Dear Friends,

This week during my devotional time I came across James 1:4. The New International Translation quotes it as, “Let perseverance finish its hard work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.” After reading this, I thought about all that has happened locally and nationally this month. How much more perseverance can people take? I thought. Alone, who knows, but we have a strong community here to lift each other up.

We are living into a time where we must lean on one another to persevere and engage in that hard work worth doing. In his book, The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence writes, “[God] isn’t impressed so much with the dimensions of our work as with the love in which it is done.” The impact we have, because of the love we share as we show up to be the hands and feet of God in our little corner of Lucas County, does not have to be mighty in numbers. But like Brother Lawrence says, radical in the love we do it in.

This week for the first time the Community Engagement Committee met, and I am so excited for the new ways to engage with our surrounding community are on the horizon. All of which will be driven by our love, not concern of doing “enough”.
For a teaser, we all know about The Beauty in Being. At the end of this month, we will have the opportunity to use our voices and be heard with The Beauty in Being: An Evening of Activism and Music. If you attended Big Love last June on our plaza, you will be familiar with it. Keep an eye out for next week’s Topics where our beloved Chief Joy Officer and Director of Music and the Arts will be writing more about it.

I am so proud of you all and honored to do this work with you.

Grace and peace,

George M. Benson
Director of Community Engagement