Crocus Mind

Shout out to the Woman's Circle Bible Study of the Montreat PCUSA Church for their welcome, support and inspirational peer study groups.

Thanks to Mary Collins for sharing this prayer

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It Takes Courage To Be Crocus-Minded

It takes courage to be crocus-minded.

Lord, I’d rather wait until June

like wise roses,

when the hazards of winter are safely behind,

and I’m expected,

and everything’s ready for roses.

But crocuses?

Highly irregular!

Knifing up through hard frozen ground and snow,

Sticking their necks out because they believe in Spring

and have something personal

and emphatic to say about it.

Lord, I am, by nature, rose-minded,

even when I have studied the situation here

and know that there are wrong things that need righting,

affirmations that need stating,

and I know also that speaking

out may offend –

for it rocks the boat.

Well…I’d rather wait until June,

Maybe later things will work themselves out,

and we won’t have to make an issue of it.

Lord, forgive.

Wrongs don’t work themselves out.

Injustices and inequities and hurts don’t just dissolve.

Somebody has to stick her neck out,

somebody who cares enough to think through

hard ground because she believes

and has something personal

and emphatic to say about it.

Me, Lord?

Crocus-minded?

Could it be that there are things that need to be said,

and you want me to say them?

I pray for courage.

From Bless This Mess and Other Prayers by Jo Carr and Imogene Sorley.

Copyright ©1969 by Abington Press.

Going Home

One thing I ask of the Lord,
that I will seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple. psalm 27 v.4 NRSV

I heard a story this morning.(I'm leaving out quotes)
Jesus asked Peter to follow him, and peter said, where? I'm not telling you, just follow me. Peter asked, why won't you tell me. If I tell you you might not go.
and peter asked what will we do there, and Jesus said follow me. Peter said, why won't you tell me what we will do there? and Jesus said, you might not want to do it.
and Jesus said, follow me, and Peter said, who will be there, will my friends be there? and Jesus said, maybe not.
so Peter said, you want me to follow you where I maybe don't want to go and do things i might not want to do with people I might not like? what should I bring?
and Jesus said, Bring yourself, follow me.

This church is very welcoming to me. In kindly voices they ask me to meet with them about becoming a member. I say let's just meet, and they smile.

I belong to the church I can walk to. The church ,that the only thing I need to bring ,is myself.
The church of what's happening now. The church of the living Christ and present moment. The church of the moment.

Thank you God for being present in my life, for the homeward invitation and all who walk along with me and the gift of silence to reflect in all this goodness.

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church
I keep it, staying at Home
With a Bobolink for a Chorister
And an Orchard, for a Dome

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice
I just wear my Wings
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last
I'm going, all along.

Emily Dickinson

Pathetic, huh?

This from Rosemary Ellis, Editor in Chief of Good Housekeeping Magazine
" I spent a recent Saturday at a very improbable place: a womens's retreat. It went from 9:00am to 2:00pm- a huge chunk of the only day in the week that is unscheduled for me, I didn't really want to go;and I didn't have the time..........So I went and ironically the topic of the retreat was time- .......
And I discovered something that morning that was not on the agenda, and is a little embarrassing: It was all but impossible for me to just sit still and listen- not take notes, not check my blackberry, not multitask in any was. I realized that the only other time when I am absolutely still is...when my head hits the pillow at night. Pathetic, huh?" (April 2010, Good Housekeeping)
Couldn't have said it better myself. Sign this woman up for a weekend at Still Waters Refuge.
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Laugh and the world laughs with you

"Silence is golden and it is rarely misquoted", Bob Morehouse

"I'm at a loss for words, thank goodness", Barbarajene Williams

Have something funny to share about silence? Leave a comment.