Our Deepest Desire

Not growing up in a tradition that observed Ash Wednesday and Lent, I admit that it still catches me by surprise how meaningful the imposition of ashes is to so many in our community. Those who attend church every Sunday and those who haven’t set foot in a church in years. Those whose skin is filled with wrinkles and those who are still wearing the glitter from the day before. Folks of all ages and all denominations coming together for one thing.

But what is that one thing?

What is it inside of us that can so quickly embrace the contrast between “Laissez les bons temps rouler” and “from dust you came, to dust you shall return”?

How ironic that the season that invites us to “come clean” starts with ashes. We who spend so much energy trying to filter out all our flaws actually invite the filth of the ashes to be smeared on our foreheads for all to see. Could it be that deep inside of each one of us there is a need to embrace our mortality? A desire to ponder a

deeper purpose? A time to rest? Could it be that our deepest desire is to be seen as flawed, scarred and broken, and still worthy of love, redemption, and freedom?

“From dust you came, to dust you shall return.” I have said this countless times each Ash Wednesday for the past 24 years. But I can’t leave it there. I just can’t. I know that there is more to the story. More to your story. More to my story. As I washed the smeared ashes from my forehead I remembered what I told each child, “When you wash your face tonight, look in the mirror and see a beautiful child of God who is loved by Jesus.”

Join us each week during Lent as we journey to a place where we can truly see ourselves and one another as a beautiful child of God who is loved by Jesus.

Pastor Jo

February 15, 2024

A Holy Shift

I felt drawn to this focus for Epiphanytide because I see how so many of us are sinking into identities that are not ours to claim. Epiphany is about light, awareness, learning, growing, and sharing. Epiphany, for me, is a journey that aways leads to a deeper awareness of God.

So, how did we get so far off course? How did answering the question, “Who is to blame?” become more important than, “Who is my neighbor?” How will we make the shift from blame to hospitality? From fear to friendship? From pain to joy? How we will live into our true identity in Christ when there are so many voices — loud voices — convincing us that the way of Jesus is too weak for the condition of our world?

If the answers are not clear to you at this moment please remember that Epiphanytide is a season. It is always a journey. It offers an invitation to walk in the light and to choose awareness over knee-jerk responses. Epiphany invites us to shift our gears. In times when you feel stuck, stalled, grinding your gears, never forget that Jesus is walking with you, even as you walk towards him. You are not alone.

“Decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free,” wrote Paul Tillich. Let us choose the freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Jo

January 29, 2024

To Linger in the Presence

Here we are! Welcome 2024!

It is not uncommon to hear, “Maybe this will be the year we (fill in the blank with a goal or plan). I’m not sure what it is that makes one new day more relevant that another new day, but maybe this will be the year we choose to see the relevance of each day! Especially those days which seem to be baptized in the mundane.

During our first worship service of 2024 we shared a true moment that invited each of us to consider that maybe this will be the year we give ourselves permission to linger in the presence of Jesus.

As the children presented the Magi and gifts to the manger and crèche, Annabelle seemed oblivious to the expected flow, the cadence of the hymn, or the movement of the other children. Nothing else mattered to her in that moment but Jesus.

She touched his face, made certain his blanket was wrapped tightly, and more than once she kissed his cheek. She wanted to take baby Jesus with her, but I persuaded her to leave him in the manger.

If I could recreate that moment I would say, “Yes! Take him! Take him into the world! Introduce him to your friends! Share him with your family! And when you are frightened or unsure, hold him close.” As our children taught us on Epiphany Sunday, bring your gifts – but more importantly, wrap those gifts in love, patience, compassion, curiosity, and joy.

Pastor Jo

January 9, 2024