Month: June 2023

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Voices: Less a Command than a Promise

A good word from Frederick Buechner:

“The final secret, I think, is this: that the words ‘You shall love the Lord your God’ become in the end less a command than a promise. And the promise is that, yes, on the weary feat of faith and the fragile wings of hope, we will come to love [God] at last as from the first [God] has loved us.” [1]

“Less a command than a promise.” Let us pray it will be so.

[1] Frederick Buechner, A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces (San Francisco, Harper Collins, 1984), 45.

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Looking for a Translator

I need someone who speaks both Mandarin and English well enough to translate between the two. I don’t need someone in person, someone available by phone would be enough.

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Happy Juneteenth

The Great Plains Conference Office is closed today to celebrate Juneteenth. Here’s an article from the Smithsonian Institute that tells why its worth taking time to celebrate.

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Book Club Time Set

As part of our efforts to become a more LGBTQ+ welcoming church, we’ll meet to discuss God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 6, 2023. We’ll start in the parlor, but if there are too many of us, we’ll move to the fellowship hall. Let me know if you would like to attend by Zoom.

A note about the book: Matthew Vines presents a relatively conservative argument (both biblically and theologically) for LGBTQ+ inclusion. I’m aware that some of you are already well beyond where Matthew Vines was when he wrote the book, but I still think it’s a good book with which to start. Let me know if you have any comments or concerns.

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A Great GPAC Meeting

Seven people from College Avenue UMC—Forest Buhler, Mary Ann Buhler, Courtney Fowler, Paige Fowler, Liz Collins, Grace Hutchinson, and I—have all been at annual conference this week. We should finish up later this morning. It’s been a blessing, perhaps the best on I have ever attended. The Holy Spirit has shown up and I have seen a lot of encouraging signs.

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Alright, I Admit It, I Enjoyed Worshiping Outside

My complaints, concerns, and fears were all unfounded, and I had a great time at outdoor worship this past Sunday. The weather was tolerable, the fellowship solid, the Holy Spirit showed up, and then we all went into the air-conditioning to eat. Thanks to everyone who pushed me to do this.

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Cringing at Ourselves Five Years Ago

In an episode titled Let’s Talk About Changes and Explanations in a Small Town, YouTube personality “Beau of the Fifth Column” recently said: “If you don’t look back at the person you were five years ago and cringe, you wasted five years.” My first feeling was relief because My first thought was, “good, I’m not the only one.”

But a later thought was how very Wesleyan that comment was. United Methodists believe that, with the essential and all-sufficient help of God’s grace provided by the Holy Spirit, we can grow and become better people over time. People who better reflect the love of God into the world. People who better love their God and their neighbor.

Link: youtube.com/watch?v=yrueEoLOxP8&t=1s
The quote is toward the very end, about 7:15 minutes into the video.