Pastor's Page - March Newsletter, Doniphan/Rosedale UMCs

Some things never change. The older I get; the more changes I have to live through; the more I am attracted to things that don’t change.

Change makes me adjust. Change makes me learn new things. Change makes me move. And sometimes I’m just too tired to move. So I groan at software updates. I roll my eyes at new reports that I’ve never had to fill out before. Getting a new cell phone makes my head hurt.

I’m only in my second spring here and I’m already grateful for the unchanging nature of the annual spring bird migration that we get to witness. Its something I can count on each February and March. At last, something that will not change. I can add it to my list of things I can count on not changing, like: sunrise and sunset, the rotation of the earth, seasons, and hay fever in August and September.

Of course, the reality is that change is the absolute only thing that I can truly count on. No matter what, there will always be change. And history has taught me that living a mature life is about the attempt to thoughtfully respond to the changes thrown at me instead of emotionally reacting (or over-reacting) in a way that’ll surely get me in trouble.

Then there’s that thing about my relationship with God, and all the ways God lets me know that I do not have to stay the same; that I can change if I want to. And God is willing to help me do just that. If fact, if I would like to become more God-like, there are thousands of folks throughout time who are willing to be witnesses to how totally worth it that change can be.

So as you look up in envy at those “V” formations of cranes, remember that they are stuck in a rut that may last millions of years. You, however, can change into the compassionate, caring, unselfish, non-judgmental human being that God created you to be. And you can begin that change right now. This Lent. Between now and Easter, that transformation can happen. Just ask God to help you get that change started, and you will be surprised at what happens next.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 2-26-12 Birds, Migration

The birds are here! The annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes, White and Canadian Geese, and multiple kinds of ducks has begun. We in Doniphan and Rosedale get to witness this pilgrimage every spring. Thousands of people will also migrate from all over the world to see the migration of hundreds of thousands of birds.

As they fly over, you can almost feel the ancient force that pulls these birds from south to north and back again. Deep inside their psyche the message somehow came to them to, “Get moving . . . stay together, and, leave no bird behind!” So they’ve come from places close to the equator, to stop here and wade in our shallow flowing waters and fatten up for a few weeks in our corn fields before moving on to the arctic tundra.

There is a reason why they do what they do when they do it (even if they’re not conscious of it). Each stage of the journey is a stepping stone to the next. One place is for mating. Another place is for laying eggs and hatching their young. Another place is for maturing their young before starting the whole process all over again.

Soon, we’ll be able to witness a hundred thousand birds flying in at dusk and settling down for the night on the Platte River. We’ll get to see mating dances at dawn and hear the social networking of thousands of birds all night long in our fields near the river. We’ll get to be a part of something that’s been going on since way before our time. And way after you and I have completed our full and productive lives, these kinds of birds will still be doing their thing. Our great-grandchildren will take part in this same migration dance that we’re doing now. Except the bird watchers who stop for no apparent reason in front of them will be driving electric cars with no exhaust pipe and energy absorbing technology that our grand-children have yet to invent.

As the great thaw begins to happen this spring, do you get the sense that maybe God is nudging us as a church to, “Get moving . . . stay together and leave no one behind?” Maybe we’re a part of our own ancient force, pulling us toward a purpose that we’re not even conscious of . . . yet. We just know deep in our psyche that its time to get moving.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 2-19-12 Ash Wed., Beginning of Lent

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the church season of Lent. Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter. Like Jesus, who spent 40 days in the wilderness praying and fasting in preparation for his ministry, we Christians spend these 40 days in preparation for the celebration of Easter.

On Wednesday, both churches will worship together as we write down on a slip of paper, one thing we’d like to put behind us this year as we begin this Lenten season. It could be a statement of regret, a bad habit, an attitude toward an enemy, an addiction, or something we wish we would have never said, or done. Maybe this year you’ll write down the name of a person that represents a relationship you threw away. And now, you wish you had that relationship back. Maybe its just some part of your life that feels stuck in a rut, and you’d like to ask God to help you climb out of that rut and move in a different direction.

After we’ve written something down, we’ll be given a chance to bring our folded piece of paper forward and place it with others in a bowl to be burned as a symbol of offering it over to God. Then we’ll celebrate Holy Communion and receive the mark of the cross in ashes on our foreheads, hearing the words that have been said since around the year 900 when Christians began celebrating Ash Wednesday, “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.”

Ash Wednesday marks the end of old things and the hope of new things to come. On that day, we remember that when we choose, with God’s help, we can turn our lives around; dying to old ways and rising as a new child of God.

It’s time to start praying; asking God what you need to put on your slip of paper this year at the Ash Wednesday service. What aspect of your life would you like to see go up in smoke?

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 2-12-12 Valentine's Day

The holiday of Valentine's Day probably derives its origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods nearby. The Romans called upon one of their gods, Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival held in honor of Lupercus was celebrated February 15th. The festival was celebrated as a spring festival.

One of the customs of the young people was name-drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year.

Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine.

Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the Roman soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars. Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put to death.

Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.” Holidays.net

These days, Valentine’s Day (THIS TUESDAY!), has become the day to make public statements of affection to the one you love. On Valentines day you have several options. Give a card. Send flowers. Go out to eat. Give a gift. Go out to a movie. Rent a video, order in pizza. The options are endless. The key for us guys is to, 1) remember the day, and, 2) do something/anything about it.

Cause’ you see guys, this day is not just between the two of you. Valentine’s Day is a very public/what did your’s do for you/comparison day. Our performance on this one day in February has a ripple effect across a wide variety of social, physical, emotional, and spiritual spheres of influence.

Remember, the history of this day does include wolves, imprisonment, and the death sentence.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 2-5-12 Super Bowl Sunday

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Thanks to Google, I know that in the United States, the game will be televised nationally at 5:30 p.m. Central Time by NBC. It will also be streamed online, both to computers (via NBC.com) and mobile devices (via Verizon Wireless's NFL Mobile app), the first legal online streaming of a Super Bowl telecast in the USA.

All commercials for the game sold out by Thanksgiving 2011, at an average price of $3.5 million per thirty-second ad. This is the highest rate for Super Bowl advertising in the event's history. At least one thirty-second advertisement commanded a price of $4 million. In some recent years there have been more than 60 commercials during the Super Bowl, with over 100 million people watching them.

This will be the first Super Bowl to be played in Indianapolis, and the first time in the history of the game it will be played in consecutive years in a retractable roof stadium.

According to Business Week, the average NFL player salary is $1.9 million. The median NFL player salary is $770,000. The average NFL career length, however, is 3.5 years. So the number of players on injured reserve in 2010 was 352. And the average NFL player age is 27. An NFL referee’s average salary is $27,000 (for 16 games). The average NFL head coaches’ salary is $3.25 million.

According to the USDA, in 2012, the average cost of feeding a family of four in the USA is $188.40 per week. The average basic utilities cost in the USA is $208.50 per month. According to the Census report, in 2009, 18.7 % of the United States population lived at or below the poverty level. The 2012 nationwide Souper Bowl of Caring had 595 groups that generated $3,163,686 in cash and food items for local charities. According to their newsletters, the Salvation Army in Grand Island will hand out approximately 160 meals tonight, and there are currently 95 men, women and children at Cross Roads Shelter in Hastings.

I enjoy watching the Super Bowl each year. This year, because of the way the teams came out, I’ll probably be watching the commercials as much or more than the game. These are just some numbers to chew on as we snack our way through Super Bowl XLVI tonight.

Grace & Peace,