Heading: Find Your Porch

NPR ran a piece this week based on extensive survey data on the serious health effects of stress. It comes as no great surprise that the survey found that stress is bad for your health, and that bad health causes stress. The story has all kinds of implications ranging from the ongoing deep problems in American health care to the continuing impacts of the Great Recession to the social costs of family health crises.

As I read the story , though, my thoughts drifted to other sources of stress in our lives. We live in a metro area that has raised stress almost to religious heights. If you're not stressed, so our local religion tells us, you're not among the chosen, or, at least, not among the important and valuable.

Summer provides a wonderful opportunity to practice Sabbath. We practice what we want to improve, and what we practice shapes how we live. Sabbath time is more than "refueling" for the life we already live. Sabbath carves time and space for reflecting on that life, and listening for the still, small voice of God nudging us toward ever more faithful ways of living.

I spent much of the past two weeks practicing Sabbath time - first, at the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina, and then on vacation in Chattanooga visiting family. The NC portion of the trip included time in a rather isolated and disconnected cabin where sitting in a rocker on the broad front porch reminded me of Barbara Brown Taylor's observation that, "in the eyes of the true God, the porch is an imperative."

My prayer for you this summer is that you "find your porch," and that you allow that space, time and practice to shape your life deeply.

Grace and peace,

David

PS: Justin is away this weekend. We'll be joined by a couple of young musicians by the names of Chadburn & Nichols. They just might have a future in this music biz!

From our friends at Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light: This summer, caring homeowners from a Northern Virginia church, synagogue, and mosque are coming together to form a solar purchasing group. If you've ever wanted to go solar at home, now is your chance to do so in good company!

How does it work?

Based on the same principle as buying in bulk, the group will go through the process of purchasing home solar systems together. Guided by the Community Power Network, which has successfully organized several such co-ops previously, the group will select a single contractor to install systems on all of the homes. Each participant will own their system and will sign their own contract with the chosen installer, but everyone will get the group discount. 

By going solar as a group, participants will save up to 30% off the cost of a solar electricity system, and will have the support of the co-op throughout the process instead of having to go it alone. This buying group is being sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), Temple Rodef Shalom, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, and welcomes any Northern Virginia homeowner to participate.

Join us for an information session to learn more:

* Wednesday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Rodef Shalom: 2100 Westmoreland St, Falls Church

* Sunday, July 20, at 6:00 p.m. at All-Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS): 46903 Sugarland Rd, Sterling

RSVP to Shahar Colt at [email protected]. 

For every member of the group to go solar at home, a donation will be made to Interfaith Power & Light, which helps congregations across the region respond to climate change, and to New Vision Renewable Energy, which helps Appalachian communities impacted by coal mining to shift to solar power.  

The 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) met last month in Detroit, and made historic decisions on marriage equality and on Middle East concerns. The Presbyterian News Service and the Office of the General Assembly have created a helpful guide to the work of the assembly available here.  

Each Sunday morning this summer, at about 9:40 (following the choir's morning rehearsal) in the sanctuary we're having a contemplative time of worshipful preparation for worship. The time includes some simple, meditative songs, readings and prayers, and will conclude a few minutes before the 10:00 chimes call the community to worship. All are welcome! (If you do not choose to join, we do ask that you keep conversations in the narthex.)

File this under "it's seems way down the road, but it's coming sooner than you think!"  

At its June meeting, session voted to call a special congregational meeting for Sunday, September 28, for two items of business:

• The election of elders to fill vacancies on session.
• A proposal to use endowment funds on sanctuary improvements.

Details on these proposals will be forthcoming following session's August meeting. In the meanwhile, if you feel called to serve on session the nominating committee would love to hear from you. Please contact elder Amber Hodgen, chair of the committee.

The nominating committee will meet this Sunday, July 13, following worship.