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I didn’t grow up giving things up for Lent. In high school I learned there was a tradition of remembering the uncertainty and discomfort Jesus went through, by giving up something we loved for Lent. The forty days of Lent also symbolize people joining Jesus on his journey through the desert for forty days before beginning his ministry. I remember thinking giving things up was a funny tradition. I would always give up something easy – chocolate, or soda, which I rarely consumed anyway. For myself and most other people I knew, Lent was treated as a renewed New Year’s Resolution. We’d give up something we knew was bad for us for the sake of making us healthier. It was a Rabbi in seminary who was able to teach me what Lent was actually about. “I don’t get why you choose what you give up for Lent,” she said aloud one day. I asked what she meant. “Jesus didn’t get to choose what he gave up. He was tempted in the desert for forty days. If you want to be more accurate, shouldn’t you have someone else pick what you give up?” That’s when I realized the flaw in our understanding of Lent. If our goal in fasting and giving up luxuries was to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, then giving up something we decide it’s good to do without anyway isn’t going to cut it. Anything that we ourselves are willing to give up isn’t going to be in alignment with Jesus, because Jesus didn’t decide what He Himself was going to give up. He just followed the call and accepted the hardship that came with it. So, for this Lent, what if we don’t decide for ourselves what we we’re going to fast over? What if we turned to a person outside our tradition, even an enemy, and asked what we should give up (within reason)? Or what if we turned to a mentor or respected teacher, and asked them for a Lenten challenge? Maybe two people could make a pact, choosing each other’s commitment and holding one another accountable. The choices of another may be difficult to bear, but it may be a richer choice than what any of us would choose for ourselves. Ultimately, we may feel more aligned with the path of Jesus’ uncertain and intimidating walk towards the cross.

Tell me if you relate to this. When I’m feeling broken and I long for healing, my heart imagines a return to the way things were, before I got hurt, or before I hurt someone else. I remember the days when all was well. It may be a long time ago but it feels so close, that time when I wasn’t worried about anything, because the troubles had not yet come. Sometimes I fantasize about a way things could have gone, writing a new history of my life, in which disaster was avoided. In the broken moments, when I’m in pain, when I’m a mess, when I’m looking down at the fragments of my life, scattered in shards around my feet, I long to have things restored, put back together. I want to heal, and I assume that healing means going back to the way things were. Do you feel like this, sometimes? It’s hard to accept that life doesn’t work that way. The deepest wounds, the great losses, the worst mistakes, these are things we live with, forever. They permanently reshape our lives, and there’s no way to get back to the life we had before they happened. But that doesn’t mean we’re defeated in brokenness. There is no need to despair. The fact that trouble is part of our story and can’t be erased doesn’t mean there’s no hope. There’s great hope. Because God does extraordinary work with broken things. Every seed that becomes food is broken in the ground to become the plant that grows up and sustains life. I’m sitting on a beautiful wooden chair as I write this – a marvel of craftsmanship made of a broken tree. Could you believe that your grief might become part of a new wisdom and compassion? Could your hurt and anger be fashioned into passion for justice, and commitment to your neighbors? Could you believe that grace might and assemble something extraordinary of your fractured life? At church we just adorned a new communion table with a mosaic of shiny, colorful tile. Every piece is unique, they’re all irregularly shaped, and they’re put together in an assortment that will never be reproduced. Because all the pieces are broken in peculiar ways. And there’s no denying – all together, it’s just beautiful. This is God’s redemption for humankind. This is what it means to be made whole. You don’t get your old life again, unbroken. You get a new life, put together in a new way. There’s no going back, but there’s a lot to look forward to. _____________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa, seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport

In the new Star Wars movie (no spoilers here!), there is a line of dialogue meant to frame the whole adventure: “That’s how we’re gonna win – not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.” Like all compelling ideas, this one sounds nice, but it's incredibly hard to put into practice. We have lots of good things we say we’re fighting for – our families, our nation, the future of the planet – but when we search our hearts we may have to admit that the prize we’re really seeking is the thrill of vanquishing our enemies. When you have a strong feeling of righteous passion – about politics, about your career path, about your relationships – it’s worth asking, what is my most basic motivation here? Am I trying to build something beautiful? Protect something of great value? Make the world a better place? Realize a creative vision? Or… Am I just terribly angry? Am I bitter or resentful because of the way I’ve been treated? Do I hate something or someone and just want to destroy it/them? These may not be mutually exclusive (you can hate what’s evil and love what’s good at the same time), but I have a hunch that, in most cases, one kind of motivation is ahead of the other, as the driver of our choices. If feelings of anger and wrath are the most powerful forces in our lives, even if they are justified by facts, we will not be able to experience true joy, or grow good things in the world around us. We may be able to hurt somebody who deserves it, but that’s not the ultimate purpose of our lives. The ultimate purpose of our lives is to build and grow in beloved community, to thrive in relationships of mutual care and enrichment. We can do this by walking the path that Jesus forged, the path of peace, generosity, neighborliness and trust. And in so doing, we give glory to God. There will be times that we must confront wrongdoing, and fight for what’s right. Look around and you may surmise we are living in such a time, right now. But remember, we’ll build the world we want to live in, welcoming the very kingdom of God, not with hatred, but with love. ___________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian Church in Davenport, Iowa, pursuing transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport, Iowa 52803

Let It Be was The Beatles’ final record, and they made it as the band was falling apart. By the time the album came out, Paul McCartney, who wrote the title track, had already left the group. It’s a beautiful song, but the lyrics are deeply troubled, which is no wonder, since everything that had defined McCartney’s life as a young adult was coming to an end while he wrote it. The verses express turmoil, fear and loneliness, but into this malaise of emotion, a character known as ‘Mother Mary’ offers words of consolation and assurance. Fans often think the Mary in Let It Be, is Mary, the mother of Jesus, specifically because of Luke 1:38 (when an angel tells her she will have baby, Mary says, ‘Let it be with me, according to your word.'). But when McCartney wrote the song, he was actually referring to his own mother, who died when he was 14. During the months when strife was consuming The Beatles, he’d had a dream in which she visited him and comforted him – he began working on Let It Be soon thereafter. I find it deeply meaningful to consider both Jesus’ mother Mary, and Paul’s mother Mary, when I listen to the song. There is a devastatingly beautiful common thread among the stories of a boy losing his mom, a young man losing his friends and his place in the world, and a young woman learning that she will have a baby unexpectedly, while uncertainty envelopes every aspect of her life. In all these circumstances, it’s easy to imagine a person feeling anxious, alone, and utterly overwhelmed. And that’s Christmas, you see. Christmas is the essential remembrance that in dark and fearful times, there is a light that shines into all the trouble. Most of us plan for joy and celebration this time of year – we want to gather with people who love us, and get all the presents and treats that our hearts desire. But while it’s certainly fun if we get what we want at the holidays, it’s very important for us to understand that Christmas is not about everything going right. Christmas isn’t supposed to be a picture-perfect day; it’s not meant to be some sort of cozy proof that everything is wonderful. Rather, Christmas is the experience of God’s peace breaking into real life, despite the realities of isolation, violence and fear that we are dealing with. At Christmas, God’s love becomes incarnate as a precious child, and grace rises to contend with every trauma of the human condition. The truth of Christmas is that God’s love is not shown by any of the fancy things we’re privileged to enjoy, if in fact we are so fortunate. The truth of Christmas is this: We know God’s love is true because even in the fearful times and the treacherous places God promises to be with us. Christmas is found in the darkness, as the light comes in. Paul said, “There will be an answer, let it be.” You and I are invited to trust, and welcome the light, even as dark surrounds us. God bless you, and Merry Christmas. ______________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa, seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Christmas Eve Service: Sunday, Dec. 24, 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport

There's this internet-famous picture of a microwavable holiday meal for one. It includes all the things that one would expect for a Christmas meal, except in a much sadder state. There is a single piece of turkey that looks breaded and fried, but has an odd orange color to it. There is also a small, sloppy section for potatoes with a small slice of butter on top. Lastly, the largest section is stuffing or dressing covered in gravy, which was a creepy, mossy green tint. When I first saw this image, my reaction was one of discomfort and sadness. An image coalesced in my mind of someone buying this meal, going home to a lonely and cold home to eat their microwavable meal in silence. It seemed so opposed to what I believed the holidays should be about – happiness and neighborliness. I showed the image to a friend of mine, who nodded solemnly. “A meal fit for the first Christmas,” they said. I looked at them with confusion and asked what they meant. “Don’t you think this would be something like the meal Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus would have had the night he was born?” I thought on this. I had never considered what the family had eaten that night. Surely their meal hadn’t been anything fancy, and it was doubtful they had a home-cooked meal, since all the inns were full. Perhaps they had eaten something comparable to this microwavable meal for one. The whole question of the meal made me consider why we celebrate Christmas day at all. The situation seems to humble and degrading. God Incarnate is born in a glorified barn and placed in a feeding trough. Joseph and Mary are probably tired from their journey, and uncertain about the future. Yet, we celebrate the moment with joy. Why? We have come to associate the holidays with glamour and luxury disguised as festivity and cheer. We tend to forget about the thankfulness we should feel for God’s in-breaking into humanity in such a humble way, but replace it with our own desires for happy moments and material excess. I’m not suggesting we give up this holiday, or the way we celebrate it, but to keep in mind the origins of the holiday as a whole. Ultimately, God’s love and compassion is shown through this lonely and degrading moment in a barn and a feeding trough. That is why we celebrate. _________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian Church in Davenport, Iowa, pursuing transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm, 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport Iowa

What does it mean to make peace? Is it finding calm in the midst of storms? Is it the end of violence and war? Is it self-love as a rejection of shame? Is it self-protection in defiance of abuse? It’s all of the above, of course. Peacemaking is the sacred activity needed for grace, healing, and growth to take hold in our circumstances. It means different things at different times, but always it’s a combination of being and doing. Often, peace is quite simple – it’s calm, stillness, rest. If we’ve packed 25 hours’ worth of commitments into every day… If we’ve got too many voices clamoring for our attention… If we feel enormous pressure to deliver on unrealistic promises… If the cost of validating our existence in the minds of others is too high… Then peace comes as an essential escape or retreat from the insanity of life. We say ‘No’ to the impulse to be busy and the demands that we perform. In this way, peacemaking is the process of quieting our lives, and allowing less into our spiritual, mental and emotional space. It is a conscientious, intentional decision to rest, to heal, to let things be well in our souls. But that’s not the full story on peacemaking. There are times when peacemaking is much more about what we do than what we refrain from doing. Sometimes peace is not stillness to counter general chaos, but hard work to counter specific violence. Peace must be an active, intervening force, when people’s words and actions are causing harm, or when malice has broken our homes, our hearts and/or our bodies. Consider that you have a friend who is trying to get out of an abusive relationship. There won’t be peace until there is a safe separation from the abuser, and achieving that separation will require difficult decisions and concrete steps. Your partnership with your friend will be a collaboration of planning, action and focused material support. When dealing with this kind of traumatic situation, you might not feel calm or rest or assurance along the way. But as sure as anything, you’re a peacemaker. Sometimes you feel anxious or even terrified, because you are doing what needs to be done, for the cause of peace. In the season of Advent, Peace is an essential spiritual pursuit, while we are awaiting the birth of Christ. He is the prince of peace, born impoverished and vulnerable into a violent and chaotic world. And he invites us to embrace his Way, in preparation for Christmas. Whether it’s in saying No! to the storms of busy-ness and pressure, or whether it’s in saying Yes! to the work of confronting injustice in love, we are invited to choose peace, this Advent season. _______________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa, seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport Iowa

At a family gathering when my wife and I were newly engaged, her grandfather looked at me incisively and said, “Are you going to be a good husband to my granddaughter?” “Yes sir,” I responded, with as much fake confidence as I could muster. “I hope so.” I'll never forget what he said next: “Why don't you hope in one hand and s*** in the other, and see which hand ends up with more in it?” The word ‘hope’ didn’t inspire him, much. When it came to his granddaughter, he didn’t want my optimism. He wanted my commitment, and hard work. We throw around the word HOPE in unserious ways, and it's wrong of us to do that. We say, “I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow” or, “I hope they don't cancel my favorite show.” We use the word to say how we feel about things that we don’t control, and that we’re not going to try to do anything about. In this way, hope is no more than wishful thinking, the thing we do with our fingers crossed, after we pull the lever on a slot machine. No wonder my grandfather-in-law didn’t want me to ‘hope’ I’d treat his granddaughter right. But the thing is, we typically use the word HOPE incorrectly. We treat it like it’s a passive thing, but hope ain’t passive. Hope is a sanctified activity. When we are in the grasp of true, Christian hope we see the future that God is bringing about, and we live as if that future is our reality, TODAY. If I really, actually hope to be a good husband, I must ask, what is it that makes for a good husband, truly? And I gotta get down to business, choosing my words and actions as if I am that guy, even though I’m still becoming him. To HOPE for peace on earth is to set yourself about the work of peacemaking, making every choice in your life, large or small, in service of that goal and vision. If, one day, there is to be peace, how will people live in that reality? How will they conduct themselves, and relate to one another? If we hope for peace, we adopt the lifestyle of the future peace, NOW. If, in faith, I expect to one day life in a world free of racism, or any other social evil, I must examine and reform my life today, dismantling my own assumptions, and commit to the hard work of learning, healing, and making restitution for the wrongs I’ve committed. I want to be ready to live in the future that God wills for this world. That’s hope. This is the beginning of the season of Advent, when Christians anticipate the light of Christ breaking into our lives on Christmas. The season has four themes, and the first one is HOPE. You and I are invited to live hopefully this season, not passively waiting around for something great to happen that doesn’t depend on us, but rather as active participants in the new way of grace and peace that Christ is bringing to the world. God bless you! Take heart! _________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian Church in Davenport, Iowa, seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport Iowa

It was around noon on Thanksgiving Day. My mom and I sat in dad’s hospital room watching television while he slept. This was the third year in a row dad became sick over Thanksgiving. I remember my mom looking at me and saying, “I don’t want to eat hospital food again.” We quietly told dad we were leaving for a little while, got in the car and looked for a place to eat. We drove back and forth down Main Street at least 4 times before we found a little corner restaurant open. We walked into the diner to find no one but the staff. They were sitting in a far corner booth across the restaurant. We were the only customers . They greeted us kindly and sat us at a booth near the exit. The waitress came over and asked if we would like the Thanksgiving special. We both said yes and she disappeared into the kitchen. It was in that moment things became very quiet. Neither of us spoke. Mom was sad, but as always she was trying to make the best of a difficult situation. I was sad and struggling to keep positive. I kept thinking of how Thanksgiving had changed over the years. It seemed like Thanksgiving had gone through an evolution process. It was once filled with laughter and chaos, but now it was filled with worry and sadness. Mom and I had a nice conversation over our dinner and we laughed at our dilemma of finding the only restaurant open within a 10 mile radius. We talked about making the best out of situations life gives us and how lucky we were to be eating an amazing meal. Then, out of nowhere, it hit me… there was this weird sensation and mixture of emotions I had never experienced before. In the middle of that diner, I felt peace, gratitude and hope all mix together. But there was one more emotion that did not seem to belong. That emotion was sadness. It was the strangest feeling. To feel sadness in the midst of all those other emotions confused me. As I look back on that experience, I have come to realize what was happening inside of me that day. I was grieving over the things I had lost over the years. When I was little, Thanksgiving was a time of fun, craziness and extended family, but over the years it had become a time of uncertainty and fear. It was not a “Happy Thanksgiving”, but it was a grateful Thanksgiving. For many people the holidays are not seen as happy, but they are seen as difficult and sad. This Thanksgiving I want to give permission to those of you who struggle this time of year to not have a Happy Thanksgiving. Yes, you read that correctly, it is okay not to have a Happy Thanksgiving. I do, however want to challenge you to have a Grateful Thanksgiving. What is a Grateful Thanksgiving? 1. A Grateful Thanksgiving goes beyond human feelings and chooses to look to the faithfulness of God. 2. A Grateful Thanksgiving focuses on what you have, not on what you don’t have. 3. A Grateful Thanksgiving is choosing to plant a seed of hope inside your heart which is rooted in God’s love. May this Thanksgiving be filled with peace, gratefulness, hope and a little bit of sadness for things lost along the way. Blessings to all of you. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness God.” – Lamentations 3:22-23 __________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian Church in Davenport, Iowa, pursuing transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport

When I was in high school and college I had a pen pal who was in prison. He talked about his faith a lot, and he thought of himself as the most incorrigible sinner that God ever met. Grace was the most amazing thing in the world to him, because he was such a vile person that if God could forgive him and love him, truly nothing was impossible for God. I found out years later that he was in prison for molesting little kids. I was a pastor by then, and I immediately thought of how he characterized his faith in his letters, describing God as the holy and righteous one, who released and redeemed him from his evil nature. God is the Ultimate Good, who alone can forgive sinners. His testimony still means a lot to me. But his understanding of Christianity isn’t helpful to the people he abused. I now know a lot of people who’ve been victimized by sexual predators, and they’ve told me many stories in which church was a place where people told them how awful and in need of forgiveness they were. They felt gross enough before going into church, and didn’t need more baggage, thank you very much. If they didn’t abandon Christianity altogether (and many of them have) the Jesus who helped them find salvation wasn’t somebody who told them they were bad, but someone who told them they were good. This was the Christ who met them in their devastation, offered healing and strength, and walked with them on their journeys of courage and re-imagined hope. Sometimes Christians talk about a ‘personal relationship’ with Jesus. It’s not personal like a private friendship, or an otherworldly connection that diverts our attention from our relationships and accountability to people here and now. It's not personal or private in the sense that it has nothing to do with who we are in a larger community. Faith is never “Just between me and the Lord” . We don’t work out our sins or our salvation in isolation from the world around us. But faith is always deeply personal, because Christ meets each of us in the truth of our unique lived experience. That's why the bible uses so many different images and concepts to describe God and Jesus. When we are guilty of evil deeds, Christ convicts us and shows us what is necessary to change and begin again. When we are hurt by the evil of others, the Crucified One is nearer than ever, and helps us prepare for our own unfolding resurrection story. When we are lost because of our own rebellion or carelessness, Christ is the shepherd who seeks us out, or the compassionate father who welcomes wanderers home. When we are lost because we’ve been targeted for being different and cast out of community, Christ is the great Host, who prepares the great feast, and throws the doors open for us, no matter what the haters say. It is a great responsibility for Christ’s followers, but also a liberating gift, to know fully and deeply that God’s love is personal. Our job is not to superimpose our unique understanding of the Divine onto everyone else in the world, and our burden is not to try and force someone else’s orthodoxy onto our life experience. Instead, we are invited to imagine how all of us fit into the Kingdom Vision that Christ is bringing about in the world, where love is sovereign, and where everyone’s story comes together in a fellowship of grace and peace. God’s love is true for all of us, in every way that love can ever be real. Of course, that’s the only way it could be true at all. __________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport Iowa, 52801 gather@thetableqc.com

Brian McLaren talks a lot about ‘a new way of being a Christian’, in his book The Great Spiritual Migration, and other writings. He describes at least three fundamental changes (or conversions, or movements) that will make churches and Christians different in the years to come than how they’ve been in the past. A Way of Life: Christianity will be understood less as a system of beliefs and more as a way that people choose to orient themselves around an ethic of love and sacrificial service. People will still hold and value their beliefs, but Christians will care less about pledging allegiance to doctrine, and more about putting Jesus’ radical teachings about generosity, justice, neighborliness, welcome and forgiveness into practice in regular life. Eternal Participant: God will no longer be understood as the Eternal Punisher, who is separate from human experience, judges people from a holy throne far away, and pours out violent wrath on everyone who doesn’t escape punishment by believing in Jesus. Rather, God will be understood as the loving and compassionate friend/parent/teacher/guide who comes alongside people in the suffering and struggle of human experience, and as a partner in the journey, empowers us to live better lives. Salt, Light and Leaven: The Church of Jesus Christ will no longer be understood as an institution that exists to be served, accumulating buildings, wealth, membership, money and political clout, and calling these indications of God’s favor. The Church will instead be a body that exists to serve and heal the world, and to grow grace and peace in families, neighborhoods and society as a whole. The Church will not seek to enrich itself, but will exist to enrich the world. Because the mission of The Table is to be a community of transformation, toward greater generosity, peacemaking, neighborliness, and faithfulness, McLaren’s ideas about migration and conversion fit well into our community priorities. So… For the next several weeks, our Sunday sermons and conversations will focus on central ideas and tenets of the Christian faith, in light of this concept of spiritual migration. People have fought a lot over the topics we’ll be discussing, and have invested a lot of time and energy trying to show that they are right and others are wrong. For our part, when we engage each topic at The Table, we will not be enforcing any specific doctrine or instructing people in a rigid form of ‘correct belief’. Rather, we will be considering together how faithful seekers and disciples can engage the resources and truth of Christianity, as we allow our lives and our thinking to be converted by love, on this journey, this migration. We look forward to seeing you soon! OCT. 1 THE BIBLE OCT. 8 HEAVEN OCT. 15 PRAYER OCT. 22 HUMAN NATURE OCT.29 ATONEMENT NOV. 5 SALVATION ____________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa, seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd Street in Davenport

Please Stop Stop the name calling Stop being afraid of those you never met Stop spending so much time being right that you don’t have time to be kind or loving Stop the statements of what it means to be ‘Christian’ that make you forget what it means to live and love like Christ. Please stop wasting time, energy, money, power and authority. Dear Church, please start: Being people who love the unloved Please start feeding the hungry Please start clothing the naked Please start bringing peace Please start living like Jesus so intensely that you start to even smell Like the dirty, dust covered, sweaty, desert dwelling Jesus of the Bible. ____________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa, pursuing transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. Second St. Davenport, Iowa

We hold the whole truth within us, not just the good parts. There’s been a lot of racial tension in our nation the past few years – a lot of high-profile stories of injustice, a lot of activism, a lot of marches. But the recent protests and violence in Charlottesville felt bigger, an alarming new plane of conflict that left many of us aghast. Nazis and and Klansmen were marching on one of the nation’s great universities, trying to ‘unite the right,’ and driving cars into crowds of peaceful protesters. The President gave a response that white supremacists cheered. The shock of it was fundamental to those who thought we’d been moving in a better direction as a nation – is this my country? Is this 2017? Who knew that such extraordinary vitriol, cynicism and hatred was living among us, waiting to be drawn out? Early Saturday morning, Hurricane Harvey slammed onto the coast of Texas, and over the past five days, horrific flooding has brought extended trauma to a vast region of our country. Forecasters knew it would be bad, but it’s turned out to be worse than anything they’d ever seen. The lives and homes lost, and the many-layered catastrophe of flooded communities amount to what any civic leader would have described as the worst-case scenario. Yet every news story covering the devastation has featured stories of breath-taking courage and heroism from community members helping and saving strangers. People giving everything they have, sacrificing every material comfort, even risking their own lives, in total dedication to the cause of neighborly love. These stories of care, kindness and service will fill many books in the years to come, and they show how a great horror can bring forth the best in people. Who knew that such extraordinary generosity, courage and heroism was living among us, waiting to be drawn out? Well, the truth is, it’s all there, all of it, all the time. The ugliest truths about us are true, regardless of whether we’re paying attention to them. And the glories of human kindness and charity are fully alive, even in the most terrible moments. When racist rhetoric and hate crimes spike in our society, it’s not that we’re becoming more bigoted as a people, all of a sudden. We have to contend with the fact that bigotry is a fact of our life as a nation. It’s here. It’s shaped our history and it’s part of us now. And when dire circumstances inspire people to boldly, selflessly help one another, it’s not that we’re just then becoming good and honorable people. Virtue, decency, and goodwill have always existed in us, at the core. The question we really need to ask is, which parts of our character as a people are we going to nurture? Which angels of our nature, as Lincoln might say, will we allow to swell the chorus of our union? With which side of ourselves – the vile or the benevolent – are we going to lead? ____________________________________________________________________________ The Table is a Christian church in Davenport, Iowa, seeking transformation: from greed toward generosity from violence toward peacemaking from isolation toward neighborliness from fear toward faith Worship Sundays at 5pm 102 E. 2nd St. Davenport Iowa