Thoughts From Cascadia

Let’s Connect – Week of March 29, 2020 Opening Prayer: Serenity Prayer O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other. Amen. Scripture: Romans 8:31b – 39 (selected verses CEB paraphrased) If God is with us, who is against us?...Who [What] will separate us from the Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, [or Covid-19]?...But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. I’m convinced that nothing can separate us God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angles or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, [or Covid-19] or any other thing that is created. Musing: Somewhere in the middle of one of the dozen Zoom meetings I was involved with in the

Let’s Connect – Week of March 22, 2020 Scripture: Jeremiah 29: 11-14a I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.  When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me. I will be present for you, declares the LORD, and I will end your captivity.  Musing: In times like these I like to return to passages of scripture that help me cope, that allow me to breathe, that clam me and bring me a sense of the presence of God. I also like to remind myself that there is something bigger than me that I can put my faith and trust in. So, I turned this week to Jeremiah 29 verses 11-14a. This image of a flower blooming from the solid and lifeless concrete helps me visualize what Jeremiah writes. Even encased in concrete life comes. Even when