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A Message from Pastor Ken, Jan
2008
Dear
Friends,
This
will be the last of my monthly pastoral letters as your Temporary Supply
Pastor. The time has both stretched out a bit longer than we may have
originally anticipated, and also quickly flown by us. I’m writing this
a few days before Christmas, but you will receive it toward the end of
the Christmas Season—right around the time of the Reyes Feast, the
Feast of the Three Kings on January 6.
I
decided to use this month’s letter to share with you some of the
things that I love about Las Placitas Presbyterian Church. Things that
make my heart to sing when I think of this congregation.
First,
as many of you know, I love the rooted-ness of the congregation, and the
still-abiding sense of a country church. That sense comes to me when I
am able to sit in church and look out the window to see the garden, the
apricot trees, and when my eyes are lifted toward Sandia Crest. The
feeling also comes to me in the Upper Room, where the adobe walls, vigas,
and the small fellowship that gathers for 8:15 a.m. worship all feels
somewhat like the church of my childhood. The commitment of LPPC to care
for the earth is not surprising when a body just lets him- or herself
feel the spirit of the land and the structures of the place.
I
also care deeply about the Hispanic heritage of the congregation, which
is something rather foreign to a Kansas
farm boy but so very much a part of the self-identity of LPPC. The
Spanish elements in our liturgy and life speak loudly to me, and I
understand a heck of a lot more of it than I used to. And, of course…
there’s also our famous frijoles, and red/green chile! There’s much,
much more as well. I feel so lucky to live among the peoples of northern
Nuevo Mexico.
On
yet another hand, the value placed on the arts at LPPC and in the
Placitas community is amazing. I have no doubt that The Placitas Artist
Series, the concerts and art shows, are very much a part of our mission
as a congregation. It’s just frustrating not to have sufficient
wealth, or walls, to buy all the art that I fall in love with during its
month in the Fellowship Hall.
Another
aspect of the beauty of the arts among us that we sometimes don’t
recognize as such is our Memorial Garden, which provides a place of repose and consolation. What a delight it is
to walk in the garden, or sit on one of the benches and listen to the
sound of the flowing water in the acequia.
And
then there’s mission! What fun it was to see the wallets come out to
contribute the last bits of money needed for the water buffalo for the
Heifer Project on December 16. And though I didn’t win the quilt this
year . . . I remain as determined as ever to support Habitat for
Humanity via the raffles and gift bags, and so on, in coming years. And
at the heart of it all, for me personally, is the strong emphasis on
earth-care as a spiritual calling. We could always do more in all of
these areas, and in others, but thanks be to God for the amazing amount
that we do undertake.
The
last bit that I’ll mention here – since there is far more I could
gush about than there is room – is my sincere appreciation of the
commitment of LPPC to be a welcoming and inclusive community. Those who
have not suffered overt condemnation and rejection in their lives may
not fully understand how unbelievable it is to find a church, ESPECIALLY
a church, which welcomes and esteems you as someone marginalized by
other parts of our society. Let me tell you, it is a true gift of grace.
Each
of these things that I’ve listed is a piece of our lived-out
commitment to Jesus Christ, who came into the world to actively engage
and redeem the full human experience and every aspect of life. All of
these things are, I believe, part and parcel of the core Presbyterian
affirmation that “in life and in death we belong to God.”
So,
now, as I prepare to happily slip back into the pew with the mountain view, I want to thank you all for the experience of these last 3 ½ months,
for your support and your forbearance. And, thank you as well for these
last four years of my varying levels of involvement in the LPPC
community. I look forward with excitement to the prospect of Elizabeth’s time with us, and the bright future of this Placitas congregation.
Muchas
gracias, mis hermanas y hermanos!
Ken
Cuthbertson
Temporary
Supply Pastor
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