January 16

Friends, it’s another one of those weeks when I venture back to Buffalo. This time, I fly with some trepidation and some guilt. I’ll leave a bit earlier than usual to get to Minneapolis because of the chance that TSA workers and air traffic controllers—both groups required to work without pay during this unprecedented government shutdown—will call out and the airport will be understaffed. I may be inconvenienced, and I may be less safe than I normally assume I am. At the same time, I understand how miserable it is to be without a pay check. It will be uncomfortable facing folks working hard and doing their jobs, but without being paid. They are not permitted to accept tips or gift cards, and I can only hope that a smile, a “Thank You,” and more patience than I fear I usually exercise will ease their ways just a little.

This is just one more miserable situation in our country today, with more people employed but many at wages that do not support renting one-bedroom apartments, with a booming stock market that benefits those with money in the game but which does not seem to be trickling down to working class people in any kind of life-affirming way. And, sadly, more. Our country is not peaceful—in its interactions with traditional allies, in its responsibility to fulfill international commitments, in its just treatment of black and brown citizens, in its behavior toward asylum seekers.

When the times are tough and discouraging, how thankful I am to be a part of our Fellowship. How gratifying it is to be among people who care about each other, who reach out to each other in profoundly personal ways. How satisfying it is to experience the creativity bubbling just under and at the surface of our shared lives, with folks willing to propose and to work for Fellowship programs that they need and which will enrich our whole community. How humbling to bear witness to the deep spiritual needs of so many, longing to feel more seen, more connected, and more enriched as we seek to make meaning and beauty from all that life presents to us as it unfolds.

And how rewarding to experience the outflow of generosity as we seek as a Fellowship, as a religious community, to express our values by supporting efforts to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable in our larger communities. We took a Second Collection at Sunday service on January 13, and our donations for Pedal Past Poverty, the annual fund-raiser for Partners for Affordable Housing, totaled more than the $1,000.00 we need to sponsor a team of ten to cycle on Saturday, Feb. 23rd. We did it. We did it again, for the eight time. We did it together. But let us remember that persistent joy in doing what is right is the only way to bring about justice in this beautiful and hurting world. Let us gratefully celebrate our generosity, let us humbly accept that it is not and never will be enough, and let us joyfully give and ride and peddle in relationship with others in this community who care to make life good for more of us.

Can’t wait to be back with you on January 22.

Until then, blessings to you all, Rev. Rita