- Corned Beef Supper on March 14th at 5pm (please RSVP by 3/6)
- Neighbors Waffle Breakfast on March 21st
- We continue our collections for Fuel Assistance for local families in need
- Death Cafe February 28th at 4pm (please RSVP)
- Discussion Circle is the Last Sunday after Church; this month we will look at passages from Matthew to inspire, teach, guide, and challenge us–all are welcome to join us
Visit our Calendar of Events to explore our upcoming dates and times
Our Sunday Reflection is recorded and can be found HERE (posts each Sunday late morning or early afternoon).
All are Welcome. If you are uncomfortable with the word God, please feel welcome to insert your own word for the divine or Mystery in your life (Universe/Grace/Spirit/Divine).
In the Stories, people figuring out who Jesus is?
We’re figuring out who Jesus is?
Three basic cards: Who Jesus really is. Who people think he is. Who we think he is. Then we just keep adding cards: healer, teacher, friend, storyteller, rebel…
Then we try to make sense of it all. We put them together. Sort them. Catalog. Analyze. Control. First, we put them all rightside up and in the right corners so when we fan them out, we can see them all. Then we play with them, like a puzzle. How do they go together? Colors together? Numbers together? Colors, then numbers?
We make it all so complicated.
Transfiguration is the a-ha moment when all the cards fall. At the same time, they all are still there, but fall into place.
The illumination and Mystery. The incredible Awe of what unfolds on the mountain…
Suddenly it all makes sense. Everything that Jesus is.
We realize that the cards didn’t matter at all. Jesus just Is.
We’re like this. Again, there’s three basic cards. Who we are. Who we think we are. Who others think we are.
We try to make sense of it all. We put it together. We sort. We try to put things rightside up. We put things in the right corners so we better understand ourselves, others, and life. We try to make sense of it all. Who are we? Who we want to be? Who we think we should be? Who do others think we should be? All these cards that make up us…how do they come together? What is happening? There are so many confusing cards.
What do we do with the Joker when it comes up? The curve ball. The one that doesn’t fit with the others. Maybe it depends on the game. Nothing matters in a 52 Card Pick Up. It’s just one big fat mess of cards all over the floors. But the Queen of Spades really matters in a game of Hearts.
We discard some of our cards, hoping for a better card. A better life. A better us. Sometimes, we even throw away real parts of ourselves looking for that Ace of Spades. This is a Rook Deck…there is NO Ace of Spades, which maybe highlights how we keep looking for something “better” that doesn’t exist. Maybe call it: perfection.
Have you ever started a game that has so many messy and confusing cards in your hand that you’re not even worried about the game until you get rid of some cards and find some relief. PAUSE. Sometimes we don’t even care which cards fall as long as it’s easier to hold together and there’s relief from the pain of holding so many cards. PAUSE It’s so overwhelming, you just want to see the cards a little bit more clearly because it feels like you can’t make any decisions until there’s a little less chaos.
We’re seeking control when we’re playing with those individual cards. Maybe it makes us feel “safe”. Maybe it makes us feel “better”. But maybe life is more like a game of 52 card pick up. Cards everywhere and everyone trying desperately to get the most cards before anyone else. Bumping into each other. Knocking each other down. Scratching each other. Stealing from one another.
Then we have get our hand and we have this what seems like a great mess of cards to sort and make sense of. We are so focused on the cards, we don’t even notice who we’ve knocked over and hurt to get more of those cards.
We feel like if we just get more cards and then sort things the right way, we’ll figure it out. We’ll feel better. We can fix what’s wrong. We’ll be better. We can make things better. Things’ll be great.
We’ll be worthy of Love.
Then, we have those awesome moments, maybe we could call them transfiguration moments, where all the cards fall into place. Everything fits together. No matter the colors, the numbers, the random Rook or Joker. We are held in the fullness of Grace (if only for a moment).
What made no sense makes perfect sense.
What is missing was there all along.
What has fallen is recovered.
What is ailing is healed…
The cards no longer matter. There is complete illumination. We are in God and with God. We are beloved, no matter what cards are in our hands or scattered all over the floor.
Messiness, confusion, and even suffering becomes holy ground. It is all holy ground.
That holy ground becomes wholeness and healing…
We find ourselves standing on holy ground…and it is awesome and then…
…we are so afraid.
God comes quietly and gently into our lives. Into all our broken places. Into our fears. Not to sort. Not to cure. Not to perfect. But to gather and heal. To gather and bring together, not the cards, but our hearts and souls. And sometimes, this is scary, even though we knew it was there all along. We knew it was there all along. Somewhere to be found…that’s what we were looking for all this time in those cards…and sometimes it lands us flat on our faces.
“They fell flat on their faces, scared to death.”
“They were so afraid.”
This is an incredible moment. PAUSE
“They fell flat on their faces, scared to death.”
“They were so afraid.”
Then…
God touches them.
God touches us.
God is with us.
Jesus reaches out and touches them (us). “Do not be afraid.”
Do not be afraid.
This is what matters. Not the cards, but one another. Healing, true healing and community…togetherness. Pick up, not the scattered cards, but the people walking beside us. We’re all here to walk each other Home.
Touch heals.
Touch soothes fears.
We are not alone. We have each other, if we take our faces out of the cards we’re holding and look up.
There, we find God, despite our fears and worries and hurts. God comes into all the broken places.
This is the moment of illumination, where all the pieces come together.
What made no sense makes perfect sense.
What is missing was there all along.
What has fallen is recovered.
What is ailing is healed…
We find ourselves one single perfect part of the wholeness of this world. We are in God and with God. And God reaches out, touches us, and opens the doorway toward transformation.
Amazing Grace, let me be not afraid. May I lift up my gaze to see you reaching out to me. Yes, me. Little me. Let me be not afraid. May I be brave enough to reach toward you, as you reach for me. Let me be not afraid. Let me trust enough in the Mystery to walk through the open doorway and allow your deepest love to change and transform me. Amen
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 