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Welcome freshman and transfer students!  

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Welcome freshman and transfer students!  

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I would love to get to know you before you arrive on campus this fall.  I’d also like to introduce you to the leaders and members of our religious life groups.  We have seven groups on campus that might interest you:  Catholic Campus Ministry, Habitat for Humanity, Hillel/Jewish Students, InterVarsity, Student Fellowship, Ujima Gospel Choir, and Young Life.  Maybe you have ideas for a new group that you would like to start.

I’m a United Methodist minister, but know that I’m YOUR chaplain.  No matter what religious tradition you are a part of, you are welcome and encouraged to be a part of religious life at R-MC.  Let me know how I can support you!

Here are three opportunities to get to know each other online before classes begin:

Chat with the Chaplain (Wed July 8 @ 11 am) and (Wed July 15 @ 2 pm):  Think of this as just a casual mix-and-mingle.  I will have some conversation starters but mostly I’d love just to get to know you, hear about your faith communities back home, talk about opportunities on campus.  Your interests will shape the conversation.

Meet our Campus Ministries (Wed July 22 @ 7 pm):  We will take time to tell you in detail about each of our religious life groups so you can begin to think about which groups you might like to get to know.  Many groups will have a student leader present for you to meet.  After the groups introduce themselves, you can ask questions and we can enjoy conversation about campus life.

If you’d like to join in, just sign up at this link using your R-MC email address

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/179Aqr-ngPosriGiKT63jmON9-JJIzWRq796zlKBde9s/edit

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Interfaith Gathering:  Race and Reconciliation

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Interfaith Gathering:  Race and Reconciliation

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Did you catch the video prepared by a number of community members (staff, students, faculty, and alumni)?  Find it at https://www.rmc.edu/offices/chaplain.

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<-Return to the Virtual Student Engagement Center

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A Message from R-MC Chaplain Kendra Grimes

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R-MC Students:  We may not be on campus together, but we are still connected by our identity as Yellow Jackets.  Twice each week, I will share a post here.  I hope the words I share will help you to stay rooted and grounded even as we navigate the storm of Covid-19.  Each Monday I plan to share an INSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE.  This will be a task or activity you are invited to carry out and then share with others how the action affected you.  On Thursdays I will share weekly WORDS OF SUPPORT.  These will be inspirational quotes or passages from a variety of traditions to help you find strength and hope.  Scheduled posts will begin Monday 3/23/20.  Hope to see you here in our Virtual S.E.C.!

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R-MC Students:  We may not be on campus together, but we are still connected by our identity as Yellow Jackets.  Twice each week, I will share a post here.  I hope the words I share will help you to stay rooted and grounded even as we navigate the storm of Covid-19.  Each Monday I plan to share an INSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE.  This will be a task or activity you are invited to carry out and then share with others how the action affected you.  On Thursdays I will share weekly WORDS OF SUPPORT.  These will be inspirational quotes or passages from a variety of traditions to help you find strength and hope.  Scheduled posts will begin Monday 3/23/20.  Hope to see you here in our Virtual S.E.C.!

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INSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE (Monday 3/23/20):  Who doesn’t love to get mail?  This week, I encourage you to pick up a pen and paper and write a personal note.  You may write to someone you know (perhaps someone who is especially vulnerable during this time or one who bears a huge weight of responsibility) or to a stranger (the clerk at the local supermarket, the local rescue squad, or the staff of the area hospital/nursing home.)  Use the power of your words to offer thanks & gratitude or encouragement & hope.  If you don’t have envelopes and stamps handy, then send an email.  But at least once this week (or maybe once a day this week!) use written words to be a positive voice in your home community or within our R-MC community.  

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INSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE (Monday 3/23/20):  Who doesn’t love to get mail?  This week, I encourage you to pick up a pen and paper and write a personal note.  You may write to someone you know (perhaps someone who is especially vulnerable during this time or one who bears a huge weight of responsibility) or to a stranger (the clerk at the local supermarket, the local rescue squad, or the staff of the area hospital/nursing home.)  Use the power of your words to offer thanks & gratitude or encouragement & hope.  If you don’t have envelopes and stamps handy, then send an email.  But at least once this week (or maybe once a day this week!) use written words to be a positive voice in your home community or within our R-MC community.  

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https://mikeknopf.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/falling-and-learning-to-rise/?fbclid=IwAR0fdwBZscIAGYgOK9eqEj7nj0Eaxdeu0GLfEIlbEutmzrXw1ORYq4b4gdk

Here is a blog written eight years ago but re-shared this week by Rabbi Michael R. Knopf of Temple Beth-El in Richmond.  He writes about Batman, about Jewish tradition, and about growing stronger as a result of trauma we endure.  If you are feeling weighed down or discouraged right now, I hope Rabbi Knopf’s words will encourage you!

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CHALK IT – So many headlines and messages we’re seeing are anxiety producing.  So... this week why not create a positive message for those nearby to see?  Do you have sidewalk chalk (or just regular chalk) handy?  If so... go outside to a sidewalk or other area where strangers pass by.  Create art!  Share encouraging words!  Use your imagination!  Don’t have chalk?  Grab posterboard or plain paper and create a positive message or creative art.  Leave it in your window!  Tape it to your mailbox!  Mail it to someone who needs it!

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Daffodils are blooming in my yard.  Just when I’m staying home, staying “closed up indoors,” these beautiful flowers are leaving their quarantine.  They are bursting forth from the soil!  Because I’m not in such a hurry, I had time to stop and think about the daffodils this morning:  They’ve been underground for months… no sunlight, no fresh air, no gentle breeze to make them sway and dance.  Yes, they’ve been underground for months, but during that time they are not to be pitied.  Bulbs rely on the cold of winter to trigger the biochemical processes needed so that they will burst forth in bloom in the spring.  A season underground in darkness makes the beauty of spring possible.

You and I may feel like we are “underground” during this Covid-19 season.  We are in the darkness, there’s no wind in our face. We cannot enjoy the same activities as when we are “above ground.”  But I pray that we can be like the beautiful daffodils.  Let us use this time to grow and to be transformed so that we emerge full of color and beautiful purpose.  May you learn new things, may you seek new sources of depth and wisdom, may you pray and meditate, may you read and study deeply, may you be open to the many ways that God is working in your life and in our world even in the midst of the crisis we are living through.

Each time you see a daffodil or other beautiful spring flower that shoots forth from a bulb, make it your prayer that God work in you just as God has through that beautiful flower.

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Each Sunday, the Office of the Chaplain has been hosting a 3 p.m. event called the TABLE.  It's not a formal Bible Study nor worship service... more of an informal gathering and sharing.  Each week is different but always focused on sharing, talking, and prayer.  The focus of conversation is Christian but everyone is welcome to join.  We can't sit around the same table with snacks right now, but we can create a virtual table.  Join us Sundays at 3 p.m. at https://rmc.zoom.us/j/244709161

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How often do you pray?  This week I challenge you to pray daily.  Set aside time when other distractions can be limited.  There are many resources to guide you in prayer, but if you would like a “format” to follow, I invite you to try the ACTS model.

Adoration:  Start by praising God.  Remember to Whom it is you are praying.  How great is God?!

Confession:  Next move to Confession.  What is that that you have said, done, thought… things that you need to ask forgiveness for?  Well… do that… confess and ask forgiveness.
Thanksgiving:  What are you thankful for?  Express your gratitude to God!

Supplication:  End by lifting your needs and the needs of others to God.  Who is vulnerable and at risk right now?  Who needs peace, healing, hope?  Pray for them!

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Words of Encouragement (Thursday 4/9/20) 

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Words of Encouragement (Thursday 4/9/20) 

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These words are from Rabbit Joshua Lesser of Atlanta, GA:

For many of us, this will be a fundamentally different Passover. Our escape from the narrow place, "Mitzratyim" feels differently this year.

If we get stuck in how we used to do things, rather than accept the opportunities before us then we will remain in Mitzratyim.

Our Hebrew word for the place we are oppressed is Mitzrayim, which has a plural ending even though it is a singular noun. The mystics taught that there are two Exoduses, the outer liberation, freeing the enslaved and challenging the oppressor. But there is also the inner Exodus, the liberating spiritual journey.

Think about Joseph coming to terms with his gifts in the dungeon. Think about Gandhi writing My Experiments With Truth in jail. Think about MLK Jr imprisoned in Birmingham, yet able to transcend and write powerfully being informed by his spirit.

This is our Passover this year. It is to have an inner liberating journey. We should grieve the losses of Passover, but we should not miss the opportunity.

Our opportunities for blessings this year:
Bless the bitterness of our experiences and bless the sweetness. Bless the simplicity and bless the yearning for freedom.

This is what my 4 questions look like, perhaps yours, too?

What does your soul need to be nourished? Where are you stuck on your personal journey? What can you do to move towards freedom? And when will you do it?

This is our Passover this year.

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Inspirational Challenge (April 13, 2020)

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Inspirational Challenge (April 13, 2020)

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Christians across the globe celebrated the holy day of Easter yesterday.  For Christians, Easter is a proclamation of the Resurrection of Christ, that Jesus rose again even after being crucified and laid in a tomb.

Let’s focus on that image of resurrection or of new life coming out of death.  This season of quarantine is creating genuine hardships and challenges.  For many these are not mild inconveniences but major life-altering times.  In no way, do I mean to make light of this reality.  But I do invite you, in the midst of the pain and losses of this quarantine, challenge yourself this week to look at what new things are coming to life for you.  How are new relationships being formed or existing ones strengthened?  What new insights are you gaining?  How are you adapting and gaining new skills?  Are you growing personally or spiritually?  Look for signs of hope, of life, of resurrection in your own experience this week.  God be with you!

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Check out this blog from Interfaith Youth Core... the beauty of finding innovation in deep, ancient tradition:  http://ifyc.org/blog/how-i-discovered-treasure-islam-quarantine.

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Inspirational Challenge (April 20, 2020)

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Inspirational Challenge (April 20, 2020)

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A friend of mine recently lost her job (due to closures as the pandemic began.)  She got a job at a local grocery store to help her family make ends meet.  When she came on shift a few days ago, the clerk before her whispered that when the toilet paper was delivered earlier that day, he took one pack and hid it under the register.  He was saving it for a customer who would need later in the day and who was having an especially rough day.  But by the end of his shift, he hadn’t given it to anyone yet.  So my friend took over the register and during her shift, she said that a particularly frustrated customer came in.  Clearly nothing was going well for her.  She couldn’t drive, had to pay for transportation (Uber or Lyft) to the store, only to find most of what she needed was “out.”  She felt everyone was being rude and that everything was stacked against her.  Angrily she said, “I don’t even have toilet paper anymore.”  So my friend reached under the counter and handed her the sole pack of TP in the store.  The customer, who had been frustrated and angry, melted into tears of gratitude.  Most of her circumstances didn’t change, but suddenly she knew that someone cared.

My challenge to you this week... think of someone who seems to be extremely frustrated, angry, or hopeless about the challenges they are living through.  Hold them in mind, say a prayer for them, and then think of a single concrete action that you could do that might brighten their day.  Order pizza and have it delivered to them.  Offer to go to the grocery store for them.  Put a friendly sign in their yard.  Send them a letter or email.  Cut the grass for them.  Offer money toward a major bill they are struggling to pay.  There are any number of concrete actions that won’t solve all their problems but will let them know that they aren’t alone.

We are in this together.  BE community for all of those around you, especially those who are most frustrated at this time.

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As we mark the beginning of Ramadan, I share these words from Rabina Khan, a political figure in England.  Though she laments the effects of social distancing upon her community during this holy season, she also focuses on helping others at a time when it is highly needed.  I hope you enjoy her reflection:

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-ramadan-easter-passover-muslim-food-banks-a9411571.html

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Inspirational Challenge (April 27, 2020)

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Inspirational Challenge (April 27, 2020)

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Have you been getting outdoors for fresh air?  Here are some ideas for a prayer walk, depending upon where you live:

If you live in a neighborhood or town with sidewalks that allow you to be out and still socially distant:  take a walk and as you pass each house or apartment, pray specifically for those who live there.

If you live in a rural area where there are not many other homes, walk outdoors and pray giving thanks to God for the beauty of Creation you encounter

If you live where you are not able to walk outdoors and stay socially distant, sit at your window.  What do you see?  Pray for the people you see (or their home/apartment) and give thanks for Creation that you can see (clouds in the sky & the rain they bring, trees, birds, and more!)

Too often, people reduce prayer to their “wish list” for God.  All of these suggestions above encourage you to connect with God in a broader way, with a focus on the people and the Creation around you.

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by William Brown, Professor at Columbia Theological Seminary

I see no quick fix on the horizon that is going to return us to how things were. Instead of a resurgent “American Resurrection” (a dangerous delusion, in my opinion), I see an “American Apocalypse” settling in for the duration. And that’s a good thing. An apocalypse of biblical proportions offers a more hopeful and realistic vision. The word ἀποκάλυψις means “uncovering,” a revealing of what is truly real. Thanks to this viral tsunami, much has been revealed, including a whole array of systemic evils, from crushing poverty and lack of stable housing to virulent racism and staggering healthcare disparities afflicting communities of color. COVID-19 does not discriminate. But America does. It always has.

The good news is that a genuine apocalypse is no doomsday. It is a vehicle of hope and action for transformation in which justice is served on behalf of the disinherited and shalom is accomplished for the sake of all creation. But for it to be so, those of us who are privileged must own up to this apocalypse. While the “American carnage” continues to mount, so do the lessons to be learned. And with every apocalypse there is a new beginning that offers the chance to relearn how to live and move and have our being. It is our choice; it is also God’s choice. I choose to live in hope in the One who says, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev 21:5). We need hope for the long haul, not for optimistic quick fixes that will cause more harm than good. We need hope for enduring justice, for life-giving change, for the “healing of the nations” and the renewal of beloved communities and God's beloved creation (Rev 22:2). Frankly, I don’t want to return to how things were. Fortunately, in an apocalypse there is no going back. Our undoing can be our becoming.

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Is there a local food pantry near you?  Are they accepting donations of canned goods and shelf stable foods?  Find out when and how to donate.  Then contact at least 10 households near you and invite them to set out a small bag of needed/unopened items (usually canned goods, rice, peanut butter, cereal, etc.) for you to pick up and deliver en masse to the food pantry.

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Here is a piece I wrote last week.  --Chaplain Kendra Grimes
When their grandchildren come to visit, our neighbor often brings them to see our chickens. This morning, around 8 a.m., I walked out in my PJs to let the chickens out of the coop. Our neighbor and grandkids were standing there. We startled one another then laughed.

Their 4 year-old announced, “We were walking by and we stopped to see the chickens. We talked to them. When you talk to someone, then they know you care. Now they know they aren’t alone. Oh yeah, and we brought them some meal worms as a treat, too.”

“A little child shall lead them.” In this season of social distancing, don’t let the isolation of the four walls of your house keep you from calling, writing, emailing, texting someone to let them know you care. And when you do acts of mercy (donations, meals, checks, meal worms, etc.), follow this child’s example and wrap your gift in kindness and personal connection… let the focus be on care, compassion, and relationship, not on the gift/item being given. Thanks, 4 year-old friend for your wisdom.

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Being our last week of classes, this is the last week that I’ll share these posts.  Therefore, this week’s Inspirational Challenge looks ahead throughout your summer.

Right now, most of you are burdened with final papers, projects and exams.  It’s hard to see past the next few weeks.  But… you are only a few weeks away from summer break.  This summer will be different than any other.  I challenge you to plan ahead, to dream ahead:

·         Set a spiritual goal for yourself this summer

·         Set a health and wellness goal

·         Set a relational goal

·         Set a personal project goal

For example, one person might challenge herself to

·         Pray a blessing before each meal (something she used to do but has gotten out of the habit of)

·         Go for a walk at least 3 times weekly

·         Re connect with her grandparents by making a phone call or writing a letter at least once a week

·         Finish painting the canvas she began in 10th grade and plant a vegetable garden

Setting goals can ensure that we use our time well.  I hope your summer is safe, peaceful, and joy-filled!

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I’d like to share a video with you.  R-MC Student Doobie Yagoub shared this with our pre-ministerial student group recently.  Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech “How to Design Your Life’s Blueprint.”  His advice will guide you this summer and beyond.  Commit yourself to beauty, love, and justice.  Always move forward!

https://youtu.be/Q9spMeeBPPY