What the World Needs Now
When I sat down to write this month’s Clerk’s message for the LFFM November newsletter, I was confronted with what many writers fear most.... the blank page. What does one write to encourage, comfort, exhort and heal? This is a tall order, especially on a deadline. However, we know that there is inspiration that comes when we wait and open our hearts to the Spirit.
Today we find ourselves in the eleventh month of a year like no other in recent memory. Cases of Covid-19 are spiking to new highs in almost every state. Acts of state sponsored violence and murder against people of color are happening every day. Fires are devouring hundreds of thousands of acres in the West as hurricanes batter the coastal areas of the South and East, displacing individuals and families from their homes and turning the substance of their lives to ash and mud. Division among the citizenry and political leaders of our country is so great that many are likening it to the time of the Civil War. The Presidential election is days away as I write this. Nerves are frayed and hearts are heavy with fear, anxiety, and pain. More and more it feels like we are standing on the precipice staring into the abyss.
Life is always a precarious picture regardless of when the shutter clicks. We are always on the precipice looking for a secure handhold and then another stable foothold as we press upward to find a firm foundation for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
In the midst of our struggle to find the strength to deal with the unique challenges of the present day, let us not forget we are loved and are held securely in the loving and protective arms of our Creator. This doesn’t mean that we will escape the problems of this world. Sickness, prejudice, injustice, misunderstandings and pain is our lot... and then we die. Life is hard. The politicians will tell you they have the answers. They don’t.
We have the answer which we have learned from our Creator. Love is the answer.

Chuck Dickson on behalf of the Clerks Team.