Celebrating Sabbath and the Sacred Present – Terry Hershey
Fountain of flowing water - from Terry's website
It’s the second week of December. Christmas carols are sounding on the radio, in the grocery stores, elevators, and malls. Television is filled with uplifting Christmas programming. Gala fundraisers are filling evenings and weekends. Church youth groups, Scouts, Campfire Girls, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc. are selling wreaths, candles, centerpieces. Bake sales pop up all over the place to tempt us with holiday goodies. Countdowns to Christmas appear on family bulletin boards. Everywhere people are asking, “Are you ready for Christmas [or other holiday] yet?”
And in the midst of all this activity, school assignments must still be completed. Our daily work moves ever forward with its demands, whether in the office, on an assembly line, in a store, at home or any other of the myriad worksites of our lives. The amount of daylight gets shorter (in the Northern Hemisphere where I live), so it seems the amount of time to accomplish anything is shorter too.
Pressure builds for all of us and can easily spill out into our relationships with others.
So how do we reconcile all of this activity with the quiet season of hope and expectation that is Advent? How do we find the space for a few moments of quite reconnection with life, hope, love, peace, joy? Where do our relationships with family and friends find space to be nourished?
These are challenges we all face.
One of Theologika’s Trusted Authorities is Terry Hershey, a nationally known speaker and writer. Terry lives and works on Vashon Island in Washington state. He has worked as a minister and more recently has shifted his focus to the nurture of personal relationships and gardening. You can find a short description of his life journey at http://www.terryhershey.com/about.htm.
Terry’s website and the focus of his work these days is “Embracing the Sacred Present” and finding Sabbath Moments in life. He has a regular weekly newsletter and column to which you can subscribe online through the website. I highly recommend his work. I look forward to spending a few minutes each week reading his thoughts. There’s always a good story and a reflection that helps me remember to slow down, notice the presence of God in the people and places of my life, and enjoy the love that surrounds me.
Thank you Terry. Happy Birthday. And may you ever be open to life in the sacred present!
