Step Away…Step Above

For your consideration…

The above is a picture of my daughter, Alex, getting their plane fueled up. As the mother of a Navy aviator, I worry. I often ask how her flight went and how the weather was. Often she will say, “Mom, the sun is always shining above the clouds.”

As I sat with today’s message, I remembered her words and also the Jimmie Cliff song, “I Can See Clearly Now.”

It is easy to get bogged down in our problems, our friend’s problems, our family’s problems, work problems, the world’s problems. Our message today tells us to step away and step above. We need to let it all go and get to the place above it all.

How do we do that? How do we know we are there? Our vehicle is our Faith. Sit quietly and focus on our Faith. As issues pop into our attention, envision Faith chasing them away. How do we know we are there? We feel relaxed, stress-free, calm. We feel immersed and basking in the light and love of Faith.

Isn’t this a great message for a Sunday? What do we have to lose? Let’s give it a try.

That is the HOPE. And so it is.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, HOPE by HOPE action steps anyone can take…

-Affirm…“I am loved.”

-Meditate/pray…ask…”What is my next step for my highest good and the highest good of all?”

-Drink lots of water.

-Get outdoors and take in at least 10 deep breaths.

-Let go, bask in Faith.

What made me smile yesterday…

-Catching up with Bob.

-Kevin and Janet became new grandparents today. Amanda and Rob’s baby, Maddie, came 2.5 weeks early. Janet and I had lots of laughs catching up.

-A real surprise when I opened my eyes and saw huge snowflakes out of the window.

-A good book.

-I made a great dinner…I thought. I had lasagna and a salad complete with freshly made dressing. Bruce says, “Chris, this salad is not cleaned. The lettuce still has the stems attached.” I had used a spring salad mixture. Clearly, Bruce is not a fan. His dementia causes him to see things differently.

Love, Blessings, and Gratitude,

Rev. Chris