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

Little children, let’s not love with words or speech, but with action and truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. 1 John 3:18-19

God has called us to act out our love for each other by serving.  Jesus taught us to love your neighbor as yourself. I recently came across a story in the Orange County Register about one couple who has done just that.

When the stay at home orders went into effect, four families began meeting every evening at 6 PM. They all brought out their chairs and sat in their area that had been marked off with chalk so that they kept the 6-foot distance from each other. They called this gathering “6 at 6”. As life slowed down, they talked about how their kids’ graduations were being disrupted because of COVID-19. They began to notice patterns like geese flying overhead at the same time and neighbors coming home from work. They also noticed a couple who would walk by every night around 6:30 the same time. They waved and said hello but didn’t know each other.

One morning the families in the “6 at 6” group found cards on their car windshields.  Inside the cards there were nice notes of encouragement with a small amount of cash for the graduates.  The cards were signed by Bill and Barb. A few streets away twins celebrating their birthday also received a birthday greeting from the mysterious Bill and Barb. No one knew who they were. 

Over time the mystery was solved, and they figured out that Bill and Barb were the couple that walked by every night at 6:30 PM.  The graduates that received the cards then wrote signs and thank you cards and passed them out to Bill and Barb when they went by during their evening walk. 

Through this pandemic there have been many ways that love has been put into action.  People continue to keep our food closet stocked so that we can feed our neighbors.  Those that can shop for others who are in the at-risk community do. Gift cards were purchased for our shower ministry guests. Protestors have gathered to bring our attention to the need for love and justice for our black neighbors. Many people have sewn endless numbers of masks so that we have them to help slow the spread of the virus. It gives me hope that through all of the fear, anger and finger pointing surrounding the uncertainty of COVID-19 that the language of love still speaks louder.

Gracious and loving God, use us to spread your love. Help us to see each circumstance in our lives as an opportunity to grow in your love. May we see this world we live in as a place to grow in your love so that we may share this love with our neighbors.

Go in love,
Marty

“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