Dearest Friends,
I know, I know, I said in last week’s Update that I would be publishing my newest recorded and written Podcast today. But one of the privileges of publishing on Substack.com is that you have no overseer-publisher giving you deadlines or else your walking papers. This morning, I was awakened at 2:45 A.M. by what I believe was the Holy Spirit, prompting me yet again to delay publishing my latest homily/essay, The Conditional, Unconditional Love of Christ. While crucial to a volatile disputation erupting in parts of the Church today, it is not vital or immediately appropriate to the fires that have been raging in Los Angeles. If the winds stabilize further by Thursday and Friday, and there are no unexpected twists and turns, the city and nation can take a collected sigh of relief and begin in earnest the process of remediation so vitally needed in Los Angeles.
Lord, hear our prayer.
My early-morning promptings brought to mind the courage of our first responders, reminding me to hold them, our families, close friends, associates, and the thousands who have lost everything in our constant and concerted prayers. In truth, the entire city has been traumatized and many are coming out of shock into some form of a post-traumatic-syndrome, and most need all the help we can give them. It’s been encouraging to see our various churches (Episcopal, evangelical, charismatic, etc.) come together, open their doors, and offer their communities a wide-range of services. Many other churches, pillars of the community for decades, have been destroyed, including, in Altadena, the 100-year-old St. Mark’s Church, the Pasadena Jewish Center and Temple (they rescued the sacred Torah scrolls just in time!), the Altadena United Methodist Church, the Altadena Community Church, the Hillside Church of God in Christ Jesus, and damage, I believe, to the Armenian Church of the Nazarene (once the historic Church of the Nazarene, built in 1926), along with numerous other churches and para-church ministries. It would appear fires show no favor to denominations. Neither will heaven. What has been made clear is that “The God who made the world …does not live in temples made by man” (Acts 17:24). His life-giving, transforming presence is everywhere.
And may we—as believers in the risen Christ—when the appropriate opportunity arises, say a quiet word of encouragement to the thousands who are grieving: God is sovereign, and will ultimately bring good out of this tragic nightmare; Christ has sent us the Comforter, who can bring peace to our pain, and eventually turn our ashes of sorrow into joy. These are not empty, lifeless tropes, but the ancient, still-relevant message of the Church: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). There is much rescuing to be done, materially and spiritually. The communities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades will roll up their sleeves and rebuild, and all people of good will, joined by the reinvigorated faith communities, will help one another in this arduous process of rescuing and renewal. The church bells will yet again ring throughout Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.
Lord, hear our prayer.
After thirty-three years of living in LA, including eleven in Pasadena and So. Pasadena, I wish there were more my wife and I could do directly to help. With five years on staff at Ecclesia in Hollywood, we know so many of you, many who purchased their first homes in Altadena. If any of you have immediate need or would like a reprieve from the city, the guest room in our hundred-year-old gate house in Indianapolis is open to you for a time of refreshment and rest. Don’t hesitate to email me directly at dpaulthomas@mac.com or call me at 323 353-0246.
May we close, my dear brothers and sister in Christ, by joining together in this prayer, which I found on the St. James Episcopal Church, So. Pasadena, newsletter, where Debby and I attended for two years:
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work or watch or weep this night.
Give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Amen
PS: Please send any corrections to the “Leave a comment” section, or any other news or observations you may want to share. With thanks for YOU! DP
The Church’s One Foundation Is Jesus Christ Her Lord!
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