The Pilgrim Garden

by Megan Makeever Ali

Pilgrim is a garden of diverse flowers, all tended to by God, the Great Gardener. Whatever flower you are, you are loved and accepted here. We have Dahlias and Daffodils, Marigolds and Morning Glory. I see extroverted sunflowers proudly radiating their traits while the shy baby’s breath lay low in their humble beauty. I see dramatic bleeding hearts, rigid lupines, flamboyant lantanas, and elegant roses. In the garden of Pilgrim, no flower is shamed for their origin, color, or the way or speed in which they grow. We understand that each flower comes from a different seed, weathering storms in their own unique way depending on their background and circumstances. We know that sunflowers with their sturdy stalks, will endure a thunderstorm without flinching, while the frail petunias work with all their might in desperation to stay up. But just because a petunia might have a harder time withstanding the rain does not mean that the petunia is any less of a flower.

In the garden of Pilgrim, we also know that each flower responds to God’s love and sunshine differently depending on the season. Growing up in this garden, I know I spent many years of my life (and still do more often than I would like to admit) as an insecure and frightened bud, closing myself off stubbornly from the beautiful message and love God waits to give me. Through those times, the Pilgrim flowers all around me in full bloom, never once pressured me or impatiently yelled at me to open… all they would do was whisper a gentle reminder that God’s love was there, and wait for me to bloom on my own time table.

My biggest hope for this ministry is that we all can work together to gently remind people inside and outside the Pilgrim garden that they are loved and accepted for the beautiful unique flowers that they are and that spiritual growth is revealed to us in different ways, at different times, and in different environments. We are all growing under the loving hands of our Great Gardener… not just flowers in gardens. God loves the wild daisies in the mountains, the household orchids, and even the lonesome dandelions sprouting through the cracks of sidewalks. Thank you, Pilgrim garden, for always reminding me over the years of this great love.

— Megan Makeever Ali is a music professor at MSU, professional flutist, singer/songwriter and part of the Pilgrim Connect team

The Art (and Practice) of Rest

by Mindy Misener

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength. —Isaiah 30:15

The baby is like a Zen master, sweet and severe all at once. Recently, she’s been teaching me about rest. And by “teaching me” I mean startling herself during a nap and coming awake wailing, leaving me, the bumbling novice, scrambling to figure out what to do: rock her? Bounce her? Feed her?

A few days ago, I had a breakthrough. I finally figured out that, at this stage, it’s not my job to “get” her back to sleep, but I shouldn’t leave her alone, either. Instead, my role is to support her in finding her own way back. This process may take ten or twenty weepy minutes, but eventually she solves, again, the trick of letting go, and rests peacefully once more.

I’m thinking about rest for the simple reason that pretty much everyone I know is exhausted—psychologically, physically, emotionally. To be clear, “everyone I know” includes me. It’s been quite a year. We are all so tired. We all need relief.

Years ago, I studied the Alexander Technique, which was designed to support actors and vocalists in their physically demanding roles. Though I’m neither an actor nor a vocalist (admittedly, I pretend to be one in the car), I still found the practice helpful in my own day-to-day.

The most profound lesson I learned is that we can become hooked on the feeling of effort. As one Alexander Technique teacher writes, “My muscle tension assured me that I existed, [and] created my belief in my need to try harder.”

My point is that we make most things harder than they need to be. I say that not as an admonishment, not to charge myself with “doing it wrong,” but as a soft reminder that I do not need to add effort to my actions in order for them to be effective. A door can be gently opened, stairs gracefully and smoothly climbed.

The unnecessary effort I add to physical activity has emotional and spiritual analogues. What’s wrong with a simple, slight feeling? Why do my prayers have to be fervent?

~ ~ ~

In the message for November 8, I quoted from Isaiah chapter 30: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence that “rest” and “trust” appear in the same sentence. To rest, either in repose or in activity, is to trust. We can trust that what we are doing is enough. That we are enough.

We can learn to simultaneously act and let go. And when we forget this lesson, we can learn it again.

The trust required to rest again, to let go, is not automatic. We have to try and try. That’s what I’m telling my daughter these days, as she wails about her broken sleep: “It doesn’t feel good to be tired, and it’s hard to let go. Keep trying. You’ll get there eventually.”

The surest sign she’s headed back to sleep is that her face relaxes. Her tiny lips toy with a smile. How sweet is rest when we invite it in once more.

— Mindy Misener teaches creative writing at Montana State University
and serves as Pilgrim's 2021 stewardship chair

Peace in the Midst of Chaos

by Rev. Danielle Rogers

Looking out my window, I see the beauty of the Rocky Mountains brushed with freshly fallen snow and I am in awe of their majesty. For a small moment I feel a peace in the stillness of my soul as I surrender to the winter elements: the cold, the wind, and the ice formed on the tree branches. I take a breathe say a prayer of gratitude and recognize God's beauty and love during this storm of chaos and illness that surrounds us. Simply put, I say a prayer for the gift of life and all that comes with it.

2020 has dealt us insurmountable blows. We have seen millions of people infected with Covid-19 and hundreds of thousands die from the virus. Families have navigated work while overseeing their children's online school. Our elders and compromised community members have lived in isolation for months. The stress and anxiety is palpable, creating a whirlwind of emotions.

This virus hung over our nation while we watched cases of police brutality tried in our courts, children still being detained in cages at our borders and a growing distrust of our mainstream media. The chaos erupted causing massive emotional fatigue, continuing political division and many questioning God's presence in our lives.

Our physical spaces for spiritual growth were closed, leaving many bewildered and scared. Our entire way of being was broken and we as a church community worked diligently to create a connection to one another through our desire to serve a loving God. We sought moments of peace during constant moments of chaos.

John 16:33 states, “ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world.” I find solace in worshiping a God whom recognizes and lived in a world fraught with hardships, sickness, betrayal, and death. Jesus fully understands our humanity, our trials and teaches us to find peace within him, within our relationship with God. In every worry, God is there. God is present in our lives and in our world. We can lay our uneasiness on the promise Jesus has made and cemented in his death and resurrection.

In the days ahead I pray for your own moments of peace. I pray for the gift of stillness to reach every aspect of your life. Do not be afraid to lay down burdens on the shoulders of our God and allow yourself to find joy in the smallest of things.

As you navigate through much uncertainty, may the first verse of the hymn “Be Still my Soul” provide solace and peace.

Be Still my Soul: the Lord is on thy side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to thy God to order and provide;
in ev'ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best thy heav'nly friend
thro' thorny ways leads to joyful end.

—Rev. Danielle Rogers serves as Pilgrim’s Christian Education Director

Agents of World Transformation

by Tim Dolan

“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name. He gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.” —John 1:9-13

The author of this Gospel refers to himself only as “the Beloved Disciple” and because of it's obvious relation to Gnostic mysticism was almost rejected for inclusion into the New Testament. As in those days Imperialism reigns along with Materialism to turn it's back on “the true light that gives light to every man.” Untruths are asserted by those in authority; we are besieged by absurd images and unfolding disasters and spectacle. Getting the right president to save us seems out of reach. Where do we turn for help?

The true light that came into the world was first and foremost an inner light accessible to all people everywhere, then and now and in the future. Know that it permeates our world and the whole Cosmos. Next, allow quiet, undisturbed time to sense it through meditation: a heart/mind meditation wherein you actively imagine and wonder about light and truth and the common bonds you have with people everywhere who are also tuning in to what the ancient Egyptians called Maat, the goddess of truth. Solomon referred to her as Sophia, the antidote to confusion and uncertainty.

We become children of God, and therefore brothers and sisters, through the Christ Spirit. We belong here. May we become agents of world transformation.

— Tim Dolan serves as Chair of Pilgrim’s Spiritual Life Committee

Election Day Prayer

A Prayer for Our Election from Rev. Dick Weaver

Creator:

May we remember that the fears, as well as the hopes and dreams we have — as we join with other Americans in this election — are the same fears and hopes shared by people for many years.

Help us to have perspective and recognize that every generation feels as if theirs is the most important time on earth. And calm our anxiety that our needs and our hopes ought to be the center of your concern, as well. Yet, we are voting in a national election, one in which people of all points of the spectrum view as an important one. We are anxious. We pray that we may decide our vote prayerfully, that our votes will all be valued, and that those who win and those who lose in this election may respond gracefully, honestly, and fairly to the outcomes.

Give to those who have served, and those who will serve, a glimpse of what the future can be like if all your children seek and follow your guidance. Give to the newly-elected a desire to answer your call in their positions. And to serve you and us with justice, fairness, and love.

We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.