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In the Breach

The New York Times has an article this week that got me thinking.  Fight if you must, is the title.  The young man in the picture with today’s blog is named Kendrick. He died this week, as he rushed the gunman in the Highlands Ranch shooting, which, according to the news accounts, resulted in many of his classmates being able to get out of harm’s way.   Kendrick was 18, with his whole life ahead of him. The same New York Times article tells about a younger boy (12) who was in a closet as directed by his teacher, who found a baseball bat, and had it at the ready to attack the gunman if the situation presented itself.

I am a little stunned. It seems that the training we are giving kids and teachers as we prepare them for the possibility of a gunman attacking them, includes these options – Run if you can. Hide if you need to. And fight if you must.   Continue reading “In the Breach”

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Belonging and Purpose

You have ten seconds to name the most important things in a human life. The buzzer is about to go, and you are torn – family comes to mind, inspiration, creativity, joy, and learning all bubble to the surface. But the two you decide on just before the time runs out are these – A sense of Belonging, and a Purpose in life. Yep, those two. Belonging may be the beating heart behind our drive to make family – to find someone to join together with, and maybe even create a family of our own. Belonging, and the yearning for it, is behind all those fraternities and collegial groups of the past. Today, as society morphs, it might be more likely to find our sense of belonging in being a fan of Game of Thrones, or the Avengers, but the feeling that others ‘get it’ remains.  Continue reading “Belonging and Purpose”

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Love Show Up – looking back on Easter

Love Shows Up and makes an impact! The gospel for this Sunday, April 28 is about Thomas, you remember, the one who ‘doubted’. He wanted to see the nail holes in Jesus’ hands before he believed. I often feel like him- wanting to make sure of the facts before putting my whole heart into something. Pastor Wally Gustav is going to preach at Holy Cross this week (Sunday at 9:30 am) about that story – I have the sunday off, but before I go, I want to talk about Easter – the first Sunday of Easter, April 21st at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Salem. We had a lot of people show up – with big smiles, and lots of kids! The kids sermon was at the chancel (the floor by the foot of the altar) so we could accomodate them all and Natalie Nyquest saved me by helping pass out things to the kids!  The kids were very interested in the stickers I brought!002 Continue reading “Love Show Up – looking back on Easter”

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Love Shows Up

Love Shows Up! – At Easter, in our lives, and we ought to pay attention. This week at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Salem, Oregon, we had Love Show up in a couple of ways – first some amazing young men from Blanchet (Catholic School here in Salem) showed up to add their artistic touches to our Garden!  The Garden is already wonderful – its a joint project of my church, and La Casita – the little house which is a ministry to our neighborhood here at the corner of Sunnyview and Lansing – it features a Thursday coffee time for local mothers and young children, as well as the amazing Garden which the La Casita ladies plant and maintain the last few years (Holy Cross planted it for a few years to start). We have Garden Club every summer in there for local kids, too. But these young men showed up and painted the Garden in such a wonderful, whimsical way! We are so pleased!IMG_3281 Continue reading “Love Shows Up”

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Education – a rising tide lifts all boats

Maybe one way we can change the world is through education.

Our ability to heed Christ’s call to love one another is dependent, in no small measure, on our ability to understand one another.  Understanding, in turn, requires education. More than a decade ago, Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Salem, Oregon began an endowment fund, in part, to foster educational opportunities for those connected to our church community.   We believe that education is more important than ever today, given the fractured and contentious world we live in where understanding and empathy seem to be in short supply. Continue reading “Education – a rising tide lifts all boats”