A DIFFERENT GOSPEL

 So, apparently, one non-denominational storefront church merged with a local baptist church and moved out of their store-front. Then another non-denominational church bought the building and renovated the inside to fit their needs - sky painted floor and all black walls in their worship area for their fog machines and screens. Their pastor noted that he became a pastor because he didn't know what else to do. Now there's a real call to ministry! It is a church for people who aren't traditional church people. I get that.

   I just notice that our town's first Friday event - every first Friday of the month businesses stay open later and the event is often themed - to bring people downtown. We at L church have been participating for the last 3 three years. Although last year, there weren't as many due to the lockdown and COVID. The theme for Oct. was Fall Fest. This church offered a scavenger hunt with a chance to win a Disney vacation! This is the same church that rented a helicopter Palm Sunday weekend to drop 30,000 Easter eggs on the football field giving away a chance to win - an xbox, play station, big screen TV.

   Now, I don't know what gospel they believe and read, but it apparently is a different one. Nowhere in my NRSV Bible does Jesus say, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you a Disney vacation." or "Come, follow me and I will reward you with an xbox and big screen TV."

   What am I missing? Can that be any more crass consumerism in the Christian faith? Do we come to God, have a relationship with Christ our Lord, because of what we can get? Or are we drawn to a love so profound and great that it is so compellingly irrestible that we can't turn away form it? Faith cannot be bought or earned - it is given to us by the very grace of Christ and the work of God's own Spirit. I find their crass consumerism of the gospel disconcerting, misleading and appalling. I can't imagine what Jesus would think. It is not the gospel I know and love.

TIRED

 I'm sure I'm not the only one who is feeling tired these days. I'm hoping it's not because of my age! But with the pandemic seemingly unending as the Delta variant sweeps across the world and young children testing positive, it's hard not to feel tired of it all. Over a year and half of dealing with physical distancing, masks, hand sanitizers, a world lockdown, and trying to return to "normal", here we are still dealing with it all. Just when I began thinking of putting my masks away, I'm still reaching for one when I go out, although, there aren't as many people wearing them and all the stores and businesses that the news said wanted people to wear masks, only the employees seem to be wearing them.

   I really believe my tiredness is a fatigue of all this. I had hoped that with vaccines, by now most of this would've been behind us. Put vaccination rates are lower than expected although rising some with the Delta variant on the move.

    Trying to deal with this fatigue and to help others with it as well. Sometimes, I think we are impatient and expect instantaneous results. The 1918 flu pandemic lasted 2 years until there was very host left and it died out. We're only a year and a half in this and we have a ways to go, if it doesn't mutate yet again. So, we have to stay encouraged and hopeful even when we're sick and tired of it, tired of hearing about it and dealing with it all. 

   Then there's the shortages sometimes of various items, or production of appliances and equipment, and of help in businesses, restaurants, etc. No one seems to want to work any more and yet getting back to "normal" means you have truck drivers get your product to stores and servers and cooks for all who are more than ready to eat out again. Things are moving ever so slowly, which after living in a fast-paced lifestyle this slow down seems to be on-going.

   So how do we deal with this fatigue and help our parishioners with it as well? I, for one, am open to ideas. Anybody?

OH VAX-A-MILLION

 So the first drawing was held for the state's vax-a-million. Abbey, a 22 year old became the first winner of a million dollars. She was going to look for a used car when she got the call informing her of her win. She said that she might still look at used cars. Sounds pretty grounded to me. However, with a million dollars, she would be wiser to get a new car and save on repairs. She also mentioned giving some to charity - which would be nice. Abbey, then said, "What better incentive is there to get vaccinated?!" Really?

   Like one's life, staying out of the hospital and off a respirator is not incentive enough? We in the great state of OH, now have to bribe people to get their vaccine. That is a terrible state of affairs. Are we so shallow, so low of morals and ethics and doing the right thing, that we have to be bribed? I, for one, am not participating, even though I am eligible. Why? Because I'm against being bribed, and using bribery to get people to the right thing. I believe that the money being used for this Vax-A-Million could've been given to small businesses who have taken such a hit during the COVID pandemic, who are struggling to survive, come back and hire employees. That would be money well-spent rather than bribing the populace to get their vaccination. I refuse to stoop to being bribed. I fear for our nation's morals and ethics. It saddens me greatly. Yes, the chance of winning a million dollars is enticing, tempting - who wouldn't want or could use a million dollars. But I will not sell out for a million dollars. I believe my life, staying well and off a respirator is incentive enough for me to get vaccinated as it should be for all who are medically able to get vaccinated. There was no such measures taken when the polio vaccine became a available. People just went and got the vaccine. 

    I have been appalled by people's selfish attitudes with this whole pandemic. My faith tells me not be a stumbling block to others. That though all things may be legal not all are beneficial. I will wear a mask for the sake of another. Yes, it's an inconvenience, yes, it's uncomfortable at times, yes, it can be a pain, but it is a small sacrifice for me not to infect someone with this deadly virus. Yes, I will honor physically distancing and not intrude on your 6 ft. because I believe it is important to both of us to stay healthy. Maybe a little less I have the right, which we all do, and show some concern for others. It isn't a huge sacrifice to make and it is temporary. How can you call yourself a Christian and so assert your own self over another? Christ our Lord didn't do that - he emptied himself for our sakes, he gave his life for ours. He sacrificed himself. Believe it or not, the Christian life is one that entails sacrifice, that gives of oneself for the sake of another. How deep is your faith if you can't understand and try to live a cruciform life? A cross-shaped life? A life to which Christ calls us to live? It isn't just feel good music, I am loved - which we so profoundly are - it's about living a cross-shaped life, and sacrificing our will, our selves at times and at varying degrees for another.

    So, I wish Abbey, blessings with her new found wealth and to stay grounded. A million dollars won't last as long as people think. But I would've hoped she got vaccinated because it was the good and right thing to do and not for a chance to win some big bucks. I would like to see the people in our state get vaccinated because they see the need to and not because they may become a millionaire. I pray that humanity in general will be touch with integrity, morals and ethics and that to live by them is the right, good and Christian way to live. If we take our faith seriously, we will live ethically and morally as well.

CRUNCH TIME

 begins as we head into Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Perhaps, one blessing of the whole COVID lockdown last Lent was that I had Good Friday service and Maundy Thursday mostly planned out and done and then didn't have services. So, I am able to use them this year and that saved me a whole lot of time and anxiety of what to do this year! I am grateful. Just have to work up a children's sermon for kids that haven't been showing up in church services yet. I am working on Easter Sunday sermon and children's sermon. I will put together little snack bags with some Easter give-aways for the children who attend Easter morning worship. I've also been working on our Joy Sunday, again which we didn't do last year with everything so topsy-turvy. Usually, we have an open mike for folks to share a good, clean joke, but given the COVID circumstances of physical distancing and wearing masks and my having to hold the microphone to them, it didn't seem like a good idea to that. So, I worked up a newscast with Miriam Mirth the news anchor on the different repeated sightings of the risen Christ. The cast(all me with props) will feature the Traffic Report with Luke Skywatcher, a commercial for Peace of Heart Financial Institution, a preview of a new cooking show, What a Dish with Julia Wild and a last breaking news report. I had fun with it and for the traffic report, commercial and cooking show - used resources by Martha Bolton that I tweaked a bit. I'm hoping that not only the bits are funny, but just my going from space to space in the chancel and putting on my props will garner a laugh or two! I think we all need Holy Humor or Joy Sunday especially given the past year of pandemic and our slow emergence for the darkness into the light of new life. It will do our bodies and spirits good to chuckle and be reminded of the joy that Easter brings and the risen Christ brings us. Joy should be a part of our faith, always, even in the midst of the pandemic, there were those with a great sense of humor and I pinned many of the funny observations. I did use those funny observations in my newsletter article last year - in place of Joy Sunday, knowing folks still needed to be reminded of the joy of Easter and the joy of our faith even in times of struggle and hardship.

    Having time to be creative and to have fun has been good for my soul. May you, even in this crunch time, know the joy that is ours in faith in the risen Christ. That is something to truly celebrate!

I SCORED...

 a vaccine appointment! After hours and several days of trying various sites, I have an appointment for next Saturday for my first of two shots! I feel like I won the lottery!!! Finally! It has not been easy here in NEOH to get an appointment. The downside is that my second shot is on Easter Sunday following an early morning with 2 services. I will be exhausted before getting my second shot and that includes a drive of 35 minutes to get to the site. But I will soldier through. That has to be the worst day for a minister to get a shot - Easter Sunday! But, I will take it and survive.

   We are resuming in-person worship next Sunday and then Sat/Sun the following week after a hiatus since mid November when we went virtual. It is with some mixed feelings. It's always better to worship in-person, better energy and good to be physically present and see one another. It's also been nice to have a shorter service, get in later on Sunday mornings and not be tired afterwards after Confirmation class. There has been a slower, more gentle pace during this time of virtual worship which has been really nice. But the empty pews have been sad. I will need to write a communion invitation again every week for Sat. service. I've enjoyed the less hectic pace. I guess I'm getting older, well., I did have another birthday and just qualified this week for the vaccine based on age! At least we will have half of Lent together, Holy Week services and in-person Easter services this year. Now if I can think of what to do for Easter, it would be great!

    In the meanwhile, I'm just basking in the glow of my soon-to-be vaccine! Who knew one would be so eager to get shot and look forward to it, even with side-effects! I pray it gets easier and easier for folks to get vaccinated so we can put this pandemic behind us and move forward and onward. It has been such a long and difficult year. There have been blessings, like I mentioned above: time, slower pace, but I've missed travelling, going out for a dinner, hugging my family when we do get to see each other, not wearing a mask - but that will be awhile yet. I've missed folks in the sanctuary for worship and even the Tues. bible study - which has really eased my time, missed visiting folks at home and in the nursing home. I've even missed, dare I say it, shopping - to just go and look around. Now I dash in and hope to pick up what I need and get out of the store. The twin's birthday and my other great niece and nephew's birthdays will be coming up and I still need a couple of things for them. Administrative Assistant's day is also looming and I need to find something for two of them. The pandemic has impeded my ability to just bump into something! 

    May your Lent be graced with hope knowing that resurrection is coming! New life awaits us!