Surveying

Dear Friends,

This morning I pause and give thanks that on May 31, 2008 I was ordained to the ministry of SpiritCare Ministry to Seniors.  Some of you were there.  Going a bit further back, Ponderings had their beginnings in June, 2005, and some of you were there as well.  Others of you have just recently joined.  Regardless, your presence is tangible to me, and I am grateful.  

 

Last week, I was blessed to sit for a few hours, and talk to some friends of several years. As we shared thoughts and feelings about God, family, ministry, community, and other topics, we eventually began to talk about the subject of home: what that word means to us and what images come to mind when we think of this word. This conversation, as many conversations do, has stayed with me, and a poem that I shared with you a few years ago continues to resurface.  It is from a book entitled A Book of Luminous Things  edited by Czeslaw Milosv.  I will include his introduction to the poem, as sightings of smoke coming from a chimney becomes rare, at least here in the bay area.  The poem was written by Leopold Staff (1878-1957).  

 

This poem was written immediately after World War II, in Poland, among the ruins, of which those in the figurative sense were even more oppressive than the physical ones.  There was literally nothing. How could a poet react to that situation? What was left was to do what a child does, who when trying to draw a house often starts with smoke from the chimney, then draws the chimney, and then the rest. So this is a poem of naked faith.   

  

Foundations  

 

I built on the sand 

and it tumbled down, 

I built on a rock 

and it tumbled down. 

Now when I build, I shall begin

with the smoke from the chimney.     

  

I find this a beautiful reminder to start with the hearth, the center.  My personal metaphors are changing, from those of a journey, to those of building.  Writing helps me to spot that gentle smoke that tells me that I am getting close to home, and this is where God calls us to be, regardless of where we are.        

 

I have used email for quite some time now, and will continue to do so.  However, email is not without issues.  At one point, I had two lists, Ponderings, and a second list   for the reflections of my ministry.  As I traveled further into the ministry, I found I could not keep the two lists separate.  This, I believe, is a good sign, but as the list grows, I, too, feel the need to stretch. Several of you have encouraged me to start a blog, and despite my reluctance, I am now thinking that this may indeed help me continue to lay the foundation of gathering my writings, correcting some punctuation, adding a word here and there, and expanding some of the themes.   Once this hearth is created, I will let you know.    I pray you will continue to gather with me.  Your presence gives me the courage to dig a little deeper, and open the door a little wider.   And yes, the emails will continue.  

  

Come to a warm place in this house...

My heart and I agree, 

welcome...

                           (from Celtic Prayer  Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community)