In an effort to keep our members informed about the work that is happening, below you will find a few updates on our big projects.

Pastor Cara in the Circuit Rider this month talks about the spiritual practice of having a beginner’s mind. This practice teaches us to look at the world around us as if for the first time. Shunryu Suzuki, a Zen Buddhist monk, said "In the Beginner's Mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few."

This week, we invite you to watch a 5-minute gratitude meditation. In words, images, and music, David Steindl-Rast walks us through aspects of daily life and connects us with a sense of gratefulness. Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who is known for his teachings, TED talks, and books on the subject of gratitude.

As I listened to the choir sing “Hymn of Promise” so beautifully in worship this week, I was reminded of how much I miss congregational singing. That particular hymn is one of my favorites, and I find great joy in singing a beloved hymn together with the congregation. However, I’m not a great singer. In fact, I doubt I’m even a good singer. But there is no question that I love singing! In congregational singing, all the good and great singers in the church make it possible for me to join in and stay (more or less) in the right key.

While I have no particular musical abilities, singing has been one of the most natural and easiest places for me to connect with God. When I think back over my childhood experiences of God, it’s the singing that stands out. Singing in the outdoor chapel at Twinlow Camp in eastern Idaho early in the morning.

At our last Virtual Potluck, we talked about our hobbies. One of the hobbies I enjoy the most is reading. I am not a fan of reading to learn something new as much as I enjoy escaping to another world. It helps me leave my struggles, anxieties, and the stress of the real world as I enter a world that sometimes is completed alien to me.

Without a library to go at the moment, I found myself out of fiction books to read so last week I order two new books: Station Eleven and the Priory of the Orange Tree. After looking at the size of the two books, I chose to start with Station Eleven which begins with a pandemic.

One of the biggest struggles for me throughout this time of COVID-19 has been dealing with all the changes in my regular rhythms of my life. I no longer drive back and forth to Summit UMC Monday through Thursday. I don’t spend Sunday mornings leading worship. I don’t make plans to meet friends for dinner on the weekend. We haven’t celebrated birthdays by gathering with family. Pastors and laity didn’t gather for Annual Conference in person this year. Over the past weeks, I’ve often commented that my life feels like the movie, Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray’s character wakes up each morning to live the same day over again. Without regular changes in time, place, and activity, my days and weeks blend together.

Over the past weeks, I’ve heard congregation members express gratitude for aspects of daily life that have given them joy, even while dealing with the disruption and grief brought on by COVID. Picking the first peas of the season from the garden. Taking a daily walk. Planting geraniums in pots. Playing card games. Spending extra time with pets. Enjoying fresh Puyallup strawberries. Getting outside in the sun. Watching the birds.

As people have shared these simple joys, I’ve noticed how often they involve nature in some way. I find the same is true in my own life –getting outside for a walk is good for my physical and spiritual health. Now that I both work and live at home, going for a walk gives me a mental break from the “office,” which also happens to be my kitchen. Getting outside and looking up into the high canopy of the trees or down at the slugs and snails also gives me a sense of connection to God’s larger, ongoing story.

I love potatoes in almost any form—mashed, fried, baked, chips, etc. So this spring when my potatoes started to grow eyes, I decided to try to see if I could get them to grow some roots. To my surprise, after weeks of sitting above cups of water, they did just that. Once the roots grew substantially, I cut the potatoes and planted them in the ground.

For much of the next few weeks, I thought I had done something wrong as I could see nothing growing. Perhaps, I had put them in the ground too soon or not soon enough. Or maybe I dug the hole too deep and the sprouts would never find the sun.

I was so excited the first day I saw something green near where I planted the potatoes. Until I realized a few days later, that it was a weed. A week later, I discovered five new sprouts pushing themselves out of the ground right where I had planted the potatoes. I couldn’t contain my excitement!