“Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”
~ Jeremiah 6:16
This past July Karen and I traveled to the Pacific Northwest, and during our time there we visited three National Parks: Olympic, North Cascades, and Mt. Rainier. In each park we ended up taking a hike—and all three hikes were just spectacular! We saw endless views from overlooks, we found a 90-foot waterfall, and we made it to a sub-alpine lake that was so blue it almost looked fake.
When we began each of the hikes we had cellular coverage, and so we could text friends and family back home and check our location using the map app. But as we went further and further into the wilderness, we lost coverage, and we had to rely on the physical maps we had picked up at the ranger stations.
Without an app explicitly showing us where we were on the trail (and which way was north!) we had to use the map skills that each of us learned in our younger—less technologically connected—lives.
In short: we had to go back to basics.
When it comes to faith, going back-to-basics is important too. Don’t get me wrong—I love a good theology book on an obscure topic. I love digging into new points of inquiry that scholars and theologians are only just discovering.
But, finding my way back to what captivated me about the Christian faith in the first place—the person of Jesus—is just as exciting and necessary.
This fall I am going to be leading a four-week Forum series (beginning September 14th) entitled “Who is Jesus?” We’re going to be exploring questions like: “Do historians think that Jesus actually lived?,” “Is there evidence for his resurrection?,” “How does Jesus’ sacrificial death make salvation possible?,” and “What does it really mean to follow Jesus?”
I’ve designed this series to speak to people who have been following Jesus for a lifetime, and for people who are completely new to this whole “Jesus thing.” I’m also making sure that it speaks to the adults in the room AND our youth.
If you are curious as to what Jesus is all about, what it means for Jesus to be God and human, what Jesus’ death means, what it means for Jesus to have been a teacher, and how you can orient your life towards Jesus’ way, then I invite you to come to the Forum and check it out.
As I mentioned in my clergy letter last week, this series will also be available online as an offering of Cross Connections: Faith on the Move. Each week we will release a video or two that echoes the content that I presented the Sunday prior. If you had to miss the week, you could catch up. If you want to hear what we talked about again, you can listen again. If you were so excited about what you heard that you want to share it with someone else, you can forward it to them with a click of a button.
I’m really hoping that as we begin a new program year, we can do so by gently re-centering our lives on Jesus: our Friend, our Lord, and our Guide on life’s path.
Peace,
The Rev. Rick Morley
Rector
Published on September 4, 2025.