“Serenity Prayer” by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

 

As I have shared openly before, I am grateful for the availability of mental health care, counseling, and psychotherapy (a technical word for talk therapy with a mental health provider) in my life and for the way it helps me to not only treat and control my depression and anxiety, but also for the ways that it can help me make the enormity of life and all of its chaos a bit more manageable. I sincerely believe that destigmatizing mental health and the care and treatment of it is one of the most important things we can do to care for the whole person.

 

And so, I say once again, if you are ever feeling as though it would be helpful to talk to someone about your mental health, there are a number of starting points. The first is that you can talk with your primary care provider (the doctor you go to most). They can help to point you in helpful directions for care that will best fit your needs. Also, it is not uncommon for our physical and mental health to overlap considerably. A second starting point is with me, your pastor. While I can offer pastoral care and limited counseling, I can also provide helpful referrals to mental health professionals who can be of considerable help.

 

As I share this, I am wanting to also share an experience that I had in my own counseling session just weeks ago. While talking with my therapist, I was describing how I responded, emotionally, to the experience of our family all having COVID-19. I happened to mention that I fought the temptation to react with frustration or exasperation, choosing instead to focus on naming what I could control verses what I could not control. For instance, I could not control that we were all sick at the same time. What I could control was my decisions to rest rather than work when time (and naps) allowed.

 

During this conversation, my therapist, Paul, reminded me of the serenity prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr and its reminder that there are things we can change, and things we can’t, and that the things we can’t change can actually teach us something about ourselves and perhaps even our faith. And so, he asked the question: “What did you learn from having COVID-19, and will you share it with anyone?”

 

And so, my answer is this: I did learn something from the experience of having had COVID-19, and that is that life is fragile. And I don’t mean that in a doom and gloom sense. Instead, I mean that we are not invincible people who never need care, compassion and love. In a world that so often tells us to pull ourselves up, jump back on our feet and to get back to work, we need to be kinder to ourselves. We need to be kinder to one another. There is no weakness to be found in seeking help, and there is no weakness in naming that we have our limits.

 

Brothers and sisters, in this season of Lent when we turn our attention to our common humanity, let us reflect on the reality that we are all in need of God’s grace, we are all in need of one another’s kindness, and to care for ourselves as well as others is Christian!

 

Love for you,

Pastor Brian

 

Welcome to one of my shorter Connection newsletter articles. It’s not because I’ve grown tired of writing (it’s rare that I’m at a loss for words). Instead, I’m sharing with you a thought that will help us kick off the new year. It’s in the form of a question: “What do you hope that our church can be in the years to come?” As you consider that question, and formulate your own answer, let me offer two reminders: 

 

First, to authentically be the church, we cannot aim to be who we once were. Our God is one of transformation, a God who continues to call us into tomorrow without looking back. This doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from our past, but to desire to be only who we once were fails to see that we are the church in a new time with new needs and with new possibilities. 

 

Secondly, you are absolutely part of our tomorrow. Whether you’ve been in leadership positions for years, or have just begun a life with this church family, you are part of what God is doing in this church today as
we are led into tomorrow. The possibility of realizing your hope for our church in the years to come is dependent upon who you are ready to be for the church. God is calling each one of us – no exceptions – to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world. For the church, today, to be the church tomorrow requires that we respond to God’s call in our lives with a resounding and energized “yes!” 

 

Will you join me in visioning and actualizing what we all hope this church can and will be for our community and world? Will you boldly step toward the potential of tomorrow’s new day without holding onto dreams of what used to be? Will you join me in a daily renewal of trust in God’s leading, calling, and creating?

 

What do you hope our church can be in the years to come?

 

Peace,
Pastor Brian

 

Is it possible that it is already December? Is it possible that Christmas is only 20 some days away? It can’t already be here, can it; the trees, the carols, the gifts, the dinners, the stillness? Can it already be Christmastime?!

 

Advent is a time of waiting, yes. But, more specifically, it’s a time of already-but -not-yet. We discover throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testaments, reminders that Jesus’ presence in the world was the revelation of God’s kingdom. For instance, this familiar passage can serve as a good reminder:

“Whenever you enter a city and its people welcome you, eat what they set
before you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘God’s kingdom
has come upon you.” -Luke 10:8-9 (CEB)

This is what is meant by “already.” God’s kingdom, for a brief time came and dwelt among us. God took on human flesh and it was through Christ Jesus that we discover that divine love in a very real and tangible way. We call it the gospel – the “good news.” This is what we celebrate at Christmastime. We celebrate God’s revelation to us through the baby Jesus who would grow up, teach, preach, heal, and bring forgiveness and grace to all of God’s creation. We sing a familiar hymn, uttering the question, “Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb? This sleeping child you’re holding is the Great I Am?” This is the already-ness of it all.

 

And still, not yet. Christmas is all about the already – God’s Kingdom realized in Jesus Christ. But Advent, the season of waiting that leads us toward Christmastime is about that Kingdom of God that is not yet fully realized.

Think of it a bit like a preview at the beginning of a movie. We’d never watch the preview and make the assumption that we’ve seen the entire movie. There is no way that the totality of a 2 hour movie could be completely relayed to an audience in 2 minutes. It’s not that we’re not watching parts of the movie, but there is still far more to realize, understand, and discover when we watch the full length version of the movie. The already-ness of Christmas is like the preview. We see Christ revealed to us in Jesus. We experience his love and grace in a way that helps us to better know the fullness of God, and yet the kingdom of God is not yet fully realized, actualized, or brought into being. This is what we are seeking in the time beyond Christmas.

 

Let’s look at it from one more angle. For Christians, the church year begins with Advent. This year, that began on November 28th and continues until Christmas Day. This is the not-yet time. This is a time of waiting in which we acknowledge that we are in need of God’s Kingdom. On Christmas Day, that gracious gift of God’s Kingdom is celebrated in the form of a child born in Bethlehem. The rest of the Christian year, we remember the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of God’s kingdom come. We celebrate God’s continued presence through the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, giving thanks that God still remains with us. And beyond that, we follow God’s leading through the Spirit to move toward the full realization of God’s kingdom come! We do this by sharing God’s grace and love in the world – a grace and love made evident through Christ, and evidenced through the grace we embody and the good we contribute to the world.

 

Advent is a time of already-but-not-yet. It is a time when we look forward to what we know can be. We celebrate the glimpse of it that will be revealed in Jesus Christ, and we pray for the day when we look around and see that God’s kingdom is now. So be it!

 

Pastor Brian 

 

Odds are good that you’ve heard my theology of prayer before, but in case you haven’t, I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version of it: Sometimes, we think about prayer as God’s newspaper. We let God know what is going on in our lives and in the world, and God chooses how to respond to the things we’ve made God aware of. The problem with this way of thinking about prayer is that it forgets that God is all knowing. In other words, God already knows the things we raise up in prayer long before we ever pray the words or think the thoughts. So, are we just wasting our breath with prayer? No! We’re not wasting our time or our breath. Rather, I believe that God uses prayer as a time for us to accomplish two things: (1) First, we
become more acutely aware of the needs of our neighbors and our world. Prayer forces us to come face to face with the celebrations and concerns of those around us. (2) Secondly, we become more intimately aware of what matters most to God, how God is responding in our world, and how God is (not “might be”) calling us to be God’s hands and feet in the world, responding to needs.

 

With that understanding of prayer, let’s ask the question again, “Does prayer work?” Our good Christian instincts might have us shouting, “YES!” but let’s think through why it is. In Philippians, we are encouraged to lift every petition, thanksgiving and request to God. We are to do this in all situations, even those that might cause us anxiety.

 

As I’m writing this, I’m only 22 hours removed from praying inside an ambulance as our one year old daughter, Jane, was being taken to the hospital following a 5 minute seizure during which this scared-half-to-death dad held her in my arms just hoping and praying that her breathing would continue. As we were rushed to the ER, I remember looking out the backdoor window, trying to determine how far away
we were, only able to pray the deep guttural prayers – the kind for which no words can be found. I firmly believe God heard my prayer, even though I wasn’t sure what I was praying, exactly. As I stood by her gurney in the ER bay, surrounded by doctors and nurses, I texted a quick prayer request to some clergy friends of mine who I was supposed to be with on retreat. For that whole afternoon, I received messages that they were praying for us. With only Stephanie, Jane, and I in the ER room waiting for test results, we felt an acute awareness that we weren’t alone in that moment. Not only was God’s Spirit present with us, but so were the spirits of all who were praying. As our prayer request made its way to the church prayer
chain, we immediately began feeling as though we were surrounded by our church family.

 

So, how did the wordless prayers of a frightened dad work? Or the prayers of a near breathless mom hurrying from her office to the ER? Or the prayers of friends and church families? How did they work? I believe that it was those prayers that helped to remind Stephanie and I that we weren’t alone in a scary moment. It was those prayers that allowed God to dispatch so many words of love, support, care, and concern from so many who love us. It was those prayers that bolstered the energy of doctors, nurses, techs, EMTs, and hospital staff, and reminded them of the sacred task of life and compassion to which they, too, are called. It was those prayers that made space for the hand of God to be laid upon a little girl who was scared and not feeling well.

 

Even as I write this, I’m sitting in the living room defending my keyboard from the alsdkjfskldfjskdjf energized fingers of the same little girl who is now feeling much better, and my heart is aching for those
parents whose experiences are not as reassuring, or medical emergencies without good outcomes. Did
prayer not work there? Did God simply not care enough? Did God forget to bolster the energy of the
doctors, or were the prayers of friends and churches just not effective? It can be tempted to think that,
can’t it? But notice that it was never about God interjecting in the situation to defend certain nerve-endings in Jane’s brain and not in other children. It was never about God’s preference for one child or another, or the sins of the parents visited upon the children. As much as it breaks my heart to say, there are times when the body does not work the way it is supposed to. Sometimes microscopic cells misbehave, and sometimes accidents occur because the laws of physics always remain constant. Sometimes the amazing accomplishments achieved though chemotherapy work, and sometimes it’s just not enough or in time.  These aren’t things I say lightly, but things we must acknowledge.

 

And so, when our hearts break in this world, we find comfort in God’s dispatch of those who have been
praying who now surround us in our grieving. We find comfort that the peace we’ve prayed for is still
possible, and that suffering is no longer endured.

 

It’s never that our prayers didn’t work! Prayer just doesn’t work that way! The joy of prayer is that we become more connected to one another and to God, and God becomes more connected to us! And when we are connected in that way, we can journey every storm…together.

 

Pastor Brian