P.S. from Rev. Staci, for July 20, 2025

If you couldn’t tell, I had a good time at our Sunday service last Sunday. It was so nice to have Mortonette sing here after all these years. There was a great deal of energy in the community. It brought back great memories, and for me, it was a reminder of a time when showing up on Sundays was much different. I just had to show up and maybe give a prayer, serve as a greeter, or perform any number of my past volunteer duties. I have pretty much volunteered in every aspect, and as most can imagine, it was a simpler time and role for me.

Showing up at the Center and serving was my gift of sacred service, and it was truly a blessing for me. Then, on Monday, an incident occurred that shook me, and I am deeply grateful that I had prepared and given the Sunday message about “Going Deep,” as it had prepared me for hearing the news that actor Malcolm Jamal Warner had passed away.

I don’t know exactly what it was, but hearing that news hit me quite hard. Maybe it was the fact that Malcolm was just 54, and I have a brother who will be 54 in two weeks. Maybe it was the fact that The Cosby Show was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite shows, so much so that while attending UCLA on Thursday nights, I would make sure to be home to watch it with my brother. Maybe it was because he was another man of color that is gone too soon.

More than likely, it was some or all of that I have just mentioned. Science of Mind teaches that we are eternal and immortal souls, and that our souls live on forever. Although these are deep and real principles, they are in some respects deep principles that sometimes we say but don’t embody until they apply personally (which, in my mind, is “swimming” in the shallow end).

Today is a new day and I am so grateful for all the deep dives and continued practice of swimming in deep water because without those dives and practice I don’t know that I would have received the gift and blessing of self-realization and gratitude for Malcom, Theo, The Cosby Show, the remembrance of laughing and being silly with my beloved little brother. I know that I couldn’t have reached the gifts so quickly. Thank you, Theo Huxtable, and I love you, Jeffrey Hylton!