A Most Unusual Week

After church on Sunday my week was starting very typically until I went to visit Sally Leininger at Montereau. As I waited to enter my information in the screening machine, I overheard a conversation that the woman behind the front desk was having and realized that I knew her. When I asked if she had lived in Okmulgee and she said “yes” we traveled down memory land to a time when I was a young teenager and had babysat her son. It was remarkable to have reconnected with this woman and she asked me for my card because she doesn't have a church family in Tulsa. I had a lovely visit with Sally and enjoyed my Monday at home with my grandson until about 5 o’clock when my phone started blowing up.

As most of you know by now, my email was hacked and a spam email was sent pretending to be me to hundreds of people. If you did not get that email, count yourself lucky. The attack on me was so well done that they attached my photo from the church website and they made the fake email almost the same as my real email. If you responded to one of these FAKE emails from me, please change your email password so that they can not dive into your email history and do the same thing to you. I have changed all my security settings for my personal and my church email.

What was so beautiful about this crazy attack on me and the church was all the people who really wanted to help when they thought that I had asked. Also people who I hadn’t heard from in a long time called or emailed. People that had moved away and used to be members called. I was moved emotionally and spiritually by the deep faith and trust people had in me and how they called/texted or emailed to verify that I really needed them. I was moved to an attitude of prayer by the hacker who must have been significantly hurt by a church or religious community and had gone to all this trouble to strike back. I have been praying for this person/s all week. In my clergy support group, every one of them had had this happen to them.

There are so many church refugees out there who have given up on God and God’s people because of an interaction that left them wounded. It makes me thankful for a place like Faith that strives to lead with love. Do we hurt each other some times? Yes, absolutely and usually without meaning to. The real question is weather our interactions have provided enough trust to call each other on our pain and to correct behavior without flinging accusations and being willing to listen. This trust has to been earned with respect for each other and trying our best with every relationship. And most importantly we have to be willing to forgive each other and try again. It is hard but valuable work in every relationship.

I also had the opportunity to do an animal blessing for a cat on Thursday afternoon. We have done Blessing of the Animals services in the past and they are always well attended. Tiki was a beautiful cat and was wary of me but allowed me to bless, scratch and pet her as I said a prayer for her and her family.

So this turned out to be a most unusual and difficult week but also below the surface a beautiful week where I was reminded how many people love and respect me and want to help make the world a better place. And for that I am deeply thankful.

Humbled,