CONGREGATION + COMMUNITY NEWS
PEOPLES PRESS
Joyfully Defiant for the Sake of a Just World
a congregation of the United Church of Christ, the Alliance of Baptists & the American Baptist Churches
INTERIM’S INSIGHTS
“Don’t remember the prior things; don’t ponder ancient history. Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19a, The Common English Bible)
The older I get, the more I find history fascinating and illuminating. I love the ingenuity of the designs of old buildings and the artistry of their ornamentation. I marvel at the way human beings achieve great things and at the same time make tragic miscalculations. In some ways, human nature has not changed much since “Bible times” and in other ways, the world has moved on. And, of course, if we don’t learn from the past, we are condemned to repeat it. So a passage like the above, written several thousand years ago, seems an oxymoron. It is ancient history, and we are to simultaneously forget it, and take it to heart!
If you are still maintaining a paper calendar to hang on your wall or refrigerator or to put in your briefcase or on your desk, replacing it each year is a lot like the antiquated notion of spring cleaning. Reminders of birthdays and anniversaries need to be transferred to the new calendar, as do appointments, trips, and events. And it may be that you will be reminded of things that are done and people who have died or moved on to other things. As the old calendar goes into the recycle bin, we grieve a bit, and try not to dwell on what cannot be changed. Spiritually, the New Year is an occasion to clean house a bit – take stock of where we are on the journey and reorient ourselves to the path God desires for us.
The passage above was penned (Quilled?) when a convulsive change was on the horizon. The Israelites held captive in Babylon were being encouraged to take heart because the Persian Empire was bearing down on Babylon, and it seemed inevitable that there would be a new order. The last time this happened, the Jews got all but destroyed. There was death and destruction and enslavement. I think this is what Isaiah is asking them not to dwell on. They are being asked, instead, to imagine what God might be doing, even in the midst of the horrors of war. They can imagine liberation instead of captivity.
We have heard repeatedly that in the wake of Covid, there will be a new normal. That language comes from the area of disaster response and trauma treatment. It is a recognition that the pain and loss we endure cannot be ignored, but it can be incorporated into a future that will necessarily be different, but still rich and fulfilling.
Peoples Church of Flint has made a number of courageous decisions and we have been living them out for the last few years. As we replace our calendars (or delete a lot of information to free up memory space), it is a good time to remember where we have been, not so that we can preserve traditions and practices that are no longer relevant, but so that we can see where we are headed. We have an opportunity to evaluate what we have accomplished so far and remind ourselves of the work yet to be done.
I hope you will join us for worship on Sunday, January 1st, either in person of virtually for a time of review and recommitment. The basis of the service will be Peoples Church’s Garland declaration, a bold statement of who we have become and how we intend to prioritize our ministry and our resources. We will encourage one another, solidify our relationships, and agree in love to hold each other accountable. Most importantly, we will look for God’s hand at work in our lives and consider how our walk lines up with God’s call.
It is a bold assertion to claim that God is leading us into the future. It challenges our assumptions that tomorrow will not be much different than today. And if a new thing is springing up in our midst – if it is God that is bringing it about – if it is we who are told of its coming – then we had better open our hearts and minds so that we recognize it when it comes! Amen.
Pastor Davis Sickelka, Interim Pastor
Thank You!
Pastor Dave and Susan would like to thank the congregation of Peoples Church of Flint for remembering us with a gift this Christmas. In many ways, the role of an interim lacks the deep relationships that are typically involved in ministry. But you have, from the beginning, been attentive to the needs of your interim and made allowances for commuting, for support, and for renewal. Your generosity and sensitivity speak well of your commitment to the work that we do together. We are very grateful.
The Revs. David and Dr. Susan Sickelka
A Joyous New Year to You
Loren Eiseley (1907-1977), naturalist, author, poet, considered by many to be the Thoreau of the 20th century was an articulator of the synthesis of religion and science. The third chapter of his book the Star Thrower, titled “Science and the Sense of the Holy,” Eiseley wrote, “Charles Darwin…jotted thoughtfully into one of his early journals upon evolution…’If we choose to let conjecture run wild, then animals, our fellow brethren in pain, disease, suffering and famine – our slaves in the most laborious works, our companions in our amusements—they may partake of our origin in one common ancestor – we may all be netted together.’…In spite of the fact that Darwin was, in his later years, an agnostic, in spite of confessing he was “in thick mud” so far as metaphysics was concerned, the remark I have quoted gives every sign of that feeling of awe, of dread of the holy playing upon nature, which characterizes the work of a number of naturalists and physicists down even to the present day. Darwin’s remark reveals an intuitive sensitivity to the life of other creatures about him, an attitude quite distinct from that of the laboratory experimentalists who is hardened to the infliction of pain. In addition Darwin’s final comment that we may all be netted together in one gigantic mode of experience, that we are in a mystic sense one single diffuse animal, suffering to joy and suffering beyond what we endure as individuals, reveals a youth drawn to the world of nature by far more than just the curiosity to be readily satisfied by the knife or the scalpel.”
Both science and religion draw us in a sense of wonder, awe and humility. Ultimately for both fields the object of attention is the origin and final culmination of all that there is. As in meditation one constantly turns to breathing as the ever-present point of focus, in environmental work one always finds in wonder and awe the ever-present adrenaline that invigorates our work and draws us on. This thought is the gift of Darwin and a good internal starting point for us as a new year kicks off: “We may all be netted together.”
Kendall Brown, for The Creation/Justice Team
Good Things Happening in and around us
UPCOMING AFFILIATE & Community ACTIVITIES
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day Observances
“Grace and Perseverance Under Pressure”
44th annual Citywide Tribute Event
Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
Genesys Banquet and Conference Center
Admission: $50, Table Sponsorship: $400 (8 seats)
For more information, call Mott Community College (810)762-0425
To register, sponsor, or donate click HERE
All proceeds go to support the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship for eligible students attending:
(Baker College, Kettering University, Mott Community College, and U of M – Flint.)
JOIN THE THURSDAY NIGHT BOOK GROUP
IN THE CONGREGATION
Links are on the church calendar. Need more info? Just ask!
Links are on the church calendar: t.ly/ALHB. Need more info? Just ask!
Adult Forum, meets at 9:30 am on Sundays, We’re currently reading, Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis. Join us either in person at church or via Zoom .
Vigil for Racial Justice is still gathering 1-2 pm Thursdays on the Genesee Courthouse lawn.
New Text Alert System. We have shifted to a new text messaging service. If you're in our church directory, you're all set. If you're not, go here to sign up!