Hello, TSJ Peeps,
Solomon and SJ send you Happy Wednesday wishes out there in the fields of life where TSJ earth-shepherds hang out each day working, caring, protecting and preparing young ones for living in the world.
The “boys” are getting weary watching things be sold, shared or donated as we prepare for a temporary move while our place is being built.
Two more weeks and we should pretty well be ready to open the doors to the newcomers who are very excited. That pleases us.
While moving some furniture I found a book that seems to have resurfaced at the right time. I read it several years ago and appreciated it then. Now, even the title says what I seem to need. Many of you likely have heard of or read it: Simple Abundance …A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
I need the simple yet profound message these daily readings offer.
In a culture that idolizes success, material gain, prestige, and perfection we hear a lot about moving forward. But I am pondering the value of stepping back too. 
Solomon reminds us that shepherding is a useful metaphor for what we do for the “flocks” in our charge! It is rewarding and challenging work as well as exciting and boring, sacrificial and fulfilling.
It requires so much of us in fact that sometimes we leave ourselves behind and forget what it is like to truly live in joy and abundance.
We forget to be playful, relaxed, creative, rested, calm and energetic.
We grow weary in well doing.
Perhaps sometimes we have to step back to find the self we left behind.
And I need to do this.
Just reading the introduction of the book gave me permission to start the process. I am going to share a couple of sentences with you that mean a lot to me as a message of hope because making change is always challenging. I am in a period of time requiring deep inner shifts to find my way. And I am not alone.Many of you can relate.
September is the beginning of a new school year and perhaps a good time to reflect on what you need to be your most whole and fulfilled self…before the pace of life sweeps you into a vortex of little rest and even less play. It is a good time to choose a book or start a creative project you would enjoy if you had all the time to do it. And then slide into it in small steps.
The author, Sarah, shares in her introduction how desperate she had become without realizing it (due to her success driven goals and achievements) to find her true self again.. .the self she had lost track of.
As a result she writes,
“As Simple Abundance evolved from creating manageable lifestyle into living in a state of grace, I began to barely recognize the woman I once was. Simple Abundance has enabled me to encounter everyday epiphanies, find the Sacred in the ordinary, The Mystical in the mundane, fully enter into the sacrament of the present moment. I’ve made the unexpected but thrilling discovery that everything in my life is significant enough to be a continuous source of reflection, revelation and recognition.. [from bad hair to unexpected company to final twenty five pounds].”
Sometimes we actually do not realize why we are unhappy, angry and resentful. But she explains that for her writing this book helped awaken her “to living the Real Life for which [she] was created. An authentic life…”
Things are hopping here at TSJ during this time of chaos and emotional roller coasting. The gratitude list is long. The grit and grind part of change is also significant. But this week, finding this book gave me permission to at least think about what I need most to live a life of “comfort and joy” which as you know are inner qualities or as she says, ways of “living in a state of grace.” I like that.
Care to join me in the adventure of rediscovering who you were designed to be before you start losing track of what is good for your own heart and soul? We can share the journey of discovery. Our flocks will thank us for it …. someday…. but meanwhile we will feel inner strength and wisdom to carry us through.
Maybe it will help us play more in the pastures from Wednesday to Wednesday.
Solomon seems to think it is a good idea.
Happy shepherding this week!
