Musings from the Pastor’s Desk
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk
November 24, 2024
To Be A Blessing
This wonderful blessing from author Kate Bowler, taken from her new book of blessings, “The Lives We Actually Have,” can help us as we live our lives as Christians; told by the Prophet Micah, “Doing justice, Loving kindness, and Walking humbly with our God.”
In short, she says, “May you be blessed with the courage to love beyond the lines that divide, to see the beauty in your differences, and to find strength in the tapestry woven from your unique perspectives. When the world tries to pull you apart, may your love be the bridge that connects, reminding you that the most profound connections often bloom where the seeds of difference are shown.
Below is her blessing, which can be used as a meditation tool, prayer, or personal reflection. Be a blessing and share this with others.
A Blessing for Loving Someone When Differences Divide Us.
God, this is a hard one. How do I begin to love or even connect with someone so different from me?
How do I bridge this gap? It feels wrong as the beliefs I abhor.
Blessed are we who want to be a part of the wild and beautiful experiment to find a common humanity.
Who desires to come willingly into the gap that separates human from human to love the stranger, especially the one we really don’t understand and secretly want to set straight.
Blessed are we, willing to stay in the gap, in the contradictions of what we can’t understand.
To actively work on disproving our intuitions about another, in order to begin to see what they see.
Blessed are we, swimming upstream against the current of our own human frailty, our fears and emotions, and willing to be wrong for a second.
To reconsider. And hold to our integrity with kindness.
Desiring to see the lay of the land and play the course, instead of the one we wished it could be.
And to discover that humility is what makes change possible.
Grace is never neutral. It works backwards and forwards in time, conspiring to make wrong right.
May these words from Kate Bowler give you the courage to respect our differences and be repairers of the breach.
Join us for worship on Sunday at 10:30 AM in person or via Facebook Live. All are welcome!
Peace+
Pastor Eric
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk November 10, 2024
Sunday’s reading features other faithful and courageous women like Shiphrah and Phua, whom we heard from last week. Our reading from The Acts of the Apostles (16:11-15) features Lydia, an essential supporter of Paul’s missionary work.
Lydia’s encounter with Paul occurred in Philippi, where Paul had been directed to go by a vision. She was gathered with other women by a riverside when Paul and his companions preached there. The text notes that “the Lord opened her heart” to respond to Paul’s message, and she and her household were baptized.
Lydia was a prosperous merchant, dealing in purple cloth, a luxury item often associated with wealth and nobility, which suggests she was a woman of means and independence. Lydia is described as a “worshiper of God,” indicating she was likely a Gentile who respected and practiced some aspects of Judaism.
Lydia’s contributions to Paul’s travels were both spiritual and material. After her baptism, she invited Paul and his companions to stay in her home, offering them a place of hospitality and refuge. This support provided a base for Paul’s ministry in Philippi and established her household as one of the first Christian gatherings in Europe. Lydia’s hospitality set a precedent in the early Christian church for supporting missionaries and leaders, and her home became one of the first known house churches.
Lydia was considered a bridgebuilder because her hospitality fostered community and unity. Her ability to listen to God’s call was an act of faith, and Lydia’s hospitality demonstrated that our faith must be lived out through concrete actions.
After a difficult and divisive election season, Sunday’s message will focus on repairing the division between our friends, neighbors, and family. The division will no doubt continue, and as disciples of Jesus, we have an essential role to play in helping to repair it.
There are three questions I ask you to ponder:
- How can we be like Lydia in our interactions with others who are different and have differing political opinions?
- How can we cultivate a spirit of listening and responsiveness to God’s call to repair the breaches in our world?
- How can hospitality bring us together to look beyond our opinions and listen with respect while still speaking our truth?
These three critical questions will require courage and involve risking something that might feel uncomfortable. As disciples of Jesus, we have a role model to emulate and follow, and we call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for March 10, 2024
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for February 25, 2024
- Wednesday at 7:00 PM, where we will praise God for the forgiveness we have received.
- Wednesday morning from 7:30-9:30, “Ashes to Go” are given in our driveway for those on the way to work.
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for January 21, 2024
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for July 9, 2023
- The Lord God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love.
- The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
- The Lord is faithful and gracious.
- Author unknown.
Whenever you’re around I feel the sky tumbling down I feel my heart start to trembling
Peace and blessings!
- “I’m listening.”
- “You can always talk to me.”
- “I’m here.”
- “You’re not alone.”
- “Your feelings are valid.”
- “You’re allowed to feel anxious, even if you don’t know why.”
- “I might not understand what you’re going through, but I’m always here for you to talk to me if you need to.”
- “You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone, including me.”
- “I’ll stay with you as long as you need me.”
- “It’s OK that you feel this way.”
- “You’re loved.”
- 1 in 5 adults experiences mental illness each year.
- 1% of U.S. adults with mental illness also experienced a substance use disorder in 2020 (17 million individuals).
- 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24.
- Lifetime prevalence of any Anxiety Disorder: 31.6%
- Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses in America.
- Major depression is one of the most common mental illnesses.
- Percent of U.S. Adults with Major Depression: 8.4%
- Percent of Youth (aged 12-17) with Major Depression: 15.1%
- Percent of Youth with Severe Depression: 10.6%
Veterans Crisis Line – Call 1-800-273-8255, press 1
National Alliance on Mental Illness Help Line – Call 1-800-950-6264 or Text 62640
Mental Health America – Call or Text 988 or Chat 988lifeline.org (
For Deaf or hard of hearing, dial 771, then 1-800-273-8255
Just can’t wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can’t wait to Get on the road again – written by Willie Nelson
On the road again
Just can’t wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again
On the road again
Goin’ places that I’ve never been
Seein’ things that I may never see again
I can’t wait to get on the road again – written by Willie Nelson
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for March 16, 2023
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for March 12, 2023
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for March 5, 2023Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! On March 2, 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel, the children’s author, and cartoonist better known by his pen name, Dr. Seuss, entered the world. To honor his birthday, a reading celebration, “Read Across America,” will occur nationwide in thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers. My favorite Dr. Seuss book was “Green Eggs and Ham.” I loved how the dialogue rhymed, and it was a bit silly! But it made me want to read.Geisel was a master at inspiring children with dialogue as a literary technique. Dialogue, a conversation between two or more people in a narrative work, helps advance the plot, reveal a character’s thoughts or feelings, and show how the characters react in a moment. Dr. Seuss’ simple words and rhythmic patterns easily captivate young minds and bring them into the character discussions.The genius use of this device to draw readers to the chit-chat between characters demonstrates the importance of conversation. An open one-on-one casual conversation between two characters creates space for thinking, empathy, and for the critical communication tools we need to live a successful life. Moreover, dialogue can genuinely change the world. Take, for example, “Horton Hears a Who!” In that book, the main character, an elephant named Horton, hears a tiny voice coming from a spec of dust, which he discovers is a small planet called Whoville. After dialoguing with the mayor of Whoville, Horton concludes, “a person’s a person no matter how small,” and Horton goes on with the adventures of trying to save Whoville from being incinerated.In my favorite Seuss book, the dialogue occurs between a character named Sam I Am and another unnamed man who relentlessly tries to persuade him to change his mind. Finally, the ongoing conversation concludes with the success of opening one’s mind: “I do so like green eggs and ham!”The backstory of “Green Eggs and Ham” also includes an example of the success of dialogue. The author’s publisher challenged Seuss to write a book that contained fewer words than his previous best seller, “Cat in the Hat,” which included 236 words. Seuss won the bet by writing this new masterpiece with only 50 words, and only one of the words has more than one syllable: anywhere. That dialogue resulted in his new book selling more than eight million copies worldwide.As schools celebrate Dr. Seuss this month, remember the importance of dialogue. This Sunday’s Gospel message invites us to listen in on one of the essential dialogues recorded in Scripture, a conversation between Jesus and the pharisee Nicodemus. We will hear the discussion as we gather for worship on Sunday, March 5, at 10:30 AM or via; live stream on our Facebook page HopeClinton or our website Hopeclinton.org.Will you join us? Would you? Could you? I promise I won’t ask you to eat green eggs and ham!
Musings from the Pastor’s Desk for February 26, 2023