What can we do?  We can become a sign.  Whatever happens, become a sign of joy and a fountain of divine love.                                             --Bede Griffiths, OSB

Beloved Sisters and brothers,

In the midst of so many transitions, I long for the "thin places" that foster intimacy with God.  The image of a "thin place" comes to us from our Celtic brothers and sisters who describe it as a "place where we can sense the divine more readily." I would say that "thin places" are more than physical places; they are also gatherings and connections that draw us into an experience of the Holy with immediacy and intimacy.  It is in the "thin places" where we become a sign of joy and God's love flows forth.

Last Saturday, March 29, several of us from CCNC-N NAPAD churches, the First Samoan CCC members and myself gathered in the rain to be "baptized" along with the plants we placed in the earth.   

On a day when we could have simply stayed at home, a thin place become evident: God's Spirit moved in and among us. Soaked and blessed, we stood together, and we became a sign of joy. (If anyone still wants to be a part of the Landscape Pounding, you may send along a contribution to the regional office, 9260 Alcosta Blvd, C-22, San Ramon, CA 94583.) 

On May 2-4, we will gather together as CCNC-N.  Many times such gatherings turn into "thin places".  As we stand alongside and reach toward each other, we sense the presence of the Holy.  Choosing the theme, "Yes, and..." is a call to be ready for the thin place where "the better way" that Paul calls us to embrace in I Corinthians 12-13, the way of love, can be embodied. 

The second line of the theme "Getting off our Buts" captures the next step we can take to be open to the thin place that may appear in our midst. I have been practicing this.  Too often I respond with "Yes, but..." ready with my language to dismiss what another has said in deference to my thoughts and opinions.  "Yes, but..."  We are conditioned to say it without much thought to what it means when we do so. I've been trying on the "yes, and" response, often stopping mid-sentence for a re-do.  I am trying to be conscious of the ways I want to be a sign of welcoming the Spirit of wisdom in the other, even when we do not have the same understanding.  I want to become a sign of divine love which Paul asserts is "the better way". 

The other possible "thin place" that is on my mind is the 2014 Quadrennial Assembly, June 25-29.  As I finish my fourth year as International Disciples Women's President, I regale in the stories told by woman after woman about the "thin places" that she has discovered at QA.  Each one narrates a moment so thin she could sense God's presence and knew that her life would never be the same again. I offer the invitation to join me in Atlanta.

This relationship we claim as Jesus' people invites us simply to live the life, follow the Way, travel the journey in the everyday ordinariness of life -the pain and the pleasure, the heartaches and the hopes, the disappointment and the dreams-and discover the thin places where God's presence shows through.  Discovering those places, we claim the holy invitation to "become a sign of joy and a fountain of divine love."

The Brother Brucie Bike Blessing will be a ride-by blessing for bikes, trikes, and motorcycles - and those who ride them. This event of joy and love will be held in the parking lot to the immediate east of the Niles Town Plaza. Bruce Kieft very much wanted the church to sponsor a bike blessing, and we are holding this in his honor.

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First Samoan Congregational Christian Church of Reno

United Christian Church, Livermore