Dear Ones:
Our ministry theme for June is restlessness. I’d like to offer an excerpt from one of my meditations in Hear the Earth Call entitled, “Beyond the Safety of Our Well-worn Paths.” I think it speaks to an inherent restlessness in each of us—a restlessness that often surfaces in summer.
In this summer season / may we journey beyond the safety of our well-worn paths, / beyond our customs and habits, / beyond the comfort of our regular lives.
In this summer season / may we discover new creativity, new fervor, new insight; / may we discover in ourselves the spirit of the child that knows no limits and no boundaries, / the child who, every day, imagines the impossible / and sets off to achieve it.
In this summer season, /may we explore the borders of our lives, / the edges and the unformed spaces, / the wildernesses / the still wild places.
In this summer season, / may we establish new patterns where we have been longing for different ways of being, / new paths to go places our old paths will not take us.
In this summer season / may we discard old customs and habits if they have dulled our senses, / silenced our voice, / hidden our truth, / cooled our passions.
In this summer season / may we challenge ourselves to overcome any unnecessary limits we’ve set for ourselves, / to break through any unnecessary lines we have drawn around ourselves, to transgress any boundaries we’ve set for ourselves.
In this summer season / May we explore the borders or our lives, / where difference is welcome, / where tension and conflict are welcome, / where even a small dose of chaos is welcome, / where, in the midst of all of it, wisdom grows / and creativity thrives.
In this summer season, / may we explore the borders of our lives, / where nothing is quite as fixed as we’d assumed, / where old orthodoxies fail, / where order is tentative, / where simple dualisms just don’t work, / where pointless rigidities are the butt of jokes, / where mixing and merging and morphing take place, / where old selves give way and new selves emerge. / where we are compelled to find common ground with our neighbors, / where we build, however we can, the beloved community, where we remember—because sometimes we forget—that we are related to the whole of life.
In this summer season / May we / journey, / discover, / create, / practice, / discard, / break through. / transgress, / challenge, / explore, / and remember.
Amen and blessed be.
I know there is much to worry about in the world these days. I know there is much that weighs on all our hearts. It is my fondest hope that in this coming summer season, you find time to feed your restlessness—to be the person you feel called to be.
With love,
–Rev. Josh
