Currently, we are in the season of Lent, which runs from Ash Wednesday through Easter. The season of Lent is 40 days long. It is a time for reflection. For centuries, it has been a time of instruction for candidates preparing for baptism. We are called to confess our sins and abstain for self-indulgent behavior. We fast, pray and practice other spiritual disciplines to discern our need for the grace of God. We consider our relationship with God and with our neighbors.
The season of Lent excludes the 6 Sundays from Ash Wednesday through Easter. The Church celebrates on those Sundays, just as every Sunday, the coming Easter morn when the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed. As we worship God on the Sundays in Lent, we are strengthened to continue the Lenten journey of self-examination.
In the past several months, I have posted blogs about vestments (robes and stoles) and paraments (table cloths and pulpit/lectern banners). You might remember that the colors and symbols portray meaning for the day or season of the Church liturgical year. The paraments in the sanctuary and Jay's stole are purple. The liturgical color for Lent is purple which symbolizes the majesty and royalty of Christ - purple or violet is also a color that represents penitance.
The stole I will wear during the season of Lent is the one you gifted to me when you installed me as your associate pastor. It too is purple. The crown is symbolic of the crown of thorns placed upon Jesus' head after he was flogged. The cross, of course, is the cross on which Jesus was crucified. It is much more comfortable than the burlap stole we wore on Ash Wednesday!
May your study of the word of God guide your journey,
Rev. Tracy
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sowing the Seeds of Love
There are many types of mission trips. You can invest a day, weeks or months. Some mission work involves sharing your faith story; other mission work includes listening to others' story. There's lots of ways to do mission. I've heard it said, "Sow a seed, do a deed, meet a need." This phrase might best encapsulate all the ways we do mission.
A few years ago, I went on a learning mission trip. I did no getting your hands dirty work. My mission work was to listen to the stories of the people I met. Then, I was challenged to return home & share their stories. (I will have to share their stories with you some time.) It was difficult to see this as mission at the time of my travel. However, when I returned and began to share their story, I understood that teaching others was significant, meaningful work.
I've spent a day or two here or there doing the getting your hands dirty kind of mission work, but I've never been on an extended work trip. I'm really looking forward to the trip to Hiram Living and Learning Farm. It's both a learning trip and a getting your hands dirty trip. We'll work on the farm, in the fields and in the barns. We'll also learn about organic farming and the autism spectrum.
This trip could prove to be more challenging than past trips because our work doesn't end when we leave Ohio. Our hands-on work ends, but our sharing work begins. It's an easy task to tell our friends how much we enjoyed our trip and what we learned.
May you meet a need this week,
Rev. Tracy
A few years ago, I went on a learning mission trip. I did no getting your hands dirty work. My mission work was to listen to the stories of the people I met. Then, I was challenged to return home & share their stories. (I will have to share their stories with you some time.) It was difficult to see this as mission at the time of my travel. However, when I returned and began to share their story, I understood that teaching others was significant, meaningful work.
I've spent a day or two here or there doing the getting your hands dirty kind of mission work, but I've never been on an extended work trip. I'm really looking forward to the trip to Hiram Living and Learning Farm. It's both a learning trip and a getting your hands dirty trip. We'll work on the farm, in the fields and in the barns. We'll also learn about organic farming and the autism spectrum.
This trip could prove to be more challenging than past trips because our work doesn't end when we leave Ohio. Our hands-on work ends, but our sharing work begins. It's an easy task to tell our friends how much we enjoyed our trip and what we learned.
May you meet a need this week,
Rev. Tracy
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
There's a Spring in My Step
It's still a few weeks before our clocks spring forward one hour allowing us to enjoy more day light. We had a sneek peak at Spring weather. It was warm and sunny and breezy. The snow melted. I heard a few birds singing. Kravitz laid on the porch basking in the sun one evening while I swang on the front porch swing reading the day's paper. It was so nice that I bought a new pair of sandals.
Winter weather came through again last week - snow, cold, rain, windy, slush. (The most recent bout of winter weather may be Karma's response to me spending money on sandals instead of replacing the snow brush I broke during the ice storm.) Winter is the dying season in the cycle of the Earth and it is the season in which we are less active. We get around town less. We socialize less. Really, who wants to be out in the muck and cold!?
And, now, we're back to Spring-like weather. Hopefully, this will be the last time Spring weather has to overcome the wintry stuff. At least, according to Puxsutawney Phil, 2011 will have an early Spring. Excited for the bleak gray days to be history, I've heard some, and even I have, been making plans for when the snow has finally cleared and the birds are chirping.
Spring, in the cycle of seasons, is when we see new life break through. Daffodils, crocus and hyacinth will soon peek out of the soggy soil. They are the first to announce that Spring has officially arrived. I find it so odd that the signs of new life emerge before Easter. I've often thought that all the Spring flowers should miraculously bloom on Easter morn. Mary first met Jesus in the garden and she supposed him to be the gardener (John 20: 15). If a gardener had been expected to be there, then there was a garden to be tended. The gardens would have already been growing when Jesus was laid in the tomb.
Let the flowers begin to bloom, as we'll need a garden to tend come Easter morn. Lent is the season of the Christian year when death gives way to resurrection. Perhaps, the signs of Spring emerging are a reminder that, as we follow Jesus into the city of Jerusalem and to the cross, there is new life in Christ.
May Sower of Life tend the garden of your soul,
Rev. Tracy
Winter weather came through again last week - snow, cold, rain, windy, slush. (The most recent bout of winter weather may be Karma's response to me spending money on sandals instead of replacing the snow brush I broke during the ice storm.) Winter is the dying season in the cycle of the Earth and it is the season in which we are less active. We get around town less. We socialize less. Really, who wants to be out in the muck and cold!?
And, now, we're back to Spring-like weather. Hopefully, this will be the last time Spring weather has to overcome the wintry stuff. At least, according to Puxsutawney Phil, 2011 will have an early Spring. Excited for the bleak gray days to be history, I've heard some, and even I have, been making plans for when the snow has finally cleared and the birds are chirping.
Spring, in the cycle of seasons, is when we see new life break through. Daffodils, crocus and hyacinth will soon peek out of the soggy soil. They are the first to announce that Spring has officially arrived. I find it so odd that the signs of new life emerge before Easter. I've often thought that all the Spring flowers should miraculously bloom on Easter morn. Mary first met Jesus in the garden and she supposed him to be the gardener (John 20: 15). If a gardener had been expected to be there, then there was a garden to be tended. The gardens would have already been growing when Jesus was laid in the tomb.
Let the flowers begin to bloom, as we'll need a garden to tend come Easter morn. Lent is the season of the Christian year when death gives way to resurrection. Perhaps, the signs of Spring emerging are a reminder that, as we follow Jesus into the city of Jerusalem and to the cross, there is new life in Christ.
May Sower of Life tend the garden of your soul,
Rev. Tracy
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