This week's author is the Rev. Dr. Ron Brown, Associate Conference Minister for Clergy Concerns for the Connecticut Conference, UCC.
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean'?"
Life isn't always easy. That I know for sure -- you do too.
But sometimes I make it harder than it has to be. Sometimes simple persistence is what life -- and faith -- require. Naaman discovered that.
He had won many difficult military victories. Feared and respected by kings and rulers across the land, a small spot of leprosy made his life miserable. Surely it would take some great act of sacrifice, some direct intervention of God to cure him -- nothing else had worked. But Elisha says no. Just go and wash in the muddy ditch we call the Jordan River and you will be clean -- no big deal.
But it was a big deal -- Naaman finally understood that.
As we approach Independence Day this Sunday, I recall the wonderful gift of living in this nation founded on freedom and justice, a place where I can worship as I please and think and say what I want without fear. The 4th of July is a day of great celebration. I'll remember those things as I cheer at the Independence Day parade rolling down Main Street in the little northeastern Vermont town of Wells River, and later that night as I watch the fireworks burst over the Connecticut River.
Yet, I am also aware that our beloved nation faces many challenges to the freedom and justice that was the vision of its founders and is the desire of our hearts. There are the wars, two of them, that almost daily claim the lives of too many Americans, Afghans and Iraqis. There is poverty in the cities and joblessness in the suburbs. And that is just barely to begin the list. These are not simple issues and simple solutions will not suffice.
Sometimes, though, I think we, like Naaman, look for the answers to our problems, even our nation's problems, without considering the simple reality. It was a later prophet, Micah, who put it succinctly:
"With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
"Mother To Son"
A poem by Langston Hughes published in 1922
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Please remember:
the Rev. Bonnie Stagg, interim co-pastor at the First Congregational Church UCC of Granby, on the death of her mother, Evelyn, on June 18;
the Rev. Susan Latourette, associate pastor at the First Church of Christ, Congregational, UCC in Middletown, on the death of her mother, Judith, on June 22;
the people of Bridgeport and Stratford affected by the high winds and tornado of June 24; and
the staff and conferees at Silver Lake Conference Center this week, growing, learning and taking joy together in God's creation.
Please remember:
with joy the birth on June 16 of Aran Rajan Diloshan Sinnaduray, son of the Rev. Rushan Sinnaduray, pastor of the First Congregational Church UCC of Canton Center and his wife, Arushini;
with joy the birth on June 16 of Sadie Lynn Weikel, daughter of the Rev. Kevin Weikel, associate pastor of the First Church of Christ UCC in Simsbury, and his wife, Kelley; her father reports that Sadie will get adjusted to life in NICU for a couple more days;
Hilary Willard, daughter to Bob Willard and the Rev. Claire Bamberg, transitional pastor of the Congregational Church of Plainville, UCC, who was injured in a car accident and discovered additional health concerns;
the Rev. Noel Velez, former Minister of Hispanic Ministries in the Connecticut Conference, hospitalized in Florida;
Elizabeth Naylor, daughter-in-law of the Rev. Robert Naylor, pastor of the Second Congregational Church UCC in Greenwich, who is being treated for lymphoma;
the Rev. M. J. Hinchliff, pastor of First Church of Christ, Congregational, UCC, of East Haddam, who is being treated for cancer;
the Rev. Marcia C. Eveland, pastor of the First Congregational Church UCC of Ansonia, who has suffered a seriously broken wrist;
the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree and her spouse, David, and their daughter Elizabeth, who suffered a stroke on December 12 and is undergoing rehabilitation;
the Rev. Nancy Allen, associate minister of Immanuel Congregational Church UCC in Hartford, as she undergoes cancer treatment;
our partners in the Kyung-Ki Presbytery and their communities on the Korean peninsula, with prayers for peace in the midst of increased tension;
the people of Kyrgyzstan, particularly in the region of Osh, where violence and rioting have left hundreds grieving and forced from their homes;
the families and friends of those who died in the flash flood in the Albert Pike Recreation Area in Arkansas on June 11;
residents of the Gulf Coast affected by the disastrous oil rig failure, the families of the workers who died, and all those seeking to contain the well and protect the coastlines;
the people of Haiti recovering from the devastation of the earthquake and the people who seek to aid them;
this nation, that it may continue its difficult work to end the practices of racism;
the Conference's partners working for peace in Colombia amidst violence;
the leaders of this nation, that they may meet the challenges of the day with insight, wisdom, and compassion;
those suffering due to the ongoing financial woes of the nation, be they struggling to meet an unaffordable mortgage, confronting the loss of a job, or working to find just resolutions to the crisis; and
those serving or living in war or conflict zones around the world, or where terrorists have struck, particularly in Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, Israel, Gaza, and the Sudan.
To be added to the prayer list, please send an email to Rev. Eric Anderson at: webmaster@ctucc.org.
Winsted
First Church (Baptist & Cong'l)
P The Rev. Michael Wu
Wolcott
Wolcott Cong'l Church
P The Rev. Sue C. Strachan
PE The Rev. Frank P. Haggard
Woodbridge
First Ch of Christ, Woodbridge
P The Rev. Sara E. Penn-Strah
PE The Rev. Boyd M. Johnson Jr.
CE Ms. Barbara Marks
Woodbury
First Cong'l Ch & Ecclesiastical Soc. Inc.
IN The Rev. Stanley E. Youngberg
CE Jill O'Neill
CE Ms. Mary MacLoud
Woodbury
North Cong'l Ch of Woodbury
P The Rev. Dr. Craig T. McClellan
To read previous editions of the Spirit Calendar, visit:
http://www.ctucc.org/fido/spiritcalendar/
To learn more about or subscribe to the Spirit Calendar, visit:
http://www.ctucc.org/fido/
The Spirit Calendar: June 29, 2010 by Rev. Dr. Ron Brown, Associate Conference Minister for Clergy Concerns
