<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">A bit of reflection from M. George Walters a couple of years ago seems germane: <span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">George has just written this reflection and I want to share it with each of you.</span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span> <span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">It is entitled "Entering my octogenarian decade - A theological perspective on the moment."</span><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As the Corona Virus COVID-19 swirls around us across the globe and I complete my 80th year on planet earth, it is the moment we are in that attacks me, not the 8 decades of memories, but the moment and what it portends for the future. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To assess this several things from my theological journey strike me as ways to understand this moment.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I believe my life experience has born out the fact that the "Activity of God in History" is ongoing. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I believe it was Karl Barth who said the person of faith approaches each day with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The news tells us what the activity of God is in this moment, unless you believe God is dormant -- it is history in the making -- it is what is happening, it is not our opinions about it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is stubborn reality. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And as a theologian, Barth used the wisdom of past ages to help him interpret what he was experiencing and to decide what to do. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, I will try to do the same. </span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When I look to that wisdom, a couple of thoughts arise at this moment. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One is a passage of scripture that simply says, "the rain falls (equally) on the just and the unjust." <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Simply put, whatever is going on in any moment is not God playing favorites. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And if you think you are in or out of favor, don't interpret what is happening as for or against you, or for or against some group of people you do not trust or like.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Another passage are the words of Jesus that I like to think of as the origin of 'common sense.' <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A group of people were asking Jesus for answers, as human beings are always prone to do when up against the troubling reality of the Activity of God in a moment. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To put it in everyday common personal human terms, Jesus used the weather for his analogous answer. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>"You see a cloud rising in the East and you say it is going to rain...If you can interpret the look of the earth and the sky, (as to your question) why can't you decide for yourselves what is right?"</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">This is where we are now. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Lest we fall into "functional ineptitude" <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I think we all must avoid,</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">* <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the irresponsible dismissal of the reality upon us, in the illusion that somehow, we may be exempt from the impact of this reality,</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">and/or</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">* <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the delusion that some messiah will give us an answer and therefore excuse us from deciding for ourselves what is right.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I do not know what the next decade is about. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some say the 8th decade was supposed to be the primal period for the maturity of wisdom. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Maybe the 9th will be more of the same or something different. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But whatever age you are, reality is upon you and you must decide how to respond. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, uncle, colleague or friend, I urge you all to collect your wisdom and engage common sense actions that practice the "love of our neighbors" near and far, and care for ourselves so that in God's future activity we can care for all creation.</span></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; min-height: 22px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">M. George Walters <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>March 27, 1940-2020</span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br></span></p><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Jim Wiegel</span><br><div>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We are all time travelers journeying into the future. But let us make that future a place we want to visit. “ </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Stephen Hawking</span></p></div></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 17, 2025, at 6:44 PM, Don Bushman via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default"><font size="4">Greetings Y'all:</font></div><div style="font-size:large" class="gmail_default"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="vertical-align:top" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" style="font-size:0px;padding:0px;word-break:break-word"><div style="font-family:Ubuntu,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:1;text-align:left;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p><font size="4">
As Bill, Sunny, and I met to consider our focus for this Sunday’s <strong>Path Forward Conversation</strong>, we found ourselves returning to H. Richard Niebuhr’s <em>The Church as Social Pioneer</em>. Bill reminded us that many of the networks we engage with are responding to some form of <strong>innocent suffering</strong>—a powerful throughline in our shared work.
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From that conversation, a compelling idea emerged:<br></font>
</p><blockquote style="margin-left:20px;font-style:italic;color:rgb(85,85,85)"><font size="4">
Transformation often begins in response to innocent suffering.
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In my (admittedly not-so-humble) view, the church—at its best—is
about the transformation of human beings who live on behalf of all
people in our global village.
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<p><font size="4">
Of course, transformation arises from many sources. I love beautiful
sunsets—but in all my years, not one has launched me into a
transformative journey. Beauty moves me, yes. But suffering calls me.
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<p><font size="4">
Then Friday, I found myself—surprisingly—copying and pasting a David Brooks column. His piece <strong><em>“What’s Happening Is Not Normal”</em></strong> closes with these words:
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<blockquote style="margin-left:20px;font-style:italic;color:rgb(85,85,85)"><font size="4">
A civic uprising has to have a short-term vision and a long-term vision.<br></font>
<font size="4"><strong>Short term:</strong> Stop Trump. Foil his efforts. Pile on the lawsuits. Turn some of his followers against him.<br></font>
<font size="4"><strong>Long term:</strong> A fairer society... We can’t go back to the status quo that prevailed when Trump first rode down the escalator.<br><br>
I’m really not a movement guy... But this is what America needs
right now. Trump is shackling the greatest institutions in American
life. We have nothing to lose but our chains.
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<p><font size="4">
Like Brooks, I don’t naturally gravitate toward movements. But I keep showing up for these <strong>Path Forward</strong> conversations because of the courage, clarity, and companionship they offer. They remind me I’m not alone. They embolden me.
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<p>
<font size="4"><strong>We’d love to hear from you:</strong><br>
What actions are you taking in these not-normal times?<br>
How are you doing—spiritually, emotionally, practically?
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We’ll gather again this Sunday via Zoom. No prior participation is necessary. All are welcome.
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<p>
<font size="4"><strong>📅 Sunday, May 11</strong><br></font>
<font size="4">🕐 1:30 PM Pacific<br></font>
<font size="4">🕑 2:30 PM Mountain<br></font>
<font size="4">🕒 3:30 PM Central<br></font>
<font size="4">🕓 4:30 PM Eastern
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<font size="4">🔗 <a href="https://email.reply.donbushman.com/c/eJxsU0uTqjwU_DVhd6dCwstFFjqI18fcK-XbDRWSIBFImBDwG3_9V-qsbs023ZU-p7sPyyQnafyJK_X3GLVFd4rdrZfGW4cTgV1MRw7XDZWKGNHWX29cq7zvyoaqN6abbyzTNyVMV8o2s1-tILVm1Er9eueOIG7ohT6KEPYd0VBZZ43oOnoRD3FraZCevPvyvqJ6vrjgD2q-Wc_PtC2FcYQapNGqEcqS1mjes4eAUxLIYYAhjYK8gL6Lc4gQRyIv_FGEvAAWjiQIIh_6bgQhhth_8_DI88PAKzguUCEg8OCPu9WktLbtAB4DlACU1FJV_3AASp6T_rKGskqqC0BJQEPKIgxZJABOmFaWMjvnAMfXVLLZVYbVcM1Nkf-B2yEAKGhvD7CLj_vzoR_gJaQ1327aVEzlbbwbTz5Gv09vLkCBbhTAcTRyR34UIT8KnJplL6ekssIoWpMdSjo-21dHdzSm19XJTXWen9eWJmU95pMiPL5PDuMY3y6f9whN33e2-juE54pdT2vZ9vuvzar2AUqm-r8B1ur3OvQ__qSb-O5Gt-E8TZONXQ67Q8eFJ9_LcRVygCZh-PBnz9JpFywP86jZ83l75IHbR119X6_XV4b7HT77AE3afbwpVk36OX_ns_1SLS4Ax06tn0Xs77S2q_64nTWLsNx0i1veOo2wpeaEttJpjR4kF4bUgnKmlRLMauMYoq3VnHLgwcvDj2d-ne4NE-QVkOyGXzdtKmEcS4TNXq2yj6pmP6pawnST_XgZA0H_BwAA___0XxZc" style="color:rgb(26,115,232)" target="_blank">Join the Zoom Meeting</a><br><br></font>
<font size="4">📄 <a href="https://email.reply.donbushman.com/c/eJxsks1yujwYxa8GdnUgAbGLLFSkrx__KuO3GyYkAVJDQpOA1at_B-2yu8xzMjk55_mRjFOUxt_wKtenUVOYc-zvgjTeuRQx6EP87lJVYy6RZo24D6iSeWuqGssBUfWvlqmbZNpUvMnsvWFIKIItV685dRnyoyAKwQjA0GU15iKrmTG4ZL25tXiYnoPH8rHCar4o4T-sf289H1O2YtplsuNayZpJixqtaEt6A7dCkIU0AgyEXgBCltM8CFkBcUggpN6Q5C5HwAOhF_ojz4MeDAcBfA_CaBgUFBagYJ4TeH9mE6iytjEOHDsgcUBCFTGDUqlSsF5_Tdr-R_3RAYnfseHb8bAr4kJ_Lq-bHba39Z2Y-DHJf2Lv3oguXZfGykqXDkgY5daBSWsaB8amwprL0hUke2Xn0jItsUB7kBj6cbie_Pcx_lqd_VTl-WVjcVKJMZ0U0Wk6OY5jeCu_HyMwm-7tdd1Flyv5Om940x7u25UIHZDM1E_nCfnfJgr_fabb-OGPbt1lliZbu-z2R0NZwKfV-BpRB0yiqE98IOnMDJfH-ag-0HlzokO_HRnx2Gw2XwS2e3gJHTBpDvG2WNXp93xKPw5LuSgdGLtCPdFqH1jYVXvafdSLqNqaxS1v3JrZSlGEG-42WnWcMo0Ew5QoKRmxSrsaKWsVxdQJvLLv47kRo1pNGHoW9MZN93ZT-sq0axGz2YsT28OX_elqEVF19ifrHQL_BwAA__-tjgsz" style="color:rgb(26,115,232)" target="_blank">Download Bill’s Narrative & Supporting Documents</a></font>
</p>
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<p><font size="4">
Warmly,<br></font>
<font size="4"><strong>For the Path Forward Triad,</strong><br>
Bill Parker, Sunny Walker, Don Bushman
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<p><font size="4"><strong>P.S.</strong> In Bill’s conversations with 70+ network leaders, these questions kept surfacing:</font></p>
<ul><li><font size="4">Where do I even begin to ease the suffering I see around me?</font></li><li><font size="4">Who else is working on this—and how can we support, not duplicate?</font></li><li><font size="4">What breakthroughs are happening in other towns, clinics, schools, or congregations?</font></li><li><font size="4">Where do my skills best match the needs?</font></li><li><font size="4">Where is energy already building—and how can we support it?</font></li><li><font size="4">Where are the deepest gaps in care, dignity, or inclusion?</font></li><li><font size="4">How do I find my team—those committed to what I’m committed to?</font></li><li><font size="4">Why is it still so hard to talk across differences?</font></li><li><font size="4">What’s keeping our good work from adding up to more?</font></li><li><font size="4">Is anyone weaving the pieces together?</font></li></ul>
<p><font size="4">
We invite you to bring the questions <em>you</em> are hearing—and share what’s stirring in your corner of the world.
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<div style="font-family:Ubuntu,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:1;text-align:left;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><table style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">
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<td colspan="2"><br></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br></div><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Don Bushman<br></div><div><img width="96" height="77" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4zOIu3LEC6MFTWTu0KY7E502yfIl5gyrUcU9KlzwS-rSnRYeib0f_TPP7f9TiS5-tpufMUq26vAwWag" data-unique-identifier=""><br></div><div> <img width="96" height="96" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4wgIOy7oWy3z_VRwzsBpODEX3NNQ9JDo77bNqvSsjWJ9GswXJj_6KMPdFE-dzLVIcOLFPbwXCt5GgEQ" data-unique-identifier=""><br></div><div>828-292-9696<b><br></b></div><br></div></div></div></div>
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