Pastor Gen - Thoughts from a Sabbatical #8

Dear Veradale Friends,

The first gallery of New Zealand Pictures is up. Also. below is a picture of me taken by one of the others in this workshop while on a very wobbly bridge (There was a warning that it can only hold 6 people at a time).

Our days have been filled with great lessons and opportunities. We are up before sunrise, going out in the dark with headlamps to find amazing locations. We wait for the light and the colors. It is quiet as we are usually out before the birds start their morning songs (about 5am, today 6am because they just started daylight savings time). After sunrise, we get breakfast and then drive to our next location, a waterfall, birds, or a river, then is is a quick stop to get a sandwich or savory pie (these have been very yummy). Then we drive to our sunset location, hike in, watch the light and learn more about how to make the most of filters and settings. After that, it is off to supper which has been around 8:30 pm each night .

Reflections:

On the first morning we set out for sunrise, I had unpack and repacked my camera bag/backpack to lighten the load for the hike. I left my headlamp thinking that the light would be coming soon and I wouldn’t need the lamp. Well, I was wrong. We were out at 5am and the light would not start until after the 45 minute hike. I and one other in the group had no light to shine. The thing is, everyone else had light. Staying with this friendly diverse group, I and the other person could see our way on the path. We needed the group. We needed to be with those who had light and could shine when we couldn’t.

That is part of my experience of church. A critically important part of church is to be present for those who don’t feel like they have light for their path. I was once told by a woman who was going through a “valley of the shadow of death” that she came to church on Sunday to be with people who could prayer because she couldn’t. She felt herself to be in a deep dark place, uncertain if God ever listened, angry with God, and wondered if this God of Jesus even existed. I’m not certain how many people she ever told about why she came to church. I knew and to look at her, you would not have guessed the enormous struggle she faced.

All of us who feel content in our faith and comfortable with our path are among the most needed on a Sunday morning. Yes, people can go out in nature and be with God. I certainly experience this and there is a need for a loving faith community who practices the way of Jesus-- especially one like ours. Your light on this path of faith may be giving light and hope to someone who feels their life is in deep darkness. Those on the path with me that morning didn’t even seem to notice that I didn’t have a lamp. They just naturally put me in the hiking line with people all around me who had light. The other person was behind me with light all around her as well. It was not planned. There was no one directing where we should walk. It just happened. The path was lit and eventually, the sun did rise again.

With blessings,

Pastor Gen

Pastor Gen - Thoughts from a Sabbatical #7

Dear Veradale Friends!

Greetings from he Southern Hemisphere! I have been so excited to see the stars and hopefully some of the southern lights! The pictures from Hamburg are in two galleries. One is from the Tibetan Center where I was invited to speak about interfaith collaboration. The other is of the Uhl Family, their farm, and our visit to Hamburg. A third gallery you will see from the World Council of Churches has PAWEEN as the name. This is the Pan-African Women Ecumenical Empowerment Network. I was delighted at how the Holy Spirit brought Barbara Breland, one of the leaders of the group, and me together. She was staying in the same hotel and we “happened” to be on the same floor and “happened" to be getting a late supper at the same time-- eating at two tiny tables that were side by side. All of that is to say that I was able to support their work and give them some photos they can use to spread the good news of this powerful group of women and their allies.

It took 45 hours to get to New Zealand: 2 trains, 1 tram, 3 airplanes, and one bus. Phew! There were so many people on the train coughing and not wearing their masks correctly. There were people on the planes coughing and children that were sick. The babies were really having a tough time. Two cried the entire 9 hours from Singapore to New Zealand. It was tough.

I also started not feeling 100% and made arrangements with the workshop to self isolate until the tour comes back to Queenstown on September 22nd. After only getting 3 hours sleep in the 45 hours it took to get here, this was a very good choice. Below are some pictures from my hotel room. Everyone is invited to see all the galleries at https://genheywoodphotography.pixieset.com

Reflections: Time has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. Mantel clocks, cuckoo clocks, clock towers, moves about clocks, time travel, and theories about time. I remember a friendly debate between one of my church history professors and our class about whether or not the realm of God, the realm of life beyond this life, is also subject to time. The traditional answer is that eternity has no beginning or end and is therefore outside the experience of time which is what we students began to answer. Our Professor argued that there must be something we might experience as time even in the life beyond this life as time is required for change to happen. When God creates, things change, that requires time. When God relates to us, it is in the context of time. When God loves us and welcomes us into relationship with God and one another, that is in the context of time. Love its self is in time and beyond time. Love is risky business as we whom God loves can bring God great joy and great heart break, all in the context of time. As I write this, it is just 40 minutes from tomorrow at which time you will all still be in what was my yesterday. Well, don’t think about it too much — it might take too much time! Still, it fascinates me and brings a certain joy that God is with us in time or outside of time.

So, as Saint Francis would say to those in his time, All peace and good be with you!

Pastor Gen

From my window.

Pastor Gen - Thoughts from a Sabbatical #6

Dear Veradale Friends,

As you hear this letter, it is 9-11. I remember with you the disaster of that day and pray with you for all the families that continue to struggle with deep grief and health issues.

Reflections and experience:

This week, I learn more about what other countries think about ours. A man from Nigeria asked me about what will happen to the US if Trump is voted back into office. I told him that while I cannot see the future, it is clear to me that it would be a disaster. Two more people joined our conversation as we waited in the lunch line, one I think was from Sweden, and the other from South Africa. They all seemed very up-to-date with concern for our country.

I left the World Council of Churches (WCC) on their last day, Thursday September 8 to come to Hamburg. Earlier in the week, I received and email from Venerable Jampa whom I know from Sravasti Abbey. She has returned to Hamburg and had seen my photos from Berlin on Instagram and invited me to visit the Tibetan Center in Hamburg to talk about interfaith connections. I stayed with the Buddhist nuns and students for September 8 and 9. I went to their book study where I was asked questions about what is similar and what is different between Christianity and Buddhism, visited their class where the questions were about how to build relationship across religions, and I created photos of the center and students for their community.

On September 9, I arrived in Tornesch, to visit Hana’s host Family’s farm. They have 6 horses, 4 chickens, one cat, and a beautiful vegetable garden. In just these couple of days I have heard about the concerns over the fuel shortages and the climate change. Hamburg, which is famous for rainy weather, had five weeks with no rain until the day I arrived. I learned that the corn harvest is smaller. The native trees are dying from the heat and drought and there are places in Germany that are heating up faster than others because of the geography of the land.

All along my journey, I have heard serval Germans talked about the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The German government has been very clear in their opposition to the efforts of Putin to take over Ukraine. In response, Putin has cut off all gas to Germany. Currently, the price of a gas bill for a one bedroom apartment is about $500 dollars in Hamburg. It will be worse in the winter months. People fear losing their businesses and homes.

In all of this, I think about the promise of our faith. Jesus is God with us. These are the times in which we live and God is with us. Many times at the World Council of Churches, people would talk about how Jesus was born, crucified, and raised from the dead. The part that was not spoken was that Jesus lived. He ate, drank, laughter and cried with his friends. He showed compassion and spoke truthfully about the actions of those who governed the land in his time. He lived in his time and is alive with us in our time to shine a light in the darkness. As one person said at the WCC, to live with the hope that is deep in our faith is not only counter cultural - it is courageous.

With blessings,

Pastor Gen