Pastoral Musings

As I write this piece for the newsletter, it’s the week before May Breakfast

and preparations are well underway. Supplies are arriving in the kitchen,

fudge recipes are being consulted, coffee is being measured and prepped, and

volunteers are signed up. Each year, I am truly awed by the ability of this

church to cook for and feed so many individuals in a few short hours. I am

also awed by the spirit of love and care that welcomes each guest who crosses

our threshold. As I say each May, this is truly an amazing church that lives out

the hospitality Jesus embodied!

This May also brings us deeper into Eastertide, the fifty days after Easter

Sunday when we are called to look more closely at what Jesus’ resurrection

means for us. This is certainly a season of hope as we remember once again

the power and love of our God for whom death is not the end. And it is a

season in which we recall once again Jesus’ teachings about the power of

faith.

Recently, I was struck by the number of times Jesus used the mustard seed

to encourage his followers to have faith. If we have faith the size of that small

seed, he said, we will be able to move mountains. Jesus also said that the

kingdom of heaven is like that little seed when it grows into a bush which

provides shelter for the birds. It’s a reminder not only that our faith has power

behind it, but that when we live from our faith, our actions express God’s love

for the world and bring us a little closer to realizing the kingdom of heaven

here on earth.

May our faith shine brightly that we may light the way toward the

kingdom of heaven.

Blessings and Peace,

Pastor Linda