When this whole pandemic thing started, I had driven passed a church that had a pray banner out. I thought that the idea of a banner for our church to put out was a good idea. So, this went up several weeks ago. It is one of my favorite Bible verses. It always reminds me how much God loves us and is there for us and has been a mantra of sorts to me in times of trouble. This scripture verse also makes for a wonderful Breather Prayer. If you have never tried a Breather Prayer, it goes like this. You breathe in thinking of a short phrase and breathe out thinking a short phrase, such as thinking nothing can separate me while breathing in and thinking from the love of God while breathing out.  Breath prayers can have a calming effect on my soul. 

The banner has been well received by many people and our own Lindsey Goodyear who attends our Messy church worship wrote about it in her blog for Messy Church USA.
 
“We’ve been lucky that the church we attend is in the same neighborhood that we live.  My kids both went to preschool there, it’s the home of our Messy Church, and it’s both my boys’ absolute favorite parking lot to ride bikes in once the service crowds have dispersed.  I was nearing the end of my morning walk, one Friday, when I looked up and something struck me.  I was right in front of this church that I knew inside and out, yet, something was different.  I always acknowledge the banner that hangs in front of Community United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach as it is changed from week to week to display different Bible verses.  This week’s stopped me dead in my tracks.  Romans 8:38-39 says, “Remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God.”  Wow.  In a time where all I felt was separation, I ignored the fact that I hadn’t been alone.  Not even once.  I was so wrapped up and consumed by the fact that I couldn’t see and make my normal connections with everyday citizens that I missed the fact that I had a direct line to a connection anytime I wanted.  It was just the reminder I needed to refocus and look at our situation with fresh eyes.
 
That verse did its job, and some anxiety was relieved.  I’m still a little anxious about what’s to come but, I’m definitely more aware.  God got my attention, once again, with His incredibly comforting words.  Although we are separated from each other right now, we will never be separated from God.  With the confidence of His words backing me, I’ve noticed things are starting to fall a little more into place.  Zoom has made it possible for our incredible teachers to do distance learning and both my kids are reacting favorably to their new school schedules.  When we go out on walks or bike rides, there are others out, now, as well.  They may be wearing masks or cross the streets to keep a safe distance, but they’re there.  Our Messy Church held their very first meeting through Zoom.  It was great to see faces of the “Messy” families that attend our church and to be able to catch up (it may be our new normal for the next few months).  Last but not least, the cooking.  Grocery stores have started to have more stock and my cooking has gone back to normal.  It takes a little more planning on my part so that I only go once a week, but things are looking up.  As I left the store the other day, I acknowledged a fellow shopper whose eyebrows lifted, cheekbones raised, and eyes sparkled. I knew it instantly…there was a smile for me underneath that mask.”  
 
You never know where you will hear God speaking to you or what hope you can bring to other people. Remember to be the hope and know that nothing can separate us from God love.
 
Grace & Peace, Suzanne 

“Once upon a time… there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.” 
Terry Tempest Williams

On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, I’m looking out at my back door and am reminded of the weeds that need to be pulled (sigh). The flowers still reach tall to be seen and the bees congregate humming their happy song. You would think, with all this time on my hands I would take care of the weeds… and I will but…I’ll see to it tomorrow. 

As Marty mentioned yesterday, if there is a silver lining during this pandemic is that our blue planet is beginning to heal, heal from our selfish abuse. We are seeing the sky become clear and turning blue again. The wild animals, not just in the National Parks but throughout cities are beginning to take daily strolls where before was packed with people. Ocean life is taking pleasure of swimming through the canals of Venice and sea turtles are laying more eggs then they have in decades. 

Psalm 98:4-8 (The Living Bible)

4 That is why the earth breaks out in praise to God and sings for utter joy!

5 Sing your praise accompanied by music from the harp. 6 Let the cornets and trumpets shout! Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King! 7 Let the sea in all its vastness roar with praise! Let the earth and all those living on it shout, “Glory to the Lord.”

8 Let the waves clap their hands in glee and the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord…

Praise is not limited to human creatures. While the psalmist utters praise with his mouth, the earth makes a “joyful noise” in countless ways. God enjoys the brilliant color of a wildflower in the middle of a deserted field, a young lion running in tall grass and an ocean with its splendid display of life. Our praise is not isolated from the rest of creation’s. So in honor of Earth Day, maybe get out and take a (socially distant) walk, or sit where you can witness the beauty of creation. Look for the butterflies, clouds, hummingbirds, flowers amongst the weeds. Listen for laughter, wave to people passing by. Or simply take a moment in whatever way you are inclined to give thanks to God for creation, know God created it for you to enjoy.

“When you realize EARTH and HEART are spelled using the same letters, it all starts to make sense.”

Creator God, we thank you this day for the gifts you have surround us with in earth and sky, seas and mountains. Roaming creatures and birds that float in the sky, crawling bugs and even gophers. We give you thanks and praise for such amazing joys form the wonders of your imagination. May we take comfort and sit in the peace of your beauty. Amen.

Blessings, 

Brenda

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy.—Psalm 96:11-12

As this pandemic drags on and the novelty wears off, it is easy to get stuck on the difficulties, inconveniences and struggles that have come with the onset of COVID-19; but God has been with us and working through us in all of this.  One blessing to arise has been the much-needed break we have given to our Mother Earth, our home gifted to us by our Creator. Her wish has been for us to slow down to smell the salty ocean air, to feel the wind blowing through the trees, to listen to the birds talking to one another, to taste the sweetness of fruit and to see the wondrous creations all around us.

The irony is that we have been aware for at least fifty years that we have needed to slow down and care for our Earth, yet we haven’t done it. Now through this forced time of stillness we can see first-hand the impact of our behaviors and actions. On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, her birthday wish has finally been heard; but it has taken a pandemic for us to notice. With the stay at home orders in place, our skies are a brilliant clear blue again. Our waters are running clean. We are taking advantage of local farms. Our national parks are gaining balance again in the ecosystems that are unique to each one.  Our Creator and Mother Earth are smiling.

When the time comes and our stay at home orders are lessened, I wonder if we will go back to the way we have always done it or if we will make the pivot that our Earth greatly needs. I wonder if we will choose to buy from our local farmers.  I wonder if we will continue to choose to drive less and take more walks. Most of all I wonder if we will become the stewards of God’s creation that we have been called to be.

As we have seen first-hand, the whole world working together really can make a radical difference and is the best gift we can give our Earth and the best way that we can honor our Creator God.

Creator God, we thank you for all of creation. We ask your forgiveness where we have failed to be just stewards and ask for your help in keeping sight of the lessons we’ve learned during this pandemic. We ask for your guidance in restoring the face of the earth even as we seek balance while moving back into new patterns of normal. May we learn to live in harmony, safety and just sharing of resources among all so that we achieve the kingdom of God.

Peace be to this community. Peace be to this land. Peace be to all people. Amen.

Prayer adapted from the Catholic Health Association 

Blessings,
Marty

We awoke Friday to news that the stock market was soaring.One stock in particular was leading the way. A physician shared preliminarynews on Thursday that Remdesivir, a drug made by Gilead Sciences had shown somepromise in treating COVID-19 in a clinical trial through the University ofChicago Medical Center. Investors were ecstatic, and the headlines blazed.

Of course by mid-morning a more sober series of stories were printed, reminding the readers that this was partial news of one study, in one hospital, with a small group of selected patients, and without a control group for comparison.

We are looking for the end of this crisis. We are looking for the curve to flatten, and for the number of deaths each day to decrease. We understand that those points of data will not announce an immediate return to the way things were, but we see them as a sign. A sign perhaps of what Winston Churchill said early in World War II: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

We know that a vaccine is a long ways off, and can’t imagine living like this for the time it will take for that to come. So now we are praying for some miracle treatment or cure. And there are hundreds of studies going on right now to find effective treatments or cures. I suspect that news like that shared last week will become more and more common in the days and weeks ahead. One of these, I pray, will actually be proven, in time, to be true!

That makes this a very dangerous time. It is our nature to look for an easy answer, a quick cure, some way for us to get out of the messes of our lives. In a time of crisis we will be tempted to follow anyone who promises what we so desperately want to hear. The problem is that so many of these hopes, so many of these prophets, will turn out to be false. And when we follow them, or allow ourselves to put trust in them, we fall into even greater despair when they do not live up to their promise.

This is exactly what Jesus warns the disciples (and us) about regarding “The End Times” and his return in glory:

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:3-6)

Jesus doesn’t tell us to be without hope. In fact he tells us to anticipate the goodness of God (“be watchful” is the translation of the term he uses). He helps us to know that the end will come, but it won’t be on our timeline, or even His! He offers us the comfort and resilience of a deep and abiding faith: a confidence that God is at work even now, which allows us to weather the highs and lows of the news cycle.

So let us celebrate the fact that so many are at work to find a cure, to find an effective treatment, to find a vaccine. Let us celebrate and honor those who are working so hard to care for those who are ill. Let us mourn with those who have lost loved ones. Let us continue to reach out in all the ways we appropriately can, to care for those in need in this time of crisis. And let us continue to do our part to keep bending the curve.

God, we thank you for the resilience of faith. Keep us strong even when we feel that all is lost or when our hopes are dashed. Temper our rush to judgement, whether that be to vilify or unduly worship. Let us laugh with those who celebrate and cry with those who mourn, knowing that you alone are our source and our end. We pray this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pastor George

1 Corinthians 13 New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This well known scripture is usually read at weddings and sometimes at memorial services.  Paul wrote it to help teach the people of Corinth how we should act as Christians.  Now that we are well into our social isolation, quarantine, or whatever you want to call it, patience can be running a little thin.  The novelty has run out and we are getting more anxious about when this pandemic will be over and when we can return to “normalcy”.  We are not necessarily our best selves right now.  Things that didn’t bother us before can really irritate us, and sometimes our frustration at what is going on the world around us comes out in ways we are not expecting.  We can be short tempered with the ones that we love the most and are around the most.

One study technique that I learned with this scripture really helped me to understand what Paul was saying in a very personal way. I want to share it with you because I found it very powerful in my faith journey.

Replace the subject from verses 4 – 11 with your name. Like this:

Suzanne is patient, Suzanne is kind. Suzanne does not envy; she does not boast.

Looking at the scripture this way makes it very personal.  We all need to remember to show grace, including to ourselves during these stressful and anxious times.

Everyone is thrown off their routines and nobody likes to be stuck inside.  One way to help with our mental and emotional health is to live out our lives in the manner that the Apostle Paul was talking about.  How can you be kind and hopeful?  How can help others to persevere?  In these times we need to rely on our relationship with God and each other even more than when everything is going well.

Connect, be supportive and give others and yourself grace.  We will get through this.  God can create something beautiful out of this mess and in fact, already is. Neighbors are getting to know each other, and communities are forming where there were none before.  We all have our days when we grieve and that is normal. Know that God is with you and that we will get through this with our faith.

Grace & Peace, Suzanne