Cup of Kindness Cafe coffeehouse on 1st & 3rd Fridays: Next coffeehouse on Fri. April 19, 7 PM. Details on the online calendar, online calendar.

FREE Earth Day film, Common Ground on Sat. April 20, 6:30 PM. Sign up in advance, for either in person or Zoom option. Details and registration link on the online calendar, online calendar. Sign-up required.

Fiber Arts Meetup on 2nd & 4th Tuesdays: Next meetup on Tues. April 23, 6 PM. For details, visit the online calendar.

Weekly meditation with Rev. Ron Skowronski continues every Wednesday, 7 PM; no meditation experience necessary. For details, see the News & Events pages at the tab above, or visit the online calendar.

Locate upcoming events on the online calendar.

In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer

Have we learned nothing from history?

The “Holy Days” of March are behind us.

Hopefully, many have a renewed Faith, but also a commitment to act upon their faith within their daily lives.  As I was preparing the Easter sermon, I was listening to the radio.  The reporter shared that a politician had made some very disturbing remarks about illegal aliens and immigration.  I wasn’t all that shocked by the comments.  I was deeply saddened that it appears that all too many prejudices, hatreds, and arrogance are still alive and well in all too many citizens of our nation.

These are the same people who claim to “Love The Lord” as they celebrate Easter Sunday with the rest of Christendom.  As I am a strong supporter of the notion of saying what you mean and meaning what you say…It disturbs me that there can be such a huge disconnect in our national culture.  I ask myself, just when did we give ourselves permission to be so hostile and, as such, so divisive?
How do we simply ignore the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, etc., as well as the teachings of great Humanist progressive thinkers.  Have we learned nothing from history, that this kind of reasoning never ends well?
My parents escaped Nazi oppression.  I have known many immigrants who came to our nation seeking safety, freedom from want, religious freedom, political freedom, just to name a few reasons.  I think it is time for our political leaders to finally recognize that we need to remember and reconnect to the commitment we as a nation have always made to being a Light of Liberty.   I am saying that we need to recommit ourselves to “walking our talk,” especially in this dangerous age.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

~ Emma Lazarus

You know, 11 million people live in the shadows.  I believe they’re already American citizens.  These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to contribute fully.  And by that standard, 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans, in my view. 

~ President Joe Biden

This ought to be the time in which we shatter hate, prejudice, bigotry…with the moral integrity and spiritual values that are given so much lip service and yet so comparatively little courageous action.  I have come to believe that the current political climate would change for the better, if we had this reckoning and began to live up to our higher aspirations.

In Love & Service,
Rev. Ron