Leslie’s Logos – March 2025

Have you noticed how good the good is?  Amidst all that is happening, I have had a growing appreciation of wanting to notice all that is worth noticing.  This awareness is the feeling that I should treat everything good in my life as if it is precious.  I understand now not to take anything for granted: the people I love, the freedoms I have, the small daily joys.  With so much changing so fast and so many things that seem certain now uncertain, I find it easier to recognize what has beauty and worth – to savor them. 

Savoring is its own joy. And joy is essential to our resilience.

I have been noticing for a while now that many of the things that I thought were essential or not. Many things I can do without, especially material comforts, which are easy to replace.  Yet irreplaceable is my increased awareness of the beauty of the natural world or what it is like when one person helps another. In a world deifying wealth, many things that I already own that I do not use or engage with enough. As I consider how I will make a conscious effort to participate less and what is increasingly clear to be in a corrupt economy, I am struck by the riches that are around me every day.

I have the opportunity to work with amazing, good people. I have the opportunity to serve a congregation that is full of amazing, good people. My own family is full of amazing, good people—something I know all to well that not everyone can say. Though we do not always see eye to eye on everything, we share common vision for a just and sustainable world. I get to see the sky most days. I get to touch the earth most weeks. I have food and shelter and meaningful ways to spend my days. 

The world has so much beauty in it. I experience freedom of movement and travel and other possibilities that I’ve always taken for granted and now do not. Watching the plot of those whose activities are already restricted because of very justifiable fears, I take my liberty to be precious. To participate in processes of decision-making that are open, to be part of inclusive communities. All of these are incredibly rich gifts.

Savoring allows me to be present to those aspects of the world we live in that I don’t want to lose focus on. For if a decisive moment comes before us, I want to be part of it. So I savor and that gives me the energy and the resolve to  microdose the hard realities. . 

What is it that you wish to savor in your life? What is it that you no longer take for granted that you now celebrate and treasure? I hope you have some moments to consider this and that those moments bring you joy.