Hard to Hug in a Hard Hat - MANN

As I begin my blog today, my heart is warmed as I watch the Chilean Mine Rescue and see the men step out of the capsule and walk into the waiting arms of their families. As much as I enjoy observing the families unite, I am amused as people embrace wearing their hard hats. It’s hard to hug in a hard hat, but it’s more important to get the hug than hang on to the hat. The warmth and security of relationship is sufficient.

Into this world-awakening event, a family member announces her plan to travel to Poland for MS Liberation Surgery and again, I see courage and the importance of stepping out of one position into a new one, to do what might seem to some as impossible. Yet, strong support and personal faith is enough.

And as Ruth Coghill interviews me for her radio show about the importance of finding a secure footing in the journey of grief, we focus on the importance of applying God’s word in practical ways, as we step from brokenness to recovery. Again the warming of the heart in relationship is apparent.

“What is the center of warmth in your home?” is a question we often ask in Small Group ministries as we begin conversation. Responses such as 'my favourite chair with my knitting', or 'sitting at the kitchen table looking over the garden'. Sometimes it’s 'in the still of the night, while reciting the 23rd Psalm'. When life is in turmoil, it can be difficult to find the peace sufficient to experience necessary warmth, yet we attempt to discover a way.

My cat, Stormy, strives to find a place of warmth and comfort in a changing world of frosty mornings and her favourite frog pond now covered with leaves. So, she seeks out the top of the fireplace warmed by a very small pilot-light to provide the warmth she needs for her little body. In the chilling winds of loss, uncertainty, doubt or fear, I like the thought of being lifted above earthly activity to observe from a position of comfort. I may not be able to find a place as Stormy does, but I enjoy thinking about possibilities. Belonging and relationship often provide the buffer to rise over that which might consume and gives the opportunity to find solace and a sense of warmth wherever we are.

“Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” Psalm 139 1-3

May all of you who read this blog, find a special place of warmth and belonging today.
Blessings
Donna Mann
http://www.donnamann.org
Aggie's Dream launched September 30th (sequel to Aggie's Storms).

Exploring The Question: MANN

Having just finished my first full year of retirement, I sigh in relief. Thirty years of ministry gave me experiences that I couldn’t have had elsewhere. For this, I am very thankful. From prison cell to hospital bed; family home to nursing care; violence to peace-making; ball field to quilting bee; sanctuary to hockey game; mainline to charismatic to evangelical to Quaker-silence – you name it, I was probably there, learning to reflect God’s love enough to make a difference. I learned well about John Wesley’s prevenient preparing or going before, grace. Yes, God was there even before I arrived – what a confidence.

Like many parishioners, ministers like to explore their faith. Keeping this in mind during this past year, I’ve been even more aware of God’s grace as I attempted to search for new questions that didn’t seem to have place in everyday ordinary church life – if there is such a space. This has proven different from the predictable voice that proves to be safe.

Christendom often falls into the trap of echoing each other’s perspective or cloning a secure and established expression of faith or experience of the Spirit. This past year I asked questions, sat in circles and listened to wise teachers where questions were explored more than answers needed. I discovered different responses where a year or so ago, I would have quipped the answers or replies people would have expected to hear.

Thinking outside the box has been a risk on my part, as those who know me would expect particular expectations of word, attitude and action. It has been as profound as my early years of seminary and equal to those earth-shaking bible studies where people responded from the edge of their faith rather than the predictable center.

I recently read a faith statement on a church’s website that was pure gospel; however, they were courageous enough to state, “This is wonderfully true . . . but it doesn’t say enough. Not nearly enough.” I suspect this would leave the church hungry for more. It was an invitation to go deeper. Katherine Marshall’s book, “Something more” back in the mid 70s started me on a particular search. I remember reading it and saying, “Yes!” Now I ask: “Does anything ever say enough?” Is there not always “more” to understand and to experience? And are we willing to explore questions without needing tried and true answers?

I suppose it is this ‘more’ into which I’ve stepped. Perhaps it’s even in that part of the faith journey where many congregations hesitate to go and if ministers want to explore, they sometimes have to go alone. Well, not quite alone, as they can always count on God’s prevenient grace of preparing and going before: knowing God is present and might be a lonely dimension of faith . . . results in a holy dance.

http://www.donnamann.org
Aggie’s Dream: Launching September 30th at Owen Sound Collegiate Vocational Institute. The sequel to Aggie’s Storms (The Word Guild Award: 2008)

Wait - Hope - Expect - MANN

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord! Psalm 31: 24

How often do we give up before finishing something important? How often do we lose hope in the midst of trying? In my first pastoral charge in Alberta, I was told, “The second point is 25 miles north, through the Battle River Valley on the road to Lloydminster . . . and watch your driving because the gumbo is like driving in bottomless mud.”

So the second day of my new duties, I decided to visit the northern congregation. I had an old 1975 4-door Pontiac that I discovered later, travelled just as well through fields to make pastoral calls, as it did on muddy roads.

On that particular day, I took the elder’s directions and drove further and further north. I met a farmer driving his tractor on a road on which he said later, he'd never seen a car on it before. So you can tell I got slightly off the beaten path. Any way, back on the main road, I went as far as I thought I should while having some fear of getting lost under that big sky.

I remember stopping the car, getting out and looking over the vast fields. With no trees as I remembered in Ontario, I could literally see for miles. Off in the distance, east to where I was standing, I saw three grain elevators. Now that should have given me a clue that I was close to my destination. (I was soon to learn that every little town had its own grain elevators.) But, east? I decided this could not be a town. After all, I'd been told to go north.

So, I turned back, at times my front bumper pushing the soft mud to open the way. As I looked down at my brown heeled shoes, I reminded myself that I was not in the city now, and if I got stuck, I'd surely have to walk back in my bare feet. When I got into town, one of the elders visited me and asked how I found the folks over the valley. I told him about my journey and that I didn't find the town. “Other than a few ranchers working in their fields, I only saw grain elevators to the east.” He looked at me and laughed. Then he said, "And you didn't go far enough to see the sign to turn to Paradise Valley?”

I’ve always been a cautious person, and I admit that too often I’ve missed the signs. Sometimes I think we make life a lot more difficult that it is. Is it a fear of investing too much time and energy and then having to turn back anyway? Maybe it’s because we’re not willing to risk certain areas of life. Or, possibly having it in our minds how things should be or what they must look like, limits our willingness to live in hope of how they could be. Writing personal experiences can fall into this category too. It can be very intimidating and sometimes easier just to put them in our top drawer and leave them there. This Mother’s Day, I submitted an article to Christianity.ca that I’d been revising for fifteen years. I’m glad I kept going and didn’t turn around.

Blessings,
Donna Mann
http://www.donnamann.org
Check out Kid’s MP3 Farm Stories at http://stores.livingwordsmann.com

Sharing Twists and Turns in Life - MANN

My husband, Doug and I recently returned home from a winter holiday. As usual there were the immediate tasks that needed attention: emails, phone messages, post-mail, bills to pay and even notes from visitors and house-sitters Although new technology made it easy for us to keep in touch, there was still the onslaught of new information upon returning home.

While we were on the road, it was easy to be distracted from friends and relatives’ ongoing stress and difficult situations. The excitement of new experiences easily took our attention and numbed past memories. Even though it could appear as running away or escaping the reality of stress, obligations and expectations, it was still important to do this.

After changing my pace for this time, it surprised me how certain people, tones of voice, a particular song or landscape reminded me of the very person or situation for which I needed to pause, remember, offer prayer or contact. It was unfinished business and a privilege to remember.

During this holiday, I was privileged to attend the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference. I was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar faces in the industry and hear an echo of many writing styles and interests I’d heard at Write! Canada. Cec Murphy was the theme speaker and he reminded us as writers to be vulnerable, honest, real and candid. In his usual speaking style laced with humour and information and life's twists and turns, he shared authentic areas of his own faith and writing life.

This experience reinforced a benediction I’d heard at an Ash Wednesday Service in an Alabama United Methodist Church. The minister said something like, “I’d like to tell you, as a follower of Jesus, that life is going to be without problems when you go out that door. Not so! But, you are a Child of God, and God loves you and is with you to strengthen and enable you. Talk to God! Amen.” This benediction meant so much more as the minister had earlier shared difficult twists and turns in his own faith journey—a perfect example of honesty and vulnerability proving faith in action.

Yet, knowing this to be true, and wishing I could make this work better in my own life, I am often tempted to use poor examples of phrases and over-used words to prove that faith works, while it’s living in the pain and suffering (twists and turns) that truly reinforces an active faith. I often wonder why, I seek to offer the end result of particular experiences, rather than staying in the struggle. Is it a little like someone asking me how I am, and instead of responding “Do you have an hour?” I automatically say, “Oh, just fine.” Didn’t someone say, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!” And too often I want to close a situation, claim it’s all over and say that I’m a happy camper and that God is smiling. And then when the dust settles, if I’m being honest and vulnerable, I’m going to admit that in ongoing daily encounters in life, I need to

“talk to God! Amen.”

Donna Mann

Keep in touch: http://www.donnamann.org/

http://stores.livingwordsmann.com/

WinterGrief: A personal response to grief

Aggie's Storms: the childhood of the first woman elected to Canadian Parliament

Facing fear in Change - MANN

Rosemary Cash said, “The key to change is to let go of fear.” I see this in my life, in the church, family situations and community life. It is my thinking that most people find change difficult to some degree, and fear can be an important factor in whether change
can be achieved.

To change, one must be determined to risk. It’s having the ability to believe in self, while at the same time, being able to look beyond the obvious to possibilities.

Or being able to sigh, admit when change hasn’t worked and revert to the initial plan.

A decision to change might enhance a particular position or ricochet to a whole new situation. Somehow the first option is the easiest. Who doesn’t want to build on a life already experiencing acceptance? Yet, the concept of finding oneself in a brand new situation created through change tests one’s faith and gives opportunity to draw on God’s guidance in new ways. Certainly, the latter allows the possibility of something we might miss if we hadn’t risk.

Winston Churchill said, “There’s nothing wrong with change if it’s in the right direction.” So how do we know if our choices will take us in the right direction or create chaos? And why does it have to be an either/or situation? Why can’t we have what we’ve got as well as enjoy what we’ve had the grace to change? This last option sounds much less stressful and offers some diversity.

This was my experience over the past three months when my friend Sharon suggested that my Grammie Books, as well as the collection of stories that I’d written and edited with grandkids over the last ten plus years, should go further than the Story-chair and the Christmas stocking. When I also considered additional resources of my newspaper grief articles and rural church support work, I was soon led in the direction of exploring how to create audio books/stories and marketing them on the internet.

This has been a tremendous challenge to me and I admit that fear showed its ugly face on more than one occasion. However, I feel so blessed that I’ve been able to make the necessary changes in personal schedules and mental aptitude to see this project through. There is an excitement in the Internet audio world that I find very invigorating, yet I cherish the times when I hold a book in my hand and see the words flow from one sentence to another.

Although designing a web site was not new to me, I found building a StoreFront was. But, this too has become a discovery that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. A win-win situation is good in any change, and I think my benefit was inviting the child in me to come out to play during this early season of retirement. I invite you to come and visit http://stores.livingwordsmann.com/. And don’t forget to visit The Playground before you leave the site.

Donna Mann

Take Time to Make Memories (1996)
WinterGrief (2003)
Aggie’s Storms(2007)
MeadowLane Audio Stories for Children(2009)

Nothing Ventured - Nothing Gained - MANN

So how does one go about beginning a new venture? Wouldn’t it be nice to pray about it and then sit back and just wait for God’s leading? Although the leading will definitely come, I have never thought it wise to count on achievement by only ‘sitting back and waiting’.

I believe that solitude and waiting on God is very important even in the smallest venture. At the same time, I know from past experience that God’s nudges often come in messages of encouragement for me to use my God-given gifts and make the very thing happen that I’d prayed for God to do. In other words, God often used me to answer my own prayer.

Beginning a new venture is risky. There seems to be no guarantee that starting something in a particular way promises to be the key to success. Sometimes it’s trial and error. While other times, we say that practice makes perfect. And then, there are the times when it feels like it’s all there—waiting to come down the pipe, or just hanging out in the back stages of our mind to be discovered. To use a line of clichés—until we take the plunge, get our feet wet, we’re not going to know if we will sink or swim.

In August, a writing friend and I were spending a much earned afternoon, drinking Cranberry juice, reading and talking about the publishing industry. We tossed around questions about self-publishing and we both contributed to the conversation from our individual experiences which were positive and uplifting. We weighed that with the dream of being published by a Publishing House and becoming a famous author—of course that would be an overnight success. Isn’t that the way it happens? I admitted that when Aggie’s Storms was accepted by a publisher, I was elated. Now, with the sequel, written and waiting in line, I am equally excited about its possibilities.

Even as I discussed options, memories of a past conversation with another friend reminded me about publishing opportunities in eBooks and audio book format. Because I’m very loyal to the printed word and I like to hold a book in my hand to enjoy the texture and colour, published material is definitely my favourite format for literature.

However, having said that—in this era of technology I like to think there’s room for both hard copy and other sources of literature. Yet, there would be those who say that the Internet is killing story in the varied way it is used. While the rest of the world is working this out, I think I’ll continue my learning curve in technology and add to my options for sharing story.

Donna Mann

- Take Time to Make Memories (1996)

- WinterGrief (2003)

- Aggie's Storms (2007)

Keep in touch: http://www.donnamann.org/

http://the_meadows.homestead.com/

dmann@log.on.ca