Welcome to B.R.E.W. MONDAY
October 10, 2005
Written and Published by Kirk Byron Jones

Be Still
Receive God's Love
Embrace Personhood
Welcome the Day

Contents:

1. Reflection
2. Testimony
3. Quotes
4. Review/Request
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1. Reflection

The Upside of Down--Part 2

In my book, Rest in the Storm: Self Care Strategies
for Clergy and Other Caregivers, I write about the time I
came to a sudden stop while delivering a sermon:

"Midway through the sermon, I turned to my seminary
friend, Earl Trent, then pastor of St. Paul's Church, and said
tersely, "I can't go on!" I had come to my limit. I felt
no physical pain, just a deep sense of fatigue that told me
I could not go on. I had experienced the feeling before,
but never to the extent that I needed to end a sermon
in progress, and certainly, never to the point of being
forced to bow to that weariness so abruptly and so
publicly."

That "down moment" happened 17 years ago, but I have
learned more from it, perhaps, than any other single
experience in my life. That experience initiated a journey
into the relationship between the physical and the
spiritual that continues to this day. That "down" turned
out to be a great summit in my life.

We don't have to moan and mope through difficult times;
we can assume the role of student, weary and worn though
we may be, and listen, and learn.  
 
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2. Testimony

My son, Jared, has a great music web site and a
song that gives his version of the up side of down.
Listen to "Down" at:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=232869

Pass the site info on to your musical friends.

Thanks son.

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3. Quotes