Tense Days Ahead

Friends in faith,

Various news outlets are reporting calls for armed protests at all 50 state capitals. These are frightening, tense days—we are all praying that cooler heads will prevail and that we'll avoid violence as we transition to a new presidency. I am part of a planning team of our Presbytery, hoping to create a day of prayer this coming Saturday. I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday, during our Zoom worship service, we were joined by Michael Herscher, a music/spiritual leader at Congregation B'nai Israel. He shared some reflections about our current political crisis and offered a poignant song, entitled "Wasn't that a Time?" You can hear the original by Pete Seeger here.

I wanted to remind all of our congregation about staying in touch during these unprecedented times. The stress of this pandemic, combined with threats of mass political violence, is almost too much to bear. One of the best practices we can use during this awful time is to simply reach out to one another through phone calls, letters, e-mails, texts, Zooms, Facebook, etc. In fact, I am learning a new email program—"Mailchimp." A big thank-you to our office manager, Maria Mar, for keeping us all up-to-date with the best communications programs available for staying in touch. If you are struggling with the technology, please us know so that we might offer support to you. We all need as much hope and support as we can get these days!

Soon, you'll be receiving a letter from Bethany requesting updated contact information as well as who to contact in the event of an emergency. Please fill out the form out and mail it back to the office. As always, such information is only for our church and is well-protected.

I also thought it might be helpful to provide a few resources from our denomination concerning the many issues our society is facing:

Below is a prayer released by our Presbytery, the newly named "North Central California Presbytery," on January 6th, the day of the riot at the Capitol Building:

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Our nation is on the brink and we as people of faith need to draw upon our deepest spiritual resources at this painful and challenging moment. As protestors storm the US Capitol building, breaching police lines and barriers during the orderly debate inside, we invite you to pause where you are and pray for our nation, for ALL our leaders, for all seeking to maintain order and safety at the Capitol, in Washington and in our country, for all deeply concerned believing a wide variety of things, for all who are committed to being healers of the breach and repairers of the streets.

We join our brothers and sisters in Christ across our denomination and throughout the larger faith community in a time of prayer, joining with God's people over the millennia, including Jesus, who have cried out for justice and healing, humbling themselves and praying earnestly for God’s mercy, wisdom and healing. May we commit ourselves to the holy, hard and necessary work ahead of bringing healing and a restoration of the ties that bind us as one community, the people of God.

As it is unclear how this may unfold in the coming hours or days, we ask for your continuing prayers that the God of all creation shelter those in harm’s way, quell the anger and violence, and empower us and our leaders to act with love, compassion, justice and a deepening sense of what it means to be the Beloved Community.

In faith and prayer,

The Rev. Ivan Herman, Council Chair
The Rev. Nancy Clegg, Stated Clerk
The Rev. Mary Westfall, Transitional Presbyter

Finally, please remember that it would be wise to turn off our TVs and devices and take a breather from all of the intense news. Take a walk. Call a friend. Read a book. Make a painting. Do something that gives you joy.

At the end of the day, our faith is in the Lord God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, the ruler of all creation; we trust that God's love for us is never-ending. We'll get through this one day at a time …

God's peace to you all,
Jesse

Bethany Presbyterian