Pastors and Staff

Brighter Days

….by Pastor Ken Gibson

Today is a bright, cold crisp January day. My father had a saying for such days; This is the kind of day that looks good from a window looking out." He would always say this and smile, and then he would usually add; "Thank God you don't have to work outside on days like today."

That is what I am doing as I write this article. I am looking out upon the bright white landscape that is indeed beautiful here at Grace, and I am giving thanks that my call allows me to stay within the walls of this place. Or does it? Introspectively, I am looking out my window and thinking of how much I do have to be thankful for, including working indoors on such a day. I am also recalling how Chuck Varys shared last evening at PrimeTime that he would be outside all day today working; building something, sorry Chuck, I forgot what you were going to build probably because I could not get the thought of how cold that would be out of my mind.

One bright area that I am so thankful for is the reality that one day this week marked the one year anniversary of the terrible car accident that wounded our daughter Lauren. As such, it was a week to look at with joy, (no pun intended, as that is the name of our other daughter) that we have in knowing she is doing so much better. In fact, this week she actually had two job interviews and both went very well. I/we are oh so thankful for the prayers and the love, poured into them for her and for our family, as she has worked her way through recovery. She is looking brighter every day, following a very dark experience.

A further bright spot for me these days is the sense of community that we have here at Grace. I find much brightness and joy in the time shared these days on Sundays between worship. Have you seen the activity and felt the community that we have at that time? I see and feel great brightness at that time. I hear folks checking in with one another and finding out what is going on in one another's lives. I see folks visiting and discovering how they might be able to help each other or simply share in one another's joys. It is a bright time there in our narthex.

Yes, there is much brightness for me these days. And for this article that is where I will keep it, for there are other days that will be filled with other thoughts that will push me to a darker place, but not today. Today, I give thanks for brightness and the love I know is present in Christ and our life together as a people called to bright things, even in the dark times. So let us all look for the brightness that is our life together in Christ and our joy in Sharing God's Grace!

Beloved Community

...by Pastor Amanda Bergstrom

This past Monday morning, I enjoyed the opportunity to gather with people of faith from across McHenry County
for FaithBridge's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. As we gathered for prayer and
song, scripture, and a keynote speaker, I was amazed by the beauty and diversity of faith traditions represented
that day. A Muslim student chanted from the Qur'an, a rabbi offered words of welcome, a man played an honor song on the American Indian Flute, a priest led us in a Hindu prayer, women led us in songs of praise, a chaplain read verses from 1 John, one of our neighbors from the Blue Lotus Temple led us in a Buddhist prayer and meditation, and our guest speaker urged us to step outside our boxes and work together and live into an interfaith community.

When we engage in interfaith dialogue, prayer, or community efforts the challenges of living in an interfaith community often reflect some of the same challenges of being a part of an individual faith community. How do we honor the voices, beliefs, and values of each participant? How do we stay focused on what really matters? How do we make decisions as a community, for the community?

Each time we gather as a community here in this place, whether in worship, at PrimeTime, around last week's delicious Turkey Dinner, at the bedside of the sick, the shelter for the homeless, or in committee, council, or congregational meetings, we gather as a people of faith who yearn to see Christ in our neighbors. We seek to be a loving community and a welcoming place for all of our families, friends, acquaintances, enemies, and strangers, no matter how challenging that may be at times.

King's life, writings, speeches, and sermons offer great insight into our baptismal call as sisters and brothers in Christ. King wrote of life in community that, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly." Indeed, as beloved children of God we are called to live among God's faithful people (page 228 in our hymnals), and be a part of this interconnected web. And yes, this is our call–to go about the challenging work of serving with one another, of finding a way to honor the voices, beliefs, and values of each other, and stay focused on decisions for the love of all of God's beloved children.