{"id":137,"date":"2020-04-28T14:23:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T19:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctoriginals.wordpress.com\/?p=137"},"modified":"2020-06-11T18:40:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T18:40:29","slug":"april-15-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceumc.com\/staging\/8882\/april-15-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"April 15, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News from Peace:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Church gardens<\/strong> – Even with social distancing, the gardens at Peace Church will need to be cared for this summer.  Most weeks include light weeding, deadheading, and watering.  Two individuals are assigned a week at a time for a total of four or five times between the end of May to the beginning of October.  If you are interested or have questions, please contact Jean Briggs at 651-784-3044 or brfam4@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Unconquerable Hero and the Wounded Healer<\/strong>

by Dave Tidball

What images come to mind when you read the words, \u201cthe unconquerable hero?\u201d Perhaps they are visions of your favorite comic book or cartoon super-heroes. Or maybe James Bond and a host of imitations \u2013 defying all the odds with cleverness, grit and charm, always to emerge victorious. For me, a Star Trek fan, it is James T. Kirk, swashbuckling captain of the Enterprise in the original series \u2013 whose charm, strength, cleverness and plain old-fashioned luck unfailingly brought each episode to a successful conclusion.

The unconquerable heroes have in common a disdain for limits and boundaries. In pursuit of their goals, no obstacle can stand in their way. Even if moral or ethical considerations place some strategies off limits, unconquerable heroes are always clever enough to find another way to achieve success.

For some, Jesus becomes the ultimate unconquerable hero at Easter. Through God\u2019s resurrection power, Jesus is victorious over death, the final boundary, achieving the ultimate goal of immortality, which he makes available to all who are faithful to him.

Images for the wounded healer may be more difficult to bring to mind. Wounded healers don\u2019t call attention to themselves. They are the former addicts who work in prisons as counselors; the couple whose tragic experience with an abducted child leads them to start a non-profit organization to help runaway children; the woman who has suffered from domestic violence and later finds work in a women\u2019s shelter.

Wounded healers have refined their own pain into a deep sense of compassion. This compassion becomes a doorway for healing energy to flow from them towards other wounded souls.

While success for the unconquerable hero seems obvious, it is harder to quantify for wounded healers. Sometimes an addict\u2019s life is turned around. Sometimes victims of abuse are able to overcome their fears and build trusting relationships again. But even such \u201csuccesses\u201d leave everyone involved still living in a deeply flawed, very human world \u2013 a world still as vulnerable to pain and suffering as it is to joy and blessing.

For many, Jesus is the ultimate wounded healer. Jesus is the one whose expansive embrace of suffering humanity prompts him to actions of deep compassion, who never gives up on us, even when we give up on ourselves. Jesus is the one who dies a cruel death because of his efforts to extend compassion even to the social and political elites who despised him. God\u2019s resurrection power, which raises Jesus up again, is for wounded healers God\u2019s stamp of approval on his life of boundless compassion, God\u2019s baptism of Eternal Life on his way of life.

What strikes me here is that two very different philosophies of life, exemplified by the unconquerable hero and the wounded healer, each claim Jesus as an exemplary model. Can they both be right? Can the unconquerable hero, intent on shattering every limit, on becoming immortal, and the wounded healer, fixed only on living a compassionate life, whatever the circumstances, really share Jesus as their guiding star?

Of course, I have a point of view. But pressing that upon you is not my agenda. Rather, I think you might find it fruitful to wrestle with the unconquerable hero and wounded healer images \u2013 with their significant contrasts \u2013 and with the image of Jesus that each of them proclaims. What is your experience with these images? Which do you prefer? Why do you think this is so? What are the end results of following each of these Jesus images? What has happened in your life when you have sworn allegiance to one or the other? Which image do you think can help you become a more mature and healthy spiritual presence?


5 ways the current crisis is accelerating the arrival of the future Church<\/strong>
 What is below is taken from an article found at:
https:\/\/careynieuwhof.com\/5-ways-the-current-crisis-is-accelerating-the-arrival-of-the-future-church\/<\/a>
1. Sunday morning focused churches are become everyday focused churches.<\/strong>

Trust me, in-person gathering is going to come back. It just won\u2019t be the only thing or main thing you do anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Churches will begin to staff online like it\u2019s real, because it is.<\/strong>
Church leaders asking if online counts is like Sears asking if Amazon counts.
 
3. Church leaders will realize that digital scales in a way in-person doesn\u2019t.<\/strong>This comes from the very simple fact that reaching people digitally is far easier than in real life. Yes, it leads to real-life connections, but it\u2019s easier to start a connection online than in real life. Here\u2019s an example, Instagram had 40 million users when it was purchased by Facebook for 1 billion dollars, even more mind boggling, Instagram had 13 employees.
 
4. The internet will finally be seen for what it is, the new front door of the church, not a second thought.<\/strong>
What\u2019s kept a lot of church leaders from truly embracing online services or an expanded online ministry? One main thing:<\/strong> what counts is counting people on Sunday morning. Now we are trying to figure out how to count online importance.
 
5. Digital giving will become the new norm.
<\/strong>Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Methodist Happenings<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

United Methodists fight COVID-19 around the globe<\/strong>

United Methodists in Africa and the Philippines are fighting COVID-19 by making personal protective gear, raising awareness in rural areas and busy cities and breaking down myths. And they are using experiences with Ebola to stop the spread of the virus.
https:\/\/www.umnews.org\/en\/news\/united-methodists-fight-covid-19-around-the-globe<\/a>

Modeling non-anxious leadership during pandemic<\/strong>

The statistics are grim, but United Methodists in the U.S. have engaged the COVID-19 pandemic with an emphasis on providing good information, helping those in need and offering inspiration for a stressful time.
https:\/\/www.umnews.org\/en\/news\/modeling-non-anxious-leadership-during-pandemic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace Connections of the Week:<\/strong>
Grace connections invites you to find the power of God’s love harm, confusion and news of the week. Below are a few stories from the news of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos of the Week: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians Celebrate Easter remotely due to virus
https:\/\/apnews.com\/0b7fa855a8811e691937099e5f88f68a<\/a>
https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/news\/picture\/top-photos-of-the-day-idUSRTS38R1N<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video of the Week: These are great uplifting videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that we share \u2013 connected<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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