I took a hayride last weekend to pick out a pumpkin. Thirty-nine cents a pound isn\u2019t bad.\u00a0 As I watched each family and each kid scatter into the field to pick out just the right one, there were a few types of pumpkin hunters that quickly stood out. Some ran straight for the largest pumpkins\u2014no matter what shape or color, these hunters are out for bulk. Some of the kids ran around just trying to find one they could lift. Some families were buying one per child; others were trying to negotiate which one as a group. One fashionista was out for the most stylish pumpkin looking at the designer gourds with bends and warts\u2014the \u201capple gourds\u201d or the \u201cpeanut pumpkins.\u201d\u00a0 I like the taller oval ones, but I was out voted by an independent toddler who wanted to carry her own and the taunt, \u201cMe do it!\u201d<\/p>\n
I was reminded about diversity once again, and how although we all have our own preferences, we bend those preferences for others around us.<\/p>\n
When it comes to names for God, I certainly have my preferences, as do others, but I don\u2019t think I have ever heard a name for God that I can\u2019t stretch to, at least once I hear another\u2019s rationale. I have a favorite book of poetry called, Harvest<\/em>, that I took off the shelf this week, written by a Jewish poet, Ruth Brin. She has written:<\/p>\n When men were children, they thought of God as a father; I might imagine God as teacher or friend, but those images, God is the force of motion and light in the universe; The poem asks us to consider that our \u201cpreferred\u201d images of God may be more a reflection of our own self image than they are a description of God. I invite you to look around our beautiful campus this week and seek a new image for God. Look for inspiration in what you see and hear instead of what you are used to or what your independent streak might want to impose.<\/p>\n Have a blessed and inspiring fall,<\/p>\n Stephanie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I took a hayride last weekend to pick out a pumpkin. Thirty-nine cents a pound isn\u2019t bad.\u00a0 As I watched each family and each kid scatter into the field to pick out just the right one, there were a few …<\/p>\n
\nWhen men were slaves, they thought of God as a master;
\nWhen men were subjects, they thought of God as a king.
\nBut I am a woman, not a slave, not a subject,
\nnot a child who longs for God as father or mother.<\/p>\n
\nlike king, master, father or mother, are too small for me now.<\/p>\n
\nGod is the strength of life on our planet;
\nGod is the power moving us to do good:
\nGod is the source of love springing up in us.
\nGod is far beyond what we can comprehend.<\/p>\n