October blessings to you!

Dear Congregation,

October blessings to you! I hope you’re doing well.

I fully agree with the statement in the above picture!  Knowing that I’m from Ohio, some of you have asked me if I miss autumn there with the lovely display of colorful fall leaves on the trees. I do. Fall has always been my favorite season.

I’ve been thinking a lot about trees since our September 19^th Just Peace Sunday worship service when the theme was “Grow Justice, Know Peace!” based on Psalm 1:3 “They are like trees planted by streams of water which yield their fruit in its season…

”The Rev. Michael Neuroth writes, “By rooting deeply in God, community, love, and justice, fruit will come in its due season. To know peace and experience the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) we must invest in, nurture, and grow justice.” I hear in his words both a hope-filled promise and a challenge for us as individuals and as a church, in the present and for our future.

Near the end of my sermon that morning, I encouraged each of you to picture yourself as a tree and asked a few of those worshippers present, “What kind of tree would you like to be and why? I loved your answers! Your responses were—any kind of fruit tree, Banyan tree, Royal Poinciana tree, Oak tree, Giant Redwood tree, Flowering Cherry tree, and more. The “whys?” ranged from sharing your fruit to sharing your beauty and uniqueness. I continue to encourage you Christian trees to root yourselves deeply in God, community, love, and justice, trusting that fruit will come in due season.

I share again with you this poem “Tree” by Charles Singer.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Candy