THIS SUNDAY: Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Nov. 29, 2020, First Sunday of Advent, and Zoom; Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Advent Pilgrims,
I am writing this newsletter with Thanksgiving coming tomorrow, and the first Sunday of Advent coming on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. We all have much to be thankful for, especially in surviving, and in some cases thriving, living life to the fullest, during this COVID 19 pandemic. A vaccine is around the corner; there is a light at the end of this long nine-month tunnel. I am thankful for the science, technology, and “smarts” that make cures and vaccines possible in such a short time. What I look forward to at the end of this period is meeting in person, hugging, laughing out loud, sharing Eucharist and a potluck meal in person without fear of spreading COVID 19 infections. Thank you for being faithful to being part of the Community of Pilgrims on Zoom and contributing to the needs of our community, and even providing meals to those in need in the Portland metro area a few months ago. We are a community of faith that lives out the Gospel message and takes action when we see the opportunity to serve others. Thank you! As always, I look forward to checking in and seeing all of you this Sunday, and every Sunday afternoon, at 4 pm.
The four-week pilgrimage of Advent begins this Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. What we would like everyone to do is to find five candles in their home, doesn’t matter what color, and be prepared to light the candle, and later candles, per Sunday afternoon during our gathering time. As with all times of devotion during Advent, we will have a special reading for each candle we light. On this Sunday, the Hebrew Scripture is Isaiah 64:1-9, in which we remember that God is the potter and we are the clay, in which we are all the work of God’s hands, a work of art that is still being shaped, reshaped, and constantly being molded. And Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is reminding us all to be awake to the presence of God in Christ in our life. With both of these Scriptural references I am reminded of the African American-spiritual, a song from the slave fields of the American south: “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” Even in this COVID pandemic, with all the doom and gloom we hear of rising numbers of those infected and dying, civil strife around the world, rise in refugee numbers, in this season of Advent let us be awake to the presence of God in Christ, in which we are all in God’s hands, and able to rise and serve one another.
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We will be working with Human Solutions and SnowCap this Advent season, possibly preparing another meal for the folks at one of Human Solutions residences. More news to come!
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Thank you, all, for your contribution of time, talent, service, and financial gifts to us and to the wider PCUSA in 2020. As we draw to the end of the year 2020, there is still time to give to the Community of Pilgrims in terms of what people have pledged for 2020. You can either send a check to the Community of Pilgrims c/o Brett Webb-Mitchell, 9460 SW Martha St., Tigard, OR 97224, or go to the www.communityofpilgrims.com, and go to “Take Action” page and give on our website. During Advent 2020, consider how much you would like to pledge—in terms of time, talent, service, and financial support—to the Community of Pilgrims and to the healing of this world. Many thanks!
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Events!
Nov. 29, First Sunday of Advent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 6, Second Sunday of Advent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 13, Third Sunday of Advent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 20, Fourth Sunday of Advent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 25, Christmas!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
· Healing and good health for Lois Hanson, grandmother of a good friend of Eliza's, who has developed COVID and is in the hospital.
· The sale of Gary's condo set to close on December 11th.
· A safe and simple Thanksgiving.
· David Weisman, friend of Ron and Karen, who has COVID and is in the hospital.
· A vaccine to come soon so that we can develop healthy herd immunity.
· The more than 250,000 people in this country who have died from COVID.
· Sue, Delphine's daughter, as she grieves the death of her mother.
· Yemen, The Sudan, Ethiopia, Syria, and other places in the world facing war and humanitarian crises.
· All presidents, good and not-so-good.
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Poem
Advent, by Mary Jo Salter
Wind whistling, as it does
in winter, and I think
nothing of it until
it snaps a shutter off
her bedroom window, spins
it over the roof and down
to crash on the deck in back,
like something out of Oz.
We look up, stunned—then glad
to be safe and have a story,
characters in a fable
we only half-believe.
Look, in my surprise
I somehow split a wall,
the last one in the house
we’re making of gingerbread.
We’ll have to improvise:
prop the two halves forward
like an open double door
and with a tube of icing
cement them to the floor.
Five days until Christmas,
and the house cannot be closed.
When she peers into the cold
interior we’ve exposed,
she half-expects to find
three magi in the manger,
a mother and her child.
She half-expects to read
on tablets of gingerbread
a line or two of Scripture,
as she has every morning
inside a dated shutter
on her Advent calendar.
She takes it from the mantel
and coaxes one fingertip
under the perforation,
as if her future hinges
on not tearing off the flap
under which a thumbnail picture
by Raphael or Giorgione,
Hans Memling or David
of apses, niches, archways,
cradles a smaller scene
of a mother and her child,
of the lidded jewel-box
of Mary’s downcast eyes.
Flee into Egypt, cries
the angel of the Lord
to Joseph in a dream,
for Herod will seek the young
child to destroy him. While
she works to tile the roof
with shingled peppermints,
I wash my sugared hands
and step out to the deck
to lug the shutter in,
a page torn from a book
still blank for the two of us,
a mother and her child.
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Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.