Dear Friends,

I have Jeremiah on my mind today [Jer 17:7-8]:

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in [God].
  They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
  It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
  It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

This is what it means to have such trust in God that one is able to be a calm and reassuring presence during a time of trial. 

I have spoken with many people this week. There is turmoil and anxiety swirling around in our country, because there is such chaos in the federal government, and it affects all of us in some way or another. It is not my purpose here to detail the many ways in which so many of us feel threatened, but rather to talk about what we are called to do when we feel there is nothing we can do.

Jeremiah spells that out for us. Whatever is happening around us, we can be a calm and non-anxious presence in the midst of it, both for ourselves and for everyone around us. We live in community and our community can do amazing things when its members bring that calm and non-anxious presence into it via trust in God. The community, in turn, brings that presence into the city.

In fact, just one steady hand on the tiller of a boat can get the whole crew to safety in choppy waters. Each one of you has the power to be that steady hand, and this is the time to bring it. That’s what it means to put your confidence in God and to have no worries in a year of drought and never fail to bear fruit. 

Today is Valentine’s Day, so sending you all BIG LOVE,

Pan+