{"id":792,"date":"2019-07-15T11:45:56","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T16:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/?p=792"},"modified":"2019-07-15T12:02:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T17:02:24","slug":"who-is-my-neighbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/15\/who-is-my-neighbor\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is my Neighbor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I attended church this weekend for the first time in a long time.\u00a0 As a Spiritual Director and companion to others on their faith journey, that may surprise you.\u00a0 While my reason for not going to church and then going back isn\u2019t important to the story, I think the simplest explanation for my sabbatical is that God has been challenging me to grow in ways that no longer fit what I was learning and experiencing. \u00a0The God of my understanding was showing me I had made her too small and too timid.\u00a0 It was time to trust and embrace the transformation that continues to challenge and stretch me, and at the same time gives me a sense of peace.<\/p>\n

The Custer Community Church congregation is small and very, very welcoming.\u00a0 Before the service I had already been greeted by more people than whose names I can remember.\u00a0 An accomplished organist played traditional hymns as everyone gathered.\u00a0 After a few announcements, Pastor Dustin invited us into a time of guided examen.\u00a0 We paused and reflected on the past week, our blessings and shortcomings, and our hopes for the upcoming week.\u00a0 How has God been present and real to us and where might he be calling us to in the next seven days ahead?\u00a0 Another family in the congregation shared their gift of music, playing guitars, a banjo and harmonica, with a trio leading the singing. \u00a0I loved it!!\u00a0 While all this is great, the real core of the service lay in the message and what happened afterwards.<\/p>\n

Pastor Dustin read from Luke 10:25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.\u00a0 We\u2019ve probably all heard this text many times.\u00a0 You know, the robbers who came upon a man walking alone on the road.\u00a0 How they stripped him of his belongings, beat him and left him to die.\u00a0 The priest and the Levite who see him lying there and pass by on the other side of the road. \u00a0Why didn\u2019t either of them stop?\u00a0 Did fear hold them back? Were they thinking, \u201cIf I stop to help what could happen to me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then a Samaritan comes along. \u00a0Seemingly, without hesitation, he cleans and bandages the wounds of the injured man, gives him a ride into town, to an inn, where he pays for the beaten man\u2019s care until he is well.\u00a0 Why did the Samaritan stop?\u00a0 Was he not afraid?\u00a0 My guess is he was just as scared.\u00a0 But rather than letting fear hold him back, he asked himself, \u201cIf I don\u2019t stop, what will happen to him?\u201d \u00a0Yes\u2026what will happen to him?<\/p>\n

After the sermon, as a congregation, walked across the aisle and stretched across the pews until we were all holding hands…and prayed together and sang together.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t something that was done just this week\u2026but every week.\u00a0 The message and the action were clear and consistent.\u00a0 \u00a0Then we gathered in the basement fellowship hall for coffee and conversation.\u00a0 Everyone came and everyone had someone to sit with and talk to.\u00a0 Everyone was welcome.<\/p>\n

In light of today\u2019s discordant tensions worldwide, this message was significant to me. \u00a0Prior to Sunday, God has been continually exposing me to situations that remind me I am called to love in action.\u00a0 No. Matter. What.\u00a0 Yes, we \u201cknow\u201d we are supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves.\u00a0 But what are we living out?\u00a0 How are we \u201cacting\u201d out love?\u00a0 And is our love action conditional?\u00a0 Or do we accept that we are broken and wounded and in need of love and mercy and grace, and so is everyone else?\u00a0 Just some things to think about as you begin a new week.\u00a0 Make it a good one and…..<\/p>\n

Journey Well,<\/p>\n

Mary<\/p>\n

If this resonates with you and you\u2019d like to explore more, check out my website<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>F<\/em>B page<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and give me a call.\u00a0 I am available in-person and via video teleconference in the Rapid City, Custer, and Sioux Falls communities.\u00a0 Thank you for checking in.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I attended church this weekend for the first time in a long time.\u00a0 As a Spiritual Director and companion to others on their faith journey, that may surprise you.\u00a0 While my reason for not going to church and then going back isn\u2019t important to the story, I think the simplest explanation for my sabbatical is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"post-with-thumbnail","10":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":799,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions\/799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/journeyguideservices.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}