Living in Harmony…

We who tread the path of Jesus met for communion and fellowship yesterday. Our service began at Gabriel’s. Sounds holy, good start. In reality it’s a cut rate store where you can look through (literally) tons of clothes and come out with some great gems.

Next we met for Communion. We broke bread together, with butter, fried zucchini, stuffed hot peppers and that was just the aperitif! Jesus said to do as he did in remembrance…we follow those directions to the letter, reclining in a cool Italian restaurant, face to face, observing the bread and the fluid, while adding chicken, sausage, pasta, etc. We even shared teramisu.

But the reverence was there and the fact of who owns the hearts of the group was obvious.  We discussed our blogs, our feelings and beliefs. And we caught up. Encouragement and concern went ’round the table and ’round, and ’round again. We had fun, and built each other up.

We don’t always meet in a great place to eat (Primo’s in Little Washington, PA), sometimes we just cook well, and come together in each others homes. Our lives are so much richer being in fellowship like this. I doubt not one of us and I know the care each of us has for the rest is genuine. Not just present because “we have to love the congregation”. Come have communion with us one day, just let me know. I ALWAYS cook dinner…

is there any better phrase than this? can we do more than this ere we pass beyond the setting of the sun? i think not. all we can do on this walk of ours is the best we can do. there’s no letting down, except ourselves. there’s no way to prove ourselves except to be and do all we can. our Dad uses this desire to work His ways here on this planet. some are worried they don’t measure up, don’t work hard enough. do you love your neighbor? come on, think on this…

my neighbor, he/she who is beside me, needs me to listen, and needs to listen to me. we need the prayer of our peers, and to go outside ourselves. i forget it’s just as important for others to hear me as it is for me to hear them. if i listen and speak, then i’ve done enough. don’t be tripped up or give our enemy anything to be happy about. when we doubt our walk, and talk to ourselves, we’re talking to the wrong person, for sure! don’t let the rules of the world or even the “church” trip you up. and exhaustion is not necessary, or even called for. our Father has put into us a desire for him, so we listen, we hear, we love Him and our neighbor, right? we can’t help it, stop worrying; let your heart out of that old goal –lighten a load, speak love for all to grasp, be generous with praise.  then you will hear it: well done..

Yep, I made it through! I absolutely hate taking medicine to be able to function, yet I know Dad put the formulas in the brain of the inventor to allow His kids to get on with life on this big blue ball of water. I have confessed before why this has happened to me…because it can. I know that pain and disease did not come from Father but from his enemy who seeks to rob, kill and destroy. I also know that dad arranged it so that His creations (us kids) were done after the invention of the chaos strewn about the world by this used to be angel of light. Father God makes us to withstand each unique onslaught by finely tuning us to, with His help, fend off the fray. Each soul is different as each  battle is also, but God’s help is the same for each, and we have to trust Dad to take up the slack. Our job? We stand. We stand in faith knowing the love of our Father and maker was/is enough to be successful in our walk, whatever the challenge is.

I s’pose we are each to reach our own epiphany. Our own awakening dawns to the fact that The Son was sent here to erase all evil from the hearts of men. To cover us and allow us to be in the love of God always, to revel in that love, to pass it around and make it visible to the other Men who may be having trouble seeing the Truth.  I feel sorry that some whose anger makes them judge are guided by the rules and laws of twisted leaders. Some huMans so small in heart that they devise a plan to be the king of their own fiefdom, ruling with an iron hand under the guise of truth in law.

To those of us called clear of the tiny kingdoms, guided to live along the Way and walk a path toward Love unbound, remember we are a growing breed. Not an “Unchurched minion” but hikers together, we DO hear the voice of Dad. He does keep us on the path, and He does equip us with the tools to fight off our challenges. Pink, gold, a hint of sky blue just above the firm horizon, the morning, a new breath; the Dawn…. 

…..seems like I’m always catching people up on me, yet I’m pretty much saying the same stuff. My health, my friends, my kids, I guess that’s life, right? Choir was a struggle this year. Why do people act like children, but kids want so desperately to be grown? I watched men who are my age be disrespectful, rowdy, and a waste of my time every Monday evening this semester. Yet I kept going, learning my music and putting up with many who thought they were better than studying. And I’m hurt that when I asked a question, I got made fun of and now I’m scared to ask. I thought I got over that. Junior high stuff right?

I know what I’m supposed to do, I try. We’ve studied and listened for years now about a God who loves us so much HE could forgive us for EVERYTHING. He has died for us and lives with us so that we can go on doing that too. So I forgive the silly tenors, they are tenors after all — silly leprechauns! I will not give up on choir. It sustains me, and it’s the prize I get for enduring the pain. Singing is my ministry, my saving grace. Each of us have something. My friend walks the Alps, sends me photos of where she frequents. I’ve been there, seen them. The Alps are amazing, like God just made ‘em yesterday. And I know a little of what she sees when she walks. It’s old there, older than you can imagine. The oldness is settling. Scripture says we have to praise or the rocks will cry out…you should hear some what those rocks have to witness of. I sang there too…keep stoppin’ by, catch up…

This keeping up gets tiresome sometimes doesn’t it? And yet I find myself moving through life despite (or inspite of) the pitfalls that come. For the most part it’s not the physical that gets to me though. The words… those are the hurdles that I have to jump over, or through ignoring the chasms they dig in the path. Most times the biggest ones come when least expected, or from a source you certainly weren’t looking for. The chasm gets deep and wide then, and you have to be a very good jumper to get past them. But, for the most part, we do get past and move on down the road.

For my part, Dad and I have a chat, he telling me to remember that these are kids too, their hearts free to say as they please, and that’s a good thing, afterall. Freedom is one of the goals, true enough. He reminds me similar paths fork sometimes, each choosing a separate lane. We are not carbon copies, and not supposed to be, but the paths cross again later on down the Way. As I look over the the steps I’ve taken, I try to to see the ditches I’ve caused to interrupt someone else’s trek. “Father forgive me for tripping up my fellow on The way”. Poor Dad, He loves us so! Can’t you just imagine Him running after us, grabbing us up just as we’re about to smash our selves on that rock, or fall into the rapidly rushing stream we tried to jump over? Parent, you know the feeling (a two year old at the lake comes to mind)… Whew! Daddy’s right behind us.

So it’s a new day, we’re up again, “Wheee………………….”