January 2018 Reflections - Rev. Barry Bloom

The theme for January is Intention. That is certainly timely for the first part of a new year. What is our intention for our lives in the coming year?? Both individually, and corporately (i.e. the church). Do we have a plan, an intention, for the future?  Or are we content to drift and allow each day to present itself as it is, and follow the direction the winds blow? Both have merit you know. It can best be explained as a left brain/right brain thing and it can also lead to a meaningful conversation on what does it mean to live the “right” kind of life?? Many indigenous peoples around the world become amused at our white people’s way of being wedded to the clock. When my friend, a Lakota medicine man, would say he would meet you around noon on Thursday, you might see him that day or not. Depends on whether something of delight or spiritual importance caught his attention. When one is not wedded to TIME, or carrying out a precise intention, there is more time for spirit to nudge us into consciousness. Which can guide us to our less often visited deeper selves. Imagination can be more alive, too, when demands are not urgently pushing us to fulfill all the goals of the day NOW. Speaking of intention, my hope for us all is that we thoughtfully prepare ourselves for this New Year by seriously considering what we want to accomplish in 2018. Consider the stuck places first, those things you want to release, let go of. Then, in the bright places you find in this newly liberated space fill in your deepest desires and wishes for yourself and loved ones, etc. during this evolving year I love being your minister and I look forward to the time we have together in 2018, and beyond, as precious. I am blessed.