Pentecost is the coming Sunday, May 23 commemorating the arrival of the Holy Spirit and is often called the birthday of the church. The word Pentecost means “fiftieth day,” as it is celebrated fifty days after Easter. I have been listening to what others have to say about the Trinity– God, Jesus, and Spirit- and how they address them. The words they chose give us a glimpse into their faith. Many people know God and they describe their relationship with familiar names: God the Creator, Lord, Yahweh, the Holy One. One of my favorites is Abba. I love the intimacy of that word. God the Father took me a long time to embrace since my own dad died when I was a teenager and I had to work through abandonment issues. I know God the Father is difficult for many others too, but God can heal those wounds. Next, I hear beautiful names for Jesus: Alpha and Omega, Savior, Morning Light, Emmanuel, Christ, Master, Son of God, the Way, Good Shepherd, and so many more. But … [Read more...]
Living as Easter People in Eastertide
Eastertide is living as Easter people every day, not just on Easter Sunday, but as a way of life. In our local church, we start each worship service these next few weeks with this greeting: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Our traditional Easter greeting. April brings Easter and don't forget Easter isn't celebrating just one day but a full season. In the church calendar, the season of Easter runs for 50 days from sunset on the eve of Easter Day until Pentecost. This year this means we will greet each other from Sunday April 4 until Sunday, May 23. This a seven-week season of the church year is also called Eastertide. Eastertide is the time of new life. We see this reflected as spring bursts with buds, flowers, and nests full of eggs. We hear it in our music. The sun shines longer each day. My spirit lifts in this light and in the Light of New Life. Extending this season gives us time to rejoice and experience what it means when we say Christ is risen. … [Read more...]
What is the Meaning of Holy Saturday?
Holy Saturday waits. During Holy Week, we parade and cheer Jesus onward as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We broke bread and drank wine on Maundy Thursday. We stood at the edges in disbelief and grief as he died on the cross on Friday. According to the gospel writers, Jesus died at three o’clock in the afternoon. The Jewish sabbath began at six. This meant for the family and friends of Jesus, time was not on their side. The clock was ticking, and the body of Jesus needed to be buried quickly. As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. (Matthew 27:57-60) Time stood still between Jesus' death and his … [Read more...]
Ready or Not: Here Come Ash Wednesday
Ready for Ash Wednesday and Lent? Today is Shrove Tuesday which I featured on the blog last year and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. This solemn service includes confession and reconciliation and the use of ashes to form a cross on each forehead. “From dust you came and from dust you will return.” Genesis 3: 19 The symbolism of ashes stirs my heart each year and feels like the threshold on our walk to Gethsemane and the Resurrection. I stand in the doorway between the seasons and pause to ponder God's faithfulness and forgiveness and to pray and praise his grace and love. The sign of the cross on our forehead with ashes recalls our baptism, and reminds us that in both life and life beyond life we belong to God; we are “marked as Christ’s own forever.” In our parish and many others, the ashes are made by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Throughout the Bible ashes represent repentance and asking God for mercy and forgiveness. For … [Read more...]
Keeping Christmas
Are you willing...To forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you?To ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world?To put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance and your changes to do a little more than your duty in the foreground?To see the that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy?To own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life?To close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness?Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas. Are you willing..To stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children?To remember the weakness and loneliness of people … [Read more...]
Advent Quotes to Bless this Season in 2020
Advent quotes! Advent is one of my favorite seasons. I love the hope, the joy, the holy anticipation of new birth. I also love collecting, pondering, and stretching my heart, mind and spirit with quotes – tiny bits of wisdom from others that nourishes my soul and gives me strength for this journey. 2020 has been challenging for all of us, so today I am going to share some of my recent Advent quotes I have read so you too can consider them and perhaps their words will lighten your path. I have written these in my journal. Brought them into my prayers. Allowed them to soak into my core for encouragement, affirmation, and wisdom. Enjoy! The expectation of Advent is anchored in the event of God’s incarnation. The more I come in touch with what happened in the past, the more I come in touch with what is to come. The Gospel not only reminds me of what took place but also of what will take place. In the contemplation of Christ’s first coming, I can discover the signs of his … [Read more...]
Advent Adventure
Advent is here and I am ready for an adventure. Advent is the four weeks before the celebration of the birth of Jesus. November 29 was the first Sunday in this season this year and on our online church service, we lit the first of the four candles surrounding the white Christ candle. The candles symbolize joy, hope, peace, and love. I dug out my home Advent wreath and began with the first candle here too. This time before Christmas is a time of anticipation and waiting for the gift of this holy season. If we pay attention, God will surprise us with his presence. If we wait in stillness, we will find him in unexpected places like a manger in Bethlehem. I like the concept of adventure too. An adventure means to take the chance and enter into an exciting and possibly lifechanging experience. The word adventure comes from the Latin word ‘adventurus’ meaning ‘a thing about to happen’. I am ready to cast off 2020 and move forward into new direction. "A new … [Read more...]
A Spiritual Side Dish for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the family getting together. The delicious smells showering my kitchen. The turkey browning in the oven. The laughter and chatter even while washing the dishes and scrubbing the pans. I smile with the memories of past holidays with loved ones now in heaven and still in our hearts. And of course, the side dishes. We will have my sister in law's sweet potato dish. Katie's homemade pumpkin pie. My mom's crockpot dressing. Good ol' green bean casserole and our family joke about needing the recipe to make it just right (We don't really but we always cut it out of the magazine ads each year and send it to each other) And cranberry jello the grandkids request and we all enjoy. Gratitude for all God's gifts overwhelmed my heart this week as I got out the recipes and made these plans for Thursday. Thank you for family. Thank you for the ones not in our near bubble we can't be with this year. We miss them. Thank you for … [Read more...]