July 2025
Click for July Steeple
Dear Church Family,
I love to do any kind of art. Not because I’m good at it, but more because it’s a practice of discovery. An added bonus - if I have low expectations of what is possible, I get lovely surprises at what can be made! If you approach creating in that way particularly with art, I believe you will have more fun and be able to laugh at yourself easier. Wendy Macnaughton is an artist I have become familiar with not because of her stunning works but because of her community connection art projects. One activity in particular has been a hit both with my family as well as in retreat settings - something she calls ‘draw a stranger’ which involves - surprise! strangers drawing each other.
She invites people to sit down across from one another, and do blind contour drawings of one another's faces for one whole minute. It means looking at this other person, and not at your paper, for a whole minute, without lifting up your pencil or making any corrections. Spending that minute noticing the details, probably feeling kind of uncomfortable - it’s a mutual discomfort that honestly feels silly and like a playdate. You finish and look down at your paper - and you have to laugh! The bits you captured and the journey your pencil took make for something unique and highly comical. But it is also a point of connection: a space for noticing, for discovery, and for joy shared between strangers.
What if our journey of faith is also meant to be this way? Not so much about getting it all right, but about committing to the discovery of who God is? Taking time to notice and wonder, to catch an impression of what God is like, and have a bit of a laugh when we’ve gotten God’s image a bit crooked. Noticing when we’ve gone off course is the first step in centering back on who God really is. The fun part is we are already made in God’s image - so we also get to do this work of noticing God as we spend time paying attention to one another. Are we discovering God’s work in us and through us, or are we obsessed with ideas of perfection and being right, rather than being in real relationship with God?
In June and July the lectionary texts dabble in the stories of Elijah and Elisha, and these stories are some of my favorites. As prophets of God, these individuals are carriers of God’s message for a people who have had a difficult time paying attention to who God actually is, rather than who they want God to be for them. I also love how their stories intertwine beyond the people of Israel - reaching foreigners and regular people who are discovering a bigger picture of who God is. In 2 Kings 5 we get the story of Naaman - a commander for a king who has oppressed the people of God, and yet one of the servants (a slave retrieved from these conquests) makes known the power and inclusion of God to Naaman in having him approach Elisha to be healed from his leprosy. Naaman is haughty, totally full of himself and his status, and really struggles to welcome the generosity of God into his story. Naaman thinks his wealth and prestige will get him places, but it is really only through humility and obedience that he sees the goodness of God’s healing power (and only then through yet another servant convincing him to pay attention and listen). Even after receiving miraculous healing, he struggles to accept the unconditional love of God - he thinks he ought to pay something in return, that he has to do something for God, but God wants his heart and life to reflect God’s own character instead.
In this month leading up to the birth of my 4th (!) child, I am keenly aware of how easy it is to live life in the way of survival and comparison, trying my hardest to succeed and do what is right. But at every turn, I feel God’s pull to pause and pay attention. It is easy to get caught up in the news cycle, in the routines of each day, of the demands vying for your attention. Trying to keep my kids’ brains engaged with learning activities over the summer is important, but also simply being present to them as a playmate is equally important. God isn’t interested in perfection, but in presence: working beautiful opportunities to see him in fresh ways each day - ways that refresh our own souls to know we cannot earn or perfect our way into God’s love and care. God’s welcome is constantly outstretched, always inviting us to take notice and receive the joy of being part of God’s creation.
May you take some pauses in your day to day life to slow down and notice, make space to wonder about God’s creative hand in the nature around you, and in the people in your life. Pray that God might help you see what invitations may await you in the art of co-creating! May you make silly mistakes, and welcome the reality of the Holy Spirit to guide you into the future.
Blessings,
Pastor Becca
