Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Unforced Rhythms of Grace

It is time for our friends to arrive from the Downtown Eastside – vases of fresh flowers are in the bedrooms, the menu is ready, Grandma as filled the cookie tins with fresh baking, and the sun is peaking out from behind the rain clouds of the morning.

The Journey, what we call this program, is always exciting. There are new faces, familiar faces, steps taken, battles continuing and in all of this we see the beauty of these courageous women we are growing in relationship with. Part of the purpose in The Journey is to walk beside our friends as they discover their worth and beauty and begin to see that they have a purpose. Yet this morning as we chatted it was interesting to see that not only are our friends from the Downtown Eastside learning, the team at Linwood House Ministries is learning these values personally, more deeply, in the process.

Partnering is never meant to be an “us and them” work, not is it where one holds power over the other, but rather it is the beauty of working together, learning about and from each other and experiencing the mystery of God’s presence in that process.

One recent retreat was a group that wanted to bring together creative talent in their community, that wasn’t known or expressed in the traditional church worship setting. It was amazing to watch the beauty unfold, but more amazing was the feeling of energy, or honoring each other and the surprises that they received together. Just feeling the Spirit move brought into reality the words Eugene Petersen translated from Matthew:
“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Watching this unfold is an invitation to dance with the Spirit.

Once again, as guests arrive to spend time with us, we are honored to partner with them, with the Trinity and with each other – we will observe the unfolding in each other as the unforced rhythms of grace invite us to step into relationship with each other.

Once again, we are reminded to hold in the Light, those who have been forced into slavery that degrades them, that sears their soul with abuse and bondage and takes away human dignity. We remember them and say a prayer that they will find a safe place and gently be touched by the unforced rhythms of graces that sees beyond the wounds to the beauty that is their true identity.

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1 Comments:

At 8:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Stephanie

It's really neat to get a glimpse of the recent Journey here. Thank you for sharing ...

 

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