I imagine my experience of listening to the news the past few days may be similar to your experience. I ask myself: What’s next? Where am I or my children safe? How do I keep myself from walling my family up in a fortress away from the world?

Between the continuing updates and new information surfacing about the child abuse scandal at Penn State or the still fresh tragedy in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater, I wonder how we are supposed to make trusting decisions for our children. A parent wouldn’t think twice that their son would not be safe at football camp.
Maybe they would worry about a broken leg but certainly not being exposed to a sexual predator.  My own 20 year old daughter, who loves movies, was caught up in the excitement of the premier of the Dark Night Rises. It never occurred to me that she may not be safe as she attended the midnight showing at our local theater.

How do we trust sending our children out in the world? Our trust is not in the world. Our trust is in God. We trust that God is with us. God shows up in the people that fill the sacred spaces in our lives. God gave us each other – to listen, to care, to grieve and to celebrate great joy together. We are not alone and should not be alone. We should not build a fortress. It is in the trusting that we stay open to all the goodness that God created in this world. If you listen long enough into the newscast, you will even hear stories of community, triumph and compassion. 
 
It sounds cliché, but the world is changing. The world has always been changing. How do we keep up?
Well…here’s my plan:
 1. Remind myself of God’s love for me and all the world. It’s not complicated. God loves.
 2. Listen (deeply and intentionally) to my own daughter and other children. Pay attention for when they reach out for help.
 3. Talk to trusted friends so that when I am overwhelmed, I stay connected.
 4. Listen to all the news. Yup. Hiding my head in the sand will not help. I want my heart to ache when children are shot on the streets of Chicago. I should strive to understand decisions that our elected officials make that exclude some to the freedoms of our country. I need to get angry when justice is not afforded to all people all over the world.
 
For now that is my plan. Trust. Love. Pay attention.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

We are honored you’re here.
That is what I heard over and over again this morning. I was completely humbled because I knew the feelings were genuine even though I had never met the people who were greeting me. I was greeted this way as I attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mosque in DuPage County. 

This particular mosque had an infamous beginning and almost lost the chance to become a reality. Many people in DuPage County did not want the mosque to be built. They made up excuse after excuse for not wanting Muslim neighbors. But the Muslim community would not be deterred, even when all the fear-based excuses made the news. They had such faith that their place of worship would not only be for the good for those of the same faith but also for the rest of us. This is our chance to be neighbors to each other and to work together for justice.

We are honored you’re here. This is how I was greeted this morning. People sought me out (OK. I know I looked different than most people there.) and made sure I felt welcomed. I did. I felt like I belonged. They didn’t just treat me like I belonged, they believed I belonged there right along side of them – at their groundbreaking. It was an amazing moment. I lived the verse from Matthew 25:35, “I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Not as the one who welcomes but the stranger. I experienced divine hospitality. It is a feeling I will never forget.

One of the leaders of the Muslim community said, “This is a special day and it is also an ordinary day.”
He said a moment like this happens all the time in this country: people realizing a dream and growing together to make a better community. He made me want to be more welcoming, a better neighbor. 
 
All the people were right when they greeted me - I was very honored I was there!
~ Pam


*Jim Honig, one of the pastors at Faith Lutheran Church was asked to speak at the groundbreaking ceremony. It was truly an interfaith event. His reflection on the event are here: JamesKHonig/blog.

A new blog post is coming, but today is all about relaxing!

I got a massage today. I was a puddle by the time my Swedish-speaking masseuse was done. Yup! You heard that right. A swedish massage given by a Swede! Maybe one of the best ever!
And then I drank some art!

Isn't it amazing what people can do by just wiggling the steamed milk into the coffee?! I'm sure the baristas have a more professional term for it but it looks like wiggling to me.
Hopefully the artistry in my experiences today will inspire my own.
~Pam

    In the rhythm of the church year, the season of Pentecost is a slow waltz. This season, which lasts from the Day of Pentecost in early spring all the way to Advent in late fall, is marked by slow and steady growth. It has a specific feeling to it just like that distinctive 3 note phrase that defines a waltz. Listen (below) to one of the most famous waltz’: The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II. Our bodies immediately recognize it, swaying to the music. It is intuitive. There is something beautiful and soothing in the consistent rhythm. Such are also the long stretch of days in the Season of Pentecost. The summer days stretch out before us with their own rhythm, their own pace. If we allow ourselves to relax into it, we find times of rest in the midst of busyness. What is it for you that makes the pace of summer distinctive? Is it sitting outside with your morning coffee watching creation begin her day? Is it the evenings filled with long shadows as the sun inches its way down the horizon? Each day ebbs and flows into the next, like a story that continues to reveal itself.

    The creators of our ancient liturgy have captured this and we experience this same divine flow in worship during the long season of Pentecost. At Faith we are following the story of David in the Old Testament readings. We hear of God’s grace each week as David’s story unfolds bit by bit. We don’t rush through it. We inch along like the setting sun, noting the subtle changes of both story and sky. 

     Great music is marked by its complexity. A waltz may repeat a simple 3 note phrase but it is surrounded by layers; layers of melody and interpretation which speak to the complexity inside each one of us. We sway to a waltz because we feel it. We also feel the movement of this long season: the gentle sway of rebirth towards the majesty of full bloom and then ultimately circling back to rest.  We are responding to divine rhythms that ebb and flow in and through us, as our own complex story unfolds. 
 
     So as you sip your morning coffee and live into the simple moments of summer, remember that God’s grace surrounds you in the complexity within. Sway to the rhythm of the season.