SSB Sunday Gathering

SSB Gathering – May 31, 2015

Kathi

Spiritual Sounding Board – This is your place to gather and share in an open format.

 by Kathi

Walclella falls

Isaiah 40: 25-31

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens; Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each my name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?” Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

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May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you;

may he guide you through the wilderness: protect you from the storm;

may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you;

may he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.

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Feel free to join the discussion.
You can share your church struggles and concerns.
Let’s also use it as a time to encourage one another spiritually.
What have you found spiritually encouraging lately?
Do you have any special Bible verses to share, any YouTube songs that you have found uplifting?

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photo credit: Kathi (I can take pictures of waterfalls too!)

22 thoughts on “SSB Gathering – May 31, 2015”

  1. Psalm 118:24King James Version (KJV)

    24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

    This morning I am looking over Lake Huron at Mackinaw Island, trying not to look directly into the sun. It is blinding this morning. The first 2 days of my mini break the clouds and fog were so thick a knife wouldn’t cut through. It is a beautiful day and God’s creation is everywhere. It will be sad to go home tomorrow, but have made new memories in a place where many bad ones flooded my mind. This is good. God is good.

    I read this a little while ago in an online daily devotional:
    The Lord’s Day is not to be filled with legalism, for that is what Christ frequently rebuked in his day. It should be the joyful focal point of the week, a day eagerly anticipated by the believer. We should approach it physically rested and attitudinally ready for the Lord to reveal himself to us (Ps 118:24).

    I pray you all have a wonderful day at peace in Jesus Christ our Lord, Brenda

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Brenda

    Thank you for this beautiful beginning to a
    “wonderful day at peace in Jesus Christ…”

    I’m NO where near Lake Huron – but…

    I can see that blinding sun rising. – And – The thick Fog… 🙂

    Like

  4. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?” Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

    He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

    You know a God thing when it happens.

    I was literally just going to come on here and complain about how unenthused by our new church I am and how maybe that is because I’m tired and weary, but not just a physical tired/weary but a spiritual/emotional tired/weary.

    And lo and behold I come here to find these verses posted.

    Now, it is also true that the one about God disregarding my cause on an issue has been a major source of my struggle. But that is not the whole of it. This whole TVC thing and how bad it is out there among so many churches and such is a real drain on the spirit.

    But this passage is quite a shot in the arm. I forgot all about it. And since it fits so perfectly my situation it is imbued with an almost prophetic quality.

    So everything I was going to say…never mind. God’s got it.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Barnasbasintraining, I love what you wrote! I tried to respond earlier & just couldn’t find my words. Thank-You BIT you just opened my heart, this is where I do church!

    I cried a few tears when I read this earlier:

    “Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?” Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom”

    I too have said & complained that my way is hidden from the Lord; and my cause is disregarded by my God… And to be reminded that He doesn’t grow tired or weary
    and that His understanding I cannot fathom just melts my fears.

    I have had a tough week emotionally. Bad dreams along with a full blown panic attack. I haven’t experienced one of those in years, I forgot how terrifying they can be. I would love some prayers.

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  6. Yes, thank you for these verses!

    gm370, I’m praying for you. Panic attacks are truly horrible and life-draining.

    And if I haven’t mentioned it before, thanks Julie Anne for this site 🙂

    ~Lise

    Liked by 2 people

  7. I got a kick out of this! Hope it is okay for me to post here.

    Anne Lamott
    Yesterday at 12:14pm ·
    You know how sometimes you go to church or temple or mosque, or to those little meetings for people like you, who perhaps have tiny control issues, or used to drink until you ended up face down, or married; and you sit there desperately hoping someone will say the exact right thing, to help break the toxic trance you’re in, and help you find your way back home?
    Well, what would that exact thing be?

    “One day at a time.” Hack! Thank you for sharing; I wish I’d brought my slingshot. I’d shoot you.

    “Or, “You can’t feel fear and faith at the same time.” How fabulous! Did God stop by this morning and tell you that?

    Well, let”s see–I happen to have a lot of fear, and a lot of faith, at the same time, a lot. I find the world as scary as it is magical, and have from the time I was four or five, when my migraines began. This place has NEVER been a good match for someone like me, who was perhaps just the tiniest bit more vulnerable and sensitive than the average bear.

    Or my personal favorite, “God never gives us more than we can handle.” REALLY? So let’s see, your point is, I shouldn’t feel as hopeless or scared or sad as I do, just because the world seems to be caving in on itself, and there seems to be a sniper in the trees, picking off the people I adore? And instead, if I do feel very sad or insane, or not up to the challenge, the problem is with me, Al Franken.

    When people say this stupid stuff to someone I love who is really going through it, I just hear rage. If someone says “Let go and let god,” with certainly and cheer, I know that they secretly want to get their kalashnikov and stroll through the neighborhood. What a horrible thing to say when someone is half-mad with grief or fear. I say to the recipient, “That is complete b.s, and you must promise me you will avoid that person like the plague for the foreseeable future, because they are a danger to your spirit.”

    The truth is, everyone worth his or her salt–all your very best people– feel broken, stunned, overwhelmed and defection some of the time. When people don’t, when they feel very pleased with their personal upbeat selves and their all encompassing worldview, like say, the nice Duggar family, we want to run screaming for our cute little lives. And we absolutely don’t want to sit near them at dinner.

    So what do I want to hear at a gathering, like church, say, or a random group of alkies?

    I want to hear, “Me, too. I have that, too. I know what that feels like.” Gandhi and Jesus knew what it feels like, the loneliness, the sadness. The brutality. Jeus often said, “It’s very hard here. Have you eaten? Look–you all stick together, go to the beach and have some fish. Share what you have. We’ll talk later.”

    I want to hear, “Wow, thank you for trusting me with that. What a big f-ing drag. I’ve been through that, too. Let’s file a brief with the Complaints department. Come, we’ll sit down with a nice cup of tea and plan our strategy.”

    I heard the exact right thing last week, when a preacher on the radio said, “Stop talking about the mountain that’s in your way–that makes it bigger. Talk TO the mountain. Say, I WILL defeat you.'” I had to pull off the side of the road, and I glared and looked as scary as an aging black-belt co-dpendent can, and I said to my mountain, “I WILL defeat you, you f-ing d*ckhead mountain.” And in the following week, I did.

    I want someone to say that against all odds, there is a solution. There really absolutely is. And that it’s not out there–it’s not in circumstance. Circumstances do not need to change to feel peace again or even happiness. It’s not in amassing or achieving. I so hate this. As Lily Tomlin said, the problem with winning at the rat race is that you’re still a rat. The solution is in knowing the truth. The solution is always spiritual, and it almost never has anything to do with the problem.

    I want to hear someone remind me that if I want to have loving feelings, I need to do loving things. I want someone to make me laugh about our shared humanity and cuckooness; I want someone to remind me that laughter is carbonated holiness. I want someone to make me promise them that I’ll get outside; that as someone else has probably said, praise is an attitude; I can–in advance–thank you-know-who, aka the Cosmic Muffic, aka Howard, as in Our Father who art in heaven, Howard be thy name. I want someone to remind me of what Ram Dass said, that we’re all just walking each other home. I want to hear that big fat cherries are on sale for $4.99 at most stores; and that peach season has officially begun.

    I just want to hear that I’m loved and chosen and welcome, no matter what a mess I’ve made of things, or how defective I still feel sometimes. I just want to hear that it will get better, although maybe not tomorrow right after lunch. I want to hear that you and God will never leave me alone. That I’m not nuts for finding life a totally mixed grille, unlike the nice bumper stickers–that it can be hard, magical, brutal, gorgeous, unfair, hilarious, sweet, wild and mysterious, all at once. Or that if I am nuts, you’re nuts too; and we are so lucky to be together in this jar; and so delicious.

    That is what I need to hear today, and that is what I am going to say today, in spite of it all. So there; and thank you thank you thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Kathi,
    Thank you for putting this together, as usual it is uplifting and nourishing to the soul. After reading and listening to the music, I took a drive in my Toycar while listening to Michael W Smith on cd. The scenery here is fantastic. I didn’t get over far enough to take in the waterfalls, so I am delighted for the vivid picture.

    Amos,
    If you were in the area, I’d be wantin’ to know why you didn’t come over to share this fantastic view. I am glad we could share that sunrise. Tomorrow is another day. Perhaps the fog will be lifted in your part of the world. : ) I am just a little envious of the geese, swans and ducks, that I’ve spent much time watching, get to stay here while I go back to the middle of da mitten.

    Like

  12. Gail – Thanks so much for sharing Anne Lamott. She’s one of my favorite writers. I hope this week goes better for you.

    Wishing everyone a great week coming up. We’ve got a crazy busy one. Our oldest is graduating high school. Yippee! Which means along with the celebrating, I need to get my house cleaned for my visiting parents.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Julie Anne – I was wondering if anyone would catch what I put by the photo credit! LOL!

    Pssstt…don’t tell anyone, but I took that with my phone. Did a bit of manipulating, and voila!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Dash, I cannot even conceive that kind of skill at playing an instrument. Incredible. Thanks for posting that.

    Like

  19. Great guitar. Thank you, Dash. He must have been playin’ since he was knee-high to a grasshopper.

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  20. BIT, I love what you wrote up thread. Isn’t it awesome how God can put just the right message dead in your path and you get to say, “Yep, you are listening and you do care.”

    On my way home today, I was talking to God (and this in comparison to your need is really trivial, so don’t shoot) and saying you know I saw many varieties of birds while I was away, but didn’t see not one deer. Deer are usually a given somewhere along the drive. About 90 seconds later a doe, maybe second summer version walked across the 2 lanes of the south bound highway that I was on. Wow, I said Thank you God, so quickly. Like I said, in comparison, I had no NEED at all.

    Brenda

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  21. Oh Brenda! That is so funny! Not only am I not going to shoot, but I had something like that happen too! 😀 It was a type of bird I wanted to see but hadn’t and God caused one to cross our path on our way out and home. In fact, I have never seen one as close up as that one. Interestingly, it pertained to the issue I mentioned, as there is a location element to it. And now you mentioning that just reinforces it again. 🙂

    No, I am not going off the rails. I just think that’s neat. I can appreciate that all by itself too. 🙂

    I have a friend who had a similar thing happen to him with another animal we see sometimes but not often. He wanted God to bring one across his path and a bit later that day one of them walked into his yard.

    I think God likes it that we enjoy His creatures. 🙂

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