A letter from May 15, 2026

Dear Friends,

It really is true — you can find anything on the internet. Take this shirt, for example. Many of you have heard me mention that one of my favorite prayers is, “Fix it, Jesus!” Lo and behold, you can get that prayer printed on a t-shirt and shipped right to your door! This prayer is on the tip of my tongue when I’m overwhelmed, frustrated, or worried. Oftentimes, I want God to step in and just “fix it!” Of course, God rarely follows my timeline when answering that prayer, and usually God’s answer isn’t to whisk in and “fix it.” It is a much more complex give-and-take between the work I do and the work God does on my behalf.

This Sunday, we will celebrate Ascension Sunday, the day that Jesus rose into the heavens and left the disciples to await the Holy Spirit. They would no longer have Jesus physically walking alongside them to guide their every step. Instead, they would have to wait for the Spirit’s guidance and engage in the holy dance of discipleship with the third member of the Trinity. Our lesson from 1 Peter gives us a glimpse of what that dance looks like and the balance between God’s work and ours as believers. I hope you will join us as we consider what load we are called to carry and what we are called to cast on the Lord as we seek to follow the Spirit’s lead today.

In Christ, Rev. Cameron Smith