Bishop Elaine Stanovsky offers this week's reflection for our Greater NW Area CrossOver Year Study. In it, she shares her wonder at the marvel that is creation, most recently experienced on a trip to Montana, and words of encouragement to fellow followers of Jesus at this moment in the life of the #UMC.
This week also bring us to Chapter 1 of Brian McLaren's book, 'We Make the Road by Walking;' a good entry point for those looking to start anew.
For our Greater NW Area CrossOver Study, the Rev. Daniel Miranda reflects on the challenge of facing endings — both personal and denominational. He writes, "I have to take a leap of faith and trust that God, in the end, will make things good for you and me."
Like many modern Christians, Rev. Jim Doepken struggled to appreciate the value of the last book of the Bible, Revelation. In his post for the CrossOver study, Doepken shares how he came to see the book in a different light.
In her post for the CrossOver year study, Rev. Deena Wolfe offers a personal story about hospice and lifts up the value in embracing "'hospice' moments in our everyday lives."
Like many pastors, Rev. Katie Ladd made changes to her sermon last Sunday as news broke of two mass shootings. Ladd considers these events through the lens of Jesus' promises to his disciples.
I join Hispanic/Latinx United Methodists in calling for ACTION following three more mass shootings in America. God calls us to protect the innocent, and yet we permit people who are driven by racial hatred, mental illness and demons that are sometimes impossible to discern, to own and use weapons of mass murder to kill unsuspecting, undeserving innocent people. The two-month old baby who survived in El Paso because her parents sacrificed their lives to protect her has become a prayer icon as I grieve and look for a better way.
Taken together, conditions in the United
States of American today are explosive:
an embedded culture of white privilege (read White Fragility, by Robin Diangelo),
a sense of white disenfranchisement (read Alienated America, by Timothy P. Carney),
Prayers after the fact won’t reduce the risk of another attack.
The stones cry out and so do the people. “DO SOMETHING!” Pray! Yes. Light a candle! Yes. Weep! Yes. If we are not weeping, we have lost our love for our neighbors. Gather with your neighbors to bear witness to the goodness and kindness of human communities that embrace cultural difference and respond to people in need! yes.
But also SHOUT OUT! to protect the innocent and vulnerable. Write your congress persons, advocating humane immigration and refugee policies. Speak to gun merchants in your neighborhood, asking about what weapons they sell, and what their safety practices are. Let them know your concerns. When you vote, consider the poor, tired huddled who travel to our borders seeking safety, liberty, opportunity. Use social media to let your voice be heard and shared and spread.
Fellow followers of Jesus: BE the Church! ACT YOUR FAITH! Bring the good news that God loves you to everyone in your community. Find ways to connect with disaffected, isolated white men on the margins. Build bridges between newly arrived immigrants and members of your community who have lived here their whole lives. Learn about opioid addiction and how to help people out of its grip.
Christians and other thoughtful, compassionate people need find a way to advocate for policies that protect the public safety in the face of violence that is out of control. We can’t let ourselves become complacent as gun violence becomes normal. The debate about gun rights and gun control generates more heat than light. As people of open minds, it’s time to test our knowledge and our values about guns, gun rights and gun control against the teachings of Jesus. Gun rights and mass shootings are not ALL-or-NOTHING matters. The right to bear arms was only guaranteed by the Supreme Court in 2008. Before that it was never absolute, it was always limited and subject to interpretation.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by anxiety on so many fronts at the same time. That’s why we pray to get in touch with the power of the Creator of the Universe, who is working in and through, and in spite of us to care for all the children of the world. I know we can’t all do everything that needs to be done. But we can each do something.
In this week's post for the CrossOver Study, Rev. Jeremy Smith finds some interesting connections between Brian McLaren's discussion of demons in scripture and what we are seeing and experiencing in America today.
In this week's post for the Greater NW Area's CrossOver Study, Alaska Conference Superintendent Carlo Rapanut shares some wisdom gleaned from his experiences as a long-distance runner. It's helped him to understand that when it comes to discipleship, random acts of kindness are not enough.
In her post for the Greater NW CrossOver Blog, Nancy Tam Davis takes on the concept of verticality. Is something better because it is higher up? The New Testament, and an key experience in her life , caused her to question this assumption many make.
Rich men using and trafficking vulnerable girls and women as instruments of sexual gratification.
Suicide and drug overdose rates soaring, especially among rural white men.
Children continue to be separated from their parents and held at the border, sometimes without adequate food, water, medical care or a place to sleep.
Growing numbers of people sleeping under bridges, in green belts and their cars due to gentrification and a crisis in affordable housing in many urban centers.
Nationalism and racism have found a public voice in America again and anew. “Go back where you came from” is a taunt that comes of un-addressed white privilege and supremacy.
These are not merely partisan political issues. These are signs of spiritual and identity disease in the human family. Jesus never heard of Republicans or Democrats. But he was a careful observer of people and human communities, and an unfailing teacher of what healthy community life looks like.
This week, let’s remember Jesus teaching and example. The Bible offers more than 60 passages about widows, orphans, aliens, the poor and the outcast (you can google that). They remind the reader that God’s love extends especially to people who live under duress, who are overlooked, taken advantage of, kept on the outskirts of civil society.
Jesus calls people like you and me to live in ways that invite people into “beloved community.” People of faith should encourage just public policy that heals the dis-eases that cast shadows on people on the margins.
Pray this Sunday, and during the week ahead, that out of the neglect, abuse, blame and hate that seems to run rampant in our world right now, God will work through us, and in spite of us, to cultivate “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and yes, self-control”(Galatians 5: 22).
Educate yourself and resource others by visiting the websites of our United Methodist general agencies who help us put Jesus principles into practice:
The Board of Church and Society to learn how our UMC is addressing issues of social justice. https://www.umcjustice.org/
Ask yourself how you are helping God give life to the people around you. Make a plan to intentionally cultivate God’s kin-dom. Keep a list of the actions you take. to build God’s kin-dom.
Read the newspaper, social media or watch TV prayerfully.
Speak kind words to people you encounter day by day.
Write your elected official.
Write a letter to your local newspaper.
Post a good word on social media.
Join (or organize) a public witness.
Initiate or sponsor a public forum to promote deeper understanding and engagement in solutions.
The best remedy I know of to all of this bad news is hope grounded in prayer, discernment and deliberate action with others. When we respond to injustice, especially as we do so in community, we can break free from the shackles of despair and find new life where once there was only fear and death. This, my friends, is the good news!
