Beginning a New Adventure on the Columbia!
Welcome to my blog as DS of the Columbia District of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I will post here mostly reflections that I have concerning ministry, the present situation we find ourselves in as a church, as an area and as a society. Leave your comments or just read and reflect.
Welcome to my blog as DS of the Columbia District of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I will post here mostly reflections that I have concerning ministry, the present situation we find ourselves in as a church, as an area and as a society. Leave your comments or just read and reflect.
Recently
I have been practicing breathing. I have been doing this mostly when I begin
another Zoom call or meeting. I’m doing 5-7 a day and sometimes I need to remember
to breathe. So let’s just breathe for a moment…draw in the air deeply, get it
all the way down to your diaphragm…hold it for a moment then slowly let it out.
Do this several times….
God, you are the gathering one who calls us into community with
each
other to love and work, to support
and heal.
You are the gathering one who calls us into community with all
people; to
bring justice and hope, freedom and
truth.
You are the gathering one who calls us into community with the
whole
creation; to live in harmony, to
cherish and renew.
Let us worship the God who makes us one.
Romans
8:4b-9
(CEB) - Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on
selfishness. People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish
things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that
are related to the Spirit. The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to
death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. So
the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. It doesn't submit
to God's Law, because it can't. People who are self-centered aren't able to
please God. But you aren't self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in
fact God's Spirit lives in you. If anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ,
they don't belong to him.
“The
Attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that
comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace.” The two pandemics of our time,
Covid-19 and racism are both heavily entwined with selfishness.
Refusing
to wear a face covering, refusing to keep physical distance, rushing to return
to life as normal, even pushing hard to return to worship are all tied to
selfishness, to what I want and need. In this case selfishness can literally
lead to death if not for yourself then for another. Keeping distance, covering
your face, not gathering in groups are selfless acts mean to protect others and
love others. Never have we had such a clear and specific example of what it is
the God and Christ ask of us, if we love God and neighbor we will cover our
faces and keep our distance and refrain from gathering – it is the attitude of
the Spirit that leads us to life and peace.
Racism,
white privilege, institutional bias, etc. are all based in selfishness. They are
all coming from the attitude that my needs, my ways, my life, my security, my
self are all more important then anyone else and especially of anyone who is
different from me. And no one can say that racism, white privilege, etc. have
not been the instruments of death. When we truly look at racism and see it for what
it is, we must admit that it is selfishness in a most dangerous way. White
privilege serves the needs of only those that are white, a selfish way to live.
Institutional bias makes the wants, need, and desires of a few all that matter,
a clear definition of selfishness.
We are
call to self-lessness – to the attitude of the Spirit – to love God and
neighbor. We are called away from what I want and need and to what is best for
all. The gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good and not for my
benefit. Christ came to show us the way to life and self-lessness is the
attitude that leads to life. May this be the spirit that dwells in you and
influences you and empowers you to battle the twin pandemics of our day.
Soft Eyes Blessing
may God who is community be with us as we seek
to be a community
may God bless our dreams and may God shatter our
dreams
may God help us to be real and to find depth in
weakness and brokenness
may God help us to face and grow through
conflict
rather than pretend by being nice
may we look at each other through soft eyes
and truly respect each other as human beings
may God help us let go of control and the need
to fix one another
may God help us discover we are needy in our own
souls
and give attention to our own hearts
may God grant us the gift of an extraordinary
love
that flows from the heart of God that covers a
multitude of wrongs
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