February 2010 Letter from Pastor Caroline:

Dear Friends in Christ:

February is a month for dealing with DIRT:

• the ground hog pokes his head out of the GROUND, looking for a shadow;
• the presidents born in February grew up on farms, living off the SOIL;
• For the Super Bowl: either concrete, very hard DIRT under artificial turf; or softer DIRT if the game is on real turf;
• on Valentine's Day, we celebrate love, with chocolate (from cocoa beans grown in DIRT) and cards (made out of paper, made from trees grown from SOIL) and that because of Christ, we are ROOTED and GROUNDED in love;
• on Ash Wednesday, we remember we are DUST, and to dust we shall return and that we are sinners: Jesus needs to wash us CLEAN.

The season of Lent is about growing in faith, letting God's grace wash away what messes up our lives so that we can have a fresh start. At the car wash, the dust and muck come off and we can see through the windshield again. In February, we recognize the muck in our lives and pray to be made clean.

We are still in the middle of winter. From my back window, I see stalks rising from frozen ground. When the gusts blow, the plants whip against the house. It's been a harsh winter, and I long for the thaw when the ground will be soft; then I can work in the soil and there will be new growth. The ground will thaw, the green will pop up through the dead leaves in the yard: spring will come. There is hope.

In the words of the Beatles, "Little darlings, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter." So harsh, in so many ways. Our spirits soar on days when the sky is blue: Here comes the sun. It's been a harsh winter, we've all had to deal with lots of dirt-y things: the earthquake in Haiti, rubble in our own lives, family troubles, illnesses, grief, economic struggles ... Here comes the SON. May the love of Christ warm your spirits this February, and always.

Here's the DIRT on upcoming events:
- Souper Bowls Sunday: bring soups to the church, vote for your favorite Super Bowl team: Colts, Saints, or the commercials.
- After church, stay for soup: taste from among 9 different kinds. We’re raising funds for Youth Trips; a tithe will go to help restock the national warehouse of emergency supplies.
- Ash Wednesday services: Noon at First United Methodist; 7:30 pm at First Presbyterian

And finally, a poem:

The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in self-forgetting that we find;
And it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

“We do not know the author of this classic prayer, and it was not until the 1920s that it was even ascribed to Saint Francis. By one account the prayer was found in 1915 in Normandy, written on the back of a card of Saint Francis. But it certainly emulates his longing to be an instrument of peace, reconciliation and redemption in our fallen world.” (from JourneywithJesus.net, Dan Clendenin author/blogger) We can be a taste of spring in others’ lives as we serve as instruments of God’s peace.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Caroline