Morton Rose & The River Bluff Wildlife Area

Hey all - 

Happy New Year to one and all! Recently, our friend and fellow church member, Helen Grant, shared with me an article written by her neighbor, Dale Allen, about another of their neighbors, our friend and fellow church member, Morton Rose, and his connection to the River Bluff Wildlife Area in South Knoxville. I found it to be fascinating reading, both for what I learned about Knoxville AND for what I learned about Morton. I thought you all might like to read the article, as well - so here you go!

Morton Rose and The River Bluff Wildlife Area

The Darkness of Advent

 Hey Everyone - 

Yesterday I was cleaning out my garage because it was my day off and it was warm outside and because, well, that's the kind of thing I do when I'm procrastinating about writing a sermon. (Another thing I do? Write a blog post.) While I was going through all the things that are in my garage that I haven't used in years but still insist upon taking up space in my life, I was thinking about how hard it is to get "up" for Christmas this year. I mean, our lights are hung, the trees decorated, and the decorations are all out; I put on Christmas music in my office and in my car and at home; Tuesday and I have watched several Christmas movies. But these things aren't really doing the trick. I'm just not "feeling" it this year.

This year has been hard...for all of us. We stopped all in-person activities at the church in March. We opened up to have people in worship and meetings in the church at the beginning of October, only to close again five weeks later as the infection rate in our county soared. Through it all you all have been so faithful. Everyone has done so very much to continue the mission and ministry of the church and to see that the church thrives. And we have. It's really been amazing to see what you all have done, and continue to do. You truly took the lemons of 2020 and made some sweet lemonade. I am so very grateful to you all and to God, I really am. But, like you, I am just getting emotionally fatigued by the distance, all the extra effort that goes into doing ministry in a pandemic, the masks, the fear, the partisanship in our nation, the arguments, the disagreements, the injustice and racism that persists, the everything-that-2020-has-been.

Maybe that's why I'm having hard time putting my thoughts together for tomorrow's sermon. This week is Gaudate Sunday - Joy Sunday. But how do I stand before people (well, stand before a camera that represents the people on the other end of the internet) and proclaim a message of joy when I'm not feeling particularly joyful myself?

The other day I was designing the Christmas Eve Service, and I was reading through the lectionary passages for the day. The words of the prophet Isaiah leapt out at me: 

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2)

Usually when I read that passage I focus on and think about the light that shines in the darkness, the light that dawns at Christmas. This week, however, the words that leapt off the page at me were darkness and deep darkness. I feel like I am walking in darkness, that we are living in a land of deep darkness. I mean, it's easy to get excited about Christmas when life is shiny and pretty and fun. But what about when things are dark? When there is an empty place at the table that didn't have to be there? When you can't hold the new baby that was born to your colleague and friend? When peoples' jobs and livelihoods are in jeopardy? When you can't be with the people you love? When you are afraid of endangering the health of your congregation and those you love?

I think that now, perhaps more than at any time I can remember, we need Advent. We all love Christmas, but Christmas is easy; Advent is tough. Advent is waiting and watching. Where is God for a struggling people? Where is God when we have lost our smiles? Or we can't see the smiles for the masks? Where is God when our collective attitude seems to be "it is what it is." Where is God when our souls cry out with Habakkuk and with the Psalmist, "How long, O Lord?" Where is the light that shines in the darkness?

It is coming. At Christmas. It was to those living in the land of deep darkness that the light dawned, that God came in the form of a vulnerable child. And it still is. This is the world into which God came, and into which God still comes - a world full of people scared about an uncertain future, a world rocked by loss, a world waiting and hoping, sometimes against all reason, for the light to break through. Into a broken, dark, and fearful world, hope was born. Hope is born. This is true, even if we can't feel its immediacy.

I need to be reminded of this truth again and again, but especially this year. I need to be reminded that God chooses to come to us, abide with us; that he is our Lord, Emmanuel, God-with-us. This year, for me, I think Christmas will be more like Passover is for the people of Israel: a reminder that God has been faithful in the past, and will be faithful in the future. Just because I can't see it, just because the darkness is so...dark, doesn't mean that the light isn't coming. It doesn't mean that we won't see the dawn of a great light. No matter how uncertain 2020 has been, this is one thing I know to be certain, one thing I know in the depth of my being to be true: God has been faithful, and God will be faithful, and that faithfulness is the thing upon which I rest my hope, thanks be to God.

So we will light the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love. We will sing the songs and continue, for a little while longer, to observe a holy Advent. We will let it remind us of the faithfulness of the God who holds us fast and calls us Beloved. And we will continue to pray from the depths of the darkness, "O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel."

Grace and peace...

PT

1st Sunday of Advent

 I love this day. I love this day because the secular world really doesn't know what to do with it. This day stands in the middle of the high holy days of consumerism like an oasis in the midst of a desert.

It all begins with Black Friday, the "traditional" start of the holiday shopping season that has, in recent years, begun to encroach upon Thanksgiving, with stores opening "early" on Thursday so shoppers can get outstanding deals. Then comes Small Business Saturday, the day we are supposed to eschew the major chains where we spent lots of dollars the day before in favor of the mom and pop shops in our town. After all, 67% of all dollars spent at local small businesses stay in the community.

Then there's today - the first Sunday of Advent. We'll come back to that.

Tomorrow is Cyber Monday, a day that grew along with the rise of the internet that offers outstanding online shopping deals for those who haven't yet spent enough money in search of the perfect Christmas gift. Then, after we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on ourselves, we have Giving Tuesday. This is a day for "giving back" by donating to various charities that are always in need of funding. What better way to alleviate the guilt we feel for being selfish than by throwing a few dollars towards the need and deserving. 

By the way - don't forget to support UKirk's Giving Tuesday campaign. Here's a link:

Give to Ukirk

Now don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with shopping and there's nothing wrong with gift giving. There's also nothing wrong with supporting worthwhile causes.

It's just that today, the Sunday-without-a-special-name, the Sunday Christians call the 1st Sunday of Advent, flies in the face of the other four days. Why? Because the other four days are built upon a deadly myth that is rampant in our society - the Myth of Scarcity. The Myth of Scarcity says, "There's not enough to go around." 

The prominent Stanford economist, Thomas Sowell, has said, "The first lesson of economics is scarcity. There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it."

The Myth of Scarcity says we'd better get ours before someone else does. It creates a zero sum mindset - the idea that there must be a winner and a loser in every transaction, that for every gain there must be a corresponding loss. People with a mindset of scarcity see life as a finite pie; if someone else gets a big piece of the pie, that means less for others. Less for me.

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and even Giving Tuesday work because of the Myth of Scarcity, because people have bought the lie that there is not enough to go around. We have to get to the sale early or someone else will get a better deal than me. Small Businesses have to convince people of the value of shopping local because it's hard to compete with the big box stores. If we have the right online code or catch just the right flash sale we can win Cyber Monday. Worthwhile charities that do really good work in the world must fight and compete with other worthwhile charities that do really good work for the scraps that fall from the table once gluttonous Americans have satiated their own appetites by being the loudest or the slickest or the most persistent or demonstrating the most need or giving people the most compelling guilt trip.

And right in the middle of all of this is the 1st Sunday of Advent. A day that secular consumerism has not been able to get its hooks into and that most people treat as just a day to rest in between shopping days. And on this day, the 1st Sunday of Advent, we proclaim a message that is in direct opposition to the Myth of Scarcity. 

We proclaim the message of hope - hope in a God of abundance who sends his Son into the world to show the world grace and love and mercy and to let the world know there is more than enough to go around. The scriptures start out with a liturgy of abundance, God promises Abraham and Sarah abundance, God provides abundantly in the wilderness, Israel consistently and constantly celebrates God's abundance in the Promised Land. The people of God give to God and share with others off the top, rather than out of their leftovers, because they trust God to provide more.

When Jesus feeds the 5,000 (the only story to appear in all four of the Gospels), it is the disciples who say, "There is not enough to go around." But when they share what they have, at Jesus' command, there is more than enough for everyone to be fed. That is the counter-cultural message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Grace is not a finite pie. When we share what we have with others, there is more than enough for everyone, especially when we take care of others, rather than ourselves, first.

Our economy, the global economy, oil companies, banks, corporations, retail stores are all based on the Myth of Scarcity. They literally bank on our fear that there won't be enough to go around.

But on this day we stand and shout to the world - WE DO NOT BUY THE LIE OF SCARCITY! WE SERVE A GOD OF ABUNDANCE! WE SERVE THE GOD OF HOPE!

As Pastor Sarah says, "May it be so."

Now Thank We All Our God

Because Thanksgiving is this week, we closed our worship service yesterday with the hymn, Now Thank We All Our God. This is one of my favorite hymns in the hymnal. The first two stanzas were written to be sung as a blessing before mealtime. The third stanza is a Trinitarian doxology. It is an exquisite expression of both thanksgiving and the source to which our thanks is directed. It is even more inspiring when you consider the circumstances in which it was composed.

Martin Rinkart, the author of the text, was a Lutheran pastor who served in his hometown of Eilenburg, Saxony (northern Germany), from his ordination in 1617 until his death in 1649. Those 32 years of ministry included the entirety of the Thirty Years' War, which began in 1618 and ended in 1648.

The Thirty Years' War was primarily a German civil war for the first 16 years, with Emperor Ferdinand II trying to assert Hapsburg authority over the Holy Roman Empire. For reasons too complicated to go into in this space, in 1635 most of the rest of Western Europe got involved, with Sweden and France on one side and Spain and Austria on the other. Estimates are that the total number of deaths during the war, both civilian and military, range between 5 to 8 million, the vast majority from disease or starvation. In some areas of Germany, 60% of the population died.

Eilenberg, the city in which Rinkart ministered, was a walled city. During the war, thousands of people who had lost everything fled there for protection. It became an overcrowded city of sick and hungry people. As if that wasn't enough, in 1637 a disease, most likely the bubonic plague, devastated the city. As many as 8,000 people died. The two other ministers in the city died. Martin Rinkart was left there, alone, to serve the entire city. That one year he performed 4,480 funerals, sometimes 50 in one day. This included the funeral of his wife.

This is the context in which Martin Rinkart spent his entire ministry - all of his preaching, teaching, caring for people, all the hymns and dramas he wrote, were written with this going on around him. And somewhere around 1636-1637, he wrote these words:

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices

Who wondrous things hath done, in whom this world rejoices

Who, from our mothers' arms, hath blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today

O may this bounteous God, through all our life be near us

With every joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us

And keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed

And free us from all ills, in this world and the next

All praise and thanks to God, who reigns in highest heaven

To Father and to Son and Spirit now be given

The one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore

The God who was, and is, and shall be evermore

Rinkart knew that no matter what difficulties we face here on earth, nothing changes the fact that God is good, that God blesses us with love, that God still reigns in heaven, and that, in the end, God's will will be done.

This has been a difficult year for us. I know this week will be difficult for many of us. We aren't able to see our families, to keep and observe long-standing traditions, to be with those we love. We may not see much to be thankful for.

In the midst of this, friends, I pray that we can be the kind of Christians who keep faith, who love and care for others, and who can continue to sing our praise and thanks to God, even under the most difficult circumstances, as Martin Rinkart did. 

Know that I am thankful for each and every one of you. 

Grace and peace...

PT

A Message from Pastor Tim

Greetings friends,

As you are no doubt aware, cases of Covid-19 are rising precipitously in our community. The last three days have seen 950 new Covid cases, with each day setting a single day record. There are currently a record 2,263 active Covid cases in Knox County and it was reported yesterday that 7 Knox County residents died due to Covid in the previous 24 hours, a single-day record. Thirty-three deaths have been recorded thus far in the month of November. We do not have this virus under control.

Experts from Johns Hopkins have advised groups larger than 10 people to refrain from meeting together indoors. The University of Tennessee Medical Center released a statement urging the public to follow the five core actions more aggressively. The director of emergency preparedness for the Knox County Health Department asked Knox County residents to change their behaviors in a press conference yesterday, saying, “This is up to you as a community to decide what this looks like. We need you to invest in it…It’s truly up to the community to decide whether behavior is going to be changed and actions are changed to really make an impact over the next few weeks.”

The Session of 2^nd Presbyterian Church discussed this situation at its regular stated meeting last night. The Session cares deeply about the safety, health, and well-being of everyone who calls 2^nd Presbyterian Church home. We also want to be responsible members of the community and do our part in fulfilling our civic responsibility to not contribute to the further spread of the virus in any way. For this reason, the Session has decided to heed the request of the experts and our civic leaders and change our behavior.

Effective immediately, all in-person worship services are suspended at least through the end of January. The Session will take up this matter again at its next regular stated meeting on January 19^th and make any adjustments or further recommendations at that time. Additionally, the Session has also decided to close the church building for the same period of time. The staff will continue to work from both home and the office, the church phone and emails will be answered during normal office hours, and the regular business of the church will continue uninterrupted. However, other than the preschool, the building will be closed to both groups and individuals until the end of January.

This does not mean that the ministry of the church will come to a stop. We will still be engaged in the ministry and mission to which we have been called by Jesus Christ; we will just not be doing it from the building. Committees will continue to meet electronically and we will continue to serve our community in various ways. Worship will continue, returning to our virtual, streaming-only format. Meals for the homebound will still be prepared and delivered. We will still collect stuffed animals for Judge Irwin’s court and still have a hat/glove/mitten tree for Westview’s clothes closet. The outside door to the vestibule will be unlocked during the week so that you may place collection items in there. You will also be able to pick up hard copies of the newsletter and Advent Devotional in the vestibule, if you prefer not to use the online versions.

I know this is going to be a difficult time for all of us, especially as the holidays approach. Please, I beg you, use caution in the next few weeks. Avoid risky behavior. Avoid gathering indoors with others. If you feel the least bit sick (or even just a little weird), stay home. Please wear your masks, wash your hands, and don’t go anywhere unless you absolutely have a need. Show your love for your neighbor by doing your part to decrease the community spread. I know it’s hard. I know it’s challenging. But it’s only for a little while longer.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. If there is anything you need during this time, please do not hesitate to reach out to Pastor Tim (276.525.5202) or Jan Barber (865.765.0437). Don’t call Pastor Sarah, though, as she is on maternity leave for the next 8 weeks! And remember the words of Psalm 62:

God is my rock and my salvation – my stronghold!

I will not be shaken.

God is my strong rock. My refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, all you people!

Pour out your hearts before him!

God is our refuge!

Grace and peace…

 

Pastors Tim and Sarah

Uncertain Times?

I keep reading and hearing this phrase over and over again on television, in the news, in person, and on the radio. It appears in commercials, on talk shows, on social media, and even in sermons. The phrase is: "In these uncertain times..."

We seem to have this need to define this period, to give a name to what we are feeling and seeing, what we are living through, but we are - forgive me - uncertain what to call it. I have heard many attempts. The global pandemic. The age of coronavirus. Covid times. Quarantine period. This time of social distancing. But the one that gets used most often, by a large margin, is uncertain times.

Uncertain times. It certainly seems to capture the essence of the moment. This week, even more so. We are literally uncertain about who has won the Presidential election. It is uncertain and unclear who will be the next leader of our country. We are uncertain when all the votes will be counted, how many legal challenges there will be, when the vote count will be finalized. Last night there were protests by both sides. We are uncertain if they are going to remain peaceful, if there is going to be unrest, rioting, or violence.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more we are uncertain about - a vaccine, the economy, if masks actually work, if we get Covid whether it will be a case of the sniffles or put us in the hospital, when or if things will return to normal, and on and on and on. Which is kind of...reassuring. Hear me out.

Right now we are feeling the intensity of the uncertainty in our country because our sense of security, our sense of normalcy has been upended. However, the reality is that we have always lived in uncertain times. Nothing is ever certain, except maybe, as Benjamin Franklin opined, death and taxes. 

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

            - Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 1789

In normal uncertain times, we delude ourselves into thinking everything is going along as it should be. We buy into the lie that things are secure, that things are certain, that tomorrow we will wake up happy and healthy, that all the people we love will be there with us, that our investments will go up, that interests rates will stay low, that the price of gasoline will remain under $2.00 per gallon, and that the Vols will compete for an SEC title. But none of those things are ever certain. (Especially that last one.)

So when a crisis comes - like a 9/11 or stock market crash or economic recession or contagious virus or an election that doesn't produce a clear winner immediately or a defeat by the Kentucky Wildcats in Neyland Stadium - everybody panics. The reason we panic isn't because unexpected things are happening, because unexpected things happen all the time, every day. The reason everybody panics is that the lie has been exposed; the myth of certainty has been debunked. All of a sudden we are face to face with our vulnerability, with the uncertainty.

Now the reality is that we are always vulnerable and things are always uncertain. However, we usually buy into the illusion that we are safe and secure, that things are predictable, because we live in a very affluent society where many of us are privileged and are able to surround ourselves with comforts that insulate us from the difficulties of day-to-day living, as well as those who live on the edge of uncertainty and insecurity every single day of their lives.

James reminds us of reality when he says:

Come, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there doing business and making money. You do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while, and then vanishes."                                                                                               - James 4:13-14

Talk about a reality check! James says we can make all the plans we want, think we know how it's all going to go, and then die on the way out the door. James goes on to say that this is our lot in life - uncertainty, insecurity. So because of this, he says, we must build our lives on something stronger, more secure, more certain.

Jesus talked about the same thing when he told his stories. He told one about one man who built his house on the sand and another who built his house on the rock. When the storm came, the house built on the sand washed away. He told another about an affluent guy who kept building bigger and bigger barns so that he could store more and more stuff. Then the man died and all that stuff was just left there.

Jesus and James were reminding us that true security, true certainty is found in that which never changes. And what never changes is the character of God, the steadfast love of God, the grace and mercy of God. This is the only thing that is truly certain in the entire universe.

Every day the stock market changes. Every day there are new findings about the coronavirus. Every hour the vote count changes. Presidents come and go. Policies are written and rewritten. People delight and disappoint us. Viruses run rampant and then are contained. Housing values rise and fall. Businesses open and close. Financial conditions ebb and flow. We cannot build our life on that stuff.

I said this in a Wednesday night class a couple of years ago, but it bears repeating. If the Kingdom of God had a ticker the way the cable news networks do, here's what that ticker would say:

• God's character today - unchanged
• God's patience today - unchanged
• God's commitment to justice today - unchanged
• God's grace and mercy today - unchanged
• God's steadfast love today - unchanged

How long our lives will be disrupted due to the coronavirus may be uncertain. Whether or not we will be able to spend the holidays with our families may be uncertain. As of right now, the winner of the election is uncertain. These are uncertain times. They always are.

But nothing in heaven has changed. God's love for us is still certain. God is still sovereign. Jesus still sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father. He is our rock, our anchor, and our only hope. He is where security and certainty begins and ends.

And, by the way, that isn't up for a vote. We don't have to wait for ballots to be counted, for congress to act, for Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell to put it on the docket, or for President Trump to sign an executive order. You can be certain of that!

So in the midst of these uncertain times, stop, take a breath, look around us at the beauty of fall in East Tennessee, and remember that our lives are built on sturdier stuff than what we see on the news. It doesn't mean that the election is unimportant or that we should not take precautions against the coronavirus or that we should not worry about justice for the victims of injustice. But it does mean we can put those things in perspective and remember that nothing, not life nor death nor rulers nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor anything else in all of creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Grace and peace...

PT

Reflections

 

I took this is picture the other morning and it has spoken to me on several levels. It is a visual reminder to me of the time I have to spend during Covid-19 in a reflective mood. There is so much to think about, so much to get angry about, so much to be grateful for and so many thoughts in between. The colors in the photo remind me of the many aspects of God and the infinite possibilities of my own thinking.
I ran across a quote recently that is currently inspiring me. It is a saying by a Hindu yogi – Yogaswami Vedanta:

“If you try to stop the mind, it will only become more active.  It is not necessary to stop it.  You must ask it where it is going.”

I am finding this a useful tool. When my mind gets active with negative things, I try to pause to “see” where I’m going with that thought. Am I living the life Jesus commanded me to? Am I keeping my blood pressure up by being angry? Am I solving the problem by being frustrated? Or can I find creative solutions to combat the negative feelings?

Whichever way I choose will have an effect on me and how I move through the world. My choice may also have a ripple effect on those around me. So the insight for me is to pause, reflect, pray, and look inside to try to discern where God wants me to go. With help from God, I can change the way I think, the way I act, the way I choose to be. All that is required is an open heart, an open mind, and the willingness to “see” where God wants me to go, how God wants me to be, and how I can reflect the love of God in the world around me.

May a time of reflection help us to find Peace, to focus on Gratitude, to find ways be Joyful, to develop Patience, and to share the Love of Jesus in all that we say and do. 

And may it be so……. 

- Jan Barber

Waiting

I've been thinking about waiting. It seems like everyone is waiting for things to go back to normal, waiting for the time when we can return to our regular lives and routines. We're waiting to return to worship and committee meetings and Wednesday night dinners. We're waiting to return to restaurants and movies and concerts. We're waiting for the time when the band can once again march into Neyland Stadium as we sing Rocky Top. We're waiting to visit grandparents and grandchildren and to take that trip that we had been planning that has now been put off. And we're waiting for a vaccine that will help bring all this about.

Waiting is nothing new - we wait all the time. We can wait for things, like a package to arrive, an Uber to pick us up, or the sun to rise. We can wait for people to come to our party, to keep their appointment, to be ready to leave for church. We can wait for events like the concert we have tickets for, the big game on Saturday, for Christmas morning, or for the election.

Sometimes the object of our waiting changes. My wife and I spent a very long time waiting for children, waiting to be parents, waiting to be a family. Now we can't wait for the children to leave and it be just the two of us! (Not really, but kinda really.)

We wait in groups, we wait in lines, we wait in cars, we wait in airports, we wait at restaurants. Wealthy, important people usually don't have to wait as often or as much as other people. They get to go to the front of the line at airport security, get to board and de-board the plane first. In restaurants their table is usually waiting for them, rather than the other way 'round.

Waiting implies that we are at the mercy of someone else. At the grocery store we are at the mercy of the people in line in front of us, especially if they decide to write a check. At banks we are at the mercy of the tellers or loan officers; at Starbucks to baristas; in medical offices and hospitals to doctors and nurses; at the DMV we are at the mercy of bureaucracy itself, but at least they give us a number so we know just how long the wait is going to be.

Sometimes waiting is a good thing. If we wait until we have enough cash to buy the flat screen TV we won't pay the interest that comes with putting it on the card. If we wait for the ball instead of swinging too early we are more likely to make it to base. We should wait until marriage to have sex, and we should wait to get married. (I'm hoping my kids read this blog!)

Sometimes we get to wait in a very special place known as a waiting room. It's a whole separate room where we can be with other people who are waiting just like us. While there, we can play the Waiting Game, which consists of trying to guess which one of us will get to end their wait next!

Sometimes waiting is hard, especially if you have nothing to do while waiting. I am convinced that this is the best thing about smart phones. Now we can read or watch TV or play silly little games crushing candies and finding words to pass the time while we wait.

Waiting is more difficult for some than it is for others. Children find it difficult to wait for summer vacation, for adults to finish their conversation, for Christmas morning, and for birthdays, the most important ones being 10, 13, 16, 18 and 21. After that we stop waiting for birthdays.

Paul Tillich said that waiting was a metaphor for faith because waiting is always linked to hope. Sometimes, however, we wait when there seems to be no hope. We wait for world peace. We wait for everyone to be kind. We wait for justice and equal opportunity for all. We wait for the day when our college loans or credit cards are paid off. We wait for our wives to get ready. (I'm hoping my wife doesn't read this blog!)

Some people are so good at waiting that they become professional waiters. The really good ones can make quite a bit of money. Some professions require more waiting than others. Artists have to wait for the paint to dry or the clay to be ready. Scientists must wait for the test results. Writers must wait for inspiration. Farmers probably wait the most. They have to wait for the seeds to sprout and the harvest to ripen. But they usually find something to do while waiting.

Preachers are like farmers. We sow seeds and wait. And wait. And wait. We prepare the soil, water the soil, nourish the soil, and wait for the seeds to sprout. We wait for signs of growth, for signs that fruit is being borne. Sometimes when the fruit is finally borne, however, we aren't there to see it. It can be frustrating, but we learn the art of the deep breath and the cleansing sigh and how to wait upon the Lord.

Waiting is hard work and humble work because waiting is the work of self-denial. It is the admission that we are not the center of the universe, that the world does not revolve around us. The one who waits is the one who has been put in his or her place.

Clearly, waiting is a skill that God urges us to develop:

• Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
• The Lord is good to those who wait for him. (Lamentations 3:25; see also Psalm 37:9; Psalm 130 5-6; Psalm 37:7-9)
• Those who wait on the Lord will find their strength renewed in the Lord. (Isaiah 40:31)

We have even built periods into the liturgical year that focus on waiting. Advent and Lent are the periods before the two major Christian festivals when we are to look inward, confess our own selfishness, be patient, think of others, and ask ourselves what God wants us to learn as we wait for his coming (Christmas) or for his sacrifice (Easter).

So perhaps we should approach this time that we are in, this period of waiting, more like we do those times. Perhaps we should look at this season as a gift from God to discover something important and essential about what it means to be human. Perhaps we should be a little more patient, a little more introspective, a little less self-centered, a little more focused on others, and seek to discover what God wants us to learn. 

Perhaps we need to wait some more, even though we may be weary. Even though it may be difficult. Perhaps if we simply seek to pass through all of this in hasty expectation of a return to normal, we are missing the fundamental point of the whole ordeal. 

This doesn't mean there is no hope. Hope is what keeps us waiting. 

How do we do what we are called to do?

 It's been a while since I've written anything for the blog because, you know, Covid. So it's good to be back. I hope you have found these blog posts to be helpful. Sarah and I plan to continue them, just not quite as often as before. Like, instead of several times a week, we may only post once a week. We will continue doing them, however. Which brings me to what I want to write about today.

From everything I've read online and seen on the news, it appears that there may be a vaccine for the coronavirus by the end of this year or early next year. It also appears that it will require two doses over two months and that the population will be split into four groups who will receive the vaccine in four phases over many, many months. So it appears that for those who want it, broad distribution of a vaccine will not take place until the middle of next year. And it also appears there are many people who do not want to be vaccinated, either because they are against vaccines in general (which I don't understand) or because they don't want to take a vaccine that has been rushed to market without being rigorously and properly tested (which I totally understand). Finally, it appears that even after everyone who wants to be vaccinated has been, there will be some amount of time before the virus begins to dissipate enough that we can begin thinking of it more like the flu.

The upshot of all of this? The coronavirus is going to be with us for quite a while. For the foreseeable future we will still need to wear masks, sanitize and wash our hands regularly, maintain physical distance from others, take extra cleaning precautions, and be careful of gathering in large crowds.

So what does this mean for ministry? Well, obviously things are going to look different for a while. So I think we need to switch our mindset. It seems that in most congregations and for most people, everyone is just sort of waiting around for when things can "get back to normal." Our focus is on all the things we can't do: We can't have in-person worship, we can't have Wednesday night dinners, we can't have Bible study, we can't do FISH, we can't have youth group, etc.

Rather than thinking about what we can't do, I think it's time to start thinking about what we CAN do! How can we do the mission and ministry of the Church, the mission and ministry Christ calls us to, within the parameters of a global pandemic? I mean - it's going to be a while before things get back to normal. What about in the meanwhile? Ministry still needs to be done. People still need to be fed, loved, served, cared for, lifted up, nourished, nurtured, and feel the love of God in Christ Jesus. How do we do that within the framework of not touching, physically distancing, and not gathering indoors in large groups?

Just so you know - I don't have the answer. However, I believe YOU DO!!! I believe that God puts his answer in his people. This is the time for us to get creative - to find ways to minister to one another and serve others. This is the time for us to find new ways to show the love of Christ. This is the time for us to find new ways of being God's people, new ways of being the church in and for the world.

I challenge you to stop thinking about what we can't do and to start thinking about what we can do! How do we do what we are called to do right now? YOU have the answer! I look forward to seeing what it is!

The Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John

I participated in a virtual Bible study this week, put on by Massanetta Springs Camp & Conference Center. During this week each summer, they hold the Bible and Church Music Conference, which brings in preachers and church musicians from all over to worship and share their wisdom with participants. This year, they were obviously not able to hold the conference in person, and so invited one of their preachers, Karoline Lewis, to hold a virtual Bible study for anyone to attend. 

Her study was entitled, Knowing a Christian When You See One, and focused on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John and what that role has to teach us about what it means to be a Christian today. 

In John 14:15-31, Jesus promises the disciples “another Advocate,” that will abide with them once he has ascended to the Father. In her study, Lewis pointed out that there are 5 key attributes that this “advocate” portrays. Those attributes are: accompaniment, attentiveness, authenticity, abundance, and advocacy. Each of these, she says, are also attributes that should be lived out in the Christian life. They are also, she says, attributes that we see embodied by the women in John’s gospel.

Accompaniment in John 2:1-12 (The mother of Jesus)

Attentiveness in John 4:1-42 (The Woman at the Well)

Authenticity in John 11:1-45 (Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus)

Abundance in John 12:1-12 (Mary)

Advocacy in John 20:11-18 (Mary Magdalene)

Now, I won’t pretend that I can boil everything discussed in a 2-hour Bible study down into a blog post, but I invite you to consider these attributes and the ways that you see them play out (or not) in the Christian life, as I will continue to do over the next few days and beyond. 

How do you see these things show up in your own life of faith, and how do you see them show up in the life of the Church as a whole? 

[If you have two hours and are interested in watching the whole Bible study, you can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.]

Holy Ground

The high school youth and I began our Montreat@Home journey the Sunday before last. Since Montreat, our usual summer youth conference site, was unable to host guests this summer, the leadership for the six weeks of high school youth conferences that they hold each summer came together to create a great resource for re-creating a Montreat experience at home. Now, it certainly doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing – being in the mountains of North Carolina, hearing wonderful keynote speakers and preachers, doing energizers with a thousand high school students, meeting up after small group for ice cream at The Huck, meeting new people, or concluding the week with a candlelight worship service around Lake Susan; but it is a great option when none of those things is possible. (Check out the pictures below for the vast difference between this year and last.)

2019 Montreat Youth Conference

2020 Montreat Youth Conference

The theme for this year’s conference was slated to be, “We Are”. In keeping with that theme, our first session was entitled, “We Are Here.” No, we are not “here” at Montreat, but we are “here”. We are gathered virtually all over the country to worship God as we would if we were all able to gather in one space. The speaker for this session, Rev. CeCe Armstrong, reminded us that wherever we are – here or there, Montreat or at home – God is there also. Wherever we are able to gather, whether it was physically distanced in a fellowship hall or via zoom, God was there. She reminded us that the same is true even as we go about our daily lives, whatever that may look like in these strange times. If we are sitting in our houses day in and day out, God is there. If we are masking up to run some errands, God is there. If we are continuing our daily routine as “essential workers,” God is there. Wherever we are, God is there also.

As part of this session, the group was issued a “photo challenge.” Our challenge was the spend some time outside in the coming week, to take our shoes off and take a picture. We are then supposed to post these pictures on social media with the hashtag #holyground. For where we are, God is also; and the place on which we are standing is holy ground.

We invite you to join us in this photo challenge. As you spend some time outside in the next few days, take off your shoes and soak up God’s presence. Take a picture, and e-mail it to me. I’ll compile all of our #holyground pictures and post them on the church’s social media.

A Message from Pastor Tim & The Session

As you are most likely aware, there has been a dramatic rise in active Knox County Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, including an increase in both hospitalizations and deaths. Currently, two of the five benchmarks for reopening are red, two are green, and one is yellow. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and in an effort to do our part in not contributing to the further spread of the novel coronavirus, the Session has taken the following actions:

Worship

We will no longer resume in-person worship on August 2^nd and will continue to worship solely via streaming until further notice. We hope to resume in-person worship after Labor Day, but will reevaluate at the August 18^th Stated Session meeting.

Committees/Groups

Effective immediately all group meetings in the church building will be cancelled for the remainder of July and the month of August. Groups and committees of the church may continue to meet via technology or in small groups away from the church building, but the church building itself will be closed to all groups except the Preschool through the end of August. We will reevaluate at the August 18^th Stated Session meeting.

 

Church Office

The church staff will continue to work their normal hours at the church building in order to coordinate and facilitate the ministry of the congregation. The church office, however, will be closed except for deliveries, contractors, and other necessary business.

 

We appreciate that this may cause frustration for some while alleviating anxiety for others. We do not take this action lightly but we do feel this is the best way to safeguard the health of our members, our staff, and the community of Knoxville. Please stay home if you do not have to go out and please remember the Five Core Principles for health: practice [physical distancing; wear face coverings when in public and physical distancing cannot be achieved; wash hand properly and often; clean surfaces regularly; stay home when sick.

 

• The Session of Second Presbyterian Church

The Eyes are a Window...

More people are wearing face coverings these days, which is good. However, I've noticed something. No, not about politics or distancing or age groups that are wearing them versus age groups who aren't or anything else like that. I've noticed something about myself. Well, two somethings actually.

First, I've realized that prior to this I rarely looked people in the eyes. Now that the eyes are pretty much the only thing to look at, it occurs to me that in the past I have usually directed my gaze somewhere else when speaking with someone. I think I usually look at a person's mouth because I've also discovered that I have a hard time hearing people speaking through a face covering. So I think that maybe all those years of playing loud music and being on stage have finally caught up with me and I think maybe I have been watching peoples' mouths as a crutch in my listening and hearing and understanding them. Maybe. 

Whether or not that is the case, I know that I don't normally look people in the eyes when I talk to them because now that I can only look people in the eyes when I talk to them I have discovered that I am uncomfortable looking people in the eyes when I talk to them. It's so personal and...intimate. I feel like I am intruding in some sort of personal space to which I'm not sure I've been invited. Yes, I was taught like everyone else, "When you meet someone, shake their hand and look them in the eyes." And I have done that...when meeting them. But I think I haven't done that for the rest of the conversation. And now that the whole shaking hands things is gone the eyes are all we have and it makes me uncomfortable to look people in the eyes but I don't want to not look people in the eyes because there really is nowhere else to look. And I wonder what that says about me and my openness to others.

Second, as there is no place else to look, I have noticed that most people...in fact, almost ALL people...have beautiful eyes. Really. I have been astonished at how beautiful peoples' eyes truly are. There is such a variety of shapes, colors, expressiveness, and light in peoples' eyes. I've always heard the old saying that the eyes are the window to the soul, but being someone that rarely looked people in the eyes, I hadn't really thought about the truth of that statement much at all. In fact, I think I've really only ever truly looked into the eyes of people I'm really close with. Which, obviously, says more about me than anything. But still.

I think one of the things I am grateful for in this time of physical-but-not-social distancing is face coverings. Not just because they indicate that someone cares about me enough to protect me from any potential infection they might have, though that is part of it. Mostly, it's because face coverings have forced me to move outside my comfort zone and actually look people in the eye and connect with them, human to human. And that has made me a better human.

Grace and peace...

PT

Frederick Douglass' and the Fifth of July

Frederick Douglass had a way with words. The former slave who taught himself to read and write became one of the greatest and most powerful orators this nation has ever known. People would travel many miles to hear him speak and he was on the road for about 6 months out of every year, giving lectures on abolition. His words, as well as his logic and rhetoric, moved people. When Frederick Douglass came to speak, it was an event in whatever community hosted him.

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass had gave a keynote speech at an Independence Day celebration in Rochester, New York. It's title was, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" He begins the speech by acknowledging the brilliance of Founding Fathers of America, the architects of the Declaration of Independence, and praises their commitment to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." He calls them "brave men" and "great men" for their ideals for freedom. He declares them to be "statesmen, patriots and heroes" who deserve to be honored.

All throughout this first section he puts his listeners at ease, even as he sets up the rest of the speech with phrases like "your national independence". Then he makes a rhetorical shift, calling on the listener to help him understand why the "great principles of political freedom and of natural justice" are not "extended to us".

He goes on to remind the audience that not all people in America are free to pursue life, liberty and happiness. He reminds them of the "sad sense of disparity between us". He tells them, 

"The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine."

He asks and answers his own question about what the Fourth of July means to the slave:

"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim."

 He closes the speech not with condemnation, however, but with hope.

"Notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. 'The arm of the Lord is not shortened,' and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope."

He then paints a picture of America as it could be - America as it should be - in a world without walls and boundaries and where all the nations of the earth work together to give all people the freedom and equality with which they have been endowed by God, a freedom and equality every person deserves as part of the justice of God.

It is a majestic speech, one of the most important ever delivered in celebration of our country's founding. It looks towards the ideals and principles upon which our country stands and demands that we strive towards making them a reality for all, not just for some.

You can read the entire speech for yourself here. It isn't very long and I commend it to you highly. Because, sadly, I think if Frederick Douglass were alive today, he would still be giving the same speech.

Grace and peace...

PT

Our General Assembly

A lot of you may not realize it, but our denomination just completed it's 224th General Assembly. The Assembly, which meets every two years, met electronically using a combination of Zoom and PC Biz. The agenda was limited to items that needed immediate attention, though as Presbyterians like to do there was a good deal of arguing over what needed immediate attention and what didn't!

If you want to see everything the GA did you can go to www.pcusa.org or www.pres-outlook.org. However, I would like to lift up one item that was approved by the assembly for your reading. It's a special statement from the assembly entitled Responding to the Sin of Racism and a Call to Action. You can read it here. (A small warning: this was just approved and hasn't been "cleaned up" yet. So the underlined bold parts were added to the original motion as an amendment and any lined out parts were deleted from the original as an amendment. This is the reason for the different fonts.)

Mostly I would like to share a poem that was included in the statement. The General Assembly commended it "to the entirety of the PC(USA), its members, congregation, presbyteries, synods, and the GA entities...for reading, reflection, and meditation.

A knee on a neck

laying bare for all to see

the evil of

callous

soulless

entitled

power

choking the life from

God's beloved

just because.

We know what must change.

Will we, church?

We have written many

true, significant,

sometimes even sincere

words.

We have confessed:

Belhar, C'67, Barmen...

Enough words?

Never enough witness.

We know we must change.

Will we, church?

Grace and peace...

PT

Whatever Happened to Being Considerate?

Be considerate of others. It is one of the earliest lessons I remember learning as a child. I learned it from my parents and grandparents, my Sunday School teachers, my pastor, the lovely saints of Gallatin First Presbyterian Church, my mentors, and my teachers at school. Some of them said it out loud, but mostly I learned from watching them and how they acted. Maybe I'm looking back through rose colored lenses. Maybe people in my family and church and community weren't as considerate as I remember. But I had to learn it somewhere, right? Who else would it have been?

To be considerate is to be kind and thoughtful of others. It means putting others before yourself. It can be as simple as holding a door open, letting someone go before you in line, or leaving the last bite of sweet potatoes for someone else. It's simply being aware that other human beings exist and understanding they have thoughts and feelings and desires and fears, just like you.

Being considerate is part of what it means to be a Christian. Jesus summed up being considerate in one special rule, "In everything, treat other people the way you would want to be treated." Paul argues for the ethic in his letters to the Corinthians and the Philippians. "Treat others as if they were better than you" and "Seek the welfare of others" is how he puts it. This second one is language he borrows from Jeremiah who urges the Israelites in Exile to "seek the welfare of the city" to which they have been exiled. "For in its welfare," he continues, "you will find your welfare."

It isn't just Christians who value this ethic of putting others first. All the major religions of the world have some form of the "Golden Rule" as it is called. It's one of the things that unites people of every faith. It's also just part of being a human being, according to two interesting sources. 

Charles Darwin (we all know who he is) argued that our instinct to be considerate is even stronger than our instinct to be self-serving. Research conducted by Dr. Dacher Keltner (professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and host of the podcast The Science of Happiness) showed that our brains react exactly the same when we see other people in pain as when we experience pain ourselves. Watching someone else experience pain also activates the structure deep inside the brain that's responsible for nurturing behavior, called the peraqueductal gray. He also showed that when we are considerate of others, the brain's reward center is triggered, which elevates the feel-good chemicals dopamine, oxytocin, and endogenous opioids. This gives you a great feeling, similar to what is known as "runner's high," plus all that oxytocin is good for your heart.

To recap - that's Christianity, every other major religion, Charles Darwin, a hero of atheists, and a psychology professor from liberal bastion UC Berkely, a favorite of secularists, ALL in agreement that part of being human is being considerate of others. So here's my question: What is wrong with us?

Is something wrong with our brain chemistry? Are we all infected with some disease that blocks those feel-good chemicals in the brain when we are considerate? Are Confucius, Buddha, Jeremiah, Jesus, Paul, Mohammed, and Charles Darwin ALL wrong???

Also - what are our children learning? This is perhaps the source of my greatest concern. If I learned to be considerate from watching the adults in my community growing up, what are the children of today learning from watching us, the adults in their community and on television?

Here's just a quick glance at the top stories today:

- An older man (I can't call him a gentleman) in Florida who didn't want to wear a mask pushed his way into a Wal-Mart, knocking over the greeter that tried to stop him because Wal-Mart has a policy that customers must wear masks.

- A noose was left in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the only African-American NASCAR driver and outspoken supporter of Black Lives Matter who pushed for a ban of the Confederate Flag at NASCAR events, at the Talladega 500.

- Protesters at said Talladega 500 insisted on their right to display the Confederate Flag as a matter of pride in their heritage, despite being told by African-Americans that the flag is painful to them. (And in spite of it being the flag of a country that took up arms against the United States of America.)

- The President called peaceful protesters a disgrace to our country.

- A person who tested positive for Covid-19 was so angry at the health department for being placed in quarantine that they posted on social media that their civil liberties had been violated, and then posted the name, address, and phone number of the public health official that had called them. The health official received threatening phone calls and letters from around the country.

This is just the last few days. If you have watched any news over the last several years you will know, this is the rule, not the exception, when it comes to our behavior these days. Just in the last month I personally have witnessed people yelling at each other in stores, calling each other names, expressing an unbelievable amount of anger towards one another. One of our neighbors told my wife that their friendship was over and to never speak to her again after my wife told her, lovingly, that she didn't agree with something she had said.

Civil discourse has been replaced with uncivil discourse - not just in the local grocery store but in our neighborhoods, over our television and radio airwaves, in our schools, in our homes, and even in our churches.

Given what's at stake, wouldn't it be nice if people started being more considerate? Wouldn't it be nice if we put our energy into being kind and thoughtful of others? Wouldn't it be nice if people actually lived according to the teachings of whichever belief system they fall into - either one of the major religions in the world or atheism or secularism?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could treat each other with civility? Civility means the exercise of patience, integrity, humility, and mutual respect, especially with those with whom we disagree. Civility doesn't mean we retreat from our convictions, it means being a decent human being who treats other people as human beings. Our politics is almost devoid of civility these days, and I think the lack of consideration is one of the by-products. 

The virtues of civility - patience, integrity, humility, patience - are not just political values, they are theological ones, as well. We who are Christian call them the "fruits of the Spirit". When applied to our public conduct, they can infuse our conversations and interactions with grace. And I think more than anything, we need more grace in our conversations and interactions.

I realize that I may just be "a bored pastor that can't determine how to spend his time other than producing pontifical meanderings to the congregation," as one anonymous, inconsiderate person quite hurtfully said on our reopening survey a few weeks ago. But I truly think this is important. After all, if we Christians can't be considerate of one another in the church, if we can't be civil to those whom we are supposed to love, what hope is there for our society?

Grace and peace...

PT

Energizer Fun

The high school youth and I are supposed to be at the Montreat Youth Conference this week, so in the spirit of all things Presbyterian youth conference, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to share an energizer with our church family.

For those that are not familiar with Presbyterian youth conference culture, our days often start with what we call “energizers”. These are silly dances that are meant to get everyone loosened up, energized, and ready for the day; and generally speaking, you either love them or hate them. I am on team ‘love energizers’. You’ll have to ask each of our youth their feelings about energizers when you see them!

Here’s the one I’ll share with you today. It’s to the song, “Ordinary Day” by Great Big Sea; and if you’re like me and you’ve been sitting too much during quarantine, here’s your opportunity to get up and “dance like no one is watching”!

Click here for a video of one of the counselors at Massanetta explaining the moves and here for a mediocre video of participants at a Montreat Youth Conference doing the energizer. And finally, here’s a link to the song, so you can try it for yourself if you think you’ve got it from watching those two videos, or if you want to make it up as you go!

Also, in case it’s helpful, here are the ‘instructions’ for the energizer, naming the moves and the order in which they occur. Though if you don’t already know the moves, it’ll just be up to your best guess what each of them is until you watch the instructional video.

Ordinary Day

Morse Code

Casting fishing pole and reel it in

Throw out net and pull it in

Sunshine

(hands over head in sun bursts)

Bob around in the water

Mop the deck

Wash the windows

Look left and right

Half row a boat, half blink like a lighthouse, then switch (repeat)

Deck party!

I told you they were silly! J Let’s see what you’ve got!

What We Can Do

Greetings friends,

In the virtual coffee hour yesterday following worship the conversation was about what we could do to support the Black Lives Matter movement and to work for racial justice. I also received a number of texts and emails yesterday asking the same thing. So I'd like to offer a couple of places to start.

First, I'd like to remind you of the sermon I preached on Pentecost. Often out of our great need and desire to do something, we rush past asking, "What does this mean?" Action is important, but reflection must come first if we want our action to be helpful and appropriate. 

The most important thing we can do right now is listen. We need to hear what our brothers and sisters of color are actually saying. We can't do that if we are talking. It may make us uncomfortable. We may feel a bit defensive. We may want to say, "That doesn't apply to me." We need to set those feelings aside so that we can really listen to what is being said. 

Here is an excellent article from a couple of years ago with some really great suggestions for how white people can work for racial justice. This is a great place to start thinking about what we can do to make a difference.

Here is a more recent article from the last few weeks that also offers helpful suggestions. It references the previous article and it also offers a great reading list to help white people gain a better understanding of the issue racial injustice. I think it would be great if a group of people wanted to read one (or some or all) of these books together in a discussion group.

Two other books that are not on the list that I have found to be helpful are:

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Dr. Beverly Tatum If you would like to hear her discuss the book you can do so here.

Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving. The UKirk students are reading this book this summer. So if you read it, too, you can discuss it with them when they return in the fall.

If you like to listen to podcasts, I have been listening to a podcast called Code Switch for the last couple of years. It has really opened my eyes to a number of things I had never considered before and it has made me way more sensitive to how I speak and the things I say to my friends of color. You can get it wherever you get your favorite podcasts, or listen on your computer at the link I gave you above. I highly recommend listening to the first one, Can We Talk About Whiteness? After that, just pick whichever ones appeal to you. Even better, pick the title that make you uncomfortable and listen to those!

I also recommend reading Ibram X. Kendi's article from The Atlantic, "A House Still Divided." It will help you understand the important difference between being "not racist" and "anti-racist".

If you are a parent of young children, here is a great resource for talking to your children about race. 

(Just as a personal aside, when Tuesday and I were going through adoption classes 16 years ago, an African-American professor from Vanderbilt came to speak with us about issues of race and trans-racial adoption. One of our classmates said, "I don't think we should talk with children about race. They should only see people, not color." The professor responded, "Only a white person would be able to say such a thing." She went on to say that children of color don't have the luxury of ignoring the issue of race. They get called names on the playground and in society from a very young age. So black parents raise their children to be very aware of the issue. I'll never forget what she said, "The first time your child hears the N-word, it better be from you." That was an eye-opening moment for me. And as the parent of a child of color, it saddens me to tell you that what the professor said is absolutely true.)

Okay, so that's a lot of reading - but it's a good start. Of course, nothing is better than having relationships with people of different races and backgrounds. If you have these kinds of relationships, invite someone you know to lunch and ask them how they are feeling about the recent events. Don't talk. Listen. Just listen. Ask them if there is anything they would like you to know. Ask them what, if anything, you can do. Ask them if you have ever said anything that they found to be offensive and why. The most important thing is to listen. Even if what you hear makes you defensive, don't be. Seek understanding. Seek to put yourself in another person's shoes.

And if you don't have these kinds of relationships, ask yourself why. Then begin to look for ways to develop those relationships. Not as a person of privilege offering help or charity, but as a human being seeking to connect with another human being.

Finally, we must remember that we at Second Presbyterian Church, and those we call friends, have privilege and connections and power and access to power in this community that a lot of other people don't. We have used that power to raise millions of dollars for the symphony, the VMC, the Helen Ross-McNabb Center, the Junior League, for scholarships, the opera, the Emerald Youth Foundation, and any number of other worthy causes. What if we used those same connections, that same power, to advocate for policies that promote racial equality and end racial injustice? What if we no longer saw black and brown people as people needing our help, but as our brothers and sisters for whom we are called to fight? What would we do if a member of our family was being treated unjustly? Would we stand by and say that's a shame? Or would we move heaven and earth to see they are treated the way we know they deserve to be treated, not stopping, not resting until we know they are taken care of?

One of my favorite quotes ever is from a comic book. Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, who doesn't know his nephew is Spider-Man, says to Peter, "With great power comes great responsibility." It's a good reminder for us.

How will we use our power? Responsibly or irresponsibly? To get ours without worrying about everyone else? Or, as Scripture says over and over, to seek the welfare of others?

We have a great responsibility. It's no longer enough to say that we don't agree with how things are. The times are demanding that we listen and act. As Sarah Morgan said in her sermon last week, "Don't just talk about it, be about it!"

Grace and peace...

PT