²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt ²¹ but test them all; hold on to what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21

The first night we had our puppy, I didn’t sleep a wink. I was listening on a baby monitor for any signs that she may need to go out. She slept like a rock, but I was up every couple hours sure that she needed to go to the bathroom and determined to set her up for crate success.

The next night was a little bit better. I only woke up three times and insisted she go out each time just in case. Every time, she immediately ran back to the door because the grass was wet, and she wanted to go back to bed.

By the third night, I was finally calm enough to just see how things went. And they went perfectly. She slept until the merry hour of 6:00 am. Then, she went out, did her business, and peacefully cuddled up with the family.

Every article I read said that puppies weren’t supposed to sleep through the night until they were at least 16 weeks old, and at a mere 10 weeks, Chloe was doing it. By every literal interpretation of every puppy guide, something was horribly wrong. She must not be growing enough, have enough nutrition. Maybe the rescue we got her from had her aged wrong, and we were missing all the appropriate milestones of her real age setting us up for a lifetime of misery with a dog that isn’t properly socialized, anxious, and constantly nipping at everyone’s heels.

This by the book interpretation created a whole lot more anxiety that it was worth. Turns out, Chloe is fine. She’s perfectly well adjusted, doing all the normal puppy things, and getting ready to go to puppy camp to sort out any training challenges.

I couldn’t help but notice, though, how taking an article as absolute truth caused me to miss the abundant joy that I wasn’t stuck in a newborn nightmare again with a living being that needed care every couple hours around the clock.

Printed words have abundant power. Power to persuade, inspire, confuse. Almost always there are at least two sides to every story, and the actual truth lies somewhere in the middle. The real story is at the conjunction of what we’ve read, how we interpret it, experiences we’ve had, and how we place feelings to it.  That’s why a literal interpretation of anything – a news story from the perspective of one outlet, a Biblical reference taken out of context – can cause a lot more harm than good.

As good critical thinkers, people, and Christians, we must take everything we hear and read, as an opportunity to grow our own experience, filling in the gaps and seeking more information. Indeed, that’s the only way we will be able to truly see, love, and accept all of our neighbors as God would have us do. 

Blessings,
Emalee Sugano

Lord, may we strive to seek your truth, not relying on any one source or reference; but seeking answers from multiple sources, people, and frameworks. May we recognize that our way is not always the best way (or even the right way), and strive to find Your way in all that we read, say, and do. Amen.

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’ – Acts 15:6-11

As you know, there continues to be debate over who can be a part of the church. The debate continues in our United Methodist Denomination. Because of the pandemic our regular meetings of the denomination have been postponed again and again. While most of us have been staying at home to keep everyone safe, the forces of divisiveness continued their work, and have gathered to plot their actions to leave, whether or not they get their way. Some of you have written or spoken to me, asking about these events.  I recently received a copy of a paper describing some of the fault lines in the church, and (perhaps remembering the Revelation to John) suggesting that today there are “Seven United Methodist Churches.”

Here is my reflection on the church they term “centrists.”

I think that “Church #2” might be better understood as like the earliest church, of James in the Book of Acts. Times were changing, and while there were plenty of folks who were interested in declaring who did and didn’t belong. James and the first council looked instead at the work of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t understand these gentiles, or their ways, and understood that they couldn’t make them be just like themselves. So they boiled down all of the laws they followed into just a few, and James said “We think if you do these few things, you should be well.”  Even so, James and the apostles still followed the law according to their conscience. It isn’t that those in “Church 2” are wishy-washy, or are destined to become polarized. They are genuinely welcoming of people who are different, even when they can’t completely comprehend them. Indeed, they seek to understand and learn from these people! “Church 2” has a high view of Scripture – of all of Scripture in context. They are traditional, picking up the oldest traditions of the church: of offering Christ to those who are seeking, and of adapting their community to respond to the needs of a new day.  They are a people who say that the love of Jesus and the movement of the Holy Spirit are greater than those passages of scripture which happen to affirm their biases. They aren’t “live and let live;” they are “thrive and encourage others to thrive.”

While too far for some of you, and not nearly far enough for others, I think the model of the early church is one that bears consideration.

As we look to re/build the post-pandemic church, let us remember what drew us in the first place: the love of Christ made real in our lives, and through us into the world.

Pastor George

Wooer of our souls, we hear your love-call. You draw us from the shadows of hatred, fear, and shame into the light of your amazing grace. Help us to reflect that light and echo your call to all the world. Move in our words and deeds to live your love. This we pray in the name of Jesus, our light and our life. Amen.
Sunday is MOTHERS DAY! Thank you, moms!

…Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  Matthew 24:42 

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:32

Over the past several weeks, in the Orange Room at preschool, we’ve been exploring the season of Spring.  We’ve been learning about bugs, their life cycles and the transformations they make through the different stages.  We’ve talked about how even though bugs are small they have some really big jobs to do in our world.  We’ve celebrated Earth Day and talked about how we can all be good stewards of our Earth by making small changes every day that can make a big impact in our world.  We have started to explore all the different flowers we see in Spring…and the variety of colors and shapes.  Each is unique.  Last Monday as we read a book about Spring that touched on all these topics an idea came to me that instead of just reading about flowers in a book, we could go to the front of the church and see many beautiful flowers in our own garden. 

So off we went for a quick look at the flowers. We started at the far end towards Edwards Street and found poppies and many other purple, red and yellow flowers.  We smelled the different flowers and noticed similarities and differences in their leaves, colors and looks.  We saw ladybugs and bees and even stopped to watch a lizard climbing on the stone wall.  As we moved down Heil toward Goldenwest Street, we saw vibrant purple bushes full of bees and one child happily exclaimed, “We are helping the Earth by planting flowers that attract bees!”.   We headed toward the courtyard and noticed more flowers and some litter that another child quickly picked up to take to a garbage can.  As we were admiring the flowers, we heard birds which led us on a hunt through all the trees in the courtyard in search of a nest.  Everything we had talked and read about became real and the kids in my class felt some ownership of, and pride in, the gardens and nature at their school. 

Sometimes I feel that “God Moments” have to be the big, obvious, life-changing moments. What I’m coming to realize more and more, however, is that “God Moments” are all moments…small moments, quiet moments, afraid moments, excited moments, hard moments…because God is always with us waiting for us to be open and present in these moments.  These small moments can also be big and life-changing in their impact.  This simple walk was full of awe and wonder as the children explored and connected with God and each other.  Not even the cars rushing down Heil distracted us.  We were fully open.   We were fully present in the moment.  

This experience impacted my class in big ways as they requested to take the walk again every day last week. What a blessing Laird Park will be because we will be able to bring more of the natural world into the classroom – or the classroom out into the natural world.   As we spend more time with screens and less time outdoors we are experiencing a disconnect with nature and that disconnect is collectively impacting our overall health and wellbeing in negative ways.  Spending time in and with nature can help us heal. It is a blessing that we have places on our campus where we can connect with God’s natural world and experience “God Moments”.

Blessings,
Leyla Wagner

Dear loving God, we give thanks for all that you have given us, yet we are so easily distracted and take so much for granted, that we miss opportunities to connect with you and the world around us. Help us to keep our eyes and our hearts open to all moments, even and especially embracing those small moments, where we can see your work in our world and where we can help do your work in the world.  Amen