Ben Silva-Netto
District Superintendent |
Stay TRIM.
Pastor Julie Horne was among those who shared insightful feedback on the Shasta District Vision Statement sent to all our constituencies within the District. She suggested that our churches and pastors should stay TRIM: Transformational, Relational, Incarnational, and Missional. I understand that to stay trim we need to do several things (DEAR):
- Exercise: My medical doctor quite frequently tells me "If you don't use it, you lose it." This can be said of our spiritual life also. Prayer, for example, is our way of connecting our life, our consciousness, our values, our activities and the other dimensions of our life with God. If you don't use it, you shall lose it.
- Diet: The importance of taking in healthy food and in the amounts our body needs has been emphasized in quite convincing way by my doctor who insists on my taking off a few more pounds. Our spirits ingest and digest food we gather from around us: food for fear or faith, food for hostility or hospitality, food for haunts or hopes, food for grief or grace, food for tears or cheers.
- Rest: We hear Jesus telling his disciples and us, "Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. . . .” (Matthew 11:28-30). Arms raised up to reach for the stars can feel awfully heavy if held up for a long time.
Attitude: Someone said, "Two men looked out through the prison bars; one saw the mud, the other saw the stars." Our attitude towards ourselves, others and the world around makes an enormous amount of difference in shaping not only a trimmed body but also a healthy life. When we are TRIM we BRIM. It was said of Stephen, one of the early followers of Jesus and a companion to Paul in his journeys, that "brimming with God's grace and energy, [he] did wonderful things which are signs that God was in the midst of them. (Acts 6:8, Peterson's The Message). To BRIM is to
- appreciate beauty,
- show reverence,
- experience inspiration,
- hear and make music.
Go and stay TRIM and keep brimming with God's grace!—Ben
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