Dear Family and Friends,
Our theme for this month is Play, and as Spirit would have it, that theme is personally one of my favorites. My tendency has been to work hard and play harder in the past. Since becoming a minister, things have changed somewhat because my vision is to become a more full expression of Spirit.
Being at Play certainly allows me to move into that vision as much and, in many cases, more than work. Honestly, work and Play can look very similar from my vantage point these days. To be honest, one of my favorite things to do in life is to go out and hear live music performed. As you have probably guessed, Patty is one of my favorites as far as vocalists are concerned. So it was never a question about how enjoyable an evening of music would be.
Patty was absolutely at her best, and Dave played extraordinarily and arranged all of the songs that were shared. It is no surprise that Patty and Dave were phenomenal, so my playtime was worth every minute as I already knew before saying, “Yes .” I want to talk about that which was the extra added bonuses that came with my decision to go out and Play on a Saturday night the day before our annual meeting.
That is the fact that 35 of our members decided to go out and see our beloved Patty and Dave perform from this different stage. Of course, we all think that we have an idea of how people feel about us, but on the occasion that we do, it can be a powerfully humbling and enlightening experience. On another note (haha), those of us who were in attendance for the concert were surprised by the gift of our tickets to the show and dinner being paid for by our beloved Raven. She was quiet about it and left prior to the end of the concert, so none of us knew who gave us this wonderful gift of Playing with one another.
Raven is so generous, loving, and such an amazingly brilliant light. Although we have not had the pleasure of seeing her on Sundays lately, she always keeps in touch, keeps up with her tithes, and does her spiritual work.
She did not want to be “outed”; however, I received permission from her based upon my saying that her gift might encourage others to practice generosity with friends and family. Her words of wisdom were precisely this, “You can tell them that I said it all comes from God to me and through me to those that need and deserve it, and I am highly blessed, and I want to bless those I love.”
Thank you, Raven, for being the reminder of how it works. Thank you, community, for showing up in love for those you love, and thank you, Patty and Dave, for sharing your gifts and talents and inviting us all to play. It is amazing to think that all of this came from a couple of hours of taking time out to celebrate the gift of life and love.
I celebrate and love our community, and there will be many more opportunities that we will take to be INJOY together.