Fairview Community Church

HATE IS AS all-absorbing as love, as irrational, and in its own way as satisfying. As lovers thrive on the presence of the beloved, haters revel in encounters with the one they hate. They confirm him in all his darkest suspicions. They add fuel to all his most burning animosities. The anticipation of them makes the hating heart pound. The memory of them can be as sweet as young love. The major difference between hating and loving is perhaps that whereas to love somebody is to be fulfilled and enriched by the experience, to hate somebody is to be diminished and drained by it. Lovers, by losing themselves in their loving, find themselves, become themselves. Haters simply lose themselves. Theirs is the ultimately consuming passion. Frederick Buechner

If you have not yet watched the moving video, A Vanished Dream: Wartime Story of My Japanese Grandfather, I encourage you to do so so we can talk about it next Tuesday, 7:00 PM, when we gather via Zoom as part of our anti-racism focus. You can watch the video free at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLp10fW9nJE and you can find the link for the Zoom gathering at https://ocfairviewchurch.org/zoom. See you then.

"Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power." John Steinbeck

For anyone interested in Ant-Racism education, please register via the link below! Assunta Cicalese Britt Richardson Keith Smith

"I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion, and violence. It can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence, and community." Janet Mock

Micah Bucey - Today’s Tiny Prayer (for those who are feeling tentatively hopeful): May you hold on to this growing sensation, may you hold on to yourself, and may you hold on to those around you, may you not scroll or search for reasons to diminish this growing confidence, but rather seek humbly hopeful connection with those whose faith will further inspire your own, those whose commitment to both this anticipatory moment and to the continuing work that will surely follow both lift you higher and deeply ground you, may you listen to the voices who remind us all that there is still much to be done, and may this increasing buoyancy float us into our next steps, convincing us that we can achieve all aspirations together, if we will only remain as authentically enthusiastic and interested as we are starting to be right now. Amen.

Join us this morning as we welcome Rev. Dr. Gary Barmore to our virtual pulpit. Join us afterwards for fellowship at https://zoom.us/j/342097705

Join us this morning as we welcome Rev. Dr. Gary Barmore to our virtual pulpit.

Everywhere there are people who, despite finding themselves mired in periods of national [disruption] or personal marginalization refuse to give up the thought of a better future or give in to the allurements of a deteriorating present. They never lose hope that the values they learned in the best of times or the courage it takes to reclaim their world from the worst of times are worth the commitment of their lives. These people, the best of ourselves, are legion and they are everywhere. Joan Chittister

Loving God, there is so much to hold and lift up to you in these days. There’s so much to tend to, it feels like we don’t know where to start. But let us start with love,... for it’s love that changes us and drives us to ask: what is harming our neighbor? In response, may we be instruments of change, not harm. Amen. Alyssa Aldape