Dearly Beloved,
It has been a full time while I have been away, and I have been holding you all in my hearts. There's been the excitement of the Olympic Games; shifts in the political landscape on the national level; the wildfires that impacted all of you whether because you needed to evacuate your homes or because you were concerned for loved ones or because of the smoke in the air; the shooting of Sonya Massey in her home; and the ongoing conversations here in Loveland about the possibility of creating a Community Resource Center at 2000 N Lincoln Avenue (the building that is currently First Christian Church). And these are just the more public things that I know about.
Oh! And getting ready to go back to school. Today is the first day for rising kindergartners, 6th and 9th graders, and I hope you'll join me in holding Charlie Shettle (kindergarten), Jehu Nalwood (6th grade), and Natalie Stelwagon, Colton Leibbrand, and Lucas Gardner (9th graders) in your prayers as they get started today.... Am I missing anyone?
And it is good to be home.
As someone who has moved around so much in my life, I have spent a lot of time over the years reflecting on home. What makes a home? Is it the place? The particularity of a space? Is it the people? Community? Activities? The climate and environment?
We as a congregation have talked a fair bit about belonging: what does it mean to belong? We've talked about the ways in which belonging is connected to experiencing welcome and inclusion; being loved extravagantly or unconditionally; and experiencing rest and renewal. I wonder if there aren't some other qualities to belonging as well: being able to bring your full self with your questions, perspectives, wants and needs; having your wisdom and gifts seen, celebrated and incorporated into the life of a community; and being able to be treated with dignity, respect and appreciation in the midst of conflict.
We don't always agree (and this is a good thing! It means that our community welcomes people with a diversity of life experiences and perspectives), and part of belonging is being able to navigate those disagreements with grace. And making room for the perspectives that we may see as "newer" alongside the points of view that are more traditional or have been around for a long time. I wonder: what does it look like to hold these varying perspectives together, not giving preferential treatment to new or old, but getting curious and learning with and from one another? How can we make decisions together that honor different perspectives in order to protect and dignify the most vulnerable among us? How do we determine who that is? These are questions I hope you will ponder with me.
I am grateful to be a part of this community of belonging. I hope we can continue to challenge ourselves to grow. I hope we can continue to explore what it means not only to welcome people with God's extravagant love but then to offer others and ourselves a sense of belonging?
With wonder and much love,
Thandiwe
