Pastor Tony's Sermon December 3, 2017

Isaiah 64: 1-9 (NRSV)     12-3-17     ACCUCC     Rev. Tony Clark

Listen to this week's sermon by clicking here...

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

The language of Psalm 80, “Restore us, O God,” gives us our theme for this month of Advent. The language of Isaiah, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,” gives us our focus for today; it is a plea for God to offer mercy, to return to a relationship that used to be close and intimate, but has become strained, stretched, and estranged. It is a plea for restoration.

The book of Isaiah was written in three different periods, the first about 150 years before the Exile, the second during the Exile, and then the last about 50 years after the Exile. Today’s reading is from that last portion, when the Grandchildren of the Exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem. When they arrived, having grown up on glory-day stories of a city and Temple build to honor God, they found a city and Temple still in ruins, and the ancestors of the remnant who were left behind were squatters living in the ruins. They must have felt abandoned by God, and this prayer written by someone in the tone of Isaiah, is a plea to God to return in strength and glory, to destroy and remove the devastation, and then restore the city and Temple.

Restoration always comes with destruction first—think about our kitchen, which we will bless after church this morning.

This time of year, Advent, the first stories we are given are about the apocalypse, the destruction that must come before the restoration that comes from the re-birth of God. The Destruction before restoration, is rough, and yet there is comfort and peace in a future restored in better shape than the past.

[pray]

This time of year always brings a nostalgia for times and traditions long past. The perfect Christmas to me seems elusively someplace between Victorian London, rural New England, and Grandma’s kitchen smelling of cinnamon and sage. Consumerism calls us to buy our way back to those Christmases past.

This year, I’m even more aware of the desire to go back to a time that we remember as better, a time of greatness, a time when God was on our side. We hear about making America great again and making Christianity great again. And I hear the echoes from Isaiah, “O that you would come down,” and the Psalm, “Restore us, O God;” makes us great again, O God.

Maybe we could use some restoration. The things we hold on to as dear seem to be overturning as a new world order makes itself present to us. Right now, we are redefining what it means for Black Lives to Matter, for immigrant Dreamers to live in our country, for poor people to have voice and choice over their lives, for women to name for themselves what is appropriate respect, and for people of faith to publicly claim their beliefs. We are debating what it means to be stewards of the Earth, and with our new Person of the Planet group, we are talking about how to restore our environment before the almost inevitable apocalypse occurs.

 As the unwritten rules and systems of our society shift, and it feels like society is breaking down, we nostalgically hold onto a past that was never as peaceful as our memory tells us.  We are redefining what it means to be human, to relate to one another, to relate to God, and there is a tension between the push for justice now and the nostalgic memories of a peaceful past.

So, with the ancients, we say, “Restore us, O God.”

But restore us to what? A time of naïve despoiling of the earth’s treasures through unbridled mining and black smoke spewing out of every factory chimney? A time when child labor and 6, 12-hour-day work weeks were common? A time when women were housewives, hostesses, and helpless creatures requiring men to not only protect and save them, but also fondle and grope them without their permission? A time when sewage ran openly in the streets? A time when travelling across open fields of snow in a sleigh meant frostbite or worse?

My sense of the present is a time of turmoil, trouble, and triumphant egotism. The future looks bleak and barren. But my memories of the past are beautified, and romanticized. So, restore us, O God, to a time that looks like those beautiful snow-covered memories of New England sleigh rides, and Victorian cobble-stoned streets, Grandma’s steamy, spicy kitchen, and stables where strangely sterile cows munch sweet smelling hay and sheep snuggle up to the sleeping Christ child.

Restore us, O God. Return, O Christ. Rebuild your relationship with us. Bring good news to the poor, heal the broken hearted, bring release to the captives. Save us. Restore us, O God, to the bliss of Eden when Creation was new and we had not marred it with our misunderstanding of stewardship of the Earth. Restore us, O God, to a time of freedom from Pharaoh, and return us from Exile. Re-create the world of our memories, and us in it.

But do not make this restoration difficult; we are tired and we do not want to live in the messy, deconstruction and reconstruction of a world being restored to its former glory. Restore us with your magic, God, in an instant; wiggle your nose and make it so. Leave our gifts by the fireplace, O God, while we sleep. We do not want the sound of saws and hammers to cut into our peaceful reveries, the dust of tearing down to be tracked all over our neat and orderly lives or to clog our meditative breathing, nor do we want to haul the debris out to the dumpster.

Restore us, O God, to a time when the truth was convenient, and we could easily ignore your cries for justice, the cries of your people, and the cries of Creation.

But that time never really existed, did it? A perfect past is less likely than a perfect present. Nostalgia for cinnamon and sage, and snow-covered hills and sleigh-rides is just that: nostalgia. So, God remind us, too, that we cannot go back to a better time, and that restoration is messy, yet will lead us to new ways of living and being. Restore us, O God, not to something old and used up, but to something new, and comfort us during the renovation of our hearts.

Restore us, O God, nourish us and restore us, so that we have the energy to survive and thrive. As old ways come to an end and we get used to the new, as we wrap up one year and look toward another, as we prepare for your re-birth in our hearts, may we have the tools for renovation, the tolerance for the upcoming deconstruction, and the endurance for the work of reconstruction.  

We wander in a wilderness, and the highways to you are rough and crooked. Restore us, O God; nourish us, that we can repave the crooked, uneven path to you. Restore us, O God, so that our newly renovated hearts might receive the light you rekindle within each of our hearts at Christmas. Restore us, O God, nourish us for renovation, so that when you rekindle and replace the light in our lives, it will live in a splendid palace of peace, a home of hospitality, and a world of extravagant welcome.  Amen.  

Person of the Planet- Review of an Inconvenient Sequel by Shanti Moorjani

Last Night (Thursday 11/30) thirty-plus people cozied into the Fireside room at church to see ex- vice-president  Al Gore's new movie "An Inconvenient Sequel".   This followed the showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" two weeks ago. 

Has anything changed from the 2005 movie?   Well,  yes.  As predicted, temperatures have gone up  due to greenhouse gases, fires have exploded onto the landscape,  permafrost and glaciers have continued to melt at unprecedented rates, and waters have risen.   Higher temperatures have scorched more earth burning whole communities,  ruining crops and livestock.   Flooding, resulting from massive tropical storms, have hit many islands and countries, including our own, especially  coastal cities.  We were all moved by the riveting actual footage of events taking place across the planet over the last 10 years.  In Greenland, glaciers have turned to rivers and waterfalls.   Tropical storms in Asia, India and United States showed people fighting for their lives as water destroyed buildings and streets became rivers.

One hopeful story, showed the real time, behind the scenes efforts of Mr. Gore and others   to negotiate and convince India to give up its plan to build 100 new coal-fired plants.  After several major storms on Indian soil, Mr. Gore was able to convince India to change its course.  With the help of US solar companies and government incentives, India accepted the Paris Climate accord (2016) and is on a course of green policies solar, wind and electric vehicles in the coming decades.

We are all aware the earth is changing across the globe, but seeing the effects on film was sobering and all more reason for individuals to become a voice for the Planet.

As a Person of the Planet each of us must join together to do whatever part we can manage.

Person of the Planet- All That Glitters: By Elena Caruthers

I read an article recently that gave me pause. I had become aware some time ago that “micro beads”, the tiny little plastic beads that are sometimes added to beauty products to facilitate exfoliation, eventually get flushed into our rivers and oceans and contribute to the devastating plastic pollution that is becoming widespread in the food chain.  These micro beads were banned a couple of years ago by the Obama administration because they are so tiny they slip into the oceans and landfill like water and are not processed in any way to make them safe. Hurrah! I had thought. But I did not make the leap to glitter, which had not been banned.  My awareness was definitely raised with the article, which I have referenced below. Okay, I thought, I can avoid glitter.  But I love glitter, especially in the holiday season. This was brought home to me just yesterday when I started opening my boxes of Christmas decorations. I bought a bunch of beautiful glittered pinecones, just last year, and was really looking forward to using them again this year.  There they were, as lovely as last year. In the box was about a teaspoon of loose glitter, which really took me aback.  What should I do? Anthony and I decided that as long as the glitter stayed contained and did not get into the sewer or even loose in the landfill, it was OK to keep and use what I already have, but to avoid my natural attraction to glitter. When I am finally ready to dispose of glittery things, I can think of no solution but to make sure that the loose glitter is imbedded somehow into a matrix, perhaps of glue.  I don’t know yet what is best. But I will not just throw it into the garbage or somehow into the sewer system.

Micro beads and other micro plastics, like glitter, are responsible for a myriad of problems for the planet and its humans. These tiny, and it turns out, toxic, particles are consumed by organisms at the bottom of the food chain, affecting the health of all of the organisms in the food chain. By the time food gets to us, the toxins have become concentrated.  Micro plastics have been found in many types of food and in drinking water. They can cause “adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological and immune effects” in all of the creatures along the way, including us. Fortunately, studies are being done to determine the harm these micro plastics are doing to all of us. If you’d like to read the article, the link to the article is https://www.ecowatch.com/glitter-banned-2507482052.html

Reception of Associate Members: Dawn Canada & Rev. Barbara Peronteau

Dawn Canada

I was born in Illinois and have lived all my life in the Midwest with the exception of two years in Saudi Arabia. Prior to retirement in 1989 I was an elementary and preschool teacher for many years.  I have been a member of Congregational or UCC churches since 1965 and I'm transferring my membership from one in northern Minnesota.  I have two sons in the Bay Area and a daughter in Colorado Springs.  I also have three granddaughters and two great grandchildren.  While visiting the Bay Area in 2014 my husband became very ill.  Following his hospitalization we lived at El Cerrito Royale Assisted Living until his death in 2016.  I like to read and do volunteer work and I'm an avid baseball fan.

The Reverend Barbara K. Peronteau

Born in Latrobe, PA on November 2, 1954 Barbara would spend the first eight years of her life living in the Pittsburgh area. Barbara was baptized and grew up in the Lutheran Church. When Barbara was eight years old, her Dad, a sales representative for Lees Carpets, was transferred to San Francisco where they would find a home in San Rafael.

When Barbara was ten she began delivering papers for the San Rafael Independent Journal. Barbara played baseball in the San Rafael Little League. Mostly, there were positive memories of living in San Rafael, but just as Barbara was turning fourteen her Dad was transferred to the Philadelphia area uprooting her once again. They moved to the small town of Malvern, PA where she would go through her high school years.

Following high school Barbara attended Lynchburg College in Virginia where she graduated in 1977 with a BA in History and Political Science. As a young adult she heard a sermon causing her to follow her calling into ministry. She began seminary at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. It was there, in 1983, she began the most intense, significant, and wonderful relationship with the love of her life, Susan. This relationship became the one by which all others would be compared. In the process of discerning her call Barbara began to question her calling. Her discernment process led her to the United Church of Christ where she found a faith home. In the Fall of 1985 Barbara began attending Union Theological Seminary, in Virginia. In the spring of 1986 her relationship with Susan ended.

On Pentecost Sunday, 1988, Barbara graduated from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia with a Master of Divinity, a week later, on Trinity Sunday she was ordained at Old First, United Church of Christ in Philadelphia. Barbara went on to serve congregations in Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

In the Spring of 2013, after transitioning and emerging into the lovely and charming woman she is today, Barbara attended a Trans-Clergy event in Philadelphia. A group picture was circulated on EQ PA's Facebook page. She received positive feedback from several people from her Union Seminary days. Emboldened by this Barbara reached out with an e-mail to her former love, Susan. It was the first time in 27 years they had spoken to each other. Unwittingly, a ripple effect was created. The following year they met in Reading, PA for coffee. They saw each other annually over the next few years.  

While living in Reading, Barbara spoke at various places about being transgender, her Christian faith, and the need for inclusion and equal rights for the LGBTQ community. Barbara is most proud of bringing the Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20th, to Reading. In the Fall of 2016 Barbara began her yearlong Clinical Pastoral Education program working as an Interfaith Chaplain Resident at the Reading Hospital. She was the first chaplain to serve the Center for Public Health (HIV/AIDS population) at the Reading Hospital. Her most significant contribution was linking the Center for Public Health with the Women's Health Center Transgender Clinic so all people could have access to a chaplain.

Upon finishing her CPE Residency in August Barbara decided to follow her heart and move to Berkeley where she is now living with her partner Susan and her dog Max.

Faith is a Verb... Musings by Pastor Tony November 17, 2017

As I travel around our area representing Arlington Community Church, I am often asked if that is where Rev. Dan Apra or Rev. Ken Barnes served. I am proud to be counted alongside these two great leaders in ministry. Rev. Barnes, who has been back with us for the last few years, served 22 years during the 1980s and 90s, and Rev. Apra, who died 7 years ago, served 15 years from the late 1950s to the early 70s. They represent eras, not just of growth in the church, but also of deep spirituality which was mirrored to the world by doing justice in very tangible ways. During those years of ministry with ACC, we became active in GRIP, started what is now the Richmond Food Pantry, housed homeless in our building for weeks at a time, and began serving lunches and dinners at the SouperCenter in Richmond. I have heard stories, not just of those two great pastors, but also of lay members, who during those years actively did justice by calling for a crossing guard near the school in North Richmond and brought needed household items to poor, immigrants and refugees in Richmond and North Richmond

Although stories about those glory days are told with a sense of romantic nostalgia, there was controversy; Dan Apra ruffled feathers with his support of Cesar Chavez’s Farm Worker’s movement and grape boycotts, and Ken Barnes had to mediate a divisive moment when a gay associate pastor did not get enough affirmative votes to receive a call. We are not averse to controversy, and yet we have still managed to step out with passion to make our name as a church who seeks, in the words of our New Beginnings Process, to Build a Just Society from the Inspiration of our Faith.

Standing in the legacy of justice at ACC, I have represented ACC at GRIP, the SouperCenter, and the Neighborhood House in North Richmond. I have attended North Richmond Municipal Advisory Council meetings. In capacity as your pastor, I have met community leaders in North Richmond, County Supervisor John Gioia and his staff, as well as Richmond City Councilor Ben Choi. I have volunteered to weed invasive blackberries and plant native plants along the Richmond Greenway. And I have taken some public stands in our name for what I believe is the best for North Richmond, an unincorporated piece of Contra Costa County, but unlike Kensington, has minimal internal resources to offer its own police or protective services.

I recently wrote a letter to Richmond City Council urging them to move forward with conversations with residents of North Richmond on the issue of annexation. My letter led to some deep and difficult conversation in this week’s Council meeting on the public role of Pastor, as well as whether these still match the passions and priorities of all of us as a congregation. In the next several months, the Pastor-Parish Relations Team is looking to broaden this conversation to the congregation as we evaluate together the ministries, passions, and priorities of the congregation, and how the pastor’s current job description plays into this. In all of this, we remind ourselves that, in the words of the Protestant Reformer’s, we are a “Priesthood of All Believers,” or in the words of our weekly bulletin, “Ministers: All the Members.”  

We are at a historical moment in ACC; it is 85 years since the first Sunday School met in Kensington, 75 years since ACC was chartered, 70 years since our current site was purchased and our building was started. (For more on our history, click here.)  Recently we have spent much energy and money on this building and grounds; if we are to maintain our legacy toward doing justice, we as an entire congregation must spend energy and money on that as well.

In this month of celebrating Reformations of our Faith, this week we celebrate ACC’s presence in this community. As we move toward Thanksgiving, I give thanks for all that is ACC-our historic legacy of doing justice and practicing deep spirituality, our present practice of claiming these for our own, our sights being set toward the future of faith in this place.

I wish you grateful hearts on this Thanksgiving Week, as Darrell and I head to Ohio to be with my family.                   

Peace, 

Pastor Tony 

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Bu Shirley Lutzky

Recommended article from Person of the Planet

Written by Shirley Lutzky

These days store owners think about Christmas at an earlier and earlier time, while the rest of us bemoan how commercial our holy day has become. But for a Person of The Planet, thinking early could actually be a wonderful opportunity to plan for a higher way of celebrating Christmas, a way to give to all who inhabit this very special planet. By planning now, we have an opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a way that benefits, rather than harms our Earth. What if this year we ask our POP question, "Is this good for the planet?" while making our plans for how to carry out this year's gift-giving and decorating, card-sending and gatherings. In our plans we could include the well being of God's creation - our Earth and all the creatures for which our planet provides.

I've come up with a few ideas for "greening up" the various ways we celebrate Christmas. I'm sure you can think of many more!

For Gift-giving, here are a few thoughts:

Let the money you spend on gifts do some extra work for the earth by buying gifts from charitable organizations that work for the environment, such as the Sierra Club, Friends of The Earth and Global Exchange. To use less carbon-creating energy and less pollution, we can give gifts of service and time, gifts that are hand-crafted or baked by us, or that others in our community make and sell, rather than giving unnecessary mass-produced "stuff" made of environment-harming materials in harmful ways involving harmful transportation. To buy ecofriendly gifts, you can find several websites with many products for sale. Here is one: https://eartheasy.com/gifts ("Eco-friendly gifts for adults and children alike")

Gathering and Exchanging of Gifts

For the actual gift exchange, here are two ideas: a white elephant party, where people exchange a desirable item they already have; or a secret pal gathering, where family members and/or friends bring only one gift and each person selects one gift from the offerings.

As for Feasting:

What if no animals were eaten on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Card-Sending

Do some of your card-sending as e-cards, and when sending paper cards use recycled paper products. Also (if you can find it) use recycled gift wrap, or create your own imaginative, beautiful ecological wrapping.

Decorating:

Turning off the tree lights when no one is around to see (unless you have a solar powered home,of course!)

Make a tradition of using and keeping a potted living tree instead of buying a newly cut tree every year.

And speaking of tradition, wouldn't it be great if we started now to dream of a Green Christmas based on Green choices , a life-giving kind of Christmas, that would eventually become the tradition for our children, our grand-children and all the great-grand children in the future beyond our own time?

Upcoming Events: Person of the Planet

Last night, our movie "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore could have been made this past year instead of 2005 when it was released.  The compelling climate information, effective pictures and graphs were a stark reminder how far we've come and how far we still need to go.  Sadly, as a country, we lag behind many other countries in our governmental policies and seemed to be going backwards.  The real moving forces are concerned individuals (us), environmental organizations and more local governmental agencies.  Following the movie, it was moving to hear each person's comments.

Don't miss "An Inconvenient Sequel" on Thursday, November 30 in the Fireside Room  at the church 52 Arlington Avenue.  We will start at 7:00pm.  Come a little early to chat and get your popcorn for the movie.

Have you ever been to a "Green Holiday Bazaar"?  This is our first attempt to put together this alternative shopping event.  We have sound some wonderful vendors that use natural resources, sustainable products, and creative art.  Buying  gifts that are good for the planet, IS good for the planet.   Please mark your calendars and help spread the word.

For this event to succeed, it is very important that you attend and invite all your friends, acquaintances and relatives.  It will be an exciting afternoon with food and live music provided by guitarist Anthony Knight and vocals with Elena Caruthers.  Be a part of its success!   

Green Holiday Bazaar

Sunday, December 3

1:00 - 5:00pm

Arlington Community Church

52  Arlington Avenue

Kensington

Reception of Associate Members: Dawn Canada & Rev. Barbara Peronteau

Dawn Canada

I was born in Illinois and have lived all my life in the Midwest with the exception of two years in Saudi Arabia. Prior to retirement in 1989 I was an elementary and preschool teacher for many years.  I have been a member of Congregational or UCC churches since 1965 and I'm transferring my membership from one in northern Minnesota.  I have two sons in the Bay Area and a daughter in Colorado Springs.  I also have three granddaughters and two great grandchildren.  While visiting the Bay Area in 2014 my husband became very ill.  Following his hospitalization we lived at El Cerrito Royale Assisted Living until his death in 2016.  I like to read and do volunteer work and I'm an avid baseball fan.

The Reverend Barbara K. Peronteau

Born in Latrobe, PA on November 2, 1954 Barbara would spend the first eight years of her life living in the Pittsburgh area. Barbara was baptized and grew up in the Lutheran Church. When Barbara was eight years old, her Dad, a sales representative for Lees Carpets, was transferred to San Francisco where they would find a home in San Rafael.

When Barbara was ten she began delivering papers for the San Rafael Independent Journal. Barbara played baseball in the San Rafael Little League. Mostly, there were positive memories of living in San Rafael, but just as Barbara was turning fourteen her Dad was transferred to the Philadelphia area uprooting her once again. They moved to the small town of Malvern, PA where she would go through her high school years.

Following high school Barbara attended Lynchburg College in Virginia where she graduated in 1977 with a BA in History and Political Science. As a young adult she heard a sermon causing her to follow her calling into ministry. She began seminary at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. It was there, in 1983, she began the most intense, significant, and wonderful relationship with the love of her life, Susan. This relationship became the one by which all others would be compared. In the process of discerning her call Barbara began to question her calling. Her discernment process led her to the United Church of Christ where she found a faith home. In the Fall of 1985 Barbara began attending Union Theological Seminary, in Virginia. In the spring of 1986 her relationship with Susan ended.

On Pentecost Sunday, 1988, Barbara graduated from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia with a Master of Divinity, a week later, on Trinity Sunday she was ordained at Old First, United Church of Christ in Philadelphia. Barbara went on to serve congregations in Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

In the Spring of 2013, after transitioning and emerging into the lovely and charming woman she is today, Barbara attended a Trans-Clergy event in Philadelphia. A group picture was circulated on EQ PA's Facebook page. She received positive feedback from several people from her Union Seminary days. Emboldened by this Barbara reached out with an e-mail to her former love, Susan. It was the first time in 27 years they had spoken to each other. Unwittingly, a ripple effect was created. The following year they met in Reading, PA for coffee. They saw each other annually over the next few years.  

While living in Reading, Barbara spoke at various places about being transgender, her Christian faith, and the need for inclusion and equal rights for the LGBTQ community. Barbara is most proud of bringing the Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20th, to Reading. In the Fall of 2016 Barbara began her yearlong Clinical Pastoral Education program working as an Interfaith Chaplain Resident at the Reading Hospital. She was the first chaplain to serve the Center for Public Health (HIV/AIDS population) at the Reading Hospital. Her most significant contribution was linking the Center for Public Health with the Women's Health Center Transgender Clinic so all people could have access to a chaplain.

Upon finishing her CPE Residency in August Barbara decided to follow her heart and move to Berkeley where she is now living with her partner Susan and her dog Max.

Reception of Associate Members: Lawrence V. Brookes & Nina P. Dodonova

Nina P. Dodonova

Nina was born April 16, 1951, in Holm Russia, a very small town about half way between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Her father and mother were both soldiers in the Red Army during The Great Patriotic War, to Americans World War II. Her father was a nomenclatura, a Communist Party official, and he served in various communities around western Russia before settling in Pskov in 1972.

Nina was raised as an atheist. She attended the St. Petersburg Pharmacy Academy and graduated in 1974. Afterwards, she worked for the Ministry of Interior as a chemist and was an officer, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel when she retired in 2003.

She met Larry in Pskov June 1, 1999 and they were married April 2, 2005. While with Larry she was baptized and has become a practicing Christian. She attended and was a member of the First Congregational Church Berkeley, where they were married, and has decided with Larry to transfer to Arlington Community Church, where she has found a warm and comforting community.

Nina has one daughter, Nadya Nikolenko, she is married to Nikita Nikolenko, and they live in Irkutsk, Siberia, but plan to move to Pskov next year. Nadya, who is 33, is now in the US on a tour visiting National and regional parks around the country, furthering her career in Russia as an administrator of Russian National Parks. Nina and Larry will pick up Nadya tonight and she will stay with them for ten days before returning to Russia.

Lawrence V. Brookes

Larry was born March 30, 1942, in the darkest days of World War II, at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He lived his first three years in Washington, DC, where his father worked for the federal government. He grew up in Orinda, California, at a time where there were more cows than people. His father was agnostic and mother an atheist, so he did not attend Church while young, but when 12 he and his sister made a secret visit to the closest Protestant Church to be baptized.

Larry attended Menlo School, then the California Institute of Technology but transferred to UC Berkeley from which he graduated in 1964, and from it law school Boalt Hall in 1967. He remembers wandering down to Sproul Plaza in 1964 to see Mario Savio perched on top of a police car at the beginning of the Free Speech Movement.

While in Law School Larry married Katherine Thomas and over the subsequent ten years had three children, Gwendolyn, James and Amy. Larry practiced law for 36 years in Los Angeles and then San Francisco, and has lived in the same house in Berkeley since 1973.

Larry and katherine parted ways and Larry met Nina in Pskov, Russia, on June 1, 1999. The two pursued a romantic relationship that culminated in their marriage April 2, 2005. They both are members of First  Congregational Church, Berkeley, where they were married but find that Arlington Community Church is more compatible with their spiritual and social life. Larry and Nina spend part of each year in Pskov, Russia, where he has his other family, that of Nina's family.

Faith is a Verb... Musings by Pastor Tony- October 27, 2017

This month in worship we have looked at Difficult Words of our Faith: Atonement—breaking the chain between sin and punishment, Redemption—(re)purchasing something that has been lost, Justice—equalizing power, Righteousness—being vindicated or being found in the right, and Sacrifice—making something holy. Each of these deals with loss: loss of relationship through sin, loss of property (including freedom in the case of slavery), loss of power, loss of validation and respect, loss of something of value for an altruistic purpose. Each of these ideas of our faith seeks a theological answer to the main question, “What is God’s best intention for our broken world?” and the answer is always, “Healing.”

There is much loss in the world around us: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have soaked places that were already wet, and the Northern California and Pacific Northwest wildfires have scorched earth that has been too dry for too long. The losses are immense, tragic, devastating—jobs, homes, lives, normalcy—and the healing is just beginning for many.

We are nearest to the wine country fires, so they are on many of our minds, and yet it has barely been a few months since Harvey destroyed the east coast of Texas, Irma devastated south Florida and the Caribbean, and Maria gave a second blow to the Caribbean. I am hearing of lots of ways to help our nearby neighbors; in fact, Darrell and I are planning on attending a Fire Relief fund-raising concert tonight. And let us not forget Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico.

In each of these natural disasters, I wonder what Atonement would look like. (First, we need to identify the sin in the situation—the sin in Puerto Rico appears to be delayed decisions on restoring power and water, and the punishment is death). What would Redemption look like? (What property that has been lost—how many people will lose property because of being under-insured and not having the money from job loss to keep up the mortgage payments?) What about Justice? (Who has lost power, who had little power to begin with—undocumented workers are afraid to apply for assistance from FEMA because their information is potentially shared with ICE). Righteousness? (Who will God vindicate or validate in these situations—Jesus suggests it is the meek, the poor, the poor in spirit, the faithful, and those who love their neighbor as themselves). Sacrifice? (What of value could we offer that would become holy in its giving—this week my spiritual director, rather than lighting candle to start our session, had a water altar and she offered that I pour some holy water into a bowl to remember the salvific, healing power of water where there is fire.)

These last few months, I have been moved by connections across the devastated areas. A seminary friend of mine who pastors in Naples, Florida, which sustained much damage from Irma, has reached out to me to see how we are doing. I in turn asked what he needs, now a few months later, and his reply was very specific: $460 to complete a goal of $3000 to supply 150 families with Christmas baskets of food. (My friend tells me that since Irma and Maria their food pantry has seen an increase in family size as those who lost homes in the storms move in with other family members). Perhaps we could raise that $460 and connect ourselves with some of the destruction that is all the way across our country.

As well, Puerto Rico has been deeply on my mind because my 50th birthday is coming up in February, and I have wanted to celebrate on the island where I celebrated my 5th birthday. My family lived there for a year when I was that age, and I have wanted to return as an adult. The destruction of the island has brought lots of discussion in our house about where else we might go. And I keep coming back to what I know deep within me; I still want to go there, and now I intend on bring supplies with for their recovery, as well as maybe offering a day or two of work. If that truly happens, the best gift I could imagine from Arlington Community Church would be to donate supplies that we could take along.

There is much to do. We have much to offer. I pray we can offer what we have not just in our region but wherever the world needs healing. If you want to reach out in these ways, please let me know.

Peace,

Pastor Tony