Dear TSJ Friends,
May our hearts be filled with strength and hope today and in days to come.
Today, I thought I would share this picture that one of my spiritual mentors sent me during a difficult time several years ago.
I wonder what thoughts, words or mood stirs in you as you look at it?
When I came across this a couple of days ago, I was busily looking for a lost document on my computer and on the way to finding it through the maze of things I have saved for later, I found this picture.
It stopped me in my tracks. Like finding a gem or a promise of strength and hope.
At the time, I was feeling frustrated because I am not very good at organizing things on my computer and finding the document I wanted proved to be a challenge. I was caught up in the clutter and the temptation to stop and read everything that caught my interest.
But this picture had no words. No pull to learn more about anything or to buy anything or read the news or listen to a podcast or TED talk or articles I had saved for another day.
It was just a picture. My very wise mentor at the time had not said anything. It was just a picture.
And this time it reached right out of the computer into my soul.
I became aware of a deep longing for less “noise” in life or in my mind, for fewer distractions and fewer choices of where to put my attention, time and energy.
Nature helps bring out the quiet in me. How about you?
So today I want to share some thoughts and scripture verses that it stirred in my memory. They serve as reminders of what you already know.
But I also would encourage you to stay with the picture if you are tired of words. Allow it to speak to your heart because each of us is in a different space. That may be best for you.
Listening is becoming a lost art. The best place to start is to sit with ourselves and listen within. We find that increasingly difficult in our high energy and noisy world.
One of my favorite writers, Rachel Remen in Kitchen Table Wisdom (p144) ended a chapter with this comment: “A loving silence often has more power to heal and to connect than the most well intentioned words.”
I like the sound of a “loving silence” within my own self. How about you? Of course it also is special to offer that gift to others.
You have my permission to read no more if silence speaks to you.
But here are some scriptures that came to mind and quieted my spirit. Along with the picture they brought a sense of strength, peace and hope into focus. I followed up the next morning with my “sip it and zip it”quiet time. (“Zip it” applies to my mouth and my mind) as I seek to listen with the heart. . .
~~~Psalm 91:1& 4: “You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust….he will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge.”
~~~Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
~~~Psalm 46:10: Be still and know that I am God!
~~~Isaiah 40 28: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless….vs.31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Finally, as you TSJ friends know, I have been moved by King David of biblical fame and his son Solomon (at this point, our muse Solomon breathes a hallelujah at being remembered). 
My attraction to David is his imperfect love for God (I can relate to that) and of course to the wisdom of David’s son, Solomon.
We need strength, hope and wisdom in these times.
Discouragement leads to loss of courage. Hope helps us rise up “with wings like eagles.”
David became very discouraged at times. You can hear that when you read the 23rd Psalm – the shepherd song. As a shepherd he worried over “cast” sheep…it meant they were down in a dip in the pasture on their backs unable to roll over and get back up. Shepherds watched and knew what it meant when vultures were circling over a sheep. It was a sign of a cast sheep. The shepherd would go to the sheep and lift it up, massaging their legs to get circulation going again.
What are the vultures of our day that seek to devour us when we are down?
We all know what it is like to be “downcast.” It has been as challenging as the virus lately. For good reason. And David – as well as many biblical characters – was just like us in troubled times.
In Psalm 42 David writes: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”
As I reflect on history from Bible times to recent history, I am truly grateful to learn what others have gone through and see that life is – The Shared Journey of humanity – always in process.
Of course I am grateful for the journey you and I share each week. I hope this time of reflection will bring you a sense of stillness, of peace and hope.
As always, please feel free to let me know!
Ever onward. May you find peace and hope so you can play in the pastures of life!
Margie and Solomon
