Autumn greetings, my friends! It’s surprising that the season of autumn would be one where so much is starting up again. We always think of the New Year in January, but September is the month when school starts and schedules get back on track. We purchase new clothes and new backpacks and ooh … new markers and notebooks. Football really gets underway, although the season seems to be pushing out more and more. Within the church, things that took a hiatus during the summer pick up again: choirs, Sunday school and confirmation classes. There is a lot of newness happening.

All this newness got me to thinking about looking at things in new ways. My current read is a book entitled “Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God.” Its goal is to get you to look at God in new ways. The names that we use for God and the metaphors that we use for God can keep us from exploring all of who God is. If we always use the term Father for God, do we ever explore the more feminine aspects of God who gives birth to us? If we always use King or Lord, is it possible to see God as a chicken (Psalm 91:4) who covers us and protects us? It’s kind of like the three blind men who come across the elephant. The one who touches the trunk decides that it’s a snake. The one who bumps into the leg decides that it’s a tree. And the one who feels its tail thinks that it’s a broom. If we limit our sight, we might miss a more full picture. As you read your Bible, you will discover more and more descriptions about God. Some will fit into what you already know. Some might shake you up a little. 

And that’s just one example. How about looking at praying in new ways? Do you always pray in one place? Always pray silently? Always follow a similar format (i.e. ACTS prayers) How might you try encountering God in different ways? Sing a Psalm. Lay prostrate on the floor and pray. Pray out loud — even when you’re alone. Set up a chair beside you and have a conversation with Christ. How about meditation — stopping the talking to God and just trying to listen? 

What else might we look at differently? How about our families? What might we discover if we look at our families in different ways? Might we discover what treasures we have been given? Maybe they’re rough diamonds that still need some polishing, but they are things of great value in our lives. 

Our neighbors? If you grumble about the neighbors, try starting over with them. Take a pan of brownies over, invite them over to grill out. Find out how they’re doing. If you get along great with your neighbors, how might you expand that? Fall is a great time for a block party — even a spur-of-the-moment one. 

Our communities? There are so many great things going on in our local communities. Try out something you’ve never done before. Go to a business or a museum or a park that you’ve never gone to. Invest yourself in your community in new ways. Volunteer at the food pantry. Help out at the library or the local school. Visit people in the nursing home. Pick up trash in the parks. You’ll meet new people and see your community with new eyes. 

Hopefully you’ve found some new ideas to energize you. See the world around you in new ways!

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kelly Jahn is pastor of the Juda Zion and Oakley Union United Methodist Churches.