Value

Between the roofing project and a wave of Covid moving through my small congregation, including our own home, I don't think there was one appointment or plan that I made this week that did not need to be rescheduled or set aside. During the dismantling and reconstruction process our doorbell sounded many times. About the time that I felt I could pause for a few moments, the sound of the bell would beckon me to the front door. Even the Jehovah Witnesses stopped by, and the Witness standing on my porch looked so sad that I felt the tug to pause and converse. As we talked, mostly about his concerns that the world was failing apart, I watched four other Witnesses walk by. I found myself appreciating their modest dress and quiet slow pace. Those few moments were actually a gift that I underestimated at the time. Distractions are many these days, as are concerns. Yet, as I moved through the week, I kept repeating a statement that came to me one afternoon when I was a young woman writing at my table: "Value interruptions." I try to honor those words because I have learned that often in the interrupted moments, I can sense God's Spirit making room in my life for something other than my own small designs that are usually rooted in ego: "This is what I want to do." I recently heard the writer and Zen practitioner, Natalie Goldberg, say in a Zoom lecture that the ego wants to keep us small and safe. I would also add controllable. Yes, there is a difference between an interruption and a distraction. Interruptions can lead us to deeper connections and even growth. Distractions typically do not. Discernment lies in learning to tell them apart.

With life as short as a half taken breath,

don’t plant anything but love.

Rumi

image: San Leandro, July 2024