August 2025 Newsletter Pastor’s Page
Greetings church,
I have returned from my four-week renewal leave, and I am back to my normal routine and responsibilities. Before I share about my renewal time, I want to express my deep gratitude for those who helped me take this leave.
Thank you to: Jeny, Terry, Erika, and Nancy for preaching; Nancy, Shirley, Sabrina, Erica, and Dave for assisting in worship; Ann for keeping the worship and administrative wheels spinning; Shirley, Terry, Dave, Nancy, and Janet for being extra responsive to pastoral care needs as the Care Team; to Diane and our Leadership Board for supporting my request and serving our congregation; and to Valerie for adding extra to your plate during the busy summer season so that I could have extra time and space for leave.
During my renewal leave, I was able to decompress from the regular day-to-day demands of ministry and spend time in God’s presence through prayer, reading, rest, and loved ones. I was able to allow my pace of life to slow down. I was fortunate to have space and time to connect with God in deep and meaningful ways, especially in prayer and reading. I was fortunate to travel and see family and friends and also experience a retreat at Our Lady of New Clairvaux Abbey in Vina, California.
By reading “Ordinary Mysticism” by Mirabai Starr, I reconnected with a sense of mysticism that I believe Jesus and other saints embodied. I remembered that “Mysticism is a way of seeing – beyond the turmoil, the rights and wrongs, the good guys and villains – to the radiant heart of things. The mystical gaze reveals the miracle in the summer thunderstorm and the bowl of ramen…A mystic gazes through the eyes of love, and love reveals itself as the only true thing.” Living ordinary daily mysticism with renewed eyes helps us have a direct experience of the sacred within the typical moments of everyday life.
By reading “Your Perfect Right” by Alberti & Emmons, I learned strategies to develop more assertiveness, and learned to differentiate between being assertive, non-assertive, and aggressive, which we often think of as ‘assertive.’ As our world changes, and aggression and violence seem to increase, it’s worth asking if it is worth being assertive in every situation or relationship. Perhaps it is more essential to cultivate the right tone rather than perfect assertive wording and be kind and forgiving to ourselves.
Finally, by reading “Practicing the Pause: Jesus’ contemplative practice, new brain science, and what it means to be fully human,” by Caroline Oakes I integrated my sense of Jesus’ ancient spirituality with previous readings, and came away with a deeper conviction that meditation, contemplative prayer, and mindfulness is the ancient pathway toward connection with God that our culture so desperately needs. Our brains are bombarded my constant messages and distractions. Meditation – especially Christian Meditation – enables our brains to rewire and cultivate non-dualistic presence and compassionate responses for ourselves and others. I highly recommend this book.
On Sunday, August 3, I will share a little more about my renewal leave during worship. What will I take away from this time and carry forward in my life and ministry? Come this Sunday as we worship together and celebrate holy communion.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jared
Blessings,
Pastor Jared