Picnic

Hello Friends,
This weekend is a big one for our congregation! Rev. Stephen Sterner, the Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ, will be visiting our congregation. On Saturday he will join in conversation with the UCC churches of Sonoma County about the future of the Church in the 21st Century. This is a conversation that is on-going in our congregation.

Right now, in 2008, a minority of the US population has any religious affiliation at all. Only 15% of 20-somethings have ever set foot in the church. This has broad implications for the Church's survival - our church's survival. Rev. Sterner will help us to think about our changing world and look at ways that we in the church can successfully remain the Church responding to the world from a deep and spiritual center. This is an important meeting for our church as we move into the future. I hope you will try to attend.

On Sunday we have our picnic!! And it will be a fantastic gathering. Our sister congregation in Santa Rosa, First Samoan Congregational Christian United Church of Christ we be joining us for the festivities. Joined by our Santa Rosa Junior College Neighborhood neighbors, we will enjoy the picnic, the worship and the entertainment. Starting at around 1 pm Adwoa Kudoto, the only female master drummer from the country of Ghana will perform. Following that, our Santa Rosa Junior College Neighbors will perform. It will be a great time. Please bring a potluck dish to share for the picnic. But, mostly come to enjoy yourself.

Blessings and Peace,
David

Djembes and the Rhythm of Abundance

A few thoughts:

October is around the corner and as we move into fall we are reminded again of life's rhythms as reflected in the seasons. Each year it happens as Spring moves into summer, into autumn, into winter. Each season brings with it a different experience -- in winter it's the cool rains, in springtime the verdant hills, in the summer the warm air and long days, in fall comes the harvest. In the seasons we see a Rhythm of Abundance as we enjoy God's blessings.

This October and November we will be thinking and praying about the Rhythm of Abundance. God's gifts are all around us and they are sure, just as 3 follows 2 follows 1 as we count in waltz time (3/4 time)-- a beautiful flowing abundance of riches.

Now that Adowa Kudoto, a Master Drummer from Ghana, has joined our congregation, I am learning to play the Djembe, a West African drum. I have noticed a few things. So, in the spirit of the Rhythm of Abundance I'd like to share. I am a rank beginner when it comes to drums and rhythms. I grew up believing that I had no sense of rhythm. Before I started lessons I decided to stop believing that. Perhaps, it worked. At the first lesson (Fridays at 4 pm) I found I could actually move my hands and beat out a rhythm in time. However, I noticed that sometimes it was easier than at other times. And the difference was this: the more I let go -- of thinking about it, of trying to make my hands go at the right place at the right time -- the easier it got. It was as if I had found a beat that was already pulsing. In letting go I more joined the beat than made it happen, discovering something essential about life as pure gift. This, of course, got me thinking about my life, about God's way, and the Rhythm of Abundance.

It seems that God's Rhythm of Abundance is on-going and constant. It is there to be discovered. The gift of God's love moves in our lives in a real and insistent way -- it is for us to join it. Joining this rhythm of abundance is all about letting go -- it is about moving with God's movements in our lives, drumming with God's beat, singing God's song, dancing God dance. Letting go means that we begin to move with what Jesus called "the abundant life." This is not something that we can create or make happen -- it is gift, an eternal gift of presence.

This month we will be talking about God's rhythm of abundance as it applies to the stewardship of our lives. Adowa and her daughter Sena will be taking part in our 10:30 worship services. We will drum with God's beat, sing God's song and dance God's dance. Letting go means that we move with what Jesus called, "the abundant life."

Blessings,
David

Where's God Now?

Dear Friends,
In the course of the last few weeks -- the hurricanes, the plane and train crashes, floods in India, massacres and genocide in Darfur -- there has been ample opportunity for us to ask: Where is God? In the face of profound human suffering it is hard for us to imagine any God at all. Looking at human pain brought on by natural and human causes is enough to make atheists of us all -- or if we are more polite, agnostics (those for whom the jury is still out).

As I was looking at my email this morning, I noticed a number of appeals by organizations addressing the needs present in the face of natural and human-caused disasters. There are people who are trying to help. There are people working hard to relieve pain and distress. These folks wade through flood waters, provide food for hungry refugees, and advocate for those who have no voice. These are people who put their bodies on the line to help defend those who face violence and injustice. I notice such efforts and I am awestruck, much in the same way that I am awestruck as I perceive God working in my life and in the lives of those I know. So, when I ask the question about God's existence now, I say that I see God present in acts of love and compassion for others. But it goes a bit further than that...

When people who act compassionately towards others are asked, "Where is God for you in this?" they often respond, "I am serving God. God is in the person I am helping." When Jesus walked among us, he was not concerned about our reciting rote formula of belief. He did not ask us to hold to any creed. Rather, Jesus responded to the needs of others as they presented themselves to him. Further, through parables and sayings he encouraged us to do the same. In his parable of the Good Samaritan he found God in the relationship between the Samaritan and the man left for dead by the side of the road. This is where we meet the Holy One -- as we open our hearts to the other, to the one in need. After Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, he asked his hearers, "Who acted as neighbor to the man?" They responded, "The Samaritan." "Go and do likewise," was Jesus' response.

Disasters and suffering raises deep philosophical questions. We need to be careful: these questions really only serve to distract us from what is at hand. Jesus told a very concrete story with a very concrete point: "Go out and be a neighbor to others." That's where we will find God.

Blessings,
David

Vital, Attractive and Inviting

Dear Friends,
A living, vibrant spiritual community looks like a tree, a spreading chestnut -- no, we're in California -- an oak with a canopy that gives shade and cools the air as it blows through her leaves. Such a tree, such a community is vital, attractive and inviting.

VITAL
A living, breathing, vital tree is a wonder to behold. Set against the green hillside, her roots spread wide and reach deeply into the earth, her leaves flutter in the wind. You can tell a vital tree -- life abounds -- in it, all around it. Gazing upon such a tree, taking it in, one is moved to stammer in awe. Just so with a vibrant spiritual community -- life abounds: there is strength in community, beauty in togetherness. As the tap root of community sinks deep, people in vibrant spiritual community find, "at root," a connection to the vital source of their lives and the lives of those they love. This, of course, causes folks to wonder, to behold a vital, strong and beautful thing.

ATTRACTIVE
See how our oak tree attracts life? Beneath her branches, cows out to pasture seek her cooling shade. Up high, the birds rest in her branches and the neighborhood boy, chasing off the cows, comes and lies beneath the tree, sleeping under the protective span of her branches. Our spiritual community is attractive like that. People are attracted to the strength of our community, they find shelter in the beautiful togetherness of folks united in common affection. Sensing the depth of relationships they find love embodied, at home in the world. Deep spiritual community is attractive to people.

INVITING
I remember when I was growing up I had my favorite tree. I could climb in her branches, eat lunch in her shade and sit in her coolness on a hot day. She was all I could want in a vital, attractive tree. It took more than one person to reach around her trunk. For that you had to invite others: and that is what I did. One day, out walking in the woods with friends, I lead them to my favorite tree. And soon, we were always meeting there -- it became our clubhouse tree -- making our plans for the day at the foot of this mighty tree. So, the spiritual community. In the forest of spiritual communities we are one among many. People do discover us, stumbling upon us in the forest. However, far more folks are likely to find us as we share the joy of our community with them. So, the challenge is there: let's go out and share this great community that we have found. This means that we will invite people to church. You might ask, "How can I do that?" It’s simple: Trust your community, the joy and consolation you have found here with your spiritual friends, your fellow church members. When you invite, just let others know what is precious to you; let them know of your experience of your spiritual home. More than any catalog of beliefs, or ideas of right or wrong, just let them know the joy that you have found here at First Congregational UCC.

When you consider spiritual community, it is sort of miraculous. Think: how many organizations in your life can you say this about: we are vital, attractive and inviting?

Blessings and Peace,
David