tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25946417789211910602024-03-12T23:41:34.453-05:00PlayFull<b>pathways for personal, relational and organizational vitality</b> <br>
:: coaching :: team building :: training :: storytelling :: counseling :: consulting ::Playfullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05825768074602367425noreply@blogger.comBlogger299125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-60217632106118430152021-09-03T10:49:00.002-05:002021-09-03T10:50:07.190-05:00spiritual direction<p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkeziICUyiId5No7JntukRCh9KMoapdBp4cdts49c64RIj3J8JZIEhiWccolICHtcEA09NrNG1KqAlLMQRcwhV49Ogeh6oPzqn55pMeiiQlcfEg8UYmYmj6jLjvbBdN8nUYepABft/s2048/Graduation+certificate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkeziICUyiId5No7JntukRCh9KMoapdBp4cdts49c64RIj3J8JZIEhiWccolICHtcEA09NrNG1KqAlLMQRcwhV49Ogeh6oPzqn55pMeiiQlcfEg8UYmYmj6jLjvbBdN8nUYepABft/w640-h480/Graduation+certificate.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently, I completed a two-year course of study to become trained in a centuries-old practice known as spiritual direction. In case you’ve never heard of this before, I define spiritual direction as an intentional process whereby one person helps another notice, honor, and respond freely to God’s presence and activity in their life. As a spiritual director, I seek to cooperate with God in nurturing an open space where others can come to God just as they are...to experience what it means to be the Beloved of God.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span data-offset-key="73g89-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true">I love the simplicity and the process of spiritual direction because I see a lot of playfulness in it. Did you know I happen to be passionate about play?!
Though the phrase “spiritual direction” might not sound very playful, time and time again, I have seen the spirit of play embodied in our midst as the person seeking God’s direction experiences freedom, grace, joy, and openness in their relationship with God. In spiritual direction, we engage our imagination and become more childlike (trusting) in our faith.
Like play, spiritual direction is not a pre-planned program. Each session has an improvisational feel to it as we simply listen to what is being said and as we open ourselves to what God might want to say in the spirit of love, just love. We bring the stuff of our real life to the interaction and attune our hearts to the very heart of God, bringing Scripture to bear and applying the gentle, compassionate, and gracious way of Jesus to our lives.
In the midst of such an interaction, we cultivate the spirit of self-forgetfulness (which is also a characteristic of play) as we attend fully to God’s presence in our midst right here...right now.
I’ve become convinced that these kinds of interactions are sorely needed in a world that scarcely slows down long enough to really listen. It saddens me that in our society today we have become increasingly violent towards one another in thought, word, and deed. In that light, spiritual direction is a countercultural way of being with one another, so I am looking forward to practicing it more and more with those who may be interested in it.
I wonder if you sense that PlayFull spiritual direction could be a help to you in your life? If so, I’ve prepared<a href="https://forms.gle/cGcbMSEGpiRe3s368" target="_blank"> a sign-up form</a> where you can find out more details about it. </span></span><span data-offset-key="73g89-2-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true">If you have any questions or want to talk with me more about it, feel free to reach out via a private message.</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span data-offset-key="73g89-2-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true">
In any case: may God’s love and joy, grace and freedom flourish in your life!</span></span></span></div>Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-52639772343975800282021-05-23T08:41:00.005-05:002021-05-23T08:44:10.211-05:00Pentecost: God Dances Like a Flame<p> Today is Pentecost! It's the day Christians celebrate God's gracious gift of the Holy Spirit. Here's how PlayFull tells the story in a way that's engaging for both young and old. It's part of a series we're making called PlayFull Faith that describes how "God dances and invites us to join the dance." </p><p>I hope you enjoy the video and I pray you let the light of God shine brightly in your heart. </p><p><br /></p>
<center><iframe width="672" height="378" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ll6K73LoYfc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></iframe></center>Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-52428839713617162682021-03-02T16:55:00.000-06:002021-03-02T16:55:04.969-06:00thoughts on conflict<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharg5HKvaZhTPoUuYL7AuQysTsx6henAK65T0qIu3q_8OrS2BQFEwazUopi8WSWnrOf-FuTMBJGqvbLaS14AbBkyMw9gYuCWKz_04e0pkJq4Yjwmdu7no7FfFhywNc3mYNdyBUNmgi/s2048/brett-jordan-r_ozTEle2vo-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharg5HKvaZhTPoUuYL7AuQysTsx6henAK65T0qIu3q_8OrS2BQFEwazUopi8WSWnrOf-FuTMBJGqvbLaS14AbBkyMw9gYuCWKz_04e0pkJq4Yjwmdu7no7FfFhywNc3mYNdyBUNmgi/w400-h300/brett-jordan-r_ozTEle2vo-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Some PlayFull thoughts on conflict:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps there is nothing that deflates interpersonal conflict
more quickly and effectively than when just one party has the courage to say, “I’m
sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How hard it is for us to say such small words! It rails against
every instinct we possess. Nobody wants to be wrong. Nobody wants to be thought
less of because the other party sees you’re imperfect.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, guess what? Nobody’s perfect. Rather than powering up
to preserve the mere semblance of perfection, the truly playful person is able
to laugh at themselves and admit their own imperfection…not only to themselves
but to others, too.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What grace and freedom we experience when we swallow our
pride and say, “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wonder: do you need to receive forgiveness from someone?
Ask God for the courage to go to them and make amends. Live in freedom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">……………..</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>thoughts on conflict<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>by troy cady<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-1078918560010843622021-01-23T17:08:00.008-06:002021-01-23T17:08:53.541-06:00when extremism implodes<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiVdMAiWxTxG81UwiP0u5tNnZDqH7oieCjOyOnNjVTmjDULEnsYY53w-VogJWoI9tpJOREkMOtiawAL3oIsiyyQa3SNpUUBoT0N246m1qOsflOiPmfqrl3IUDXfCiPvl3A4KvwmN7/s680/PVE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="680" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiVdMAiWxTxG81UwiP0u5tNnZDqH7oieCjOyOnNjVTmjDULEnsYY53w-VogJWoI9tpJOREkMOtiawAL3oIsiyyQa3SNpUUBoT0N246m1qOsflOiPmfqrl3IUDXfCiPvl3A4KvwmN7/w400-h223/PVE.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We have some important work to do and it is a collective
work. For every extremist who has been arrested since January 6, there are
countless others who are now even more entrenched in their extremist views of
reality. I offer these thoughts:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Extremist ideologies tend to be dismantled not by an
explosion from without but by an implosion from within. Witness the recent
failure of the Q-Anon conspiracy when predictions about the presidential
inauguration proved false.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. For the extremist, the implosion creates a personal crisis
that has the potential of drawing them out of the vicious cycle of extremism,
but this crisis can just as likely further embed an extremist in alternate
forms of extremism.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. Extremism is addictive; it is hard to break because there
is always a ready, ample supply of alternatives to feed the addiction. As long
as the alternatives bear the qualities of extremism, the extremist will be
satisfied with almost any kind of alternate buzz. In fact, when an implosion
occurs…those who have been embedded in a system on the extreme “right” are just
as likely to move into an extreme “left” system as they are to find an
alternate group on the extreme “right” to regain a sense of meaningful
belonging.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Within a religious system, the move from one extreme to
the other is often classified as a “conversion”—but, in fact, there has been no
change from within that is substantively different. True conversion is not
really an exchange of extremes, trading one set of entrenched certainties for
another set. What gives true conversion its remedial power is that it awakens
one to the inherent mystery of life. In other words, true conversion is rooted
in the humble awareness that one does NOT know and, thus, is called to a
lifetime of childlike seeking. True conversion is an experience of greater
openness to the world, whereas extremism closes one further off from the world.
Pseudo-conversion is unable to effect fundamental change precisely because it
addresses the content of a particular form of extremism, but not the quality
(or process) of extremism itself.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. Extremism is reductionist; it reduces one’s perception of
reality so that the extremist feels they can control it. This is why extremism
in any form (“left” or “right”) has a gnostic quality to it, wherein the extremist
claims to possess some special knowledge that will unlock the secrets of life
as we know it. It, thus, creates an us-versus-them dynamic. It is infected by a
culture of exclusivity and inherently condemns large segments of society who do
not subscribe to the tenets of the in-group. You will always find special
insider language attached to any form of extremism because that is how the
group can easily tell who is in and who is out. Language becomes a key
mechanism of indoctrination into the extremist society and its potency lies in
the fact that it generates a feeling of belonging.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. Extremist ideologies all share the distinct peculiarity
that they demand to be taken seriously. The extremist is unable to see the
inconsistencies within their belief system and, perhaps most tragically, they
are unable to laugh at themselves for such foolishness. When an inconsistency
is revealed, the extremist tends to become defensive. If consistently
pressured, they will go on the attack. The self must be preserved at all costs,
no matter how fractured that self has become—and especially /because/ the self
is fractured.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. When someone who has been enmeshed in extremism begins to
awaken to their own vulnerability, they cannot be pummeled out of their
position. It takes a special friend (or a group of friends?) who can be both
strong-and-gentle, faithful-and-immediate, truth-telling and loving to
accompany them on the long road to a new way of being. No one was ever condemned
into the way of humility, after all. If confession precedes forgiveness, a true
confession can never be coerced.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And mere argument will not suffice, since the process of
extremism itself is more debilitating than the content of any specific belief. As
sappy as it sounds, extremists can only be loved out of extremism.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For every extremist disposed of by violence, three more will
take their place—since violence itself perpetuates the cycle of extremism. This
presents a conundrum since extremists who intend to commit acts of violence sometimes
need to be stopped by means of violence for the greater good. Still, it should
be noted that violence used in service to the greater good effects no fundamental
progress in the diminishment of extremism itself. In fact, it tends to
intensify it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nor can extremism be merely silenced by tuning out
extremists, since the experience of being voiceless violates one’s sense of the
basic dignity of human autonomy. That is why I assert: extremists can only be
loved out of extremism.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How to love one another out of the grip of extremism is the urgent
question of our time, I do believe. There is at least one thing we can all do,
however: each of us can do everything in our power to root out the spirit of
extremism in our own heart and mind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Beyond that, the work to weaken the grip of extremism on
society will not be easy, but it is important work that requires face-to-face
relationship. To do this, we need to develop the skill of seeing and appealing
to the sacred, precious humanity of one another.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is why I also believe that the work to diminish
extremism in our midst is more a work than a “fight.” The word “work” connotes
the idea of cooperation, togetherness, unity-by-diversity.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If it is a fight, we must learn to view it as fighting FOR
each other, rather than fighting AGAINST each other. Do we have the courage to
fight FOR each other? Can we see the humanity in one another? This is our work.
It is a hard work, but it is a supremely good work, I am convinced. I pray God
gives us the grace, wisdom and strength to do this good work together.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">………………………….………….</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>when extremism implodes<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>reflections by troy cady<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-18500241215647855842021-01-11T11:00:00.000-06:002021-01-11T11:00:01.048-06:00Playfulness and Extremism<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCE1iJ8tikJdE12FwGDOqMHkyoBwlkEur-tea3rU6Yrdk4g0gwyZv7ZbutrhMmqyW3qNDjq9wEq2QBAYWSMz0WvMRrHvYQ8uRoZrKE9rr3DgxbBy2GB3OnFOF3gjpUBFMMA_ZfT4a/s1080/Extreme-Right-Extreme-Left-1080x640.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1080" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCE1iJ8tikJdE12FwGDOqMHkyoBwlkEur-tea3rU6Yrdk4g0gwyZv7ZbutrhMmqyW3qNDjq9wEq2QBAYWSMz0WvMRrHvYQ8uRoZrKE9rr3DgxbBy2GB3OnFOF3gjpUBFMMA_ZfT4a/w400-h238/Extreme-Right-Extreme-Left-1080x640.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In my book on cultivating a more playful life (and society),
I try to describe the essence of playfulness in such a way that we capture a bigger
vision as to its nature and value. Based on my in-depth study of the play-concept
for over a decade now, I observe that as our society sinks deeper and deeper
into division, much of it is due to our inability to think more playfully and
relate to one another in more playful ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The late rabbi and psychologist Edwin Friedman describes
what I am talking about in his groundbreaking book /Generation to Generation/,
which I quote in my own book on play. He contrasts the essence of ‘seriousness’
with the essence of ‘playfulness’ as he writes:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Seriousness is more than an attitude; it is a total
orientation, a way of thinking embedded in constant, chronic anxiety. It is
characterized by lack of flexibility in response, a narrow repertoire of
approaches, persistent efforts to try harder, an inability to change direction,
and a loss of perspective and concentrated focus…The antidote to seriousness is
the capacity to be playful, which is not to be equated with making jokes…This
notion of playfulness has less to do with ‘one-liners’ than with the concept of
flexible distance; it has less to do with good ‘come-backs’ than with the
ability to distinguish process from content.”*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I can’t help but feel that radicalization is fed by an
ideological form of ‘seriousness’ (as Friedman describes) that is taken to an
extreme. What makes extremism so dangerous is its intractability. You can’t
reason with an extremist because they are unwilling to change their thinking. They
lock out all other alternatives and are willing to die (and kill others and
tear down society) to stand up for their beliefs. The language of “revolution”
and “civil war” that some are touting right now is so dangerous, precisely for
this reason.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My concern is that extremism can be easily embedded in both
ends of the political spectrum, left and right. As more and more people gravitate
to the extreme edges of their own political philosophy, we become crippled in
our ability as a society to address the burning issues of our time in a cooperative
fashion. Life becomes a game of winners and losers where everyone is doing
their utmost to gain the upper hand for their side of the divide. To disrupt
this destructive cycle, we must do all in our power personally to reject
extremism in all its forms. In other words, we must be willing to change our
mind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is the very thing that is so hard for us to do,
however. It feels like we are losing face, especially when some of us have invested
so much time and energy defending our particular spot on the political spectrum
(whether left or right). Changing will feel like losing one’s very identity,
one’s own sense of integrity. The paradox is: those who are willing to change are
more integrated than those who are not. Though the willingness to change does
not always mean it is wise to change, the willingness itself is what makes the
convicted person an even stronger person—and, when they do see a need to
change, it has the added benefit of helping them improve themselves, as well as
the society in which we live. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though government can help us resist extremism, it is really
a personal matter for each individual and it requires all of us to do what we can
to nurture our own mental, emotional, and spiritual health so we do not become
locked into these extreme ways of being. What that means is we have to get hold
of our anger and learn to direct it in constructive ways. We must do all in our
power to avoid being unnecessarily inflammatory.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Political memes often contribute to this kind of inflammatory
extremism, by the way. They tend to paint others who are different than we are
in a kind of caricature which the lies of extremism feed upon. Ironically, political
memes have a guise of playfulness to them, but most of them are embedded in the
kind of anti-play spirit that Friedman describes. One author (Jerome Berryman) uses
the word “pseudo-play” to describe it. Destructive political memes are doubly
ruinous in that they positively energize the extremists on one side of the
political divide while also negatively energizing the extremists on the other
side. Far from generating understanding, they obscure it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Friends, in this time of crisis, I vow to do all in my power
to resist extremism in my own thinking and life as well as in society-at-large.
And I sure would love it if others would join me in this by practicing being
more playful in the way we engage others. May grace and peace flourish! Lord,
have mercy on us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">……………….</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Playfulness and Extremism<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>reflections by Rev. Troy B. Cady</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*The quote above is from Edwin Friedman, /Generation to
Generation/ (New York: Guilford Press, 1985), 50-51 as quoted in /PlayFull:
Play as a Pathway to Personal & Relational Vitality/ by Troy Cady (Chicago:
PlayFull, 2019), 7.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-38264057605770291712020-07-02T09:24:00.002-05:002020-07-02T09:24:20.093-05:00my Breath<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This morning <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God went for a walk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in the city<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in the cool <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of the day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and, on the way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the park’s trail,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">she saw evidence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of civilization<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">but no signs of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She breathed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yahweh,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">her name,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">pairing each syllable<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">with each inhale<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and exhale,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">as if to <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">resuscitate us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to whisper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">us awake,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">sharing the rise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and fall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of respiration,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">praying for<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a resurrection<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">on her way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the trail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, I wait<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">for her return,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">here in the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">rising heat <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The waiting,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my prayer,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the long wait<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of longing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Come home,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">dear Lord,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">come home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have arisen <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">from death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Return,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my life,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my Breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">………………………….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my Breath<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-81220555081147898892020-06-12T17:20:00.001-05:002020-06-12T17:20:12.249-05:00Love Your Enemies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8fDluBAT1JosSabXeT2NnkQkF_5_8srCdZn7Dn8YVflCHaklOpA-cEvHNnxzFqjCRiHp3hEcVZadKPzQwdCD8oV2JDEB5vfGezvG7AcY2yjlVFD3zgRi3AX7CfZEQ9Xzd9ufMFlu/s1600/loveyourenemies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8fDluBAT1JosSabXeT2NnkQkF_5_8srCdZn7Dn8YVflCHaklOpA-cEvHNnxzFqjCRiHp3hEcVZadKPzQwdCD8oV2JDEB5vfGezvG7AcY2yjlVFD3zgRi3AX7CfZEQ9Xzd9ufMFlu/s320/loveyourenemies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Love your enemy.” There are hardly three words we
could string together that would produce more inner dissonance than these. And,
yet: if we cannot learn to love our enemies, we will only continue to reap more
hatred, more division, more strife. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The expression “our world is falling apart” conveys
only a half-truth. If we are to be completely honest, we need to acknowledge it
has been falling apart for a long time now. For as long as we have made enemies
of one another…that is how long the world has been falling apart. That is since
the very dawn of humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So: who is my enemy and how am I to love them?
Everyone has an enemy. They are the people we hate. That is how we know who our
enemy is. As someone who claims to follow Jesus, it is both shocking and
troubling to me that it is very easy for me to identify my enemies. How quickly
their names come to mind! How sad it is that I have risked so little to love
them, and how safe I feel preserving their status as “the enemy” in my heart
and mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How am I to love such a person? How am I to love such
a group? How is “my group” to love “their group”? Within the answers to those
questions we find the source of a true and lasting hope. This is the difficult
work of loving one’s enemies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At its core, what we are after is an end to Othering
the other. At its core, the work of loving one’s enemies involves laying aside
the mindset of “us vs. them”, the “home team” against “the visitors.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How we speak of one another matters. Do my words
dignify or only serve to divide? Labeling does not help the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An enemy is still a human. Do my words humanize? In my
mind, do I think of my enemy…as human? Is my heart able to see the humanity in
my enemy, even the enemy who dehumanizes another? If I answer someone’s
dehumanizing words and actions by dehumanizing them in return, what progress
have I made? I must come to see that I cannot take a stand for truth by
dehumanizing another, since truth is always a humanizing force. The commonality
of our very humanity…rests upon truth. Truth dignifies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These questions make me so uncomfortable. Surely this
is the hardest thing to do…to love one’s enemy. And, yet: if we are to know
peace within and without, it is the one task that must be done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To be sure, there is hope. This has been done before.
Enemies can become friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Surely this moment in history is a moment where we all
have plenty of opportunities to practice loving our enemies. We will never
perfect the art of it, but let us not give up rehearsing the new rhythms of it.
We can take a stand for truth and humanize the Other at the same time. It’s
hard, but we can do it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We must do it. It is the only way out of our divisive
enmity. May it be so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…………………<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Love Your Enemies<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">reflections by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-64525143626954532352020-06-10T08:46:00.003-05:002020-06-10T08:46:36.449-05:00Fighting for Peace<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR6v88wIXmHVBuqZXjHGSSdf_jHBgPvT0Tx8lTGVoVnS3exiQNcwak0gFJtlWTSo-6nB66m-IirMxx50xwGh9GULKC6ht90pwBrfT1oL1kQJW68Vfb6RLpsKHiF6sB2odSLU0NpCH/s1600/burning-man-festival-adults-babies-love-aleksandr-milov-ukraine-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="880" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR6v88wIXmHVBuqZXjHGSSdf_jHBgPvT0Tx8lTGVoVnS3exiQNcwak0gFJtlWTSo-6nB66m-IirMxx50xwGh9GULKC6ht90pwBrfT1oL1kQJW68Vfb6RLpsKHiF6sB2odSLU0NpCH/s640/burning-man-festival-adults-babies-love-aleksandr-milov-ukraine-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a world overcome by violence, peace appears as a
disruption that at first feels strange, counter-intuitive, even foolish. This
is why true and lasting peace can only come with practice, countless rehearsals
of non-violence. Day after day after day, we rehearse this way of deeper courage,
longer endurance such that the very sign of today’s protest reflects the vision
we have for a better tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fortunately, the sign of the future peace for which we
long has already been shown to us by the peaceful One who has gone before and
is in our midst even now. Christ, the Prince of Peace, invites us to rehearse the
way of non-violence, to wrap ourselves in His very heart—for He Himself is The
Way and He Himself is our Peace. In Christ, we see that the open hand (more
than the clenched fist) disrupts the cycle of violence. Thus: as we work for
peace, we take our place by His side, willing to lay down our life, willing to
disrupt the cycle, fighting by refusing to fight on the world’s terms of
violence—fighting the fight on heaven’s terms, beating swords into
ploughshares.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To win this “fight” God does not raise up an “army,”
per se. The people whom God raises up are not armed with the weapons of this
world. Indeed, God’s people are empty-handed, open-armed. In this way, God raises
up an alternative community which itself is to be a sign and foretaste of the
lasting peace that God has in mind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is the community of the Beloved. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
enter the fight with open hands, hearts bared, laying it all on the line for
the sake of love, even love for our enemy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If we wish to disrupt the cycle of violence, let us
rehearse love for our enemy. To rehearse such a strange love, we will need to
wrap our lives in the One who has perfected the art of loving like that. As we
do so, we will soon discover that we ourselves are the enemy He has loved. And
we are joined by countless others who have been strengthened by the same love,
even our own enemies. This is the community of the Beloved. This changes everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…………………<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fighting for Peace<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">reflections by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">*Sculpture: “Love” by Alexander Milov; photographed by
Andrew Miller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-88559639607210789832020-06-01T05:40:00.000-05:002020-06-01T05:40:01.031-05:00an invitation to gentleness<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qu4ZvfJjlIJKd7MA3jqWxBPSEvLNM3didVZ_PnGZqxsDm5ERAP8r0cGNWebUpIFuKXJySf71UyyjVvo5ZM9O8l9T6GCWygCN86tMPNX-Sk-xRBDByB_qZXmnjx9ntr2-rTiZsVnU/s1600/georgia-de-lotz-58WNi4P_11o-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qu4ZvfJjlIJKd7MA3jqWxBPSEvLNM3didVZ_PnGZqxsDm5ERAP8r0cGNWebUpIFuKXJySf71UyyjVvo5ZM9O8l9T6GCWygCN86tMPNX-Sk-xRBDByB_qZXmnjx9ntr2-rTiZsVnU/s320/georgia-de-lotz-58WNi4P_11o-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">The strength of
gentleness lies in its capacity to open us up, to come face to face, to stop,
to slow down, to look and listen. Gentleness cannot be hurried. In gentleness
we are able to face our fears. Quietly we speak. We recover ourselves. It is
safe to be human again. We find that which we had lost in the violence—our better
selves. Gentleness invites us out of hiding and gives us both the wisdom and
the courage to stop fighting bullets with bullets. Gentleness teaches us to take
our stand not in fits of rage but in hope, praying and believing that day will
follow day. We trust to hope. And hope grows such that we make plans to walk
the way of peace for a lifetime, step by step. Our resolutions become more than
mere momentary reactions. Words emerge—healing and wise words—from a full and present
silence, a silence borne of gentleness that quiets the confusion, chaos, noise
and clamor within. Mark how gently life itself endures, as gentle as breath
itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">………………..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">an invitation
to gentleness<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">reflections by
troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">*Photo by Georgia
de Lotz via Unsplash. Creative Commons License.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-2059522740175866092020-05-31T08:05:00.000-05:002020-05-31T08:07:37.761-05:00Pentecost: God Dances Like a Flame WithinToday, I remember the significance of the promise Jesus made
to his disciples shortly after his resurrection. It was a promise that they
would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit, the Church is sent to
serve as Jesus served, to be a sign of hope, to reflect here and now the joy
and love of the kingdom of God that shall never fade. In Acts 2, we read a
record of how this new work in and through the Church was inaugurated during
the Feast of Pentecost--and that good work is still continuing today. In this
short video, I share the story of Acts 1 and 2 by using materials I've created
to help both young and old receive the kingdom of God like little children. I
hope you enjoy it.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ll6K73LoYfc" width="560"></iframe></center>
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Email subscribers: <a href="https://youtu.be/ll6K73LoYfc" target="_blank">click this link to view the video onYouTube</a>. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
If you are interested in obtaining these materials for use in your church or home setting, email Troy at <a href="mailto:troy@playfull.org">troy@playfull.org</a><a href="mailto:troy@playfull.org" target="_blank">troy@playfull.org</a> for details.<br />
<br /></div>
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At PlayFull, we believe that play is so much more than just a form of superficial
escapism. It expresses something fundamental about what it means to be human
and it shapes us, both individually and as a society. To learn more about the
enduring value of playfulness, keep in touch with PlayFull by <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">liking us on Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">following us on Twitter</a>, and subscribing to
this blog (subscription options are located in the left sidebar).<br />
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<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-84377219147902150022020-05-19T08:41:00.000-05:002020-05-19T08:41:07.181-05:00A Person of Peace<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipErWHNz9S1d26ctrNNGByvtExaHjSLqtef8XZqqBtzD3R88BWywSv9_QzWEQrYbaNGkDqYfWmNiERg8tSsr5wk3ZY0ViijfJ0BD0ZXPGbn6cMzIPZGBw6MtkBmyi1hmPtfyEm11ko/s1600/candlelight-2997880_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipErWHNz9S1d26ctrNNGByvtExaHjSLqtef8XZqqBtzD3R88BWywSv9_QzWEQrYbaNGkDqYfWmNiERg8tSsr5wk3ZY0ViijfJ0BD0ZXPGbn6cMzIPZGBw6MtkBmyi1hmPtfyEm11ko/s640/candlelight-2997880_1920.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Good morning, friends. I know this may sound naïve and
idealistic but today I just want to encourage everyone to be a person of peace.
You never know who you might interact with today who is struggling with something,
carrying burdens. It is possible (probable?) we will never know the story of most
people we will encounter today. When we read or hear something we disagree
with, it’s good to remember that we may not be getting the whole picture of
what the person is trying to say, the experience out of which the person is
speaking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is easier to misunderstand than to understand.
Understanding requires reflection, listening, seeking clarification more than
validation. Sometimes it means giving the other person the benefit of the doubt,
seeing the best in them. Name-calling and pigeon-holing prove counterproductive
to this end. No one ever felt understood via aggressive or hostile treatment; in
the same vein, no one comes to understand the other when they are regarded in
ways that are demeaning or belittling. “A gentle answer turns away wrath.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We all have a limited view of others. To grow as a human
being is to enlarge one’s ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes.
The hardest words we may ever have to live by are these: “Judge not lest you be
judged.” Sadly, it may also be true that those who have the hardest time living
by these words are those who claim to follow the one who spoke them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My own experience is one of both darkness and light. My
guess is that your experience is a mixture, too. On social media, for example,
I’m troubled by the many ways we demean others and are quick to judge. But I am
also encouraged by the many ways I see people spreading the light, showing
kindness, compassion and esteem for others. When the darkness seems to be
growing, the only way to dispel it is to shine a light. Shine your light today,
my friends. I will try my best to shine mine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">………………<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a person of peace<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">reflections by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-58222298968970908352020-04-27T10:56:00.000-05:002020-04-27T10:56:03.828-05:00Deus in carne<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCmPbusDFN9x_BtczCjcVSe-iHmY_TnY7soh7OaAnnrpg-o43Lf7GeGrW2AiN97o-PIcNt-4N00Lt6As0ontxEptckF2-xvrfMTHqkoHpPU3MPw5Wg6a97sF2Ha8uL8tVIgpyhRNK/s1600/balcony+concert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1100" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCmPbusDFN9x_BtczCjcVSe-iHmY_TnY7soh7OaAnnrpg-o43Lf7GeGrW2AiN97o-PIcNt-4N00Lt6As0ontxEptckF2-xvrfMTHqkoHpPU3MPw5Wg6a97sF2Ha8uL8tVIgpyhRNK/s640/balcony+concert.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman in Spain sings on her balcony during quarantine to cheer up her neighbors.</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Deus
in carne<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">reflections
by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I think of the human spirit, I think of strength and
endurance. Disasters may strike, but we find a way to build once again. When a
problem would seem to overcome us, we look for solutions and we do not give up
until we have found them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We will not just let life happen to us, as if we can only
remain passive in the face of difficulty. No, we activate our will, we resolve
to shape the world, we stir up the reserves we have within to make a difference…to
heal, to help, to create. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is part of what it means to be made “in the image of
God.” That’s how the sacred writings put it. God, the Maker, has placed within
us the very likeness of God’s own self, the capacity to be co-creators with God,
the ability to have a say. God the good King shares the kingdom with us, shapes
us to shape the world in love, just because of love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But love can never be forced. It is an invitation. In
that sense, it is one of many options. We can choose to be selfish and
competitive, exclusive. Or, we can choose not to care, to remain frozen in
fear, apathetic and victimized. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It never ceases to amaze me how even those who have been
deeply traumatized find a way to carry on. The struggle to live continues even
as the process of healing takes place. Healing may be slow, wholeness may be
hard to realize, but we continue doing what needs to be done to lay hold of
life, life and more life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Life is stronger than death. We will not just lay down
and die. And even in the face of death Christians proclaim the promise of a
life-after-death, a second life. Hear the good news to a world submerged in
trauma: life has the last word. By grace, this life is made available to all
who would reach out for it in faith. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Christian story is more than life-and-death. It is
life-and-death-and-life. This matters because, before Jesus died and rose
again, he lived the struggle that we are living. He lived it for more than 30
years before he died. And, though he was victimized in the struggle, he would
not become a victim. Even in death he laid down his life willingly. If ever
anyone had a say in how his life would go—in how his life would end—he did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He was not only willing to lay down his life for others,
he proved his willingness by actually doing it. He offered a work of untainted
love from first to last. The world has never known love like that, never seen love
as deep as that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As someone who seeks to follow in his footsteps, I aspire
to live out that kind of love, to give to the uttermost. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But I can only do this by faith. Faith is the process
whereby I take Jesus’ life inside mine (to drink his cup) and I offer my life
to be immersed in his (to be baptized in his baptism). Faith is infusion and
immersion. It is like letting myself get caught up in joy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Notice the mystery of faith: it is both active (something
I do) and passive (something I allow to be done upon me and in me). But both
the active and passive arcs of faith require a consent of my will. God never
forces me to believe; it is an invitation, an invitation to be loved and to
love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I invite you to take a moment now and reach out by faith.
Ask Jesus to live his life through yours and tell him (the living One) that you
want to live your life within his.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I give this consent to God, the wonder is: the very
Spirit of God comes to indwell my whole being—heart, soul, mind and strength.
It is by the Spirit of God that I am set free from fear. It is by the Spirit
that we are relieved from mere self-concern and delivered from apathy. The
Spirit moves, so the Spirit invites me to move with Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By the Spirit, Jesus is more than a mere historical
figure who died on a cross. He lives—which is to say: he rose again and he can
live in us by faith. By his indwelling work we no longer have to rely on some
kind of <i>deus ex machina</i>, a deliverance by God from the sky, an image of
God relegated to mere mythology. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Christian God is no <i>deus ex machina</i>. The
Christian God is <i>Deus in carne</i>, God enfleshed. The call to the Christian
is not to look for some divine deliverance without; it is to be in touch with
the deliverance God has placed within. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You</span></i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> are the light. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You</span></i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> are the hands and feet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God has placed the solution to the suffering of others <i>in
our hands</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The answer is in you and me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This seems like a hard commission but the Spirit gives us
the power to do this if we will but ask for it. By the Spirit we are moved to
act, to heal, to help, to create, to love. The Spirit of Jesus calls us even to
lay down our own life, if it comes to it. And the Spirit gives to each of us special
gifts—things that only you can do—to be part of this great redemption story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I wonder: what is your gift? What is it that makes you who
you are, uniquely? Are you artistic? Do you have special musical abilities? Are
you good with your hands? Do you move others with your words? Some people are
especially good at putting others at ease. Others are really good at listening
and helping people understand their feelings. Some are gifted in leadership. Some
lead us to find joy by making us laugh and I know others who are especially
good at asking questions that stir up the pot, unsettling us in a good way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What’s your gift? It’s true there are limitations as to
how some of us can use our gifts but if we are thoughtful and creative about it
we can all find an outlet to serve the common good no matter the circumstances.
So, I invite you to wonder: how may you offer your gifts to others during this
time? And, I wonder: what strength do you need? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You will need rest and grace, to be sure. You’ll need to tend
to your own self-care—that much is true. But I believe in the midst of our
current struggles we can all make a difference. Don’t lose hope! God is working
in you and through you to effect healing, to bring about new life even in the
face of so much death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May it be so. Amen and amen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">……………………<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Troy Cady is the president of <a href="http://www.playfull.org/">PlayFull</a>, a ministry that seeks to help
people and organizations play from the inside out. He is the author of <i>PlayFull:
Play as a Pathway to Personal & Relational Vitality</i>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/PlayFull-Pathway-Personal-Relational-Vitality-ebook/dp/B0812CQVXX/">available
on Amazon in paperback and Kindle edition</a>. To tap into more life-giving
content, you are invited to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org">like
PlayFull on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets">follow
us on Twitter</a>. Thank you for reading! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-46563100503907358322020-04-25T08:22:00.002-05:002020-04-25T08:22:40.574-05:00make me a person of peace<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord, make me a person of peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Where there is bitter division,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">help me to work for reconciliation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When someone hurts me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">give me strength to forgive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I hurt another,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">grant me the humility to seek forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Give me understanding<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in times of confusion and chaos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Be my wisdom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when fear would darken<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my mind and heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Remind me that even in death<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">you are the resurrection and the life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord, you know that I worry about many things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Still me within as you stilled the storm without. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Show me that I can count on you; I am just a child.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nurture within me a quiet confidence in you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">that grows stronger day by day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">be in my mouth,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">making my words gentle;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">be in my eyes,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">viewing others through the lens of grace;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">be in my listening,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">make me a true companion;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in my tasting, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">fill my whole body with gratitude;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in my breathing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">take in the very scent of love;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">let these hands heal,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and my feet go gladly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the side of the needy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord Jesus, my King,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">move my feet, move my hands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the rhythms of your peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">………………….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">make me a person of peace<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-1701550901656080242020-04-23T23:42:00.001-05:002020-04-24T07:01:19.012-05:008 Ways the Virus Could Change Us<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnpl9hEFBw_der8B9rtseqg-TBIDyQA_lxJMKkUpk1qbjv-vHy_bXtMb6sxCRfSFl86IrYN3h5CsQHtWBEBDHrSx1UC8EpVJviffwrHm73aAafTYY7TDuDfDjoJ5Ez-8yCr2_CESO/s1600/NYT+smartphone+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1470" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnpl9hEFBw_der8B9rtseqg-TBIDyQA_lxJMKkUpk1qbjv-vHy_bXtMb6sxCRfSFl86IrYN3h5CsQHtWBEBDHrSx1UC8EpVJviffwrHm73aAafTYY7TDuDfDjoJ5Ez-8yCr2_CESO/s640/NYT+smartphone+pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>8 Ways the Virus Could Change Us</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>reflections by Troy Cady</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve been reading lots of theories about how the pandemic
will change us. I offer these 8 thoughts for your consideration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1. Keep the long-range in view. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We can make educated guesses, but my suspicion is we cannot
begin to fathom how our lives will be changed even long after the imminent
physical threat has passed. Likely, it will not be until today’s youngest
generation comes of age that society-at-large will be able to discern lasting
meaning from this crisis. I feel it is the kind of event that will play a
significant role in defining a generation. We would do well to keep the long-range in view. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2. An opportunity: begin practicing
generosity now. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The economic implications could affect us all in deep,
deep ways. Those who have means will have plenty of opportunities to practice
generosity; I encourage us to begin practicing that now. We will also be
stronger as a society if entrepreneurs can embed the value of generosity in the
very ethos of whatever initiative they might undertake in the aftermath of the
pandemic. We will all need to be much less selfish. Those who are consumed by the
ideal of simply amassing wealth will miss out on much beauty that can
be created if we can just learn to share more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3. An invitation: put away our divisions. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Whatever is to come, however dark the days may be, we
will only be able to flourish as a society if we look to one another and rely
on the different strengths each has to offer, becoming champions of one
another. United, we stand; divided, we fall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">4. Is our current situation comparable to
past crises?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Comparisons to how society responded <i>en masse</i> to
the Spanish flu crisis of the early 1900s are limited in their application to
today’s challenge. For starters, our society has become more pluralized and polarized
since that time. This puts our efforts towards unity to a greater test. If we
can learn to direct our differences towards the common good, we will
flourish. To the extent we fail to do this, I suppose we will languish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5. Look at what is being revealed to us by this
crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is already a given as to how the current pandemic
will affect us. Prior to any transformative work the pandemic may produce, a
threat of this nature offers a revelatory function. For example, the pandemic
is already beginning to reveal in a new light the way our society is deeply,
deeply fractured. And, yet, there is also hope to be found in how some are
digging deep to bring out the best we have to offer. For those who are willing
to look honestly and openly at what this crisis can reveal about just who we
are, there is much insight to be gained on many fronts: socially, politically, artistically,
and spiritually.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">6. Religion has a wonderful opportunity to
adapt. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those who serve in formalized capacities within the field
of organized religion (such as churches, synagogues, and mosques) need to
consider now how they will engage this crisis in such a way that they will
embrace long-term change proactively rather than succumbing to the delusion
that the crisis itself will produce the change such institutions have sorely
needed for many, many years now. Those organizations that rely on how people
will (merely) naturally respond once the immediate threat has diminished will
enjoy the kind of revival they desire only on a temporary basis. The law of
homeostasis will gradually lull those who experience an immediate flash of renewed
fervor back into the comfortable patterns that have been killing religious
institutions for some time now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">7. Beware the law of homeostasis. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That same law (homeostasis) will also yield the same kind
of long-term results in other fields (such as education, economics, care for
the environment, and questions of social equity) if we are not intentionally
reflective and proactive about how we wish to change. A reactive approach can
only yield temporary measures (at best) and destructive trajectories (at
worst). When we rely on how the crisis itself will change society (without factoring
in the powerful dynamic of human agency and creativity) we fall prey ultimately
to various shades of mere determinism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">8. Hardship alone doesn’t change much; desire
changes more.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Going through hardship alone does not produce the kind of
change we need. Hardship gives us an opportunity to change, but it alone cannot
change us for the better. While it is true that most of the time we do not
change unless we must, it is also true that lasting change is rooted in true
desire. How much do we really WANT to change? That is the key question. Now is
a time to put sober (yet open-minded/playful) thought into it. Now is the time
to dream of new possibilities. Now is the time to muster the resolve, strength, and courage to go after those dreams. May God give us the grace we need to do
just that. May God give us the grace to come together to make those dreams come
true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…………………..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="58" data-original-width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "merriweather" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Play from the inside out. We invite you to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">like PlayFull on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a>. Thank you for reading! </span></span></div>
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<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-67744277608614444332020-04-15T15:55:00.001-05:002020-04-15T17:02:49.228-05:00notes on good teamwork<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSm9r3vCGlP09Db1mDCM7TkrtRwfjz2otdtBYSr3pHqQIEOQ0zwy2jVnaxshTeIfx6CGZmFPYL_D-XacAhfVCEnIMVgUpvtqLDptiIecHA9EHuIAdDJ-iwjRlJ1NRj7Lj_iwZ8XRx/s1600/mandy+betzy+troy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="833" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSm9r3vCGlP09Db1mDCM7TkrtRwfjz2otdtBYSr3pHqQIEOQ0zwy2jVnaxshTeIfx6CGZmFPYL_D-XacAhfVCEnIMVgUpvtqLDptiIecHA9EHuIAdDJ-iwjRlJ1NRj7Lj_iwZ8XRx/s320/mandy+betzy+troy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my colleagues at Grace Covenant Church</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">One of the challenges
many people are facing during this unusual season pertains to the dynamic of
teamwork. Because of the good teamwork that I (Troy) enjoy with my colleagues at
Grace Covenant Church in Chicago, I’m mindful today of how healthy teams
continue to break new ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">A healthy team is especially
invaluable when the going gets tough. As I have been thinking about this, I
wanted to share some factors that I commend to you in your own team
relationships during the current crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">A.
Wonder and explore together</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.
Keep in mind that you are on the same team; when obstacles arise, exploring
solutions in a spirit of togetherness makes all the difference. Ask questions,
listen well, and hold ideas loosely…be willing to be changed, to be influenced.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">B.
Be gentle and go slow</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.
Trust that what must get done will get done; we don’t need to force anything.
Keep in mind that everyone is under a lot of pressure these days, both
personally and professionally. As we work together to ease one another’s
burdens, we create better conditions for success. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">C.
Play to one another’s strengths</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">
and check with your teammates whether you are using your own strengths in ways
that are truly helpful. Encourage one another in those instances when you see
someone using their strengths in ways that serve the overall good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">D.
Be a person of your word</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.
If you say you will do something, do it. Integrity is priceless. Be faithful to
the important role you play.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">E.
Be flexible; adopt the posture of a servant</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">. Be willing to pitch in when extra help is needed, even if it
isn’t in your official “job description.” Keep in mind that sometimes important
work arises that does not fit in anyone’s job description. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">F.
Encourage creativity</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">,
imagination and the development of fresh approaches. When something new is
being tested, give as much space and grace for failure as possible. Maximizing
innovative ideas takes time; be patient. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">To be sure, there
are more factors I could have listed but these come to mind especially during
these unusual days. Perhaps you'd like to add your own? In any case, be well,
my friends!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">........................</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="58" data-original-width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I write about healthy teamwork in my book on play, because a playful team is a healthy team. The book is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/PlayFull-Pathway-Personal-Relational-Vitality-ebook/dp/B0812CQVXX/" target="_blank">available in paperback or Kindle edition on Amazon</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">If you'd like someone to coach you or help you nurture healthy teamwork during this challenging time, <a href="mailto:troy@playfull.org" target="_blank">reach out to me</a> (Troy Cady) to explore if there is any way I can be of service to you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-76941482993387855722020-04-13T16:21:00.001-05:002020-04-13T16:22:45.994-05:00The Easter Story<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Easter story: When all seems lost, new life emerges. Every hope I have...is found in Jesus of Nazareth, risen from the dead. By His grace, all my fears and failures are washed away. Yes, I do believe. And, because He is alive, His Spirit invites you to believe with me. He is risen; He is risen, indeed!</span><br />
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Play from the inside out. Thank you for watching! We invite you to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">like us on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a>. Happy Easter!Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-48066646308582558762019-08-29T14:40:00.000-05:002019-08-30T03:15:17.598-05:00Delighting in God<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Delighting
in God<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by
Troy Cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Moments of joy are the bookmarks of the soul. Like
folds on the corners of the pages of your life, moments of joy are wrinkles that
point you to something good. Turn to a joyful page mentally and you could swear
you were there again physically. Despite some hard things I’ve experienced over
the years, I am grateful that if you were to pick up the unfinished story of my
life, you would see many, many page corners turned over—reminders that life has
truly been filled with joys too many to count, unforgettable moments of
delight, grace and wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think of childhood
winters in Minnesota, playing hockey on an outdoor rink with friends from the
neighborhood. In my memory, I can smell the wood burning in the stove-fire from
the warming house, I can feel the heat and hear the laughter after my oldest
brother told one of his many jokes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I wonder: as you reflect
on your own story…what pages are earmarked—what special moments of pure joy would
we encounter there? I invite you now to enjoy a bit of silence as you turn in
your mind’s eye to one of these pages. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I am convinced we can
never have enough of such goodness. So, in this essay I invite us to look more
deeply at the theme of delight. <a href="http://www.playfull.org/2019/08/a-god-who-delights.html" target="_blank">In another essay</a>, I considered an aspect of
delight that we don’t often think about: it’s the reality that God delights.
Zephaniah 3:17 says that God delights in us and sings over us. God is not a
killjoy; he loves us so much he actually likes us, enjoys us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I write this in hopes
that we will get caught up in God’s goodness to the point where we can reflect
God’s delight and wonder in our own lives. To that end, in this teaching I want
to explore 1) why delight matters, 2) what it is and 3) a few ways we are
invited to live in delight. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Why delight matters<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First, why does this topic matter? To be honest, talking
about living a delightful life seems like a luxury to us. I mean…who has time
to talk about enjoying life when there’s so much work to be done, wrongs to be
righted, and improvements to be made? Ultimately, this is why this topic
matters. As a society, we are constantly driven to accomplish more and we feel guilt
or shame if we don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, this is an
indicator to me that we tend to take ourselves too seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To be sure, this mindset of
crippling seriousness easily infects us. We live in a world where bad news dominates
the daily media cycle and Facebook turns others into faceless abstractions such
that we would do better to call it Hatebook. It’s easy to take ourselves too
seriously when we are overwhelmed by negativity, fear and anger. This causes us
to suffer from what author Christine Aroney-Sine describes as “play
deprivation, nature deficit disorder, awe depletion, compassion fatigue,
imagination suppression, and more.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> And, if it is true that
God is, in his very essence, filled with delight, joy, and creativity, then it
is also true that, as Aroney-Sine asserts, “…we suffer from God deprivation
too.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Our need for delight is
not a new concept. In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas asserted that
delight matters because it is essential for happiness—and happiness, he says, is
“the last end [or goal] of human life.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In commenting on this,
Peter Kreeft, a philosopher at Boston College, says that happiness is the
ultimate goal in life “because all seek it as an end [in itself], not as a
means to any further end...No one seeks happiness,” he says, “in order to be
rich, or powerful, or wise, but people seek riches, or power, or wisdom because
they think these will make them happy...”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s why Aquinas
devotes four large sections of his magnum opus, the <i>Summa Theologica,</i> to
the matter of happiness. In one article, he provides four reasons as to why he
thinks <i>delight</i> is essential for happiness.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> 1) Delight, he says, is “a
preamble and preparation” for happiness. Just as one needs instruction if one
is to understand science, so delight is a teacher who prepares us for the
eternal art of happiness. 2) Delight, he says, <i>perfects</i> happiness. It is
like the soul of the body. If happiness is the objective state of total
well-being, delight is the subjective experience of it. Delight perfects
happiness because, through delight, we know <i>first-hand</i> that we are
happy. 3) Delight, he says, is a <i>helper</i> to happiness, like a friend
helping another friend achieve what could not be done alone. When we feel lost
and lonely, delight is a wise companion showing us the way to happiness. And, 4)
Aquinas observes that delight is essential for happiness because it is
“attendant” to happiness, like heat is attendant to fire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The nature of delight<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Aquinas’ fourth observation does more than tell us why
delight is important; it also tells us about the nature of delight. The mystery
of being human is that no person you ever meet is only a mind, or emotion or a
body. To be fully human (and gladly so) is to integrate mind, emotion and body—just
as it is in the nature of a flame to always integrate heat, light and the
substance (or body) of fire. To blaze with life, humans integrate (as Peter
Kreeft puts it) “the light of the fire of life” and “the heat of the fire of
life”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>—while the fire itself is
given tangible expression through our bodies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Delight integrates these
life-fire qualities of light, heat and substance. We experience it often as
warmed affections or quickened emotions, but we also experience it when our
intellect has been enlightened and we learn something new. What’s more, our
mind and heart converge in delight such that we can actually sense it physically
in our bodies—and sometimes this works the other way around, too. Our body has
the capacity to tell us when our mind relishes an exciting new discovery or
when our feelings are telling us we are falling in love. The taste of sweet
fruit, or the sound of ocean waves or the tenderness and passion of sex all
testify to the way delight unifies body, mind and heart. Just as it is
impossible to pick apart the light, heat and substance of a flame, so it is
impossible to separate what makes us wonderfully and mysteriously human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Because of this, I find
it helpful to think of delight as <i>the soul of life itself</i>. And the
expression “Bless the Lord, O my soul” (Ps. 103:1) illustrates this vividly. We
often relate this expression to “the spiritual life,” imagining the words
“bless” and “soul” as invisible realities. But the expression “bless the Lord,
O my soul” points us to the body from first to last because the word “bless”
here is the Hebrew word “baruch” or “barak”, meaning “to kneel.” And the word
“soul” is “nephesh”—which means “neck.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Significantly, the neck is
the crossroads where blood, oxygen and the electrical signals of the nervous
system pass through to integrate the mind, heart, lungs, and extremities in one
glorious living, breathing, pulsing, walking, and reaching wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thus, “Bless the Lord, O
my soul” could be rendered expansively as: “Bend the knee to the Lord, O my
everything. Neck, do your work. Let my mind be rapt in wonder, let my heart (my
emotion) be amazed and enjoy how good God is…and let my body show it: let me
laugh and sing, shout, cry, run, rest and rise. Let worship sink deep into my
bones; drive me to my knees because God is awesome and wonderful and beyond understanding.
Make me a put-together person.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The expression denotes
wholeness, which the Bible describes as “shalom”—total well-being. It’s a
vision of human flourishing and, indeed, the flourishing of all living things. In
Psalm 72, we get a vivid picture of this “blessed” life of shalom. The Psalm
was written by King Solomon during a time of peace and prosperity. Food was
never lacking and the nation’s intellectual endeavors gained international
recognition. It was a golden age. Though this psalm serves as a picture of
Israel during the time of Solomon, it can also be taken as a description of what
happens when people and the world are whole (or put-together) by delighting in
God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Psalm says a world of
shalom is a world where justice is done, the oppressed are defended, and children
are fed. It says we are rescued from violence and the land is fruitful. As the
psalmist finishes painting this picture for us, he observes in verse seventeen:
“Then all nations will be <i>blessed</i> through him [the king], and <i>they
will call him blessed</i>.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Our picture of the happy
life is enriched here because the word blessed appears in two different forms: “barak”
and “asher.” Both can be translated as “blessed” but the former means “to
kneel” while the latter connotes “gladness and happiness,” or “to make glad” or
“to be happy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The first instance this
word appears in the Bible is when Jacob’s wife Leah has a child and names him
Asher. Upon his birth, she exclaims how happy she is and that others will call
her happy, too, so she is going to call the child “Happy” or “Asher.” In Leah’s
story, happiness is both an objective state of being and a subjective
experience, both a noun and a verb. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That is the picture we
get in Psalm 72 and it’s actually an image of a king kneeling to serve, such
that the nations are blessed and the king is “happy” <i>because the nations are
blessed</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Princeton scholar Ellen
Charry refers to this all-encompassing vision of shalom as asherism. It sounds
like a strange concept, but Charry sums it up simply: “God enjoys our happiness
and we enjoy God’s happiness.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Asherism holds forth the
hope that one day we will experience happiness not as a momentary experience but
as a permanent, lasting reality—as it is in God’s very self. It affirms that
God made all things out of God’s own deep gladness and joy—and God made humans
in God’s image to reflect and experience that same gladness and joy. God wants
all that is in God’s being and all that proceeds from God’s being to return to
God, to flow in and out continuously in eternal gladness, like an endless ocean
of deep, enduring happiness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ways to practice delight<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In her book <i>God and the Art of Happiness</i> Ellen
Charry includes several practical outcomes of asherism and I will mention two
before considering other ways to practice delight as a means to happiness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First, Charry asserts
that to grow “in the art of happiness” it’s good to steward our talents and
strengths well.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
God, in utter gladness, has made each of us unique and it delights God when we
notice, appreciate and live in step with the special abilities he has given us.
Charry encourages us to be “unashamed” of our gifts, so if someone shares with
you how you have blessed them, you can just say thank you to them and to God
for making you the way he did. Just delight!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A second way Charry
encourages us to practice delight is to enjoy creation by stewarding it well.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> For those who are
especially dedicated to creation care, it is good to remember to just enjoy
creation along the way and to let yourself be amazed by nature’s ability to
heal itself. In our work to save the planet we can sometimes feel overwhelmed. In
those instances, you might like to try imagining God right by our side,
smiling, sweaty and singing as he tends the fields and forests, rivers and
lakes. He notices the butterflies and bees before we do, so it’s good to let God’s
own sustenance of creation delight us deeply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In any case, whether we
are stewarding our gifts or stewarding creation, both types of stewardship are
rooted in a key aspect of delight—which is noticing what God notices by bringing
all your senses, your full self, to your waking hours. I think of the delight
of cooking and relishing the taste of food that has been lovingly prepared.
Just the act of slowing down to savor a meal can do wonders to strengthen your posture
towards delight. I think of the wonder of music, the sounds of the wind,
crickets and birds; we have endless opportunities to delight in God with our
ears. I think of the many delights we can enjoy as we slow down to notice the
scent of a recent rainfall or a plot of flowers, the smell of a puppy or fresh-ground
coffee. Our eyes can delight as we slowly take in a painting of thick oil
textures, a black-and-white photograph, or the veins and colors of a maple
leaf. Gazing at the clouds, looking at the waves, or taking in the sunset can
fill us with awe and wonder. Feeling the sand beneath your feet, gently
touching a baby’s cheek, or just enjoying the feeling of water flowing freely through
your hands can be great ways to delight in God. There is no contradiction
between a godly life and a sensual life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A key aspect of delight
simply involves slowing down enough to be fully present. The older I get the
more I am convinced this is the hardest thing for us to do. In a culture that
values the self-made individual, there is little that makes us feel stranger than
the experience of doing nothing. As soon as we have nothing to do, we fill it
with something else to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In his book <i>Theology
of Play</i>, Jürgen Moltmann observes how severely our desire for productivity
impinges on our quest for happiness. He notes that, for most people, even vacation
has become a phenomenon that must be put to useful ends.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Sadly, we often place
unhelpful expectations on our rest, measuring it by how effective or fun or
productive it was. Somehow, vacation itself even becomes work. Is it any wonder
that, irony of ironies, the <i>leisure</i> sector is considered an <i>industry</i>?
When rest becomes a market, something is seriously wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Bible commends to us
the practice of Sabbath to help us detox from our addiction to doing and
productivity. In Hebrew it is the word “shabbat” and it literally means “stop,
rest.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> The first instance of the
word in Scripture is used in reference to God. It comes right after Genesis 1
where we have a picture of God creating the entire world out of sheer delight.
Along the way, the story tells us that God noticed what he had made and blessed
it. But then day 7 arrives and the text surprises us. Instead of continuing to
make more wonderful things, God stops (“sabbaths”) and rests, truly rests. He just
does nothing and he just enjoys being with what he has made. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lest we think this
anticlimactic, the writer gives us a clue as to why this “work of rest” is the
pinnacle of all God’s works. The writer says that God not only “blessed” the
seventh day, but it says he “got married to it.” Most translations render the
Hebrew as “called it holy” but the Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel points
out that the phrase “sanctified it” or “called it holy” connotes images of “betrothal”
and “marriage.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
In other words, God loved this seventh day of rest so much that he said, “I
want to marry you; I will cleave to your side forever and love you
passionately.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is why the rabbinic
community has historically referred to the seventh day as Queen Sabbath,
because on the seventh day God, the King, took to himself a Queen—the nobility,
the dignity, delight and wonder…of rest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A teacher I had recently
told a story about an experience he had with his grandson that illustrates how
wonderful pure, simple rest can be. He was visiting his family in Central
America and they were at a small, local grocery store. His grandson, who was
about three, said: “Grandpa! Come here!” The boy led his grandpa to the back of
the store where there was a pastry counter. He wanted the largest chocolate
donut you have ever seen, so…Grandpa bought it. By the time they left the
store, the boy’s face and shirt front were covered in chocolate frosting but he
still had a lot of donut to eat. As they walked towards home, the boy kept
eating his donut but they had to be careful because the sidewalk was very
narrow and there were cars whizzing by on a narrow street to their left with a
high wall towering up on their right. At a certain point, the wall lowered, so the
boy could sit down on it just to keep enjoying his donut. Grandpa noticed the
boy had stopped, so he turned back to catch him up. And as he approached his
grandson, the little boy just gave his Grandpa a look—and motioned (without a
word) for him to sit down. And there they sat silently, just doing nothing, just
enjoying being with each other, delighting in the moment. As the boy’s grandpa
told that story to us, he explained: “That’s why I think of God as a
three-year-old boy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think the grandfather in that story is onto
something: God really could be a child, inviting us to be a child, too. I love
how Ann Lamott puts it in her book <i>Bird by Bird</i>: “Try walking around
with a child who’s going, ‘Wow, wow! Look at that dirty dog! Look at that
burned-down house! Look at that red sky!’ And the child points and you look and
you see, and you start going, ‘Wow! Look at that huge crazy hedge! Look at that
teeny tiny little baby! Look at the scary dark cloud!’ I think this is how we
are supposed to be in the world—present and in awe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is it any wonder Jesus
said that we must “change and become like little children” if we are to live in
God’s kingdom? (Mt. 18:3) To delight in God is just to play like God plays, to
enjoy God and the world God has made, to rest, to stop long enough to notice, to
take ourselves lightly, to just be fully present to others, to honor moments of
silent wonder, to get your body into it…kneeling, savoring, listening,
embracing, and singing. Play puts us together, within and without. In play and
delight we lay down our compulsion to control and consume; we lay down our own
agenda…and just rest. Since we cannot achieve the end of happiness without
delight, let us practice it with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> from
<i>The Gift of Wonder</i> (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2019), 4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Ibid., 4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Thomas Aquinas. <i>Summa of the Summa</i> (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1990), 349.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Peter Kreeft. <i>Summa of the Summa</i> (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990),
350.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Thomas Aquinas. <i>Summa of the Summa</i> (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1990), 382.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Peter Kreeft. <i>Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing</i> (San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 1989), 125.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Eugene Peterson. <i>Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places</i> (Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans, 2008), 36.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Ellen Charry. <i>God and the Art of Happiness</i> (Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans, 2010), 275.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Ibid., 275-276.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Ibid., 276.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Jürgen
Moltmann. <i>Theology of Play, </i>trans. Reinhard Ulrich (New York: Harper
& Row, 1972), 8-9.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Eugene Peterson. <i>Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places</i> (Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans, 2008), 109.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/Delighting%20in%20God%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Quoting
a rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel writes “…sanctification is the Hebrew word for
marriage.” And: “The Hebrew word <i>le-kadesh</i>, to sanctify, means…to
consecrate a woman, to betroth.” See Heschel. <i>The Sabbath</i> (New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), 55, 51-52.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-68503523975603325082019-08-29T14:37:00.000-05:002019-08-30T03:17:05.357-05:00A God Who Delights<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
God Who Delights<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by
Troy Cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I invite you to think of
someone you like a lot, the kind of person that lifts your spirit whenever you
are around them. Try to think of just what it is you like about them and
describe the qualities you admire with specific words or phrases. Maybe you’d
like to give thanks for the gift of that person in your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now consider this: the
way you think about that person is the way God thinks about you. <i>God
delights in you. In fact, God is full of delight for the whole world.</i> That,
quite simply, is all I want to look at in this essay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God is not a killjoy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For the better part of my life I didn’t think of God
as someone who is full of delight. At various times I have thought of God as a
standard of perfection to which I could never measure up, a God who could only
be pleased with me if I performed well for him and others. I’ve gone through
seasons where it seemed I could never stop committing a certain sin and at
different points I was sure I had reached the limit where God would say, “Okay,
that’s it. I’m done with you. You’re hopeless.” I imagined that if I ever saw God
face to face, he would want to know why it is that I can come up with lots of
good ideas but never complete any of them. This God is the God of regret, a God
defined by all my lost chances and failed tests. This is the killjoy God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But this is not the kind
of God the Bible describes. The God of the Bible is a God whose mercies are new
every morning. This God never says, “I’m done with you.” This God says, “You’re
mine and I love you so much. I made you: I will never stop loving you.” This
God believes in you and sees good things in you (because this God is the one
who put those good things in you). This God loves you so much that he actually
likes you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That might sound like a
strange thing to say because we tend to think that loving someone is greater
than liking them, but when we apply that notion to God we end up with the
twisted thought that perhaps God has found a way to love us without actually
liking us. We might quote the verse “God is love” but somewhere inside us there
is a disconnect between the love of God and the delight of God. Yes, God loves
us—but is it possible, could it be…that God delights in us so much he actually
likes us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The prospect of this is so
wonderful that I encourage you to spend an entire month letting that simple
truth sink into your heart, mind and body. <i>Because God loves, God delights</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This truth is brought out
beautifully by a key verse I encourage you to meditate on over and over again.
It’s from Zephaniah 3:17 where it says, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The Lord your God is
with you, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the Mighty Warrior who
saves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He will take great
delight in you; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in his love he will no
longer rebuke you, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">but will rejoice over you
with singing.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just soak that in now. If
there was ever a doubt that God delights in you, this verse lays that doubt to
rest: “he will take great delight in you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In my study of that text
this week, I looked at the word delight and discovered that there are several
words in Hebrew that can be translated as delight. It’s as if God’s delight is
like a diamond with many faces. Turning the diamond to see a different side
brings out different colors, each one fascinating to behold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this verse, a certain
variety of delight holds center stage. Notice that the verse is formed by five
lines. The latter three lines form their own triplet. In this case, some Hebrew
scholars render the last three lines like so: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“he will rejoice over you
with gladness;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">he will quiet you with
his love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">he will rejoice over you
with singing.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The phrase “he will take
great delight in you” conveys the image of God “rejoicing over you with
gladness.” I love that: God is joyful…filled with gladness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The set-up to this establishes
a situation of close, personal safety. It describes God as a Mighty One,
someone who is strong enough to save you from trouble. This “mighty one” is named
and located in the first phrase where it says: “Yahweh, your God, is in your
midst.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yahweh is God’s name, not
God’s title. The writer here is calling God by name and reminding us that Yahweh
is very close to us (in our midst) keeping us safe. Within this place of
intimate, personal safety, God freely rejoices over you with gladness (line 3)
and with singing (line 5). Thus, line 4 makes it clear: when we experience that
kind of love, that kind of delight, it quiets the uproar in our hearts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How we need that kind of
love today! This verse tells us quite simply that God is not a killjoy. He is
up-close and personal. He is safe. He sings gladly over you. He quiets you,
loves you, delights in you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God is not an It<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This verse also suggests to us another myth we need to
lay to rest about God and it is this: God is not an It. This poem speaks of God
in personal terms. You’ll notice that in this particular verse, the poem would
fall flat were it to speak of God in terms of an It: “it will take great
delight in you, it will quiet you with its love, it will rejoice over you with
singing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That kind of textual rendering
would sound kind of creepy, actually! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this instance, the
verbs happen to be in the third person masculine singular which indicates the
“he” pronoun: “<i>he</i> will take great delight in you, <i>he</i> will quiet
you...” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The emphasis, however, is
not on the “he” but on the <i>personal</i> nature of God. God is not an It, but
nor is God solely a “he.” Other texts dealing with the delight of God also
bring out the feminine personal aspect of God, speaking of God in terms of
“she” or “her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Look at Proverbs 8 for a
great example of this. In this text, God is very closely identified with Wisdom
who is portrayed as a woman. In fact, Wisdom is so closely associated with God in
this text that many interpreters feel it is like God talking about God's self
in the voice of a woman. In my study for this topic, I looked closely at this
text because it tells us in verses 30 and 31 that Wisdom is “filled with
delight.” In wanting to learn what kind of delight the text is describing, I
discovered other ways of translating how God talks about Herself here. And I
love this translation, which says: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"I was an artisan
with God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I was filled with delight
day after day, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">playing, laughing always
in God's presence, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">playing, laughing,
enjoying the whole world, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">delighting in all
humanity."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One popular translation
of the Hebrew text renders “playing, laughing” as “rejoicing” but really the
idea of delight here is one of playing and laughing. Additionally, the phrase
“I was constantly at his side” could be translated literally as “I was an
artisan.” Taken together, this text encourages us to <i>think of God as a
laughing, playful painter or sculptor who happens to be a woman</i>—which is
very different than how we normally think of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another delightful
feminine image of God draws a parallel between God and the city of God’s
people, Jerusalem—the “City of Peace.” In Isaiah 66:12-13, God and this city of
peace are closely identified when God says, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I will extend peace to
her like a river, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and the wealth of nations
like a flooding stream; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">you will nurse and be
carried on her arm <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and dandled on her knees.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a mother comforts her
child, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">so will I comfort you;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and you will be comforted
over Jerusalem.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I love how the text
surprises us here. In the first part, it sounds like God is describing
Jerusalem as a mother but then in the last three lines Jerusalem is equated with <i>God’s</i>
motherhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Though this picture of a
city of peace has a literal counterpart in the land of Israel, it also
expresses a desire of God’s to see every city, including ours, to become a
place of peace. Notice that, for that to happen, God plays the role of mother,
nursing us, carrying us on her arm, playing with us like a mother playing with
her toddler on her knees. It’s a picture of comfort, of being nourished by
God’s delight, carried by her and enjoying her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think it’s simply wonderful
how this text portrays God as delighting in <i>our city neighborhoods</i>. When
we think of the city we often think of all the problems that need to be fixed,
but when God thinks of the city God doesn’t start with the problem, God starts
with delight. And God’s delight is our very peace. And God’s delight is <i>personal</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God is not Plato’s Unmoved Mover<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another myth we need to dispel about God is something
we’ve inherited from a long tradition of European philosophy. It comes from
Plato who described God as “the Unmoved Mover.” This God is distant and stoic,
unmoved by our plight. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Isaiah 38, we get
another image of God’s delight in the story of Hezekiah who was on the verge of
death. He cried out to God and, when he recovered, Hezekiah wrote a song to
thank God for answering his prayer. In verse 17 we get a beautiful picture of
another side of God’s delight, where Hezekiah writes: “In your love you kept me
from the pit of destruction…” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The imagery in Hebrew,
however, is even more vivid than this. It is a picture of <i>attachment</i>
where God actually <i>gets into the pit</i> with Hezekiah, who testifies: “You attached
to me, and loved my soul out of the pit.” It’s a picture of a God who not only
moves to restore life but who jumps right into the pit of hell to wrap his arms
around us and love us back to life. In this text, God’s delight is God’s
passionate, merciful attachment to us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This image of a leaping,
attaching, delighting God makes up the very center of the core story we use with
children at our church year after year. We start the story by saying that God
dances so hard he leaps right out of himself back into himself. We say that God
was so joyful, he leapt into our world in love. “And now,” we say, “God is
inviting you to dance with him.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Contrary to Plato’s
Unmoved Mover, the God of the Bible is not static…the God of the Bible is
ek-static, which means “out of oneself.” When you are in a state of ecstasy,
you have the sensation that you are having an out-of-body experience. It’s
transcendent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The philosopher Peter
Kreeft says that’s what joy is. It’s the state of leaping out of your own skin
into another and back again. When we talk about “falling in love” this is the
kind of thing we’re really talking about. It would probably be more accurate to
say we’re <i>drowning in joy</i>. All at once you feel nothing like yourself
and more like yourself than you ever have before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I love how Kreeft
describes this in the specific terms of Christian faith. He writes: “We leap to
God because he leaped to us in Christ, and God leaped to us because he is
eternally leaping within himself like a flea circus. The whole of reality is
ek-static leaping, a cosmic dance, God engaging in a wild acrobatic display
with humanity.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/A%20God%20Who%20Delights%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a picture of the
amazing love of God for each of us; it’s a love that’s immersed in an
inexhaustible ocean of joy, whose depths we could never completely plumb. In
Jesus, God leapt into who we are so we could leap into who he is. For us to
fully grasp the significance of this kind of love, I think that instead of
saying “God is love” we might do better to say, “God is always falling in love
with us.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God is beyond reason<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If we think of God this way, it will help us put in
place another common misconception we have about God, and it’s this: somehow we
have got it into our head that God always has to make sense to us. We equate
God to reason—and, though God is wise, wisdom is greater than reason. When we
equate God to reason, we end up trying to put God in a box.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The older I get the more
I am convinced that the only way we will be able to make sense of God is if we
stop trying to make sense of God all the time. If it is true that God is always
falling in love with us and longing for us to return those affections, it
follows that at various points in life we’ll be carried away by that love, even
irrationally so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God’s love and God’s ways
may be reasonable but they are not <i>merely</i> reasonable. God’s love, God’s
delight goes <i>beyond</i> reason. It’s because of God’s delight that we will
always encounter God as a mystery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Isaiah 11 we have a
vivid picture of God’s mystery where we read that “infants will play near the
hole of the cobra.” That image of play is an image of delight, but for Pete’s
sake…notice where the kid is playing! It’s like Isaiah was watching some movie
where the hero has a drug-induced hallucination and we see all kinds of weird
things like wolves sharing a house with lambs, cows feeding with bears, lions
eating straw and Indiana Jones as a toddler, laughing while sitting on a carpet
of snakes. It makes no sense! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thankfully, looking back
on the text now, we can make some sense of it, but even then its meaning still
defies all logic and reason. Today we know that in the advent of Jesus we witnessed
a child for whom Satan, the great serpent, was nothing more than a plaything. And
this is so not because Jesus became so great but rather because God became so
small, a child. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The delight of God
confounds how seriously Satan takes himself and how seriously we take
ourselves, too. God overcomes our desire for greatness by becoming a child who
delights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And therein lies the key if we are to comprehend even
the slightest fragment of this God who delights: we must become as God became;
we must become like a little child. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I love how G.K.
Chesterton relates God to childhood. He writes: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Because children have
abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they
want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the
grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are
not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to
exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to
the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic
necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy
separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that he has the
eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father
is younger than we.” -from <i>Orthodoxy</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It's true: we encounter the
Ancient of Days most fully when we encounter God as an eternal child, filled
with wonder and joy, delight and irrational (but truly free) love. We cannot
reason our way into the delight of God. The delight of God is a leap, it’s a
foolhardy attachment, it’s a continual falling in love with those of us who
haven’t the first clue how very, very, very much God loves us, how she sings
over us, dances his life away, nurses us, carries us, rescues us, and asks us
to come out and play. The invitation is to change and become like a child
because God is an eternal child. The invitation is to simply enjoy a God who
delights. Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Troy/Documents/Grace/Preaching%20and%20Teaching/summer%202019/A%20God%20Who%20Delights%20manuscript%20edited.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Peter Kreeft. <i>Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing</i> (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1989), 149.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
I invite you to <a href="http://www.playfull.org/2019/08/delighting-in-god.html" target="_blank">read part 2 of this series on delighting in God here</a>. </div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-8397713039842905682019-05-29T09:04:00.005-05:002019-05-29T09:10:47.552-05:00Faithfulness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0BFu3FiizimWCC4nNTbm-rTMx5ng1MOQ0gcVRSaxUDCYKtgk5ZuAlpWHscnQd_73hSeO8Ca0qhTCsnJ65SxHEgcxf6G43QgQ2ywgq7sdGy-iDCmHfFGiPuqu1pvfxYKqDNXABUdMN/s1600/ani-kolleshi-771887-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0BFu3FiizimWCC4nNTbm-rTMx5ng1MOQ0gcVRSaxUDCYKtgk5ZuAlpWHscnQd_73hSeO8Ca0qhTCsnJ65SxHEgcxf6G43QgQ2ywgq7sdGy-iDCmHfFGiPuqu1pvfxYKqDNXABUdMN/s400/ani-kolleshi-771887-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A little time this morning to be still, to be quiet and
listen again. An impression. There’s a word I don’t hear an awful lot in the
course of everyday life: faithfulness. And yet, anything that really matters,
anything that’s worth pursuing—cherishing—requires faithfulness. Faithfulness
is that strong, patient quality that enables you to keep going when the way
seems too long, when the body and mind become weary, when your emotional fuel
tank is running on fumes and you just feel like giving up. Faithfulness is what
gets you through it all. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Faithfulness has an irrational quality to it. The person who
remains faithful in the face of so much personal and circumstantial opposition often
seems crazy to others, even to oneself. Faithfulness feels risky.
Humility makes this possible; the faithful person keeps going despite what
others may think. They care not for something so contingent as reputation. To
be faithful is to stand on a rock in a world made of sand, to turn your face to
the wind that changes direction from day-to-day and would change you with it.
Paradoxically, this is how faithfulness changes you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The greatest things in life come to us by the way of
faithfulness: lasting relationships, reconciliation, societal change, personal
livelihood, mental innovation and material invention. It is certain that in all
these endeavors one will become weary, reach a crisis point, feel it is easier
to just turn back. Given that, faithfulness proves to be nothing short of an
everyday miracle hiding in plain sight. A tribute this morning, this day…to
faithfulness. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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……………………<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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faithfulness<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
by troy cady<o:p></o:p></div>
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.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
.<o:p></o:p></div>
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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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*Photo by Ani Kalleshi via Unsplash. Creative Commons license.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="58" data-original-width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you for reading. PlayFull is dedicated to helping people "play from the inside out." We invite you to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">like PlayFull on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a>.</div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-63788045611361131652019-05-27T08:58:00.003-05:002019-05-27T08:58:22.935-05:00Memorial Day<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a day to remember<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when, in childhood,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">guns were made of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">thumbs and index fingers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and nothing more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when the neighbor I shot<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">got back up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when the game was over<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a day to remember<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">how, growing up,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I learned to control<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to fight for the upper hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">for something more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">how my neighbor became my enemy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">how I pushed them down<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">how love became a word game<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a day to remember<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">why, in the days to come,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">hope will have the final say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a world open-handed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">hand-in-hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and so much more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to savor mysteries like<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when love had its last supper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">but still nourishes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">how love reconciles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">why love plays and is playful<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">why life is more than just a game<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…………………………<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">memorial
day<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by
troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-25405656091694550962019-05-25T06:39:00.003-05:002019-05-25T09:02:18.066-05:00love, play and childhood<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmD1Nu0NqS2lkVgu-YZKdAyNLmnudPICwdhKaAt3UjkvetboTz5JieMiIDxVa1IVATzPlOxp8UG9U5CcoCr8W5-xRvaY6cSxzGwohivcyDzK1OWEtFmcN8e5TpoWI1yoj0OqkpMfZ/s1600/blake-barlow-1499548-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmD1Nu0NqS2lkVgu-YZKdAyNLmnudPICwdhKaAt3UjkvetboTz5JieMiIDxVa1IVATzPlOxp8UG9U5CcoCr8W5-xRvaY6cSxzGwohivcyDzK1OWEtFmcN8e5TpoWI1yoj0OqkpMfZ/s400/blake-barlow-1499548-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Blake Barlow via Unsplash. Creative Commons license</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A life of significance is not found in what you accomplish,
but in who you love. This is what children teach me. Never have I met a child
who wants to have an account of my importance according to my resum<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span>.
Sadly, however, I have met some children who have been trained by accomplishment-driven
adults to become accomplishment-driven themselves. I can see it in their eyes:
the desire to please, to be regarded as special.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nothing is more welcome to a child than to enjoy the
presence of someone who wants to be with them not because of what they can do
but just because of who they are. And the same is true for any person of any age.
How liberating it is to be loved by someone who asks not “What have you done?”
but rather asks in a pure, non-critical way, “How are you doing? Tell me
honestly. I’m listening.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is really why I am passionate about play. Nothing
communicates value quite like it for, in play, one is really saying: “I just
want to be with you. I’m not here to get something out of you or to make you
prove yourself to me. Let’s just enjoy being together.” Play makes space for
love. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
And this is how I think of God. Play makes space for God, because God makes space for love. And this is why I see God most clearly in
children, and in people of any age who are well-practiced at living as a child-at-heart.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…………….<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="58" data-original-width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you for reading. We invite you to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">like PlayFull on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a>. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-49869715781272258152019-03-29T15:43:00.000-05:002019-03-29T15:43:21.978-05:00when words fail<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">only so much <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a word can do<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I cannot take adequate notes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of these musical notes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">straining, stretched out,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">like Christ on the cross,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">resolved to be unresolved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">words cannot be wet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">like sweat,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">cannot run to get help,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">cannot dwell with you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">like Jesus at the well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when you feel like hell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I find words unequal <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to grief,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">they fall short<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when I need relief,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the peace and quiet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of silent wonder,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">an embrace,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a wry smile<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and the graze of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">her warm fingers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">on my cold wrist,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the rising emotion <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">behind the quickening pulse,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">hopscotch and crooked chalk lines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">on the sidewalk,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the roar and press of a crowd,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">winter’s brittle stalks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">slender and snapping,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the old stone bench<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">across the way, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">carved by rain,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">backless and crooked,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the soul beloved,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">trackless, knocked off-level<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by childlike joy and sacred laughter,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the thick presence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of wild reverence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">words could never match<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the substance of <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">all life’s worth,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">expressed in the fullness of silence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">from which these words spring<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and to which they gladly return<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…………….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">when words fail<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-73351864057292366452019-03-14T06:47:00.000-05:002019-03-14T06:52:18.988-05:00Living Hospitably<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSficr4VlslwJ152D-V9KUCRK_inJGpMtzg8YYF_Uy1GPF5nncY6blOOz47rmI3E4P-6PFpPxCOf0qzFFyWIxVeUY-HoOrGHxO3mFl1eI56nxf3vRKXyJC136aPEAYkMb7hqFql4O/s1600/priscilla-du-preez-234138-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSficr4VlslwJ152D-V9KUCRK_inJGpMtzg8YYF_Uy1GPF5nncY6blOOz47rmI3E4P-6PFpPxCOf0qzFFyWIxVeUY-HoOrGHxO3mFl1eI56nxf3vRKXyJC136aPEAYkMb7hqFql4O/s320/priscilla-du-preez-234138-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/nF8xhLMmg0c?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="background-color: whitesmoke; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; transition: color 0.2s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Priscilla Du Preez</a><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #111111; font-family: , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "san francisco" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "ubuntu" , "roboto" , "noto" , "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: nowrap;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/search/photos/making-friends?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="background-color: whitesmoke; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; transition: color 0.2s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Unsplash</a></td></tr>
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<b>Living Hospitably</b></div>
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<i>reflections by Troy Cady</i></div>
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Welcome can be so much more than a one-time, one-way event. It can become a perpetual openness to give and receive. Real welcome does not wait for the other to enter one’s space. A welcoming person moves outward towards another, curious, wanting to know the other. And the best welcomes are progressive. A kind word is a good beginning, but a listening ear, a happiness to waste time in the doorway of another’s space, and a willingness to be vulnerable…these are the postures that lead to fuller welcomes. Whether we realize it or not, every day is an invitation to extend welcome not only to strangers, but also to offer richer, deeper welcomes to those we already know.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="58" data-original-width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" /></a></div>
PlayFull's mission is "to help people play from the inside out." We believe playfulness is more mindset than method. To tap into more encouraging thoughts like these, we invite you to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">like us on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a>. Thank you for reading!</div>
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Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-39343950199129858922019-03-08T15:13:00.002-06:002019-03-08T15:13:20.924-06:00i think i should know you<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i feel like i should know you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Remind me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Was that you i saw<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">working harder for <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a smaller reward?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i might have been there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">that morning <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">after the night-beating;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">you were drinking black coffee,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">circling job leads<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in the paper’s classifieds,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">willing to take any job you could get.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Surely a person of such <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">strength and enduring dignity,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a person such as yourself,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i could not forget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i think that was you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i saw carry on,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">disregarding those lewd words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Were you put in your place?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How you appear to have risen,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">still to rise much more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i think i heard <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">your (out)cry once. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i recognize your voice,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">but not as well as i would like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You bring a certain <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">unmatched intelligence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">that has been the subject<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of my negligence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i’m sorry; i think i should know you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i think i should know you by now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…………………………<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">i think i should know you<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by troy cady<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Merriweather",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">on International Women’s Day<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2594641778921191060.post-4595632778007376902019-02-20T11:32:00.000-06:002019-02-20T11:32:05.857-06:00Friendship<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvPrJf8gg16Q3rUxgJ_c0bM81sqXCiVYsOE2OV6hXuZL9OeqBJ2DyQYhG72e9Au9OJg9lFQNdw5N4vLML5uRn2Jon_ZCeamK1TU-96ZKKTABPu6guCbSdcorqXgARzZF0Nl37-7eU/s1600/aman-shrivastava-224529-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvPrJf8gg16Q3rUxgJ_c0bM81sqXCiVYsOE2OV6hXuZL9OeqBJ2DyQYhG72e9Au9OJg9lFQNdw5N4vLML5uRn2Jon_ZCeamK1TU-96ZKKTABPu6guCbSdcorqXgARzZF0Nl37-7eU/s640/aman-shrivastava-224529-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Good Old School Friends" by Aman Shrivastaya on Unsplash. Creative Commons.</td></tr>
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Friendship—what a gift! When you find a true friend, you find someone who will not judge you when you fail. A friend is someone who knows you well, someone who knows your little quirks, your strengths, your weaknesses, those moments you’ve risen to life’s challenges and those other times when you’ve felt so dog-tired you’ve only felt like saying, “Whatever; I don’t really care.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you haven’t connected with a friend like that in a while, we invite you today to reach out to them, just to let them know how much they mean to you. Do it today for you never know what tomorrow holds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="58" data-original-width="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3toquVo10p2AdaJgaSV7YAPj7MSpJ_c-5lTaKNF8rQKC_1qos1AHBX6hqenU0yTqlc0mu6xqAc1CmIaePCfWKcTxznRPbRymbOBMAn7k1cfUrD_ya9R4O1RLo2UTqE5iLY7_e74QL/s1600/playfull+80px.jpg" /></a></div>
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PlayFull exists to help people "play from the inside out." We invite you to <a href="https://facebook.com/playfull.org" target="_blank">like us on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayFulltweets" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a>. Thank you for reading! </div>
Troy Cady-PlayFullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995390866713012555noreply@blogger.com0