February 1, 2023 Weekly Update
Happy February Friends!
Last Sunday we wrapped up our Good News Series and Challenge. We focused our hearts and minds on the Good News of God and the Good News in our world. I hope you noticed a shift in your heart or mindset. It certainly helped be more aware of all the bad news that floods my attention span on a regular basis. When we are more aware of that “fire hose” of bad, sad, and tragic news, we can choose to engage it with our whole heart – a heart as one of God’s children – and not be driven to stress, worry, and anxiety on a daily basis.
This month we will focus on Kindness. We will look at what it means to practice random and not-so-random acts of kindness as a spiritual practice. Your going to get a special “seed” gift this Sunday to help you share kindness in our community. Don’t miss church! We’ll focus on not-so-random acts of Kindness for the next three weeks.
Speaking of Good News AND Kindness, I saw a good news story that checked both boxes just this last week. Floyd Dean-Shannon, a flight attendant for Delta, went viral for helping a passenger struggling with anxiety and fear pre-flight. Floyd said:
“I went on ahead and held my coffee and I sat there next to her for like 10 minutes explaining to her… ‘So you’re gonna feel like this or a little up and down feeling… The gears are coming out. You’re going to hear all of this,'” said Dean-Shannon. “But I guaranteed the safety — that if nothing was not right on this plane, we would never lift off the ground.”
By being present and compassionate, the passenger was able to successfully calm down and travel. Read more about Floyd’s act of kindness here: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/flight-attendant-viral-helping-nervous-passenger-96667343
Blessings,
Pastor Jared