The Harvest Has Passed: In the Aftermath of the Mass Shooting in Las Vegas

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The Harvest Has Passed: In the Aftermath of the Mass Shooting in Las Vegas

The harvest has passed the summer is ended. And we are not saved. -Jeremiah's Lament.

Beloved Community,

Like you, I awakened to the shocking news that the largest mass shooting in American history occurred last night at a concert in Las Vegas. As the chaos unfolds around this attack on social media, in the news, and as the numbers of injured and deceased climb- I want to invite you in my role as Spiritual Navigator of our journey to remember what we have been reflecting on as we journey together.

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Apocalypse Now

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Apocalypse Now

"It is here, in that darkness, that the apocalypse washes over us. It is here that we are decentered.  It is here that the (sometimes barely) hidden will be revealed and we will become aware of what others have long experienced and known.  It is here that the loving voice of our Still-Speaking God unveils our Shadow and invites us to a deepening spiritual journey of life, death, and resurrection."

 

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"By Their Fruit You Will Recognize Them": Reflections on Last Sunday's Counterprotest in Berkeley

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"By Their Fruit You Will Recognize Them": Reflections on Last Sunday's Counterprotest in Berkeley

“By their fruit you will recognize them.” -Jesus in Matthew 7:16

Last Sunday, I participated in the interfaith counter-protest of the planned white supremacy rally in Berkeley. After what had unfolded in Charlottesville, VA a few days before there was a lot of nervousness about this counter-protest. And yet the need for our presence as clergy, as peaceful marchers, and as people of faith was very clear. As our Conference Minister, Diane Weible wrote to us recently, “Silence is not an option” in the face of this evil. As I shared with you last week in my sermon, I deeply agree.

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Who Knows?

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Who Knows?

Buttes of Utah’s Zion National Park appeared as I turned the calendar to August.  Such majesty in the rugged cliffs, vibrancy in the blue sky, and hushed quietness in the stream wending its way down the page.    How old are those cliffs?  In contrast, how new are the leafy trees dotting the slopes near the stream? How frequently is this particular spot observed by human eyes?  Who knows exactly?  And yet, there they are in all their grandeur and quiet beauty beckoning, “Come, rest a while here.”

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Musings

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Musings

We have recently returned from a three-day vacation to Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. The first day we stopped at the Sundial Bridge in Redding and saw the mighty Sacramento River.  It was still carrying a lot of water and flowing rapidly, and we tried to imagine what it was like before it got dammed up at Lake Shasta. How much more power it must have had! How it must have periodically overflowed onto its floodplain, creating the fertile soil in the valley. 

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Swimming for Life

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Swimming for Life

I recently began swimming, actually treading water, on a daily basis.  I did this to try to increase my mobility and, frankly, to make Jackie happy.  Honestly, I did it more to make Jackie happy than anything else.

How often do we make decisions because we think they will make someone else happy, meet someone else’s expectations, or so that somebody doesn’t get upset? If you are like me, human, it is more often than we like to admit to.

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Stuck

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Stuck

Deserts seem to come and go as you journey along. Deserts can be defined as those places where you feel “stuck”, bewildered, firmly positioned in place, blocked, angry, envious, discontented, not seeming to progress, or simply “Blah!” You long for an oasis, a place of cooling shade, a refreshing taste of water on your parched tongue, a resting place for your weary heart. What to do?

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Holy Spirit Doves, Chicks, and Parakeets

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Holy Spirit Doves, Chicks, and Parakeets

In recent weeks we have been raising baby chicks at Clivie’s school. It has been a community endeavor. We all watched with breath held and eyes wide open as the little cracks appeared in the eggs, and the chicks wriggled out one by one. We have carefully adjusted the temperature, fed them, and watched them grow. For me, the chicks were the perfect embodiment of the new life of the season of Easter.

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How Cool Is That!

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How Cool Is That!

“How cool is it that the same God who created Mountains & Oceans,& Galaxies, looked at you & thought the world needed One of You TOO!”

 I don’t know whose quote that is, but it certainly made me stop and smile. It also made me think about that concept for a while. Imagine a world where we all believed that God thought that the world needed each one of us. Imagine if we all believed that. Imagine that this same concept applies to every single molecule of creation as we know it.

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