There’s a word that appears frequently in the New Testament, metanoia, which is often translated as “repentance,” but a fuller meaning implies a decision to turn around, to face a new direction.

I love the calm feeling that cascades over me whenever I walk into a church and can't wait for the mental clarity that will come from reentering St. John's. While I look forward to those days ahead, I know right now amid challenging times – I am not alone. I am very purposefully turning to God, love, and light. It turns out that is the actual antidote to any kryptonite.

God meets us with love at every turn and invites our partnership. Surrounded and strengthened by such compassion, may you and I be empowered to orient ourselves in the ways God is calling

Healing happens when we name what we are experiencing, lean into discomfort and accept and surrender to our current realities. In order to heal as we our experiencing collective grief in our world, we have to make ourselves vulnerable to one another, leaning into God who stands with us in the middle of the chaos.

I don’t think it matters so much where you find your healing as much as that it’s important to slow down and take the time to look for it. 

Daily I come back to those two verses from Psalm 139 and take solace in those words with which I can identify. Yes, there are things happening that make me uncomfortable but I can rely on God to hold me fast and see me through to calmer waters.

I know without a doubt, that God has carried my children and I these past few years and I know that our journey to HEAL is ongoing, but we will be guided with God’s help.

I thank God for the beauty of his creation. I feel closest to Him when I'm in nature, observing the colors of His paintbrush. When my friend posted a photograph of this beautiful sunset I could sense the quiet and peacefulness of the scene. I just had to paint it using my brushes. I pray that you will hear God's voice as you look at this scene.

My challenge is how do I live with this as a follower of this Jesus; certainly not with platitudes and preaching. Rather, it’s more like face to face, conversation, listening and reexamination of my prerogatives and all that tough stuff.

In a time of great fear, uncertainty and sadness, as many of us were reassessing our priorities and developing a new appreciation for our relationships, [this poem] suggested a vision of what could be and perhaps even a finer understanding of what abundant life really means.

OverwhelmingIy I find hope in the the truth honesty and resilience of many people that I know and have had the good fortune to walk along side.

Now that there are fewer distractions—fewer cars, planes, public events—we have the solitude to hear the unspoken palpitations which always hover around us. We can listen to our hearts and hear other hearts beating. So too does God always call out to us, to reach for us.