Friends,
Have any of you ever done an in-depth study of the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus taught his disciples?  If you have, you will know that so much more is packed into every last word of that prayer than we typically think.  Let’s just focus for a moment on the first two words:  “Our Father.”  Notice that Jesus doesn’t start with “My Father” or “Her Father” or “His Father.”  He uses the plural possessive pronoun, “our.”  A deep message is contained in those first two words, which communicates the universality of God’s love and care.  When we pray “Our Father,” we cannot consciously or subconsciously reject our neighbor, even our neighbors who don’t look, think, talk, or act like we do.  “Our Father” is radically inclusive of different races, socio-economic statuses, genders, religions, world geographic locales, and political affiliations.  Our God is truly everyone’s God.

I wonder how different life would be if those in power truly modeled Jesus’  leadership style.  Jesus, right up front in the Lord’s Prayer, communicates that God belongs to everyone—not just to one group.  Jesus, the servant-leader, washes feet.  Jesus, the servant-leader, preferentially spends time with and cares for the orphan, the outcast, the poor, and the sick.  The deep message for Christ followers is that we must be sure our decisions and actions take into account the whole, not just the parts.  That’s not always easy, but it is the Christian way.  Blessings,

Co-Pastor Sandi

 Dear CCOV Family and Friends,

If there is any silver lining in this age of COVID-19, it may be the time it has afforded us to tackle long-postponed projects around the house.  For many years Clint and I have wanted to digitalize the thousands of photos in our old photo albums, which are bulky and heavy to move.  My dream is to have our life’s slideshow playing on an endless loop on our living room TV screen one day soon.  So, we began this long-term project a few months ago, and it has taken us on quite the trip down memory lane.  Not only are we digitalizing the photos, but also old letters, report cards, and other remembrances.

I realized that I never threw a single letter or card out during my high school, college, and young adult years.  I’ve recently re-read every last one of them and found that they (along with old photos) told a story about those years of my life.  Fuzzy memories have grown sharp again.  Friends who were almost long forgotten are once again at the forefront of my mind, and I found myself longing for them.  Because of that, yesterday I reached out and called a friend I haven’t spoken to in years.  She and I were neighbors and grew up together—we were even in each other’s weddings!  I can’t tell you how heartwarming our conversation was—and how timely, as she had just been through some real health challenges and reconnecting meant the world to her.  It felt so good to catch up and reminisce, and we vowed never to grow apart again. 

As I’ve been preparing for Pastor Dick’s and my upcoming sermon series called “Really Bad Ideas Not Found in the Bible,” I’ve been reflecting on this bad idea: everything happens for a reason.  Actually, Pastor Dick will be preaching on this half-truth the first Sunday in October.  But here’s a sneak preview:  While there is cause and effect in this life, COVID-19 did not happen for a God-ordained reason; moreover, God did not send the pandemic to punish the world.  That simply is not good theology.  What we do know is that suffering exists in this world for a variety of reasons (including ones of our own making), but God’s work is bringing us through, all the while strengthening our souls and growing us into God’s own image.  Jesus showed us that all manner of suffering can be used to reorient and transform us.  Knowing that, how about we all keep using this time to tackle things we’ve been putting off?  Who knows, our projects may even lead us to the unexpected joy of reconnecting with someone who needs to hear from us! 

Blessings,

Co-Pastor Sandi 

Hello Friends,

Recently my Prescott neighbors told me a story about a family of quail that visited their back patio.  They were alerted to the birds by the insistent calling of the mother—a distinctive noise that went on for a full 45 minutes.  She had 13 babies in tow.  Finally, it got quiet when the father arrived with the 14th chick, which had been lost on the hillside below.  It was only then that the covey of quail moved on its way.    I said, “Wow!  That’s a story with great biblical implications!  Thank you for giving me an idea for my next newsletter blurb!”  

We all know Jesus’ Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:11-14 and Luke 15:3-7), and how in God’s kingdom, God, the Good Shepherd, leaves the flock of 99 to go in search of the lost one, because that one matters most in that particular moment. This story tells us something of God’s preferential care of the lost, the marginalized, and the oppressed.  In the context of being lost, that one life mattered most at that point in time.  Like the parents in the covey of quail, the Good Shepherd would not move any of the flock on their way until He had restored the lost one.  

This story has eternal application.  Note that the 99 in the parable aren’t all baaing, “All lives matter!  Let’s just enjoy our safe, privileged place and get on with things!”  Jesus’ point in the parable is that there are contexts when we must depart from the “all” and focus on the lost, the least.  In so many ways, God’s economy is very different from ours.  We have such a context now.  For us, in our time, the ones who have endured hardship generation after generation need us to redress wrongs and restore justice.  

I’ve been actively immersed in anti-racism training through our denomination for the past four Saturdays.  To hear people of color tell their stories has been emotional and heartbreaking—we just can’t imagine the depth of their pain, but engagement with them helped.  I hope you can hear stories like the ones I heard.  You can gain a deeper understanding by reading books like “White Fragility,” “So You Want to Talk about Race,” and “The New Jim Crow.”  Or you can watch films like “Tell Them We are Rising” (on You Tube) or visit here https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/gmp32961462/black-history-movies-anti-racism/ for other film suggestions.  When we truly redress the roots of our wrongs, provide real justice for all, and seek out the lost, society may indeed find peace and quiet like that covey of quail finally did, and be able to move on.

Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi

Hello CCOV Community,

A little over a week ago Clint and I went on a Sunday afternoon drive to see the Buddhist Temple near Chino Valley, AZ.  We took our Prius Prime on some bumpy but seemingly-decent dirt roads for a good ten miles into ranch land.  While the mountaintop temple was closed, we did get a little glimpse of it from the road.  When we turned around and headed back for civilization, we started bumping along a bit harder and realized that we had a flat tire.  It was really hot and dusty, and we were already thirsty.  Clint quickly discovered that Prius Primes do not have a spare tire or even a donut—just a pump and some sealant.  Soon after we pulled over, three parties of folks stopped their vehicles to help.  Several men tried to get the sealant and pump to work (they didn’t because the gash in the tire was too large).  Meanwhile, women gave us cold water.  I ended up calling AAA for a tow, and one of the men refused to leave us until the tow truck got there—over an hour later.  In short, we were so touched and impressed with the kindness of those people that hot afternoon, though we were complete strangers to them.
So often we get fed up with the seeming nastiness of humanity that we see daily in the news.  What we often forget is that people are mostly good—even strangers.  Our Bibles have quite a lot to say in about rendering aid to the stranger—even though those stories are often fraught with tensions and risk.  Jesus identifies himself as a stranger to be welcomed in Matthew 25:35:  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…”  The Rev. Jane Fisler Hoffman of the UCC Southern California/Nevada Conference once wrote this: “As our nation struggles with immigration issues and the enduring sins of racism, sexism, homophobia and the chasm between rich and poor; and as the nations of the world engage one another across hostile lines, we who follow Jesus, the stranger-savior, have an urgent mission to live this stranger life with him” (https://www.ucc.org/stranger-encounters).  Yes, there are risks when interacting with strangers, but Christians are repeatedly called to assume such risk; Jesus did.  I wonder if we can come to expect the best of one another rather than the worst and if we can always be as kind to strangers in need.  I’ll end with another powerful, well-known verse about strangers, Hebrews 12:1-2:  “Let mutual love continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  Clint and I are very grateful for the people who helped us, even though we were strangers to them.

Grace and Peace to You,

Co-Pastor Sandi

Friends,
Yesterday, a clergy colleague asked a good question about any helpful new practices we had established since Covid-19.  She shared that she now begins each day listening to an uplifting podcast rather than the morning news, which she finds to be a downer.  I thought about any new practice in this strange time and landed upon how I’ve come to exercise differently.  I used to lap swim a mile each morning at the YMCA (which, of course, is closed) but now with the help of a high-tension swim tether and belt, I swim in place in the pool of our new Scottsdale house.

 
I’ve decided that I like this new swim workout even better than laps.  Since I never learned to summersault at the end of each length to turn around, I lost momentum and time each time I got to the end of the lane.  Not only that, but I ended up chatting with the other swimmers a lot, which interrupted my cardio.  Sometimes they annoyed me when they would crowd the lanes.  Sure I miss the social aspect, but I’ve gained a better workout. Swimming in place is better for me because I don’t stop, and the pool is my own, private paradise.

We are doing lots of things in place, thanks to Covid-19.  My daughter started doing crafts. Some of you are perfecting your bread-baking techniques.  Others are walking or hiking early in the morning before it gets hot. Some are sharing photos of previous vacations since no one can travel much.  We humans are adaptable creatures, and stress can cause us to change—sometimes for the better.  One thing I’ve learned: We can trust God to help us create joy and grow where we are planted.  God is in the resurrection business after all!   Here’s a verse for us to meditate on today:  “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.  You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11).  God has given me joy while swimming in place.  I pray that you can find joy in whatever new practices you have established while sheltering in place.

Peace and Joy to You,

Co-Pastor Sandi

Greetings CCOV UCC,
Last week I had a phone conversation with the former pastor of the church where I was ordained. We talk every few months, and each time he updates me on how many churches in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area have closed their doors.  This time it was 43.  In fact, the very church where I was ordained is on the market, and the remnant congregation is in turmoil.  We both lamented the seeming decline of church as we have known it in our lifetimes.  For many, the Covid-19 crisis is putting a final nail in the coffin, so to speak.  Yet, I think there is hope.  It’s just that churches of the future might look a lot different.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, just as most churches had gotten services up and running on line, a cartoon was circulating that pictured both God and the devil.  The devil was smirking over all the churches that he had now closed.  God, on the other hand, responds something like:  Nonsense!  I just opened one in every living room!

It may be that the brick and mortar churches we and our parents and grandparents have always known are giving way to a new move of the Spirit. Indeed, many iterations of church have come and gone over the centuries since Jesus walked the earth. Christians of the early centuries met in homes, in caves, underground, or in outdoor gathering places.  Then came the great cathedrals of Europe and elsewhere.  Then came the plethora of brick and mortar churches with which we are most familiar. Perhaps future churches will all be on line or even return to small house gatherings—or maybe hybrid combinations of brick and mortar, on line, and homes.  I refuse to worry about any of it knowing the promise that God’s holy church will continue—even if great change disrupts our nostalgic notion of church.

We all know that younger people generally don’t sit through long church services any more, but they are apt to interact with screens and technology (like they do for work and entertainment) as well as show up for service projects, e.g. serving at UMOM, which for them tends to be more meaningful than sitting through services.  A 30-minute on-line service may be quite palatable for them coupled with opportunities to serve.  What we do know right now is that CCOV’s on-line services are being shared and reaching many living rooms—beyond the usual bounds of our sanctuary—and that may be a real God thing.  We humans only change when stressed enough, so the silver lining of the post-Covid 19 world may be that we’ve given birth to the new move of the Spirit and the next iteration of church.  My prayer though for now is that we return soon to our beloved building but continue our on-line outreach.

Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi  

Friends,

I believe that life is eternal and that there is an afterlife.  Some struggle more with this belief than I do, and that’s okay—no judgment.  It just seems to me that there must be an ultimate purpose in living—that our lives are leading up to something more.  I believe this because resurrection is also a key Christian message I see patterned throughout the cosmos.  Richard Rohr says it so beautifully: “…[T]he pattern of transformation is always death transformed, not death avoided.  The universal spiritual pattern is death and resurrection, or loss and renewal…We ordinarily learn to submit and surrender to this scary pattern only when reality demands it of us, as it is doing now.  Christians are helped by the fact that Jesus literally submitted to it and came out more than okay” (https://cac.org/death-transformed-2020-04-12/.  I find this very good news, and I keep thinking of what the Apostle Paul said in that powerful passage about love in 1 Corinthians 13: Love never ends.  The love we experience in relationship never ends—it, like the energy that animates our earthly bodies, just gets transformed.  Love, relationship, and energy are eternal, like God is eternal.

Our congregation suffered two great losses earlier this month: Jim Gaspar and Fred Rhoads.  We mourn those losses because our loved ones are not physically with us the way we are used to.   It was good the way they used to be here with us—with their spouses, their families, and with their friends, singing in the choir.  It was good because God intends and creates this life to be good.  In Genesis 1 God repeatedly calls material creation “good.”  And yet, good as it is, there is more.  We just don’t see it clearly yet.  In 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul puts it this way:  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  We can’t fully know the enormous Presence that underlies material reality—not yet anyway.

And so, we say our goodbyes to Jim and Fred, at least for now.  Actually, the German language says this much better (theologically speaking).  “Auf Wiedersehen” implies that we will see each other again. I believe this with all of my heart.  In the meantime, let us be with one another in our mutual losses even as we have a blessed hope.

Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi  

Friends,

At our Zoom meeting last Thursday afternoon, we all shared the heaviness on our hearts over the still-unfolding, tragic events in our country.  The unjust death of George Floyd is just the latest in a seemingly unending cycle of violence against our brothers and sisters of color.  One thing I hope we are all getting from this is that we, as white people, cannot really fathom the depths of racism’s legacy.  Slavery in this country existed from 1526-1865.  Segregation existed from 1865-1964.  The social ills from these terrible legacies will not resolve until we commit to fight racism wherever we encounter it, including in ourselves.

If we say, “I’m not racist,” then we are kidding ourselves.  All of us have likely been raised under the influence of racism.  The messaging in my own family and formative community was awful.  I am recovering from it only by intention and commitment.  The American writer Ijeoma Oluo, who wrote the book “So You Want to Talk about Race” said, “The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend you are free of racism to be anti-racist.  Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself, and that is the way forward.”

 
One of the ways I am fighting racism is by reading the gospels with fresh eyes.  I know some are resistant to the Black Lives Matter movement and prefer to say that All Lives Matter.  Yet if you really look at the words and actions of Jesus, He repeatedly calls us to pay particular attention to the ones being marginalized.  He never says that we don’t all matter, but there are contexts—places and times—when some need preferential attention.   In the long wake of slavery and segregation, I would invite you to reread Luke 15:3-7 or Matthew 18:11-14:  Both passages tell the story about the shepherd who leaves the 99 to search for that one lost sheep.  Yes, the 99 are important, but we see what lengths Jesus goes to restore that one who has experienced trouble!  For the Christian, Black Lives do Matter. Saying so and fighting racism are acts of restorative justice, which are sorely needed in the long and unjust legacies of slavery and segregation.  Let us continually examine our hearts as we expose them to the light of the gospels.  

Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi

Friends,

Many of you are asking when we might return to in-person worship and our (newer) summer tradition of meeting around the brunch table in Hayden Hall.  At this time, the leadership of CCOV still feels that it is best that we hold off and then re-evaluate come September.  We want to base our decision to resume regular worship on the best science available at that time in order to keep everyone safe.  The Southwest Conference and the National Setting of the UCC have continued to guide churches through the process of deciding how and when to return.  Here is my takeaway from them in short: We have been urged to make our decision based on how it will affect the most vulnerable among us.  That, I believe, is a thoroughgoing Christian principle and the one that should guide us in our decision making.

I know some churches are clamoring to reopen and justify this by saying that worship is essential.  And I would agree that worship is essential, but worship does not necessarily mean gathering in buildings where we might spread contagion to the most vulnerable among us.  The Rev. William J Barber II recently said this: “Houses of worship are not essential, but true worship is: “When I was hungry, did you feed me?  When I was thirsty, did you give me a drink?  When I was a stranger, did you invite me in?  When I was naked, did you clothe me?  When I was sick and in prison, did you visit me?”  These practices are the outcomes of true Christian worship everywhere.  We continue to give and to serve as a means to worship God—now perhaps in more powerfully conscious ways than ever before.  We see the urgency of unemployed folks needing food and supplies, and we are stepping up. Let us continue worshipping God by our collection of nonperishable goods for Vista del Camino Community Center for the foreseeable future.  What an excellent way to say that the Church of Jesus Christ is alive and well!  See you on line!

Blessings,

Co-Pastor Sandi

Friends,

One of the professors from my seminary, Dr. Steve Harper, penned a thoughtful quote a few weeks ago that I keep thinking about.  He wrote, “Narrowmindedness is the reduction of life until it is so small all you can see is yourself.  And in that tiny world, you can justify whatever you say or do.”  For me, Dr. Harper’s quote calls to mind Jesus’ frequent sparring with the scribes and Pharisees, whose old, worn narratives Jesus sought to disrupt with his telling of parables.  Those parables were stories designed to interrupt the narrow places that the natural mind would go, those well-worn tracts that upheld the status quo and old prejudices that were so antithetical to the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom that Jesus came to announce.  One good example is the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  You know the old story, which Jesus tells to a scribe:  A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho is robbed and beaten within an inch of his life.  Both a priest and a Levite, two folks who should have known about God’s law of compassion, passed by the injured man.  But then a Samaritan, one considered to be low class and of mixed race, stopped and went above and beyond in his rendering of aid.  Jesus countered the narrowmindedness of the scribe’s prejudice in this parable as he drew a contrast between those who knew the law and those who actually put it into practice.

One of the things that Jesus frequently did was cause people to step back and look at their own attitudes and behavior in deeper ways.  We all need to examine our well-worn attitudes and perceptions with more objectivity.  I wonder if we can use this on-going time of quarantine to cultivate deeper self-awareness so that we might come closer to seeing the world as God would have us see it.  One way to do this is to revisit the parables in the Gospels and ask ourselves, “How is this story jolting me out of my narrowmindedness?  How is this story changing my usual thought patterns and moving me on to a larger world?”  May the time we spend be enlightening and fruitful.

Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi