July 24, 2026
Dear church,
Being alive in the world holds so much beauty, and so much pain. We look around, and we witness and experience fear, war, SNAP cuts, genocide, illness, family conflict, uncertainty, and despair. We look around, and we witness and experience connection, friendship, ripening tomatoes, a sunset over a lake, medication and treatment that’s helping, and love. We try to hold together joy and grief, heartache and hope, and that is not always easy.
For today’s pastor’s note, I wanted to share a blessing by Kate Bowler, author of Everything Happens for a Reason, and Other Lies I’ve Loved, a text that helped shape the arc of our summer sermon series, You Have Heard it Said, but I Say to You.
This is “a blessing for beautiful, terrible days.”
Blessed are we, the anxious,
with eyes wide open to the lovely and the awful.
Blessed are we, the aware,
knowing that the only sane thing to do in such a world
is to admit the fear that sits in our peripheral vision.
Blessed are we, the hopeful,
eyes searching for the horizon,
ready to meet the next miracle, the next surprise.
Yes, blessed are we, the grateful,
awake to this beautiful, terrible day.
May the love of God hold you, may you live out Christ’s love in the world, and may you extend that same love to your own heart.
In Christ,
Pastor Reed