Like any year, 2013 is written in the sand. As we stand at the start of the year, it seems to stretch out before us with great possibility. Yet before long, it, too, will be washed away.
What are your dreams, hopes, resolutions for this short span of time? What do you intend to do with your one wild and precious life?
This Sunday is the Epiphany. We tell the story once again of the wise ones that come from the East following a star. They came pulled by a desire to encounter the new, to meet this new thing that was unfolding. When we push beyond our fears, we too can encounter the new and experience the light. It might, however, mean taking a different route from what we expect. It might mean really paying attention to the life that is unfolding before us.
Poet Mary Oliver describes paying attention to our lives as a form of prayer. It is a way to encounter the holy. As we look out at the year stretched out before us, we can make resolutions like lose ten pounds, pay off credit card bills, go to the gym more. If you're anything like me, by March these resolutions are washed away by the tide. But what if this year we have one single intention, one guiding light, one star that we follow? What could be your intention for this year? Mine is simple: to pay attention to this gift of life.
May 2013 be a year of great insight, filled with blessings!
See you Sunday,
Rev. Beth
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
~ Mary Oliver
What are your dreams, hopes, resolutions for this short span of time? What do you intend to do with your one wild and precious life?
This Sunday is the Epiphany. We tell the story once again of the wise ones that come from the East following a star. They came pulled by a desire to encounter the new, to meet this new thing that was unfolding. When we push beyond our fears, we too can encounter the new and experience the light. It might, however, mean taking a different route from what we expect. It might mean really paying attention to the life that is unfolding before us.
Poet Mary Oliver describes paying attention to our lives as a form of prayer. It is a way to encounter the holy. As we look out at the year stretched out before us, we can make resolutions like lose ten pounds, pay off credit card bills, go to the gym more. If you're anything like me, by March these resolutions are washed away by the tide. But what if this year we have one single intention, one guiding light, one star that we follow? What could be your intention for this year? Mine is simple: to pay attention to this gift of life.
May 2013 be a year of great insight, filled with blessings!
See you Sunday,
Rev. Beth
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
~ Mary Oliver
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