Have you been waiting for change? And what are your thoughts on waiting? Perhaps you think its a waste of time, a void, or counter-productive. What if waiting can be more than that? What if waiting is good for the heart and spirit? God designed our lives to have periods of waiting interspersed throughout. While most people live for the “big moments,” we can easily look down on the periods of silence, stillness, and in-between. If done correctly, waiting for change can profoundly change us while we’re waiting.
Death, Loss, and Grieving Well
Have you lost a loved one recently or still grieving the loss of someone from years ago? Then you may benefit from participating in our Death, Loss, and Grieving Well Seminar with counselor and therapist Adena Sarkian. Adena works at Adventist Health Glendale as a grief counselor leading bereavement groups of family members who lost loved ones or terminally ill patients. While many people tend to delay grief or ignore it, Adena will show us how grieving well can be healing for the soul.
Connections: Living with Regret
Everyone has some varying degrees of regret in their lives, that is everyone who is relatively healthy and able to self-reflect. If you’re honest with yourself, you probably have your fair share or regrets too. But is there such a thing as healthy or unhealthy regret? Interestingly, the Bible has much to teach us on this topic. As long as we’re able to distinguish between healthy/unhealthy regret, able to self-reflect, and process our regrets well, we need not be afraid of regret; rather, we can embrace it has a part of life and a welcome teacher.
Connections: Keeping It Real
”Keeping it real” means something different for different people. For some, it means being brutally honest despite hurt feelings and damaged reputations. For others, it means being true to yourself regardless of how it affects those around them. But have you ever wondered what the downside might be to “keeping it real?” And what about self-awareness. How can one “keep it real” if they’re not very self-aware?
Connections: Exiled & Embraced
In this time of “cancel culture,” it feels like almost anything you say, do, or stand for can get you excluded. Unfortunately, it’s no different in many American churches. “If you’re a Christian, you have to vote for . . .” “If you’re not an affirming church, you’re a bigoted church.”
While it is the Church that’s supposed to be changing and shaping culture, it seems as though the Church has become a mirror image of culture; acting and behaving just as antagonistic as the rest of the world. In many ways, the Church needs to be the most exclusive AND inclusive organization the world has ever seen. The Church is the most exclusive organization in the world because we believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. On the other-hand, the Church is the most inclusive organization in the world because we believe everyone should “come as they are” and the hospitality is extended to all. Jesus was rejected, despised, and canceled by the world; but Jesus needed to go through that horrific experience in order to have all of us feel embraced by God’s love.
Connections: The Good Fight
What makes you want to fight? As human beings, we have an inherent primitive instinct to fight when we feel threatened. Perhaps this helps explain why many people have been so belligerent and combative the past two years because we have all been in survival mode. It seems as if we have seen the worst of humanity lately ranging in everything from racially charged murders to attack on the capitol. What people rarely talk about is also the best of humanity that has been displayed; millions have American citizens have rallied together in protest of racial injustice; people have donated more to charities on Giving Tuesday 2021 than ever before; and 80% of Californians have gotten the Covid vaccine, which is higher than we’ve ever seen for the influenza vaccine. This tells us that everyone has varying degrees of “fight” in them; they will either fight a “good fight” or a bad one.
Perspective on Failure
What are your thoughts and reflections on failure? Most people typically think in one of two ways: failure is something we try to forget or failure is something we are ashamed of. Rarely will people embrace failure as a way of life. Yet, that’s exactly how are to approach failure if we want to grow spiritually. In Western culture, we often think dualistically: “success is good; failures is bad.” But the two are inseparable from one another. They are two sides of the same coin.
Perspective on Growth
What does spiritual growth look like? Is it up and to the right? Or is it more complex than that?
Many people of faith take cues from the world around us to help explain spiritual maturity. But those metaphors are not always the most helpful because the kingdom of God doesn’t operate like the kingdom of the world. The kingdom of the world rewards the proud and punishes the humble. The kingdom of the world uplifts the bold and cuts down the meek. Maybe spiritual growth is not up and to the right. Maybe spiritual growth is not even linear at all.