MCC United Church of Christ in the Valley

By Richard Wagamese "Embers, One Ojibway’s Meditations"

Good morning and thank you for joining us! In addition to being live on Facebook, many of us are gathering online on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/cha/UCIzj9l8_oVwg2FRN-b8eoVA/videos

This is so very true!!

Blessed Samhain to All!!!

Called to be like Christ.

There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learn...ed something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year? the reporter asked. ~ Why sir, said the farmer, Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn. So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all...AHO!!!

Every time I think that Bill Mitchell has done the most Wow! thing in the sanctuary, he continues to take my breath away! We might not be having in-person worship, but we still feel it’s important to have our sacred space express our heart. Months ago when we were talking about upcoming themes, I told him that Trans Day of Remembrance was going to be celebrated at our Nov. 22 service, could he put something together? Within days he came back and said he found material to ...do what you see below. I was so overwhelmed by his idea, that I said, we’ve got to have this up for all of November...so this month we honor our Trans brothers, sisters, siblings who have shared their lives through their authenticity in the Divine! Thank you, Bill!

Project Forgive

When the there is a great temptation to give in to despair.

Pastor Durrell’s Ruminations on the day the Handmaid was confirmed to SCOTUS: 1. Things are often not quite as bad as they first appear. 2. We are stronger... than we may realize. 3. Things that suck can get better. 4. I still believe the long moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. 5. Prayer makes a difference. I promise it does. 6. We have friends we may not even yet know about. Heroes and angels dwell among us (and within us). 7. The lotus blooms in mud; the thicker the mud, the more beautiful the flower. We will draw strength from the muck and continue to thrive! 8. We need allies, and we need to be allies. Women, trans siblings, people whose lives were saved by the ACA...we hear you, we see you, we stand with you. 9. I’ve lived through AIDS, queers being denied military service, sodomy laws, fundamentalist hate speech, party platforms that demonize LGBTQ+ people, states writing discmination into their constitutions, people hiding in closets to protect their careers...we always knew haters of equality would not rest; we always knew we didn’t have the luxury of resting (but being so tired after so much struggle, some dared to rest anyway). We’ve known heartbreak...this isn’t new. We’re the same bad assed queers who faced those earlier challenges. We’ll prove equal to the new challenges. 10. FFS VOTE. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Jesus Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living. Mother Jones

The line is from the Green Mile, but is so appropriate for today.

This week’s message, What if Every Day was Thanksgiving? Listen to the musical gift from John Rojo Sanchez, Layne L. Sanden, and Michael Crane afterwards as the sing Grateful.

We have had three people who have been able to come by today to add to our Ofrenda (separate times) and (Seb) John D Sebastian is playing. Thank you again, Bill... Mitchell, for the gift. If anyone would like to add a picture of loved ones who have passed on to our video presentation next Sunday, please email me JPEGs. Blessings to all.

Click the link below to watch our Sunday Morning Service where Rev. Dr. Pat Langlois asks "What if Every Day Was Thanksgiving". You will also be blessed by a special music from Joe Warner and Michael Crane...it is amazing!! After the message, listen to John Sanchez and Layne Sanden as Michael Crane sing Grateful!... Blessings! https://youtu.be/dxwtWtBxiKA