Newsletter Thoughts February 28, 2026

Dear friends, 

Last night, I went to my first concert at the Kia Forum and saw Brandi Carlile. She is one of my favorite artists and it was my third time seeing her perform. As is often the case for those of us who resonate with live music, it was a transcendent and soulful experience- 3+ hours of heart-filling love, solidarity, peace, and joy. I was electrified and felt liberated from my own current sorrows and connected to my fellow humans. I experienced so many diverse and authentic expressions of humanity there and was reminded that we serve a God of multiplicity and possibility.

Waiting for the crowd to disperse so we could walk to the car, my friend Danica showed me breaking news on her phone. The United States and Israel had launched airstrikes into Iran. 

This action immediately tore my heart with fear and worry. I wanted to bask in the joy and safety of the community that I had just experienced. I didn’t want to have to confront the truth that on the other side of the world, violence has once again erupted. That violence on this planet is often erupting and on-going, even as others of us are experiencing joys and liberations. 

But this truth, this tension, this nuance is a part of being human. Of being humans called into such a time as this. To bear witness to, to pray for, to yearn for what I believe God yearns for- communal dignity and care for all of God’s people. And the hope that we can with action and intention be a part of those steps towards calling heaven into our world. 

In this time of Lent, we confront our mortality, our sorrows, and our torn hearts. As it says in Psalm 121, “We lift our eyes unto the hills, from where does our help come? Our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. The Lord will not let [our] foot slip, nor will the one who watches over [us] fall asleep.” 

There are no easy answers I want to offer today, nor have I yet found a way to settle my heart as I sift through the world that is; the days to come; and my hope for the world to be. But I find comfort in knowing that when I raise my eyes to the hills or to the concert stage or to the night sky, I can trust that my help comes from the Lord and that in a globalized world, the Divine never falls asleep watching over God’s beloved kin. Because in the words of Brandi Carlile : 

We're only human

I don't need to see how to it ends

To tell you that we'll never be here again

We're only human

I just wanna feel my face in the sun

I never really wanted to hurt anyone

Forever only means we had a good run

We don't need to know to right now

It's hard enough being human

May it be so. And so it is. 

Minister Chelsea