Connecting Generations, March 2014

	A Monthly Reflection from the Older Adult Ministry of the Church of the Brethren
Click here for large print (PDF file)    View this message as a web page     Friendship Matters March 2014 You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. Eccl 4:9-11 CEV Dazzlingly white sunlight and warm Santa Ana winds. Verdant gardens under brilliant blue skies. Toes wiggling in silky sand. Still in the throes of our frigid Chicago-area winter (in March!), these memories from the January Clergy Women’s Retreat in Malibu, California, warm my heart. Warmer still are my memories of the time spent with 40 other Church of the Brethren clergy women who gathered at the serene mountainside Serra Retreat Center to reflect, learn, and get to know each other better. In our short time together, we laughed and cried and became close friends. Friendship matters. This was the "big idea" retreat leader Melissa Wiginton wanted participants to remember from our time together. She emphasized the importance of our relationships and how people are hard-wired to connect with other people. Friendship matters for human life; for our health and our well-being. Our friendships shape us, calm us, and help us fill in the gaps of our lives. Research shows what Solomon already knew: we truly are better off to have friends. Friendship matters as both an expression of God and as an experience of God. Through our relationships, we share God with others and we come to know more of God. We are blessed when we are a friend and when we have friends. Because friendship matters, let us remember these words of blessing when we think of our friends: I keep you in my heart. You are all my partners in God’s grace (Phil 1:7 CEB). —Kim Ebersole, Director of Family Life and Older Adult Ministries, Church of the Brethren Prayer God of Relationship, We give you thanks for the friends who care for us and support us. Through their friendship, we come to know you more fully. Help us to be the best friend we can be to others, so that they can experience you through our love. Make us partners in your grace, we pray. Amen To ponder and discuss Retreat leader Melissa Wiginton had participants create a visual "map" of their significant friendships throughout their lives. Being as creative as you wish, make your own friendship map and then consider these questions: 1. Throughout your lifetime, who was holding whom in friendship? How were you being held and supported by your friend(s)? How were you supporting them? 2. "Friends introduce us to worlds not our own." Review the names of your friends on your map. What new ideas and experiences did they introduce you to? 3. "In our friend’s eyes we see ourselves." Who are you in the eyes of your friends? Who is she/he in your eyes? End your time of reflection with a prayer of thanksgiving for your friends and the many ways they have made a difference in your life. Suggested reading The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible by Joan Chittiter. BlueBridge (April 1, 2006). Children’s Friendships: The Beginning of Intimacy by Judith Dunn. Wiley-Blackwell (2004). News from the Denomination Intergenerational Workcamps A great service project with your children and grandchildren! Idaho Mountain Camp ~ June 8-15, 2014 $375/participant      Camp Wilbur Stover, Idaho BRF ~ August 2-9, 2014 $280/participant      Lewsiton, Maine Register soon! More information at www.brethren.org/workcamps May is Older Adult Month! Like the seasons,    the ocean tide,       and our favorite musical compositions    our lives have a rhythm—an ebb and flow       that accompanies our living. This May, Older Adult Ministry invites you and your congregation to consider the Rhythms of Life. Resources are available at www.brethren.org/OAM2014.
The Older Adult Ministry envisions a church that intentionally affirms the gift of aging, and older adults, in its life and in service to the world. Our mission is to call forth ministries by, for, and with older adults throughout the Church of the Brethren. Director of Older Adult Ministry: Kim Ebersole   kebersole@brethren.org 800-323-8039 ext. 305 www.brethren.org/OAM Click here to unsubscribe Click here to change your e-mail address or other information Click here to forward this message to a friend