Guest commentary by Sarah Craven As we stood in the midst of a genocide memorial where over 50,000 people were buried and bones from the victims were displayed in room after room, I was reminded of Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones. “Mortal, can these bones live?” Ezekiel’s response was “O Lord God, you know.” How do you come back from the violence and trauma that Rwanda experienced years ago? How do you forgive and reconcile neighbors and friends when you’ve faced the devastation of over a million people dying in about three months? Can you find hope and a future in the midst of such heartbreak? In the middle of Lent, I joined the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program on a travel seminar to Rwanda to study and learn more about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and the forgiveness and reconciliation process in the 25 years since. Since serving as a Young Adult Volunteer in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I have been interested in how the church helps foster healing and reconciliation in … [Read more...]
Access Worship: Truly a place for all
Guest commentary by Ben Keller We know that church hasn’t always been a safe and supportive place for those with special needs or limitations. The music can be too loud, the seating too confining, the sermons too long or not participatory enough — and honestly, people can sometimes be judgmental towards those with disabilities or their families. You probably know what we’re talking about: the looks, the stares, the questions, the uninvited and uncomfortable parenting advice that people sometimes give. In April, First Presbyterian Church of Pueblo in Colorado launched Access Worship. Access Worship is a unique, intergenerational, ecumenical new worshipping community for those with special needs and their families in Southern Colorado. We strive to include those of all abilities in providing both leadership and participation. We are strongly attuned to the special needs of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cognitive difficulties and mobility challenges. We meet monthly … [Read more...]
On the Road
Headed back home we were, after a day of strange reports and rumors. Some of the women had gone early to wash and wrap the body, but came running back claiming they had been met by angels, told that the Lord was still alive. Cleopas and I were skeptical, knowing all that loss and shock can do to people’s minds at times like these. Anyway as we walked along – only a permitted Sabbath journey – we were overtaken by a stranger who joined us on our way. “Why so sad?” he asked. So we told him of our grief and fear, all that had happened in the city. The stranger knew his Torah and led us to a whole new understanding of the master’s death. It was getting dark, so we invited our new friend to join us at a wayside inn. Then, at the table over supper, he took the loaf, tore it open in that certain way the Master had, and vanished. So here we are now, come racing back with fire in our hearts to tell you all that we have seen and heard. Jesus is not dead! We sat at table with the … [Read more...]
Grief and gratitude
Guest commentary by Lara Hauser What does grief have to do with stewardship and giving? They seem like pretty disparate subjects, but I find them to be deeply intertwined. In many churches, stewardship season is a time to talk about gratitude and generosity. I may be unique, but I think it is a good time to talk about grief as well, because, as a widow, I think it is always a good time to talk about grief. And I’d like to make a case that grief and gratitude can go hand in hand. Last fall, our church offered a class on the theology of wealth. It was a really good class, taught by a gifted instructor and, like all good teachers, he asked provocative questions that refused to leave me alone. One question in particular really stuck with me: “What does how you live say about your theology?” The question lingered in my mind, insisting on my attention. Another way to phrase that might be: What defines your life? What will people think about or talk about when your name comes … [Read more...]
Mid-March (early mud season)
Didn’t mean to go this far, but my insistent terrier – all eight pounds – tugs me toward the lumbered steps that lead beyond the woods onto the bluff. Lingering patches of last Monday’s snowfall make me step careful, leaning wary on the cane, while savoring the icy crunch of boots, crisp imprints where, till then, only dainty-hoof deer had trod. Leaning across the split-log fence along the edge, I pause to monitor the gulls patrolling of the shoreline, check out a bobbing congregation of brown ducks and eiders – no tiny brood as yet, to cluster alongside. The sun, through snowbank-heaps of cloud, transforms the surface dark-blue/green to momentary swaths of vivid aquamarine, out there toward the horizon. While to the north, along the bay, distant figures of other walkers with their ecstatic off-leash companions swirl the sands of Higgins Beach. And in the woods behind the silent sap is headed upward, long dormant foliage is pressing hard against old winter’s buds, … [Read more...]
“I can’t afford to be saved”
Guest commentary by Carlton Johnson If I live to be as old as my birthday, I know that I’ll never forget those words. Crystal (not her real name), the love of my undergrad life, had confirmed once and for all on that hot summer morning that being a part of the church was not for her. I felt like a personal failure. I wanted to be with a church girl and Crystal wasn’t going to be one. Unwittingly, I’d invited her to Building Fund Sunday. By the time the pastor was done with the biblical dictates on giving, Crystal had calculated that in order to be considered a “rightly saved person,” she would have to give one-third of her meager college student’s salary. As she exited the sanctuary, it was clear, for her, that heaven was not within reach. To be honest, if I had focused on what was being preached, I would likely have drawn the same conclusion. But, at the time, I was more interested in Crystal than Christ. (At least I’m honest.) Yet, as my own faith journey deepened, I … [Read more...]
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