Did you have a chance for renewal this summer? I did.  My partner Jane and I took a camping vacation and though some of my behavior may have been riskier than what I had gotten used to, I kept my mask on when around others and stayed outdoors almost always.  I spent a lot of … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – Sept 2020

For some years now, the warnings about fascism have increased.  Now, we witness federal troops taking protesters from the streets of Portland, Oregon, and expanding their presence to other cities.  Who knows what will happen between the time I write this column and you read it? This series of events may have been impossible without … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – August 2020

Amidst the intensity of national and world events, I don’t always know how to respond, or even what is going on. The reactions to the murder of George Floyd and the on-going violence against Black lives have intensified … In the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis.  Our world today is a sad, scary, … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – July 2020

I wish a lot more people would embrace not knowing.  I say that both to those who embrace the dominant narrative, as well as to those who hew to dissenting ones.  What information might we be blocking out, in order to maintain the integrity of our viewpoints?  Let’s be humble in our beliefs: it is … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – June 2020

We know that the world we return to from the domain of coronavirus isolation will not be the same as the world we left.  We were already feeling on the cusp of something new–too soon to know whether new would be good or bad.  With climate change, political stalemate and dysfunction, increased nationalism around the … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – May 2020

  Last year, I commented early in my report, “What a difference a year makes!” This year, I say it in a whole new way. We started the year with threats of serious flooding, exacerbated no doubt by climate change. Meanwhile, the national political climate feels poisonous. Then, coronavirus and its side-effects have multiplied the … Continue reading Developmental Minister 2020 Report

Dear Friends,   In these days of isolation, some people may be craving interaction and contact.  Others may be simply afraid for their health.  Our Caring Team has been reaching out and contacting some of you, but the needs may be greater than that.  I’m writing to you about two opportunities for regular connection. First, … Continue reading Caring Letter

We are in liminal space.  That means, we are in between.  In between normal and what we do not yet know.  By the time you read this, the world will have spun around a few times, and a bunch more things will be different.  I’m not sure what or how or why, but I am … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – April 2020

We have a congregation full of caring, concerned people. Several of us met recently to discuss what we do well as a congregation to take care of one another, and what we can do better.  Though we don’t have a regularly meeting committee, we do have a Caring Team, a bunch of people who extend … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – March 2020

History matters. This year we celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920).  Before you rush to google to remember what those are, they’re both about voting.  The former gave the vote to black men, and the latter to all women.  That’s a reminder that for generations, … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal – February 2020