The past couple weeks have shown the deep divide. The assassination of Charlie Kirk has brought all the rage from both sides. Some had no idea who he was. Others revered him. Others were hurt by his rhetoric. And where ever you were, that is okay. At the end of the day, the country has been reduced to battle language and war. A funeral became a political rally. We have seen each other more as enemies than as human beings. We need to step into the divide. We need to bring not hate but love. We need to begin the slow work of healing. And that begins by refusing to see people in terms of "them" or other but rather as human

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There is a famous camp song "They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love." Too often, the world doesn't know us because we don't act in love. We are human. We are imperfect, but the world is watching. They want to see how we respond when times are tough. How can we work to embody the love of Christ and to lift one another up? How can we work to bear each others burdens? Sometimes it means just showing up. Walking with people and showing and sharing the love of Christ.

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This week has been a lot. Another school shooting, death of Charlie Kirk, wars in the middle East and Ukraine, and any number of person issues for any of us. It is too much. People often say, "God won't give you more than you can handle." However, that is toxic theology. God walks with us, but God is not out to break us. We can cry out and we can lean on others, and we can trust in a God who is in the messy ness of human existence with us.

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John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace was a slave trader until a profound experience with God's grace changed him. Jesus talks about forgiveness and grace being given and the need for it to be passed on in the Gospel of Matthew. How might we be people who live by grace? How might we be people who offer grace to others instead of keeping score?

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Life can be more difficult when we feel the need to hide our truest selves. We need spaces in which we can be real. Church has for a long time been a place where it often feels like one must "keep up with the Joneses." What would happen if we made church a space where people could be who they are and where they are? What happens if we have courage enough to be real with one another and with ourselves?

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Whose Line is it Anyway always used the phrase "and the points don't matter." However in life in community, we all have unique gifts and talents and more like a painting by Georges Seurat in the style of pointillism - every point matters. So bring yourself, know that you are enough, and know that your point matters.

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Lego sets come with instructions. The bigger the set, the bigger the book or books. There are step by step instructions of how to build what's on the box. The Bible is the Christian Instruction manual. It is the inspired Word of God that can help us learn more about who God is and who God calls us to be. We learn from the troubles and trials of God's people and learn that the promises of God are ours as well.

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It is August so it is back to backpacks and football games. There is a rhythm to the fall and honestly there is a rhythm to everything in life. Whether it is the back to school routine instead of more laid back days of summer or it is the church year which has high holy seasons as well as ordinary time, or it is your spiritual self that has times of harvest and excitement and other times of rest and reflection. We all go through seasons and we cannot rush them. God walks with us through all these seasons, so look and listen, find what season you are in, and relax, knowing God is with you.

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