"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

This week a variety of colorful displays adorn our hallways and each evening the level of sound surpasses what we usually anticipate and accept. It's Vacation Bible School week and with abundant sights and sounds, our children are hearing and experiencing stories of faith under the general theme, "Operation Overboard: Dare to Go Deep with God." Those stories of faith have regularly turned my thoughts to Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), a Christian mystic whose Revelations of Divine Love has inspired Christians for centuries. Many of us have heard Julian's most famous words even if we do not know her name. Before pondering those words, let's set them in some historical context.

Julian witnessed the ravages of the Black Death, an epidemic of various plagues that claimed the lives of 30-40% of the population of Europe. Many religious leaders interpreted the Black Death and related events as God's punishment. Their understandably pessimistic worldview emphasized seeking God's favor by obeying the law and doing one's duty. Julian had an optimistic worldview that focused on compassion and joy and did not consider suffering punishment by God. To people trembling with fear of God Julian said, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." She claimed that God said those words to her to promise that despite all signs to the contrary, God's way and will would prevail. Julian did not ignore suffering. She found the face of God in those who suffered and her own challenges. The compassionate face of God assured her that "all manner of thing shall be well."

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." We do not always receive what we want, but faith declares that blessing accompanies whatever we receive. Weaknesses and disappointments make us vulnerable. Acts of kindness and love often have their greatest impact in those vulnerabilities. One saint visits another in the hospital and God touches both. Each would prefer to have no need to visit, but blessing accompanies the hardship. Few of us believe that God wants anyone to hunger. Yet, as we follow Jesus into ministry for and with the hungry, God feeds us all. Individual and community brokenness never goes away; yet, wholeness continues to beckon and touch us.

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." We do not always succeed, but even in failure we remain in God's embrace. Jesus invites to communion not the sinless but those who hunger for a deeper relationship with God. We cannot earn that relationship, but we remain free to seek and accept it. The late William Sloane Coffin often said, "God provides minimum protection, maximum support." That steadfast support helps us to grow, learn, and love in defeat as well as victory.

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." Julian challenges us to be shaped by what we have more than what we lack, by our hopes more than our fears, and by the goodness we receive more than the evil we experience. Such faith does not develop instantaneously. It takes daily, moment by moment practice. Each decision that moves us in that direction deepens our ability to believe that "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." Thanks be to God.

Grace and Peace,

LP

Higgs boson

Early in the morning on July 4 (on this continent) scientists from around the world gathered with chilled champagne for "physics parties" to celebrate not the birth of a nation but the possible discovery of a sub-atomic particle hypothesized as fundamental to existence as we know it. The planning for these parties began fifty years ago as physicists pondered the elementary forces of nature. British physicist Peter Higgs posited the existence of an unseen background field permeating space that serves as a sort of cosmic molasses. When particles pass through this field, they gain mass. Mass makes it possible for stars, planets, buckeye trees, and people to exist. Scientists referred to this molasses as the Higgs field and posited that it was composed of Higgs particles or Higgs bosons. The problem is that no one has seen this field or one of its constituent particles.

The search for the Higgs boson led to the construction of the Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva, Switzerland (and other colliders elsewhere). The collider is a spectacular feat of engineering in its own right. It took more than a decade to construct, cost more than ten billion dollars, and so far operates at only 50% capacity. It exists to hurl particles at each other with incredible force and velocity so that when they collide they split into the basic particles of existence, such as the Higgs boson. In the past two years each collision has yielded 1000 one-terabytes hard drives of data (more than all the data in all the libraries of the world), but no Higgs boson. That changed last week and champagne corks popped as physicists received almost certain verification that repeated collisions had yielded a Higgs boson or something very like it. (Don't fret over the "almost certain." Physicists are only almost certain they exist!)

My understanding of physics does not allow me to comprehend all that the Higgs particle represents, but this discovery fills me with something akin to religious awe. My sense of wonder reflects not only the fact that this discovery could change our view of ourselves and our universe, but also the process behind this discovery.

Thousands of physicists from eleven nations who speak a variety of languages worked together on this project, encouraging each other and critically assessing each other's' work. Thousands of skilled workers collaborated to create the Large Hadron Collider and an untold number of donors contributed the funds. Whereas many of the advances of the "space age" came as nations competed against each other, the discovery of the Higgs boson occurred as nations and individuals worked with each other. We human beings, who sin so boldly, also have the capacity for astonishing goodness.

I also find it inspiring that these physicists have spent their lives and careers looking for the Higgs boson even though most thought it would not be discovered in their lifetimes and many concluded that it did not exist. They sought because they wanted to know. In my words, possibly not theirs, they sought because of the wonder of their field of endeavor. Imagine the possibilities if people of faith exhibited similar commitment to ministries that seem beyond our abilities but are less worth pursuing because we may not be able to reach them!

When detractors called an ambitious goal impossible, Robert Greenleaf used to reply, "We got where we are by doing the impossible, and future progress ... will be by the same route." Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr drew a similar, more poetic conclusion: "Nothing worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love."

Happy Birthday, Higgs boson. I'll never completely understand you, but I stand in awe of what gave birth to you and us.

Grace and Peace,

LP      

ConnXions worship

After a cordial and thorough discussion in which members listened to each other and sought to discern God's guidance, our Session voted during its July meeting to dissolve our ConnXions worship service following worship on Saturday, July 28. In the conversations that preceded and followed this vote, Session members expressed deep gratitude for the saints whose labors of love have allowed us to conduct this ministry, for the worship ConnXions offered to God, for the spiritual gifts and hungers expressed and fed, and for the chance we took in offering this service. Session also approved the celebration of Holy Communion and a special prayer litany for our final ConnXions service, helping us to close ConnXions with the same trust in God we had when we launched it.

                                   

Some of us may not have participated in the past two years of discussions about how to support ConnXions, but key leaders of ConnXions, Celebrate Ministry, Session, and staff have remained prayerfully active. During our one year review of ConnXions, we admitted that we had missed the agreed-upon benchmarks. We fell short of the expected level of volunteers and did not maintain or increase our attendance. We originally set a benchmark related to offering, which Session deemed invalid because we do not always contribute during the worship service we attend. Yet, Session voted to continue ConnXions and keep trying. In 2010 ConnXions averaged 68 worshippers per service. That fell to 51 in 2011 and to 42 thus far this year. [The comparable figures for Morning Glory are 200 in 2010, 202 in 2011, and 206 in 2012, and for traditional worship, 174 in 2010, 164 in 2011, and 181 in 2012.] For the last three months, average weekly ConnXions attendance has been 32. Yet, the level of volunteer support has generated the most concern. As ConnXions continued we depended on the same few, deeply committed volunteers to prepare and display the media presentations, provide hospitality and childcare, and tend to other aspects of the service.

In response, members of our ConnXions and Celebrate Teams formed a task force to discern a way forward. In May, this team presented a set of 30, 60, and 90 day benchmarks for volunteer support and attendance to Celebrate Ministry, which our Session approved in June. Although volunteers contacted more than seventy people who had expressed interest in contemporary worship, we did not reach our volunteer benchmark. Thus, under the plan provided by the task force and approved by Session, the issue came to Session in July.

Although the dissolution of ConnXions comes with disappointment, we have not failed. In years of conversation, prayer, and reflection, we heard God calling us to try something different. Dedicated volunteers and staff provided meaningful worship in an accepting environment. We did not do everything well. We never do. Yet, we made a good faith effort. We have reason to feel very good about the worship we provided, the hours of faithful service dedicated saints contributed, and the faith we put into action. When we launched ConnXions on the first Saturday in February 2010, we reached for extra chairs as 278 people attended. Let's match that on July 28, not in denial of our disappointment but in expression of our gratitude for all ConnXions has been and of our hope in God.

 At the beginning of the Babylonian Exile, the prophet Jeremiah declared, "I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare (shalom) and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). We faithfully followed God into our ConnXions service. As we dissolve ConnXions with disappointment for what will not continue, we also proclaim our profound gratitude and our complete trust that God will lead us into a future with hope.

Grace and Peace,

LP