This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in
it."
(Psalm 118:23-24)
I've done well with my morning walks so far this spring. As soon as the
weather started to thaw, I started to get back into my routine. I
quickly
discovered, though, that the sidewalks in my neighborhood hadn't always
been shoveled, so I took to the cemetery where the roads were almost
always clear. I kept walking the same path though, even after all the
snow melted. It's been a treat to watch the seasons change… to catch
the
snow glistening like it was strewn with diamonds and then a few weeks
later to watch the brown grass begin to brighten with green. Even so,
of
late I have been walking to a recording that has me doing interval
walking
(3 minutes at a brisk pace and then one minute as quickly as I can move
--- 8 times.) Working this new discipline, I've found that my attention
turns inward, focusing on a twinge in my knee or the challenge of
catching
my breath… and I can walk several times around and realize that all
kinds
of details have slipped from my attention.
There's a woman whose path I sometimes cross in the morning who doesn't
seem to miss a thing though. I would guess that she's older than I, but
not by much. She wears a turquoise colored jacket and large headphones
that look like they came right out of the 80's. She wears sturdy sandals
over her socks. She walks with a cane. Her gait and her voice when she
speaks strike me as one who has probably suffered a stroke. Still, she
always smiles. Her pace is slower than mine --- in part, to be sure,
because she often stops to pick up a flag that has blown over at a
gravesite or to adjust the flowers that have tumbled from the mound of a
newly covered grave. Her head is always up --- seeming to breathe in
deeply everything around her. Last week she stopped as I was passing
her
and pointing to a large tree in the corner of the cemetery, "Just look
at
the new growth on that tree."
Perhaps she was always so observant. Maybe the grateful look on her
face
was always there. I wonder though if the struggles life has handed her
makes her more aware of the gift of each moment of each new day. By
God's
grace, that is the gift of such things. They can, indeed, deepen our
gratitude and not our bitterness. That is my prayer for us each one
as we
move through life. That God might continue to bring resurrection where
there was only death. And that we might see it. That we might see it
all
and rejoice in the gifts of God which live all around us.
Peace to you and many blessings,
Pastor Janet
Coming up at Salem:
It's not too late to sign up to write a devotional for Salem's Summer
Devotional. Come and pick a date. Read through the assigned readings for
the day and reflect 'out loud' on paper what God is saying to you
through
one of them or all of them. The deadline to turn it in is May 16th. Be
part of nurturing one another's faith journey this summer!
Salem is putting together a team to 'walk' for the DeKalb County
Children's Advocacy Center on May 15th. (The Center works with children
who have been abused.) Come along and walk or sponsor one of us who is
walking. Call the church office for more information.
Are you a softball fan? Salem has two teams playing this year! Games
begin on May 3rd at Sycamore Park (off Airport Road.) Come along and
join
in the fun!
