No matter who you are or where you are on lifes journey, you are welcome here!
Life is complicated and difficult and confusing – and it has been since the beginning. It can be frightening to try when we don’t know how it’s going to turn out.
God doesn’t always get it right the first time; neither did Jesus – so why should we expect perfection from ourselves?
…or maybe more like 80 verses on helping the stranger.
A conversation with Rev. Elizabeth Dilley.
Daryl Davis says “when two enemies are talking, they’re not fighting. It’s when the talking ceases that the ground becomes fertile for violence. If you spend five minutes with your worst enemy — it doesn’t have to be about race, it could be about anything…you will find that you both have something in common. As you build upon those commonalities, you’re forming a relationship and as you build about that relationship, you’re forming a friendship. That’s what would happen. I didn’t convert anybody. They saw the light and converted themselves.”
Stephanie Dozois, Minister of Youth and Families
The waterfalls and the noise of the troubles of our lives and our world are disorienting. When we feel under the water, remember to look for God. God is there – blowing a whistle and waving to us, trying to get our attention.
“The reign of God is not about condemning others because they’re different from us.
The reign of God is not about artificial borders.
The reign of God is not a place where we put children of God in cages;
the reign of God is a place where we invite people in to share the blessings.
The reign of God is when we can turn away from hate and turn towards love.”
Our denomination continues to be made up of local churches that don’t always see eye-to-eye. It’s always heartening to be an event like General Synod and to be around so many folks who are “just like me.” But it often also highlights the differences.
Three is a magic number, providing strength and stability for tripods and tricycles and relationships. As Holy love continues to be revealed to us through the Spirit that lives in us, we can avoid being drawn into bad triangles and focus on the good.
On that night though, something changed. Those who were not arrested were released outside. Instead of leaving the area, they watched as police began loading alcohol and people into patrol wagons. As police attempted for ten minutes to detain one woman in handcuffs (many stories identify her as Storme DeLarverie – a lesbian entertainer and bouncer, born to an African American mother and a white father) – as she escaped four times from the police and been hit on the head with a baton, she look out at the bystanders and shouted “why don’t you guys do something?”