Dear Friends,
This week I finished reading a novel loaned to me by a friend. I’m still marveling at having actually read a novel. After nine years of courses and textbooks, this was a real treat. One of the story lines in the book dealt with a group of women making shawls for a women’s shelter. They called the shawls “hugs of comfort”. That got me thinking of hugs. What’s that statistic? A person needs 5 hugs a day. Hmm… I grew up in a family that did not hug or give out much affirmation or compliments. Hugging used to be a very foreign concept to me. Over the years I’ve become good at giving hugs but receiving them still causes me to stiffen up lots of the time. I’m pretty free with hugging my grandson, who at age ten does not always appreciate them or return them. I guess it is part of being a boy and part of growing up.
It’s no secret that the touch of another person can do wonders for one’s well-being. Touch is physically therapeutic, such as massage, and can also be very emotionally healing – hugs, a comforting touch on the shoulder, holding hands. The sensation of being touched in a loving, healing way by someone who truly cares for and about us transcends the senses and heads straight to the heart, warming us in comfort. It feels great to be on the receiving end of such tender touch; it feels great to be on the giving end too.
In the Christian lectionary this weekend we have a healing story within a healing story: the woman with the hemorrhage (Mark 5:25-34). With faith she touched the cloak of Jesus and felt herself being healed. Jesus also felt something: power flowing out of him at the woman’s touch. Though the gospel does not relate whether or not Jesus actually touched the woman, but he did speak to her, it definitely demonstrates the healing power of being in the presence, being touched, by the Sacred.
At the end of last weekend, as we took our grandson home after a camping trip, I gave him a big hug right there out on the sidewalk and told him I love him. To my surprise, and delight, he returned the hug and the sentiment. Hmm…maybe, just maybe he’s getting the hint that hugs are comforting and healing (and not just something his “old” grandma does).
We are always in the holy presence of our Sacred Touch-Healer – there is literally nowhere we can go where we are not wrapped in this presence. The challenge for us many times is to realize this on a conscious level.
Peace on the Journey
Dear Friends,
I don’t like to watch the news these days; I do watch in an effort to keep informed of what’s happening in our country and our world, but I don’t like much of what I hear and see. My heart aches for the great many people who have been, are, and will be affected by the state of the economy in this country: the loss of employment, the foreclosures on homes, the deep cuts out of retirement investment funds, to name a few. The “real people” stories are the most distressing – how this (to put it nicely) “economic downturn” has deeply, adversely affected so many not only financially but in ways that have deteriorated or destroyed family life and relationships.
Admittedly, I have not researched any statistics probably out of fear that this “crisis” is worse than I think it is. My comments are based on what I see and hear both on the news, from others, and by observing what is happening in this corner of the world.
As a child, the end of the school year and looking forward to a whole three months of summer vacation was an absolute delight. There was no getting up early to trot off to school, no homework to get done every evening, no sitting in crowded classrooms for seven hours (with the same teacher), and the freedom of being able to stay up later at night. Last night on the National news I watched a story of a school that will be closing for good. But not only that, some of the older students of this elementary school who were interviewed commented on their sadness concerning the end of the school year. Why? Because, as one young lady put it, being able to go to school every day was an escape from the reality she lived in at home: a two-bedroom house with one bathroom housing not only her family but a total of 11 people, some of whom are relatives who have lost their jobs and their own homes. Another commented on what can be interpreted as the inevitable reality that he and his family will soon be homeless. School for many of those students provided a great sense of stability in their lives where outside of school abides chaos and instability. Schools are closing their doors, not only for the summer, but in some cases for good as educational funding from States has declined. In other places, our own surrounding area included, some education cuts have been in the form of teacher and staffing cut-backs: more people out of work.
One of the mantras I have heard from the financial “wizards” through all this economic mess is in order to boost the economy we have to spend, spend, spend. Hmm…I wonder, isn’t perhaps that same line of thinking the very thing that got us into this in the first place? Not only that, but our society’s tendency toward “bigger is better”, “more is better” consumerism fed by the “keeping up with the Joneses” trend begun decades ago has contributed greatly to society's current economic dilemma. Why would we “need” to purchase a brand new vehicle when the ones we own are in good working order? Why would we “need” to build big, fancy houses when more modest ones suit our needs nicely? What “profit” is there in having the biggest and best and newest of everything when so many in our country are, and have for a very long time been struggling to even put food on the table for their families or are homeless? Is there really justice in that???
From where I sit, in this tiny slice of the greater world, it all comes down to a skewing of needs and wants. Society has worked hard to convince us that wants are needs. And I propose the source of this line of thinking is based on greed – over time the greed of the wealthy has trickled down to so many of us in this country. I see the current state of the economy as a huge wake-up call for us to set our priorities right and rediscover the difference between what we really, truly need in order to survive and those “would be nice to have’s” that are not real needs.
The other day, as I took our dogs for a walk, I noticed a few things: the two flocks of geese that were born on our pond, thirteen little ones in all, were carefully tended to by their parents. As we approached, they were all sprawled across the road. As the “elders” caught sight of us, they carefully and systematically guided the little ones back to the pond and swam off in a group…TOGETHER. We took a detour and headed up the field that used to be a pasture. Once up the hill, the sight was absolutely beautiful. Some would cal
l them weeds, but…the array of colorful blooms was a beautiful sight to behold. And the bobolinks were filling the air with their joyful song. It got me to thinking about the tapestry of life woven by the Sacred and how each weed, each bloom, each bird’s song was carefully and lovingly intertwined into the design of the landscape. It’s such a simple image but also a very profound one. The nature surrounding us has everything it needs, despite the varying and sometimes devastating weather conditions that come. It really wants for nothing and survives nicely, not through work of human hands and despite human interference, but by the touch of our Sacred Tender.
Can we have that same kind of faith imaged in the beauty of our natural surroundings?
Peace on the Journey.
Dear Friends,A pair of tree swallows has nested in one of our birdhouses. Most days, nearly 
all day, the male can be seen perched either on top of the birdhouse or on the garden flag pole very near by. His mate faithfully stays sitting on the eggs in their nest. When I water the garden, the male does fly off, but not far, and the female pokes her head out the entrance, I imagine to watch what I’m doing or to see where her mate has gone. In human terms, I would say that these two tree swallows have a covenant between them.Once again I consulted the dictionary and discovered its definition of 
covenant is a “solemn agreement”, one that is binding on all parties. Synonyms include words such as pledge, bond, pact. It would appear, in the bird world, that our two tree swallows actions do fit this definition. They most certainly have a bond or a pact with each other – the female tends to the nest and the male keeps watch and gathers food.
Once upon a time a teenage girl asked her mother what she would think if there ever came a time when the daughter wanted to live with a man she loved but not married. The mother thought for a while and replied, “Well, I’m not fond of the idea but when you’re an adult, if that’s what you want to do, it will be your choice”. The daughter looked surprised that her mother was so accepting of this life-style and asked if it would make her mother feel better if she and the man were engaged. Once again the reply was, “That will be your choice, not mine”. And once again the daughter was surprised at what she heard. However, the mother was not finished speaking on the subject. Going on she said, “Although I personally did not and would not have made that choice, you will have to make those types of life decisions for yourself. I just want you to know that agreeing with someone to live with them and even an engagement are promises the two of you make to each other. Although each person has the best of intentions to keep those promises, sometimes they don’t and then things can get messy. Marriage on the other hand is much more than a promise. It’s a vow you make with each other in the presence of others and it’s a three-way covenant: between you and your love and God. Covenants are not something to take lightly." Thus ended the conversation…for that day.
Covenants between God and people are relatively common in the Hebrew Scriptures – Noah, Abraham, the whole people Israel (to name but a few). During the Last Supper, the words of Jesus in breaking the bread and sharing the cup (Mark 14:22-24) are interpreted as the institution of a new sacred covenant which will be accomplished through Jesus’ passion and death. As theologically significant as this is for Christians, I believe we also need to remember those covenants that came before – how God cared for, loved, forgave and never abandoned the Israelites. This too is the substance of the very same covenant our Sacred Creator makes with each one of us. It’s more than a promise. If we stop and think about all the ways each of us has been blessed, perhaps we will come to realize the movement of the Spirit in and around us is a continual renewal of the Sacred One’s holy covenant with us.
Peace on the Journey.
Dear Friends,
I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how people come into our lives. Certainly there’s family and at some point we grow and leave home. There have been the neighborhood kids we may have played with. Then there are the friends we made in grade school, high school, perhaps college. At work we are introduced to colleagues. If and when we meet that special someone, we are introduced to a whole new set of friends.
When I was 5 years old, our neighbors at the time also had a five-year old daughter. We played together sometimes and got along pretty well for the most part. I remember one day in particular as we sat on the curb talking. I had just learned to ride my bike without training wheels and was telling her about it. The memory of what she said is still so clear: “I could ride MY bike for a long time”. Hmm…my first lesson in how others may not rejoice with us in our joy. Funny, but I don’t think we played together much after that day.
Sometimes we out grow some of our friends or move in a different direction – physically, intellectually or in our belief system. Sometimes we promise to keep in touch. Whether or not that actually happens, well, I think depends on how strong the relationship is or was and what it was based on. Still, I do believe our promise to keep a connection alive is at its core sincere…at least initially.
And Jesus said, “…I am with you always…” (Matthew 28:20). Now, that’s a promise we count on and one that we can actually see and feel. All we need do is stop and take a look around to see the signs of the Sacred Presence: the colors of the sunrise and sunset, the beauty of the changing seasons, the laughter of a child, the stars in the night time sky, a rainbow, the kindness of a stranger, and so much more. Sacred Love promises to abide within and around. We only need the eyes to see and ears to hear.
Peace on the Journey
