From the Wilder View - February 2009

So did you make a New Year’s resolution? How are you doing on keeping it? I have to admit that I have given up making New Year resolutions. It seems that I always have lofty goals; lose weight, start exercising, spend more time reading, do more of this or more of that, and on and on. But somehow in just a couple days into the new year and somehow my best of intentions would be blown away. So I am going to work on longer term goals rather than the traditional New Year’s resolutions with the hope that maybe one day I will be successful in my personal transformation hopes.

As I think about long term goals I am reminded of a poem and a song. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Elliott is about a man who evaluates his life using images of his life being measured by coffee spoons and wondering if they dare disturb the universe. He looks at the end of his life with regret that there were moments that he could have made a significant difference in the world, but possibly didn’t have the courage to stand up or speak out in that moment, and thus his life is measured by coffee spoons. The song that I hold in contrast is called “Everything Possible” by Fred Small and sung by The Flirtations. It ends with this phrase, “But the only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you’ve left behind when you’re gone.” Where the poem and the song come together for me is that each day we are presented with many opportunities to heroically love in this world. Each moment of our life we are given the opportunity to make a decision to transform the world around us with love. We can demonstrate love through speaking out, standing in protest, humbly serving others, or just listening to someone. The question is, will we make the effort to love and risk disturbing the universe, or will we sit back and not engage. Will our words and deeds create love or will they perpetuate the status quo?

Perhaps if I am focused on my words and deeds, sharing the love of God with those around me, my life might be measured in something more important than coffee spoons. Perhaps my life resolution should be to be intentional that each day my words and deeds communicate God’s love for the world. I would hazard to guess that living out God’s love might just change the universe, and hopefully, my personal transformation might also help God transform a little corner of the world.

My hope for you this New Year and for the years to come is that we all might live our lives filled with words and deeds that communicate the love of God.

Happy Loving!

Pastor Kathleen

Time with Sharon: A New Adventure!

February 2009

* This is a day of new beginnings,
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that’s gone.

Most people consider January 1st the beginning of the new year, where all things are fresh and new. Time to forgive and forget, time to start over, to zero the counters and see where we can go from here.For a lot of businesses, the fiscal year is July 1. After having closed out their books, and counted their inventory, they give each other a bonus and go to Florida for a little R and R.

But in the church, the Liturgical year begins right after Thanksgiving with Advent. All through the four Sundays before Christmas, we prepare to receive Emmanuel, God with Us, in the form of a baby-child. By the time January 1st rolls around, we have celebrated the birth of the Christ Child, and heard the scriptural story of Baby Jesus being consecrated at the Temple, ending with verse 40 in the second chapter of Luke: “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” Jesus was getting ready for ministry. He was preparing for the adventure of his life.

Now is not the time to get started…because our adventure with Jesus has already begun. But it is a time to evaluate, get fresh perspective, and seek new possibilities…and then to begin again. To risk, to pray, to stretch, to grow. Now is a time to be readying ourselves to carry on Christ’s ministry on earth.

Then let us, with the spirit’s daring,
Step from the past and leave behind
Our disappointment, guilt, and grieving,
Seeking new paths, and sure to find.

Look behind you…what have you been doing this past year that uses your gifts and talents to help Christ love people? Now look ahead…what can you do that you have never done before (with that ministry or a new one) that will reach someone new, or in a new way? What do you need to know? Who do you need to talk to? What extra resources will you need? Who might join you in your adventure? Now is a good time to assess what we’re doing, and figure out how we can do it better, smarter, with greater love, and to invite others to join us.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
To show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings,
Our God is making all things new!

I look forward to hearing about your adventures,
Pastor Sharon