Friends,

This past Sunday we reflected on spiritual resilience – the ability to embrace hope even in the face of despair, the ability to celebrate the joy and wonder of life even as we recognize that life is often painful and full of sorrow and, ultimately, finite. We heard that Dr. Wendy Farley suggests that spiritual “resilience is grounded in beauty – the beauty of the Divine Presence that shimmers throughout Creation.”

This beauty comes from noticing how fragile and finite everything is, and yet how much value and worth it has in God’s Creation, how much care went into its creation, its life, its existence, even as we know this beauty will fade and vanish from the world forever.

I invite you this week to practice noticing this beauty in the world, and in turn expand your capacity to embrace this beauty. Perhaps you will notice it in a wildflower along the sidewalk or in a sunrise or sunset. Perhaps you will notice it in a bird floating overhead or in the wave of a neighbor out walking her dog or in the voice message from a grandchild. Perhaps you will recognize it in a word read or spoken or in the melody of a song on the radio. Perhaps you will recognize this beauty when you look in the mirror and see the Divine Presence shimmering back at you!

As we learn to notice the beauty around us, we increase our capacity to see the Divine Presence shimmering around us and in us and in each other. And as we increase our capacity to see the Divine Presence, we expand our capacity for spiritual resilience. As we expand our capacity for spiritual resilience, we expand our capacity for living as the faithful People of God in this world filled with both beauty and terror, both fear and joy. Keep practicing!

Peace,

Pastor Jack