Our Journeys Together

Stone Soup Meets at 11 a.m. Sunday 9/15 in the Saluda UMC sanctuary.
We'll be able to be in worship and support and affirm the spiritual journeys of our youth.
Henry and Zoe will join the church near the end of the worship service. And we'll all have a chance to look at this spiritual journey we call faith, hope and love.
So join us at 11 to celebrate.
Then, we'll look for a place to go for lunch with any who would like to join us.
See you then!

Mark 9:21-24
 Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’

Ranier Maria Rilke
I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be give to you now, because you would not be able to live them. and the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

And David danced before the Lord with all his might... 2 Samuel 6:14

We've looked at worship and praise through all sorts of means and practices. This Sunday, we'll use our bodies in dance to praise God and be in worship.
Sonya Monts will host us at The Dancers' Extension and we'll see two of her dancers who have worked on choreographing to themes or emotions. Then we'll get a chance to dance too. Maybe, we can even dance a prayer...
We'll meet at the church at 4 p.m. and carpool just a short drive to the Dancers' Extension (next to the Apple Mill across from the truck stop.) For our meal together we'll go light with sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks etc in case the weather is just too pretty to be inside we can picnic in the park.

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. Jeremiah 31:13

Remember next week September 15 Stone Soup will meet at 11 a.m. at t the church to affirm our support of the spiritual journeys of youth!

Here are some pics from last week!

Let's Go Pick Blueberries!

(This is us exploring the blueberry situation 2 wks ago)

Here's where we're planning to go on Sunday to pick BLUEBERRIES. It is up off the parkway in the Shining Rock Wilderness area. We'll meet at the church at 2 p.m. and carpool into Pisgah Forest. It takes about 2 hrs to get to this place. It is over 5,000 ft in altitude so pack a rain jacket just in case. Also bring something to put your blueberries in (I like using a milk jug cut and hanging on my belt).  I'll bring a stove, pan, and pancake batter so we can eat blueberry pancakes right then and there. You bring whatever you want to go with breakfast for dinner (if it needs heat, bring a stove). Don't forget to bring water for our thirsty hike to find the blueberries. We are hunting berries during a very busy weekend so I imagine we'll just have to hike a little further than everyone else has hiked. I don't imagine we'll get home before 8 p.m. Call me with questions.

Here's our scripture for reflection:
Matthew 6:28-35

And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

...remember next week is Worship in Dance at 4 p.m.
then 9-15 we'll be honoring our children's faith journeys at 11 a.m.

Love and Fun

The Kids are going back to school, so we'll have plenty of fun to send them off.

We'll start by finishing our discussion on What I Want to Say to My Kids Before They Go to School
We've done Meaning, Memory and Hope . So this Sunday we'll finish with Love.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

When asked what we should do for Stone Soup, Zoe suggested "FUN". Games outside and inside, so bring anything you want to add to the mix.


For dinner, we'll do a straight up pot luck.

Coming up for Stone Soup...

Sept 1 We'll go Blueberry picking in Shining Rock leaving at 2 p.m.

Sept 8 We'll worship through dance at Dancers' Extension with Sonya's help meet at 4 p.m.

Sept 15 We'll welcome Zoe and Henry into the church as official members meet at 11 a.m.

Love. Be Creative. Be Brave.

Stone Soup will not be gathering on Sunday 8/18. 

It is up to  you to be a “living sanctuary” for God today. 

Do something that increases you love of God and love of neighbor today. 

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Don’t be timid. Love bravely and tell us about it next week.

2 Timothy 1:4-7

Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Peach be with you... And also with you!

I have had a special request from a friend on Hospice Care.
He asked me if it was possible to have a worship service at his home since he hasn't been able to go to church in a long time. He specifically asked for a regular service with people and not just him and a preacher/chaplain. I said that I happened to know a "moveable" worship service that happens on Sunday evenings. That moveable worship service is you, Stone Soup.

So let's meet Sunday August 11 at 4 p.m. at the Saluda UMC parking lot. We'll carpool down to my friend's house.  And everyone bring a two peaches. My friend asked for peaches and I thought we could do a special Hope of Joy ritual with the peaches. (yes, we will be inventing the Hope of Joy ritual but I think it will be very cool). When we're through with the service, we can catch a bite to eat together at a restaurant on the way home.

We'll continue on our theme of Meaning, Hope and Love. This week is Hope.  We'll focus  a scripture that we've used before. Romans 5:3-5
 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

(The rock cairn above is from last Sunday on the river. The water came up and by Thursday all our work had washed away. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1 makes sense now!)

Before my kids go back to school, this is what I want to talk about...2

"As I went down to the river to pray
Studyin' about that good ol' way and who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way!."

Let's go down to the river this week. Pack stuff for a picnic, a bathing suit and a towel. We'll discuss the role of memory/history in the making of meaning in our lives.  We'll talk about the river, the ever flowing stream and how we get in it, how we are part of it.
We'll meet at the Wesley Cottage behind Saluda UMC at 4 and carpool down to a swim spot with a beach on the Green River. You can swim, play in the current or just hang out on the beautiful riverside.
Here's our scripture for reflection:

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"  Ecclesiastes 12:1