April 2026
I am so frequently amazed at the ways goodness and mercy keep making an appearance through the care of this congregation. So many, in so many ways, keep bringing life, hope and love. Just when we get overwhelmed by the news and are halted by heartache, something happens in our life together to awaken us to the power and promise of resurrection.
In the book, Being Mortal, Atul Gawande tells the story of a physician named Bill Thomas who wanted to remake a nursing home. He was not only a doctor, he was a farmer. Gawande writes of Thomas, "From the first day on the job, he felt the stark contrast between the giddy, thriving abundance of life that he experienced on his farm and the confined, institutionalized absence of life that he encountered every time he went to work." Thomas decided that the answer was "to put some life into the nursing home the way he had done in his own home - by literally putting life into it." He managed to get a grant to bring dogs, cats and 100 birds into the nursing home. He encouraged staff to bring their children to work. They planted a garden, built a playground and started an onsite childcare center.
The result? "People who we had believed weren't able to speak started speaking," Thomas said. "People who had been completely withdrawn and non-ambulatory started coming to the nurses' station and saying, 'I will take the dog for a walk.'" Gawande notes, "The lights turned back on in people's eyes."
On Easter morn, Jesus confirmed that hurt and harm will not hold sway over healing and wholeness. Acts of bullying, cruelty, slander, abuse, will ultimately fail. They are short lived, short-sighted. Why, because by the continuing power of God, truth is greater than a lie, love is stronger than hate, good will overcome evil, light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not extinguish it. Jesus has risen. The tomb is empty. But we but don’t stay there.
We are sent in the power of God and tell this good news, show this life changing reality, and put life into places and situations that seem lifeless.
Know you are loved, you are a vital part of our life together, and there is room enough for your questions, your gifts, and your heart longing for goodness and mercy.
Tom