Dr. Weibel has a book coming out soon entitled “The Ultraview Effect: What We Can Learn from Astronauts about Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown.” While I haven’t been to space (obviously!) I once sensed something like The Ultraview Effect when whale watching. Once, off the coast of California, I went with a friend. We were so far away from land that all we could see was water all around us. When a humpback whale would breach, I was filled with a hard-to-describe awe. I felt my smallness and a profound sense of humility about my place in the universe. And yet, at the same time I had a profound sense of connectedness with the wide universe and the mystery I call God.
This weekend we celebrate Commitment to Giving Sunday and our annual Fall Festival. It is always a time of great joy as we come together to give thanks for all the ways God is at work in and among us and as we anticipate the future work of our faith community. I think of the professor’s book coming out and the things she believes we can learn from astronauts: awe, humility, and exploring the unknown. This year’s stewardship theme is Dare to Dream. May it be for us an invitation to be filled with awe and wonder at what we can accomplish as a community of faith and Christ’s body in the world. May it also be a time for humility, acknowledging the work to which we are called is bigger than any one of us. And may the months and years ahead be an opportunity to explore the unknown - new ways of connecting with our community and engaging our neighbors.
What a joy to be your pastor!
Teresa
