I lucked out that my first congregation I served with after seminary had a parsonage. I didn’t have to worry about enduring a housing search amidst attempting to navigate the terrain of my first big kid job. I also didn’t have to worry about escrow and mortgage payments and dwelling insurance and all the fine print “joys of home ownership.” Of course, when Sarah and I moved to northeast Ohio, that meant we didn’t know the first thing about escrow, mortgage payments, dwelling insurance and all the fine print “joys of home ownership.”
Last week (January 18-25) was the designated Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It probably didn’t receive quite as much attention (not that it usually does in the grand scheme of things), since we seem to be a bit more infatuated with the rampant disunity ensuing in so many parts of our human operation. Nevertheless, our Northeastern Ohio Synod (ELCA) staff insisted on making a concentrated effort on recognizing the near-miraculous unity that lives in Christ’s church on earth.
Many may not realize that Divinity is a member of the Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC), which “is a nonpartisan, multi-racial, multi-faith group of people working together to build power for social justice. [They] unite people from across Cuyahoga County to tackle issues and take actions that strengthen our communities.” This past Monday, they held a special conversation event in commemoration of the beloved Martin Luther King, Jr., at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, where the American prophet preached in 1964, shortly after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. They called our time together, “Where Do We Go from Here? Chaos or Community.”
Many fans of the scarlet and gray squad from Columbus, Ohio, are counting down the days until their beloved Buckeyes will attempt to pull off a national championship in the highest level of collegiate football. However, their last game, that they needed to pull off first, had its interesting moments. While Ohio State’s offense seemed to be humming along just fine to open the game, one of their star running backs in TreVeyon Henderson, who also happens to be a rather verbally-proclaiming Christian, seemingly punched an opposing player after the Buckeye was tackled. The ensuing penalty appeared to completely halt the potential onslaught of scoring for THE team.
Today is when all the Christmas decorations will come down at Divinity, as we follow the church-y protocol of honoring the full 12 days of the celebration and all. For some on the actual home front, it oftentimes takes a while to remove all the stockings that were hung by the chimney (or wherever else) with care, as well as the elves on the shelves or full-scale trees and random figurines, let alone however many hundreds of lights. For some, it’s not just about the time commitment to re-organize all the living room displays, but some are rather emotionally attached to all those heart-warming pieces that are meant to inspire our own little joy in the world.
