Physically Distanced But Spiritually Connected
Spirit Questions

These are not the lupines featured in the story linked below, but they are one of the garden colors you will hear about as you listen. David Isay, the founder of NPR’s StoryCorps recently stated in an interview: “The soul is contained in the human voice.” May the soul of this beloved story for me, and the soul in my voice speak out to the wild soul in you.

Dear Mayfield,

We begin today with a story. Press this LINK and listen to the spirited adventures of Miss Rumphius.

We hear this story as we approach Sunday, the festival of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter, a day of wind and flame, when the promised gift of Spirit will empower us all for love, service, solidarity, and witness, through the example of Jesus and through our life as the beloved children of God. In preparation for Pentecost, I want to offer four questions for you to consider in conversation with Miss Rumphius. These questions are drawn from Wayne Muller’s book How Then Shall We Live?: Four Simple Questions That Reveal the Beauty and Meaning of Our Lives. Muller claims his four questions are embedded in religious, spiritual, and wisdom traditions around the globe. Spend a few moments with them. The questions are these:

  • Who Am I?  This question of identity unfolds and develops across our lifetimes. It is not static and fixed. Remember that in our story the little girl Alice will later be known as Miss Rumphius, That Crazy Old Lady, The Lupine Lady, and Great-Aunt Alice.  Who do you know yourself to be in the present tense?  In what different ways or by what different names have you known yourself previously?
  • What Do I Love?  Miss Rumphius could identify that she loved traveling to faraway places and the future possibility of living by the sea. What do you love? Where do your passions lie?
  • How Shall I Live, Knowing I Will Die? In the midst of the story, Miss Rumphius is sick for a considerable length of time. During this ongoing season of pandemic with an official death total of more than 100,000 in the United States and more than 350,000 worldwide, the reality of human mortality is continually around us.  None of us will live forever. The awareness that we, like all other living beings, have a lifespan, can help us be more attentive to our priorities and to the opportunity always before us to choose well.
  • What Is My Gift to the Family of the Earth?  For Alice’s grandfather, for Miss Rumphius, and for Alice herself, that gift is described as something that will make the world more beautiful? And the story reminds us it can take awhile to figure out what my gift or your gift might be. What have you given or might you give today or in the future to make the world more beautiful?

Muller’s questions interact well with Miss Rumphius. They are also excellent questions for us if we take seriously the heart of Pentecost’s message. Ministry is in our hands and hearts now. The Spirit is available to guide, ground, and grace the ministry we will undertake and offer. Muller’s four questions can inform the ministry that is ours.

A few reminders for Sunday — light a candle to represent Pentecost’s fire. If it is a windy day, open your door and fill your lungs with that powerful air. Wind like fire is a symbol of the Spirit. And don’t forget if you have any clothes in flame colors, Sunday would be a good day to wear them.

In peace and with expectation of where the Spirit will lead us, Martha

Additional Prayer Requests

JAMS has continued to pay their teachers and staff throughout the pandemic. Teachers are now back on campus, keeping in touch with as much of the student body as possible. From this regular contact several prayer concerns have arisen: a number of students don’t have access to adequate food at home and are struggling with hunger; several students are now living in refugee camps because their homes were destroyed in recent floods; our current student, Lina, whose letters we have so enjoyed, is very sick with cerebral malaria, and her long term health status is uncertain; and finally, I would add a note of joy. Our second student, Anita, was able to finish her first semester at university before schools closed down because of Covid-19. JAMS provided her with a solid foundation for her major in economics and sociology.

We have also learned that Covid-19 has just been diagnosed at DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center. Covid-19 was previously diagnosed among the residents and staff at Pine Acres.

Our prayers of concern and presence are extended up close to these long term care facilities in our local community and far away to Kenya among everyone at JAMS.