Kindred in Christ,

I once had a therapist that was an ex-nun. While no longer part of a religious order, she was still a spiritually profound person. She considered mental health her current ministry. I greatly appreciated her on many levels.

One of the valuable things I learned from her was the importance of remembrance—both in my actions and prayer life. She suggested that when I felt anxious, I should think back to a time when I felt similarly, and ask myself, “Did things turn out as bad as I had feared?” Usually the answer was “no.” Moreover, she invited me to reflect upon what had helped me in those past situations. It usually involved turning to spiritual practices and reaching out to others. Remembering how God and my community had showed up in the past empowered me to turn to them in the present and caused me to be hopeful about the future.

As we join our nation in remembering the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the many ways God used him to help bring about greater racial equity, may we connect it to the many ways God is still calling us to advance the work of justice and liberation today. While the problems and injustices we face in the present are daunting and at times disheartening, may we remember that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Change takes a long time, but it does happen with the help of our faithfulness and participation.

Join us this Sunday as we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and continue in our series The Epiphanies of Epiphany. We will explore how not to remain frozen by our fears, but to respond to the Gospel’s invitation to “come and see” what is possible with God and community in the way of Jesus (John 1:35-46).

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz