Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ice Day

Not a snow day, but an ice day.

We have a coat of ice on the roads and cars and all the schools are closed and so are all of the meetings for church today. And I am home, having an "Ice Day."

We leave for vacation on Friday and I want to work so I am. Except that I am not preaching Sunday, so I don't have a sermon to work on and I am home and so I don't have access to much of my planning information on my church computer.

I am working ahead and planning meditations for weeks to come. This is part of what we offer every Sunday morning - a writing for people to meditate on during the service and possibly take home. It tends to relate to the theme of the service.

This year our theme is "Wonderful Words of Life" and every week I emphasize ONE word from the text. We are 5 weeks in and so far so good. I like the discipline of pondering a word and I wonder if it may stick with folks more than a verse, a story, an image.
The words so far have been: star, beloved, lamb, follow, and blessed. And I remembered them just sitting here. That is a good sign.

I want to share a reading from Anthony De Mello that I really like but it won't work for a sermon meditation. Better for a blog. This is from "Taking Flight" by Anthony De Mello

When the Master invited the Governor to practice meditation and the Governor said he was too busy, this is the reply he got:

"You put me in mind of a man walking blindfolded into the jungle - and being too busy to take the blindfold off."

When the Governor pleaded lack of time, the Master said, "It is a mistake to think that meditation cannot be practiced for lack of time.
The real reason is agitation of the mind."


It has been hard today to still my mind and to accept a day of less "work" than I think I should be doing. especially when I know I am going away soon. But I think that God wants me (us?) to live in the day that God gives us.

Whether it is a work day, a vacation day, or an ice day.

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