Welcome to 2019!!! Even as I write that it difficult to believe. This past year seems to have zoomed by and I still wonder how we could have travelled so far in such a short time. But here we are.
What Will We Offer To One Another
With the new year comes time for new beginnings. The slate before us is blank and waiting for us to write another chapter of our story. For me that is exciting! I cannot help but wonder what the weeks and months ahead have in store, personally and as community.
What seeds will be planted?
What will grow in our midst?
What will we leave behind?
What will we learn?
What will we offer to one another and to our community?
As I reflect on this and as we look to the coming weeks, here at First United, we will be addressing this in terms of giftedness and what we can offer to the life, work and ministry of Jesus. One of the greatest difficulties and barriers we face, I believe, is that we find it hard to name our own giftedness. We wonder what it is that we can give, particularly when we look at issues and situations that are overwhelming. We compare ourselves to others whose gifts perhaps are a little more obvious and we think that we have nothing to offer. However, we have all been given gifts. We are not all musicians, or public speakers, or dancers. Perhaps we are listeners; organizers; cooks; visitors; storytellers; caregivers ; or………. Whatever it happens to be, each one of us has something within that is our gift.
What Special Gifts To Offer
Paul Murray in “The Absent Fountain” writes :
There is a world with you
no one has ever seen,
a voice no one has ever heard,
not even you.
As yet unknown
you are your won seer,
your own interpreter.
And so with eyes and ears
grown sharp, for voice or sign
listen well –
not to these words
but to that inward voice,
that impulse beating in your heart
like a far wave.
Turn to that source, and you
will find
what no one has ever found,
a ground within you
no one has ever seen,
a world beyond the limits
of your dream’s horizon.
So as we live into this year let us take some time to go within and discern what we have to offer in making the possibilities become realities.
Blessings
Valerie
© 2019 Rev. Valerie Peyton Kingsbury. All rights reserved.
NOTICE:
Three of my books are now available online on this website (downloadable pdf format): Creating Spaces, Soul Songs, Worship Ready