A Message from the Pastor

Rev. Mary C. Olney-Loyd     360-943-8025     marycolney@qwestoffice.net

Dear Friends in Christ,

I have been studying discipleship along with Rachel Crum at a gathering with scholars, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.  I am so grateful for lay persons, like Rachel, and many of you who are hungry for learning, studying, and sharing your faith with others!  We share our love for God by serving others in word and deed.

Our True Identity

Love is our true destiny.
We do not find the meaning of life
by ourselves alone - we find it with another.

We do not discover the secret of our lives
merely by study and calculation
in our own isolated mediations.
The meaning of our life is a secret
that has to be revealed to us in love,
by the one we love.

And if this love is unreal,
the secret will not be found,
the meaning will never reveal itself,
the message will never be decoded.

At best, we will receive a scrambled and partial message;
one that will deceive and confuse us.

We will never be fully real until we let ourselves fall in love -
either with another human person or with God.

This quote from Thomas Merton speaks of loving God and others.  This is where we begin in our faith - to love and be loved.  The rest is how we live it out.  Thanks be to God for the loving, living, and learning!

Peace and Joy,

 Mary