Week of March 3

Dear Friends,

John Pavlovitz writes in an article:

“Everyone around you: the people you see in the grocery store, pass in traffic, sit near at work, encounter on social media, and see across the kitchen table – are all experiencing the collateral damage of living. They are all grieving someone, missing someone, or worried about someone.  Many of their marriages are on shaky ground.  Some are late on their mortgage payments.  Most, if not all, are struggling to find peace and push back some form of fear or anxiety. “

Every human being experiences the collateral damage of living.  We lose things – seasons of life, people we love, jobs, good health, and so on.  We chase things in hopes of finding security, purpose or pleasure.  (We discover that the chasing leaves us less than fulfilled.) We allow things to become monotonous and then wonder about the presence of joy.  The struggles of life are omnipresent.  

If we randomly polled a million people worldwide, the results would almost certainly tell the same story.  An overwhelming majority of the population would report that life is hard … that is not for the faint of heart.  In one of the best-selling books ever, “The Road Less Traveled”, Scott Peck begins with this very declaration.  He seems to say, “Face reality, not fantasy.  Shape your expectations accordingly.  Otherwise, all of life is tainted with disappointment and frustration.”

I believe the reality of struggle and collateral damage is one of the most compelling reasons to have a spiritual life.  Faith instructs us on how to see with clear and honest eyes.  Faith doesn’t ignore or deny any of life’s challenges.  It understands that life is short, that accidents happen, that decision-making is imperfect, that consequences are real.  It teaches us to let go, to forgive ourselves and others.  It invites us to make meaning in the midst of loss and heartache.  It NEVER loses sight of love and its promise of new life.       

Who wouldn’t want that kind of faith – a faith that meets us where we are?!  It is a life-line.  It is ground to stand on.  It is the meaning-maker.  Sometimes, it becomes our joy.  

John Pavlovitz concludes his article with these words, “If most of the people you meet are encountering the collateral damage of life, why not go easy?”  That too is faith at work.  

See you on Sunday.  

Carter

Week of January 24

Dear Friends,

Last Monday, I attended a day-long workshop held at Princeton Theological Seminary on “Preaching in the Digital Age.” Among other depressing facts, I learned that since the introduction of smartphones, our attention spans have collectively dropped from an average of 12 seconds down to 8 seconds. As a point of reference, goldfish were found to have an average attention span of 9 seconds. (It’s anyone’s guess how that was measured.) Perhaps more interesting was the research that suggests we are much more likely to remember what we see and hear together, as opposed to what we hear alone. 

In light of the fact we have become so visually-oriented, the conference suggested that preachers consider moving away from solely verbal-auditory preaching (listening to the preacher speak) to incorporating visuals, screens, images, interactive and multisensory tools.

As a self-confessed Luddite, I found myself resisting this advice. I am not sure that having more screen time, more images, more visual clutter in a world where we are inundated with those things is necessarily a good thing.  Most of us experience enough “noise” in our lives that keeps us from fully hearing and engaging with one another, not to mention allowing us the chance to go deep within ourselves. I think we’d all agree there is something special about the visual “quietness” of the Talmadge Hill sanctuary. With its clean lines, simple details, and clear, glass windows that let in the natural surroundings, we can mentally rest a bit, and settle into our own heads and hearts as we worship together.

And yet, might preaching be enhanced at times by having some images accompany the sermon message?  Could there be a place for some interesting visual elements that engage or challenge our imaginations more fully? Should we not be bringing all five of our senses to bear as we seek to experience God in the world and in worship?

Spoiler: I don’t have any concrete answers at the moment, but it is a topic I will be thinking about and exploring as I continue working on my preaching. I know I am open to being stretched and trying new things in my preaching. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, and welcome any advice and input.

 Faithfully yours,

Jennifer

Meditation

"Joy is hidden in compassion. The word compassion literally means "to suffer with."  It seems quite unlikely that suffering with another person would bring joy. Yet being with a person in pain, offering simple presence to someone in despair, sharing with a friend times of confusion and uncertainty... such experiences can bring us deep joy.  Not happiness, not excitement, not great satisfaction, but the quiet joy of being there for someone else and living in deep solidarity with our brothers and sisters in this human family. Often this is a solidarity in weakness, in brokenness, in woundedness, but it leads us to the center of joy, which is sharing our humanity with others."

-Henri Nouwen, from Bread for the Journey

Meditation

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

 -Howard Thurman, theologian, educator, and civil rights activist

"Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future...Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."

-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1964

Week of January 20

Dear Friends:

Last April my husband and I took our boys on a short trip to Atlanta.  The primary purpose was a chance for my oldest son to visit Emory, but we added in two days of sightseeing.  We toured (and tasted) the Coca-Cola factory, saw an Atlanta Hawks game, ate some amazing southern cooking, and walked everywhere. But we all agreed--- even my 12 year old—that the most incredible part of our visit was the time we spent at the Civil and Human Rights Museum. The museum offers the history of the freedom movement in the United States (told from Atlanta’s perspective) and an account of the human rights activism that these great civil rights pioneers have inspired throughout the world. 

For me, the most moving exhibit within the museum was of Martin Luther King’s assassination on April 4, 1968. As I stood looking at pictures of the balcony in Memphis where Dr. King was shot, I realized it was almost exactly fifty years to the day since his death. I wondered what he would make of American society’s racial and political landscape were he alive to see it. I’m certain he would feel there is still much work to do before true racial equality exists in this country.

In his Letter From a Birmingham Jail, a masterpiece of rhetorical writing addressed to church leaders, Dr. King rebukes the lukewarm response of white mainline churches to the cause of social justice and civil rights:

“You spoke of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist…But as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love? -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice? -- "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ? -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist? -- "Here I stand; I can do no other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist? -- "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a mockery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist? -- "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist? -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?”

As we remember and honor Dr. King’s legacy this weekend, his questions remain just as vital for us now as ever. Are we willing to be extremists for love? Are we willing to be extremists for the cause of justice?  We have the good fortune to be able to consider, discuss, and pray about these questions together in a community of faith, as people who believe in a God of love and justice, and as children who live in the embrace of this God.

Yours in Faith,

Jennifer