​Our confirmation class students are full of love, hope, peace, and intelligence.  The spirit of empathy represented consistently among members of this group ministers to me.  I’m pleased about our time together.  There are three primary instructors and one secondary teacher who substitutes.  We use a model which allows me to teach three Sundays in a row.  I have been able to engage the participants over stretches of time, fostering a degree of continuity I find important. 

​We are in a season of listening.  This time of preparation is full of reflection.  Oftentimes our spiritual exercises have been triggered by what someone has said in the past or by something that is read in the present or by what we imagine the future holds.  We know about several listening styles.  Understanding the message being sent is a goal that is not always achieved.  There are several reasons why clarity does not happen.  It has been reported that 70% of what people hear has been filtered and changed.  Effective communication includes flexibility and awareness in the listener.

QUESTION  1.  What Cultural issues were considered when drafting the Human Sexuality; Gift and Trust statement? This question is a result of understanding that we live in a world that has been sexualized.  I believe that several expressions of our gender and sexual identity are part of this conversation, whether or not we acknowledge it.  The recognition that many issues are on the table invites each of us to name them specifically, while doing the hard work which will help us respond in healthy ways to the whole challenge. 

​A response to the refugee crisis in Europe for me includes a travel memory.  While in Egypt, I went to “garbage city”.  This Christian community located in a Zabbalin village on one of the hills of the Mokattam, was the result of a 1969 decision by the Governor to relocate all the garbage collectors of Cairo, to this space.  Hastily built houses of tin were erected.  In 1987 there was a population of 15,000.  The number has doubled now and there is better housing.  There is a stench in the air of the village because all the garbage that is collected by these Christians, who were dis-located by their government, sits on the ground floor of the majority of the houses.  Families live on the second floor, on top of piles of trash, which is sorted to be recycled, sold, and burned.