Many of us are following the continuing saga of Norwich's city leadership and its firefighters. As I write this, the morning's news carried a story about how Mayor Singh ordered that the room be cleared of the disrupting voices in a public hearing in City Hall this week. Those who were forced to leave expressed feelings of disenfranchisement; Mayor Singh defended his duty to uphold public safety and due process. There is a lot that leads up to a moment like that. At stake are questions of public safety, as well as questions of trust in authority -- for both elected and non-elected leaders.
How do you hold faith? How do you hold faith in your life, with friends, family, with the Norwich community, with Park Church, and with God? This Sunday we will turn our focus to Matthew 14:22-33. My sermon title is: Holding Faith: from Parables to Storms. Jesus walked across the water to his disciples and invited Peter to step out on the water with him -- to hold faith with him. If we live in an age of division, fueled by algorithms, and even foreign interference, Jesus calls us to a countercultural way of being in the world. Walking on water is one way of holding faith, but there are many ways.
I'm thinking also about this saying from Brother Lawrence:
All things are possible to him who believes, they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are easier to him who loves, and still more easy to him who practices and perseveres in these three virtues.
I will say more about that on Sunday. Join us in church!
Yours in faith,
Pastor Erica
The Truelove - by David Whyte
