Fall Kickoff Newsletter 2026

Eyes to See Eyes

Cultivating Practices of Wonder and Holy Imagination

Fall Kickoff Newsletter 2026

Note from the Pastor Jesus said to them, “Come and see.” — John 1:39a What have we stopped noticing?

What does Jesus notice that everyone else misses?

What future does God already see that we cannot yet imagine?

And what might happen if we learned to see differently?

This fall, we begin a new year of worship and discipleship with Eyes to See: Cultivating Practices of Wonder and Holy Imagination. Together, we’ll begin a year-long apprenticeship in Christ-shaped perception: learning to see ourselves, our neighbors, creation, and God’s unfolding Kingdom closer to the ways that Christ sees them.

Last year, we practiced listening. This year, we turn our attention to seeing—not simply physical sight, but spiritual vision and perception. Jesus repeatedly invites people to look again: to notice the person others overlook, recognize God at work in unexpected places, and imagine a Kingdom shaped by a radically different vision of who matters and what is possible.

That is where wonder comes in. Wonder is a posture of loving attention that leaves us open to God’s presence, beauty, truth, and possibility. Sometimes it fills us with delight; sometimes it asks us not to look away from suffering or injustice. Wonder keeps us attentive long enough for grace to change how we see. And holy imagination helps us see beyond what is, toward what, by God’s grace, might yet be.

It’s recognizing God’s Kingdom already breaking in and inviting us to participate.

During the coming weeks, Jesus will invite us to come and see, practice seeing like Jesus, imagine the Kingdom, and join what God is creating. We won’t only talk about wonder. We’ll practice it.

We’ll also introduce our new Wonder Practice Deck, a growing collection of simple spiritual practices to carry into everyday life. We’ll add new cards throughout the year as we explore wonder through hope, neighboring, purpose, grief, invitation, justice, and more. The goal is to cultivate habits through which God’s grace transforms the way we see and live.

So as a new ministry year begins, Jesus’ invitation is wonderfully simple: Come and see.

Come with curiosity. Come ready to notice, to look again, to imagine—and to discover what God may already be creating in you, among us, and in the world.

Peace and love,

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Finding Sacred Wonder in the Natural World

by Kate Lasko

Wonder, Awe, Imagination: We use these words; we “know” what they mean, but do we know how to find them? How to live with and in them?

How to share them? In designing the new sermon series “Eyes to See: Cultivating Practices of Wonder and Holy Imagination” and setting Wonder as PUMC’s year-long focus, Pastor Jenny listened to many voices; one of those was Christina Laleche: ordained minister, spiritual director, naturalist, photographer, and seeker of Wonder.

Christina and her family came to Princeton five years ago. Prior to the move, Christina was serving as pastor at a Methodist church in Summit, NJ, a posting that coincided with the advent of COVID. The distance and change the pandemic brought “opened space for me to realize that I felt disconnected from my call to ministry, had me asking ‘What was my call?’’’

She asked and was approved for a leave of absence and connected with a spiritual director, a decision that led her to pursuing certification as a spiritual director. This

Christina and Noelle exploring nature

new vocation resulted in the creation of Wild Grace Studio, where Christina helps others “connect with the sacred and discover practices that help [one] flourish.”

The natural world has long been Christina’s muse, urging her to slow down and take in her surroundings. In high school, she discovered photography and on those summer trips in the family motor home, camera ever in hand, she fell in love with the natural world, slowing down to capture what she later identified as sacred moments. This lingering, she feels, nurtures wonder, which she defines as “The spirit of God’s greatness; a feeling of awe” germinated by beauty.

Wonder is also a verb - to be curious, to ponder.” Experiencing wonder, she offers, depends on “the quality of our presence, to be unhurried. Our seven-year-old daughter, [Noelle] can take 30 minutes to walk 15 feet because she’s involved in what she sees.” In a society characterized by busyness and pressure, slowing down to watch a raptor soar or flowers sway seems a luxury, but wonder is important. “It feeds the soul, [makes us] curious about where else I can feel the same. It

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builds imagination, partners us with God’s presence and movement,” Christina says.

Maintaining the rapid pace of modern life and neglecting wonder impoverishes life: “Not wondering can lead to despair and cynicism, even hopelessness,” she continues.

In explaining eco-spirituality, Christina quotes historian and eco-theologian Thomas Berry, who points out that “The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.” By bringing spiritual and prayer practices of communing with God out to nature, “We see this interconnectedness,” she offers.

Christians accept God as Creator of all, and nature offers us myriad opportunities to experience God. The Bible abounds with psalms, hymns, and scriptures rich in natural imagery.

“Jesus saw glimpses of God in the natural world,” Christina points out, offering as an example Matthew 6:26-30: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Common Yellowbird, one of her favorite shots

For Christina, “nothing delights me more than sharing the wonder of nature and seeing it rekindled in others.” Whenever possible, she, husband Ryan, and Noelle wander favorite haunts, stopping often to throw pebbles in a stream on the Woosamonsa Ridge preserve, to geocache along the D&R Canal, or in winter to

watch the hawks and owls soar over Mercer Meadows. “There is a lot we can learn from the wild beings around us, that each in their own way reflects the goodness of God,” she ends.

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What Inspires Awe - from Recent Members Flowers – intricate and beautiful, or exquisitely simple -- inspire awe in Patricia Ostberg. “Living at Stonebridge at Montgomery, a Continuing Care Community, I am surrounded by a large variety of colored flowers. Especially when I look at them up close, the sight of them fills me with awe and an overwhelming reverence for God the Creator. Flowers also have a large role in our environment and wellbeing. How awesome is that?” Pat was a social worker who enjoyed helping elders. This photo was taken by her late husband, Marv.

Discovering new places and connecting with new people inspire awe in Nkechi Mezazem. Nkechi (the n is silent, pronounced K-etch-ee) and her husband, Thierry, live in East Windsor with their two children – Sidnee (7) and TJ (3). Nkechi is a world traveler who has visited several countries through her work in marketing and for vacation. What she loves most about traveling is having the opportunity to see so many beautiful places while learning about different cultures. Nkechi also enjoys being physically active. She ran track in college and has finished two half marathons and two Spartan races.

Humans creating AI Agents evoke awe in Mircea Popescu. AI Agents, Mircea says, are “capable of independent planning and decision-making, without revealing how or why, letting their creators debate whether the Agents are conscious. In turn, the Agents talk to each other to create, among other things, an AI theology.” He had been a PUMC member in the 1980s, so it was like returning home when he and his wife, Françoise Maitre joined the church. They live in Plainsboro, and Françoise sings in the choir. Her response: “Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach, a walk in nature, and a painting akin to works by Joachim Sorrella – all bring genuine joy.”

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Seeing the glaciers in Iceland up close inspires awe in Bella Parsons-Amoah and Stephen Amoah. Bella grew up on the white sandy beaches of the British Virgin Islands, is a licensed SCUBA diver, and loves to knit; she is on the audio visual team at PUMC. Stephen grew up in Ghana, playing on the streets of Fadama, Accra. He served in the U.S. Navy and his unusual talent is having a photographic memory. They live in North Brunswick.

“Children and how they express their faith or curiosity about God and the world with sophisticated and thoughtful questions always inspire awe in me,” says Shawn Maxam, who lives in Princeton with his wife, Angela, and their children, Alex and Sydney. Shawn was born and raised in New York City, the son of Jamaican immigrants. The first in his family to attend college, he has worked for 12 years at Princeton University, where he met Angela.

Creativity, whether it be in the form of a stirring piece of music or a deeply moving film or novel, evokes awe in Nancy Ranieri. As a speech-language pathologist, Nancy worked with her husband Ron in the same school district in the Philly suburbs. Their daughter Gina (a gynecologist/surgeon) and her husband Nick have a 1 ½ year old child, Leo, which is what brought them to Princeton, and they are thrilled to be grandparents and to help take care of him.

Nancy’s “awesome” list also includes “the glories of God’s creation, such as a stunning sunset or a vivid rainbow. Such wonders can give me goosebumps or bring me to tears. I would also have to say that I have most often experienced a sense of awe in church when I feel God’s presence is close by.”

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That he can turn over his troubles to God is awesome to David Bell, whose favorite quote, “Pray and Let God Worry,” is from Martin Luther. He finds PUMC to be warm and friendly. When David isn’t an usher, you can spot him in the last pew. “I am happily introverted,” says David, whose dry wit is illustrated by the selfie photo he took at home. “I sleep well at night, I am an active senior at the gym, and I love the radio station BBC 4 Extra.”

He and his wife Susan live in Princeton, and she watches the service online.

God Pursues Me Everywhere

By Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel from “Human – God’s Ineffable Name” English version freely rendered by Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi Original Language English, Yiddish

God pursues me everywhere, Enmeshes me in glances, And blinds my sightless back like flaming sun.

God, like a forest dense, pursues me.

My lips are ever tender, mute, so amazed, So like a child lost in an ancient sacred grove.

God pursues me like a silent shudder.

I wish for tranquility and rest -- He urges; come!

And see -- how visions walk like the homeless on the streets.

My thoughts walk about like a vagrant mystery -Walks through the world's long corridor.

At times I see God's featureless face hovering over me.

God pursues me in the streetcars and cafes Every shining apple is my crystal sphere to see How mysteries are born and vision came to be.

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Practices to Cultivate Wonder Down 1 inquiries 4 conscious feeling of acknowledging appreciation 5 active process of receiving, interpreting, and responding to sounds 7 lack of sound

Across 2 narratives 3 strong desire to learn or know something 6 carefully watching or noticing 8 act of seeing or becoming aware of something 9 in the eye of the beholder

Answer Key

(609) 924-2613

down 1 questions 4 gratitude 5 listening 7 silence across 2 stories 3 curiosity 6 observation 8 noticing 9 beauty

7 Vandeventer Avenue Princeton, New Jersey 08542

www.princetonumc.org