ProFuture Faith
8 week series of DVD & Discussion
by Michael Dowd
“Ecology is the heart of theology.”
Sunday, June 16th
Week 1
Un-Trivializing God:
Reality as Thou
10:30 am in the Celebration Center
We can re-imagine our relationship to the divine and to our environment by seeing God as primary reality, not a separate being, not magical but imbued in all of Nature.
A Progressive United Methodist Church
A Word From Our Pastor
March Message
Have You Heard?
Don’t you wish sometimes that there was a soundtrack playing in your life, just like in the movies? That way you’d know when danger was approaching because that dark, ominous tune would begin playing and you would know it was time to start running the other way. Or you'd begin to hear the sound of that wonderful love song ringing out around you and you’d know it was time to start running the other way. Just kidding honey.
Each kind of music would keep you alert to the kind of action that was called for in the next few minutes. You’d be prepared to find the clue that would help you solve all of life’s problems or for the arrival of the man in the black hat that could bring difficulties and bullet holes. You’d be filled with the courage to face heart-chilling dangers and alert to the chasm that would soon appear in front of you threatening to carry you to the depths of despair. The music would let you know just how to react in each moment.
The problem with my life is that, too often, those kinds of challenges and opportunities just kind of sneak up and surprise me when I’m not ready for them. I’m busy expecting something wonderful, and suddenly I’m sideswiped by tragedy; or my fear has me hiding from the upcoming difficulty so that the beauty of life also passes me by. All too often I don’t even see the changes until it is much too late to avoid the dangers or take advantage of the possibilities.
But the bigger danger is trying to listen only for the music that we want when life is playing a different tune.
Lent, the season we are entering, is a time that has often been accompanied by the ominous strands of penitence and foreboding…but that is not the music I hear this year. I have a clear sense of possibility and opportunity right now and it is a light and joyous tune. It feels a bit strange in my soul because of the last three years. Last year, even though we had found our way back into our wonderful Celebration Center, masks were still the norm and worries were present everywhere.
This year we can feel the excitement of growth within our souls, throughout St. Francis, and in our community. So instead of “Lenting” this year in the old way, we are planting seeds…and waiting to see what the Divine is growing in us and around us. Listen to the music that is playing! Use it to look at yourself and how you are recognizing God in your life. Let the marvelous strands of music draw you into some new ways of hearing the divine voice calling out to us.
I am so happy to be on this journey with you, for you play music deep in my soul.
