Feel Free
A friend of mine has a habit of sticking things in her Bible. She recently sent me a note that she had cleaned out some papers from her Bible, and found a prayer that she had used for a prayer service that was held a few years ago.
"Lord Jesus we pray to you to ask your Blessed Mother
The Patron Saint of our Parish
To intercede for us that we may continue
as a community of faith here at St. Mary's.
Looking at our humble parish you see
a vital community of believers, growing
ever stronger on the faith born of
our ancestors, lived by our parishioners, passed on to our children
and our children's children.
Dear Blessed Mother we pray,
Do not let the fertile soil of
this parish be abandoned.
The seeds of faith planted here
have produced abundant fruit.
We earnestly pray that the harvest continue.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord
Amen"
She told me to "Feel free to Blog them". You know, the part that really jumped out at me was her suggestion to "Feel free". It made me smile. I started to wonder if I have really ever felt free these past few years. Have I felt free to create? Have I felt free to speak out? Have I felt free to worship? I think that the idea is a captivating one. Maybe the problem with our closed churches hasn't been "unity". Maybe we should just have been allowed to "Feel Free".
posted by Karen @ 9:32 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
"And the truth shall set you free."
I'll be the first one to admit, that sometimes its not easy to look the truth square in the face. I spent a week or so asking myself,"Didn't the Trans Parish give you opportunities to create, to speak, and to worship?" Well, to be fair, yes, I guess you would have to say that technically,
yes, many of us have been given the 'freedom' to participate, but at the risk of leaving our true gifts and talents by the side of the road while we wait for permission from those who are 'hired' to do so. And, I supposed that, in time, I could get used to it. But when you see others by the side of the road, with needs, its hard to whisper weakly, "They say I'm not qualified to help you. Wait for the qualified, ok?"
Wasn't the Good Samaritan 'free' to help those in need by the side of the road? I guess that that is the freedom I'm looking for?
Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
Author unknown
And while you’re trying to dance in the rain, if lightning and thunder keep you from dancing, as God would have you dance, you might have to find a better climate. Ever complain about the weather or the town where you live? In our lives, we often think we have no choice over where we live. But we do. As someone who has lived in many different apartments, houses, and a few geographic regions, I can tell you from my experience that it takes a lot of effort to move (physical and emotional). Yet looking back, when I have made major moves, I always had a feeling that “I was supposed to move, and something good, maybe great, was going to come from it.” Call it fate, destiny…God’s will. I have sometimes thought, what if I would have paid attention to the people that looked at me like I was absolutely insane for making another change? Even though I could understand where their concerns were coming from, I only know that these moves and the resulting experiences have brought me to a perspective on life that brings a certain level of peace that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
You don’t have to physically change houses or states of residence to “move”. Try moving your thoughts. Change an action or habit or two. God will let you know if you’re headed in the right direction. The tough part (just like when you move physically) is that there will be people that will look at you like you’re insane. They may be long time friends, family, or people who have been influential in your life. But there are those who will not judge you…even if they don’t totally understand why you do what you do, they will understand that for some people, getting out of the rain is the best way for them to find the warmth of the sun (or “Son”) again. And isn’t feeling the Son working in your life what Christianity is all about?
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