Following The Bread Crumbs

By Shirley K. Weyrauch

The meditations in Following the Bread Crumbs are concise enough to read in one sitting, but their rich content will lead you to savor them over a longer period of time. The accompanying photos complement the writings, and their universal appeal will also provoke thoughts, memories, and musings about your own life and our life together.

A stunning compilation of images and words that convey wisdom, wit, and wonder. A beautiful threshold into reflection and prayer.
Jan Phillips, author, God Is at Eye Level
Shirley shares beautiful moments of meaning and digs deep into them to uncover and articulate their significance. She uses scripture to take the lessons from personal to universal. Her words, coupled with her wonderful photographs, create a visual and verbal window through which to glimpse the divine.
Dewitt Jones, photographer and author
Shirley prays not only with words but through her eyes. Her book is a testament to the transformative nature of connecting to ones higher power.
Connie Post, journalist and photographer

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781504390354

Shirley K. Weyrauch

Shirley Weyrauch served as the Christian Education Coordinator at Christ United Church of Christ for more than twenty years and learned contemplative practices through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. She studied photography with a number of skilled photographers. Enjoying time with family and friends, travel, photography, and reading are her favorite pastimes.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 Shirley K. Weyrauch.

Credit for Image on page viii: Lisa Statkus

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017916336

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9034-7 (sc)

          978-1-5043-9035-4 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 11/07/2017

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Dedication

To my husband, John, without whose unflagging support I would not have done any of this.

To the members of Christ United Church of Christ, Orrville, Ohio – my partners in ministry for more than twenty two years, who insisted I needed to do something with these meditations and photos.

Acknowledgements

A great expression of appreciation to the many creative people in my life – photographers, writers, thinkers, educators, and friends – who encouraged me and helped me discover my own creative streak.

Thanks to Rev. Randall Gehres, my pastor, colleague, and friend, who nodded and said, sure, go ahead when I proposed new ideas in my work at Christ Church. His belief in my abilities usually surpassed my own.

Thanks to the team at Balboa Press who helped me bring this work to its final form. I had no idea where to start, but they guided me expertly through the process.

And finally, my gratitude is shared with all of the women around the tables, whose conversations and thoughts contributed to my own opinions, ideas and creativity. You know who you are, and you’re the best!

Contents

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 A Meditation on Birches

Chapter 2 Burdened or Bedazzled?

Chapter 3 Holy Ground

Chapter 4 Coconuts!

Chapter 5 Silence

Chapter 6 Abundance

Chapter 7 Time

Chapter 8 Gratitude

Chapter 9 Play

Chapter 10 Living Honestly

Chapter 11 Paddling

Chapter 12 The Way Ahead

Chapter 13 Creators

Chapter 14 Roots

Chapter 15 Take Care

Chapter 16 Trust

Chapter 17 Fear

Chapter 18 Go With the Flow

Chapter 19 Bad News – Good News

Chapter 20 Screen Time

Chapter 21 Walking in the Dark

Chapter 22 Happiness

Chapter 23 Called

Chapter 24 Creating Reality

Chapter 25 Hospitality

Chapter 26 Racism and Violence

Chapter 27 Hope

Chapter 28 Love Yourself

Chapter 29 Gifts of Time

Chapter 30 Olympic Faith

Chapter 31 Reflection

FOREWORD

I saw it coming, this work of faith. I did not actually foresee that it would become a book, but I hoped so. For over two decades Shirley Weyrauch and I were colleagues in parish ministry, serving the same congregation. That gave me a great vantage point for watching the steady, unhurried emergence of vocational call, theological insight, spiritual reflection, and photographic perspective that became this book. I saw it coming.

First came the language of faith. Called from the profession of pharmacy to work as a Christian Educator, Shirley began to explore the new vocational language of thinking and talking about Christian faith. Especially the questions: What does it mean to be not just educated but formed as a Christian? What creates Christian identity? How might the church help parents mold children into the faith and practices of a Christian? How do adults form and inform each other in Christian living? How might an intergenerational mission trip grow your faith? What does it mean to be a steward of what God has given you – money, yes, but also talent, the natural world, life itself?

The language and questions of Christian education: How do we communicate the Gospel to a new generation? How do we tell why we think Jesus Christ is good news to a culture that increasingly thinks the church is old news or worse? How do we express and demonstrate a vision of what it means to