The busier I am, mentally and physically, the more difficult it is to “Stop.”  I think it was Isaac Newton in the first law of Physics who said that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  Well, my experience is that this is true.  I’ve found it extremely valuable for my Sabbath to start at 3 o’clock on Monday to provide me ample time to wind-down SO THAT I might enjoy Sabbath more completely when I start my Tuesday.

This week as I continued reading through the Book of Acts I did so from a historical perspective.  With a map in hand I followed Paul and Barnabas from Iconium to Lystra and Derbe to Jerusalem to Philippi to Cyprus to Antioch to Thessalonica to Berea to Athens.  I’m really enjoying following Paul’s journey and envisioning what it must’ve been like during those times.  There is a series on Qava.tv called “Nobody Liked Paul” that takes viewers to the ancient sites that Paul visited to provide context for his ministry.  This year I’m going to read Acts alongside this series that goes through Athens, Thessalonica, Philippi, Ephesus, Corinth, Cenchreae.  Basically, much of the sites of Paul’s ministry described by Luke in Acts 15 – 18.  Stay tuned as I have an idea to do this together via Zoom, if people are interested.

It’s in Athens at the Areopagus (Acts 17: 22-31) that I re-read Paul’s sermon.  It strikes me that if Paul were visiting our congregation as a Story Teller this is exactly what he might have shared with us.  There are four themes I journal:  1.  There is a universal truth that people seek, 2. God is The Creator and does not reside in statues or temples, 3. God actively seeks relationship with humanity, 4. God is reunited with humanity through Jesus.  What a beautiful sermon that is relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.