A message on peace
From the Director of Children & Families
A note from Drew Hogan: I really care about your wellness in reading and engaging the topic of gun violence. I encourage you to care for yourself and engage it as you feel ready. I personally manage my own compassion fatigue and keep that in check so I can show up in the fullness of my life, as well as my emotions.
Peace is a Verb?
Pastor Kate’s sermon this last Sunday helped me see Moses in new light. Moses being asked to take on something that felt like an impossible task through the burning bush is familiar. But there is something about God showing up in something that is unnatural, a burning bush, that calls us out and calls us forward. This burning bush is something that you can’t look away from. Sometimes it’s hard to see or understand; sometimes it hurts to see and understand.
This previous week we saw things – bearers of God’s belovedness – that call us out as a nation, and call us forward in compassion, disgust, shame, anger, and all the feelings we’ve felt.
We Are a Peace Church
I love to tell this story: when I was applying for the position of director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries I was still living in Seattle. So when the job was posted, I thought I should check out the most recent worship service. It was youth Sunday- and while I could stop there with a confident smile on how amazing First Church is for that, alone, I still remember being enlivened as I heard a youth say who First Church is. This should be familiar words for those who worship regularly or hit the homepage of our website on a regular basis: “We are a Peace Church, a Reconciling Congregation, and a Creation Care Congregation.”
I never saw those three phrases exactly as a burning bush, but perhaps for much of our world, those three things are unnatural. Those are three phrases that call me out, call me forward, and they invite me into the good work of the Spirit around us and within us.
We are a peace church- not just a thoughts and prayers church. I’ll pray my English teachers from my elementary and high school years forgive me, but I think we need to treat Peace like a verb.
Whether it is the beloved innocence of adults killed in hate in Buffalo a few weeks ago, or the shooting in California just days after, or the tragedy in Uvalde; it’s difficult and discouraging as suffering is on a quick-cycle and there hasn’t been any change. Looking back to Moses, we can remember it took eight times of asking Pharaoh to make a policy change.
While it may be difficult to hold on to hope we can remember and hold what God says to Moses “So get going. I am sending you… I’ll be with you,” (Exodus 3:10;12 CEB). We can get going, as individuals and as a church that believe Peace is part of God’s preferred future and that Peace is a verb.
So I invite you, care for yourself – your body and your mind – care for your neighbors who may be anxious, pray for peace, comfort, and community for those who mourn, and join me and others in responding to this in a couple of ways this weekend:
1) Wear Orange
2) Sign Initiative Petition 17 (OR residents)
Wear Orange Weekend (June 3-5) is an event organized by Every Town (the parent organization of Mothers Demand Action and Students Demand Action) to raise awareness and build alliances to reduce gun violence. They have virtual events around the nation, and a meet-up on Saturday in Beaverton, but even voicing yourself through your clothing, accessories, social media, and all the places you go can be a part of our collective work to normalize peace in our world.
This Sunday, for registered Oregon Voters, we will have a table with Initiative Petition 17 if you wish to be a part of the political transformation in Oregon. Initiative Petition 17 covers a number of laws and protections that have been spoken about. It includes items like training, permits, background checks, better tracking for lost/stollen guns, and prohibits civilian purchase of high capacity magazines. This measure began its journey after Parkland in 2018. It began in the state senate/house but lobbyists were a major hurdle, so it has been changed to a people’s vote. The petition is being spearheaded by an interfaith coalition, Lift Every Voice Oregon (LEVO), and has been gathering signatures for the past year. They are currently gathering signatures with the goal of collecting 140,000 signatures by July 8.
You can also SIGN FROM HOME, or become an advocate and TRAIN TO GATHER SIGNATURES
