Dear Community UCC Members and Friends,
The season of Waiting is upon us! On Wednesday, the stores emptied of pumpkins and cobwebs and were filled with jingle bells, lights on strings and towering Douglas fir trees. There is a new and growing season rising up not only in department stores, but in our souls.
As we have explored the character of Jesus throughout this rather ordinary season, the power of story continues to emerge. Whether in parable, prophecy or personal narrative, we find Jesus pointing us towards commonality; insisting on equality and divulging the powers that be of histrionic ploys and plays intended to back Jesus into a corner. Thankfully Jesus is not just in a corner, he is the corner; the cornerstone that the builders have rejected, but upon which God will build a new kindom. As we prepare for the birth of this kindom, as the season of Advent approaches, we are encouraged to dig deep, settle in, give thanks for what and those we have. On Sunday, we will offer thanks and praise for the souls who have passed on from this life to the next; I pray that in our remembering of the dead, we will be nudged towards the living.
May God’s grace rest in our bones, and may God’s Spirit rise in our souls.
Thanks be to God!
Rev. Jenny Shultz-Thomas