FLYING LESSONS

from Moderator Susan R. Andrews

[1-15-04]

I have flown almost everywhere I have traveled this year. Taking to the air has taught me some important lessons about life:

We're all in this together. The intimate ritual at the security checkpoint never ceases to amaze me. Off come the belts, the jewelry, the jackets, and the shoes. Strangers pat me down. When my moderatorial cross triggers the alarm, dozens of people stare me down. There is no aristocracy or pecking order. Unless you're a pilot late for her plane, you stand in line like everyone else. We become community--dependent on each other for a safe and smooth process. Maybe, if Palestinians and Israelis, angry wives and philandering husbands, conservative Presbyterians and liberal Presbyterians had to stand together in a security line for several days, we might indeed have peace on earth.

The big picture is breathtaking. Whenever I gaze down upon the beauty of Washington, DC, or the vast fertility of our American cropland, or the splendor of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, I am reminded of how insignificant I am in the vast panoply of God's imagination. I may be fretting about what I am going to say at the next meeting, but then I gaze out the plane window and find comfort in the fact that who I am and what I say is God's creation, not mine. I am but a walk-on in this drama called life.

We are not in charge. I was stranded out of state when the floods hit the Baltimore area last year. On another trip, my plane sat on the runway for an hour because Air Force One had priority. A week ago, I flew in and out in 24 hours--both times in sleet and snow. There was nothing I could do about any of it. And yet, as a result of these unexpected delays, I had dinner with a stranger and shared wonderful conversation about motherhood. I got to read a novel for the first time in weeks. And in the midst of sleet and snow, I found myself deep in prayer, finding my weary soul filled with God's fresh energy. Thanks be to God for these reminders that we are not in charge, but that God's time is always creative time.

One of my lasting memories of Africa is of flying in the co-pilot's seat in a nine-passenger plane. Below was the landscape of western Ethiopia, a breathtaking quilt of greens and yellows. No power lines, no skyscrapers, not even a paved highway in sight. Captain Solomon kept pointing out the hidden jewels of his native land. As I felt our lives blend together, as I marveled at God's creation, and as I reminded myself of countless unexpected gifts, I was filled with gratitude for the providential, life-changing grace of God.

My friends, buckle up for the year that stretches ahead of us. Look for the big picture, savoring the people who share this ride. And give thanks that our sovereign and saving God is in the cockpit, guiding us to the places we need to go.

From the Rev. Susan Andrews, Moderator of the 215th General Assembly

GRACEFUL GROWTH

[7-9-03]

When I think back to my earliest memories of church, I see and feel myself in worship--a small child, cherished and safe. My favorite part was the offering because I could participate. I could place my quarter on that velvet lining and then imagine myself curled up in that plate, being carried forward as an offering to God.

I invite us this year to imagine ourselves as a collective offering to God, carrying forward our whole lives as a gift of hope for the church. I call our Presbyterian Church to a season of graceful growth--in gratitude, membership, and mission.

Growth begins with deep gratitude for the trustworthiness of God. We have much to be grateful for in our denomination: love of scripture and scholarship; cultural and theological diversity that challenges and changes us; wide arms of mission, embracing the whole world. Let's spend this year saying thank you to God and to each other.

I call us to graceful growth in membership. The congregation I serve has been growing for fourteen years. The reasons include making a commitment to grow twenty-five percent in five years. We also doubled our evangelism budget. We offer creative options for reverent worship, rooted in strong, biblical preaching. We openly welcome thinking, searching Christians. We have an interfaith witness in our pluralistic city. We push each other to serve "out there"--in God's fragile world.

I call us to graceful growth in mission. We have two mission fields in this rapidly shrinking world. One is across the ocean, where we are called to meet the physical and spiritual hungers of the developing world and where we are energized by the fresh joy of global Christians. The second is in our backyard. We need to reclaim our conviction that ministry is everybody's business, that the vocation of each Christian is to be the living presence of Christ in the boardrooms, courtrooms, living rooms, and classrooms of our world.

We are surrounded by people who long to experience the presence of God. I've known Yoshi for seven years. He grew up in Japan, the grandson of a Zen Buddhist master. He came to the States to study and pursue a career in bio-medical research. He married a Christian woman and started attending our congregation, but distanced himself from any kind of faith commitment. Then God decided to come close. In two powerful dreams, Jesus appeared to Yoshi. Providentially, that same week, I approached Yoshi, asking him if he was ready to claim Christ as his own. On Father's Day, Yoshi was baptized. He offered to Jesus his Japanese, Buddhist, scientific self, now transformed by the living Christ.

Brothers and sisters, God is in our dreams. God is working in the imagination of our denomination. This year let us be that grace-filled offering I dreamed of as a child. Together we can give ourselves to God for the sake of the world.

March 2003
[3-18-03]

Mission Journey to Asia

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the church of Jesus Christ is experiencing significant growth around the world! As your Moderator, I witnessed this growth firsthand on my second mission trip abroad, this time to China, Korea, and Indonesia.

With the guidance of Dr. Insik Kim, we began in Shanghai, China. Church leaders shared with us the need for leadership training and church growth. In Nanging, we heard from seminary leadership and witnessed how the Amity Foundation arranges for the printing of 15,000 Chinese Bibles everyday. I preached in Beijing, where the overflow crowds for multiple services each Sunday gather in the fellowship hall with more than fifteen televisions to experience the service. As I left China, I prayed that God would give the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Christians in North America the same hunger for worship, prayer, and study.

From China, we journeyed to Seoul, Korea, where we were shown tremendous hospitality. Church leaders shared with us about their growth, ministry, and mission--sending more than 850 missionaries worldwide.

We traveled from Korea to Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world with 230 million people, thirty million of whom are Christians. Indonesia, a Muslim country, has more Presbyterians and Reformed church members than in the United States. In fact, the Presbyterian Church and the Reformed churches in Indonesia constitute the largest Reformed church presence in the world.

As your Moderator, I continue to challenge each of us to focus on:

In addition, please pray for President Bush, the Congress, our nation, our armed forces, and our military chaplains--that the path of peace will be pursued.

May the challenges of this Lenten season lead us to the dawn of Easter morning, filling us with joy, strength, and hope as we seek to be a faithful church and faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel is the Moderator of the 214th General Assembly (2002) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).