When This is Over

When this is over,
may we never again
take for granted
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbors
A crowded theater
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine checkup
The school rush each morning
Coffee with a friend
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.

When this ends
may we find
that we have become
more like the people
we wanted to be
we were called to be
we hoped to be
and may we stay
that way — better
for each other
because of the worst.

Laura Kelly Fanucci

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.  

Matthew 2:10-12

As we observe Epiphany (Dia de Reyes), can we be overwhelmed with joy? What might it mean for you to pay him homage where you find him? What gifts of the best you have can you offer to our infant-King? May the light of Christ show us how to walk by "another road," not Herod's, but the road of Jesus and justice. May the light be cast abroad for the darkness of insurrection to be overcome by the Incarnation.

Thanks be to God for letting the light shine out of darkness! 

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

O Love Incarnate, wrap your everlasting arms around all those who mourn this day, and lift up the hearts of those who cannot see beyond the darkness. When we would lose ourselves in grief and anger, touch us with grace enough to turn to you. When anticipation of your birth is forgotten amidst tragedy, violence, and grief, draw us closer to you. We long for the surety of your love even as we tremble in fear.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

Light of the World, remove the shadows of our own sinfulness and selfishness. Your light shines even when our eyes are blinded by gun shots still echoing through our nation, and around the world. Human brokenness turns us from you and we go hungry and cold when you would hold us close. We search for answers and come up with angry impulses, forgetting that you speak loudest in the silence. When we would buy guns to protect ourselves from our neighbors, reveal yourself in the faces around us. We yearn to see you in our midst.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

Promise of Salvation, the star over Bethlehem has dimmed and we are in danger of losing our way to you. We want to protect ourselves and blame others for the ills of our society. We would rather not see you in those with mental illness or acknowledge our responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. With every act of violence, we grow more distant from one another and more fearful of those who seem different. You would save us from ourselves. We have only to make it to Bethlehem and kneel before you, accepting once again that you are the Savior and we are not. Bend our knees. Calm our fears. Open our hearts. We need your saving love.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

Mighty One, your mercy is truly from generation to generation, including this one. Reveal to us, once again, your strength and your power. You are the one who can bring humility to the proud and powerful and lift up those who so often go unseen. We are all hungry in these days of war, violence, and death; you alone can fill us with goodness. It is your mercy we need on this Sunday of Love. It is your might that will bring us to our knees to honor your birth and to trust that you will guide us safely home. Lead us away from mourning into joy that we may honor you once again.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

 Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Here is an Advent liturgy for your prayers at home as we observe the third week in Advent:

With hopes that we, like Mary, may find favor with God, let us join together in praying for all who share the sacred journey to Bethlehem.
People may quietly or silently voice their prayers
God who leads through example, be with all who seek the Christ-child who waits for us. Remind us that road is long and wide enough for all who endeavor to see you. As we prepare to offer our gifts to the newborn king, open our hearts. Open our hearts to make room for the extravagance of your love for us and for the whole of creation. May the love we celebrate this day, flow through us into the world.
Restore us, O God;
Let your face shine that we might be saved.
As we move through these last Advent days, let us pray for those who are in need of shelter, sanctuary, or safety.
People may quietly or silently voice their prayers
Holy One whose light proclaims the way of love for the whole of Creation, guide us to the day when hatred, fear, and oppression have no place in our lives. Mary and Joseph found safe harbor in a stable and Christ was born into these humble surroundings. You tell us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. May our love for our neighbors be demonstrated in our actions – building homes, welcoming refugees, and protecting children who dream of a life of safety and possibilities.
Restore us, O God;
Let your face shine that we might be saved.
As we remember the joyful meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, let us pray for all who gather in worship this day, near and far.
People may quietly or silently voice their prayers
God who broke into the world to draw us closer to you, unite us in our love for you. While we rush from one holiday activity to another, pass judgment on the celebrations of others, and forget the beauty and wonder of your love, remind us. Remind us that you are more Mystery than we can possibly know. All our traditions may lead us to you, but they separate us from one another. Let us see the gifts others bring and may our hearts leap with joy in recognizing you in everyone we meet.
Restore us, O God;
Let your face shine that we might be saved.
Remembering the promises of old, promises of the One who would bring peace. Let us pray for all who work to bring peace into the world
People may quietly or silently voice their prayers
God of steadfast love, you love us even when we forget to love you, our neighbors, ourselves, or creation. We have heard your call to love and we find it so much harder than it ought to be. We justify our wars, our violent ways, our fear of change, our racism, and all the ways we perpetuate systems built on oppression. You wait for us to remember your holy ways of love and justice. As we enter Bethlehem this year, shine your love into our broken fearful places, those in ourselves and our churches, and those in our country and our world. Call us once again into wholeness, peace and love. And may we have the courage to respond.
Restore us, O God;
Let your face shine that we might be saved.
Anticipating, once again, the gift of the Christ-child, let us give thanks for all the blessings we have been given.
People may quietly or silently voice their prayers
God who loves without limits or conditions, we praise you for true gift of your love for us. A Child born so long ago leads us in your holy ways. In our gratitude, may we have the courage to embody your love with joy and faithfulness so that Child may never be forgotten. Hear our prayers of gratitude and praise for all the ways in which you fill our lives with hope, peace, joy, and love.
Restore us, oh God;
Let your face shine that we might be saved. Amen.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

God's grace instructs us how to live in this present age, the age of grace in between the two Advents of Christ. Christ appeared in grace to save us and to teach us how to live a new life. In this present age we live for Christ: 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

 "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:4

 "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
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"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

"For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." Romans 14:7-9

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body." 2 Corinthians 4:10-11

 "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." Romans 6:8-10

 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:1-2

 "Live in order to please God…" 1 Thessalonians 4:1

 "So we make it our goal to please Him…"  2 Corinthians 5:9

Paul's letters are full of what it looks like to live for Christ, to live in step with the Holy Spirit, bearing His fruit, empowered by the life of Christ in us, revealing Christ's life in our attitudes and actions to the world around us.

This is how we are called to live in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope of Christ's return in glory - His Second Advent.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Advent is not really the season of preparing for Jesus' birth, as though he had never come in the first place. Advent is the season of preparation for his coming again... Do I really believe that Jesus is coming back, not just coming to individual souls one by one in their own hearts, but coming to call the entire universe into judgment, coming to bring history as we know it to a close, coming to bring his everlasting kingdom to pass? That's what the New Testament sets before us—not a private, invisible, spiritualized coming of Christ but a cosmic event that will be visible to everyone. "Every eye will now behold him, robed in dreadful majesty." This claim that the church makes is too serious to fool around with. If we don't mean it, we should put an end to Advent. We should take the phrase out of the Nicene Creed: "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." We shouldn't say that every Sunday if we can't believe it. 

Fleming Rutledge
Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ

The Advent season communicates a message of immense importance! Hope and promise are at the center of Advent and each one of us should feel that a promise has been made to him or her by the God who, unlike human beings, keeps his promises.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

One of my friends is sharing some brief (and beautiful) Advent reflections from past writings each day with her friends. She wrote a bit about what might ensue if we get tangled up with God. I love the image of us entangled with God, of God choosing to become entangled with us. Not God serenely dwelling within Mary, or within us, but God mixing it up with his people. Not God in a tabernacle, but out and about where the paths can be muddy, the ways steep, the risks many.

The reflection she wrote for this first week of Advent is about how Jesus is rather literally entangled with the physical world. The atoms and molecules he breathed and ate and drank, the very stuff that made up his body, is now entangled in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the wood of the cross we gaze at in the church. It's a staggering reality. But so too is the reality that we are tangled up in God in our hearts, our minds and our souls. We cannot extricate ourselves from this tangle! God decided to dwell among us, and nothing will ever be the same.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

These words from Psalm 33 are the promises and prayers which still provide a firm foundation for our own lives, the life of the Church, and indeed the future of God’s good creation:

“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our strength and shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

To wait in hope isn’t the same as giving in. Another great hymn has the lines,
Save us from weak resignation, to the evils we deplore...
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving Thee whom we adore.

We wait in hope before God because we have learned that God is our strength and shield, and we trust in his holy name. Hope is the opposite of shoulder-shrugging, I can’t help it resignation. Hope is when faith is at its most defiant. Hope is when we stand beneath the cross with broken-hearted disciples, and head with the women for the tomb with its immovable rock, and find that the immovable stone has been moved, and the crucified is glorified. And our hearts rejoice in hope.

We wait in hope because God isn’t finished with the church, and the church isn’t finished. How firm a foundation! What more can he say than to you he has said? Our church in Pasadena (like every other Christian congregation) is built on the firm foundation of God’s promises:
“You are fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” Ephesians 2.19-20.

So as Psalm 33 says, “We wait in hope…” Not wild unrealistic hope, but the settled confidence that God can be trusted. Not passive let’s do nothing hope, but hopeful living, hope-filled praying, acts of hopefulness and hope-building. Not fingers crossed and hope for the best hope, but an inner assurance that God keeps his word, and we can trust his holy name.

We are in a time of flux, unpredictability, and multiple crises. Anxiety and uncertainty can easily slide into despair. But our faith has a firm foundation, and so does our hope. What more can he say than to you he has said… “He who did not spare his own Son, but freely gave him up for us all, will he not, with him, freely give us all things.”

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Descanso Gardens

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Don't forget to log on to read this month's Sharing our History post about language and ethnicity on the centennial blog on our website!
https://www.pascov.org/centennial

Amazing and merciful God, how easy it is for us to forget that we are your delight. You rejoice when we follow your holy ways and envision a future of goodness and grace for all your people. We blame you for divisions and strife. We justify our wars by saying that you are on our side. We rationalize the abuse of our enemies by telling ourselves that they are not your people, that their sinfulness exceeds your tolerance. In truth, you have told us that we are to love our neighbors indiscriminately. Moreover, we are to love those with the greatest need more fiercely and more immediately. Shower us with your mercy, O God, until we live by the plumb line you have repeatedly dropped in our midst.

Patient and steadfast God, you continuously call us to live in peace, leaving none behind. We hear your call. We know that your love endures forever. What you ask of us is not beyond our reach; it is not higher than the heavens or on the outer edges of the sea. For all of Creation to live in justice is not an impossibility you hold up to tease us with what we cannot have. If we trust you, it is possible for us to turn aside from our human ways. It is possible for us to love with your love. Enter our lives anew, Holy One, silence our fears and smother our distrust that we may live in harmony with all.

God of wonder and mystery, you love us still. You love us when we are filled with fear. You love us when we are filled with hate. You love us when we are filled with judgment. You love us when we think we are better than our neighbors. You love us when we think are neighbors are better than us. You love us when we blame others for creating the chaos that flows through the world. You love us when we abdicate responsibility for engaging in justice work. You love us through all our foolishness. However, you delight in us when we act with love and seek to bring your realm into the here and now. Flood every corner of our being with the strength of your Spirit that we may have the courage to love with your love, always. Amen.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation