Newsletter Thoughts May 3rd, 2025

Dear Friends,

In June I will be heading to Chicago for the next meeting of the ELCA Systems

Academy. After this meeting I will have completed three years of a four-year program.

Just before each session, participants are given a prompt for writing an essay. This

helps us to do some deep thinking prior to our arrival.

This time the prompt is to review my notes and share my favorite quote from the last

three years. I don’t really need to review my notes for this because there is one quote

that has been stuck in my mind since I first heard it in October 2023:

“Don’t let the issue become more important than the relationship.”

-Dr. Walter E. Smith

I think this stands out for me because it is so incredibly hard to do. Sometimes when I

share this quote with others, their first response is something along the lines of “nope,

this particular important issue is way more important than a relationship.”

I get it! I struggle with this all the time because human rights are issues that seem to me to be

more important than relationship.

Dr. Smith is an African American who, before retiring, worked on issues of racial disparity in the Pittsburgh juvenile court system. He does not come to this issue without deep thought and experience.

In October 2024 Dr. Smith came and spoke again. I asked him about this. I shared

some of the pushback that I received. He then shared an example of his own struggle.

Since Hamas attacked Israel, and the subsequent war in Gaza, his family has

experienced deep division. He said that he is doing the hard work to be true to his

beliefs while staying in relationship with those who disagree with him. Sometimes this

results in angering others.

Dr. Smith did not share his view on the war. Rather he shared the heartache and

difficulty that comes with trying to stay in relationship. His advice for us was to bravely

be true to our beliefs and to not be afraid to articulate them, all while not cutting off

relationship with others. Of course, others may cut off relationship with us, which is a

reminder that we are only able to control ourselves.

In this time of increasing polarization, I continue to struggle with this concept. I also

think that Jesus’ command to love our neighbors is at play here. Maybe loving our

neighbor, even when they don’t seem to deserve anything from us, is about finding

ways towards a better world. What might our world be like if we were all able to see our

opponent’s humanity before rejecting their beliefs? None of this is easy, but I think the

struggle is worthwhile.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow in worship.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Nancy