Dear Friends,

This week, we had our Quaker-style gathering to address some of the fear, anxiety and concern about the state of the world. Some of us are genuinely worried about the upcoming elections. Who is to say these worries are not justified? Apart from the elections, we are facing hurricanes, wars and a host of other crises.

The Quaker-style gathering was intended to make space for God’s presence, for listening, for a more prayerful posture to our individual and collective concerns. To be in God’s presence is to lower the temperature on disagreements and the divisiveness of opinion(s). Let’s be honest. Being a Democrat or Republican does little, or nothing, to make you a better human being. In fact, most of our attachments (political parties, sports teams, fraternities, sororities, country clubs) do little, or nothing, to deepen our spiritual lives or encourage spiritual growth.

Thus and so, we came together to remind ourselves that Americans have been through some extremely tense and difficult times – the Civil War, Reconstruction, the World Wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Viet Nam, Civil Rights. By God’s grace and our resilience, we made our way through these seasons of conflict. This alone is reason to be hopeful.

We also came together to remind ourselves of our deepest calling. It is not to any of the above-mentioned attachments. Our calling is to listen for the Holy Spirit, to seek God in all our encounters, to embody the compassion and mercy of Jesus. In other words, we are called to LOVE whatever the season may be.

Love one another as I have loved you. That is the message of faith. Don’t lose sight of the message for then, we lose sight of our higher angels.

With love,

Carter