The Birds Still Sing

We wake up to snow flurries this morning…. so grateful one week ago today we arrived home in Michigan in gorgeous sunshine. We had beautiful warm, sunny days all week. Until yesterday…. and now snow today. But the birds still sing!

Yesterday John and I went to St. John UCC in New Buffalo where I was guest pastor. When I spoke with Rol about coming I asked him if there was a theme he would most like me to reflect on, and he said he would like an update about our time in Florida. The title was Reflections from Florida: No Victims, Only Volunteers. Here are some notes from the sharing.

According to Merriam-Webster, “suffering” implies conscious endurance of pain or distress.

I did not cry a lot, but I did cry often.

In some ways I am perhaps the least prepared, and in other ways I am perhaps the best prepared for sharing a talk.
o Easy drive home
o Most pleasant week of weather we have ever returned to
o John’s getting sick right after we arrived home (stomach bug)
o My having a histamine storm a few days later (eyes swollen nearly shut and face on fire)

For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.
~ Dag Hammarskjöld, Grateful Living Word for Today, Gratefulness.org

Opening Music: “Our Thoughts are Prayers” by Eric Hansen

Nothing is the same. Disorienting. Collective loss. Hard to stay in the present moment.
o The view
o The thoughts
o The feelings
o The actions

For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.

Reading from: When a Loved One is Suffering

I will continue to try to help where I can.

Fortunately “suffering” implies CONSCIOUS endurance of pain or distress.

o Work day volunteers (each left work on their own damaged or destroyed home to come help at the Civic Center)
o Cajun Navy (group of boat-owner-turned-first-responder post Katrina that now respond to other post-Hurricane)
o Christ in Action (demolition of damaged homes free of charge, including removing debris and cleaning site)
o Nancy’s going with us to make deliveries/buying baked goods and juice (her need to also GIVE)
o Linda Higbee making dinner for us our last day of deliveries (undergoing cancer treatment this winter as they work to repair the previous rental home that was severely damaged but they purchased post hurricane)

For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.

All solutions breed new problems – because both problems and solutions are simply arising and ceasing out of conditions.
o Linda and Larry creating meals for a family of 8 who still had no stove (or beds) after 4 foot of water surge
o Birthday blog resulting in the purchase of a stove for the family
o Joan (owner of Molly, the dog I met) donating a gift certificate, blankets, pillows, canned goods, dry goods
o Beth and David (Linda’s sister and brother-in-law) buying linens for three of the younger children
o Basham Bargain Bazzar – not giving away but giving back (awareness when I dropped off precious Indian Tree pattern china I had used and loved for ten years to a friend who’s family had that pattern)

For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.

Ed’s gifting me a copy of Jingles’ Promise – meeting Norm and Rochelle. Ed calling this week with the story of Norm’s hiking in Japan.

Posted April 14, 2023 in Sacred Stories
Hiking in Japan
By Debra Basham

The conversation about traveling to Japan started decades ago when his best friend for over fifty years asked him to accompany him to Japan. He had always said no, but as the years went by it became evident that the challenges of getting older would limit their ability to travel the world, and the chance may never present itself again, so this time he said, “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

While in Japan he went for a hike and came across a woman on the trail who had taken a spill. A seasoned hiker himself, he had supplies in his pack so he stopped to offer her some first aid. She was not seriously injured.

He told her he was from Florida, USA. She said she was from Holland – not the city, but the country.

When he mentioned having previously hiked the Appalachian Trail, she quickly added that she had just read a book about a guy who had done that. “What is the name of the book you read?” he inquired before continuing, “My wife and I recently wrote a book about my trip.”

“Jingles’ Promise,” she said.

Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a copy of their book, Jingles’ Promise: A Father’s Quest for Truth on the Appalachian Trail.

“This is our book,” he was holding up a copy of Jingles’ Promise. “I am Jingles,” he said broadly smiling. They were both so moved by their having made this connection!

“How did you find out about the book?” he asked.

“A friend from another country in Europe told me about it.”

What are the odds these two individuals — he from Florida and she from Holland — would be hiking at the same time and in the same place in Japan?

They were standing on holy ground. They saw the significance. Even if they had been hiking there at the same time they likely would never have made the connection if she had not taken the spill.

They could both see clearly there is no “chance” experience….

Though he and his wife had done nothing to promote their book, here he was hiking in Japan and meets a woman from Holland — not the city but the country — who had learned about Jingles’ Promise from a friend in another country in Europe.

Amazing….

(ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF JINGLES’ PROMISE WILL BE DONATED TO HELP PEOPLE RECOVERING FROM TRAUMA AND LOSS.)

Closing Music: “This is My Father’s World” by Amy Grant

Let us pray. “Suffering” implies conscious endurance of pain or distress – knowing there are no victims, only volunteers – remembering there are no “chance” experiences – continuing to try to help where we can – for all that has been, giving thanks, and for all that shall be, saying yes. Mark Nepo said joy is the transformation of our suffering, not the escape of all we have to face. Amen.

So today is cold and snowy. The weather conditions of our lives change. We navigate challenging conditions, pleasant conditions, neutral conditions. It is not what happens to us that is most important. It is how we respond to what happens.

The birds still sing….