To view 2024 year’s prose, click here
To view 2023 year’s prose, click here
To view 2022 year’s prose, click here
To view 2021 year’s prose, click here
To view 2020 year’s prose, click here
To view 2019 year’s prose, click here
To view 2018 year’s prose, click here
To view 2017 year’s prose, click here
May 26-31
Greetings, Vista Grande –
On Sunday, we continued our exploration of Faithful Resistance, following the story of Naomi in the first chapter of the book of Ruth. Sometimes, leaving a place is the right choice, especially if it is dangerous or unsustainable to stay there. Our church community has seen several families over the last couple of months make choices to leave Colorado Springs – each one has had different reasons but the desire to seek a better life for themselves is at the core of each story.
Several states in our country have enacted regressive laws targeting the most vulnerable among us: Black and brown people, women, queer and trans folks, and more. Many, if they have the ability to, are choosing to leave the country or move to other states which might give them much needed security in a time of political oppression. The reality is that the US is creating internal refugees forced to flee and seek shelter where they might be safer.
As you might be aware, Colorado recently passed the Kelly Loving Act, which creates legal protections for trans and gender expansive people and their families. It is the first bill of its kind in the US and positions Colorado as a safer place for the trans community. It is possible that, as these protections go into effect, we may see an even greater number of people coming to Colorado looking for a better life, even as others are leaving to find it elsewhere.
As we see these shifts in our community, how can we as a church prepare to meet the needs of the days ahead? I would love to be in conversation with you about this as we continue to discern our role in this period of history.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
May 19-24
Dear Vista Grande –
Multiple people asked for a copy of The Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe that we read in worship on Sunday. Originally, the observation was entitled Mother’s Peace Day but was shortened to Mother’s Day when it was made an official federal holiday. Though brunch and flowers are definitely nice, the roots of this day tell a much different story of international solidarity, the power of feminine leadership, and the world that is possible if we are able to lay down our weapons and study war no more.
Thank you to all of you who mother, who nurture, who have invested in the next generation, who teach, who affirm, and who care. My heart goes out to all of you who are grieving, angry, estranged, or otherwise alienated from this holiday. May we all lean in toward each other and use our pain as a bridge to empathy with the collective pain in our country and world.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe
Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, “Disarm, disarm! The sword is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each learning after his own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.
In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
May 5-10
Dear Vista Grande –
We are continuing our worship series on Faithful Resistance, exploring stories of people in the Bible who created more space for justice and the inbreaking of God. Last Sunday, we heard the story of Rahab, a woman on the margins who provided safe harbor for the Israelites.
One of my favorite things about scripture is that, even though these stories are ancient, they are immensely human. Our fears, our struggle, our grief, our hope, and our search for God in the face of destruction are all reflected in these pages. The tales are complicated, though – there is lying and spying, plotting and planning together, property destruction, protest despite what authority says ‘should’ be happening, and more. The imagination of these texts invites us, right alongside the Biblical figures, into following the inner promptings of the Spirit and all the intrigue, miracles, and pitfalls saying ‘yes’ to God brings with it.
Over the coming weeks and months, there are going to be many opportunities to get into some ‘good trouble’, as Senator John Lewis called it. We will do our best to communicate what’s happening in the larger community. Everything is an invitation and you can decide as an individual how you want to interact with each offering. Your contribution of your self, your hope, your dreams, your prayer, and your service to creating more Shalom is an incredible gift to this moment in history.
Thank you for who you are and your willingness to be who God has called you to be.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Apr 28 – May 3
Greetings, Vista Grande –
Sunday, in worship, I spoke about the story of Hannah Dugan, a judge in Wisconsin who helped an immigrant family escape detention by immigration enforcement through her private chambers. She was later arrested for obstruction and is currently being held in a federal prison for protecting members of her community from the xenophobic violence. What I didn’t know at the time was that a massive DEA/ICE raid, aided by El Paso County and Colorado Springs police targeted our own undocumented community right here in Colorado Springs, sweeping up more than 100 immigrants in the early hours of Sunday morning. In my message, I said that the time to stand up is now and I didn’t know how right I was. Don’t be deceived by the narrative that these were all ‘those kinds of people’ who deserved this – the allegation that someone is in a gang is being used to justify abuse and the stripping of due process which is a right that all have. Do not look away from our neighbors.
Multiple people asked about the practicalities of standing up if they were to be in a position to support someone in a vulnerable position facing down authorities and so I am sharing resources for the ‘how’ that’s necessary in this moment. Thankfully, there are skilled practitioners who have been preparing for this moment and are ready to support those of us who are new to or newly reengaging the movement for justice.
1. Tuesday, April 29th at 3:30PM there is a protest outside the police command center downtown (27 E Vermijo Ave) demanding transparency from Sheriff Roybal and Chief Vasquez about EPCSO and CSPD’s role in the raids.
2. The Colorado Rapid Response Network is the organizing body who receives reports of ICE activity across Colorado. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer confirmer with them, they are holding a training on Thursday, May 15th, from 5-8. You can register for that training here.
If neither of these opportunities feel accessible or like an amount of risk that feels acceptable for you to take based on your current life circumstances, that’s okay. It takes all kinds of people doing all kinds of things to do the work of justice. These are just a couple of options that are relevant today. Let me know if you have ideas about how you’d like to be involved or how you think Vista Grande might be able to arise to the need of this moment.
Thank you for all the ways you are building up the Kin-dom of God.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Apr 21-26
Easter greetings, Vista Grande!
You might be thinking ‘But, Pastor Mallory, we already had Easter – isn’t it over?’ but the good news is that the Easter season extends through the next 7 or so weeks. We are entering a time called Eastertide which has been held as sacred throughout Christian history. It’s the time between Easter and another important church holiday, Pentecost, which celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the disciples began to bring the gospel to an even wider circle of people.
Traditionally, Eastertide is an important time of taking stock, making connections, and engaging in active discernment for the future. It is the time we tend the new life in our midst, providing it what it needs to thrive, and watch it begin to take shape. It’s a time of discernment and deep listening to each other, the needs of the world, and the way the Spirit is moving in our midst before, essentially, going public and taking what we’ve learned outside our doors and into the streets at Pentecost.
If you attended worship on Easter, you had the opportunity to plant some seeds. Sometime over the next few weeks, I invite you to tend and nurture those – providing them water and sunlight and eventually, perhaps, planting them in the ground (after our last average frost date of May 8th!) to begin to feed pollinators in your area. The seeds are a metaphor for our job as Christians – tend where we see new life struggling to emerge and doing our part to provide an alternative to the death dealing forces currently running rampant in our city, state, country, and world. The seeds you planted are unique from each other, as is what you are called to do to tend this breathtakingly beautiful and heartbreakingly broken world.
Together, we’ll write the Eastertide chapter of this year’s liturgical story and I have no doubt we will be surprised by how it unfolds. Thank you for the ways you have brought your hearts, hands, and eyes to the work of new life.
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
Pastor Mallory
Apr 14-19
Greetings, Vista Grande –
We are now well into our journey through Holy Week but it might seem to you like there’s a big gap of time between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. Though they are ‘minor’ observations, there are actually scripture stories that correspond with the other days which don’t have a formal church gathering. These include the story of Jesus turning over the tables of the moneychangers in the temple as well as when the penitent woman anoints Jesus with expensive oil poured from an alabaster jar. The stories of this week braid together the outward facing and the inward facing – Jesus’s public displays of non-violent direct action which give testimony to the possibility of another world with the quiet, supportive, encouraging gatherings with his inner circle. Both are needed and each supports and sustains the other. This is true throughout Jesus’s ministry but especially now, in the culmination of the story of his life and death.
Palm Sunday’s sermon on protest may not have resonated with you and that’s okay. Not everyone is called to be out in the streets. What we often don’t see when it comes to nonviolent movements for social change is all of the other labor that goes in to support the public action. Behind every protest march is a massive network of people providing jail support, legal observation, childcare, food, healing, art, administration, planning, and so much more. In the passion story, this is the function of the upper room – where people gather to plan, connect, process, heal, and nourish themselves before and after a direct action.
So, if you’re not called into the streets, don’t despair. You may still be called to this moment. If you are asking the question ‘what can I do with the skills that I have?’, almost guaranteed there is something that aligns with your skills, abilities, and passions. In lots of ways, churches can be the ‘upper room’ of this moment by providing a soft place for people to land after a tough experience, sanctuary for those in need of healing, and a space for people to, alongside the Spirit, hatch a plan for the world as it could be. We at Vista Grande, especially, know how to hold space, offer sanctuary, and work together toward healing and wholeness.
As we travel through this week, I know you are hungry for the good news. We want to skip to the end because we know that life and love triumph over everything and that death does not have the final say. I encourage you, though, to put yourself in the shoes of the disciples during that first Holy Week as they lived the story as it unfolded. Like us here in the modern US, they weren’t sure where the plot was going; we certainly are in a chapter with devastating losses and its own fair share of hopelessness.
But we, like them, gather together to nourish each other and look for where God is breaking into our story. Easter is coming and we celebrate it every year to attune our spirits to find the new life when God shows up. We don’t get to skip all the bad stuff but, in faith and trust, we know it’s not the end.
There are some pretty amazing offerings this week on both Thursday and Friday – I hope you’ll join us as the story unfolds.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Mar 31 – Apr 5
Greetings, Vista Grande!
We continued our sermon series Experiment: Lent by exploring Blessed are the Peace Makers through the lens of the practice of visible mending. If you aren’t familiar with visible mending, it is a practice that’s taking off in eco-conscious and crafty circles alike. Rather than just throwing away a ripped piece of clothing, visible mending enthusiasts take the opportunity not only to fix something but turn it into a work of art!
All of the tenets of white supremacy culture get in the way of authentic relationship but one that’s especially harmful is Fear of Open Conflict. Chances are, you think of yourself as a nice person and with that comes the assumption that you’re causing problems if you don’t just go along to get along. There’s a difference between nice and kind, though, and famed resilience researcher Brene Brown reflects that “clear is kind, unclear is unkind”. Saying the hard thing, even if it causes some discomfort, is the kind thing to do and can change the culture of an organization for the better. It’s scary, though, isn’t it? Even if you know it’s the truth, it’s tough to take the leap and cause a disruption which could lead to a conflict. So we stuff down our feelings, even though we’re feeling uncomfortable, no one says boo to a goose, and things keep on keeping on the way they have been.
Students of conflict, however, know that addressing it doesn’t have to be a fearful thing. Speaking the truth about our discomfort and a brewing conflict can be a place for new understanding to take root and creative energy to thrive. Though it might feel counterintuitive, healthy conflict actually brings us closer together, not further apart! Like visible mending, we can tell the full story – that there was a breach in our relationship but that we “patched it up” and found a way to keep going forward together in a healthier manner.
So how does this connect with Lent? One of the key practices of Lent is confession, which I tend to think of as accountability. Where did we go wrong? What’s broken? What’s uncomfortable? What truth do we need to tell? The act of getting it out in the open means that we as a community can move to heal what’s hurting, turning our wounds into brilliant stories of knitting ourselves back together with the help of our community.
So, dear ones – what truth do you need to tell? What rip needs mending? May we hold these tendernesses together and may it teach us what is possible when we all join in the healing work of the Kin-dom.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Mar 24-29
Happy Monday, Vista Grande –
We have completed Week 3 in our Experiment: Lent series on the Beatitudes by exploring what we mean when we say ‘blessed are the pure in heart’. Amanda brought us a beautiful definition of ‘integrity’ or the beginning to listen for the ‘deep tolling of the clear bell’ which is you and your innermost knowledge. It is there, connected to that place in all of us that carries divine wisdom, that we ‘see God’ and can move to act according to that guidance.
There are several words that have been common themes as we have engaged in each of our Lenten experiments: vulnerable, awkward, freeing, fun. When we are released from expectations and rules, we are allowed to be creative and find a different way of moving through the world. We can dance and sing and play instruments (even if we think we’re not musical) and draw and create (even if we don’t think we’re creative or a visual artist). And, in the process of discovering this, we find a surprising amount of integrity and get in touch with a part of ourselves we may not know we had or, tragically, that has been deliberately undermined and pushed aside because it ‘wasn’t good enough’.
This week, I invite you to do some wondering – what does it feel like when you are your favorite self?
I choose ‘favorite self’ as opposed to ‘best self’ very specifically. “Best” can carry with it a lot of expectation and the desire for high performance – that rigid aspect of integrity that demands so much from us. Best self can feel like there’s a manager in our heads standing there with a checklist, making sure you’re doing all the things you ‘should’ be doing. Your favorite self, though, is an invitation to be the self that you like the best – the one who laughs and makes jokes, who dances in church, the one who plays with kiddos or takes creative leaps or risks being seen as silly because it turns out silly isn’t so bad a thing to be. The one with curious questions and compassion for others and a zeal for life.
This is the newness of life that Lent invites us to culminate in Easter as we recognize the triumph over death-dealing forces. As it happens, this newfound freedom to be creative and experiment aligns with Tema Okun’s antidotes to white supremacy culture. These fun (and maybe sometimes a little awkward!) practices are building our embodied wisdom and giving us a true north as we navigate toward liberation for all of us.
Thanks for being in it with me!
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Mar 17-22
Greetings, Vista Grande –
Did you know that the name ‘lent’ comes from the Old English word ‘lencten’ and refers to the lengthening of the days at this time of year? At its core, this season is about preparing ourselves for the bright light and new life that’s slowly but surely arriving. Traditionally, one way we prepare is by doing what 12 Step programs call ‘clearing away the wreckage of our past’ by being accountable which allows us to move out of the shadow of guilt and shame, releasing our attachment to material things through the practice of almsgiving, and taking a break from any substance we might be hiding from the world in (such as meat for our Catholic friends). The goal is to make room for presence and the experience of coming alive as the world does at springtime!
So why does something that, in theory, should feel joyous and freeing bear such a stigma? I am thinking it is because of the ‘One Right Way’ characteristic of White Supremacy Culture. Religious practices begin because someone found a path toward the Divine and wanted to share it with other people. Over time, though, we can get stuck in the how and what and forget our why – to connect with God more deeply.
So that’s why we’re continuing our “Experiment Lent” worship series, where each week we are engaging in a new experience of living out the antidotes to White Supremacy Culture as identified by Tema Okun, which happen to align with the traditional goals of Lent – to connect with God more deeply, live more freely, and make room for the warmth, light, and abundant life of this season in our spirits. Thus far, the feedback has been good – it’s vulnerable but freeing, scary but joyous, awkward but enlivening.
You might be wondering what this has to do with everything else going on right now? Our ability to think creatively and embody an antidote to white supremacy culture is more critical now than ever before. Our ability to imagine the world we so deeply desire is caught up in our ability to move in ways that are antithetical to white supremacy culture. Next, it’s critical to not just know these lessons in our brains but to remember them in our bodies. In so doing, we will recognize pockets of the Kin-dom and foster and nurture them wherever they appear. Remember – there’s more than one way to be part of the resistance and build up a new world!
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Mar 10-15
Well, we’re in it now, VG folks – Lent, I mean!
You may not be familiar with Tema Okun’s Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, which is part of our grounding for this Lenten season. Some of these may feel familiar or touch on something that feels uncomfortable or angering – remember that we are not white supremacists. Instead, these are observations about how whiteness can shape the culture of an institution. The good news is that each characteristic has an antidote – a way we can practice something different and begin to move the needle in our community of faith.
This was the first Sunday in our Experiment Lent: Preach and Practice series. During Lent, we’ll focus on embodying the Kin-dom of God through different creative expressions. By leaning into the antidotes to white supremacy culture, we’ll get to put into practice in tangible ways the world we long for.
This week, we spent time with what we can learn from ‘the poor in spirit’ – a different spin on gratitude and generosity. We experimented with new forms of expression, made ourselves a little bit vulnerable, maybe even bumped up against an insecurity or two. These are all antidotes to the white supremacy culture characteristics of: perfectionism, one right way, either/or thinking, and the right to comfort – all within a fifteen minute practice! If we did all that in fifteen minutes, think how much we can accomplish when we intentionally put these antidotes into practice over and over again! We’ll be exploring more simple and fun ways of tending the kin-dom and bringing God’s realm to bear here in our midst all throughout the season of Lent. I’m so excited to be doing it with all of you.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Mar 3-8
Dear People of Vista Grande –
As I write this it’s the night before Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the Lenten season. After worship on Sunday, one of our guests stopped me and asked “What’s Lent?” It stopped me up short – Lent is a concept I’ve sort of ‘always known’ and I made the assumption that most of the people I was preaching to also shared that cultural concept and that, like me, they had some discomfort with it. I know this isn’t an uncommon experience but I found myself having to give an ‘elevator pitch’ for Lent – why lots of Christians observe it and why it can be hard for some people – all on the fly in the receiving line after worship!
So, if the Reader’s Digest version of what Lent is about and how we’ll be practicing it at Vista Grande this year would be helpful, read on!
Lent refers to the next 40 days (+ Sundays which don’t count). The number 40 is important throughout scripture – think the 40 days and 40 nights of the flood, the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert, etc. It signifies the end of a chapter, a preparation for the next thing, a completion, and simply, A REALLY LONG TIME.
Lent is specifically an observation of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert. Depending on which gospel you’re reading, this was either just before Jesus entered public ministry or just before the events that would eventually lead to his death (the entry into Jerusalem, the turning over of the tables in the temple). With Jesus, we are ‘getting prepared’ for Holy Week – the intimacy of community, the trauma of loss, the difficulty of waiting, and the inbreaking of new life.
Traditionally, the way we prepare is to “join with Christ in his suffering” which is an idea we get from a couple different epistles – the letters that make up a good deal of the New Testament. Jesus fasted so we change our eating habits. He was tempted so we give something up so we can learn what that’s like. He spent time in prayer so we pick up a spiritual practice, etc. The main words associated with Lent are: penance, fasting, almsgiving, prayer, sacrifice, confession, etc. You get the idea.
In worship, a covenental partner said they didn’t like Lent because “It’s a downer.” It’s true. There’s a lot of shoulds, have tos, oughts, and musts associated with Lent that have been weaponized to make for what can be a pretty miserable season. But, as with lots of things in the Christian tradition, we are allowed to discern what is a helpful practice and what we can set down for the time being because it’s not lifegiving or instructive for us.
The themes of Lent aren’t inherently ‘downers’, though they’ve definitely been used that way. And, like with many things, we’ll be doing it a little bit differently at Vista Grande this year. Our theme this year is Experiment Lent – instead of doing penance for our failures, what if we used our mistakes as a portal for learning about ourselves, others, and what’s needed in this moment? Instead of sacrifice and suffering, what if we learned about our interdependence and how much we really rely on each other? It’s a different doorway into familiar concepts and I hope you’ll join in. If we put our heads together, we might just be able to find something that can sustain us through hard times.
Will you join me?
Pastor Mallory
Feb 24 – Mar 1
Dear Vista Grande –
On Sunday, we held our annual congregational meeting. Together, we celebrated our successes, held space for our grief, and took the first step on a path forward doing what we do best – being together.
Take a look at our annual report, including reflections from our board, our full financial report, the beautiful mission update, and the added context regarding our utility bills. You can also review the slide show, which includes photos from several important events in the life of our church in 2024.
Onward, friends – together.
Pastor Mallory
Feb 17-22
Dear Vista Grande,
We are beginning to wind down our sojourn with the book of Nehemiah. Together, we’ve explored the ways he allowed himself to mourn, gathered people and resources, and did what others thought was impossible – rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and began to heal the relationships that the violence of empire had broken. It’s an amazing story of what we can do together when we share a vision.
One of the gifts our Jewish siblings have held onto which we are able to witness in our shared scripture is the idea of lineage. This week, we traveled with Nehemiah as he and the rest of the Jewish people heard the story of their people. The priest, Ezra, told the highlights of Jewish history – from Abraham’s covenant with God to Moses leading them out of Egypt to Joshua helping them get to the promised land. Ezra did not gloss over the ugly parts of their history, though. He told of the ways they had betrayed their values and abandoned the principles God had asked of them. Still, however, God was present to them and was a source of steadfast love and abundant grace.
Telling the story of our people – both as individuals and as a community – helps us remember that we are not operating in isolation. Perhaps you have heard the phrase “It is not your duty to finish the work but neither are you at liberty to neglect it”, which comes from the Jewish Talmud. The good news is that people, whether our biological or spiritual ancestors, have been working for justice and liberation for a long, long time. We are only responsible for our chapter in the work of healing the great wounds which have been dealt by the violence of capitalism, colonialism, and empire. We don’t have to fix the whole problem – it’s too big and too complex to do on our own. Instead, it is our job to pick up where those who came before us left off and do the work that is ours to do.
Over the next several months, we as a church will be engaging in discernment about that very thing – what is ours to do? Getting clear together will help us make decisions that are in keeping with our values as we seek to follow the Way of Jesus. One of the strengths of our church governance is that everyone’s voice is welcome at the table. You are an important piece of the fabric of our community which means that your participation is vital as we chart a path forwards – together – on this pilgrimage of hope. Stay tuned for some more invitations from the Executive Council as we get set to embark!
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Feb 10-15
Dear Vista Grande –
It might seem a little out of step to be talking about joy when it feels like everything is terrible and the world is on fire. Don’t get me wrong – though some of the sweeping executive orders have been beaten back in courts, the attack on the most vulnerable in our society has had an impact beyond what we know. This is especially true for trans youth, who have had their access to healthcare stripped away because healthcare institutions are afraid they might lose their federal funding. This continues to be true for migrants who are being targeted by immigration enforcement based solely on what they look like. The danger is real and active – if not for you personally, then definitely for your neighbor.
Nehemiah has a lot to tell us about this moment of destruction and what it takes to rebuild. In this section of the story, the work of rebuilding the wall has been completed and the leaders of the gathered people in Jerusalem have stopped their practices of exploiting each other. But it’s not enough that we just stop hurting each other. How do we want to set up society together so that everyone has what they need?
Nehemiah, the political leader of the people, turns to his friend Ezra the scribe, the religious leader of the city. Together, they read from their shared law and history, trying to make sense of the practices that make them who they are. In it, they discover a lot of their own and the people’s guilt and shame that they had strayed so far from the wisdom of God and their ancestors. Instead of dwelling on that, though, Ezra encourages them to look toward what they are being commanded to do in the Festival of the Booths (known by our contemporary Jewish siblings as Sukkot), which hadn’t been practiced since the earliest days of their time as the people of God – create a structure without walls and invite your neighbors to come and share in the abundance of the harvest.
It was a party! One where the Jewish people actively practice the kinds of traits they wanted to see more of in their midst – kindness, generosity, hospitality, unguardedness, mutual aid, sharing, and possibility.
So what does joy have to do with it? As a church, we’re pretty good at making sure we make space for talking about the things that hurt. We aren’t afraid of hearing about the evils of structural inequality or the painful stories of how it wreaks violence in people’s lives. Right alongside it, though, we are tasked with fostering the things we want to see more of – more joy, more life, more generosity, more caring, more compassion. This is not one instead of the other but is the both/and we have been tasked to hold. We, like Jesus, can critique the powers that be and speak truth to power while also creating space where people can access community, healing, and material care for their bodies.
Joy is a fuel. When we experience it, it’s a powerful glimpse at the liberated, abundant future that’s possible and encourages us to protect it and extend it to those who need a dose of inspiration to keep going.
There’s a new world to build up, friends. And it starts here with us.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Feb 3-8
Dear Vista Grande,
You may have heard the phrase “united we stand, divided we fall”. In Nehemiah’s case, as he sought to bring together the two halves of his Jewish kin who had been split for 70 or so years, this was a very concrete reality. They were in the middle of an audacious project – to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that had been burned out and destroyed while also repairing the breach in relationship between them. Literally speaking, “a divided house cannot stand”. There were enemies at the gate, rooting to see the Jewish people fail and doing their best to impede the rebuilding process.
There were internal prejudices at play, too, though. The divide was real, stark, and had significant consequences. Those who had been brought back from Babylon were being charged fees just to eat, were suffering violence, had no property (because it was being occupied by their relatives who stayed in Jerusalem), and had no way to make a living. So how were they supposed to move forward together as one people?
Nehemiah knew intuitively that if they did what they’d always done, they’d get what they’d always gotten. Over and over and over again, the Jewish nation was subjected to the violence of empire. The logic of dominance and extraction shaped everything about their lives and experiences. The people who stayed in Jerusalem adopted an “it’s a dog eat dog world out there” stance and used the situation they found themselves in to profit, even if it made other people suffer. Nehemiah called them to account, saying that as God’s chosen people, they had been asked to act differently than the nations they were surrounded by. Nehemiah invited them into solidarity across perceived separation, allowing for healing and a rebalancing of power to happen.
You may have seen something similar in your own life. Sometimes, when people go through suffering, they work to ensure everyone else experiences the same hazing they did. Other people make sense of the situation differently and work to make sure no one experiences the harsh conditions they endured. Every day, we have the option to choose whether we will retreat into fear and scarcity or if we will lean into solidarity, what it takes to create the Kin-dom realm of God here on earth. Now, more than ever, it is vitally important to choose each other, choose solidarity, and choose to repair relationships broken by the power structures and violences which have kept us apart from each other.
May we have the courage to make this choice together, in whatever forms it may come before our community in the days ahead.
With love and solidarity,
Pastor Mallory
Jan 13-18
Greetings, Vista Grande –
Last week, in this letter, I wrote that the theme of this year is “A Pilgrimage of Hope”, in keeping with our repeat Star Word as a congregation – hope. It might strike you as a bit odd, then, if you were in worship on Sunday and we started our journey out with complete and utter devastation…
We are embarking on a journey with Nehemiah, a character in the Hebrew Bible you may not be familiar with. As I shared in my sermon, I wasn’t, either, until I was invited to preach on it by former interim Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Doug Wooten. In Nehemiah, there is a compelling story arc of loss, grief, hope, possibility, rebuilding, and celebration. Scripture continues to surprise.These ancient stories, even (and maybe especially) the parts we aren’t as familiar with, have something to say to us that is remarkably relevant.
Hope is a funny word that can take on a lot of different meanings, depending on the context. Sometimes, it’s an escape hatch so we don’t have to take a look at how bad things actually hurt, as if being realistic, ‘thinking negatively’, and ‘giving up hope’ are all the same things. What Nehemiah teaches us, though, is that you can’t skip to hope. Just like you can’t have Easter without Good Friday, Nehemiah’s story begins with him receiving bad news. He moves toward the future eventually, but he doesn’t use his hope to gloss over how bad things have gotten after the destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, to have a tangible hope, he goes through the immensely painful experience of having his false hope – the idea of Jerusalem as he always envisioned it – taken away from him.
So, our first step is to look honestly at how things are going. The answer for a lot of us ranges somewhere from Not Great to Really Bad. In our midst, we have had devastating losses, unimaginable changes in health, the breaking of relationships, and more life events that have brought us to our knees. Nehemiah teaches us that it’s okay to grieve – grieve for the lost potential, the possibilities that are now impossible, the future we thought we were going to have. Scripture tells us that he wept for days.
After the tears cleared, though, he returned to what he knew his faith to be – prayer and his understanding of covenant relationship with God. For us, this life raft in the middle of the storms we’re currently being buffeted by are this: community, eating together in the basement, humor and, above all else, LOVE.
May that Great Love attend you this week, dear ones.
Together,
Pastor Mallory
Jan 6-11
Epiphany greetings, Vista Grande!
It is so good to be back with you again. Thank you for the grace, love, and support you showed me while I was out on medical leave. I am happy to report that the surgery was successful and I already have greater quality of life after having it. I look forward to connecting with you all soon and catching up on all the stories and life events which have transpired over the last several weeks!
As has been our practice for the last several years, we drew our Star Words to guide us on our pilgrimage through this year. A pilgrimage is a sacred journey, undertaken with reverence, intention, and attention. Sometimes, like the Magi in the Epiphany story, you set out and don’t quite know where you’re going. Instead, it is something so compelling that it makes you get up, leave what you know behind, and hit the road. Pilgrimages can be tough, sometimes. They are often full of unexpected twists and turns that surprise and challenge. Mostly, though, they are full of wondrous experiences that bring us into deeper relationship with God and with one another.
For the last couple of years, we have chosen a Star Word for the church as a whole. The first we chose was Hope. Last year’s was Prayer. This year, as the Divine would have it, is Hope again. Seems like we need another dose of it this year, which I can’t argue with. Expect the theme of hope to pop up as we travel through this year together.
In the autumn, I attended a transitional ministry training, which helped illuminate how we at Vista Grande can work together to foster and deepen the health and vitality of our congregation. There is an abundance of life in our midst and it deserves our nurturing. One of the prominent themes in the training was that of a journey, focusing on where we have been, where we are now, and where we hope to go.
There’s that word again – hope. I am proposing that the theme of this year is A Pilgrimage of Hope.
What do you say? Want to travel together?
The blessings of light and dream attend you, wherever you are on your path.
Pastor Mallory