Letter from the Pastor

Today is Pentecost Sunday and there is much for us to meditate on.  But I would like to share with you a dimension of Pentecost that we seldom consider.  In a matter of seven weeks, those first followers of Jesus conquered the fear that had put them in prison and walked bravely out to face the world.  How did they do that?  We all would do well to learn from their experience. First, whenever life becomes threatening and fear closes in, we can look for the challenge instead of the fright.  Do you suppose Jesus was afraid that night when […]

It seems that the rearing of children calls for many strong and resilient traits of character, but probably none is so necessary as the patience of love.  Talk to the parents of a confused and defiant teenager.  Many of them could tell you a story that would simultaneously boil your blood and break your heart.  The story has numerous variations, but the plot is essentially the same.  A child is born, and in one of those beautiful mysteries of life, a father and mother fall instantaneously and forever in love with that baby.  Joyfully, they take up the task of […]

Most of us have experienced various kinds of encounters with God.  We have seen Him, for example, in the world of nature.  We have felt His presence under breath-taking beauty of a starlit night.  We have almost read His signature in the lower right corner of a sunset. We have also met Him inside of our own hearts and minds.  We have felt His comforting presence in times of sorrow and His troubling presence in the time of sin.  His image is indelibly stamped on every one of us; and try as we might at times, we can never completely […]

Some time ago, I heard the story of a young woman; I thought it would be appropriate to share it with you today.  Her husband was a cancer victim, so weak that he was almost paralyzed and bedridden.  She had three small school-aged children and one in her arms.  She worked to support her family.  After work she rushed home to cook, wash, scrub and care for her husband and children.  Surprisingly, she had a faint smile on her face all the time.  When asked how she was doing, she said, “It’s God’s will.” There were no tears, nor anger, […]

                  In the Bible, we find this simple statement, “Jesus wept.”  That statement is made in connection with the death of a young man named Lazarus.  People have speculated for centuries as to why Jesus wept.  It seems to me that Jesus wept because other people were weeping.  Their grief became His grief.  Jesus always identifies with the hurts of people.  And those hurts include yours and mine.  We too are involved, whether we realize it or not.  This world of ours is connected by a network of need.                 If we […]