Next Sunday, October 2, is a busy day, with two meaningful themes occurring at the same time.

First, it's World Communion Sunday, one of six "special Sundays" in the United Methodist calendar. Your offering gifts given on this day helps provide scholarships for racial and ethnic minority students. During the last four years, the UMC family has raised $900,000 to $1.1 million each year.

Secondly, October is Saint John's Bible Month at First Church and we will be celebrating this remarkable achievement church-wide.

Our scripture for this week -- Genesis 1 - 2, there's only one because it's rather lengthy -- is a rather fitting way to honor our opportunity to participate in the Saint John's Bible tour. This is the only handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago. The bible was written and drawn entirely by hand using quills and paints hand-ground from precious minerals and stones such as lapis lazuli, malachite, silver, and 24-karat gold.

Prints of some of the artwork and scripture will be on display at FUMCSD throughout October. This Saturday, First Church is hosting a kick-off evening, an opening gala with a price that can't be beaten, $10. If you haven't registered, but sure to do it soon. We expect a lot of interest. There are also classes and events throughout the month of October that will satisfy your need to learn more.

Those who attended the Wednesday evening classes with Rev. La Due and Rev. Smith agreed, the classes set the stage for a deep learning experience. We reviewed some of the illustrations from St. John's Bible and you may be surprised, as we were! "The Saint John’s Bible illustrates scripture from a modern perspective, reflecting a multicultural world and humanity’s enormous strides in science, technology and space travel, as well as recent wars and genocide." One of the prints we studied, pictured above, showed a communion table as one might imagine it in biblical times. however, if you look closely, there are modern-day reference. For example, in the upper left-hand corner, the small chapel. Definitely NOT from biblical times. In fact, it is a chapel on the Saint John's campus.

What I have enjoyed most is reading the reviews... imagine! People getting excited about the Bible. What a tribute, what a miracle... Why? According to the Pew Research Center, in 2010, religion stories accounted for two percent of all coverage, up from one percent in 2009. "The uptick in coverage was driven by a few big stories, including controversy over the Ground Zero Mosque and Pastor Terry Jones' plan to host a Koran-burning event."

Now, thanks to the folks behind the Saint John's Bible, the world is taking notice. Perhaps this "undertaking of biblical proportion..." will touch a new heart, change another life... and the Good News marches on!


See you Sunday!

Rivers, Oceans, Bodies of Water

We have reached our fourth and final Sunday in our Season of Creation celebration: River Sunday. But since your Water's Edge Worship Team is San Diego-based, we had to broaden the subject a wee bit. We're going to celebrate the ocean too, and frankly, just about any body of water that is sacred or significant to you!

I'm guessing a lot of you will feel like Beckie Henselmeyer and I, two girls who grew up Boogie boarding and body surfing in the great Pacific: to us, the ocean is God. The power and majesty of crashing waves, the never-ending horizon, the place where your crazy day comes to a close with a breath-taking sunset. Our ocean is a constant and reliable reminder of just how small we are and how much bigger God is. Surely, if he can handle the great waves of the Pacific, he can handle our concerns and problems, no?

I lived in Missouri for the first year or so of my reporting career. My house was in Macon, Mo., a very small town with one stop light, a Wal-Mart and an adorable town square centered next to the courthouse. The nearest body of water was right there, Long Branch Lake State Park (Picture above). I made about 10 cents an hour back then so my days off were filled with free recreation. I often loaded up my bike and headed for the lush, tree-rimmed lake. One time, a friend and I rented a canoe and promptly tipped it over. We were laughing so hard we couldn't get back in the canoe, but made new friends when a speed boat full of folks came to rescue us.

As beautiful as it was, that lake did not tap into my spirit as a visit to the shores of our Pacific would. I could not shake the feeling that I was land-locked. I longed for the violent crashing roar of some monster waves. Years later, living at the edge of Lake Michigan, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I thought that feeling would ease, afterall, that horizon seems never-ending too. Not a chance. I need the ocean. Even though God is with me wherever I go, and I never doubt that, I get claustrophobic if I can't "feel" the nearby shoreline.

Hmm. Whadya make of that? My cousin (pictures above) would say, "You're a bird!" By that, she would mean I'm odd. I say, "Okay, I may be a bird, but at least we know what kind of bird I am: a seagull!"

Where in God's great creation are the waters that speak to your soul?

See you Sunday!

Jesus' Wilderness

This Sunday is Wilderness Sunday, according to the Season of Creation liturgy. In previous posts (see below), some of us mentioned trees, flowers, mountains... as the images that come to mind when "wilderness" is mentioned.

But Rev. Elbert pointed out that, in Jesus' time, and really throughout the Bible, "wilderness" is more akin to a desert scene.

In Mark, we read about Jesus' baptism and his temptation... in the wilderness/desert. In Hebrew, the word "midbar" means wilderness, uninhabited land, tracts of land (around cities). So, wilderness is more than a place; it's a concept... an area that is beyond: beyond cities and organized civilization. Perhaps that's why the word, in our modern day, elicits thoughts of getting away, putting down the electronics, turnning off the phone, and spending time in a place and space where faith can be honed and the spirit can take root.

See you Sunday... and leave your Blackberry/iPhone at home! ;-)

Call of the Wild

On Sunday, September 18, our third in the Season of Creation series, we will be celebrating wilderness. (Forests. Land. Wilderness. Rivers.)

The related Bible verses are many... we'll chose key portions for Sunday's service, but, if you'd like to read all of the related texts, here's what the Season of Creation liturgy recommends:

Joel1:8-10, 17-20
Psalm 18:6-19
Romans 8:18-27
Matthew 3:13-4:2 OR Mark 1:9-13

Do you have a favorite spot in "wilderness?" I'll admit, I'm not much of an outdoorsy gal. Silver-level Girl Scout badge aside, I'd rather read about wilderness from the comfort of a down-filled hotel bed... or so I thought.

Then, I read John Steinbeck. His capacity for description is boundless. He made me fall in love with the Salinas Valley before I ever set foot near it. After reading this, I made a pilgrimage of sorts to Monterey-Salinas to experience- in person- Steinbeck's Salinas wilderness.

In East of Eden, (modern version of Cain and Abel... man was cast out, East of Eden, after his "fall.") Steinbeck describes the good and the bad in all of us, beginning with the land. He hits this theme, from the opening chapter, using the splendor of Salinas Valley, saying

I remember that the Gabilan Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness and a kind of invitation, so that you wanted to climb into their warm foothills almost as you want to climb into the lap of a beloved mother. They were beckoning mountains with a brown grass love. The Santa Lucias stood up against the sky to the west and kept the valley from the open sea, and they were dark and brooding—unfriendly and dangerous. I always found in myself a dread of west and a love of east. Where I ever got such an idea I cannot say, unless it could be that the morning came over the peaks of the Gabilans and the night drifted back from the ridges of the Santa Lucias. It may be that the birth and death of the day had some part in my feeling about the two ranges of mountains.

Later, he describes the bounty of the flowers, in all their glory... and this is truly, exactly what I saw:

The whole valley floor, and the foothills too, would be carpeted with lupins and poppies. Once a woman told me that colored flowers would seem more bright if you added a few white flowers to give the colors definition. Every petal of blue lupin is edged with white, so that a field of lupins is more blue than you can imagine. And mixed with these were splashes of California poppies. These too are of a burning color—not orange, not gold, but if pure gold were liquid and could raise a cream, that golden cream might be like the color of the poppies.

Land Ho!

As we head into our second week in the Season of Creation, we're leaving the forest and heading out to explore "the LAND, the soil and land creatures."

The particularly cute "creature" in the picture above is Marion Hart's son, at home in the garden, enjoying the soil! Thanks for sharing, Marion! And to all of you who sent photos, many thanks.

Do you have any favorite memories of land? Maybe it's the land that your favorite school sits on? Or memories of a special hide-away you built as a kid? Land, soil, Earth - the connection can provide stability and calm in so many ways.

When they were young women, my great aunts joined their father and "homesteaded" in the great land rush in Oklahoma in the late 1800s. Even though I grew up in California, I love the idea of being connected to that land.

Maybe it's because I'm Irish, but I adore that scene in Gone with the Wind when Gerald O'Hara promised Tara plantation to Scarlett: "Land is the only thing that lasts..." he said.

And, eventually, even Scarlett O'Hara set aside her vanity and recognized the the power of that land and of going home.

Connecting the land back to its Creator God, our creator, is our Season of Creation journey for this week. So, come on back to the Water's Edge... come home...

Hi all,

Just thought you might enjoy reading the poem that Bill wrote and shared in Sunday's (9/4) service at the Cove.

Pride

The task of every generation is to make sure

They don't end up knowing a lot about nothing.

Wisdom is knowing what is and is not important.


In my "tribe"

There are those who are "in" and those who are "out."

There are those who are "good" and those who are "bad."

There are those who are "saved" and those who are "lost."


What tribe does God belong to?

How do we break through our prejudices and judgments?


Who I listen to depends on what I hear.

Do I listen to CNN or CNBC or Fox?

Do I listen to the Democrats or Republicans?

Do I listen to the Conservatives or the Liberals?


Jesus, listened to the victims, the persecuted, the survivors.

If I am to make it through this crisis I am in,

Then I must seek the courage and humility

To expand my love so that no one is left out.

Not even the one who is causing me so much hurt.


I must be open to the breath of God into my life...

The breath that is common to all of us.

To breathe yet again,

And deeper,

And bring me to my own soul's awakening.


It is then that change and hope will follow.

A Poem as Beautiful as a Tree

Trees on the brain. That's my new malady. I've been thinking about trees all week. As we approach our first Sunday in the Season of Creation, we will be considering and honoring the forest. That could mean any creature in the forest... lush ferns, tiny, hopping frogs, freshly-fallen pine needles... But, what's the most prominent picture you see when you close your eyes and picture the word "forest?"
For me, it's the trees.

My sister-in-law, Jennifer, loves to re-connect with nature and God by visiting the Muir Woods in Northern California. For her, it's an all-senses experience with sounds: birds, babbling brooks, a quiet where "everything stops"; smells of pine and fresh air; sight- those magnificent redwood trees. "It's so majestic. You couldn’t possibly be any closer to God than when you're lost among in those trees. I feel like such a tiny, little spec next to something so huge and old and gorgeous."

What are your favorite trees? The avocado tree in mom's backyard? Palms trees in Hawaii? Share your memories with us!

For more on writing about trees, I turned to an expert- Joyce Kilmer: poet, journalist, father and man of faith. Some say his poems were too simple, but his most famous - TREES - surely speaks to what we are celebrating on Sunday.

TREES
by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

See you Sunday!

We're Gettin' Out the Slide Projector

So you never got to show your neighbors those fabulous photos of your nature trip to the Australian Outback? Well, even if your trip was only "outback" on grandma's farm, Water's Edge wants to see your photos!

Send us your favorite pictures and/or videos of you enjoying/experiencing nature! We are celebrating the Season of Creation and want our Water’s Edge friends to participate.

What’s the Season of Creation? You’ve probably heard of some of the “seasons” in the Christian year: Advent (Christmas), Epiphany, Lent and Easter. Each of these seasons celebrates the life of Christ; Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit; and now, the newly designed “The Season of Creation” celebrates the Creator God. This provides an opportunity to remember our kinship with Earth and the creatures of Earth.

http://seasonofcreation.com/

We have a different theme for each of the four Sundays in September:

September 4 1st Sunday in Creation – Forest Sunday
September 11 2nd Sunday in Creation – Land Sunday
September 18 3rd Sunday in Creation – Outback Sunday
September 25 4th Sunday in Creation – River Sunday

Please send us some of your favorite moments in nature… either pictures or video… and we’ll share them in Water’s Edge various services.

Thank you for participating. This is a new “season” at Water’s Edge and we’re looking forward to exploring it together.

An Invitation to the Good Stuff

Yum!

That's the best way to describe today's gathering at Water's Edge: yum! From scripture selection to baptism to the sermon, the main message centered on the deliciousness of what it means to follow Jesus... to leave behind our lives as we knew them and follow His lead into this new way of living.

Rev. Molly's sermon wove together a scrumptious picture of ancient scriptures by using very relatable imagery - specifically dark chocolate, her favorite.

(http://bit.ly/pe7zwX Click here to read about a completely chocolate hotel room created by Godiva!)

You know when you're craving a certain something... such as good chocolate... but you grab what is nearby to fulfill your momentary hunger? How satisfying is that? Halfway through the nasty, no-name chocolate bar, you realize, "Ugh! This is not what I wanted! Wish I'd gone for the good stuff."

When we follow Jesus, we're reaching for the Good Stuff. And He promises that when we feast at His table, we will be sated.

In Isaiah 55, (this week's scripture), we are reminded that this invitation to follow Jesus is extended to everyone. Yep. Everyone. Even your annoying neighbor. And that mean kid from high school. Rev. Molly explained why this open invitation works: because we have the power of transformation when we take this journey together. When we feast together, everyone is invited to "... eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness- the profuseness of spiritual joy (Amplified)."

Like I said, yum!!!

Kim

PS- More to come on Lucy's baptism. We'll post pictures.

Remember Your Baptism (and the Communion Bread)

Greetings Dear Ones!

We are well into week two of my role as Water's Edge Worship Coordinator and so far, so good! Thank you for making me feel so welcome. I felt very much "at home" last Sunday, despite the fact that it was 8:55 a.m. before I remembered that I am supposed to bring the communion bread!

This Sunday we will be participating in a very special ceremony that is a perfect fit for the shores of the Water's Edge: baptism. Rev. Molly will baptise Becky Henselmeier's youngest... and we, as believers and friends, will have the great honor of standing witness for this beautiful, new spirit.

This is also an opportunity for each one of us, as a child of God, to remember our own baptism and to be grateful. During communion, you are invited to renew your baptism with us at the front altar as well.

I was baptised in the Methodist Church in Tuskegee, Alabama... where my mom's family lived. The dress I wore is pictured here, on my niece, Grace Mae. Gracie, her daddy Kyle, and my cousins Jamie, Robin, Riley, Judson and I were all baptised in this dress! My mom bought it in Wales, more than 50 years ago, when she was teaching overseas on American Air Force bases. She also had the good sense to get several vials of holy water, from the River Jordan, while traveling through Israel. Several of the children in our family were baptised with that water. Coincidentally -- my brother was baptised by Rev. Bob Fehlman (Our Rev. Bob!) when he was senior pastor at Riviera United Methodist, in Redondo Beach, where I grew up.

Do you remember your baptism?

I'll bet most of us were too young. But I surely do remember the baptism of the little baby girl in that picture above! My brother and his sweet wife, Jennifer, asked me to be Gracie's godmother. I am so honored to have that role and it thrilled me to NO END when, upon being sprinkled with water and not liking it, she reached out for her Auntie Kim! Holding that baby doll in my arms is one of the greatest gifts of my life. Her hugs are the best! And my prayers for her well-being are never-ending. I take very seriously my role as a guide in her faith journey.

So, my friends, as you cruise through the remainder of this week, take a moment to recall the baptisms in your life, and be thankful. Together we will celebrate all every single one on Sunday...

Kim

PS- No worries on the communion bread! I already bought it this week!

"You've Got Some Big Shoes to Fill"

Greetings Dear Ones,

Right about now, our intrepid Water's Edge Worship Coordinator, Darin Arntston, should be somewhere in the great state of Texas. She is on the first "leg" of what I pray is a grand, alluring and never-ending journey through her walk with God.

As most of you know, Darin is attending Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. http://www.candler.emory.edu/ This is an incredible school, ranked among the top 20 national universities, according to US News & World Report http://www.usnews.com/rankings. Candler is also one of several universities founded by the United Methodists. (Coincidentally, I graduated from American University, in Washington, D.C., which is another UMC school http://www.american.edu/).

This past Sunday (Aug 14), Molly announced that I would be joining the Water's Edge Team to (try to) take up Darin's mantle. Upon hearing this, one of the Water's Edge regulars pondered aloud, "You've got some big shoes to fill." I couldn't agree more!

Darin is actually the person who encouraged me to consider this position. She knows that I, too, am searching for discernment. I adore being part of the Lay Liturgists group-- the regular folks who offer prayers every so often in the Santuary services -- but I feel a pull to do more. Do what? I don't know, exactly. But Molly -- along with Revs LaDue, Standiford, and Ristine -- has graciously shared her time with me and provided an ear as I try to figure it all out. This opportunity is perfect and very important to me.

I am thrilled (and a smidge nervous) to be joining the Water's Edge Worship Team. Please say hello this Sunday. Let me know what's going on in your life... your thoughts about how we can do more here, virtually... anything you think might help my transition at Water's Edge.

Yes, I have some big shoes to fill. Darin is kind, intelligent, funny, beautiful and a LOT younger than I. (Maybe I should quit right now). But, I do have something in my favor: great shoes. Did you catch a glimpse of her shoes on Sunday? Taupe suede with 4" heels! Excellent! This, I can do!

See you, and your shoes, on Sunday, August 21!

Blessings,

Kim Edwards

2 Corinthians 5: 7 (more about shoes)

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."

you, me, and jesus

This has been a pretty incredible year for me. Not only with lots of new and exciting changes and challenges in my personal life, but with a fullness of blessings and growth in my journey with God, too. I have been incredibly lucky to have spent so much time worshipping and talking about faith with the Water's Edge family, and have been blessed by the welcoming, gracious, and loving nature of this congregation (within a congregation).

In addition to getting to know wonderful members of this family, I feel like this year has opened me up to a deeper understanding of my relationship with Jesus as well. Through the detailed studies of the last 24 hours of Jesus' life during lent, and now discovering the different ways Jesus interacts with me through the "Glimpses of Jesus" series, I feel these roots deepening-- a foundation settling and strengthening. These feelings are a gift to me as I prepare to embark on a journey of theological education and life committed to ministry. And, as the message from last week illuminated, it is not a result I can claim to be solely mine.

If you were not in worship last week, I apologize, but it would not do remote justice to attempt a summary here. The theme was "Jesus in one another," and I suggest you take Molly out to coffee some day to discuss her perspective... it's a good one. But, I will mention the bit that challenged me, and all of us, to see how every person we encounter can teach us something about Jesus-- that there's something unique in each person that allows him or her to teach us this one thing better than anyone else. This call to see Jesus in each other is not just about the challenge of accepting and appreciating everyone-- even those who are more than difficult to love-- but about the importance of community.

This connectedness, and strengthening relationship with Christ I feel is rooted in the community here. By learning your stories, strengths, joys, and hardships-- through the faith of this congregation paired with its diversity-- I have witnessed a broad spectrum of Christ-like qualities. My faith has been strengthened by your openness to share with me your gifts, your lives, your faith, and your membership in the body of Christ. And, through learning more about you, I have been able to see myself more clearly, and how I fit into this life in Christ also.

This coming Sunday we'll be talking about Jesus as our light. Sometimes we see this light as it illuminates a new path, or guides us through uncharted territory, but other times it's the porch light, or lighthouse beacon, reminding us how to get home. I have been blessed to have found a new home with you all at the Water's Edge, and will hold fast to the gifts you have given me throughout this past year. Thank you for your love, encouragement, and support, and for empowering me to know and share the goodness of our God and Jesus Christ.

:)

a warm welcome

We are blessed this Sunday to be welcoming Rev. Christian DeMent as our guest preacher. Christian is the appointed pastor of a new church start in the Otay Ranch area named Foundry UMC. He is also the associate pastor at Foothills UMC in La Mesa, and a dear friend of mine.

Christian was (back in the day) a youth director at La Mesa First UMC and then at Foothills, where he played a foundational role in fostering faithfulness in countless youth and young people (including me!). He has served as the leader of mission trips to places like Waveland, Mississippi and Vladivostok, Russia, demonstrating his commitment to Christ-like service. His dynamic personality and compassionate demeanor are reflected in his ministry, and make him an all around great guy to know.

Christian is taking a new approach to church building. Rather than starting by developing a worshipping congregation, the Foundry is involving members in existing community service events and activities-- building it's foundation first in mission. Christian will be offering the message this week at the Water's Edge, incorporating some of his ideas about evangelism and the language we use as Christians to share the word of God. At 11am, he will also be offering a brief presentation about his efforts in Otay Ranch, and how the Foundry UMC, if supported in healthy ways, may also strengthen our own community here at First Church as well as other congregations in our district.

For more information about Christian and the Foundry visit:

http://www.foundryotayranch.org/

or Foundry United Methodist Church on facebook

I hope you will join me in welcoming Christian this Sunday, and in offering our support to him as he works to expand the reaches of Christ's love and light here in San Diego.

moved by the spirit

Pentecost is this Sunday. Usually when I think of Pentecost I think of red, or fire, or even Pentecostals and their zealous worship and speaking in tongues. I'm not a huge fan of red, or overly dramatic improvisational dance (it's those mild-mannered Methodist roots...), but the beautiful thing about Pentecost, I'm discovering, is that those are actually outside indicators of something amazing that happens on the inside.

I am finding, through participating with you in worship each week, that there is a large difference between when I try to be in control and when I let the Spirit guide me. Perhaps you can tell also... those times when words come more easily, prayers flow more smoothly, or elements piece together more fluidly. Though there is always careful preparation, I don't take credit for those times when things just seem "right." When those preparations are met with trust in the Spirit, the message communicates more distinctly and easily.

In the story of Pentecost, found in Acts 2:1-21, the notable piece is not that they were capable of speaking new languages without study or practice-- it was that the Spirit allowed them to communicate with those outside their own culture. The Spirit made it possible for their message to be articulated past language barriers to reach new people in more distant places. It's an exciting story about how the Holy Spirit allows us to communicate in our lives if we accept it and let it move us.

I'm looking forward to worship this week when we can explore some creative ways the Spirit breathes into us, blessing us here and now, and empowering us to share the message we've been given.

a plan to live

The rapture may be this Saturday, but I'm planning to be in worship on Sunday. It's not that I don't believe in heaven, or think I'm not worthy to go. I do. I just don't think I should wait to float up into the sky to be with God-- to experience fulfillment, happiness, joy.

A Time Magazine poll revealed that 56 percent of Americans believe the "prophecies in the book of Revelation will come true." I wonder how many people that actually signifies who are anticipating leaving all their earthly posessions behind this Saturday. I can't definitively say it wont happen, but I feel pretty cynical about it. This is because I don't think our lives here on Earth are some elaborate entrance exam into something else. I think our earthly lives are not just a way to kill time until Jesus comes to swoop us up and away with him. I believe Jesus came to live among us to show us that we are capable of living in ways that allow us to experience God's kingdom here and now. Not just after the rapture.

However, in order to experience heaven on earth we need to change or evolve. We must take responsibility for ourselves, our communities, our planet. To be raptured might be a nice escape into a new world-- a fresh start-- but I don't think it's that easy. In her article Why I Want To Be Left Behind, Brenda Peterson shares that she hopes to continue her life here to "figure out a way to fit more humbly into this abiding Earth, this living and breathing planet we happily call home, we call holy."

So, for now I'm planning to live-- to continue to follow the path I believe God calls me to, to hope for a future where we live constructively and peacefully with all who share this planet. I will plan to be faithful in my pursuit of the kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

a wonder indeed

"All who believed were together and had all things in common...." Acts 2:44

This is the video that Molly made reference to in her sermon yesterday, Sunday May 15th.

Painful

In the last post, Darin noted that the time we've spent studying the last day before Jesus's death have led to some uncomfortable moments. For me, the most uncomfortable one is coming up this Sunday. Even more than the (admittedly horrible and inhumane) Crucifixion, I am hit, every year, by the torture scenes we'll read this week.

I have always hated to see people in pain. Once when we were kids, my brother had a splinter so bad that my parents took him to the pediatrician to have it removed. I was in the exam room when the doctor attempted to take it out, but fled the room minutes after my brother began to scream in pain. I hate it.

Needless to say, every year when we read the Passion story, I end up weeping right about the time that Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers to be flogged. I hate imagining Jesus in so much pain. When we read the Stations of the Cross (a Roman Catholic tradition) at school, I shied away from hearing about Jesus undergoing these hideous, cruel punishments.

These days, I still weep when we read the torture scenes, but not only for Jesus's unimaginable suffering. I weep because it was so needless. He was condemned to this treatment by ordinary people--the local clergy and congregations, the city and state government--and for what? I cry because I can't bear to think of anyone going through that, but also because it still happens all the time, today, in this world where we live--and for what? People are in pain, people suffer, because of the actions and inactions of ordinary people.

The question is, how can we live with this, and how can we change it?

it may not be comfortable...

Throughout Lent, we've been looking at the 24 hours before Jesus' death, and I'm finding that (despite my long history of church-going) I know very little about the details of that day in history. I imagine I'm partly to blame for this– typically avoiding scripture and images that aren't particularly uplifting. I wonder whether it is because in general I shy away from subjects that are upsetting, or if it's because in some way I feel responsible. Looking more deeply at Peter's denial of Christ and at the crowds who convict and condemn him yelling "Crucify him!," would I have done the same?

In our small group this past Sunday, the question arose whether or not we would recognize Jesus if he showed up in our presence today. How would we truly know THIS was the man to follow? How would we know this particular man was the one sent from God? If even those who claimed to be looking for Jesus sentenced him to death, how can we better recognize and receive the gifts God offers us?

It may begin with being open to experiences that are a little uncomfortable. It may mean opening ourselves to accept a new or different reality from what we know. In the next few weeks, as we near Easter, we'll be reading and exploring more deeply texts we normally like to glance over. Although we may think understanding the outcome is enough, perhaps this time around we'll learn something more from looking at the details. Maybe we'll find Jesus' offering and God's saving love to be even more incredible this time around because we sacrificed some of our own comfort to receive them.

making preparations

Lent is intended to be a time to prepare ourselves for the rich and powerful gift of the resurrection. Many of us participate in the practice of giving things up- chocolate, soda, girl scout cookies, t.v.- and if you live in my house you take the literal approach and sacrifice those things the 40 days before Easter NOT including Sundays. (Even God rested on Sunday...) Others commit to adding practices into their lives for those 40 days, such as daily devotion or prayer, acts of service, or communicating with friends and family. But how are these actions really preparing us for this incredible gift Christ offers? What are we really expecting on Easter?

I think the beauty of faith is being able to offer up our best intentions and let God work out the rest. In the first verse of this week's gospel reading Jesus tells the disciples to go and make preparations for the passover meal, but didn't reveal to them the particular significance of this meal together. He didn't expect them to understand fully the weight of their actions, only that they would take care to do what they were asked. I believe that's what Jesus asks of us also.

As we move through this season, I hope as a community we will be open and ready to receive the gifts God has in store- that through our preparations we will truly see his glory this Easter.

Don't Worry

This is a very exciting time in my life: I'm now living in those days when I could become a mother at any moment (over about the next 4 weeks...). It's a strange expectancy, waiting for childbirth, believing it could be any moment and knowing it could be a good while.

It's not a bad metaphor for how we live our lives of faith--as if the Kingdom of God could come in its fullness in any moment. And as if it may take a while.

One of the joys of this time, as I get ready to give birth, is that I know our worship community will be well while I'm away for a bit. We have such a rich blessing of gifts and such wonderfully talented leaders who will see us through!

Many thanks to Darin, who will continue to guide, direct, shape and coordinate our worship throughout my maternity leave (as she has been doing already!).

And, many thanks to the many guest preachers who will share their insight into scripture and life with our community. It's so rad that we have a number of young folks who are called to ministry, who are willing to preach to us during these formative years in their calling. Evan, Darin, Randy and Lea will all preach during this time. And, some of my good pastor-colleagues here at First Church will get the chance to be with you all: Greg and Mary will each preach once, and Elbert will be here more often. It'll be good to hear these diverse voices and share together in worship.

This week, I hope to be present as Evan preaches. It's going to be an especially fun week, as the band is going all bluegrass on us, with Bob Enstad back as special guest.

And, the scripture is a good one: Jesus command to us, from his Sermon on the Mount, that we shouldn't worry. (This is a good message for expectant mothers and everyone else.) So, here's a song I wanted to share with you, from a project seeking to unite people through music called Playing for Change. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope to see you Sunday!

peace,
Molly