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May 12, 2020
Beloved: For a much-needed biblical perspective on the news and the state of our nation, I recom-mend this Op-Ed piece from the NY Times two days ago. May God’s people find our voice and feet in the ways of justice here and now. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette PS - Please remember that this is the time of the month when we donate to Monroe County United Ministries (MCUM), to help those in need in our community. Due to job losses and illness caused by COVID-19, the number of people in need is greater than ever. While we are meeting virtually, we encourage folks to make financial donations to MCUM in place of our normal monthly MCUM drive. If you can do so, please consider donating online by going to this web address: https://mcum.org/donate/. Another way to donate is to register for Miles for MCUM at https://mcum.org/milesformcum/. For this, you choose an indoor or outdoor activity during the week of May 18-24 and can line up sponsors who will pay an outright amount or per mile. For more information, please go to the Miles for MCUM website linked.
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May 5, 2020
Beloved: This morning I remarked how strange it is to think that everyone we know is also at home nearly all the time, and my son respectfully disagreed. “What’s strange,” he said, “is that we think it’s strange. Most people in history spent plenty of time staying at home to avoid disease and plagues. It was business as usual until about fifty years ago.”* I remember the nurse at the pediatrician’s office squirting a tube of purple juice into our mouths, and my mother telling us how kids who got polio had to live inside iron boxes so they could breathe. I also remember the giant, itchy scab we got on our arms from our smallpox vaccines.** His kindly reminder helped me to relax further into the human normalcy of this season and to be grateful for what progress has been made. I’d rather enjoy going out to eat or to visit with my sisters. But not at the risk of someone else’s childhood. It turns out kids can contract COVID-19. At first doctors believed otherwise. I can definitely do this for someone else’s kids, as can most everyone I know. It’s what human beings have always done, remember. And, reading our text for this week I realize it’s a perfect opportunity to practice what our Bible preaches in John 14 — abiding. About to take leave of his disciples, Jesus explains he’s going to his Father to prepare a place for them where they will abide with himself and the Father. The disciples are more upset about his leaving than glad about his promise to return and take them with him. In time they come to embrace the promise and the faith therein. That faith that comes with abiding ... it’s another word for “staying put.” It’s by staying put that we learn to stay put faithfully, but by enjoying this life of ours — no matter what the days are made of — that we learn to enjoy this life. Circular to be sure, just like life within eternity — endless and complete at once, even as we live it. As you are staying put these days, what are you discovering about yourself and life together that you never knew before? I’d love to hear your insights. In the meantime, ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette *If you’re needing something new to watch and can stream programming, check out the miniseries John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. **Children are still vaccinated against polio but not smallpox. April 28, 2020. Day 43 of Quarantine Beloved: Given how I trash-talked him last Tuesday, it seems fitting Otto get top billing today. In respect of other people’s sensitivity I’ll not post a picture of the corpse, but never have I been so glad to see a dead chipmunk on my garage floor, laid out as a sacrifice upon an altar. Until he died two years ago, I had no idea how much time and effort our previous cat Simba devoted to patrolling and protecting my flowerbeds from chipmunks. Since his death, they have invaded and destroyed not just planting, but even the underground structure of my beds. For his part, Otto acts as if nothing interesting has happened, but I’m planning some extra treats for later, sprinkled near the chipmunk corpse to convey my gratitude and hope that he will go hunting again, maybe start a real collection.
The world today is ruled by a virus, one cell of which can make a human being deathly ill. Our disrespect of its dominance will destroy life and civilization as we’ve known it for generations. So, for now we will respect it by staying home, washing our hands, and learning ever deeper levels of patience with one another, confident that life will not be like this forever, because soon enough science will do what modern science has done every time a disease proposed to lord it over us. Soon enough scientists will bring forth the science to shelve this virus in the same vault as smallpox, polio, and diphtheria. When and where there are breakouts, science will descend the way Otto descends on a chipmunk in my flowerbed.
And in the meantime, we will keep diligence, faith, and good humor – knowing that the God who made us sustains us now and keeps Their promise to keep us close no matter what the future holds. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette
Three weeks ago I paid a handyman to wash my windows, some of which have not been done in years. After I paid him he loaded his truck and was not possibly out of the neighborhood yet when a robin arrived on my bedroom window sill to admire his big fat self. Every day since, he has circled the house from sunup to sunset, body slamming and head-butting all my windows, flecking them with bird poop. I may hate him, but he is my teacher just the same, I’ve decided. He’s come to inform me, in no uncertain terms, that the spiritual discipline I profess is no thicker in me than the dust upon my windows.
I’m hardly the first to discover that it doesn’t take famine or a war to test a person’s faith. A bird on a windowsill can show us what we most believe. Abuse the cat. Kill the bird. Hate the bird. After forty-plus years of attempting to pray, these are my automatic responses when I’m annoyed. Not threatened, friends — annoyed. And while the temptation is strong to continue the response by embellishing or expanding upon my own spiritual inadequacy, things are hard enough right now. Instead, I choose to use this pretty little bird (I’m sorry I body shamed you and called you a big fat bird. You are positively lovely!) to remind me that our good intentions matter, and change takes as long as it takes. Otto seems no worse for wear even though I snapped at him. I did not, in fact, kill the bird and I can practice not hating him, even if I can’t control all my thoughts. And all that bird poop means the handyman will always have more work to do, so economically it’s a win as well. Do you also find yourself less patient with yourself these days? Is one little thing bugging you lots more than it should? Lots of stressors we can’t see push at us these days, and it’s tempting to believe we should be doing better than we are. These are not easy times — not by any measure. But we can thrive by being as gentle with ourselves as we hope others will be with us. May your home be surrounded by peace and prayers today. ~ much love, pastor annette April 14, 2020 Beloved: I pray this post-Easter greeting finds you well and being gentle with yourself as we enter another week of quarantine. As I write, a squirrel is scrounging through the flower pots on my back deck looking for the nuts they buried there last fall. I’ve cleaned off the dead plants and rearranged the pots so they can’t find what they are looking for. The chickens are yelling about being grounded to their coop for eating my neighbor’s newly laid down grass seed. And the weeping cherry tree I wanted cut down last year has come back like the tree man said it would, proving that the hardest work I do all day is simply leaving something alone. 
In other news, I was over at the church building yesterday to put away things I’d brought home to record Holy Week services. Everything there is quietly fine, and it made me all the more proud of you for how we are thriving through these days. As far as I know, our local households are all healthy. Extended family members, especially the elderly, are constantly on our minds and in our prayers. Friends who live alone need our extra contact. Families with young kids at home have extra duties and no one to spell them, so their patience and strength oblige our prayers as well. Remember that birthdays and anniversaries are printed in the church directory, so send each other greetings through the mail just as you also call to check in. We will continue to pre-record services for now and have two live events as scheduled on Sunday afternoons and on Thursday mornings. Let me or your deacon know if you have a need with which we can help.
https://parasolwellness.com/why-am-i-so-tired/?fbclid=IwAR0HdRcVOWxi2IioCT4CdCmKHw9N9ruSHN_kLi_uiiPwX8UZXkp23Vf7DX8 April 7, 2020 ~ Holy Week
Beloved: Ash Wednesday seems far longer than six weeks ago, amen? In the same way Jesus’ disciples had no idea what he was up to when he turned his face toward Jerusalem, we couldn’t have imagined celebrating Easter so isolated from one another. Still, grace we could not have imagined has also bloomed among us. In our physical absence has bloomed intentional connection and a new tenderness that is good for my soul, and yours too I bet. I am profoundly aware of a deep and wide degree of patience and encouragement among family, friends, neighbors and strangers. Easter marks the destruction of the divide between time and eternity – the propulsion of eternal grace into temporal time – so that even while we are separated physically, we can more fully experience our spiritual unity. This is why I love our visits on Life Together Live – the Sunday Zoom meetings at 4 PM. Yes, they are loud and crazy as everyone talks at once and kids show each other their latest artwork, but I still love it! If you haven’t joined in yet, I hope you will next week. My plan is to continue doing church this way until the scientists say it’s safe to gather once again. Your patience, encouragement and good humor these last three weeks are like honey on my heart, and I’ve no doubt we can do it as long as is necessary.* The effort, extra hours and creativity of this part-time church staff to create online worship and church programming humbles me more than I have words to say. I am in technology kindergarten while Rob and Laura Beth guide me with the patience of a thousand preschool teachers. Fan has her eyes everywhere so that nothing essential falls through the cracks. Be sure and take advantage of the extra Holy Week offerings they are delivering each day this week on Facebook and YouTube! Rob has a family Easter activity and Laura Beth a Holy Week Reflection drawn from our usual Good Friday service. And thank you, thank you, thank you for putting your offering in the mail to the church office! More honey on my heart as it makes sure our bills are paid, especially our amazing church staff! An online giving mechanism should be ready for use on Sunday too. Keep in touch. Stay connected to each other, and remember that you are so very dear to me. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette *Like honey on my heart is a phrase I learned from Dalia O., who called this week to check on her UBC friends and say she is doing well. Beloved:
As it happens, I’ve begun reading Erik Larson’s new book, The Splendid and the Vile, about the London blitz in the fall of 1940 when London and other parts of England were bombed continuously for months. People who lost their houses lived crowded together in underground shelters without electricity or plumbing – continuously for months. They endured all manner of shortages and hardship – continuously for months. They fully expected to be invaded by a ground army more powerful than their own – continuously for months. Suffice it to say, the book provides both some perspective and some hope. Perspective, in that nothing I endure these days so far qualifies as hardship. I have water, electricity and way too much internet.* My wardrobe is best described as minimalist. Except for my yard clogs a few times a day, I no longer wear shoes. I shower and change from pajamas into clean pajamas once a day. Three times a week I put on make-up and Zoom clothes then change back into my jammies.** I have more than enough to eat as the kitchen works over-time and nobody eats out ever. And the housekeeper is but a memory, so we all have plenty of extra chores to do as well. We are not suffering. This is not hardship. At least not yet. Hope is found in the reality that unlike a city bombed incessantly, we can protect ourselves and one another. This virus is more persistent and more patient than any human army. We will defeat it by being more persistent and patient still. The most faithful and the most care-full we can be is to do the only thing the scientists know to tell us now: stay home, stay separated from each other, wash our hands often and for twenty seconds at a time. Staying home can feel like doing nothing, but it is everything that matters now. In terms of faith, remember Jesus speaking to his disciples in John 15: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. The lives we lay down now are not these mortal bodies but the lives of busyness and everyday activity. Jesus never promised what shape this obedience might take. We probably didn’t imagine it would be homeschooling or pre-recorded worship services. But here we are, invited to this obedience all the same. I pray that whatever shape sequestering has taken for you today, you can find some joy therein. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette * I now know way too much about America’s big cat community. ** Zoom clothes are outfits that are professional from the waist up, pajamas from the waist down. Two church projects you can help with this week:
Stone Belt Arc Needs Your Help! Looking for ways to help out your community while social distancing? Visit http://ow.ly/qZnA50yQb0c VIRTUAL BUDDIES We are in need of volunteers who are willing to be Virtual Buddies. If you are interested in connecting with someone on video conference or via phone call, please contact: Rev. Sarah McKenney at smckenney@stonebelt.org. OTHER NEEDS Stone Belt needs gift cards to grocery stores, healthy snacks, hygienic supplies, board games, DVDs (movies & television), craft supplies, video game consoles, etc. And we have a handy drop-off box located near the entrance at Stone Belt, 2815 E Tenth Street in Bloomington. You can also have things mailed. And there is a donation button on the link above. Donate & become part of the Stone Belt Buddies Brigade today! Does good faith demand first mention of the crisis or am I allowed to begin with my garden full of blue birds, bluer and fuller than I remember either ever being before? My brain has ceased its spinning and finally I can sleep, now it’s my arms that ache with needing something necessary to do. stay and wait . . . be still and know . . . . like the bluebirds, I suppose. March 24, 2020
Beloved: Every morning I wake up and I wonder for a moment if I dreamed it. Nope. We really are all staying put and doing our lives the best we can from inside our respective houses. Once I’m up, the day goes by faster than I expect, possibly because I’m not homeschooling little kids. I do some work, cook some food, take the dogs in/out fourteen times, read, sew and wash my hands. I also try to get outside, if only in my yard, where spring is positively exploding. I pray the days are settling into a kind of rhythm for you and yours and that you are able to connect with friends and family elsewhere via what technology you have. I got a real letter with a stamp from my seven-year-old niece, which means I’ve got correspondence piling up. A treat unto itself! Don’t forget to check on one another and to pray for those who are sick. I miss you oodles and look forward to staying in touch as we are able. See below for news about online church events and changes regarding the state-wide order to stay home issued on March 23rd. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette
The church building will not be open on Sunday mornings, but people with wi-fi-enabled devices can access the church wi-fi from the parking lot and are welcome to do so. Life Together Live ~ Twice a week Pastor Annette will host live church gatherings online. Zoom meetings are easy-peasy, and you don’t have to sign up for anything to participate. Just contact our church administrator (ubc3740@gmail.com) to receive the appropriate link. Pass the Peace of Christ ~ Welcome * Conversation * Reading * Prayer Sunday Afternoons, 4-4:45 PM Bible Chat ~ * Prayer & Discussion of the Coming Sunday’s Bible Text Thursday mornings, 11AM-12PM The Lenten Reading Group will also meet on the previously arranged dates, at these slightly adjusted times. March 29th, 5:15~6:30 pm April 5th, 5:15~6:30 pm April 14th, 6:30~7:45 pm P.S. It’s not too late to join. E-mail the church office at ubc3740@gmail.com for an online copy of the text, The Journals of John Woolman, and start reading! * Continue checking your e-mail and/or the church website (ubcbloomington.org) regularly for updates about church programming and church family news. * Please e-mail or call the church with your own family news and to let us know if you are ill or need help. March 17, 2020
Beloved: What does good faith require in the midst of a global pandemic? Such questions are not on every person’s mind right now but hopefully on ours. How do we do faith? How do we do church? Faith first: each one praying for peace and discernment in the midst of fear and of too much information is first every day, but especially in times of trouble. Before we can make good plans we must be able to think and act in peace instead of fear, in the terms of our faith instead of news cycle overload. My own morning prayers are backlit by another Southern Indiana springtime, glorious and yet so ordinary. Lilac buds are on and daffodils in the woods are opening. My three-year-old hens are meeting the egg quotas of a much younger flock. A pair of house finches on my window sill, not two feet from my face, are discussing something earnestly, where to find their lunch maybe. All this springtime business-as-usual reminds me I have a choice: to tune my heart to their tempo, ground myself in the goodness and the grace of springtime bursting forth in this time and place, or give in to anxiety over a hundred things that haven’t happened yet. How do we do faith in these troubling times? By being here now. By doing what needs doing here and now. Which answers the second question too: how do we do church in these troubling times? Be here, now. Do what needs doing here, now. The latest best reports from the Center for Disease Control predict no decline in transmission until an effective vaccine is delivered, several months from now. Therefore, to that end our Life Together as we’ve known it will be different for awhile. We won’t meet in a large group for Sunday morning worship for many weeks most likely. Until then the necessary precautions against transmission simply must stay in place, and we will do our part as church. If communities and countries everywhere will exercise the necessary patience and endurance, the number of people who get sick will be kept low enough that everyone gets good care. But we cannot confuse low transmission with eradication, so the need for endurance cannot be overstated. It turns out that the very constructs of our faith are what this crisis most demands: patience, courage and endurance. To that end, I am thinking prayerfully and carefully about what our life together shall look like in the coming weeks as we forgo our usual meetings and meals together. The two things we shall not give up are staying connected to one another and serving our community through the crisis. How they shall take shape largely depends on how God leads each of us, but I will have some more organized suggestions soon. For now, here’s what I have to share:
This is the time for which we pray to be faithful, friends, when we don’t have to figure out what to give up for Lent, but how to bear through the weeks of Lent with confidence that the God who brought us this far isn’t going to leave us now. Keep the faith. Reach out to somebody else today in grace and service. And for heaven’s sake, go outside so as not to miss the glory of this beautiful early spring day. March 10, 2020
Beloved: Like everyone else, I’m following the news about the coronavirus epidemic. Like my colleagues, I’m thinking about the appropriate ministry response and responsibility in the midst of the crisis. Some pastors wear surgical gloves to serve communion. South Korean churches have cancelled services altogether and are posting sermons online instead. Reading the public health information available right now and revisiting our own mission statement,* I’ve concluded that for the time being, the UBC response plan shall be:
~peace & prayers, pastor annette * UBC exists to share the gospel message of the love and grace of Jesus Christ with our community and the world through worship, service, and discipleship. |
I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
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May 2020
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