Scripture: Exodus 40:36-38
Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.
Thought for the Day: Most folks have heard of ‘the grief process’ – the Five Stages of Grief originally proposed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Kubler-Ross suggested the five stages as:
1. Denial/Isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Though Kubler-Ross never intended for this to be a linear experience where we spend 2 weeks in each stage, completing them and our grief in 2 1/2 months.
Meghan O’Rourke, a young author and poet, wrote about her own experience:
I wasn’t prepared for the fact that grief is so unpredictable. It wasn’t just sadness, and it wasn’t linear. Somehow I’d thought that the first days would be the worst and then it would get steadily better – like getting over the flu. That’s not how it was.
People skip stages; others begin on stage 3 and jump to 1 and then hang out in 2 for a long time; some zip through the stages, claiming acceptance when they are in fact stuck on stage 1.
The Lord God desires to journey with us. In fact, God is journeying with us… but are we willing to listen to the Holy Guides whisper? Are we willing to be with God in the stage that God believes we need in this moment?
Prayer: Journey with me, O Holy Guide, for I desire to know your promise of wholeness. Allow me to see the importance of every step – knowing when to rest and when to move forward. Amen.
SUNDAY’S SERMON
AND DON’T FORGET
C4 WOMEN
Women’s Gathering
This Sunday – July 26
at 3 pm.
Theme:
Getting Ready
for a Road Trip
