There is a God . . .

by | Sep 6, 2021 | Monday Morning Reflections

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There is a God . . .

Jesus said to the apostles, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

Mark 6:31

A couple of weeks ago, I was getting ready to go on vacation, including the first time I was to fly in almost two years. I was thinking it was a really good time to go, because I had noticed that my general outlook was suffering from burnout. Not only was I getting fatigued, I think it was impacting my ministry. I was jumping to conclusions too fast, and getting irritated even more than my usual irritable self. As I wrote in my column a couple of weeks ago, I was starting to worry that I wasn’t listening for God in Scripture, or in the voices of God’s people.

The impact of burnout for many of us church types is that we can get so busy doing God’s work that we start confusing the work that we think we should do for God, over the work that God is guiding us to do.

I thought on this as I took the luxury of doing nothing for days at a time during this vacation. I thought about the justification for doing nothing—is it rest? Or clearing my mind long enough to be able to approach life and ministry afresh? Or giving folks a break from me or my opinions? Or was it acknowledging that the running of the world (or the Presbytery) is not my work, but God’s?

One big blessing of the vacation was the relatively few emails and texts I got. I trust that either life has gone back to that summer pace we always wish for, or most likely, folks are quite able to lead freely without me. We will have an even better opportunity to prove this next year, as I hope to take a sabbatical next summer.

As I shifted gears to neutral, two stories came to mind. One was not really a story, but a comment made by Walt Gerber, the well-known pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (whose first call, by the way, was right here in San Gabriel Presbytery). For all the planning and musical gifts and technology that went into their five weekly worship services, Walt reminded us seminarians that any worship they planned was a “dead, limp body until the Holy Spirit fills it.” For all of our hard work and competence, anything we do is minimal—perhaps even problematic—without God’s guidance and blessing.

The other memory is only partial. It came from a famous Christian writer whose name I cannot remember. He mentioned how he managed to take time out of his very busy and important schedule of speaking and preaching, and spent a season at a Trappist monastery. When he was about to leave, the monks gave him a two-handled mug. They told him that when one holds both handles of the mug, it is hard to do anything other than drink from the mug. Rather than living a high-speed, multi-tasking existence when it can be difficult to slow down long enough to appreciate what God offers us—even a simple drink—he was advised to do one thing at a time, with the undivided gratitude for whatever we are doing in that moment.

Even as I write this, I wonder if people question the feasibility of such a slow, deliberate approach to life. Honestly, when I think of the old ways of cloistered monastic life, when it seemed that there was little or no interaction with the outside world, I am challenged to accept that this form of faithful living is just as God- honoring as a busy life of work for charity and justice. But I do believe that, and I remember times in my life when I benefited from time doing nothing but prayer and worship.

I make no promises whether I will be any easier to live with when I get back–! Sometimes re-entry from vacation can be so difficult that I wonder why I went away at all. But I pray that this will not be true this coming week, and even if problems do arise, I will have enough peace in my mind and heart to respond with Christ’s compassion, having been reminded that God is in charge. As the saying goes, “There is a God— and I’m not Him.” (Sorry, I haven’t found a non-gendered way to say this effectively.)

I pray that my ministry will be less of me and more of God, speaking through the collective “we.” I pray that I will have the ability to keep to a pace of peace, even if this means I may not be as efficient or as responsive as I like to think I am. And I pray that I will appreciate how we all discern the rhythm that is God’s, even when it does not match our own.

May God’s peace fill you as we enter the fall season.

Blessings,

Wendy

 

Doing the Impossible

by | Aug 23, 2021 | Monday Morning Reflections, Uncategorized

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Doing the Impossible

“If the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

2 Kings 5:13

These are indeed strange and trying times. I could quote the most famous of opening lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .,” except I can’t tell right now how these are the best of times.

Methodist pastor Jenny Smith has a blog, and a recent post which she titled “The Second Marathon: A Word for Pastors on Walking the New Normal,” rings true for many of us. I confess that I’ve been hit with exhaustion myself, coupled with headaches and body aches, and I can only imagine the burden that our pastors—and all who feel responsible for the care of others—have been feeling for 18 months now. In a Zoom meeting with one of our churches, an elder mentioned that he was recovering from COVID. He said he had “the usual symptoms for the Delta variant”—including headaches and exhaustion. So my fear of COVID started to simmer, but thank God I was able to get a test appointment on short notice (let’s hear it for LA County and the San Gabriel Valley Airport), and in just a day they told me the test was negative. So I was happy to know that my issue isn’t directly COVID, it’s just the burnout and exhaustion related to dealing with COVID.

The mind-numbing persistence of COVID has been hard enough to deal with, but then last weekend happened. Haiti was hit with another devastating earthquake, just a month after their president was assassinated. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan led to an almost instantaneous collapse of the country, and a mad scramble of thousands of evacuees, as the West’s noble attempt at nation-building, partnered with corrupt officials, was exposed for the mirage it was. Our hearts were flooded with the desperation of people whose dreams of liberation were shattered in an instant.

I think the depth of Haiti’s pain was expressed with almost mundane acceptance. After so many calamities, the tragedy of the earthquake was not viewed on its own, but with the hope that it wouldn’t reach the level of destruction of the 2010 earthquake that claimed over 200,000 lives, and the sad praise that Haitians are among the most resilient of peoples. But aid is coming in, and you may help with prayer and donations through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance—go to https://pda.pcusa.org/situation/haiti/ for more information, and to give.

In the midst of all of this, life goes on. In June, we invited Presbytery folks to meet on different topics as we seek to be more active in combating racism. The “Dialogue on Racism” group begins this week. The groups on “Reforming Presbytery Practices” and “Reparations for African-Americans” have been meeting, and we have had some great discussions. One challenge that comes up regarding reparations is the enormity of the problem. Not only are we talking about millions of people and 400 years of slavery and its aftereffects, there is a dizzying variety of perspectives and situations. For some of us, slavery was woven into the very fabric of the nation of the USA, so full reparation would require a dismantling of what we understand as America. For others, the impact of slavery is seemingly over, and over 60% of the nation do not support the idea of reparations at all.

Rev. Dr. Mark Lomax, a PC(USA) pastor and professor at Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, spoke with the GA Special Committee on Racism, Truth & Reconciliation on the issue of reparations in a Zoom meeting, which was recorded and can be seen here. In the meeting, Dr. Lomax addresses the enormity of the problem—as well as the despair he has felt when trying to get the PC(USA) to move from studies and presentations to a change of heart. Even as he names the anger he and others feel about the stubborn pervasiveness of anti-Black racism, and when it seems there is really nothing that can be done to turn this brokenness around, he reaches into his Christian learning and points to the only solution he believes will heal us:  relationships, and forgiveness.

With relationships, we learn to care about each other, and hear our stories, which lead to not just an intellectual exercise, but a change of heart—essentially, the gateway to the Gospel, confession and repentance. How can we connect on a level so that our personal experiences repel the lies that we are told about people of different races? How can we come to love each other enough so that when they are hurt, we hurt, and we step forward to defend them? I have been struck with the passion of US military veterans who have expressed love for the people of Afghanistan, and who have been their most outspoken defenders, especially of their Afghan colleagues who are now in danger.

But even if we love others, we dare not confess if we fear vengeance. We can confess to God, because we know that God forgives. In the order of worship in John Calvin’s Geneva, the confession came after the sermon, because the sermon should give the assurance that broken as we are, God has grace enough to forgive. Dr. Lomax pointed to the call to forgive, even as oppressed peoples—and the African-American community, especially the Black Church, have demonstrated time and again that ability to forgive.

Can it be that easy, when faced with what seems like impossible problems, to open our hearts to each other, and to trust in God’s grace, and the grace of our siblings in Christ? Of course what sounds simple is very, very hard, if we want to hold on to our illusion of control. But that control really is an illusion—the pandemic, the spikes of violence against self and others, the very weather and movement of the earth show us that we are not in charge. Maybe letting go, and letting God work through us, is the answer. What a true test of our faith, to open our hands and our hearts to care for others, to forgive, and to accept forgiveness.

I have been thinking myself about ways I have put myself and my efforts ahead of God’s will. I ask that you pray for me as I take a break for a couple of weeks, and generally step back, so that I may listen better for God and lean more on God’s grace.

See you after Labor Day. As always, be gentle with yourselves, and with each other.

Peace,

Wendy

 

Forgiving the Virus

by | Aug 2, 2021 | Monday Morning Reflections

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Forgiving the Virus

Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Matthew 18:21-22

So I’m still on my Summer Olympics diet—Olympics all the time! (As I write this, they’re covering men’s trampoline, following freestyle BMX, which one can call “weird dangerous things you can do with a bike.”) Certainly it’s taken my attention away from news of the world—or at least news of COVID.

I did listen to yet another telebriefing from the LA County Department of Public Health on Friday afternoon. I don’t know what I was expecting—maybe just a plea to churches that everyone mask up again. That was said, and there is yet another revised Health Order, which was effective as of yesterday, August 1.

But I was surprised to hear the presenter rather casually stating that when they tested vaccinated people who had “breakthrough” cases of COVID, they found that the viral load of vaccinated people with COVID was the same as those who were unvaccinated. I was startled enough by this that I asked them to confirm what I thought they said, because I must have heard him wrong. If this is true, it would indicate that if you are fully vaccinated, but still get COVID (which is happening more frequently with the Delta variant), you can spread the virus to others as much as someone who is not vaccinated.

I used to think “vaccination” meant that you don’t get the virus. But the COVID vaccines seem to be most effective in minimizing the symptoms that one has if they contract the virus. I believe that vaccinated people do not contract the disease as much as unvaccinated, but a recent study has challenged many prior understandings. This week, the CDC referenced an article that described a recent outbreak as the basis for their renewed recommendation for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.

In July, in the state of Massachusetts—a state where 69% of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated— there was an outbreak in Barnstable, stemming from multiple summer events that attracted primarily men, about half from the area and half from other states. These events led to 469 cases of COVID-19, and consistent with the attendees of the events, 85% were men, with median age of 40. Approximately three quarters (346; 74%) of cases occurred in fully vaccinated persons, and all three vaccines were utilized by them. Data collected from these cases show that the Ct values (roughly, the level of virus measured in a COVID test) were similar regardless of vaccination status. As of the article’s publication, there were 5 people hospitalized and no deaths.

It’s hard to understand all of the data that seem to change. Clearly the Delta variant has raised concerns, because it is so much easier to spread, and the impact on unvaccinated people is worse. So haven’t we been here before?  Why get vaccinated if you can still get COVID?

Vaccination is still extremely important, and everyone eligible for the vaccine should get it. According to the American Cancer Society, that includes people with cancer. This also includes people with underlying conditions, such as heart conditions. If anyone has concerns, they should consult their doctor. I point this out because I have heard a number of people who are not taking the vaccine because they have underlying medical conditions—but they are the people who most need the vaccine, since they would suffer more if they contract the virus.

So what does this all mean? I hesitate trying to interpret scientific data, but if the vaccine is a shield that cannot keep every arrow from hitting you, it will stop the arrow from hurting you seriously. Conversely, those who might be most hurt by getting hit with an arrow should do everything they can to protect themselves. And if we can avoid shooting arrows at others (ie, spreading the virus) by wearing masks, all the better. This is even more important since many people can carry the virus without having any symptoms, so they are likely not to know they are helping to spread the virus. And we still cannot give our young children their own shields, so they are at risk of whatever we allow to spread.

I asked the County officials if the old-style cloth masks are sufficient now. They suggested people could increase protection (or prevent more arrows from being shot) by double-masking, or wearing KN95 or N95 masks. One doctor said that if you have a spray bottle and spray water through your mask, you should wear the mask that does not allow much of the spray to go through. He personally would recommend surgical masks (the common disposable masks), but whatever protection one wears is better than none.

Bottom line:

  1. The Delta variant greatly increases the likelihood of COVID spreading, and even some people who are vaccinated may contract it. The spread of the Delta variant can happen if a person contracts it, even if they were vaccinated, even if they don’t have
  2. LA County is again mandating that all people wear masks in public indoor Though they cannot restrict church behavior, we can still act responsibly and act safely and consistently by requiring that all people coming into our church buildings wear masks. The County still thinks (hopes) that singing is allowed if masked. If a worship leader does not wear a mask, they need to be at least 12 feet from others when singing.
  3. Those who are not vaccinated should be even more careful not to get exposed, by wearing double masks, KN95 or N95 masks, and/or keeping
  4. While we are experiencing the difficulties in offering hybrid worship, please consider doing so, so that no one feels pressure to come into church buildings in order to worship or connect with their church
  5. Finally, get vaccinated if you have not It may not be perfect, but it’s the best defense we have. One of our own minister members who had a breakthrough case but was out for just a short time said that they are sure that if they had not been vaccinated, they would be in the hospital.

I know it’s tiring and frustrating to be ever-vigilant, again. Maybe we don’t need to forgive Coronavirus 77 times, but we do need to persevere in dealing with it. The last time a pandemic like this occurred a century ago, the danger lasted for two years, and the virus came back several times. It would have been great if we could have stopped the virus permanently after just one wave, but we have to continue to find ways to protect ourselves, but moreso those who are most vulnerable. Getting the vaccination and wearing a mask isn’t the worst price we can pay to do so.

May blessings, and health, and patience be with all of us as we continue to seek ways to be faithful in these troubling times.

And may we be filled with the peace of Christ.

Wendy

Reflection

by | Jul 26, 2021 | Monday Morning Reflections

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Reflection

Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit..

Romans 8:5

During this time of stress upon stress, there has been much concern about the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics. (It’s just another sign of these strange times we are living in, that this event being held in July- August 2021 will always be referred to as the 2020 Olympic Games!) Japan’s investment of over $20 billion, during a time of prolonged economic recession and multiple catastrophic disasters, trapped the government in a quandary: in a nation with very low vaccination rates, during a time of a surging variant of COVID-19 that is many, many times more transmissible, what is the prudent thing to do regarding over 11,000 athletes coming in from 205 nations (and one group who has no nation)? How can this possibly be safe?

And in a world that has seen over 4 million people die from COVID-19, and economies all around the world have been thrown into chaos, how is it even appropriate to hold a sports event in the midst of all this trial? And Japan has suffered from multiple catastrophes they haven’t even recovered from yet. Frankly, it started to seem foolhardy, stubborn—even dangerous to hold these Olympic Games. Personally, knowing how stubborn and goal-directed we Japanese are, I wonder whether pursuing this course—to hold the games somehow—could be Japan’s downfall.

But, in spite of it all, the Olympic Games have begun. And we all pray that we get through the next two weeks with minimal casualties.

This has been hard for me, because I’m an Olympics junkie, especially for the Summer games. There have been summers when my life gets pretty much taken over by my devotion to following and celebrating even events I know nothing about. But what with this impending sense of doom, I was aware that they started this weekend, but it wasn’t until someone else mentioned it that I thought I’d tune in and see what it’s like.

Well, I have to say, I have been a little amazed. For one thing, in talking with the athletes, they don’t seem tentative or frustrated or scared at all—they’re just so full of their spirit and their dreams that it doesn’t seem to matter that the stands are not filled with spectators. Though they do seem a little sad that their families are gathered in watch parties on the other side of the globe, they can hear their teammates cheering them on. And if you saw the opening ceremony, with the parade of nations, you’d find hundreds of nations (and one group without a nation), some with nation-killing crises, who yet gathered up the resources and the will to send athletes to these “games.”

Consider: Syria and Yemen, still in danger of violence and starvation in their own homelands—they sent teams. Haiti and Pakistan, with their internal unrest, and Afghanistan, on the brink of political collapse— they sent teams. Nations that are watching the coronavirus kill their citizens for lack of vaccines that wealthy nations are allowing to spoil because they have way more doses than people who want them—they sent teams. And 29 athletes who have fled 11 different nations—in the midst of their tragedy, they came as one team of refugees, a team without a nation.

Over 11,000 athletes from 205 nations (plus the refugees team) decided not to let violence, or poverty, or political turmoil, or a global pandemic get in the way of their dreams. And so some of these athletes marched into an almost-empty stadium in Tokyo, some in fabulous uniforms—Mauritania looked especially luxurious. In the silence, you could hear some of the teams sing or chant. Without the roar of adoring fans, teams from Argentina, Italy, Cameroon and others made their own fun. And I thought about all the worries, and all the fears, and all the loss, and I thought, yes, there is ample reason to worry—yet God has supplied us with so much more than what we are missing.

I’m not looking for something to distract me from the reality of the pandemic, or the violence or hatred in the world. But what the Olympics is reminding me most of all, is the abundance, even the overflow, of spirit implanted in each of us, spirit that cannot be quenched by fear or distress. I like to think that for Christians, this spirit is the spark of God’s light that lies in each of us—a gift of God that can be ignored, or restrained, or abused, or—with the knowledge of the righteousness of God and the life-giving love of Christ—that spark can be nurtured and joined with others, to offer the light of hope for a hurting world.

So when faced with a crisis situation on an epic scale, may we remember that we do hold the light of Christ in us. And we can balance our instinctual tendency to focus on the risky and negative, and consciously remind ourselves of God who created all that we see around us, all the beauty of the earth, and who enabled our churches to flex and change to continue to do God’s work in the face of the pandemic.

According to Oscar Wilde, we all live in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. May we recognize the stars that God has put in the sky—and the stars that God has put in each of us. And in all

 

Alleluia! Amen,

Wendy

 

Love and Knowledge

by | Jul 19, 2021 | Monday Morning Reflections, Uncategorized

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Love and Knowledge

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

I hope that you have already heard that LA County has now mandated the use of masking indoors for all again, effective yesterday, July 18. You can read the revised health order here.

Last week, LA County recommended this, but this weekend they moved the recommendation to a new mandate. This is a response to the rapid increase of COVID cases, especially with the Delta variant, which is many times more easily spread. While the case rate has tripled over the last two weeks, and the death rate has doubled, the vaccination rate has stayed essentially the same: 60.1% of residents are partially vaccinated, and 52.6% have been fully vaccinated. The positivity rate has moved to 3.17%, almost 2.5 times the positivity rate from two weeks ago—and 7 times the positivity rate a month ago.

Personally, I think this is more easily administered than the prior order, which allowed vaccinated people to go unmasked. It was highly confusing to have some businesses still requiring full masking, and even when they didn’t, there was no easy way to enforce masking of the unvaccinated. You may know that we had suggested asking all worship attendees to continue wearing masks anyway, so you don’t cause divisions between the masked and the unmasked (and you wouldn’t have to question people about their vaccination status).

While the percentage increases are huge and the growth rapid, the actual numbers are still somewhat low. The confusing thing for me is the fact that the vaccinations seem to protect people extremely well, yet the demand for vaccinations continue to be stalled. It would be sad if the lower vaccination rate enables new variants to appear.

One other new requirement from the County: if you have an unvaccinated employee, you are required to provide a free N95 respirator if asked. There is an organization providing free or low-cost masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE); see the attached flyer.

I’m sure this is confusing and frustrating. But my hope is that we Christians can approach the challenges of life with both love and knowledge, as Paul wrote to the Philippian church, from his prison cell. There are frustrations and setbacks, even injustices and harm done to us. We must not shy away from the knowledge of these challenges, yet we can respond with love and insight and the hope for a “harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” Paul himself modeled it in this letter, as he acknowledges his imprisonment, yet finds reason to give thanks to God, and is encouraged by the knowledge of the faithful prayers of the churches.

It’s interesting how often government officials are asking faith leaders to encourage and facilitate vaccinations. They are counting on the cooperation of church leaders based on your compassion, combined with an education level that leads you to see the logical advantages of vaccinations, and the faith in seeing God’s gift in providing the vaccinations.

In the coming weeks, I join Paul in praying for love and knowledge and insight, always seeking to reflect and share the glory of God trough the grace—and patience—of Jesus Christ. I also ask that you live out your prayers with actions to protect your communities with wise safety protocols.

And, on another note, let us expand and build our knowledge and insight with our summer activities, including taking the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and joining our “Processing the Pandemic” and anti-racism groups. Let me or Ally Lee know if you have questions or are interested.

In closing, let me again reference Paul, who continued in Philippians 3:12-14:

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

May you find strength to press on, knowing that Christ Jesus has made you his own.

Peace,
Wendy