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August, 29 2008 by Mireya.
Please take a moment to read this article: Boy, 15, dies of injuries to become 4th fatality in Eagle Rock car crash.
Related article: Pregnant woman among 3 killed in Eagle Rock crash; street racing blamed.
It’s like a movie that should never have been made. A family lost their three children and an unborn grandchild in a car crash. This is a family that our family knows since we were kids. I don’t know this family at a personal level. But when tragedy strikes, human nature bonds. Pain is universal. And like love, pain ties us together with a bond that you can’t see or express with words. Even actions seem like a feeble and flimsy way of expressing what you feel. But you yourself don’t know what you feel.
I am reminded of Job and the tremendous tragedies that struck him and his family. No wonder his friends were groping in the dark trying to “help” make sense of things. Feeling a need to “explain” God during a tragedy, they misrepresented God entirely! But, if you go back and read what they said, don’t you find yourself agreeing with them? Don’t you feel you’d say the exact same things? What are we to say or do?
Today I was reminded of the fine art of being present and just shutting the &%$# up when tragedy strikes our world. We don’t have the explanations and God does not need us to help explain His actions or apparent lack of action.
The art of being present and just mourning alongside those who are suffering is not natural to us. But God can teach us how to just mourn with those who suffer and acknowledge: we have nothing to say, there is nothing we can do, that we have no clue of what the answer might be, the results of sin entering our world can not be explained…
In addition to that, God’s counter attack on sin, love, during a tragedy, does not feel real. His love seems more painful to bear than the tragedy itself.
Tears are all we have to offer. Having the courage just to be present and crying is a difficult thing. But one that we must do!
One question that I’ve asked myself lately is this: Who comforts God?
Posted in Urban Missionaries, Discipleship, Community, Prayer Ministry, Church | 1 Comment »
May, 6 2008 by Mireya.
You are either very brave or just plain crazy. What possessed you to come to Hollywood anyway? What was your journey like that brought you here? And how did you distinguish God’s calling for you? So you are here and now what? How? Why? Why now? Why the people that you are now meeting? Is there something significant about all these questions?
Posted in Discipleship, Urban Missionaries, Leadership, Community, Fellowship, Process, LA Voice, Peace & Justice Committee, Church | 2 Comments »
April, 18 2008 by Mireya.
What an exciting journey it has been. Some have heard me say it often… I’m SO EXCITED to experience how I feel God is leading and teaching me to engage in the ministry of love - the work of restoration He is already doing in the world. Several members from the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church and I have been involved in learning to live like Jesus in a way that is very different than either of us has experienced before (I think I can say that). What does that look like in our city and in our time? I’m still trying to figure that out. In the mean time I continue to participate in my city and community and step out in faith! LA Voice afforded me the opportunity to participate in my city in a different way. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Discipleship, Urban Missionaries, Leadership, Community, Peace & Justice Committee, Process, LA Voice, Church | 1 Comment »
April, 13 2008 by Mireya.
Posted in Community, Leadership, LA Voice, Media Ministry, Video, Church | 1 Comment »
April, 8 2008 by Mireya.
Hope you are doing well! There is SO much going on in our church and in our community (esp. with our mural project taking off!) and the events coming up this weekend that we will POSTPONE our Peace & Justice/LA Voice committee meeting this Thursday, April 10th at 7 pm.
* * * Please continue reading for updates * * *
MURAL PROJECT:
Thank you to all who were able to attend this past Sunday’s mural concept presentation! I heard it was great.
A couple of us are taking a field trip if you’d like to join us. Part of our church’s community organizing will be around the future of murals in Los Angeles. So we want to make sure we are educated about the process and to ensure our voice is heard. Man One our muralist will be a presenter at the Getty Center:
The Arts in Los Angeles, 1997–2007 (panel discussion)
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium
Admission: Free; reservations required. Call (310) 440-7300 or go online
NEW TIMES FOR PEACE & JUSTICE/LA VOICE MEETINGS:
We would like to have our meetings on a day that you can actually attend! We appreciate your dedication and time so much and we don’t want to miss out on your talents for God’s service, so please bear with us as we figure this out. We really need your presence as we continue to work in the community, so… someone will be calling you or talking to you some more about this as will Joe Hari, our church’s organizer.
LA vs War
There is another cool exhibit - which you may want to invite others to attend. Man One is an a collaborative group exhibit starting Thursday thru Sunday this week.
Its LA vs War. Its a peace protest against the war in iraq.
LA vs. WAR
April 10-13 2008 - Downtown LA
LA vs WAR highlights the travesty of a senseless war now going into its 6th year, giving LA artists a platform to exercise their freedom of speech. Hundreds of artists representing our diverse communities unite in delivering a universal message of peace and understanding, and offering resistance and opposition to the US government’s war policies.
Posted in Upcoming Events, Peace & Justice Committee, LA Voice, Crossroads, Church | 1 Comment »