Author: Webmaster

"Gratitude goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy." Henri Nouwen

My job as your spiritual guide is not to create a service club with hymns. It is to create a community of faith, whose members strive to be at peace with their faith journey seeking God’s presence in all of their lives. This peace entails spiritual growth, justice, reconciliation, love, forgiveness, etc. During our Stewardship Season I would like you all to consider three questions – "When do you feel most spiritually alive as an individual and in the context of your community?", "How do you get to that spiritual center?", and "When you feel most creative, engaged, and alive, what are you doing?".

These three questions were presented at a workshop I once attended. I think if we consider these three questions we can realize how important it is to be responsible stewards in our community’s faith journey. We can give without anxiety and with a fullness of heart. In our consideration of our giving, we can find a place where we can give what we can graciously and with open hands.

I wish you all peace on this journey we call faith.