Good Earth Teas... NO QUOTES!!-- an unexpected change

Imagine my surprise one evening as I tore open the Lemongrass Good Earth Tea bag container, pulled out the tea bag, set it into the cup of steaming water, and saw that the tag was WHITE! SOLID WHITE.  No purple on one side with the logo.  No quote on the other side.  Inside I was screaming, "Noooooooooooooooo............!" 

I just bought this box of tea and brought it with me for my seminary intensive week.  What better to help me study than a delicious cup of tea with inspirational quotes?!!?  Well, I had to settle for the delicious cup of tea.

At first, I thought maybe I was supposed to write my own quotes.  However, not having my Sharpies nor having really anything profound to say, I decided against that. 

My second thought was "Why?"  Today I learned from the GoodEarth Tea FaceBook page that this white/blank tag is only temporary, that the quotations will return "soon".  I hope "soon" to them doesn't mean the same as it does to other people I know.  I won't see those quotes for a very long time. ☺

This wasn't a major earthquake in my life.  It didn't upset the foundation too terribly much.  But, I have enjoyed the quotes.

I will endure this box of tea for the time being, enjoying the delicious taste of the Lemongrass tea.  However, I look forward to the day when the quotes come back.

Has anything changed in your life from what it normally was/is?  Dealing with change is to be expected, in most areas of our lives.  Who knew it would come in the form of a tea bag though?!?!

Wherever you are dealing with change in your life, may there be something to help make the change a tad more palatable.  In my case, the fact that the tea is still tasty is a big plus! 

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

Intensive seminary class on the main campus for the first time... feeding my soul and mind

I would like to sit down and write and write and write.  But, I have one more book to finish.  I also have a paper to finish that I started last night.  So, I will get my writing in, just not the way I'd prefer. ☺

There are so many ways I could go with this post.  Therefore, it could seem like random ramblings.  But, I think I'll focus on where I am and why I'm here.

I am in Kentucky for my first intensive on the main campus at Asbury Theological Seminary. I am taking a course in United Methodist Theology under Dr. Steve Seamands.  I am staying in Nicholasville, an 11 minute drive from the campus, at The Cottage which is part of The Corner House Bed and Breakfast.  This is a great place to stay and the host has been super!  The breakfasts have all been yummy!

I am getting some good silence and solitude time this week.  I needed it.  With my Academy time over, I knew I would need to be very intentional in getting time apart into my schedule.  I knew I would have some time to myself this week, but I wasn't prepared for how much this week would minister to me Academy-style.

It hasn't replaced Academy by any means.  There isn't much that can replace the vibrant worship of Academy #32, the bilingual atmosphere, the relationships that were knit over two years, etc.  BUT, through the direction of Dr. Seamands, our class is a space not only for learning, but also for spiritual formation, for worship, for the holy.  I have several times felt like I was in the Academy setting listening to the faculty presenter challenge us to reflect spiritually on things. 

Dr. Seamands has done this each morning through a time of teaching on the Character of a Methodist in which he presents Scripture, shares with us, challenges us to reflect, invites us to sing and worship and then pray together.  Wow!!  The topics have spurred sermon ideas. ☺  More importantly, they have opened up places for healing and have allowed me to have some spiritual formation time while being in class.  Head and heart time.  Just like the Academy.  My soul has been blessed.  I have been able to gaze upon several icons, including one of my favorites, that of Rublev's Trinity.  I have practiced visio divina while watching some of the incredible backgrounds for the songs we've sung.  I had a class with Dr. Seamands online at some point early on when I was working on the Certificate for Christian Studies.  That would be somewhere between 2007 and 2009, but I will have to look through my folders to figure out which one it was.  I remember that he was a good online instructor.  He is an even better in class professor.  The way he directs the activities of the learning process, how he uses songs, pictures, stories, group discussion, class interaction, etc.  I admire and appreciate his teaching methods both as a student and as a retired educator.  Well-done, prof!

Being on campus has been a blessing in other ways too.  I finally got a student ID after all these years (I started in 2007).  I got to go to my first chapel today.  Though I had to ask someone who it was that spoke, it was a powerful message.  And, it was good to share in communion. 

Getting to know fellow students in person has been good too, just as it was the first intensive I took in FL two summers ago.  I have also been able to connect with two local folks.... one I was expecting to see and had made plans to visit with over coffee; the other I knew was taking classes, but I thought she was gone for the summer.  So, I was surprised to see one of my former Wesley Life Group students and Costa Rica missionary buddies at lunch time today. 

Solomon's Porch truly has good coffee and a wonderful atmosphere.  Though I haven't eaten there yet, all the food items I have seen look wonderful. 

Here is a picture from Wesley Square of John Wesley.  It's really the only campus picture I've taken so far.  (On my camera.  On my phone I took a picture of the fountain and some pictures at chapel.)

 

 

Well, at this point I had better return to the writing that is required of me and the reading too.  At some point later I can hopefully return to writing here the things that have stirring around in my heart, mind, and soul.

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

Advice from Nature... T-shirts and journals

I am almost finished using my Advice from a River journal.

I have some pages left, but I look forward to my next journal, Advice from a Mountain.

I bought them at the same time, at an eclectic shop in Apalachicola, FL where I also found wooden hand crosses. 

The main advice from Advice from a River was "go with the flow" and that is how I've been living it since 2006, though this journal has been in used from July 2011. 

I took a sneak peek at the Advice from a Mountain journal and was pleasantly relieved to find the advice to be "Dear friend...reach new heights".  WHEW!  I was a tad concerned that I would be moving into a rough time.  Well, that could still be the case.  Reaching new heights requires striving and climbing.  I am hoping and praying that the journey won't be too difficult.  I know that I can take rest stops along the way.  One page in this new journal says, "Stand in the strength of your true nature."  The back of the journal says this:

"Reach new heights! 

Savor life's peak experiences

Stand in the strength of

Your True Nature!

Rise above it all

Get to the point

Rock on!"

 

Toward the end of the journal is this page: "To summit all up... It's the journey step by step by step."

 

Just as I have enjoyed the river journal, I imagine I'm going to enjoy the mountain one. 

 

Both of these journals come from the company Your True Nature.  For more about this company in Fort Collins, Colorado, simply click on their name in the previous sentence.

 

On our recent mountain get-away trip to Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville, GA I found some t-shirts that also carried advice from nature.  I was pleased to see a t-shirt with advice from a mountain.  I found another one with advice from a waterfall.  What I did not see there at the gift shop was a t-shirt with advice from a river.  But I did learn that the t-shirts are from the same company as the journals, so I might be able to find one there. ☺

 

Because it is in Creation where I connect best with the Creator, both the mountain and the waterfall shirt express to me ways I can live out my journey.  Rocks, earth, mountains, water, waterfalls.  Ahhhh!!! ☺

 

Here are the shirts:

 

Being a linguistic geek, I like the phrase "to summit up" to mean 'to sum it up'.  So, "to summit up", I plan to attempt to live in to nature's advice from these t-shirts and journals.  Notice that the waterfall offers some of the same advice as the river in "go with the flow".  So, I'm not done with that just yet. ☺  Additionally, the waterfall advises: "roar with excitement, let your cares fall away, create your own music, immerse yourself in nature, stay active, make a splash!" 

I recognize that not all persons are "nature" people.  So, you may get your advice somewhere else.  Your wisdom comes from other sources.  There's nothing wrong with that.  For me, enjoying Creation from my Creator is a source of strength, peace, and life.  Without it, my journey would not be complete.

However you choose to learn and grow on your journey, may you find something to bring you some encouragement and a smile to your face today.

Blessings on your journey!

Debra



Poured out Love--Rumi, kenosis, Philippians, Christ's example

I was able to go to the Centering Prayer group yesterday, making it back two weeks in a row now! Hurray!  We are still working through Cynthia Bourgeault's book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening.  The section we read together on Friday was primarily on kenosis, the act of self-emptying. 

As part of the reading, there was a poem by Rumi on love.  Bourgeault mentioned that this poem goes well with the hymn found in Philippians 2:9-16 (which she had discussed earlier in the chapter as an example of kenosis, page 83).

Rumi's poem:

Love is recklessness, not reason.
Reason seeks a profit,
Love comes on strong, consuming herself,
          Unabashed.

Yet in the midst of suffering
Love proceeds like a millstone,
Hard-surfaced and straight-forward.

Having died to self-interest,
She risks everything and asks for nothing.
Love gambles away every gift God bestows.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

These words by Rumi speak to me (as do the verses in Philippians 2:9-16 and kenosis). 

Love radically given and poured out for others..... that's Christ's example for us.  It is truly an awesome example.  Not so easy to model.  It resonates within; it just doesn't seem to flow out so readily, at least not all the time.  I think some drops drip or ooze out from time to time.  There might even be a steady flow here and there, but then my selfishness and humanity plug up the open places from where the love was flowing and then the outpouring isn't pouring out so much anymore. 

Desiring to be like the One who died to self and gave everything up for others, yet not always being able to live into that skin.  It's an ongoing growing process.  It's a journey.

Thankfully, we're not in this process or on this journey alone.  We are surrounded by others who are seeking to grow and learn and love too.  We are able to encourage and support one another in the ups and downs, in the ebb and flow, in the ins and outs.  Community is a true blessing, whether that community is visible, local, or across the ocean.

Blessings on your journey,
Debra

Reading United Methodist Doctrine while on vacation...

Last week we took a short family vacation to Amicalola Falls State Park in the north Georgia mountains, near Dawsonville, GA.  We rented a cabin that backed up to the creek.  That was where morning coffee and reading took place.

creek behind cabin (Amicalola Falls creek)

 

One morning while reading the first book of six required texts for an upcoming United Methodist Theology course, United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center by Scott J. Jones, I found myself in the midst of creation reading about creation. 

Chapter 5 of the book is entitled "Creation, Sin, Law, Grace, and Repentance". 

Leading up to the part about creation, a few lines that caught my attention:

"The heart of United Methodist doctrine is saving grace, so, not surprisingly, grace is also the starting point of its anthropology." (145) 

What REALLY caught my attention is the first clause of that sentence.  It caused me to draw a heart to the side of the page, write inside the heart "saving grace" and above the heart "UM Doctrine". ☺

"God's grace is an expression of God's essential nature, which is love." (146)

Then, the author quoted from "Our Social Creed" from the Book of Discipline. 

What caught my attention here was the line: "We affirm the natural world as God's handiwork and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind." (146, Jones; 122, Discipline)

So, there I was, sitting on the edge of the creek surrounded greenery, rushing waters, and chirping birds.  What better place to be to read this portion of the book?!?!

I could definitely affirm God's handiwork around me.  Not only at that spot, but throughout the park with the gorgeous waterfall, valley views, geological beauty, etc. 

Amicalola Falls

 

top of falls and view of valley

view of valley from East Ridge Trail

Creation has always been a connecting point for me to God, the Creator.  And, that makes sense... at least it does to me.  How can one not connect with the Creator through the creation?!?!

The author went on to remind the reader that "we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it [creation].  Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God's creation [...]" (146)

Reduce, reuse, recycle... those are words that will help all of us help creation.  Though I do some things to take care of creation, there is more I can do.  There have been books and programs in the past few years to help folks become more aware and begin to be more "green" within their families, churches, and communities. 

In case you're interested in learning more about the Green Church Initiative, here are two links below with information.  The second one includes Rebekah Simon-Peter's book/curriculum on the topic.

Links:
Green Church
Green Church by Rebekah Simon-Peter (her website)

Doctrine in its simplest meaning means "teaching".  I enjoyed the book by Scott J. Jones on the United Methodist doctrine.  I especially enjoyed the serendipity moment of being outdoors in creation to enjoy the Creator's handiwork as I read the section on creation in the book.

Enjoy some of the Creator's handiwork today!  And while you're enjoying it, look around to see what part you can do to keep it in good shape. (You may have heard the saying: "take only pictures, leave only footprints".)

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

Good Earth Tea Quotes.... an abundance of quotes shared

I have posted several (or at least two) Good Earth Tea quote posts in the past.  Yesterday I was cleaning off my dresser drawer and found a handful of Good Earth Tea tags and decided I would compile them all for one post.

The tea tags were collected over time, so I'm not on a "tea buzz" or anything like that.  Once I get the post written, then I can recycle the tags. ☺

Quotes:

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." Booker T. Washington 1856-1915

"The only way to fail at something is to fail to learn from the experience." Mary Jane Nirenberg

"If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends.  You talk to your enemies." Moshe Dayan 1915-1981

"The first and great commandment is: Don't let them scare you." Elmer Davis 1890-1958

"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can." John Wesley 1703-1791

"Unless you believe, you will not understand." Saint Augustine 354 AD-430 AD
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Success, obstacles, failure, experience, peace, commandment, make, save, give, believe.... all good topics for reflection.  From a tea bag tag!

There were three authors I didn't know, so I looked them up:

Mary Jane Nirenberg-- Though I found two "Mary Nirenberg" listings on Linked In, I don't know if either is "this" Mary Jane Nirenberg.  Both were professional business women.

Moshe Dayan-- An Israeli military warrior who became a spokesperson for peace.  Jewish Virtual Library Information. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Elmer Davis-- News writer and radio commentator.  Infoplease. Encyclopedia Britannica.

I don't know if any of the above quotes will speak to you today or not, but maybe one of them will.  If not the quotes, then maybe something you learn about the author.

Enjoy a good cup of tea somewhere along your journey,

Debra

"Opening Your Heart to Guidance"-- thoughts and reflection from reading Macrina Wiederkehr on this topic

I sat down yesterday afternoon with Macrina Wiederkehr's Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God and started where I had left off.  Chapter 7: "Opening Your Heart to Guidance".  Oooh... that sounds good.  The Scripture reading was Psalm 25 and the opening instructions: "Prayerfully read Psalm 25." 

As I have gotten accustomed to doing this, I put down the book and looked for a Bible to read the Psalm.  But, before I read the Psalm, I thought I would peek at the devotional.  This is what I read: "Before immersing yourself in the words of this meditation, obey the words above."  OUCH!  I was caught!  Not only was I supposed to obey the instructions, but there was also this I needed to obey: "Unbar your heart and simply wait for God.  There is so much grace in waiting."  Unbar my heart.  That's a powerful statement that says quite a bit and assumes quite a bit.  However, if I am honest with myself, my heart does somehow grow bars around it from time to time... bars of protection.  And, that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Yet, when coming before God, Creator, those bars need to be gone.  And then I need to prepare to simply wait.  I'm not so sure that "simply" and "wait" should go together.  Waiting is not so simple.  Yet, there is definitely grace in the waiting.

So, as I accepted my gentle reprimand, I went to Psalm 25 and read.  The verses that spoke to me most yesterday were 1a, 4-5, 9, 16-18, 19-20.  Depending on what version is read, the word "hope" is used instead of "wait".  They both have a feel for expectation, but the focus on the devotion was the waiting aspect.

When I finished reading the Psalm slowly and prayerfully, I went back to the meditation and read it.  Here are the parts that stood out to me from Macrina's words:

• "We tend to live rather distracted lives; thus the inner turning toward the soul is an excellent spiritual practice." (81)
• "If we desire to move into a deeper relationship with God, it is essential that we live with unguarded hearts." (81)
• "Psalm 25 is a prayer for guidance." (81)
• "Openness! Readiness!  Patience! Spend a little time reflecting on those qualities in your life." (81)

Then Macrina offers these questions to aid in that reflection:

• "How do you experience being open to guidance?"
• "Who are your teachers on the spiritual path?"
• "How is this readiness to go deeper into God's ways visible in the way you live?"
• "How do you feel about waiting for God to make known the paths you should walk?" 
• "How do you feel about waiting for anything?"

There is quite a bit to chew on here.  This might take a while. ☺ 

Continuing on with Macrina's words that captured my attention:

• "In order to go deeper into our interior life and be molded by the Source of all life, it is important that we learn the art of creative waiting." (81)
• "Creative waiting is a deep listening that is at the heart of all discernment." (81)

What caught my attention from these words/phrases/sentences and why do they resonate within my soul?  My desire is to continue moving into a deeper relationship with God and waiting has been part of the ebb and flow of my life's experience for several years now.  Listening and discernment are areas in which I desire growth. 

Macrina suggests that the foes/enemies in verse 19 of Psalm 25 could be considered to be "interior blocks to spiritual growth." (82)  This is a great way to reflect on this.  What stunts/blocks/hinders my growth?   Your growth?  If we can name it, we can begin to deal with it.   This is part of the deepening process.

As with every meditation, Macrina ends with a beautiful prayer.  I'm not going to include it this time (I don't want to give you everything in the book!), but I will include a Psalm Prayer from the Upper Room Worshipbook that I looked up yesterday.

It is #249 and is adapted by Judy Holloway.  Copyright 2006. Upper Room Books.

Psalm Prayer (Ps. 25)

 

O God, in you there is shelter and comfort.

Lead us in your truth and teach us your ways.

Your path is steady and sure.

Be our companion, our protector, and our deliverer.  Amen.

I don't know if Psalm 25, the portions from Macrina Wiederkehr's meditation, or the Psalm Prayer will speak to you or not.  I don't know where you are on the journey.  I only know that each of these spoke to me and I wanted to share.

Blessings on your journey.... May there be grace in the waiting!

Debra