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Mid-Week Missive |
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| Author: | Brad Miller | Created: | 10/30/2007 2:52 AM |  | | What is happening at BCC? |
| Reaching Out | |
| By Brad Miller on5/28/2008 3:20 PM | |
| Greetings!
This seems to be the season of natural disasters. From China to Myanmar to Iowa to California we read of stories of destruction and devastation unimaginable. In fact, we don’t have to look too far away to find people who have been devastated by tornadoes and storms. Right here in Georgia people are rebuilding. As close as Cherokee County and downtown Atlanta there are folks still trying to get their lives back. It is a heartbreaking task for those who have lost all their possessions and perhaps family members and friends.
We sometimes feel helpless in the face of such devastating loss. We aren’t sure which way to turn or how we can make sense of it all. But in our helplessness, we can still do something.
One of the ways we can help as members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is to donate to the Week of Compassion, a ministry of the Christian Church that assists those in the wake of natural disasters and other ... |  | |
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| | It's All About Attitude | |
| By Brad Miller on5/21/2008 1:33 PM | |
| Greeetings on this gorgeous day!
I have been thinking a lot about attitude lately. Mainly because I find myself slipping into a bad attitude about some things. I have come to understand that much of the time, it is other people’s bad attitudes that lead to my bad attitude! And who knows what kind of impact my attitude has on the people around me. It is a vicious cycle and one that I would dearly love to break.
I look at our current political situation and realize that all the stuff that swirls around it is fostering much in the way of bad attitudes. Too often candidates do their best to criticize their opponents rather than telling us positive things about their own candidacy. Observers and pundits openly rage against candidates, but offer little, if anything in the way of positive alternatives. A lot of the time, they don’t even have a candidate they want to promote: they just want to stop someone else! This negative attitude does precious little to encou ... | | |
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| | Onward and Upward | |
| By Brad Miller on5/14/2008 3:25 PM | |
| Greetings on this gray morning,
It amazes me that it is graduation time already. First, because it seems like we just got started on the school year! How can it already be time for end of the year final exams, proms, and graduations? Second, because it is hard for me to believe that so many of our young people are actually graduating! Let me make it clear: it’s not that I am surprised that they are graduating, rather, I’m surprised they are old enough to be graduating! It doesn’t seem possible, but the high school Seniors of 2008 were 11 or 12 years old when I arrived at BCC! I can only imagine how this graduation is hitting their parents!
But that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Children growing up and maturing and striking out to find their way in the world. It is about parents feeling a little trepidation: are they prepared? Have they learned what they need to succeed at the next level? Are they ready for this? Am I ready for this? It is about th ... | | |
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| | A Well Deserved Sabbath | |
| By Brad Miller on5/12/2008 10:34 AM | |
| Greetings!
One of the things that impressed me when I first arrived at BCC was their foresight and their understanding of what Sabbath truly means. Part of my “terms of call” to BCC was the fact that I was to receive a sabbatical every 5 years of service to the congregation. I discovered that our Associate, Jennifer Heinz, also has the same provision in her “terms of call”. It showed me immediately that the congregation wanted to do their best to help keep their ministerial staff fresh and motivated. For that is really what sabbatical is all about: a chance to step back, to alter your routine, to get a fresh perspective on what it is you are involved in, to prepare yourself for the next phase in ministry. My sabbatical last year did just that for me, and I think that it has paid off dividends not only for me, but for the new perspective I continue to bring to my duties.
Jennifer Heinz arrived at BCC more than a year before I did. First, she served as a semin ... | | |
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| | Thank You, Judy | |
| By Brad Miller on5/6/2008 8:19 AM | |
| Today is the end of an era at BCC. Today is Judy Mowreys last day as our office manager/financial assistant. And, for me, it is a very sad day.
When I first came to Brookhaven some 6 and ½ years ago, Judy was among the first to meet me. She was, after all, on the search committee. I wondered about that at the time: how does a staff member get on the committee that picks her boss? I shouldnt have ever wondered, because soon after I arrived, I understood why it was not only a good thing that she was on the committee, but perhaps essential to making sure that the new minister would fit. Not because it was so important that the always delicate relationship between staff members be maintained, although that is very important. Not because it was so important that administrative world view of Judy and the new minister were in sync, although that is very important. Not because Judy represented a direct working connection to more ministers than anyone else in the church, alt ... | | |
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| | Transitions | |
| By Brad Miller on4/10/2008 7:36 AM | |
| Greetings on this pollen filled day,
I have been thinking a lot about transitions lately. Those changes that sometimes are planned, sometimes not, but that serve to change our world dramatically when they occur. Sometimes they are welcomed, sometimes they strike terror in our hearts, some are accidental, some are inevitable. No matter what we do, we will face times of transition in our lives.
The key is how we deal with these transitions. No one will react the same in every situation, but one thing is constant: our need to celebrate, commiserate, grieve and vent with those around us. For those of us who are members of a faith community, our brothers and sisters that share our faith walk will be the ones who are most likely to be there for us. They are there for us through their presence and their prayers. And do not underestimate just how important our simple presence and our simple prayers can be!
In that spirit, there are some folks ... | | |
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| | Good Lord, What a Day! | |
| By Brad Miller on4/3/2008 7:16 AM | |
| Greetings!
I made a mistake today.
Oh, like that’s big news.
No, the mistake I made today was going outside. I went outside, without a jacket on. I went outside where God is slowly awakening all of creation around us after a long, dormant, winter. I went outside where the whole idea of going back inside seemed ridiculously absurd at best, and painfully torturous at worst. I went outside and saw people slowing crawling out of their cocoons, pale skin shining, dazed look in their eyes, squinting eyelids blinking back the glorious sun. I went outside and after awhile the idea of going inside didn’t bother me anymore, because the whole concept of “inside” held no meaning for me. I went outside and discovered a little bit of my humanity that I lost when the sun started setting early and the temperatures started to drop. I went outside and found that I was walking a little more quickly, smiling a little more broadly, breathing a little more d ... | | |
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| | Living an Easter Life | |
| By Brad Miller on3/26/2008 3:31 PM | |
| Greetings on this gorgeous spring day!
Yesterday, I had the privilege of going to a presentation by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author/poet, Alice Walker. She is most famous for having written the novel “The Color Purple”, but has also written 20 some other books of poetry and essays, as well as several other novels such as “The Temple of My Familiar.” It was a fascinating time of hearing an author read selections from her own work, in her own voice, interspersed with commentary and reflections upon 50 years of the writing life.
All of the selections she read evoked amazing images in my mind, and I was absolutely enthralled with Ms. Walker’s ability to make the written word come alive, to sing, to touch hundreds of people at once. One of the readings in particular really hit me. The story was one of her role in a protest march and the importance of activism on all levels. She described her feelings at being in the midst of these people as they stood up for wha ... | | |
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| | The Hardest Week | |
| By Brad Miller on3/25/2008 9:04 AM | |
| Greetings!
This is a hard week.
As I look out my window I see a gray sky accompanied by a steady cold rain. In many ways, the gloom of the day mirrors what we feel as we move this week we call “Holy.” When I stop and really think about what was happening during that firs Holy Week, I can scarce take it all in. I can’t even imagine what the people who lived through it the first time coped.
First, there are the disciples of Jesus. Jesus is sending them cryptic messages about his not being around much longer, and that must have been confusing. They witnessed a joyous occasion when they entered Jerusalem, but that was to give way to even more confusion as Jesus is arrested later in the week. Their anger with their brother Judas must have led them to want to lash out, but they were overcome with a fear that drove them into hiding. And as they abandoned Jesus, can you imagine the guilt that must have induced in them? While they hid, Jes ... | | |
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| | The Warm Embrace of Family | |
| By Brad Miller on3/5/2008 2:38 PM | |
| Greetings on this lovely day,
There are days when God seems distant and aloof. Those can be lonely and hard times, even if we have faith that God is there. When we find ourselves in those times we yearn for God’s presence, we long for the warm embrace of God’s love, we want nothing more than to be comforted by God’s grace. These are times when the importance of being part of a faith community is so very clear.
I don’t think we can overestimate the importance of the faith community in helping us through the tough times. When we find it difficult to discern God’s presence, for whatever reason, our church family can and does help fill that void. When we can claim membership in a faith community, we are surrounded by people who will help us when we are down, care for us when we are ill, pray for us when we are unable to pray, and celebrate with us when are restored spiritually and physically. When we claim membership in a faith community, we have a family alway ... | | |
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