Vanasõna

 There are literal storms around the world that are flooding cities, producing tornadoes, and creating havoc. There are political storms around the world as authoritarian movements are on the rise. There are societal storms as we continue to push for the liberation of all people and the push back trying to erase minorities' identity and history. There are religious storms as the church is no longer in the center of society and adaptation is needed as traditional theology no longer speaks to most people as does traditional models of church.  In these storms, we wish that Jesus would awaken and silence them all. However, Jesus also tells us that with faith, we can have an impact as well. This morning, let us take time to find that silence and peace in our own hearts, minds, bodies, and souls and in this body of Christ. I invite us onto the cushion with Jesus, not to nap, but to be at peace.  10 minutes of silence May the peace of God fill us up so we can offer it to the world this da

 When I was taking the Our Whole Lives training this Spring with Kristin and Neil, the trainers talked about our understanding of human sexuality and gender in terms of coffee. We can have it black or with cream and sugar. When Kileen and her brother started their coffee house back in 1996, people would come in and say, "I can go to the restaurant two doors down and pay a buck for a cup of coffee." They didn't understand what a latte was, much less a cappuccino, espresso, cold brew, mocha, or breve. There were only two types of coffee for them, black and with sugar and cream. So back in the day, there were only really two types of people, man and woman, all else was unnatural and sinful at worst, or a mental illness at best. As a society, we are progressing, too slowly, and learning that there is more than just two types of gender and that who we, as humans, can love is also on a spectrum. And these are healthy and God given in our world where diversity and creativity are

 A long time ago, I did a funeral where the youngest daughter has been taking care of her mother for several years and finally passed away. As we were going through the details of the funeral, she shared with me that now that her mother is gone, she doesn't have to talk to her sisters anymore. I was surprised and asked why she would want that. She replied that her three sisters have tried to control her life and though their mother needed help, they expected her to take care of her. When they showed up to see her mother, which was rarely, all they did was complain about everything, expecting her to do what they wanted rather than what their mother needed. This was proven out in that the sisters showed up the day before at the time of visitation, asking to see the obituary and the worship service trying to make 'corrections'. The funeral director also confirmed that they tried to control everything once they showed up, even though all the arrangements were made months ago. A

 There is a television show that I really enjoyed. It is called "New Amsterdam." The first three seasons were great, and then it went off the rails bringing in a villain rather than changing the system. What I liked about the show was that it really did look at the problems of our health care system, and never lost sight of who they serve, the patients and people that were coming through their hospital. Some of it was pie in the sky, but other episodes, when they tried to solve the opioid crisis, racism, and abortion access, they came up short. The main character, the chief of staff, Dr. Max Goodwin, no matter if he was talking to the Board of Directors, the janitor, or a patient, his first question was almost always, "How can I help?"  Too often in our society and throughout history, human institutions, including religious ones, have focused on right and wrong, rather than life and death. Often the right and wrong become focused on what is right for us and everythi

In 1868, Ann Jarvis started the "Mother's Friendship Day" to bring together mothers who lost sons during the Civil War. In the 1870's and 1880's there were attempts to establish this holiday as mother's for world peace. Her daughter Anna Jarvis, took up the cause in the 1900's with West Virginia becoming the first state to have it as an official holiday with other states quickly following. The resolution was passed in Congress in 1914 and signed by President Wilson on May 8. In the 1940's, Anna tried to mount a public campaign against Mother's Day because of its commercialization and even got arrested for protesting it. She thought that buying a card was lazy and young men should write their mothers a letter instead.  In our story today, we have Jesus in Jerusalem during his last week and being challenged by different groups for different reasons. The Sadducees are challenging the idea that there might be resurrection so they concoct this story abo

Today, Elliot comes and joins not the varsity team of Christianity, but the adult league. Tomorrow, hopefully no rain, Steve Aldrich, Elliot's mentor and I are going to watch him play some baseball. I thought about it and there are some similarities between baseball and our church. First of all, when you are the batter, you start at home plate and your goal is to score and that brings you back to home plate. When we are born as children of God, we have the whole world to explore, but our goal is to find ourselves back at home plate, which is God.  Second, being a part of the church is like being on a team. Though anyone may be up to bat, it is the team that we rely on, especially when we are out in the field. Although we don't always need nine players to go out and play, we have started our confirmation classes by proclaiming where ever two or more are gathered in my name, "    ?" (I am there). Also, in baseball, there are lots of different skills that are needed, and