I Love Wednesdays!

Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week.

I love coming to The Largest Table. I love the bustling nature of our building on Wednesdays. I love sitting in the sanctuary and simultaneously hearing the sounds of the city and the beautiful sounds of the piano before worship. I love the mix of people and the exuberance with which so many greet one another. I love the great food, and I love sitting down with people over a meal and getting to know them a little more.

I also love it that on Wednesdays I am almost always surprised by someone or something. Sometimes someone will show up who I haven't seen in ages. Sometimes I am impressed by the generosity of someone extending themselves to another. Often, I am touched by the hospitality that is extended to me.


There are times, however, when I find myself reflecting on needs that seem so great and I find myself wishing that we had more resources and more creativity to help some of our guests.

Today I experienced everything I have just described. It was a busy day, and from the moment I walked in until I found myself alone in the building - and still after - I felt a strong sense of the Spirit. As I was packing up my things to head home, I was thinking about one gentleman and how his needs seemed to surpass what we could offer. Just as I was thinking about him I realized there was a message on my phone. It was him. He called and wanted to extend his thanks for all the hospitality he had received from all of those who were present today. He told me it was just what he needed.

Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week.


(Pictured here are our fabulous greeters and just a sampling of our outstanding kitchen crew!)

God Moments

Yesterday in the confirmation class we discussed how God can be experienced in many different ways. This was part of a larger conversation about the concept of the Trinity so we talked about how God can be experienced in creation, through others, and through the Spirit.

I often find that an individual seems to have a primary way he or she experiences the presence of God. From a very young age, I have experienced God regularly in worship - not through specific music or words or liturgy, but from feeling the presence of something much greater than anything tangibly present amongst us. I name my experience of the Spirit as a "God moment." It is not something I feel every single time I worship, but often enough that I can't imagine my life without it and the strong community in which it is set. I also will often have "God moments" when I am beside bodies of water. There are moments when the beauty of creation assures me of God's presence. The picture here is of one of my favorite places on Lake Michigan, a place to which I return every summer.

How and where do you experience God? Please share a "God Moment!"

Be Creative!

Yesterday I dropped off a member of our congregation at her home and saw an abundance of purple crocus forcing their way up through the earth. As I drove on to my next stop, I found myself reflecting on the hard work it takes to bring anything to new life.

This Lent, my preaching and teaching has been loosely based on Irwin Kula's book, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life. This week we are looking at the yearning each of us has to create. So often, we think of creativity as something playful or crafty like painting or sewing. Kula pushes us to think more deeply about creativity. He identifies four stages: inspiration, preparation, incubation, and illumination. Writing about inspiration, he says this: Inspiration is about yearning, not finding. It is the moment we recognize a problem that needs solving, not the moment of finding a solution.

This past summer, I had the honor of marrying a wonderful couple. In one of our sessions together, the bride described how when she would become overwhelmed with a problem or felt stuck in a particular situation, her partner would listen attentively and then ask, "How can we figure out a way to be creative?" Those two words, "be creative," invited her to think outside the box and develop a different approach for whatever she was doing.

For more about creativity, how it is teachable and trackable, and helps us solve nearly any problem, you can read more here: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-unleash-your-creativity

"And A Child Shall Lead Them ..."

Last night we had a Budget & Finance meeting. At the meeting we looked at all of the income and expense lines from 2008 and talked about what we expect for 2009. I noted that last year we collected $236 for One Great Hour of Sharing, one of the special offerings for the United Church of Christ.

This year we have already exceeded that total because of the leadership we have had from the children and youth of the church; they are leading our campaign this year. At the beginning of March, the children passed out treasure chest coin boxes and devotional guides to the congregation. Last week, they used the Sunday School hour and the time in the Celebration Station to bake a variety of treats which they sold following worship. I wish I had a photo of the lines of people who were eager to purchase their goods! The bake sale alone made $256.50.

We will collect the coin boxes on Easter Sunday and I have no doubt that we will at least double our offering from last year. I love the enthusiasm the children of the church are creating for this important effort!

A New Channel of Communication

For the past year I have been considering entering the blogging world, mostly because I had heard that blogging is such a powerful channel of communication. However, there is a difference between hearing about something and experiencing it. My experience convinced me that this was something I should try to do.

Recently I have been following two blogs, Mary's Blog for Healing and Tom's Ohio Nature Blog. Each, in a different way, has not only informed me about what is happening in his or her corner of the world, but has also inspired me to see grace and hope in my own life experience. As the pastor of St. John's, I have a unique vantage point from the church that sits at Third and Mound. Through this blog, I hope to share some of the things I see that inspire me.

What are the blogs that you follow and how do they inspire you?