Pastor Annette's Blog
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"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD . . . NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
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December 19, 2023
Beloved: I’m enjoying the extra-curriculars of the Holy Season more than I usually do: the miles of tape required when wrapping presents with a two-year-old; the way she slams down the bows like a potter throwing clay. A neighbor came by with chocolate fudge and we visited like people with all the time in the world. I’ve made more presents this year than I ever have before, and loved, loved, loved it. I’ve baked batches and batches of cookies; my favorite new recipe is below. I’m chasing peace at home these days. The idea that when I’m home I get to be at peace, no matter the state of the world. I get to sew and read and look at magazines. I get to pet the dog and piddle around, accomplishing not much of anything. I get to sleep and then sleep some more. I’ve no one but myself here to take care of, so I can take care of myself, do as I please even ~ when I am at home. There is so much that needs doing elsewhere, and when I’m there I do my best, and gladly. But I don’t have to be there all the time. I literally can’t be there all the time. This solitude may be a season and if so I don’t want to miss it. If it is a new way of life I want to lean in and learn it, see what treasures lie buried in its depths. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that everything can change and life goes on. The sun rises and the dog wants to be fed, though not in that order. Sermons to plan, bills to pay, meals to fix, dishes to wash. And in the quotidian cycle of it all, hearts heal and new life seems possible. However the season finds you, I pray you know you are loved by the One born among us as one of us that none of us live without hope. You are ever so dear to me. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette Lemon Butter Curl ~ New York Times Cooking, December 2023
Doubles easily.
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 December 5, 2023
Beloved: It could be a video game, for the precision of it – news footage I watched this morning: apartment buildings hit, one after another, exploding, smoking, then crumbling into rubble. Three hundred people a day killed every day since Friday, the article said. Scores more wounded. Another video of men carrying bodies to be buried, kids and babies so tiny in their shrouds. Soon disease will carry away more lives than the bombs, so burials must be swift. Cemetery space is nonexistent, so graves are overcrowded too. Genocide in real time, one reporter called it, before our very eyes. The inclination to look away, to preserve one's own hearts and minds from the horror of our neighbors' suffering, is a privilege we resign when we choose to follow Jesus -- like the rich young ruler, remember, who chose not to follow rather than lay aside all he had. He understood the assignment. (Luke 18:18-23) Viewing trauma is traumatic, but can be done with good self-care and honesty, and is necessary if we are to be of any use. And we do want to be useful, don’t we? We can study, understand what’s happening now and how the world got into this mess. It is a matter of reading; there is so much available. We can pray with our whole hearts. We can write letters to our representatives who make the decisions that provide the military support and humanitarian aid, and we can give money to the people doing the peaceful work to which Jesus calls all his followers: caring for the widows and the orphans, healing the sick, comforting the bereaved, and advocating for the prisoner. These are not small things, they are the difference between indifference and obedience to the call of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves, the difference between the right and wrong side of history. Greater sacrifices may well yet be called for, and hopefully we shall be ready in the moment. But this day, this first week of Advent when we are called not to get ready but to be ready for the coming of the Christ into this broken world, may we be found with heart, hand, and purse at the work to which he has directed us. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette A website of organizations doing good work in Gaza: https://www.globalgiving.org/search/?size=25&nextPage=1&sortField=sortorder&selectedLocations=00palest&loadAllResults=true |
I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
Everything on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which gives you permission to copy freely, provided that you attribute the work to me, that you use the work for non-commercial purposes, and that you do not produce derivative works. Archives
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