Acts 2 in Edmond, OK

A Reading & Reflection from Dr. Robert Gorrell:
As a child, it seemed like my family lived in an endless election cycle. My dad was a union president, and there was always a vote right around the corner. Sometimes the process was very contentious: twice our family needed police protection while the voting played out. As a young adult, I stayed involved in politics. I worked for a really wonderful man who lost an election (and I lost my job). Then I worked for a man who won election after election. He was a winner, but in my opinion he was the worst kind of person to serve in public office. I finally quit working for him out of sheer disgust.

A Reading & Reflection from Rev. Tim Travers:
As I go to the voting polls this week, I have humility on my mind. Humility is an underrated and under-practiced virtue. Nonetheless, it’s an imperative ingredient for a democracy that thrives and grows in its ability to serve the needs of its people. Without humility, we find it easy to assume that we have all the answers and that others don’t. One of the beautiful things about a society built on the foundation of democracy is that there’s an acknowledgment that life is often complicated—and life together as a society can be quite complicated, indeed. Therefore, I want to keep learning, growing, and understanding more. By the time I arrive at the voting site, I might have done some homework on the issues and candidates, but I also realize that none of us have the perfect bird’s eye view to see all angles. There’s no such thing as a perfect leader, and no one has a perfect perspective.

A Reading & Reflection from Madelyn Thane:
On Sunday, as Dr. Belase shared the story of the women in the small-town church he grew up in, I was reminded of similar stories from my own small-town church that helped raise me. I was fortunate to grow up in a church with an excellent pastor named Beth. Beth came to our church the summer I was going into the fourth grade, and she had a daughter, Lia, who was my age. The parsonage was just a block away from my house, so I spent a lot of time with Beth and Lia over the years.