MORGAN'S MOMENT
“Could you please write 
   an encouraging letter to me.”
My intentions were good
      but my promises not kept
      to a dear friend in a bad spot.
Is it enough to pray
      for someone long distance 
      or think good thoughts?
Is it enough to send a blue sheet
      hoping some inspiration
      may seep through?
There is no phone or e-mail
      allowing personal talk
      in that place.
A letter is all she asks…
      not just any letter…
      an encouraging letter.
My heart hurts for her
      and my helplessness 
      frustrates me.
In not knowing what to do
      I’ve not being good
      at doing what I can do.
All she asks of me
      is encouragement 
      in an envelope.
  — Art Morgan 
 
MOMENT MINISTRIES April 24, 2000
On the Road

ON THE ROAD

We missed a blue sheet (maybe you didn’t miss it!) due to being on the road. We had stops in Ashland (seeing our Grandson and staying at Salters…On to Palo Alto, with Jean’s brother, Earl. On to San Luis Obispo for dinner on the waterfront with Tom and Nancy Norwood from days of involvement with All People’s in LA….Then to Ventura for lunch with Austin and MaryJo Coe, who pastored in Downey when we were in LA…Dinner that night was on Stan and Thaya Howard’s sailboat at Harbor Island Marina…Over the hill into LA to visit Tom and Loraine Clark (another of Jean’s brothers) in Fountain Valley…Attempted a pastoral call on Floralee and Bruce Anthony in Downey on occasion of her mother’s death…saw Nick Radoumis (but not Jackie) in Downey, former parishioners at Huntington Park…then to LAX motel to hook up with Salters and park our cars.
We flew to Cabo San Lucas and taxied to Punta Colorada, a fishing motel where we walk, swim, read and write (and work on my Easter stuff), and eat fish others catch. We stayed 10 days and got back for Easter  A long flight delay (our Alaskan plane was canceled due to wing flap problems!), then picked up our car and got out of LA heading straight up I-5 toward home. We used Salter’s house in Ashland for an overnight, visited Betty Ann Dibb in Medford for coffee and talk while passing through. All the above named are blue sheet readers, so know pretty much what we’re up to.
Another 14 day trip in May and we’ll be read to move into our summer mode. Will report whenever we get home.
GOD IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
We always buy the Friday Wall Street Journal. I won’t tell you why. (WelI, I guess I better, or you’ll spend your time trying to guess—Jean likes the writers who do the wine reports). Even though Wall Street was closed for Good Friday, the paper was published. The feature front page article, with a color picture, was titled: “Redefining God.” The subtitle of the article by Lisa Miller reads: “An old bearded man or a force in the wind? This Easter and Passover, even traditionalists are rethinking their image of God.”
Churches are bastions of tradition. Don’t knock it too much. That’s their job. Proclaim and defend the faith. There are plenty looking for the sound of certainty about the mysteries. 
As I scanned the article for anything especially new, I found myself thinking that there was more contemporary religious education in this one article than would be exposed in most church schools. I know of a few exceptions. 
Of course, many have gone far beyond the thinking revealed in this article. But for lots of folks outside church walls, this will be refreshing news. The rap against the churches by outsiders is its apparent bondage to an impossibly ancient and narrow and pre-space age concept of the holy. 
Interesting to find more refreshing religious education in the Wall Street Journal than in church.
the back page
EASTER  2000 AT GILL AND EASTER  2000 AT INAVALE FARM
There were two notable services in our area (at least) this Easter. One was the evangelical’s big gathering at Gill Coliseum called “CitiChurch.” The other was the Easter gathering at Inavale Farm that we called “FarmChurch.”
One was the largest in the area—probably in the state—the other the smallest.
Gill Coliseum is by far the largest inside venue in our area, seating over 10,000 people. The 28 uniting evangelical churches easily filled it, something the basketball team hasn’t been able to do in a long time. They actually combined their services at prime time—10:30—giving up individual services. I wondered what they did with all the left over preachers. And I wondered about how my friend, John Dennis and his Presbyterians, fared in their community service across the street at the LaSells Stewart Center, the 2nd largest venue in our area. Parking must have been a mess.
I’m fully impressed at the growth of ecumenism among evangelicals who could never have agreed with many—including one another—on anything a few years ago. The Spirit moves. Not too many years ago it was the mainline churches leading out in such cooperation. Now, at least in our area, the mainliners don’t bother to get together very much.
Furthermore, the Gill crowd took an offering dedicated to Community Outreach and an at-risk program in the Corvallis Public Schools. It is a total about-face for evangelicals who shied away from social action programs. We sure could have used them during the civil rights struggles of the ‘60s. They have potential for significant impact.
When you count the number of churches involved it is not surprising that they filled Gill. The only surprising thing is that they chose to do it. Impressive.
At any rate, the other Easter 2000 service went ahead at Inavale Farm. We didn’t have banners up, didn’t buy a single ad, didn’t have big video screens or audio systems. We did buy some juice and paper plates and Martinelli’s and Champagne. The Glasses cleaned the carpet and furnished coffee and a giant Easter cake and filled some potholes in the driveway. O yes, we did print some bright pink program song-sheets. And it helped if you had a map to get there (which people did, seven from Portland, one from Silverton, and one from Friday Harbor!) We overflowed the house, but not so much as to disqualify us for running as the smallest Easter festival around. 
I’m afraid we didn’t buy into an orthodox (spell that literal) understanding of Easter as history. Quite frankly, Jesus wouldn’t have recognized much of what happened. Some at Gill said, “Jesus was here.” Well, my guess is that he’d have been off fishing or somewhere, having done his church thing on Saturday at the synagogue. The Unitarian minister speculated Jesus might feel more at home with Unitarians. Jesus certainly would reject any hint of equality with God, or any form of Trinitarianism. I speculated that as a friend of wine-drinkers and sinners, Jesus might have been happy to be with us. Isn’t America great? Anybody can claim Jesus.
The people were respectful of my words, even the kids, although they no doubt were wishing I would move things along so we could all get to the main event—food and talk. That’s not exactly fair, since we all understand Easter as a time to celebrate the fact of life and the fact of life quality that can be raised when it is down and broken. We marveled at life, and wondered at the God of it all. The wonder, joy, spirit, tradition and celebration were lifted in the music sung and led by Paul Pritchard. Eventually we headed home down the lane, past the pond and barns, out toward the highway, each with an individual Easter experience to remember. 
Of course, that’s the way Easter was from the beginning. Each had a personal Easter experience to remember. They were all different, but full of life. I’m sure that the folks at Gill said it happened to them. Would they believe it if we said it happened for us as well at Inavale Farm?
    — Art Morgan, April 2000