"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12 English Standard Version)

On May 4, 1963, President John F. Kennedy designated the week of May 15 as Police Week for every year thereafter. On May 9 of this year, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy proclaimed May 9 – 15, 2021 as Alaska Law Enforcement Week. Law Enforcement agencies across our nation pause to remember Officers who have died in the line of duty during this week. As of this writing, the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP.ORG) reports that 124 Law Enforcement Officers have died in the line of duty this year (2021).
 
The verse above, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” is always read at funerals for first responders who die in the line of duty. This includes law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services technicians, paramedics, and dispatchers.

Often, a person’s encounter with first responders begins with a crisis. Someone needs help. It may be something that has happened or is happening right now. The crisis is followed by a phone call to 911. On the other end of the phone, a trained and experienced professional answers. They have likely never spoken before, but in this fateful moment they meet, and the 911 professional is a lifeline for a person, or persons, in crisis.

People do not call the emergency number with good news. No one calls 911 to report that their child has taken their first steps. First responders are not dispatched to celebrate. A loving couple does not call 911 for their anniversary or to share in the pride of watching their child graduate. 911 is called because something is very wrong and cannot be solved without outside emergency help.

After ascertaining the situation, the appropriate resource is dispatched. It may be firefighters, a law enforcement officer, and/or an ambulance crew.

Consider for a moment each of these first responders.

Like all first responders, fire fighters willingly enter life-threatening situations without knowing who they will encounter. They simply go. Firefighters are trained, equipped, and experienced. These professionals not only fight fires, but also respond to calls for medical assistance, train and maintain themselves and their equipment, and share live saving skills. Firefighters are the people who run in, while everyone else is running out. I always think of the fire fighters climbing the stairs with all their gear in the World Trade Center to rescue people. 344 FDNY firefighters died in the line of duty on 9/11/01.

Next are the law enforcement officers (LEOs). Like all first responders, they respond to calls for service for friends, neighbors, and strangers. They lay down their lives in the service of all, starting when they swear an oath and continuing on patrol. LEOs carry and train with firearms and willingly enter dangerous situations to save lives and stop threats. Sometimes LEOs get a bad rap for the actions of a very few bad apples. Are there bad officers? Certainly, just as there are bad teachers, bad coaches, bad politicians, bad priests, bad neighbors, etc. Every profession has its unprofessional. The officers most upset about bad officers are the good officers who give of themselves every day to make the world a better place.

Next are the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics that make up the ambulance crew. These are the people who get down and dirty in bodily fluids, blood-borne pathogens, and interpersonal dynamics and conflicts. They too lay down their lives for friends and strangers.

What do all these first responders have in common? Each is willing to lay down his/her life for friends and strangers. Each has an incredibly stressful and stress filled job and carries the burden of encountering people on their worst day and sometimes on their last day. Each willingly enters where others flee. All make a tremendous difference. Remember also that first responders are people. First responders have families, are moms and dads, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. First responders have the same hopes and dreams as anyone and serve to make the world a better place for everyone. Take time to pray for our first responders and for their families. Stop and say thank you the next time you see a first responder for laying down their lives for you – whether you be friend or stranger.

Rev. Stephen Reed is the Pastor, St. Paul Church on Farmers Loop next to Mushers Hall and the Chaplain for Police & Fire

Insight is sponsored by the Tanana Valley Christian Conference
Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on ​May 14, 2021

A friend committed suicide this week. Every day, week, month and year we lose many to suicide. We don’t talk about it. Suicide is taboo. If we talk about suicide someone might commit suicide. People are already committing suicide; not talking is not helping! If you think someone is suicidal, or if you’re reading this and you’re suicidal, then talking can help. It gets it out into the open and that’s a start.

Some believe that a person who talks about suicide isn’t serious or is attention seeking. Yet most tell someone before their fatal attempt. When a person says something that makes you think that they are suicidal then listen and take it seriously; it may be their final words. Get the person help through the Emergency Room, Crisis Line, or counseling centers. The life you save may be your friend, family, neighbor, stranger, or even your own.

Why suicide? Many reasons: chronic pain, shame, trauma, hopelessness, and helplessness; loss of family, ability, job or relationships; endurance of abuse at school, work, home, or online. Some attempt to escape abusive relationships. But love is not fear, violence, or abuse, and God does not condone abuse. Some who attempt suicide just want their pain to end and do not see any other way out. There are ways out that don’t require your life in exchange.

Some who attempt suicide have a prior mental health diagnosis while others do not. Mental health is taboo and stigmatized. If a person has a compound fracture: a broken bone protruding through flesh (a clear sign of a bad day) then we call 911 for help. We don’t stigmatize. If a person has high blood pressure or diabetes, we seek medical professionals to help the person manage their illness. It’s not cured, but it is managed. Mental illness can also be managed through medication and therapy. Stigmatizing hurts and kills. Stop stigmatizing and start helping. Start with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Fairbanks by calling (907) 456-4704 or Text NAMI to 741-741.

I have spoken on many occasions with survivors of suicide – the family and friends of a person who has taken their own life. Survivors experience tremendous guilt and pain. If you’re reading this and you’re a survivor then you need to know that you are not responsible for someone else’s fatal mistake.
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If you are considering suicide, then know that people will not be better off without you. You are not a burden.

Suicide is not limited to one race, income, faith, orientation, or gender. It is an equal opportunity killer. What are warning signs of suicide? Sudden death of someone close; prior suicide attempts; saying that you want to die, can’t take it anymore, or want to end it all; depression; substance abuse; giving away items of special value; getting your affairs in order; changes in sleep and/or eating patterns; self-isolating from friends and family; outbursts of anger or crying; failures in school, work, or life; apathy; or a sudden change in attitude to happiness from anger and sadness.

The above list also describes many teenagers. Fatal suicide attempts, nonfatal attempts, and depression are common among teens. Make no assumptions, talk with your teens. Talk with your Active Duty, Veteran, and First Responder friends. Suicide is very high in each group.

Depression mixed with alcohol and firepower is a deadly combination. I have been entrusted with firearms by people who no longer trusted themselves with them.

This has been a painful article to write. I felt it necessary after losing another friend to suicide this week and the prevalence of suicide in our community. Suicide is a Top 10 leading cause of death in America. It does not have to be. Please, get help, ask others if they need help. You are important, and we can all make a difference.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness Walk is on Saturday May 22nd seehttps://afsp.org/ for further information.

Resources:
FAIRBANKS Crisis Line 24/7 (907) 452-4357 or 1-877-266-4357.
National Suicide Lifeline: 800-273-8255
The Trevor Lifeline 866-488-7386
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Fairbanks by calling (907) 456-4704
Text NAMI Start or Help to 741-741
Lifeline for Vets at 888-777-4443
https://codegreencampaign.org/resources/
If you’ve lost someone to suicide call Hospice at 458-3090 for free grief support.

Rev. Stephen Reed is Pastor at St. Paul Church and the Chaplain for Fairbanks Police & Fire
Insight is sponsored by the Tanana Valley Christian Conference
Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on ​April 23, 2021

One year ago this week, March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. I remember watching news on a spreading virus in December and wondering what might happen and the various possibilities. 

Today I read a very hopeful headline, “Alaska opens vaccines to residents 16 and older.” We are first state in the union to lower the vaccine age limit to 16. 

A year ago a declaration of pandemic, today vaccines for (nearly) everyone! My, what a year! In between that declaration and today many, many events have occurred. Many people from all walks of life have died, far more have tested positive and endured. Schools and businesses shut down or scaled way back. 

Our very language has changed. Commonplace terms today were rarely used a year ago. Coronavirus, social distancing, COVID-19, mask up, isolation, mandatory quarantine, super spreader events, asymptomatic, pandemic, community spread, transmission, flattening the curve, PPE and many more. 
It feels like we have been in a COVID storm for a very long time. 

It is beginning to feel like we are getting through the storm and the sun is starting to shine again. 
People are saying that soon we will be able to go back to normal.  

I do not know what normal will be like after this past year. We have been through a lot as a community, state, nation and world. It has been normal to see masks everywhere and to shelter in place. It has been normal for us to work, worship and learn from home via Zoom and other online programs. We have lost people to COVID, suicide and many other causes. We have grieved together, while remaining alone. 

Oddly enough, this experience makes me think of the disciples some 2,000 plus years ago. Excitement abounded about the long-promised Messiah. One stood out among many as one who did miracles and spoke truth with authority. In the end he upset both civil and religious authorities. In the end he was captured, he was tried and convicted (if you can call it that) and he was publicly executed on a hill upon a cross for all to see. 

I wonder if it seemed as though the world had stopped when Jesus died. The miracles, teaching and hope all ended as he was taken to the cross, to his cross. 

Like many tragic events through history, there was no miraculous rescue, there was no saving grace. Jesus died. As cold and hard as that is to read, it was that simple. He was alive and then he was killed. Like many we have lost through the years, we lost the messiah. Things were returned to normal. A few days later normal was transformed and lives were changed forever when he rose again. 

I do not know what a new normal may look like for our community, state, nation and the world. I do not. But I do know that God is full of surprises and completely unexpected outcomes. 

We will get through this COVID storm and we will be different for what we have endured and for what awaits us. We will get through this as Jesus speaks peace once again in the midst of storms. 

The Rev. Stephen K. Reed, Pastor, St. Paul Church on Farmers Loop next to Mushers Hall; chaplain: police & fire.

This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on ​March 12, 2021

Was anybody else thinking that the craziness of 2020 would end with 2020? I know I was thinking/hoping/praying that 2021 would be better than the constant insanity of 2020. I was hoping that COVID-19 would be lessening, not increasing! I was hoping that the riots that plagued Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, New York, and Washington, D.C., would be ending — not growing into an even bigger one on Jan. 6. Though the dates have changed, it seems that 2020 is still with us.


Are you, like many, asking (again) what God is up to? Are you wondering what this is all about and what’s next? There were points during 2020 where I just did not want to watch the news. I didn’t want to know what craziness was happening where, why, and for how long. I didn’t. Though that’s a natural response — and maybe at times healthy — it’s not always helpful. Some feed off the 24-hour news cycle on health, safety, justice, environmental, political, economic and military updates. Some find time in the wilderness a greater elixir for body and soul.


What are we to do? Go forth and argue, argue, argue as the good book doesn’t say. Hide in the woods, a popular pastime here in Alaska. If you’re like me, you hide until the vast swarms of mosquitoes chase you out. (By the way, I haven’t missed mosquitoes one little bit all winter!)


There are things that we can do. Things that give perspective and things that help and make a difference. For one thing we can recognize Jan. 6 for what it is. For centuries the church calendar has marked the sixth of January as Epiphany: the day Wise Men from the East followed yonder star to visit the baby Jesus. To be clear, these wise men were not Christians. In fact, Jesus, Joseph and Mary were not Christians. Neither were the early disciples. All were Jews. Remember Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem in accordance with their faith tradition. The Wise Men arrive later asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:1-2).


What does this mean for us today in Interior Alaska? It means that Jesus was not just for the Jewish people, but for everyone — even people from thousands of miles away (like us). Jesus is for all.


How can we make a difference? Is it through riots, conflicts, arguments or through retreat into the wilderness? I am here to say that there’s a third option and it’s one that actually helps.


Some folks in our nation (and our beautiful part of it) are suffering. Some are lonely and depressed. Some (adults and children) are hungry and hopeless. Together we can all make a positive difference. We can help the Fairbanks Food Bank, The Door 24-hour youth shelter; we can donate to the Salvation Army and Love INC. We can call and ask how we can help. We can also call our friends and neighbors and check in with people. You won’t catch COVID-19 from phone calls, text messages and emails.


Shortly following the election in November, I wrote an article aptly titled by the editors, “We are not enemies, but friends,” from the opening words of President Lincoln’s first inaugural address given March 4, 1861. The words remain true: We are not enemies, but friends! Even with our differences, let us make a difference with the people around us and live together as friends in 2021 and beyond.

The Rev. Stephen K. Reed, Pastor, St. Paul Church on Farmers Loop next to Mushers Hall, chaplain, police & fire.

This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on ​January 15, 2021

As Christmas rapidly approaches, I am drawn to the conversation between Mary and the Archangel Gabriel. The story of Christmas originates long, long ago (and far, far away) from shepherds, wise men, and  “no vacancy” signs.

Christmas begins in prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures of the coming of a messiah. Christmas also begins with a conversation described in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. This conversation is between Mary, a young Jewish virgin girl, and Gabriel, an archangel sent from God.

The Archangel Gabriel begins the conversation powerfully:

“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

How did Mary react? How would you react if an angel (or archangel) suddenly appeared before you? How would you react if anyone suddenly appeared beside you (there is no mention of Gabriel knocking on the door)? Would you scream? Would you shoot? Would you run out the back? 

What did Mary do? Did she drop whatever she was holding?

“But she (Mary) was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” This could be an understatement of epic proportions.

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

Why do you suppose angels are always telling folks not to be afraid? Could it be that angels, and especially archangels, scare the living wits out of people? That’s my theory. They keep saying don’t be afraid because they are always scaring people!

“Mary.”

Gabriel knows her name. God knows Mary by her name. God knows you by your name. 

“You have found favor with God.”
 
Now Mary is really afraid; she’s wondering what is going on and what is going to happen next.

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”

{What? I will do what? Son? What?} (My translation)

“How can this be since I am a virgin?” 

{You have the wrong girl. It’s not me and it can’t be me. I’m a virgin. Go scare someone else!} 

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

{Elizabeth is pregnant?! I am going to be pregnant! With God! What?!}

The most powerful part comes between Gabriel’s explanation in verses 35-37 of Luke chapter 1 (see above) and Mary’s response in verse 38. It has to do with who is talking and who is listening. The Archangel Gabriel, a messenger of God, is talking with Mary, a young girl and favored by God.

I imagine silence. Quiet. Waiting. 

Gabriel waits to hear Mary’s response. God waits to hear Mary’s response. All creation from before then to beyond now waits to hear what this teenage girl will say.

Waiting.

Wondering.

Waiting.

Mary is engaged to Joseph. Mary has every reason to say “No! You got the wrong girl!”

Waiting.

After what must have seemed an eternity, at least for Gabriel if not God, Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Mary said, “Yes!”

And thus, the unwed teenage girl begins her journey to become what the Greek Orthodox Church refers to as Theotokos (Greek for “mother of god” or, literally, “god-bearer”). God’s plan for salvation will go forth. 

But now the obvious, and difficult, question: What if Mary had instead shouted, “No!” Or even, “Hell No! You’re crazy! You got the wrong girl! Get out and stay out! Now, before I call the police!”

What if Mary said no?

During this Christmas season, take time to pray and listen and wonder what God is calling you to do. Wonder how many are waiting for your response. What if you, like Mary, say “Yes” to God?

​This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on December 18,  2020.

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” 
 
The words above were as timely when they were first given as they are today. They are from President Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address given March 4, 1861, just over a month before the American Civil War.  Our prayers are likewise needed now as they were then.
 
Many say that our nation is as divided and polarized today as it was in the civil war.  As I write this article, legal challenges are occurring around elections in several states across our great land similar to the election in 2000 . At the same time there are calls for unity and transition.
 
How do we respond to this experience of polarization and division? How do we respond as Christians? 

We might begin by acknowledging that we have differences. We do not agree on everything. Sometimes it may seem that we do not agree on anything. It is easy to enter discussions that sometimes become heated and some label as arguments on many, many topics. Yes, that is true.

It is very, very easy to disagree on very nearly anything.
 
So with the reality of polarization and division on many topics, what are we to do?

Perhaps we begin by not trying to solve discussion of polarizing topics like abortion and gun control. Let us instead focus on safe topics like the PFD, a state income tax, school curriculums, and a balanced state budget. Okay, maybe that will not work either.
 
What can we talk about that is not somehow, “political?”
 
It turns out there are many things. We can talk to one another. We can check in with each other.

Through it all we can listen to learn instead of listening to respond. The goal of conversation is communication. Try listening to hear what the speaker is saying and imagining for a moment why a person is saying what they are saying. Ask questions to clarify what is being said and ponder the meaning. Listen to hear and thereby learn.
 
No, we are not going to solve big differences in a few brief conversations. People have been arguing about abortion and gun control for decades. Similarly, people have been arguing about state (and local) budgets, taxes, and school curriculums for years. Instead we just might get to know one another by listening and learning.
 
I write today suggesting that we spend time in prayer for our nation and listening, really listening to one another.
 
"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires."  -James 1:19-20
 
The Rev. Stephen K. Reed, Pastor, St. Paul Church on Farmers Loop next to Mushers Hall, chaplain, police & fire.

This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on November 13,  2020.

I awoke Saturday morning to a phone call informing me that a very close and longtime friend had died suddenly just hours before. My friend’s daughter was calling to let me know. We (Laura and I) have been heartbroken ever since.

I learned that on Friday afternoon my friend had been working on a sermon when suddenly her chest hurt like never before. Her husband rushed her to the hospital. They ran tests and determined that she was suffering from a dissecting aortic aneurysm for which little could be done. She called family and shared her love for them and the situation. She was given pain medication and died in the midst of hymns, prayers and friends a short time later.

She and I were in ministry in a small Episcopal Church in Colorado. We attended Diocesan parish leadership classes and were in Clinical Pastoral Education for a few years together. Her daughter (who called) had babysat our kids. She was happily married, an active member of a Celtic Franciscan order, and pastoring a church in East Texas. Things were going well for her and we were so happy for her. And then she dies suddenly having recently turned 54. She suddenly experiences excruciating pain while writing a sermon to preach on Sunday. Her funeral was Tuesday at 1 p.m. in East Texas. She died doing the Lord’s work and in excruciating pain.

Don’t wait to tell people of your admiration. Life is hard and everyone fights battles seen and unseen. Everyone struggles to some extent. I told her several times of my profound respect and admiration of her. I am so glad I told her. You never know when your last conversation with a person will be the last conversation. And don’t waste time arguing on social media about anything. I’ve done that and it just drains your life, time, and energy. Spend that time with people.

In all this I am really struggling. In a job I used to have I worked daily with people who were dying, sometimes actively dying. I consoled the dying and their loved ones. I also worked with family following sudden unexpected deaths in the form of accidents, incidents, suicides, and homicides. I buried four of my co-workers. I assured all I came in contact with of God’s love and grace and tried my best to help at the worst of times. I developed deep respect for everyone on the front lines of these battles for life: nurses, doctors, police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, EMTs and dispatchers. Every one of these respond to help strangers in danger at their own risk.

This time is different. This time we’ve lost a close personal friend. And it’s hard and it’s not fair, not at all. None of it ever is. I’ve been on scenes and in situations where family members ask me why God has taken their loved one? I didn’t know then and I don’t know now. Some will say loudly and proudly that it’s all part of God’s plan, which can be reassuring or terrifying. Perhaps terrible things just happen and God helps us with putting pieces of our life back together and making peace with a now empty chair.
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This Sunday (Oct. 4), I’ll be thinking of her as we celebrate St. Francis Sunday and have a blessing of the animals following the service (we’re meeting in person at appropriate distances and precautions). She was a long time Franciscan and enjoyed blessing of animals and the joy on the faces of young and old.

I believe in all my heart that we’ll see her again in heaven, that she’s with Jesus, and that at the last day she’ll be resurrected. But right now, I just want my friend back.

The Rev. Stephen Reed, pastor, St. Paul Church on Farmers Loop next to Mushers Hall.
Chaplain, police and fire.
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This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section October 2,  2020.

Theology!

What is it? Why, as in why does it matter today?

Theology is the study of God. But what does theology have to do with us? Why, especially in this crazy year, does theology matter? All good questions! There are many questions in the study of God.
First lesson from my very first day in seminary, printed largely and loudly upon the chalk board: “GOD is GOD. You are not.”

“God is God. You are not.” There is far more to that statement than first meets the eye. And therein lies the study of theology.

When we try and figure out what God is doing, i.e. what God is up to, we first begin by recognizing that God is wholly (and HOLY) other. God is not us. God is not our relative, friend, neighbor, co-worker. God is God.

It is easy to think of God as being like you, your friend who agrees with you on just about everything. Surely God roots for the same teams as you and wants the same wins as you. That must be God. And surely God has the same views on everything as you and roots for the same political party and candidate as you. Why if God were here right now, I am certain God would drive the same truck as you! No doubt about it.

Okay, that’s not actually God. That’s not to say that God is driving an ecofriendly hybrid either. Perhaps God exists beyond cars and trucks and games and politics (and even time!).

I used to work a job where God was invoked by loved ones in the hopes of another breath, another heartbeat and another chance. Life is just that tenuous and just that fragile.

What can we say of God? How can we even begin to understand?

In Anglican Theology, in which I was raised (or steeped to use a British term) there is a three-legged stool upon which we stand seeking God. One leg is scripture. Many faiths stop at this leg. Scripture is enough! “Solo Scriptura” as Martin Luther once proclaimed (that’s scripture alone). The problem (whenever people are involved there are problems….) is that scripture can say a great many things. In Biblical books of Samuel, Numbers and Judges there are passages that call for killing every man, woman and child in a given area. Really. Look it up.

So back to the three-legged stool: the first leg is scripture. The second leg is tradition, defined as how the Christian faith is lived out over the centuries. To use the above example, tradition teaches us that killing every man, woman and child lead to genocide and wars and goes against Jesus command to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourself. Some faiths emphasize tradition over scripture.

Finally, the third leg of the three-legged stool, after scripture and tradition, is reason. Reason is the rational mind trying to make sense of an irrational world. Reason includes one’s experience within the world. Reason, to again use the above example, might say (scream!), “I don’t even want to go to that village. I’m going to leave every man, woman and child alone and avoid needless suffering. Or I might even try and help and thereby serve and love God.

Now we’re near the end of this article and the beginning of your study. What have you learned thus far? God is God, you’re not God. Only God is God…. If you think God agrees with you on everything, well that’s your dog, not God. God doesn’t drive your preferred truck or car and isn’t consumed with self-righteousness on sports, politics or transportation. Help the people in the village and the people around you, your neighbors and strangers. Consider looking at a given issue, or maybe this crazy year, through the lenses of scripture, tradition and reason. You might find that you’ll grow in understanding and in faith.

We’re going to get through this year, upcoming elections and whatever is next around the 2020 corner. We will. Together we will make a difference as we reach out to help one another and show the love of God.

This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on September 11,  2020.

Once again 2020 continues to amaze and mystify. What is God up to? I do not know.

As I write this article I do so praying for family and friends in the path of Hurricane Laura in Texas and Louisiana and for family and friends in the path of wildfires in Colorado and California. I pray as well for people in a number of cities across our country experiencing protests, riots, lootings, shootings and other unrest. 2020 continues to challenge us all on a great many levels and in a great many ways.

I write this also as I recover from days spent cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking wood. Cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking wood is something I can cope with and understand. Freshly cut wood (neighbor fell a few trees) is heavy. It’s true. Hauling heavy wood over a muddy hillside is a challenge.
What does all this have to do with an insight article? Good question. Let me explain.

Cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking wood is an act of faith. It’s true. It’s an act of faith that says that not only this winter will come, but next winter will also as have all past winters. The recently cut, hauled, split, and stacked wood won’t be available to burn efficiently and effectively heat our home till, at least, next winter (2021-22). There is a rhythm of life in interior Alaska and that rhythm involves seasons and the challenges each present. Summer presents the challenge of mosquitoes while winter the challenge of extreme cold. Each also involves acts of faith, big and small, every day.

In the midst of all this is the reality of the (extremely!) strange times in which we live. Some fear engaging friend, neighbor, and stranger for fear of COVID-19. This plague has presented many challenges to each and all of us. Pray for our nurses, doctors, teachers, students, truck drivers, grocery store workers. They are on the front lines of the COVID battle.

We are also in the midst of elections for a great many elected positions. While I will not advise you on how to vote, I will implore you to vote. Many have sacrificed in battles near and far that you can be free to participate in our representative Democracy. Pray for our elected leaders, voters and candidates.

I ask your prayers for our first responders (law enforcement, fire fighters, paramedics, and dispatchers). First responders have very challenging and difficult careers. Each must make incredibly difficult decisions in mere seconds. Each serves the community and sacrifices time from family and friends to answer calls of strangers in highly stressful circumstances. Imagine for just a moment what life would be like as a first responder. The stress and situation are enormous. Pray, show respect and appreciate the difference first responders make each and every day.

In the book of Exodus, Moses is called by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. In the Gospels, Peter is called to start the church. What is God calling you to do? I believe God is calling each and all of us to care and pray for one another. 

​This Insight Article is sponsored by Tanana Valley Christian Conference
​​Printed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Faith Section on August 28, 2020.