Friends for the Journey

Kathrin shares a truly delightful conversation about the many patterns and shapes that make up the mosaic of AbbyLynn Haskell: sacred storyteller, pastor, boat captain, and retreat coordinator, a person of faith, explorer of the oceans in the world and within the imagination. With good humor, the gift of story, and a wealth of hard-won wisdom, Abby reminds us that, even as we each grow and change, hope changes as well.

While it might be tempting to say that Abby wears a lot of hats, it might be more fitting to say that Abby allows the light of insight and inspiration to shine through the many windows of her faith and creativity. It was an absolutely delightful conversation to share, filled with laughter. I hope you join us.

Links:

AbbyLynn Haskell:

• Broad Reach Ministries: https://broadreachministries.com/
• Acton Congregational Church UCC: https://sites.google.com/site/actonmaineucc/
• Maine School of Ministry: https://www.maineucc.org/ministries/mesom/#1587758099544-b66ba32b-22e1
• Curious about Sacred Storytelling? https://broadreachministries.com/sacred-storytelling
• Broad Reach Sailing: https://broadreachsailing.us/
• Jonathan Boyd – Tenor: http://jonathanboyd-tenor.com/

Additional links related to AbbyLynn Haskell’s conversation:

• More about the cognitive and biochemical changes of storytelling: Gallo, Carmine. “Stories literally put our brain waves in sync.” Quartz at Work, Last accessed May 12, 2020. https://qz.com/work/1298571/stories-literally-put-our-brain-waves-in-sync/
• “The magical science of storytelling” David JP Phillips; TEDxStockholm: Last accessed May 12, 2020: TEDxStockholm on YouTube

Some supportive resources related to learning disabilities and neurodiversity, including Auditory Processing Disorder, which Abby mentions in this episode:

• Understood.Org,
• Learning Disability Association of America (LDA), and
• Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA).
• Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)

Here’s a great book about Dyslexia that Abby recommends: The Gift of Dyslexia: Why Some of the Smartest People Can’t Read...and How They Can Learn, by Ronald D. Davis and Eldon M. Braun. As Abby describes it, “this book lifts up the benefits of being blessed with a learning challenge.”

Many thanks to Ministering to Ministers, who

How are you?

Those three words seem so simple, so short, combined in the right order to make a really simple question that should be easy to answer.

When the world turns upside down, whatever the inflection we use when we ask this question, the longing we feel for one another remains.

In unfamiliar times, when the world turns upside down, we find ourselves in a Waiting Place, a place after what we had known to be but before we feel confident in our life once again. That Waiting Place is a time of not knowing, the place of not yet.

It is a place that has been with humanity since the beginning.

Links & Resources:

There are some wonderful, supportive resources online. Here are a few:

Vox.com: Rabbi David Wolpe explains how to make sense of suffering: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/7/8/21223748/judaism-religion-god-suffering-david-wolpe-future-perfect

HelpGuide, a nonprofit mental health, and wellness website, provides evidence-based information for a broad spectrum of issues, concerns, and circumstances: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/dealing-with-uncertainty.htm

National Association of Social Workers provides some good resources & strategies for self-care during the Coronavirus Pandemic: https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Infectious-Diseases/Coronavirus/Self-Care-During-the-Coronavirus-Pandemic

These might be familiar, but worth repeating:

Resources to watch:

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Live Jelly Cam: https://youtu.be/28cnxCbix0k

Moon Jelly Cam: https://youtu.be/4s1iaXflVcg

Morning MeditOcean: https://youtu.be/4RtVT7Cfgp4

Here are some other resources:

Ministering to Ministers Resources (Library)

Ministering to Ministers Wellness Retreats

Music for this episode has been legally purchased from AudioJungle. License available upon request

Sometimes events occur in our lives that sweep through, rippling through the foundations of our life like tectonic ruptures, leaving us feeling off-kilter, a little broken. Illness, uncertainty, transition, betrayal, job loss...

It makes sense that we feel unbalanced when change rolls over us like a storm. We might feel minimized by the events that overwhelm us.

So...how do we move forward when we feel broken?

Sometimes we can move forward by standing still. The moon remains implacable in the sky above us as it moves over us during both night and day. And even as, little by little the moon becomes minimized as it traces its path through the sky, so too the moon begins to rebuild a little bit more of itself day by day. Until the moon once again reclaims its magnificent beautiful self.

And so, too, will you.

Links:

Covid-19: Resilient Educator Toolkit https://resilienteducator.com/covid19/ dedicated to the support of teachers and educators, students, parents, and families.

“Too Many Pastors Are Falling on Their Own Swords”, by Jakob Topper https://baptistnews.com/article/too-many-pastors-are-falling-on-their-own-swords/

“Healthcare Worker Burnout & Self-Care” by Dr. Alisa Burpee, a Seattle-based clinical psychologist. https://www.providence.org/news/uf/625195886 (last accessed

HelpGuide, a nonprofit mental health and wellness website, provides evidence-based information for a broad spectrum of issues, concerns, and circumstances: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/dealing-with-uncertainty.htm

National Association of Social Workers provides some good resources & strategies for self-care during the Coronavirus Pandemic: https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Infectious-Diseases/Coronavirus/Self-Care-During-the-Coronavirus-Pandemic

Many thanks to Ministering to Ministers, who produces and supports this podcast. Please check out the resources available through this fantastic foundation:

Ministering to Ministers

Ministering to Ministers Resources: Forced Termination

Ministering to Ministers: The Problem

Ministering to Ministers Resources: Books

Ministering to Ministers Wellness Retreats

Music for this episode has been legally purchased from AudioJungle. License available upon request

As we make our way along this journey, we sometimes get a chance to reflect on what's happened in our lives. Every other week, we hope to give you a short reflection along the way.

Sometimes, when it’s hard to focus, we might get a chance to connect in ways we hadn’t expected. Sometimes, when it’s hard to focus, we might be surprised by a connection, a gift, a moment when we get to be who we are, mess and all.

It's a hectic, uncertain, and frenzied time we're living in right now. But we want to be your Friends for the Journey.

https://ministeringtoministers.org/what-we-do/

Music for this episode has been legally purchased from AudioJungle. License available upon request

Kathrin sits down with colleague and friend Gregory Reinauer, who introduces beautiful perspectives about music, conversation, and actively engaging hope in our lives. A bass musician trained at Berklee College of Music, Gregory shares how good ears support an understanding of the foundation that unites all the different strains of music within our lives. Together, Gregory and Kathrin explore new possibilities of creativity, music, faith, and – as Gregory says - that there’s something here that we have not yet seen that is here to emerge for all of us and to be interested in that. (A tip o’the hat to Gregory!)

How do we face the challenges and trials of the world? Gregory stands at the edge of that question and does not flinch during a heart-warming, thought-provoking dialogue about the faith that we are part of a universe that we cannot fall out of.

Join us for a conversation rich with laughter and inspiration. You are in the right place, friend. Welcome.

*PostScript: I realized after our conversation that I’d mistakenly attributed “All shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well” to Teresa of Avila rather than Julian of Norwich. There I go being human again!
Some links to share:

Gregory Reinauer Creative Action CoachingCrash Course for a Resilient LifeBerklee College of Music in BostonThe Casket of Dr CaligariJoanna MacyTeresa of Avila

And Please note, Kathrin misquoted the phrase “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” This, along with many other fantastic quotes, is attributed to Julian of Norwich, not Teresa of Avila. (Heavens to mergetroid!)

Original links to the Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) source for Rabbi Tarfon’s quote, “It is not your duty to finish the work of perfecting the world), but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”

George Kao (link to the Friends for the Journey episode) https://www.buzzsprout.com/1363012/5525260

Dag Hammarskjöld (Link in Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/946904.Dag_Hammarskj_ld) “For all that has been, thank you. For all that is to come, yes.” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/35474-for-all-that-has-been-thank-you-for-all-that
Gregory recommends the music of Melodeego. Thank you, Gregory!

Many thanks to Ministering to Ministers, who produce and support this podcast. Please check out the resources available through this fantastic foundation:
Ministering to Ministers
Ministering to Ministers Wellness Retreats
Ministering to Ministers Resources: Forced Termination<