dear ones, Just thinking, what would Mother Theresa’s work have been like if she had charged money for her kindness and work instead of invited gifts of support? How might the impact she made have been different? Would she have been able to serve more or fewer people? Might she have been able to love […]
We are blessed by love’s light. ~ Rumi dear ones, i am grateful to share with you an invitation to join me this Thursday, June 25th at 8:30 pm EDT. (Determine your timezone here.) I will hold a virtual vigil for our beloved dead as part of World UNITY Week. You are invited to bring […]
https://joyfuel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/thedaytheactivistsoverslept.mp3 (click above to hear audio description of essay, art and poem) This post is dedicated to the activists, helpers, community servants, and the often unseen sometimes unknowable kindness warriors who continue to show up for the rest of us, to believe there is something they can do to make everything a little better, less […]
(click above to hear audio descriptive reading of essay) Dear Ones, (Yes I feel like using proper punctuation and capitalization today.) I want to get really personal here and talk about something I have never heard anyone talk about: shhhh, this is a big secret that mass media does not want us talking about […]
dear ones, (I am reposting this from my other site, Joyfuel.) I am now creating audio recordings for each of my posts in order to make my posts more accessible, and to describe images in each post.) To listen to the audio recording of me reading this essay click audio button above. the world has […]
dear ones, for the first time in nine days i went to the grocery store. i had a heightened sense of awareness of how everywhere i touched or breathed might possibly contribute to the corona sadness. i was shopping with great intention, purpose and love for five at my house, for my parents, my […]
The look on Sonshine’s face is amazing! You can feel the astonishment with him.
All of what you are talking about, I did, in the late seventies. I started on the path to being a UU Minister. It was a crazy thing to do, but I really felt “called,” in the sense that this profession seemed to pull together most everything I was and wanted. 3 years of seminary, meeting with the “Fellowshiping Committee” and being told to take a course at Meadville Theology School in Chicago on UU History, and after that, being an Intern at a UU congregation in Lincroft, NJ, being Ordained there and finally becoming a REAL “REV” Joan Gelbein! The 15 years I spent as minister in Arlington VA were some of the best years of my life. I was right – it was a scary challenge and I did it–and how I loved the work! I WAS really suited to the work and did a great job. There were moments of anxiety and “what am I doing here?” — but I kept on going. The “Guidance Moment” I had was when I took a workshop in what will you on with your life, led by a elder UU minister. We wrote about out history and he outlined all I wrote that indicated my loves and skills. He said to me, “How about becoming a Worship Specialist?” It was in the 70’s and I had become moved by Feminism. So, I chose to follow a path of ministry instead!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing both the picture and the thoughtful words!
Every photo of your three radiant children that you share always makes our hearts bubble with happiness. Thank you for Sonshine! And thank you for the loving gifts left on the porch today!