Was Paul right about the manger cat?  I don’t mean the Bible’s St. Paul, but Paul Harvey, who is said to have often shared what he called an old legend of a cat in the manger.  More specifically, a tabby cat, who earned for tabbies of all time, the distinctive “M” in the pattern on their forehead.

Short story version: curious barn cat climbed into manger with baby Jesus, and curled up in a napping cat ball to share warmth.  Crying baby’s hand brushed cat, cat purred, then crying baby Jesus was calmed and quieted by purring cat.  Grateful mother Mary touched purring cat’s purty head, and the “M” above tabby’s eyes became a genetic part of tabby’s across time. (Paul’s version is much better!)

So was Paul right that there was a cat on the scene, along with the Little Drummer Boy, the Littlest Angel and all the rest, sharing what it could with the baby Jesus?  Who knows about the others, but since cats and barns had already been a match made in heaven for thousands of years before Jesus’ earliest barn adventure, cats were doubtless a part of the scene.  And cats DO like to curl up on the bed and purr, even if it is only of bed of hay…

I so wish I cold purr.  I’d do a lot of purring under the Christmas tree, and would try my best to purr in harmony when we’re singing those Christmas favorites as a part of my gratitude to God.  But I can’t purr.  Maybe God even planned it that way.  If I can’t purr to show my gratitude, what can I do?  I’ve got to be more creative, and since loving God involves loving neighbors, what I do to love neighbors this time of year will have to do for a substitute for the purr I can’t do for God.

We’re so creative in our house that we often bake cookies to share with our neighbors, knock on their doors, and sing the first few bars of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”  Perhaps not everyone is able to do something so outlandishly creative  , but like the Little Drummer Boy, we each can show God’s love to our neighbors in some small way.

Will it be cookies that you share with your neighbors, or candy canes, or perhaps some other small gift?  Whatever your Christmas gifting, this season makes for a great opportunity to re-connect with your neighbors—but wait until after this Sunday!  We have some post cards to share with the neighbors too that will have our church and Christmas services schedule on it to pick up on your way out on Sunday that you can also share!  Keep your eyes open for God sightings to share when you do!

Sharing the Reason for the Season—Rev. Jim

For the rest of the story (of the manger cat)– https://harvey937.rssing.com/chan-33641740/all_p1.html

When Thanksgiving is just outside our doors, and the aromas of deliciousness start to fill the home, it’s tempting to start thinking in terms of “Turkey Day,” which is CERTAINLY a tradition to be thankful for!  But traditions along the lines of the holiday as a time of truly giving thanks have been a part of religions and cultures around the world since time immemorial.  As we talked about in church, the ancient Israelites celebrated multiple harvest festivals each year in ways similar to our Thanksgiving, but virtually all peoples everywhere across time, too, have recognized the importance of regular celebrations for remembering and being thankful.

Closely related to celebrations to remind us of how important it is for us to express our thankfulness, is the related theme of hospitality through which blessings are shared with others.  And have you ever noticed that often it is those who have the least who tend to be most thankful for the blessings they DO have, and most motivated to share through hospitality with others?

I noticed in my own life when I was growing up, it was in some of the darkest times when my dad in his early recovery introduced hospitality traditions that are still a part of our family traditions today.   At Thanksgiving in particular, but other holidays as well, my dad would find some other poor lost soul trying to put their life back together and with no place to go, to come and share in our blessings, meager as they sometimes were.  Over the years we have also usually welcomed those whose situations need a little help.

I’m so proud to say in recent years, our kids have started getting in on these ways to be a blessing.  For several years, it’s been our son who has been bringing in those who need extra blessings over the holidays, and even the extra cats we’re caring for these days, are not just our watching Kaz’s cat, but poor lost cat souls from one of Kaz’s friends that wouldn’t otherwise have a place to stay.

What traditions have you and your family developed to share the blessings this time of year?  I’m always eager to hear and help celebrate!  And if you’ve not developed such traditions yet, it’s never too late!

Sharing the blessings—Rev. Jim

When our nephew, Mike, was just a little guy, three or four years old, he sometimes seemed in his own world, but other times so aware that he would often call out “Hit the brakes! Hit the brakes!” on his family’s or on our travels together.  I’ve got both Mikey and brakes on the mind today—now nearing 40 years old, he and his wife are in the midst of a move from Cleveland to NYC.  We’ll be missing them!

And I have brakes on my mind too, as I am again with greasy hands doing one of the few things I’m still able to do for our cars that seem to have become hybrid computerized robots that provide transport.  Though we’ve been getting “lifetime warranty” brake pads, they don’t last that long at all, because of the rotors the brakes press against have been going bad.  I knew the rotor needed to be replaced last time, but I just couldn’t get it off to replace it.  I kept hearing the wisdom “get a bigger hammer,” but ran out of time, and had to put on the new pads knowing they wouldn’t last.  Now I have a bigger hammer, and have had to literally brake the part to pieces to get it off.

As long as they’re working right, we typically don’t think about brakes that much—until we need to “hit the brakes!” as little Mikey used to say.  But you’re not going to get to where you’re going without brakes keeping you out of the danger zone (movie reference, anyone?).  And in a broken and sinful world, we have plenty of “danger zones” where we need to hit the brakes before we get ourselves into trouble!  Neither is driving nor our faith are really all about hitting the brakes, even if some people seem to think religion is a long list of “don’ts,” and “stop this, stop that.”

Brakes are needed on our cars to keep us and those around us safe, and to make turns when needed to shift directions.  Spiritual “brakes” in the same way, keep us and those around us safe too, but that’s not what our faith is all about!  I’ve heard some people put it along the lines of “I’m too busy loving and being blessed with what we DO do, to worry that much about what we shouldn’t do!”

So whether it’s time to be thankful for the brakes that keep us safe in our cars and in our faith, or if someone you’re talking to thinks faith is only about hitting the brakes, it’s great to be reminded that brakes are wonderful tools we can’t life without—but life and faith are much more about the journey and loving those around us than just about hitting the brakes!  Keep on keepin’ on—sure, hit the brakes when you need to—but hit the gas when it comes to zipping around on the journey of blessing the world around us!  See you ‘round the next bend—Pastor Jim

God and Ghoulies

These are two words that rarely seem to go together in the same sentence or thought—God and ghoulies.  But they’re really a natural if you thing about it—God’s got the Holy Spirit that He is easy to posses us with, ghoulies are some kind of spirit thing, too, right?  Or better yet, God is eager to have us connect with our communities, and churches doing ghoulie kinds of things around Halloween are a perfect opportunity to connect with our neighbors!  After all, how often do we have kids and families from outside the church walls, eager to knock on our doors?  Halloween is one of those rare exceptions!

You often hear of folks sharing some concerns about churches doing Halloween events, as it can seem like we’re supporting “the dark side.”  But throughout the history of the Church, Church leaders have realized that taking somebody else’s party and making it our own is a wonderful way to connect with those who would not otherwise visit a church. Ever wondered why we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25 when the Bible says nothing about when Jesus was born?  Some researchers say it is because of a big pagan god’s birthday celebrated on Dec. 25 in Roman times—so rather than the Church being a downer and saying “DON’T celebrate” your god’s birthday, the Church saw this as an opportunity— “come party with us as we celebrate OUR God’s birthday!”  And if you read through both the Old and New Testaments, you’ll see the God likes a good party too!

So Twin Falls is having a Halloween party in the form of a Trunk or Treat event, this Sunday afternoon from 4:30-6:30.  Trunk or Treat is a simple but powerful thing—we bring treats to share with the neighborhood!  And for our creative chefs, it’s a great opportunity to flex your cooking muscles with all kinds of creative snacks to bring (just type in “Halloween snacks” in your favorite search engine if you need some inspiration!).

It’s an outside event, so a great opportunity dress up your favorite furry friend to bring.  If you’re a minimalist, just bring some treats!  If you like getting more into the spirit, decorate up your car’s trunk for guests to enjoy!  We never know how many might stop by, but it is similar to our Messy Church events, which have brought out anywhere from 15-25 folks, so that might be a good range to target if you’re sharing some of the fun from your kitchen.

Costumes are encouraged!  But have a good story to go with it to add to the fun.  I’m coming dressed as Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast—because Jesus is the Light of the world, and I’m gonna let my little light shine!  Give Diane or myself a call if you’d like to COME and participate, or if you’d just like to share your kitchen magic, so we can make sure we have more than just ghost cookies (and certainly NOT Ghost Pepper cookies!).

We’re looking forward to it, and we hope to see you there!  Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings— I Love to Tell the Story

As I was driving through Cuyahoga Falls this morning, I saw a couple well-dressed folk standing on the sidewalk in front of a café.  I was wondering what I was seeing, until I stopped at the light.  I could see they had some kind of literature stand, but it was facing away from the street.  I was still wondering until I saw a label for something like Bible teachings.  Even the preacher that I am, I thought it a bit odd these days to have such a thing set up on the sidewalk that seemed to be no special place or event, with them, I suppose, trying to “tell the story,” though no one was walking by.

My dad always said the song “I Love to Tell the Story” was his favorite hymn, and the energy that comes out when we sing it at Twin Falls, it seems it’s a favorite for a lot of our family here, too!  But do we really “love to tell the story”?  How often do we actually tell the story to those in our lives outside of the church walls?  It was likely easier in years past to be able to share our story, but times are changing, aren’t they?

We have all kinds of practices—for sports, dance, other competitions, public speaking, which of course makes us both more confident and competent with whatever we practice.  Why don’t we ever have practice for telling the story we claim to love to share so much?  Now I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those “street preacher” types, and though I’ve been with groups that share fliers with passers by and knocked on doors, I recognize that may not be the most effective or feasible these days.  So how do we share the story?

I’m starting a stewardship series in worship that is built on our church membership vows.  Most of us are likely familiar with the vows we made when joining some United Methodist Church in your past, to support the church with “our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.”  In 2008, the UMC added “witness” to those vows, recognizing that, with our changing culture, what had been long assumed had been falling from practice, and needed to be made explicit again, that Jesus’ call to “love your neighbor,” necessarily includes sharing the best of Good News one can hear—that our imperfect love is a mere faulty reflection of God’s perfect love, that brings hope and light to every wounded life.

As a part of this series, I’d like to help us have a little practice—NOT with street preaching or sharing fliers, but with sharing our own story in our own way of God’s transforming grace in Jesus.  So if you do “Love to Tell the Story”—might you be able to share for about 90 seconds with your church family?  Especially if you have a good story about your prayers, presence, gifts, service or witness.

Let me know, but don’t be surprised if I ask!  Do we love to tell the story?  Maybe a little practice will help!

Keep being a blessing as you do in SO many ways, and let’s tell the story we love so much!

Pastor Jim