Turning

Hello Sojourners,

I chose the focus word for this month's journey, turning when the words to the Shaker Hymn, Tis a Gift to be Simple were recently an earworm.

While walking and talking with my friend we had to mind smoke from Canadian wild fires.

A friend and I attended a funeral together and found ourselves discussing church afterward. Each of us has fallen out of the habit of regular face-to-face worship since the pandemic. Our children are adults and the responsibility of exposing them to weekly attendance has lessened. The truth is, I’ve come to enjoy church online. 

In fact, I love it. During online church, I either fold laundry or do very simple paper-crafting.  I don't fall asleep. I don't get distracted by others...I listen, pray, and reflect.

The thing is, I've always believed or been taught to believe that church is the community of the faithful. This includes relationships between church members.

My friend feels similarly. We talked long about this. We never reached any conclusions. But, it felt good to talk about this. She understands my awkward way of spinning out details and questions that make up my thinking on any topic. She doesn't necessarily want to fix the situation or give an answer. She walks with me through it and understands that I'm discerning. I know at some time in the future, she'll circle back to the topic to see if I've any new thoughts. I love this about my friend--gentle accountability.

Maybe because of the church talk, I found myself humming the tune to, 'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free...' Indeed, I felt freer after talking things out with my friend. When I couldn't remember more of the lyrics, I searched Google, and in true Linda fashion fell down a rabbit hole of interesting details about the religious sect.

As it turns out, ex-Shakers in the 1800s possibly shared this tune with the public when performing Shaker songs and dancing. There was money to be made from curiosity about this group back then. The tune was then picked up much later by Aaron Copeland to score Martha Graham's famous ballet, Appalachian Spring. 

    'To turn, turn will be our delight
    'til by turning, turning we come round right.'

This is when I understood -- my discerning process is what my spirit needs to do right now. And, I decided 'turning' would be the focus word for this month's SJT. 

Turning is natural, turning is OK. I'm not going to give up or run away to join the Shakers (they are no longer in existence). I'm going to let go of the worry about what is right and just be right by practicing what I've learned. 

This, of course, will include some face-to-face church time when I’m ready and it's right. It will also include online time. I’m fortunate this is possible for me. I'm also fortunate that my girlfriend walked and talked with me on our spiritual journey. 

What are your thoughts this month?