“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”
– Ecclesiastes 9:10

I asked my son, “What brings you peace?”
First he shrugged, then thought a moment, and said with a smirk, “Playing video games!”

At first I rolled my eyes, thinking, “Haven’t you gotten enough of screen time already? And how does that bring you peace? You seem so tense while you are playing! So focused! So single-minded…”

And then I remembered the days when I got the Tetris cartridge for my Nintendo. I could play for hours! And while it was stressful, it also provided a strange sense of peace. I couldn’t think about anything else as I prepared for the next block to appear other than planning for where it might go. All fretting about things I couldn’t control was cast aside. All fleeting distractions were rejected out of hand. All random doubts and fears were gone. It felt like I was firing on all cylinders and there was nothing left for anything other than what I was doing. And that brought its own strange sense of peace.

As I got better at the game, something else happened: it seemed that more space did open in my mind. I could ponder deeper, bigger issues. And I could do so without the usual accompanying bias or emotion.

In doing something “with all my might” I could let go of the things that usually slowed me down, distracted, or caused me to doubt. That was peace. Then I could be open to the movement of something from without – or possibly deep within.

When I went to seminary I learned about a great variety of religious practices. Two things struck me in relationship to Tetris. The first, as you might imagine, was meditation. The second was the Roman Catholic tradition of praying the Rosary. I had thought that this was simply a practice of praying rote prayers. Indeed it is – but that is not all it is!  As you work through the courses of prayer, you are supposed to meditate on the mysteries of faith. The prayers themselves do not give you “points with God,” instead they allow you to occupy your busy mind in order to be able to consider higher things.  They allow you to ignore all of the noise and hear the voice of God.

I am not saying that you should go purchase a set of rosary beads. But I do commend to you Spiritual disciplines such as prayer and meditation, which will allow you to silence the fuss and commune with God. Indeed, as the author of Ecclesiastes points out, whatever you find to do, do it with all that you are! You might just hear God speak!

Gentle God, we are listening. We listen not only in the silence, but in the busy-ness of our lives. Grant us your peace. Not simply stillness, but focus and confidence. Move in us through disciplines, so that we might be disciples of Jesus in the world today. We pray this in His name. Amen.

And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

— Matthew 28:18-20

Thirty-two years ago today, I entered the ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. On June 19, 1988, In the chapel at the University of Redlands, Bishop Jack Tuell ordained me to the life and ministry of a deacon. Two years later, on June 16, 1990, Bishop Tuell again placed his hands on my head and ordained me to the life and ministry of an elder. 

I have reflected on these anniversaries this week. Surprisingly, I would not consider this year to be the most challenging in my years of ministry! In many ways, however, this is the most fulfilling, for I am finding in this community the resources and imagination to learn new ways of fulfilling my call and ordination vows.

Our ordering of ministry has changed slightly since 1990. The ministry of a deacon was then seen as a short term step toward being an elder; now it is understood to be a distinct form of ministry in which one may serve for a lifetime.  I like to see the role as additive: I have both the responsibilities of an elder: leadership, spiritual care, administration of the sacraments, sharing the word; as well as the responsibilities of a deacon: practical, direct care of persons, assisting others in ministry, organizing believers for collective study and ministry.

And of course, ordination did not replace or take away my deepest and highest call to ministry. Being ordained did not make me a minister of the Gospel. That call and claim on my life came at my baptism. (For me that happened back in February of 1964).

All who are baptized are called to be in ministry. We are called and equipped to carry on the work of Christ in the world. One of the things I love about this church is that you all seem to understand this. There is no way that I should, would, or could stop you from caring for one another, from showing your love in the community in works of mercy and service, or from doing justice in the world.

Take a moment to reflect on your baptism. How are you answering your call to be ministers of the Good News of Jesus? What gifts have you discovered in yourself? What resources have you found? What do you need? How can we better be in ministry together?

God of the storm and God of the silence, we turn to you in our need. When we see those who are hurting, lonely, afraid and causing harm to others we hear your call to act. When we see the places of brokenness in the world we hear your call to heal and to be peacemakers. When we hear your call, let us also hear your claim upon us, and help us to know that you equip us with what we need for such a time as this. Open us to living and working in community with you and our friends in faith. And help us to know that you can see where we cannot, so that we may learn to trust in you and live in hope. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Anniversary!

George

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”

This is one of my favorite hymns, and we just sang it recently.  When I read the lyrics, I have the tune going through my head and heart.  Today I want to share a grateful heart story that involves our shower ministry and a congregation member.

Many of you know that our shower ministry program is back and in full swing. Pastor George and I are blessed to be the new face of this ministry during this time.  It is a blessing to be of service to these folks.  One of our church members wanted to use some of their stimulus money to purchase gift cards for the folk in our shower ministry.  They purchased several Subway gifts cards, through our Script program, and I was the lucky one who got to hand them out.  They were all so appreciative of this unexpected treat, as they said. That was last week. 

Today, one of the ladies that is a regular brought a thank you card for the person that gave them all Subway cards.  She had it out on the table where they all sign in for showers, for people to sign if they would like.  I was so touched by this gesture. Many have signed the thank you card and said what a great idea that it was.

The gal who came up with the idea and followed through with it, lives in her car.  When I asked her about this heartfelt gesture, she said that she could never imagine having that much money and not needing it, just giving it away to people they do not even know.  This gal could not imagine having a couple extra hundred dollars and giving it away.  Perspective.
How do we say thank you to God for what he has done for us through Jesus Christ?

Hopefully, we thank him every day in prayer, but how else do we thank him?  We thank him with our lives. We thank him by being his hands and feet.  We thank him by the way we show his love to all his children.  We thank him with a heart filled with gratitude, and love and by living a life which shows that love to our fellow human beings.  We thank him by helping those less fortunate than ourselves, because there but for the grace of God go I. 

Be kind everyone.

Grace & Peace, Suzanne

“The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6:22

When I was a little girl, I used to love playing in the dirt as my mother would plant the flowers in the garden. I still love having my hands and, much of the time, my feet in the dirt, growing flowers and plants that bring the hummingbirds and butterflies along with many other crawling and flying creatures to my yard. I remember making mud pies a lot, using the center yellow part of Calla Lilies to be the sprinkles on top, which was very impressive, I thought.

I recently was reminded of a children’s message I gave a long time ago about being able to see clearly. That sometimes we see others and our surroundings through dingy lens. And that sometimes we need to check our lens through which we see and clean them to be able to see clearly. So I had a prop of a bottle of Windex and I covered the label to say “Jesus Windex”, silly but got the point across. With so much that is happening in our lives and in the world around us, I can’t imagine a better time for all of us to get our Jesus Windex out, clean our lens through which we see, to be able to recognize Jesus in all of humanity and call them brothers and sisters.

There’s a story of Jesus healing the eyes of a blind beggar by taking dirt, spitting into it to make mud and placing it on his eyes so that he could see for the first time in his life. Jesus used an everyday childish thing like mud pies to heal his sight physically and spiritually (John 9:6-7).  As it says, “if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” (Mt. 6:22). To see clearly, allows us freedom to see past perceptions, prejudices, naivety and judgement.
So, as we go about our days, whatever that entails, may we make mud pies to see with a renewed vision. To clean our lens with a bit of Jesus Windex to open our eyes spiritually to the world God intended. “Here’s mud in your eyes,” and be restored to newness of life.

Healing God, be present in our lives, fill us with your Spirit helping us to not only see ourselves clearly but to also be aware of our calling to love others as you do. Show yourself to us clearly and to help us to reflect your care for the broken, hurting, marginalized, and oppressed. Make our lives a living demonstration of your plans for reconciliation and transformation. In the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

Peace, Brenda

This past week I have had the opportunity to connect with three of my friends in quite different ways and for quite different reasons. I received a text from a friend with some sad news.  My immediate response was I just wanted to go to her house and give her a great big hug.  But I haven’t figured out a way to give a hug and keep the 6 feet distance.  So, I connected with her by phone.  We had a great conversation about relationships with others, the power of prayer and trusting that God is in control. We talked for a long time and when it was time to hang up, I reiterated that I just wanted to run over and give her a hug.  My friend’s reply was, “You did.  I totally felt your hug.” I hung up and said a prayer for my friend.

Later in the week, I gathered with two friends because we hadn’t seen each other since the middle of March.  We felt we could do it responsibly if we met in the park where we could sit 6 feet apart and be in the open air. It was great to connect with them and after we got caught up with each other’s family our conversation switched to COVID 19 and the societal shift we are beginning to feel because of it.  We felt it was a positive change. This conversation, like my earlier conversation in the week, took a turn towards our faith and the role it plays and trusting that God is in control.  As we packed up our chairs and began to say good-bye, I wanted to give them a hug; but I still haven’t figured out how to do that and to follow the social distance guidelines, so we pretended. Even though I did not get a physical hug, I felt “hugged” when I got into my car.

These conversations have taught me a few things.  One that we can still connect with people and be impacted without being in physical proximity of each other and that hugs can be given and received in a variety of ways. The contrast of the two gatherings have stuck with me since, although one connection was in pain and the other was in joy, these women’s strong faith and how they lean on God was a common theme from them both. It was inspirational and helpful to me in my own personal faith journey.   Although I have known this, it made me mindful, once again, that when a connection is made there is value in it for all involved.  God is good all the time.

Creator God help us to continue to find ways to be creative so that we can continue to enrich and nourish our relationships with people from a distance so that we can all remain healthy. We give thanks for the creativity that you have gifted us with “drive by” celebrations and technology that brings us together.  Help us to see these connections as blessings and the value in them. These times are challenging, and we give thanks for your relationship with us and the peace that it brings knowing that you will guide us along the way. 
Amen

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you. Psalms 32:8

Marty