Elsa, my faithful scribe, has today off, so I can send
off something on a weekday morning.
It feels good to connect with people. The Writings say that, in the Spiritual
World, thought brings presence. That is
how I feel about e-mail, although it took a long time getting there.
One of the things I wanted to share is my delight in
listening to Contemporary Service audio tapes.
This surprised me. I considered
these services as "New Church Lite." Because I have difficulty
getting out & about before late morning, it has been several years I have
attended a morning church service.
Elsa likes to go to Contemporary Service and now John
goes with her too. After the service,
she picks up an audiotape of the service for me to listen to. I love them.
They are shorter and simpler than cathedral service, but that does not make them less profound. They also serve double duty. When I was in the hospital in the fall, Elsa
transcribed two tapes of music from the services, which I believe helped speed
my recuperation. There are songs that I
have never heard before which are dear to my heart because of the audio tapes.
IN THE LION'S DEN
Yesterday, Jonathan Rose gave a talk on Daniel in the
lion's den. Anyone who has heard
Jonathan give a presentation knows what an effective storyteller he is (he can
even make Latin translation seem interesting).
What stood out to me was when he talked about Daniel giving thanks for
the trials that he had to bear. Jonathan
talked about the blessing that come from times when we are experiencing trials
and in his exercise after the main talk he asked people to think about times of
great difficulties that brought blessings and for us to be aware of and
grateful to the Lord for them.
I have my own e-mail address and am here in thought (via
Elsa's keyboarding) because of such an experience. For the past week, I have been part of what I
had hoped would be constructive but turned into a contentious exchange of
e-mail. It was not a pleasant experience
for either of us. We were unable to
establish any common ground for discussion and there were times I felt my very
esse (existence, worth, self, soul) was being torn limb from limb. Instead of feeling numb, as I would have not
long ago, I could see the blessings that came from the situation and was
grateful to the Lord for the experience and the wisdom to turn it to good.
Until this weekend, I sent e-mails through Elsa's address, with
"from (my appropriate name for the person)" as a preface in the
subject line. Now, as I thought about
this dialogue, for the first time I wanted to share it under my own name, not
Elsa's, and I wanted to share it with people who are special to me.
INSPIRATION FROM UNUSUAL PLACES/SITUATIONS
INSPIRATION FROM UNUSUAL PLACES/SITUATIONS
I am grateful for the courage to share two genuine
concerns with someone I love. The person
had turned to me for understanding, which was what I tried to give. I kept thinking about a favorite movie of
mine - The Bishop's Wife.
Here I am, delivered safe from a lion's den, thanking
the Lord for the new insights I have been given & an experience that, in my mind, parallels an exchange between
Cary Grant (an angel, Dudley) and David Niven (Henry, apparently an Episcopal
bishop). To all those movie buffs out
there, my apologies it is not verbatim.
Dudley - "I am
leaving. I came here to answer your
prayer. My work is finished."
Bishop - "But I asked for a
cathedral and that has not happened."
Dudley - "No, Henry, you
asked for guidance, and that has
been given."
Love to you all and my apologies for the length ~
M/G/N/K/AK.
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