Bruce Epperly

This morning on my walk I encountered two adult and two young deer. Not wanting to disturb their breakfast, I stopped in my tracks and simply watched, feeling a kinship with my nonhuman neighbors.

Letting go can be painful. But what horizons beckon you forward? What physical or spiritual decluttering is necessary for you to embrace new possibilities?

The late United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold prayed, “For all that has been: Thanks! For all that shall be: Yes!” It is an expression of gratitude in spite of life’s challenges.

Celtic Christians spoke of “thin places” as locations where heaven and earth meet. While certain places may be set apart as revealing God, all places reflect God’s presence.

In writing about a South African Women’s March for Freedom during the era of apartheid, poet June Jordan concludes a poem with the affirmation, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

While I am often goal-directed, I try to do something each day that neither toils nor spins, that doesn’t accomplish anything, that is simply joyful and fun. I believe God wants us to enjoy.

As I begin the first months of retirement, I ask myself regularly, “What’s next?” What great thing will God ask of me? In what cause will I be called to invest my time, talent, and treasure?