What Lent Means To Me - 4/1/2012

This is the fifth in a series that will be included in the Sunday Bulletin each week during Lent.

by Cindy Pillow

There were tables in the shape of 3 large crosses, hot cross buns and hot tea. You must behave yourself. You are eating with at least 50 elderly women. There is a Sacrificial Breakfast at church. What fun??? Why call it “Good Friday”, Jesus DIED today. A program that is especially boring for children. Oh no, those are not
raisins in the hot cross buns, it’s that nasty candied fruit, I wonder if I can hide it under my plate?

Dying eggs, new shoes and what’s for Easter dinner? Oh, my it’s Lent, “What should I give up?” Maybe it should be soda, ice cream or CHOCOLATE? Where can I get Easter crosses for the Easter Baskets? No candy for the child with braces. While in a hurry to prepare for Easter the season of Lent is delegated to a mild inconvenience of remembering to deny myself a pleasure, but God’s love is never denied to us.

Now, repentance, self denial and gratitude from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. We should not be giving up but giving more. I should be giving my time for a letter of thanks or praise of a job well done. Giving my abilities to listen, lead or create. What more can I give when Jesus gave it all?

What Lent Means To Me - 3/18/2012

This is the fourth in a series that will be included in the Sunday Bulletin each week during Lent.

by Daron Smith

When I was asked to share what Lent means to me the first thing that popped into my head was the anticipation of Easter and a really great family dinner with presents and candy. Ok, that was what the kid in me thinks about but now that I'm a little older that has changed a bit. Don't get me wrong; who can resist those Reese's Peanut Butter eggs?! Family memories of Easter time are something I will always cherish and hold close, but now during Lent I reflect on my spiritual development and where my life is going. As Christians we focus on the resurrection and new beginnings so that is what I think about. How can I change and grow and become a better Christian? It's not always an easy thing to do so I'm more intentional about it during the Lenten season and along the way I still manage to sneak a peanut butter egg here and there.

What Lent Means To Me - 3/11/2012

This is the third in a series that will be included in the Sunday Bulletin each week during Lent.

by Lynne Keay

I was raised in a small town southeast of here. There were four churches and Lent was observed by all. There was a community Ash Wednesday service but I don't remember any ashes. Then there was Palm Sunday but I don't remember any palms. We had service every evening of Holy Week. The egg hunt was on Saturday and then Easter Sunrise Service that moved from church to church(PJs and raincoat). It was not until later that I understood that Easter wasn't just a new outfit with hat. In 1998, I was fortunate to walk the Via Dolorsa (Way of Cross) in Jerusalem. The street was rough and uneven, steep, and narrow. It gives you a unusual feeling of awe and amazement. Seeing the street fired my imagination of the sacrifice and pain had by Jesus.

Lent is the time I realize the sacrifice that has been made for us. How I honor it is up to me.

What Lent Means To Me - 3/4/2012

This is the second in a series that will be included in the Sunday Bulletin each week during Lent.

by Olivia Natwick:

As a youngster growing up in Wyoming I was not aware of the liturgical season of Lent. What I do remember about this period of time is that it seemed like there was one gray day after another. February and March are cold months in Wyoming . It also seemed that most of the time when Easter morning rolled around it was sunny. Today looking back at that time I know that not every day was cold and gray leading up to Easter and I remember some Easters that were not sunny. I find that today for me Lent is a time when I can sit and contemplate how my sins have led me away from a relationship with God. That separation can feel for me like those endless gray and cold days of my childhood. For me Lent is a time of finding my way back to God. As I do this I can look forward to stepping into God’s love and forgiveness on Easter day.

What Lent Means To Me - 2/26/2012

This is the first in a series that will be included in the Sunday Bulletin each week during Lent.

By Brenda Deertz:

Lent is one of my favorite times of year. Spring is on the way and with hope and renewal in the air I try to take this opportunity to grow into a closer relationship with my Lord. I usually give up something for Lent and I look for something in my life that truly separates me from God. That leaves out things such chicken wings, as that is my favorite food (although God knows I could always eat healthier). I want to strive for things more like the year I gave up fear after I experienced a medical scare. In that vein, as these are uncertain times for many of us and I have a lot of worries right now about the future, I have decided to give up DOUBT. This won’t be easy for me and I will not be perfect at it, but my hope is that by removing doubt, I will learn to put more trust in God's plan for me and for all of us. Doubt is, for me, a barrier to God’s love. Hopefully by Easter I will be putting my trust in the Lord more than I do now and freely experience his love.

Wilder View - March 2011

Often I hear people saying, “I hate change, why can’t people just leave things as they are?” Or the old classic, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It just seems as though just when things are getting rolling along, something comes along to make it change.

However, the interesting thing about change is that many times we (with great joy) make choices that make changes. For instance, when you make a commitment to love another person and share a life and home with them…Or when you decide to conceive, or adopt, or even mentor a child. When you accept a promotion or take on another job. All of these are major changes and in most cases, we greet these changes with excitement, joy, and hope. Dan and Chip Heath point out in their book Switch, that while we have generally negative feelings towards changes, if we understand the reason and the purpose behind a change we can embrace the change and change can become a very positive experience.

During Lent, many of us are reading (in small groups) a book called, Changing the World, Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus. This book invites us to look at the ways we are currently being church in our community, and to consider changes. Changes in the ways we are church; changes that might make our church more relevant to both our personal spiritual needs and the needs of our community. Some of the first groups have already met as I am writing this article and I am excited to hear about the energy that is coming from the discussions. If you are not already reading the book or are not signed up for a group, there is still time to participate. I invite you to take a journey with us this Lent to see how we can change our world for God’s glory. I invite you to read the book or the study guides, and to talk with those around you, or give me a call and share your ideas. Books are available at the communion rail. Please consider joining us.

I am hopeful that this Lenten season will be a time in which we can reflect and dream about what God would have us do to make St. Louis a city that is known for the mighty works that God is doing in our midst. I am hopeful that we will find ways that we can make subtle changes that will enhance our personal relationship with God and each other. God truly is “doing great and amazing things in our midst.”
Blessings on the journey.

~Pastor Kathleen

Wilder View - March 2010

Putting God First Update!

In January’s newsletter we told you that as a faithful congregation, we are putting God First in every part of our daily church life. Thus, we have faithfully written a tithe check each week to ministry beyond our church. As of February 28, 2010 we have contributed $2,973.00. This completes our commitment to World Service. World Service funds a large number of ministries; theological education in Africa, age level programs, camps and retreats, Christian education, colleges and universities, media, global mission, as well as peace and justice issues to name a few.

This past December, I heard about a young 18 year old woman from Kenya who was helped by the World Service fund. She is the oldest of three children who had lost their father to AIDS when she was 12 years old and their mother to AIDS when she was 14. World Service provided missionaries who supported her family through the loss of their parents. They taught her how to farm, raise goats, and care for her two younger brothers. This Christmas, as a result of the efforts of those World Service Missionaries, she was able to provide Christmas dinner for other AIDS orphans in her village. World Service is dramatically touching lives and changing communities. Thank you for your support of ministry around the world.

"And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, . . . They . . . pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.”--Acts 2:44-45

As of February 28, 2010 we have sent $3,402.25. for Haiti relief through UMCOR – United Methodist Committee on Relief. 100% of this money will go directly to Haiti. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of millions.

~Pastor Kathleen

Sharing Time with Sharon: Making Your Pilgrimage

March 2010

During the season of Lent, the New Testament scriptures place Christians with Jesus on a path toward Jerusalem. The journey that stretches before us is meant to provoke self-reflection and deeper spiritual connection with God. It will not necessarily be an easy one. Struggle, temptation, confession, self-discovery, self-sacrifice, and love will likely be the stones paving our road, as they were for Jesus. Some may stumble and fall, only to be helped up by a fellow traveler. Others of us may need to stay penitent upon our knees for a time, while our hearts find healing.

Christian pilgrimages have always been risky. As far back as the tenth century, faithful Christians were expected to make the journey at least once in their lifetime to Jerusalem. But over time, war and politics made it too dangerous to travel to the Holy Lands. As an alternative, church leaders designed cathedral labyrinths –stone or marble paterns. built into the floor by talented masons—by which Christian pilgrims could make the journey to Jerusalem symbolically, walking the narrow path upon the floor while meditating upon scripture or offering up prayers.

Well, not everyone could travel to a cathedral either. So over the centuries, personal prayer labyrinths began sprouting up out of bricks, flowers, paper, wood, canvas, spray-painted grass, and even on computer screens. While I was in seminary, a group designed and cut a labyrinth into the grass upon the lawn of the school, under the trees. There in the quiet of the morning, with the sunshine streaming through the newly budding trees of spring, I walked the labyrinth slowly, deliberately placing heel to toe, listening for God’s small, still voice in my heart. It was a profound experience.

As with all prayer practices, the labyrinth offers a prayer path for all times in life. Yet for me, there is remarkable power in traveling the labyrinth during the introspective season of Lent. Both Lent and the prayer labyrinth is about a faith journey, with clear beginnings, centers, and endings. Both draw me into a deeper faith connection through movement and prayer. As I move toward center, I prepare myself to be opened afresh to God’s promptings, perhaps discovering a word, a thread of scripture, or a nudge to action revealed. From a cloistered center of rest, I am drawn back out again, to return to the world with my new nugget, my blessing, from God. By the time I have completed my return journey, my heart is prepared to re-enter life again, only now changed a bit by my encounter with God’s divine presence.

During this season of Lent, I invite you to make use of the labyrinth that will be lovingly created at the church, as well as the prayer centers that will be set up in the Sanctuary that will provide multi-sensory places of rest and reflection. They are provided to stimulate and enrich your pilgrimage of faith to your “Jerusalem”.

Good journey, my fellow travelers
- Pastor Sharon

From the Wilder View - March 2009

In a moment we can change a sad day into a joyful one.

In a moment we can share our love for a dear one.

In a moment with just a glance we can invite or exclude.

In a moment our world can change.

In a moment we can transform the world.

One Thursday evening, I was talking with a couple that I will marry in May. There was joy in the anticipation of their wedding day. We talked about who would stand where and all of the details of the ceremony. The groom decided that he would like to walk his mother down the aisle before the wedding. There was great joy in that discussion. A few hours later, he received a call. His mother was on the air- plane bound for Buffalo, and she had been killed in the crash. In a moment, his world was turned upside down.

In a moment, we meet a stranger in a grocery store. Who knows where they have been, or what they have experienced in their life? Who knows if they are hurting and need the comfort of God’s love? Do we get frustrated as they move a bit too slowly emptying their cart, or do we smile and share God’s love? In a moment, we encounter a coworker who has discovered they have a serious illness. They feel lost and afraid, yet how could they share that with someone at work? Do we get angry because they seem distracted and not engaged in the meeting, or do we pause and listen?

In a moment, a neighbor is faced with the reality of losing their home. They feel shame, despair, and hopeless. Do we give them a hard time for filling up the trash dumpster or do we try to help them pick up the pieces?

There are so many moments in life where a simple action on our part is the difference between life and death in someone’s life. The odd thing is that we rarely know about these moments. The season of Lent is a moment in which we are invited to take time to pause and reflect upon our life. Ita moment to prayerfully listen to God and evaluate our habits to see if they lead us towards life. Ita moment that we might be in tune with the Holy Spirit so we can be used as God’s hands to those around us who are hurting.

May this Lenten season be one of holy moments in which we encounter God.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kathleen