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Publications
: NA News : October, 2002 |
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National
Association of Congregational Christian Churches, P.O. Box 288,
Oak Creek, WI 53154
414-764-1620
Email:
naccc@naccc.org
Web Site: http://www.naccc.org |
IS THERE A QUIET PLACE?
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by Phil Jackson |
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I have just returned from a time of vacation on Lovejoy Pond in Maine. The pond (lake for you flatlanders) was
full of fish and Loon. The woods were full of deer, fox, porcupine and sundry critters. But, most of all, the place was
full of quiet. I and everyone, even you, need a place of quiet.
 Most of our churches begin the Fall with a bang and don't slow down until May if they
slow down at all. Clergy rush from one chore to another with one's work never all done. And in
all the rush, God's voice and presence can get covered over with layers upon layers of
busyness. We need to have time at a quiet place. Where is yours?
Next week the clergy of Wisconsin are having a day of quiet at an area retreat center. Later
in the Fall, there is a silent retreat held in New England for our clergy. These offer some of
our ministers a quiet place.
A quiet place: a spot where you can listen to music, study or read; and, is a place where all the craziness of life
is drowned out by the quiet presence of God.
Where is your quiet place? It need not be a place in the woods or a retreat center. It can be in a local park; a
city library or anywhere that if free from distractions and interruptions where you can walk and talk with the Lord. The Psalmist wrote of "still waters." Jesus called his disciples to the other side of the lake. Peter went fishing.
It's funny how the venue always includes water.
Most of us don't have many quiet moments in our ministry. But, this week, this month, for a few hours, find a
quiet place. I know that I need one, and I'll bet you do too.
Your friend |
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Dr. A. Vaughan Abercrombie's Congregational Lecture in 1990 focussed on devotional
life and evangelism. He said, |
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The task before us as worshipping congregations will require innovative approaches to both
individual and common devotional practice. Congregational Christian Churches, I believe, should prepare to
lead enlightened moderns in wholehearted worship of the loving infinite God within, around, and beyond
the physical and spiritual environments as we meet them in our experience. Awe before a magnificent
cosmos is only half of a religion. The better half is to be mindful of, and to participate constructively in,
the obvious and wonderful spiritual environment in which we also "live and move and have our being."
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Rev. Dr. Lloyd Hall is the Association's Historian
and serves Plymouth Congregational Church of Lansing, MI
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Archives, Cover,
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