Tuesday, February 21, 2012

by
Rev. Alejandro De La Torre
Associate Pastor for Congregacion Latina

Scripture
And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Matthew 6:16

A Word of Hope
“Mardi Gras,” French for “Fat Tuesday,” is the last day of celebration during the time of Carnival at the end of the Epiphany Season and before Lent. The custom of having such a big celebration all around the world originated with the call to fast during Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday, a time when many avoid eating all kinds of rich fatty foods, sweets and meat. The festival allows us, before this season of penance and reconciliation, to over indulge ourselves, giving to our senses what they are asking to have.

I think the carnival festivities also inspire many to begin living in moderation. Though it sounds fun to deliberately overindulge and put ourselves in the midst of excesses, we often feel some kind of embarrassment and feel the need to cover up our shame so we put on masks, avoiding the fact that others may see who we really are, so we live the masquerade, the fantasy, the unreality.

Fat Tuesday, in a way, is the antechamber to the wonderful time of Lent in which we will have the opportunity to unmask our lives by exercising different disciplines to become better Christians. In fact this day is referred to in English as “Shrove Tuesday” from the word “shrive” which means to confess, indicating an invitation to start this season confessing those things we want to change in our lives and to work on its transformation during the 40 days that come ahead. If we work seriously on it I’m sure we will have many reasons to party and enjoy ourselves without feeling ashamed.

I know many times we need to overindulge ourselves… we always need to find reasons for celebrating and partying, but remember not to stop in the antechamber, let’s move on into the chamber and enjoy!

Prayer
Oh God, help me to uncover my face in your presence and to celebrate joyfully the life you have given to me.

Monday, February 6, 2012

by
Rev. Dawson B. Taylor
Executive Minister

Scripture
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

A Word of Hope
Happy President’s Day! Titled Washington's Birthday, a federal holiday honoring George Washington was originally implemented by an Act of Congress in 1880. On January 1, 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. I must admit that President’s Day has little impact on my life most years.

I remember as a child asking my mother on one particular Sunday in May why there was a “Mother’s Day” and not a “Children’s Day.” She answered quietly and simply “every day is children’s day.” I’m still not confident if her answer came out of fatigue or love; most likely some combination thereof.

In our fast paced, instant gratification world, I believe it is so easy to allow special moments to pass by. Before we know it, the tiny baby is moving into her first dorm room. The young man that you take a chance on being vulnerable with becomes a life-long partner. Time can pass so quickly and holiday after holiday flash in front of our eyes.

It is also easy as people of faith to allow God’s Day to pass by too quickly. We are commanded that there is to be a Sabbath and we are to keep it holy. If you’re like me, I sometimes struggle to take time on Sundays to acknowledge God’s Holy Day. But the reality, like my mother’s response to me, “every day is God’s day.”

I hope that today, you will be able to celebrate our nation’s founding presidents and subsequent leaders who have held that office. However, I hope that today will be like any other day and each of us will honor it as God’s Day and embrace all that is sacred and holy in it.

Prayer
Everlasting God, I want to honor you each day. Amen

Friday, February 17, 2012

by
Dan Peeler
Minister for Children and Families

Scripture
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the dominion of God.” Luke 6.20

A Word of Hope
After one of our regular meetings of the Order of St. Francis and St. Clare, some of our members got into a discussion about that desperate search for weapons of mass destruction the military conducted a few years ago. Not a very Franciscan dialogue you might suggest, but the subject came up when one of our members commented that she had recently read a work which stated that the genuine weapon of mass destruction has never been hidden away under some mound of sand in a middle Eastern nation. The real weapon of mass destruction is poverty.

About a generation ago, when I was directing a lot of documentary films, I had the opportunity to inspect quite a few destructive weapons of the steel and gunpowder variety during a series of films we were doing for a branch of the US armed services. The films were about the opportunities for higher education that were available in the military, so they seemed safe enough for a fledgling pacifist to undertake, but though most of the footage we shot was located in classrooms, gymnasiums, and aircraft hangers, we still had to trudge through countless warehouses of weapons to get there. Even now, I can’t erase those images of neatly catalogued stacks of grenades, huge Howitzer bullets, rifles, bazookas and rocket launchers by which we carried our lights, script pages and cameras. It was incredibly difficult to focus on those positive compositions of motivated and hopeful young women and men learning how to use an architect’s square and how to teach trigonometry without remembering what was hidden by the walls behind them.

Those experiences still help me to always consider what is hidden behind my own walls. It’s easy to identify poverty as the real weapon of mass destruction, but what am I doing about it? There are stacks of excuses piled behind those walls that prevent me from getting involved with the many programs that this church and our UCC denomination have in place to help desperate people both in our own neighborhood and abroad move out of poverty’s range. I confess I still have a lot of cleaning up to do behind those walls. What’s behind your walls these days?

Prayer
God of peace, teach me the ways to help the ones Jesus championed the most.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

by
Rev. Dr. Rusty Baldridge
Associate Pastor for Community Outreach & Benevolence

A Word of Hope
A day you almost certainly could not avoid remembering, either because of reminders from your significant other or incessant advertising on the internet, TV, and radio. Valentine’s Day may be an artificial, commercially-driven holiday, but in the end it is hard to argue with the concept of taking time out of your regular schedule to express appreciation for your loved ones.

So whether you spent Valentine’s Day with a significant other, hanging out with family and friends or ignoring the holiday altogether, I hope you did some thinking about love; not only romantic love, but the God-like love that we are called to show to everyone around us.

The Bible reminds us about love, too.

1 Corinthians 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Psalm 133: 1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.

1 John 4:18 ….but perfect love drives out fear….

1 John 3:14 ….we have transferred from death to life because we love (our) brothers and sisters.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied, “Love God with all your heart and with all your soul….”

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times…….

Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere……..

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…….

1John 3:1 See what great love God has lavished on us…….

It is a good list and perhaps even a familiar one. Most of these verses are explicitly about love; defining it, explaining how to demonstrate it and encouraging us to practice it. Along with reading about love, we must do our very best to practice it. That is the demonstrating part. How many ways can you demonstrate this God-love, today? I hope you are surprised at how many opportunities come your way.

Prayer
God of love, hope and grace. I pray that my day is filled with amazing, wonderful opportunities to make someone feel loved and appreciated. Amen.