Moving into the Rhythm of November…

We are moving into November. Let’s focus on some of the important events.

Leaves should have begun to fall off the trees. Overnight and early morning

temperatures should be stretching downwards. Daylight will be squeezing into

tighter space in our daily routines.

In November we will be preparing for special days like All Saints Day, Election

Day, Christ the King Sunday and Thanksgiving. Each of these special days puts

relationships at the center of what matters most. We get to choose the

underlying foundational reason for all of our relational connections. Here are

two ways that Jesus summed it up:

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-37, 39-40 NRSVUE

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 NRSVUE

So, as you move in the rhythm of Christ during the beautiful days of

November, move with Jesus in the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy

and faith… undergirded by your absolute commitment to love God with all of

your being and to love all others as much (or more) than you love yourself!

Be creative in how you move in that rhythm. Try finding more ways to laugh,

love and listen to God and others. Find more ways to prove you are listening to

others by summarizing what you think you are hearing and asking clarification

questions. Make it an experiment to see if it can enhance your relationship

with others. Finally, do it with the leaves and the breeze and in the silent

movements of God throughout the day. What do you hear? What do you

smell? What do you see and feel? God is with you always and everywhere. Be

open to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit and try to summarize what you

hear from the One who loves, created, redeemed, and sustains you!

Dr. Fitzgerald