PRACTICE WRITING 4-6-25

Posted on April 6, 2025 by joseph elon lillie under PRACTICE WRITING, The Stories

I haven’t been practice writing much lately. Honestly, I have been struggling with the discipline of my lifestyle for the last several weeks.

I have been chalking it up to transition. So much has changed in the rhythm of the Vicarage these last several weeks it has been a bit overwhelming for all of us. It’s been good, but admittedly a little daunting.

Add to that, the fact that I am about to go through oral surgery to remove three teeth tomorrow….

and I think I have a perfect recipe for a procrastination depression. I don’t feel sad, but I know I am hiding in YouTube, Facebook and episodes of “CALL THE MIDWIFE”.

I think I am also struggling with the permaculture mindset that flows between ministry and forest gardening. The two things seem to be a perfect complement for each other. Yet they also call for a mindset of self discipline that is, frankly, a new level for me.

I keep watching episodes of the “The lazy Gardener” and “Huw Richard” on YouTube. While they talk about how permaculture is cooperating with nature and actually less labor intensive than conventional gardening, I am left wondering if this is the “lazy” way then……GOOD GRIEF!

I am also powerfully aware that my perspective is being powerfully effected by all the changes going on inside my home and in the community. The return of my sister is wonderful…and it is the fulfillment of prophetic forth telling that comes at the convergence of many prophetic forth tellings. Add to that the currents of global instability and…. GOOD GRIEF!

So I guess I will wrap this up by saying I am struggling a bit and praying a lot for the new level of self-discipline this new season is calling me into both as it regards the Vicarage forest garden and the ministry here in the town of Winchendon. If there was ever a time for prayer it is now!

PRACTICE WRITING 3-12-2025

Posted on March 12, 2025 by joseph elon lillie under Pastor Wrinkles, PRACTICE WRITING, The Stories

From my childhood I was spiritually sensitive. I know that in our “modern” world saying something like that has the potential of offending our culture’s deep bias toward a skeptical humanism, but there is no better way to explain the road I walked from my earliest memories.

I was deeply interested in the supernatural and by the time I was 12 I was intentionally seeking a deeper spiritual experience that would awaken something inside I knew was there but did not remotely understand. I read about the new age. For a while I actively sought out the power it purported to have.

Then I met a young lady in my class who was a Jehovah’s Witness. She began sharing her faith with me. It was the first time I had ever heard about Jesus as a Savior (previously he had been introduced to me through my reading as a powerful seer or psychic). It was also the first time I had ever come close to any kind of biblical explanation of existence.

I didn’t understand it then but I was being guided by the Hand of Divine Providence. I can look back on it now and see how God moved the pieces around the chess board of my life, but then it was just questions and realizations coming in real time.

I ended up hearing the full gospel message first from my eighth grade social studies teacher and then through another twist, my father who was most definitely not a believer called my “crazy uncle” and asked him to take me to church. I ended up attending church with at a little Assemblies of God in my hometown (where I am now the pastor). I sat in that little church for six months before I made a true personal commitment to Jesus Christ as my God.

I have learned that there are many bends in the metaphorical road of faith. The way is narrow and it winds precariously up a very high mountain. I have also learned that on this journey of faith, truth is not so much discovered as it is revealed.