Friends,

In Sunday's sermon, I preached about a town filled with fear. When Jesus arrives and gives sight to a man who had been blind his whole life, instead of joining the man in celebration, they react with suspicion and throw him out. The way they respond to this man, and the miracle he receives, is a glimpse into what fear does at the societal scale.

All of us have been living in this story in recent months. We’ve been a community wracked with fear that has to choose how to relate to their most vulnerable neighbor. The Twin Cities had to decide: Would we sacrifice the immigrant neighbors among us in order to avoid a military occupation?

Read the rest here.

With love,
Susan+

[ photo credit ]

Tags: neighbors, Healing, Fear, Lent

Friends,

Yesterday, Dave Larson preached a powerful sermon that wrestled with his 'childhood preachers' and their focus on sin. Unpacking the Genesis story of temptation and the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, Dave shared that "this isn't a story about sin. It's a story about love." Listen here.

That love is real good news - not just for our relationship with God but for our relationship with our neighbors. So many of us have been praying, demonstrating, feeding and protecting our neighbors, and joining in other forms of political action in response to Operation Metro Surge. That operation, which purports to be over, has definitely not actually ended: ICE, CBP, and other federal organizations have moved operations into the suburbs, changed tactics, and gone underground compared to a few weeks ago. The news media may have moved on, but our neighbors and friends who felt targeted before would be right to wonder if they are yet safe to go to work, to the grocery store, to doctor's appointments. Volunteers are wondering when and how to taper off.

As much as we'd like the situation to be definitively over, there is going to be a 'long tail' of residual effects, compounded by the lost trust in official communications.

As those impacts linger, what will it look like for our city and our state to 'recover?' All of us will be asking this question in the coming days.

I'd love to hear from you on this question: What does healing (or even just getting back to normal) look like when the harm might be continuing in a new form? As individuals, as a congregation, as a wider civic community? What resources do we need to tap into to practice the way of Jesus in this season?

If you have thoughts to share, hit 'reply' and let me know. If you give me permission to share your words, I'll include in next week's email.

With love,
Susan+


[ photo credit ]



Lent 2026 at Grace: The Welcoming Prayer
The Welcoming Prayer is an embodied, contemplative practice that helps us enter the present moment, in the presence of God.

Here's what it boils down to:
I let go of my desire
for security, affection, and control,
and I embrace this moment just as it is.

As we navigate the extraordinary challenges of these days in Minnesota and across the country, the Welcoming Prayer can be a powerful tool to help us ground ourselves in God’s loving embrace so that we can respond, rather than react, to the instability and uncertainty around us.

Once you’ve learned the practice, it can be a tool to connect with your body, your soul, and your faith anywhere you go, in any moment, no matter what you’re feeling. Find out more.

Tags: Rev Susan, Recovery, neighbors, Healing, Love, Lent

Friends,

On Sunday, Huldah preached about John the Baptist's voice in the wilderness. Drawing on indigenous traditions that see John as a trickster figure, representing radical welcome to all. She called us to claim the transformative power of love that John proclaimed -- God's love without hesitation for all people. You can listen to Huldah's sermon here.

Most Sundays, at the beginning of worship, I remind you that gathering for worship gives us more courage to practice the way of Jesus for the rest of the week. This is the moment for that courage, friends. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and our neighbors are afraid. Immigration raids and deportation are being used to target not criminals but legal residents, undocumented non-criminal taxpaying workers, families, and people who dare to speak out against the current administration. These violations are a challenge to constitutional law, an offense to our national identity, and a spiritual attack on our baptismal promise to honor the dignity of every human being.

Those of us who are not being targeted have a unique power to step in, with God's help, to help be the hands and feet of Christ for our neighbors. As you navigate our city in the coming weeks, please keep your rights as a legal observer in mind, and ask God for the courage to step up when you see injustice. More resources for that courage are below.

With love,
Susan+


Know Your Rights and your Neighbors'

Tags: courage, immigration, neighbors, Rev Susan