I am back to church in full-swing and look forward to seeing you on Sunday for our Ingathering Service! Please bring water for our Water Communion ritual.
As we are now well into the transition back to church, school, and many other things… I wonder how it is with your spirit? Every year I anticipate this new beginning and have many ideas for ways I will be different. As author Kate Bowler said on a podcast recently, though, “I usually just end up going into the year more sun damaged and with more unread emails.”
A Minister can dream! There are two projects I spent time on this summer, though, that taught me a lot about change. Perhaps you will resonate with their lessons as much as I have.
The first project was learning how to run. As a former competitive skier and now recreational runner, I have cycled through many injuries over the years. One pesky lower leg injury, though, has visited me on and off for the last decade and a half. This spring, I’d had enough of the pain. Many tests and a thorough analysis of my running gate later came the results. In kinder words, my physical therapist said “nothing’s wrong, you just have terrible form.”
It turns out most runners have bad form. Who knew?! And most bodies can manage it without serious injuries or pain. But not mine. So began the long, slow process of retraining my body to move in a completely new way. Re-learning how to do something I’ve been doing almost as long as I’ve been alive turns out to be REALLY HARD. In the early summer, my post-run brain was more exhausted than my legs. It’s getting easier. But increasing distance and intensity can only happen as quickly as my body can adapt, so the timeline is set by my legs and not my desires. The only way to the other side is consistency, patience, and follow through.
The second project was training my dog. I rescued Artie (pictured above in a “Good Sit”) just 6 months ago. He was well behaved, but didn’t really listen. Some of you also might remember that he was very timid and sometimes barked when approached. Was he too old to learn new tricks?
After just one session with the trainer, my lightbulb moment came: OH… We aren’t training the dog… we’re training ME! Just like my legs… I have to re-learn how to be in relationship with my dog so that I am consistent, clear, well-boundaried, and predictable. I have to pay attention in order to follow through with redirection and rewards.
Run with proper form = no pain. Follow through with dog training = desired behavior.
Change is hard and possible. When I feel the wind on my face running through my neighborhood, or watch Artie gallop across a field to me when I call his name (which happens some
When have you experienced the power of consistency, patience, and follow-through when making a change in your own life? Do you have patterns or shifts in being from the summer that you want to bring with you into the fall? What will support this time of transition?
If you return with a sunburn, an overflowing inbox, and no desire to work on a new habit, that’s cool too. You’re in good company, I promise. I am so glad to be back among you as we embrace this new beginning.
See you in church,
Rev. Tara