The idea of marketing spiritual services is always a tough one. On the one hand, there is a tendency to want to rely on God to bring the right people to me (us), and therefore feel that any marketing work that I do somehow indicates a lack of trust. On the other hand is the axiom of ‘God helps those who help themselves’ and the story of the man standing on his roof while the flood water rose all around him. I am reading a great book now that encourages a balance – I do marketing to the best of my ability AND I pray and ask God to bring the right people to see and respond to that marketing.
The book I’m reading is Finding Seekers: How to develop a spiritual direction practice from beginning to full-time employment by Bruce Tallman. One element discussed in the book is social media. Tallman uses the approach of writing a ‘thought of the day’ on Twitter, then shares the same on his Facebook feed and as a blog post. This consolidation of ‘what to say’ while still covering all the platforms seems like a decent plan to me… but then there was the question of what to say! How was I to come up with something profound, in 140 characters, EVERY DAY? But then the obvious answer struck me: rather than “me” coming up with a thought every day, how about letting God share a thought every day? Not only would this take the pressure off me, it would also bring added emphasis to my own spiritual practice every morning. After all, if I don’t have my time with God, how is S/He supposed to tell me His/Her thoughts?
So – I’ve started posting #ThoughtsFromGod each day on my Rev Carrie Facebook page, and I might eventually expand that to Twitter. Here, for your contemplation, are the first few days’ worth. Enjoy!
Breathe in. Relax. Appreciate the day ahead of you.
You are beautiful. Today is beautiful. You look good together.
Let the sun shine through your soul. Light up you and everyone around you.
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