Category: Faith

Okay, whoever pushed dinner back from 5:45 pm to 6:15 pm…grrrrr on you! Some of us are HUNGRY.

Anyways, so today was a busy day. The morning was spent eating eggs, bacon, and yogurt. The morning session went as expected. A paper ballot was passed out (I was the only Church Wide candidate for Young Adults) which seemed weird since we have these fun clicker things to use. After the paper ballot was passed, we went ahead and watched a lovely ELCA video, heard a stirring message from Pastor Ruben Duran (who is wonderful and full of good lines “The ELCA is 24; time to get out of the house!”) The voting clicker things were explained. And then viability norms were brought up.

After a series of small group discussions, amendments were made, we spent a lot of time talking about what it means to “call a pastor,” and then went went ahead and passed the sucker. We spent a lot of time without changing anything, really. I honestly came to realize that we should have taken viability norms after the strategic plan. By framing it that way (talking about death after we talk about life), I felt that a lot of the viability issues would be directed properely to the strategic plan. But, well, we got through it. Reports were also given and me and the leader at St. Lydias were acknowledged as people in the candidacy process. Why we’re the ONLY ones here seems, well, kind of silly to me. If we’re being formed for leadership, why not see how the church works? Or maybe the idea is for us to not scare us off.

After lunch (which, sadly, was terrible; untasty possibly and I had to skip dessert), I geared up for my presentation. I was part of a duo discussing Project Connect, the Lily Funded organization designed to help bring new, young, emerging adults, into ministry. It went well, I had all the funny lines, and my partner was a lovely woman from Long Island. We geared up with the plan to present right after lunch. But then we noticed that the Strategic Plan discussion was pushed forward. So…we had to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

While people talked about the Strategic Plan. And, like always, we talked a lot. And I think a lot us crashed since it was after lunch. The changes directed towards the plan were tied to evangelism, money, and pastoral care to congregations. The presentation by the committee was fine but long. The discussion was fine but with lots of the same faces appearing at the mics. At one point, I even got up to speak against an amendment but someone stole my thunder (and it failed to pass anyways). Two changes were made to the plan (word changes), and it passed, an hour behind schedule. And then, my debut performance before the Synod initated.

It went well. I enjoyed myself up there, name dropped my professor’s class, tried to be funny, and only lost my place once (but no one could tell). While I’m sitting here, people keep coming up to me saying I did a great job. After the presentation came a presentation by LTSP. And then the document pertaining to “Sacramental Practices” came up – and it was pushed to the next assembly. Now, to be 100% honest, it shouldn’t have been. I learned that the practice of deacons using reserved sacrament in this synod is very prevalent. And, if that is the case, why are we not addressing that issue when we just passed viability norms where “calling a pastor” was on the list? Should we not further define our vision of Order at the same time we’re doing such clarification work when it comes to our vision of ourselves? It shouldn’t have been tabled, the time limit be damned. But it was and, well, bah.

Election results were announced (Churchwide here I come!!!) and a second ballot using the clicky things was done. After more reports, I’m not waiting for dinner to start. People are milling about, the bar is full, and I’m excited because the misses is coming up for the night. I’ll be schmoozing with old seminary people and she’ll be living it up at the pool. This is the good life.

A night of drinking with clergy combined with being in a new place means, like always, no sleep for the Seminarianzilla. However, after a brisk work out, lots of water, and knowing my hangover won’t hit for a few hours, I’m ready to report on last night’s festivities. (I apologize for the misspellings, poor grammar, and ugly thinking because I’m using a keyboard I don’t like and, well, that whole drinking and no sleep thing.)

I know I said on my twitter feed that I was going to attend the forum on congregation viability norms first but, well, I lied. As I entered that room, I was told that I should go to the candidates room to introduce myself (side note: the person who mentioned I should do that also asked if I wrote this blog and showed it to the bishop so, well, haha…). I did so, put on a sticky saying I’m running for Church Wide Assembly Young Adult spot (which led to a lively debate on what it means to be classified as a young adult), and introduced my platform (“Everyone says millenials are leaving the church and, well, I did the exact opposite; I joined while not growing up in the church and that’s a voice that should be heard too.”) I met a few people, had a nice chat with a clergy person who is trying to figure out how to get Gen-Xers back into the church, and then I headed to viability norms.

Now, it should be noted, that when we’re talking about congergational viability norms, what we’re really asking is “when should the synod step in” to provide leadership for a congregation that is struggling. When I read the resolution the first time, I didn’t pick up on that (and I’m sure that others made the same mistake). The idea is to set up ways to quantify a congregation’s life which, to be honest, I think is a great idea. And I think it’s kind of strange we haven’t had that baseline up till this point. I arrived while the session was going on, joined a small group, and as we read through the MNYS constitution and the ten proposed base points, I felt a little uneasy. As the only seminarian in the room, I was curious how sitting pastors and congregational leaders were going to take these points. And they did exactly what I thought they would which, to be honest, bugged me. A lot.

Point number 2 in the list is that a congregation should have the ability to “call a pastor.” Again, this makes sense. Point number one is that the congregation should be able to gather weekly for worship. Although our polity does not require a pastor at worship, it’s recommended (which makes me think that point number one should be “gather weekly to worship in Word and Sacrament”). There’s no mention of being able to call a full time pastor (which I admitted to having misgivings about) but, again, I think it’s a reasonable point. As a seminiarian who keeps being told that he will need to be “bi-vocational,” full-time calls, while the norms, are not the baseline for congregational realities right now. So, as I sat in a small group, surrounded by half a dozen pastors and half a dozen lay people, everyone – in fact, everyone in the room – focused on point number 2. No one talked about point number 8 (about buildings) or point number 9 (about insurance) or even point 3 (annual meetings). Nope, the pastor. That’s where the battle line was drawn. And I started thinking if having clergy draw up viability norms made any sense because all I saw were clergy defending their own jobs, expressing their anger, frustrations, and reliving their earlier confrontations with congregations that have been under their care. We don’t live in a state church and we live in a synod where ‘Synod Guidelines’ aren’t pushed as much as they use to. And I expect I’ll always have to fight for my job and justify its existence (just like in the freaking real world). But, wow, the anger was so thick. I was embarassed. And it made me not want to attend any of the churches in that room. Which, really, should not be the case at the synod assembly!

There was a lot of blame directed towards “the other.” The other was always the congregation that didn’t have its priorities straight, didn’t pledge enough, was filled with people who owned boats but didn’t want to pay a pastor. The rich other, or the angry other, or the spiritually weak other…it was ridiculous. As an other in society, hearing baby boomer clergy belittling the “other,” even if they are the 1%, was just upsetting. I’ll admit I kept my mouth shut. I probably should have said something. But, wow, I couldn’t believe how angry that 30 minutes in that small group made me.

Because, here’s the thing, we can’t blame the congregations. We can’t sit there and say “it’s their fault we’re not being paid.” We can’t sit there and act entitled to our compensation just because we went through a four year post-bachelor program. There is NOTHING SEXY ABOUT ENTITLEMENT. I’m not saying the church needs to be sexy but I am saying that the church needs to understand that any problem with a congregation in terms of stewardship, or priorities, or all that, is a church-wide problem. If congregation’s aren’t paying what they should, that’s all our problem. If people are taking their kids to soccer practice rather than church, that’s all our problem. We’re one body here and one church. We’re not an us-vs-them group. And, clergy especially, are not set apart like priests. We just aren’t. That’s not the Lutheran approach to clergy leadership. We aren’t Catholics or Episcopalians (I know, I know, massive generalization but hyperbole to make a point is always good). We are raised out of the church to lead in Word and Sacrament, to serve the servants, and to love them. Truly, and deeply, to love them. That does mean that the current baby-boomer driven model of clergydom will have to change. And that’s perfectly fine. There’s a group of young and up-and-coming pastors that know that and are okay with that. We’re going to work hard, we’re going to walk with God’s people, and we’re gonna make it work. Because the reality is that the church is going to change whether you want it to or not. The church has changed. And, to use a line from a bad Broadway musical, you can either “get on the bus” or stay off. And what I heard in that small group made me realize that there are a bunch of us who want to stay off the bus as long as possible.

I do think that the Strategic Plan and the Congregational Viability Norms need some amending. I would like to hear more about “mission” included in the each. I would like to hear more about Word and Sacrament and what it means to be the Church. I think we can take some clues from our ecumenical agreements and see how we acknowledge one another as viable “churches” and bleed some of that into our current dialogue. And, hopefully, that’s what we’ll get today. This morning, we’ll learn how to use our clicky voting machines and we’ll start arguing about these things. I hope our discussion is a good one.

Another side note. I finally received some clarification on a point I was worried about in the Strategic Plan about the use of the sale of church buildings. I was concerned about how it didn’t seem transparent enough and I was worried that the Synod Assembly would have no say in it. The clarification I received made more sense – saying that the line was really in place to minimize the current practice of using the sale of churches to fund current administration practices. Although I don’t know enough how the governance of the Synod works, I’m liking that line more than I use to. I just wish there was some way to get transparency of process into the strategic plan itself.

After our break, a few reports were given but nothing too interesting. The place was lively, with more people showing up, and (by 5 pm), we had over 400 people in attendance. The synod council report introduced three of the proposals for major changes to the church but they’ll be explained in more detail tomorrow. The report of the treasurer was given which was, well, it was fascinating in a couple of ways. I mean, the presentation is never thrilling, but lots of numbers and charts are involved which I always adore. There was some hope that mission support to the synod had turned a corner (but who knows) and there’s hope that the money from our selling of churches will eventually show up in our coffers. We only voted on a revised budget for 2012 (based on some staff changes). We’ll vote on the 2013 budget on Saturday.

But after the report, the adoption of the revised budget came up and the first drama of the assembly began. A church had recently sent tons of people letters asking for them to be granted a loan by the synod. The synod (and most people) were not happy about this and, so, the original plan was to not let them have voice. However, this changed, and they presented their details to the assembly. They asked for their hundreds of thousands of dollar loan/line of credit, and they were nervous while doing it. And then discussion ensued and blood in the water began. Actually, it wasn’t that drama filled but there were problems. Again, two “pastors” not rostered with the ELCA were behind their request for this loan (a request from a congregation that is very very small and that was not closed last year – the synod assembly gave them another chance). And it was, well, it was heart breaking to see because they were very nervous while asking for their loan – and it just wasn’t going to happen. It was smacked down by pretty much everyone. The loan didn’t pass but I still have concerns over how to relate to this congregation pastorally (though it seems like they have been active in NOT engaging with other congregations) and there’s also the ethical issues involved with the whole experience. The congregation crossed lines, the Synod might hhave as well, and it would be nice to see this resolved somehow. We’ll see how this works out but I wouldn’t be surprised if this congregation (of like a dozen members) takes off and tries to join another Lutheran church or tries to keep their building and they die out on their own.

After that “fun,” we moved on to resolutions. Nothing surprising as we followed the Synod recommendations. We encouraged congregations to raise $3 dollars per baptized members (there seems to only be 70,000 of us) to donate to the ELCA Malaria Campaign. We also amended a resolution to encourage congregations to renew and redevelop their mission plans (and have the synod help them do that). We also shut down a resolution from an organization called LACE that should never have been brought up anyways because no one in this synod is actually involved with it. After that, we prayed, stretched, and headed off to dinner ten minutes before scheduled time! We’re actually ahead of schedule! Which is unbelievable really.

Tonight, we have some forums in rooms. I’ll have to go stand in one for a bit since I’m a candidate up for election. And I might go sit in on the forum about strategic plans and congregational viability. And after that? Who knows! I hope there’s something fun going on. It’ll be too early to go to bed.

I’ve been able to snag a computer in the lobby during the break to report on a few things. Alas, I will not be able to live blog from the conference room but you can follow everything via my twitter feed (@stynxno).

On this Ascension Day, the opening Eucharist went well. I especially enjoyed my part being a communion assistant. There’s a lot of joy in serving my fellow clergy and watching as some of the folks really get into the songs. And to whoever remembered to bring their own tambourine – touche. Well planned!

Nothing really exciting to report in terms of business so far. No resolutions have been argued or talked about. However, I have been told that the strategic plan, viability norms, what to do without an ordained leader, and one other resolution that I’m forgetting, will be following ‘consent’ rules. That means that they will have to be pulled out, on their own, to be discussed or have amendments given to them. I’m not sure how I feel about this and it is possible that I will pull the Strategic Plan out for further discussion. But I’m not sure yet. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow morning when the fun happens.

I’m also, currently, the only Young Adult running for Church Wide Assembly (but I don’t think that I’ll end up unapposed). There’s also, supposedly, forums after dinner but there are no forms or schedules or anything to see what’s up. In fact, I just learned that, as a candidate, I’m suppose to hang out in one of the rooms so people can meet me. To be honest, I hope that’s in the pool because, honestly, I think that’s where I might perfer to be.

The absense of a Bishop Report (we received a type version) ands its replacement by a bible study (led by the Bishop), while a little surprising, wasn’t really because he did use the bible study to reflect on the Strategic Plan (he did that in the sermon as well). Our look at 1 Peter 2:8-10 was fun, though I found some of the supporting verses a little…troublesome (but, hey, as a post-colonial guy, that’s just gonna happen). But I did like how it ended – that we are claimed by God, not for our own benefit, but rather we are claimed to be sent out. And that’s the freaky truth that I wish more of us paid attention to.

Okay, break over! Off to round 2.

So, I’m going to try an experiment. Two years ago, I live-tweeted the Synod Assembly (to the annoyance of my followers). This year, I’m going to do the same while also, possibly, live blogging the event. We’ll see how that goes since a) I’ll be leeching off of available wireless, b) the last years I was there, there was a “no laptop/tablet/phone” policy, and c) I’ll be “blogging” on a 3rd Generation Kindle that does not have 3G access. So, as you can see, a million things will go wrong and, well, since I am a poor student, my mobile activities are rather limited. But I’m gonna try to bring you the very best in Metro New York Assembly coverage! And you better believe that the commentary will, like Martin Luther always like to say, be bold. How bold you say? Well! After last time, I met several new people who, months later, met me and went “wait a minute – did you tweet about me?” That’s how memorable this occasion will be. And, yes, I am pretty full of myself today too.

However, since technology is always finicky, there’s a chance none of this will work and I’ll be silent on this site for 3 days. But keep an eye on my twitter feed (@stynxno) and look for the hashtag #mnys. I’m gonna make this happen people.

Well! We’re just two days away from The Metropolitan New York Synod’s Annual Assembly! Are you excited? I am excited. And to start the whole thing on Ascension Day – that’s neat. I’ll be attending this year (third time in four years) and will be up for a slot as the young adult representative to Churchwide Assembly in next year. So, please vote for me. I am young, I consider myself an adult, and it’ll be awesome. I’d love your vote!

I spent the last few days reading the synod reports and, I must say, I have enjoyed the juicy bits. If you are reading them, you can just feel the anxiety peeling off the page. People are anxious and worried. The Synod is gearing up for its own Strategic Plan and will also be voting on a base definition for what it means for a congregation to be viable. The synod is struggling and it shows. And, as an institution, there are problems. But it’s also exciting too. Maybe I’m a little too punk rock, young, or too much a seminarian, but I honestly think this is a great, exciting, challenging, and difficult time to be part of the church. It’s not going to be easy but, honestly, why do we want it easy? That’s just…well – that’s just too boring. What follows below are some of my thoughts on various random pieces listed in the reports.

VOTING BUTTONS!
We get to vote via electronic button this year! WOOOHOO. I’ll miss the green/red cards (because I always like telling the world where I stand on certain things) and we won’t get a serpentine (alas). But hopefully votes will go quicker and people will let themselves vote for or against certain things depending on their conscience rather than on what they want to appear to be supporting.

2012/2013 Proposed Budgets:
The $30,000 dollar drop for Communications and $80,000 drop for the Bishop’s Office is interesting. I have no idea where those cuts are coming from or what they’ll be used for but those (and the slashing of the Global/Multicultural mission budget in half) might stem from the recent resignation of Gary Mills. I’m sure that will come up at the Assembly and I’m curious how that will go over. I am glad, however, that we’re cutting back (a little) on using the sale of property to fund operations but it’s still three-quarters of a million too high.

Synod Council Reports:
I wish that all the passed resolutions could be found online so that I learn about what’s happening sooner rather than later.
Also, I’m glad that the focus on campus ministry was taken up and championed.
How nice is the apartment they’re building in Greenpoint that they claim is worth $2k a month? I get by on a lot less – I’m just saying. 😉
Anything with St. Lydia’s is just good news.
We lost three churches to other church bodies. I wonder where they went and why (though I could guess).
And I take it that the Synod has basically taken the work of prior multi-cultural focused bishops and decided to just shut that thing down?

New Process to Elect A Bishop:
Our next bishop election is in two years but there’s been thoughts that the process should changed. Instead of the usual wait-to-the-synod-assembly-then-run-around-wild, the model pushed for in a resolution is for a “search committee” based approach. I like aspects of it but a) I think 7 candidates is excessive and b) after some conversations, I’m curious about how this model works for an incumbent bishop. Does that bishop just become another candidate? Would it make more sense to have a vote-of-confidence on the bishop first? I’m not sure how I think about this but it’s possible that this resolution can’t be amended and, if that’s the case, it might be voted down.

Bishop Election Committee:
Not much to say about this except the whole “we’ll pull names out of a hat to determine who is on the committee Acts 1:21-26 style)” is either really ballsy or completely ridiculous. It’s really easy for the committee to become entirely one sex or one ethnicity and that would make the committee just “look” bad even if it was an incredibly effective group. If we’re going to use a search committee model, then there needs to be elements of trust ingrained into the nature of the committee itself. It has to look like it is fair, partial, trustworthy, and worth being listened too. If not, then we’re gonna have problems.

Congregational Viability Norms:
In the proposed ten guidelines for how to determine a viable congregation (Page 14 in Section B), I’m for it. I’m for it though I quibble over what “call a pastor” means (i.e. full time, quarter time, what?) I did love seeing my old pastor write a response to some questions another person had. I’ll miss his voice at the assembly this year!

MNYS Staff Reports:
I have nothing to say but, well, check out Pastor Jonathan Linman’s because WHOA – he tells you everything he did and he did a lot. I hope I never have to write out my own docket like that because it would be embarrassing to look at.

Conference Reports: (a conference is a regional group of churches with one pastor elected as dean)
Reading these can seem rather depressing. Many seem to show that clergy are struggling with uniting together and that there are some conferences that probably won’t exist in a few years. However, there is vibrancy and life in many places and that’s always great to see.

MNYS Committee Reports:
I have nothing to add except that I was named dropped on page 54. BOOYAH.
Well, scratch that, I do have something to add. I’m kind of getting annoyed at the characterization of my generation – the millennials. I’m not sure what’s bugging me about it, exactly, there is something that just doesn’t sit well with the whole thing. I think part of it probably has to do with my own experience as a millennial who did not group up Lutheran, or in any church, and I am now on the track to ordination. I am not the millennial that they are describing or are worried about. I don’t, necessarily, need to be included in everything but it makes me think that when people talk about my generation (even my own peers), no one has any idea what they’re talking about.

lessons: Song of Songs 2:10-13, Hosea 6:1-6, Acts 14:8-18, Romans 8:18-25

I’m just gonna come out and say that Spring is my favorite season. The new life, blooming flowers, all the green – it really, truly, is my favorite time of year. So when the schedule for Common Ground was being worked up, and Springtime Hope came up as an option, I was all ME ! I’ll do it. But had I known that it would take place during final’s week at school, I might have hesitated. But I probably would have taken it anyways because Spring.is.just.awesome. I mean – no more big fluffy coats! No more huddling around a space heater! And if the hot water in my apartment doesn’t work (which happens more often than it should), you know, I don’t mind as much. I can get by! And there’s the flowers, and just the smells of spring. After the long dead gray drab winter – I just can’t get enough of Spring. That’s why I like that Song of Songs quote at the start of the service – “winter is past, the rain is over and gone – the time of singing has come!” It is just a hopeful time of year for me and I wish it could be Spring everyday.
But, Spring…. spring is weird too. I mean, we have Spring cleaning, the time to throw out the old, and bring in the new. So we dig through all our things, reorganize, decide that this is old and busted, and then we go out and buy something to fill up that old space. Or maybe that thing that is old and busted reminds us of a piece our past – maybe an old relationship or a past experience. And all of the sudden, we’re carrying it around ‚Äì and‚Ķit feels different‚Ķmaybe changed. It feels like there might be new life there ‚Äì like the new life outside. There’s‚Ķa bit of hope there.
Or maybe, no, maybe everything needs to be new and fresh. We’ll throw it all out, we’ll cut ourselves loose, remake ourselves. That might be the new life, hope, that we neeed. We’ll take a class, get a new haircut (well….I won’t but you might), buy new clothes, new shoes, and hang out in new places. And if you turn to fashion and lifestyle magazines – GQ, Esquire, Details – that’s what they’re all about. Ways to make you “more you.” That’s a springish hope too.
None of these things are bad, per se. I think they’re natural and normal. I think that hope in our past or that hope in cutting ourselves from that past ‚Äì sometimes we need that.
But there’s a problem with this kind of Hope – and, well, I’m gonna use something that Paul says in Roman when he brings up that whole “redemption of our bodies” thing. When I first read this passage, I’ll admit I didn’t think about heaven, or grace, or resurrection, or any of those churchy things. And that’s, well, bad, because I’m in seminary ‚Äì I’m supposed to notice those things. In fact, I’ve had an entire course on Paul and Ancient Rome’s view of the body and how different it is than what we think today. And even after all that, I still, when I think about the Spring and body ‚Äì is the pool, summer, fun in the sun‚Ķthe beach! And how I haven’t done a sit-up all winter. In fact, I’ve been eating all the Starbucks pastries that seem to magically keep showing up here at Advent. I’ve been “invited” into my school’s all-you-can-eat-buffet all winter long and enjoying piles of cookies for lunch because dessert at lunch is awesome. I even indulged in a little of that today as a matter of fact. So there’s no way that I’m ready to go out there in my swimsuit – no way I’d feel comfortable. I know I’m not the only one who thinks this way – and, to be honest, when it comes to being told you have body issues – women have it way worse than I ever will. So, as much as I love Spring, there are parts of it that I dread. There’s fear too. Because in spring cleaning, those new connections, that new me – there’s that little ol’ fact that the old me isn’t good enough. There’s so much expectation that‚Ķthat we can get better, be different, be all the things we’re supposed to be. And if we don’t make it, if we don’t reach our hopes, goals, dreams – then that’s our fault. And that’s the problem with Springtime – it’s all left up to us.
But is that Paul’s hope? Creation’s Hope? That we have the final say and that everything is up to us? I don’t think so. If we believe we can control it, then Paul wants to have nothing to do with that hope. That’s not even the hope that the beloved in Song of Songs is saying or the hope in the healing story of Acts where the first thing that people wanted to do when they saw the healing was make Paul and Barnabas gods – as if they had ultimate control over what they did. The hope that Paul is talking about in Romans is simply that God has gone ahead and taken control. When it comes to you – to the person you are – God has said that you’re worth being loved. And not only that, but through Jesus and the Cross, through baptism, God went ahead and loved you. You’re not perfect – but God wants you anyways. That’s creation’s hope, that’s our Christian and our Easter hope!
But it’s not an easy hope. It’s a hope we don’t control but a hope that is given to us. And that’s scary. I mean, that love is on God – it’s God’s prerogative. As the song goes, God can do what God wanna do – and God’s doing it just for you. God took care of it! That is such a mindblowing thing because it just doesn’t seem to match with our expectations. It doesn’t really match up with our lives. There’s so much we’re supposed to control – our stuff, our jobs, education, relationships ‚Äì I mean, that’s what life, the world, society tells us. That’s what we tell ourselves. But when it comes to God’s love, God does it. God loves you and, in a way, God has faith in you.
I think we live our lives in a strange place. Like Paul said, we groan as we wait for adoption – we want that fullness that God promises for us right now. We want to see the spring rains. We want to live a life and be in a world where our only prayer is song and where everyone knows that they are loved. But sometimes, we’re gonna be stuck in winter. We’re gonna look for the spring sun and wonder if its going to come. There are days when our steadfast love for God is going to be ridiculously hard to maintain, if not impossible. But God’s love for you – is a Springtime Hope that has been promised to you, given to you. God has claimed you, even in your sorrows, doubts, sadness, joys, laughter, happiness, God has claimed all of you.
And that’s scary because it puts us in the strange position this time of year being loved while we want to change. That new life in the air, in the marketing campaigns all around us, means that as we throw everything out, or rework our past, or sneak out of the office for a quick jog to work off that donut from the morning meeting – we’re loved. We’ve already been marked with the cross – forever. We’ve already been adopted into God’s house even if we don’t feel like we belong there quite yet. And if we never get to that perfect feeling – and if we fail and never make the changes we think we’re supposed to make God is still with us. We’re not alone. And because we’re not alone – even our notion of “Spring change” is changed. Because God’s love is all about us ‚Äì we’re the focus ‚Äì it’s me and you and all of us ‚Äì but God’s love doesn’t stop at just us. It turns us. It calls out to us and leads us to grow into that fullness of love that is given to us. That love isn’t just a quantity ‚Äì or a measuring stick ‚Äì or a gague that is filled up and doesn’t do anything. It’s a force. It’s a motion. It’s a call. We’re called to struggle, to witness struggle, and to live out God’s love in the midst of struggle. It’s a call to love and to let others have a chance at love too. Springtime Hope, in many ways, is all about us ‚Äì and not at the same time. By God taking the initiative on us, we’re opened to love others ‚Äì our neighbors, family, friends, loved ones, everyone gathered here‚Ķand then even strangers ‚Äì no matter who they are ‚Äì we are opened to love them. Because a new dawn has broken, whether the world knows it or not. And since the resurrection of Christ, everyday is a true Spring day. For flowers have appeared on the earth, the fig tree is putting forth its figs, the vines are in blossom and the time for our singing, our witness, our love, our call to be that voice of the turtledove in our families, friendships, workplaces, neighborhoods, cities, states, nations, and world ‚Äì that time has come. That time is now. That’s our Springtime Hope. Amen