Yesterday, we gathered virtually (over Skype with one of our members) and bodily at our worship space, the Glendale New Church. We brought in things that gave us hope during our childhoods and adulthoods and that continue to give us hope that God exists, is present in our lives, and accepts us fully for who we are, faults and all.
We discussed God’s love, using it to combat the seemingly simple, yet endlessly prevalent things in our life that bog us down, like workplace gossip. Remember the old bumper stick WWJD? 🙂 We spoke of taking our own disappointment in the drudgery of mundane tasks by feeling that all activity can be something that is done for God.
And how about negative inner messages? By feeling good enough in God’s eyes, feeling that we are enough as children of God; sensing that negativity comes from external sources, we send these thoughts to the background and replace them with good. We end by feeling worthy and whole; accepting ourselves as works-in-progress.
Here are some of our examples of inspiration. May they inspire you, too.
Quote: “We are born for no purpose but to be useful to the community we live in and to our neighbor as long as we are alive in the world, and to serve at the Lord’s good pleasure in the other world.” Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia 1103:2
“Just as I Am” song by Charlotte Elliott which was Billy Graham’s signature hymn in his crusades.
“Observing Spirit” book by Peter Rhodes
“Small Enough” song by Nichole Nordeman
Unknown author Quote: “Prayer is the only power to which God surrenders.”
Quote by St. Teresa of Avila “The closer we get to God, the simpler we become.”
New Church of Montgomery, in Glendale 