Parish Newsletter - March 2010

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Your Pastor's Ponderings

 As winter marches on, so do the days of Lent pass by.  As I mentioned last month, Lent is a time to return to God – a time for reflection and self-examination of our Christian faith and disciplines, of our baptismal promises and practices.  During Lent, we have been looking at these practices through the eyes of Luther – seeing how Luther perceives confession, the commandments, the creed, the Lord’s prayer, baptism, and communion. 
            Sometimes though I think Luther, while insightful, can be a little intellectual and a bit stodgy for us.  I like Luther but sometimes reading Luther can be a little like reading Paul – for every word I find enlightening there are twice as many that leave me scratching my head and re-reading, several times.  So, not to dumb down Luther, but rather to put this idea of returning to the Lord in everyday perspectives, I want to share a little article that the Synod shared with me.  I hope this article can provide a little more understanding for all of us as we continue our Lenten journey. 

                        A Matter of Perspective

            Isn’t it funny how $20 looks so big when you take it to church…and so small when you take it to the store?
Isn’t it funny how hard it is to read a chapter in the Bible…and how easy it is to read a best-selling book?
Isn’t it funny how time-consuming it is to spend two hours at Bible study…how easy it is to watch a two-hour movie?
Isn’t it funny how hard it is to help clean up after church events…and how easy it is to clean and polish our new car?
Isn’t it funny how we can’t think of anything to say when we pray…but we don’t have any difficulty talking on the phone or to a friend? 
On second thought, maybe these things aren’t so funny after all.  Perhaps they reflect our mixed-up priorities.  Maybe our problem is that we’re viewing our commitment to God through the wrong end of a telescope. 

Giving of ourselves to God…our time, talent, and money…adds meaning and pleasures to our lives.  And that’s how we return to the Lord. 

Happy Lent…and also looking forward to seeing you at the empty tomb.

Pastor Will

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