Dear Members and Friends of the Ark and Dove Community,

I’m impatient, aren’t you? I’m impatient with lines.

I’m impatient about getting vaccinated.

I’m impatient to get back to living like I did before COVID. Aren’t you?

I’m impatient about not being able to worship in the sanctuary.

I’m sick and tired of this past year. I’m impatient about masks.

I am worried about the kids and the way this is hurting them. I’m impatient for them. 

I’m also impatient with the flat earth society, the climate change deniers, the anti-vaxxers, the anti-maskers, the haters and those who flaunt the privilege of their caste, race or class.

According to the fourth century theologian Augustine the past is over and done and mere memory. The future is really just my expectation; I can’t control it. I need to live in the present moment. I sometimes wish I were like God who lives every moment in the present (because, according to Augustine, God created time and therefore must be above and outside of it).

The thing is I am not God, and so I must balance my impatience with the teachings and example of the one we call God’s son--Jesus.

In the face of impatience, and a host of other self-centered behaviors, Jesus calls me to love my enemies and my neighbor as myself.  Howard Thurman was so clear on this loving my enemies (or call them rivals) because they are my neighbors.  Thurman says we must recognize fear, deception and hate and call it out, but trust that the Spirit is at work. Maybe my impatience is a form of deception. It’s a way of saying I’m more important than my neighbors.

There’s lots of good news out there, even in the midst of variants.  Millions are vaccinated everyday.  I can hang on--to mitigate risk to those who are more vulnerable than I am. Its time for me to set aside my impatience and be a good neighbor.  Oh and, yeah, the more patient I am and the more patient we are--the quicker this will end. I should not be a part of a third surge. I should pray for and live life with patience. Even if I hate COVID and the damn mask; I do love God and my neighbors.

God grant us patience, and help us to trust that your Spirit is active in the world.

Peace of Christ,

tstern@arkanddove.org

Dear Friends and Members of Ark and Dove,

This Saturday, with the construction of Palm crosses, and this coming Tuesday, with a year end celebration, we wrap up the 2020-2021 LOGOS program. I am deeply grateful for the leaders and children who made this year the extraordinary one it was.

Last summer we spent hours considering how we could provide good children's ministry given all the pandemic restrictions. A small group of leaders came together to create a whole new program. They found ways to teach, play games, serve the community, and engage in worship every month of this school year. Our children learned the fruits of the Spirit, connected with one another while apart, discovered new opportunities to do mission, and helped families worship outside the sanctuary. Lilly Gray became our YouTube influencer, Advent wreaths were made and delivered, blankets were lovingly knotted, and a spiritual path was created as a peaceful way to enter a turbulent year. Much more was done. And many hands made it possible for children and families to connect on a weekly basis. In a year where we could have paused and waited out the worst, we chose to make something new. I am proud, thankful, and excited to see what we will come up with next.

Therefore, I invite you to celebrate the end of this unusual and inspired year of children's ministry. Come tomorrow at 10 am to construct a Palm cross so that you and others can say Hosanna on Sunday. Come on Tuesday at 5:30 to have some fun if you have participated in LOGOS this year or not. All we ask, as always, is that you wear a mask and maintain safety.

Peace,

jnelson@arkanddove.org

PRAYERS OF HEALING AND SUPPORT for Charlotte Davie; Arlyce Lohr; Annetta Fenstermacher; Amy Richarme; Patty Plander; Krista Klohr; Christa Kronser; Merlin Berry; Dick Paronto; Bob Johns; Richard and Edie Budd; Amy and Kyle Morris; Vaughn Brown; Camille Dubois’ uncle and parents; Debbie Saylor’s sister, Christine; Ryan Stavely’s father, Brian; Brooks Emrick and her sister, Susan; Dotty Kaufman, her son, Bill, daughter-in-law, Carol, granddaughter, Sarah, and grandson Nathan; Steve Debus' cousin-in-law, Stephan; Kathy Miller’s brother-in-law, Jeff Miller; Lewis Shorter and Lewis Shorter’s niece, Jennifer Schwandt-Gayle; Emily Crose’s grandmother, Lois Eichhorn; Bob Fuller’s brother, Joe Fuller; Dot Forloines’ family and her great-grandson Luke; Donna Anderson's brother-in-law, Tom Brown; Debbie and Bruce Arey’s family in Connecticut and daughter, Allison, and niece, Naomi; Linda Taylor’s mother, Izola; Grant Kirby’s mother, Caroline, and Julia Kirby's mother, Margaret Floyd; Kennon Bauman’s uncle, Dan Johnston; Amy Goldberg’s grandmother, Ruth Cooper; Christy Yeager’s mother, Linda Jordan; Diane Johnson's Uncle Ed, Aunt Janet, and cousin Richard; Shelley Franklin's father; Hollis Butterworth’s daughter, Rachel Mershont; Amanda Wehage’s sister and father, Dave; Laurie Barrow’s nephew, Gunther Kurtz; Sabonna Keeney’s mother; Bernabe and Griselda Solano, and Griselda's sister, Irma; Laura Doughty’s brother-in-law, Carl Hahn, and Paul Doughty’s mother, Ruth Doughty; Laura Willoughby's father, Norman; Bill Ruble’s mother, Mary Jane Weathers; Ann Hirschy’s aunt, Cindy, and brother; Christina Nelson’s grandmother, Pat Dole; Kelly Burnett’s nephew, Justin; Patriceo Green’s cousin, Philip Brown; Lou Kareha’s aunt, Judy Kochis, and cousin, Thomas; Cheryl and Doug Walcutt’s grandchild, Gray Adacutt; Cheryl Walcutt’s mother, nephew, and sisters, friend Don Clark and student, Clay; Erika Sealing's son, Trip, and grandmother, Margaret Schade; Sue Hanburger's friends, Barb, Phyllis, Martha and Craig; Linnie Girdner and Jan Hof’s friend, Grace Ligon; Ylonda Fauntleroy’s friends, Alma Hinton and Tanya; Rob Yeager’s friends, Lisa and Kearston; Scott Howe’s friend, Jen Miller; the Gaurins’ friends Nyla and Danielle; Kim Young’s friends, Pat and Joyce; Catherine Chambers’ friend, Seamus; Michelle Schoonmaker’s friend Bri Reed; and Kathy Emmert's friend, Pat.

THE LOVE AND PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION go out to the Connally, Lewis and Langas families on the death of Linda and Jim’s niece and Christine’s cousin Eleni Langas.

THE LOVE AND PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION go out to the Stubbs, McGillivray and Hopsicker families on the death of Todd’s grandmother, Noreen Hopsicker.

PRAYERS OF HEALING for those with COVID-19 including: Cheryl Walcutt’s sister, Lori, and brother-in-law, Marty; Wendy Wellington’s sister, Bonnie; Christine Connally’s cousin, Karen; Jim and Judy Cooper’s friend, Tim McNutt; Josephine Girdner; Diane Johnson’s grandson, Avery Woods; Ed Barrett's friend, Joe Bogner; Julia Kirby’s great niece, nephew, his wife, and friends, the Speer family, the Coffey family, and April and Sam; Amy Hagemann’s friend, Mary Hurt Werner; Rob Yeager’s friends, David Palombo, and Jeff and Ana Siegel; Lisa Marino, Jay Mulholland, and their 4-month-old daughter Lily; Ylonda Fauntleroy's family, Annette and Leah Turner, and friends, Sandra and Elijah Williams; Debbie Saylor’s friend, Frank Williams; Michelle Schoonmaker's friends Kate Kaput and Ajita Robinson; Yeni, her husband and their six children; Jennifer Roman's aunt, Laura Clay, and grandmother, Louise Nothdurft; Kathy Emmert’s friends, Chuck and Cheryl; and Lori Kronser’s friend Debbie and her family.

PRAYERS OF LOVE, SUPPORT AND PROTECTION for all essential workers around the world, including: Mike Stiegler; Bill Gaurin; Tricia Gray’s mother, Sabrina Johnson; Becca Distad; Jack Burnett; Caitlyn Bussey; Emily Sanders; Audrey Miller; Linda Jordan’s nephew, Russell; the Ralston’s family members and friends; Simone Stiegler’s friend, Jean Marie; Amy Grimm’s mother; Jeff Grimm; Amy Goldberg’s brother, Joseph Alexander, and parents, Michael and Maryann Cooper; Judy Cooper’s daughter; John Mikeska’s son, Jonathan; and Hollis Butterworth’s sister-in-law, Cyndie.