Goodness Weekly 7.17.23

Jul 17

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
–Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Join us for our monthly outdoor gathering this Wednesday, July 19th. Starting at 5:30, grab some pizza for Story Swap with Riley before Worship at 6:30, followed by Teen Night at 7:30.

Order Scott's Pizza

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, July 18th 9:30 AM Storytime on the Lawn featuring Mission Bell Tacos at One Another Coffee
Wednesday, July 12th
- 5:45 Story Share
- 6:30 Sunset Worship
- 7:30 Teen Night
Saturday, July 22nd, Young Adult Night
Sunday, July 23rd,
10:30 AM Morning Service
4:30 PM Chapel Worship
Saturday July 22th 6 PM, Young Adult Night

Collective Calendar

What’s Good:

Around One Another

One Another Coffee is a corner of our campus that continues to collect smiles. Our good friend Alexis is consistently greeted by Bread, the corgi puppy. There is a baby that bashfully giggles at her every time she talks to his mom. Alexis witnesses regulars that are technically neighbors meeting for the first time through lovely exchanges at her window. Our coffee truck is a bright spot in many of our customer’s week.

Charis Park

A Message from Jess

How would we treat one another if we believed that everything we said and did had a genuine impact on the other person?

Author Marianne Williamson writes in Return to Love that in every situation we are either moving toward love or fear. When we look at the parables of Jesus we see a similar dichotomy—good fruit, bad fruit, good soil, rocky soil. I find it so interesting that we draw hard and fast rules around so many things in religion, but we allow for an abundance of gray areas around the way that we treat our neighbors, the way we treat ourselves, and the way we treat our Earth.

To me, these are the areas that are non-negotiable. Now, having said that, we are human. My bad days cause me to be short-tempered and I am much more patient when I’m well-rested. The conditions around me absolutely impact how much light I am capable of projecting by my own human strength. But I want to be better and I try every day to use words that build up instead of tear down, and take action that creates love instead of fear.

So often we are worried about getting things right instead of just being kind. We hold a simple mistake against another person and forget the plank in our own eye. And I wonder what it might be like if we were people who actually believed that love wins in the end?

That love has already won.

What if we could radiate goodness and hope to every person we meet, and genuinely work for the good of those around us?

I think things would look a whole lot different than they do now. There is no such thing as perfect, and nothing more freeing than finally letting that whole idea of perfection go.

When I turned 40 this year, I asked a number of people ahead of me who I trust to share what they wish they would have known at 40.

Almost every one said some version of let things go.

The only thing we leave behind is the love we’ve shared. I hope this week you are leaving love and kindness in your wake and spreading it to everyone you meet.

Because life is simply too short and too hard to do anything else.

Love, Jess