From the Pastor: Jan 2026

Dear Friends,

As I grow older, my faith in God grows stronger, but my faith in humanity is easily shaken.  I believe that God is working in the world to bring joy and salvation, but I also believe that many people are working in the world to bring cruelty and ignorance.  As such, it gets harder to celebrate New Year’s as a time to hope for a Happy New Year.  Hope is an elusive bird that takes flight easily.  

But hope is the foundational rock on which faith is built.  The gift of salvation is not one that any person living has fully realized.  Christ has saved us from our sins and for eternal life, but that Easter gift is yet to come in completeness.  Paul acknowledges this when writing, “In hope we were saved” (Romans 8:24).  Our faith is a belief and hope for the deliverance of the light, but it is a fragile faith, and always in motion, easy to sway by the pain of life.  Paul goes on:  “If we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (8:25).  Martin says, “or we try to.”

In that spirit of fragile hope and deep faith, let me share with you a prayer for the new year published in The Presbyterian Outlook by Presbyterian pastor Karie Charlton, inspired by Thomas Merton’s “The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude.

Holy God, as we close this year and enter the next, I need to tell you that I have no idea where this world is going. I do not see a path toward peace, hope, love or joy. I’ve become so immersed in the tribalism and general contentiousness that I may not be able to see the middle way, even if it was right in front of me. I want to follow the way of Christ, but that doesn’t mean that I am.

Yet, Advent reminds me that you are preparing the way for the world’s transformation. My desire is to be part of that renewal and not part of the problem. Guide me. Bless my efforts to co-creating your new world. Give me hope.

I trust that you are already working for my transformation, even if I haven’t been aware of your presence in these dark days. I believe you are working in my neighbors as well. Help me to approach everyone with love rather than fear. You, our God, are with us. We are not alone, even as we face hardship and even death. Whatever this new year brings, we trust you, the One who holds all our days.

With expectant faith in the One who is Love,

Love and light

Martin