​​​Dear LCC Community,

As we walk through our current landscape, so full of threats and hardship, we long 
deeply for landmarks that point us to safety, and we long for ways to help. 

 

I wonder if our longing is what’s behind reports of increased church attendance. 
The numbers aren’t big, but they are significant. “For the first time in decades, more 
congregations are stabilizing or growing rather than shrinking,” according to a recent 
study. [1] 

 

I see this trend in our congregation and in my other friends and family… a 
renewed seeking for truth that is deeper than our wounds. Perhaps this is a 
demonstration of the 12-Step adage, “Pain is the touchstone of spiritual growth.”  

 

Chief amongst our needs is to cultivate hope.  

 

We are used to finding hope by being optimistic and imagining good outcomes. 
In today’s circumstances, this kind of hope can be harder than ever… can feel 
superficial. 

 

Thankfully, there is a hope that is grounded in that truth which actually is deeper 
than our wounds. Cynthia Bourgeault calls this mystical hope: 

 

“Mystical hope is not tied to … the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly 
without reference to external circumstances and conditions. It has something to do with 
presence… the immediate experience of being met—held in communion—by 
something intimately at hand. It bears fruit within us … in the sensations of strength, 
joy, and satisfaction: an “unbearable lightness of being.” But mysteriously, rather than 
deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them 
from within.... The journey to the wellsprings of hope is really a journey toward the 
center, toward the innermost ground of our being where we meet and are met by 
God.” [1] 

 

As we walk through the season of Easter and then celebrate the birthday of the 
church on Pentecost Sunday (May 24), may we find the nectar of mystical hope in our 
tradition and other traditions which speak to us. May we find landmarks that lead us to 
the safety of the holy ground within us.  

 

The light within us will never be overcome by the darkness. We can learn to find 
the trust that no matter what happens, we are held in the embrace of the Love and 
Light and Life that are our source and our substance. 

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​

 Lee

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​[1] The Christian Century, “Church attendance up for the first time in decades”,   April 28, 2026 
[2] Cynthia Bourgeault, Center for Action and Contemplation daily mediations”, April 16.2020

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