A Season to Remember who you are...

It's right at that time that newsletter stuff is due again and I was looking for inspiration this morning. While checking my junk email box I stumbled on an ad for Deering Banjo's that provided me a bit of help. In what I realistically know to be a sales ad, Barry Hunn (who is the Worldwide Sales Manager for Deering wrote this gem.
“One of the most healing aspects of creating music is that it is a healthy vehicle to bring us closer to our inner self. It can put us in touch with the creative part of us, or perhaps, the most central part of us, that often gets diverted when the pressures of our daily lives lead our attention away from the core of who we are. Isn’t that wonderful? By merely sitting and strumming the banjo, playing songs or just improvising with a few chords or rolls, we focus our ears, our hands, our hearts and attitudes on that beautiful sparkling banjo sound, bringing us back to our creative self, the happiest part of being human.”
While I recognize the often exaggerated tendency of musicians and artists to spiritualize their work, I will say I agree with much of what he wrote. (The full article is at http://www.deeringbanjos.com/DeeringProductPages/Music_Beyond_Technique.html)
It really is all about the joy. I would add that being creative opens us up to realize the signature of the Creator upon us. Joy and an appreciation for beauty are what makes us human and separates us from the call of Satan and the world to be merely efficient animals.
Why am I inspired by this? Because last night I requested from session the opportunity to take a day of rest on Monday December 1, since, the day after Thanksgiving, on which I would be off, is already on my day off, and I discovered, it also falls on Light Up Night, when I'll be working at that event. Also this busy time of year is when I'm thinking about Budgets, giving, that I am told is down, Filling Leadership posts on Session, Deacon's and Trustees...and also the incredible opportunities for ministry we have even while trying to figure out how best to use our resources to do them. It is a time when it is tempting to think in terms of “human resources”, “economic realities” and “efficiency.” In short it is tempting to become the Devil's own efficient animal.
Yet at the same time we start a new season, with a pause in our schedule to give Thanks. To sit at the table with family and friends and enjoy food and remember that we are not just animals but people, who love one another, even with our imperfections, and give thanks too the God who created us, and gives to us gifts, that while they are resources, are also a joy to use. Leadership slots become Opportunities to worship through service. Giving becomes offerings of Thanks and a chance to enthusiastically imagine what God will allow us to do together in the coming year.
And all in all, I look to this season where, having given thanks, we prepare to celebrate that Christ came into the world to release us from slavery and make us the human creations God made us to be, no longer sin trapped “animals” but his own people. Wow! Don't forget this. Celebrate! These are Holy-Days to remember God's amazing gifts.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark