Message from Pastor Will

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

FEBRUARY 2022 LOVE

As I am writing this, the sunlight is sparkling on the snow. Doesn't it always look so pretty the next day?

I hope you were able to stay home last Saturday and watch the snow fall. It helps us to slow down. Yes, many of you have to think about getting out there in the cold and wet and cleaning it all up... But for those hours while the snow is falling heavily, the best thing to do is just stay put. Relax. Do whatever you feel like doing. Play a game, watch a movie, read a book, bake cookies, take a nap...

Time spent doing nothing is always time well spent. Our value as human beings is not determined by our productivity, by how much we get done on any given day. Our value is determined by the One who created us, out of love, and for love.

February is for lovers. At least that's what the stores try to tell us starting the day after New Year's: time to buy chocolate and pink things! As people of faith, every single day is for lovers. And not just romantic lovers but for lovers of people, lovers of pets, lovers of nature and lovers of God. Any kind of loving relationship is worth celebrating. Even if the one you love passed away. Your love for each other is still alive, and it is a gift that no one can take from you.

May you slow down this month, watch the snow fall (or the rain, or the sun shine!), and celebrate the love that is all around us, the love that is in us, the love that is God.

May the Warm Winds of Heaven

Blow softly upon your house.

May the Great Spirit

Bless all who enter there.

May your Moccasins

Make happy tracks in many snows,

And may the Rainbow

Always touch your shoulder.

(A Cherokee Blessing)

Amen!

Pastor Valeria

Monday, January 3, 2022

January 2022 The New Year

Congratulations, you have survived another year of the pandemic! If that sounds a little jaded, I guess I am. In German, we call this "Galgenhumor" - gallows humor. Some situations are so dire, the only way to handle them is with humor.

We all have long lists of grievances about COVID-19 and what it has done to us, or taken from us. I've decided I will leave my list in 2021 and start the new year with a clean slate, a new page in the chapter of the book that is my life.

I'm blessed and grateful to have shared this year with you, and for meaningful encounters with you, whether in person, in writing, over the phone, or virtually. The way many of you have stayed connected to each other in manifold ways has been a source of inspiration and comfort.

Now, onward and upward. We keep moving forward. Where, when, how, we don't know. All we know is we are walking this journey together, as God's children, and we are in solidarity and support of each other, including the entire global human family.

My Spiritual Direction program is teaching me to let go of the little things that cause stress, frustration, and anxiety, and to focus on what really matters: my relationship with God, and with other human beings. So I ask myself, how is God present for me in this moment? How is God present for other people - the ones close to me, the ones I may have issues with, or who have issues with me, and the ones I've never even met? That always shifts my perspective. I can still love God and my fellow human beings, with a mask on, while keeping a distance, even when having to cancel trips, events or gatherings. God's love can spread through a computer screen, through a hand-written note, through a silent prayer.

It's hard to remain positive, joyful, energetic. I feel you. I feel it myself.

But what I also feel is God's love. God's love in me, in you, in creation, in music, in comfort food, in favorite places, in furry friends, in hot chocolate with marshmallows, in twinkling lights, in a warm bed... [add yours here.]

That's all we have, my friends, is God's love. It's all we have.

And it's all we need.

Here's to a new year. Another year in God's favor.

God bless us, everyone!

Warmly, Pastor Valeria