Some years ago, I read The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. It is a fun read, written by a man who decides to follow all the rules of the Bible, as best as he can, through the course of a year. I thought the book was mostly going to be about the funny things that happen, and how strange some of the laws seem in today’s world. There is that, but there is much, much more. Jacobs discovers the value of prayer; and while he never becomes a believer, he shares wonderful insights into the nature of God. Upon exploring the meaning of Jesus’ parable about the man with two sons, he writes,

“When Ifirst read the parable of the prodigal son, I was perplexed. I felt terriblefor the older brother. The poor man put in all these years of loyal service,and his brother skips town, has a wild good time, then returns and gets a hugefeast? It seems outrageously unfair.

“But that’s if you are thinking quantitatively. If you are looking at life as a balance sheet. There’s a beauty to forgiveness, especially forgiveness that goes beyond rationality. Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great and powerful one.” (Page 275)

We are constantly surprised by the seeming irrationality of God: the unconditional love, the overabundance of Grace. This is a mark of the divine. God is extra-ordinary and super-natural. God is interested in the quality of existence, not simply the quantity of stuff we collect. This strange season of sacrifice and “safer at home” provide us an opportunity to live this truth of God. We are forced to focus on that which is most important to us. We are able to explore quality of our relationships. We make do with the essentials of home and work. We rely on our own disciplines of prayer, meditation, study and service.  

Eternal God, there is so much we do not understand right now. Help us to trust in your grace and mercy. Paying attention to the essentials, may we come to feel your gentle hands upon us. Guide us, comfort us, heal us, send us. Help us to be apart that which leads to abundant life. We pray this in Jesus holy name. Amen.

I’ve been gardening again. As relaxing as I find it, there are days when it can be quite frustrating. Some plants require a great deal of attention, while others seem to thrive on neglect. Weeds in particular take to neglect. The crabgrass seems to do quite well, while other patches of the lawn, no matter what I do, wither and die in the summer sun. The bulbs burst forth new growth, flower, and then just as quickly die back, only to resurrect themselves when the winter storms pass.

Looking at the garden the other day I was reminded of a passage of scripture. As a child I was never required to memorize scripture passages, but there was one passage that was drilled into my mind.  Frequently at Long Beach First, the Rev. Merle Bailey would read the scripture lessons.  We looked forward to hearing him read for a couple of reasons: first he has a beautiful rich voice which he uses well to convey with depth and intimacy the meaning of the lesson; and second because he is a nice guy, who genuinely likes young people. And he drove a Corvette.  We thought he was very cool. (He still is.) Merle always introduces the Gospel lesson by quoting Isaiah 40:8. 

Merle would stand up, and we would smile because we knew what was coming.  The rest of the service might seem confusing, but even we kids could be confident that we would hear the Word spoken with authority. The constancy of God’s love would be proclaimed.  After a while we began to silently mouth the words as he spoke: “‘The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God will stand forever.‘ Hear the reading of the Word.”

Those were the words which came to me standing over the withering foliage. Sometimes, no matter what I do, things change.  In a world of constant upheaval and confusion, when what we know and are comfortable can be gone in a moment, we can be confident that there is one thing which lasts: The Word of God.

I’ve never asked Merle when or why he began to use that introduction. I imagine he still uses it today.  I know that I was blessed as a child and as a youth by his words and constant reminder of the constancy of God’s love.  I pray that in times of change you will remember the promise of God in the words of Isaiah. As you watch the tender spring shoots grow quickly and then wither in the summer heat, as the flowers droop and fade, as the hairs turn grey and the children have children of their own, remember that “the Word of our God will stand forever!”  That word is Christ Jesus. That word is Love.

Author of Life, remind us that we are part of your creation. You have formed us and breathed into us your Spirit. In the changing of the seasons, and in the changing seasons of our lives, fill us with steadfast love. In the times of distress and anguish, help us to know that this, too, shall pass. Allow us to be the signs of your constant encouragement and hope. We lift this in the name of Jesus, our Savior and friend. Amen.

Pastor George

Micah 6:8 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

This is one of my favorite scripture verses and I have a condensed version of it on my wall in my office. I try to live by it daily.  Lately, I see more and more how fitting it is in all circumstances, and it has been very helpful to me during this current time in our history.

My parents taught me to not care what color a person’s skin color was and explained to me that people have different skin colors just like people have different hair color.  You would not judge a person by their hair color, so you should not judge a person by their skin color. I was taught that the person’s character was important, not skin color.  Made sense to me, so I grew up having friends of different colors and religions, as much as you could growing up in Costa Mesa in the 60s and 70s.  I guess my point is I really did not see color because it did not matter to me.

Now, with the times we live in, it is important to broaden our perspective, to see that being born white gave me privileges that others did not have, whether I realized it or not.  (I am not going into a lot of issues with this article, because it is a daily blessing, not an article to stir things up.) We can see this broadening our perspective as a blessing because learning and gaining knowledge is a blessing, and I especially think it is a blessing when it relates to learning about people and helping us to grow closer together as people of God.  It is important for us to learn about other cultures and that is something that I have not done as much as I should. So, I am now taking the time to do just that.

Growing up I read a book called “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin. If you don’t know the story it was written by a white man who dyed his skin dark while living in the deep south in the late 50’s.  It was eye opening to say the least, since then I have not really read any other books that help me broaden my perspective on growing up black in the US.

What I am getting around to is that now I am taking the time to read different authors whose works I have not read before, to help give me a larger perspective, and that is a blessing. Currently I am reading “The Color of Water” by James McBride, this was first published in way back in 1996.  The title comes from what the author’s mom told him, she said that “God is the color of water” I like that analogy. James is black, and his mother was white, he grew up in the projects in Brooklyn in the late 50s and 60s.  It is a remarkable book about love, race, and religion, I am blessed to read.  The point is that I don’t think I would have read this book, or his other books which are now on my reading list, if it hadn’t of been for all the protest going on right now and the call to listen. Really listen and learn about what the experience of being black in this country is like.

As I try to live more fully into the Micah scripture I need to act more justly and more humbly.  I need to be able to listen and not make excuses for what white culture has done, listen and try to broaden my perspective.  Listening and learning can be a blessing for myself and to the person I am listening to and to our society.  We can learn and listen and admit our mistakes and go forward treating each other with respect, love, and compassion. That involves humility especially when one has done something wrong, even when they are unaware of how they were wrong because I do not like conflict, and I hate to think that I have caused another person pain.

Case in point, the thank you frontline workers banner that we had up at church for a while in our parking lot.  Great idea, poor execution.  Long story short, I did not check the artwork closely enough and the only person of any color was a custodian. Wrong in so many ways and so not the message we want to give out.  I just did not notice it; I don’t think most people noticed at first. We can be blind sometimes.  There are probably many things that we all do that can hurt others that we just do not notice. 

I need to have my eyes more open, act more justly and walk more humbly.  I am blessed to have the opportunity to learn and listen and grow as a person and as a Christian.  We can use this time in our history as a country and take it as a blessing and learn and listen together and change and be better people for it and be a better nation for it.  We are blessed to live here, we are blessed to be creatures who can learn and be better, we just need to take that blessing and live into with it

Gracious and Loving God, Open our eyes  and hearts so that we can learn from each other. Help us to truly see that Christ is in all of us.  Help us to move forward into living more fully into acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with you so that we can be more like your kingdom here on earth. Amen.

Grace & Peace, Suzanne

³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Years ago, I went through the Academy for Spiritual Formation. It was held at the Mercy Center, a Catholic Retreat Center in Burlingame, up by San Francisco. I went one week every quarter for two years. There was so much I loved about that retreat center, but I especially loved walking the grounds. Of course, being more northern California, the weather is certainly different than from down here at home and so are the plants and flowers that grow there. The grounds were quite beautiful, ever changing but always familiar, the pathways were lined with snowdrops that seemed to bow their graceful white bonnets as you walked by. 

As you followed the meandering pathway that would step down a few steps here and there, you would come to a beautiful labyrinth. The path of the labyrinth was lined with small rocks and the path itself was simple dirt. When you walked it there was a massively wonderful natural stone that you would come to when you reached the center. Surrounding the labyrinth in one spot was a koi pond, where you could sit and watch the fish as they would slip in and out of rocks and back and forth under a small bridge, frogs, dragonflies, and butterflies would also collect around the pond.

Each week that I was there, I seemed to find something new on the grounds that I had not seen before. I had found a path that led out behind the Center, down past the housing of the Sisters that lived there. This path went into a more wooded area that had what seemed like a hidden creek, one that wasn’t seen or known of by many of the participants. As I walked along the edge of this path, I began to see trees that had signs on them. At first I couldn’t get close enough to see what they said, so I went through the growth to get a better look, and found these trees were actually Stations of the Cross. This was a humbling find for me, like a Via Delarosa along this wooded creek bed, how many years of prayers has this hidden path heard? On my way back to the Main House I found a small Zen garden with a bench, maybe others had a need to sit and ponder and give thanks for what they too had just experienced as I did.  

It’s been 16 years since I last saw the Mercy Center and yet I return there often in mind, heart and spirit. When I came home I began a journey of turning my backyard into a garden sanctuary where I can find myself, where I listen to God’s whispers and find a place of peace. My garden is always changing, always creating. It’s a place I work with my hands and find a deep sense of peace and comfort when the chaos of the world is more that I want to deal with. I feel fortunate to have such a place, my hope for you is that you too have such a place. It does not have to be a garden, it can be anything that brings you joy in your heat and peace in your soul.

“May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into you bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, to dance. It is there for each and every one of you. Amen.” St. Teresa of Avila

Blessings,
Brenda