Central News

Jan 2022   Vol. 30, No. 5

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From Rebecca

January.  A new year.  A fresh chapter.  Resolutions.  A perfect way to put down this tired old year and to think ahead.  To plan.  To dream.

The star gleamed in the skies to the east after Jesus’ birth and guided the Magi to His manger with their mysterious gifts:  frankincense, gold, and myrrh.  Who can forget that precious line in our children’s pageant when one asks, “Myrrh??  What is that for?”  And the calm reply from another child, “For embalming, of course!”… [Read More]

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Central News

November 2021      Vol. 30, No. 3

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From Rebecca

Dear Friends, this poem – “Goldenrod,” by Mary Oliver – says it all.

On roadsides,
in fall fields,
in rumpy bunches,
saffron and orange and pale gold,

In little towers,
soft as mash,
sneeze-bringers and seed-bearers,
full of bees and yellow beads and perfect flowerlets

and orange butterflies.
I don’t suppose
much comes of it, except for honey,
and how it heartens the heart with its

blank blaze.… [Read More]

Central News

October 2021      Vol. 30, No. 2

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From Rebecca

Dear Friends, The parking spots on Diman Place are taken early. Little kids skip along to Child’s Play holding a parent’s hand. Bigger kids chat together, backpacks bulging, as they walk toward school. The sun is still beautiful in that crisp way that makes you appreciate the day even more, as we realize summer is leaving us. Children growing up and seasons changing remind me of how important it is to treasure everyday miracles.… [Read More]

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Central News

Sep 2021 /  Vol. 30, No. 1

Gathering Sunday: September 12 at 10:30 am!

From Rebecca

Dear Friends, what a summer it has been.  My thoughts these past few days keep circling back to the people in Afghanistan, particularly the girls and women whose future is so uncertain.  And then to Hong Kong and the brave protestors for freedom there.  And our own country so filled with anger and division.

It has been an inspiration to be reading Jon Meacham’s new biography of John Lewis. … [Read More]

Central News

Aug 2021 Vol. 29, No. 11

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From Claudia

Albert Camus once wrote, “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”  We are certainly looking back on a winter that was different than all the winters that came before it. Sometimes it seems rather unreal. Sometimes we need to check in with one another just to be sure that we haven’t been mistaken in our memories.

As we enter August, summer does seem to be invincible. Even in the midst of all the virus news in the world – of variants, travel openings, closings and relaxing and reinstating of restrictions – there is much uncertainty.… [Read More]

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Central News

June/July 2021  Vol. 29, No. 10

From Rebecca

“And you – what of your rushed and useful life? 
Imagine setting it all down – papers, plans, appointments, 
everything – leaving only a note: ‘Gone to the fields to be lovely. Be back when I’m through with blooming.’” – Lynn Ungar

During lunch the other day, one of you shared with me that you had taped these sentences to the wallboard above your desk. We agreed – it is perfect for these days.… [Read More]

Central News

May 2021

From Rebecca

Dear Central friends,

It is Monday afternoon and you can sense spring is here.  The wicker furniture is back on the screened porch, and I’m planning to take the time to sit there with Ted Widmer’s splendid new book, Lincoln on the Verge.  I’ve been savoring this history and looking forward to the final chapters.  (See below to learn about Ted’s talk at Central in June!) Meanwhile, the cat has her own ideas of what should be going on in the screened porch, and this would involve checking out all the corners for any stray mice….Of… [Read More]

Central News

April 2021

From Rebecca

Dear Friends,

Easter would break your heart, if your heart weren’t already broken.
Which is why the cynic, the atheist, the pessimist, all of them, cannot touch Easter.
Easter is, quite simply, out of their league.  Out of all the brokenness on every bare hilltop and from every broken heart, Easter  rises.

Just where the cynic, the atheist, the pessimist thought they had won, proved their point, had the last word, put promises to be kept forever away — there on that hill where losers lose, in that heart that felt it would never mend — there God kept the promise that God had made at time’s cradle.… [Read More]

Central News

March 2021

From Rebecca

Dear Friends, we are entering the season of Lent, a time of thoughtful contemplation of our lives and the journeys we are all on. Given the complexities of this past year’s pandemic consequences, political upheaval, and racial divisions, it is good to take a moment and ponder where we are and where we want to be … as individuals, as this Central community, as a country, and as world citizens. We people of faith in particular have much to offer as we contemplate the mysterious ways of God’s working among us, within us and through us.… [Read More]