Beloved Friends- 

Until the beginning of September, I will be stepping away from this blog space for a time of sabbath and renewal. During that time, I am offering some of my favorite poems to be solace and strength for our journeys.

I am so very grateful for the companionship we continue to develop in this expanding community of faith. Some of us are connected through face-to-face involvement through Trinity@316, Pop-Up Dinners, Mobile Food Pantry hosting and/or Toledo Streets monthly lunch making. Others are creating connection through our growing digital presence engaging Trinity@Home, participating in our on-line opportunities. And many, I am delighted to say are dipping in and out to all those ways of connecting on a regular basis. Who could have known two years ago that spreading God’s revolutionary love would be happening in all these ways? So, thank you, for offering yourselves and your hearts, your hands and your feet as we live out our Christian vocation as brave, tender, compassionate and humble disciples.

May God bless each of us with silence, rest, play, and the company of those we love in hopes of remembering and renewing our deepest joy.

And may you never forget that you are loved, 

Lisa

The Invitation   (By Oriah Mountain Dreamer) 

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or
have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own;
if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,
be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true,
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it is not pretty every day,
and if you can source your life from God’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “YES!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. 
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, 
weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

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