Claimed, gathered and sent

I love the mountains. They speak to me. Often when I've thought of their beauty, I imagined I would have to live in them to appreciate them. My internship site is in the valley, the Monongahela Valley to be precise. It's also referred to as the gorge. But do you know what surrounds this valley? Mountains! Whether I'm driving or visiting someone at the hospital or nursing home, I see the mountains. This morning, Pr. Larry, my supervisor, and I visited several people in the hospital. At the end of one of the corridors was a door to the outside. On each side of the door were narrow rectangular windows, giving us a wonderful view of those mountains. I never tire of looking at them. They renew and refresh me, making me stop and reflect upon God's goodness. Perhaps that's why the psalmist prayed,"I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?" (Psalm 121:1).The mountains surround this little town just as God's love surrounds each of us...

It is hard to believe we've been here nearly 3 weeks. We are feeling very much at home in this small community. Being all unpacked and having the parsonage settled has helped a lot. We've even learned our way around enough to feel quite comfortable going to the next town to get things unavailable here. Tuesday night at a meeting, I had the opportunity to hear more of this church's history. Over the years the people have grown in so many ways. Today I started teaching adult Bible study and preached my first sermon for Grace. Grace is such an appropriate name for this community of faith. Here is the sermon I preached this morning: How often have we heard or used the phrase “Timing is everything?”  We might think of this in the middle of hearing funny stories or jokes. Two people can tell the same story using the same words, but one is a good story teller and the other may not tell it as well, with the right pauses and cadence. Then there are some people that have in...

As I said in my previous post, I really dislike saying good-bye, but I do love "hellos." I cannot help myself being the extrovert I am. The hellos to Petersburg, WV began Tues. as we arrived in town. We had dinner with my supervisor and his wife, which was a wonderful time of food and fellowship. Wed. our things arrived. We got to say hello to the stuff that had been in storage. Then the unpacking started as we tried/try to figure out where everything should live in the parsonage, our home for a year. One of the highlights of unpacking for me was being reunited with our 12 cup coffee maker. I was so excited that the next morning, the first thing I did was brew a pot of coffee. As it was brewing I had the realization that I had no cream/half and half/powdered creamer of any type or variety. For Ray and me coffee cannot be enjoyed without cream...so the adventure began. Since we only knew a few places in town, like 7-11 and Sheetz, I wondered about the best place to buy c...

This month that was to be our vacation before starting internship has managed to be one of stress and loss. Saying good-bye to those we love is painful and difficult whether they be beloved friends, family, pets, or places. We leave for internship Tues., Aug. 3. Within the last month we have moved, saying good-by to our apartment of the last two years. Many friends have moved on to their calls, CPE, or their internship sites. We are the last to leave campus for internship. It's getting a bit lonely, yet at the same time seniors are returning from their year of internship. A little over two weeks ago, we said good-bye to our beloved Abby, Ray's retired Seeing Eye dog who was 13 years and 9 months old. Her arthritis pain is now a thing of the past and yet we miss her. We were doing pretty well until today. First of all, our cat, Pokey, cannot come with us on internship. Thankfully, we have made some wonderful friends here at seminary. Among those friends is Denise. As soon as she...

The Immigration Fight Isn't Over Get a free issue of Sojourners Donate to support Sojourners [ Editor's Note : Jim Wallis is on a well-deserved vacation for the next few weeks. Rev. Jennifer Kottler, director of policy and advocacy at Sojourners, will be writing the SojoMail column in his absence.] Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton preliminarily struck down key provisions in Arizona’s infamous SB 1070  law and ruled that states cannot preempt federal law. While important, this is a victory that rings hollow for me and all those who care about the true reform of our immigration system. In many ways, the damage to neighborhoods and communities had already been done, as people did not wait to see how the law would affect them. Many mixed-status families pulled their children out of school and moved out of state, closing stores and restaurants and leaving many immigrant neighborhoods like ghost towns. This did not just affec...

The Dynamics of the Spiritual Life Our emotional lives and our spiritual lives have different dynamics. The ups and downs of our emotional life depend a great deal on our past or present surroundings. We are happy, sad, angry, bored, excited, depressed, loving, caring, hateful, or vengeful because of what happened long ago or what is happening now. The ups and downs of our spiritual lives depend on our obedience - that is, our attentive listening - to the movements of the Spirit of God within us. Without this listening our spiritual life eventually becomes subject to the windswept waves of our emotions. Share your thoughts on this reflection. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Visit HenriNouwen.org for more inspiration! Forward this Daily Meditation to a friend!

What We Feel Is Not Who We Are Our emotional lives move up and down constantly. Sometimes we experience great mood swings: from excitement to depression, from joy to sorrow, from inner harmony to inner chaos. A little event, a word from someone, a disappointment in work, many things can trigger such mood swings. Mostly we have little control over these changes. It seems that they happen to us rather than being created by us. Thus it is important to know that our emotional life is not the same as our spiritual life. Our spiritual life is the life of the Spirit of God within us. As we feel our emotions shift we must connect our spirits with the Spirit of God and remind ourselves that what we feel is not who we are. We are and remain, whatever our moods, God's beloved children. Share your thoughts on this reflection. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Visit HenriNouwen....