Holiday – Ascension

Today is Ascension Day, the 40th day after Christ’s resurrection. For many of the churches that follow the Anabaptist traditions, especially the Amish and Old Order Mennonites, Ascension Day is a holiday.

Families gather to reflect, visit, share, relax, and enjoy each other’s company. Youngsters may go fishing, hiking, biking, or playing games like volleyball and softball.

Of all the holidays that the Amish celebrate, Ascension Day is the most informal. There is no worship service or fasting. It simply honors and remembers the day that Christ ascended into heaven.

Couldn’t we all use a day like that to relax, refresh, and renew our body, mind, and spirit?

Thank you, Bruce Stambaugh 
 
Photo by Shiebi AL on Unsplash

Keep watch…

 

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

 

Quote: Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal)

Photo: Unsplash

By the light of the moon… (late post)

David Kanigan

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

The Moon will make a unique appearance today. For the first time in seven years, we will experience a solar eclipse.

Throughout the centuries, such an eclipse has been interpreted as many things….a message from the gods, a foreboding of bad things to come or an amazing moment, calling all to rejoin nature where we began.

It is a communal experience. One that covers the entire world. And as the time begins to create a sense of dusk, some will hear the sound of crickets and see the glow of street lights coming on, set to burn bright when the sun is going down.

For many in this country and across the world, there will be a pause in the day.A time set aside, not by clocks or schedules, not by anything we control – a time that will call for our attention.

Cautioned not to look at this event- it will be experienced through all our senses. The temperature will change and nature’s evening sounds will suddenly come to life.

Not influenced or created by humans… this will be a shared moment. One moon in a sky over all of us. We will be given a chance to experience something greater than ourselves- together.

In peace- let it be.

Quote: IKKYU

Image: David Kanigan

New Day. New Life

Hear laughter sound from distant mountains. Hear the shout of joy rising from the valley. Dawn has broken on fields of flowers, sending clouds flying like kites in a clear sky. This is a sign from heaven, a promise made to all living things: life is not random, but intentional. Life is not an end, but a transformation. Life is not only now, but forever. We are a celebration with every breath we take.

Quote: Steven Charleston

‘…this place of dusk…’

You are in this time of the interim
Where everything seems withheld.

The path you took to get here has washed out; the way forward is still concealed from you.

“The old is not old enough to have died away;
The new is still too young to be born.”

You cannot lay claim to anything;
In this place of dusk,
Your eyes are blurred;
And there is no mirror.

Everyone else has lost sight of your heart
And you can see nowhere to put your trust; You know you have to make your own way through.

As far as you can, hold your confidence.
Do not allow confusion to squander
This call which is loosening
Your roots in false ground,
That you might come free
From all you have outgrown.

What is being transfigured here is your mind, and it is difficult and slow to become new.
The more faithfully you can endure here,
The more refined your heart will become for your arrival in the new dawn.

Quote: John O’Donohue, “For the Interim Time” in Benedictus: A Book of Blessings

Image: Wendi Blaha(Pinterest)

Quote from Mindfulbalance (thank you, Karl Duff)

to a foot…

“To a Foot” 

Take me to your fen of soft soles,
To your hollows,
To your light, cool chambered sky,
To your half-open door,
To the place where you sleep.
Tell me, foot,
What do you dream?
What is your secret,
Your hidden treasure,
That you carry through the day and the night?
Tell me, foot, what do you seek?
What do you find?

 Maundy Thursday – a dinner, a teaching of the importance to remember, an act of humility as an example of being a servant.

All of these things happen in the moments before life changes drastically for this small group a faithful. Feet were washed during this gathering. Feet that have traveled miles through villages and deserts, feet that carried full hearts, and inquiring minds. These dedicated disciples soaked up every word spoken by Jesus. As is true today, interpretation of his teaching and action was varied, but the dedication to his ministry filled each step with hope. 

Tomorrow’s footsteps will be tried, and painful.  Many may not look down, but only use their footsteps to run in fear. Others may only look down staring at the ground that only days before shook with of welcome and praise.

In the quiet of this night, before the chaos arrives, it is right to clean and care for these feet. Jesus knew they needed to be ready to walk a road unlike any in his disciples past. These feet will take them far and wide to spread the news of something unimaginable.

 but first …

Poem: Pablo Neruda  (Translated by William O’Daly)

Photo by Merri J on Unsplash