THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, April 18, 2021, Third Sunday of Easter, Gather and Devotion on Zoom. If you have any questions, or are interested in a conversation, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Easter Pilgrims,
It has been fun connecting with the members of The Community of Pilgrims in NY, VA, CA, and NM lately, before and after Easter Sunday. It is a lovely reminder of how our ties with one another go beyond physical space to cyber space via Zoom. To share the stories of our lives with one another is a priceless treasure! Thank you!
This Sunday’s Gospel reading is from Luke, and focuses a little bit on what happened around the story of the disciples we know as Thomas. This Sunday, Jesus continues to show us who he still is—Jesus of Nazarth, of course—and Jesus, the risen one the prophets told of, lo, these many centuries. To begin, to reinforce the idea that he is, indeed, Jesus, he asks them, “Have you anything to eat?” So, they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence (Luke 24:41-43). This story comes right after Jesus had walked with two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus, and the “stranger” (Jesus), walks with them and reveals who he is when they sat down and broke bread together. But Jesus doesn’t stop there: he reminds them that he is also the Messiah: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses (Torah), the prophets, and the psalms (most of Hebrew Scripture) must be fulfilled” (v. 44). But it doesn’t stop there: “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures” (v. 45). This is key! Reading Scripture as literature is one thing. It is an artful and literary pursuit. But to read the Scriptures with the searching questioning mind, heart of faith, and a body that yearns for community with the Holy One… that is a wholly, and holy, different experience. Join us this Sunday as we discuss this story among a Christian community with hearts of faith.
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Events!
April 18, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 25, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
May 1, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
May 8, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
· Thanks and gratitude for vaccines as well as concerns about those doubting the efficacy of the vaccines.
· Other parts of the world including South Africa and Italy where the roll out of the vaccine has not been easy.
· People to keep on or get back on track to control the spread of the virus.
· People suffering from mental illness especially young people among whom suicide is up.
· Mental health workers, lawyers, and all professions working in these stressful times, that they get through it all.
· Celebrations for birthdays for little boys like Obie and Sayer.
· Olivia and all those involved in her application to go to a Christian boarding school in Colorado, and for the right outcome.
· This country and for the immigrants and refugees at our southern border.
· Daylin, an adolescent Mexican undocumented immigrant who is being bullied at school.
· For justice in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.
· Parts of the world such as Syria and Yemen which have no infrastructure to fight COVID and are caught in civil strife.
· Myanmar where civil strife escalates following the military takeover.
· The Buddhist temple and monastery in West Linn hosting a festival next week, may it be peaceful with the help of volunteers to welcome people and avoid hate crimes.
· Those in the transgender community targeted by state legislatures, latest being North Carolina. Leaders of the main line denominations have not spoken against attacks on transgender people.
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Poem
Which Comes First, the Fish or the River? By Malcolm Guite
Since every gift comes down from the All-Giver,
How can I choose between the Giver’s gifts
Or say which should come first, the fish or river?
He scatters first, and then calls us to gather,
To lavish on his work our smaller crafts
And sail our praise upstream, back to the Giver.
He gives His gifts when we are met together,
Not in our splits, our schisms, and our rifts:
We cannot prize the Fish and not the River,
Divide the two and say ‘which would you rather?’
We float through time on fragile little rafts,
But time and life alike flow from the Giver.
Away upstream, it all flows from the Father:
The stream is His own Spirit, giving gifts;
His Son, our brother, joins us in the River.
He is our ‘both-and’ God, not ‘or’, or ‘either’;
He gives full measure: steady, heady draughts!
The Giver must come first, always the Giver,
We prize alike His gifts: both Fish and River.
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Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.