As Christians, the oneness we seek is the oneness of living in Christ‑‑being an incarnational presence of God. Paul asks that we live in Christ, be rooted and built up in Christ, abounding in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a prayer without boundaries, for prayers of thanksgiving do not seek to control or manipulate, only celebrate.  Paul cautions us to allow ourselves not to be taken captive through "philosophy or empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe..." In other words, whatever binds and controls and limits - keeps us from being fully embodied in Christ. The mystery is that being embodied in Christ is a boundary‑less experience. Our point of entry into oneness with Christ is our baptism, which is a time of dying to the old and the beginning of living into the new.   To achieve this, like Jesus, we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This, as our Gospel passage for today points out, can be the thrust of our persistence in prayer.

           Because the human will is so strong and there are so many pitfalls, we can seek each other's help, and coming together for worship and hearing again the core of our life and faith goals, helps us to get at that.  As each of us grows stronger in our relationship with God, the whole community grows stronger in its relationship with God; and the realm of God, which is in our midst, becomes ever more known to us and to others who walk through this door, and to others we encounter through the week.  How can we grow stronger as a community of faith?  (From Pastor Randy's Sermon 7/27-28) 

From Pamela:  I remember when the issue of "boundaries" was the current most necessary topic for workshops and inservices.  Issues regarding time, space, personal intimacy, public interactions all factored into the discussion of boundary violation.  

I understand the importance of these considerations, and I also appreciate the freedom unleashed when we are securely rooted and built up in Christ.  When we abound in thanksgiving we are in a mode of gratitude (and appreciation).  We see others as gifts and blessings, and we are compelled to be a gift and a blessing to the other in all we do and say.  No manipulation, no controlling, no violation, no judgement.  

So here are my questions:   Whenever we are with another -- where do we see Christ in the interaction?  How did the encounter bringing us closer to one another and closer to Christ?   

Martha was caught up in what she had to do, and she was missing what was being done. Jesus tells her "you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing." As Christians we can ask ourselves today: Where is our attention? Where is our focus? What is blocking our path? What are our distractions? It is when we can step back and take a look at our lives, that often we open the door for the comforting presence of the Spirit. May each of sit at the Lord's feet and listen to what is being said to us.  

(From Pastor Randy's sermon last weekend)

 From Pamela:  I believe that sitting at the Lord's feet is, ultimately, activating.  God's presence can be comforting, healing and transforming.  It is also instructive; and once we have moved aside from our own preoccupations and received what God is offering, the next movement is often to "Go and do"(something) in the name of Christ in response to the blessing received from God. 

I pray often and I pray, sometimes, for long periods of time.   Yet it isn't about just sitting around enjoying the feel good feeling of being in God's presence.  After praying (that is, sitting at the Lord's feet) I set about "doing" whatever is before me in a more clear (not distracted) fashion.   I benefit from the way God helps me perceive people and places differently than if I am left to my own devices. Listening to God opens my ears to hear the requests or the opinions of others through a filter of God's love and wisdom.  

Sometimes that makes all the difference!  

Powering through or sailing with the wind filling your sails?

The journey.  Author John Ortberg talks about our journey in life being a one of piloting a motorboat or a sailboat.  How are you living your journey?  In the motorboat we become so goal minded, sometimes so obsessive that we are focused only on gassing up the tank, and setting our course, that sometimes we miss God’s gifts happening around us.  We start the motorboat engine and we live life being in control as much as possible.  But a sailboat is a different story. We play a role in hoisting the sails and steering the rudder, to be sure, but we are utterly dependent on the wind.  The wind does the work.  I am not simply speaking about being laid back assuming that God will do everything and I have to do nothing.  It is much more complex than that. Our task is to be spiritually transformed by our course in discipleship.  And our spiritual growth requires discernment.  As our journey continues we look for God’s spirit, which literally means wind, we look for God’s wind to direct our sailboats.  An experienced sailor can simply look at a lake and tell where the wind is blowing the strongest.  The wise sailor knows when to raise and lower the sails; so to it is for us as we mature in the faith.  We learn to respond to the fresh wind of the Spirit, for God does provide them. 

Where is God’s wind in your life?  What is the Spirit directing you toward?  Are you going there?  Or are you going the opposite way?  And how many times in our lives when God called us one direction, did we try to go another?  How many times have we tried to flee God?  Have you ever had an experience when you simply could not see God in your life and even rejected the whole notion of faith?  Perhaps sometimes we become such a motorboat in our life thinking that we don’t even realize that we are not stopping to let the wind of God direct and redirect us.  

Listening and watching for God’s wind, God’s Spirit, is not a call to sit back and watch the world go by.  It is not a call to let everyone else make decisions and do all the work, it is not a directive to say we are not influential in the direction of catching the wind in our sails, instead the journey is about being wise enough, and faith filled enough to know that living and sharing God’s grace, is bigger than my one boat, is bigger than my one engine, and receives its power not by my own supplied gasoline, but by God’s wind and Spirit.  May we catch God’s wind in our journeys, may we watch for signs of the times, that let us remain open enough to have our life redirected along the way.

 From Pastor Randy's Sermon 6/29-30, 2013

From Pamela:  

Most of the readers know that I am an experienced sailor.  Years ago, I would go out on the lake, often single handed, and sail for hours wherever the wind was blowing.  If I had crew, I would go out on the edge of storms (the best wind is often on the edge of a storm) and press craft and crew to maximum capability.  

Now my boat is almost 40 years old.  I am over 60. Although I am confident my boat could manage "sailing on the edge" of the storm, I am not sure my body or my psyche are interested.  It is all about allowing life to provide lessons about taking risks, pressing one's resources and respecting the desire for longevity (that is, I would rather stay in port and sail into the future than confront a passing storm).  

The boating metaphors relate well to the practice of spiritual discernment.  In life and ministry (as well as in sailing) it is wise to check out the craft (ie, physical resources) the crew (ie, the people involved) and the wind (ie, the sense of God's inspiration) when making choices about vision and mission.  

It is true that passengers on my boat often are frustrated with the amount of time I spend checking my rigging, "ship shaping" the lines and the gear.  But I always remind them that things happen very quickly in a high wind, and that is not the time to be working with fouled lines.  

In the same way, people may get frustrated or impatient with the amount of time we take to pray and discern God's will for our individual lives and our shared ministry.  But time taken to prepare our hearts and minds to confront the hard facts and details of life in this world is time well spent. 

Prayerful discernment is a source of balance that enable me to travel safely through the changeable paths of life and ministry.  When I am balanced I can navigate safely through all sorts of winds, with maximum effectiveness, by staying under the wings of God's sheltering wisdom.  

Fighting and screaming?

Many times I have followed the devices of my own heart, and other opportunities to be brave, kind and honest, I have not followed at all.  But the reality of it all is that, all of us, each with our own memories and past, have not given up, and that tells us that despite our weaknesses, despite our foolishness, enough wisdom, enough hope, enough faith has flickered in our lives that our hearts and selves have moved forward.  (from Pastor Randy's Sermon 6/23)

From Pamela:  Once upon a time a long time ago somebody said to me:  "Pamela, you can choose to ignore God's Will for your life, but you can't change it!"  

That is wisdom! 

And time after time I have noticed the difference between running away from God's call and leaning towards it.  How awesome, that God's call applies not only to the big picture of my life, but also to those daily (or even hourly) nudges to either receive something from God or take action in Christ's name.  

Here's another thing:  Accepting God's call to do something that is not necessarily my preference provides an opportunity to be utterly dependent upon God.  And as I am dependent upon God, I find joy, hope, and love that spill outward.  

Amazing!  

This Far By Faith

In Pastor Randy's most recent sermon (part of the series, "This Far by Faith") he quoted the following from one of his favorite authors:

 “In unexpected ways and at unexpected places and times people of all sorts, believers and unbelievers alike, make their way to us, looking for something that often they themselves can’t name any more than you can well name it to them.”  But our lives with our people and events continue to shape us.  Perhaps that is why the early church, and apostles like Saint Paul, continued to hold up the significance and impact of a community faith.  All of us here, in a way, are merely passengers on a journey, in a slower way we are sitting here together in this building as passengers on a train.  We are co-riders together with our hopeful destination being a full life, a faith filled life, and a grace filled life.  We are partners together on this journey, and people come in and out all the time, and whether a newcomer, whether we move away to another train, whether our mortal life ends, we are still impacted and affected by each others’ presence.  And often times in life, “the decisions that we think are most important turn out not to matter so much after all, but whether or not you mail the letter, the way you say goodbye or decide not to say it, the evening you toss everything aside and go and watch the sunset, these are apt to be the life changing moments for ourselves and others.”

From Pamela:  As Pastor Randy said, not all lasting moments come in spectacular packages.  I experienced a formational moment long ago when words of one of my adult children reminded me of the importance of paying attention to what is TRULY lasting.  The situation was pretty typical:  

     My husband and I were preparing to paint the living and dining room.  I was eager to try something "creative" with color. I wanted to paint the walls a couple of differing shades of the same color, and have the ceiling be something other than the predictable "white" it had always been.  My husband wanted it all the same (which would, of course, shorten the amount of time needed for the project).  At one point in the conversation (my child was also present,but wasn't saying anything) the voices were getting a little testy. 

     My adult child sat there listening and finally said:  "Can I offer an opinion?" Ah, I thought, now we will have a "tie breaker".  But instead, this is what was said:  "I really don't care what color(s) you choose, but this room will be less enjoyable for me from now on if the main thing I remember about this project is your raised voices."  

     Wow....  that event happened almost a decade ago, and I quite honestly don't remember how the color debate turned out.  But I know the voices immediately lowered and some humor was interjected which changed the tone of the entire project.  I think of that one sentence now when I am discussing plans or projects -- the words spoken and the tone of voice are what will echo long after the observable results take their place in history.  

     Spontaneous words can be life changing!  

​ Who was it that said things to you that you continue to quote in your head?  What experiences with people did you have that shaped, changed or molded you along the way?  Part of this series intent is for each of us to remember, relive, and recall those moments, those events, those people that equipped you for your life confidences and direction and your ongoing spiritual formation.

​ Who are those people,... chance or obscure encounters?....

        .......​The reality is that people enter into our lives all the time, and we never know what act or phrase they may make that will forever shape us no matter how old we are.  Maybe that is the excitement of the new creation of each day, we are forever a work of clay in God’s hands, and God uses the ordinary places, people, and events in our lives to continue to direct and support us.  It could be today that it happens, and rare are the times when we actually know that it is happening in the present – most of the time it is only with hindsight that we realize it.       

          (From Pastor Randy's sermon 6/9/2013)

From Pamela --  I love the statement "we are forever a work of clay in God's hands.  The possibility of being molded or shaped or reshaped every day provides so much hope! 

It is important, I think, to remember that each person is being molded every day.  It is unfaithful to declare "that person can NEVER change", whether it is myself or someone else.  

If God is always up to something new, then part of our job is to recognize and appreciate qualities that are sprouting within that make us "wonder".  

One of my chance encounters was with a man I met at a Lenten Supper when I was "new" in the faith.   He was near me only a few minutes. Our conversation was fleeting.  He asked me "what do you do here at Pearl Road UMC?"  I said:  "I don't know.  I am just starting to wonder about this church stuff and Jesus and all of that."    

He held my hand for a moment.  He looked into my eyes and said:  "Stay close to the fire!"  

I have never forgotten that encounter or his words or his eyes.  But I have no idea who he is or what he does or where he came from.  I never saw him before or since.  Yet it was a formative moment to which I return regularly.  

We Have Come This Far By Faith

Perhaps it is equally threatening and comforting to us to know that throughout our lives we are forever ending some type of journey only to begin another.  But the reality of things that have occurred in our life and now have changed, does not mean they still don’t shape us.  We are forever turning a page in our own book of life and each page that is turned would be hollow if it were not for the pages before it.  For though buildings,groups, and people have come and gone, if we are blessed to be of good mind, those memories can take us back in a flash.  (From Pastor Randy's sermon 6/2)

From Pamela:  Here is one of my favorite memories about story telling:  

When my kids were little we had a night time ritual where I would begin the story:  Once upon a time there was a girl named Jackie (or a boy named Benjamin).  On a ______ in ______ 
she/he (fill in the blank with something that happened)....  

As the "story" progressed, I would recount some of the details --- my little listeners participated in the story telling, sometimes elaborating, sometimes correcting.  Sometimes I threw in something totally imaginary and they would giggle with delight.  

The memory of these evenings spent with my little ones (who are now in their 30s) takes me to a tender time -- the minutes before bedtime, tucking them in:  Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.  It was tender time that connected me to the memory of being "tucked in" by my own parents -- it transports me to my childhood bedroom, sleeping with my cat Mittens by my side.

Revisiting our life story can be instructive, healing and (at the least/most) amusing.  Looking at our life from a faith perspective is a meaningful and effective spiritual practice -- and it is not difficult.

Take any event or phase of your life:

Remember the physical details.  What was going on?  What people were involved?  What were you doing?  What were others doing?

Here is the opener for the faith perspective:  What was God doing?  Do you recall anything in the event that offers comfort, or hope, or love or insight?  What do you appreciate most about the memory?  As you look "back" at the memory, do you see something you didn't see before?