Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?
Matthew 7:3

Last week our Presbytery staff attempted to have lunch together. We chose a restaurant that is fairly centrally located, and has a big patio, in case folks were still a little nervous about COVID. We are a fairly distributed staff, so folks were coming from La Cañada and La Verne, and one staff member got stuck at the dentist’s office and didn’t make it at all. Two of us were meeting with a church session and didn’t leave on time, so we sent an email to let the others know we’d be a little late.

We were ten minutes late and didn’t see the others, so we sat at a table to wait. We were still unwinding from the meeting anyway, so we had plenty to discuss. I figured that one might have gotten stuck in traffic, and the other has become a short-term foster parent for unaccompanied minors, and she said she might have to go pick up her new charge, and she might have to cancel. So we chatted for a little longer, until half an hour passed, and I got a text from the would-be foster mom, asking where we were.

It turns out that they were at the restaurant, and had been waiting for the full 30 minutes! They were sitting in a different patio on the other side of the restaurant, and I didn’t even think to look that way. They were sure they would see us, but somehow didn’t, and they waited a while because they knew we would be late anyway. What a perfect illustration of how our perspectives and assumptions can keep us just a little bit blind and isolated!

There are more serious ways that our lack of awareness can cause problems. Some—perhaps many—of us are very sensitive to the attacks we feel from others, while we are not at all aware that we can seem threatening ourselves. I have been told that my tone can be sharp, or my words can be overly direct, and this intimidates others. Of course my self-perception is that I would never hurt someone else, so it never occurs to me that I could hurt another without realizing it. I have seen this dynamic happen all too often in the church, where we are quick to feel victimized, never imagining that we might be the victimizer.

Conversely, we may see an image that seems quite innocent, even lovely. Someone brought sunflowers to church recently, knowing that sunflowers are like a symbol of hope for Ukraine. It reminded me of a photo that was sent to me, along with a poem that was inspired by the photo.

There were other photos similar to this, with people walking through gorgeous fields of sunflowers in bloom. The photos were taken in July 2014 in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
I didn’t know anything about that in 2014, but I do understand a little more now.

The people were walking amongst the sunflowers because Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 had crashed over Donetsk, downed by a missile during the first part of the Russian-Ukraine war. The people were searching for wreckage of this commercial airliner, where all 283 passengers and 15 crew members died.

A church member, Charlotte Kaster, wrote this poem, inspired by the image of the sunflower fields:

Your majestic fields of golden sunflowers
       received unwanted tragedies.
Down—
      Down—
and bore them in quiet acceptance.

The souls now upward soared—
       well beyond—
Regaining eternal peace.

Pray—pray for our possible understanding.
Pray for the humanity
      that is left in agony and pain.
We are left here helpless,
      and long to reach out . . .

It breaks my heart that this poem should be so fitting again, as we pray for the people of Ukraine.
As we near Good Friday, we are reminded that times that are so tragic and filled with suffering
can yet hold the seeds of hope. And this was proved true, as a journalist and photographer
happened to keep some seeds from the sunflower field, and were surprised to see that they
germinated. Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty had this wonderful idea to send the seeds to people missing their loved ones who perished in the crash. But their efforts were interrupted by a government official, Nicola Hinder, who was in charge of biosecurity. McGeough wrote of his
disdain for this bureaucrat/scientist, who he was sure would thwart their efforts to offer hope to
people wrenched with grief. But in his article on the incident, he came to realize that Ms. Hinder
was going the extra mile to strengthen the seed stock he had, and she greatly improved the chances that the seeds would actually grow if sent to the beloved. In spite of his resistance, she
persisted, and supplied seeds that had an 80-90% chance of growing, vs. the initial 4-5%.

As we are faced with the trials and violence of war, and disease, and the suffering of the innocents—especially the most innocent, our Lord and friend Jesus Christ—may we remember that God sees more rightly than our faulty vision, that love can overcome fear, that death is not the final answer. Each of us has the seed of resurrection planted in us. May we care for, celebrate, and give thanks for the new life within us.

In Christ’s peace,

Wendy

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

A Prayer for Ukraine

God of mercy, justice and peace:
Our spirits are heavy with sorrow, our souls shocked at the sudden and breathtaking violence, the invasion of Ukraine by their neighbor, Russia.

We pray for lives caught in the grip of war, who hear the bombs in the night, the ominous movement of troops on the road into town the whistle of incoming shells, for a cry from a desperate neighbor or a shout of warning for those who huddle in subways and basements or flee for the borders, clutching their children’s hands

We pray for families separated from fathers, brothers and sons who must remain to fight and protect their homeland.

We pray for neighbors in Eastern and Central Europe as their hearts and doors open to these refugees that strained resources will become an abundance of hope that fears and struggles with racism will yield to a generosity of profound welcome that communities of faith within Ukraine will be protected from harm and sustained in their efforts to feed and shelter their neighbors that peacemakers and protesters in Russia will be heard and their lives preserved.

May we undergird our prayers with tangible resources to help.

May we reach deeply, give generously, and welcome extravagantly. May we lift our voices in a strong and unified advocacy.

May we all, even as we breathe in lament, breathe out mercy, hope and peace.

And in this Lenten season, when we walk the way toward death and resurrection, repent our complicity in cultures of violence and renew our efforts toward justice and peace.

–The Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, Director, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

If you would like to learn more about the PC(USA)’s response to victims of the war in Ukraine, you can go to https://pda.pcusa.org/situation/ukraine/. PDA has also scheduled a webinar this Wednesday, March 23, at 9 am Pacific Time, to be live-streamed on Facebook or YouTube.

And if you and/or your church give to One Great Hour of Sharing (which is usually collected close to Easter), some of those funds will be used for humanitarian aid in and around Ukraine.

The news I watch paints a stark contrast between the valor of the Ukrainian people and the heartless brutality of the Russian invaders. There are stories of people doing whatever they can to protect their families, defend their homeland, welcome refugees, or protest the war. One heartwarming story came from Israel. Sharon Bass helped bring two Ukrainian women to safety in Israel. The women were the granddaughter and grandniece of Maria, a Ukrainian woman whose family took in Sharon’s grandmother, the only member of her family who survived the Holocaust. The spunk and the spirit of the Ukrainian people, and the generosity of the neighboring countries, has been an incredible inspiration.

But for me, one comment keeps haunting me. I can only paraphrase it, because I can’t find record of the exact quote, but a Russian man was talking about the people of Russia, who do know what is going on but feel helpless to do anything about it. He quoted a Russian woman who said, “I’m an old woman; I can’t do anything to stop the war. But if you tell me that you would take my life instead of the soldiers or the people dying in Ukraine, I’d say shoot me now.”

As we continue through the season of Lent, we are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice given for us, the death of Jesus. And in that long last supper with his friends, Jesus asks us to be willing to live and die for each other.

This week, it occurred to me that some of us don’t need to die an untimely, violent death for the sake of others—and yet we can still give our lives for them. I was able to attend the memorial services for Letty Garcia and Conrad von Bibra. They may not look like they have a lot in common, but they do. They were both faithful church leaders, known for their dedication and kindness, and for raising their families to be faithful servants themselves. Not only did they make their indelible mark on their families, they also were pillars of their churches, Eagle Rock Presbyterian and Calvary Presbyterian, respectively. So many ways they served, so many ways they helped others, so many ways they showed love throughout their 80-plus years on this earth. For as much attention is given to the pastor, our churches really rely on those who dedicate their lives to their particular churches. As one denominational leader once said, if you inspire the pastor, they can have an impact for a season, but if you inspire an elder, you can change the church forever.

We are living in a time of heroes, and most of us ordinary mortals feel helpless to do something meaningful to fight a pandemic, or stop mass shootings, or reverse climate change, or end a war. But no matter our circumstance, we can pray. We can be kind. We can be a patient, faithful disciple who seeks to trust and follow the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. And who knows what God will do through us mere mortals. May we each be one small voice in that massive, glorious chorus that is God’s church. And let that please the Lord, and in God’s grand mercy, save the world.

In Christ’s peace,

Wendy

But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

Last month I was asked to read excerpts from sermons of my grandfather Kengo Tajima and my uncle Don Toriumi for an exhibit at the Japanese-American National Museum. The exhibit, Sutra and Bible, focuses on the role of religion during the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

I have not said much about it because I wanted to see it before recommending it. Frankly, I was concerned because the very day I was contacted about the exhibit, I was also contacted by someone on a separate matter, but who ended up commenting negatively about the project. The main curator is a Buddhist priest at USC who has been involved in various racial justice events. While I appreciate some of his efforts, his desire to find justice for Buddhists has left me thinking he was anti-Christian, which made me wonder how my family’s ministry would be represented. The exhibit tries to be very even in its coverage of both Christian and Buddhist traditions and leaders, which was different for me (since I have only known the Christian side of the history). But since there were far more Buddhists in the camps than Christians, having an even split actually favors the Christians.

As it happens, I saw the preview video of the exhibit first, and I found the video more moving than the exhibit itself. So if you are interested but you don’t want to drive down and find parking in Little Tokyo, you can go to https://www.janm.org/exhibits/sutra-and-bible and scroll down to find the “Related Video” for the preview and gallery talk.

The focus of the exhibit was the great lengths people took to maintain their faith lives and traditions, even when outside forces tried to take it all from them. This was most extreme against the Buddhists, but even Bibles were confiscated and worship services monitored. But there was also mention of grace, such as the story of Rev. Emery Andrews, who was serving as English-language pastor of the Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle when his congregation was sent first to Puyallup and then to the Minidoka camp, over 600 miles away in southern Idaho. Rev. Andrews moved his family to Twin Falls, Idaho, outside the Minidoka camp, so that he could serve his congregation. Because he was White, he was able to visit his people in camp, drive back and forth to Seattle to retrieve belongings that were stored at the church, advocate for them, and get furloughs so that members could visit his house and have a brief time of celebration, including family picnics and weddings. Not only did Rev. Andrews and his family leave their home, they were subject to harassment and threats for their care for the Japanese.

One remarkable work was the “Kitaji Bibles,” two volumes of over 3,000 pages, produced by Salvation Army Captain Masuo Kitaji. Capt. Kitaji took an English Bible, then wrote in Japanese translations, commentary, and compelling illustrations. Most of the work was done while he was imprisoned at Poston camp in Arizona. The Bibles disappeared, only to resurface in an auction in New York; they had been retrieved from a recycling bin in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Buddhists also showed their devotion, including beautiful family shrines carved out of fruit crates, and a large can filled with stones, with one kanji character on each. Only recently did Buddhist scholars put the stones together and realize they constituted a portion of the Buddhist scripture, the Lotus Sutra.

Since all Buddhist materials were destroyed, a Buddhist priest at Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming recreated the Sutra from memory. (Coincidentally, Heart Mountain was where the Toriumis were sent, and my cousin Karen was born there. It is also the camp where young Boy Scouts Norm Mineta and Alan Simpson became lifelong friends, even as politicians of opposing parties in Washington, DC.)

As I saw the exhibit, I kept thinking about our time through the COVID pandemic, and sadly now as I hear the news from Ukraine. In all instances, people who have been removed from life as they knew it have sought out ways to maintain their faith, by any means necessary. Whether it was with handwritten Bibles, bring-your-own-elements Zoom communion, or playing music in bomb shelters, our spirit wins out. While the term “by any means necessary” was used in the 1960s to reference going so far as to take violent action to gain equal rights, people of faith have gone to that extent in order to keep the faith alive, the life of peace even amidst oppression and disaster.

When I recorded excerpts from my uncle Don’s sermon, I included Romans 8:38-39, and highlighted the end of the sermon, which offered a radically Christian parable about the extreme grace of Jesus Christ:

There is a legend which is commonly told about Judas Iscariot after he had committed suicide, having betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver. It is said that for many years, the soul of Judas Iscariot wandered over the face of the earth. Finally, he came to a window which opened into heaven. He looked in, and saw Jesus and His disciples standing around a table upon which were the bread and the cup. Jesus saw Judas looking in, and so He went out to Judas and brought him to the table. Jesus said to Judas: “We could not sit down and partake of this supper without you.”

As we continue through the season of Lent, we are reminded how God, through Jesus Christ, sought to offer us grace beyond what we deserve; grace by any means necessary. As we recognize the grace given to us, may we offer that grace to others.

Peace,
Wendy

Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.

2 Corinthians 4:1

We have gone through two years of radical change due to COVID, and as you probably have heard from the news, we are now experiencing quite a bit of change in people’s work lives. I have mentioned that several churches are entering into a time of transition, as pastors have decided to retire or take a new call. And we are entering a time of reflection for some of our Presbytery ministries as well.

The good news is that God continues to provide.  For instance, this year almost all our committees and commissions have new leadership, as chairs have either moved away or termed out, having completed the maximum six years of service. Some of these folks, like our COM and CPM chairs, have already given a huge amount to the Presbytery ministry. So please raise a prayer of thanks and blessing for:

TE Stephanie Kang, Personnel TE Sophia Eurich-Rascoe, COM
RE Jane Dempsey Douglass and TE Karen Sapio, CPM TE Roberto Ramirez, Administration and Finance
TE Brian Gaeta-Symonds and TE N’Yisrela Watts-Afriyie, Justice, Peacemaking, and Mission
RE Janice Takeda, Representation and Nominations.

I don’t think the chair for Education, Equipping, and Empowerment has been identified yet, so please pray for that also!

And though pastoral transitions can be hard and our pastor nominating process is complex, we are able to call some wonderfully faithful pastors. Please mark your calendars and join this celebration:

Installation of Rev. John Scholte
Sunday, March 13, 4 pm
Arcadia Community Church
121 Alice Street
Arcadia, CA 91006.

And please pray for all our churches as we stretch our muscles so we continue to be agile in our ministry, with a pastor, with a new or interim pastor, or without a pastor.

Our Presbytery staff is going through some changes as well. Last year we received grants that funded some of our staff positions and ministries. For instance, we received support for the LAC+USC Medical Center Chaplaincy from San Marino Community Church, enabling us to continue our partnership with three other presbyteries and the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii to fund Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs- Zehnder, the only full-time Protestant chaplain at this huge medical center that is the “safety net” for all medical needs in LA County. And we received a grant from the PC(USA) Mental Health Ministries office to offer mental health resources and education. Among other things, this grant enabled us to offer the excellent WinterFest panels and mini-retreat at the beginning of February. I continue to think this was a ground-breaking event, as we learned so much about supporting mental health for our members and friends.

Two grants funded staff positions. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) funds our Immigrant Accompaniment Ministry, helping those who are seeking refugee or asylum status in the US. This ministry was staffed by Kristi Van Nostran, who left in October to work with Latin potential house buyers. Members of the Justice, Peacemaking and Mission Committee are discerning the next phase of this ministry before we submit another grant application. Things are changing but not at the pace or form we anticipated, so we hope to see what the federal government does in immigration reform.

The second grant comes from the House of Rest and it funds our Chaplains for Retired Presbyterian Church Workers, currently filled by Revs. Lauren Evans and Diane Frasher. Five years ago, we proposed this ministry to the House of Rest, and they have been supportive funders ever since. The first Chaplain was Lauren Evans, and we have not given her enough credit for establishing this important ministry, first at Westminster Gardens, then adding Monte Vista Grove Homes, as well as helping retirees living in the larger community. Lauren has recently graduated from APU with a master’s degree in clinical psychology, and just received her Associate Marriage and Family Therapy license, and has accepted a new position in this next phase of her ministry. So she will be leaving our staff at the end of February. Diane will continue to serve as half-time chaplain at Monte Vista Grove, but we are now exploring the best use of House of Rest funds to support the well-being of our retired pastors, missionaries, and church workers. Please join me in congratulating Lauren in her accomplishment and moving full-time into her new ministry. I thank her for creating this ministry of the Presbytery, and I will miss her wit and insight on staff. And, of course, I am most thankful to House of Rest and Diane for their continuing faithful and excellent work.

Last fall, as we developed the 2022 budget, the Personnel Committee approved a move back to a half- time staff bookkeeper. We found that we are not staffed up to support a remote bookkeeping service, and the complexity of our financial management needs requires someone who can focus on our work. Last week I announced that Sam Bang has started in this ministry, and I can now give a couple more specifics. We did get approval to give Sam the title Business Manager; as one Personnel Committee member said, this reflects better the larger role he is playing. And he has a new email address:

Sam Bang, Business Manager sam@sangabpres.org

Sam has already started his role as quarter-time Associate for Ministry Development, and in fact has already been a thoughtful, faithful, pastoral, insightful presence for two of our churches who are experiencing some challenges. I am so impressed and thankful for Sam joining our staff.

As I think you can see, we have a wonderful collection of leaders and staff guiding and supporting the ministries of San Gabriel Presbytery. There are so many more people serving on committees and commissions, moderating sessions, and consulting and volunteering in so many ways. And, of course, we enjoy the leadership of Moderator Dave Tomlinson, Vice Moderator Pat Martinez-Miller, PEC Moderator Deborah Owens, our Stated Clerks Ally Lee and Steve Salyards, and Mission Advocate Wendy Gist, who has been doing phenomenal work on the Baldwin Park Habitat for Humanity project. Thank the Lord for bringing us together at this time, in this place.

With thanks,

Wendy

And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.    Genesis 45:5

As late as a few weeks ago, I wondered whether there will be a time when I just feel good and hopeful.

I would think about times like the end of World War II, or other times when people could emerge from trying times and truly celebrate a new time of freedom, or renewed prosperity, or unity. As COVID would roar back every time we thought we were past it, I became cautious about thinking we could ever be free from the virus or whatever else was bothering us.

But today, at least for the moment, things feel good.

It’s not like there’s world peace, or poverty has been eliminated, or that we can confidently say COVID is behind us. And maybe it’s just idiosyncratic to me, because I need the brightness and warmth of the sun once in a while or I get depressed, and I love the Olympics, and I love LA, so today is a good day.

And, of course, it’s St. Valentine’s Day. I don’t have a special Valentine, but hey, that wasn’t who St. Valentine was either. He was not so much about romantic love, but love for people suffering from blindness or mental illness, and all Christians during a time of persecution by the Roman Empire. It is said that he was martyred for persisting in evangelizing the gospel, even to the Roman emperor, and caring for Christians. St. Valentine is an inspiration and a challenge to stand for our faith, and care for the most vulnerable among us.

And there are many ways we can live out our faith, and care for others. Recently I was asked to read excerpts from sermons of my uncle Donald Toriumi and my grandfather Kengo Tajima for an exhibit on faith during the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II. These were the last sermons given before the Japanese-Americans were displaced and sent to the camps. One of the things my grandfather said in his sermon was:

We are losing much or all of our worldly possessions including our civil rights and liberties. . . When all things are taken from us, we shall have yet people whom we can love. When we can do nothing, we shall have occasions and opportunities to exercise love.

So no matter what our circumstance is, we do have the opportunity to love. I remember this from when I was on Kaua‘i, and the church I pastored held a regular food pantry. There were people from the community who came pretty much every time, and one thing we would do is talk about challenges in the town. We would ask them to pray for those challenges. I appreciated that, because we don’t need money or a job or education to pray; we all can participate in the power of prayer.

This last weekend was a great sports weekend for us LA types. Not only was it great to see the LA Rams win, and for the city of Inglewood and LA musicians be celebrated, but it was lovely to hear the players after the game be so humble and caring for each other. And Andrew Whitworth, the elder statesman of the team, was given the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his community activism. Upon receiving the award, he spoke about an opposing NFL player who came up to him after the end of a game. It was Derrick Barnes, who wanted “Big Whit” to know how much it meant that he would come to the Girls and Boys Club and spend time with him and talk with him when he was a kid growing up in Cincinnati. (In watching the video about Whitworth’s service, there was mention of a $50,000 grant from the NFL to Heart of Los Angeles. I hadn’t heard about them lately, but they are a youth organization that was founded and hosted by Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Koreatown. They are building a great new arts and recreation center, developed with TELACU, a community development organization founded by the son of a local Presbyterian pastor, César Lizárraga, who founded our own La Casa de San Gabriel. Just a few ways that our Presbyterian legacy is woven into the life of our community.)

From the Olympics, we witness more stories of love and grace. This weekend, Erin Jackson won the gold medal in the women’s 500 meter speed skating event at the Olympics. She is the first Black woman to win a Winter Olympics gold medal in any individual sport. But she might not have even been at the Olympics at all, because a slip during the US trials caused her to fall to third place. First place went to Brittany Bowe, who happens to be a childhood friend, as they are both natives of Ocala, Florida. Bowe, who also qualified for the 1000 and 1500 meter events, gave up her spot in the 500 meter event so that Erin Jackson could qualify.

For myself, I am thankful to be able to announce that Sam Bang has been hired as our new half-time bookkeeper. When Twila French retired and moved to Arizona, we tried contracting with an off-site bookkeeping service, but realized we are not staffed up for that approach. With Sam, we have someone who brings great management experience from his 20 years at Fuller and with several churches, a love of the Presbytery, and a deep faithful servant’s heart that wants to serve Christ’s mission through San Gabriel Presbytery in whatever way he is called to. Because of his expertise, I will be asking that his title be Business Manager. Sam is also serving quarter-time as Associate for Ministry Development, so he is dedicating 75%-time to the Presbytery. Sam has already been a gift to us in many ways, and I anticipate he will be a blessing to many of our congregations as well.

After times of stress and uncertainty, it’s sometimes hard to enjoy moments of joy. But for our spiritual and mental health, it’s important to take those moments, and give thanks. God does offer us grace upon grace—and invites us to be bearers of that grace to others.

Peace,
Wendy