The last time the choir gathered on ZOOM before the summer hiatus, we talked quite a bit about possible protocols for returning to the choir loft in September. Somewhere in the conversation, one of the choir members (I guess the word I’ll use here is) confidently asserted that it is my job to keep the choir members safe. I’m not saying they were necessarily wrong, but I probably would have articulated that, when working with adults, it is part of my job to try my best to make sure that harm is improbable. Most adults have enough agency to make…

The Blog is on break this week, and will return next week.  As Rev. Bill shared in his blog last Thursday, “this blog will begin sharing reflections from Rev. Tom and our Program Leaders, as well as from me.”  Monday’s “Staying Connected” platform for multiple staff voices has been so well received during the pandemic that we plan on continuing it into the new church year.  The Staying Connected reflections will be sent out on Mondays as usual, and then repeated on Thursday in our Front Steps e-News as the “Staying Connected Blog.” This expands our outreach, helping to “connect” the church to our now broader and more geographically dispersed…

The weather forecast predicts temperatures well over 100 Fahrenheit this Sunday. The “heat dome” that has been bringing record temperatures to much of the desert west is arriving in Portland. I love the warmth and light of summer, but I find myself so thankful for the blessing of NOT preaching from our Sanctuary this Sunday.  It is a reminder, as we emerge from the pandemic, of all the challenges…climate change, income inequality, white supremacy, police violence…that continue to demand our attention. I am holding that truth at the same time I welcome the more relaxed pace of summer and some time off.  At…

Both the Senate and the House passed legislation this week to make Juneteenth a national holiday. It will take only President Biden’s signature to make it official.  I suppose we should be gratified that our elected representatives finally managed to pass a piece of legislation. The reports of gridlock in Washington have clearly been overdrawn.  I beg your forgiveness for not taking this action as seriously as, apparently, we are all supposed to.  Please don’t get me wrong. The ending of chattel slavery in this country was a major event and the story of how that was achieved should be “required reading”…

I’ve been in some serious conversation with myself lately. These chats with myself have been prompted, I’m sure, by the re-opening of life as the pandemic ebbs. With each return to what used to be normal…the first hug with someone outside my family, the first time NOT wearing a mask in public, the first handshake…with each incident of return it feels like so many assumptions need to be tested. I’m sure my own internal questioning is heightened by the chance to lead worship for us in Pioneer Square this weekend. What am I sure enough about…after these last 15 months…to…

The decision to offer in-person worship in Pioneer Square in just 10 days has generated such positive energy. Many folks are excited and ready to join us. But some, not many but more than a few, are not ready to be part of such a large gathering. And some folks are still thinking.  I want to be clear that everyone who has shared a response with me has been enthusiastic about the service. The question is whether, personally, they are ready to be present.  Important questions, though, are being raised about how we will deal with masking and distancing at the service.   I am…

I used to think about Memorial Day as the beginning of summer. The long weekend with the weather almost surely summer-like.  OK. That was before I moved to Oregon where I’ve grown accustomed to waiting longer for summer’s arrival. But, especially this year, my need for respite is not waiting for summer.  So many people that I know tell me they feel like they’ve been working non-stop. Working at jobs, some of them. Somehow working from home has made work more unavoidable. Working at child-rearing, for those with younger children, has been a marathon, with parents in the roles of teachers, on top of everything…

Last week, most of us were shocked to hear the Centers for Disease Control say that vaccinated people can just stop wearing masks and, for the most part, stop being concerned about distancing. At least that is what I heard.   My initial reaction was such relief, but then I began hearing questions about that new guidance.  Even in an era when the formal vehicles for decision making are committed to truth and science…and reasonableness, we are clearly still struggling for clarity in this changing public health environment.  Though overall the trajectory of the pandemic is toward a return to whatever normal will become, the new…

Our monthly spiritual theme of emergence seems to invite attention to that which is emerging, to the new creation and the new spiritual habits that must follow. We tend to focus on the butterfly as it leaves the cocoon, on the chick as it leaves the egg. Our worship for the next two Sundays will focus on the new that is emerging in these days.  But the process of emerging destroys the cocoon and the egg.  Emergence involves both destruction and creation. It therefore must hold both the excitement of the new and regret, both joy and grief.  My own life has…

As we slowly emerge from the pandemic with vaccines becoming available for most adults throughout the country, I am thinking more about re-connecting where I have been disconnected this last year.  So much of our lives are interdependent on others and occasions around us.  I think of some of the words by Thich Nhat Hanh on inter-connection:  You are me and I am you. Isn't it obvious that we inter-are? You cultivate the flower in yourself so that I will be beautiful. I transform the garbage in myself so that you do not have to suffer. I support you-you support me. I am here to bring you peace you are…