From the Pastor: August 2026

Dear Friends,

I hope you’re enjoying the summer heat as much as I am.  Right now I’m typing away next to the soft breeze of a fan, smelling the wet foliage out my windows after a summer rain and listening to the quiet heart-beat of Katonah.  I hope wherever you are, whether it’s ringing your heart out in Scotland, playing with children in Cape Cod, or planning a nap on your own living room couch, that you’re finding some respite from the not-so-nice heat of life’s daily challenges.  The sky-high stress we face doesn’t go away when we take a vacation; we just step away from it.  It lies in wait for our return.   

Years ago, I remember a valiant woman of faith tearfully confessing to me as I was trying to keep her confidence up, “I just wish it didn’t have to be so hard all the time!”  Well, it doesn’t.  I don’t mean the work; yes, that is hard, most of the time.  But we don’t need to wait for life to change in order for our attitude to change.  Here’s a gem of wisdom from Dr. Michael Beckwith’s beautiful book, 40 Day Mind Fast Soul Feast:

Have Faith in Faith – When you have faith the size of a mustard seed and abandon yourself and all the details of your life to it, your greater-yet-to-be bursts forth.  You will meet it everywhere.  It will press itself against you and multiply around you!  You will hear the Spirit whispering inwardly to you about why you are here and what you have come to do, revealing the agreements in your Divine Contract.

You don’t have to wait for external circumstances to shift before such a transforming experience overtakes your life.  Right now, on the ground on which you stand, you can breathe in the sublime, rarified atmosphere of the Holy Spirit.  Then you will know absolutely that you live in a supportive Universe.  There will be a tearing down of the strongholds of negativity.  There will be the glory of the Living God moving through you in ways you can’t even imagine.  Be vigilant in your faith!  It is your shield and your fortress.  Those who practice faith walk freely everywhere they go in this world.  No mental barbs of negativity can penetrate their interior armor of conviction that God is the Source and Substance of their supply, their Sustainer, Provider, and Comforter.  

  Too good to be true, right?  Hey, I get it.  No one simply lets go all stress while they battle the demons of darkness that life throws at us.  But wouldn’t even a little relief be nice?  Dr. Beckwith offers this invitation—just for today, for the remainder of your waking hours, try a spiritual experiment.

Every hour on the hour, stop, take a deep breath, and give thanks for your life.  Then move back into your daily rounds of activity with an awareness of the Eternal beating in your heart.  You will begin to remember who and what you really are.  With repeated practice, your faith in your true identity creates space for you to no longer live in the past or future.  Instead, you will be available, awake and alive in the Eternal Now.

      Blessings to all!  Love, 

In love and light,

Martin