Read this week’s issue of our newsletter here: The Weekly Liberal Jan. 24

In this week’s issue, Rev. Justin writes:

Mary Oliver, of beloved memory, wrote these words:

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

I wonder: do you remember what you had for breakfast? Can you recall how it tasted? Do you know where that breakfast came from, who handled it before it arrived in front of you, where it was grown and harvested, packed and shipped? What about the bowl, plate, or cup in front of you? The silverware? Where did it come from? Was it made by hand or machine, and who handled it before it came to be with you?

The other day, I followed this practice with a bowl of steel cut oats, milk, maple syrup and cinnamon, and found myself traveling around the country and the world before I took a bite. I reflected on the sun and rain (water) it took to nourish the oats, the maple tree, the cinnamon tree. It changed my breakfast experience for the better. I was eating – experiencing – a small miracle.

I wonder: what have you been paying attention to? Your food? Your body? The often invisible culture of your family, friends, and community? What are you noticing and how is it astonishing you with its beauty and brokenness? What can you tell about it?

As you read this, I invite you to pause for a moment. What do you notice in your body? Are you hungry, lonely, curious, excited, anxious? What do you hear around you? Airplanes, voices, cars, birds? What do you smell?

This spiritual practice of paying attention, being astonished, and telling about it, is, in many ways, what our Circles and Small Groups are about. I hope you will consider joining a Soul Matters, Spiritual Deepening, or Newcomers Circle, and dive into this practice. Your own life, the lives of others, and even the world itself, will be become new again, holy, miraculous, a blessed gift. Join a Circle, be astonished, tell about it!

I’ll see you in church,
Justin