From Pastor Zeke Page 1 From the Desk of Pastor Zeke Uncertain times necessitate faith. Faith grows feet in the midst of strife and struggle. If we are honest, during the easiest times of life, faith can seem like a mere accessory. However, when everything falls apart, faith becomes our life-blood hope. It becomes that which carries us through, enabling us to endure, persevere, and even grow. I believe that when we dare to clasp onto our faith, a faith which tells us that “God is God and that we are not”, we begin a journey into the Divine Imagination. Our imagination is one of our most unique attributes. Unfortunately, we often are taught that imagination is a useful attribute of childhood and must be subjugated as we age. I disagree. Our imagination is priceless and necessary to a full and wonderful life. When you add faith to the attribute of imagination, you get the most powerful image that we will ever have or know. We see that image most concretely in the image of God Jesus bore to the world. I believe the Divine Imagination may look different to each person but bears the following characteristics in common: God loves all of us- simple statement on the surface but if we are to begin to fully “realize” this statement we must believe that all people (like yourself or different) bear the image of God. God never gives up on us and desires to dwell in relationship with all of humanity. Jesus ushered in a clearer understanding of what it means to be a child of God- born in God’s image, grew up, struggled, experienced God’s presence through angels, was baptized, lived and led as a humble, loving, wise, and persistent resistance to the powers of the day, lived faithfully even to the bitter end of his life, found and displayed for the world that death is not the end of the story. If you bear the name of Christ as a Christian, you are in covenant with God. This covenant holds that you will strive to love God with heart, soul mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. So who is our neighbor? Everyone. You carry the hope and belief that today’s reality is not the last chapter of history. It is our collective belief that God wins in the end so today’s reality is not the end of the chapters of humanity. This gift of faith and imagination afford us a tenacious hope that transcends the despair of the day. Welcome the gift of Divine Imagination into your life. In doing so, we will all be better. -Keep the Faith Strong, Zeke Wesley UMC Newsletter February 2022
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