On Sunday, 9/5/21, we began our fall “One Another” series, by celebrating the good word from Romans 12:5: We are members of one another.
When we belong to Christ; we belong to one another. As members of one another, we also celebrate that we are unique; no one is superior – all essential in the essence of who we are. Romans 12:2 declares our new identity as people transformed (not conformed, reformed, or deformed). Through God’s mercies, we’ve been transformed, not only to see ourselves differently but one another.
When we belong to Christ, we are now part of one another; just as parts of a body are physically connected. The call to love one another, therefore, is not abstract and disengaged. We are not working hard to love another person who is removed from us; who is other. Because of Christ, we can no longer look at anybody as “other” – Christ makes us One Another. For Christ holds us together!
The invitation to be in a relationship with one another is rooted in the recognition that we who are “in Christ” do not live
In isolation - we are interdependent
In a hierarchy - we are all essential, needed, and valued.
We are a body! We are eager this fall, dear Union Family, to grow together in what it means to be one another and to love one another as God loves us.
Please share what you are learning on this journey!
Prayers of the People. In God's Expansive Mercy
Scripture: Jonah 3:10 - 4- 6
When you hear someone say Jonah and…
What are the words that follow?
The Whale, of course!
Jonah and the Whale. Even if you do not know much about scripture, in our culture you know this phrase. Just like peanut butter and jelly; salt and pepper; Batman and Robin.
(Actually, in the small book of Jonah – when a large ocean creature is mentioned – it is simply “fish” not whale.)
I want to challenge us to change our phrase..
The powerful message of Jonah is not Jonah and the Whale.
It is Jonah and God’s Mercy.
It is not Jonah in the Whale.
It is Jonah in God’s Mercy.
Today I invite you into the story of Jonah as invitation to encourage You in prayer:
1) God invites us into ONGOING dialogue with him
2) God is with us when we are resistant & reluctant
3) God is with us even in our worst moments & our darkest moments
4) God is with us in our courageous & our Yes moments
5) God is dynamic – not static
6) When we spend time with God we discover MORE of God’s mercy and compassion – not less.
Many of the books of the prophets contain more oracles and proclamations from God than Jonah. It is less story and the lives of the prophets are the subtext
I love the book of Jonah because it is different.
IT is a story of a man on a journey – often going the wrong way! (just like us)
It is a story with weird, unexplainable elements – and therefore meets us in the places of life where we can only summarize to say – that was weird
IT is a story of someone who is far from perfect.
IT is a story about a relationship between God and Jonah
IT is a story about God’s relationship with the larger world.
IT is a story that invites us to enter in at the end and say, “how will we respond to God’s mercy and grace?”
It is a story that reveals God is FOR Creation and not against it.
Take time this week to dialogue with God. I am confident you will be amazed by God’s grace, mercy, and love.
Summer Series: Prayers of the People
Each Sunday of summer we will focus on prayers & Psalms from Scripture that invite us to be real and present with our Creator. From the beginning of Genesis, we encounter our God who communicates with us.
The first recorded conversation between Creator and earthlings is in Genesis 3, when God calls to Adam, “Where are you?” Early on we learn there is a tendency in humans to hide from God. God’s desire for relationship with us, the ones created in God’s image, runs even deeper than our fear. Throughout the rest of scripture we see God revealing that we are created for communication with our Creator!
God hears the cries and hope of our hearts across generations, guiding us to be Spirit-led people who come alongside one another in the cries and hopes of our hearts.
July 11: Ephesians 4:14-21 | A Prayer for the Global Family
Eco-Act 21:10: relationships never end
It’s hard to believe but I (Adrienne) am writing this blog from sunny (but not as hot) San Diego! As many of you know, I have moved down here to start a graduate school program in Climate Science & Policy at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in July.
My journey of vocational discernment has been greatly shaped by my time with you all at Union/415. While I was with you, I was able to discern in community a call to ordained ministry (still in the works but maybe later), social work / thriving communities, environmental action, food justice, and local business that’s for the neighborhood. Though I’ll be focusing on the climate action piece this next year, I am very excited to see how all of my Union/415 experiences and interests will overlap my studies and overall vocation.
Staying Connected
reflecting on the past & looking toward the future
As we look backward and ahead regarding our Eco-Faith initiative and Union’s next iteration as we get back in person, I want to frame these wonderings within the (indigenous) idea that relationships never end. How might we live as People of the Way if relationships never end? How might we commit to acting for the care of all of Creation if we took seriously the earth’s ongoing relationship with us and all our ancestors, past and future? I can’t help but wonder about the timing and care of this message as I’ve heard it twice (maybe 3 times?) during my first week in San Diego.
The first time was from a Japanese American Episcopal priest serving in Okinawa. Nestled in our Zoom boxes, she described how beautiful it has been to get to know the community and indigenous Okinawan culture while walking with her parish through the uncertainties of a still very real COVID pandemic. She detailed how important relationships are to people there (especially the older folks most impacted by the virus) and shared there is no word in Okinawan for goodbye because culturally, relationships never end.
A day or two later, I was reading about the 751 more unmarked graves found at a former residential school in Saskatchewan, Canada. As I mourned these children and the history of genocide that the Church and State perpetuate all over the world, a package arrived. In it was a thank you present from Union: a wool blanket designed by Snoqualmie Tribal Members McKenna Sweet Dorman and Jaime Martin. The timely gift was different shades of brown (so earthy!) and “incorporates designs found on traditional basket weavings from the Puget Sound region” (see above link for more). The last note said:
These blankets were designed with wrapping, gifting, and honoring in mind. The meeting of the design from each side to the other will speak to the continuous quality of time and intergenerational connection through time. The intentional colors of the blanket reflect the use of natural plants, dyes, and materials used by traditional artists. This design speaks to Snoqualmie Tribe's collective past, present and future.
After learning in Kitchen Table Conversations of Native histories and re-imagined futures for Coastal Salish peoples and other Native folks on Turtle Island, this gift thoughtfully wrapped and held me — a tangible reminder of the histories, communities, and relations that have shaped my work at Union, alongside my hopes for deepened Union relationships with local tribes. The blanket’s Native context and Union’s gift remind me, though not quite in the same language: relationships never end…we are all part of Creation…we will always be connected.
This view of time and of relationship encompasses our sense of self in relation to the community, how we treat one another, and the ways we act for the earth. Though I am stepping away, I wonder who might step in and alongside my frank and action-oriented Eco-Faith counterpart: Gary Cooke. I believe that the momentum we’ve all created together is meaningful and one way Union can continue to show God’s deep love for all of Creation.
If you are interested in becoming more involved with Eco-Faith, please email Gary. For the rest of the summer, we will be collecting produce on Thursdays before noon at the McCollough’s in N. Seattle, 415, and the Downey’s in W. Seattle. The beautiful produce from our dispersed community gardens gets distributed to neighbors at Compass House Dexter.
As I hold on to the significance of relationships never ending, I will always think fondly of my Union community! But to be sure, I think I had more profound exhortations and reflections of gratitude for Union in my Sunday Zoom goodbye (Gary’s prayer that sent me on my way had us all crying!). What I do recall from that message is: Union is doing the Kin-dom work in so many areas; keep showing up tangibly!
I will leave the Eco-Faith blog world (for now) with some exhortations from Jesus…a 1st century indigenous Palestinian Jew and Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the cosmos (and all our relations):
“Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.”
- John 14:11-14, MSG
A Good Word: Peace be to the whole community!
Dear Beloved Friends,
We’ve included a calendar in our newsletter and webpage on our new ways of gathering together as more people are vaccinated and the concern about contracting COVID is diminishing. As we provide experimental ways of meeting this summer, both online and in-person, we invite you to be gracious toward yourself and one another.
It is going to take some time to reacquaint and also to make new acquaintances with people we’ve only met on zoom.
As we gather together more frequently, I offer to you the good, vital word of Ephesians 6:23-24
23 Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace. Not just internal peace. Not just peace of mind. Not just peace amongst a few. Peace be to the whole community! As we begin to emerge from our closed doors, greeting one another with an awareness that we are a bit out of practice in our in-person exchanges, may we step forward in faith that Christ who came to piece back together the fragments of our lives so that we can be peacemakers for the whole community is with us.
Peace be to the whole community!
What is each of our part in this? Perhaps a big part is trusting what the Spirit has been doing and revealing to you this past year. What is it that you uniquely and beautifully bring to the whole community that enables peace to grow?
Jesus who came to “proclaim peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near” is the same Living Lord whose Spirit invites us to be people of peace both internally and externally.
And, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be with us to bring a new peace – not as the world gives:
25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you.26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
As we begin to gather more frequently together and provide experimental ways to be in community together, may we love with faith – faith in what Jesus Christ is doing in our midst through the Spirit dwelling in and with us; faith that the Spirit has been active in our physical time a part and is actively NOW doing a new thing in our midst; faith that we can gather together the lessons, heartaches, pain, and discoveries of this past year to grow together more fully into being Christ’s One Body.
Our world desperately needs to see a community that holds onto an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ that flows forth to bring healing and hope.
The words of Henri Nouwen affirm this need for a community that sees peacemaking as wholemaking:
So, brothers and sisters, peacemaking starts every time we move out of the house of fear toward the house of love. You and I will always be scared, somehow, somewhere. But if we keep our eyes fixed on the One who says ‘Do not be afraid, it is I,’ we might slowly be able to let go of that fear and become free enough to live in a world without borders, to see the suffering of others, and to bring good news and receive good news.
We are so excited to continue to grow together, united by the Spirit. Let’s experiment together.
Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 6:23-24)
God on High, Open our hearts to your power moving
around us and between us and within us,
until your glory is revealed in our love of both friend and enemy,
in communities transformed by justice and compassion,
and in the healing of all that is broken.
We thank you now for our living Word.
In Jesus’ name. Amen
Eco-act 21:09: acting for the neighborhood and for 2050
Last fall, we reflected on what poet Mary Oliver called the season’s exquisite, necessary diminishing.
We also wondered “… what if everyone in the Union community who gardens, or who could garden, decided to plant extra tomatoes, or lettuce, or spinach, or onions, peppers, melons, squash, potatoes, …. Could we grow enough food to make a difference for someone else?”
Now we are thankful for the continuation of the annual cadence: Easter rebirth leads to Pentecost’s message of growth. Spring promises summer. And Oliver observes, “in spring there’s hope … in summer there is everywhere the luminous sprawl of gifts, the hospitality of the Lord….”
We’ve also got an answer to our fall question, as the photo left illustrates. Last Thursday Union gardeners delivered seven bags of greens, along with turnips, snap peas and chard; the produce was delivered to, and appreciatively accepted by, Compass House.
Let’s keep this going! For everyone interested in joining the Union Gardens project, mark Thursdays on your calendars. That’s when you can bring your produce to the McColloughs’ house in North Seattle, or the Downeys’ in West Seattle, or Union before 1:00 PM. The Union team will take it from there.
Now, let’s step back for a moment and glance at the bigger picture: fighting climate change on a global scale. This month, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a special report entitled Net Zero by 2050. Executive director Fatih Birol describes 2021 as “a critical year at the start of a critical decade,” and the report notes that the current pace of carbon/greenhouse gas emissions reduction will miss the 2050 deadline for “net-zero.” But rather than dwell on “gloom and doom,” the report sets out a detailed set of milestones—400!—whose achievement will mark the path the world needs to follow to reach its net-zero goal—with global equity(1)—by mid-century. Some examples:
By 2021: no new oil or gas fields, or unabated coal plants(2), receive governmental approval
By 2025: no more sales of fossil fuel-powered boilers
By 2030: universal access to energy; all new buildings will be zero-carbon-ready(3); 60% of global new car sales will be electric vehicles; most of the required new clean technologies for heavy industry will be demonstrated at scale; solar and wind generation additions will exceed 1,000 gigawatts annually; unabated coal plants will be phased out in advanced economies
By 2035: 50% of new heavy truck sales will be electric
By 2040: 50% of aviation fuel consumed will be low-emission
By 2045: 50% of global heating demand will be met with heat pumps
By 2050: nearly 70% global electricity will be generated by solar and wind
Is creating a list of milestones the same as meeting those milestones? Of course not. Much of the success in reaching net-zero by 2050 will be driven by technologies not yet developed or proven at scale today, for one thing. And, as the IEA report notes, innovation will require governments to put “R&D, demonstration and deployment at the core of energy and climate policy.” More daunting still, a high degree of international consensus and collaboration will be needed. Hmmm…. And yet, it’s possible to find hope in this special report, for at least two reasons. First, this is not an alarmist “the sky is falling! Quick, we’ve got to do something!” document. Instead, the report presents tangible measures—things we can watch for and work for. And secondly, we as individuals are not relegated to the sideline; we have a role to play. The writers are clear: “A transition of the scale and speed described by the net-zero pathway cannot be achieved without sustained support and participation from citizens…. We estimate that around 55% of the cumulative emissions reductions in the pathway are linked to consumer choices….” So how might we contribute?
Through our consumer choices: making our next vehicle electric, installing energy-efficiency upgrades and heat pumps in our homes, choosing to walk, bike or take public transport, and using the car wisely when it’s necessary, ….
Through our voting/political choices: supporting candidates who back clean energy, zero-carbon R&D, job retraining for workers displaced by fossil fuel phase-out, expansion of clean-electricity grids, solar and wind farms, ….
Through our investment choices: investing in companies/projects working to develop and scale technologies needed to achieve net-zero by 2050.
The path is indeed narrow, as the IEA press release notes, but we do have a path, and ways that we as individuals can help stay on it. That’s encouraging. It’s also encouraging that we have a way—Union Gardens—to help at the neighborhood level. We really can, at both the local and global levels, act with purpose and hope. Reasons to be thankful!
(1) Per the IEA Report: “Providing electricity to around 785 million people that have no access and clean cooking solutions to 2.6 billion people that lack those options is an integral part of our pathway.”
(2) “Unabated coal-powered plants:” operating with little or no carbon capture/storage
(3) “Zero-carbon-ready:” capable of producing carbon-free renewable energy onsite, or procuring carbon offset
Pentecost 2021
Dear Beloved Union Family,
Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, the day the poured out Spirit spoke to those gathered “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) and they heard the good news of God’s love in their native language.
What does Pentecost mean for us as we ask “what is God doing NOW in our midst?” Life is complex as we experience hope in possibly gathering more together in-person while still recognizing our need to be cautious, as we embrace good news of the vaccine while grieving over the impact of Covid throughout the world, as we join our voices to speak for peace while we are horrified over violence that displaces people and deprives them of their human rights.
Today we encourage you to listen for the Spirit of God’s voice around you. The Spirit is actively breathing through our lives. God speaks your native language and unites you with the hearts of people throughout our world to say this is what is true: You are my witness to a hope that changes the world. Jesus Christ is our Lord. And we are a part of a new humanity. Let’s turn toward God and receive our beloved identity.
For this Pentecost Weekend (a Fourth Weekend):
Please go to this link to discover ways to engage as a listener, receiver, actor, prayer-er. There are opportunities online and in-person; creative, life-giving ways to embody the good news that God is alive and with us here and throughout all nations. Today.