as we approach a new season, our focus for the next seven weeks at the church will be on the last 24 hours of Jesus' life, based on the study by adam hamilton from church of the resurrection (united methodist).
granted, the bulbs are blooming and the trees are budding; all of these events earlier than normal. but this isn't the new season i'm talking about.
each year around the is time, faithful christians begin to reflect inwardly to take what i call a 'faith check-up'. we explore individually how we are doing with respect to our faith journey. are we paying attention to god, and the spiritual direction of our lives...are we being the best we can be...are we struggling in some way that needs our attention...are we moving onto perfection, is how john wesley would put it.
we tend to begin this season -- often called lent -- with pancakes of 'fat tuesday'. our after school program will have this kind of dinner tonight...did someone say yummy? and then we spend the next 40 days, not including sundays or some of the days before easter, in reflection and exploration, often giving up something or taking on something as a reminder that jesus also took on something for us, and gave us new life.
our church will be offering opportunities to pray the labyrinth in a variety of ways. traditional markings for this season begin with ash crosses on the forehead, but we're utilizing a new form of lent this year, hoping people will be moved to experience prayer in their daily journey.
our board of pensions, the folks who watch out for clergy health and our retirement, invited us to once again be serious and thoughtful about our health. clergy are dismal in the health department; too much stress, too many obligations, and too little exercise and healthy eating opportunities. i wonder if we started having healthy pot-lucks, if people would be more inclined or less inclined to increase their spiritual commitment...oops, i digress.
anyway, in preparation for getting healthy, we have contracted with 'virgin healthmiles' -- now, isn't that a hoot of a company name?! upon signing up, we were sent a pedometer -- advertised as the ultra-wearable activity tracker with 3d accelerometer-based technology for true tracking accuracy. the goal is to walk at least 7,000 steps a day.
now, for the technology part, where i got locked out! i began my walking with the pedometer on thursday evening. to date, i have walked 48,364 steps, and average 9,672.8 steps (in 5 days). so, i think i'm on track; the trouble, of course, is technology!
we are suppose to download our pedometer every day or so, and then be able to log into our account. trouble is, i had to create a new personal id for this account; i couldn't use a previous pin to get in, and i must have typed in the wrong pin...three times, thank you very much! and now i am frozen out of my account. i was suppose to receive an email to reset my pin, but that has gone into cyberspace, and has yet to reach even my spam folder.
this isn't turning out to be such a great start to the season.
never-the-less, i keep walking...i guess that is the important thing. one foot in front of the other. one little step.
what might your step be in these coming weeks? how will you check in with yourself and with god to see how your spiritual journey is. are you healthy? are you spirited? are you moving faithfully?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment