If you read the last entry I made on Blogger, then hope it was interesting. It was not the same as what I preached on Sunday. I am really glad I saw this sign in Velarde, NM on Saturday because it became my introduction. The sign was old and had been bashed to pieces with fallen rocks. It said "watch for fallen rocks." This was my prayer, that I could find a much more adequate introduction and the "sign" metaphor became something to which I could return at certain key moments throughout the sermon. I had some very positive feedback from church members, who said things like, "It was just what I needed to hear in my life right now..." and "thank you for what you said... because I have a hard time with doing that..." I am so thankful to God for the Holy Spirit who could use me and I do hope that's what happened. Others told me this without my promptings!
I feel as though the message I was giving, which was to say that God uses our emotions and our consciences to give us signs that help us know how to proceed, but we have to slow down or stop and listen when we get confused. I worked this out of the genre of Mark 6:14-29, which reads like a Tragedy, when the character knows right from wrong, but chooses the wrong choice with tragic consequences. I saw this as a story of "what not to do," with the good news being that Herod has a conscience and this conscience was giving him signs that could point his way.
So, the family reunion was an interesting and fun opportunity to meet so many people I have heard about. "Merle" is the name I gave my boyfriend because he gave me permission to say that online. He has a different name when not in my cyberspace. I feel like we are getting along so nicely it's a gift from God that we met. We met on http://www.match.com/, by the way. He lives in the East Mountains with 3 dogs. You may have seen photos of them if you've read previous blogs. Unfortunately, for just a short period of time after we adopted Smokey, one of the older dogs, Spiff, got hit by a car or possibly a truck. Merle found her. It really sucked big time. That was May 31st. (is there a 31st of May? LOL) Well, she is now buried next to Jazz, another older dog who died about 1 year before Merle and I met. When he found Spiff, he didn't want me to come with him to collect her and the way he said it made me feel like he didn't want me to have to see her like that. I wanted to respect that. That was a difficult weekend because he really loves her. We felt really badly and kept thinking "what ifs" in our heads. Remembering Spiff's smile when she would see you, start panting and come over to immediately lick you with her soft warm tongue... It's hard not to think of that right now.
I feel like this is the sort of thing that I see more appreciated in the Episcopal Church, than in my own denomination. I love being a PCUSA person, however. But what I get from hanging with the Episcopalians is that being a part of creation, that is, a human creature along with all of the other creatures in this world, is a sacramental experience of God's presence with us. It's good news to know that we are human, fallible beings who are especially inspired to love others when we discover we ourselves are loved. What an amazing thing, that we have this gift from God's creation, to reflect the grace given to us. And there is this urge, hopefully, to reflect this grace on someone who needs to know it!
So, I have again gone stream-of-consciousness on you. What else is new? more at 11.
I hope to write more later. I need to go to the grocery and fix something to eat. In case you're wondering, I am not working this week. I think I'll brush up on my German. I think I have a little work next week, once again, at Nuestros Valores (Unfortunately, a month's work there through the temp agency doesn't quite pay my rent+utilities, less groceries and other costs). I like working there a lot. The people there are really great to work with and I love the fact that they like me back. I would consider working for them if they said they wanted to hire me. If that happened, and I don't know if it would, I would ask them if they had any way to help finance my professional development. It would certainly be to their benefit if they helped me study Spanish! I would love to learn Spanish, because it would benefit others. Plus, language is a strong point in me.
I am signing off for now, this time for real. In sum, even though I have not been regularly employed since August 2007, I am doing okay and feeling full of dreams. I promise you'll hear more soon. Feel free to comment on my entries, or on the "ads" I have posted here.
Peace,
Amy
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