One of the reasons I have felt called to ministry for all these years is that no two days are alike and that being invited to stand close to folks at all sorts of different times is a great privilege. My colleague is preaching this Sunday, so I have the luxury of several extra hours to do some different things. I've paid several visits to folks, lingered a little longer than usual during hospital and nursing home visits, worked on worship planning for the summer, and straightened up my desk. I like the serendipity of experiencing different rhythms to each day and even different weeks. It works for me, although I'm always tired at night....

Today I have a couple of community meetings, am getting a haircut, and have a wedding rehearsal for a weekend wedding. The charming couple whose wedding is this weekend have chosen to include e.e. cummings' poem i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)


I feel glad to have a call, which is like a heartbeat, with me through these interesting days.

Like riding a bike...

I don't know if I remember how to blog after all these weeks!
I hope it's like riding a bike....
It's been a month of racing around, and although it's still busy and hectic, it feels important to reconnect with my blogging friends.

Illness, a seemingly endless winter, DH's job search, and the first anniversary of my mom's death have all converged and having me thinking hard about my own personal goals for the near and foreseeable future. I think it will be wise to spend some time dedicated to goal setting.

I've been intrigued and inspired by Kathleen Fischer's book, Autumn Gospel: Women in the Second Half of Life. Containing articles of great interest interspersed with blessings, prayers and biblical reflections, Fischer (a theologian, counselor and spiritual director) writes with warmth and gentleness.


For instance....

"Endings are often a return to the beginning."
"In the practice of awareness, we allow ourselves simply to be and observe without the need to judge and change."
"Bodies have a tenacious memory of what has happened to us in the course of a day or a lifetime, how we have received and stored it."

I am grateful for this author's words.