Psalm 126
When the LORD changed Zion's circumstances for the better, it was like we had been dreaming.
2Our mouths were suddenly filled with laughter; our tongues were filled with joyful shouts.
It was even said, at that time, among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them!"
3Yes, the LORD has done great things for us, and we are overjoyed.
4LORD, change our circumstances for the better, like dry streams in the desert waste!
5Let those who plant with tears reap the harvest with joyful shouts.
6Let those who go out, crying and carrying their seed,
come home with joyful shouts, carrying bales of grain!

Today’s reading in our Advent devotional book, Those Who Dream, invites us to contemplate Psalm 126 in word and in an abstract visual that depicts the ripples of the Negeb river flowing through parched desert land, the tears of the people’s pain sowed in exile and the seeds of new life sown when God restored their dreaming and their fortunes. This week we can see some glimmers of restoration in the midst of our pandemic exiles as the first vaccines are administered here in our country. Thanks Be to God!

Throughout these last nine months we have persevered in dreaming God’s dreams of justice and love and in “Being Church” as we came together:

• in livestream and prerecorded worship services
• in our online/virtual Alternative Giving Fair (raising over $15,000)
• in our virtual Sleepout and Drive-in Vigil for homelessness prevention (raising over $20,000)
• in our summer “Plymouth Gives” campaign (raising over $20,000 for Outreach and Mission, LaForet, 2020 pledge support)
• in our Zoom and online Christian Formation classes and curriculum for all ages and the outstanding Visiting Scholar Retreat Day
• in our continued connection with those in our Plymouth community who are most isolated or have had Covid-19, and
• in so many acts of sharing God’s love and justice that you perform each day that are not quantifiable or known to me or Hal or Carla.

Thank you!!! Thank you for continuing to “Be the Church!” even in the midst of all the pain and frustration and fear of our world. We may sow in tears, but we also reap in laughter, love and God’s abundance. Sowing the seeds of God’s presence in our world and reaping the reward of relationship is holy work for all seasons. It is particularly poignant during the darkness and waiting and preparation of Advent.

Many blessings as we keep on keeping on “Being the Church” and following Jesus on the Way.

With you on the journey,

P.S. There are many Christmastide events coming up! See them at plymouthucc.org/events.

Weeping may tarry in the evening, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30

Recently I read a mental health article about hope and while I found it helpful, I also found myself resisting it. “Why,” I asked myself? I remembered the words of the ancient psalmist. Even they did not soothe my uneasiness. Then I remembered the times when in my life when words of hope, however well-meaning felt like fingernails grating on a blackboard. The time when I didn’t know if I could trust that “joy would come in the morning,” when that sentiment from the psalms seemed trite and unfeeling. Times when I wondered if I was the only one who could not trust those words.

We live in a time when hope can be very tough. The isolation of pandemic and the divisiveness of our country is taking a toll on even the most stalwart and the cheery personalities.

• If you feel more irritable or sad or simply “blah” than you ever have in your life, you are not alone!
• If you are sleeping more or sleeping less, you are not alone!
• If you feel more anxious than you ever have and like you are too vigilant, waiting for the next proverbial shoe to drop or the next crisis to occur, you are not alone!
• If you are lonelier than you have ever been, you are not alone!

There is community and help at Plymouth!!

• We have trained lay visitors to accompany you in this time, to check in with you, to listen to you and support you.
• We have prayer groups and study/fellowship groups meeting online. We have two worship opportunities each week.
• We have three pastors who are more than willing to listen, to point you toward Plymouth resources and to help you find professional mental health help if you need it.

There is no shame in needing professional mental health help. Let me say that again… There is no shame in needing professional mental health help. For those who struggle with any kind of mental illness - from mild, situational depression and anxiety to more serious illnesses, hope can seem like a pie-in-the-sky solutions. Even in the midst of the best medication and the best mental health treatment that we can offer in the 21st century – and we have made many strides in this area – hope can seem futile or non-existent to those who are in the midst of mental illness or are gripped by the disease of addiction. If you or someone you know and/or love needs help coping in these tough times, please call one of your pastors! Or email us! We are here for you. You will find our numbers and our emails at the end of this reflection.

In the shorter days and longer nights of this time of year – especially this year – find some small rituals to lift your spirits….as small as:

• lighting a special candle each day…
• walking in the sunshine…
• pausing to hear birds sing or geese calling to one another overhead…
• writing down three things each day that you are grateful for…
• singing your favorite song to yourself…
• calling a friend each day to check in and see how they are doing…
• participating in a Plymouth activity online…
• finding a way to give to someone else….(check out Plymouth’s Virtual Alternative Giving Fair)… in times like these, giving can be as healing, if not more, for the giver than the receiver
• baking something for your neighbor…
• listening to one of our Midweek Vespers services on the Plymouth YouTube channel...
  
• sitting quietly and listening to your own self, your soul, even if it is lament you hear and saying to yourself, “I am a beloved son/daughter/friend/companion of God. I am made in God’s image and I am worthy of Holy love. I am sad and I am still worthy.”

Remember….You Are Not Alone! And You Are Loved! I leave you with the words of the late Irish poet and philosopher, John O’Donohue, from his book, To Bless the Space Between Us. This is my prayer for each of us in this time:

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.
With you on this longer-than-we-would-like journey,

Plymouth Pastors:
Hal Chorpenning – hal@plymouthucc.org; 970-481-2928
Carla Cain – carla@plymouthucc.org; 515-418-7444
Jane Anne Ferguson – janeanne@plymouthucc.org; 303-257-4933

Online Mental Health Resources:
Interfaith Network on Mental Illness – online programs and a good weekly newsletter
Symptoms of Depression from WebMD

Suicide Prevention; National Suicide Hotline; Larimer County Suicide Prevention (Colorado Crisis Support 1-844-493-8255 or text HOME to 741741)

Friends,

Last Wednesday evening I told a story in vespers that I would like to share again. Its title is “Old Joe and the Carpenter” and I first read it in Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales From Around the World by Elisa Davy Pearman. It is a traditional American tale and inspired by Ms. Pearman’s written version I tell it to you in my own words.

Old Joe had lived on his farm all his life. And his father before him and his father before him. And the father before had staked the claim for the land as pioneer back in early days. It was a beautiful piece of land in rolling hills with good pastureland and plenty of room for crops. Joe had married the love of his life and raised his children on the farm. Now his wife was passed on and the children moved to the city. His neighbor across the way who had always been his best friend was his closest companion now. And his wife had also passed and his children gone. They kept each other company, sharing a meal now and then, smoking a pipe, telling stories. 

But one fateful day, they fell out! It seems a calf was found on the neighbor’s land away from a herd and its mom. The neighbor claimed it was his. Joe was fit to be tied! “Don’t you see that the calf has all the markings of my best milk cow! It’s mine!” The fought and argued till neither had much breath left and then to avoid hitting one another, they stomped off! Each to his own house, resolving never to speak to the other again!
            
About two weeks later, one a Saturday morning, Joe had a knock at his door. Early in the morning. Muttering to himself, he went to answer it. “Maybe that old coot has come to his senses and is bringing my calf back!” But when he opened the door there stood a young man with a toolbox at his feet and a knapsack over his shoulder. He had curly hair, a fresh, open face and bright, keen and kindly eyes. He introduced himself as a traveling carpenter and asked Old Joe if he had any work that he might do for him. Joe said, “I certainly do! Follow me!” And he led the young carpenter across the farmyard and into the first pasture and pointed down the hill. 

“Do you see that creek there?” The young man nodded yes. “Well, it weren’t there a week ago! My gol-darned neighbor dug a trench from the pond up there in the hill over-looking both of our farms. Out there all day with his tractor and then he flooded it. The creek runs right along our property line. We used to go back and forth all the time but then he decided that a stray calf he found that was obviously mine – same markings as my best milk cow – belonged to him. And we had words and I never want to speak to that lying son of a gun again! He dug the creek bed to separate our land….now I want you to build me a fence all along the creek so that I don’t have to see it or his land or him ever again. There is lumber and posts and nails, all you might need, in the barn. Can you do it?” 

The young carpenter agreed and set to work carrying all the supplies he would need from the barn down to Joe’s side of the creek bed. Joe thanked him and then hitched his team to his wagon and went into town for supplies, just as he did every Saturday. The carpenter worked all day, not even stopping for lunch, measuring and sawing and hammering. As the sun began to set, he finished up and began to clean up and gather his tools, put away the lumber scraps in the barn. And Joe returned from town. He drove into the farmyard with his wagon full of supplies. As he jumped down to unhitch the horses, he looked for the young carpenter to see how he had progressed with the fence. 

What did he see? Instead of a fence there was a beautiful little footbridge going across the creek. And coming across the bridge was his neighbor. Joe hurried down to meet him. The neighbor said, “Joe, I’m bringing your calf home. I’m so sorry! Your friendship is more important that any calf…in fact, it’s the most important thing to me! Thank you for building this bridge.” Joe said, ”Aww…keep that calf! I don’t need it. Your friendship is the most important thing in the world to me! And as for the bridge…well, it was this young fella’s idea.” Joe kind of hung his head and said,” I told him build a fence.” His mouth crooked up at the corner in a grin and he began to laugh! And so did his neighbor. They laughed till tears were funning down their faces and they were holding their sides. 

The young carpenter laughed with them as he shouldered his knapsack and picked up his toolbox. Old Joe pulled the man’s pay out of his pocket and handed it to him. Then said, “Look here, young man, you do great work! Why don’t you stay around these parts? I’m sure we could help you get all the work you need?” The carpenter said, “Well, I thank you kindly. But I have to be on my way. I have other bridges to build.” And with that he shook the hands of Old Joe and his neighbor and headed toward the road whistling a joyful tune. 

And that’s the story of Old Joe and the Carpenter.
 
Now I invite you to prayerfully consider these questions:

• Do I have situations in my life that need a bridge instead of a fence? 
• What resources do I need to build that bridge? Teachers, companions, friends, "tools", prayers, ideas?
• Where am I most needed as a bridge builder - inside myself, in my family, community, school, the world?       

Blessings on the bridge building journey,

P.S. For those of you who resonated with my sermon from Old Town, “First or Last?” check out Brene Brown’s “Unlocking Us” podcast interview with Sonya Renee Taylor, “My Body is Not an Apology.” Great food for thought and action in light of our work as laborers in God’s circular realm of justice and love. No firsts or lasts, just all beloveds!

Dear Plymouth,

I’m back! Catching up on email, helping two new staff members get up to speed, trying to remember the deadlines for getting in staff reflections, bulletins, Overview announcements, etc. And connecting with you one by one through email, phone, rare chance encounters in the office. Leading worship yesterday through our yearly practice of Instant Sermons was great fun and I loved hearing the questions. They always help me feel so much closer to you.

As I left in July, I wrote to you that I hoped to encounter the Holy moment by moment even in the midst of the nitty gritty – “taking out the trash, picking up puppy poop, doing the dishes, etc.” I thought of that hope several times and wondered, “Am I accomplishing my mission? Am I letting go and living in the moment?” Isn’t it amazing that even when we set out to rest, to just be, we find it so hard to set down our accomplishment mindset? The voices in our heads that say, “What did you do today? Did you move any farther in the building of your life? Did you get better at what you want to accomplish?” are tyrannical! I did have moments of “being”, in play, in reading, in laughing with Hal and friends, in three wonderful trail rides at Ring Lake Ranch. I did not have quite as many quiet meditation moments due to an active puppy. These will return, in time.

Anne Lamott, a wonderfully funny, poignant and deeply thoughtful writer, has a book titled, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. I have yet to read this book, but the title is right on. (And having read other Lamott books I can highly recommend her writing.) “Help,” “thanks,” “wow” are three ways to stay in the moment in life and in prayer. I know I had these moments on sabbatical. “Help” me be patient with this puppy, with myself, with our government! “Thanks” for the wonder of growing my own tomatoes and eggplant, arugula and pumpkins in our backyard, for the antics of puppies that make me laugh, for a week in a beautiful place where someone else cooked delicious food and I reconnected with old friends! “Wow, Holy One!” Creation is astoundingly and inexpressibly beautiful! “Wow” - that sky and those clouds and those multi-colored cliffs that surrounded me as I road horseback through the wilds of the Wyoming’s Wind River basin. “Wow!” as I gazed at 1500 year old petroglyphs made from the prayer images of indigenous people who lived on this same land that was welcoming me with open arms as it had welcomed them.

So as I return to ministry with you in this strange fall of 2020, I say, Help and Thanks and Wow! “Help” us learn more together, and learn more deeply, what it means to be the people of God in the midst of pandemic, protest and political elections! “Thanks” for the beloved community of Plymouth as we learn to connect in new ways in the midst of social distancing! “Wow, Holy One!” You are Love and Love is with us always! In times of darkness and in times of light. You accompany us moment by moment. Even when we are not watching.

Blessings to you my fellow travelers as we journey together,

Dear Plymouth,

I am writing this reflection as I head into my short sabbatical time (July 20 – August 22). I want to thank you for affording your called ministerial staff with this kind of time away to be renewed for ministry! It is a great blessing.

Many of you have asked, “Where are you going? What are you going to do?” Well, current circumstances prevent me going much of anywhere. I am very fortunate that we have a lovely backyard and garden with a new sitting area under our apple trees and a new hammock. This is where I will go! And what will I do? I will spend as much time as possible in being rather than doing.

What is being time? I don’t know about you, but my mind starts scheduling my day the minute my feet hit the floor each morning. “Where is my list of work tasks? What needs to be done to keep our household running, laundry, cleaning, cooking? Where is the new puppy? What does she need to learn today?” You know your own drill. And I try to incorporate a few minutes…maybe even 20… of being time into my morning routine for prayer each day. I try to remember to “pray without ceasing” throughout the day as I encounter the conundrums and joys of work and home and just life. There are many distractions, as you know! Now it’s time to go deeper to develop new habits.

The word and concept of “sabbatical” comes from “sabbath,” a day that you keep as “holy,” mindful of the Holy One, God. During these weeks away I will endeavor (and pray) to wake up with the “Holy” on my mind as my feet hit the floor. Upon waking I hope to be mindful of the sacredness of taking the puppy out first thing, the sacredness of coffee, of the birds at the feeder, of the sun and the clouds, of the news, of the dreams I remember, of the reading and journaling during the day. As I write, I am not imagining a choir singing “Ahhhh” somewhere as background music to an idyllic video of my daily routine. I am imagining what it is like to live the nitty gritty of each day dedicated to and in relationship with God, even the taking out of trash and compost, the dusting, the pick-up of puppy poop, the heartbreak of our current times.

A sabbatical, a sabbath time, is the time to practice this. I try to practice it one day a week or more likely a half day a week when I am working. It often gets interrupted with my distractions. I am hoping that practicing sabbath being more mindfully for this set period of time will further embed it in the habits of my mind, heart and soul so that when I return to ministry in late August there will be new focus and sustenance for pastoral care and leadership. That as I resume the list of ministerial tasks, I will bring with me the habit of the practice of being mindfully connected to the Holy no matter what I am doing. It will always be a practice never a “perfect.“

I invite you to set aside sabbath time in your life. Discover what it is for you to “remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy.” The root of the English word “holy” that translates the Hebrew word for “sacred” meant “whole.” What practice do you need to invite you into sacred wholeness in relationship with the Holy One?

Many Blessings! Until August 23rd…

"How do we live a life worthwhile of our breath?"
- Ocean Vuong, poet, novelist, professor

This morning as I walked in our beautiful Colorado sunshine, I listened to Vietnamese American poet and novelist, Ocean Vuong, as he was interviewed by Krista Tippet on her podcast, On Being. I was not familiar with him or with his work before today. He is a young man of amazing intellect and insight, creativity and sensitivity. The podcast is definitely worth a listen! Such a rich conversation about how language makes our lives, sets the tone and parameters for our values, creates our world. Recorded this past March just before the pandemic shut-down, you would think Vuong and Tippet were conversing just yesterday in the midst of the two pandemics we are living with now, Covid-19 and the much older, Covid-1619, or the systemic racism our country has had since its beginning. 
 
Vuong reflected on his Buddhist practice of “death meditation,” a practice in which one meditates on the impermanence of life, the inevitability of death and our fear of dying. Vuong spoke of the vitality this meditation practice brings to his life and to his creativity. It brings him to the question, “How do we live a life worthwhile of our breath?” 
 
A life worthwhile of our breath…this phrase can take us so many places. To Genesis 1 where the world was created as the Spirit of God “breathed” upon the waters of the deep bringing forth life. To the automatic breathing that keeps us alive without our thinking consciously about it. To the concentration on our breath that can slow and calm our minds and hearts in meditation and prayer. To George Floyd’s last cry, “I can’t breathe!” Breath is life. Breath is sacred. What will we create in the breath of our life? “How do we live a life worthwhile of our breath?”
 
It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the grief of our times. I feel it everyday. The grief of illness and unemployment, the grief of mourning for loved ones, the grief of injustice. Our first instinct as human beings in the face of such overwhelm is to push away the pain and find what to DO. Yet spiritual teachers of all traditions call us first to BE and even to be with the pain. We cannot change a troubled situation, a tragic systemic injustice, or offer change to another hurting person unless we have allowed ourselves to be changed first. Change begins with us. 
 
Tedious as it may seem, the change for justice, the healing of enmities, the transformation of minds and hearts for loving one another, all these begin with allowing our selves, our souls, to be transformed by God’s love. We begin by accepting the love of God and welcoming it into our very bodies. We slow down for at least some moments of each day to Breathe. To consciously let in the Breath of Life acknowledging it comes from Love and will heal our overwhelmed souls; then breathing out the Breath of Life knowing only Love can heal the world. 
 
I challenge you to practice breathing this way five minutes each day. See where it might lead you in living a life worthwhile of your life-giving breath. Concentrate on your breathing, on Love, not on what you want to change when your five minutes is over. Allow the Spirit to transform your nervous, anxious thoughts, your feelings of not being enough or doing enough. Just Breathe in Love. Pause and let it be in you. Then Breath out Love and trust God is ahead of you in the work for justice and healing our world needs. Pause and trust. Then Breathe again. Just BE in the Breath of Life. For five minutes. See what happens for the rest of your day. (And, of course, you can always repeat when needed!)
 
“How do we live a life worthwhile of our breath?”
With you in hope on this pandemic journey!

Blessings,

P.S. If you want more information on meditation/breath prayer practices, please let one of your pastors know. We have lots of resources. One place to begin is WeRiseNow.org, a site for Christian meditation practice that provides daily emails with a recorded guided meditation practice. One of the founders, the Rev. Dr. Robert Martin, is a dear friend of mine. 

“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, 
and in between them, there are doors.”
(William Blake, late 18th/early 19th century poet)

Blake’s words are visceral, evoking muscle memory as well as emotional memory. We know what it is to move from one space to another, opening a door, crossing its threshold. We normally do not think anything of it in our everyday lives. But when we speak of the meaning of liminal, “of or pertaining to a threshold,” when we think of liminal space in our lives, in our souls, we receive Blake’s image with a powerful punch. The crossing from known to unknown (and perhaps, back again) may be exciting, quick, full of fiery imagination. It may be excruciatingly slow, inch by inch, from light into darkness, before there is the possibility of finding light again. Or something in between. 
 
Whatever it is, to be in liminal space is to stand on the threshold just before taking that next step into the next room. It is a place of grace that usually does not feel particularly grace-full, but often hard, dangerous. As Father Richard Rohr has written it is a place of such vulnerability and openness that there is room for something genuinely new to happen. “We are empty and receptive—erased tablets waiting for new words. Liminal space is where we are most teachable, often because we are most humbled.”
 
In this global pandemic, we are all currently in liminal space. We have been sheltering in place for two months or more. “Staying safer at home” has become known to us. It’s become our routine. And now there is talk of re-opening society. Finding, hopefully, safe ways to come together again in person. For some of us this is such welcome talk! For others it is terrifying. For others it just creates a low-level sense of dis-ease. And some of us are in the lonely place of knowing we will not re-enter society until there is a vaccine….and when will that be?! All of these reactions to moving into the unknown of what our new “normal” will look like as we continue to grapple with this pandemic leave us in liminal space. 
 
I want to reassure you that your pastors and church staff are considering ALL of the reactions above as we move from the “known” of sheltering in place, livestream worship, and Zoom meetings into the “unknown” of what is next. We do not yet have ready answers or safe formulas that can make the “unknown” of re-opening feel entirely comfortable or doable. We are using the scientific data and the health precautions from trusted Colorado and national institutions of health, as well as research and models from national church leaders in multiple mainline denominations, to fuel our vision for Plymouth’s re-opening. 
 
The bottom line is that “church” is going to look different from here on out. It will never look entirely the same as it did in February of this year. What has not changed is the Love of God that brings us together, calling us to worship, to care for one another, to deepen our spiritual lives in study and prayer, to minister beyond our walls to those who are in need. You all know that the church is not the building, as beloved as it may be with its memories of fellowship and worship. The church is You. It is US held in the creative container of God’s love. 
 
So, know that as your pastors and staff, we miss you all!! Know that we are here for one another by phone and Zoom and livestream. Know that the connection of our sacred bond as community is not broken and cannot be even by a global pandemic. Be patient with yourself, with your family, with your church leadership and community as we move from our current “known” across the threshold into the “unknown.” “Known” and “unknown” – it is all held in the heart of God.
 
With you on this journey,
Jane Anne

Dear Plymouth,

How is your soul?

I have a dear, longtime friend, who often begins her conversations with this question, “How is your soul?" I always appreciate that someone cares about my soul, that someone draws my attention to it in the midst of life’s distractions. It is always a blessing to hear this question. So I ask you, friends, in these days of sheltering in place, of isolation, and even quarantine for some of you, how are your souls?

At times, my soul seems numb to all the pain and suffering in the world, to the discord and dysfunction of national leadership, to the extreme needs of those who do not have jobs they can work at home or those who do not have homes at this time. I cannot take it all in and I feel helpless.

At times, my soul is grateful for the greater abundance of silence and solitude I am having. More time to establish a deeper prayer and meditation routine. More time to read. More time to just BE. Time to watch the birds at the bird feeders. Time to walk and watch spring emerge.

At other times, my soul is impatient! Even impatient to the point of anger! Impatient with the lack of supplies for our medical workers in a country that sees itself as the most abundant in the world. Impatient with people who do not seem to be taking the seriousness of this pandemic to heart. Impatient with those who are not seeing how deeply we are all connected in the world.

This virus has revealed in a terrifyingly clear way that we are all connected in creation. No one is an island, no community is an island, no state or country is an island. The earth and all humanity and all living flora and fauna and the air we breathe and the land we live on and that sustains us with food and shelter – we are connected. My soul is eager, impatient to discover how we will take this to heart as a lesson hard learned from the pandemic.

At times my soul is very sad as it does take in the gravity and the immensity of the suffering emanating from the consequences of these times. At times my soul is worried and fearful for the health of loved ones, for the economic plight of so many friends who work in a gig economy. At times my soul is weeping from the pain.

At times my soul takes heart in a renewed sense of the presence of the Holy One who is still mysteriously holding all of creation in Love. These are the times I cherish. These are the times I have not said my prayers in haste, rushing off to the next meeting. I have taken the time to sink into the presence of the Holy, who I am sensing these days as Mother. I take time to pour my heart out to the Divine that is strong, powerful and compassionate, full of comfort. The time I spend with the Holy empowers me to move back into work, into relationship and into finding the seemingly small things that I can do to make a difference during these times of fear, uncertainty, and dis-ease.

How is your soul?

I invite you to ponder this question today and throughout your week, even as we hear the news of “re-opening” measures. What will you keep from your time of isolation? What will you let go from the time before pandemic that you have discovered you do not need? How is your soul in its divine relationship with the Holy directing you to move ahead as we continue to shelter one another in this completely connected world God has given us?

I leave you with words from Psalm 116 taken from the book, Psalms for Praying, by Nan Merrill.

Receive my love, O Beloved, You who hear my voice and my supplication.

You incline your ear to me, and I will call upon You with trust
for as long as I live.
When the snares of fear encompass me, when the pangs of loneliness envelop me,
I suffer distress and anguish.
Then I call upon you, my Rock: “O Beloved, I beseech you, come to my aid!”

Gracious are You and just; the Heart of all hearts is merciful and forgiving.
You preserve the simple; though I am humbled, You lift me up.
Return, O my soul, to your rest; for You, O Loving Companion Presence,
bestow grace upon grace, a balm for my soul.

You raise me up to new life; You dry my tears,
and guide my feet on straight paths.
Now, I walk hand in hand with Love in the land of the awakened ones.
I keep my faith, even in times of great turmoil;
I invite others to awaken to the joy of your Presence.

Blessings on the journey,

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
                                    From St. Patrick’s Breastplate
 
I write to you today sitting at my kitchen island as we all hunker down further into this time of self-isolation and quarantine. I just heard that my gym was closed for 30 days and my acupuncturist for 1-2 weeks. We will hold staff meeting today by Zoom conference calling. It seems there is another confirmed case of Covid-19 in Loveland. (Please pray for those involved! You can read about it here at the Larimer County website.) These are different, interesting, anxiety-producing times. 
 
Yet life goes on...And good things happen! Today we will celebrate Christopher Chorpenning’s 19th birthday with pizza and Guinness and Torte della Nona, our favorite Italian dessert! (Hal is making it as I write....wish I could insert the wonderful smells of custard and toasted pine nuts into this reflection!) Yesterday I walked in the sunshine and took pizza to a friend who had just moved and broken her hand in the process. Today we are receiving moisture that we always need in Colorado. What are you celebrating today?  
 
The quotation above from St. Patrick’s Breastplate, an ancient Irish loricaor hymn, reminds me that God in Christ is always with us, protecting, accompanying, healing. I have prayed with it often. The Breastplate is a very long 5th century hymn in the style of Druidic poetry that is attributed to St. Patrick. Each verse begins with the phrase, “I arise today” or “I bind to myself today” and calls for the divine protection of God in the Trinity, God as Creator, God as Christ, God as Spirit. (You can read the whole of it at this link.) 
 
Legend has it that St. Patrick sang this when an ambush was laid against him and his followers by the High King Learyto prevent him from going Tara to share the faith at the High King’s seat of power. A miracle happened and it appeared  to those lying in ambush that St. Patrick and his monks were wild deer with a fawn following them. (Thus, the hymn is also called, The Deer’s Cry.) They were protected because know that Patrick and his followers shared the faith all across Ireland. 
 
I invite you today to and in the coming days to use the portion of St. Patrick’s hymn quoted above as a prayer of protection when you are anxious You can also sing it! Below are words from a hymn in our hymnal that uses another portion of the Breastplate. And there is a link in the first line to an American choir singing the same tune in our hymnal. 

I sing as I arise today! 
I call on my Creator’s might: 
The will of God to be my guide, 
The eye of God to be my sight,
The word of God to be my speech, 
The hand of God to be my stay, 
The shield of God to be my strength, 
The path of God to be my way.
Alleluia, alleluia,
Alleluia, alleluia,
Alleluia, alleluia,
Alleluia, alleluia.

I leave you with a final link on the very Irish morning here in Colorado...our weather fits what they call “a soft day” in Ireland....I arise today. This is a beautiful contemplative rendition of St. Patrick’s hymn with prayerful pictures of Ireland and people celebrating the joy of God’s love. 
 
Beannacht! Blessings in Gaelic!

With you on this wilderness journey,

PS....Don’t forget our livestreaming worship coming to you Sundays at 11 am on our Facebook page!

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ... a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! Matthew 17.1-2, 5

We’ve been at this historical site before, but not in any
history we remember.
The present has been cloaked in cloud before, and not on
any holy mountaintop.”
From “Interesting Times”by Mark Jarman

This coming Sunday is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany. It is Transfiguration Sunday when we celebrate the mysterious story of Jesus’ mountaintop experience of God’s blessing and his disciples’ experience of Jesus illuminated by God’s presence with him and within him. It is a story of revelation. As readers of the gospel we are prompted to consider, “who is this One that shines with Divinity?“

We are also prompted to consider, “What happens to disciples when they see the face of God on the mountain? How are they changed?” As readers we are the disciples experiencing this mystery. Transfiguration is akin to transformation but not quite the same. It has something to do with seeing the “real” or the “true” or the “holy” within the everyday or the familiar. Transfiguration is being in the present moment “cloaked in cloud” whether or not we are on a mountaintop. It has something to do with being transformed by seeing transformation, seeing the transfigured.

On the mountaintop Jesus is revealed as at his baptism as God’s beloved, God’s revelation of God’s self. We know Peter, John and James were changed by this experience in some dramatic way. Maybe like us who are puzzling over the story to this very day, they puzzled over it all their lives. Maybe not since they were eye witnesses to the resurrection which the transfiguration of Jesus foreshadows. Still the story of the transfiguration of Jesus is mysterious, one to be pondered. Like metaphor it asks to be looked at sideways and talked about indirectly. Perhaps this is also, the only way the disciples could take in Jesus’ shining appearance. I do know that the story must be held in balance with the stories of preaching, teaching, and healing that we encounter after Jesus and his companions descend from the mountaintop. In these stories, Jesus shines with true humanity steeped in God’s ways. Perhaps the Transfiguration is really understood best in tension with shininess of everyday life.

As we head toward Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday and Lent, I invite you to consider this question, “Who is this One that shines with Divinity and with true Humanity?” Do the stories of this One change your present moment? Will you let the presence of the Holy One shine through the stories to transfigure your soul?

Blessings on the journey,

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined”
(Isaiah 9:2).
 
“.... the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned"
(Matthew 4:16).

Darkness and light are inextricably bound because we cannot experience and understand one without the other. It is easy to think of darkness as intrinsically “bad” and light as “good.” In the dark we can get lost or hurt because we cannot see our way. Darkness as “bad” or “evil” has led humankind to conscious and unconscious attitudes and action of racism throughout the centuries. Yet we know that darkness is also very soothing, even comforting, at times. We know that too much light can be harmful, blinding and burning. Though we celebrate light in Epiphany as revelation, darkness can also reveal newness and nurture growth.
 
The 16thcentury mystical poem, “The Dark Night,” used the metaphor of darkness to signify the soul’s journey to union with God who is ultimately unknowable. The author, St. John of the Cross, was imprisoned in solitary confinement, literally in a dark hole-like room, for being a heretic. Praying through his experience of dark despair he discovered the only light in his experience was that which burned in his soul, his longing and love for union with God. He found that darkness was a guide more certain than the brightness of the mid-day sun and led him to the joyful revelation of God’s presence, even in the dark time of his persecution. 
 
We begin a new calendar year and a new programmatic/budget year at Plymouth with the anticipation of God’s guidance through the unknown ahead in this new year and new decade. We begin in a dark time for our country. (As I write the impeachment trial of the president is just getting underway in the Senate.) We are all longing for justice and for new ways to bridge the divisions in our land that are so destructive. We begin in the season of Epiphany which holds stars to guide us through the darkness and on unknown ways. We begin with hope and prayers for deeper union with God as God’s people and God’s beloved community named Plymouth. 
 
May we remember that those who walk or sit in darkness – i.e. US – have already been provided with God’s great light of presence and love. No matter what comes, we belong to God and God is with us. This is the foundation of our guidance through times of darkness or light. 
 
With you on the journey,

JOIN ME THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2020
FOR
PLYMOUTH’S ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

The meeting begins just after the 11 A.M. service with a potluck lunch.
Bring your favorite main dish, salad, side dish or bread to share.
The Congregational Life Board will provide dessert!
After the meal we will hear from our lay leaders on Leadership Council
and our Senior Minister on the state of the church.
We will receive and vote after discussion on our 2020 budget
and the slate of nominations for the church boards and committees.

COME BE IN BELOVED COMMUNITY AS WE DO THE WORK OF CHURCH TOGETHER!

The 2019 Annual Report and 2020 budget can be accessed here.

How many times were you asked as a child, “What do you want for Christmas?” How many times have you asked this? On the surface this is a very material question, a question that can lead straight into the consumer side of this holy season. Yet underneath there is an existential longing....”What do you want?” We continue to ponder this question no matter our age? “What do you want?” Health and happiness for our families, peace on earth, justice for all...housing and food abundance for all...healing for the earth...and end to war....an end to the climate crisis.....
 
What do you want during this holy time, this last week of Advent that leads to the Sunday when we light the candle of Love? What do you want from your heart, from the soul house within your heart? 
 
Joseph, the father of Jesus, just wanted propriety, no drama, no scandal, when he discovered that his betrothed, Mary, was with child. The implication in our gospel reading from Matthew 1 this coming Sunday is that Joseph probably did not buy into the “with child from the Holy Spirit”explanation... “...being a righteous man and unwilling to expose [Mary] to public disgrace,” he planned to break off the betrothal quietly. However, the dreams of God got in his way.
 
“...just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit ... you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." ... When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” .... (from Matthew 1:18-25)
 
What do you want during this holy time, this last week of Advent that leads to the Sunday when we light the candle of Love? Are you willing to listen to the dreams of your heart and soul? Will you listen to the dreams of God in scripture to discern what you want?
 
I leave you with a poem titled, “What We Want” by Linda Paston from her book, Carnival Evening. Ponder with the poet, “What do you want this Christmas?”

With you on this final week of our Advent journey,

This past Sunday a pilgrim came to us at Plymouth as our candidate for the full-time Associate Minister position. Her name is the Rev. Carla Cain. I am very grateful to say that she was welcomed warmly and the vote on her candidacy at the congregational meeting was overwhelmingly “Yes!” Thanks to all of you who were with us at the Meet and Greet time for Carla on Saturday, and all who were with us on Sunday to welcome her in worship and to welcome her onto our Plymouth staff! I look forward to working with her as a colleague. And I look forward to helping you get to know her as one of your pastors. Her first day on the job will be Sunday, December 15th, the third Sunday in Advent. I hope you will be at church that day! (If you are still catching up on this staff development, you can find info on Carla and her call as our full time Designated-Term Associate Minister here.) 
 
The above description of being a pilgrim truly fits the feeling of coming to a new ministerial position. You come with your past experiences of ministry, with so many dear memories of past relationships with parishioners you have loved, of friends you have ministered with as a colleague. It is poignant, and a little scary, to leave these cherished and comfortable ways of being behind and to strike out into unknown territory. It is also exciting and “cloaked in hope” for the new relationships that will be established, the new forms of ministry that you will encounter, the new worship services you will lead, classes you will teach, sermons you will write. I can tell you from my experience of Carla that she does come with hope and determination to share the good news of God-with-us in Jesus the Christ here at Plymouth. She brings a hugely compassionate heart, a keen mind, a great sense of humor and a spirit deeply in touch with the Spirit. She is equipped to encourage us and to challenge us as we continue to go deeper in faith and in expanding the realm of God’s love and justice here in northern Colorado. 
 
Being a pilgrim is not limited to those of us in professional ministry. We are ALL pilgrims on the way in life. How is your life like the pilgrim described in Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen’s quote above? What “new” journey are you setting out on this week? It could be large or small. Either is significant. How do the “unseen bonds of memory” tether you? Do they ground you with confidence? Or are they holding you back? What gives you hope this day? What is woven together in the cloak of hope that protects you on the journey? Where are you determined to go? Baby steps count on the journey! Who are your companions as you “trudge toward something new?” 
 
You know what I will say next, right? You are not alone! God is always with you on your journey. God comes, bidden and unbidden, to trudge along side each of us. Sometimes in the presence of prayer, sometimes in the presence of a single soul friend, sometimes in the presence of community. At Plymouth we all come to worship each week as pilgrims, with cherished and not so cherished memories of the past, with cloaks of hope that may need repair or may be large enough to share. We come trudging with determination to be together in God’s presence and to welcome all who may to stop by on their journey to worship with us. Thanks be to God for the journey!
 
With you in Spirit,

It’s Stretch Time at Plymouth! We have a Big Stretch Goal in our 2020 budget! Let’s rejoice! Stretching makes us strong! This Sunday is Consecration Sunday, the day we bring our pledge cards to the communion table in worship and ask God to bless them. (If you won’t be here, you can pledge early online or by mail or in the office.) 
 
According to the Harvard Medical School website and David Nolan, a physical therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital: Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints......Regular stretching keeps muscles long, lean, and flexible, and this means that exertion "won't put too much force on the muscle itself," says Nolan. Healthy muscles also help a person with balance...
 
What does this have to do with our 2020 budget? We have grown as a church, built muscle strength in staff and programming. We built a governance structure that breathes life into our aerobic fitness as we agilely recruit volunteers who respond to the crucial issues of our times and develop the spiritual formation of our congregation. We are larger and stronger that we were  ten years ago with more professional staff that give us better infrastructure. 
 
Now it's time to stretch ourselves with a large budget goal for 2020 so that we maintain our muscular flexibility in our growing staff support of God’s work through Plymouth. We need to stretch so we can have a larger range of muscular motion in our extravagant welcome to the northern Colorado community and to CSU students, staff and faculty. With a larger congregation we need to maintain healthy balance in our programming and in balancing the work shared between staff and volunteers. Stretching keeps us flexible and agile, as well as strong and  balance, for the movement of the God’s Holy Spirit in our mission and ministry as a vital congregation. 
 
This past Sunday, our conference minister, the Rev. Sue Artt, thanked us for the great generosity of Plymouth as we are the largest contributor in the conference to Our Church’s Wider Mission that provides basic support to our conference and national staff. We also excel in our four other special UCC offerings and our own community-wide and international mission giving. Sue also challenged each of us to S-T-R-E-T-C-H in giving to our 2020 budget so we can continue our strong work for God’s realm. She quoted the late Joseph Campbell, who said, “Money is neither spiritual or non-spiritual. Money is congealed energy. Releasing it is releasing life’s possibilities.” 
 
The energy of money can release life’s possibilities when spent well. When our intention, integrity, and stretching toward a meaningful goal are aligned, we release the energy of our treasure, time and talent. Generosity is generated in surprising ways! (If you were not hear this past Sunday morning, I invite you to listen to Sue’s sermon.)
 
The strength and flexibility of Plymouth as an outpost of God’s realm in a troubled world will only be maintained through the willingness of each Plymouth member to take the risk of releasing our individual congealed energies of money. Where can you take the risk of stretch in your budget? Some of us can release large amounts of money’s congealed energy. Others small. Either way it’s the s-t-r-e-t-c-h that counts. 
 
Join me in this opportunity to stretch and release God’s possibilities through Plymouth.
 
Blessings,

Do you ever want to make a bigger difference in the world?  Are you overwhelmed at times with all the issues that need crucial action and wonder how you should take action? Me, too!
 
I often wonder what difference I make in the big issues of our times. I am not regularly on the front lines protesting. Though I vote each time I get the chance, my time seems taken up with everyday actions that while helpful to others, don’t shift political or economic policy. I am deeply moved by so many human rights issues, environmental issues, peace making issues. I pray for the people on the front lines of these issues – people in our own congregation. I pray for God’s mysterious healing action in these issues. Still I am at a loss as to how I can tangibly help.

This past Sunday night as I led our 6 p.m. service I had an epiphany about a way that I am making a difference of which I was not aware. This revelation came as I watched the most recent Stewardship video for the third time that day:

The video features Arpi Miller, one of the most active members of Plymouth’s Immigration Ministry Team. Arpi told of our Ministry Team’s involvement with a legal clinic for Dreamers after the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival in September 2017. I realized at a deeper level that through my yearly pledge to Plymouth, I had helped these young people. The termination of DACA broke my heart. So unfair. However, my financial support of Plymouth made a difference in the lives of people I don’t know, but care about deeply.
 
It came back to me that the pledge Hal and I make each year to support Plymouth’s mission and ministry has a ripple effect in ways that we may never know.  Not only do we support the obvious – our three worship services, wonderful music program, our Christian formation programming for all ages, our mission and outreach in the Fort Collins community and beyond, our numerous fellowship opportunities, our beautiful building and grounds and our staff – we also make a difference in the world in surprising and unexpected ways.
 
We have a big challenge at Plymouth this year as we pledge to support our 2020 budget. Some years our budget increases in incremental ways. This year we need to make a leap of faith for the future. We need to increase our pledge income 15.4% so we can continue to make big differences in the life of our faith community and in the wider world.
 
On Sunday, our guest preacher, Dr. Charles Buck, spoke to us about “heavenly economics,” God’s economics of abundance and plenty rather than human economics of scarcity, limitations and competition. (If you weren’t able to be in worship check out his sermon here.) Dr. Buck encouraged us to look around and recognize God’s abundance. Its everywhere! Then to share it! Like love multiplies when we share love, so does God’s abundance. In fact we see abundance better when we take the risk of sharing it, of working out of heavenly economics. And sharing multiplies abundance, multiplies the difference we make. Think of it. An abundant increase of 15%+ in our budget will make an exponential increase in the difference we can make.
 
Join Hal and me in an increased faith promise pledge to Plymouth in 2020. Click here to make your pledge. Let’s make a BIG difference in God’s world!
 
Blessings,