Pastor Annette's Blog
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"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
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October 29, 2019 Beloved: Inside the last five minutes, the skylight outside my window has turned from grey to some odd shade of orangey-pink. The day is coming on. I hear we’ll have killing frost by Friday, which means I’ve got last tomatoes and beans to gather in. In another month one of my favorite jobs comes due - clearing off the garden beds, just like cleaning up after a big dinner party. My husband will write down lots of notes, no doubt, as we collect the little name tags that came with seeds and starts we bought last May. We’ll dump some of it on the coop floor for the hens to scratch through for fun. They’ll break it down and fertilize it more before we move it back to the beds next spring. I make it sound like so much more work than it truly is. Dividing investment by the effort required essentially amounts to free food. Last night I ate sweet potatoes for supper from three tiny seed starts it took thirty seconds to plant in the ground. Digging up that little basket full was so much fun, it is a sin to call it work. More like finding treasures in the ground. I gave away the green beans just because I couldn’t face putting up another round. Our freezer is stacked with them already. Daylight is full on now, the house quiet as a candle. Once we move we stay so busy until bedtime. May we be busy with the things that matter. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette 
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October 22, 2019 Beloved: Willing to experience this aloneness, I discover connections everywhere; Turning to face my fear, I meet the warrior who lives within; Opening to my loss, I gain the embrace of the universe; Surrendering into emptiness, I find fullness without end. Each condition I flee from pursues me. Each condition I welcome transforms me And becomes itself transformed Into its radiant jewel-like essence. I bow to the one who made it so, Who has crafted this Master Game; To play it is purest delight; To honor its form – true devotion. Nothing sums up my trip to India more precisely than this poem my yoga teacher read to us our second morning together. I can tell a story for every nearly every line. For some, I can tell a dozen. My body has been home nine days but my heart and mind are still only halfway here. India is an ancient place where modern ways look almost like a joke, the man driving his camel-drawn cart while talking on his cell phone. “Did you see that?” my group members asked each other, wondering if we all simultaneously had a vision. Turns out construction companies use camels all the time for hauling extra-heavy supplies. A week in and none of us even get out our cameras anymore. India is a colorful place that left my eyes aching from the beauty of her people, their clothes and their food. The flowers, the field, the animals, the waters, the mountains. I am so glad I saw it. India is a spiritual place, reminding me that God is both really, really old and has at least a thousand faces. No words of mine will ever tell it. I took a few pictures which I’ll have on slideshow tomorrow at Wednesday Night Supper if you’d like to come and see. We’ll share a meal I call “What’s in my freezer that I can cook up nice?” Think rice and tacos. We’ll also have all those Sunday potluck dessert leftovers and have some sweet table time together. I hope to see you there. We pray and serve at 6. I’m so glad to be home again!
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I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
Everything on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which gives you permission to copy freely, provided that you attribute the work to me, that you use the work for non-commercial purposes, and that you do not produce derivative works. Archives
December 2024
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