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Weekly Update (April 25-May 1)

Saturday, April 25: During the shutdown, Ruby's Pantry food distribution continues on 4th Saturday of the month at Mission Creek Church, 521 131st Avenue W., 11 am – 12:30 pm
Helping Hands:
Marna Fasteland is sewing face masks from leftover quilt fabric. If you need a face mask, call or email Marna, and she will mail one to you. There is no charge for a mask – she is using up scraps so she can buy more fabric!
For those who have been able to share offering: THANK YOU. It truly makes a difference. We rely heavily on the plate giving of Sunday offering here, as expenses still continue. What you give, again, makes a difference.
And, as always, we'd love to share your thoughts and well wishes with one another! Send a note, give a call! Your people want to know how you are doing!
From Pastor Paul…Toward Sunday
…but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  ~ Luke 24:16
    Well, for those of you that appreciate the reference, a "Facebook Memory" popped up on my phone (for the rest of you…the majority…just smile and nod and consider the source and read on)…it was a picture, from three years ago, of my children standing in a grassy meadow in Asheville, North Carolina, with a rainbow above them. Oh, it warmed my heart, back then as it does now. A heart that certainly longed for a little warming at that time…a heart that still does, I suppose.
    Here's what I thought: y'know, for a difficult time, the fact that I saw and felt this experience was a blessed afterthought. See: I was getting divorced back then. I didn't quite know it, or accept that it was really happening at the time, but in retrospect it was clear. I was in mourning. I was uncertain about the future. I was afraid and I was lonely, and yet my children ran out into the meadow and wanted to have their picture taken underneath a rainbow.
    Which leads to this: later that Spring I went to get my car repaired at a dealership. The people there were kind, and welcoming. They treated me like a real human being, not just a customer. A seemingly insignificant moment, all things considered, but here that moment is, three years later, in my heart…right next to that rainbow.
    And it was also right about that time that Buzz and Pat were in need of somebody to house sit while they traveled, and they knew I was in need. They welcomed me. They had cats (as many of you reading this will know, I am not particularly fond of cats) but I figured it out. (And, oh, for reference: I did learn that cats are not fans of saxophones, and only grudgingly supportive of banjos, but that is another story.)
    Three years later now, I think of the graces that I received during that time. Kind things from good people. Beautiful things intent on stirring the heart of anxious people. It may be (to quote brother Luke) that my "eyes were kept from recognizing them" at that very moment  – after all, I was rather distracted by rugs being pulled out from under my life…but God has this way, my friends, of sharing heaping helpings of grace even in the mists of dark uncertainty. 
    Oh, this is no great theological treatise I write here. You've been there. Your own life experience echoes this wisdom. I mean: think of your most uncertain times. Think of your greatest discomforting fears. Weren't there shards and shreds of love and kindness and beauty, yes, even in the midst of it? Didn't you feel your heart stir even as your heart was being wrung out like a dishrag?
    So here's my thought: you or I may be so wrapped up in our own drama that our myopic eyes are prevented from seeing the grace around us. Our hearts may be gripped tight in the clenched fist of anxiety…but…is there someone, somewhere around us, that can continue to help us to see? Someone that can hold up the mirror back toward our lives and be a shared witness to God's love in the midst of us? I was blessed with friendships then, as I am now. I remember them as Balm in Gilead (wounded whole/sin sick soul).
    Things didn't get easier when I left Asheville, North Carolina. They got harder. I struggled and suffered and crashed and burned, but I landed in a kind town with kind people doing kind things…for which I thank you Morgan Park affiliated goofballs reading this. I thank you and I ask: wasn't God there? Every step of the way?
    "Summoned or not, God is present" wrote Carl Jung, and he was right (on that point…for everything else, let's talk). Can you see it now? Can you dip a cup and drink of that grace like placing a finger in a flowing spring-thaw river?
    Yeah…I know…not always that easy. I'm here to tell you that I missed it a-plenty o'times.
    But it was there…in many shapes and souls and colors – whether my thick head knew it or not…and that's what I want to tell you. That's your good news for today.
Keep in touch, 
Pastor Paul
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Weekly Update (April 17-24)

Welcome to community-at-a-distance! This is to tell you that we miss you, here at the church, and that we hold hope of our joyous return to being a congregation. Soon enough the music and laughter will echo on these walls and the coffee will brew and the grill be hot and and and…we'll return.
I'm hoping you're receiving Sunday sermons, either in text or in video.
And as always, I'd love to talk to you!
A few things to share:
Cathy says: "Thank you for all the care and prayer and well wishes" on the loss of her sister-in-law. "They mean a lot."
Laura says: "My granddaughter is out of the hospital. God is good! Thank you for praying!"
…and a great many of you share this message: "I'm fine."  (See commentary for more details.)
For those that have been able to share offering: thank you. It truly makes a difference . We rely heavily on the plate giving of Sunday offering here, as expenses still continue. What you give, again, makes a difference.
And as always, we'd love to share your thoughts and well-wishes with one another! Send a note or give a call! Your people want to know how you are doing!
From Pastor Paul… Toward Sunday:
"Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."  ~ John 20:29
   Picture it: earlier this week, up the shore between Gooseberry and the Split Rock, there's a small harbor, and tucked on a hill by that harbor, a small grassy outcrop, secluded by the trees, overlooking the lake. There's a small fire pit there, and an easy place to sit. On the day I write about, the sky is clear, the wind is out of the west, but buffered by the hills and the woods. There are no waves, but when the wind settles after passing overhead, it lands on the lake and dances across the surface in the speckled and dappled way wind does, sending sparks of light across the lake toward the Wisconsin shore. It is…yes gorgeous.
   Lest I "wander lonely as a cloud" like Wordsworth, I write this as an intro to the subject of living into Resurrection. It is our time. We have learned that death does not defeat life – that despair does not defeat hope. Jesus has taught us this, and I think it worthy to take it to heart and soul.
   See, this week, I reinvigorated my old practice of journaling with a spirit of inventory – all for the sake of living into Resurrection. I'm pushing myself toward a review of the day (the day-to-day) with four points by which I can measure my overall well-being: "PMSA" I call it: Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Aesthetic. The first three are pretty straight-forward: Am I caring for my body, my mind, my spirit? But the last is a gift from God: did I bear witness today to anything that triggered awe or wonder or beauty?
   I mean, we know this: that there's something out there, every day, that has the potential to touch and stir us…something worth lingering on…something praiseworthy. Do we see it?  Do we let ourselves experience it? Friends, I'm thinking that the in-road to practicing Resurrection comes from our ability to embrace and engage God's presence in our everyday experience. Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Aesthetic .
   …And Friends, I want to share it with you. Why? Well, at the risk of sounding rather flighty or vague, soft or new-age or self-help, I want to share it because I've always appreciated it when others share it – when others share their way of seeing and experiencing the presence of the Holy in their day to day, and it strikes me how little we take the time to share those moments – how often we keep those moments private…lest we sound, perhaps, as loopy as our pastor might be!
   Context: Round about Holy Week, I had this vision that as a church we might share a little with one another about how we're sustaining our faith in these isolating times. I had this idea that I would inquire with each of you, and that each of us would share a few words about practicing our faith in these times, alongside a welcome and word of kindness.
   Can you picture the response? "Tell people that I'm fine." I'm fine. Over and over, person by person, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine…" …Which is great, don't get me wrong.  "I'm fine" means that you're not struggling, but "I'm fine"  is also the "can't complain could be worse" diminutive neutrality that keeps the spirit of God well-checked in the coatroom instead of out on the dance floor. I picture a congregation, with all of the Scandinavian or Nor'Minnesota stoicism, as a gaggle of birds (think penguins or geese or seagulls) – all with the same tone: "Fine. Fine. I'm fine."
   I know I'm getting quirky here (quirkier than usual, even), but I think there's more to this day-to-day and prayer-by-prayer than our neutrality belies. I think we all have moments of bright joy and dim despair. And I think we owe it to one another to share them.
   I mean, if we can't share all of that very real life with each other – if we can't share our spirit with those for whom "Take It to the Lord in Prayer" every Sunday is common vernacular…well then, who else?
   So here's my nudge for this week…it's the same nudge God has given me: take some time to consider how you are doing…really – (not just the broad generality, but the vivid day to day). Delight in the joys. Accept the challenges. And for the sake of the church and your friends and your faith, share them (I mean it! Send me a note or give me a call: 218-349-0143).  
   And I'll share mine again: those dappled waters on the lake just plain stirred my soul. I wish you were there. And even if I can't take you there right now, I want to tell you all about it. Because it matters. Because it stirred my heart and I want to share it. Because we live in Resurrection. 
Keep in touch,
Pastor Paul
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Aging and Senior Care Community Resources in Duluth

The following are resources that can help seniors and their families understand all the programs that can help pay for senior care:
Joan Martin
Community Outreach and Senior Advocate
(800) 289-4983
Caring.com is a leading senior care resource for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses and other loved ones. We have been featured by AARP, The Administration for Community Living, The National Legal Resource Center, and Forbes, as well as referenced by many government agencies and organizations across the Internet.
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Last week’s reminders

WEEKLY REMINDERS:

Last week's worship is now available in video format here: https://youtu.be/XNUcYmtSXow
My apologies that it's not much to look at, as I'm still working out the formatting, but the audio is clear. And sorry for the delay. It seems my old computer is not a big fan of new technology. Little by little, we'll get this right!

Staying Connected!

In this time of separation, we are collecting messages to be shared with your fellow church members! Send your thoughts and greetings, joys and concerns, by email or phone. We'll compile these messages and send them via email (and I'll print out copies and deliver them to those without email)… Send notes to Pastor Paul: pastorpaulvanantwerp@gmail.com / 218-349-0143 or to the office: office@unitedprotestantchurch.org / 218-626-2570. Let those you love know how you're doing, and that you are thinking of them.

Here's a few updates for this week:
-John and Doris Toman say hello! They are doing fine.

-Our sympathies to Cathy Dale and family. Her sister-in-law, Kathy, was hit by a vehicle and killed while walking with her husband Tom (Cathy Dale’s brother).

-Dick and Sue Linde say "Miss you! Stay safe, and get out for a walk! Oh, and Dick says "about one more week before he goes crazy!"

Helping One Another
For those in need of assistance of any sort in this time, there are a great many resources our church and community can provide. We'll do our best to keep track of these. If you need a hand (or know of somebody who does) send a note to Pastor Paul or the office. You are not alone.

Offering
The majority of our income here is based on the offering we receive on Sundays. Without meeting, there is concern that we will significantly diminish our financial resources. We kindly ask that, if possible, you continue to contribute as you would during worship. You can mail any offerings directly to the office at 830 88th Ave West, Duluth, MN 55808. Unfortunately, the bulk of the church’s operating expenses will continue even while we are forced to suspend services – insurance, utilities, etc.

Toward Sunday

Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." – John 11:44

In one of the meditations I practice as I walk and pray (and talk to myself and frighten passers-by who think "creepy man talking to himself!), I imagine God's presence as a wide open field, or range, with endless space where I may wander and explore. Think of driving through Montana or Wyoming as an example. Then I picture the places where, in all that wide open space, I build for myself (or others try to build for me) various fences, barbed wire, and boundaries–things intended to keep me isolated, or separate, from all that God offers. Some are of my own making: "I'm not good enough…or smart enough…or strong enough…or willing to take that risk or work that hard." Others appear from social convention, rules and regulations, norms. "People here don't behave like that! We expect you to be like the rest of us. Don't be too radical, nor too extreme!" Still others, I'm hardly aware I've created until God gives me the gift of seeing them, such as the grip of frustration, or anger, or sorrow. How many ways my horizons are limited by these fences I create all around me! And how great is a God that routinely gives me the tips and tricks to tear down the boundaries that keep me from full relationship! (Cue the western swing music: "Give me land, lots of land, lots of starry skies above…don't fence me in!").

Well, it's nothing quite as amazing as the raising of Lazarus (this week's Gospel), but those last words in John's eleventh chapter this week got me to thinking about the many times and many ways I have felt raised and healed and unbound and able to let go from a similar simple expression from Jesus. Sometimes I snap out of my boundaries by hearing a message that is blunt, and to the point… something like: "Ok Paul, enough already!" And sometimes it takes deliberation and time, creativity and patience, and a whole lot of gentle encouragement from Him.

But I tell you friends, when I hear Jesus say it…my heart and soul listen, and I rejoice. I breathe a deeper breath and think a clearer thought. I am a little more complete as a person than I was before.

Friends, in this time, many of us feel those fences present, obscuring the freedom of our horizons. But as always, we can focus on our scarcities (what we don't have), or our abundance (all the good surrounding us). As I said near the closing of last week's sermon: Look around you… there in your home—in the space you have created day by day. Look out the window to the change in seasons, what God creates day by day. Look around and welcome it.

I've heard stories in the past week of wonderful cooking and baking, of much needed organizing and overdue repair, of reading good books, mending the clothes (and learning to sew!), long telephone conversations with distant friends–I've even heard that this time of isolation has made people feel more connected because they never could justify all the time for friendships previously in their busy lives!

I'm pretty sure it's fair theology to say that God will never limit our horizons, nor "fence in" our faith. I'm also pretty sure that if we feel held back, or "bound" in any way, turning to God, and listening for the guidance of Jesus, is a sure way to expand our horizons and help us be the people God hopes that we will become.

So, here's your homework: send me a note or leave me a message (contact info above in the "Staying Connected" paragraph) and let me know how you are embracing what God has given you, here in this time when so many others struggle to see beyond the limitations. …And if you're struggling, well, give me a call about that as well! It'd be nice to chat.

Keep in touch, Pastor Paul