Thursday, December 24

John Wilkinson, Pastor

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

There are many iconic images in the story of the birth of Jesus. We have been focusing on hospitality, so the utter lack of hospitality here is striking. And yet—God finds a way. The Israelites wander for forty years—God finds a way. Mary and Joseph travel from place to place so that Mary can give birth—God finds a way.

I often like to think of those unnamed characters in the Bible. TV and movies depict some for us—the people who said “we have no room,” and the one who finally said something to the effect that “we have no room, but there’s a little place out back, where we shelter our animals. It’s better than nothing, I suppose.” God finds a way.

This Advent and Christmas is about many things. It is at least about hospitality. And it works in both directions.

God welcomes us in, from whatever our wanderings may be, physically, spiritually, emotionally. God welcomes us in and provides for us a place in God’s grace, room in God’s mercy, a manger in God’s hospitality.

And because God welcomes us in, we may do the same for and with others. That may mean people we will never meet on the other side of the globe in Kenya, or New Orleans, a child or family we support in one of our programs. It may mean a visitor to worship who we welcome (setting aside our tendencies not to do those kinds of things!). It may be re-connecting with someone we haven’t connected with in awhile. It may be a friend or family member with whom our relationship has been strained.

And it may be the extraordinarily good news that God’s hospitality welcomes you. “You are accepted,” Paul Tillich once preached. God finds a way, this Christmas story reminds us. God finds a way to welcome you and me and all of God’s children to a manger filed with grace and hope, hospitality and love.

My prayer is that whatever hospitality you receive and give on this holy night, and all the holy moments to follow, that it will be blessed by God. May the spirit for the Christ child welcome you home, and may your Christmas be blessed. Amen.

Wednesday, December 23

Amy Stratton-Smith, Elder

The notion of hospitality conjures my earliest recollections of growing up in a manse, where my parents hosted a steady stream of visitors, guests, family, and friends. My mother taught me early that hospitality is sharing what you have. Not waiting until the laundry’s done, the furniture dusted, the papers all neatly filed, or the toys put away.

“Don’t wait until you have matching dishes, a larger table, or a bigger paycheck.” Something like that, anyway. “Invite people over NOW, don’t wait. Share what you have, and enjoy it,” she told me.

That’s also what she showed me all the years I was growing up. Parties for returning college students at Christmas, with candles glowing beneath their halos, a fondue pot simmering with little hot dogs in sweet and sour sauce, and laughter everywhere. Cranberry juice and ginger ale punch served in the church’s exquisite antique painted punchbowl, china as delicate as an eggshell, and entrusted to my mother’s care by the matriarchs of the church. Spontaneous lunches for guests after church with simple sandwiches served on her wedding china, and tea served in featherweight china cups with saucers. “Don’t save it, use it!” is her motto. Done with love and an artist’s flair for the elegant and dramatic.

The spirit of love and freedom for creative expression are at the heart of hospitality: honoring a guest with a piece of your heart, the warmth of your hand, and a genuine desire to make space in your life for another’s cares and burdens. Meeting over a shared slice of bread and a cup of hot tea, offering what you have and who you are, inviting mutual transformation and connection…

Advent is an annual reminder of the daily invitation to prepare our hearts for receiving the birth of a humble infant. It is the invitation to allow love to be born and grow within us, enlarging our concerns beyond our immediate surroundings, extending our compassion as far as the mind can imagine and the heart stretch.

Again and again, with what we have and who we are—right now!

Dear Lord, help us to welcome you into our lives, just as we are, so that we may reach out to others with love and compassion. Free us from the fears and concerns that cause us to hold back and shy away from where you are inviting us to go. Help us to trust your love for us, and give us courage to embrace each other with a deep and sincere spirit of hospitality. Amen.

Tuesday, December 22

Beth Struever, Deacon

Welcome!

The core of Hospitality is the ability to make welcome. To give to another an experience of inclusion and acceptance, with just a pinch of delight!

The recipe for authentic welcome is simple. Eye contact, a genuine smile, appropriate physical touch, words spoken directly and with sincerity. Contact!

We know without a doubt when we’ve experience welcome regardless of how it’s expressed. I love the song from the musical Oliver:

Consider yourself well in.
Consider yourself part of the furniture…

Jesus taught welcome by parable, by directive, and by model. Think of the welcome given by the anxious father to his prodigal son. Remember the words the king says to the chosen ones at his right hand. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35). And Jesus himself, after his resurrection appeared to his disciples offering them a hot breakfast after a long night of fishing.

Welcome is equally wonderful whether given or received. If our hearts are open, we can be available for both experiences. God’s welcome is always present and unlimited.

“No more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home” (Hymn 172, My Shepherd Will Supply My Need).

Monday, December 21

Jane Carden, Youth Ministry Coordinator

“Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers” (Romans 12:13).

The work schedule was finally posted. And tears were brimming in my eyes. Our first Christmas as a family and I was ‘stuck’ working the 7 to 3 shift at a local nursing home. My husband tried to reassure me. “It’s perfect, we’ll celebrate when you get home.” But in my mind, it wasn’t. The turkey wouldn’t be cooking all day. Family wouldn‘t be arriving. I wasn‘t going to enjoy the sights and sounds of the day. Instead, I dwelled on the negative. I was not easy to live with.

I trudged off to work that December 25th with a scowl on my face and a determination to be miserable. I pulled into the unplowed parking lot. “Great,” I thought, “even the snow plow guys get to be home on Christmas morning.”

But then I saw them, two elderly sisters with two black garbage bags between them at the front door of the facility. They weren’t regular visitors. But it was Christmas and many visitors were expected.

“Can I help you?” I asked. “We’re here to help you,” they replied. My face must have registered confusion because they shared this story.

Their older brother had been a past resident. Each Christmas day that he was in residence, the family brought the celebration to him, to One West. “He’s always hosted,” they explained. The family brought everything from caroling to dinner to gifts. It was an all afternoon affair for them and usually included a stray resident or two. Although Christmas is a visitor laden day in the nursing home, the sisters noticed… there were residents who had no visitors at all.

And so a tradition began. Each December 26th the sisters begin. They sew, they knit, they crochet… blankets, slippers, shawls. On Christmas morning, they ring the bell to get the attention of someone and then they leave.

“The warmth of the Savior is for everyone!” they shared., “Deliver them with love,” they pointed to the bags at my feet and left to attend Mass.

It transformed my disposition instantly, filling me with joy. I whistled as I passed meds, I sang carols as I helped with showers; I shared stories as I helped with meals. And when the gifts were passed around that day, I remember thinking what a gift it was to be working on Christmas.

Gracious God, Just as Mary and Joseph welcomed everyone to the stable that night, help us we extend that same warm welcome to everyone, family and strangers alike. Help us to remember, we are blessed to be a blessing. Amen.

December 20: The Fourth Sunday in Advent

A Prayer for Caregivers by the Rev Jean Parker Vail

O “God unseen yet ever near,” help us to make evident your nearness to those with whom we minister. Empower us to make our caring for others a true reflection of our love for you. When we reach forth our hands to touch, let our fingers transmit your gentleness and healing love. When we part our lips to speak, let our words convey the constancy of your knowing. When we open our hearts to embrace, may the arms of your love reach through us to cradle the helpless, to strengthen the feeble, to caress the hurting, to celebrate all life as beginning and ending in you. Amen.

(From Women’s Uncommon Prayers, Morehouse Publishing, 2000)

Friday, December 18

Marilyn Scheftic, Elder

Thinking on Hospitality: My experience serving on Dining Room Ministries continues to be very rewarding. As we welcome our friends and neighbors into our home for a warm meal, we realize that we receive so much more in return.

Being able to reach out and connect with our friends has taught me that we are all in need of nurturing. We are as grateful for their friendship as they are for food they receive!

Dear Lord, help us do our best to welcome old and new friends into our hearts and homes. Amen.

Thursday, December 17

Martha Tollers, Elder

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to announce these things to you in the churches: I am descended from the family of David; I am the bright morning star. Everyone who hears this must also say, ‘Come!’ Come whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it” (Revelation: 22:16–17)

From the old hymn Whosoever Will by Philip Bliss:

“Whosoever heareth,” shout, shout the sound!
Spread the blessed tidings all the world around;
Tell the joyful news wherever man is found,
“Whosoever will may come.”

Jesus invites and welcomes: he commands that we do the same. He clearly tells us to hear, accept the water of life and to share this gift with “whoever wants it.”

A tiny baby was born. A gentle man was crucified. A welcoming God invites.

Loving God, thank you for the invitation to share in the gift of life in you. May we cherish and share the good news of your son, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, December 16

Chris Lenti, Associate Director of Music

“See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them and they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them”
(Revelation 21:3).

Advent is the time we reflect on Jesus, Emmanuel, “God with Us.” We wait for the coming of Jesus Emmanuel realizing that at the moment of his birth on earth, all creation was transformed forever. God came and dwelt on the earth in the midst of creation.

This year at Third Church our focus for Advent is hospitality. The Bibles says that God’s home is among his peoples. God is not off in some remote part of the universe, but dwells among us. The realization of God’s love and presence among us inspires us to reach out to share the power of this love with others.

Advent can help us understand that God’s love reaches far beyond our human institutions, such as the church. It is not restrained by any human limits. It embraces people from long ago and far away. Our hospitality should extend to all, just as God’s dwells with all his “peoples.”

Loving God, helps us to reach out in love to all just as you reached out to us by dwelling with us in the person of Jesus “Emmanuel”. Amen.

Tuesday, December 15

Peg Strite, Deacon

One of my favorite hymns is an old one that's not in our hymnal anymore. The first verse describes an opportunity for hospitality.

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown
when Thou camest to earth for me.
But in Bethlehem's home, there was found no room
for Thy holy nativity.

Oh come to my heart Lord Jesus
There is room in my heart for Thee.

The final two lines are repeated at the end of each verse. They're inspiring and easy to sing, but always make me ask the question, “How do I make them real in my life?”

How would you?

Loving God, please guide us by your Holy Spirit to welcome Jesus into out hearts this Advent season and always. In His name we pray. Amen.

Monday, December 14

Martha Langford, Associate Pastor for Congregational Care

“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High…” (Luke 1:30-32).

In the Iona Community resource Cloth for the Cradle, Mary ponders, “who am I to be the mother, to give my womb at heaven’s behest, to let my body be the hospice and God the guest?”
What a thought! The Christ child arrives through the hospitality of Mary’s womb.

Yet, Mary is not alone in this hospitality. The child is also welcomed by Joseph’s choice. If Joseph had dismissed a visibly pregnant Mary from the engagement—even “quietly”—mother and child would have been at risk of death by stoning.

Mary shelters the child with her body, risking her life. Joseph shelters the child with his honor, risking his name. Both shelter the Christ with their obedience to God.

So, I take another look at those Christmas cards and ponder the manger scene and I wonder... How will we be obedient to God and take up the selfless welcome that marked the Advent of our Lord?

Blessed God, guide us as we seek to embody the welcome that Mary and Joseph gave to your son. Give us grace to be a people of selfless invitation in an inhospitable world. Amen.

December 13: The Third Sunday in Advent

A Prayer for Advent by Harry Emerson Fosdick

Eternal Spirit, into the calm of thy presence we bring our restless lives. Silence the too great noise of our living. Quiet the turmoil of our stormy spirits. Smooth the irritations of our vexed hearts. Let quietness and responsiveness open our doors to thee…

…Speak to us in our hopes and our ideals, we pray thee. Save us from conformity with the low standards of the world. Grant us higher thoughts of Christ’s purpose for us, a nobler philosophy of life’s meaning, loftier goals for our devotion, worthier aims for our aspiration. Because we have worshipped thee here, may the character and mission of Jesus… grow vivid in our thought. Beget hope in us that, by thy grace, we may rise above our meaner selves, outgrow our littleness, and render some Christlike service to the world.

…Speak to us through the need of the world, we pray thee. We believe in thee, but how can we believe in [humanity]? The corruption of [human] life, the viciousness and violence of [human] deeds, tempt us to disgust and cynicism. Create in us fresh faith… Help us to look on men and women with the merciful eyes of Christ… Send us out from our worship restored in confidence that justice can conquer greed, that peace can overcome war, that love is stronger than hate, that life is mightier than death. We pray in thy name. Amen.

(Adapted from A Book of Public Prayers, Harper & Brothers, 1959)

Friday, December 11

Kathy Wise, Deacon

Thinking on Hospitality: Quite a number of years ago, our family of three left Cooperstown on Labor Day heading back to Rochester. At that time, all restaurants closed on that morning since the tourist trade ended abruptly.

We were looking for a place to eat lunch but could not find an open restaurant. On the way out of town, we saw a sign for a Cooperstown country club and drove down the long, winding driveway hoping that the clubhouse would be open for business.

The club was not open to the public that day since a large family had gathered there for a private family reunion. Yet, instead of turning us away, they welcomed us, insisted we eat there, and made us special sandwiches. They did not accept our offer of payment. We were the recipients of true hospitality and we have never forgotten this lunch.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…” (Matthew 25:35).

Thursday, December 10

Dot Taylor, Deacon Co-Moderator

Nowhere in the Bible do we find the words “God helps those who help themselves.”

Hebrews 13:2 and Matthew 25:35 challenge our traditional ideas of hospitality which too often focus on the virtues of “privacy” and “self reliance.” St Paul urges us to “...to show hospitality to strangers, for by this, some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13:2).

We do this by reaching beyond our own comfortable world and familiar friends. Through joining with others in programs such as RAIHN, the Dining Room Ministry, or RH2NO, we expand our “safe” world. Even on our own, we can extend God's love to strangers by simple, open-hearted acts of kindness and hospitality.

We do this because Christ loves us, not because someone has “earned” it. Strangers who need us are all around us. As Jesus said,

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in” (Matt 25:35).

Wednesday, December 9

Betty Iwan, Elder

In her final book, Just Hospitality: God’s Welcome in a World of Difference, Yale Professor Letty Russell “advanced the metaphor of hospitality as a useful tool for Christian interaction with a world of ‘riotous difference.’ Far beyond the image of church ladies laying out coffee and donuts for an after-church reception, just hospitality is a radical welcoming of the ‘others,’ a full recognition of the humanity of people who are particularly different than oneself or one’s homogenous ‘category.’... Just as God welcomes all people to God’s table, Christians must imitate this broad acceptance, both welcoming and being welcomed.” (Quoted from a review by Kate A.K. Blakely published7/17/2009 in The Englewood Review of Books)

I met Letty Russell at the first More Light Conference of Presbyterians held in Rochester, NY in the early ‘80’s. She was the keynote speaker. I was a member of the organizing team and new to the More Light ministry. I feared that the theme of welcoming gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people to the table was not “exciting” enough to draw a respectable number of participants. How wrong I was!

People were hungry to hear from Letty that the church must welcome GLBT persons into its life and ministry if it is to be a faithful follower of Christ. This was exciting and radical news indeed to many who had been told that the Presbyterian Church did not welcome them and their gifts.

Thirty years later, we are still trying to get it right. We are still trying to amend the Presbyterian Book of Order so that it reflects “just hospitality” for all people. Letty gave us all hope that the church could change. I am sorry that she did not live long enough to witness that change when it comes.

Dear radical and loving God, you welcome all people to your table. You do not discriminate based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation or any other human condition. We should not either. Help us in our own lives and in our religious and secular institutions to imitate your “radical welcoming” of “others.” Amen.

Tuesday, December 8

Dale Maddock, Elder

Years ago, when my daughters were young, we would come from Buffalo to visit my parents in the small town they lived in. The house was nothing special, but for the girls, they looked forward to being on the front porch with their grandfather. They would chit-chat together and watch people walk by.

One of those people was a tall slender man, in his forties perhaps. He came down the street with difficulty. There had been an accident in his youth that left him unable to walk without a cane—the kind with the four leg extensions. The sidewalk was uneven and broken. Each day he walked past my parent’s house, from where and to where I do not know.

It turned out he also was unable to speak clearly. Frequently he would stop at the house, come up to the porch, and visit with my dad. My daughters were fascinated with it all. To this day they comment how my dad would listen to this young man, they would smile and laugh. It was clear that being accepted as a person like anyone else was not his normal experience.

The girls asked my dad once what the man’s name was. He had no idea, but for over five years they visited like old friends. Sometimes they just sat together on the porch and said nothing.

Sometimes hospitality demands we step out of our comfort zone… to be offered to strangers and not just friends. In our spiritual life, the church commands us to be hospitable as if our acts were done for Jesus.

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” Hebrews 13:2.

Monday, December 7

Peter DuBois, Director of Music/Organist

“Savior of the nations, come, Virgin’s Son, make here Your home. Marvel now, O heaven and earth, That the Lord chose such a birth” (Hymn 14: text by Ambrose of Milan, 4th century; paraphrased by Martin Luther, 1524).

Here we are in the second week of Advent already, and by now we’ve probably all been bombarded by upbeat, sell-all-you-can, Christmas music for over a month now! Of course no one loves Christmas music more than I, but the longer I live, the more I need that time of preparation and reflection that the words and music of Advent offer.

It’s hard to place ourselves in the position of those who had not yet received the Messiah, to know the depth and breadth of their longing. But if we cultivate our sense of wonder, hinted at in the ancient words above, we can step back a bit, and reflect on the totally unexpected—yet longed-for—appearance of Emmanuel, God-With-Us.

With the ubiquity of Christmas all around us, it is ever more important, in the words of that great carol, that “every heart prepare Him room.” That’s what Advent is about, and without that preparation, we can’t be fully ready to receive the Gift.

Dear God, help us to step back from the hustle and bustle of the season around us to wonder, with those of long ago, at the marvelous-ness of Your coming among us. And help us to prepare our hearts for receiving the greatest Gift of all. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

December 6: The Second Sunday in Advent

Church of Scotland Invitation to the Lord’s Supper

Come to the table not because you are strong, but because you understand something of your own weakness.Come to the table not because you feel worthy, but because you have a sense of your own unworthiness; come not because you love God a lot, but because you love God a littleand want to learn to love God more.

(By William Barclay, from Worship Now: A Collection of Services and Prayer for Public Worship, St. Andrew’s Press, 1972)

Friday, December 4

Chris Bensch, Clerk of Session

“With one mind they kept up their daily attendance at the temple, and, breaking bread in private houses, shared their meals with unaffected joy, as they praised God and enjoyed the favor of the whole people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those whom he was saving” Acts 2:46-47.

As someone who loves to cook for others, this passage from Acts caught my attention. In fact, it sounds like daily worship and the shared meals are equally important in building up the early Christian community. Over the years, I’ve offered meals as a particular form of Christian hospitality. For a while, I prepared monthly congregational lunches for a church in Utica. Most recently, I’ve been baking for Dining Room Ministry. Giving hospitality in the form of meals feels “right” to me and part of fulfilling my calling.

But receiving hospitality can be harder for me to do. For several years, I provided occasional rides to church for a woman in my neighborhood. She was visually impaired and I was glad to assist in this modest way. So when she invited me to dinner at her apartment as thanks for my transportation, my first thought was, “She doesn’t need to do that.” I told myself that her limited finances shouldn’t be forced to extend to feeding me. But that’s when I recognized that what I really needed to do was accept her gift of hospitality. I’d been comfortable as a hospitality “giver,” but it was only through the power of the Holy Spirit that I came to see that receiving hospitality could hold its own special form of blessing.

Gracious God, bless us as we give hospitality and when we receive hospitality. Show us the ways that each can be a way of living out our Christ-centered faith. Amen.

Thursday, December 3

Becky D’Angelo Vietch, Coordinator for Children’s Ministries and Congregational Fellowship

Every Christmas, I do lots of baking. I have pared it down, but I still do a lot of baking—cut-outs, my Great Grandma Meta’s gingery “Brittles”, pizzelle’s using Grandma D’Angelo’s old pizelle iron, and usually some new recipe I have seen in a magazine.

We bake and decorate and bake and decorate. We eat some, but, let’s be honest; there are only so many cookies a family of four can really eat!

My mom bakes as much as I do, maybe more, so I can’t bring the cookies there for Christmas dinner (besides, there is usually pie...) so, somewhere around January 10th, I toss them out with regret.

“I hate to see these go to waste... I wish I had thought to bring them to book club or give them to the elderly couple next door...” It helps me understand the phrase, “an embarrassment of riches.”

How are we like this with the gospel? Do you ever attend a wonderful worship or fellowship event only to think afterwards; “Oh, I wish I would have invited our new neighbor to that.” Christmas is a time of giving and sharing, but also a time of welcoming and inviting. I invite you to consider how you might show hospitality and welcome to others this season.

Wednesday, December 2

Rod Perry, Elder

Thinking on Hospitality... Hospitality to me means room in your heart to welcome others. It is not necessarily a home or a house, but an accepting openness within our selves. When we open our heart we can see the spark that lights the other person, the divine that is in everyone. It is perhaps only a smile that warms the moment or a deep searching that blends our souls in ways we had never expected.

We may find in the opened heart new ways of thinking about something, or a solution to a perplexity, or simply a warm feeling that flows from the energy of the empathy we have created. It is not risk-free, this opening of the heart, for it can lead down uncharted paths that open to new alarms or old regrets. It requires a faith that any trust will be upheld and that any danger is only a shiver at the draft when we open our heart’s door. But unless we risk opening, we will not know the infinite variety that God has created in our world.

Tuesday, December 1

Beth Laidlaw, Deacon

The first chapter of John’s gospel describes Jesus’ entrance into an inhospitable world:

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” John 1:10-11.

I continue to marvel at how, set in my own patterns of thinking, I do not recognize others, let alone give them comfort. In addition, John gives a description of Christ’s amazing hospitality:

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God” John 1:12.

Lord, this Advent season, help me to see those around me who I take to be invisible. And help me to prepare comfort at my work, my home, and my table for your children who are newly visible to me. Amen

Monday, November 30

Rod Frohman, Associate Pastor for Church in Society

“While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6-7).

The main New Testament word for “hospitality” is philoxenia—the love of the stranger. Thus the absence of a place to stay for Mary and Joseph at the time of Jesus’ birth was a gross violation of Semitic hospitality.

The ministry of Jesus is key link between Jewish antiquity and the New Testament theology and practice of hospitality within the early church. In the gospels, Jesus’ ministry of unconditional hospitality toward the outcast—the diseased, the stranger, the victims—transformed the ancient Semitic practice of temporary guest-kinship of the stranger into permanent status as kinspeople in the household of God.

The early church regarded hospitality as almost a sacramental ministry because it sprang from its source in Christ who is simultaneously the host, the stranger, and the guest as illustrated in the Easter, Emmaus Road, story (Luke 24).

Interestingly, although all early Christians were urged to be hospitable, early church leaders who had the financial and physical resources to provide and conduct hospitality could emerge as church officials, even bishops (I Timothy 3:2). There was an elaborate culture of hospitality adopted and adapted by the early church such as:

• Soliciting guest on street (Matthew 22 & Luke 14);
• Polite refusal and insistent host (Matthew 22, Acts16:15);
• Washing of feet (Luke 7:38, John 12:3);
• Greet guest in peace (Matthew 10:12, Luke 10:5;) and
• With a kiss (Luke 7: 45, Romans 16:16).

To extend hospitality to the stranger, as we do in our RAIHN program, is to receive Christ as a guest. In other words, we see in our homeless neighbor the Christ who is the bearer of salvation. Therefore when we host the homeless person, we confirm not our own goodness, but the goodness of God. When the homeless Christ enters our life, we receive grace, that is, the possibility of life itself.

Holy God, your desire to sojourn with us on our journey is never rude, but lovingly persistent. May our hearts be open to your gentle request to be your home. Amen

November 29: The First Sunday in Advent

A Collect by Lavon Bayler

Direct our attention, O God, above the turmoil of our times, beyond the distress of human greed. We look for signs that you realm is near, that your Word rules the world. Free us from the weight of heavy cares to bear your joyous truth into our relationships. Join us together in a spirit of thanksgiving and earnest prayer.

(From Gathered by Love, Pilgrim Press, 2001)

Easter Sunday, April 12

Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed. John 20:8


This Easter morning is not an ending point, but a beginning point. And more so, it is most truly a point of continuation, the continuing story of God’s great love for the world and all of God’s people, and the story of God’s people seeking to live into that life-affirming, love-affirming promise with every breath they breathe and every action they take.

Tell the story, a friend of mine says, and get out of the way. Here it seems to be. People show up, and are surprised and transformed by the news of the empty tomb. They encounter the risen Christ, and are empowered to love the world on his behalf.

Place yourself in the middle of the story. Perhaps you are Peter. Perhaps Thomas. Perhaps even Mary – at the center of it all, whose transformation following her encounter with the risen Christ is the stuff of which true faithfulness is made. Place yourself in the middle of the story. And then place yourself in the middle of all of the rest of us doing the same thing. Call it a resurrection community, an Easter community, an alternative community of love. You are a member of it. We all are.

If we pay attention to the action of the story, we will be left with a kind of breathless mandate. To live life as if this good news matters. To live life as if we matter to its telling. It does. We do. Christ is risen, we say with the ancient church and every seeker and follower since. Christ is risen indeed. Thanks be to God.

John Wilkinson, Pastor

Saturday, April 11

Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” John 18:37–38a


Pilate questioned Jesus after his arrest. He knew the right questions to ask, but was puzzled with the answers. The accused criminal, pretender to the throne, didn’t claim kingship; instead, Jesus claimed to bear witness to “the truth.”

We live in an age where “truth” claims seem relative. We are aware that personal and cultural experiences shape understanding. Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” has the ring of modernity to it.

Truth—fact, reality, certainty, accuracy, veracity, fidelity—the truth to which Jesus witnessed was the being and demeanor of God. Jesus showed us God’s steadfast loving kindness and God’s desire to redeem the world so that we might love God and one another.

“In life and in death, we belong to God…” these words begin an Affirmation of Faith. We belong to God, we belong to the truth, and we belong with those who listen to Jesus’ voice and study his life and seek his witness.


Gracious God, I belong to you. Help me seek your truth through the life of your Son. Strengthen me in the life of discipleship so that I might love you and all your people ever more deeply. Amen.

Martha Langford, Associate Pastor for Congregational Care

Good Friday, April 10

“They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” John 19:38

Crucifixion is about the most inhumane way to execute a person, if execution is humane at all. There are several ancient, as well as modern traditions, in the Christian Church which focus dramatically on the wounds of Jesus and attempt to re-enact them, as if somehow by repetition we can make the original crucifixion more powerful, more effective. These folk are groping for the power and the mystery of the pierced Jesus.

Of course we do recognize the brokenness of Jesus in the breaking of the bread at every Lord’s Supper. We say, “This is my body, broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.” We eat the broken bread to symbolize that the broken and pierced body of Christ is transformative for us. In some of the resurrection narratives the disciples are bidden to touch the wounds of Jesus and be transformed

There is great theological and artistic interest in the wounds of Jesus, from St. Paul to Michelangelo’s Pieta. But a core Christian affirmation is that the wounds were enough. Neither Jesus nor we have to be re-wounded in order to satisfy some sort of cosmic, political or personal transaction. One crucifixion is enough. No more bloodshed is needed. In Christ’s death the war is over. Christ’s wounds are sufficient to overcome all hurt, pain and evil. The strange paradox is that we can look at the wounds of Jesus and our political, personal and cosmic wounds can be healed.

This is why we remember his wounds again, today.


Holy God, we present our wounded selves before you this day: wounded by disease, social circumstances, environmental conditions, love relationships and doubts about the future. We look for healing and wholeness. Keep us, O God, from further wounding ourselves, others and the natural environment. May we somehow understand that you were "wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and by your stripes we are healed." Amen

Rod Frohman, Associate Pastor for Church and Society

Maundy Thursday, April 9

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. John 13:3-5


I picked this day to “blog” because of the power and meaning of this day to all of us who believe in Jesus Christ. We come to the day, Maundy Thursday, when Jesus gathers with his disciples for the final time. John says that Jesus knew his fate, knew his betrayer, and yet his love for them kept him calm and in control. And then he did an astonishing thing—“he got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet…..”

How could Jesus perform this act which at the time was considered so degrading? M. Scott Peck felt it was one of the most signicant events of Jesus’ life. “Until that moment the whole point of things had been for someone to get on top, and once he had gotten on top to stay on top or else attempt to get farther up. But here this man already on top—who was rabbi, teacher, master—suddenly got down on the bottom and began to wash the feet of his followers. In that one act, Jesus symbolically overturned the whole social order. Hardly comprehending what was happening, even his own disciples were almost horrified by his behavior”.

Why do we call this day Maundy Thursday? Jesus asks of us three things:
Baptize others, share the bread and wine which represents body and blood, and literally wash one another’s feet. While this is not very feasible in our culture we can show the same caring by our love. Maundy is derived from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos” which translates, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). These words are chanted during the Mandatum ceremony of the washing of the feet held in many Christian churches. In washing his disciple’s feet, Jesus expressed without words his love to his disciples and to us. No more powerful way could have been chosen.


Dear God, Help us to be more like Jesus. May we see ways that our love can make a difference for others each and every day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Elder Kay Ramsay

Wednesday, April 8

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty? Isaiah 50:4-9a


How often are our ears closed, and likewise, our spirits? Convinced that we have all the answers we become rigid and inflexible. Like the prophet, we need ears that are opened afresh each day, to hear something new in God’s Word and be expanded and transformed by what we hear. In such a dynamic relationship with God, we hope for the wisdom to speak words capable of sustaining the weary around us. It’s not an easy task, and we must expect challenge. We need the prophet’s confidence to stand firm in the face of adversity, unshaken by criticism and mockery, even insult, sure of God’s faithful help to the end. With God’s help, human efforts to disgrace and shame cannot prevail.

Elder Amy Stratton-Smith

Tuesday, April 7

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light." After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. John 12:20-36


In these verses of the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals to some Greeks that he will be soon be crucified. He admonishes them to believe in the light while he is still present so that they may become children of Christ. Some twenty-one centuries later, each of us is given that same opportunity to believe in the light that is Jesus Christ and thereby to share in the glory of God. May we make the most of that opportunity in our lives.


We pray that the light of Christ will shine in your life this Lenten season and forever more. Amen.

Elder Tomas Klaseus

Monday, April 6

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. Isaiah 42:1

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:1-3


Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s servant as “my chosen, in whom my soul delights”. In Jesus’ lifetime we see Mary demonstrating her devotion to God’s chosen one by anointing His feet with precious oil. This act seems like such a strange custom to us in the 21st century, an odd mixture of humility, intimacy, and reverence—in essence, an experience that speaks to every aspect of our person; one that might indeed, delight the soul!


Dear Lord, You have chosen and anointed your Son as our Savior. So let me also choose to immerse myself in Him, being present to that part of myself which is fully human and fully divine. Amen.

Elder Susan Rupp

Palm Sunday, April 5

... an Invocation for Palm Sunday

This is your day, holy God. Every day belongs to you. We would empty ourselves before you so there will be room for your entrance into our minds and hearts. Our times are in your hands. This precious gift of life is ours, in trust, from you. We give thanks for your steadfast love endures forever. That love, expressed in the life of Jesus, dared to challenge those centers of power that lived by other standards. We come to declare that love today. Reign among us, we pray. Amen.

from Led by Love, by Lavon Bayler

Saturday, April 4

His disciples did not understand these things at first… John 12:16


It is very easy to be critical of the disciples. Though I don’t like the overused term “get it,” clearly the disciples did not “get it” throughout the gospels. And they fail to “get it” as the wild events of Palm Sunday unfold. Or, rather, they “get it” later.

They didn’t get what Jesus was doing, what he was saying. They didn’t get their role in the entire drama.

But here’s the thing—they are us. Through and through the gospels, the disciples are our surrogates. And rather than get worked up over what they, or we, don’t get, we should be assured that they eventually do. The gospels were never written for their own sake, but rather to pass down to generations to follow, with the absolute presumption that it would take hard communal work to comprehend.

It is not so much that we are thick. It is that we are human. So even now, on this day before Palm Sunday as we think about what happens tomorrow and the next seven days, let’s not worry so much about our precise comprehension. Let’s be there to experience things, and trust the Spirit of God to teach us what we need to know.


O God, give us a Spirit of wisdom, that as we approach Jerusalem and Holy Week, we may understand what you would have us understand, and follow where you lead. Amen.

John Wilkinson, Pastor

Friday, April 3

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!” John 12:12-13

Jerusalem was a very crowded place. Religious pilgrims had already begun flooding the city in preparation for the Passover. Herders would be clogging the streets with the many sacrificial animals—lambs and calves—required for this High Holy Festival. The Roman Governor, Pilate was in town with extra troops to keep a lid on sectarian violence and potential riots; that made Jerusalem a very dangerous place to greet a new “King of Israel.”

We can’t know exactly what drew out the crowds, the text doesn’t say. We can’t know exactly what the people expected of Jesus when they began to wave the branches and call him a king. But, we do know that their first cry, “Hosanna” was a cried-aloud prayer for salvation.

I picture the palm branches that lined the muddy street, forgotten after being trampled underfoot and I wonder… What does salvation look like?

On this day, perhaps, it looked like a parochial parade with a man riding a donkey. We know that a few short days later, it would look much different and I wonder… Did Jesus walk over any of those crushed, forgotten fronds on his way to the cross?


Almighty God, when I bless your holy name, free me from my limited expectations to glimpse your uncontainable majesty. When I cry to you for salvation, free me from my limited expectations to experience the wonder of your redeeming love. When I consider your claim on my life, free me from my limited expectations to live as one who knows this Jesus whom the crowds proclaimed king. Amen.

Martha Langford, Associate Pastor for Congregational Care

Thursday, April 2

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" John 12: 12-13


It is an ironic triumph, this Palm Sunday story. Ancient monarchs were supposed to ride on a white, military horse. King Jesus comes on a donkey riding for peace. And what does he get? Coronation? No, he is betrayed, isolated, tortured and killed. Some triumph! The irony of Palm Sunday is that our Savior does not save us from death, pain, trouble, or failure. Instead he comes and dies exactly the death each of us will die. It is hard for us to understand that is only in the powerless dying of Christ that we are given power to understand our own deaths, pain, troubles, and failure. In Jesus we do not find a way out of the human condition, rather we find a way through. Strangely, God works out purpose in our lives not by parades, but by crosses.


Holy God, we all seek to control our own destiny. Give us the insight in the coming holy week to understand power made perfect in weakness. Amen

Roderic Frohman, Associate Pastor for Church in Society

Wednesday, April 1

…so they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel...” John 12:13


Palm Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays – or days – of the year. I love the celebratory feeling of gathering together with palms waving over head, singing “Hosanna!” I love all of the music associated with Palm Sunday and the anticipation that the day seems to bring to all. Even though we know that the most somber of days lies just ahead, Palm Sunday always feels so full of promise. This verse speaks to that promise and reminds us that our tradition of passing out and waving palms overhead is rooted in a seemingly spontaneous reaction of a crowd of people in Jerusalem, two thousands years ago as they greeted the biggest “celebrity” of their time. Here, in the person of Jesus, was their promise of hope for a better future; they couldn’t contain themselves as they joyously greeted his arrival into their midst. The promise of hope for a better future is still just as irresistible to us, some two thousand years later.


Dear Lord – may be always maintain our hope for a better future, and may we trust that through our belief in you, that future will be here for us. Amen.

Deacon Melanie Ward

Tuesday, March 31

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. John 12:12


What were their expectations? What did people expect to see, to experience, when they gathered to see Jesus? What were their hopes as they waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna”?

Some wanted a religious savior, to purify their faith and to make things right. Others wanted a political or military leader, who would restore what was wrong. Others must have had more personal expectations – seeking restoration, healing, something authentic.

What are your expectations when you attend a big event with a large crowd? A political rally, ball game, rock concert? I think you want to be changed or moved in some way, but also to feel as if your presence makes a difference.

We are thinking about Jesus a great deal as we approach Holy Week, and rightly so. But think about your own expectations as you think about the expectations we place on him.

And then show up – and see what happens.


Loving God, Jesus is approaching Jerusalem and so are we. Transform our expectations – of him and of us – that as we wave palm branches and shout “hosanna” we may know him and ourselves in new ways. Amen.

John Wilkinson, Pastor

Monday, March 30

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. John 12:12


I wonder about this great crowd. Here we have Jesus. Everyone knew about this man—they all wanted to see him, to hear him, to touch and encounter him. And yet, he is not a universally beloved figure at this point. The authorities are itching for a reason... any reason...

And here we have this great crowd. They have come to see this man—to shout hosanna and line the streets. History has allowed us to peek into the future and know that things will change dramatically. So what was it like to be a part of that great crowd on that day? Did they shout “Hosanna” with full abandon, or was there uneasiness in the pit of their stomachs?


Loving God, take us to Jerusalem. Bring us into the story and allow us to feel the great joy, the deep sadness and the elation that this season brings. Amen.

Becky D’Angelo-Veitch, Coordinator of Children’s Ministries and Congregational Life

Sunday, March 29

a prayer for Sunday...

Lord Jesus Christ,
you called your disciples to go forward with you
on the way to the cross.

Since you first walked that road
countless millions have followed you.

In all that we do as your disciples,
save us from false familiarity with your journey.
May we never presume to step into your shoes,
but make us small enough to fit our own,
and to walk in love and wonder behind you.
AMEN.

from Stages on the Way a publication from the Iona Community Wild Goose Worship Group.

Saturday. March 28

Blessed are the undefiled… who walk in the law of the LORD.... I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. Psalm 119:1, 7


These verses for me reflect both praise and trust. We admire and praise those who can and do perfectly follow the ways of the Lord. For the rest of us, which is probably nearly all of us, we trust in God that when we do fail to follow consistently God’s way that God will deal with us justly and forgivingly. And we need to thank God for such grace by trying again to live as we have been taught.

Such in my view is the human condition. Within all of us, irrespective of race, ethnic background, religion or culture, there are times when we reach out to others consistent with God’s laws and ways. Yet, there are other times when we completely fail to do as God would have us do.


Lord, help us to do our best to find you, to keep your words in our heart, to obey you and reject the temptations to be other than we should be in your sight. Amen.

Elder Sue Locke

Friday, March 27

"If anyone serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant also be; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him." John 20:26


How do we follow and serve Jesus? What is He asking of us? How do we proceed in a world so overwhelmed with human violence and misery? Perhaps we must look for Him in all the colorful and varied faces of the world, in the young and the old, in the poor, the hungry, and the homeless, whether here in Rochester, New Orleans, Kenya, or in places we have yet to encounter. He is also there, in the faces of our families and others who share our daily lives.


Gracious God, Help us to see Jesus in the faces of all your people and help us to serve you by responding with respect and love for each one. Help us to share of ourselves and our resources so we may spread, in ever widening circles, the love you gave to us in your son, Jesus. Amen

Elder Susan Spaulding

Thursday, March 26

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put anew and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm 51:1-12


Several years ago a friend of a friend of mine came to the Sunday school class I was teaching and shared her Jewish faith and traditions surrounding Passover and the Jewish Seder. The children were full of questions and Rachel was full of answers. And her answers were in the form of stories. One story has stuck with me. Rachel called it the Spring Super Clean!

Every year Jews spend the weeks before Passover thoroughly cleaning their houses to remove every morsel of chametz [breads containing leavening] from every part of the home. My friend, Rachel looks forward to it every year. Her sister, her mother, and now her daughters join her in this task. They always start in the kitchen, as she put it, the heart of the home. Every drawer, every cabinet is emptied, swept, scrubbed, relined. Every dish, every glass, every utensil, every piece of silverware was cleaned. Every can, every box, every bag is wiped down. Once the drawer or cabinet is completely cleaned, she tapes it closed to remind her that it’s been clean, but more importantly to keep it chametz free. Once her cabinets and drawers are clean its on to appliances and then floors, windows and sills and the counters not forgetting the cracks and crevices. Each room is cleaned with the same intensity.

Now I’m not the best housekeeper and I don’t particularly like to clean. It’s not on my top ten list of things to do. But every spring when the birds begin to sing and the flowers begin to appear the mood hits and I am inspired to clean, clean, clean. I do some of my best thinking when I clean. During the season of cleaning, I tend to be more introspective, examining relationships… Relationships with my family, my friends, my colleagues, my God. I do a spiritual inventory of sorts. I ask questions like… Have I invited God into every part of my life? Do I recognize God’s voice through the chaos of my daily life? Is my prayer life what it should be? Do I recognize God in everyone I meet? It is always a humbling exercise.


Thank you God that in your grace you offer us all we need to start again. Create in me a clean heart, O God and put a new and right spirit within me. Amen.

Jane Carden, Youth Ministry Coordinator

Wednesday, March 25

You desire truth in the inward being, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Psalm 51:6
I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15


Stories of the Holocaust seem to be infused in popular films and books lately. From the Gournesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to Valkyrie to The Reader, visions of unspeakable evil come into our minds.

I've heard evil defined as a turning away from God... that evil is a human phenomenon born out of a lack of will to seek the good. I see of myself partaking in tiny acts of evil every day: not stopping to help the elderly woman look for her car in Tops parking lot; not relaying to my coworker a compliment I heard about her; putting off a heart-driven and important task (...these were just today...and it is only early afternoon!).

Lent, for me, is about refocusing our hearts and minds on the precious and clear example of goodness that Christ lived.


Dear God, during Lent and always, help us to turn our hearts and minds continually toward you as we retell and relisten to the stories of persecution and evil leading to Christ's death. Amen

Deacon Elizabeth Laidlaw

Tuesday, March 24

You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Psalm 51:6


In this Psalm, which is often part of the Ash Wednesday service, the Psalmist calls us to be honest with ourselves as we stand in God’s presence. We have to understand the truth about ourselves before we can hope to be reconciled to God and to each other. Living an honest, authentic life, without fear, is a high calling for sure. Sometimes we feel we need to wear a mask in order to make our way in this world. We are afraid to show others who we really are, we hide our fears, our weaknesses and our disappointments.

But God challenges us to be liberated and free of fear, to live into the truth and reality of God’s generous grace and forgiveness. The grace that accepts us and forgives us as children of God. For God made us and loves us and redeems us in Jesus Christ. True wisdom is knowing and believing in this grace and the unchanging love of God. This knowing resides in the deepest places in our hearts, the “core” of our beings. And from this “secret heart” we are able to live lives of integrity, hope and thankful service.


Loving God, Help us to truly know the liberating joy and truth of your redeeming love. May we cherish this truth in the “secret” places of our hearts and also let it shine forth in all our actions in the world. Amen.

Christina Lenti, Associate Director of Music

Monday, March 23

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24


In an exercise of science and imagination, the pre-school class planted pumpkin seeds. Small, grubby fingers dimpled the soil in clear, narrow, garden containers. Once the seeds were carefully placed and softly covered, the waiting began.

Excited eyes probed these changeless minature fields with disappointment for the first few days, but then… a speck of green: the very first tendril that heralded something new that is also something very ancient. The plants grew, pushing greenery up and putting roots down until soon it was time to replant. Small hands and watchful eyes looked for the seeds, which had mysteriously disappeared.

The pumpkins that fall were full of seeds, and with breathless excitement, Katherine and Carolyn and Rachel imagined all the pumkins they might grow.

Jesus spoke of his coming crucifixion as a time in which we would be glorified. He gave of his own life in ways that give life to others. As Christ’s followers, we too have the seeds of life inside. I can only imagine with breathless excitement all the disciples those seeds might grow.


Living God, you give us the wonder of seeds and harvest; give us the strength to plant the seeds of life, which come from you, and to gather in the fruits of that planting—people made new by your love. Amen.

Martha Langford, Associate Pastor for Congregational Care

Sunday, March 22

a prayer for Sunday.

Loving God, who sent Jesus to earth to share our common lot and bring eternal life into our midst, help us to believe and to trust. Show us the light of your revelation and help us to welcome its presence into the life of this congregation as we gather and when we scatter to our daily activities. May we consciously represent you in all our deeds so that the world may come to a saving knowledge of your grace. Amen.

from Led by Love worship resources written by Lavon Bayler.

Saturday, March 21

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone that believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3.16


This Bible verse is very familiar-one many of us may have learned as children. And this is the Easter message: that because of God’s great mercy, that though we have sinned, through faith, God’s gift of eternal life is for all who believe.


Creator God, We thank you for life itself, for the gift of your son Jesus, and your gift of eternal life for us. Amen

Deacon Janet Anderson

Friday, March 20

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. John 3:16


When I was a kid, in high school maybe, it seemed to be in vogue for someone to have a huge sign with "JOHN 3:16" written in it at major events. Always in the end zone at football games, in crowds at the olympics, or any big televised gathering. One day (while watching the Bills, no doubt) my sister just got out the Bible and read the verse. I must admit, there was no lightning bolt of grace that changed the way I thought (to the dismay of the guy who painted the sign). As I have grown older and thought about that verse (and even highlighted it in a few third grade Bibles) it strikes me as one of those Biblical phrases that is way too rich for the "bumper-sticker" noteriety it has achieved. This little sentence contains not just a feel-good affirmation, but an under-lying challenge—an obligation—an invitation—and a promise so deep and profound that when you read it—really read it and hear it—it takes your breath away.

So this is grace.


Loving God, this Lenten season, help us to hear your word with new ears, read the story with new eyes, and open our hearts wider to the promises of Christ. Amen.

Becky D'Angelo-Veitch, Coordinator of Children's Ministries and Congregational Life

Thursday, March 19

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephesians 2: 8-10


Well, there it is in black and white right from the Bible. We are saved by grace through faith—not by works. On some level, this basic tenet of the Reformed faith flies in the face of conventional wisdom—the “Protestant work ethic”, if you will. Paul is pretty clear on this—it is not our own doing—it is God’s grace, bestowed upon us through the person of Jesus Christ.

“So why BE good, why DO good?” If we get dessert anyway, why eat the vegetables? If we know we will pass the test, why study? If we know we will cross the finish line, why run the marathon—why not just sneak into a cab? If we know that we have been saved and given eternal life, why are we spending so many hours in this place??

We are here, because, God has prepared THIS to be our way of life. And like so many things in life, the joy of the journey is rich and fruitful. The nutrients of the vegetables, the knowledge gained while studying, the satisfaction of a runner’s sore muscles... and the countless ways that we enrich each other here all are such necessary components of a journey.


Loving God, though we can never be deserving of the gift you have given us, help us to continue to respond with gratitude for our blessings. Amen.

Becky D’Angelo-Veitch, Coordinator of Children’s Ministries and Congregational Life

Wednesday, March 18

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephesians 2:8–10


Grace versus Works: that is how the theological argument has been framed since the first century. One line of thought (somewhat exaggerated) goes, “We have grace, what need have we of good works?”

In the Cost of Discipleship, Deitrich Bonhoffer writes: “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession… Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

Paul puts it like this: Faith in God is God’s gift to us. Salvation by Jesus Christ is God’s gift to us. The Way of discipleship and good works is also God’s gift to us.

Through baptism, we enter a way; we set out on a journey following Christ and seeking God’s purpose for our lives. We are called into communities of faith that share the road with us. We are invited to read and struggle and learn from the biblical witness and from the lives of our fellow travelers. We are called to respond to God’s gracious gifts by orienting our lives toward God and toward others.

Grace begets Works… Now that’s a different conversation, one that asks, “What new thing has God’s grace begun in you?”


Gracious God, thank you for the gift of faith, the gift of salvation, the gift of your way. Thank you for the companions who share this journey. Help us to live out the way of life you prepare for each of us and all of us, a life in Christ that shines forth in our works. Amen.

Martha Langford, Associate Pastor for Congregational Care

Tuesday, March 17

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy. Psalm 107: 21-22


Lent is often regarded as a time to make a sacrifice; for most of us this means giving up something up during the 40 days of waiting for Christ’s Resurrection. Last month at Session we talked of taking something worthwhile on instead. Ten years ago, I attended a Lenten service at Harvard and picked up Peter Gomes’ pamphlet, “How To Keep A Good Lent.” Every year I pull it out and try to follow his three exercises. Each of the three practices requires only fifteen minutes one day each week of Lent.

The first, Silence, is the most difficult for me. I find it hard to quiet my mind, to sit quietly in peace. Meditation has never come easily to me, but I do believe it is a practice worth trying. Second is Study, which comes more easily for me. Each year I choose a book from my shelves and spend time reading (usually more often than once a week, and definitely longer than 15 minutes). I’ve reread books by Frederick Buechner, sermons by Peter Gomes, and writings of Barbara Brown Taylor. Service is the last practice, and most of us are involved in service during the week in one form or another. But this requires a bit more of us, perhaps a letter or a card to someone you know who is ill or having a difficult time. Perhaps spending some time thinking about ways in which you can increase your service to others in the coming year. Or perhaps, as the scripture suggests, finding a way to “tell of [God’s] deeds with songs of joy.” For me, taking on these three practices helps me set Lent apart as a time of preparation.


Holy God, may our Lenten practices enrich our faith and help us sing of your grace and faithfulness. Amen.

Elder Karen Walker

Monday, March 16

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." John 3: 14-15


There is a difference between inscape and landscape. The poet Gerard Manly Hopkins defines “inscape” as the internal “patterns or design” in painting or literature, as differentiated from the whole painting, or landscape.

Have you ever been to a Catholic hospital or nursing home and seen the crucifixes on the wall in each patient’s room? Reacting to their overall “landscape”, I used to think they were repulsive, old-fashioned Roman Catholic. It took a tolerant nun to turn my mind around. She pointed out that the wounded person in bed can identify with the wounded One on the cross and thereby confront their own disease and begin to experience healing.

So in this Lenten season as we gaze upon the landscape of ugliness of the cross we are compelled to look at ourselves. Then we begin to see the inscape of ourselves in the landscape of the cross.


Holy God, may we see in the awful wounds of your Son on the cross our own woundedness and realize that he was “Wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities." Amen

Roderic Frohman, Associate Pastor for Church in Society

Sunday, March 15

a prayer for Sunday...

Merciful God,
in Christ you make all things new.
Transform the poverty of our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

from the Book of Common Worship.

Saturday, March 14

...you shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3


Exodus 20:3 commands us that “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. Is it not ironic this year that Lent, a season of reflection and prayer, coincides with such world wide economic distress over what is happening to the “things” around which we have built our lives. These words from Exodus starkly remind us that worshipping “idols” and “other gods” might also be seen as defining our purpose in life through the markers of our job titles, house values, brokerage accounts, and other “things” that have become gods to us. The danger is that when we have so long worshipped such material things, we risk forgetting that everything in our lives comes from God and to be truly Christ’s people, we need to change our focus, to forsake these idols and follow him. Matthew 6:33 reminds us to “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”


Merciful God; in this Lenten season, help us to set aside our old natural preoccupation with our “other gods”, and to seek the new life promised us through Christ. Amen.

Deacon, Dot Taylor

Friday, March 13

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims [God's] handiwork.... Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:1, 14


These are the first and last verses of Psalm 19, which has been one of my favorites for many years, and one in which I always find new meanings. It may be the association with the music of Haydn's "Creation", or the hymn "The Spacious Firmament on High" or just the depth of expression of the text that appeals to me. It seems a good text on which to reflect during Lent, as it expresses praise, awe and wonder at all of God's creation, and at the same time helps us reflect on God's will for us (verses 7-10 speak of the law of the Lord being perfect, and the "ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."). It all leads to the final verse, of introspection, and a prayer that all that we do be acceptable to God.


Thank you, God, for words to inspire us, and that call us to reflect on all that you have created, and all that you call us to be. Let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable to you, always. Amen.

Peter DuBois, Director of Music

Thursday, March 12

You shall not make for yourself an idol… you shall not worship them…. for I am the Lord your God… Exodus 20:4-6


As part of the Ten Commandments, these verses would seem to pertain to a time in the past. After all, who worships an idol these days? There are no idols to other Gods in Rochester, are there? Perhaps there are no statues to which we bow down, but there are surely "Gods" that we worship. Money, fame, pleasure, work can all become Gods to us if they control our thoghts and energies. When we allow them to become central in our lives they replace the centrality of God, then they keep us from realizing and accepting the love that God has for us.


Gracious and loving God, in our materialistic world it is so easy to forget Your great love for us and the need for us to love You. Help us to keep You central in our lives, and help us to avoid creating other Gods thereby replacing You. Amen.

Elder Bob Sterrett

Wednesday, March 11

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Exodus 20:7

I love talk radio. It eases the boredom of a long drive. I talk back to the commentators, the callers, and even the commercials. One day I stumbled onto a random Christian radio station. The host was taking calls on the habit of swearing. Now I don't remember the name of the show or the moderator and I don't remember too much of the discussion. But I do remember a specific caller. He identified himself as a 'deacon of the church' and he admitted to a life long habit of cursing. "It relieved the anxiety of the situation." One day he was helping a parishioner, who he described as man with great need, install a wheelchair ramp. He admitted to feeling good about helping this man. The work started and so did the expletives. Mostly they went ignored it but when the deacon let a "G** D*** it," fly, the workplace came to a halt... Silence filled the air. "Why do you damn the name of God?" said the homeowner, "What a wasted opportunity." Embarrassed by what had just happened, the deacon set down his tools. "Call on God to bless the situation... try saying 'God bless it." The deacon was rendered speechless.

That story has stuck with me for many years. In fact, I've adopted this very habit. When I am faced with frustration, confusion, tension, I often say "God Bless it" first forcefully and then reverently. And God always, Always, ALWAYS fills me with the reassurance and comfort needed. And you know what...the problem I was facing seems less insurmountable. During this season of Lent, when other faith traditions encourage the giving something up, won't you join me by taking up a new practice?

Loving and redeeming Lord, thank you that you are always there, even in times of stress. Amen.

Jane Carden, Coordinator of Youth Ministry

Tuesday, March 10

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. John 2:13-22


When Christ drove the sellers of animals and money changers from the temple, he told his Jewish inquisitors that if they destroyed this temple, in three days he would raise it up again. They thought Christ was talking about the temple building, but he spoke about the temple of his body that we know was raised three days after death.

Since we are made in God’s image, should we not treat our bodies as holy temples and have faith that we also will be raised at an appointed time to share the promised life everlasting?

Elder George Gotcsik

Monday, March 9

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." ...But the temple he had spoken of was his body. John 2:19, 21


Our consumer society has erected elaborate temples to worship the accumulation of wealth, power and possessions. In these days of economic uncertainty and turmoil, the foundations of these temples are crumbling.

Our faltering economy rivets our attention. A cold fear settles into our collective consciousness... fear that our economic system and way of life may just fall apart. What will we do if our self-serving temples of commerce and greed actually implode? Then, by the Grace of God, we may find shelter and new life within the most wondrous temple, the body of Christ.


Dear God, in these times of economic uncertainty, please help us to place our faith and trust in your resurrected temple, the body of your son Jesus Christ, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Deacon Rebecca Schichler

Sunday, March 8

A prayer for Sunday...

Lord God,
in this world where goodness and evil
continue to clash with each other,
instill in us, and in all your people,
discernment to see what is right,
faith to believe what is right,
and courage to do what is right.

Keep us aware of the subtlety of sin,
and preserve us, body, mind, and soul,
through the power of your Holy Spirit.
AMEN.

from Stages on the Way a publication from the Iona Community Wild Goose Worship Group.

Saturday, March 7

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. Romans 4:13-14


Faith not Law. Religion not Sicience. Right Brain not Left Brain.

We order the world with human constructs that conceal our ignorance, hide our failings, and mask the fallen and broken state of our lives. The secular clouds the divine.

In this Lenten season, we seek to witness Your Truth, a morning without clouds.


Loving God, we thank you for your steadfast love. We ask you to bestow upon us the vision to see the path that you have laid before us and the courage to follow your call, wherever your voice leads. We beseech you to grant us the strength to look inward, to know in our hearts the brokeness and fraility of our lives, so that we may, in such humble and humbling reflections, get closer to you. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Elder David Tennant

Friday, March 6

"No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations... As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." Genesis 17:5, 15


"The Guest-House" is a poem that my physician introduced me to during a meditation and mindfulness class he taught some years ago. Since then I've used it as a personal mantra that is especially useful when unexpected events surface and throw me off course.

The Guest-House
from "Say I Am You" poems of Rumi
translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks

This being human is a guest-house
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Elder Jean Coco

Thursday, March 5

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Mark 8:31-38



The scripture above is among the most clear descriptions of what being a Christian entails. To not only believe in Jesus’ words, but to consciously and dutifully live according to His directions is very difficult. It very much confronts us with the everyday dilemma of faith versus living a secular life. Do we trust or do we not? How deeply do we believe? How do we balance the love of life, family and friends, the ambitions of life, justice to strangers and so many more everyday challenges with the faith and belief in Jesus and His words as expressed above? Are we prepared to give up what we love for Him? Nothing simple about faith when viewed through that lens.

Most of us fall short in some ways on some days. The magic and wonder is to know that Jesus has accepted us and loves us without regard to our blemishes. He has said that the road to salvation lies in the honesty of striving to take up his cross. Jesus knows the difficulty of these matters. He has lived and experienced them Himself.

I am reminded that even Mother Theresa was filled with doubts and continued to strive to live up to Jesus’ strictures. She was fulfilled by the spirit. She made a difference. For us, we too make a difference. Jesus showed us the way. Jesus showed us that physical death and physical pain may come but in the end if we are faithful we shall find life and joy forever. He keeps us covenant with us. Thanks be to God.


Dear God, we thank you for the gift of life. You have shown us how we can change the world by changing the world within our own hearts. You have given us life for each and every day, as well as the promise of life eternal. You sent your Son to show and teach us how.
You sent Jesus as your renewed covenant with us. We give thanks for such a remarkable and life changing gift. You have kept your promises to us while we have fallen short, and yet you love us still. In this Lenten season, we give thanks for your love.
We pray for steadfastness, humility, and awareness as we strive to walk the path that Jesus has so clearly laid out for us. We pray for renewed energy and commitment. We pray that we are good stewards. We pray that someday all persons will believe and live according to Jesus’ words to us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Elder Dale Maddock

Wednesday, March 4

Abram threw himself down on his face, and God spoke with him and said, “I make this covenant, and I make it with you: you shall be the father of a host of nations.” Genesis 17:3-5

For [Abraham] is the father of us all, as Scripture says: “I have appointed you to be father of many nations.” This promise, then, was valid before God, the God in whom he put his faith, the God who makes the dead live and summons things that are not yet in existence as if they already were. Romans 4: 17-18


What does it take to believe in God’s promises? Sometimes it feels like a real stretch to me. It’s hard to envision the kind of leap of faith that God was asking Abram to make. In today’s passage from Genesis, God tells Abram to basically forget everything that he knows about his own reality and the shape of his life. The future’s going to be different from what Abram anticipated. Based on the covenant that God promises, Abram and his wife Sarai find themselves given completely new identities. God rewrites the story, assigns them new names, and changes the plot of their lives. Now this elderly, childless couple is going to have a son and become the foundation for “a host of nations.” It certainly sounds overwhelming and hard to accept.

I know that there have been points in my life when I have felt myself stumped, unable to imagine the circumstances that will serve as a bridge to get me from the present “here” to the future “there.” It seems impossible to envision what it would take to find the path to the future, let alone see the individual steps that it will require to travel that path. But as Paul writes in the verses from Romans, God is not only with us on the path, God is way ahead of us. As Paul puts it, this is our God who “summons things that are not yet in existence as if they already were.” What a faith that is, to take God’s implausible promises at face value and not to quibble over the path from here to there but, like Abraham to accept God’s unexpected future as a present reality.


God, strengthen me in faith this Lenten season. May I find myself inspired by the continuity of your covenant and equipped to place my trust in the promises that will uphold me on the path into the future. Amen.

Chris Bensch, Clerk of Session

Tuesday, March 3

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16


Awe….Amazement…and…RESPONSIBILITY

Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt awe, amazement and responsibility? I imagine that is what Abraham must have felt. Here he was, an old man, when God appeared to him and shared the news that he would be the “ancestor to a multitude of nations.” Abraham would become a father at ninety-nine. I’m sure he felt awe…(Wow)….amazement…(Really!?!?!)…then responsibility…(Oh my goodness). I know that these are feelings I experience every day as a parent. I feel awe when my kids do something really special, amazement as they grow and become more independent, and responsibility as I help to show them what is important and right. All of these things must have been going through Abraham (and Sarah’s) mind.


Gracious God, Thank you for the gifts of awe, amazement and responsibility. Let us share your word and these gifts with the next generation, and generations beyond. Amen.

Elder Peg Rachfal

Monday, March 2

"And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth." Genesis 9: 11, 13


Like most church-going children, I was introduced to the story of Noah and the flood early in my church school education, and I thought of it often throughout my childhood. That might have had something to do with the painting in my room of Noah's Ark after the flood. I spent a lot of time looking at that painting, comparing the size of the ark and all the animals surrounding Noah, and trying to imagine the insanity of spending 40 days in a rainstorm on a boat with all those wild animals. I loved the symbolism of the rainbow, and I still do—it's a perennial reminder of our relationship with God. Each time I see a rainbow, it takes me unawares and startles me with it's miraculous, simple beauty. In our family, when someone spots a rainbow, they call the others to come a see it. We stop what we're doing to take a moment out of the routine of the day and we watch the rainbow together. When it disappears we return to whatever we were doing, a little more peaceful than before, remembering that God loves each of us.


Loving God, You've taught us so much about your love in the generations since the story of the flood was first told. Thank you for showing me your love, even when it is most unexpected. Prepare me to share your love with others through my words and deeds. And help me to remember that you will always love me. Amen.

Deacon Christie Lutzer

Sunday, March 1

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O, Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Psalm 25 :1-5


For most Christian people, our pattern of piety is somewhat like a see-saw: there are ups and downs, times of good strong seasons and others that feel dry and weak. The emotions of the ancient psalmist are not that far from what some of us may be feeling. There are times of praise as we, like the psalmist, “lift our souls to God.” Then there are truth telling confessions of hardship, loneliness and grief. As we all know too well, life for the faithful is not guaranteed to be without heartache or sorrow. One theme that seems to radiate from this psalm is the notion that the way to address the challenges of life is through further education and instruction. The psalmist asks God to guide, to show, to instruct and teach. If during this Lenten season we see ourselves as disciples, followers, and students perhaps we can devote some extra time to learning more about the One whom we worship and adore.

Pamela Foye, Parish Visitor

Saturday, February 28

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. Psalm 25:10


In this prayer for deliverance, the Psalmist recognizes God's amazing love and devotion. At the same time the writer understands that being in relationship with God also involves responsibility by the the one who is praying. Taking responsibility is the hard part for me. It is too easy for me to stay wrapped up in my meetings, exercise, clutter clearing, reading, computers, music and travel. It is difficult for be me break away from my routine and sit with God, focus on what is really important in life and focus on the needs of others. Yet when I do pray to God, I am constantly in awe of God's never wavering love and faithfulness. God reminds me that reflecting love and faithfulness in all that I do is key to keeping her covenant. That grace is an incredible gift.


Dear God, our sustainer and our guide, your gifts of steadfast love and faithfulness are more than we deserve. Help us, in turn, to mirror your love, joy, peace and faithfulness in all that we do. Amen.

Elder Betty Iwan

Friday, February 27

After the flood God made a covenant with Noah.

“Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all living creatures. The bow (the rainbow) shall be in the clouds; when I see it, it will remind me of the everlasting covenant between God and living things on earth of every kind.” Genesis 9, 15-17


God has kept his covenant. He has not destroyed us. Apart from gigantic meteors in the past, huge glaciers that gouged the land, tsunamis and the destruction of ancient species, tectonic shifts, apart from those before and after Noah, God has left the earth intact. It has a life sustaining atmosphere, temperatures in which people can live, bountiful sources of food and water, energy pouring on the earth from the sun and a luminous beauty that seems to have been formed in heaven. To that extent God has kept his promise. He has not broken his covenant.

But Noah’s descendants have broken it. They have spread across the earth in growing numbers, concerned only for themselves like locusts, polluting, destroying, denigrating those who protest, willfully ignoring how much they depend upon the goodness of the earth. They have gripped it by the throat and are choking it to death.

What might God do other than turn elsewhere and create a race of beings with, perhaps, less free will, with more of his own wisdom, with greater humility about their place in the universe? Then, we might hope, the everlasting covenant could be kept.


May we be ever mindful of the earthly gifts granted us by God through his covenant with Noah. As we begin each day may we commit ourselves to actions that will help preserve our air, water, plant life, even the smallest of creatures, for the benefit of our children, and our children’s children. Amen.

Rev. Dane Gordon, Honorably Retired & Elder Judy Gordon