Sunday, February 16, 2025

Dear Friends, 

The Christian faith asks, and then answers, the question: “Who Am I?”  It’s an important question because most of us aren’t really sure what makes the greatest claims on our time/energy/thought(s)/feeling(s).  If we don’t know, how would we talk about our deepest identity?  And if we don’t know, how would that identity show up in our lives in ways that matter?  

To be sure, hundreds of things hold sway over who and how we might identify ourselves.  Some of them are given to us.  They are not choices.  I am male.  I am white.  I am straight.  I was born in the United States.  I have Southern roots.  I am an Enneagram #4.  I grew up upper-middle class.  Does this define me?  In some ways, it does.  

But then there are all the other matters which are related to choices I have made along life’s journey.  I was married.  I am divorced.  I am a father to two children.  I am a left-leaning liberal (which on some days is no more than a bunch of opinions that I adopted from someone else).  I am a humanitarian.  I am a Christian (which means I have a strong devotion to the life/teachings/ministry and transformative impact of Jesus’ life).  How much do all of these things define me?  Am I clear on what matters a little, and what matters a lot? 

As of late, I am seeking more clarity.  Why?  I am not entirely sure.  Yet I have a growing sense that I want to know my own mind and my own heart in a new way.  I want to know how the best of me sees me, and how the best of me would choose to see you.  I don’t want social media (or the world for that matter) to tell me very much.  The world is full of it.  Most of the time it stresses all that matters least.  

So what does my faith tell me?  First, I am a sinner saved from my propensity to be too self-involved and self-centered.  I am also created in God’s image which is nothing but grace.  How did I get here?  From love.  Why am I here?  For love.  Why are you here?  The same reason.  Pretty much everything else isn’t that important.  Thanks be to God.  

Carter          

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Dear Friends,

We have come to the end of January.  While this week was warmer than last week, every time the wind blows and the sun sets, I feel the chill return and I remember that we are still in the deep winter.  

We are also in the middle of the Epiphany season, a season that doesn’t simply end with the visit of the Magi right after Christmas.  It is an entire season about seeing the extraordinary in the everyday. It lasts until Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, and this year that doesn’t happen until March 5.  We still have a month to go!

So how will you use the next month of Epiphany to uncover some extraordinary things in your life?  Whether you feel snow crunching, ice cracking or mud mushing under your feet, we know that the frozen world will soon give way to something else. There is awe and beauty in this season and there is so much more in our world than what we accept as “ordinary.”  

Winter will yield to spring in its own time. It is not ours to choose. Yet when we can take this time to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, our spirits will thaw on their own accord.  Katherine May, the author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times said, “Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.” May you discover your inner crucible and may it thaw your spirit and light the way to the many places God is revealed in your life this winter.

May it be so.

Love,
Cheryl

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Dear Friends,

I write with deep sadness and even deeper concern. 

Some would say that the church should not be outspoken about “politics”. In part, I agree. Siding with one party threatens to unravel the fragile unity of a church. Nonetheless, I take my lead from Jesus who consistently talked about the economic and political systems of his time. 

So looking back over the past week, I am disheartened. The tone and content of President Trump’s inaugural speech was remarkably arrogant, full of hyperbole, and mean in spirit. 

On the heels of the worship service at the National Cathedral, he had a litany of demeaning things to say about the Bishop. I will resist quoting those comments. But I would ask, “What kind of President speaks in that manner?” 

I could go on to talk about the blanket pardon of those who assaulted DC police officers OR the specifics of certain executive orders. But I won’t. 

I would only ask for prayers that are worthy of those who self-identify as Christian. Prayers to have the heart of God. Prayers to be mindful of the most vulnerable in our midst. Prayers to lead with mercy and kindness. 

May it be so.

Carter

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Dear Friends,

This weekend, we pause to honor the life and witness of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we reflect on the extraordinary impact of his vision and work, we are reminded that the task he began remains unfinished.

Dr. King understood that true transformation does not come easily. He faced fierce resistance, imprisonment, and ultimately gave his life because he dared to speak out against the entrenched evils of racism, segregation, and poverty. Yet he remained steadfast, grounded in hope, and firm in his belief that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

As we remember his legacy, we must ask ourselves: Are we willing to continue his work? Are we ready to confront the injustices of our own time, even when it is uncomfortable or costly?

Dr. King envisioned the “beloved community,” a world where people of every race live as siblings, bound together by love and justice. His dream was not a vague ideal but a hope deeply rooted in the Gospel—a conviction that God desires the full flourishing of every human being.

This weekend invites us to consider what that vision means for us today, in this moment of history. In a world fractured by political polarization and charged rhetoric, King’s challenge to us remains clear. From his cell in Birmingham in 1963, he wrote: “Be an extremist for love.” Let us embrace that call—not to despair or divisiveness but to bold, radical love, peace, and nonviolence.

This work begins within our own hearts, as we examine our complicity in injustice and recommit ourselves to sharing God’s love. From there, it flows outward into our communities, shaping a world that more closely reflects the Kingdom of God.

May we be instruments of grace, transforming King’s dream of the beloved community into a lived reality. Every step, no matter how small, brings us closer to the justice and love that Dr. King so courageously proclaimed. May it be so.

Love,

Cheryl

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Dear Friends,

The refrain of the 80’s/90’s song “Back to Life, Back to Reality” was the theme for many this week.  For some, it was the first “normal” rhythm that any of us had in a few weeks.

But was does it mean to live life and what is our reality? It’s a question that we ask often, especially as we return to the rhythms of our lives and work. And where is God in all of this? As we explore the themes of the epiphany season – the theme of seeing where God is manifest to us—it is an incredible time to not only be aware of God in it all, but to see God’s love reaching directly out to us so that we can share that with the world. 

This week we will hear the story of Jesus’s baptism by John in the Jordan River.  God declares to Jesus “You are … the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  The question for us is whether we, as we go about our daily lives, are able to hear God’s voice declaring that truth about us. And how we can use this epiphany moment to better live our lives, better serve our community and better love a world that needs it. When God says, “I love you,” we don’t have to earn this love, prove our worth, or fear that we don’t measure up.  We need only accept it, receive it, rely on it, and share it.

This week we welcome back the Rev. Jake Miles Joseph to the THCC pulpit.  Jake is a UCC minister and the Associate Director of Alumni Engagement at Yale Divinity School. For two years prior, Jake was at the Anti-Defamation League, where he served as Associate Regional Director for Connecticut. He has served churches in Georgia and Colorado, and, most recently, two churches in Connecticut: First Congregational Church of Guilford and First Congregational Church of Fairfield where he is currently Preacher-in-Residence.  A Grinnell College alumnus, Jake served on Grinnell’s Alumni Council from 2021 to 2023. He has also been a leading advocate for fair housing, LGBTQ equality and creating change through an equity lens. In addition to his undergraduate degree from Grinnell, Jake has an M.Div. from Emory University. He has also earned a Certificate in Business Management Essentials from Cornell University and a Graduate Interdisciplinary Certificate in Human Rights from Emory.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Love,

Cheryl