A thriving faith community engaged in compassionate service

Friday September 25,

Dear Friends,

Our Jewish sisters and brothers will observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on Monday. God instructed our ancestors in faith to observe a day of atonement each year, telling God’s children, “For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; From all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord.”

It is day of repentance, a day to receive forgiveness, and just as important, a day to offer forgiveness, to let go of anger and grudges and work to bind up, rather than split apart. It is an observance that we can learn from, that we too are called to forgive as we have been forgiven, that we are called to work for reconciliation, even more so in a world that seems increasingly polarized and fractured.

Yom Kippur is an observance that reminds us that we all turn from God, every one of us, that we all need forgiving and that we all need to offer forgiveness more willingly and readily. I love the way the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor puts it, “If God is willing to stay with me in spite of my meanness, my weakness, and my stubborn self-righteousness, then who am I to hold those same things against someone else.” We’ll talk more about Yom Kippur and our call to forgive in this Sunday’s service.

Thank you to everyone who donated food last Saturday. Our Food Closet is now full once again, but given the need in our community, we’ll go through the food quickly, so each time you go to the grocery store, pick up a couple of extra items for the Blessing Box and leave them in the “A” door (under the portico) vestibule, where our volunteers will see to it that the Blessing Box remains well stocked.