Rev. Don Erickson

POEM: Rumi Quotes (dedicated to Sufis killed in Egypt this week) 1. “Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! Why do you stay in prison When the door is so wide open?” 2. “You are so weak. Give up to grace. The ocean takes care of each wave till it gets to shore. You need more help than you know.”  3. “Be melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself.”  4. “Brother, Sister, stand the pain. Escape the poison of your impulses. The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do. Learn to light the candle. Rise with the sun. Turn away from the cave of your sleeping. That way a thorn expands to a rose.”  READING: Philippians 4: 4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will ...

LOOK FOR THE HELPERS Maybe you saw it on the news, but a couple months ago legendary American musician Tom Petty died. Petty was one of my favorites and has been for a while. Knowing this, last week, Holly came home from the grocery store with a “Special Tribute Edition” of Rolling Stone remembering Tom Petty. I have been reading through it since then. One of the last essays about Petty in the edition discusses his last tour, the one he finished just before he had a heart event that took his life. It focuses on the friendship and brotherhood of Petty and his bandmates. It begins with these words: “Bassist Ron Blair has battled stage fright for years since rejoining the Heartbreakers in 2002, after a 20-year sanity break. He wanders into Petty and cops to something you're not likely to admit to your bandleader unless you've known him for 40 years. ‘I'm kinda nervous, you know,’ says Blair in a quiet voice. Petty rarely describes himself as the leader of his band, ...