Pastor's Letter - March

Pastor’s Letter
March, 2018

 

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen!

 

I jokingly said yesterday, "if we make it through March alive, we'll be alright."  I was, of course, referring to the plethora of activity we have going on at Trinity in March.  A confirmation trip, four midweek Lenten services, a first communion class, a scrabble tournament- all of this stuff happens in the same month, in addition to the other regularly scheduled activities that normally happen.

It is a perfect storm.  Some of these things would have normally happened in either March or February, but because of scheduling conflicts could not.  So we will have one very busy month.

Is your life in general like this?  I wonder about that all of the time.  I think about all of our parents of children, and I wonder how you juggle everything.  I think about all of you who work regular jobs and yet I still see at the church building multiple times during the week.  I wonder about your time, about how much you get to see your children, about how much time you get to pursue your passions in life, and how you make it all work. 

Here's the thing about our culture, and the error I think we are all making: We are intentionally overly busy, and we are proud to be so.  I suppose there is the saying from Proverbs that "idle hands are the devil's workshop", but I think we have so programmed our lives that we have gone all the way to the other side.  I wish there were a saying in Proverbs about overly busy hands!  We are so afraid of being idle or labeled lazy that we forget time to rest.  We don't know how to relax.  And we suffer because of it.

Jesus didn't forget this.  Numerous times in scripture he went up to a mountain to take time for himself.  He spent much of that time in prayer, but I doubt every second was spent that way.  Surely he had conversations with the disciples that weren't just about his teachings.  There is a reason he had such a close relationship with them.  It was also a struggle for him.  There are times that he tried to get away from the crowds, but they followed him anyway. 

In the business of this season, as we journey to Easter, take time to just be.  Don't be afraid of what you'll find out about yourself.  Maybe you'll have a self-realization that will kick off the next phase of where God is taking you in your life!  Perhaps you can sit down in conversation and learn something new about a loved one.  Take the time to just simply be.

Peace,

Pastor Brian