Pondering Pilgrimages

It’s an interesting season in the life of our church.

This weekend, the hard work of scores of people pays off with four performances of our 7th all-church production, “Shrek: The Musical!” The matinees on Saturday & Sunday are sold out, but there are still seats available for Saturday evening at 7:00 — $12/person at the door.

This winter? Uff da!

This will be a shortened blog this week just because we all – pastor/blogger as well as parishioner/reader – deserve a little break! As I type this note to you, I’m looking out my window and seeing the snow fall yet again. Lord, give me the strength to see this as something beautiful (and deep down I do), rather than seeing it as the next giant snow-shoveling event in my life. This long, cold winter has given us all some very challenging moments of staying positive and upbeat, trying to embrace the season as a gift, rather than seeing it as something to survive.

To that end, I have decided to try to lighten your mood today with two jokes and a picture:

Getting blood from a Lutheran

Happy Valentine’s Day! And in honor of this ancient holiday which celebrates love, I’ve got an illustration on…stewardship! Which, when you think of it, is indeed an act of love, as well as an act of faith, giving, and responsibility. I began to work on this week’s blog with the full intent of helping highlight the blood drive for Feb. 23. Then I got to thinking, ‘blood…Valentine’s day…giving…sharing,’ and all of that made me want to share a stewardship story with you about three ministers. And, by the way, this story is completely mythological, as any good clergy person would ensure that lay leaders decide all offering-related matters when it comes to the collection plate. Still, I found this kind of funny.

Ding, Ding, Ding!

At a recent high school band concert, I spotted a percussionist holding out a triangle, and I watched him turn a sheet of music, count silently with his lips, then ding the triangle at just the right rhythmic moment. The faith of this triangle player was a witness and a testimony to me. For, you see, he played his instrument with all the skill and training he could muster, adding his sound to the din of the giant volume that the combined bands were creating.