JohnPalmieri.com

Planet Earth

I was awakened this morning by rattling windows, a shaking bed, and rumbling sound. I rolled over in bed and ask my wife; “What is that?” Disoriented I thought the washing machine was out of balance…slamming terribly out of control, but then the windows started rattling; it was then that I realized we were experiencing an earthquake. Later in the morning I found out that the epicenter was located near Sycamore, Illinois – approximately 30 miles from my house. Although only a 3.8 magnitude quake I was amazed at the power it yielded; I can only imagine the terror people in Haiti felt at their 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

Today I had the privilege of sitting in a circle with some of my pastoral friends…taking turns reading out loud in it’s entirety Letter from a Birmingham Jail . If you’ve never had the opportunity to read this treatise of Martin Luther King Jr, written while he sat lonely in a narrow jail cell, you need to take time out to read it. I would venture to say that your heart will open and your respect for Martin Luther King Jr. will only increase.

There isn’t an easy or pat answer to maintaining balance in your life. Sometimes I think that Christians overate “balance”. It’s not so much about balance as it is about boundaries…living your life in such a way that the Holy Spirit is un- quenched and un-grieved in all your relationships/endeavors.

Practice life and ministry out of the intimacy of your relationship with the Trinity –just like Jesus did. In reading the gospels it often looked like Jesus life was out of balance…yet he only did what the Father told him to…he lived his life out of the overflow of his relationship with the Father.