Sheltered: Covered with The Feathers of God

Sheltered: Covered with The Feathers of God

God will cover you with their feathers. They will shelter you with their wings. Their faithful promises are your armor and your protection. – Psalm 91: 4

It was around this time in 2004 that I began my Chaplain Residency at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Hospital in Little Rock. Our first weekend together we had a "get to know each other" retreat with our CPE Supervisor in a cabin at a United Methodist camp/retreat up on Petit Jean Mountain- a flat topped Ozark near Morrillton. I was horrified to learn that we would be sharing our spiritual journey stories in detail as part of our time together. My new colleagues were Church of Christ, Southern Baptist, and Evangelical United Methodist. And I really didn't want to start what I knew was going to be an intense experience by coming out in all the ways that are essential to understanding the trajectory of my spiritual journey.

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Knowing Stuff

“God, I am your servant; give me discernment so I may tread carefully in the world and understand your ways” -Psalm 119

One day while we were on vacation, Clivie and I were climbing around on rocks at Utah’s magnificent Dead Horse Point State Park. Clivie makes me nervous climbing on rocks because he climbs higher than I think he should and manages to get into places he has to figure out how to get down from. One way I have coped with my parental anxiety is to climb around with him- at least to a place where I can see what he is doing, encourage him, and give directions.

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Show Me a Sign (A Personal Story in Honor of Pride Month) By Rev. Jeanne Loveless

Show Me a Sign (A Personal Story in Honor of Pride Month) By Rev. Jeanne Loveless

And they said to Jesus, “What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?” – John 2:18

And the sign says long hair freaky people need not apply. So, I put my hair under my hat. And I went in to ask him why. -Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs. (The Tesla Version).

I visited Taos, New Mexico on a daytrip from Santa Fe a few years ago, and I knew I wanted to explore more. I was delighted to have that opportunity on my post Holy Week retreat in 2019. I have learned that when I strongly want to make pilgrimage somewhere there is usually spiritual work that I need to do. So, when the wheels went up as we took off from Oakland for Albuquerque, I started paying attention. I began my trip by driving up to Farmington, where I had the absolute joy of taking an archaeologist led tour of Chaco Canyon. I enjoyed spending a couple of days exploring Ancestral Pueblo culture around Farmington/Bloomington and was excited to make my way to Taos for the remainder of my trip. I packed up and drove to the edge of Bloomington and stopped at the stoplight at a major intersection. What I saw made me freeze in my tracks.

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Embracing the Pause…

Embracing the Pause…

Change moves incrementally from breath to breath and moment to moment, allowing for course-correction along the way. – Sharon Weil

"It is important to embrace the pause: to create quiet space so we can hear God’s voice. If our tongues are wagging, we can’t hear anything but ourselves." – Anne Lamotte

In my sermon last week, I shared a story about re-learning the art of hand carving soapstone during my spiritual "Dark Night of the Soul" (which segued into the tragedy of the pandemic- just as I began to find the ground). Carving soapstone reminds me of sitting in the sawdust in my Grandpa Noel’s basement in his workshop where he was always turning wood and making household repairs. It is a place I remember with great fondness.

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Getting Unstuck: A Note From My Spiritual Journey

Getting Unstuck: A Note From My Spiritual Journey

Reflections from Rev. Jeanne Loveless

This past week in some Christian traditions was the celebration of Candlemas or “The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.” In traditional Gaelic cultures this was/is also called Imbolc, or St. Bridgit's (or the more ancient Goddess Brighid’s) Day. St. Bridgit’s day is held between the winter solstice and the spring equinox- and it marks the beginning of spring. This day as new buds pop out in my garden- I’m thinking of a “Note” from my own Spiritual Journey that I want to share with you.

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Uncertain Times

Uncertain Times

“Sheltering in place” has given me time to reflect on what my parents must have been going through during the first years of World War II. I only wish that I had asked them more questions while I still had the chance! I was born in April of 1942, just a little more than four months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and when there were real concerns about an invasion of the West Coast from Japan.

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“The Peace That Passes All Understanding" Crisis Reflections from Your UCH Care Team

“The Peace That Passes All Understanding" Crisis Reflections from Your UCH Care Team

Rejoice in the Lord always. And I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. God is near us! Do not drown in your anxiety, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Paul in Philippians 4:4-7

These words of Paul to the church in Philipi were the focus of our Care Team Zoom retreat last Saturday. We talked a lot about what this scripture brought up for us as we weather this season of COVID19 together. Here are some big questions that emerged in our conversation:

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Reaching Out Our Hearts When We Can't Reach Out Our Hands: Rev. Jeanne's Pastoral Response to COVID-19

Reaching Out Our Hearts When We Can't Reach Out Our Hands: Rev. Jeanne's Pastoral Response to COVID-19

Dear Beloved Community,

Let me start by making it clear that I have never pastored a church through a pandemic. And it’s not something I learned how to do in Seminary. That being said- I know you. And I know that we will move into this unprecedented challenge together with our Kindom of God values held closely in our hearts- even if we can’t touch each other with our hands.

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Photo of a Lifetime (Happy New Year!)

Photo of a Lifetime (Happy New Year!)

As you know by now, I am a photographer and since that is what I did almost every day on our trip to Scotland- I’m going to talk about it. I love coming around the bend of a trail with my camera on my hip, and realizing that I have wandered into something remarkable- a piercing shaft of light; the deep greenness in the leaves; perfect reflections of sky in water; clouds shaped like a thunderbird holding the moon between her wings. That kind of magic doesn’t happen often. You have to train yourself to slow down and look for it - to teach your eyes, mind, and heart to see it.

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Heavy: Finding "Our Moral Center"

Heavy:  Finding "Our Moral Center"

These days are heavy. As I dropped Clivie off at school this morning, I cranked up my “Strong Women” playlist in the car to lift my spirits after listening to a few minutes of the impeachment hearings, coverage of the school shooting in Santa Clarita, and news of the Supreme Court deliberations about DACA I also have one of the scriptures I memorized with Grandma running repeatedly through my mind-In perfect King James English.

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