Laughter is good medicine Pro. 17:22
Bad Hair Day?
If we take ourselves too seriously, we tend to lose perspective. We may become rigid and tense – both physically and psychologically.
Laughter itself has a healing effect. Laughter stimulates the brain to secrete endorphins and enkephalins, powerful chemical pain relievers; adrenaline and similar hormones are released which stimulate the heart and lungs.
Heart rate increases, blood is more thoroughly oxygenated, and the immune system produces more lymphocytes. During laughter the muscles of the face, thorax, an abdomen contract and relax, prompting Norman Cousins to call it “Internal jogging.” It also massages the internal organs.
When you stop laughing arteries and muscles relax and blood pressure is reduced.
From “The Journey toward Wholeness” written by Kenneth L. Bakken & Kathleen H. Hofeller (1988).
Take time to laugh… it’s good for you inside and out 😊even if you’re having a bad hair day.
A great time to laugh would be during our Dinners/Desserts for 8 in August it’s an open invitation of gathering with a group including Synthea and I (around 8 people) here at church or organizing a meal at your home (if you would like to host). The meal is a vehicle for conversations of getting to know one another better. There’s a sign-up sheet as you come into the sanctuary.
Blessings,
Pastor Michael
Summer — time to stand and stare
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Can’t Pray? First Rest!
Weariness can seriously hamper our attempts to pray, says Bonnie Gray, author of Whispers of Rest. “We are a generation who doesn’t know how to express our souls to God, even though we drive ourselves exhausted, doing for Jesus.” The solution, she says, is to stop and rest.
The stressed-out, despairing prophet in 1 Kings 19 is a prime example. “God knew Elijah needed physical rejuvenation first — in order to hear his gentle voice, whispering in a gentle breeze,” Gray notes. Guarding against the depletion of spiritual, physical and emotional resources can improve our ability to hear God’s voice, too. “When you find it’s hard to pray, don’t be afraid,” says Gray. “You’re standing at the very cusp of who God longs to connect with. The real you. Take the time to rest. You’re worth it.”
The Water of Life
Christ is like a river that is continually flowing. There are always fresh supplies of water coming from the fountainhead, so that a man may live by it and be supplied with water all his life. So Christ is an ever-flowing fountain; he is continually supplying his people, and the fountain is not spent. They who live upon Christ may have fresh supplies from him for all eternity; they may have an increase of blessedness that is new [and] never will come to an end.—Jonathan Edwards
New Seat, New Perspective
In older sitcoms, family members, especially parents, each had their own chair in the living room. No one else sat there. If its “owner” wasn’t present, the on-set chair remained empty. Church can be like that too, with people claiming the same seat week after week. Our view of the service and of fellow worshipers is familiar and comfortable.
Recently, our family was “bumped” back a bit, which felt surprisingly different at first. But we interacted just the same with the service. As a bonus, I talked with different people. And after church we stayed to visit a bit longer.
I’m glad church seats don’t have nameplates. And I’m thankful that God nudges me out of my comfort zone from time to time, giving me a new perspective. —Janna Firestone
The Power of Love
Only in love can I find you, my God. In love the gates of my soul spring open, allowing me to breathe a new air of freedom and forget my own petty self. In love my whole being streams forth out of the rigid confines of narrowness and anxious self-assertion, which make me a prisoner of my own poverty emptiness. In love all the powers of my soul flow out toward you, wanting never more to return, but to lose themselves completely in you, since by your love you are the inmost center of my heart, closer to me than I am to myself. Karl Rahner, Encounters With Silence
Come, my Way
Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a way as gives us breath;
Such a truth as ends all strife,
Such a life as killeth death.
Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a light as shows a feast,
Such a feast as mends in length,
Such a strength as makes his guest.
Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a joy as none can move,
Such a love as none can part,
Such a heart as joys in love. —George Herbert
“Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” —Betty Friedan
Summer is ending, O Holy One. Stir up my anticipation and hope for new routines and endeavors. Thank you for being with me in all seasons of life.