A music that’s larger than this one life we are given...

...a music that’s larger than this one life we are given.

That line stopped me.

It is the conclusion of a beautiful poem entitled “So much Space for Song” by James Crews that was shared on Friday’s episode of The Slowdown. The poem connects us with the tiniest of newborn wrens while asking questions about braving this world and our responsibilities to one another. That’s the poem’s focus, but it was the last line that stayed with me.

When I first received that poem on Friday, I was feeling a lot like this moment that I witnessed at the lake on Saturday morning.

Glimpses of color and light but more a heaviness and a grey-ness in the midst of what had been a very tiring and full week on many levels. This has been one of those pastor weeks where there is the breadth of just about everything. Participation and leading in two funerals (for 102 and 97 year old women). Ministry meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. A beautiful small group meeting on Thursday night and a dynamic outreach event on Friday night. Oh and crafting a sermon and the day-to-day things of life and of being a pastor. There’d been a lot of wonderful things but for someone who has the energy struggles of an Enneagram 5, it had been a LOT.

There was also this storm cloud slowly swirling around that looked far more ominous than it actually was but it was in the mix.

I think I was doing a lot of looking down because it was only when I saw this reflection in the water that I realized what I was missing in the sky above. (And yes, there’s some irony in the fact that the path is “spotted” with plenty of goose poop)

I looked up to see this:

I don’t know how many times I have soaked in sunrises at Winton Lake but I cannot remember seeing something like this - the leading edge of a storm cloud right at sunrise where the brilliant warm light of the morning sun is still sneaking out beyond the storm clouds. It was a moment of remembering the “music” that is so much bigger than the singular moments.

I know part of it was that, whenever I am out on these walks, that I am trying to be open to what will emerge. I often tell Scout as we are heading out the door, “Let’s see what the world has for us today!” So, my spirit was attuned to this but I cannot say that I was feeling it strongly when we first headed out. But this moment of looking up and seeing this...It was a gift for me to receive.

At that moment, I decided to simply stop walking and set down my camera for a while and simply watch and hold gratitude for this gifted and needed moment. Scout seemed to sense similarly and sat down next to the bench to wait in her beautiful patient way. I truly felt a sense of lightening of my spirit (even as we saw lightning in the clouds moving away from us) and sat there in deep reverence just holding my hand over my heart.

I did lift my camera back up of course (its me after all) and photographed this wide panorama of the whole of what was before us.

What was additionally beautiful about this was that this was the final piece of what ended up becoming my message at RJC this morning. I was sharing on the story of the Last Supper from Matthew 26, specifically on the pattern we see of Jesus taking the bread (and the cup), blessing/giving thanks, breaking the bread, pouring the cup, and then sharing it with those at the table with him. I was seeing that pattern in the story and seeing it not only as a pattern for “how to do Communion in worship” but more so a pattern for how we live out our lives.

We move with anticipation and curiosity of what is before us and having an openness to receive what does come (Scout, what does the world have for us today?). We hold that with gratitude and blessing (as I did sitting on the bench). We work with it actively as Jesus did breaking the bread and pouring the cup (as I have been doing the last 24-48 hours with all of this reflecting and writing). And then we share it. We give it to others. And we repeat it over and over.

And all of this...it plays the melody of the song that reminds us that we are part of a much larger composition.

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A few additional notes:

• A reminder about the blessings/bestowals. I sent out another one on Saturday afternoon. Such a gift to be able to do this for others. If you would like to receive one or would like to send to others, check this page out for more details.

  Bestowals and Blessings

• MaryAnn and my next PCPH conversation will be on the 28th as we talk The Odyssey. My family is seeing it together this Tuesday night! So excited!

• And for today… Vamos España!!!!

• And a brief political foray. I listened to an interview on Friday morning that Jessica Yellin did with a CIA analyst named Julia Curlee about the ongoing actions around the upcoming elections. Regardless of where you find yourself on the political spectrum, this is important to listen to and be aware of what is at stake in all that is taking place. Here’s the interview

Finally, Scout is a devourer of the sun apparently…

Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Ed