Create and make in us new and contrite hearts

I remember the first heart transplant when I was a freshman in college. To some of you reading this, that must seem like an incredibly long time ago. But in the whole history of humanity, the last 40+ years are just a speck of time. And yet the words of the Ash Wednesday prayer speaks new hearts. And Psalm 51, which is part of the day's worship, speaks of a "clean" heart. What effect would a new, clean heart have on our lives in a spiritual and emotional way? We could be done with all our old hurts. We could see the world anew and have confidence that those things we do in faith could bear fruit in our time and beyond.

In Lent we may not get completely new hearts, but by our attention to prayer and other time spent in reflection and attention to God's will in our lives, we can scrub some of the rust and callouses off the heart we have. We can strengthen them so that they become healthy organs of caring and willful determination to do the best we can with each day.

A future full of promise?

As a prelude to the parish's annual meeting, we can consider how others have overcome adversity with faith in God's promises and a desire to follow where God calls us to be.

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This could help with the budget

I've set up the church to get a commission on Amazon sales if you click on this widget:



It seems fairly painless to you the buyer and fairly easy for the church to benefit. I'll give it a try on my next purchase.

I'm trying to figure out how to use this link.

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Church in Autumn

Church in Autumn
Originally uploaded by Salin Low

I know I'm a bit late posting this, but it really was lovely. The pumpkins were great and spoke of an abundant harvest.

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Open publication - Free publishing - More newsletter

It's the newsletter for December. Let's see how this code works.

Throw Off Your Cloak

Sermon Oct. 25 -- We are wrapped in fears and self-imposed limitations which faith can overcome.

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Tapped by a Saint

Sermon on November 1, 2009 -- Saints tap us on the shoulder to point us in the direction of abundant life.

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Remember to leave the lights on

One of the greatest irritations of my ministry in Pine Meadow is keeping the spotlight which shines on the front of the church working as it should. Besides replacing light bulbs, I have to reset the timer to correspond with times of light and night, and this is not a digital wonder, like we have these days. Sometimes it's wrong because there's a screw loose, literally.

I don't know if anyone has ever come to St. John's because it is so visible at night, but it doesn't hurt.

The other night I visited another parish. My GPS told me where it was, but the first time I passed it I just kept driving. The parish house was dimly lit, but it looked like a residence. The church was not lighted at all. Probably other people have missed it, just as I did.

It's not green to have a light on at night, but it seems to me that it's definitely in line with our charge to spread the Gospel and bring light to the world.

Shine on!