July 31st, 2006- 4th Bible Study Whol – i - ness with Myself, Others and God.

Host: Rich and Mary Steinberg

Topic: Peace of Mind

Bible Verse: Philippians 4: 2-9

A pure moment with memorable motion was tied this evening's discussion for me.

After the casual, satisfying potluck dinner there was the usual, friendly conversation while Dayle and Peter decided to use the rope swing hanging from the tree just behind the deck.

It was simply Peter pushing Dayle on the swing and then the reverse. An easy, relaxed swinging motion. Nothing out of control. The swing reached the forward highpoint, stopped, naturally descended, and moved to the back highpoint.

Mary was looking from the deck as I came back from where the food was with filled cups and desserts. I put my arms around her while we watched this swinging. Maybe that was part of what opened my eyes to its charm and everything that surrounded us, the people and the place.

Philippians 4: 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Our discussion took us in many directions but the all poured into that small period of time, remained in my mind as something lovely and pure. Verse 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of Peace be with you.

I try to put this into practice. Yes, and it is the motion of the swing mirrored in this as well. Reaching a level and falling back, naturally. Yearning to constantly be suspended in the air is silly but on the swing one is never completely tied to an earthbound perspective, either.

Later, I appreciated the discussion of Philippians in our breakout group. Others talked about verse 8. Nancy gave the answer of "A baby" for something that would fit the description of verse 8. The group agreed and proposed other things as well.

We talked about stress, expectations, how we judge good and bad and evaluating our control over events. Shelley told the story about the farmer whose horse ran away:

Once there was a farmer whose horse ran away. His neighbor came over to tell him he felt sorry for him, only to be told in return: "Who knows what is good or bad?" It was true. The next day the horse returned, bringing with it eleven wild horses it had met during its adventurous escape.

The neighbor came over again, this time to congratulate the farmer on his good fortune. Only to be told once again "Who knows what is good or bad?

True this time too; the next day the farmer's son tried to tame one of the wild horses and fell off, breaking his leg. His neighbor came back again one more time to express how bad he felt But for the third time all the farmer had to say was: "Who knows what is good or bad?"

And once again the farmer was correct, for this time, the king of that land had started a war and the following day soldiers came by to draft young men into the army, but because of his injury the son was not taken.

Our group agreed again a problem, once put in perspective, or earnestly evaluating our perspectives and judgements tends to relieve stress.

Verse 4 held stong words for my heart. I tried to imagine saying Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! immediately after pleading with two people to agree with each other. Rejoicing was probably the furthest thing from anyone's mind. Joel had a good response "You could say this but sometimes a person wants to wallow in self pity for a while".

There was a phrase that came up that a couple people use when they want to point out that the wallowing time is over and try to diffuse it with some humour, "Someone is being a poopy diaper!"

We also talked on and off about whether you are in control of something. If not, like Ruth said, you can think about the Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity prayer.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

What went through my mind as we went home was a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence