Category: Kim’s Blog

Why do people migrate?  

We are in the midst of a huge migration of the human population at this time.  Why are so many people migrating?

There are two basic reasons for migration.  You need to get away from something, to leave something behind.  Or you are going to something, there is something you want and you are going to it.  We see both of these dynamics at work today.

Many people love their homes and their homeland but they must leave because of war or violence or drought or some other danger or peril.  They cannot continue to keep living where they are living safely.  So, they migrate.  They leave to seek a new home in a place that is safe and where they can live and flourish.  

There are also people who migrate because there is something they really want in a new location.  Maybe they get involved in a relationship with someone who lives in another city or country.  And they decide to migrate to be with that significant other.  Maybe it is a wonderful job opportunity that motivates migration to a new place.  Here in Florida we know that many people migrate because of the weather.  They are looking for more warmth and sunshine.  

And sometimes migration involves both the push and the pull.  There are things that need to be left behind AND there are things to look forward to ahead.  

In this season of Advent, we are thinking about migrating closer to Jesus.  Are there things we need to get away from, to leave behind?  Are there things that are drawing us forward, closer to the way of Jesus and the love that he shows us?  Very likely we have both of these motivations going on.  This is a time to think about your journey.  Where have you been?  What do you want to leave behind that is holding you back from life full and free?  How do you feel you are being drawn to your heart of love?  

Prayer:  

Seeking to live and flourish, may we make our way toward Jesus this Advent season.  Amen.  

Where do we get gratitude?

Today at Lakewood Church is The BIG Event: Sharing the Harvest, a celebration of gratitude and generosity. In these weeks leading up to The BIG Event, we have been exploring many facets of gratitude. A gratitude journal was provided to encourage thinking about thankfulness.

The spiritual discipline of gratitude is life shaping, life altering, and life sustaining. Gratitude gives us a lens though which to see our lives. Gratitude inspires generosity. Gratitude is like a microscope that shows us what is really there in our lives. And it is like a telescope that reveals to us where we really are in the scope of things. Gratitude shapes our ideals, our behaviors, and our reality. I think we can see from these weeks of reflection the power of gratitude to inform our worldview, our self concept, and our reality. Gratitude gives us an orientation of generosity and abundance.

And where do we learn gratitude? Not in school. Not from society. From society we are more likely to learn greed. We learn gratitude in church. In church we are taught appreciation, awe, and our capacity for generosity based on gratitude for all that has been given to us by God however we may image or conceive of God.

We may be part of other groups and organizations like card clubs, political parties, music groups, environmental organizations, service clubs, book clubs, sports teams, and these experiences may be meaningful and enriching. But it is the church which forms and shapes us as people of gratitude. And gratitude invites us to celebrate the abundance of life and to be generous.

So today we give thanks for the church! We celebrate the church. We offer our generous support of the church. We share our bountiful harvest!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16   

Jesus

The BIG Event is almost here. On Sunday there will be a festive celebration at church of all that we are grateful for. And as part of that celebration, we will choose to share the harvest with one another and the world by offering our financial support for the ministry of the church in the coming year. It will be an exciting morning!

And behind it all, really, is Jesus. Jesus is our window to Divine Love. He is our image of a fully loving human being. His stories and teachings convey how human life can be lived to the fullest, with meaning, purpose, and wonder. Jesus invites us to find our highest good not in accumulating wealth or power or privilege. Not in fame or comfort. But Jesus calls us to find our highest good in service and solidarity with those who suffering.

Jesus’ life and death show us what it means to love with generosity and abandon. To love truly. Not counting the cost even when the cost is your very life. That is why we are here on earth – to love. Ourselves. The Creation. Each other. Our neighbors. Our enemies. Beauty. Life itself. This moment. The great beyond. The mystery. The wonder. Jesus takes none of it for granted. He is enchanted by all of it and tries to show us how to live in full awareness. And for all of his appreciation and engagement with life, he accepts death, he is not afraid of death. The big problem is not dying, but not fully loving and living in every moment, with every action, in every circumstance. He shows us how to do that: to be fully human. And for that, I am grateful!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Cultivating Change

While I was in California recently, I needed exact change for a bus.  I looked for a business nearby to get change.  There was a coffee shop.  The clerk said that she was not allowed to open the register to give change but she herself was a bus rider, so she got out her purse and made change for me from her own personal money.  How kind is that!

The cost of the bus was $2.25, so I had three quarters left.  Someone else came to the bus stop and she did not have exact change either.  She had two dollars but no quarters.  I offered to give her one of the quarters I had left.  She didn’t want to just take the quarter from me.  She was very hesitant.  Then I told her about the clerk giving me change from her own money.  It was really the clerk’s kindness and generosity that produced the quarters.  So, the fellow bus rider accepted the quarter – with a caveat.  She said that she would make it a point to help someone else when the opportunity came up.  

Gratitude produces generosity which produces more gratitude which produces more generosity and on it goes.  Or is it generosity that produces gratitude which produces more generosity which leads to more gratitude?  All I know is that gratitude and generosity go together.  And cultivating the spiritual discipline of gratitude makes the world a better place and makes us better people.  

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16