Central Presbyterian Church

Please select a Mobi Menu from the Menu Locations tab in order to make your header display as intended.

Central Presbyterian Church
  • Home
  • Welcome
    • Vision Statement
    • Transitional Pastor
    • Accessibility
  • Worship
    • Worship Space
    • Music & Instruments
    • Faith & Sacraments
  • Work and Witness
    • Pantry & Clothes Closet
    • Garden
    • Environmental Justice
    • LGBTQ Inclusion & Advocacy
    • Mission Partners
    • Outreach and Grant Request
  • Ways to Give
  • About Us
    • Our Staff
    • Contact us
    • Newsletters

Fear, Faith & Love – Day 3

cpc
March 20, 2020
Lent
In This Together

The Same Lifetime

“…the most useful thought we can hold when all hell cuts loose is that we are not members of different generations, as unlike as some people would have us believe, as Eskimos and Australian aborigines. We are all so close together in time that we should think of ourselves as brothers and sisters. Whenever my children complain to me…, I say, ‘Who do you think I am—Methuselah? You think I like the news of the day any better than you do? You’re wrong.’ We are all experiencing more or less the same lifetime now.”

Those are lines from a college commencement address delivered by the late author Kurt Vonnegut in 1978. He was talking about how, when it comes to things that truly matter, generational divides are a false construct. “We are all experiencing more or less the same lifetime now.” We each experience the news of the day differently, but it impacts us all.

There is a human tendency to compare our circumstances to those around us, for better or worse. In these days of sheltering in place, one says, “Well, I’m way better off than _______. His whole job disappeared.” Another says, “____ can check on her grandparents. My mom is in a nursing home and they won’t let me in to see her.”

For me, whether the comparison is for better or worse, it neither changes my experience of this pandemic nor helps me feel more hopeful. No one likes the news of the day any better than anyone else now. But what helps me move forward within the limitations of these times, is the acknowledgement that “we are all experiencing more or less the same lifetime now.”

Vonnegut was a confirmed atheist. As a believer, this lifetime we are experiencing together calls to mind the words of the Apostle Paul (I Cor 12.26-27), “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. For you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

I am uplifted by the image of us connected to one another as closely as the different parts of the same body (even as we practice physical distance). I am calmed down by the knowledge that we hold one another in prayer. And I am grateful for God’s love as I experience it through our church community.

~ Heidi Peterson

____________________________

In Roman Catholic liturgy yesterday, March 19, was St. Joseph’s Day – St. Joseph the Worker as he is known.

What is your true work?

~ Carol Ann

Previous Story
Fear, Faith & Love – Day 2
Next Story
Fear, Faith & Love – Day 4

Leave your comment

(will not be shared)

Recent News

  • January/February 2023 Thursday, 5, Jan
  • November/December 2022 Wednesday, 14, Dec
  • September 2022 Thursday, 8, Sep
  • June 2022 Thursday, 8, Sep

Contact Us

Want to get in touch with us?

We'd love to hear from you.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • September 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
Copyright © 2023 Central Presbyterian Church. All Rights Reserved
SearchPostsLogin
Thursday, 5, Jan
January/February 2023
Wednesday, 14, Dec
November/December 2022
Thursday, 8, Sep
September 2022
Thursday, 8, Sep
June 2022
Friday, 29, Apr
May 2022
Tuesday, 5, Apr
April 2022

Welcome back,

Central Presbyterian Church
  • Home
  • Welcome
    • Vision Statement
    • Transitional Pastor
    • Accessibility
  • Worship
    • Worship Space
    • Music & Instruments
    • Faith & Sacraments
  • Work and Witness
    • Pantry & Clothes Closet
    • Garden
    • Environmental Justice
    • LGBTQ Inclusion & Advocacy
    • Mission Partners
    • Outreach and Grant Request
  • Ways to Give
  • About Us
    • Our Staff
    • Contact us
    • Newsletters
Exclamation Triangle Check code