Our Precious Life

I noticed a quote by Mary Oliver on the front page of our Interfaith newsletter recently: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This quote is the last two lines from her poem, The Summer Day. It brings comfort to me to know that there is a part of me that identifies with the wildness in every one of us since I feel like I was raised in the woods by the divine spirits of God in the animals, trees, and flowers that surrounded me on the farm where I grew up. So much of my life these days seems so repetitive: doing the same things, eating the same breakfast, and also, unfortunately, maybe thinking the same thoughts. Yet I know there is still a child in me that loves to play, and maybe now that I am older, I am even somewhat more willing to express that part of myself because l care less about what anyone thinks of me than in my earlier days. I don’t know why it seems to take a lifetime to let go of some kind of personal embarrassment.

Back to the poem and our precious lives, and finding joy in small moments, exploring the wonder and beauty of it all. Are we thinking about what really matters since it is easy enough to see how everything changes and eventually dies? The purple violets were particularly thick this year in the lawn; I took some time to lay down in them, even though I knew it would be hard to get up. The blossoms are all gone now. If they bloomed all summer, I would not have appreciated them nearly as much.

Let’s not waste any time regretting what we have not done. We are all doing our best according to our own understanding and life lived so far. We can do what we want while harming none and make the most of what we have desire to do and to be. The Spirit of Love in our lives gives us permission to be as wild and free as we can and still do what needs to be done, each of us with our own sense of beauty and balance. Be happy, love everyone.

We are indeed Blessed as One.

Annie

Words of Wisdom

As I am cutting up old calendars, I see these words: “Deep at the center of my being, there is a well of inner wisdom. All the answers to all the questions I shall ever ask reside there” . These are wonderful words to find at the beginning of my day and the beginning of my week. My heart feels lifted, and I have a remarkable sense of well-being in my mind and in my body.

Last week, the week from hell, ended with a meditation retreat that I really needed. Now I have to deal with all the repercussions of the car accident last Tuesday. I imagine everything will be easier for me having read these words this morning. I have read them before, but they have never been this important, and I have never felt so strongly their truth.

One key to access this well of inner wisdom is, of course, a quiet atmosphere, a peaceful presence, and some mindfulness. We are great talkers; however, we may not be great listeners, especially in regard to listening to our spirit within, which is always communicating with us, always. Our spirit communicates through conscious breathing, quieting our minds, through communicating with nature and all of her creatures, through our friends and neighbors, and even the weather.

It seems in every serious or casual communication; there is a deeper message. Is it a message of hope? Is it a message of peace? I always experience, even in a casual exchange in the parking lot at Walmart, a message of underlying joy and love. As our days go, it is always helpful to communicate and to receive these messages. And there are also messages of fear we can choose to notice and then let go. We have choices!

Today and every day, I take time to choose hope and peace and joy! Join me, won’t you?

Annie

By the time you read this, the eclipse of the sun will be over, but I want to talk about the sun, the moon, and the stars, and what an extraordinary gift to all of our lives on earth and what an extraordinary gift to our conscious imagination. When my sisters, my brother, and I were young, our Dad would take us out on moonless nights when we could see the whole Milky Way stretched across the sky and look at the stars. I remember feeling so tiny and insignificant, yet I wondered how I could be so large to be conscious of the vastness of the whole sky, seeing millions of stars all at once. In those days, we did not pay much attention to the constellations, but the planets were clearly visible. It was good practice for the expansion of consciousness, and awareness of a loving Universe full of ancient and eternal beings.

I have always talked a lot about the importance of Nature, getting out in Nature just to experience whatever thoughts and feelings come up. Often,  I overlook the night sky because it is so light around here in Southeast Michigan that you cannot see the Milky way or many constellations. So….. when you can get off to a place with a truly dark sky it will blow your mind.

Please join us at Interfaith for our many groups and classes. I will mention a few special ones. See much more information on our website: https://interfaithspirit.org.

Sat. May 4^th, Drum and Dance Jam with Curtis Glatter. 7:30-9pm Suggested donation $5.

Wed. May 8^th, Community Sing with Matt Watroba. 7-8:30pm, Donations encouraged to offset costs.

Sat. May 11^th, Café 704 with Spirit Singing Band-Kath Weider, Sam Clark, Dan Bilich, Lori Fithian & Friends. We will all be invited to sing! Doors open at 6:30, concert 7-9pm. In person or on Zoom tickets $10.

Sat. May 18^th, Drummunity-Drum Circle with Lori Fithian. 7-9pm.

Sat. May 25^th, Sound Journey Gong Meditation with Dana Piper and Sharon Harris. 7-8:30pm (No admittance after the event begins). $20.Blessings and Love,  Annie

Ministerial Miscellany Nov. 2023

From day to day you might find me scribbling notes on envelopes and pieces of paper of all sizes and I get inspired by the words falling into my brain from outer and inner space. This week I looked up one of my favorite quotes. It is by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it”.  This is one of the most inspiring quotes I have ever read, and I can feel the words fill me with energy to help me keep going sometimes.  

Yet, I also feel very aware that we can push ourselves ahead with too much enthusiasm. We need to check in with our higher self and maybe slow down and even let go of our ideas and dreams. We may ask: is this my ego goal or my spiritual goal? Or, is this what I want to do right now? Sometimes the answer is “no, not really”. Just letting go is our balance point into the present moment. It is always a good thing to absolutely trust that Spirit is leading us in the right way. I love the word “surrender”. To me it is not giving up, it is giving over our choices to God.  I can give over the stress and confusion that my ego has created; I can relax and breathe deeply and know that (even though it does not always look like it) all is well. All is Well.

Trusting that we are living our best lives as we connect with each other at special events at Interfaith starting with:

• Joy Pendelton’s Celebration of Life service, & potluck party, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2:30 PM. More information is on the website.
• Community Sing with Matt Watroba, Wednesday, Nov. 8th, 7PM. Donations greatly appreciated. Learn more about Matt and his music on our website: interfaithspirit.org. 
• Cafe 704 with Jean Wilson and friends, Saturday, Nov. 11th 7:00 PM. Tickets $10.00 in person and on Zoom. Extraordinary Jazz. Come and dance!
• NEW: Drummunity-Drum Circle led by Lori Fithian, Nov 18th, 7 PM. Donations welcomed.
• Thanksgiving Day Potluck, Nov. 23, 1:00 p.m. All are welcome, bring friends, family and a dish to share. Happy Thanksgiving! May our gratitude abound.

Joining in Love and Peace, with prayers and blessings for our World.   

Annie

Ministerial Miscellany March 2023 ~ Starting Over

Have you noticed? Are you listening? Spring has arrived. On March 1st I heard the red winged blackbirds. I am always thrilled and uplifted by the sounds and sights of the first signs of spring. A time for: 

Beginning again – To change my life by selling my house and moving. To make a difference in somebody else’s life (or many lives) To Love more.  To complain less.  To let go of more stuff. To let go of fear.  Oh, I almost forgot – to laugh more.  (Last night I googled “real estate jokes” – They were not that funny)

We are part of an evolution, our own evolution.  We never stop wanting, so we never stop evolving towards what we want. It seems, our only task is to get out of the way. I know I try to stay relaxed, but there seems to be waves of reality coming in regular timing to subvert my best intentions. (Just like this afternoon’s snowstorm.)

I am reading off my iphone: “continual connection to our technological devices can make us feel trapped, with a strong desire to escape”. There is some real irony here. What!?  I am going to use the internet to escape the internet???  Oh, yes. Just like we can use food to lose weight.  Obviously, we have not figured this one out yet, and perhaps never will.  Each day, we all experience uncertainty.  Our challenge is to learn to create, as close as we can, balance in our body, peace in our mind, hope in our spirit, and love in our heart.

Look for all of these in activities at Interfaith: Sunday Service, classes, groups, in person and on Zoom, and especially music:  Every 2nd Saturday Cafe 704 at 7-9 PM live or on Zoom. Sat. March 11th, at 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Julie Beutel and Bob O’Brien are returning. More information about Julie and Bob, ticket information including Zoom tickets is on our website: interfaithspirit.org.  And, on Wednesday, March 22nd, join the Community Sing with Matt Watroba 7:00 – 8:15 p.m in person.

Have a happy and blessed month, one that seems a lot like Spring!  

                 Annie

Ministerial Miscellany January 2023 New Beginnings

Welcome to a New Year!  Don’t tell me which one.  I don’t want to see any higher numbers right now, (I just gained 6 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas) but I do love to feel the sense of starting over, the sense of renewal and release that comes with another year left behind and a new one starting.   I love to feel the sense of hope that comes with making plans for physical, mental, and emotional renewal.  I love to start setting goals for a better life and a better world: one that becomes aware of the needs to love and care for our environment, and one that begins to share the love that we have for each other, no matter how we may present ourselves.  And I hope that you will do all these things as well.  Just showing up at Interfaith with presence and connecting in that way can change the trajectory of how we experience our lives. Notice how much it helps to be willing to stretch out of our comfort zone.  Remember how fearless we were in our twenties.  We were ready to try any new thing.  If it didn’t interest us, we found something else to explore.  Exploring…that’s my word for this new year!

I will see you as you come to explore life with others at Interfaith.  Information at our website:  interfaithspirit.org. 

January 14th, Cafe 704 presents Peter Madcat Ruth and John Churchville.

Save the date for our Silver Ball, a dinner and dance celebration of 25 Years! April 29, 2023, 6PM,  dance to the music of C.A.R.M.A. with Madcat Ruth and friends.

Be well, Be happy, Be renewed by love.

Blessings,   Annie

The gifts we give.

      One of the great things about the people I interact with at Interfaith, is that we seem to be able to relax and let go of what we think should be true and go with the moment, as it is, and as we are.  It is one of our greatest gifts, to let go and let God.  It is also one of the best gifts we give each other. 

      Another great gift is to be able to listen to each other,  and to the Spirit within that is always communicating with us. Listening to each other is not a given.  As we train ourselves to do this we learn that we become one with one another, for a few moments, or many moments.  Next time you feel someone really deeply listening to what you say, savor it, and see how you feel. It can be transcendent. We can honor ourselves at that moment. Let us give ourselves the experience of listening deeply to someone else and feel how listening can change us.  Being listened to can change us. With gratitude we give and with gratitude we receive.  

Please join our special December Holiday events:

Friday, Dec. 9th, 8:00 PM  Norma Gentile ~ Candlelight Meditation Concert.

Saturday, Dec. 10th, 2:00 – 4:00 PM, Youth Education Holiday Party,  Gifts for the kids and information about our Sunday youth program.

Saturday, Dec. 10th, 7:00 PM  Cafe 704. Music by Billy King and Emily Slomovitz.  Join us in person or via zoom. For details go to the website at: https://interfaithspirit.org/cafe-704-coffeehouse/

Saturday, Dec. 10th, 6:30 PM  Holiday Crafts at Artisan 704 and Sunday, Dec. 11  after service at Noon.

Wednesday, Dec. 21st, 7:00 PM Solstice Sing-Along with Jean Chorazyczewski, Lori Fithian, Eric & Mary Fithian, Alaura Massaro, Linda Teaman & Tom Voiles.

Saturday, Dec. 24th, 5:00 PM Christmas Eve “Finger Food” Potluck followed by Christmas Eve Candle-lighting Service at 7:00 PM.