Through Connection and Love, our community is transforming more and more into one that inspires and empowers, supports and brings joy to one another.  What a great gift it has been to receive inspiration from members this week!  We started the week with Gili’s deeply meaningful message on Hanukkah during the worship service.  John Hughes has been posting for the 2020 Advent calendar on Facebook.  And this morning, I woke up to an email from TIm McLean that warmed my heart and made it that much easier to get out of bed with a smile on my face, ready to face whatever the day brings!  I will share this message from Tim with all of you here:

 LOVE
If I give all I possess to the poor, and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, is not self seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no account of wrongs. Love conquers all evil.

Friends, we have applied these things to ourselves for our benefit, so that we may learn and not go beyond what lasts forever. The fruit of the Spirit of Life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, just as our god is to us. So, as the elect of the holy and beloved, we clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We urge our family and friends to encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.
Above all, you love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of wrongs. Hatred stirs up strifes: but love covers all wrongs. By pureness, by knowledge, by kindness, by the holiness of love we are unfeigned. The fruit of the Spirit of Life is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, and is kind.

We are mindful of the wonders that are among us. You, Love, our God are a gracious god, and are of great kindness. You stretch out your hand to the poor, you reach out your hands to the needy…

These things, my family, I give myself for your sakes, that you will learn. Now, experiencing these things, we know that we all have knowledge. The knowledge of love lifts us all up together.
Love always carries on! 

We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. Our light (and momentary affliction) is producing for us an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison. We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. What is seen is temporary. But what is unseen is eternal.