October, 2022

Minister’s Musings
Dear Ones- Our theme for the month of October is “Finding Our Center”, and in thinking about this theme, I’m reminded of a children’s playground.  In any playground worthy of the name there’s always a “see-saw” (also known as a “teeter-totter”, and I’m sure other names, as well).  You know what I’m referring to, of course.  It’s essentially a fulcrum, on which 2 people bounce up and down at each end of a plank.  If the children are essentially the same weight, they pretty much balance each other out.  However, if, for example, a small child is at one end, and an adult is at the other, well- the kid just doesn’t have a chance!

I remember, though, as a child, alone, crawling along the plank, finding the exact center of the see-saw.  At that point, both ends are exactly in balance.  

It’s actually much harder than you might think- particularly if the plank is a heavy one.  The least shift in weight throws off the balance, and there is the tendency to then overcompensate.

Life is sometimes like that, isn’t it? Life just seems completely out of balance.  You don’t seem to be able to catch a break.  Crises arise that need our attention, and so we have to put our focus there.  Then something else comes up that reminds us that we should have done this other thing.  Then something else comes up, and so on and so forth until you feel like you’ve completely lost control. 

Sometimes things happen which are completely outside of our control- the death of a loved one, illness, an unexpected financial burden, the car breaks down.  These things can certainly throw us off balance.  
But sometimes there are some things that we can control, things that don’t have to be a crisis- things that are only a crisis because we allow them to be. We sometimes give far more power to a small trouble than it deserves.

Finding a balance, coming back to equilibrium, is often (always?) difficult. It’s a continual challenge and process.  But, it seems to me, the key to finding balance starts with finding our center. 

And so this month we’ll be focusing on exploring exactly what “finding our center” means and how we do it- both individually and in community. 

And to help you with that, don’t forget that after our service on the first Sunday of each month(that’ll be Oct 2), Jeff Matthias will lead a discussion group on that month’s theme to go “A Step Further”.
Please join us! 
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Wishing you peace and blessings,

​Rev. John