Author: Roberto Lara Aranda

Rooted in Scripture: Different gifts, one Spirit — one thread at a time.

A Lenten Devotion

Roberto Lara Aranda March 14, 2026 No Comments

From a Deacon’s Desk

“A Lenten Devotion on Resistance and Rest”
From Deacon Lauren Morse-Wendt 

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. — 1 Corinthians 12:4-6  

Rooted in Scripture: Different gifts, one Spirit — one thread at a time.
Rooted in Scripture:
Different gifts, one Spirit — one thread at a time.

Over the past year, I’ve noticed a common sign at protests:  “I need to be able to tell my grandchildren I did not stay silent.”  It hit me square in the heart . . . but differently now than just four months ago.  

The week of December 1, when Operation Metro Surge began, I had a major knee surgery.   The recovery meant six weeks with no walking or driving. It meant that the week that the government descended to terrorize our neighbors, I was stuck in a chair, unable to march, to carry groceries, or patrol.  And as the weeks went on, that familiar sign stopped inspiring me and began to haunt me.   

I began to find myself conjuring my imaginary grandchildren and their disappointment at my lack of heroics in this time. As others found ways to make change for Lent, I found myself more ashamed that I wasn’t doing enough.  That whatever goodness we offer . . . is never enough.  Our culture wants us to believe this; but, of course, this was never the point.  

Perhaps this is why the Ash Wednesday text is always about doing your good works in secret: to remind us that our good works are not the Gospel.  It is not our goodness that keeps the world, or the resistance, going: It is God’s goodness.  And we are not God. We are an important part of creation called to serve our neighbor, but we are not expected to be the savior of the world. Because we already have one of those.  

As I have slowly returned to society, I have been able to commit two measly bus patrol shifts a week. It feels small. I have not encountered ICE directly. My shifts have been quite broken only be squirrely kindergarteners bounding off the bus. 

If I told my grandchildren about these shifts, they might not remember the details.  But our Lenten journey reminds me that it is not about me. I am part of our web of resistance actors who are creating a powerful, protective network.  I am one string in a web that, together, creates a stronger community for all our neighbors.  One member of the body of Christ that works for transformation in the world    

You are part of that web.  Part of that Body of Christ.  

Whether God has called you to deliver grocery bags or raise funds, to pray for those in hiding or organize protesters, whether you preach with courage or talk to kids about loving your neighbor, your single string in our web of resistance is an essential one. Keep going; the work of the Body of Christ matters, whether we see it each day or not. 

When our proverbial grandchildren read the history books, they may not read about any one of us.  But they will read the stories of thousands of strands of silk who acted together to create a web that was strong enough to be God’s good news in the world. And when they read of that web, I am confident: our grandchildren will be proud of us.

Amen. 

Photo credit (clergy protesters): Religion News Service | Pictured: A line of clergy protesters. Pastor Joe Larson appears far right, wearing a black hood.

From a Proclaimer’s Desk

Roberto Lara Aranda March 14, 2026 No Comments

From a Proclaimer’s Desk in Minneapolis 

“Holy Resistance”
by Pastor Joe Larson

“Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” — Mark 8:34

Photo credit (clergy protesters): Religion News Service | Pictured: A line of clergy protesters. Pastor Joe Larson appears far right, wearing a black hood.
Photo credit : Religion News Service (for clergy protesters use) | Pictured: A line of clergy protesters. Pastor Joe Larson appears far right, wearing a black hood.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor who dared to defy an oppressive Nazi government. Shortly after Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933, Bonhoeffer wrote an essay called, “The Church and the Jewish Question,” which he presented to a meeting of Lutheran pastors. Bonhoeffer’s thesis was that during oppressive regimes, God calls the Church to be a prophetic voice. 

Bonhoeffer proposed that the Church is obligated not to just bandage the victims crushed by the wheels of government, but to become a stick pushed into the spokes of the wheel to stop the vehicle itself. Most of the clergy listening to Bonhoeffer’s words walked out. They were so enmeshed in their country’s anti-Semitism, they couldn’t see why the Church should do anything to stop it. Eventually, Bonhoeffer was jailed and executed for his words and actions. 

Bonhoeffer’s writings inspire me. As a gay Christian who went to seminary when I was young, but didn’t get ordained until 30 years later, I have experienced the oppression of our Church on a personal level. During the past year, I have witnessed a new nationwide oppression targeting our immigrant neighbors with the same white supremacist propaganda used by Nazis so long ago. In Minneapolis, we cry out in response the deaths of people like Renee Good, a lesbian protester who was shot by ICE agents. 

Since mid-December, here in Minnesota we have endured hundreds of our neighbors being threatened, attacked, and disappeared by Operation Surge — an ongoing effort that included more than 3,000 ICE agents in the Twin Cities. Thousands of us have responded by protesting, serving as observers at schools and street corners, providing mutual aid, and organizing on Signal chats.  

All these demonstrations have happened despite our winter weather. Friday, January 23rd was the coldest day of this season — with a temperature of -20° F and -40° wind chill! A day when I participated in an outdoor demonstration of holy resistance organized by two local nonprofits called Isaiah and Faith in Minnesota as part of a “Day of Prayer and Fasting for Truth and Freedom.” 

That morning, I gathered with ninety-eight clergy and faith leaders at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, where we loaded onto buses that took us to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. We bundled up with multiple layers of clothing with brightly colored stoles over our coats. I sat next to a pastor named Suzanne, and we agreed to stick together as partners during the protest. 

At the airport, we processed to an area where cars drop off travelers for their flights. The plan was to engage in an act of civil disobedience by disrupting traffic — a moral action meant to call attention to how that facility was allowing ICE to be present and use planes to deport detained immigrants. Initially, we gathered with a crowd at an area designated for peaceful protests. But then we clergy stepped forward onto the road and formed a long line. Together we kneeled on the cold ground, sang songs and hymns, chanted protests, prayed, and waited. 

For me it was a spiritual experience. Despite the cold, I felt the warmth of God’s spirit with us. When the police started arresting us one by one, handcuffing us with zip ties, and loading us onto school buses, I imagined Jesus standing beside us. The same Jesus who road on a donkey into Jerusalem to protest an oppressive regime. The same Jesus who overturned tables in the Temple. The same Jesus who was executed by the Roman empire. The same Jesus who told his followers to take up their cross and follow him. 

Our airport protest made national headlines. Like other demonstrations that have continued since then, it was a symbol of moral outrage at what’s happening in our nation. Things are a little better for now in Minnesota, but we have not stopped our vigilance. Every week, my husband and I continue to provide rides to a Latina member of a local Lutheran church because she’s still afraid of using public transportation. Our congregation, Edina Community Lutheran Church, continues organizing our members in resistance efforts and mutual aid projects. I will keep working with organizations like Isaiah and Prism Organizing Network in organizing faith leaders and communities. 

During this Lenten season, I believe God calls us to be a spoke in the wheel of an oppressive empire. Jesus calls us to act with holy resistance and to speak with a prophetic voice. A voice of hospitality for immigrants and people of color. A voice of acceptance for trans and queer individuals. A voice of comfort for those who live in fear. And a voice of welcome for those without a safe home.

Amen.