God’s Got You!

The past few weeks, okay who are we kidding, months really, ever since the mission trip to Tanzania/Ethiopia have been a bit of a whirlwind…and even that’s putting it mildly.

But I also recognize that I’m not the only one who feels like life sometimes moves at a frenetic pace leaving us struggling in its wake to just hang on. It almost feels like a firehose in the face where everything just keeps coming at you and all you can do is hope to catch your breath before the next barrage comes along.

The past few days have been particularly difficult – and then this happened. As I drove our daughter to school this morning and turning into the parking lot, I noticed the long line of oncoming cars attempting to cross and finally get their turn to enter the school parking lot. So, I decided to let several of them pass in front of me. And then just as I let one more car pull in front of me I noticed their license plate. It said, “GDS GOT ME”. God’s Got Me. Now, maybe it’s pure coincidence, or perhaps it was God trying to remind me that in the midst of all the recent chaos, struggle, pain, sadness, and all the other stress – that God was in fact with me and tending me the entire time.

I started to reflect more deeply about God’s presence in my life and wouldn’t you know it, there had been signs everywhere – God’s touchpoints in my life where God was leading, guiding, directing, comforting, reassuring, blessing and so many more moments of God’s grace and love. God showed up in text messages, and unexpected visitors at our house, in the kindness of a thank you card, a treat left on my desk, a beautiful gift weaved by a child, a hand on my shoulder, and then here in the most unexpected of places – on a license plate.

I try each day to be aware of God’s presence and listen for God’s whispers, but if I’m being honest then the truth is many times I let the chaos around me take over and drown out God’s presence. It took a moment of patience this morning, to not feel rushed to get into the parking lot, to recognize the difficulty of the drivers trying to cross over. And for whatever reason today I noticed, today I was patient, today I was kind…and then there it was. I find it interesting that had I not been patient, or kind, or inviting, had I not recognized the struggle of others then I would’ve missed God’s gracious reminder that was waiting there the whole time.

So, today I’m trying to slow down a bit and while I know I won’t always get it right, I’m counting on God’s grace to keep showing up in unexpected moments, in the moments of messiness and chaos, and in the moments I neglect to listen to God speaking to my heart. I’m trusting in God to lead and guide me, to hold and reassure me, to bless, empower, and send me. The message was clear, God’s got me. And God’s got you. God’s got all of us. And that brings to mind a song that I think says it all, “He’s got the whole world in his hands…”. Okay, okay, God, I hear you. Thank you! Keep singing over us!

Pastor Tony

Got Advent?

I have a friend who argues with me about the start of the season of Christmas. He is convinced that November 1st is the true start date of the Christmas season. (Mainly, because he wants to decorate the house, put on his elf shoes, and blast the Christmas music continuously through December 25th).

Every year, on November 1st, he announces that the Christmas season has begun and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” begins to be heard by his neighbors on both sides of his house. I argue that December 15th is as early as I can possibly go! You see, I need the season of Advent. It brings me hope. Lingering days of darkness call me to my knees praying to the One who promises that the light will shine in the darkness.

 

I need the season of Advent to fill me with anticipation for what is coming.
I need the season of Advent to remind me that God promises peace to a violent world.
I need the season of Advent to quiet my own heart for the noise around me.
I need the season of Advent to call me to love at the manger of my Savior.
I need the season of Advent to lift up my head bowed down in prayer for the brokenhearted.
I need the season of Advent to calm my restless soul from its distractions.
I need the season of Advent to remind me that God’s love has no end.
I need the season of Advent to share the joy of the shepherds.
I need the season of Advent to answer the darkness with light.
I need the season of Advent to shock me out of my complacency.
I need the season of Advent to remind me that we are Bethlehem-bound.
I need the season of Advent. It brings me hope. And hope does not disappoint!

So the season of Advent comes to us.

How will you welcome God’s gift of the season? A flurry of shopping, spending, wrapping, worrying, and willing to do Advent differently next year? Or might you take one moment from your day to acknowledge that God has gifted you a season to prepare for the birth of a Savior? To light a candle to chase away the darkness and simply pray the prayer, “Thank you God,” might be all you need to re-center your Advent days into days and nights of peaceful wanderings toward a manger full of joy. I wonder…

Do you need the season of Advent?

I do.

Thank you God.
Rev. Chris Marien

*This article was originally published in Ascension’s December 2017 Newsletter.

Mountaintop Moments

July 2017 and the grace of God took Ascension to the mountaintop!

What joy it brings to share with you the events of the last month and all that is coming in the days ahead. July gathered our CRASH high school ministry to a first-time “Mission Next Door” event, in which each day, the students and adult leaders gathered for devotions and breakfast and then headed out into the community. Day one took our high school servants to the Memorial Gardens and flower beds all around the church campus. A full day of weeding, tending, and shaping the space all the way to the ash garden. An incredible day! Later in the week, the Waukesha food pantry would get a cleanup inside and a makeover outside complete with mulched flowerbeds. Thursday took the students to one of our member’s homes for a healthy weeding of flowerbeds and the tending of a relationship. In the middle of “Mission Next Door,” Ascension welcomed the arrival of our brothers and sisters from El Salvador. Bienvenidos!

Thursday was full of feasting and canning and swimming at Ottawa Lake. Friday was busy with tours of partner churches in Milwaukee, community gardens, and captured rainwater projects. But, my favorite part came Friday afternoon when we gathered to bowl at Bayshore, where there are video screens and glowing neon lights. Explaining bowling in Spanish was fun to watch. Explaining in signs and gestures was even better. Watching the smiles unfold when just one pin fell down and the ball stayed out of the gutter. Now that was priceless.

I tell you God is at work! I am grateful to our Mission Outreach Team under the leadership of Wing Leader, Shirley Wehmeier. It is wonderful to watch the church be exactly who the church should be with hospitality overwhelming and joy overflowing. Edwin and Sarah Aparicio have been incredible hosts and representatives of Ascension as they have navigated translation after translation after translation and every blessed detail of the delegation’s visit. A moment of great celebration took place on Sunday, July 16 with a gathering at the home of the Wehmeiers for the delegation, church staff, church council, and partner churches. It was a glorious day. We heard updates on EVERYTHING! But most importantly – we feasted – we played volleyball – we had one-on-one conversations with Pastor Julio about healthcare, challenges of ministry in El Salvador, and especially the deep concern and request for prayer for the children and young adults of El Salvador. Please include them in your prayers – especially for the opportunity to simply and safely grow up. In my sermon from July 16, I spoke of the belief that the visit by the delegation from El Salvador was nothing short of a miracle. It is true – every word. The journey is a gift of God in every single way. Thank you for your hospitality of the delegates through the days of the visit and in worship.

What can you learn from the stories of these mountaintop moments? So very much! In all these things, we are reminded that God goes before us. We remember that we need to hear the story of God’s love as much as we tell the story of God’s love. We remember that the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds our worship and our faithfulness to God has grown once again – with the great and faithful servants of CRASH serving our God and God’s people; with the visit of the saints of San Jorge and Usulutan; and with the great gift of good news shared by Pastor Angela!

I give thanks to God for all of it. I give thanks to God for each of you. Gracias a Dios. Thanks be to God! See you in church.

Rev. Christian Marien

(This article was first published in the August 2017 newsletter).

Instead of the End – the Beginning

The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Elizabeth Eaton offers these words:

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. So begins the Easter story in the Gospel according to Matthew. The women had lived through the pain of Friday and the emptiness of Saturday and were expecting death. All of their hope had come to a dead end. And just then, as the first day of the week was dawning, hope was restored. The angel said, “Do not be afraid; I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here: for he has been raised, as he said.”
 
Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.
 
On Easter, we will have glorious celebrations in our congregations and worshiping communities. There will be rejoicing and music and flowers and alleluias. And that’s a good thing. But when the flowers fade and the pressures of life seem so heavy, when the brokenness of this world breaks our spirits, when we have come to a dead end … rejoice. Because it is exactly there where the risen Christ meets us. It is precisely there where we are given resurrection life. It is at that point that we say, “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.”

The cries of resurrection can still be heard on the mountaintops. Thanks be to God! From the mountaintops we travel to the upper room where the disciples have hidden themselves out of fear. There, Jesus appears. A week later, disciples are still in the upper room. There, Jesus appears. It will be on the beach, where a campfire is tended, that Jesus will appear to his disciples and feed them breakfast. There around the warmth and light of the fire, the light of the world, will ignite a flame in the disciples that will inspire the world.

Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.

I read this reflection before the great celebration of Easter. It has carried me forward since we began the celebration of these great 50 days of resurrection. It is entitled Setting Out Once Again by Kelly Hall and Phuc Luu:

Out of the stale darkness, he rises into the light, bright rays of sun split the tops of trees, and clouds depart and blue fills the sky – the smell of angels lingers in the air – his hair feels the cool breeze again. This was not the garden, but a new world made from the eruption of hope and a life that could not be held down. We were witnesses to the life that rose from the dead. God’s relentless love, who comes close to us moving stones from tombs opening the heart to another possibility, death no longer stands. My heart races in my chest as I step forward to face the future, my future, that I grasp with open hands with new naiveté, a child toward a mother to be held and lifted up, and cradled with care. At times, I hesitate and I grasp onto memories of what once was but I know that I am not alone in my apprehension. I feel the hands of others holding me. These are my sisters, my brothers, who are not strangers to my fears and frailties, who have also confronted a hope that frightens them – who can feel their own scars, both fresh and old, they step in pace with me – the weeping women at the gravesite, the scared disciples waiting in the upper room.
 
This is our future, where we walk together toward our new home built by the hands of a wounded king – the new Zion, forsaking the kingdoms marked by borders and divides where all our settlements are only temporary shelters, sanctuaries of rest for the wounded and weary. Then the Christ returns to visit us, as Galilee’s boats pull to shore, these places seem familiar – the lapping water and the sand, but we are not to return to these lands, not those dreams – but become pilgrims, to set our belongings in another home, to wash our sandy feet in some other place, to lay down our tired souls on a distant promise, quilted from both the today and the tomorrow.
 
And we dine as a day sees another setting sun sitting across from each other once again – seeing each sweet face laughing deeply feeling whole once more. And we see the Savior’s smile, he knows our journey’s end and pours us another cup full of his own love and this time, our eyes tell him that we understand.

Thanks be to God!  See you in church,
Rev. Christian Marien

(This article is taken from Ascension’s May 2017 newsletter).

Welcome to Lent

Welcome to the season of Lent!

Wednesday, March 1, is Ash Wednesday. We will worship God with the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion at both our 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. services. Our hope is that you will take time, not find time, to let the world know that for just a moment on Wednesday night, March 1, you will come before your God and bow down and worship and praise to honor the One who has given you life in this world and promises you eternal life in the world to come.

I am always grateful to God for the change in rhythms during the season of Lent. Wednesday night gatherings for soup suppers and worship are a gift to my heart. God provides an opportunity to share in this journey of faith in different ways from Sunday mornings at  Ascension. On Wednesday nights, I have more time to simply sit and enjoy conversation with friends in the congregation. Worship is intended to be brief but meaningful. Music orients our focus to the worship of God. Sermons are exchanged for brief meditations. In the dark of night – the candles shine brighter. There is a beautiful quiet that hovers in the sanctuary even with the joyous sounds of children squealing with delight over the little things in their lives that we so often miss. On Wednesday nights in Lent, this year, Pastor Angela, Tony, and I will all be taking different aspects of our worship. Children’s messages will be a part of each Wednesday night and music will guide our steps in worship into the way of peace. I hope you will consider joining us for a time of refreshment…one night a week – you can skip cooking and the dishes (unless you sign up for either one at church). What a wonderful gift to come share in the joy of gathering together to the glory of God.

We will gather for soup suppers at 6 p.m. on March 8, March 15, March 22, March 29, and April 5.  March 8 will be hosted by JOLT; March 15 will be hosted by our Tuesday Morning Bible Studies; and April 5 will be hosted by CRASH. Congregational sign-ups will be available to help with soup and bread for both March 15 and March 29. Check the narthex/lobby for the posters. We need about 18 soups each week to provide for the 100-150 who attend. Our Wednesday night gatherings will center on some wonderful reflections offered to provide us with directions to wander while we find ourselves in the wilderness of Lent.

Wednesday Worship Themes
March 8
Discovering the Spirit
March 15
Renewing My Mind
March 22
Redeeming My Time
March 29
Deepening My Relationships
April 5
Transforming My Experience

I am grateful to the psalmist who wrote these words for us, “How very good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Come and join us on the journey. I wonder – how could your life be different if you made the conscious decision to gather with fellow believers for fellowship and worship on the Wednesday nights in Lent? What would change in your life? Would you be happier? More content? Would you discover new things about God? Would you find your mind renewed? Would you find your time better spent? Would your relationship with God and other believers go deeper? Would you find your life transformed? My guess is that your answer would be yes!  I know, for me, year after year, my answer is always, always…yes!
Peace be with you. See you in church.
Rev. Christian Marien

(This article was first published in the March 2017 newsletter).

A Place of Welcome

Dear People of God,

One of my favorite gifts in ministry was the worship service I attended where the following words were shared before the beginning of communion:

From all corners of the earth, Christ invites everyone who hungers to this table. So come to this table, you who have much faith and you who would like to have more. Come to this table, you who have been to this sacrament often and you who have not been for a long time. Come to this table, you who have tried to follow Jesus and you who have failed. Come to this table for Christ invites us to meet God here.

I have been grateful to hear from visitors on Sundays that someone from the congregation took the time to say hello. I was even more grateful to hear from a colleague who anonymously worshipped with us. She said, “Not only were we greeted during worship, but after worship those same people sought us out and introduced themselves by name.” What joy that brings to the pastor’s heart!

Our worship will always be a place of welcome. Every Sunday offers the invitation to the altar of God for bread and wine and the welcome of our God. I am grateful to God that the disciples who sit in our church remember their own welcome to God’s table and, in turn, invite others to join them.

There is always room for one more at God’s table. Who might you invite to join you in the days ahead?

Rev. Christian Marien

This article was taken from the February 2017 Newsletter

Come, Lord Jesus

Dear People of God,
“Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.” The familiar table grace many of us learned as children is also an Advent prayer full of hope and longing. In Advent, although we are preparing for the annual Christmas celebration of Jesus’ birth long ago in Bethlehem, we are also keenly aware of the need for Jesus to come again, bringing the fullness of peace and justice with his promised reign. The story we tell begins with the God of Israel, who saw the suffering of the people enslaved by Pharaoh and came down to deliver them. This same God sees the suffering of people today and will come again bringing freedom from death and sin. The coming of Jesus promises life to all creation and assures victory over all God’s enemies.  

The challenge we face as Christians is to tell the Advent story and be heard when we are surrounded by a multitude of competing stories distracting and confusing us. The Jesus whose coming we proclaim in Advent is the “joy of heaven,” God’s love sent to earth for the sake of all creation.

The words of author Blair Meeks: “We are entering into the new church year under the banner of Advent. God has heard the cries of God’s people. John the Baptist will call us from the river Jordan. Mary, the mother of Jesus, will sing to the glory of God. A star will light the sky on fire and stop to rest over a stable.” Come, Lord Jesus. I am ready for all of these moments. I am hungry to hear the stories, renewed in my own ears, of God’s tending of our lives once again. Come, Lord Jesus.

I wonder – are you hungry? Do you hunger for peace? Do you hunger for joy? Do you hunger for hope? This is the time of God’s choosing. Are you ready?

Poet Ann Weems writes these words:


Our God is the One who comes to us in a burning bush,
In an angel song, in a newborn child.
Our God is the One who cannot be found locked in the church,
Not even in the sanctuary.
Our God will be where God will be with no constraints, no predictability.
Our God lives where our God lives,
and destruction has no power and even death cannot stop the living.
Our God will be born where God will be born,
But there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready God will come even to a godforsaken place
Like a stable in Bethlehem.
Watch…for you know not when God comes.
Watch, that you might be found whenever, wherever, God comes.


My prayer for each of you is to let your hunger for God call you to new life in this season of Advent. As we move toward Christmas, you are invited to join us on Sunday morning for an Advent Bible Study on Dec. 4 to help you get more through the season of Advent. Advent Concert Worship services happen on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. Children’s Christmas Pageant Worship services happen on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 8:30 and 10:45a.m. Christmas Eve worship services, at 2:30, 4:00, 5:00, and 11:00 p.m., will arrive with candlelight, communion, and carols to give glory to God. Join us in one of these moments or in every one of these moments.

Watch, that you might be found whenever, wherever, God comes.

Peace and joy be yours in these days of Advent,
Pastor Chris Marien

(This article was first published in Ascension’s December 2016 newsletter).

Autumn Rituals

Dear People of God,

Already the winds of autumn have brought us to the gates of November. How quickly the days of summer have given way to falling leaves and crisp morning breezes. November 6 will gather us to the celebration of All Saints Sunday. We will once again read the names of those, connected to our community, who have died during the past year and light candles in remembrance of all who have gone before us and now rest from their labors. This year we will give thanks for:

Fabricio Aparicio John Gresl

Lorraine Birner Susan Krist

Judy Ewell Elmer Norris

Andrew Frey Barbara Wendorf

We live within the communion of saints. We trust the promise of God that the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ holds true for each of us – as it has for the generations that have come before us—as it will for the countless generations that will come after us. Often times in our world we find the power of God’s promises overshadowed by the darkness of the cross in our lives. Where Easter joy should reign over us we find ourselves overwhelmed with pain, death, and grief. All Saints Day gathers us with the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth.

In Celtic Christian spirituality the place where heaven and earth meet—the moments where God enters into our world—are called “thin places.” An idea that offers a thinning of the veil between life and death, between human and divine, between ordinary and miraculous. For most of us, these places are what we crave for in our lives of faith. “Give me a sign, Lord.”  Ever heard yourself speaking those words? I have. Usually in the most despairing moments—the moments when no answer seems best—that is when I hear myself telling God to get on with it. Tell me which way so I can move on, step up, go forward, put something behind me. Once in awhile I really feel that God nudges in one direction or another—most of the time, I pray and I hope and I cross my fingers—not the sign of the cross mind you—just that hopeful kind of lucky wish and jump. Sometimes God blesses and other times God somehow puts me back at the beginning and lets me start over. The path is not always easy but I hold on to the hope and I trust that God is there in the midst.  

November 13 will call us to gather for the annual meeting of the congregation. In our church governance, it is the congregation that approves a yearly budget, elects new church council members, and approves a slate of candidates to attend our regional assembly of congregations next June. The meeting will begin at noon and will be a potluck. We invite you to join us to hear about Ascension and the mission and ministry of the congregation as well the continued work on our Ascension Arise our 2025 Vision.  

November 6, in-between services at 9:45, you will have the opportunity to ask review the budget for 2017 and ask questions in a smaller setting before the annual meeting happens the following week. Our community continues to renew itself as God guides and shapes the ministries entrusted to us in this time and place. I give thanks to God for the power and presence of God and God’s people as we walk together to the glory of God.

~ Pastor Chris Marien

New Beginnings

There is a story told of a young boy who lived with his parents in a cottage on a hillside, overlooking a wide valley. His greatest joy was to sit on the doorstep on summer evenings, and gaze across the valley to a house miles away on the opposite hillside, for, just as the sun was sinking in the west, the windows of that house would burst into flame, shining dazzlingly with golden light. How perfectly happy the people must be who live there, he thought! One day he packed sandwiches and set off to find the house with the golden windows, but it was farther off than he expected, and it was already towards sunset as he climbed steeply uphill. To his disappointment the house was a plain cottage after all, and the windows ordinary windows. The good people there offered him supper, and made up a bed in the kitchen, for it was too late now for him to return. That night, in his dream, he asked directions of a girl about his age. ‘The house with the golden windows? Yes, I’ve seen it.’ And she pointed. He woke to the early song of the birds. Drawing the curtain aside he looked out. There far across the valley, was his house – and, wonder of wonders, its windows flashed with gold in the brightness of the morning sun.

T.S. Elliot wrote these words, “And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” September is always a month of homecomings and moments of beginning again. At Ascension, we find ourselves ready to enter into the new possibilities of growing our relationship with God. September always brings excitement. I am excited to renew relationships with those that have been away for the summer; I am excited for the introduction of new liturgies and songs in our worship life; I am excited to see the growth in our ministries with children and youth; I am excited to see what is unfolding in our care ministries and small group ministries; I am excited for new mission opportunities as we seek to expand our vision to walk in our global neighborhood and the neighborhood around our church; I am excited for new opportunities for Bible study and reflection. There is much that is offered inside our walls and outside our walls – where will you find a place to rest and renew?

On Sunday, Sept. 11, we return to our Sunday morning worship schedule of 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. with Children’s Ministry (BLAST) and Adult Education from 9:45-10:35 a.m. I also want to invite you to consider another possibility beginning Sept. 14, from 7-8 p.m. and continuing throughout the 2016-2017 school year. I will be leading a Bible study entitled Through the New Testament or TNT for short. Early on in my ministry, I offered this opportunity and found it to be an awe inspiring introduction to the deep, deep love of God for each of us. The idea is that you read seven chapters of the New Testament a week…that is one chapter a day…and then answer four or five questions about what you read. Some questions are specific to the reading – some questions are reflections on your own faith life. You can join us as your schedule allows – but I need to have enough copies of the book in order to provide for everyone. Beginning Aug. 28, you can sign up at the Welcome Center. The cost of the copied book will be $5. We will run from Sept. 14 through May 31. Consider the possibility of reading the entire New Testament with a group of believers. The possibilities are endless. The best part is if you don’t have time in a particular week to read every chapter, someone else will have done the reading, so you can come regardless and share in the conversation. If you have questions, send me an email (pc@ascensionelca.org) or call me. All levels of Bible knowledge and those without any Bible knowledge are welcome. It can be a great introduction or a great continuation of the building of relationships with each other and with the living Word of God.

I am excited for what is ahead. Come and see for yourself! Peace be with you. See you in church.

~ Pastor Chris

(This article was first published in the September 2016 newsletter).

What Are We to Say?

Fabricio leaving for tripWhat then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are the words of the Apostle Paul to the Christian community in Rome. They are also the words read at the June 20th funeral for our brother Fabricio.

When I sit down to plan funerals with family members, I offer this reading from Romans as one possibility but I often encourage the family to choose a reading from Jesus’ own words. “I am the resurrection and the life,” or “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” or “in my Father’s house are many dwelling places.” I am hopeful they will choose a reading in which Jesus’ own words speak to them. My efforts are in part because the Apostle Paul has always been a secondary figure in my faith life. However, after Monday, June 20, my opinion of Paul’s words has changed.

Paul’s opening question has been my question over the past weeks as our congregation, as a community and as each of us as individuals, has tried to come to terms with the loss of a beautiful young man full of life, sharing joy with every smile. “Dear God, what are we to say about these things?” I confess I am at a loss (and many of you know me to never be at a loss for words).

JOLT Adventure Camp Fabricio and TonyA Sunday sermon quoting Fabricio’s own word, “hermosa” (beautiful), brought a little light to our darkness, and the visitation, funeral, and reception, as Ascension offered hospitality in ways I could only have imagined, gave me pause for a moment of deep pride in this community that lives out its brokenness through the lens of the cross of Christ. I have been grateful for countless hugs and words of comfort and prayers. It has been my desire all long to remind all of us that Jenny and Carlos, Edwin and Sarah, and Paul and Shirley deserve that compassion long before the rest of us. I stand in awe of God’s presence and power through the junior high students who loved Fabricio as one of their own – how they have honored Fabricio’s memory and tended to each other. I was grateful for Pastor Walter and Pastor Michelle for their ability to share the promise of God’s love, their gift of interpretation of Spanish to English and English to Spanish, and for Pastor Walter’s tending of a family I was unable to tend in their own language. I am also grateful for Pastor Walter’s care and his tears shed at both the loss of Fabricio and the promised welcome and homecoming for Fabricio at the gates of heaven. I am thankful for the Bishop’s presence to honor the family and the great gift of Pastor Angela who spoke to Jenny and Carlos as only she could, as a pastor to the Aparicio family and as a parent who has lost a child. I am so grateful for her words of faith in God and the explanation of drinking double fisted from a deep well of grief in one hand and a deep source of joy in Jesus in the other. And finally, I give thanks for Tony, who put into words the deep grief felt by Pam and myself. To hear Tony speak of Fabricio as a student he loved as his own son was in some ways too much to bear. Yet, I saw in Tony’s eyes the deep love and pain for this loss and his inability to do anything but love Carlos and Jenny, Karlita, and Johnson.

It will take time for Carlos and Jenny to learn this new world where the voice of their son is no longer heard. And all of you, members of the family of Ascension, give yourselves time to honor this life and your own suffering in the midst of this loss. I have come to understand that Fabricio’s death has touched our congregation in ways I did not comprehend in the days leading up to the funeral. Fabricio and his family attended the early service. Most of the junior high students on retreat and their parents attend the late service. Pam attends the late service but has been a member for her whole life. And who among you does not know Tony or myself? Where the death of any member of the church tears the fabric of the community apart – Fabricio’s life and death have woven the fabric of our community all the tighter for the ways in which we have found a communal suffering in the tragic loss of this beautiful young life.

So, dear God, I ask the question again, “What then are we to say about these things?” Perhaps for now, the words are less important than the touch, the hug, the smile, the tears, the tending to the Aparicio Family and the Wehmeier family and to each other as the family of Ascension. And maybe, just maybe, in the tending, we will begin to see healing, and in the healing, we will see the glory of God.

Peace my friends, deep peace be with each of you; God’s deep peace be with us all,

Pastor Chris Marien

(This article first appeared in Ascension’s July 2016 newsletter).