Goodness Weekly 03.25.24
“Don’t move the way fear makes you move.
Move the way love makes you move.”–Rumi
What’s Good
We had a great time hosting the EcoSA Study group this past weekend for a hard hat tour of the Charis Park construction site. We got to talk about the sustainability efforts of the park alongside our landscape architect partners, Coral Studio. We are thrilled to be nearing completion of this very special park and look forward to welcoming the community to enjoy it.
We are so grateful to welcome our friend Scott Heare to the community. It was a joy to have Scott’s presence in our Chapel service this week as he led us through a conversation around Palm Sunday. Scott is a long-time pastor who has come in to support us as Jess continues to recover from Long Covid. You will be able to find his sermon along with all of the other preachers’ from Sunset Ridge Church on their YouTube channel.
Last week our campus saw the beauty of the Spring Equinox. The small flower garden behind the community food pantry that faces One Another Coffee has come back in a glorious fashion and has provided joy to staff, students, customers, and neighbors alike. The sun and rain have worked in perfect harmony to brighten our space with this fleeting season of wildflowers. Please, come have a cup of coffee, slice of pizza, or a quick nap in the sun.
A Message from Jess
Jess Lowry, Executive Director, Sunset Ridge Collective
A Chinese Proverb:
A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!”
To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
Many teachers of mindfulness, meditation, and other philosophies teach that a detachment from a certain outcome reduces suffering.
For me, as I was early in the days of what we now know to be Long Covid, I would call the days good days or bad days. I was emotionally tossed about by the way I physically felt, and most days were “bad days”. As the days turned into weeks I had no indication that my health was going to get better. I realized that whether a day was a good day or a bad day had to be dependent on more than the circumstance I found myself in. I had to ask for a new way of seeing, a shift in perspective that moved me from seeing like the villagers in our story, to that of the farmer.
Simple terms like “good” and “bad” aren’t adequate to describe the human experience. This way of judging our one beautiful life is limiting and keeps us on the rollercoaster of being whipped about depending on the weather, the coworker, the traffic, the illness…fill in the blank with the circumstance that controls your perception of the day.
A dualistic perspective is normal, but I don’t typically find it to be helpful. Dualism doesn’t allow for nuance, for grace, for the beautiful mystery of the in between places…or for wonder or curiosity—that’s where all the magic is.
Part of the work is to shift to an openhandedness about life, a love for what is. A belief that all things are working for our highest good, even when it doesn’t seem to be possible at the moment. I invite you to join me this week in beginning each day by inviting an open perspective, to embrace the mystery of this one beautiful life—just a bit of wonder at a time.
Perhaps we can walk in the world with a little more of a “maybe so, maybe not, we’ll see”…
Love, Jess
This Week
Sunday, March 31st Easter at Sunset Ridge
10 am Brunch
11 am Worship
12 pm Easter Egg Hunt
Coming Up…
Sunset Ridge Church will be adopting a new schedule for Sunday mornings, starting April 7th.
9 am worship in the Sanctuary
10:15 am Formation Classes
11 am worship in the Chapel
*Supper Church and evening groups on pause for the month of April for new programming
Second Saturday, April 13th
Interested in more of what’s happening at Sunset Ridge Church? Please consider subscribing to Views from the Ridge.
Inhale:
Shape me in a posture of curiosity and wonder
Exhale:
Help me to release judgment and be open to what is.
Subscribe to Sunset Ridge Collective on YouTube. We will be hosting our umbrella of work all in one place and would love to see you there.
