Class of 69, called to be alive! 😊🎶
Getting ready to head back to Dubuque, Iowa where Carol and I will gather with classmates and significant others for our Class of 69’s 55th high school reunion. Yes indeed! It’s time to reunite! Our reunion band is getting ready to play and sing some favorites when we gather with other classmates at Eagle Point Park Friday night, Sept 27th.
Pause to Ponder
Anchored in a Faith Group
Led by the Spirit
For Life’s utmost
Anchored in a faith group
for life on the coast
Window at Clatsop Plains Pioneer Presbyterian Church, Warrenton, Oregon.
Designed and created by Andrea Mullins Weir
Pilgrimage
O God, you have called your pilgrim people
to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
by paths as yet untrodden. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The prayer above is one of my favorites. It’s been around for decades and is attributed to an Anglican minister Eric Milner-White. Sometimes called the Prayer of Good Courage, it expresses the attitude of one desiring to live and be of service to the Lord wherever life leads.
This prayer became especially near and dear to me when after Denise, my first wife, died suddenly, I chose to venture from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest, ready to live into a new chapter of God’s call on my life. To my surprise, the unfolding of this new stage of life and service would include journeying to the end of the Oregon Trail, serving at Pioneer Presbyterian Church on the Clatsop Plains.
So, in many ways I’ve been on a pilgrimage for the past decade or more. Day by day, full of grace, the Lord leading me, God’s love supporting me and I amazed time and again at how I am blessed to be a blessing along the way.
Be it a new phase in life, a journey to a far-off sacred place, or simply taking an afternoon or a weekend away, spiritual growth and life-giving discernment await those who are willing to embark on a spiritual pilgrimage.
No Fear
Once in a while
I experience a fear of missing out
on a dream to take music on the road
Then I have the experience like I did yesterday
when together with friends we sang with folks
In the memory care community just down the highway
And I realize that beyond my wildest imagination
I’ve had an amazing lifelong journey of music ministry
and any fear I may have about missing out is laughable
Plastic Free
With a celebration of our country’s birth July is fast approaching. The life of our nation and of all countries around the globe is drawn from the health & well-being of Mother Earth
Many things are needed for the health of our planet.
Here is one thing I have chosen to do this July:
I will learn how to reduce single use plastics
in my home and daily life from this month onward.
What will you do in July out of love for your country and for precious Mother Earth? What one thing for life now and for future generations? Consider joining me and millions of others to go plastic-free.
Planting Flowers
How incredibly astounding that even when
I can’t visit the forests, hike the mountains,
or walk along ocean shores
I can see and rejoice
in the handiwork of our maker
by flowers in planters on display in our home
So, it’s hats off to a green-thumbed Carol
and to countless others who help bring to light
the loveliness of creation right under our nose
For those who want to dig into this pondering a little deeper, I offer this liturgy for the planting of flowers written by Douglas McKelvey in Every Moment Holy, Volume One: To read it simply click and expand. 😊
A Visit
I went to his door again today
101 and still not done
praying for another day’s work if he may
as we watched his donkey grazing in the sun
Artificial Parts and All
First it was a sleeping machine
Then it became clear I need aids to hear
Now I have to have a pacemaker implanted
Laugh as I may, all this prompts today
big feelings & questions deep down inside
and I face a substantial leap of faith
Can I still count on God’s gift of dreams? Will
aids distract from what my soul longs to hear?
Will I lose the shimmer of Spirit in my heart?
Later life alive calls for a spiritual discipline
choosing to shine with the light and love of God
through artificial parts and all!
Sabbath
This holiday weekend gives me pause to ponder
why in the midst of so many distractions I yearn
for some hard task to quite my mind and make me whole
But doesn’t the Sabbath offer the same?
To focus on the still, quiet voice within,
with eyes of faith on the rising sun
Pentecost
Celebrating the Spirit of Love
with simple words and gentle acts of kindness,
a year-around language all can understand