Last Sunday after the service, I was having a wonderful conversation with a lovely young couple who were visiting with their parents from San Francisco, who’d joined us for worship. The whole family seemed to be having a great time, and in fact, one of the parents serenaded us during fellowship time on the piano!I wasn’t quite sure, but I suspected that they were checking out the facility to see if they’d like to get married here. Sure enough, they told me that they are getting married here, June 2020, and after a great conversation, the young man turned to me and said, “I don’t know how to ask you this, but will you marry us?” What a proposal! Not just to be married within this beautiful sanctuary, but to be married within this beautiful progressive faith that we share! Of course I accepted and told them, I would love to work with both of you, in preparing for your marriage as well as your wedding!
Over the years, I have presided and co-presided at many weddings, both ecumenical and interfaith, including a Taoist Christian wedding, coming up next month! And through the years, these relationships continue. Next Sunday afternoon I will baptize baby Lucy, who’s parents, Catherine and Auggie, I married seven years ago. Their older son, Jack, now attends Skyline preschool. The week after that, in worship, we will be baptizing baby Josiah (who played baby Jesus in our Christmas pageant) and I had the pleasure and honor of marrying his parents Amie and Justin, two years ago!
This Sunday we are fortunate to have, Charlie Holmes, offering a reflection entitled, “Felt Traits of One Who Tried to Help”, focusing upon the evolution of Bobby Kennedy, and upon the wisdom of Lao Tzu, the mystic philosopher from ancient China. He writes, “Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
Thank you Skyline community, for being the warm and welcoming, diverse and evolving community that we are.
Blessings upon your week!
Early on in the service, to honor the diversity of people from all over the world, I will invite people to greet each other, speaking in various “tongues” besides English. Please, come and open us to new ways of saying, “Good morning!” “How are you?” In anticipation of the power of this Sunday, I am reminded of the words of William Blake: 
May and June are the seasons for graduation, and so this Sunday we honor our graduates including our Children’s program director Sheryl on her last Sunday with us. 
One of the most memorable Mother’s Day cards I’ve ever seen was one that my brother Steve gave to my mother, when he was in his early teens. The card had a beautiful rose on the outside, and on the inside was printed these words, “You’ve been like a mother to me”. We all laughed, especially my mother, saying, “well that’s good to know Steven, because I AM your mother”.. It’s easy to retell this story as an example of the confused thinking of a young teenager, but I think that Steve was on to something profound..
Like many of you this week, I watched along with the world as the footage of flames enveloping the Cathedral of Notre Dame went viral over the internet. At first, the images of the grand spire collapsing echoed memories of 9/11. I couldn’t help but ask why? Why did this happen to this Cathedral, that so embodies the confluence of beauty, majesty, faith, art, history, and human expression? Why, on the eve of Holy week? Was it a sign? 
is the outpouring of support for the millions of black and brown people living as refugees throughout the world? And for the millions who are being held in detention centers and prisons in this country? And right here in Oakland, for the thousands living in tents on the streets of our cities, here, in one of the wealthiest areas in the world. 
Would there be such an outpouring of sadness, if we were remembering a young man of color, in an orange jumpsuit, arrested for being an insurrectionist, a disturber of the peace? Whose church was not a building, but the people whom he loved and healed and to whom he brought hope: the sick, the poor, the women and children, the people of color, the outcasts, and those in prison. A man who’s church was the ecclesia, the people, who gathered to be inspired by the stories of the prophets. Who was executed on death row, by the military, industrial, superpower of his time?
What do we do, in the face of such unanswerable questions? We remember him. We join together, and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers, out in the streets, near the prisons, and in the homeless encampments to pray, sing and support one another through the power of these Spirit inspired stories, to rebuild our lives and our world, bringing good news for all people. It’s what humans do, and have always done. It’s called the ecclesia, the gathered community of faith, the church. 
Saturday May 4 10 AM – 3PM