Journeys 8-26-12 Farmers & Irrigation

In talking to farmers over the years, one of the benefits of farming is that you’re not doing the same thing day in and day out all year long.  Variety is what farming life is all about.  Keeping several balls in the air at once is what you live for.  Its what gives you satisfaction as you reflect on your day those few seconds each night before you go to sleep.

This year though, our farmers who irrigate have been irrigating day in and day out for longer than they can ever remember.  Some pivots have been going since May.  And those who lay pipe have been changing the gates on those pipes (mostly twice a day) since mid-June.

Ask them how irrigating is going and they just growl and give you this blank stare.  It’s like those old computer screens.  If you left them on too long whatever was on them would be burned permanently onto the screen.  This summer, irrigating has been burned permanently onto the souls of our gravity farmers.  Their stare says, “its not supposed to be like this . . . I didn’t sign up for this.”

Farmers are genetically engineered to worry, but after this summer of record drought you can smell their fear and worry that this drought thing might bleed over into next year.  Dry land farmers are grieving the loss of their regular crop this year, and, worrying that if it keeps going like this they won’t be farming for much longer. 

Farmers are also some of the greatest teachers of hope.  If your crop did not come in this year, you plant that seed next year and hope and work and pray that next year it’ll be different.  Farmers also prove year in and year out that you can grieve and hope at the same time; you can be pessimistic and optimistic at the same time.  Cause you prepare for the worst and hope for the best and then take what you get.

Say an extra prayer for our farmers  as they shut down those tired wells and pile up pipe and start getting ready for harvest.  God help them as some of them grieve the loss of a crop, and as all of them start thinking about whether they are going to be able to get up the energy to invest in planting the seeds of next year’s harvest, or, . . . not.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 8-19-12 Blessings to start the new School Year

This is the week to bless our students, our teachers, school staff, parents and grandparents. 

God bless our students.  May you soak in all that is given you this school year and grow into who God needs you to be.

God bless our teachers. May the content of your learning be boosted by the character and personhood that you present each and every day.

God bless our school staff.  You have no idea how the little things of your daily contact with our students and teachers; your smile, your look, and your prayers, support and make a difference in their learning and personal growth.

God bless our parents and grandparents.  All the effort to herd those kids out of bed and off to school and back will show in the adults that they will become one day.  God bless your being there for all those games and events; for making sure your children have what they need to be the best students they can be.  God bless you for those hugs and kisses before they go out that door, and, for the courage to trust their growth to the people of this school system in 2012-13.

God bless our school and our community as we enter into another year of this symbiotic relationship of being there for each other.  May we all; churches, school and community do what we need to do to live into the biblical command to live for the “good of our community” this school year.

Grace & Peace,

Rev. Kelly

Journeys 8-12-12 Back to School

School starts for a lot of kids this week.  From kindergarten through High School, Thursday and Friday are like orientation days before rolling on into a regular schedule next week. The start of school tends to pull the rest of us into its regular schedule as well.

Our Emily (age 16), will be a Junior this year at Hastings High School.  Our Zack (age 21), is starting his fourth year at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Our Katie (age 23), is mailing out applications to law schools, hoping to start next fall.  

Emily is a Tigerette, (HHS Dance Team), and will be in Chamber Choir.  She also likes being in Drama Club.  She decided not to be in band this year.  So for the first time since 2002, Cindy and I are not High School band parents.  Zack is once again playing snare in the drumline of the N.C. State Marching band. He’s working toward his degree in Marine Sciences. 

School shopping for us now is more about clothes than pencils and notebooks.  I used to love getting the lists for my kids’ grade and heading to Walmart to get organized.  Zack isn’t even buying books until he goes to his classes and learns what he’ll really need.  Emily likes her back pack from last year, so there’s no need to hunt down the perfect new back pack this year either.  I am not invited to go school shopping for the clothes Emily wants. She likes to casually hunt for her school clothes all summer.  We’ve already hit the summer sales to get the homecoming and prom dresses for this coming year. 

The start of the new school year is a time of transition for everybody involved.  Teachers and students will be getting used to new groupings and classrooms.  Everybody will be adjusting to the multiplication of bells and alarms that will guide our lives for the next nine months.

God bless us during this time of transition: parents, grandparents, kids, teachers, administrators, school support staff.  Changing always needs a little extra blessing to get us through.  

I think I’m gonna go to Walmart and get a new mechanical pencil, and some notebooks, just for old times sake!

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 8-5-12 ERT to Springview

We got the call from Rev. Roger Gillming, our Nebraska Conference Disaster Relief Coordinator last Saturday night.  He said, he’d been up at Springview, NE looking at fire damage for a couple days and they could use some people to come and help.  

There were 50 people trained in Hastings by the United Methodist Committee on Relief to be Emergency Responders this past spring.  So Saturday night Cindy started e-mailing those folks about the possibility of traveling to Springview on Monday and staying until Wednesday.  In the end we had eight people who could stop, drop and go on less than 24 hours notice.  

I drove the Grace UM Church van the four hours to Keya Paha County on the border with South Dakota.  We were met at the Springview UM Church by their pastor and several members of the church on Monday afternoon.  Our churches were represented by Keith Hausler and Rev. Julie Bringleson from Rosedale and me.  The other churches represented were First UMC, Hastings; Grace UMC, Hastings; First UMC, Kearney.

Our first task was to go and clean the Norden Pavilion, 19 miles to the west.  It had housed some of the 400 fire fighters these past two weeks, and there was a Fire Relief fund raiser dance scheduled for Saturday night.  Doug Bruce from Grace church power washed the outside of the building and the rest of us wiped down all the tables and chairs and wet mopped the cement floors.  There were tiny drifts of soot everywhere inside that building.  The flames had come within a few feet of this historical building.

Each night the church fed us supper.  We cooked our own breakfasts at the church and packed our own lunches to take with us to the work sites.  Part of us slept in the church basement on the cots we brought.  Others slept in members’ homes or in the vacant parsonage.  In the mornings before we headed out, we’d share the best and worst of our previous day, and, where we saw God that day.  What was shared was just amazing.

Tuesday we split up.  Part of us went to help a young couple who’d lost everything but their house to the fires.  He is a custom carpenter and logger and he lost his shop, inventory and all his wood working equipment in the fire.  The fire had come within a few feet of their home, but the house was spared.  Some helped clean the soot inside the house.  Others helped cut burnt trees that had fallen on power lines and hauled off other debris around the house.  The other half of our group went to help a man who’s house was just being built and the fires had melted the exterior plastic wrapping off the outside of the house.

Tuesday, some went back to the newly built house, the rest of us went to a ranch 25 miles west and south of Springview to help clean off the red fire retardant that’d been dumped and sprayed on the buildings on a ranch tucked in a valley not far from the river.

The church folks at Springview were so gracious and hospitable.  Everyone we helped was so appreciative of our coming there.  Our short three days together changed them and us for the better.  

Thanks to both Doniphan and Rosedale for your extra offerings to help with this disaster in our state.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 7-29-12 Doniphan VBS

Journeys

7-29-12

This week we had Vacation Bible School at Doniphan.  We met Sunday night through Thursday night from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  

Many thanks to Donna Bieck for coordinating VBS once again this year.  We had 75 kids and 20 adult and youth workers this year.  Each night we’d begin with a little music and community time then move on to stations with Crafts, games, skits, drumming circle, movies and music.  In the middle, we’d all meet for snack.  Every part had a message.  Then we’d all gather once again at the end for more songs and dancing.

Our scripture stories were about Jesus and the Roman soldiers, Lazarus, Pontius Pilot and Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  Thursday night was the program for the parents.  Today at Doniphan, kids who can be there will perform the same program for us.

I try and remind VBS leaders that all their hard work and effort is truly worth it.  The ripple effect of 75 kids experiencing God’s love through the folks and food at our church will expand their hearts and make a world with more compassionate and loving people for generations to come.  

I like to think that we overflowed gift upon gift to those 75 kids until they got the feeling that gifting others is just the way to be in this world.  I think that makes Jesus smile.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 7-22-12 "Thanks for your prayers!"

Many thanks to all who prayed for me this past week as I waited for the results of a biopsy on my prostate.  Thanks for the hugs, handshakes, texts, e-mails and phone calls.  Your expressions of caring meant a lot to me.

I had the procedure done in Lincoln on Tuesday and got the results the following Monday afternoon.  After 6 days of waiting, I got good news.  There was no cancer in any of the 12 biopsied samples!  We’ll keep an eye on my PSA in three months when I do my annual physical.  For now, I am in the clear!

Having been there with my wife Cindy through her breast cancer surgeries, I know how a diagnosis of cancer changes you for the rest of your life.  Even though she has been cancer free for three years, we’ll still worry about it’s return for the rest of her life.

So many guys who have been through similar situations with their prostate have talked to me and given me words of encouragement.  And the universal truth of all biopsies seems to be that waiting for the results is the worst part.  Even when the results are not good news, knowing seems to be preferable to not knowing.

I told several people last Sunday that the “What ifs?” were crushing me.  And the closer I got to knowing, the more my mind and soul became scattered.  The unknown unglued me. And the longer it went, the harder it was to hold it all together.

Thats where your caring came in.  You held me when I was having a hard time holding on to myself.  Your letting me know you were praying for me drew me out of my self-imposed isolation.  It broadened and fuzzied my focus and helped me know that I was not alone in this.

When I got that phone call on Monday it was like a veil was lifted from my soul.  The dark menacing clouds that’d been building up in my heart and mind gave way to sunshine.  All that worrying and gearing up for another surgery just disintegrated .  

My daughter asked me why I worried so much before I even knew the results.  I said I needed to worry . . .  just in case. 

 Thanks again.  And please know that no matter what the results, your expressions of caring were God’s presence come to life for me this past week.  Because of you, I knew that no matter what that nurse said about my lab results on Monday afternoon, God was with me, and we would get through this, together.

Grace & Peace,

Rev. Kelly

Journeys 7-15-12 Rosedale VBS

Journeys

7-15-12

This past week was Vacation Bible School at the Rosedale Church.  Many thanks to Jill Osler for coordinating VBS once again this year.  We had 24 kids and 13 adult helpers from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday.  There were stations for Music, Crafts, Science, Snack, Recreation and Story Telling.  This is the second year I got to be the Story Teller.

This year’s theme centered around water.  You’d be amazed at how many Bible stories there are on or around the water.  The Bible stories were about Noah, Naamen, John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples who were fishermen.  The kids got to make amazing crafts and artwork and take it all home on the last day.  Today in church, they will share three of the nine songs they learned during the week.  We’ll also share with you a little drumming circle I did with the kids.

I really enjoy getting to know the kids a little better through the week.  Our crowd is basically church kids and friends and neighbors and grand kids.  So they were basically the same these past two years.

Rosedale will enjoy seeing the kids up front sharing their music and motions today.  Doniphan is counting down to their VBS that starts July 22nd.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 7-8-12

Journeys

7-8-12

I’ve always considered this Journeys article in the bulletin to be kind of a personal letter to my congregations.  This week this is true more than ever.

See, I’ve been debating if and how to tell you this.  I am basically a pretty private person.  And I’ve not always been the best at asking for help when I need it.  Though through these “Journeys” and in preaching, I believe God has stretched me to share my own journey as a way of getting you to maybe see your own journey in a way you hadn’t thought of before. And I’ve found that I can write some things a whole lot easier than I can say them.  So I’m writing this now, cause when I think about saying it out loud, the tears start to flow.  And I don’t want to be embarrassed by my tears.

See, I would like for you to pray for me.  This week, on Tuesday, in Lincoln, I’m getting a biopsy done on my prostate gland.  My Dad had prostate cancer when he was in his early 60’s.  His older brother had been diagnosed with it after it had spread beyond the prostate gland.  In the end, my Uncle Bill died after that cancer spread to his bones and brain.  So my Dad has said that his brother saved his life by getting him to get his prostate checked out.  So when they found cancer in Dad’s prostate, it was still contained within the gland and removing it removed the cancer.  He didn’t need any further radiation treatment or anything.  And he’s still out there preaching at the age of 82!  Now, my PSA numbers are high for someone my age, so the next step is to go in and sample some tissues for cancer.  This kind of cancer has a genetic component.  It tends to be passed down from one generation to the next.

I think my tears are about my fear of cancer.  I’ve seen how cancer can take a healthy body and grind a life to a halt.  I may get lucky and they’ll find nothing to be concerned about.  If they do find something, then we’ll talk about the options on what to do next.

I do believe that your prayers for me will make a difference.  I believe that prayers for another are a way of extending our caring across the space that separates us.  I’ve had multiple experiences when other peoples’ prayers helped me make it through a crisis.  This may or may not be a crisis.  But I ask your prayers for me and my soul in the midst of the biopsy process.  Its about the fear of the unknown.  There’s the test, the waiting for the results, and finally the conclusion of the lab work.  Thank you for praying for me this week.  It means a lot.

Grace & Peace,

Journeys 5-20-12

We are in planting season right now.  Planting corn.  Planting soy beans.  Planting seed corn, and sorghum.  Some are planted and some are seeded.  Then there are the gardens, where things are planted according to the moon and frost probability.  Some plant potatoes around here on Good Friday.  Tomato plants are started in people’s basements and green houses, then transplanted when its safe from frost.

I have very little knowledge of the mechanics of planting.  My farmer friends talk about planting by GPS, so you can actually pre-prepare the row of soil in the winter, then in the spring place that seed at just the right depth with just the right amount of fertilizer/weed repellant sprayed in there.  All guided by the satellite that guarantees everything is lined up.  

I am more into the philosophical aspects of planting.  It takes a lot of guts to risk sticking that seed in the ground.  It is an act of hope.  Hope has to do with an unknowable future.  If you know how the future’s going to turn out, there is no hope involved.  Hope is planted in a bed of uncertainty.  

You just don’t know if all the right rain and sunshine are going to happen at all the right times to produce fruit 60, 80 or 90 days from now.  You prepare your soil, then you plant your seed, then you live into the hope that everything is going to turn out O.K. 

You can also hope for another.  Hope can be a part of the glue of a relationship.  We can hope for good things to happen to our friends and loved ones. There’s a part of me that wants to believe that the more you hope, the better you get at it. I also don’t think that there is a limited amount of hope out there. We don’t have to be stingy with our hoping. My experience is that hope expands my view; opens up the pores of my soul to unforeseen possibilities.  Prayer is an act of hope.  It is a seed planted in our relationship with God.

Hope is very close to faith. Faith has to do with trust.  We trust that God wants the best for us.  We trust that God is always with us, no matter what.  Seeds of faith can be planted with hope. We hope that our future relationship with God can be trusted to be as good as or better than what it is now.   I wonder of the GPS could be helpful with that?

Grace & Peace,

Rev. Kelly

Journeys 5-29-12

We still have a couple more weeks of having our Confirmands write the Journeys article on the back of the bulletin.  I hope you enjoy seeing the world through the eyes of a seventh grader.  This week's contributor is Trey:

God Sighting

The topic I have chosen for my bulletin article is a place I have seen God recently. I decided that one of the places that I have seen God is in our confirmation class and in all the support we have had from our church.

The reason that I see God in our confirmation class is God helps us to learn more about him and become closer to him as we go through our thirteen weeks. You can also see it in how at the start of our confirmation class everyone was kind of shy and didn’t really talk much, but as the weeks have went on we have started to become more comfortable with each other and get to know each other better. I believe that God helps by giving us more courage to speak up and let our guards down.

Another place I see God is in how fully the congregation of our church supports our confirmation class in our journey to become full members of the church. They are always setting a good example of how we can become good members of the church by how they act and how they treat each other. Also, they are always so supportive and kind to us. It makes it so much easier to go through these 13 weeks when you have a congregation like ours.

Finally, I see God in our confirmation mentors and our pastor. First of all, our mentors volunteer so much of their time. Instead of using the time to get a lot of their own personal stuff done, they choose to teach us about how to be a better Christian. Also, I see God in Pastor Kelly.  He is so knowledgeable about the Bible, being a better Christian, and about God. Another reason I see God in him is that he always takes the time to teach us all of the necessary information we need to become a member of the church, and he always takes us on fun field trips to help us to learn more about God.

Pastor's Page, May 2012 Newsletter

Pastor’s Page

May 2012 Newsletter

In March, there were 50 people from the Hastings area trained by the United Methodist Committee on Relief to be Emergency Responders; folks to go to places that have had floods or tornados and provide basic assistance on behalf of the church.  Our trainer was excellent.  He’d been all over the world on behalf of UMCOR.  He was an old firefighter/fire marshall from Las Vegas.  It was a day-log event.

So when the tornadoes hit Nebraska and Iowa a couple weekends ago, by wife Cindy was messaging an old friend from our Duke Divinity School days, Brian Milford.  Brian’s the District Superintendent of the Southwest district in the Iowa Conference.  Cindy let him know that we had newly trained people ready to come help.  We just hadn’t received our official name tags in the mail yet.  Brain said he thought there was a good chance we could come and help.  This was Saturday night.

Sunday afternoon, I was awakened from my afternoon nap by a phone call from the District Disaster Coordinator in Iowa.  She was asking if we could come and help with the tornado damage in Thurman, IA.  I said, I’d get on the phone to those who’d been trained and get back to her.  After an afternoon of phone calls, we had nine folks from four different churches who could drop everything and leave the next morning at 9 a.m. for Iowa.  

We took the van from Grace UMC and met a couple guys from the Kearney area and drove the three and a half hours to Shenandoah, IA.  We were met by the pastor from the Shenandoah UMC, his Missions Coordinator, the District Disaster Coordinator and Brian.  Then a pickup pulled up with a load of high school boys in the back.  They jumped out and quickly carried the materials for 10 bunk beds to the third floor where we were to put them together.  We spend Monday afternoon putting the bunk beds together and blowing up the air-mattresses that’d go on them.  Then Brian took us all out to supper.  They were setting up two rooms on the third floor of the church’s education wing to sleep up to 40 people for future mission groups and Emmaus retreats.  They’d just put in two new showers between the sleeping rooms.

Tuesday, we woke early and headed over to Thurman to help.  There is no greater thrill than to extend my hand and say, “Hi, I’m Kelly, we’re from the United Methodist Church in Nebraska, and we’re here to help.”  We cut trees and piled up branches both in town and at the local cemetery for most of the day.  Some helped in the coordination office.  Some drove trucks to help haul debris away.  We were fed lunch by the Salvation Army and Red Cross.  We met and chatted with the pastor of the United Methodist pastor in town.  The hardest work was in the park; bending over to pick up thousands of tiny shards of shingles and putting them in trash bags.

Keith Haussler and I were from the Doniphan/Rosedale churches.  Jonathan Kubicka was from First UMC, Hastings.  Suzanne Foster was from the Junieta UMC.  Rich Reimer, Paul Larsen and Tom Genung were from Hastings Grace UMC, Tracy Broeker & James Wrenn were from Kearney area UMCs.

We got to live through one of the best parts of the United Methodist Connection; service in mission.

Grace & Peace,

Rev. Kelly Karges

Journeys 4-22-12

Our Confirmation Students are writing the Journeys article for the next several weeks.  Enjoy seeing the world through seventh grade eyes: - Rev. Kelly

Today, we hear from Abby Williams,

There are many things that I like about my church.  But my favorite is youth group.  We eat a delicious supper, play a fun game and then have a lesson that helps us learn about God and our faith.  Also, this year we will be going to Camp Comeca in April. We will be swimming, using the zip-line, hiking to the cross on the hill, having a campfire, watching movies, but mostly learn about God and getting closer as a group. I would like to thank our sponsors; the Wiltfongs, the Roachs, the Stocks, the McNeils and the Sullivans for the time they have given to the youth group. Also, all the people who has helped with the meals.  Our youth group meets every first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:30. One of my favorite memories is when it was close to Christmas we had to play a game where we walked with a bandana over our eyes to a table with whipped cream in a plate.  Hidden in the whipped cream was gummy worms and a whistle. With our hands behind our backs, we had to find the whistle and had to be the first one to blow it. One lesson I remember is a Easter lesson where we learned about Jesus being in the tomb.We took a big marshmallow that represented Jesus and wrapped it in a crescent roll which was the tomb. He rose again in the oven then the marshmallow vanished just like Jesus. I am looking forward to all the things I will do in youth group in the years to come.

Journeys 4-15-12 Dalton Lewis, Confirmation

I'm having the confirmation kids write the Journeys article for the next several weeks. So we get to see the world through seventh grade eyes! This week the article is from Dalton Lewis:

It is my turn to write the bulletin letter. The topic I choose was, “Why I want to become a member of the church.”

I want to become more spiritual and come closer to God. Being a member also brings you closer to the community. I think going to church brings a good feeling. If you think going to church is a waste of a Sunday, you are wrong. It makes the day better. When I get out of church I feel like a better person.

My family hasn’t gone to church steadily for a couple years. I don’t wont want to do that anymore. I want to grow spiritually and learn more about God. I don’t know a lot about God but I can learn.

I go to youth group and confirmation but I want more! I want to live like God, and try to be somewhat of a saint. My spiritual level is about a 3 out of ten. By the end of this year I want it to be an 8. My favorite part of church is communion because you are resembling a big event, “The Last Supper.”

My Grandma is my mentor for confirmation she is a great helper and supporter. She goes to church every Sunday, and is very spiritual. She teaches me a lot about the bible too. I didn’t know much about the bible but, I’m learning pretty fast. Another reason I want to become a member is, when people talk about the bible I will know what they are talking about. If you don’t go to church a lot like me right now don’t feel bad. You don’t have to go that much but I want to, so don’t feel pressured to go to church. That’s what my belief is.

Another reason I want to become a member is to make good dependable friends. If you are a member you know when church activities are. You can think of ideas that the church can do too. The other confirmands’s and I get confirmed on Mother’s Day and become full members of the church. That will be a great day.

By: Dalton

Journeys 4-8-12 Easter

The Confirmation kids will be providing the Journeys Article for the back of the Bulletin for the next several weeks. Enjoy the view of the world through seventh grade eyes: - Rev. Kelly

Carson Wiltfong:

When our Youth Group went on the mission trip to Denver last spring Pastor Kelly challenged every one of us to find a God sighting each day. One of the God sightings that I had that really stood out to me was when we were walking around downtown Denver and I saw a boy about my age maybe a little younger that appeared to be homeless pushing what looked like his father around in a wheelchair. When I saw this it made me really appreciate the many things that I have in my life and realize that God has blessed me. It also made me appreciate that I don’t have nearly as much pressure on myself as that kid did because he had to take care of himself and his father and survive on the streets.

While looking for the God sightings on the trip it helped me to be more positive and appreciative about things. What I think we all need to do is look for those God sightings in our community and we will become more positive about life. Another thing we need to do is create those God sightings because God calls us to be his hands and feet or like Pastor Kelly says the Donkey to bring Jesus to others. Without us being the donkey the word of God and his love will never spread.

Carson Wiltfong

Journeys 4-11-12

Confirmation kids are providing the Journeys Article for the back of the bulletin for these next several weeks. I hope you enjoy the world through seventh grade eyes: - Rev. Kelly

David Roach:

I see god in many things. The one that has caught my eye lately is the sandhill cranes. I always look forward to the time of year when the cranes come. I would always look for the big birds when we are on the road.

I see god in the cranes when they are coming and going. Its just amazing how the cranes travel so far to reach their destination spot. Also how they have to adjust to the environment so fast because some of them might have never stopped around here and this might be some of the birds first journeys in life. It also is amazing how the birds can fly so far to their winter and summer homes. I also wonder how the birds know were to go, is it god leading them, I believe it is. I also am curious how the birds know if there is a predator in the area. And how they only land in certain places. I believe God is guiding them.

That’s how I see god, how he helps the incredible bird accomplish the journey of life.

David Roach

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,