ASH WEDNESDAY
I live on the Alabama gulf coast where Mardi Gras is a big thing. After all, we started it and New Orleans copied us. Parades, throws, costumes, moon pies, beads, etc. are signs of Mardi Gras celebrations. Suddenly they stop on Ash Wednesday when many of us go to our churches for a service that includes having a cross marked on our foreheads with ashes. It’s a visible sign that reminds us of two things:
(1) Our humanity: “remember you are dust and to dust you will return.”
(2 )The gift of God’s forgiveness and new life: “repent and believe the gospel.”
During the forty days of Lent, we are given the opportunity to intentionally discipline ourselves to let these two things find deeper root within our lives. For example, to claim our humanity with its time limited opportunity on this earth may propel us to savor the sunrise/sunset; to take great delight in our loved ones; to reach out beyond our divisions to others; to live in the here and now more than the then and there; and to really live our life with gratitude and courage.
Likewise, to be more consciously aware of God’s forgiveness and strength for beginning again can motivate us to cultivate our relationship with God; to find ways to help others to know that they too are loved and given new life; to serve the least, the last, and the forgotten ones as if they were Jesus in disguise; and to live more congruently with our words (beliefs) and our actions.
After the Ash Wednesday service many youth and adults who leave the ashes visible find people in stores mentioning to them “Did you know you have a smudge on your forehead?” It becomes an opportunity to say “Yes, and this is what it means to me.”
We live in a world that needs a visible reminder of our humanity and God’s forgiveness. The forty days of Lent lets us “be” the ashes others will see. So my question to you is this...
“How will you make a ASH of yourself?”
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
"BEGIN AGAIN!" - A Coaching & Christian Perspective For 2009
"BEGIN AGAIN!"
Those are words I often heard in the Co-Active Leadership program of The Coaches Training Institute (CTI), and they are also very appropriate for Christians and other people of faith as we begin the New Year. "Begin again!" These words are similar to Jesus' call to Matthew to "follow me" and the effects of his healing the bleeding woman.
We really do get to "begin again" and do things differently. Usually we vow to make the New Year "better" than the previous. In order to prompt your own thinking about what it will take for you to CREATE A REALLY GREAT 2009, I offer these 3 questions. I invite you to take time to ponder them as you begin 2009.
1. WHAT AM I BRINGING FROM LAST YEAR INTO THIS NEW ONE? - joys & sorrows, what is working & not working, hopes & dreams, my sense of calling & following where God leads, unfinished business & new possibilities...
2. WHAT WOULD MAKE THIS YEAR "WILDLY SUCCESSFUL" FOR ME?
- my dreams and God-given yearnings, the "hunger of my heart," specific goals that are pulling me forward...
3. WHAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WILL HELP ME "BE" MY BEST?
- people, experiences, and structures that will help me "be" what I desire in order to pursue my dreams...
I invite you to "begin again" with new clarity and intentions. As the author of the Book of Hebrews wrote, "... and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...." (Hebrews 12:1b, 2a) (NIV).
Begin Again!
Those are words I often heard in the Co-Active Leadership program of The Coaches Training Institute (CTI), and they are also very appropriate for Christians and other people of faith as we begin the New Year. "Begin again!" These words are similar to Jesus' call to Matthew to "follow me" and the effects of his healing the bleeding woman.
We really do get to "begin again" and do things differently. Usually we vow to make the New Year "better" than the previous. In order to prompt your own thinking about what it will take for you to CREATE A REALLY GREAT 2009, I offer these 3 questions. I invite you to take time to ponder them as you begin 2009.
1. WHAT AM I BRINGING FROM LAST YEAR INTO THIS NEW ONE? - joys & sorrows, what is working & not working, hopes & dreams, my sense of calling & following where God leads, unfinished business & new possibilities...
2. WHAT WOULD MAKE THIS YEAR "WILDLY SUCCESSFUL" FOR ME?
- my dreams and God-given yearnings, the "hunger of my heart," specific goals that are pulling me forward...
3. WHAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WILL HELP ME "BE" MY BEST?
- people, experiences, and structures that will help me "be" what I desire in order to pursue my dreams...
I invite you to "begin again" with new clarity and intentions. As the author of the Book of Hebrews wrote, "... and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...." (Hebrews 12:1b, 2a) (NIV).
Begin Again!
Jim Robey is the first United Methodist clergy to be officially endorsed by the UMC for the Ministry of Life Coaching. Jim earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Emory University and is a graduate of the renowned Co-Active Leadership Program of the Coaches Training Institute.
Dr. Jim Robey is the Executive Director of Attentional Growth Inc. Jim brings a passion for helping people become more of who they are called by God to be. Included in his coaching is his humor, life experiences,37 years serving churches, love for God and the church, and a profound commitment to partnering with others in their own life on purpose. He has been involved in ecumentical and inter-faith activities.
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