Sunday, October 20, 2024

Dear Friends, 

This week, we had our Quaker-style gathering to address some of the fear, anxiety and concern about the state of the world.  Some of us are genuinely worried about the upcoming elections.  Who is to say these worries are not justified?  Apart from the elections, we are facing hurricanes, wars and a host of other crises.  

The Quaker-style gathering was intended to make space for God’s presence, for listening, for a more prayerful posture to our individual and collective concerns.  To be in God’s presence is to lower the temperature on disagreements and the divisiveness of opinion(s).  Let’s be honest.  Being a Democrat or Republican does little, or nothing, to make you a better human being.  In fact, most of our attachments (political parties, sports teams, fraternities, sororities, country clubs) do little, or nothing, to deepen our spiritual lives or encourage spiritual growth.  

Thus and so, we came together to remind ourselves that Americans have been through some extremely tense and difficult times – the Civil War, Reconstruction, the World Wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Viet Nam, Civil Rights.  By God’s grace and our resilience, we made our way through these seasons of conflict.  This alone is reason to be hopeful.  

We also came together to remind ourselves of our deepest calling.  It is not to any of the above-mentioned attachments.  Our calling is to listen for the Holy Spirit, to seek God in all our encounters, to embody the compassion and mercy of Jesus.  In other words, we are called to LOVE whatever the season may be.   

Love one another as I have loved you.  That is the message of faith.  Don’t lose sight of the message for then, we lose sight of our higher angels.

With love,

Carter    

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Dear Friends,
 
This is a dynamic and challenging time in our lives and the world. Even as we dwell in the beauty of our New England Autumn, we are feeling the fatigue, division and despair of the U.S. election season and all the anxiety that brings. We are watching hurricanes devastate our siblings in the Southeast. And violence continues to convulse through so many communities of our human family in the Middle East, Ukraine and other areas of conflict. 
 
One of the most enduring theological questions asks how a loving God could create a world where these things persist. Academic libraries across the globe are filled with theoretical answers to this question. Most of these answers fail to satisfy, hence the eternal search for the answer. One response I recently heard, however, caused me to think anew: God’s creation is a universe that is constantly being created. And this creation includes laws of physics, cause and effect and unique, imperfect humans with free will. But God also created YOU. As you ponder the “why” in the challenges we face, I ask you to ponder what are the things that YOU can do to help create the Kingdom.
 
You can contribute your time and your love. This weekend we will do our annual project with Homefront, helping one of our neighbors with much needed home repairs. There are no special skills required. You simply need to show up. You can work all day or you can stay for an hour. Talmadge Hill has been doing this for over 20 years. Being part of this legacy of love and commitment certainly allows you to be part of God’s creation in a meaningful way.
 
You can connect.  Being together over coffee, bible study, fellowship, and of course, worship, reminds us that we walk this way together through all the seasons of our life. We share love with each other so we can share it with the world. And we are vulnerable together.  On Tuesday at 7:00, we will have a special evening where we share –without judgement or debate – all the fears we are holding as we approach Election Day. 
 
You can pray. Prayer helps change things. It doesn’t change things because God grants a specific request. It changes things because it allows our hearts to deeply express our most sincere desires and it reveals God’s loving grace for us to encounter as we create help create our world and God’s Kingdom.
 
I’m so grateful for the ways that Talmadge Hill helps us know the love of God and share it. I am so grateful that together we can do our part to create, connect, forgive, love and renew. I am so grateful that I get to do this with you.
 
Love,
Cheryl

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Dear Family of Faith, 

This Sunday is World Communion Sunday.  That may, or may not, mean anything to you.  But I would encourage you to consider the desperate need for a Spirit of Communion to wash over the world.  Jan Richardson has written a lovely piece entitled “And the Table Will Be Wide”:

And the table
will be wide.
And the welcome
will be wide.
And the arms
will open wide
to gather us in.
And our hearts
will open wide
to receive.

And we will open our hands
to the feast
without shame.
And we will turn
toward each other
without fear.
And we will give up
our appetite
for despair.
And we will taste
and know
of delight.

And we will become bread
for a hungering world.
And we will become drink
for those who thirst.
And the blessed
will become the blessing.
And everywhere
will be the feast.

I would love to be at that table in the presence of the Divine, the Holy One, the Christ. In that company, I would want to share the table with Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Putin, Netanyahu, and all of you.  Maybe in that company, we could become a living example of Love’s power.

See you on Sunday.

Carter  

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Dear Friends,

Who doesn’t love a good plot twist in a story? Whether your genre is rom-coms, crime, mystery, fantasy, drama or sci-fi, plot twists keep us on our feet and remind us that our assumptions must always be examined for a deeper truth. 
 
The story of faith is no different. We all have our own comfortable, familiar path of faith that we trod, yet life always throws in plot twists that make us question whether the person we think we are or the faith that we are living is authentic. We aren’t the only ones in history who feel this way.  While most of us only get our Biblical stories in small snippets, the great narrative of scripture consistently puts improbable people and unimaginable plot twists in our way to challenge our perception of faith and its role in our life.  Often these plot twists are filled with metaphor, symbolism and paradoxes that reveal deeper truths about our humanity, the world we inhabit and the faith we practice.  
 
The story of Jesus is not a story of a narrow path to faith for people who are compliant. It is a story of wonderfully imperfect people who find new ways to relate to themselves and their relationship with God.
 
Come this week to explore some great plot twists and the ironies that they reveal about faith and our most important relationships. We all have something to learn and we all have new ways to expand the lived experience of faith.
 
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!
 
Love,
Cheryl

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Dear Friends, 

Lisa and Dorothy have asked me to speak with the children on Sunday morning about Communion.  Why do we do this sacrament (ritual) each and every week?  What is the real and symbolic meaning of the elements – bread and wine/juice?  To state the obvious, a chance to speak to our children is a chance to speak to children of all ages.

Rituals matter.  They look back to important historical moments, evoke significant memories, awaken the imagination, and remind us of deep and essential truths.  Communion looks back to Jesus’ Last Supper.  He was clearly aware that his violent execution was imminent.  He could have avoided it by running for the hills.  He could have dodged it by compromising his truth.  But he didn’t.  He faced the rulers of the world, and the worst of human nature.  He gathered with his disciples.  He declared that God was still present and at work.  He thanked God for the bread (sustenance from God’s hand).  He thanked God for the wine – a symbol of sacrificial love and the possibility of redemption.  He offered the fullness of his life and teachings to his disciples.  He declared that Communion was ‘what the world most needed’.  

So here we are every Sunday at our little church re-creating the experience of the Last Supper. 

• We are reminded that food is essential and comes from a Source greater than ourselves.  To eat consciously is to be more humble.  

• We are reminded to say THANK YOU.  Thank you, God, for our daily bread.  Grateful people are infinitely more fulfilled.  Hunger is no joke. 

• We are reminded that the life/death of Jesus is the embodiment of non-violence, sacrificial love, and forgiveness … which are, without a doubt, humanity’s best chance for a brighter future.

• We are reminded that communion is about community, and we are absolutely lost (or at least in greater danger) without our community of faith.

I love experiencing Communion with our church family.  It makes me feel connected to you in a very intimate way.  I feel God’s presence.  And always, the ritual points beyond itself to a way for each of us to bring the Holy Spirit to every table where we might find ourselves.

See you on Sunday.

Warmly,

Carter