Katherine Houk

As I am writing this, it is the month of March. Last week the air was filled with fat fluffy clumps of snowflakes, swirling gently in the chilly breeze. Today we have temperatures in the high fifties, and the snowdrops and crocuses that poked up during the past week are blossoming. By the time you read this, it will be April. As always, I look forward to the rebirth of the land in Spring, its beauty and life-affirming energy, which feel especially important in these turbulent times.

In her Transfiguration Sunday sermon, Patty Fox spoke of “mountaintop experiences,” during which the Holy shines through and touches us; our experiences of the “living light,” a feeling of unity within us and around us. In particular, she mentioned a person who, to re-experience such moments, would “call up prairie grass” to soak in its memory and pray. And remember the hymn/spiritual/Appalachian song “Down to the River to Pray?”

All my life I have experienced the natural world as sacred. Experiences among the trees, with plants and animals, with sea and sky can be healing for me, sometimes even transformational. In her sermon, Patty said that, for the most part, people don’t like to talk about their experiences of the sacred. They may fear being disbelieved, even ridiculed. I believe that good can come from such sharing. It is reassuring to know that we are not alone, and we have much to learn from one another.

In January, I made the decision to offer a Creating Space series which values the expressing of our sacred moments, specifically those occurring within the natural world. The novelist Saul Bellow once said, “I feel that art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm. I think that art has something to do with an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction.”

Putting together our nature experiences with our need for an “eye in the storm,” I offer this series as a way to express such sacred moments. The three gatherings are entitled “A Spirituality of Nature.” In this series, after first teasing out what “a spirituality of nature” might mean, we’ll explore ways to foster openness while engaging with the larger-than-human world. During the week between each session, we will individually immerse ourselves in engaging with nature. When we come back together, a vital part of our gathering will be expressing our nature experiences in whatever way is right for each of us: story, artwork, photography, poetry, journaling, movement, or song, and sharing with one another in a safe space.

If this series appeals to you, visit www.creatingspacecollective.org to register for A Spirituality of Nature. The meeting dates will be May 11, 18, and 25 at 7 pm. This series is open to people from any faith tradition or none; please spread the word to friends and family, and remember—the outdoors is calling you.

The Saul Bellow quote is from Conversations with Saul Bellow, edited by Gloria Cronin (University of Mississippi Press, 1994).

In early February, NPR’s Fresh Air featured host Terry Gross interviewing Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a History Professor from Acadia University in Nova Scotia. I was riveted. I was shocked. I was dismayed and ultimately, saddened at the legislation that is in place or is being attempted to be put in place our “land of the free” to stifle free speech.

One would think that free speech is secure in our country as a core belief and value on which we were founded. We teach truth and want our children to learn true history so they can develop values and morals worthy of global citizens. Don’t we?

Dr. Sachs talked about three main areas of concern he is tracking: racial justice, LGBTQ regulations and prohibitions, and abortion rights. Many of these new laws center on regulations imposed on educational institutions with severe, draconian punishments for “violators” whether they be teachers, administrators, or Boards of Education. Thirty-five states have introduced bills and twelve states already have laws in place that prohibit discussion of critical race theory (CRT) – despite the fact that CRT has only ever been on the curricula in graduate school. That is only the beginning of the push to quell discussion of race-related issues.

As if that weren’t enough, many states are encouraging parents and citizens (even students) to report ‘violators’. Students are encouraged to film teachers with their smart phones. While curricular transparency is a good thing, privacy of students is another. It is NOT all right to have the student who is struggling in the classroom filmed, nor is it all right to have the student with the black eye from their abusive parent seen in a smart phone video.

There’s more distressing news on restrictions of and banning reproductive rights, from the Supreme Court to state legislation – some giving the unborn more rights than the person carrying the fetus, and further restrictions on rights for LGBTQ people cited in Dr. Sachs’ interview. I encourage you to listen to it. Book bans, penalties, limitations on how and what to teach, extreme scrutiny – this is leading to an exodus by teachers and a disincentive for anyone to consider teaching as a career. The list of people who are at risk grows – librarians, educators, election workers, doctors, legislators – it is truly frightening. We must be vigilant.

Susan Bues

One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is one of three offerings the Canaan Congregational Church sponsors during the year to support our wider mission. This offering enables the United Church of Christ to reach people and communities affected by disaster, violence, displacement or poverty, in the United States and throughout the world.

OGHS works with congregations and organizations locally, those vested in the affected communities, so that we can be present quickly, and help the people living in those communities rebuild their lives. This year’s OGHS theme is Love Remains. 

In the theme scripture (1 Corinthians 13), the Apostle Paul helped newly converted Christians at Corinth embrace the virtue of love. Love is an active decision to think of others before self; to work on behalf of others; and to care for other with acts of kindness and advocacy. Paul taught that community is less about “me” and more about “us.”

Putting love into actions is a call to us to help our neighbors, near and far, as we have the ability. The Apostle Paul reminds us, just as he did the Corinthians so long ago, that the greatest expression of our connection to others is the way we love them. Our generous gift to One Great Hour of Sharing – United Church of Christ enables our church and our worldwide partners to make a difference in lives and communities around the world. Together, we are responding to disasters, supporting sustainable farming, education, and health initiatives, as well as pitching in to assist people fleeing violence from their home communities. We receive this offering with joy, believing that, despite all the challenges facing the world, love remains.

On Sunday, March 27, please join with members from several thousand fellow UCC churches to support One Great Hour of Sharing. We will be accepting donations throughout the month of March.

Please make your check payable to the Canaan Congregational Church and indicate in the memo portion that the check is for the OGHS offering. Donations may be mailed to the Canaan Congregational Church, P.O. Box 66, Canaan, NY 12029. 

Ed Fallon, for the Missions Team

As we bid Pastor Patty our heartfelt farewell and find ourselves adrift in this Lenten period we are in a place of transition. We have been here before and it is part of the cycle of life, especially in a small church. Just two years ago we can remember the total upheaval we were in when we were in stay-at-home mode and faced deaths of several beloved members, and then Pastor Charlie died suddenly. Pastor Patty came into our midst in June 2020. She got to know us in both small outdoors groups and virtually on Zoom. In the fall we met for two sessions of Appreciative Inquiry and out of those conversations the Creating Space Collective was born. In January 2021 we launched Creating Space. With the award of the UCC grant for $7,500 we have been affirmed in our efforts to reach out to individuals who might not attend church on Sunday but wish to engage in our spirituality and art workshops.

Most recently through Creating Space we had the pleasure of being led in a Contemplative Prayer workshop with Rev. Mark Longhurst. To gather with him these many years later with our many intervening circumstances… he is the father of two sons for example and we have rebuilt our church… it was a reunion of old friends. We may be in different moments in our lives, but we could still connect deeply.

We will be meeting with our Area Conference Minister Rev. Terry Yasuko Ogawa for the first time on March 17 during our Council Meeting. We welcome anyone who is interested to join us in this meeting. Rev. Terry will be supporting us in our next steps as we consider our pastor search.

We have a thoughtful tag team of pastors who will lead worship in the coming months.

Our Transition Team, which includes Pat Wallender, Susan Bues, Katharine Houk, Ed Fallon, Jennifer Hay and myself, has met twice. We wish to honor our community that we have built through these years and which has helped to sustain us through much adversity: fire, family losses, pandemic. We have reflected upon how we share core values with the Shakers: community, inclusion, innovation, integrity and conviction. We hope we can strengthen our community which has been fragmented during pandemic. This will be a labor of love for one another as we go forward.

Jay Aronson
Moderator

Dear Beloved of God,

On Sunday we shared our reactions with one another to the violence that occurred last week in both Washington DC and various other places across the country.  We considered how we, as people of Christian faith, ought to respond to the challenges our country is currently facing.  It was the consensus of those in worship that we need first to talk about difficult subjects with those with whom we share at least some commonalities before we can dare to enter into conversation with those who have opinions that are at the extreme opposites of our own.  It appears our thoughts on this subject are not far off from those of the national body of the UCC.

In their statement condemning “the insurrection that took place at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021” the Elected Officers of the United Church of Christ named this as a time “for the church, in all denominational contexts, to release support of white power and white privilege and to embrace fully the call to follow Jesus.”  We, as members of the United Church of Christ, have been asked to engage not only in moments of “sober reflection and fervent prayer”, but also “brave conversation and a willingness to break down the barriers between us and within our communities.”

And so, beginning this week, I will be offering opportunities for us to be in conversation about the role of racism in our collective story as Christians.  This is not a simple exercise in academic musings but rather a real time necessity if we hope to be genuine witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus in Berkshire and Columbia counties.

The resources that I intend to use will include:

A documentary video called:  White Savior: Racism in the American Church.  This one hour video explores the historic relationship between racism and American Christianity, the ongoing segregation of the church in the US, and the complexities of racial reconciliation.  You can find it using this link:  https://www.amazon.com/White-Savior-Racism-American-Church/dp/B07ZS6B9FB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3R8L29CDD43K3&dchild=1&keywords=white+savior+racism+in+the+american+church&qid=1610401009&sprefix=white+savior,aps,189&sr=8-1

A UCC study resource:  White Privilege: Let’s Talk – A Resource for Transformational Dialogue which can be downloaded here:  https://www.sneucc.org/files/files/documentsmissionjustice/white-privilege-curriculum.pdf

Please take time to view the video and review the UCC study in preparation for our discussions.  I will likely plan a mid-week evening Zoom session, but also hope to integrate the material into our Sunday morning services.

Thank you for taking this critical step with me.

Peace,
Pastor Patty

My first experience with a Congregational Church was years ago, when I was living with a friend in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Her family belonged to the Congregational Church in Monterey, and one Sunday, I went with her to a church service. I have to tell you that when the pastor came down from the dais to ask if there were any joys and concerns that people would like to share, I was blown away. I was so struck by how people were speaking right up and sharing their very real joys and concerns. Having grown up in the Catholic Church, this was not something I was familiar with, but something that held so much meaning for me. And then when the pastor offered up a prayer, off the top of his head, which included all of the things people had shared about, I knew I had found something very special—something I had been looking for in my spiritual seeking.

When my husband and I moved our young family to Austerlitz 15 years ago, it didn’t take me long to find Canaan Congregational Church. I hadn’t been to church in several years but happened to see something in the paper about Canaan having just held a Harvest Fair. I went to church the following Sunday and felt welcomed from the moment I walked in.

It wasn’t long before I became a member, and then a deacon. Being a deacon has been such a good fit for me. It involves not only helping with the service each week, and helping administer communion, but also connecting with and offering pastoral care to our church family.

I have recently stepped into the role of lead deacon and am looking forward to serving our church family in this role. I’ve had such good role models over the years in the work of deaconing, including Jean Dickason, Pam Lappies, and Philip Bues, and hope to continue from their example. If you or someone you know would like to be on our deacon contact list, please feel free to let me know and a deacon will be in touch.

Blessings and gratitude,

Tempe Croke

Inspired by Pastor Patty’s reflections on recent Sunday mornings, I have been thinking about the idea of privilege, the subtle and not so subtle ways in which society favors one group of people over another. Though I have never considered myself especially privileged, the fact that I am a white, cisgendered, heterosexual woman who has an education, a place to live and enough to eat, means that I am. I have been taking it for granted. With that in mind, I decided to make a practice of observing the role of privilege in my life at present, and to think about how I have been privileged in the past.

The following is a hodgepodge of loosely connected observations and memories.

I was waited on in a store a few weeks ago by a kind black man whose accent I think is African. He struggled with communicating with me and I started to feel impatient. I am grateful I found the grace (thank you, Holy Spirit!), to imagine how hard his life must be, and to appreciate his efforts. I have never needed to move to another country or learn a new language and use it in a job.

My cousin Alex is a transgendered woman. She is much younger than I, and we don’t live near each other, but I know something of the struggle she went through to be where she is now. It was very hard, and family relationships were strained for a long time. Fortunately, she seems happy now, and some of the relationships have healed. I have never had to go through anything like that.

I have vivid memories from childhood of signs announcing “whites only” and “colored” restrooms and drinking fountains in our little Kentucky town. I was in Catholic school and being taught by Franciscan nuns that racial prejudice was a sin against God, and I remember being very aware of the contrast between what I was being told and what I was seeing, and aware that being white was easier than being black. (I can’t stop myself from adding here that I think those nuns were amazing!)

When I watch the evening news, I am reminded of how privileged I am. Stories of immigrants desperate to find a peaceful place to live, children going hungry, bombed-out buildings—all demonstrate how privileged I am to live the way I do.

Age has brought privilege as well. I am about to receive my second vaccination against COVID-19. I understand that from a public health perspective, it makes sense to vaccinate older people first, but I am uncomfortable that I, a healthy retiree who can stay home to avoid infection, am being vaccinated ahead of grocery store clerks and the many other people who have to work in public places.

I can think of many other examples of the privileges I have received simply because of who I happen to be. I didn’t earn them, and the less privileged are at least as deserving as I am. Paying attention to privilege seems to me a spiritual practice, one not meant to induce guilt but to grow compassion for people who have struggles I’ve never had to face. All it requires is a willingness to be aware.

—Patricia Wallender

Hanging in the new sanctuary of the Canaan Congregational Church is a colorful fabric banner depicting the Tree of Life, with words across the top that say “Hands To Work, Hearts To God.” I immersed myself in the creation of this Tree of Life banner, which took more than eight hundred hours to design and create. It is a gift expressing my love for God, Life, and our Canaan Congregation.

About eight years ago, the Deacons of the congregation asked me to make a banner for the church. The fruit of that discussion was the Tree of Life idea, with a verbal message from the Shaker tradition. I began work on the banner, but soon was stricken with a serious, rare illness, which sidelined the banner work until relatively recently. With my health much improved, I was able to complete the banner just in time for the dedication of our new worship space. Had I not set the work aside for a time, it could have gone up in flames when our church building burned.

Trees nurture each other as do the members of the church family at Canaan Congregational Church

The Tree of Life has surfaced as an important religious symbol in many traditions, in differing forms, carrying a variety of meanings: love, peace, honoring of ancestors, growth and strength, harmony, family, fertility, wisdom, immortality and rebirth, and a connection to everything. In the Celtic tradition, the Tree of Life is depicted in multiple forms. The roots represent the “otherworld,” the trunk represents the mortal world and connects the roots and branches, and the branches represent the world above, or the heavens. When they cleared their lands, the ancient Celts, who held great reverence for trees, would leave one single tree standing in the middle. They would hold their important gatherings under this tree and it was a very serious crime to cut it down. It represented harmony and balance and was an important symbol in the Celtic culture.

“She (Wisdom) is a Tree of Life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.” — Proverbs 3:18 (New International Version)

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, there are several references to the Tree of Life. The first is in the Book of Genesis. It is a tree that grows within the Garden of Eden and is the source of eternal life. In Christianity, some believe it to be the symbol of humanity free from corruption and sin, while others believe it to represent love. The tree is believed to have healing properties, and its fruit grants immortality. Because Islam honors many stories from the Bible, the Tree of Life, which appeared in Eden, is known as the Tree of Immortality in the Quran. Buddhists have the Bodhi Tree, under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment.

The choice of the Tree of Life is of deep meaning to me personally because I have been a tree lover all my life. As a very young child, I used to think that the trees swaying on a windy day were expressing themselves by creating the wind with their dancing movement. My scientist parents promptly disabused me of this notion, but I continued to think of trees as marvelous and very alive beings. Now science is discovering that trees do indeed “communicate” with one another underground, via tiny white strands of fungus in the soil called mycelium: Trees nurture each other as do the members of the church family at Canaan Congregational Church.