The Daily Grind

So what exactly do pancakes have to do with Lent, and with anything even remotely related to faith practices and beliefs?

Faith and belief are indigenous, innate practices and understandings of people. How we go about organizing and experiencing them are religion. 

Iin the Christian tradition, people found ways to integrate their belief and practices in ways that reflected the organizing principles of their (our) faith. 

In Britain, people prepared for Lent by using up forbidden food items before Ash Wednesday so foodstuff was not wasted, and to prepare themselves for the serious season of prayer and self-denial.

(click the link below for a brief description of this thoroughly British way of preparing for Lent!)

www.gbgm-umc.org/friendshipumc-md/children/shrove.htm

Another summary of Shrove Tuesday explains it thusly”

The day before the beginning of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday. To shrive someone, in old-fashioned English (he shrives, he shrove, he has shriven OR he shrives, he shrived, he has shrived), is to hear his acknowledgment of his sins, to assure him of God’s forgiveness,and to give him appropriate spiritual advice. The term survives today in ordinary usage in the expression “short shrift”. To give someone short shrift is to pay very little attention to his excuses or problems. The longer expression is, “to give him short shrift and a long rope,” which formerly meant to hang a criminal with a minimum of delay.

On Shrove Tuesday, many Christians make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God’s help in dealing with. Often they consult on these matters with a spiritual counselor, or receive shrift.The day before the beginning of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday. To shrive someone,  old-fashioned English (he shrives, he shrove, he has shriven OR he shrives, he shrived, he has shrived), is to hear his acknowledgment of his sins, to assure him of God’s forgiveness,and to give him appropriate spiritual advice. The term survives today in ordinary usage in the expression “short shrift”. To give someone short shrift is to pay very little attention to his excuses or problems. The longer expression is, “to give him short shrift and a long rope,” which formerly meant to hang a criminal with a minimum of delay.

On Shrove Tuesday, many Christians make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God’s help in dealing with. Often they consult on these matters with a spiritual counselor, or receive shrift.

So this week we will share in this British tradition, practiced in a Wesleyan model- sharing food, and considering our need for reflection and prayer in the season of Lent.

Pancakes and prayer, not a bad way to prepare for a season of the soul.

blessings as you consider your soul’s journey towards Lent.

The Life-Light

The Word was first,
      the Word present to God,
      God present to the Word.
   The Word was God,
      in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him;
      nothing—not one thing!—
      came into being without him.
   What came into existence was Life,
      and the Life was Light to live by.
   The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
      the darkness couldn’t put it out.

There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to
the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in.
John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

The Life-Light was the real thing:
      Every person entering Life
      he brings into Light.
   He was in the world,
      the world was there through him,
      and yet the world didn’t even notice.
   He came to his own people,
      but they didn’t want him.
   But whoever did want him,
      who believed he was who he claimed
      and would do what he said,
   He made to be their true selves,
      their child-of-God selves.
   These are the God-begotten,
      not blood-begotten,
      not flesh-begotten,
      not sex-begotten.

The Word became flesh and blood,
      and moved into the neighborhood.
   We saw the glory with our own eyes,
      the one-of-a-kind glory,
      like Father, like Son,
   Generous inside and out,
      true from start to finish.

That probably wasn’t the scripture text you expected to read on Christmas
Eve, was it? John’s version of the Christmas story does not include a
manger, shepherds, or singing angels. The beginning of this account of
Jesus’ life and ministry mentions neither Mary nor Joseph. King Herod and
the traveling magi don’t get even a passing allusion or reference in this
Gospel. Can this possibly be the right reading for today, Christmas Eve?

      The short answer to that question is yes. John’s version of the
Christmas story begins at the very beginning—creation. John reminds us that
as we celebrate Christmas, we remember that the Christ we celebrate is God
incarnate—and is thus eternal. Really, the message of Christmas—a message of
hope, love, grace, and inclusion for all persons—is a message that started
not with Mary’s giving birth to Jesus in bodily form, but rather, a message
that has always been an extension of God’s character, God’s essence, God’s
very nature. That’s good news! Love is not something God decided to try one
day; love is who God is! I celebrate that.

      I want to highlight two other brief notes about this passage, and then
I’m finished. I promised Jeanne a short devotion, and I will be faithful to
that promise. Of The Word, one of John’s metaphors for Christ, John says,
“Life itself was in [the Word], and this life gives light to everyone. The
light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish
it.” This is a Christmas message, if ever I’ve heard one! The light shines
through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it! I think
that’s one of my favorite sentences in all of scripture. John acknowledges
the presence of darkness in our lives—darkness might be temptation, sin,
confusion, suffering, pain, sickness, death, loss, any number of things—and
John affirms that even in the presence of the darkness, the light shines
through the darkness, and the darkness will never extinguish it! That’s good
news! That promise is the perhaps the best gift we’ll encounter all day.The Christmas message is a message of hope and encouragement for us as we travel dark paths and encounter foreboding darkness throughout our lives—we know that God’s light is stronger and more powerful than any darkness we face. We can claim the Christmas promise that the light of Christ shines through theda rkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. That, my friends, makes Christmas merry!

      So, we have explored the eternal nature of God’s love and the
importance of the scriptural promise that the light shines through the
darkness and cannot be extinguished. The last word I would offer about this
text is to mention the role of John the Baptist. The text says, “John
himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light.” Here is
where I discover some words of Christmas challenge. I believe we understand
ourselves appropriately in relationship to God when we recognize that we are
not the light or the source of the light; our Christmas call is to be
witnesses to the light.

      Robert Fulghum, in his story “The Mirror,” explains this call well. He
recounts this response he heard one Alexander Papaderos give to the
question, “What is the meaning of life?” Hear this:

When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place

I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not
possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it
on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became
fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the
sun would never shine — in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became [an adult], I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light —truth, understanding, knowledge — is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not
know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark
places of this world — into the black places in the hearts of[people] — and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.

I really like Alexander Papaderos’s answer. Isn’t that a great image?

We know that Christ is the light that shines through the darkness, and we know
that we are called to be reflectors of that light.

Indeed, a word of Christmas encouragement, and a word of Christmas challenge.

May we receive and share the gift of the light of Christ this day!

Merry Christmas! Amen.

submitted by Leland Spencer

print from The Visible Kingdom Studios, hattp://visiblekingdom.com

The third week of Advent focuses our hearts and minds on LOVE, God’s extravagent love as expressed in the birth of Jesus. This gift would be one that changed the world forever. It was unexpected, and arrived in a way that most, including Mary and Joseph, unprepared for. 

As we continue to see the glitz and glimmer of consumerism take over the “gifting” of this season, it helps to take a look at this GIft and what it meant and continues to mean to followers of Jesus in the 21st century.

In The Christian Century December 11, 2007 John Buchanan writes: “The essence of God is not power but vulnerable love”  His editorial expands upon the “extravagant gift” of Christ’s birth. The outrageous act of God to offer an unlikely gift of love to the world.  His article enourages us to give extravagantlly this Christmas- quoting Hlaford Luccock writing in a 1951 article, “The best gifts of love, are those that show a lovely lack of common sense”    Buchanan continues 

The original Christmas gift was certainly impractical- a baby, born in a cow stall. What people wanted was a king like David who would unify the nation, rally the troops, drive out the occupying Romans and re-establish the monarchy. That’s what a Messiah is supposed to do-make things right by defeating God’s enemies, establish a enw order of things based on real power. Ans so, when the gift was given, nobosy noticed.

God’s gift of love was not what people expected or wanted at the time- or ant now, for that matter, when the air is full of  rhetoric about a clash of civilizations, a world conflict in the name of competing ideas about God, truth, goodness and justice. We’d prefer a God who confirms our own ideas and who puts our opponents also- in their place.

That original gift challenges us in profound ways. No wonder we don’t expect it or much want it. The uniquely Christian idea is that the essence of GOd is not what we expect or want-power- but vulnerable love. The uniquely Christian idea is that there is absolute truth in the newborn lying in a manger-truth about GOd, truth about the nature of power, truth about you and me, truth that could transform the world.

How apt these words are.  The extravagant love of GOD is revealed in unexpected and surprising ways. As followers of the extravagant Love of God in Jesus, we are called to live lives expressing this love in real and tangible ways.

At Christmas we give gifts to remember God’s extravagant gift of love, to share with those we love, our joy and excitement.  This sometimes masks our ability to share our vulnerable, fragile love (like the infant in the manger) The simple truth of love is to be willing to be vulnerable to truth, to relinquish our power and control over others and situations, and simply be open to sharing our lives and dreams and hopes with those closest to us.

This type of love can leave us open to hurt, to disappointment, to betrayal.  But it can also leave us open to forgiveness, healing and reconciliation. Love as promised by God is not about power, authority or self. It is about surrendering to the fragile nature of new life, growing in wisdom, passionate work, obedient living and loving, modeling our lives on the life of Jesus. 

Our ultimate power is not found in the ways of humanity, to control others and outcomes; to have more, get more, do more.

 It is found in the extravagant LOVE of God; risking everything in the birth, life and death of Jesus, loving despite the cost, living despite the sorrow, offering the gifts of our love and lives as evidence of divine power.

May our living and our loving be extravagant gifts to all we know, and may all we know be love!

 Joy… for Every Longing Heart

Once there was an event that brought God to earth in human form. For those who lived at that time, it was truly an unlikely and unexpected arrival.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes the action of God in this way:

When God chooses Mary as the instrument, when God wants to enter this world in the manger in Bethlehem, this is not an idyllic family occasion but rather the beginning of a complete reversal, a new ordering of all things on the earth.

The text speaks of the birth of a child, not the revolutionary deed of a strong man, or the breath-taking discovery of a sage, or the pious deed of a saint. It truly boggles the mind; the birth of a child is to bring about the great transormation of all things, is to bring salvation and redemption to all of humanity. As if to shame the most powerful human efforts of achievements, a child is placed in the center of world history.

A child born of humans, a son given by God. This is the mystery of the redemption of the world; all that is past and this is to come is encompassed here

As we enter the third week of Advent, we reflect on the joy that God promises in the birth of this baby. God’s joy is not the joy we often seek in the commercialism and consumerism that pervades the Christmas season. Our society encourages and tempts us to replace our inner joy and confidence with things that are temporary and immediate.

In the birth of Jesus, God offers us the joy of new life, of new beginnings, of new ways of seeing and being with God.  What a wonderful image of this joy, a new child, full of promise, hopes, not contrained by titles or regulations, just a new life to be loved and cherished, nurtured and embraced.

God’s joy reminds us that we progress through life, connected to all creation, to each other. This is not to say that there will be no struggles or challenges along the way, even Jesus had to learn to crawl, to sit up, to listen, learn and become God’s gift to the world. Jesus had to grow in wisdom, to accept his role in God’s community. 

At the center of Jesus birth, life and ministry is his connectedness to the source of his soul, GOD. In all his wanderings, wonderings and work, Jesus celebrated the goodness of God- and gave thanks for blessings and struggles.

This is the JOY God promises us, not the fleeting moment of pleasure when we unwrap a gift, but the sustaining joy that carries with us when our hearts sorrow, our heads ache, and our souls thirst for refreshment. Joy that comes not from or for the moment, but joy that lasts a lifetime.

Bonhoeffer writes of God’s joy:

Joy abides with God and comes from God and embraces spirit, soul, and body; and where this joy has seized a person, there it spreads, there it carries one away, there it bursts closed doors.

A sort of joy exists that knows nothing at all of the heart’s pain, anguish and dread; it does not last, it can only numb a person for the moment.

The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable.

Joy, for every longing heart; the ability to live life confidently and compassionately, centered in the grace and love of God. May you find joy in the wandering, the wondering and in the birth of God’s promise in your day and every day.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh218.sht

This beautiful song, a favorite Christmas carol, speaks to our current day challenges and cries for “Peace on earth!”

Sunday we were blessed to hear Bishop Judy Craig preach about this song, and how it speaks to our spirits, and reminds us that ” Christmas is a celebration of promises’ coming true, a celebration of what life can be, and a celebration that God still hopes we’ll get it”

The promise of peace, God’s peace is what we reflect on in the second week of Advent.

As Bishop Craig asks “We want to hear the announcement of peace on earth, so will we be still to hear the angels sing?”

How can we be still amid the noise, haste, chaos and consumerism of this Holy Season?

Finals, papers, shopping, all the distractions that clutter and cloud our hearts and minds- how can we put them aside, and be still, to wait on God’s promise of Hope, of Peace?

Listening and reflecting on Bishop Craig’s message, (thanks to Leland for taking awesome notes, so I can paraphrase and reframe her brilliant words!) I am struck with the thought of carrying and birthing God’s hope and peace in my life, in this time of Advent when Christians are called to wait expectantly for the promise of God to be born anew.

In her sermon, Bishop Craig reminds us that this carol was written in the years that led up to the American Civil War, a time without much hope; (and peace!) what had (has) gone wrong is the human insistence on things not intended in creation.

We are still at “war” with so much of God’s creation; people, cultures, traditions, thinking that our way is the only way, that only we (I) hold the truth.

Bishop Craig challenges us to see in Jesus we care called to live the promises of Advent, Hope, Peace, Joy and Love, ” what we do know is that what we do signals the time, hope (Peace, Joy, Love) comes from how we order our lives and when we let people know we know God; hope  (Peace Joy, Love) comes in how we treat people.

What does this mean for me, for you, for followers of Jesus?

We can choose to live with hope, peace, joy and love. We can choose these over the despair, cynicism and consumerism of our times.

We can choose to live life abundantly, with respect for others- for the earth, for ourselves.

We can choose to be people of the promise of Advent, living, working, loving in ways that sustain hope and peace. 

Enough of our religious triumphalism, enough of our unilateral patriotism, enough of our pursuit of worldy goods! 

In Bishop Craigs words ” Therefore, we should stop insisting we know the only way, stop squabbling, and get on with affirming one another’s worth.” 

We begin by seeing and treating others as God’s beloved creations.

By offering God’s grace and compassion to those who are different from us.

How do we go about this?

Some models that Bishop Craig provided illustrate that we too can be people of the Advent promises: by living our passion and call. These models are not church hierarchy, but the movement of GOD’s people in the world,

Suffrage, civil rights, enviromentalism, peace–all of these are movements of a people of hope who remember what God has done and what God can do!

In our community at Wesley, we too have people of hope, peace, joy and love, who by their actions and care, are being and building peace today:

Students working to organize for Peace, by developing UC’s Peace Village, expressing God’s creative energy and concern, addressing the very real and painful realities of Hunger, War, Inter-faith community, and arts.

Tutoring and playing with children in inner-city, suburban and rural communities

Sharing food, insights and laughter around tables of grace- where differing opinions, creeds and cultures listen, respond and create new ways of being God’s banquet.

Another wonderful song, Let there Be Peace on Earth, calls us to be agents of God’s peace, beginning with our own lives

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now, with every step I take, let this be my silent vow, to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Let’s begin to live the promises of Advent, 

with audacious hope, irrepressible peace, outrageous joy, and agape love!

Let us remember to expect God in the quiet, and in the chaos,

in the shadows and in the light.

And may we listen for angels singing…..

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, 

Who toil along the climbing way. With painful steps and slow, 

Look now! For glad and golden hours 

Come swiftly on the wing. O rest beside the weary road 

And hear the angels sing! 

May God’s peace prevail in your soul, and our world.

“In the beginning was the WORD
and the Word was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD”

Advent is a time that Christian prepare for the coming of God’s WORD made flesh in Jesus. This Advent season let us seek the WORD of God as we journey towards Bethlehem. Weekly reflections will guide our path, open our eyes and hearts to encounter the living, loving GOD of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.  May our journey lead us through the enveloping darkness and into the Great Light of God’s love revealed in Jesus.

“Send your Word, O Lord, like the rain,
Falling down upon the earth.
Send your Word,
We seek your endless grace
With souls that hunger and thirst
Sorrow and agonize
We would be lost in the dark
Without your guiding light.”

(Send Your Word, UMH 195, words: Yasushige Imakoma, 1965, trans. Nobuaki Hanaoka, 1983)

Advent Pilgrims: BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) and GOD; “a little bit of hope”

Riding the BART is a great way to experience the world… the good, the bad and the ugly. Sometimes those discoveries are about myself, sometimes they are about the world. The other day, I saw Jesus in a moment, I saw God in a moment, that gave me hope.

There was a man wandering in and out and up and down the cars. He passed my seat a couple of times. He clothes were bordering on rags. They were tattered to shreds, and it wasn’t very warm. He had to use one hand to hold his pants together. On his second pass, I watched as he disappeared into the car in front of me. He lost the grip on his past, and more layers of clothes were revealed, none looking warm or comforting though. As he walked past, a young man reached into a shopping bag he was carrying and pulled out a pair of jeans and handed them the to man with a smile. I was to far away to hear any conversation that was exchanged, but the body language was loving and the man responded with gratitude.

My heart was full. It was an unbelievable example of being able to serve the world needs as they appear to you with what you have to give. In that moment, that young man was exactly who God made him to be. I saw Jesus on the BART, humbly giving a pair of pants and humbly receiving a pair of pants.

Original post by Abby King Kaiser http://abbykk.blogspot.com/2007/11/little-bit-of-hope.html
 

Abby is a graduate of Miami University, Ohio and is a first year seminary student at Pacific School of Religion in San Francisco.
 

This week marks another season of new beginnings here at Wesley Foundation in Cincinnati. In celebration of this new academic year, Wesley shared worship at Clifton UMC Sunday Sept 23.

What a joyous occasion! Not only did it mark the opening of University of Cincinnati’s ‘07-’08 year, but it was a return to “the fold” so to speak, as well as the introduction of Wesley’s student leadership team and community. So here’s the 411…

Wesley Foundation was birthed at (the then) Clifton Methodist Episcopal Church in the late ’20’s, one of the first Wesley Foundations in the country!  With a gift from sisters at Clifton and vision towards the future, Wesley moved to our present site in 1950 and began to build the presence of the Methodist connection on campuses in the Cincinnati area. 

Campus ministry at Wesley has never been confined only to U.C. From Good Samartian School of Nursing, to Cincinnati Bible College, to today’s Cincinnati State, College of Mt St Joseph and Xavier, United Methodist campus ministry has been available to students in higher education all over Cincinnati. A remarkable legacy of presence and nurture for over 80 years!

To celebrate this wonderful tradition Wesley students shared worship at Clifton in recognition of our common purpose, to build and be the body of Christ in the world. 

Within the congregation were many who are part of the Wesley “family”  Former students, staff, and volunteers.  Among them, our “mother superior” Nancy Stopenhagen, wife of former director Paul Stopenhagen, who in the 60’s established the framework for social justice and peace ministries at Wesley.

And so this worship was a wonderful reminder of our roots, and our wings-much like the process college students enter into each academic year.

What a gift for those who have been at Wesley, to see and experience the gifts of ‘new beginnings’ as shared by our current students.

Thanks to:

Hasso Pape, who provided music,

Ryan Chewning, Abby Willis and Alicia Zwiebel who shared readings,

the students who came to worship with us as Wesley, 

Leland Spencer whose message challenged and encouraged all to be GOD’s new beginning each and every day. 

New beginnings, new dreams, new plans for this year,

Join us in dreaming and doing. in eating and laughing,

in celebrating the goodness of God together.

Our call to worship from Sunday seems a fitting way to close this reflection-

for worship does not start or stop on Sunday morning-

it begins anew, as we rise and greet the possibilities of the day-

another new beginning

May God guide, inspire and embrace your new beginning. 

Most loving God, we are here,
assembled for a new beginning.        
Please be our guide and strength
We are here to learn and grow in wisdom
Show us the way, we pray
You have given us this community of friends
We are grateful for all the blessings
Different ages, creeds, races, nationalities,
cultures and genders; we all belong to you.
Thank you for creating a diverse world
We are gathered together to begin another academic year.
Please be with us, loving God, on this journey.
Help us be united in purpose and
guide each one of us in discovering
our true reason for existence.
Help us to be mindful of your love for us.
Empower us to become those world leaders
that care for all of your creation. Amen.

Akiiki D. Kabagarama

Well if you hadn’t noticed, it’s the beginning of another academic year at the University of Cincinnati- how can I tell? Increased traffic, both of the vehicular and human kind all along Clifton, McMillan and areas surroundeing UC- another round of road construction that only snarls traffic and tempers even further, and the nonstop hustle and bustle of life in general.

Welcome Week activities at the Wesley house are designed to invite new students to check out our space, get connected and simply offer an alternative to the noise, hustle and confusion of university life and living.

Tonight was an exceptional evening of reconnecting returning students in new ways. Informally billed as music in motion, tonight students simply dropped in to catch some music, share their stories and create a new space for grace to flourish and grow.

Awesome, lively, thoughtful and silly conversations flowed like “living water” refreshing and cool- seeds of friendship and care sown amidst coffe, salsa dip, chips and assorted songs, strummings and prayers.

Only GOD, the creative energy and artisan of grace, beauty and hope could have invisioned such a resplendant display of joy, peace and discovery. How amazing is it when people from every theological bent, can gather around and discover the goodness and beauty of each other?

Remarkable in an academic arena that is competitive, demanding and less than kind, that souls continue to seek beyond the academic norms and circles to expand learning and knowledge to the realm of the mystical, magical and irrepressible SPIRIT of life.

Here’s hoping that your voyage of discovery and learning sets sail on the waters of love and joy, and that as you navigate the shoals and storms of the academic ocean, you will find safe harbor at our house, a place to dock along side other wandering souls and share stories, tales and dreams

May GOD’s music sing softly in your soul,

Jeanne

Feast of Trumpets Tapestry

Today at sundown begins the Jewish High Holy Days, starting with Rosh Hashanah and followed by Yom Kippur next Friday. This is a sacred time for Jews to remember and reflect on their lives, past, current and future.

As part of the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) it is important for Christians to remember our roots and connection to Judaism and it’s practices and teachings. 

In my faith journey, my life has been blessed to connect with family that has their spiritual center in Judaism.  As my “extended” family celebrates this Holy Season, I am reminded of the value of their teachings and practices in my spiritual life and journey.

A time to remember and reflect on the nature of life, past, present and future, to celebrate the memories and legacies of those gone before, to rexamine my own journey and seek forgiveness, healing and mercy- to make decisions to reconcile and move ahead with compassion and grace- this is what Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mean for me.  A reminder by my Jewish sisters, mothers, brothers and fathers, to take stock of my life, actions and beliefs, and ask for God’s guidance, forgiveness and mercy to move me forward in GOD’s shalom.

In my reflection and devotion time on this subject of reconciliation, forgiveness and mercy, I read an article by Rabbi Elliott Dorff that challenges us to go even further in our exploration of reconciliation and forgiveness. This article addresses the issue of domestic violence and the sacred worth of all people as God’s good creation.  The article is linked here for your consideration. Days of Awe.doc

Domestic violence, whether it be physical, emotional, verbal or spiritual is not a core value of any faith tradition. It only damages and degrades human life, both of the perpetrator and the victim. May all that we do, no matter our faith or religious belief/unbelief or practices work to value the integrity and worth of all life.

Mays God’s peace, joy and blessing be yours this day, and all the days to come

Jeanne

Yes, truly spring has sprung! The warm and balmy weather reminds us that the long dreary days of winter (not to mention the cold, snow and ice!) are now behind us, and we look forward to the blossoming of new flowers, new life!

How fitting that we begin Spring quarter with these visible reminders of all things being made new, renewed all around. Take time this day to simply enjoy the beauty and majesty of creation, and delight in the opportunities that are ahead this quarter/season- new ideas, new challenges, new GROWTH-

if you have been traveling on our lenten journey “Into the Wilderness” this week we look at growing in God’s grace and wisdom, something students, staff and all can certainly delight in!

To continue Into the Wilderness:  http://wesleyuc.org/lent/wildernesswk4.htm

grace in the growing,

Jeanne