First UCC Richmond

Dear Ones, 

It was no accident that the Greeks identified Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, as the mother of the Muses and that there could be no intelligent or creative activity without anyone drawing on what they had already stored in their brains. 

But what about when an accident, old age or illness robs loved ones of their memory? Something sad and strange happens. We do not regard a person as any less herself if she loses a limb, or if a balding man watches his hair recede, or, some cancerous section is cut away — but one who slips into memory loss is devalued, someone who is “not who they were.” 

We watch in alarm as the sufferer, increasingly bereft of his past, his vocabulary, or awareness of the names of those around him, reacts with frustration, anger, bewilderment and depression; and we too undergo our own kind of memory loss: We forget, bit by bit, their precious uniqueness and, in a guilty way, come to regard them as a troublesome nuisance. 

In defining people by what they are capable of doing rather than who they are, we forget that the sufferer remains our husband, our grandmother or, most importantly, a child of God. That this is often the case should come as no surprise. Our society honors the active, the rational and the problem-solving individual, capable of standing on her own two feet and taking on the world and, thus, to be overcome by dementia and to grow increasingly helpless is to lose claim on being fully human. As John Swinton says in “Forgetting Whose We Are: Theological Reflections on Personhood, Faith and Dementia,” there is a real sense in which this is “a cultural as well as a biological illness.” 

To observe Lent is to prepare for loss. We will hear in Scripture the story of a man, once active and strong enough to stride the length of the Holy Land, suddenly deprived of his freedom and friends and now rejected and despised, esteemed not. We embarked on a walk for the six weeks that will end on Golgotha, where an innocent man in the midst of his agony will cry because he believes his Father has forgotten him. But his Father did not forget him, any more than he forgets the man or woman who has lost grip on their memories and cognitive faculties, or on those who lovingly care for them. Because to observe Lent is also to prepare for Easter and the wonderful reminder that we are not, after all, merely our bodies or our brains. 

The empty tomb on that Sunday 2,000 years ago tells us that God remembers us, will come for our restored selves and will greet us by name. Memory will again be fresh: the familiar jokes, the recipes, the tales and the shared experiences will be recalled and our persons will be whole once more. 

In the words of Isak Dinesen, there will be a “time when our eyes are opened and we come to realize that mercy is infinite. We need only await it with confidence and receive it with gratitude. Mercy imposes no conditions.” 

We began with the imposition of Ashes but we conclude with the Resurrection.  As we continue our journey of Lent with extra prayer and fasting, maybe the ‘simple suppers’ followed by directed meditation, and then Maundy Thursday at 7 p.m. and Good Friday at noon at the Gazebo OR Tenebrae at another church in the evening, may all or some bring you to a great Easter Sunday Resurrection celebration.  

Blessings to you and yours,

Pastor KatieD

Maundy Thursday 7 p.m.

Friday Noon at Beebe Park

The man was on death row, and this was his last evening with friends. He could have spent the whole night in anger, in fear. He could have saved his nastiest words for Pilate, that Governor who was more concerned with protecting his political fortunes than with the administration of justice. He could have raved against the religious establishment, so bent on preserving itself that leaders would miss God’s truth in their midst.

But no.

At table with his friends, Christ Jesus broke bread and gave us that commandment from which Maundy Thursday takes is name. “That you love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Then he broke bread and shared supper. He poured wine and offered it to everyone, including those who would deny him, betray him, or hide when the mob arrived.

And then in a gesture of deep humility he washed their feet.

Indeed, John’s Gospel meditates on the Maundy Thursday story. After washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus shares another four chapters of wisdom before, finally, praying for his friends. “For the hour has come…Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one” (17:1, 11). I find this passage passionate, heart-wrenching, and amazing. Knowing what he was about to face, Jesus prays for his friends with divine love. He says, “I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves” (v. 13). How beautiful! What would it look like for Jesus’ joy to be made complete in us? Facing moments of personal tragedy, how might we find his strength to pray for those we love, or even for those who wound us? Indeed, this is the way of love, and it is the way of the cross.

Of all the stories we will tell this year, this is the one that stands out, to me, as the essence of discipleship: “That you love one another as I have loved you.”

Blessings to you as we observe these three holiest days of the Christian year.

Faithfully,
KatieD+

When I survey the wondrous cross where the young Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

(When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, text by Isaac Watts, Stanzas 1 and 4)

Pastor Katie’s Office Hours and Pastoral Care

Pastor Katie will be in her office at the church on Wednesdays & Thursdays. If there are situations that arise in which you need pastoral care on a day that Pastor Katie is not in the office, please call 586-727-3155 and leave a message with Helen or on the answering machine. You can also give Pastor Katie a call:   Cell number: 586-202-8644 Home phone: 586-716-9543 

In the old days, hospitals and rehab/nursing facilities used to inform pastors when one of their flock was admitted. That doesn’t happen anymore. Pastor Katie is always happy to receive your calls.