Greetings my beloved friends,
I have been feeling the strong need to reach out and share a word of love, hope and encouragement - words that I need to hear for myself and maybe you do too.
A large part of what I do as a spiritual director is to help people find their
belly of the whale - a sacred space (safe from the storms) where they can pray, reconnect with God and regain the strength to go and be who God is calling them to be.
I feel like we are having a
collective belly of the whale moment. Through social distancing we are separating ourselves from the pandemic storm that swirls around us - thus creating safe spaces for ourselves and our communities.
While in the
belly of the whale we have a choice. We can choose to focus on the fears, anxieties and worries that threaten to drown us ... or we can take advantage of this time and space to pray, reconnect with God and regain the strength to be who God is calling us to be.
Being in the
belly of the whale isn't easy, in fact it can be a stinky mess! However, by the grace of God I believe we have the strength to face the challenging messes and claim the transformative opportunities of this moment. In so doing we will find a deep reconnection with God and a renewed compassion for one another.
To help us find spiritual renewal while in our
collective belly of the whale, I wanted to pass along a few resources that may help us connect more deeply with God and with one another...
- Spiritual Direction - You may be longing to speak with someone about your faith journey amidst all that is going on. It would be an honor to be your spiritual companion. I am feeling led to offer spiritual direction at no cost while our global community comes together to bring healing amidst the struggle. Email me and we can set up a Zoom video session. (Donations to help cover costs are accepted but in no way expected.)
- Transforming Social Distancing into Social Honoring - Sometimes God finds 4:00 am to be an especially good time to nudge words from my spirit onto the page. That is what happened when this blog post emerged from my heart last Friday morning. I shared it with my friend Deborah L. Plummer and she graciously agreed to share it on her blog, "Getting to We." Debbie does amazing racial reconciliation work and is an inspiration to me and so many.
My dear friends, be encouraged. God is still God. God's light is still shining. God still loves each and every one of us.
With strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Sharon
Sharon Seyfarth Garner
Director, Belly of the Whale Ministries
