Pastor's Blog

Friends,

 

Throughout our sacred texts we hear God calling us to care for women and children, lift up the lowly, protect the vulnerable, and offer hospitality to the marginalized. If we are to be faithful followers of this God, these actions are not suggestions, they are commands.

 

This week the Supreme Court of the United States handed down two decisions that I believe will make our country less safe for women and children and less welcoming to the marginalized and the vulnerable.

 

First, on Monday, the Court released a decision that will ultimately make guns more readily available and present anywhere in our communities. Then, on Friday, the Court released a decision that will ultimately harm women when they are most vulnerable and most in need of care and compassion.

 

I can’t pretend to say that I understand the Court’s reasons for these decisions or the nuances that guided them. All I can say is that I feel less safe, more at risk of threat to my life and my body than I did before this week. And I am confident my feelings of fear are shared by every lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer citizen of this country.

 

I give thanks that I serve a congregation that can reflect on and discuss hard things. And I give thanks for the ways in which each of you offer love and care to me and so many others, especially as I prepare to observe Pride Sunday tomorrow morning.

 

The prayer I am repeating today is one that arrived by text on my cell phone from More Light Presbyterians:

     

     Creator God, always let me see the goodness and beauty of my own creation.

     Show me how it- how I –can be an instrument of life-giving liberation to others. Amen.

 

And Amen!

 

Pastor Jack

 

 

 

Friends,

 

I’m sitting in a two-day Boundaries Training workshop; our Presbytery requires all pastors to take this type of training every 3-5 years. I have taken this training numerous times before but one of the topics that is new this time deals with boundaries on social media! We had conversation about whether pastors should allow congregants to be their Facebook friend on their personal page. The case study suggested that a pastor might express a strong personal opinion and some congregants might take offense about what is posted. My first thought was, “Well, everyone in the congregation already knows what I think about most hot-button issues, so they can’t be surprised.” But, I did appreciate the conversation that complexifies how our public persona and our personal lives intersect on social media platforms more than we might be aware of.

 

After two years of being unable to connect in-person with friends and family, social media has become a lifeline for many of us. Social media provides a glimpse into the lives and thoughts of those we care about. Social media provides a chance to connect, albeit in fairly superficial ways, around topics and ideas that matter to us. Social media is a fact of life now; platforms like Facebook and Instagram and Twitter are all around us. And even if we choose not to participate in a social media platform, that in itself is a choice – not participating is a type of participation!

 

Why talk about this in my “From the Pastor” article, though? Because as a community of people striving to be faithful disciples, we are called to engage in conversations about topics and ideas that matter to us. God calls us to engage with the world around us, not to isolate or remove ourselves from the concerns of our neighbors, our community, our nation, our world. Sometimes that might require us to express a strong opinion that someone else might not share with us. Social media and other kinds of media have a way of polarizing us instead of inviting us into authentic dialogue where we can listen thoughtfully and minds and hearts are changed. It’s hard to have a conversation in an environment that is often as static as a Facebook post or a Tweet. Others can comment and then the author can respond to those comments, but it doesn’t happen in real time in the same way dialogue happens when we are face to face. When we are facing someone, and we can interpret nuances of their voice and body language, we are drawn into a more authentic engagement.

 

I am thankful for the social media tools that help keep us connected when we can’t connect in-person. And I am even more thankful that we have a Faith Community that gathers and connects and engages around topics and issues that matter.

 

I look forward to the next time we are together in the presence of God to worship and connect and engage!

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack

 

 

Friends,

 

Another weekend filled with gun violence in our nation – sadly, this is becoming common, almost expected! In Buffalo, NY, a young white man, fueled by hateful racist rhetoric, took a semi-automatic weapon into a grocery store and murdered 9 shoppers and one security guard. In Laguna Woods, CA, a gunman walked into a church building while the members of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church were having a meal together; he shot and killed one person and injured five others. And these are just two of the mass shootings in our country this past week.

 

Today I went to the PCUSA website and searched for ‘prayers in response to gun violence;’ a list with 1,730 results appeared; the first page alone had 10 such prayers, dated from 2015 to 2020. This is part of a ‘Prayer for Community Impacted by Gun Violence,’ dated, October 1, 2015, written by the Rev. Dr. Laurie Ann Kraus:

 

     Once again, Holy One, we cry, how long, O Lord?
     We wonder, when will it be enough?
     We pray you will forgive our tolerance of cultures of violence
     and impel us by your Spirit to renew our commitment
     to work for an end to gun violence in our nation.
     In the wake of an event that should be impossible to contemplate but which has
     become all too common in our experience,
     Open our eyes, break our hearts,
     and turn our hands to the movements of your Spirit,
     that our anger and sorrow may unite in service to build a reign of peace,
     where the lion and the lamb may dwell together,
     and terror no longer holds sway over our common life.
     Amen.

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack

 

 

Friends,

 

Like so many of you, I was shocked earlier this week to read that the Supreme Court is likely to overturn a landmark decision that has guided policy and law for half a century. The assurance of competent, legal, medical treatment in situations involving reproductive care is more than just a political argument about ‘pro-life’ vs. ‘pro-choice.’ It guides how we listen to women about their stories and their choices. It instructs how we legislate about child care and early childhood education. It informs how we pay for prenatal and post-natal health care for women and children. It is a reflection of how we embody the radical care and welcome that Christ showed to everyone in their intensely particular and nuanced lives. It breaks my heart that our nation might use our legal system to force women to give birth in all situations, regardless of their own physical or emotional or spiritual health, regardless of their ability to care for and support themselves and a child, regardless of their desire and capacity to welcome another human life into the world.

 

As we approach Mothers’ Day, with all of the emotional and spiritual realities that brings for so many, I pray that women who do not have the desire or capacity to become mothers will not be forced to do so; I pray that children who are not wanted will not be forced to be born into a family that will neglect and abuse them. I pray that all of us will find ways to express our love and concern for all of God’s beloved children in ways that do not rely on policies and laws that abuse and neglect and mistreat women through codified mysogyny.  I pray that the Risen Christ will continue to bring more light and more life into our world.

 

Peace,

Pastor Jack

 

 

Friends,

 

Last summer my daughter gave us a small lemon tree for Fathers’ Day. It had lovely bright green leaves and it grew well all year. I was looking forward to when it would be mature enough to produce lemons. But during the winter months, with the freeze we had, the tree died. I pruned it back and hoped it would recover the way the cannas and the roses did. But day after day, week after week – nothing! Finally, I faced the reality and bought a new plant to replace it. I brought the new plant home and set it there to be planted soon, and I started to dig up the lemon tree. But something stopped me. I just had this feeling that I should wait another week. So I did. And, to my surprise, new growth shot out from the base of the little lemon tree. Now, less than a month after I had almost dug it up and thrown it away, our little lemon tree is making a comeback. The bright green promises a bright future for our little tree, and I am so thankful I was patient.

 

Our beautiful little congregation is showing signs of new growth and bright promise for the future. There were moments during the pandemic when I thought, “Will our church survive this? When the good days return, will we still have roots enough to thrive?” Of course, when you are rooted in the Living God, even though all seems dead, hope and life still spring forth. When the Risen Christ is the head of your church, death has been conquered, and new life is real! The disciples didn’t believe it right away; it took several appearances from the Risen Christ over a period of fifty days to convince them. But they finally saw the promise of hope.

 

Patience is a virtue, they say.

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack

 

 

 

Friends,

 

I am back from Washington state. JR and I had a wonderful week away. We spent four days with my preacher cohort colleagues, catching up after two years of not being able to meet in person. JR and I were the chefs for the group, and it was life-giving for us to offer that hospitality (more about that in this week’s upcoming sermon). We were able to drive a bit into Mt. Rainier National Park and walk a trail. Then we spent a day over at Mt. Olympia National Forest and hiked through the rainforest. We finished our time away with a 24 hour stay in Seattle and a walk through Pike Place Market. I’m so appreciative of the time away to rest and restore.

 

Thank you to the Rev. Dr. Krystal Leedy for leading worship this past Sunday. I have known Krystal for more than ten years, and I know you all were enriched by her preaching and her worship leadership.

 

I’ll see you all in worship next Sunday!

 

Peace,
Pastor Jack