Pastoral Ponderings—Soul Food

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Pastoral Ponderings—Soul Food

 

Life’s busy at the preacher’s house, especially around special times like Easter.  But with my mom visiting, I’ve been making sure we’ve kept breakfast time blocked out, and put everything on hold for a bit to allow for that time of “soul food” together.  I couldn’t really tell you how our breakfasts and coffee together might have fed her soul, but it’s been so very important time for me, feeding me in a way that doesn’t happen any other time.

 

She and Kaz headed out this morning together, though, driving back to her place in FL outside of Jacksonville.  My mornings will now get back to their morning quiet—and I’ll be missing that healthy dose of laughter and soul food that only she brings.  I was originally intending to write about the soul food that comes from Easter and family time together, but as important as that is, sending the mama off this morning reminded me of that even more touching time with my mom.

 

So how do you get that kind of soul food?  It might be from your quiet breakfasts with some family member or friend who feeds you like that, it could be from a regular phone call with someone you hardly ever see.  I think a big part of “the epidemic of loneliness” that we read about, and even experience too often these days, comes from how hard it can be to have that regular time with one who can feed your soul.  It certainly doesn’t happen by accident, but by setting protected time aside regularly to allow for that kind of mutual soul nourishment.

 

So how will I get that kind of regular soul food now that she’s gone home again?  The regular phone call will help, but that will likely be much more like making a full meal of vitamin supplements alone, rather than real food!  I don’t know—but I do appreciate the little nibbles you share!

 

Make sure that while you’re taking care of your own soul food needs from nibbles here and there, to the full-fledged feast that you can sometimes find with those special someones in your life—that you all find ways to share the blessings of feeding into others’ lives who you see regularly.  Even for those who are not your deep soul friends, make the time to share a bit anyway—and you might find some surprising blessings where you least expect them!  — Feeding souls together—Pastor Jim

 

 

Pastoral Ponderings—From Holey to Holy

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Pastoral Ponderings—From Holey to Holy

 

It seems endless—the maintenance we need to try to keep up with.  Sometimes it’s minor, other times, like with the barn roof—a bit of a bigger project!  Much of maintenance is protective measures.  But sometimes an issue pops up at the most inconvenient of times.

 

Some maintenance is expected and goes to plan—you know what has to be done before it gets bad.  Other parts catch you by surprise at the most inconvenient of times: like finding a hole in the roof just before Easter and more heavy rainstorms, that included a racoon in the rafters, that just would NOT get out!  In the case of the barn roof, the roof is not only protecting the contents, but protecting the structure itself.

 

Our spiritual journey also requires maintenance—sometimes simple and expected, sometimes not.  You know if you don’t keep feeding and protecting your soul, it’ll starve, or worse, start to rot from the inside out.  And sometimes we even have invaders come in like racoons.  Some of what we let in can be seemingly harmless, and they’re oh so cute!  But destructive invaders can hide behind a cute mask–most of the holes we found in our barn roof showed tooth marks from the coons trying to get themselves OUT!  And they leave their stinky messes all over the place, and are likely suspects for spreading diseases.  Their cuteness belies the dangers they bring—get them away!

 

The roof and structure also keeps the Good Stuff in.  That’s also an important part of our spiritual journeys too, when we protect our spiritual selves by regularly feeding our souls, and protect from damaging thoughts and habits that can rot the source of our blessings.  This brings to mind my current favorite wisdom from the Bible—from Philippians 4: 8,9—which essentially says “hunt (or focus on) the good stuff”—that’s the US Army Translation.  The more we focus on the Good Stuff, the more we are aware of the abundance of God’s blessings—or what we often call “God Sightings” that feed us on our journeys.

Patch up the holes in your journey with your spiritual maintenance by focusing on the holy!  And SHARE your God Sightings—so others can grow from them too!

 

Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings—Roots

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On our recent travels seeking spiritual renewal, one of our stops was at White Sands National Park, New Mexico.  It was a place full of insight, despite it’s being a rather eerie place in a surprising way.  I grew up in FL where vast stretches of white sand means beaches, crashing waves, seagulls, a salt sea breeze, and sounds of the revelry of countless sun-seeking tourists were all a package deal.  But at White Sands, the very familiar looking sand was all by itself, and in the desert silence, seemed so alien instead.

 

With no water either within sight or hearing, and hardly a soul in sight, sparse vegetation lived in desert-like conditions.  The occasional lonely trees were few and far between; more often than not, what had been trees were only skeletons of dried roots.  But in our little hike across the white sand, I also saw a rather large tree that was still standing, that was silently telling the story of her fallen sisters.  Isolated from surrounding vegetation to help protect the soil from constant winds, she was barely clinging to the ground with taproot and other main supporting systems exposed by ten feet, looking like a catastrophic collapse was imminent.

 

Seeing this haunting sight, I couldn’t help but think of the importance both of our own rootedness, and of the support of the community of rooted ones around us.  Immersed in this silent struggle, scriptural language of “a dry and weary land where there is no water” sprung unbidden to mind.  As sad as this lonely tree seemed, the not uncommon sight of dunes and plants sharing the mutual support and protection of widespread root systems, holding together and hanging on where they were clustered in community, was a deeply encouraging, immersive parable.

 

Have you ever noticed the challenges of loneliness, or worse, those who fall to scandal of any sort tend to follow isolation from rooted support systems?  The isolation need not be physical—big cities are often said to be the loneliest of places—but comes from either purposefully or accidentally cutting social ties.  Yet the erosion of support is just as real, and can collapse even the strongest of souls.

 

Retirement is often a part of this social isolation.  The natural relationships and routines that are a part of a working life fade away, and when people fail to put new patterns and relationships in place, social isolation naturally follows.  Is it any wonder that we’re stuck in an epidemic of loneliness?

 

Even if you have managed to build and keep in place a community of support, many of your neighbors and friends have not.  God has not called us to be a lonely skeleton of dead and dried up roots, but to “build one another up in Christian love”—and not just those IN the church, but those who have not found a place in a church yet.  It’s not just a good thing to do—it is our high calling from God!                             Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings- Travel

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Have you ever noticed how travel helps bring a sense of perspective on life?  Though we never had much, my parents gave me the gift of a love for travel when I was a kid, with our annual pilgrimages to the mountains of North Carolina.  Whether it’s the perspective of miles of endless desert, or strangers offering tea with smiles capable of breaking barriers of language and culture, travel can reorient you to the Divine.

And O the blessings!  If it weren’t for people’s wanderlust in ages past, there’d be a lot of people piled up somewhere in the Horn of Africa or the Fertile Crescent “over there.”  And perhaps worse yet, we’d never have coffee, cinnamon, pepper, sea shanties or fireworks!

Lured by thousands of bats flying out of the ground in the lonely hills of New Mexico in 1898, some other kid named Jim saw huge dark hole in the ground and was fascinated.  His adventures into the endless dark underground across the next 45 years introduced the rest of us to the beauties God crafted over countless millennia now known as Carlsbad Caverns.

I spent some time in Afghanistan on my first deployment, and one time walking around the command post, some Afghans who were doing some work on the post were taking a break.  As I was walking by, they motioned me over, and offered me some tea as a sign of friendship and hospitality.  It’s amazing how simple as hospitality and tea can build bridges across culture and language like nothing else!

The world would be a much more drab place, a much less Holy place if not for the urge to take that first step on our journeys of discovery.  Reflect on your own travels, even if only to the store In Town—how have those travels helped open your eyes to see the Hand of God beyond your ken?  Whether in the Beauty of Creation, or in the beautify souls who have blessed your journey—it’s amazing how the spirit-craft of God’s hand shows up for those who have eyes to see.

From the tiniest crystalline structure visible in the “logs” of the Petrified Forest, to the immeasurable vistas of the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains, the lure of God’s majesty in Creation will ever drive my journeys of discovery—and hopefully, yours too!

–Your Eager Traveling Companion—Pastor Jim

P.S.– don’t forget the concert THIS SUNDAY, March 15, at 5 at Twin Falls (60 N. River Rd., Munroe Falls)– share this note and invite a friend!

Rare opportunity- free concert at church, Sun., Mar. 15, 5pm!

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Church Family–

THIS SUNDAY, Mar. 15 at 5 at Twin Falls UMC, 60 N. River Rd, Munroe Falls– FREE concert with the Epworth Youth Choir from First UMC Cuyahoga Falls, helping to prepare and send them off for their Spring Break choir tour!
My own experience in youth choir when I was a kid was foundational to my faith and life over the decades– in fact, just this past Sunday at Twin Falls with our communion anthem, “In Remembrance of Me,” I was taken back to those formative years, as our doing the musical “Celebrate Life!” that piece is from, that was a part of one of our youth choir tours was one of those “core memories” for me.  Perhaps you, too, had similar experiences, or your kids had those experiences, or you were a key supporter of youth choirs in the past.  Relive it all THIS SUNDAY and show your support again for a new generation of faith leaders being formed in this experience!
We hope to see you there!
Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings—What’s Next?

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Pastoral Ponderings—What’s Next?

 

We have just begun the season of Lent in our church world—familiar territory for some, uncharted for others, like a foggy path through the woods.  One of our kids when he was young, loved having the music of Pocahontas going at night.  I don’t know if it was his favorite, but the song “Just Around the Riverbend” that I came to love at that time has always resonated with me.  Is the unknown of “what’s next?” something to be afraid of, or a new adventure just waiting to unfold?

 

Old maps sometimes show a dragon or sea monster at the edge of the ocean, to which we sometimes see “Here there be dragons.”  In Western culture, dragons often signify danger.  In Asian cultures, though, they often signify opportunity, even of a magical sort.  Lent is a season of exploring what’s next—and for us, is it danger, or opportunity?  What’s next in your journey “just beyond the riverbend”?

 

In a real way, all of life ahead is “just around the riverbend,” and how we choose to move down that trail into the woods, reflects whether we worry about dangers, or embrace magical opportunities.  This is true both in our physical lives, as well as in our spiritual lives.

 

We don’t know a lot about what’s next—but Lent is a time when we churchy folk boldly proclaim that despite all the unknowns, we DO know that God is there, and where there may be trials and tribulations just around the riverbend, we also proclaim the Good News, that Jesus has been there first—and offers the new life of Resurrection through it all.

 

In this season of exploring what’s next, what’s just around the riverbend, where we often think it’s where no one has gone before—we proclaim the Good News that the Jesus of the Resurrection HAS been there!  So let’s explore together, in the confidence that though there may be dragons there—God can transform even the scariest of dragons into dragons of opportunity!

 

Pastor Jim, your traveling companion

Pastoral Ponderings—Citius, Altius, Fortius

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Pastoral Ponderings—Citius, Altius, Fortius

 

I don’t know if I love the Olympics more for the incredible feats of human determination, resilience, hope and accomplishment, or more for the celebration of the best of the human spirit that it brings out in people, displayed for all the world to see.  Citius, altius, fortius—faster, higher, stronger—the slogan and goal of Olympians of all stripes.  All of these facets exude from these events in a plethora of ways (gotta use those fun words every once in a while!), and yes, occasionally some of the uglier facets of broken humanness sometimes come out as well, but it’s the positive facets that really shine.

 

Winning is great—but it’s when the competitors DON’T win that I think they shine  brightest.  Though with the highest of pressure, have you seen how so many of the competitors keep things in perspective and just shrug it off when they don’t make the score?  And it’s pretty common, too, for those who have been defeated to hug and congratulate those who have outpaced them!

 

“Momentum” is a word we’ve heard a lot in relation to these athletes—usually as a key to keeping up a winning pattern.  But the momentum of the spirit of the games—often lauded as what makes these competitions so special—is also the same kind of momentum that can fuel the spirit of our faith as well.

 

It is both a spiritual and a physiological truth that the more we live out patterns of love, grace, and invitation, the more we build the momentum to make these patterns of faith our natural habit and habitus.  Is it possible to have a winning momentum in faith?  Is it possible to lead our spirits to soar citius, altius, fortius—as we seek to bless others in ever more powerful ways?  Keep on keepin’ on in blessing and inviting others!

—Pastor Jim

 

 

Pastoral Ponderings- Teddy Bear Communion

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Pastoral Ponderings- Teddy Bear Communion

I was out sharing communion with one of our parishioners in a rehab facility, and thought that might be a good time to engage our Teddy Bear Ministry.  For several years now, the Twin Falls congregation has been inviting teddy bears to help in our ministry, having them join us in worship, to then go out and be a tangible reminder of God’s presence for those who can’t get out so well.

I love the power of the communion service in that it brings a tangible reminder of Christ’s transforming power to us that literally reaches every cell of our being.  And as we take these signs of God’s grace into all of who we are, we are embodying the proclamation that “YOU are the Body of Christ, and individually, each a part of it.”

The bread and juice that literally become a part of who we are, are what we call the “elements” of the sacrament of Holy Communion.  The teddy bear doesn’t have quite that same honor.  Yet though while the bread and juice are consumed, the bear remains, also as a tangible reminder of God’s grace.  Most frequently when I deliver these teddy bears, as was the case this time, the recipient automatically grabs and hugs the bear—as if grabbing, hugging, and holding onto the community of faith, which—even when not able to get out—incorporates them into the Body of Christ.

The Teddy Bear Ministry is not original to this congregation—it was an idea brought from a church far away, where it was seen to be a powerful too for conveying the grace and tangible sense of God’s presence.  As such, it is also a reminder as well that the Body of Christ reaches across the globe, and includes us, even when we’re not able to share in its physical presence.

Our world full of loneliness, loss, isolation, and a desperate need for hope, needs the real presence of the Body of Christ in so many dark corners.  And this is a central part of God’s calling on our lives.  Not that we need more tangible signs of God’s presence in our churches—it is there in abundance, even if sometimes seemingly trapped inside those walls.  But “YOU are the Body of Christ”—taking Jesus’ presence with you in tangible ways wherever you go.  NOT to merely have His presence with you in your dark places, but to SHARE it with others into the dark places in which they find themselves.

Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to know when the person right in front of us is finding themselves in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  But that just means it’s all the more important for us to share that presence wherever we are, because, as our teddy bears proclaim, “Love BEARS all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things…”

And it’s BEARLY any effort to share that grace with others!–  Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings- Tough Old Bird

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Pastoral Ponderings- Tough Old Bird

How do you like this weather we’ve been having?  A little chilly, isn’t it?  Among the weather warnings has been guidance to bring outdoor pets in to not have them suffer (but what about the poor wild animals?), so we we’ve even gotten Delilah, the barn cat, back into the catio with her nice, warm little cave. But what about the chickens?

As the extreme cold had been approaching, I’d been looking for wisdom online, seeing all these things on extra insulation and such.  I then saw a posting from someone who had been traveling in Siberia, pointing out that hardly anyone had their chickens in insulated coops, though it regularly got as cold as 30 below (Celsius) there, and the chickens did fine.  Some chickens are bred for cold hardiness—ours are among them, called Australorps.

So though I’ve been shaking in my boots going out to check on them, they’re not even complaining.  At zero first thing this morning when I brought them some hot mash, rather than huddling inside their coop with the heat lamp, they were outside, greeting me cheerfully as ever.  Before the first hard cold, I insulated one of their two coops—but they have consistently, even on the coldest nights, preferred the uninsulated one.  Tough old birds for sure.

How is it that we, then, in human skins, have let ourselves get so wimpy?  (I’m wearing a sweater and huddled under a blanket in my nicely heated home as I’m writing this!)  Have you heard the phrase “That’s a first-world problem” in reference to some of the many things we complain about, that are generally just about lack of comfort, or lack of something most of the world would consider a luxury?

We spend so much time and energy teaching people to have a good attitude, stay positive and all—but I don’t think anyone’s ever had to be taught how to complain!  Why can’t we be more like those tough old birds staying out in extreme weather without complaint?

Have you ever noticed that suffering is often addressed in the Bible as something that can deepen our connection and relationship with God, rather than being something to complain about?  Suffering is also presented as something in which to rejoice—“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope” (Romans 4: 3-4).

I’m thinking I want to be like a touch old bird when I grow up!—Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings- Eyes Wide Open

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Pastoral Ponderings- Eyes Wide Open

Have you ever noticed that when you are TRYING to notice things, you tend to notice a lot more than when you’re just drifting through life without really paying attention?  I think it was the character Atreyu in the Neverending Story for whom the term “Eyes wide open” became a pivotal key—a good piece of wisdom to look for God sightings all around us!

On a good day, I try to keep my eyes wide open, so my ears pricked up at Disney Hollywood Studios when I heard the classic churchy word “redemption” in a very un-churchy situation.  Our son had his disability pass for the lines at the rides.  For most rides, he had to talk with one person first—then that’s where I heard it.  The staff person then told him he had to go to someone else to “redeem” the pass for the ride, that is, so he could put it to use at that ride, or essentially, to make it real.  It was one thing to have the pass—but it didn’t “work” FOR HIM until it was “redeemed.”

Redemption is often challenging term.  It’s rarely used except in church or with coupons, but how spiritual can coupons be?  The classic song proclaims “I know that my redeemer lives…” which is in effect saying that I know SOMEONE can make it all real. Yet I can also know that a bunch of those gifts under the Christmas tree are for me, but it takes more than just “knowing” that to make the gifts “real” to me.  I’ve got t make the effort to open them!  Or in Kristopher’s case at the ride—he had to go to and ask his “redeemer” to make that pass actually work for him!

We’re focusing on training for discipleship this month, which includes a passage that comes from I Timothy 4: 10– “For to this end (godliness) we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”  So how is it that God is “the savior of ALL…” but “ESPECIALLY of those who BELIEVE,” as if those who “believe” are more better than others?  Perhaps redemption is the key- the gift is for all- but it is only made real in the lives of those who redeem, or put their trust and actions in that gift.

“Eyes wide open” as Atreyu proclaimed—what can YOU see to help make your faith (or that of others) more real?  I noticed something else at that ride—look inside the yellow circle on the picture.  Is it just an architectural detail, or maybe a sign that our Redeemer lives even in the most unlikely of places?

Eyes wide open—Pastor Jim