Mid-week Devotions

17 May 2023

Greetings Everyone;

The Wednesdays of May are passing quickly. How is everyone doing with our Maritime weather and its constant changes? Our souls want to feel the warm rays of sun soaking in and warming us to the core; the farmers want the rains to moisten the ground and give the seeds they are sowing a healthy start; firemen and forestry workers are on edge trying to keep the homes of the forest creatures and humans safe. Each weather pattern brings its own joy.

Last week we shared writings and thoughts about finding the awesome in our lives through looking for moments of amazement and joy. We encouraged each person to take time daily to be aware of these moments in their own lives as they contend with hard issues both personal and world wide. Our hope is you found some and allowed them to balance the hard things in life a bit.

Joyce Rupp in her May newsletter offers the following ways to discover awe and joy:

• Be dazzled by the hidden Light dwelling within each individual, including the crankiest, most irritable or repugnant-acting person.

• Greet every new day amazed that once again the darkness of the night has been dispelled with the strengthening beams of daylight.

• Be gob-smacked as you look into the mirror of your life and see how much unforeseen beauty and happiness occupied the decades that have been yours.

• Be amazed at the inner guidance you receive when you are uncertain about what to do with unwelcome transitions pressing upon you.

• Be wonder-struck at the miraculous way precious life develops, whether in the dark womb of humans and creatures, or in the permeable particles of earth’s soil.

• Be astounded at how you’ve not only lived to be the age you are now, but have also known persons who’ve supported and invigorated your ability to enjoy life.

• Be surprised by the unexpected kindness and caring gestures of people who generously assist you without their being asked or expected to do so.

• Engage with wonder by using your physical senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling in order to notice remarkable details.

• Be stunned with your existence on our beautiful planet moving in vast space.

This practice of being aware of the awe and joy in our lives can bring a balance into our lives in a world where it is often hard to find. At first this may seem like one more task each day. However for some, if we do our best to intentionally look for awe and joy it will become a natural action of awareness. Remember, it does not have to be something new everyday -- it maybe as simple as how much your garden has grown each day.

We close today with a Joyce Rupp quote -

“Be overjoyed with the wonder of a loving, divine presence accompanying you whether in sickness or in health, in abundance or in depletion, in joy or in sorrow.”

~Your Spiritual, Care & Outreach Team

10 May 2023

Greetings Everyone as we continue in the Season of Easter;

Finding the Awe and the Joy

He is not here. He is risen!

The Easter morning words of joy and awesomeness following the initial fear of the empty tomb.

It was difficult times, especially dangerous for the followers of Jesus yet they found the joy of believing , living. teaching all they had learned and people were astonished by what they heard and saw in the apostle’s actions. “Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles….” – Acts 2:43

Jesus Christ is Alive – He lives in us still in 2023!

The words of the Easter Celebrations and the Season of Easter we are now living and reflecting upon right now – today. The awe of Easter!

Our world often seems full of problems both personally and worldwide. We can let it overwhelm us at times as forget to look for the joy and the awe that also surrounds us. We forget the stories of the Gospels and the Apostles and the awe they brought people. The Easter Season is about finding the awe in our life! Looking for the awesomeness in nature, in people’s actions, and in learning how to live together. Dacher Keltner in “The Power of Awe” suggests awe is “the emotion that arises when we encounter vast mysteries that transcend our understanding of the world…Awe opens our minds to the truth that we as individuals are part of something much larger than ourselves………….. Awe can reduce stress, loneliness, and physical distress, and bring one a sense of expanded time, perspective, and connection.”

Most mornings I share my coffee with the hosts of “Your Morning”. This has been the morning news program I have chosen to inform me for one main reason, the blend of important news information with the importance of life’s awe and joy. They show beautiful pictures sent in from viewers across Canada that reminds me of the natural beauty we are surrounded by. Videos of everyday Canadians sending greetings from their home areas to all those living in this country reminds me of the great caring people I share this vast space with. The good news segments and kids bringing smiles that only a child can bring. While the news is there, hard and worrisome, it is less overwhelming when the awe of the good creates bubbles of heart joy. I relate this blending to the following quote -

In See No Stranger, Valerie Kaur quotes Rabbi Sharon Brous as saying, “When we see something that is beautiful, we call it breathtaking, but we really should call it breath-giving, because when suffering constricts the heart, awe stretches it back out, making us more compassionate, more loving, more present.”

This week, whatever the task, the event, or in moments of relaxation, take time to pay attention. Through being aware find the unexpected or the expected awe in life.

Stretch your heart. Experience the breath-giving.

Note: The quotes of the connection this week and next week will be from Joyce Rupp’s monthly May Newsletter.

~~-Your Spiritual, Care and Outreach Team