When I was 9, my dad took me on a GRAND adventure…we left our South Dakota home to fly to Bombay, India. From Bombay, we rode an open-air bus 50 miles to Ganeshpuri, India. We arrived at an ashram where people from all over the world came together in a communal living facility to study meditation, chanting, service and study.

"Ban OVERWHELMED from your vocabulary. Refuse it entry to your psyche." This was what I heard in a podcast a couple of years ago by Danielle LaPorte. Then she said, “I think when people use the word OVERWHELM, they are hanging out in EGO.”

What scares you? I used to be AFRAID OF EVERYTHING. The unfamiliar made me want to just hide away. As I look back, I realize I’ve spent the 2nd half of my life dancing with fear. Trying to get familiar with it and then tell it to “Piss off.”

There is so much happening around us – locally in the Twin Cities, nationally, internationally. It’s enough to make you want to bow your head with the weight of it. It’s hard not to feel helpless, hopeless, afraid. I don’t know much, but I know this:

The book was so beautiful and simple and it helped me to remember that during tough stuff, you can find simple things to be grateful for.

The title of today’s sermon is from a bit of today’s Gospel from John - “Joy Made Complete in Themselves”

Buddhists have a term for a particular kind of enthusiasm that happens with new ideas and events. It’s called Bright Faith. Bright Faith! When everything is all aligned and you are standing in the middle of it!!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about being a new mom and trying to figure out how to carve some space out for exercise. (See "You're Worth It" here.) It reminded me of a time that carving out ANY TIME for self-care seemed impossible.