Newsletter, Oct. 23, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom or at Rise Church,10445 SW Canterbury Ln, Tigard, OR 97224. Contact me if you need a Zoom link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

After two weeks abroad, it is good to be back in the States, especially this morning, welcoming the rain and smoke-less skies. Thank you for the time to go on a honeymoon, and the prayers that we would have a wonderful honeymoon. We had a blast, and look forward to sharing stories and pictures with all of you. More importantly, I look forward to seeing and being with all of you this Sunday @ 4 pm, whether on Zoom or at Rise Church!

The Scriptural focus for Sunday is Luke 18:9-14. It is a short parable, or a small story with a big point. It has to do with our ability to be humble and practice humility. What is humility? Frederick Buechner defines it in the following manner: “True humility doesn’t consist of thinking ill of yourself, but of not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you’d be apt to think of anybody else.” Case in point: Jesus starts the parable with this line: “Jesus told a parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. In a nutshell, the self-righteous and pompous Pharisee goes into the temple and prays to God, telling God what a good person he is, and better than all others. In comparison, a tax-collector, who is looked down on in Jewish society, can’t even look up to the heavens (where I guess God is supposed to be), and confesses that he is a sinner, something that the Pharisee couldn’t do. Now, which one are we supposed to be like? Of course, the tax collector. Jesus praises the tax collector for his honesty and humility. Join us this Sunday as we consider this parable in light of our own actions in the world today.

______

Events!

Oct. 23, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

Oct. 30, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom. No Rise Church.

Nov. 4 & 5, Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of the Cascades on Zoom or in person.

Nov. 6, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

Nov. 13, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

Nov. 20, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern 

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

 Thanks for:

·      Rain! Smoke-less skies!

·      Karen’s trip to Whitworth University and re-connecting with a group of friends (40-year reunion).

·      Ray and Lorinda’s daughter, Melissa, will soon visit too.  She and Ken live in CA and they are recovering from fire destruction to their vineyard a few years ago. And Kendrick, their son, is also stopping by.

·      For good doctors.

Concerns

·      Lorinda and Ray: Kendrick’s (their son’s) best friend, Kim Phelps, died during a solo trip to Spain, and died.  The cause of his death is unknown.  Prayers for Kim, wife Kit, and family.

·      For family and friends of Connie, who unexpectedly died last week.

·      Roxanne’s friend Marlene Campbell for recovery from broken wrist and leg. 

·      Brother of Roxanne’s friend Patty, who is recovering from illness.  

·      Roxanne’s dance studio friend Bernice, whose younger sister died from a blot clot occurring in connection with a stent procedure.

·      All troubled spots in the world, political, economic, climate, and otherwise.

·      Our U.S. political system.

·      Global climate change, gun control, transgender young people, voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, homelessness, drug abuse, and threats by Christo-fascists and white nationalists.

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

My God Is, by Meister Eckhart

My God is

Love absolutely,

Purely and simply,

In all, through all, and from all.

My God is 

The one who is desired

By everyone who desires

And loves.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, Oct. 2, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Oct 2, 2022, Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost. Meeting at Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church, 7119 N. Portsmouth Ave, Portland, OR at 10 am! 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. 

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

Wow! Two days of rain in a row! The vegetation in this part of the world is thankful for the soft sprinkle of rain, leaving puddles here and there on sidewalks and roadways. However, we also pray for those in Puerto Rico and Nova Scotia, who had to recently deal with the flood waters of Fiona, as well as the people of Pakistan, who endured serious flooding, and now citizens of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, who are feeling the full force of Hurricane Ian. Having lived through a few hurricanes in NC, I can vouch that these storms are scary. And clean-up will take more than a few months. Interesting comment on the news this morning: while there aren’t necessarily more storms, the storms are now more violent because of the warmer water in the ocean because of climate change. We are seeing the results of climate change in our lives. Prayers for the people and creation impacted by such storms. And prayers for action on our part to be about serious climate change policies for the good of Mother Earth.

This Sunday’s focus is Luke 17:5-10. Jesus has about made his way to Jerusalem as we see the end of his life coming in a few more weeks in our lectionary reading. This is a two-part passage. The first part is about faith. And the disciples want more of it, as if it were an observable “thing” that you could increase or decrease, rather than being a gift given to us by God in Christ, which simply is. Faith is known best by looking in the rearview mirror of life and seeing, hearing, witnessing how it has worked in the past, and therefore will in the present and future (Hebrews 11:1). Nonetheless, the disciples, who were forever jumpy and nervous about following this prophet named Jesus, ask him, “Increase our faith!” In other words, quiet any anxiety within us, by giving us more of what we think we need. Jesus then puts it all into perspective: “If you had the faith the size of a mustard seed (and they do), you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you’” (Luke 17:5,6). In other words, quantity is not the issue per se. Belief is. Faith is. They already have that gift, as their thoughts, feelings, and actions have and are and will always be transformed by God’s reign in our midst. That’s part and parcel of being on this pilgrimage with the Spirit moving with us as we follow Jesus, the Pilgrim God. Join us this Sunday as we consider this passage in our very lives.

**

Thank you, one and all, again, for joining us for our 5-year anniversary last week! What fun it was to meet in person and on Zoom. We will continue to tinker with our Zoom connection, using the television monitor at Rise Church. If you join us at Rise Church, please consider bringing one item to add to our charcuterie board! And thank you for those who contributed a financial gift as well! We are now on to year 6! Thanks be to all of you pilgrims! And thanks be to God!

______

Events!

Oct. 2, Gather with the members of Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church at 10 am for a joint service. 

Oct. 9, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom only.

Oct. 16, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom only.

Oct. 23, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

Oct. 30, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern 

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Prayers of thanksgiving 

· We are able to gather in person again today.

· The updated bivalent COVID-19 boosters are now available and can help provide protection against today's COVID-19 variants.

· Happy Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah.

· Safe travels for Ray and Lorinda on their trip to Montana last week, Christian on his recent trip to The Netherlands, and Karen on her recent trip to Eugene.

· Katie will turn 21 next week.

· The beautiful weather in Portland and California.

· Michael has moved to Berkeley and enjoys his new job, new friends, and his new place.

· Some stability in this country thanks to programs that are working.

· Portland's success stories such as Mainspring which revamped its program during the pandemic and continues to increase its community partnerships and the Multnomah Village Safe Rest Village opened June 2022 providing safe temporary shelter with case management, amenities, and mental and behavioral health services on site for 30 residents.

Prayers of concern

· Marily Quesnel is still not able to keep nutrition down.

· The family of Janice who died last Saturday, and prayers for her husband George. 

· Linda Fuqua-Anderson and her brother Gary. Prayer that Linda’s townhouse will sell soon, too.

· Puerto Rico, Cuba, Florida, and Nova Scotia after Hurricane Fiona left people without water, food, or power, and Florida about to be hit by Hurricane Irma.

· Places around the world with ongoing armed conflicts including the Russo-Ukrainian War going on for more than seven months, Yemeni Civil War, Tigray War in Ethiopia, the Syrian Civil War, Myanmar, and the India-Pakistan conflict.

· Protection of our voting rights.

· The risks posed by global climate change.

· Gun violence in America is not slowing down.

· Protection for access to health care and reproductive autonomy.

· Containment and cessation of white nationalism and Christofascism;

· Prayers for the people of Italy, who elected a fascist as leader of the country;

· Cessation of violence in the world.

· The results of the midterm elections strengthen, not weaken our democracy.

· The Vuptil family to be able to put end of life things in order.

· Those who are hungry, thirst, and sleep

·  on the streets of Portland.

· Transgender children and young people who are targeted by politicians in hurtful policies;

· Women’s reproductive rights;

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

Blessing in the Storm, Jan Richardson

I cannot claim

To still the storm

That has seized you,

Cannot calm

The waves that wash

Through your soul,

That break against

Your fierce and aching heart.

But I will wade

Into these waters,

Will stand with you

 In this storm,

Will say peace to you

In the waves,

Peace to you

In the winds,

Peace to you

In every moment

That finds you still

Within the storm.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, Sept. 25, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom or at Rise Church,10445 SW Canterbury Ln, Tigard, OR 97224. Contact me if you need a Zoom link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

I’m writing this newsletter on the first day of autumn. Today we celebrate the autumnal equinox. Thankfully, for those of us who enjoy the lingering summer heat and cool evenings, life is still good. And for those who are waiting for pumpkin-spice-everything, life is good, too, because it is being sold and distributed everywhere…even with communion wafers!

The focus Scripture is Luke 17:19-31. It is the parable of a rich person who keeps stepping over a person with sores all over his body, by the name of Lazarus. The rich person basically ignores Lazarus, walking by him without giving him any food or attention. Upon their deaths, in Hades, Lazarus ends up by Abraham’s side, being cared for by Father Abraham. As for the rich person, he is thirsty and is intimidated and in agony because of the flames all around him. The rich person asks that Lazarus please dip a finger in water and quench his thirst, but that wasn’t going to happen. Then the rich person asks that someone tell his brothers of what their fate may be if they don’t take care of those who are ill. And Abraham simply says that they have the prophets who told them what they should be doing, and they should be listening to the prophets. Torah is full of passages about love of neighbor and stranger alike, and caring for widows and orphans. And the prophets warn the people what will happen if they do not do as they are told. Jesus clearly aims this “warning” parable to those who have much in their life and are not worried about where they are going to get fed, a roof over one’s head, healthcare, clothes, and the comforts of life. Jesus tells it on behalf of all those who are like Lazarus, who long for water, food, shelter, and clothes. And we need to hear this story to be reminded of those we should hear, see, and tend to in our life as members of the body of Christ. Join us this Sunday as we explore this parable, and what it has to say about our life today in terms of those who are like Lazarus around us.

**

Thank you, one and all, for joining us for our 5-year anniversary last week! What fun it was to meet in person and on Zoom. We will continue to tinker with our Zoom connection, using the television monitor at Rise Church. If you join us at Rise Church, please consider bringing one item to add to our charcuterie board! And thank you to those who contributed a financial gift as well! We are now on to year 6! Thanks be to all of you pilgrims! And thanks be to God!

______

Events!

Sept. 25, 4 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church. If you come to Rise Church, bring one item for our charcuterie board!

Oct. 2, Gather with the members of Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church at 10 am for a joint service. 

Oct. 9, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom only.

Oct. 16, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom only.

Oct. 23, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

Oct. 30, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or at Rise Church.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern 

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Prayers of thanksgiving for:

The Community of Pilgrims has been together for five years.

Rise (Presbyterian) Church has welcomed us.

Rose City Park Presbyterian welcomed us when our church first started meeting.

Chris's granddaughter Haley got engaged.

The cost of the insurance premium for Saint Andrew's has been donated.

Lewis joined us for this evening's gathering.

Michael is enjoying his new job.

Katie is safely back at the University of Oregon.

Brett is thankful for the opportunity to try out for the national dragon boat team

Prayers of concern for:

Roxanne's friend Marlene who injured her leg seriously and for her friend Patty whose brother has end-stage COPD and has been admitted to rehab.

Linda's house to sell quickly. For Linda's health and well-being.

Marily Quesnel who has been discharged from the hospital. Prayers for her and her husband Pat.

Karen has applied for another position within her agency and prayers that will go well.

The demand for mental health services continues to increase.

We can develop ways to mitigate and manage climate change.

Voting rights and our democracy are under attack.

We need solutions to our country's homelessness.

Gun violence continues to increase in Portland.

The fight for abortion rights continues as proposals seek to further reduce women's reproductive rights.

The long list of places in the world experiencing tension and violence.

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

Autumn Morning (It’s Autumn Again) by Agatha Eliza

A blurry morning breaks in my heart
like a shy sun over a battlefield
after a long absence of light
and a carpet of leaves
lies at my feet…

‘It’s Autumn again’; he said to me
‘celebration of rust and copper
nature’s majestic symphony
when colors invade
the cosmos’…

The lonesome path towards the woods
inhabited by acorns and leaves,
trees and stones-all set
in harmony…you see
Autumn again.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, Sept 18, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom or at Rise Church,10445 SW Canterbury Ln, Tigard, OR 97224. Contact me if you need a Zoom link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

Happy 5 Year Anniversary!

This is a wonderful moment in the life of our young community to celebrate our 5-year anniversary.

Everyone has a choice! You can either join us via Zoom (a Zoom link is coming next), or you can join us in the Chapel at Rise Church, 10445 SW Canterbury Ln, Tigard, OR 97224, from 4-6 pm. Entry way into the Chapel is through the very front doors of the Church itself, and one of the Steering Team members will be there to welcome you before 4 pm. 

We will have Holy Communion, either in person or via Zoom, as well.

For those who are joining us in person, we will also have a charcuterie board taste-treat at the end of our time together, so bring something for the board! Cheeses, dried fruit, nuts, crackers, pepperoni, salami, sausage, olives, and dark chocolate for dessert! 

The Scripture focus is Psalm 84:5: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” This is from one of the “Pilgrimage Psalms,” of which the Book of Psalms has many such verses. They are all meant to support and be used for those who are on pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem, on the way to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The very practice of pilgrimage is rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures, starting with Sarah and Abraham being called by God to go on a holy pilgrimage. Moses led the people of Israel on a pilgrimage to the Promised Land. And Jesus’ entire life ministry was a pilgrimage, in which he spent his last week of life on this earth celebrating Passover, the pilgrimage of the people of Israel to the Promised Land. Join us this Sunday, as we discuss what it means to be a community of pilgrims, following Jesus, the Pilgrim God.

______

Events!

Sept. 18, 4 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church to celebrate our Five-Year Anniversary as a Community of Pilgrims!

Sept. 25, 5 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church.

Oct. 2, Gather with the members of Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church at 10 am for a joint service. 

Oct. 9, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion at either Rise Church or on Zoom.

Oct. 16, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion at either Rise Church or on Zoom.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern 

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Thanksgiving:

·      We give God thanks for the Community of Pilgrims, and all the people who have been or are part of this community, and have visited this community sometime in the last 5 years;

·      We give God thanks for modern medicine, and the chance to take the bi-valent COVID booster shot that will help with Omicron variants;

·      We give God thanks for cooler weather.

·      We give God thanks for family and friends who enrich our lives.

Concern:

·      We pray for global climate change, and ways we can be better at caring for Mother Earth;

·      We pray for voting rights;

·      We pray for gun control;

·      We pray for women’s reproductive rights;

·      We pray for transgender youth;

·      We pray for peace in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, the Sudan, and Pakistan;

·      For those who are selling homes;

·      For those whose health has been a struggle of late;

·      For those in prison;

·      For those facing racism daily;

·      We pray for those who advance the cause of white nationalism and Christo-fascism will be open to learning the errors of their ways and confess their sin;

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

For Those Who Have Far to Travel, by Jan Richardson

The Call

If you could see

The journey whole

You might never

Undertake it,

Might never dare

The first step

That propels you

From the place

You have known

Toward the place

You know not.

Call it

One of the mercies

Of the road;

That we see it 

Only by stages

As it opens 

Before us

As it comes into

Our keeping 

Step by

Single step. 

There is nothing

For it

But to go

And by our going

Take the vows

The pilgrim takes;

To be faithful to

The next step;

To rely on more

Than the map;

To heed the sign posts

Of intuition and dream;

To follow the star

That only you

Will recognize;

To keep an open eye

For the wonders that

Attend the path;

To press on

Beyond distractions

Beyond fatigue

Beyond what would

Tempt you 

From the way.

There are vows

That only you

Will know;

The secret promises

For your particular path

And the new ones

You will need to make

When the road

Is revealed

By turns

You could not

Have foreseen.

Keep them, break them,

Make them again;

Each promise becomes

Part of the path;

Each choice creates

The road that will take you

To the place

Where at last

You will kneel

To offer the gift

Most needed;

The gift that only you

Can give—

Before turning to go

Home by

Another way. 

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, Sept. 4, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom. Contact me if you need a Zoom link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

Good bye, August, and hello, September! Labor Day weekend is here, and the un-official end of summer and beginning of autumn is upon us.

As summer draws to an end, there's a definite feel of autumn in the air and an accompanying sense of nostalgia and time passing. Yet fall also brings us ripeness and fullness. Students are beginning the new school year, an annual event which speaks of new beginnings, and new beginnings are a time of hope, even if there is some anxiety associated with going into a new class or starting a new school.

This Sunday’s scriptural focus is on the short letter of Philemon. It is a letter that Paul sends to the slave owner, Philemon, in which Paul urges Philemon to take back a slave, Onesimus, who ran away from his household, and treat the slave no longer as a slave, but as an equal of sorts, as a member of the body of Christ. Context matters! And in this case, being part of the context of the body of Christ, matters, in which there is neither “slave nor master.” The question before us, as Christians, is this: how do we move beyond the language and practice of master and slave of the past, or, when in play, unscrupulous or tyrannical employer and beaten down employee of the present, to see one another, first, as sisters and brothers in Christ, regardless of the roles and functions we play with within the economic structure of life? Join us this Sunday as we discuss this issue in our daily lives as members of the body of Christ today.

**

The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! The tentative plan, and our hope, is to meet at Rise Church on that day, in person for those in Portland, while also with those who are living in other parts of the country via Zoom. After all, you are all the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways. We look forward to announcing the establishment of an endowment to continue the work of the Community of Pilgrims, along with planting a tree, and a service project with Human Solutions’ emergency women’s shelter.

______

Events!

Sept. 4, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Sept. 11, Holy Holiday

Sept. 18, 4 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church to celebrate our Five-Year Anniversary as a Community of Pilgrims!

Sept. 25, 5 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern 

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Prayers of thanksgiving

· Family and friends;  our communities which keep us connected; children as they bring us joy and make us laugh.

· Nina wants to remain connected to our community. 

· Sara's mother is still alive. Prayers for her health and comfort.

· Safe travels for Karen and her family and for Chris's friend Cathy who is coming to visit.

· From Karen, thanksgiving to be in Chris's community and to have been able to visit her two times in one year.

· Medicines as they come up with a booster for the latest Omicron variant.

· Beautiful summer days.

· Spontaneous conversations with neighbors.

· Roberta's mariners group finding a path to handing off responsibility for decorating the sanctuary at Saint Andrew's for Christmas every year.

· Brett's article coming out and for the opportunity to write about our community.

· The Community of Pilgrims is doing something new and different. The church is strong and vital.

Prayers of concern

· Marily continues to have a rocky time following a simple hernia surgery which has turned into multiple surgeries and health concerns. Keep her family in our prayers.

· Lorinda's friend Bill Lawrence's family following his recent death.

· Marge Stockwell, who passed away this week.

· Granddaughter Anna in Thailand for her safety and good experience.

· Continued prayers for George Doolittle.

· Roxanne's hometown of Laurel, Nebraska, still dealing with the tragedy of the multiple homicides.

· Christian's sister Yarrow whose rheumatoid arthritis is kicking up.

· Linda Fuqua-Anderson, and her brother Gary.

· Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Pakistan, Myanmar, and other parts of the world that are in tension and crisis.

· Voting rights.

· Women's reproductive rights.

· Climate control as parts of Pakistan are inundated with water.

· Gun control.

· Energy crisis in Western Europe.

· The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as fears rise that shelling of the facility could lead to a nuclear disaster.

· Rivers around the world are drying up and the risk of drought is increasing. 

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

 

From “Three Songs at the End of Summer,” by Jane Kenyon

A second crop of hay lies cut   

and turned. Five gleaming crows   

search and peck between the rows.

They make a low, companionable squawk,   

and like midwives and undertakers   

possess a weird authority.

Crickets leap from the stubble,   

parting before me like the Red Sea.   

The garden sprawls and spoils.

Across the lake the campers have learned   

to water ski. They have, or they haven’t.   

Sounds of the instructor’s megaphone   

suffuse the hazy air. “Relax! Relax!”

Cloud shadows rush over drying hay,   

fences, dusty lane, and railroad ravine.   

The first yellowing fronds of goldenrod   

brighten the margins of the woods.

Schoolbooks, carpools, pleated skirts;   

water, silver-still, and a vee of geese.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, Aug. 28, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom. Contact me if you need a Zoom link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

As I’ve recounted to many people when asked when I start preparing a sermon, I usually begin on Monday, reading the upcoming Revised Common Lectionary readings for the following Sunday. Then, for the rest of the week, the verses keep percolating, coming to my attention in prayers, or when paddling, running, doing an errand, cooking dinner, or as I am about to doze off to sleep at night. Some weeks in reading Scripture and preparing a sermon are easier than others.

This week was easier than most! I met Scriptures that spoke to the very context of both congregations I serve, as well as referencing Scripture that was the basis for my book, Unexpected Guests at God’s Banquet. The first set of verses that spoke to me was from Hebrews 13:1, 2: “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Over the years that we have been together as a Community of Pilgrims, I have witnessed all of you sharing hospitality with strangers, and the joy of serving others, letting your love be shown to others, and in kind, mutual love coming to us as well. Thank you for that gift.

The Gospel reading this week encourages such hospitality, as Jesus challenges the conventional seating pattern at a wedding feast in those days (Luke 14:1, 7-14). Being in conversation with Pharisees, the protocol in those days was to seat a Pharisee at a place of honor, though there may be others even more distinguished who may have been invited, and thus the Pharisee would have to be moved, causing much confusion. Instead, Jesus suggests a radical change in the etiquette of a wedding dinner: sit at the lowest place, “so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’” (vv. 8-11). When reading this passage I was reminded of the book by Simon Sinek, Leaders Eat Last. Sinek writes about his time in watching people who work in institutions, from corporations to military commands, and notes the following: “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in our charge.” This is why leaders eat last at a buffet or a wedding feast: because they are looking out, first and foremost, for those in their charge and care. That is why, in sharing Holy Communion, I will always take the cup last: to be sure that everyone else is fed. Join us this Sunday as we talk about mutual love, hospitality, and humility, following the examples set by Jesus, the Pilgrim God.

**

The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! The tentative plan, and our hope, is to meet at Rise Church on that day, in person for those in Portland, while also with those who are living in other parts of the country via Zoom. After all, you are all the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways. We look forward to announcing the establishment of an endowment to continue the work of the Community of Pilgrims, along with planting a tree, and a service project with Human Solutions’ emergency women’s shelter.

______

Events!

Aug. 28, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Sept. 4, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Sept. 11, Holy Holiday

Sept. 18, 4 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church to celebrate our Five-Year Anniversary as a Community of Pilgrims!

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Prayers of Thanksgiving:

Sarah’s mother who is still with us!

Safe travels for all of us. 

For medications that work e.g. Covid, Monkeypox.

Moderation of weather.

Life of Lorinda’s friend, Louise.

Ministry of Charlie Brown of St. Andrew’s PCUSA.

Future wedding of Sarah and Ellen.

For Lee Ellis of the CoP, who wrote a note to Lorinda.

Brett’s four-year-old is reading Cat in Hat, others!

Children.

Brett’s friendships with the Cochran family.

Debra:  for peace and balance after feeling overwhelmed.

Chuck, for his great grandson.

Earl, for pets in our lives. 

Prayers of Concerns

Roberta:  nephew Sam, ~30 yrs., has skeletal issues, difficulty walking, needs an orthopedist.  Prayers for medical treatment.

Marily Quesnel, complications after surgery.

Sarah’s mom and family.

Christian:  niece Gwyneth had miscarriage.

Christian’s sister Yarrow.

Linda Fuqua Anderson.

Peace and restored health for those with illness, difficulties.

Global climate change.

Women’s reproductive rights,

LGBTQ discrimination by states, individuals.

World tensions:  in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Kenya, Syria, Myanmar.

Homeless, immigrants, refugees, those imprisoned.

For a just judicial system.

Those in palliative and hospice care.

Our families and relationships.

Walk with God.

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

Love’s Choice by Malcolm Guite

This bread is light, dissolving, almost air,
A little visitation on my tongue,
A wafer-thin sensation, hardly there.
This taste of wine is brief in flavor, flung
A moment to the palate’s roof and fled,
Even its aftertaste a memory.
Yet this is how he comes. Through wine and bread
Love chooses to be emptied into me.
He does not come in unimagined light
Too bright to be denied, too absolute
For consciousness, too strong for sight,
Leaving the seer blind, the poet mute;
Chooses instead to seep into each sense,
To dye himself into experience.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, Aug. 21, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom. Contact me if you need a Zoom link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

Weirdly enough, I am sitting outside on our deck, writing this newsletter. It is almost 2 pm, and the weather is not too hot nor too cold. It is 81 degrees. There is a gentle breeze, and now and then I see a butterfly float by, or hummingbird zip by, in search of nectar. And it is August in Oregon. How weird yet wonderful. I hope this email newsletter finds you all well.

The Scriptural focus this week is the Gospel reading Luke 13:10-17. This is a healing story, in which Jesus heals a woman who has been bent over for some eighteen years. The miracle healing was that Jesus told her simply this: “You are set free from your ailment,” and with that, she was able to stand aright. Whatever was causing her to be bent or stooped over was now gone from her life. Of course, the other part of the story, and why Luke probably added it, was because Jesus cured this woman on the Sabbath day, a day of rest, when no work is to be done, and “healing” must’ve come under the heading of “work” for the leader of the synagogue. Jesus rightly points out that on the Sabbath day, people take their animals, like ox and donkey, from the manger home to a place where the animal could get water. Just a necessity of life. The underlying messages? Well, are we so wedded to the law, “Honor the Sabbath and keep in holy,” that we would do neglect others and possibly harm others? Yet there is also another message, which will be the focus this Sunday, which is the woman’s healing, from being stooped over to standing aright. How many of us feel stooped over, carrying a huge burden literally or figuratively, and need to be freed from this burden? Join us this week as we explore this passage in the context of our life.

**

The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! The tentative plan, and our hope, is to meet at Rise Church on that day, in person for those in Portland, while also with those who are living in other parts of the country via Zoom. After all, you are all the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.

______

Events!

Aug. 18, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Aug. 25, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Sept. 4, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Sept. 11, Holy Holiday

Sept. 18, 4 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church to celebrate our Five-Year Anniversary as a Community of Pilgrims!

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Prayers of thanksgiving for:

·      A respite in the hot weather pattern in this part of the world;

·      The beauty of flora and fauna, flowers galore, and fresh berries;

·      Access to good healthcare in a world in which it is scarce for many others;

·      The space to feel blessed;

·      The space and time to grieve when needed;

·      The opportunity to freely gather as a community of faith;

·      Friends, new and old;

·      Ancient biblical stories that still speak afresh in our day and age;

·      New job opportunities;

Prayers of concern for:

·      Those places of continuous violence in the world;

·      World leaders, that they serve the common good;

·      Global climate change;

·      Women’s reproductive rights;

·      LGBTQIA2S+ rights;

·      Voting rights;

·      Gun control;

·      Homelessness and houselessness in our cities and villages;

·      The beginning of school, and for teachers, staff, and students alike;

·      Those who have entered hospice or palliative care.

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

God of the Living, by Jan Richardson

When the wall

Between the worlds

Is too firm,

Too close.

When it seems

All solidity

And sharp edges.

When every morning

You wake as if

Flattened against it,

Its forbidding presence

Fairly pressing the breath

From you

All over again.

Then may you be given

A glimpse

Of how weak the wall

And how strong what stirs on the other side,

Breathing with you

And blessing you

Still

Forever bound to you

But freeing you

Into this living,

Into this world

So much wider

Than you ever knew.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, July 31, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, July 31, 2022, Eighth Sunday After Pentecost. Join us on Zoom at 4 pm. Contact me if you need a link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

For those of us living in the Pacific Northwest, the heat is on. It might hit 100 today in Portland, OR, and the 90s in Seattle. We understand it is 90 in Greenwich, NY today. New Mexico could be in the 90s today as well. Charlottesville, VA: 79 degrees with a thunderstorm coming your way. The one participant in the Community of Pilgrims, the Rev. Dr. Barham, has it best: Half Moon Bay, CA is 61 degrees today. Stay cool, for us, Father Michael. 

The Scriptural focus this week is Colossians 3:1-11. Paul, or whoever wrote the letter to the Colossians, was talking about the early church community setting itself apart from the surrounding Roman-Greek culture by the simple practice of more controlled speech habits and other daily practices of life that would set the followers of the Way, Christians, different than from others in that context. The best way to understand what the writer was advocating was in this line: “(clothe) yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator” (3:10). Earlier in Roman 13:14, Paul wrote that the early church members should “put on Christ,” as one would put on new clothes. We know that when we put on a clothing company, team, college, university, city, state, or country t-shirt, emblazoned with words of the group we are supporting, along with a neat logo or symbol, we tell the world around us something about our loyalties. Same with this example. We are to clothe ourselves with a new self, which means a baptized self, a self that has been saved by God’s grace, clothed with Christ, in the world in which we live. That was a powerful move on the part of the early church in the Roman world in which they lived. And it is a powerful way for us to be the church in the world today, by metaphorically putting on Christ. Join us Sunday as we explore living a counter-cultural life in our world today.

**

The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! And you all are the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.

______

Events!

July 31, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Aug. 7, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

Aug. 11, Holy Holiday.

Aug. 18, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom and/or @ Rise Church.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

The upcoming marriage of Roxanne's friend.

Brett's daughter Adrienne's pregnancy and she is safely into her second trimester.

President Biden and his health.

Modern science and our ability to test ourselves.

Summer days like today.

Christian's niece who is also pregnant.

Brett's former partner Dean who is responding well to leukemia medications and now has Covid-19.

We are able to endure the coming heat waves.

The freedom to hold hearings like the January 6th hearings in this country.

Concerns for:

The people of Sri Lanka where their president has fled the country after mass unrest over an economic crisis.

The people of Afghanistan, Yemen, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, and Tunisia.

People coming down with Monkeypox. The World Health Organization declared the virus a public health emergency of global concern Saturday.

The gun culture in this country and all those who have died from suicides and homicides.

Climate change which is already affecting every country in multiple ways.

LGBTQIA2S+ people who are concerned about their rights coming under attack.

Protection for women's reproductive rights after Roe v Wade overturned.

Protection for same-sex marriage in the US.

Brett and Christian's neighbor's friend, Chris, who did a cannonball into the Chinook Lake off the back of a boat and never came up out of the water. He got snagged in the water and died. 

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

A New National Anthem, by Ada Limon (The new US Poet Laureate)

The truth is, I’ve never cared for the National

Anthem. If you think about it, it’s not a good

song. Too high for most of us with “the rockets

red glare” and then there are the bombs.

(Always, always, there is war and bombs.)

Once, I sang it at homecoming and threw

even the tenacious high school band off key.

But the song didn’t mean anything, just a call

to the field, something to get through before

the pummeling of youth. And what of the stanzas

we never sing, the third that mentions “no refuge

could save the hireling and the slave”? Perhaps,

the truth is, every song of this country

has an unsung third stanza, something brutal

snaking underneath us as we blindly sing

the high notes with a beer sloshing in the stands

hoping our team wins. Don’t get me wrong, I do

like the flag, how it undulates in the wind

like water, elemental, and best when it’s humbled,

brought to its knees, clung to by someone who

has lost everything, when it’s not a weapon,

when it flickers, when it folds up so perfectly

you can keep it until it’s needed, until you can

love it again, until the song in your mouth feels

like sustenance, a song where the notes are sung

by even the ageless woods, the short-grass plains,

the Red River Gorge, the fistful of land left

unpoisoned, that song that’s our birthright,

that’s sung in silence when it’s too hard to go on,

that sounds like someone’s rough fingers weaving

into another’s, that sounds like a match being lit

in an endless cave, the song that says my bones

are your bones, and your bones are my bones,

and isn’t that enough? 

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, July 24, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, July 24, 2022, Seventh Sunday After Pentecost. Join us on Zoom at 4 pm. Contact me if you need a link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

We find ourselves in the season of “midsummer.” Midsummer can be a period of time centered around the summer solstice, which is between June 21 and June 25, and the preceding evening. In the cultures of Scandinavia, Finland, and the Baltics, midsummer is about now, and is the most celebrated holiday apart from Christmas. Let’s celebrate midsummer, wherever you may live.

The Scripture focus this Sunday is Luke 11:1-13. My Jewish friends always remind me that this is one of the most Jewish prayers that Jesus taught his disciples. And just like Luke’s Jesus speaks the Beatitude right to the point, with the urgency of “now,” so Luke’s Jesus in praying what we, today, call “The Lord’s Prayer,” gets right to the pithy points of the prayer. There is no beating around the bush for this Jesus. How should we pray? Jesus says, “When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” Amen. What I want to lift out of this passage that is crucial to our understanding of our relationship with God is the request for bread. For sustenance. Bread and water is all we need each and every day. One can also think of bread metaphorically as a daily dose of God. In the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper, I will place in your hand the bread and say these words, “this is the body of Christ, broken for you,” as we remember Christ’s promises made to us on the night of his arrest. Then I, as pastor, will say at the end of the communion meal to go out into the world and be the bread, the body, of Christ in the world, providing where you can the things people need in this world in order to do more than stay alive but to live, day by day. May it be so. See you this Sunday!

**

The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! And you all are the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.

______

Events!

July 24, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.

July 31, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.

Aug. 7, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.

Aug. 11, Holy Holiday.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Celebrations:

Eternal biblical story of Mary and Martha.

Brett and Christian’s marriage!

Other newlyweds.

Kathy, Shu, Fukuyama family celebrating Kathy’s birthday and wedding anniversary of Kathy and Tamio;

Ellen and Sarah’s upcoming wedding!

Thanks for modern medicine.  Christian came down with Covid-19 on Tuesday, and Brett tested positive.  Taking medication. And they are both healed!

Thankfulness for health for Chuck and others

Concerns

Earl:  Nerve pain in right leg.  May physical therapy help;

For those with Covid-19, like President Biden.

For friends and relatives who have passed.

Safe travel for Ron, flying to Indiana.

People of Portugal, France, England, and Spain, heat wave.

Sarah’s mom in hospice;

Linda Fuqua Anderson’s health;

For Presbyterian Church (USA), and the decisions made at the last General Assembly (Brett was a Commissioner), which voted to be sanctuary denomination, divest fossil fuel stocks, and advance the cause of justice among the races and genders;

People in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, mid-East;

In the US, voting rights, gun safety, peace in land, women’s reproductive rights; climate control, same sex marriage. 

Michael Barham’s transition to becoming pastor in seminary.

Phil Parshley, Marianne Parshley’s dad, who passed away.

For government officials to serve the needs of people.

Mother Earth;

Those in hospital and in palliative care.

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

Bath, by Amy Lowell

The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air.
       The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.
       Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots. The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander

Newsletter, CoP, July 17, 2022

THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, July 17, 2022, Sixth Sunday After Pentecost. Join us on Zoom at 4 pm. Contact me if you need a link. 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. 

_______

Dear Community of Pilgrims,

What a joy it is to be writing this newsletter from outside on our extended deck. This is what I’m always eager to do in the summer months: write sermons and newsletters and blogs outside, with a gentle breeze, surrounded by flowers, blue sky above, and just a slight scent of jasmine now and then.

The Scripture focus this week is about Jesus’ friends, Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42. We have two people with different personality types meeting Jesus’ needs. This story is the "stuff'" of Enneagrams and Myer-Briggs assessment tests. I know I am far more like Martha than Mary. Mary is the quieter of the two, showing Jesus hospitality by dropping everything she could be doing and listening attentively to Jesus. Meanwhile, Martha is busy around the house, prepping for a meal, doing all the last minute things, like putting away extraneous objects around the house, dusting, and asking for Mary’s help in a round-about, triangulated-like manner, through Jesus. While Jesus lifts up Mary’s gift of presence, it would probably not have been possible without some of the careful work of Martha in being sure the household, itself, was already prepared for a meeting with Jesus. Both Mary and Martha bring something to appreciate in the gift of hospitality, which is the core message of this short passage. Hospitality. Being present with one another, in the presence of one another, but prepping as well so we could all enjoy one another's company. For in doing so, we welcome none other than the Spirit of Christ in all of us. Join us this Sunday as we consider the gifts of hospitality in the Marys and Marthas among us.   

**

The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! And you all are the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.

** The Community of Pilgrims will continue to meet on Zoom and will also soon include meeting in person in the small chapel space at Rise Church, which used to be Calvin Presbyterian Church, from 4-6 pm. The address is 10445 SW Canterbury Ln., Tigard, OR, 97224. This Sunday, July 17, we will discuss our schedule for such a move as a faith community. We thank Rise Church for generously donating this space and time to our gathering. 

______

Events!

July 17, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom! 

July 24, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.

July 31, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.

Aug. 7, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.

____

Prayers of Celebration and Concern

We pray to the Creator of all creation: 

Thankfulness

* Thankful for the Community of Pilgrims!

* Thankful for summer weather.

* Thankful birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, meeting of old friends and making new friends.

Thanksgiving and Prayer Concerns

* Kathy Fukuyama’s sister and brother-in-law.  Her brother-in-law is suffering from dementia.

* Continued prayers for Linda Fuqua-Anderson and her brother Gary.

* Lorinda’s friend, Louise, who recently passed away.

* Kate Butler is moving to Clackamas county and asks for our prayers for a safe transition.

* Notwithstanding political and cultural polarization and adversity, keep your eyes on the prize (God)! 

* Prayers for Michael’s transition to a new job.

*Roxanne’s daughter’s graduation. For improved experience in her trip to Europe.  

* Prayers for Roxanne’s daughter-in-law and son, who are undergoing divorce, and their two grandchildren.

* For everyone with family challenges.

* For Christian, Ric, and others who have Covid-19.

* For women in reproductive age and affected by the Supreme Court abortion decision.

* Peace in world, with war in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the Sudan.

* For correction to harm by anarchists protesting the abortion decision and other issues with which they disagree. 

God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen

_____

Poem

Plenitude, Jan Richardson

At lunch today

It was the purple

Of the olive pits

Against my cobalt plate

That stunned me.

At tea,

The gold of peach

Bloodstained by its stone.

I do not know

Where the greater part

Of the miracle lies:

That I should pause 

To notice this,

Or that I,

A woman of

Such great hungers,

Should be so well satisfied

By such small things.

Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander