Prophets

Hello friends!  I hope this finds you fully engaged where you find yourself these days……engaged in the work of changing the world.  I know that sounds grandiose but it is true…..Listen to these words from Frederick Buechner; “There are all kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of society, say, or the Superego, or Self-Interest.  By and large a good rule for finding out is this.  The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done.  If you really get a kick out of your work, you’ve presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you’ve missed requirement (b).  On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you’re bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only bypassed (a) but probably aren’t healing your patients either.  The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”     I also hope you are enjoying the “rhythm of stopping and finding rest” so that the beauty and abundance of God’s creation…..(yum! Strawberry season in Minnesota)….will bring you significant delight in these the days of summer!  I came across this poem in my studies today and pass it on as encouragement and challenge.  Please know that I am so glad we are on the path together.  My path will lead me home to Pennsylvania next week with my daughters to spend cherished time with my mother and sisters.  Randi’s path will lead her to Spain for study.  Keep us in your prayers please.  I hope to see you all this summer somewhere – for most of you that means in church!!!!!!!  J  Share his kingdom…….

 

Prophets

I'm finding myself in a story 
larger than any I ever dreamed 
living alongside heroes 
I have never seen 

I've joined on the path 
of those whose faith 
has gone before 
Men and women, a countless score 

These characters are living 
with words to say 
that echo back 
a millennium or more 

Yet I am also learning 
I have another role to fill 
It is my voice, used for another 
whose story I must tell 

To the generations that follow 
that they must truly hear 
the message that has never changed 
"The Kingdom of God is near."