The importance of having fun and finding joy!

Dear Family of Love,


Happy Keeping the Faith Friday Fearlessly Without  Fretting. I hope everyone had  a wonderful day and that you were able to start getting rid of all of your worries, anxieties, and fears in order to prepare for our Self and Sabbath Care weekend. I also hope all of you were able to get outside and go off the grid for a time. If you didn't today let's do it tomorrow. Fresh air will do our  bodies, minds, and spirits a world of good. Don't forget to take time for fun and amusement. We sometimes take it for granted that these are to be seen as just as important than prayer, physical fitness, and sensible eating. Lifting our spirits give us wonderful endorphins that will take us out of ourselves and make us feel light and joyful. Our challenge this weekend is to find something that will lighten our moods, lift our spirits, and allow for our selves much needed rest, relaxation, renewal, and refreshment by taking time for fun and frivolity. Let's give it a try!  Having fun is very important and so is finding joy. Let us meditate on the hymns Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee and O Praise Ye the Lord, How many of you raised your voices in song? I hope many of you did because singing is one of the best ways to find joy and lift our spirits that have been down. So give it a try tonight after we place our worries, anxieties,fears, and anything else that might keep us from being in connection with God and all that is holy this weekend into our Worry/ Sabbath Box. Let us begin our time of meditation and preparation by dong our own breathing and relaxation exercises.  Here are a few pieces that will help. 

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and  Ralph Vaughan Williams-Fantasia on Greensleeves  

We pray this night that as we lay down our burdens we will find peace in our bodies, minds, and spirits.

We pray this night for all of our family members who have trouble doing this.

We pray for all who are newly grieving and who are learning new and emotional normals that they do not understand.

We pray for all children who are beginning to face going back to school that we may be aware of any anxiety they may have.

We pray for all adults who are struggling to keep their sanity in daily living.

We pray for peace in the world and an end to violence and terror. We pray that we may step it  up and be peacemakers without fear.

We pray for all of our family members who have asked us for our prayers remembering________

We pray for any concern you have in your hearts this day.

We give thanks this day for __________________and the ministry of  St. Ignatius of  Loyola as we remember the prayer associated with his day:

 O God, by whose grace your servant Ignatius, enkindled with the fire of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

We lift up these our prayers in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

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Good Night Dear Ones! Have a blessed and restful night! I love you and give thanks to God for you this night and always.


Love and joy,

Sara

Reflections on Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday

Dear Family of  Love!

Happy Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday! We must remember that everyday that we live is a holy day. This isn't because there is a designated saints day but because everyday that God created the Universe, planets, and where we live God, "Called it good." That is an amazing thing to think about. God never called anything God created as "Bad!" always "Good" That means that everyone and everything on the planet is good. So why are we afraid of anyone or anything God has made? Why are we afraid of our neighbors/family members who differ from us? Why are we afraid to accept that God didn't make us carbon copies of each other? Why are we afraid of all of God's family members when they are have different colored skin, gender identity, sexual orientation, or faith community. Sometimes our brothers and sisters may differ from us and have all 4 of those descriptions in one body. Our task tonight Jim is to meditate on why we are afraid and why our family members hate what God has made? Take time to go deeper and deeper still ! Take time to give God thanks for all the wonderful diversity God has made and given us. This diversity must be seen as a gift not a bad thing. God gave us these gifts so that we may learn to love, care, accept, and include God's family fully and not be afraid and hate. Part being thoughtful and thankful on Thursday is the the journey we travel back in time to the Upper Room for the Last Supper! We learn from Jesus what it means to be truly both family and friends and that we all are on equal footing when we become friends. We learn what it truly means to be thankful in the breaking of the bread, sharing the cup, being united in prayer and fellowship or as I like to call it Familyhood. We learn that sometimes we are called to do things we'd rather not do but that is how God works. Yes we must give thanks to God for Judas' response to God's Call,  otherwise we would never have known the awesome gift of salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. We learn that night and on this night and every night we live, move, and just be that when God means ALL, God means ALL,and NOT SOME  Again tonight  Our task tonight Jim is to meditate on why we are afraid and why our family members and some times that may mean  ourselves  hate what God has made?  Does Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday resonate with you to the very core of your inner being and hit you squarely in the solar plexus? It does with me how about you?

First let us take time to breathe:

Breathe in Love
Exhale and feel empowered by the Holy Spirit!

Breathe in Love
Exhale and feel empowered by the Holy Spirit!

Breathe in Love
Exhale and feel empowered by the Holy Spirit!

Tonight's musical selection while we meditate comes from  a compilation of hymns: Hymns Through the Centuries 

God of Love and Goodness let us enter in prayer with open and loving hearts and hear your still small voice and do as you would have us do. 

God of Love and Goodness let us pray and ask for forgiveness of any wrong thoughts, speech, or actions we may have done to hurt, harm, debase, or exclude any of your Children  and our Family members. 

God of Love and Goodness take away the pain that all our family members are are enduring by acts of hatred, violence, and words that are harsh and unloving.

God of Love and Goodness take away the pain that our family members are struggling with when they encounter injustice, inequality, and human rights violations.

God of Love and Goodness, take away the pain that our family members find themselves in as refugees, political prisoners, victims of violence, terror, abuse, and human trafficking, persecution of any kind, and release them from pain and suffering.

God of Love and Goodness help us to not hate but love, not to ignore but see you in our family members' faces. 

God of Love and Goodness give us courage to make peace and be peace makers. May peace prevail upon Earth.

God of Love and Goodness protect the least of these and the most vulnerable remembering especially women, children, the elderly, and the mentally ill.

God of Love and Goodness help us to reach out to all of our estranged family members through out the world. May we seek to be united in hearts that are loving and souls that are bright with God's light.

God of  Love and Goodness help us to become healers of your creation and learn to have reverence for its resources.

God of Love and Goodness we pray and remember those who have come to us asking for prayers and even those who have unspoken prayers that need to be offered. We remember especially___________ We also add our thanksgivings on this Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday remembering______________

God of Love and Goodness we pray and remember all of us who are continuing on grief's long journey. May we have times of lessened grief and when grief comes roaring back afresh we may seek your comfort and our family members.

God of Love and Goodness we pray and remember this day the work of William Wilberforce with the following prayer:
 Let your continual mercy, O Lord, kindle in your Church the never-failing gift of love, that we, following the examples of your servants William Wilberforce and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, may have grace to defend the poor and maintain the cause of those who have no helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
  
 Accept these our prayers in the name of  Jesus our Redeemer, Friend, and the one who teaches us daily to love and not to hate and that yes, all means all and not some. Amen.

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Good Night Dear and Precious Ones! I love you and Give God thanks for you this night and always! Tomorrow is Keeping the Faith Friday Fearlessly Without Fretting! Do not be afraid ! Love is the key to banish and vanquish hate and division. Remember this always!

Love,

Sara

A Quiet Celebration with Prayers and Thanksgiving for Walk With Me On Our Journey's Second Anniversary!

Dear Family of Love and Pilgrims on our Journey,

I hope everyone had a Wonderful and Wonder-filled Wednesday. How many of you had a childlike sense of wonder today? I hope many of you did. Today on our church calendar we celebrated the feast day of Mary and Martha of Bethany! What an amazing pair of sisters who taught us many things about striving for balance in our lives. Today in the Episcopal Church 41 years ago 11 women became pioneers of our faith and were ordained to the priesthood although it these were irregular ordinations they planted the seeds for women to become full participants in ministry. Here at Walk With Me On Our Journey we are celebrating too and that is our second anniversary. When God called me to write this blog two years ago little did I know what kind of traction it would get and certainly not have  66,138  page views and 764 posts! Yesterday we had our period of reflection! Today we celebrate and make merry and give thanks to God for Walk With Me On Our Journey. Yes we continue to give thanks and yes we continue to pray. This is what we family members do here at Walk With Me On Our Journey. First let's celebrate by lighting our virtual candle:

Now repeat after me: "The Light of Christ in Me, Recognizes the Light of Christ in you!"  Imagine that you are passing this candle to the person next to you and passing the candle from family member to family member. Lovingly look into their eyes and with tender and compassionate tone of voice repeat the above.  Don't forget the smile!

Now as we begin our celebration let us remember how it felt to be with out Walk With Me On Our Journey and learning to Prayer Walk. Think of this time as holy and special. Now let us put on some music. For this evening I have chosen two pieces by the composer Aaron Copeland:

The Promise of Living  and Appalachian Spring . they aren't jazzy but introspective to help us calm our bodies,minds, and spirits. Not that they don't have lilting musical themes they do. They are almost what I feel like on our nightly Whole Holy #3.  Imagine all of us walking together and seeing the world that God has set before us as we prayer walk. Imagine all of our family members we see on the path, who do you see? What do you see? Look not only with your eyes but see with your hearts and souls. Don't forget to smile and walk with a spring in our steps. If you have your own special music with you are you lifting up your voice in prayer and praise? I hope so! Every day is holy and a cause for celebration. 

Let us pray and give thanks!

God we thank you for times of celebration that remind us to live life lightly with joy.

God we thank you and pray for you who made us. Sometimes we forget to offer our prayers for and we shouldn't because you are God and Father of us all, The Creator of Heaven and Earth, and Who lovingly made us in Your image and likeness.

God we thank you and pray for the many lives we touch daily by our words, deeds, and loving touches. 

God we thank you and pray for all of our family members who are our support systems.

God we pray for all of our family members and especially for those who are ill and have asked us to pray for them remembering______________


God we pray for peace, love, justice, and mercy in this your fragile and broken world. 

God we pray for an end to violence, terror, and abuse.

God we pray for all who are mourning during grief's long season. Help us not to skip steps.

God we pray for all who are dying and who have died today  Remembering. We pray that they may enter the Thin Places with Joy and warmth.

God we pray for the environment and the preservation and the conservation of God's Cathedral of Life.

God we lift up any additional prayers, thanksgivings, celebrations, and remembrances  before you  and in the Holy Name of your Son Jesus. Amen.

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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you! I give God thanks for you this day and always. Remember tomorrow is Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday.

With love, gratitude, and a tender heart,

Sara

The Summons

Gather Us in Mix