Some events in life bring sadness to your heart by Denise White

Let me step back a little, in 2006 I became the pastor of the Wheeling, WV Community of Christ congregation.  I served in that role until my husband, Blair, and I knew in early 2016 that we would be moving to the Salt Lake City area.  We realized since the Wheeling congregation was very small when the two of us left the congregation, more than likely, it would close.

Even after we moved and we went back home for Christmas we volunteered to plan, preside and speak at the Christmas Eve service (my favorite service of the year!)

By the summer of 2017 the congregation had dwindled to 6 to 8 people.  The decision was made to close the congregation and sell the building.  A Methodist denomination purchased the building. It was one of the denominations that we worked with to provide an Ecumenical Vacation Bible School in the community.

The decision to close and sell the building made me sad, but because I was over 1,800 miles away I was able to put it out of my mind, until this past Christmas Eve. Blair & I was able to “go home” for Christmas so we decided to go and join the Methodist group in “our” building for their Christmas Eve service.

It was very difficult to see the building that we had lovingly built, cared for and worshiped in for so many years “belong” to someone else.  But as we sat and heard the familiar story of the birth of our Lord and Savior the scripture came to mind from Doctrine and Covenants Section 161 verse 5 “ Be respectful of tradition. Do not fail to listen attentively to the telling of the sacred story, for the story of scripture and of faith empowers and illuminates. But neither be captive to time-bound formulas and procedures.”

In the telling of sacred story, we became bound together. In two different groups coming together to listen attentively as one body, we were united as one. We may not believe exactly the same but we came together and listened attentively to the telling of the sacred story in the scriptures. 

Even though my heart was sad at the selling of a building and with the recognition that some of the old traditions will never be the same, I do not want my heart to be captive.  I want to be open to new possibilities.  Change is not easy but neither do I want to be closed off to new possibilities.

Christ: The Ultimate Comfort Food by Tyler Marz

The other day I made Chicken and Noodles, or Chicken and dumplings as some like to call it. This is one of my comfort foods. Homemade broth, slowly poached chicken, rustic hand-rolled egg noodles, thickened slightly to form a creamy comforting concoction that warms the heart, body and soul.

This is a newer comfort food, something I didn’t grow up with. I actually had it for the first time while working as a Baker in Arizona, near the north rim of the Grand Canyon at Jacob Lake Inn. A homey little catch-all, hotel, delicious home cooked food, kind people, and natural beauty. You see, Jacob Lake (which is really a misnomer, as it is a dry mountain with a pond of collected rainwater) is 30 miles from the closest town which doesn’t even have a grocery store. The next closest town with a store is another 10 miles. The “Big City” closest to us is St. George, Utah… 2 hours away (ok it depends on how fast you are driving). So if you didn’t get the picture Jacob Lake is literally in the middle of the most beautiful nowhere.  Surrounded by luscious ponderosa pine and abundant wildlife, you really are in nature. Just a few miles up the road is some of the most beautiful natural meadows I have ever seen. Surrounded by pine and birch trees that turn a glorious golden hue, purple, blue and yellow spots of wild flowers growing in the idilic grassy meadows truly is a sight to behold.

Sundays were treated as special days for employee’s at Jacob Lake. Comfort food and clover leaf rolls, or as they were cleverly called, “three headed rolls” were always on the menu! It was one of these sundays, after a days work (because tourists don’t stop coming on sunday) that I had Chicken and Noodles for the first time. Pure, silky, warm, indulgent comfort. It feeds the sprit too.

You see, Christ knows us individually. For some that might be a hard concept to grasp and I think in reality, all of us who know it, are still learning more about it. Every time we rejoice in triumph, dip our head in sadness, dance for joy, Christ is right there with us. Even in our most beautiful nowhere… He is now here.

Christ is present during the ruckus of little ones during communion, in the silence right before answering a question, in the chilly fall gloom of a doldrum-like day speckled with autumn colors of changing leaves. He is there in a child’s laughter, and music that makes us smile and relieves a tinge of stress. He is there as we lay in bed, looking at the ceiling and wondering what am I doing in life? He is there when our car makes that funny noise for the first time and you wonder, how much is that going to cost? He is there when you think back to how did I get here?, and am I making the right choices?… but then you think back to if life had gone that other way, would you be here now?

I know most certainly I wouldn’t. I can start at multiple points in my life and see how, looking back, had I not been lead down that path I would have taken a completely different fork in the road and gone a different way. While I was attending univer, I was prayerfully figuring our which career path to pursue. I had two that would have been great. After weeks of fasting, prayer and council, I received direct and simple words from God (while in class, in the middle of a conversation with a classmate) that spoke to my heart. And so I pursued that degree. Yet toward the end of my senior year, I realized (after some failure as well) that maybe this wasn’t the path for me. I knew that I wasn’t meant to do this for forever. But I asked God again, if this is my path, I will keep going, If not, I will pursue something else. He told me my second option of a career was ok too. My first thought was, what was the point of me going through all of this then, for me to switch? Well that answer became apparent a year later in my graduation, moving to a new city, pursuing a career that definitely has its challenges, loving myself more, using those things that I learned from my first degree path in my second degree’s field literally every day, and in growing closer to God than I ever had before. In finding a church that gives me room to ponder and grow. That lacks judgment and critique. That allows me to blossom truly into a Son of Him.  That He loves ALL OF ME. And, that He was there on the journey with me, and at every closed door…which He then opened a window. Better yet, He still is there with me.

Christ’s love has no bounds. Neither does His grace.

Christ is there, even in our bowl of Chicken and Noodles. He is the ultimate comfort food.

God is Ever Present by Carla Long

Even though I’ve been a World Church minister for twelve years, there are still many moments when I’m offering ministry that I feel “less than” and not up to the task.  This past Women’s Retreat in Red Cliffe, Utah was no exception.

Charmaine Chvala-Smith was the guest minister and she is so talented and wise and kind and just the person that I always wanted to be, and she and I were helping to plan out our time together with the other women.  We decided that we wanted to explore all kinds of ways of tapping into the divine—through art, scripture, and song.

Charmaine was in charge of the art and scripture part.  We took big sheets of butcher paper, had a friend draw around our bodies, and then we could decorate our bodies in any way that we felt called to, I have NEVER, in my life, been in a room full of women where it was so quiet! Everyone was working diligently and peacefully on their body creation! It was certainly a spiritual moment. 

For the next session, we explored scripture in ways that, perhaps, many of us had never experienced before.  We stepped into a Bible story and found ourselves looking around us for new insights, new smells, new sounds, new ways of “feeling” what the characters in the story were feeling.  It was an awesome experience!

And then…it was my session!  Remember how I said I felt “not up to the task”? Well, my part was all about song, and going deeper with God through song.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy singing.  In fact, when I lived in Australia, I tried out for Australian Idol, made it through the first round, and then was disqualified because I’m an American!  So, I can sing.  But, I’m not (in any WAY, SHAPE, or FORM) an excellent and trained singer.  But, I should have relied on the spirit, because whatever you offer (just like in the parable of the talents), God takes and makes beautiful and bigger than you might have thought.  We talked about the Taize community in France and what song means to them, and then we practiced it.  We sang a few songs out of the hymnal and while the unfamiliar words and notes were hard at first, soon, I could feel that we truly leaned into them, and allowed the music to take us where sometimes we are vulnerable enough to go.  We sang, we lifted our voices, and we were carried away.  What an AWESOME experience.

I’m so grateful for a God who takes what we have to give and multiplies it.  I’m grateful for the reminders that God is ever present.

SPEC by Brittany Mangelson

I delight in any opportunity to get out of my congregation and meet the larger body of Community of Christ. So, when I was asked to attend Spectacular in 2017, I jumped at the chance! Originally my husband and I were asked to be SPEC Today facilitators, but we couldn’t juggle both of us going, so I went and helped with a class, participated in a Q&A and spoke during the Communion service.

Because of childcare, I arrived a few days late when the activities of the week were in full swing. I was hesitant and nervous, feeling like the new kid on campus in more ways than one. A friendly face picked me up from the airport and I was reminded for the millionth time that Community of Christ is my home and my community. Being at Graceland was exciting. I’ve heard countless stories of love and faith found on those grounds. So much history has happened in those dorms without air-conditioning and with those ice cream cones dripping on the sidewalks in the Iowa humidity. I was finally getting to experience it for myself!! Thankfully, I too found faith, love and ice cream at SPEC.

Because I attended as SPEC staff and not delegation staff, I was able to take a bird’s eye view of the week and spend my time getting to know campers and leaders from all over the place. It was wonderful, but a little overwhelming for a new convert to the church like myself. Sometimes, I let the smallness of our church get to me. I wonder if our message is really something that will stick with younger generations. I wonder what my place in Christ’s mission really is. However, that week I was able to let go of all my questions, take a step back and be overwhelmed by the love and potential of this community. As I walked the sidewalk between Walker Hall, the Shaw Center and the football field, I kept thinking of my own three kids and what kind of church they will have in 10-20 years. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for those who have come before me and of those who are paving the way for them. During SPEC, I was able to see the Enduring Principles and Mission Initiatives being lived out among teenagers as they planned and put on daily worship services (sometimes two in a day!) As they worked together to put on an entire play in a week, participated in group activities, and asked hard questions about the relationship between politics and faith. These kids WANT Community of Christ’s identity to be their own. They want to lead. They want to participate. They want an active place at the table.

Coming from Salt Lake, I’ve been lucky to see the church in an area that is growing and thriving. Still, the energy and life at SPEC was unlike anything I could have imagined. The depth of understanding, faith, and leadership potential of the campers fired me up for the future of our church. In the Q&A I participated in with President Veazey, the campers asked questions about our unique identity, our history, why I find my home in Community of Christ, the process of receiving revelation, how they can get involved on a local and global level, and how they can take the spirit of SPEC back into their congregations. I was struck at how deeply they loved what we stand for, but were hesitant to know how they can live those things out in their local congregations. Over and over again I told them things like, “If you have a ministry you want to start, start it! Get a class on the Enduring Principles going. Start a Wednesday night service and sing your way through the hymnal. Contact local shelters or after school programs and see how your congregation can help. Just DIVE in!” It is one of my deepest hopes that they do just that.

I don’t want to downplay the troubled times we are finding ourselves in as a church, but I also don’t want to let the bright, beaming hope of the future go unnoticed. If you have youth in your congregation, use them in every way you possibly can. If you don’t have youth in your congregation, get to know the ones in your neighborhood and invite them to activities. We can do this! The message of Community of Christ is more relevant today than ever before. I saw that as I shared Communion with 1,000 on the lawn of Graceland. I heard that in the songs, the prayers, and the conversations that were happening all around me. The talent we have budding up in our youth is breathtaking. I even joked with the campers who were in the worship class that they should come to Salt Lake and teach the adults in my congregation how to plan a worship service. Except I wasn’t really joking!

As I was waiting to catch my flight home, I opened my kindle and highlighted before me was this verse from Doctrine and Covenants 162,

“Again you are reminded that this community was divinely called into being. The spirit of the Restoration is not locked in one moment of time, but is instead the call to every generation to witness to essential truths in its own language and form. Let the Spirit breathe.”

This sums up my experience with Spectacular. Community of Christ was divinely called into being and that divine call isn’t over. I think there’s something particularly special about the physical old, old path being in Lamoni where SPEC takes place. As disciples, we take that path into wholeness with ourselves, God, and community and then go out into the world in mission. We must seek out and open the doors for those disciples, young and old, who want to witness essential truths in their own language and form. We have something special to share with the world, and as I told the campers, it’s time to DIVE IN!

Crossroads by John Chatburn

When you stand at a crossroads in life, knowing that a step in any direction will lead down paths not previously travel, it can be scary.  Two years ago I found myself at such a crossroads.  I made the decision to ask for a leave of absence from church employment and go back to school to study urban planning. It wasn’t a decision that I came to quickly, but one that I discerned over a number of months.

            It was terrifying because all I had ever really wanted to do was to work for the church.  Going back to school was the first step in a journey that led me down a path that led away from my life long desire to work for the church.  It may seem weird that I wanted to step away from the thing that I had desired most of my life.  Life decisions aren’t always rational, because they are made with the heart and the head, but I knew that even if I stayed in my role with the church, life would not be the same. 

            The past two years I have met people that have made my life fuller, richer, and better.  I can’t imagine life without them just as I can’t imagine life without the people whom I am so richly blessed because of my connection in the church.  The God that traveled with me as I traveled across large chunks of the Western United States for the church also traveled with me into graduate school and into a new profession. 

We are each in charge of our own happiness.  There are a lot of voices in our world that attempt to articulate what will make us happy.  I think that is really only a question that can be answered when you examine your life and figure out what points towards more joy, more love, not just for you, but for your community as well. 

I found happiness working for a group that develops affordable housing for vulnerable populations across the state of Washington.  That doesn’t mean that each day I leave work with a smile on my face, but I do know the work that I do points towards a better world and brings me fulfillment.  It is also work that is consistent with my priesthood calling to the office of Bishop to be a minister of economic justice for the marginalized in our communities. 

            There are no easy answers when you find yourself at a crossroads.  Sometimes when we want so desperately for God to tell us which way to go it can seem like God is silent.  Perhaps God is waiting for us to take a step so God can walk with us.

God Loves Without Expectation by Lavera Wade

A few months back I read the book “The Shack”.  Amazing story, I was deeply touched by the words God loves without expectation.  My first thought after reading these words were, of course, that’s it.

So a couple of nights after finishing the book, and I could not stop thinking about how God loves us.  I have said my prayers and am just drifting off to sleep and I am suddenly filled with the knowledge of how much I love God.  I understand the words, with all my heart, and soul, and might, with every cell in my body.  It is wonderful. 

We talk a lot about how much God loves us.  We fill our prayers with pleas for ourselves and others for healing and peace and guidance knowing because he loves us he hears us.  But what do we do with our love for God

I want to do something with all this love I have for God.  So I try to love without expectation.  Oh boy, loving perfectly without expectation is going to take some practice.  I have come to see each person as Gods precious child so we have a start, but my tiny human mind just jumps in there with my idea about what would make them just perfect.   

Jesus brought the good news that God’s blessing is on the Poor in Spirit, the ones who do not have it all together.  And here I am battling with my idea of how someone should be perfect.  Do I have a lot to learn about God’s love.

I have spent a few days searching the internet for others thoughts on loving God.  There is a lot of talk about evil and sin, and I can see how it is important to put the love of God first, and that love will work as a shield against temptation.

I am looking more for how to love God by loving others. 

I read a lot of Rob Bells work, in his book “What We Talk About When We Talk About God”, he talks about gospel.  To quote ”Gospel is the shocking , provocative, revolutionary, subversive, counterintuitive good news that at your greatest moments  despair,  failure, sin, weakness, losing, failing, frustration, inability, helplessness, wandering and falling short.  God meets you there- right there-in that place and announces “I am on your side”.  That has been true for me.

So how do I start to learn to love others like that?

Every journey begins with a first step and I believe I have taken it.  I suspect I might begin with believing how precious I am, just as I am.

 I suspect that has something to do with really seeing how precious we all are.

I am excited about this journey and look forward to sharing more with you as I grow in the love of God.

May God Bless you and all you.   

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 NRSV by Lori Martell

16 ‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,

¹⁷ “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’^*

25 At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank^* you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.^* 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

   The scripture passage for today reminds us of Jesus’ humanness as he expresses his frustration at people’s lack of understanding, and then his grace as he invites people to rest in him.  We also sometimes fail to understand how to truly emulate Jesus in our lives, and, yet, he still welcomes us into his waiting embrace. 

  We each need a regular reminder of Verses 28-30:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

   This isn’t simple platitude to give us a fleeting sweet warm fuzzy.  This is a heartfelt invitation to let Christ be our safe place in the midst of the storms of life, and to let Christ reorient us when we lose our way. This passage also provides wise counsel for us to take care of ourselves, to seek rest when we are depleted.

   Spend a few minutes exploring Matthew 11:28-30.  We’ll do this in two stages, first a confession, then a celebration. 

Confession time:

Explore with your group this question, “When have you resisted resting physically, spiritually, or emotionally, and how did that go for you?”

Celebration time:

Explore with your group this question, “Being weary or burdened, when have you rested in the Spirit and how did that change your state of being?”

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This scripture is particularly meaningful to me because there have been times in my life I was desperately in need of rest.  Probably the most extreme example came when I was trying to recover from Lyme disease.  Until that point in my life I didn’t really know I had limits.  But then my 30s happened and I found myself fighting for my life. 

I had a complicated case of Lyme that wasn’t diagnosed until I had it for a year or two.  I would improve and then relapse again.  I was exhausted, couldn’t think straight, and was unable to read for pleasure.  I had terrible joint pain and body aches.  At my worst I needed to sleep 16 hours per day.  Eventually, I found myself working at an integrative medical center in Washington DC.  There I ran the practice of one of the preeminent Lyme doctors in the country.  He figured out why I wasn’t healing and came up with a treatment plan that worked.  The treatment, while it worked, took its toll on me.  I didn’t use wisdom and failed to rest even through weeks of daily intravenous antibiotic infusions.  I never missed a day of work.  I never took a break.  I just kept pushing beyond my limits until the candle I was burning at both ends melted in the middle. 

I had to quit my job and we moved from DC to co-house with my parents in the lovely North Georgia Mountains where my family gave me a generous gift of a year off.  After six or seven years of illness, I gave myself the space to finish healing and God met me in that space.  I rested in the Spirit, sometimes laying in the woods right on the ground and just soaking up all that peace.  My hymns were birdsong and the gurgle of cascading streams.  The lush greenery of the mountains spoke to me of the life-giving power of God.  I truly let myself rest and my body, mind and soul responded by healing.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let us pray,

Dear God, Here are your people.  Some of us are weary; and some are burdened with heavy hearts and concerns.  Help us turn to you and trust you and listen to the counsel your still, small voice whispers to our souls.  Gather us in to the safety of your embrace and give us rest.  Give us peace that we may walk with a lighter step and walk even closer with you throughout our week.  In Jesus’ name, Amen