and it is so often the church and their Christian friends that are the most hate filled in their response. Learning to listen, reflect and being open to change our attitudes is one of the hardest things all of us are faced with. We want others to change without being willing to change ourselves because the know that we are right.
This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:17) I believe that Jesus calls us to be loving and inclusive, to unity not uniformity. We are called to embrace the diversity of the body of Christ even when we don’t understand how another person looks, thinks or acts.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselveswith compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)
So as we end this series on Reading Life Differently make sure that you take particularly note of Ana Lisa De Jong’s poems the week and next. They are a spectacular way to finish.
Also my question today that I would encourage you to contemplate is: What does love look like for you? Where are the uncomfortable places that God might be prompting you to read life differently even though your theology has you pulling in another direction? Is there a possibility God wants you to change rather than expecting others to change?
By Lilly Lewin
For the past two weeks, I’ve been helping our youngest son move cross country from Nashville to Denver. I was recruited to be Uber Driver, Interior Decorator, and most importantly, Dog walker. My son had hip surgery in June so he really needed someone who could help him get settled in his new place and do all the leg work involved in moving, packing, unpacking, etc and helping his German Shepherd, Bane get used to his new environment while my son started school.
I’ve moved a dog cross country before and it takes care and compassion. Like me and many of us, dogs don’t really like change to their environment or their routine. It makes them anxious and uncertain and sometimes causes behavior changes. My son’s dog is champ. He did great on the long drive. We divided it up into three shorter days, that turned out to no to be that short due to everyone needing to stretch and have rest stops on a regular basis.
Bane has moved from a 92 acre farm to an urban high rise.
When you move from being a country dog to being a city dog you have to learn new things.
Like waiting for the elevator in order to go outside rather than just running right outside the door when Nature Calls. This can cause problems when your stomach is upset from too many changes all at once! 
Consider the changes that you have made in your life in the past few months…
What were unexpected?
What were planned?
What surprised you most?
Job changes
Health related changes
Relationship changes… positive and negative
Like Bane, maybe you’ve had issues with the changes.
It’s hurt your diet and upset your stomach.
You cannot run free & off leash in this new season.
You have had to meet different people, and pets, and always be on your good behavior, especially in elevators!
Talk to God about where you are right now. Take some time to reflect on the various changes that have happened in your life. What things help you deal with change and make you feel safe? Like Bane in his house or on his tuffet.
German Shepherds aren’t always friendly, but they aren’t all scary attack dogs either. Bane is a fluff ball, a real sweetie, and he’s had lots of training, so he has nice manners. But when you see him, you have to deal with people’s fears and stereotypes.
Sometimes people are afraid of Bane, just because of his looks, they aren’t sure they want to ride in a small enclosed space (an elevator) with a very large dog, even though he’s being handle by a smiling mom who is 5”2!
Have you been misunderstood or miss judged lately?
Talk to Jesus about this.
Let Jesus have your pain and frustrations.
Or have you been the one to misjudge or be afraid of someone, or something because of your stereotypes or fears?
Confess this to Jesus and let him help you love rather than fear.
What about loss? Bane has lost all the familiar smells, sights, and spaces. What have you lost in your life?
Have you taken the time to grieve the losses?
Have you stopped to celebrate the little victories or the big wins?
Too often we don’t take the time to mourn our losses.
As an Enneagram 7 , I don’t like pain in any form, and I’d much rather be on to the next adventure rather than sitting and processing a loss or or taking time to grieve a change that has taken place.
Jesus says “ Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”
It’s worth stopping to sit in our pain and loss and learn what the gift is from the change and receive the comfort from Jesus.
Sometimes we need a change of scenery to have new eyes to see. Sometimes we need to learn to ride in an elevator. Sometimes we need to take time to get to know someone rather than pre judge them by their appearance or our stereotype of them.
The beginnings of a new seasons, and events like moving, give us opportunities to pause and consider and process changes. They also give us the opportunity to express gratitude and be grateful for the new things and gifts along the way.
I’ve appreciated the creative architecture of the neighborhood where I am walking Bane every morning and all the friendly folks walking their own dogs. I’ve appreciated all the beautiful flowers too.
I so appreciate the Methodist church for providing a poop station with dog walking supplies.. poop bags & trash can. It’s an awesome gift to the neighborhood! Now i just wish everyone would use it!
It makes me think of how I can be more helpful in my own neighborhood back home. How can you and I more practically serve our neighborhoods? As churches, as small groups, as individuals?
Providing a poop station on your property or a local corner
Providing a gift card for a family in need
Getting to know a local homeless person you see in the same place every week and learning his or her story. Finding out what might help them, like a gift card, a ride somewhere, or taking them out for a burger.
What things do you need to see with new eyes? Take a walk, ride an elevator to a new vista, explore a new neighborhood.
What new opportunities can you think of to serve your neighbors in the next few weeks?
What things are you grateful for this week?
I am Grateful to have the chance to explore a new place and enjoy a different climate ( It’s going to be really hard to go back to heat and humidity on Sunday.) Most of all, I’m grateful for the space and time to connect with my son and help him get settled in his new home as he starts this next adventure, and I am thankful that he has trusted me with taking care of his best friend.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
There are several opportunities to join me in Cinncinati in a couple of weeks at The Hive, (see above)
or at CONSPIRE GATHERING 2019 SEPTEMBER 6-7, 2019
and at University Christian Church Sunday September 8th
by Christine Sine
Today I am looking out on a beautiful warm and sunny Seattle day, and I am hoping that the weather will continue warm long enough for our tomatoes to ripen. However I know that change is in the air. In a few short weeks summer’s splendour will give way to autumn’s vibrant colours. In the southern hemisphere, spring is on the horizon and I am very much looking forward to my glimpse of wattle and waratahs and grevillia when we head to Australia at the end of October.
Tomatoes of every color
New Theme on Godspace
On Godspace things are changing too. It is time for a new theme. Our Read Life Differently has provided many inspiring insights and ideas and I appreciate all who have contributed over the last couple of months, with posts, comments and their own experiences of different perspectives and understandings. I have even changed some of my own practices as a result, shedding my shoes and walking barefoot (not quite game enough to try Andy Wade’s idea of a barefoot walk round the neighborhood though). In Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island my beach combing adventures gained new significance as I gathered shells and sand dollars and pebbles. I would love to hear how it has changed your thinking, or if it has created a new practice for you too.
What does your soul long to do?, will be our theme for the next few months, a question that I feel requires soul nurture and discernment to answer. I am collating a new reading list on discernment and will start exploring this theme in more depth in the next couple of weeks. When the seasons change we need to change to so it seems an appropriate topic for times and people in transition.
Apologies Needed
We were just made aware this week that the store purchases have not been going through because of changes to Woo Commerce’s shipping requirements. Don’t you hate it when that kind of thing happens and no one lets you know? Anyhow we think we have it fixed now. So here are the link to the different card sets that some of you have been trying to order and please, please, please, if you have problems email us at godspacelight@gmail.com and let us know.
Don’t forget to browse through for other options. All are available for discounted prices in bulk or as downloads – great for keeping on your smart phone when you travel.
And keep your eyes open for the new set of Advent & Christmas cards coming soon. I am really excited about these and hope you will be too.
On the go spiritual kit
On The Move.
I am getting ready for a busy travel schedule in the next few months, part of the reason for the travel kit I put together a couple of weeks ago. :
September 4-9 in Cinncinati
Thursday 5th 3-5pm at The Hive
Friday & Saturday 6 & 7 at Conspire
Sunday 8th with Mandy Smith at University Christian Church. We are going to have a fun time with creativity, making finger labyrinths and reflecting on our experience.
These are all open events so if you live in the Cincinnati area please come and join us
September 28th – ECW St Albans Seattle
October 4-6 Chicago
Friday evening 4th – The Perch
Saturday 5th & Sunday Morning with Mandy Olson at Grace Covenant
Cedar Park Church Ladner B.C. October 20th
Australia October 29-November 20th
Though this trip is mainly to visit family I have accepted a couple of invitations in relation to The Gift of Wonder
Sydney November 5th (evening)
Melbourne November 9 & 10
Newcastle November 16th.
Coming Up In 2020
Denver January 11th
L.A. and San Diego February 14-21
New Brunswick Canada May 2020.
There are several other events in the works to keep your eyes and ears open and if you are interested in facilitating an event let me know.
I really appreciate your prayers for this coming busy season.
‘Crack’ inspired after the shootings in Dayton and El Paso by Ana Lisa de Jong—
The wind is high,
and we can hear
the hollows through the branches,
like reed flutes
echoing in long laments.
The cold has come,
with an Arctic breath
to cause the bones
to fuse
and set in one place,
that if we were to stretch
we might fracture
and break.
If we were to weep
we might freeze as water is trapped.
While across the world
it is summer yet,
the land warm
and beating as a heart,
flesh flushed and rosy as from sleep.
The birds that sing,
and the sun with a benevolent gaze,
belie the way
the earth feels the shock
of tiny ricocheting shots.
And spasms akin to
an ice shelf moving,
and melting beyond
the realm
of human sound.
Until we hear a sudden crack,
not unlike a gun let off
in a quiet place.
Not unlike an earth
rupturing at the core.
By Rodney Marsh —
There is much modern recognition that, for our mental health if nothing else, we need rest from work. However, there is little modern guidance on how to ‘rest’ beyond saying that we must stop work. In my life, learning the discipline two thirty minutes of still silence has taught me that ‘rest’ is the most vital work I can do. The work of stillness and silence is, in fact, the fount of all my external work.
So, in my workplace (a school) I wrote this piece to encourage students, staff and families to have a real rest (which isn’t a trip to Bali or more golf rounds) during the two week break from school. Here’s why our modern world needs to turn holiday back into holy-days.
How to Make the Holidays Holy Days
“…God…. rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” — Genesis 2:2,3
God doesn’t get tired, so why did God rest on the seventh day of creation? Because, though God had completed his work in six days, God had not yet inserted into time and space, space and time for rest. God had finished creating but God had not finished work, yet.
The time and space of creation needed space and time to ‘be’. God needed to simply ‘be’ not ‘do’ in order to enjoy what had been made and in order for creation to be truly complete. The creation story shows that rest/recreation/enjoyment is part of God’s nature and so, being made in God’s image, stopping work and taking up the work of rest (being), is essential to human nature. The ‘rest’ of God is simple enjoyment and celebration of being/reality and we can do it too.
This story of scripture shows us that rest and recreation are not optional extras in life, rather, they are essential aspect of life. These periods of time off ‘work’ we call holidays, because they were originally given as ‘holy’ days (God blessed the seventh day and made it holy) dedicated to rest-oration, re-creation. Rest is, in this way, a holy activity.
After each of the days of creation, God sees what has been made and labels it good. All people and creation are held in God’s being and this makes all that is, good. Rest is ‘holy’ because it is the simple enjoyment of the goodness of our being and sharing that being with others. Each of us holds a valued place in all that is, but we need to stop all our doing in order to find that valued place. Rest becomes holy when we make time and space in our lives to experience the goodness of all that is. Smell the roses. Smile. Enjoy life. ‘Be’ with your family. ‘Be’ with your Jesus’ family.
Rest also creates meaning and purpose in our lives. Our lives only have meaning if we stop doing/making/working, and learn to rest. Work alone cannot create meaning for us because we are not our achievements or our possessions, nor are we others’ opinions of us. If we take time to be instead of do, we discover that meaning emerges in our life, is meaning’s fruit: peace, hope and joy.
Being purposeful about resting in the goodness of all things, is what holy-days (holidays) are for. My advice for these holy-days: identify what feeds your soul, your wellbeing, and set aside time to feed your soul. Make music. Find some jumping whales to watch. Walk our beautiful coastline. Go for a run. Play games (not computer games, but board games etc). Exercise. Play sport. Praise God with others etc.
Another hint: Do not waste time pursuing pleasure or entertainment in the digital world, for these things stimulate our imaginations and imaginary achievements but, in general, do not restore or recreate our spirit and you cannot ‘be’ with others if you are looking at a screen.
A Prayer
Holy, good God,
In these holy-days,
Give us rest from our doing.
Grant us sweet rest from demands.
Fill our being with peace.
Re-create our soul.
Re-store our spirit.
Send dew drops of joy onto all we do.
In these holy-days,
We give the gift of our presence,
To those we love,
And to You,
Holy, good God.
Amen.
by Christine Sine
This week we will be harvesting fruit at the Mustard Seed House – apples and pears and plums are all ready to be picked and we are all ready to enjoy their sweet flavors. I must confess that this was where my attention drifted as Cherry Hairston gave her sermon yesterday and I recognized that this forms a good basis for meditation at this time of the year.
Cherry began with a quote from Julian of Norwich.
God made it, God loves it, God preserves it.
then handed out a hazelnut to each of us, encouraging us to look closely at it.
What do you see? she asked – a small brown nut, flat at one end and slightly pointed at the other. She then pointed out that what we see is only the surface. When we shake the nut you hear something rattling within. The x-ray eyes of faith enable us to see through the surface to the life within. she commented.
And that was what sent my imagination zooming. I didn’t have any hazelnuts but our harvesting the week, I realized would form a good basis for meditation. What if instead of a hazelnut I consider an apple, or a pear or a plum, or in fact any fruit? And it doesn’t even need to be straight of the tree.
So I thought you would like to join me.
So below I will share the process I went through and the responses that I had as I meditated on the fruit in my hand
Find a piece of Fruit or a nut. Hold it in your hand. What do you see, and feel?
For me it was the apples straight from the tree that grabbed my attention. I reached initially for the biggest and best one I could find, but then a smaller misshapen apple caught my attention. Green, with a blush of pink it sat comfortably in my hand. Wholesome, not perfectly shaped but appealing no less, with its promise of delightful flavors and sweet nourishment. I was tempted to immediately sink my teeth into it.
I rubbed it between my fingers. Most of it was smooth, with a few rough patches that made me wonder what lay beneath.
Shake your fruit. What do you hear?
Unlike a nut, a piece my apple makes no sound. There is nothing that gives me a sense of what lies beneath the surface. Is the fruit juicy and sweet? Is the flesh healthy? Is the centre filled with seeds with the hope of new life?
Cut into your fruit and take your first bite. What do you see, and smell, and taste?
My fruit may not look perfect but the flesh is sweet and delicious. A few brown spots mar its appearance, but those are easy to cut out. The juice runs down my arm. But in the centre as I suspected there is a small worm, just emerging and beginning to grow. Its egg invaded the fruit when it was small and defensively and has been waiting until the fruit is mature to emerge. The fruit needs to be eaten or processed quickly so that the flesh is not destroyed.
What can this piece of fruit teach you about yourself, about God and about God’s creation?
As I held this piece of fruit in my hand a lot of thoughts went through my mind.
In so many ways my life is like an apple. So often I want to look perfect on the outside, big and imposing for those around me to see. Yet I know that hiding beneath the surface there can be blemishes and maybe even a canker worm that if allowed to grow can destroy the fruit that God has prepared within me. And the only way to get rid of the disease is to cut it out, a painful process that I reluctantly put off as long as possible. Yet just as the worm will grow and destroy the beautiful flesh of the apple the longer I wait, so will my blemishes destroy the fruit God has created within my life the longer I wait.
What I also realize is that the fruit God has created within me is not for my own use but is created to be shared to nourish others. If I had tried to hold it to myself it would have destroyed all the fruit.
I suspect that there are other lessons that God will prompt me with as I continue to reflect on this.
Let me know what comes to you as you meditate on a piece of fruit or a nut too.
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