Dear friends,
Some of you will remember my friend from Duluth, Diana Oestreich, the retired military person who spoke to our church last January about her personal journey from soldier to peace activist. This poem which she posted today spoke to my own unease with what happened in Minneapolis yesterday and what continues to unfold around the country.
We’re also in a time of uncertainty globally, with our country asserting influence in places as divergent as Venezuela and Greenland. And wars continue to wage around the globe in Russia/Ukraine and the Middle East, to name a few. Now more than ever our faith and our spirituality can be a source of inner solace as well as guiding our consciences as to how to respond to all that is happening.
Our Migration theme is extremely timely this month, and we got off to a great start last Sunday. This week we will explore the theme “God Knows No Borders”, by considering the baptism of Jesus, what it meant then, and what our own baptismal heritage might mean for us as a source of unity, strength and renewal. Come experience the cleansing waters as we symbolically re-enact through the rite of sprinkling the power of renewal and covenant.
I also want to draw attention to two different programs taking place this week. On Sunday after Coffee Hour we will resurrect a popular program from last year, the Death Cafe. It’s freeing to come and talk about mortality with other people, so plan to join us at 12:30 p.m. in the Dining Room. If you have a secular or a religious friend who might enjoy this conversation, bring them along; the content is non-religious, non-sectarian. And I invite you on Monday night, via Zoom, to enjoy a conversation between two of our local UCC leaders, Rev. Rhina Ramos and Rev. Alvaro Duran. I hope to see you somewhere along the line this weekend.
Your companion on the journey,
Pastor Jim
P.S. I am doing a public event later this month with KALW that you are welcome to attend in person or online. Here are the details: Thursday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m. at 220 Montgomery St., San Francisco. Register here.