Paintings by Tim Paholak

"I consider myself a colorist. Any images that come, come out of the color relationships. Sometimes the figures connect the colors."

Now on view at the Christian Community Church.

Snow Fall

With no wind blowing
It sifts gently down,
Enclosing my world in
A cool white down
A tenderness of snowing.

It falls and falls like sleep
Til wakeful eyes can close
As peace comes in and flows,
Snow-dreaming what I keep.

Silence assumes the air
And the five senses all
Are wafted on the fall
To somewhere magical
Beyond hope and despair.

There is nothing to do
But drift now, more or less
The silent, tender snow.

May Sarton

The star of grace, a ray of hope.

“We are given mistakes,

We are given nightmares, 

And our task is to turn them into poetry.

And were I truly a poet,

I would feel that every moment of my life is poetic,

Every moment of my life is a kind of clay I have to mold,

The actual poet’s task is true for the poetic Spirit in everyone,

The work of giving form, expression,

To everything that happens,

This discovering and revealing meaning,

‘the pattern of glory’

Discovering that all experiences, light or dark,

Are stars,

And take their place in the constellation of wholeness.”

— Journals of Helen M. Luke

Throughout the world and certainly in the United States of America, amidst poverty, the pandemic, cold, hunger, uncertainty, inequality and doubt, something wonderful has been enkindled by a young woman with a poem: Hope. Hope is a gift. It is not logical. It is not based on fact or built out of material. It is a light which breaks out of the darkness. It is a good and wonderful power in human beings.

Once the guiding star of grace appeared over the place where the Jesus child was. This gave the people who had been waiting for the Messiah great hope. This star of grace has been radiating to the people on earth ever since then. But we lose sight of it. It seems to “pull back” just when we need it most. What can we understand about this?

There is  beautiful inside-outness that accompanies spiritual truths. What was once outside is now inside us. We can come to find that the light of grace recedes and has been imparted to us as inner light, as hope.

Our inner light has to “catch” the light of another. We have to “love “ the light out of others and refuse to do otherwise. We have to see the light in the darkness of closed minds and hardened hearts. We can be brave enough to “be the light” if we have complete and utter faith in the intrinsic goodness in every person, no matter what the outer picture seems like. 

Father Greg Boyle, who has worked tirelessly and lovingly with violent gang members in LA for the last 35 years, is often asked by innocent admirers, “When do you introduce Christ to the gang members?” His answer is : “I don’t. They introduce Him to me.”  Inside-outness.

In “Stories that heal” Rachel Remen writes: “People who have sought healing everywhere else are often afraid to look within, afraid to find, at depth, someone insignificant, or even unworthy. Yet, this is rarely the case. The soul is our birthright. At depth, everyone is beautiful. Often it is the discovery of the ‘spot of grace’ that heralds the beginning of our deepest healing.”

May our hope be enkindled. May the Star of Grace penetrate our hearts, bringing insight and healing in recognition of the light in every human being.

Advent & Christmas

Was it light?
Was it light within?
Was it light within light?
Stillness, becoming alive, yet still.
-Roethke

 
The Advent and Christmas stories we love so much, the ones which work deeply in our souls, which we carry for a lifetime and retell to our children and grandchildren, all have one thing in common: The occur before the onset of electricity.
 
These stories take us back to a time when life was simpler; when church bells rang, horses pulled sledges through the snow, and children gathered around the fire to hear their father read stories from the Gospel in the evenings. People lived closer to the rhythms of nature, the sun, and the stars. And there was firelight everywhere.
 
We have lost much of that. Life has sped up, we have tremendous capacities, opportunity, freedom, intelligence, air travel, internet, and virtual reality. This has not come without consequences.
 
Our modern world is so loud and so fast, one wonders how the angels are supposed to “get through” to us. How can we become still enough to perceive the spiritual world anymore? And yet, we are still mortal. We are human souls walking in the darkness of earth's existence, seeking the light; the true light. When we turn to meditation or to prayer we return to candlelight. We may also desire to return to the innocence of the past, to not know what we know.
 
But what a deed it is to consciously bring the light of active thinking into the darkness of our time! Consider the candle: By the same force which draws the sap up through the plant or tree.

- Rev. Carol Kelly

Christian Community Priests Child Education Fund

Dear North American congregations, dear friends, 

In past years through many generous gifts, we raised funds for the Priest Child Education Fund. That money was distributed to three North American priest families who were able to send their children to Waldorf schools and pay for additional educational costs as a direct result of these gifts. They were extremely grateful to receive this support. 

Why do we need this fund in our region? 

Our priest families are supported through the freely given donations of their congregational members that cover the basics of housing, food, utilities, transportation, health care, etc. One key expense that is not typically included in the priest support is the cost of educating their children. A good education,  particularly a Waldorf education, is expensive, often too expensive for our priest families, even if the priest’s partner works, and even if they receive financial aid from the school. 

The education of our priests’ children is a movement issue, not a congregational one. We are all supported through the collective work of our priests and the health of any individual congregation is also tied to the health of the entire North American Region. Your current priest might be single, or without school-age children, but that could change at any time. As you have no doubt at some point experienced,  priests, move. So, this fund is critical to our movement’s future in North America. 

How does the fund work? 

First, the priest’s congregation is asked for their help as part of the ongoing support of their priest;  second, the priest’s family gathers as much as they can from their own resources; and finally, the  Education Fund will supplement these resources, to the extent of the need and the funds available. Each link in the fundraising chain will only be expected to cover a portion of the overall tuition, with the  Education Fund coming in at the end to hopefully fill any remaining need. Total funds distributed in a  given year will not exceed $10,000.  

We realize that many of you are already giving generously to the Christian Community, and that support is greatly appreciated. If you are able to do something more to help support our priests and their families so that they can continue to do their essential work in the world, please do so today. Without your generous support, this fund cannot exist.  

Our priests and their children thank you! In deepest gratitude, 

Bruce Chamberlin 
For the Regional Board

Donation Link Here
For Christian Community Priests Child Education Fund

To View PDF CC Priests Child Education Fund Letters with links
Click Here

Knighthood of the 21st Century

There is a knighthood of the 21st century

whose riders do not ride through the darkness

of physical forests as of old,

but through the forest of darkened minds.

They are armed with a spiritual armor

and an inner sun makes them radiant.

Out of them shines healing,

healing that flows from the knowledge

of the human being as a spiritual being.

They must create inner order, inner justice,

peace and conviction in the darkness

of our time.

~ Karl Konig

Christmas Trees are needed!

Christmas Trees are needed for Advent and Christmas at the Church.

We need one tree for Advent, which stands at the altar, by Saturday November 28th. 
If you have a tree on your property that is not too big and not too small,
would you consider donating it to the church? 
Our trees here have just gotten too big.

We will also need a tree for Christmas in the parish house around December 23rd.

Thank You!
Rev. Carol Kelly 
carolkelly.cc@gmail.com