Journeys 3-25-12 Tom Pfeiffer - 2012 Confirmation Class

God is everywhere, even though we can’t physically see him. He is always around us, protecting us and helping us. As I go through confirmation, I’m able to realize this more and more through many experiences.

This past Sunday, the confirmation class along with other church members prepared and served the evening meal at the Salvation Army in Grand Island. We had the responsibility of doing everything from making the spaghetti sauce to mopping the floors at the end. I helped by serving food and cleaning up after everyone had eaten, while others washed dishes and did other jobs.

As a constant flow of roughly 100 people made their way through the food line, many thoughts came to me. I realized how lucky many of us are just to have food on our table or a home to live in. I knew that God was the one who had been providing that for me these past years. He was the one giving me a bed to sleep in, a school for learning, and a family for support. I felt thankful that God has taken care of me.

I could see God elsewhere, too. I could see him working through us at the Salvation Army to help others with their needs. I could also see God in the gratefulness of the people we were serving.

My experience at the Salvation Army was definitely an excellent one. It was good to have the chance to serve others around our area and to learn something important that would help me understand everyday life better.

Thomas Pfeiffer

Pastor's Page - April Newsletter 2012 "April Fools Day"

This year we have April Fool’s Day on Palm Sunday, then Easter Sunday is on April 8th.I was wondering how April Fool’s Day got here, so I googled it and landed on Holidays.net.

It seems:

“The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved from March 25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.

Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. Still others, who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1.

These people were called"fools" by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on "fool errands," sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them.

This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way.

The origins of the "Kick Me" sign can be traced back to the Scottish observance.

In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called 'gobs' or 'gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a 'noodle.' It was considered back luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.

In Portugal, April Fool's Day falls on the Sunday and Monday before lent. In this celebration, many people throw flour at their friends.

So, no matter where you happen to be in the world on April 1, don't be surprised if April fools fall playfully upon you.”

April Fool’s Day this year marks the beginning of Holy Week in the church with Palm Sunday services. Then the Confirmation class will be traveling to Seward for the annual “Living Last Supper” presentation on Wednesday night, April 4th. Folks are invited to travel along to this inspiring event. Then Maundy Thursday worship is at 7 p.m. at the Rosedale Church on Thursday, April 5th with communion. Good Friday Worship is at 7 p.m. at the Doniphan Church on Friday, April 6th. The Confirmation Class hosts Easter Sonrise worship at the Nebraska Nature Center just south of the Alda exit of I-80 at 6:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 8th.

It seems appropriate that Holy Week should begin with April Fools Day, because it ends with Easter and the celebration of a resurrection that has shocked the world ever since.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 3-18-12 St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick was the son of an imperial Roman officer in Britain in the year 406. At about age 16, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates who sold him into slavery in their native land. That was his first encounter with the island he would later transform.

During his six bleak years spent as a slave herding sheep, he turned to his faith. He escaped and made his way to Gaul (modern-day France), where he studied at the monastery founded by St. Martin of Tours.

St. Martin of Tours was an influential leader in the early church who started the first widespread Christian movement among the rural people of Europe, those the cosmopolitan Romans called “paganus” (meaning rustic or of the country). From that Latin word comes the English term "pagan".

After he became a monk, Patrick had a dream where he heard the Irish beseeching him to return to the land of his captivity and, eventually, the pope appointed the former slave to be the first bishop of Ireland.

Patrick helped initiate Ireland’s first indigenous Christian movement. To do that, he adapted pagan traditions to reach new converts. For example, if people in a Druid settlement worshiped at a large standing stone, that is where Patrick and his team of missionaries placed a church. The new Christians would then carve the great stone into a cross. He also preached in the native language, Irish Gaelic.

One popular legend is that Patrick superimposed the Christian cross on the popular Celtic ring symbol, which stood for the sun or the world, to demonstrate Jesus’ redemption of the world. He thus created the Celtic cross that churches continue to use. You can google his prayer, “The Breastplate of St. Patrick Prayer,” and see one of his most famous writings. St. Patrick's Day is still a day to remember the first Christian Bishop of Ireland. It is so much more than green beer and shamrocks.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 3-11-12 Spring Weather & Lent

Its a matter of degrees.

I was listening to the radio last Sunday and the weather man said, “Monday, a high of 60 degrees. Tuesday, a high of 70 degrees. Wednesday, a 30 percent chance of snow.” I had to laugh. That is what it is to live in Nebraska in March.

Then we were chatting with a lady from Austin, Texas who was at the St. Benedict’s Retreat Center at the same time as my Covenant Community of Prayer and Service to the Poor group. She twanged in her southern drawl, “Those weather people lie. They say the high will be 70 degrees. But they don’t tell you that the high is only for ten minutes at 3:30 pm!” Then she asked, “Does the wind always blow like this?” And we said, “What wind?”

We have had one of the mildest winters in memory, but March still finds me yearning for spring. I know its out there somewhere. I know we’ll get it in spurts for the next 60 days or so before it settles in for two glorious weeks before Summer hits. But the weather gods need to know that I am ready for Spring now. I’ll even take a wet Spring as long as its a warm one. As far as I’m concerned we can just skip those two or three wet snow storms and one solid ice event that are prerequisites to the gap between winter and summer.

The church word “Lent” is from the Latin word for “lengthen,” as in “the lengthening of days.” It recognizes that painful transition time that is spring, no matter where you live. It is a time of storms and unexpected fast moving weather fronts. So Lent is 40 days of transition before opening the door to hope and sonlight on Easter Sunday.

Lent is lived by degrees. An “I’m sorry,” here. An “I wish I’d never done that,” there. Old baggage is let go of. New practices are picked up. All the time rolling on a downhill slope toward Easter, the next season in our relationship with God.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 3-4-12 Leap Day

A Leap Year is a year that contains one additional day in order to keep the calendar year in sync with the seasonal or astronomical year.

While the calendar assumes the Earth revolves around the sun every 365 days, it actually takes the Earth a bit longer - 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. If the calendar were not adjusted for the extra six hours by adding an extra day approximately every four years, the calendar would slowly shift and the seasons would no longer be aligned with the traditional months. Without Leap Days, the calendar would be off by 24 days within 100 years.

A select few have birthdays on Feb. 29. The chance of being born on Leap Day is 1 in 1,461. For centuries, astrologers believed that children born on Leap Day have unusual talents, unique personalities and even special powers.

So "Leapers" or "leaplings," the nickname attributed to those born on Leap Day, only celebrate their birthday every four years. The leaplings may celebrate their birthday on Feb. 28 or March 1 instead, but most states in the U.S. will only legally recognize the person as their next age on March 1 of the year. In some cultures Leap Day is the only day that women can ask men to marry them.

This past week we made it through this kink in the calendar without incident. Though I did hear of some computer networks that got clogged due to this quarterly extra day. Disney opened up their theme parks for 24 hours solid hours of fun on Leap Day.

I’m thinking that if there was ever a day for a world-wide holiday, Leap Day is it. Imagine a one day universal sabbath/party day. We only have 1,461 days now to make that happen!

Grace & Peace,