Last fall, Claire and I attended a weekend learning community sponsored by The Royce and Jane Reynolds Academy For Leadership Excellence which focused around the theme of what it means to be on mission with God in the world. In one of our times of shared worship we shared in a reading attributed to "The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona. A portion of that reading follows.......

This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly. 

          Know the river has it destination. The elders say we must let go of               the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open,           and our heads above water. See who is there with you and celebrate.

                                                               

I embrace these words on so many levels. I appreciate how they begin with, "this could be a good time," and end with, "see who is there with you and celebrate." We have every reason to declare this time as a "good time", maybe even borrow Isaiah's vision of this being, "the acceptable time".  When we pause to look around us, we soon realize that there are others....many others....who are with us in the stream. 

The metaphor we believe God has given us is one of three streams which meld together into one mighty river. The three streams could be described as follows:

      *God in mission before us/with us, in our communities and the world,
      addressing the challenges and opportunities of hunger and human need.

      God in mission before us/with us among our growing Hispanic/Latino 
      neighbors; learning together as the stream carries us where God chooses

      God in mission before us/with us among children in our public schools,
      and their extended families, embracing the hurts and hopes we share.

So now is the time for us to begin naming the myriad ways we are joining God in facing the challenges and opportunities of hunger and human need......first in our own communities......and then to "the ends of the earth". Where are you/your congregation joining God in this particular stream? Hunger.........Human Need..........

This is an invitation for you/your congregation to acknowledge what a "good time" this is, and to name - specifically - how you are in this stream with God....with those whom God is seeking to touch. Streams wind, and twist and turn, but they move. In the next week we would appreciate hearing from you. Could you and a few key leaders invest 30 minutes of time to pause, and celebrate how you are in this stream? Can you name the specific shape of what you are doing with God to address hunger and human need in your immediate community? to the ends of the earth??  Would you share these with our district team and help us begin to see with greater clarity what God is up to? 

Some of us will need to begin with the realization that we are afraid. We cannot control the stream, much less the River it flows into. All of us know what it feels like to watch the stream flow by - but to choose the apparent safety of the shore. Please share with us the answers to the previous questions. You can e mail those to me or to Claire and we will begin to create a map that marks where God is at work 
before us.......with us........

In Christ,

jon(the Methodist)