Having never had to wear glasses, it was quite a shock when, shortly after turning forty, I was suddenly having to extend my arms away from me to see clearly what it was that I was reading. Before I knew it, I not only had to wear glasses to read but was prescribed progressive lenses, also known as trifocals. Fortunately, I adjusted to this new reality rather quickly. However, I know that for others, it can be quite challenging to determine where to focus their eyes and how to tilt their head in relation to what they are trying to see or read.  Beyond being able to read and navigate our daily lives with the assistance of physical glasses, we recognize that we all view the world through various cultural, religious, and political lenses. For better or worse, these lenses help us make sense of the world, guiding our values, assumptions, and affiliations. However, similar to the times when we are looking for our glasses while wearing them, we are often unaware of the nature of our so...

With the return of Donald Trump to the Whitehouse, the always contentious issues of immigration and control of our national borders have taken on renewed urgency. Who should be allowed to enter and stay in the US, accusations of large numbers of criminals crossing our borders illegally and allegations of family separations and unmerited deportations have fueled passions and protests on both sides of the issue. Of particular concern, is the empowerment of federal agents to enter schools and houses of worship to search for and detain alleged illegal immigrants.  The words of Emma Lazarus' poem, The New Colossus, memorialized on a plaque on the wall of the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands, continue to confront and confound us as a nation:   "Give me your tired, your poor,  Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,  I lift my lamp beside the gold...

As highlighted in Kris Flynn's article in this issue of the Central Beacon, CCC has been blessed for more than a decade by the talent and heart of our worship leader, Steve Duff. In addition to being an accomplished musician, Steve is also an excellent songwriter. Last year, Steve introduced our congregation to a worship song that he had recently composed – The Beauty of It All. Steve included this song in the worship set for the first Sunday of the new year, and being the last song of the set, I came up at the end to transition us to the next part of the service. As I did so, I was struck not only by the beauty of the song but more so by the invitation it extended to see and persistently seek the beauty of God, his creation and his purposes, especially in a time filled with so much doubt, darkness and division. At the moment, I asserted that The Beauty of It All should be our theme song for the year of our Lord 2025. This declaration seemed all the more appropriate as we had just comp...