The last couple of days I've really looked forward to checking my email/facebook. I have been touched and moved by the support and encouragement I have received in response to my latest blog. Some of you I know well and others not as well, but have taken to heart each and every comment. Thank you for sharing your reflections on my experience but also for sharing bits of your own wilderness experience. I think these kinds of experiences are probably a lot more common than most people know or realize. Perhaps the really sad part is how unaware most are of others' journeys through the wilderness. I think it is vital that we are more in-tune with other's journeys. Of course this requires not only a willingness to know what's happening to your friends, but it also requires people being willing to share and be vulnerable in their own wilderness experience. How many of us are willing to do that?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wilderness
It's been a long time since I have been moved by a sermon. That's not to say the messages I've been hearing have been bad or irrelevant - they just haven't spoken to me. Until Sunday.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge...
...One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
Psalm 62: 5-8, 11-12
My soul, find rest in God. Finding rest (and peace) seems to be an illusive dream these days for me. The past months, maybe even year, have felt like a real wilderness to me. A place that is dry and rather hopeless. While I have tried to remain positive and place my full trust in God, it isn't very easy for me or natural. I felt forced to resign from a position I loved. I have left the congregation which was my home. In most ways I have put my calling on hold. And our financial situation has been stretched to the max. And I am left with a lot of guilt and a longing for something more.
Find rest in God, my soul. My soul that is wounded. My faith that is lacking. And my trust that has disappeared. Find rest and put your hope in God.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge...
...One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
Psalm 62: 5-8, 11-12
My soul, find rest in God. Finding rest (and peace) seems to be an illusive dream these days for me. The past months, maybe even year, have felt like a real wilderness to me. A place that is dry and rather hopeless. While I have tried to remain positive and place my full trust in God, it isn't very easy for me or natural. I felt forced to resign from a position I loved. I have left the congregation which was my home. In most ways I have put my calling on hold. And our financial situation has been stretched to the max. And I am left with a lot of guilt and a longing for something more.
Find rest in God, my soul. My soul that is wounded. My faith that is lacking. And my trust that has disappeared. Find rest and put your hope in God.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Here we go
As a means for an outlet and somewhere to process what is going on in my mind, I've decided to give blogging another try. As I write this, I've discovered that for tonight I have nothing much of importance going on in my mind. Perhaps I will try again tomorrow.
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