“Our weary world does not need anymore cynics, and scoffers and skeptics. But as wars rage and divisions heighten, we desperately need hope bearers and hope partners who point us to a better way; one where life is made new, and lives of shame and fear do not have the final say. Our hope is a reflection of God’s intention for the world; intentions for renewal and restoration for everyone.”

“This Advent in the quiet spaces of our hearts, where God’s still, small voice speaks to us, we are called to discern what is our to do… Our work might seem small or insignificant, but when we look at the long stories of scripture, the stories of the Hebrew bible, the stories of the New Testament, the stories of church history, we see lots of ordinary, flawed people stepping in with their small thing and doing it with a full heart. Each good work no matter how small, is an important thread in the fabric of the whole; part of God’s on-going creation story where love will overcome, peace will be restored, and new life will emerge. In this time when our national life feels so precarious every small gift is more needed than ever. Every act of generosity, and truth telling, and compassion, and justice belongs to that larger divine tapestry.”

“This season of flickering candles and Christmas lights and carols can have a shadow side filled with loneliness and grief. For many it feels like anything but the happiest time of year. And yet, the season offers us so many opportunities for kinship and connection. When we are grieving we can ask for help. When we are not grieving we can reach out… We can invite people into our hearts, and into our homes and into our lives. We can show that in God’s family no one has to face their sorrow alone, and no one has to celebrate their victories alone and let them grow hollow. What would it look like for us in this community to foster deeper connections in this season with each other, with our neighbors, with our extended family, with the people we work with or volunteer with? What would it be like to dare to move beyond pleasantries? Nice pleasantries, nothing wrong with them, but what would it be like to share your messy, wholly complicated life?”

“As we face uncertainty and anxiety in our national life, in our congregational life, in our own lives, how is God magnified through your unique perspective, and vision and experience? What stories of divine presence do you have to tell? What words and acts of love will you choose to describe the good news of the Messiah that you carry in your body, in your life, in your relationships? Don’t wait. Sing it. The world needs your witness of blessedness and blessing. Sing because you are a blessing.”

“…this is the promise of the Gospel: more life, new life. And as hard as it is to hold onto, this is still the promise; renewed across history through one savage human moment after another. In the middle of our lament, we are called to hold onto the vision of God’s realm, to participate in God’s realm. It is very easy to despair or to grow numb and stop paying attention or to let exhaustion win. But, it is precisely now, now when the world around us feels the most apocalyptic, that we have to respond with resilient, healing love… Love is the answer that we must have. And it is precisely now when systemic evil, and age-old brokenness threaten to bring us to ruin that we have to hold each other tight. As the veil parts and the walls fall, we need each other.”

“There are so many ways the coming years may fill us with dismay, but they cannot change the intention at the core of God’s creation. That intention is justice, sustenance, freedom, enlightenment, hospitality and care of the vulnerable. It is the call of Jesus and the work of the church to take up that intention and live it out in the world, no matter what politicians have what power where. Our call remains the same…”

“This practice of loving, one by one, face to face starts with seeing and it continues with attending to the other person’s words; by asking questions rather than assuming we know who they are already, which is so easy to do in a culture where we label each other out of fear. We often assume we can intuit another person’s perspectives by the bumper stickers on the car, by the way they dress, by their zip code, but you can’t always. We have to ask. We have to ask how do you see life, what are you experiencing right now. And then we have to attend to the conversation, we have to pay attention as the conversation unfolds. This is true with our most well-known and beloved ones, and it’s true with our neighbors; it’s true when we are wanting to stand as allies with people in the fight for justice. We love best, when we listen best; when we listen for how the other person is experiencing the world instead of assuming we already know…

“And of course I’ve been thinking about this, about what it means to love people during this painful election season. I have to work hard not to assume the worst motives for people whose political positions I find abhorrent.”

“In this tired season when fear is dogging our steps and dread of the future is acting like an undertow, take heart. Get up. Jesus is calling you. Let your faith make you whole enough to follow Jesus on the way.

“If this frightening election does not end with results that protect America from sliding from oligarchy to autocracy, Jesus will still be calling us. Spirit will still be present. We can keep going, keep loving, and working, and resting. It was never America that was going to keep us safe or save us; it is staying rooted in God’s love no matter what.”

“…Whatever is in our heart, whether it is joy or rage, resentment or mercy, fear or love, meanness or loveliness; whatever is in there will spill out on to others. No matter how we try to disguise it, our hearts will make themselves known. Which leads me to the question: what are you doing to take care of your heart? How is your heart? How are you caring for it? For our hearts to be whole, they must be tended… In order for good to come out of our hearts, our hearts must be grounded, our hearts must be whole.”

“The story of Easter reassures us that hope is stronger than despair, love is stronger that hate, life is stronger than death, and that with God nothing is impossible. God is with us in every human moment. Our fear and wonder can coexist with our joy. The story has not ended and it is always starting anew in us.”

“The promise of Easter is that love is stronger than death; that the realm of God is present, even now…”