Thursday, November 19, 2009

It's not what you say....


I’m reading a book about communication in the church, Less Clutter, Less Noise by Kem Meyer. She tells a story about a grandfather who was teaching his four year old grandson how to read. The boy pointed to a picture in a zoo book and said, “look, Grandpa, it’s a frickin’ elephant.” The grandfather took a deep breath and asked, “What did you call it?”
“It’s a frickin’ elephant, Grandpa – it says so in the picture.”
And so it did. When the grandpa looked down at the picture, it read:
“A F R I C A N Elephant.”
Meyer concludes: It’s not what you say: it’s what people hear.
What are we saying in the church? What are we saying about God and following Jesus? What are saying about our community and our congregation? What are we saying about the things we do here? And even more importantly: what are people hearing? It’s not enough to talk about what’s meaningful to us – we have to talk about what’s meaningful for the people we are to whom we are speaking.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

prayer on a sick day


May I be at peace.
May my heart always be open.
May I awaken to the divine light deep within.
May I be healed.
May I be a source of healing for others.

(artwork by Drew Gold)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

aging

from Helen:

I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill-health.
There is no way to escape having ill-health.

I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love
are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.

buddha