exhausted and uninspired when two or three different blessings break into my life that pull me back from the brink of self-pity. Or I am jammed with important commitments when I get so sick that I have to lay around for two weeks and rest - and think. Or worship is a mountain top moment and then I get a call later in the day that somebody in the community has done something stupid, mean-spirited and selfish to another at the worst possible moment. Last week, for example, just when I was feeling like I was getting NOWHERE fast:+ on Thursday our church leadership team gathered to break bread and in the midst of our conversation about our economic woes a plan began to emerge that truly embraces the living spirit of Jesus within and among us.
+ then some colleagues from my doctoral program in California sent me a note asking if I might join them in the Midwest to preach their installation service later this Spring - what an honor!
+ on Friday a colleague called me to ask if I might be willing to serve our local church association in an administrative role for the next few years that would include working with the committee on ministry and the regional administrative team - could be lots of fun - and is something I've always wanted to do.
+ and on Saturday our annual meeting went so well that people left happy, inspired and committed; today's worship rocked and rolled in all the right ways and our after worship "sermon talk back" was loving, energized and lots of fun.
So let me simply say that it is fascinating to me how these totally unplanned and undeserved blessings pop up just in time to offset the hard and disappointing stuff that is always just below the surface.
It is always both/and - never either/or - yes? There are blessings right next to the curses, joys amdist the sorrows. It feels like this song by Pentangle - a little jazzy, a little bluesy and a whole lotta fun.
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