From Diversity We Praise

Last Sunday, Laura Lee and I reflected on the prayer of Jesus in John 17 and also the motto of the United Church of Christ: "that they may all be one." We posited that unity is not the same thing as uniformity. Our church did some dreaming together, coming up with all kinds of reflections and ideas that demonstrate that we are certainly not uniform in our thinking!

What a great time to be approaching Pentecost - which we often call the Birthday of the Church. God's church is born out of diversity - and that diversity is not a problem to be solved, but rather a gift to be celebrated. The chorus of one of my favorite hymns begins, "Many gifts, one Spirit, one love known in many ways. In our difference is blessing, from diversity we praise."

This Monday, Americans will observe Memorial Day. Our nation is not perfect, but it is incredibly diverse and varied in culture and race. But I am dismayed at the ways that difference and diversity are often disparaged in public discourse. I consider it a precious gift to be in relationship with a Muslim man who was born in Pakistan, for our varying experiences bring us to a deeper understanding of one another and, by extension, of our faith communities.


The Rev. Dr. Eric D. Barreto, in his reflection on the Pentecost text in Acts 2, writes, "Notice what happens at Pentecost. God, through the Spirit, chooses to meet us where we are: in the midst of a multitude of languages and experiences....At Pentecost, God makes God's choice clear. God joins us in the midst of the messiness and the difficulties of speaking different languages, eating different foods and living in different cultures. That is good news indeed." (Click here to read his full reflection)

This Pentecost Sunday, I hope that you will bring yourself, in your uniqueness, and perhaps invite someone who is unique in their own right, maybe even very different from you. I look forward to celebrating with you that no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here, and your difference is a gift of God.

Blessings this holiday weekend,
Manda

Texts for this Sunday:
Psalm 104:24-35
Acts 2:1-21

Some Things Change.....

Massive protests.....at the political conventions, against the war, French-speaking students disrupting commerce...Young black men being randomly shot....women's rights to health care under assault....prices for gasoline skyrocketing....

Our tumultuous world.... now and in the late 1960's..... It seems to some of us (of a certain age) that some things never change. It seems that we are destined to tumult and strife over and over again. And, yet, if you listen, you will hear quiet, but important calls to 'dream'.

The Hebrews were facing total annihilation and exile, when Jeremiah called them to dream of a future when they would buy and sell land again. The disciples were paralyzed by the very thought of life without Jesus, when the day of Pentecost came and they were called to see visions and dream dreams. Martin Luther King called all Americans to share his 'dream' for justice.....

The call is not to dream our way out of painful realities or to avoid what's going on around us. The call is to imagine God's realm...of peace, of justice, of cooperation, of hope and then, to move our way out of the trials and into the future.

On Sunday, our Church Council will lead us into a time of dreaming for our church. It will be a time of worshipful imagining, of discerning what God is calling us to do and be, of working together to be the Body of Christ. When we recall the dreaming of the prophets  ancient and modern, when we answer the call to dream, we realize that some things do change.....when we live into the dreams.

I hope to see ALL of you, All of you on Sunday, Laura Lee

Text for This Week:

*John 17:17-26

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.

It's So Easy.... It's So Complicated

Sunday is Mother's Day... that's easy... honor your mother. After all, everyone has one. But, it's also complicated... some of us can be with our mothers on Sunday, many cannot. Some of us are (or were) close to our mothers and some of us aren't (or weren't). Some of our mothers did yoga with us or read to us or baked cookies with us or played soccer with us and some of them were not so present..... You get the point.

In Sunday's Gospel text, we are called to 'love one another'...that's easy....just be kind, thoughtful and generous. After all, we are people who care about loving. But, it's also complicated. Some people are really difficult to love: they are self-centered or need to run things, or have awful ideas or are just not kind themselves.... You get the point.

Parenting and loving are aspects of human life that are easy to talk about and easy to lift up as values - after all, every human on earth has experienced parent-child relationships and hopefully, most of humanity has experienced love at some point. This is probably why Jesus often described God as a parent and why he talked about loving a great deal. But, Jesus also knew that parenting relationships and loving are often very complicated, conflicted and difficult. And, so we can see his parenting metaphors and talk of loving as an invitation to acknowledge and struggle through the complications with grace and faith.

So, on this Mother's Day, think of your own mothers (and if you're a mother - your own children) and pray....To God who is the simplest and most complicated parent; for love which is the easiest and hardest thing to do; and for the life you have been given by God and by your own mothers (and fathers).

Hoping to see you on Sunday, Laura Lee

Texts for This Week:

+Acts 10:44-48

Psalm 98

I John 5:1-6

*John 15:9-17

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.

"Less is More"

The image in this week's Gospel lesson resonates with those of us who live in the Finger Lakes region. It is easy for us to imagine the vineyards that are all around us when we hear Jesus proclaiming that he is the vine and we are the branches and that God is the vine grower. We all know that grape vines need lots of tender care, pruning, providing a structure for the clinging tendrils, fertilizing.... And, so, even when we don't want to hear ourselves compared to vines, some part of us acknowledges that we too need a bit of pruning and fertilizing and re-structuring.

Pruning is usually thought of as clearing out or winnowing, so that the vines don't become too thick and tangled. Actually, the opposite is true.... vines that are not regularly pruned become spindly and straggly and too thin to support growing grapes. Wild, unpruned grape vines do not even resemble those we see in local vineyards and are thought of as an invasive species on our forests and woodlands!

So, as you prepare for Sunday, read the texts and imagine yourself as a branch in the vineyard. Think of the places in your life that need a bit of pruning. Identify the parts of your soul and life that have become hardened and need a bit of tilling. Seek the kind of fertilizer you might need to grow abundantly. Offer thanks for the support structures in your life that you need to thrive. And then, join us on Sunday morning as we offer our gratitude for the vine of Christ and the Vine Grower, whose abundant love enriches all of our lives. I suspect we will all become a bit more 'lush'.

Hoping to see you all in Worship - Laura Lee

Texts for This Week:

Acts 8:26-40

Psalm 22:25-31

+I John 4:7-21

*John 15-1-8

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.