Sorry folks, it’s been 3 weeks. I’ve been pretty busy, and honestly pretty tired and worn as we head into the dormant season (ecologically-speaking). My soul needs a winter’s rest I think.
a vernal pool just off the main PHJC campus enters its long slumber, waiting for spring warm and rain, when it will come alive again with salamanders and ducks
Lately I’ve been relying on the strength of others to pull me along. I was grateful to hear in church the other week someone say that you don’t need to feel that you can always pray, or sing, or even believe. The Church can continue to pray or sing or believe around and for you, it is still there for you as a presence, even if you aren’t sure about anything. That is what community is for.
After a rough morning, a friend unexpectedly took a few minutes to make a simple bookmark for me, with a word of encouragement. I was reminded of what a special community we have and continue to build:
As long as we have breath, we can find something to be thankful for. As long as we wake up in the morning, we have a day before us. Pictured here are two reasons, for me, to be thankful:
community in the stillness
I’ve been to a couple funerals this year, memorials that came too early. I heard testimonies of community members struggling with being separated from their parents across borders, brothers and sisters dealing with a family member’s drug addiction, working mothers living in cars with their families.
Now, I’ll admit – it’s always rubbed me a little the wrong way when folks are encouraged to think about other people’s problems and use it as a benchmark for all they should be thankful for… and then proceed to just sit in a warm home with a full belly and simply “feel grateful.”
Well, just as long as we don’t stay there. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). I have often wondered how much of our (my) charity is done “to be seen by men” (Matt. 6:1), which in reality actively prevents us from asking the very hard questions that justice demands.
But before I get on that tangent… I just want to say that I’m grateful for all you out there in internet land, and for this tiny blue orb that continues it’s wild swinging and tilting and pulsing.
a wetland boardwalk near Sturgis, MI
Thanks Adam for all you are and do!
Adam, I was about to send you my heretofore favorite Ghandi quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I googled it to make sure I had it right. Apparently it’s not quite accurate. Anyway, hang in there Adam and be assured that I’m in awe of what you are doing and how you are doing it!
Mike
I give thanks for your ponderings via this blog that feed my soul. God…Universal Conscious… continues to bless us with your old soul. I look forward to your next offering!
Thank you for sharing your heart’s honest reflections.
Saint Katharina’s canonization should shake us all to ask am I only touched by this event, what’s happening in our world, to our earth etc..etc…..or am I actually MOVED to do what needs to be done in and for our world. She was MOVED She was courageous
Adam thank you for being MOVED too!
Adam: I just recently found your blog, and what a find it is! You give all of us a look at all the beauty and wonder we have right here. Ecology has always been a favorite of mine, but I’m no longer able to go on walks like this. Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge of this area. I love it!
Ellen
Ellen – thank you for “walking with us” on this journey!