The Good Table At Home - Cultivating Resilience
by Rev. Melinda McLain, Pastor for The Good Table UCC, and Kelly Knight, Marketing Manager
Spiritual Touchstone
On Sunday, June 14th, we marked 90 days since the initial shelter-in-place orders were originally issued by Bay Area public health officials. As a congregation, The Good Table UCC actually stopped meeting in person on March 15th, which made June 14th our “Fourteenth Sunday in Zoom”. Now that’s a liturgical season I never learned about in seminary! Plus, many of us have been participating in sustained Black Lives Matter protests since the horrible murder of George Floyd on May 25th, while wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, and paying attention to the new dynamics for protesting during a global pandemic.
The past few months have definitely tested our individual and collective spiritual endurance. And as a pastor, I have heard the grief, rage, and hopelessness that this season of pandemic and protest has produced in so many. So what do you do to increase your spiritual endurance? Is it possible to develop those muscles like an athlete might develop their physical endurance?
Muir Woods, by Tom Emanuel
When in need of a spiritual boost, I often find inspiration in nature. And when it comes to endurance, our beloved local redwood trees are without a doubt the champs! As most know, these trees are some of the oldest living things on earth, with many trees living from 600 - 2000 years. How’s that for endurance!
But how do they do it? Turns out, they succeed in part because they live in groves where they draw strength and stability from one another. They literally cannot do this alone. And this strategy of creating an interlocking web of roots below ground also allows these trees to rise over 300 ft. into the air (over 30 stories high) — a feat of tremendous stability too.
The lesson for me from redwood trees is to focus more on getting (and staying) connected to neighbors in the community in ways that increase our collective endurance and stability. This has been extra challenging during the pandemic, but with some creativity, we can continue to build these strong networks and connections and our spiritual endurance and stability as well.
For more on this, please listen to my recent sermon, “Enduring Hope”, on Soundcloud:
P.S. Taking care of yourself is paramount during this time. Burnout is very real, and the anxiety, grief, anger, and overwhelm we’re all feeling is very real. Here is a great resource from The Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley: Four Ways to Feel Good on a Hard Day in Lockdown
In Our Community
We were sorry to hear the news that a real landmark business in El Sobrante, Thrift Town has announced that it will not reopen. Read more here: Thrift Town in El Sobrante Will Not Reopen
Many Good Table members have been to protests in recent weeks. Rev. Theresa Hardy, Vice-President of The Good Table Café board of directors attended a Black Lives Matter protest in El Sobrante with her family. Several protestors were on horseback — very El Sobrante!
One protest passed our site on Sobrante Avenue while Gavin Raders, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Planting Justice, our partner organization, was watering plants on the property. He turned off the water and joined in!
Some good news: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, handing the movement for LGBT+ equality a long-sought and unexpected victory: New York Times coverage.
We’re proud of our members and our community for all they’re doing to make sure all people and all families have the same rights and protections. Stay safe out there!