For This Time

During this time of physical isolation, Pastor Harry and other church leaders are reaching out to us with daily messages.

To sign up for our eNews, contact our Office Manager.

Back to Letters to the Saints of Santa Fe

August 5, 2020

To the Saints in Santa Fe and other far-off places:

I give thanks that we can be the church in these challenging times, and for your part in its ministry.
As always, our ministry is guided by the power of God’s spirit and the work of Jesus Christ in our midst.

This Sunday I am preaching on one of the most memorable stories in the Gospels, Jesus walking on the water.  This intriguing story is often summarized like this:  Peter is commended for getting out of the boat and walking on water.  What faith he has!  But he takes his eyes off Jesus and his faith falters and Jesus is there to save him. Be courageous, then, get out of the boat, but keep your focus, and keep your eyes on Jesus.

Fair enough.  But I am exhausted just reading it.  It’s all about Peter.  It’s all about us, how we are supposed to do all these things to keep the faith going and keep our feet on top of the water.  Who can do this?!

We can’t.  Don’t try.  I know it is easy to want to control situations and do things by yourself and to feel good about your solo accomplishments, but it leads to fatigue and ineffectiveness.  Peter thought he could get out of the boat and leave his shipmates behind, but he soon experienced the folly in that.

Stay in the boat.  Let Jesus do the walking on water.  He only did so after spending time on the mountain, resting, restoring, rejuvenating.  Stay in the boat and put your face mask on first (remember the flight attendant’s words before the plane takes off?), take off your superhero outfit (I know mine doesn’t fit anymore), and take care of yourself.  There is plenty of work to be done, and always will be, but practice self-care.  Jesus certainly did.

Grace and peace,
Harry

August 3, 2020

Members and Friends:

During this Covid time, like many of you, Jenny and I have been culling through drawers and boxes reliving memories, holding on to important items, and discarding the rest.

Saying goodbye to old letters is hard.  We find ourselves reading through the handwritten words from our parents, family, old friends (some we cannot quite remember now who they are), to one another, and we can’t let them go.  They go back in the drawer or box because they are part of us deep down, part of our history, a moment in time and a testament to love and friendship.  Though I might not read them again, I know they are there and I feel better.

Imagine if Dr. King wrote “An Email from the Birmingham Jail”?  Would it still survive?  Imagine if Paul wrote “A Text to the Church in Corinth?”  Would we know that “love never ends?”

This is my 66^th “For this Time” post that I began in mid-March when we closed the church building because of Covid-19.  I shared thoughts, musings, and observations as we were forced to negotiate a new world of social distancing and masks and courage in the face of fear and death.

This will continue but my posts will become letters to you, the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe.  I will address each one “To the Saints in Santa Fe” and explore the challenges we face as people of faith in a complicated and fearful world, not unlike the world that Paul faced, and not unlike the world that Dr. King faced down.

I look forward to writing to you!

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 31, 2020

Members and Friends:

Recently I was on a Zoom call with hundreds of Presbyterians across the country, including some people from our church, to talk about the Matthew 25 initiative of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and, specifically, dismantling structural racism.  It inspired me and made me proud, as if I wasn’t already, to be a Presbyterian.

On Tuesday I wrote about Dr. Eugene Carson Blake who was, among many other things, an important leader in the Civil rights movement.  One of Dr. Blake’s predecessors was the Rev. John Rankin, an abolitionist Presbyterian Pastor in the small Ohio River town of Ripley, Ohio, in the early part of the 19^th century.  His dramatic story is presented in the 2002 book, Beyond the River, and chronicles his courage in the years leading up to the Civil War when he and his family helped runaway slaves as they crossed the Ohio River to freedom and then moved them along the Underground Railroad.

Years ago, after reading the book, Jenny and I invited my parents to travel with us to see Ripley and to trace Rankin’s story.  The Rankin house still stands alone on the top of the hill overlooking this old town and the mighty river.  It is visible for miles into Kentucky and Rankin would hang a lantern at night to guide the runaway slaves, with slave catchers on their trail.

There is much to the Rankin story and I invite you to get the book and read about this courageous figure in our Presbyterian heritage.

It appeared to us on our trip that little had changed in the town of Ripley since the days of the Underground Railroad.  With our eyes opened in the last several months it appears that little has changed with racism, it just presents itself in different forms.

Fortunately we are now confronting racism in a substantive way, and have the legacy of Dr. Blake and Rev. Rankin to guide us.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 28, 2020

Members and Friends:

There he is.  He is walking close to Dr. King and John Lewis in those iconic images of the Civil Rights marches in the 1960’s.  He helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963 and spoke that day in front of the Lincoln Memorial immediately before John Lewis.  Dr. King gave his “I have a Dream” speech a few minutes later.

His name is Eugene Carson Blake, Presbyterian pastor and Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church, 1951-1966, President of the National Council of Churches, 1954-57, and General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, 1966-72.

There he is.  As a six year-old in 1965 I looked out our living room window and Dr. Blake is standing there in our driveway, wearing a hat and grey overcoat in the drizzle of an Ohio morning waiting for my Dad to get the car out of the garage.  He stayed at our home the night before after giving a talk up the street at the College of Wooster.  Mom told me he is a very important man.  To this day, whenever I am in the presence of someone who has done important things for the world, my mind goes back to that moment.

There he is.  Shaking hands with me in the narthex of the Stamford Presbyterian Church in Stamford, CT, where Dr. Blake attended in this retirement, after I delivered a sermon there as an intern during my final year at Yale Divinity School in 1984.  He looked at me and said “Fine sermon, young man.”  I still cherish that moment and the other times we greeted one another following a service.  He died the following year at the age of 78.

There he is.  His photograph is hanging on the wall in the fellowship hall of the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, NY, just down the street from the Capitol building.  I was 33 at the time and taking a tour of the church as part of the interview process to become pastor of this historic church.  Dr. Blake served this congregation in the 1930’s and I dreamed of continuing my ministry there.  I was one of two final candidates and they chose the other person.

Here he is.  While Dr. Blake touched my life in these small but personal ways he had tremendous influence as a world figure, civil rights leader, church pastor and justice seeker, and is one of the many reasons why I am proud to be a Presbyterian.  How I wish he was still here to help us navigate the challenges before us today.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 27, 2020

Members and Friends:

On April 12, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested for participating in non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama.  That very same day, eight white clergyman from Birmingham published a letter in the Birmingham News which criticized these demonstrations by Dr. King and the civil rights protesters.

From his jail cell, Dr. King wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to respond to these charges, something he rarely did, arguing that his participation had been warranted and necessary to fight for justice.  He explains the four steps of non-violence protest—fact-finding, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action—and concludes by justifying civil disobedience while expressing his disappointment in the inaction of the Southern churches.

I wonder what letter Dr. King would write to churches today?  How would he critique our efforts to eradicate racism and stand up to white privilege?  What would he say about the Church’s response to the marches that continue across our country?

I encourage you to read again, or for the first time, Dr. King’s letter, one of the foundational writings on addressing the injustices of our society.  I hope it will inspire us, and give us tools, to face the challenges before us in 2020.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 24, 2020

Open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Mission is to create authentic Christian community, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, and participate in God’s healing in the world.

Members and Friends:

The third part of our mission statement, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, is based upon a phrase by Richard Niebuhr, one of the foremost theologians of the 20^th century, from

The fourth and final part of our new mission statement is participate in God’s healing in the world.

 Healing is a major theme throughout scripture and in Jesus’ ministry.  Countless stories recount Jesus healing the people in front of him, the lame, the sick, the deaf and blind, the marginalized and disenfranchised, children, relationships, communities.

The Greek and Latin word for Savior, salus, often a descriptive title for Jesus, connotes healing and health, along with integrity, wholeness and shalom.

Notice that we are not saying we can heal the world.  That is not ours to do and it is futile to try it alone.  But we can be partners in this great endeavor with God who is the One through which healing comes.

Hans Kung, the great German theologian, defined the Kingdom of God as “God’s creation healed.”  It’s what we do, it’s what we strive for, it’s what we look forward to, all while looking to and leaning on the power and promise of God.

So, there you have it, our new mission statement.  Remember, such a statement gives us our purpose and our reason for being a church.  May we faithfully grow into it in the years to come.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 22, 2020

Open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Mission is to create authentic Christian community, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, and participate in God’s healing in the world.

Members and Friends:

The third part of our mission statement, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, is based upon a phrase by Richard Niebuhr, one of the foremost theologians of the 20^th century, from his 1955 classic, Christ in Culture, which distinguished church historian Marin Marty says is one of the most vital books of our time.  The exact phrase is “the purpose of the church is the increase of the love of God and neighbor.”

(Personal note:  Richard Niebuhr was the younger brother of Reinhold Niebuhr and also my Dad’s advisor at Yale Divinity School.  Moreover, this phrase was the central theme of my Doctor of Ministry thesis at McCormick Theological Seminary.)

We altered this phrase to make it more personal with the use of “our” and then added “and creation” to reflect the global crisis we face with our environment.

Sixty-five years ago Dr. Niebuhr suggested that the sole purpose of the Church is to increase our love for God and the world and all its people.  It still is.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 22, 2020

Open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Mission is to create authentic Christian community, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, and participate in God’s healing in the world.

Members and Friends:

The second part of our new mission statement, to create authentic Christian Community, has been at the core of the Christian faith since it’s beginning.  Rodney Stark, in his book The Rise of Christianity, states it beautifully:

July 21, 2020

Open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Mission is to create authentic Christian community, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, and participate in God’s healing in the world.

Members and Friends:

This is our new mission statement and, as I wrote yesterday, I will take each of the parts of this statement separately to further explain its background and why it is important.

The first, Open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, comes from the first section of the Book of Order called the “Foundations of Presbyterian Polity.”  The phrase is a slight variation of a heading on one of the sections, F-1.04, which states:

In the power of the Spirit, Jesus Christ draws worshiping communities and individual believers into the sovereign activity of the triune God at all times and places. As the Church seeks reform and fresh direction, it looks to Jesus Christ who goes ahead of us and calls us to follow him. United with Christ in the power of the Spirit, the Church seeks “not [to] be conformed to this world, but [to] be transformed by the renewing of [our] minds, so that [we] may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).

I am greatly comforted knowing that the mission of the church is not up to us but that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we look to Jesus who goes before us and calls us to follow him.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 20, 2020

Open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit our Mission is to create authentic Christian community, increase our love of God, neighbor, and creation, and participate in God’s healing in the world.

Members and Friends:

This is our new mission statement approved last week by session.  You will begin to see it on our website, eNews, bulletins, and other church publications.

A mission statement, as you know, states our core purpose, overall goals, who we are and hope to be.

In the coming days I will explain each of the four statements in depth, giving their background and meaning.  Each has special meaning to us as Presbyterians.

In the meantime, I hope you will read over the statement several times and perhaps even commit it to memory.  Who knows when you will have the occasion to tell someone else about our congregation and why we do what we do?

Hopefully, it will serve as a reminder of why we continue to be the church in these scattered times, and why our witness and work is so important to the world around us.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 16. 2020

Members and Friends:

Early Sunday morning sometime between darkness and dawn, my Dad passed away.

He was supposed to live longer, weeks to months, time enough to see him, talk with him, thank him, learn more of the family stories that I never knew or had forgotten or never asked about, ask him again about his life stories so it might bring him back to good and exciting days that spanned more than 93 years, tell him again that I love him.  I imagined doing all this sitting by his bed in my brother’s home in the middle of the woods outside Kalamazoo, surrounded by family and memories.

I arrived Saturday night and though his eyes were closed, he knew I came, as well as my daughters from Ohio, as we joined other family members to keep vigil and to listen and be present.

I hope I can still keep vigil, and be vigilant, in life’s big moments as well as the small ones.  I hope to listen better and listen more, to both what others care about and to what they care to tell me.  I hope I will be more present to the rhythm of breathing, and not take any breath for granted.  These are all simple, lofty and necessary acts in times of great mystery and meaning.

Thank you, Dad.  You gave much to the world, to the congregations you served, to the communities in which you lived, to your family, to me.

Grace and peace to you, Dad.  I trust in life and in death that you belong to God.

Harry

July 9, 2020

Members and Friends,

I am back.  We’ll start there.

The Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) was successful.  No issues, complications, or pain.  Only recovery and restored health and energy before me.  All is good.  Great thanks to the brilliant doctors and staff at Cleveland Clinic, the close friends with whom I stayed, the love and support from my wife Jenny, daughters Gwen and Claire who I was able to see during that time, family from across the country, and all of you with your notes and emails and texts and calls.  Thank you, thank you!

But I’m not back for long.  In the past week my father has been in the hospital in Kalamazoo and now beginning hospice care at my brother and sister-in-law’s home.  At some point in the near future I will be flying there to be with him.  I will still be available by text, email, or phone, and will participate in zoom meetings and video worship services, just as I would if I was here in Santa Fe.

So thank you for your prayers and support for my health issues, and now prayers for Dad with his.

Grace and peace,
Harry

July 7, 2020

From the daily Facebook posts of Steven Charleston
Retired Bishop, Episcopal Church USA
Native American of the Choctaw people

My doctor will tell you that I am more of the give it to me straight kind of patient. I would rather have the facts than the denial.

So here are the facts: the virus will take a long time to overcome and it will get worse before it gets better.

We need to accept that reality. The good news is that we can confront Covid-19 with a few simple actions: wear a mask, stay apart, wash your hands. Learn to live in a public health culture.

We have done it before. Some of us are old enough to remember polio and not drinking from water fountains in the summer. We remember the March of Dimes and Easter Seals. As a society we have embraced public health concerns and lived with them until science moved us forward. We can and will do it again.

So here is the straight talk: no matter what your politics, privilege or age do your part. It is that simple. Don’t wait for permission or orders from above. Just do the right thing. Wear a Mask/Save a Life. (July 2, 2020)

Now is our chance. That may be the positive message in the midst of the chaos we feel around us. Even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to claim more lives and even as the demonstrations topple more images of historic oppression: we have the chance to turn something bad into something good.

We can not only defeat the virus, but use it as the starting place to finally establish meaningful health care for all of our citizens. We can not only stop allowing racism to enjoy public protection in our society, but renew our shared commitment to make our nation the land of the free.

Both of those goals are within our grasp if we are willing to look honestly at the root causes for the rising numbers of illness and at the source of the racism that has haunted us for years. Yes, it is a difficult and scary time, but it is also a time of enormous possibility. History may be a hard teacher, but now is our chance to learn the lessons it teaches and become the nation we have always claimed to be. (July 5, 2020)

You may read more from Bishop Charleston on his Facebook page.

July 6, 2020

Frederick Douglass’ Descendants Deliver His Fourth of July Speech

As we celebrate the 4th with hot dogs in our yard and fireworks on TV, it would behoove us to take a moment to understand why some of those in this society may feel differently toward this holiday. Frederick Douglass said it so powerfully back in 1852, and today his descendants deliver both his message and their own. Take a moment, listen…

July 2, 2020

Members and Friends,

Fearful, lonely, challenged, depressed, unsure, angry – these are words that could describe our feelings since March. For the most part we have made adjustments and pulled our lives in around us as we quarantine. Some people have even reported positive things that have come from having to adopt a different lifestyle. People have become more introspective, have more time for their families, perhaps have discovered their work can be done from home, or have found a new appreciation for the natural world around them.

Then in the midst of this quiet chaos, came more of what we have seen over and over in our country: the killing of unarmed African Americans.

The shooting of Amaud Arbery by self-styled vigilantes took place on February 23, but was not known to the world until a video was released on May 5. Amaud was 25 years old, a former standout high school athlete and someone who was beautifully remembered in a piece by Jim Barger, Jr. in the May 14 edition of The Bitter Southerner. The introduction speaks of “how well he was loved, and what his community must reckon with in the wake of his murder.” If you have not read this article I urge you to look it up online. It is profound.

The shooting of Breonna Taylor took place shortly after midnight on March 13. Breonna was an EMT who worked in Louisville, Kentucky. She was 26 years old when shot eight times and killed in her apartment by three Louisville police officers executing a no-knock search warrant. They were looking for drugs but there were none.

George Floyd was killed on May 25. You have probably all seen the video footage that recorded his death by asphyxiation. While one Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to George’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, three other officers helped to handcuff and pin him to the ground or stood by.

These tragedies do not stand out as unusual. Sadly, we recall many other tragedies where people of color were killed by police or other people in power. US News and World Report wrote this month, “More than 1,000 unarmed people died as the result of police harm between 2013 and 2019, according to data from Mapping Police Violence. About a third of them were black.” But the George Floyd murder appears to have been the tipping point.

Our country had had enough. The quiet chaos blew up. Americans were already on edge with many worried about such basics as paying their rent and putting food on the table. The response seemed spontaneous with many protest marches erupting around the U.S. and Europe. Many thousands were now “taking it to the street.”

So how are we supposed to respond? As people of faith and as a Matthew 25 church that is called by PCUSA to “actively engage in the world around us” and to be a denomination that is a “relevant presence in the world” what can we do?

Our church has responded in part by developing an Act II Adult Study group that meets via Zoom on Fridays. We will be looking at race, racism, white privilege, and how to become an anti-racist. There are many resources that we are compiling, including videos, YouTube presentations, TED Talks, books, articles, and more. The audacious goal of this class is to help make us strong for our job of healing in the world. We encourage all of you to join us.

Act II Adult Study Committee
Mission and Social Justice Committee

June 25, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ,

I wanted to pass along the latest update to the congregation to ensure everyone is up to speed.

Earlier this year, Jen and I found out that she was pregnant with a baby girl. Not only were we graced with the miracle of new life, but also were ecstatic to surprise the grandparents with pictures of the first ultrasound on Christmas. This spring, we also received some difficult news finding out that the baby has a minor omphalocele where a small amount of the baby’s intestines are pushing out of the belly toward the umbilical cord.

Over the past few months, Jen and I have been traveling regularly to the Children’s Hospital in Denver to meet with various doctors, surgeons and specialists. The baby has now been given a due date of no later than July 20^th and will have to have surgery shortly after birth in Denver. In early June, the doctors asked us to relocate to Denver so we can attend weekly medical appointments and check-ups. Moving and finding temporary housing during a pandemic while being 8 months pregnant and attending all these appointments has been quite the challenge as you can imagine. We are now settled into Denver and will remain here through August for post-surgery and recovery. The doctors in Colorado continue to assure us that the prognosis for recovery for mom and baby are good.

When all of this settles out, we look forward to having you all back to First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe for the baptism of this little one who will have already been through some major life journeys. We miss you all dearly and look forward to the days when we can bring this small child of God home to the Land of Enchantment and where we can again gather in person as one in Christ. In the midst of all of this, God is good, new life, love and resurrection abound and through this journey I now more deeply understand the Apostle Paul’s call for us to “pray without ceasing.” Your love and prayers are so greatly appreciated!

Many blessing to each of you and keep us in your prayers,
Rev. Andrew Black

June 24, 2020

Members and Friends:

Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew Chapter 10 to go forth into the world in his name, share his message, heal people, give them hope, offer a new way to live.  And when you do, Jesus reminds us then and now, there will be pushback.  People won’t like it.  They will treat you badly.  Expect it.  Don’t be surprised.  It comes with the territory.

Yet, I am still surprised, and saddened, heartbroken, and enraged to hear the news yesterday that the India Palace restaurant downtown—where I have enjoyed many a meal—was ransacked and vandalized with white supremacist and racist words painted across its walls.  With calls for racial equality and justice sounding across the world comes this counter message of hate directed at an Indian family in our own community.

I hope we will help to erase these words of hatred with our own acts of kindness and compassion.  Give to the GoFundMe pages to help with repairs.  Write a note to the family.  I have done so on behalf of the church.   When it reopens order food from there.  And do it again.  I hope we can show that Santa Fe cares.  And not tolerate hatred in any form, not now, nor any time to come.

When we go forth into the world, we represent Jesus Christ.  Share his message, heal people, give them hope, offer a new way to live.

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 23, 2020

While we start this Matthew 25 adventure I continue one of my own.  A week from today I will be back at the Cleveland Clinic undergoing tests and talking with doctors, all with the hope of undergoing a TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) procedure to replace my aortic valve damaged by radiation treatment I had years ago.  This is a non-invasive procedure, as opposed to surgery, that has been used for ten years with great success, and requires less recovery time.  I leave this Sunday, June 28, and plan to return to Santa Fe on Wednesday, July 8.  If no surprises occur, unlike last time, the procedure will take place July 2.  No guarantees but I am hopeful!

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 19, 2020

A woman is healed.

She has suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years with no relief until she comes up behind Jesus in the middle of a large crowd and touches his cloak.   Immediately she is made well.  Jesus feels it too and seeks her out despite the disciples’ reluctance.  She bows at his feet with fear and trembling and tells him the whole truth.

This story from Mark’s fifth chapter reaches into our own pandemic times and great social unrest.  Our nation has been suffering for centuries and a cure is yet to be found to address the disease of racism.  Those who should have known better have scoffed, avoided, and passed racism off as normal.  It is Jesus who stops, understands what is happening, and listens to the woman tell her whole truth, her story.  And she is healed.

To heal our nation will require courageous stands, creative solutions, and great resolve.  But first we need to tell our stories and listen to the stories of others.  Twenty-two of us from the church gathered on Zoom earlier today for an hour of story-telling about race and privilege.  One poignant personal story would lead to another and another and another.  The hour ended too quickly with many more stories left to be told.  We will do that next Friday at the same time, 12:30-1:30 pm.  Join us on Zoom from the convenience of your own home.  The link is in the eNews.

This is not an easy fix, this racism and police brutality, this white supremacy and privilege, this disregard for the humanity and well-being of all God’s people.  It will take time, more time than we wish or even have.  We will want to rush through the process and get to the good ending.  We will feel the pushback and be tempted to soften our resolve to see our society change.

It will take more listening.  It will take more strength and courage.  It will take more stories.

A woman was healed.  Maybe our nation can too.

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 18, 2020

Madeleine Wright on Race and Her Life

During my lifetime being black was a fact that could not be ignored by penalty of death. While traveling to the south during my childhood, when the gas station attendant directed us to the rest room by saying: “over there you will see it.”  I dare not imagine what would have happen if we had gone into the “Ladies or Men’s Room” instead of the restroom labeled “Colored.” Our parents told us that black people were considered inferior and therefore we had to be twice as good in school and everything we did to have a successful life.

When I took Sociology at Wayne State University in Detroit, the textbook had a section on Social Problems under which “Negroes” was listed. W.E.B. Dubois in the Soul of Black Folks poses the question: “What is it like to be a problem. When we were living in Houston and our son would attend an event at a white High School classmate’s home, we would tell him not to come out on their street until we had called to say we were outside.

As Booker choose orthopedic surgery for his specialty, he wondered if doctors would refer their patients to him. When he completed his residency at the celebratory dinner, the head of orthopedics apologized to Booker because the menu did not include watermelon.  I could go on and on, however, race is not an issue that we, our children, or grandchildren can ignore.

June 17, 2020

• Blowing in the Wind    Peter, Paul and Mary,  Dylan and Stevie Wonder
• A Change is Gonna Come    Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, both of whom died young
• River    Leon Bridges
• Abraham, Martin and John    Dion

June 16, 2020

This is my 50^th post since the pandemic shutdown began three months ago.  Who knew then what we know now?  Not only did we enter a whole new world of a pandemic but we made an unexpected detour into protesting racism and police brutality, and finally beginning to take seriously white privilege and the shadow it has cast across centuries.

Here are some thoughts after three months and fifty posts . . .

The church is more than a building.  We always had a hunch it was but it took a pandemic to convince us we are better suited out in the world.  After all, if I’m not mistaken, that’s where Jesus spent his time.

Society is re-forming more than it ever has in my lifetime.  The pandemic alone could not sustain a reformation but it may have put us in the right space to be part of one.

Most of us know more technology and use it more often than we ever thought possible.

Even a pandemic can be political.  To wear a mask or not is one way to identify our politics.  Sorry to say.

The Gospel is still relevant.  The Church may not seem to be at the center of the current protests and calls for change but its principles of justice, peace, and compassion certainly are.

Take the virus seriously.  Don’t let down your guard.  Don’t think the worst is past.  Wear a mask and be content with life’s different rhythm a while longer.

More people are tuning into our online worship services, zoom meetings and gatherings than we had in person before the shut down.

I’m pretty sure God would rather have us safe than to rush back to worship and carry on as before.  Besides, it gives God more time to prepare for this new creation God has in store for us.

Jenny and I have found great joy in building a labyrinth on our property, especially because it includes stones from our friends.  We would still love to include a stone from you.   Please write your name on it along with anything else you wish and leave it outside my office door.

We’re learning what is important to keep and what we can let go of, and there’s more we can let go of  than I once thought.

I miss seeing you all in person.

God is still moving about in this world, which gives me great comfort.

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 11, 2020

Members and Friends:

I was born in a small town on the Ohio River and moved at an early age to Wooster a few hours north.  There were few people of color in my memory and probably just as many in reality except for one African American boy who played little league with my brother.  He was called Blackie and was the best player in the league. I now highly doubt that was his real name.  It wasn’t until my family moved to Southern California that I was exposed to children of other colors and cultures and we found ourselves in the midst of integration issues and racial strife.

Big-time.

My brothers attended a majority black high school and my parents were heavily involved in integrating the schools after seeing the deep disparities that segregation had brought upon the Pasadena community.  When court-ordered integration brought busing to the public schools it also resulted in my neighborhood being overrun with For Sale signs.  It seemed that every other house was up for sale as whites moved out to whiter areas.  To this day if I see more than one “For Sale” sign on a block I find myself transported back in sixth grade for a few moments when I wondered why my friends had to move away.

There’s more to this story but I will stop here because I want to hear your story.

We all have stories to tell.  Let’s share our stories, childhood memories, current awakenings, hurts, confusion, insights on racism and white privilege and policing.  We need to do this.  It’s one way to move forward, by letting our past find some light of day in a world that is now ready to listen.  At least I hope it is, and I hope we are.

There are two ways to do this.  Write something for the eNews about your experiences with race, privilege, discrimination or whatever touches your heart in these days of protest and change, and send it to David in the church office, office@fpcsantafe.org.  Then join us for a zoom gathering, sponsored by Adult Education/Acts II on Friday, June 19, 12:30-1:30 pm.  (Look for the zoom link in the eNews soon.)  We hope this will be the start of a weekly gathering to discuss issues surrounding race and privilege.  At this first gathering we will share our own stories and in subsequent weeks we envision branching out into broader discussions using books, articles and guests to guide us.

Interesting to note, and you may know this but I had to be told, that June 19 is also known as Juneteenth, the “longest running African-American holiday,” and also called “America’s second Independence day.”  If you don’t know its history please look it up and then join us to recognize the significance of that day as we begin these important conversations.

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 10, 2020

Members and Friends:

How does the mainline Protestant Church get in the news these days?  I thought it might be its unrelenting stand against racism and injustice.  I thought it would come in the eloquence of its preachers and its daily ministries of care and compassion.  I thought it would come by way of its deep spiritual roots that has wisdom to share with a hurting and fed-up nation.

Not quite.  It came because St. John’s Episcopal Church, just steps from the White House, suffered a small fire in its basement during the recent protests, and a president came to get his photograph taken in front of it.

While in Cleveland I watched the unfolding protests over George Floyd’s death and began to wonder where is the voice of the faith communities?  Community, civic, non-profit, and activist groups were visible.  Young people of all colors marched together.  I may have missed all the times faith leaders were interviewed (though I did see Dr. William Barber once), but they certainly weren’t leading the marches as they did in the 1960s.

What I did see, usually in the latter parts of news stories, were the clergy of St. John’s and other congregations handing out water bottles and granola bars.  One Episcopal clergywoman from neighboring Georgetown was tending to the eyes of those who were sprayed with chemical agents, herself also a victim.  There was no one at St. John’s church that day because they were all out in the community taking stands against racism and injustice.  They weren’t seeking publicity but quietly going about their ministry of care and compassion.  They weren’t preaching sound bites to end up on CNN but offering words of solace and comfort, emanating from the deep wells of a spiritual heritage I am proud to share.  They didn’t need a photo-op because they have been doing this all along.

Jesus didn’t require his disciples to know publicity and marketing techniques, nor did he look for the nearest camera to stand in front of, or stage his events to get the most out of the moment.  Instead he focused on the good news, a message that keeps insisting God loves every last one of us, in good times and pandemic times, protest times and reconciling times, in life and in death, in church basements where a fire was started, and in broad daylight where a tired nation continues to insist we must try once again to treat each other with respect and a deep sense of our own common humanity.

The only news we should hope to get into is practicing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 8, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

Where do we even begin?

I arrived in Cleveland two weeks ago yesterday for my adventure at the Cleveland Clinic.  Who knew the next day would be the start of a world movement with the killing of George Floyd?  Who knew there would be weeks of protests that are yet to let up?  Who knew racism would be challenged in such a profound way, a racism that reaches back to the earliest days of our country?

To say it is “about time” skips all the other times we should have acted and should have known better.  But it’s time now.  The time is right.  It is past right.  We can’t go back nor should we want to live all the days before May 25^th when racism was still inexplicably acceptable.  I am reminded of the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt and then were heard complaining in the wilderness saying they wanted to go back.  No . . . we . . . don’t.

So what to do?  First of all, listen.  Listen to our friends and neighbors and people we have never met who have experienced and suffered from racism.  We need to listen to the stories of pain and suffering, of being silenced and sidelined, stereotyped and profiled. Then listen some more.  It’s not our time to speak.  We are being asked to listen and acknowledge and reflect.

Most of us never asked for white privilege, we were born into it, and have benefitted from it nonetheless.  Swallow hard, open our eyes and be willing to be reminded time and again of the privileges we have enjoyed without ever acknowledging or realizing them.  Start a discussion with friends, read books (I hear books on racism are sold out!), and whatever we do may we not miss this opportunity to be educated.

We have a lot of catching up to do but it will be worth it one hundred times over, and probably more.  Listen hard enough, follow closely enough and we will end up as different people.  We will be a different church, a different community, and might we even hope that our nation will change as well?  Let us all work together (how many times have we said this through our lifetimes?) and really mean it.  It won’t be easy, pleasant, peaceful, without mistakes, without doubts, or filled with a whole lot of joy.  Quite the opposite.  But when we get on board we shall know what our friends of color have been experiencing their entire lives.

Where do we even begin?  I honestly hope we already have.

Grace and peace,
Harry

June 4, 2020

Members and Friends:

Worshiping at home…

In these Covid-19 days since our church building has been closed, our church has not been closed.  The ministry of FPC continues.  We have numerous opportunities to worship, whether it be attending the Celtic service on Wednesday, the Sunday service, or Sabbath Moments on Thursday.  There’s also bible study, book groups, TGIF concerts recorded — the list goes on.  The Presbytery conducts a live-stream service every Sunday at 10 a.m.

How are you participating in these services?  I know my friend Gale and C.C. Wright get up on Sunday morning and have their breakfast and take their second cup of coffee to Gale’s office and enjoy the service together.  I have a tendency to listen to the service pretty early on Sunday morning, usually tucked up on my couch with a cup of coffee.

Many in our congregation are attending alone and probably like I am, wishing that I was in the pew surrounded by friends.  Or up on the chancel, sitting between Nina Brown and Jenny Harland and singing an anthem or an offertory but also leading the congregation in the hymns.  So, since I can’t be there, I sing along with Travis, and I light a candle, and I recite the Lord’s Prayer and cite “Thanks be to God” at the end of the reading.  But mostly I sing.

I drove over to Upper Crust Pizza tonight, and on 95.5 FM there was a loop of music from the musicals from the 50’s.  Remember Oklahoma! – Carousel – South Pacific?  The King and I, and The Sound of Music?  The plots might be a bit sappy but the music – oh my – Rogers and Hammerstein.  We could all sing along with the songs from these musicals.  Remember?

The last song that was playing tonight was “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel. I can still hear Shirley Jones singing in that high perfectly clear, perfectly pitched soprano.  I always cry.

When you walk through a storm,
Hold your head up high,
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind;
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart,
And you’ll never walk alone.
You’ll never walk alone.

We are in a storm. But we are not alone.  We are never alone. God is always right next to us.

Peace,
Judi

June 3, 2020

June 2, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

Recently, Pastor Harry Eberts referenced “liminal space” in one of his posts on our Church e-mail. Liminal comes from the Latin word limen, meaning threshold. Certainly this has been a time of liminal space during the Covid pandemic, a threshold between the old and the new, which will be unfolding during the next few months and years with many changes to our lives.

Author Richard Rohr states that liminal space is an inner state and sometimes an outer situation where we can begin to think and act in new ways, and it allows room for something new to happen, and it is where we are most teachable.  A new reality is emerging, but we cannot see beyond the threshold. All we know is that we exist in this moment, where everything is in transition. Rohr also says he wonders if liminal space is the realm of the Holy Spirit, our comforter, who does not take away the vastness and possibility of this opened-up threshold time, but invites us to lay down our fears and discomfort to see what else is there.

John Philip Newell indicates that “into this liminal realm, between the known and the unknown, we are invited to enter if we are to learn more of the way forward in our lives as individuals and as communities and nations.”

I have spent some evenings of my Covid stay at home time continuing to volunteer at the Interfaith Community Shelter (Pete’s Place), and they needed help because most other volunteers stopped coming after the pandemic hit.  I frequently wondered what those guests at  the shelter were thinking about Covid – – they are in a crisis mode all the time, just trying to survive, whether there is a pandemic or not. They likely do not think of this as a threshold between the old and the new, but they did notice changes, such as placing some of the guests at motels, to help maintain social distancing. On the other hand, most of us will experience much more of a change in our daily lives from the pre-Covid world.

I also wonder if we are at another threshold, between the old and the new, with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the ensuing peaceful protests, some of which have turned into violence and chaos in many cities. It remains to be seen if, after a few months, anything will have changed in terms of racial and economic inequities. Are we at a threshold, or will this be somewhat forgotten with the passage of time or because of some other crisis that we turn to, such as a return of the virus in the autumn, or a real crisis with China, North Korea, etc.  Will we begin to think and act in new ways?  Can we learn more of the way forward?

But through this all, I keep asking myself:  where is the Holy Spirit in all of this?  Again, I remember Pastor Harry a few weeks ago talking about a “paraclete”, an advocate and companion with us, which is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is with us whenever there is healing, whether with the homeless population, the Covid pandemic, or with our response to societal inequities.

Dick Lindahl, Elder

May 28, 2020

Dear FPC Friends,

As you probably have heard by now, Harry asked the Session members to write a note to you all while he is away. For those who don’t know me, I am a pediatrician currently working as Maternal Child Health Director in the Department of Health. I have been a member of FPC for 21 years, have been on Session for a total of seven years (not consecutively) and prior to that was on Deacons for three.

Recently I was asked to chair an ad hoc committee looking at health and safety practices, which will be critical as we make decisions about possibly re-opening the church a bit at a time.  I was asked to do this because I am a physician working in public health at the Department of Health. The health and safety of everyone in the FPC family weighs heavily on my mind, especially given that so many of our members are at high risk.  Even with strict cleaning protocols in place, the safest place for most of us will still be in our homes for the near future.

For June, we are re-opening the Child Development Center (CDC) at 50% enrollment, as per the state guidelines.  We will keep the church building closed for all other activities.  But I am confident that the church itself – the members, the mission, the community, and the good work of the church – will continue to be vibrant, active, and connected until we can all meet in person again. We have been given a huge gift and a huge challenge, a chance to stop and look critically at our society (and our church) and decide how we want to move forward.  We can do this, if we do it together.

As I write this it is Memorial Day weekend, and we would normally be eagerly anticipating the opening of the rooftop garden. I will really miss the experience of hearing the birds and being surrounded by the beautiful flowers while we worship together.  So, in these times when we cannot enjoy nature as a group, I still try to reserve Sunday mornings for spirituality and nature, something that feeds my soul and restores me for the coming week, like this photo I took from the top of Picacho Peak today.

May the beauty of nature refresh and restore you for all the work ahead.

Janis Gonzales
Elder
Chair of FPC Covid-19 Health Committee

May 27, 2020

Members and Friends:

My wife has a pot on our back deck in Santa Fe filled with beautiful blue delphiniums. It is a great place to drink coffee and watch the morning sun come over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. As the first rays of morning sun shine in, the nearly opened blooms turn their heads to the east. For as we all know, the sun is the power source for all living things.

In John the fourteenth chapter, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his upcoming death.  They were troubled and afraid for their mentor and teacher, their power source was foretelling His death. Jesus uses this one powerful phrase to comfort the twelve, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

In his best seller, Beneath A Scarlet Sky, Mark Sullivan weaves an epic tale of a young man’s incredible courage and resistance to the Nazi occupation of his native country, Italy. Based on the true story of Pino Lella, a seventeen year old teenager, who finds himself constantly in harm’s way during the last eighteen months of the war.

In 1944 with Allied bombers trying to prevent the retreat of the German army back to Austria, Pino’s beloved city of Milan was being decimated. Italian Jews were being shipped by rail cars to the gas chambers in Poland. Thousands of Italian men were forced into slavery to build roads and war machinery for the Third Reich. Food and clothing were being stolen from the Italian people and given to the Nazi army.

With all of this transpiring, Pino finds himself in the only cathedral in Milan not bombed out on Christmas Eve, 1944. Cardinal Schuster, the Benedictine Monk and Arch Bishop of Milan is conducting the midnight service. Imagine for a moment what message would this cleric bring to these believers.  He chose the message of Jesus,” Let not your heart be troubled.”

These six words would stay with Pino throughout his dangerous ordeals as a spy for the Allies. They became a source of strength for Pino and should be a solace for all of us in these trying times.

Gayle Lomax
CDC Advisory Council Chair

May 26, 2020

Members and Friends:

“Who are you, O God? And who am I?” This was St. Francis’s all-night prayer, as I recently learned in an adult ed program studying Eager to Love by Richard Rohr. Rohr said it was probably a perfect prayer because it is the most honest prayer we can offer.

I was intrigued, so I hopped online and found that the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration say that few of us have the courage to pray as St. Francis did—because we don’t really want to know the answer. Ah yes.

A lot of us, myself included, are talking about spending time during this pandemic reflecting on things. Sometimes during tragedies and stress we want to cling to something we “know” and not open ourselves up to new ideas. We are desperately trying to find our old selves again when everything around us has changed. But that very circumstance requires us to reflect and change.

So hearing this prayer of St. Francis made me wonder how far I am willing to go with this change thing. Do I try to cling to my old ideas or do I intentionally open myself up to new visions of who God is and who I am or could be? It is an opportunity, so my head tells me. But have I the courage to sincerely ask the questions? What if I get an answer I don’t want to hear?

Do I dare ask, “Who are you, O God? And who am I?”

Gale Wright
Treasurer

May 25, 2020

Members and Friends:

When I was growing up, holidays were a time for getting together with family or friends, and Memorial Day in particular because it announced the arrival of SUMMER!  Freedom from school routine, time for family reunions at the lake or the beach or in the back yard.  But this year is going to be different.  Family gatherings are going to be difficult if not impossible.  This year, while I plan to Zoom with my sisters and brother, I’m also reflecting on the true reason for this national holiday.

Memorial Day – is a day of remembering those who have died serving in the American Armed Forces.  Originally called Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971 (according to my BFF Google).

This year we must remember not only those who have fallen in active service to our country during times of war, but those front line workers in hospitals and grocery stores, doctors and nurses and the postman, who have died, but also those who are still out there risking their lives and safety to keep us safe.  Maybe we can try to reach out to these folks and say, “Thank You!”

Harry suggested that we talk about what we were doing during this time of isolation and social distancing.  Well, I started out this period of stay at home, with all sorts of projects planned.  Like cleaning out the garage, sorting my stitching stash, cooking healthy meals, walking the dog.  You know!  We all have the same list.

Nine weeks or so into the stay at home order, the garage project is started, the stitching projects are back in their respective bins and I’ve discovered I would rather buy Ice Cream & Cookies than a salad.   Oh, and I’ve walked the dog twice.  I have also discovered that I don’t have to do it all at once, that a measured approach to daily life is a good thing.  Routine is not a bad word. Spending an hour each morning, writing in my journal, calling or texting friends and browsing through FB is good.  Zoom meetings are cool.

Even though I long to see friends and family up close and crave a visit to a nail salon, I do not want to go back to the way it was.  This slower pace, with comfortable routine is good.  My hope is that each of us will discover a way to get back to a better healthier more positive normal when the time comes

And there is the promise of HOPE in Revelation 21: 4 –  [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.

Blessings to all of you, my family at FPC.
Judi
(Judi Haines, Clerk of Session)

May 22, 2020

Members and Friends:

Evangelism has been an exciting word in the Christian faith from its beginning.  It literally means “good message” with the ev coming from the Greek eu which means good, and angelion meaning angel or messenger.  We have not only a good message but a great message to share, and it is a wonderment why many of us are hesitant to do so.  Choose your own favorite reason.

And then the pandemic comes along!  It is a new day for evangelism.  As I have mentioned previously the re-formation we are currently experiencing always leads to faith going deeper and broader.  Not surprisingly it is doing just that now.

We are going deeper as people have begun to really examine their lives, in light of the death all around them and across the world, to find meaning that has so far been elusive.  We’re starting to sort out what is important to take with us on this journey and what to leave behind.  In a sense, it’s an unmasking (no, keep your mask on!) where we begin to talk about who we are deep down.

We’re going broader by reaching people through the internet, social media sites, our website.  We are hearing from people across the country who are tuning in.  When Matthew 28 tells us to go “and make disciples of all nations,” it was a monumental task back then to reach others.

Now we do it through YouTube and Zoom meetings.  We are getting more people tuning in to our online worship services and attending zoom gatherings than we ever did in person!

So, here’s what session is calling us all to do.  Share links from our church’s activities and services to your friends.  Link people in.

I believe we are a nation yearning for a “good message” of hope, resilience, healing, forgiveness, wellbeing, integrity, resurrection, renewal, compassion.  If any of these words resonate with you then share them.  Knocking on doors has given way to pressing some keys on your computer.

While thinking of others this way you may find out that someone is in need of help.  We have a small fund that was started by member Bonnie (Linda) Tsosie using the sale of her paintings to help people in need within our congregation and the community.  There are still paintings to purchase which supports the fund.  If you know of a need, let me know.

Evangelism.  It’s not right to keep it to ourselves any longer.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 21, 2020

Members and Friends:

Years ago I remember reading a short article about a man and his son, both in overalls, who would sit on their front porch all day long and wave at every one that passed by.  Just a wave, that’s all.  Day after day waving.  Not sure why they did it, can’t remember that part of the story, but obviously the image has stayed with me and I can’t help but smile when I think of them.

Like I do when I see videos of people from their high-rise balconies waving and cheering health care workers coming off their shifts.  Like I do when health care workers line hospital lobbies and wave and clap, and cheer through their masks, as survivors of Covid-19 leave the hospital.  Like I do when a young girl comes home after finishing cancer treatments and the whole neighborhood is out on the sidewalk and on their cars waving her home.

By this time I am smiling through some tears.  In the midst of an awful pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, strangers and friends and family wave and clap their appreciation for each other.  It’s truly astounding and humanity at its best.

So let’s do it here.  Now.  As we lead up to Pentecost Sunday.  I invite you and anyone in your household (Jenny!  Pippin, where are you?!) to take your phone, hold it sideways (very important step!), put it on video and film yourself waving to the camera.  Five seconds is all we need.  Then send it to our own videographer extraordinaire Raymond Raney at rraney@dioceserg.org no later than 5pm on Tuesday, May 26.  These short clips will be used in the Pentecost service on Sunday, May 31^st.  Please note:  This service goes to YouTube so please don’t do this if you have privacy concerns.  Double please note:  If you don’t have a smart phone don’t keep trying to take a video.  It won’t happen.  It just won’t.  Stop trying.  Call someone instead.

I may not have driven by a front porch with two men in overalls waving at me but I sure look forward to seeing all of your waves on Pentecost.   I miss seeing you all.  And it’s the rebirth of the church so let’s all wave it in!

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 20, 2020

Members and Friends:

St. Francis has me reading two books about him at the same time.  Not sure how he accomplished that seeing that I have books by my bedside stacked from floor to window sill.  One is Francis of Assisi, A Revolutionary Life, and the other is Richard Rohr’s Eager to Love, The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi, the main reading for our current online course taught by Allen Gulledge.

Perhaps it’s no wonder that St. Francis is catching my attention as he has the longest single entry of any one person in the Library of Congress.  I was bound to run across him at some point, I figure, aside from his welcome each Sunday as we enter the sanctuary from the lobby doors (remember those days?).  But he most likely came to me, and perhaps you as well, because he is someone we need to hear in  pandemic times.

Listen to the opening words of Eager to Love, (yes, listen, read it aloud to yourself and others) written by Neale Donald Walsch:

Yearning for a new way will not produce it.
Only ending the old way can do that.
You cannot hold onto the old,
all the while declaring that you want something new.
The old will defy the new.
The old will deny the new;
The old will decry the new.
There is only one way to bring in the new.
You must make room for it. 

St. Francis made room for the new, and that’s what I’m learning to love about him.  Rohr quotes his first biographer who said of him, “He was always new, always fresh, always beginning again.”  Rohr continues in his own voice, “His God was not tired, and so he was never tired.  His God was not old, so Francis remained forever young.”

I love that.  When we get tired or feel old, and sense a complaint is about to appear around the corner of our mouth, I suggest making room for St. Francis.  Complaints or apathy or resignation never started a transformation, never sound like resurrection, never imagine a deeper and fuller life, never wakes early enough to catch a sunrise.

Thank you, Francis, for reminding me.  Now, how can I make you comfortable in my life?

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 19, 2020

Members and Friends:

I am heading back to the Cleveland Clinic Sunday afternoon to begin a week of testing which will lead to an aortic valve replacement on June 1.  This is yet another result of radiation treatment (the list has grown rather long) I had back in 1976 for Hodgkin’s Disease.  I was cured all those years ago but treatment side-effects continue to this day.  My Cleveland Clinic doctor has been carefully watching this valve for well over ten years and told me I should contact him if I am short of breath going up hills or stairs.  This has been the case for a long time (I’ve tried my best to hide it and ignore it if I could) but it has gotten worse of late, so I called my doctor and he said it’s time.

Unless tests show I need an operation, I will undergo a TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) procedure where doctors can go up through an artery in my leg (I am in awe of medical science) and replace the valve.  No incisions, quick recovery time.

My previous doctor at the Clinic told me a few years ago at one of my yearly checkups that I have done the best of any person he has seen that has had the same history of illness and radiation. That made me feel pretty good (my goodness, this is the Cleveland Clinic!) but it also made me a bit melancholic.  When I finished five weeks of radiation years ago and was told I was cured, I thought I was free.  I had no idea, nor did anyone tell me, that it would hound me to this day.

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I never had Hodgkin’s and radiation and leukemia and the many smaller maladies that have accompanied them.  Where would I be?  What would I be doing?  How would I look at myself and the world?

I try not to ask anymore.  I know I must have lost out on some things but I have gained so much more by the life I have lived.  I wouldn’t trade it in for another, and that feels pretty good to say.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 14, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

My brother Ray went to Afghanistan in the fall of 2002 to bring computers to the University of Kabul and provide them with technological assistance.  He was an Industrial Engineering professor at Purdue at the time, met with the Minister of Education who told him he was the first person from the United States to show up without bombing them, and resisted the calls from all his family not to go.  It was too dangerous, we said.  He was killed in a car crash outside of Rockford, Illinois, nine months later.

I often think of Ray and what life would be like now if he had lived.  He was only 48 when he died and had already written two books, redesigned airplane cockpit panels so pilots could read them more easily, developed a system for the U.S. Postal Service to more quickly read and process illegible addresses, worked on artificial intelligence, pioneered on-line learning, and became director of Purdue’s Distance Learning Program setting up centers across the world.  More important than all of this, he was my brother, a son, a husband, a father, and all-around good guy.

Why write about Ray?  To remind me, and now you, to cherish your family and friends at all times, and not only now when we miss them during this pandemic.  It’s the proverbial reminder not to take them for granted, to tell them how much we love them, and appreciate that they are in our lives.  I am the youngest of three brothers and we had talked about getting together more often and started to make plans to do so.  Schedules, deadlines, and obligations took precedence, and we never did.

Jesus, in his goodbye speech to his disciples in John 14, gave them only one commandment:  To love one another as he had loved them.  Nothing else was as important as this.  Nothing.  William Sloane Coffin adds, “If we fail in love, we fail in all things else.”

I never told Ray I loved him, and I’m not sure what to do about that now.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 13, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

A labyrinth is much more than a circle of stones but an ancient spiritual practice that can leave a lasting impression on those who walk it.

In the summer of 2002 Jenny and I traveled from Ohio to attend a seminar at Ghost Ranch that used labyrinths in its teaching.  One afternoon I entered the labyrinth situated below Kitchen Mesa with the weight of Father’s Day coming soon and missing my young daughters.

Walking towards the center, when we are to let go of our anxieties and cares, I thought of Gwen and Claire and how my divorce affected them.  I reached the middle and started to walk back out when it happened.

As clear as the day was beautiful, I distinctly heard Claire’s voice saying, “It’s all right, Daddy.”

All the years of worrying about them and wondering how they are getting along and not being there with them day by day and feeling deeply my absence from them, I heard my nine year-old little girl say it was OK, she was OK, life would be OK.  It still brings tears to my eyes.  All shall be well, and all shall be well.

From that day forward a labyrinth has held a very special place in my heart.  As you can see from the photographs marking the site of our labyrinth in process, a beautiful Northern New Mexico setting can be transformed into a landscape of rainbows.  All shall be well.

We would love to have a stone from you to be part of our labyrinth.   Put your name on it and/or some special word or phrase that’s meaningful to you and leave it outside my office door, or the outside door next to my office.

Many thanks to all of you who have already graced us with stones!  Together they will guide us as we will soon walk the ancient circle again knowing that we will be gently held in that space and all is OK, all shall be well.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 12, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

What is considered an essential business?   This seems to be a question with no uniform answer nor adequate guidelines.   I personally think all ice cream shops should qualify, for instance, and you may opt for barber shops.

But what about faith communities, and churches in particular?  Are we essential?  Do we provide a product or a benefit that our society can’t do without?

I had a zoom meeting this morning with my spiritual direction group from church and posed the question to them.  Yes, they said, of course a church is essential because:

• It is concentric circles of caring
• It’s where life’s rituals take place, like weddings and funerals
• It supports people
• It keeps hope alive, especially through worship services
• It keeps sabbath alive
• It offers communion with God and one another
• You are missed when you aren’t here

That’s a good start.  Now let’s add to it.  What do you think is essential about the church?   What effect has our closed building had on you?  What would Santa Fe be like if we weren’t here?  Would we be missed?

Email me your thoughts and I will keep a running list and share it with you at a later time.  It will be good to know what we are missing so we don’t take them for granted when we are back together again, whenever that day will be.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 11, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

I lost my voice in 1987.  In the middle of being treated for leukemia I came down with a bacterial infection, the same strain that killed Muppeteer Jim Henson, and I feel very fortunate I survived.  When I awoke from a three-day coma, however, I could not talk.  It took days to speak again and years to feel comfortable in doing so, the result of some speech therapy, singing lessons, time and practice (as a minister I had a built-in practice schedule every Sunday morning!).  Though I still slur certain words, I get by.

It is important that we don’t lose our voice now.  Our society needs more than ever what Christianity at its best has to offer.  It’s the voice that still lifts up the poor, the voiceless, and the immigrants on our border, news of whom is scarily silent.  It’s the voice that rejoices in acts of compassion and kindness and being gentle to the earth.  It’s the voice that reaches deep into wisdom and sings hymns and songs that lift the spirit.

It’s the voice that needs to be heard in conversations as the world realigns itself in the midst of the pandemic and after the virus has passed.

Don’t know what to say?  Then I suggest we start by hearing again those great voices of the past that have stood up to the challenges in their own day, mystics like Julian of Norwich, prophets like Amos, and spiritual giants like St. Francis of Assisi, who by the way, is the focus of a new on-line zoom class which starts this Thursday, 12-1:30 pm (signup information is in the eNews).  We need their voices in the mix.

It will take some practice, we still have some learning to do, it will probably sound different, a few words may get slurred, but Christianity is finding its voice again.

Grace and peace,
Harry

Resilient, authentic, flexible, adaptable, risk-taking, relevant, and courageous.  Aside from the stories of Scripture, if I had to choose words to help us through this pandemic and lead us further into a new world I would choose these.No matter what the future brings, no matter how challenging and different it might be, no matter whether we feel up to the task, God is still present, still active, still loving us, and still encouraging us to be the faith community we have been before and the one we are now dreaming to become in the days ahead.

So I, for one, am not stressing.  We already have words to guide us and the love of God to sustain us, and this, in my way of thinking, is a pretty good place to start.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 5, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

Hopefully you know something about Iona by now.  Some of you have visited this small island off the western coast of Scotland, and others know it to be the birthplace of Celtic Christianity, a world heritage site, the inspiration for our Celtic Evensong services, and a thin place where there seems little separation between heaven and earth.

I want to introduce to you another place, Coorymeela, on the north coast of Northern Ireland not far from Ballycastle.  It was founded in 1965 as an organization seeking to aid individuals and communities which suffered through the violence and polarization of the Northern Irish conflict.  Through the years Coorymeela has become a place of peace and reconciliation, dealing not only with “The Troubles,” as they were called, of Northern Ireland but with conflicts world-wide.

After our trip to Iona with twelve other church members last June, Jenny and I, along with Jenny’s sister and her husband, visited Coorymeela and felt its beauty and its significance as it embodies, along with Iona, the spirit of Christianity that is both compelling and needed in our world.

While we continue to discern the role of the Church in today’s pandemic challenges it is comforting for me to remember there are places like Iona and Coorymeela that help us envision what Christianity is and what it can be.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 4, 2020

Dear Members and Friends:

We may be witnessing the beginning of a new Reformation.  The 16^th Century Reformation with Martin Luther and other reformers, along with innovations like the printing press, brought about a seismic shift in the life of the Church and society which was preceded by, yes, you guessed it, a plague and a low point for the Church.

The late Phyllis Tickle cited in the preface to her book The Great Emergence an Episcopalian bishop who noticed that every 500 years God throws a Rummage Sale (this idea has since become rather well-known).  If you know your church history and keep counting back 500 years you will see that so far the bishop is right.  God keeps some things and gives the rest away resulting in something new to emerge that is deeper, broader, and most often better than before.

We have all the makings of a good Reformation.  It’s been 500 years since the last one, the Church and society is in need of fresh ideas that are actually implemented (we’ve done a lot of talking and thinking thus far), the internet has profoundly changed how we share information, and COVID-19, our present day plague of death and devastation, is playing its own part in bringing about a new world.

How new will this world be?  It won’t depend on whether we get on board or not, or whether we shut our eyes and ears to all that is happening around us.  A Reformation, in all honesty, has been taking shape for decades and now we may get to see it for real, and up close, whether we like it or not.

No one is quite sure yet what it will look like.  All I can say is, hold onto your hats.  It could be quite a ride.

Grace and peace,
Harry

May 1, 2020

Members and Friends:

I have been hearing more and more about liminal space these days.  Liminal is from the Latin word limen meaning threshold, the idea being that we are living on the threshold of something not yet seen or understood.

In his daily meditation today, Father Richard Rohr writes about liminal space and says “Without standing on the threshold for much longer than we’re comfortable, we won’t be able to see beyond ourselves to the broader and more inclusive world that lies before us. In liminal space, we must leave business as usual and voluntarily enter a world where the rules and expectations are quite different.”  He goes on to say “ Sadly, our Christian churches often fail to create such liminal space through authentic ritual. Perhaps that is one of many reasons people are leaving churches in the West.”

Now that got my attention!  We who have wrung our hands for decades about the decline of the Church might be better served by practicing more rituals instead.  Let’s begin by counting what rituals we do already, identify why we do them, and begin to consider adding more.

What do we do in the meantime?  Rohr one more time:  “In moments of transition, we are simply to be. We are to pause and acknowledge that a transition is taking place. Instead of seeking to abruptly pass through a threshold, we are to tarry. . . . A new reality is emerging, but we cannot see beyond the threshold. All we know is that we exist in this moment, where everything is in transition. We may experience a new way of being, but we cannot yet sense what it will look like.”

Grace and peace,
Harry

For This Time Archive

March 2020

April 2020