Jul 22, 2020 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd…
I spent last week as the “manny.” Granddaughter Vivian and her family reside in McCall, Idaho. It is a wonderful community, situated on beautiful Payette Lake, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, in the Idaho wilderness. Vivian (named after my father – isn’t that a hoot?) is two, and she owns my heart. It is a testament to my relationship with my daughter, Jhen, that when childcare is an issue, “Dad” often gets the call. It was during the ten-hour drive home, bouncing between different podcasts, that I heard this line, “We need more interdependence, and less heroes.”
I cannot tell you what that line was a part of, what lecture or show it emanated from. You might know. It obviously stuck… “We need more interdependence and less heroes.” My imagination has been held captive by that line. At its most basic level it is counter-intuitive, since we tend to look for the hero when times get tough. Indians are attacking, and where is John Wayne? The Empire is preparing to destroy the Rebellion, and where is Luke Skywalker? The country is a mess, seemingly imploding under the weight of a pandemic and centuries of systemic racism, and where is our political hero to save us from ourselves? It seems that that is part of our problem. In our need, we are susceptible to elevating mortal leaders to cult status, and then we become stuck in the knowledge that we either blindly follow or we have to admit we took a wrong turn somewhere.
It seems to me that interdependence is, in fact, two things. It is recognizing, at its most basic level, that all of our lives are intrinsically woven together and that, secondly, we have a need for one another. Some mother’s suffering (or success) in a far-off state or country is not isolated to just their experience. Somehow, in the economy of God’s creation, that is in some mysterious way my suffering, or success. And the choices I make can equally affect that mother. We do not need another hero; we need to embrace a life of intentional interdependence. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Jesus we are reminded there is no “other;” there is no “saved” or… there is only the redeemed. There is “us.” This epiphany just about slayed Paul. His entire life was righteous because he was the master at dividing the clean from the unclean. His world was turned upside down when he penned the church at Galatia, “In Christ… there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Or, there is no other. Sin is separation. In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he charged the church to be mindful that our Lord “…has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.” Our Lord is making his appeal through us. Resist any voice that would divide us; there is no other.
Indulge me one last example: in Acts (2:44-45, 4:32-35), as opposed to some experiment in socialism, the followers of Jesus found delight in sharing their possessions such that no one had need. Sharing did not mean I would have less; it meant everyone would have more. Nothing divides us more than our wealth, our material possessions. We are, in terms of the world, for all practical purposes, one-percenters. Our responsibility is to seek economic justice while finding joy in sharing, for that is my brother and sister out there, and their failure or success is mine. Such is the life of intentional interdependence. Jesus is our humble hero; we need no other. And for my Viv’s sake (as is true for all children of the world) it is both my fervent prayer and guiding light that the world comes to understand that “there is no other.” We have need of one another.
Stay connected, we need each other, one day closer.
Pastor Tom
To make a donation to Trinity, follow this link: https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/give/
Jul 21, 2020 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Deacon Amy…
Vacation Bible School is one of my favorite weeks every summer. I love the energy that comes with a building full of kids having fun and learning about Jesus. This year, as with many other things, VBS is very different. Leading the opening sessions each morning, where we drum up the excitement and enthusiasm for the day, is one of my favorite things. This year, we’re performing our opening sessions for an empty house. This is a very different VBS.
We may be playing for an empty house, but we know there’s an audience out there that’s excited about what we have to say. Students and volunteers aren’t gathered at Trinity, but they are paying attention. Families (and adults) are tuning in at home. We’re “live streaming” and posting recorded videos on our Facebook page, YouTube channel, and website. It’s a very different VBS.
Our morning videos include my introduction to the day’s Bible verse and theme. We also have some fantastic live music provided by “Mr. Karl and the Salamander Band!” A few years ago, some of our “Breaded Fish” musicians came together to play for VBS. When they learned that all of our student groups had animal names, they decided to call themselves the Salamander Band – and three years later, they’re still leading exciting music, even with this very different VBS.
For the past several weeks, volunteers have been turning up their creativity, and working hard to put together a very different VBS. We built a train station in the Fireside Room, where we filmed “Conductor Bob” and puppet friends learning about some exciting Bible stories. We created take-home packets full of craft supplies, snacks, coloring pictures, printed Bible stories, and other activities for each student. Parents and grandparents came last week to pick up their packets (actually paper grocery bags) full of goodies.
Families can now participate by viewing our opening sessions online each morning, watching our pre-recorded Bible Story videos, and then opening their packets and digging in to the day’s activities. We’re hoping that families will send us photos of their VBS-at-home activities so we can share the joy of our very different VBS with each other.
One thing about VBS that is not different, is sharing our “God Sightings.” Each day, we talk about all of the places where we see God – in the beauty of our natural world, in a helping hand, or in a stranger’s smile. We’re asking students and their families to write down their “God Sightings” on sticky notes every day and create a collection throughout the week.
One benefit of our very different VBS? You can join in! Log on to our Facebook page or website to see our daily videos – and share your God Sightings with us! Where have you seen God today? You can certainly find God at our very different VBS! I look forward to hearing from you.
Deacon Amy
To make a donation to Trinity, follow this link: https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/give/
Jul 20, 2020 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
Yesterday, you invited me into your homes for worship. I am very appreciative; I don’t take this privilege for granted. Thank you! The sermon, in part, focused on the place of KINDNESS in our daily life and as we follow Jesus Christ. I shared with you this beautiful quote from William Penn:
“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.”
These are good words to live by. William Penn was born to nobility in 1644. He was given land by King Charles II of England. It seems that the King owed his father, Sir William Penn, some money. The younger William would come to the “new world” and be the founder of the Pennsylvania Colony. He was a gifted writer and one of the first proponents of the United Colonies of England in America. He was ahead of his time, and he was (by all accounts) a good man. He was one of the early members of the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers. The image on a box of Quaker Oats is most likely William Penn, the ever-humble standard bearer of the Quakers.
The Quaker movement was founded on the foundational values of integrity, equality, simplicity, community, stewardship of the earth, and of course, peace. The Quakers believe that every human being contains something of God, often referred to as “the light of God.” According to the Quakers, all human beings contain goodness and truth. William Penn was the ever-humble standard bearer of the Quakers. Read the quote up above one more time. William Penn was a good man, and William Penn was a slave owner. It is a mind-boggling disconnect.
Now don’t get the idea that I am picking on the Quakers, I eat Quaker Oats every morning in my office, and some of my best friends are not Quakers. Martin Luther, the founder of a movement that bears his name, said and wrote terrible things about peasants and Jews. Martin Luther, like William Penn, was a very good man. I am raising the issue of the disconnect between our stated values, beliefs, ethical codes and morals, and our actions. How could one believe in equality and embrace slavery? How could one hold the belief that every human contains something of God, goodness and truth, and yet somehow be blinded to the evil of slavery?
I have no interest in judging those who have gone before me. They were products of their time and culture. Five of the first seven United States Presidents owned slaves while they were in office. This is a nation that was founded on the principle “that all men are created equal.” But our constitution counted slaves as worth only 3/5 of a person. How do we explain the disconnect?
We are complicated creatures with complicated histories. We live lives marked by contradiction, sanctimonious self-righteousness, and hypocrisy. Can we pause now and look in the mirror? Can we ask ourselves difficult questions about the awkward disconnects in our lives? Can we face the bigotry, the racism, the disregard for the environment, and the lack of concern for the oppressed?
Good people we are. Good people are sometimes blind to the disturbing disconnects that are revealed by the life choices they make. We are good people, but we can and must be better. The future of our children, and the future of the planet are dependent upon us living and loving with integrity.
Lots of love to you, from one broken human to another.
Pastor Jim
To make a donation to Trinity, follow this link: https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/give/
Jul 18, 2020 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
What would it take for you to change your story?
Inherent in that question is the assumption that we are not powerless characters in someone else’s play. Inherent in that question is the belief that human stories are not likely to change without our participation. We are not helpless and the story of our lives is not written in heaven. We are not predestined to live a certain way or to experience certain pains. God has given us free will. Limited free will, but free will none-the-less. We do, in fact, participate in the formation of our story. We are the primary actors in the play that is our life. Doing something, or doing nothing, is participating.
What would it take for you to change your story?
How could you change your story for good? I don’t know the answer but I am guessing that you do. Would your story be better if you faced your addictions? Would your story improve with therapy? Would your anxiety be reduced if you watched less cable news and spent the time doing something productive for your body or soul? Would you be healthier if you ate less or slept more, or ate more and slept less? Would your life have more meaning if you looked outside of yourself and cared for those less fortunate?
What will it take to change our story?
The shared story of those who live in the United States right now is pretty grim. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost to Covid-19. Families are struggling, unemployment continues to be a threat, school systems are stressed by uncertainty, parents worry about the Fall, and health care providers fight for the lives of patients even as they fight exhaustion themselves. But it is more than that. Our country is divided. We have become increasingly less civil, more vitriolic, less hospitable, more intolerant, more self-centered, less charitable. What has happened to our country? The values that are defining us are not the values that helped shape this great nation.
What will it take to change the story of our country?
We all need to do our part in changing the story of our country. Doing nothing is an option, but if good people do nothing, then we are giving our nation over to those without a moral compass. We all need to do our part! We need to vote. We need to protest peacefully. We need to advocate for those without a voice. We need to practice civility in all public discourse and on all social media platforms.
What will it take to change the story of our country?
Charlie Chaplin said, “We think too much and we think too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.” And Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Love yourself enough to change your story! Love our world by doing your part to change our shared story for good.
One day closer.
Pastor Jim
To make a donation to Trinity, follow this link: https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/give/
Jul 17, 2020 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Rev. David Bieniek…
On a recent morning I went down to our beach to do some work, but mostly just to take a few minutes alone. Our little dog went with me, anxious to explore the beach and see what he could find.
We have some oyster bags drying out high on the shore. As I bent down to move them, I heard a sound like that of pouring warm soda into a glass of ice. I wondered what could be making such a noise, so I picked up the bag and looked closer. Hundreds of baby crabs were scurrying around as they got exposed. I watched them for a bit, and then carefully dropped the bags again, apologizing for disturbing their rest and thanking them for their work in cleaning our bags.
I walked to the edge of the water, committed to the mindfulness that comes with just being. In the shallow water I saw more small crabs, a sand dollar, and clams of all kinds just living their life. I quieted my mind and heard the snaps, crackles, and pops not of my Rice Krispies, but rather the sounds that millions of barnacles around me were making as they opened and shut their small shells looking for food – small sounds, a symphony in surround-sound.
Above me in the trees, the birds were singing their cacophony of morning music. Our little dog carefully maneuvered the beach, smelling and reveling in the newness all around him. There was no wind, so I could hear far-off sounds of fish splashing and harbor seals playing. No planes. No boat motors. And no sounds to give a hint that any other human exists.
I noticed a red leaf floating on the water – a reminder that time marches on. Though it is still early summer, autumn will follow in a few months, then winter, spring, and back to summer. By then, the baby crabs will grow and perhaps wind up in our crab pots, the baby birds chirping in their nests will build nests of their own, and the harbor seals will still be playing in the waters. Life will cycle on.
I marvel that one Creator can have imagined all of this! I can understand how many religions believe that there must be more than one God that is in charge of all of this. God’s imagination must be expansive and never-ending. As I left the beach, I gasped as an eagle soared passed me, reminding me of God’s powerful, graceful love for us, as well as the majesty of nature. One of my mother’s favorite songs was “On Eagles Wings” which we sang at her funeral. I remember that God lifts us up and that when we rest in faith we can soar to great heights. God’s imagination is deeper than we can ever fathom, and God’s love is stronger than the wind.
I returned to my family with our dog at my side, happy that I was able to take some time to open my eyes, my mind, and my soul; thankful for the faithful love of my little companion; thankful for the love that waits for me in the house as breakfast is eaten and the day is planned. I realize that God’s Imagination is even responsible for these blessings knitted together in what we call family.
May you marvel today in the Eternal Imagination that created you and all that you hold dear. And may you soar on wings of eagles and rest in God’s Love.
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation…
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy? — Job 38:4-7
Dave Bieniek
To make a donation to Trinity, follow this link: https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/give/
