Sermon # 3

The sermon for today is called

“Never Alone”

If I were to add a Sub-title to this sermon, I would also call it: Dare to Dance!

Prayer of Illumination-- Silence all voices but thine own.

Let us hear your Word for us today: Amen.

They cut me down, and I leapt up high! I am the Life that will never, never die. I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me. I am the Lord of the Dance said he!
Dance then… wherever you may be.. I am the Lord of the Dance, said He. And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be, and I’ll lead you all in the dance said he.

From Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalk,” Classical Ballet, to square-dancing (which I actually got to learn in gym class of all places), the Macarena, DDR, and Step dance, we Americans are a people who enjoy dancing. Now, after hearing our Scriptures read this morning--- Psalms 23—which has a special place in the heart of many of our congregation members as the beloved Scripture of our member Ruthie Pond, who recently passed--- and John 14—( ….) you might be scratching your heads and wondering, rightly: What in the world do these scriptures have to say about Dance?…
And to top this all off, what do these Scriptures and DANCING then have to say about our featured stain glass window for today? For as some of you know, our sermon series the past number of weeks has focused on the church’s stain glass windows. Today, we will focus on this window . I want to encourage you to just take a moment and look carefully at the window and ponder---- What do you see there….

As I speak to you today, be challenged to hear what Word the Lord of the Dance would give you- not some other day—but this day.

I invite you all to contemplate and pray with me on this theme:
Even when life feels odd--- remember you’re loved by a Dancing God.

In other words, when we’re walking through the valley of the shadows, remember that our Triune God has our back; just as in the dance of love we see displayed in the Trinity relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—so the Holy Spirit will come and stir a dance in our hearts--- a dance of the soul, a dance of life—and for this reason, no matter the challenges, let us be bold--- Because God will never leave us alone. We will never be orphaned. Hence, if we live in God, God will live with us—just as the song I sang in opening expressed.


Well, I am a sucker for stories… and our stain glass window for today has a very interesting one. It was created in the memory of a woman named Sarah Hastings by her son. Doing research on this window, one uncovers these words, describing the life-filled spirit of this woman, Mrs. Hastings. She is described as:
“A moving spirit in the Church, a very intelligent and capable woman, who gave considerable financial assistance. One of the earliest members, connected from the start.”
Perhaps this phrase depicting Mrs. Hastings as a “moving spirit” strikes us— We imagine her fluttering through the congregation, like some kind of Energizer Bunny of skill and intelligence. And her memory causes us to imagine the beginnings of our church and the founding of any church community—The hope. The power. The passion. The possibility—all enmeshed and wrapped up in one little community’s devotion and faith in their living God.
The window offers another significant image. It depicts the human SOUL as the young woman we see in the frame--- hand-in-hand with Christ. Yes, the woman pictured in the window with Jesus is not Mary Magdalene or another female… but the woman represents the “human soul.”

The depiction of the soul as a woman might shock us at first—perhaps even particularly at the time when the window was first created. Perhaps, for some of us, it makes sense. But beyond the gender-element of the illustration, I want you to pay close attention to the illustration itself:

Here, the soul is depicted as being deeply CLOSE with Christ. Perhaps if one were to squint just so or merely use the imagination, we could imagine the image being that of the two figures, Christ & soul, just about to break into a dance.

The illustration of the SOUL in this window possesses a very special theological significance for us to contemplate: In the OT, the Hebrew word for soul is the word, nepes. It has a wide range of meanings but is primarily used to express the LIFE FORCE OF LIVING CREATURES. ‘Thus, [in Genesis 1:20-21 we read how] all the earth is full of ‘living creatures’ that have the ‘breath of life.’ [And] when God creates Adam, God breathes the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, and Adam becomes a ‘living being,’” a nepes, a SOUL. Far from referring simply to one part of a person, the ‘soul’ refers to the whole person… and in such places as 1 Kings 19:4 and Ezekiel 32:10, we see where the SOUL refers to a person’s very life itself. We see the way in which SOUL and LIFE refer to one another in our Psalm 23—Here the psalm is often translated: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul…

OR (this last section is also translated): He restores my LIFE.

In the NT, the word soul appears in significant places as well. In Mark 3:4, Jesus asks the synagogue authorities whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to ‘save life [or SOUL] or to kill.’ In the parable of the rich young fool in Luke 12:13-20, the ‘young man says to his soul that he has ample goods laid up for many years; Jesus then tells him: ‘This very night your soul (life force) is being demanded of you.’

If I desire to follow Christ, the decision has SOUL & LIFE SIGNIFICANCE


From these meanings of SOUL, there seems to be something in this window’s depiction about how closeness with God, with the 2nd person of the Trinity, God’s Son, gives life… Herein, we encounter or need meditate on Christ’s words to us in John 14 today: BECAUSE I LIVE, YOU ALSO WILL LIVE. See here how everything starts with God’s action. As Presbyterian Christians in the Reformed Tradition, we believe that God is the life-force, the source, the LOVING initiator that enabled our relationship in the first place. It is a willingness to let go of our hard-heartedness, our own prerogatives, and‡ living as our unique selves, as who God created us to be‡ dare to dive into living relationship with God.

Personally speaking, as I see this window too, my imagination is drawn to remember the spirituality course I recently took called Contemplative Listening. Here, as seminarians-in-training, we were encouraged to LEARN how to listen to another’s soul as well as listen to our own.

This matter of soul listening is crucial. When have you listened to another’s soul?!—Perhaps, taken a seat at your favorite café, and just looked at another human being, their whole self, in the eyes—and de-cluttering yourself from your usual preoccupations, dared to ask: HOW ARE YOU?! Perhaps you (could) sit down with someone at Jims and Tuckers and ask: How is God moving & active in your life?

When I think about a good soul listener, two people come to mind: My college chaplain, who would often take us to the local independent coffee shop for honest conversations. I remember most how his eyes would sparkle at times when he encouraged us to imagine how God was moving and, to quote one of his favorite phrases, being a life-giving source for us.

He would remind us that: Even when life feels odd--- remember you’re loved by a Dancing God—and challenged us to see where LIFE was. There was space to express our doubts, our fears, and our hopes. He would remind us, in the vein of Socrates’ well-known phrase, that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living,’ and encourage us to truly listen to our heart & mind, OUR SOUL, to be willing to risk asking the HARD QUESTIONS, and to love God, as the Scripture proclaims, with all our heart & Mind--- and hence SOUL…..Also in these conversations with my college chaplain, he would sometimes share from an appropriate, mutual place that made us feel like We’re Not Alone.

b) My Grandmother was another triumphant listener. I still remember how, when my Grandfather’s Alzheimer’s got very bad, her care-giving skills kicked in. She had this incredible way of attentiveness- of noticing when something little was off or wrong. When the dreadful time came where my Grandfather had to move into a health care center—and we all cried and she, in particular, felt greatly distressed—I will always remember how she spent her days there at the center, caring deeply for my Grandfather…. And then ALSO going and listening to the stories of the other patients there. She knew everyone by name. She would give them a head and listen to their stories. There was “Sea Daddy,”—the old Navy captain, Ted, Dan, Silvia… and my Grandmother loved all of them….

Reminding me of the Scripture, paraphrasing, if we know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our father in heaven take care of us?!

Here, time takes on a different pace—less studded by the pressures of the blackberry or the false belief that we can always be secure from dead, communication OPENED, masks dropped, and SOUL & LIFE LISTENING HAPPENED.


Hard NOW:

Things have been hard for us. Our congregation has seen a good amount of pain: people we love in the hospital and struggling with illness. We have many of us that are looking day in and out for work. We have leads and possibilities and then

Our businesses, our homes, and even our congregation is facing significant financial questions. In this vein and others, there might seem to be little to dance about.

YET—there are a few interesting things about dancing---
First, comes to mind for me—the image from high school dances, actually- or something from the 1980’s TV Show “Saved by the Bell”--- Here, the question remains: What- if I approach this person and ask them to dance, will they refuse or back away from the dance? THE AMAZING THING ABOUT OUR GOD IS, HOWEVER, IS THAT HE NEVER BACKS AWAY.

Another interesting thing about dancing is that it is ultimately something about CONNECTION & INTIMACY: I imagine the beautiful scene from the “King & I” where the lead characters sing, “Shall We Dance.” I imagine the gentle, rocking dance between a mother and her baby…. Or the first dance of a couple on their wedding day—danced to their special song. Dance is about CONNECTION & INTIMACY.


And so let us remember, even when life feels odd--- remember you’re loved by a Dancing God.

But you might be wondering: What is it that makes God a dancing God – and is there anything in our theology to support this idea? And I say YES and it starts with our understanding of the Trinity!

In a contemporary text of Reformed Theology, Daniel Migliore writes about the dance between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit called PERICHORERIS in our understanding of the Trinity. He says:

Perichoresis is a Greek word translated ‘mutual indwelling’ or ‘interpenetration.’ It was first used by the patristic theologians (or Church Fathers] to describe the mutual indwelling of the divine and human natures in Christ, the Incarnate Word. Then, in the eight century, John of Damascus” used the term to describe the unique communion of the God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity relationship. The three persons of the Trinity live in, with, and through each other in ineffable communion. (INDEX- Migliore) And you know one way that modern theologians enjoy depicting this communion—as something like a triangle dance (rather than square) where God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit live in harmony with each other—and therein, knowing relationship themselves, invite us to enter relationship with them, with our One God!

Friends, this is huge! It means simply that, like the woman-soul & Christ depicted in that window, God desires to be in relationship with us.

I was talking with a friend from another country the other day who is also in seminary, and he told me these words… words that I have been pondering in my heart deeply and so I share with you. He asked me: Is the United States of America going to end up like Europe—where our churches are empty and fading in significance because we no longer believe in God as an active, moving reality in our life—as God as more than just an idea that we can control for our own benefit but never truly engage with.

Although part of me grimaced at these words, I sensed within them a call—a call for all of us—to remember who and whose we are! To dare to… believe more and more fully again. We are all of us on a journey, and we are here together because we trust that God has something to say to us and that it is God who is at the helm of this ship.

Reading from the Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible the other day, one comes upon these words:

“Humanity can never interpret itself in terms of itself, but only in terms of God, its creator.” -- We are always related to God—and let us remember this orientation in all times and stages of our life—when we’re doing the innocent swirls of childhood, the enthusiastic dances of youth, the tango of middle age… and the opening broad waltz of age.


This section from John’s Gospel we read today is also known as “The Farewell Discourse.”

“The primary orientation of the Farewell Discourse is not to an event that preceded it, but to an event whose arrival is imminent—that is, Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension.” IT is from this trio-action of death, resurrection, and ascension that we have hope!

From John 14, we see that belief in Jesus empowers the community—and we learn that we are never alone—The first time that the Holy Spirit or Paraclete is mentioned. The Holy Spirit will be our Comforter, Counselor, Advocate to keep us in the dance of communion with our God.

And so, let us dance then—wherever we may be!

To love Jesus is to live with God the Creator and Jesus & the Holy Spirit—that is, to enter into relationship with them, to come home. (WORD)

And so, dance then—wherever we may be!
Even though I walk through the valley—I fear no evil..
For you, God, are with me!

The dancing of our congregation has taken us to many places: The Midway Shelter, baseball stadiums, bible study home meetings, at death beds and hospital beds where newborn babies are born.

And so, even when Life seems Odd, Remember that you are Loved by a Dancing God.
The God, who is our shepherd—who like a horse whisperer, communicates to us, the flock, in ways even stronger than what might first meet the eye—beyond our pain and disappointment. God is in the still, small voice. God the Holy Spirit is alive and working in the world! Will we enter the dance? By God’s grace, friends, we already have! Let us remember this! This is something to dance about!

Sermon # 2

Because it is sometimes nonsensical to start with # 1.

Well, these are definitely not the days to talk about houses…. Real estate, the bottom line, assets—these aren’t popular topics either…. but definitely not houses…. In fact, its associated word, that word economy has come to feel all the more and more ominous —like a one-word formula to define all the problems going on the world.—And you don’t need me to tell you this—We even hear it in conversation:: How is your cousin doing?! Well, you know, the economy. How are you feeling!? Well, you know, the economy. What do you think about the future?! Well … the economy.
According to the biblical account surrounding the life of King David, we have good right to imagine that the life of the people of Israel was likewise unstable and fraught with complications. As Biblical scholars are quick to note, these people of Israel were a small band often in competition with the peoples surrounding them… competing for land and resources. Perhaps we get a sense of this instability when we consider the emotion and pathos that must have birthed the Exodus narrative and imagine that tremendous, frightening escape out of the land of Egypt—and how, regardless of how one interprets it, the manna must have glittered like specks of gold across the horizon… As we move further through the pages of the Old Testament, we hear the resounding words of the prophets, who spoke with boldness & clarity, demanding an end to the unjust exporting practices of the rich few in their midst—likewise showcasing the instability of the world… And perhaps we discern the instability of life for these biblical witnesses even in the little bit of text that precedes this one in 2 Samuel: In the narrative that denotes the capriciousness of a God who would decide to bless King Saul and then drop him with the wink of an eye. Nonetheless, I know for myself that it doesn’t just take Economy talk to bring up the issue of instability—although that one usually does it. But too, I am moving into the last years of my degree program, and many days I literally feel like my future could take almost any form or bring me to any place. Instability--- yes, sometimes we feel like we are riding a rollercoaster…. Setting sail along the pendulum swing and we’re not sure where is up or down… Yet to imagine that God is likewise an inhabitant of this pendulum swing, of a seemingly topsy-turvy, out of control—kind of roller-coaster ride, may be --- as we’ll see as well in the case of King David--- unwise.
..Nonetheless, in today’s passage, it appears that things aren’t that bad or unstable for King David. In fact, we find striking language of settledness & seeming relaxation…. The Philistine attack is repulsed, the Ark is in Jerusalem, and King David is described as “settled in his house” and given “rest from all of his enemies.” You all know those long days when you wake up with the alarm clock, jerk out of bed, and then continue to surmount item after item, activity after activity, on your to-do list. But then you come home, your husband or wife or friend is no longer angry about your behavior a few days ago, the insurance company sends you a letter, realizing that they mistakingly over-charged you and so you have an extra cheque in your pocket; you begin to draw yourself a gentle warm bath, and then walk into your bedroom and someone has made up the bed for you---even put a chocolate on your pillow and arranged that comforter you like the most. Perhaps this description is stacked high, but my point, I think, is made: King David is comfortable and, no longer roaming the wilderness, fighting off aggressors, he is now living in a house of cedar--- those beautiful cedars of Lebanon. And so, as things are pretty good for him and … out of seemingly good intention, he imagines: Well, this is great for me—I bet that God would like this too… I know—I should build God a house!
There is something of mythic & theological significance in this move—This deciding to put the Ark of God in a house…
According to the OT, the two tablets of stone constituting the "testimony" or evidence of God's covenant with the people (i.e. The Ten Commandments) were kept within the Ark itself. A golden jar containing some of the manna from the Israelites' trek in the wilderness and the rod of Aaron were added to the contents of the Ark (According to Ex. 16:32-34; Heb. 9:4)…. . A Rabbinic tradition states that Moses also put the broken fragments of the first tablets of the Law into the Ark. And some scholars have argued that the plans to the Tabernacle were contained in the Ark.
But no matter the distinctions coming to us from tradition, the Ark was a symbol of sacredness and sanctity--- meant to depict the actual dwelling place of God. And hence, when King David suggests that the Ark be put in a house, the nuance of meaning we glean is this: That the Spirit of God can belong to one particular place and be kept there. But, as our 2 Samuel passage reveals, God, in true punster-form, offers King David, through the mouthpiece of Nathan, a different option: “No… I do not belong in a box! God says: “You will not make me a house…” But I will make you a house—the word in Hebrew is bayit--- and it can also refer to the term household or dynasty. In my musings for today, I will also use the term realm. But this point is huge: Our God cannot be categorized or limited to our own human needs and perceptions.” As I said before, it is not wise to put God in a box…..
In another book that deals with houses… the one we’ve been reading for our upcoming Tuesday night book club, The Shack… this same point is brought to bear: Mackenzie who goes by Mack, a middle-aged father who has known great tragedy, has an experience with the Holy Trinity—the book is a story of redemption and we read of his conversations with Jesus, God, and Sarayu—a special name the author crafts for the Holy Spirit. Listen into this conversation between God, who is called Papa in the book, and Mackenzie:
Page: 98
But what does this mean for us today?! To that question, let’s turn to today’s Gospel reading—a few short verses but with a lot of weight to consider. We hear these words: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it , because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”
• I first met this story on some cartoon television film when I was quite young, and from my perspective at the time, the message was this: “ Do the right thing, be a good Christian, or your life will fall apart like the dilapidated house at the bottom of the shore. There is some truth to this statement. There come times in our lives when we have to make a stand and when personal responsibility and response is crucial. And yet, as too many of us know (and as Leslie pointed out last week), bad things happen and we cannot necessarily equate them to our actions. Sometimes the economy falls apart, a Hurricane comes and rips apart your house, and you had nothing to do about it.
• But I also believe that today’s passage offers something else for us to chew on.
The first thing that this passage does is echo that cute title of “Lord, Lord” that we see other places in the Bible—the first place that strikes me is that famous line…”Not all those who say the word, Lord, Lord”--- The title suggests: “Be real. Wipe away your niceties… your encounters that lack real encounter, real communication…. And get serious. This faith stuff.., this religious stuff is important. It’s meaningful. It’s the kind of thing to base your life on!
Second, the passage endorses a triple way of approaching God: “The act of coming to God, hearing God’s words, and acting on them.” So often, we in communities of faith find ourselves arguing over the way to do things—making faith come down to either: A) cognitive belief—“the act of coming to God”— B) l istening to God & prayer—or how spiritual you are – which could be described as hearing God’s words,--- and C) service & social justice--- “acting on God’s words.” In today’s Gospel passage, we see that all three of these faithful responses are significant and important. The wise person is one who does all three…
Finally, third, today’s Gospel passage beckons us to consider our own foundation… to ask– What is our foundation?!
And that wise one we want to emulate in Luke, who comes to God, hears God’s words, and acts of them (NOTE THAT TRIPLE FAITH ACTION) is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock.
What is this rock that the Gospel passage refers to?! To me, it is quite simple—so simple that it’s in some ways too complicated to express… The Sunday School answer works— Jesus, or the one who announces the coming house, the realm of God. And too—let us consider the term Foundation; it is an evocative word. It connotes structure and stability and yet too--- in some of its other lingual uses—foundation as an organization that exists to create change as an example, to help those in need, the term suggests something that is capable of empowering transformation, non-rigidity--- SPACE FOR GRACE. This is significant.
If we only think of this story of the wise man building his house on the rock as a drama of moral rules we must follow, we risk making the same mistake that David did: Thinking that we could build God a house—while instead it is the other way around. The triune God announces a house, a realm, that we can both experience and help to announce—the kingdom of God—where we live as brothers and sisters, where reconciliation is the rhetoric of reality, and where the story of God’s great grace is given space to speak.
In one of his famous reflections on the spiritual life, priest and theologian Henri Nouwen (Note: L’Arche )wrote about the important step of moving from the house of fear to the house of love…. It is hard to just say move from the house of fear to the house of love…. Something about it to our contemporary ears usually sounds so soothing —and so you don’t have to convince anyone to think about it more deeply--- to others it can sound so sweet and syrupy, that people feel like: “Oh gee… More naivety for us.” Some fear is helpful—practical…. But moving from the house of fear to the house of love is the work of a lifetime. Ronald Rolheiser, President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, expands on the concept for us:

Henri Nouwen, in his writings, frequently asked this question: "How can we live inside a world marked by fear, hatred, and violence and not be destroyed by it?"
At a certain point in life that becomes the real task of spirituality: How do we stop ourselves from being sucked into the house of fear so as to live in the house of love? What's meant by this?
We live in a world of division, hatred, and violence. One only has to watch the news to see this. Daily we see fear and hatred translated into violence and death all over the world. What's true at this level is true too, in a less pronounced way, in our ordinary lives. Inside our families, churches, and communities we see the problems of the world played out on the small-screen of our daily lives. Bitterness, suspicion, the sense of injustice, anger, jealousy, hatred, division, and subtle forms of violence eventually penetrate even our most intimate relationships. We often don't recognize these for what they are and consider them simply part of the normal give and take of everyday life….
What this does is keep us, almost always, inside the house of fear. Because we live inside of families, churches, and communities where there is suspicion, gossip, cynicism, jealousy, and bitterness, it's natural that our first instinct so often is to protect ourselves, to be suspicious, to be hard… We live, as Nouwen puts it, inside the house of fear rather than inside the house of love.
How do we save ourselves from getting lost there? How do we remain tender when so much around us is hard? How do we remain free of fear when we there is so much anger around? . . .
There are no easy answers. Moreover this is not, as Nouwen himself points out, something that we can ever accomplish once and for all. (Although this actually gives me some hope) The world is not divided up between those who have conquered fear and those who haven't. Rather our own days and hours are divided up between those times when we live more in fear and those times when we live more in love. There are times when our fears take over and we act out of them, just as there ****** are other times when grace opens us beyond fear and we can act in graciousness and love.”

How do I think we can live within the house of Love?!—the realm of God. I obviously do not have the whole answer, but three last convictions have struck me:
1) First, it’s all about Grace. God is building the house. We need to respond, but it’s all wrapped up in the story of grace.
2) First is to remember a thing about rocks. When they are under pressure, they become diamonds!
3) In the Shack: story……

Blog in Construction

This blog is being cleaned up and transformed into a place to post my sermons! Apologies for the messiness but perhaps it resonates with the rough edges and surprising grace of life. :)

Recently, I have found myself concerned about the future, wondering what decisions I should make, and where I am heading. The fragility of this place is hard. I wish all the answers I needed would simply lay themselves at my lap. Nonetheless, this involves the precious exercises of putting my fear in its place, of listening to the wisdom that suggests that worry will not help a thing but rather trustful, open-eyed, laughter......... Trying.

A Poem by Kay Boyle

Advice to the Old
(Including Myself)

Do not speak of yourself (for God’s sake) even when asked.
Do not dwell on other times as different from the time
Whose air we breathe; or recall books with broken spines
Whose titles died with the old dreams. Do not resort to
An alphabet of gnarled pain, but speak of the lark’s wing
Unbroken, still fluent as the tongue. Call out the names of stars
Until their metal clangs in the enormous dark. Yodel your way
Through fields where the dew weeps, but not you, not you.
Have no communion with despair; and, at the end,
Take the old fury in your empty arms, sever its veins,
And bear it fiercely, fiercely to the wild beast’s lair.


Hmmm- speak of the lark's wing... Call out the names of stars....
Something strong in these words speaks deliberately and delicately and devotedly about a vocation.
What would this mean, and how would one live it?!

A Lesson about Peace from the Snow

I left the snow of Upstate New York and moved to California:
The Golden State, the place where you are supposed to be able to wear shorts year-round. The state of sunscreen mandates, surfing safaris, and warm watery waves,
The place where you can regularly buy strawberries, mangos, and ripe & juicy oranges.

I knew what to expect. Or at least part of me, it did.

Then there was that day: The first time I took a trip up 80N.

The snow was thick and tall, and it dusted the streets with a heavy covering.

Unbelievable: I was in California and wearing snow-pants and snow-boots and all sorts of snow gear.

It was like Christmas had come to July. Except it was not July. Just something right at an unexpected time.

We talk about peace like it’s always that someday, sometime, apocalyptic—just not quite here moment.
But Vanier says that peace only happens one-heart-at-a-time. So what are we waiting for?!
Let’s get started now! Let’s open our hands to each other, risk partaking in acts of
adventurous caring, create a party and invite everyone, like Jesus would do!
Let's start acting now, with our own heart.
Why?!

Because everything in this world cannot be explained in expectations.
Because this New Yorker learned that there is in fact snow in California.
And once we stop thinking that peace can only exist in the realm of the utopian, we might recognize its possibility right before our eyes,
like the snow on I-80 that day
and the beautifully welcoming snowman that resulted!

Those familiar words: "Live the life you've always dreamed"... They are with me like a close friend now.