“Daybreak”–Things That Make Life Meaningful

Our midweek Lenten Study–”meeting God: no steeple required”–began on Wednesday evening, February 29, in Friendship Place. It is based on a video series entitled “aCross creation” that has been written by the Rev. Amy Lippoldt, pastor of Woodland United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas.

There are twelve episodes available, and we are using five of them during this study. They focus on a particular theme, reference a specific scripture, and are filmed at various locations in Kansas and Colorado. The episodes  that we are using are:

• “Daybreak” (Genesis 1:1-4)–(Flint Hills, near Matfield Green, Kansas)
• “A Consuming Fire” (Exodus 24:12-18)–(Wet Mountains, near Westcliffe, Colorado)
• “Washed by Grace” (Matthew 3:13-17 )–(Butcher Falls near Sedan, Kansas
• “Shifting Sands” (Matthew 7:24-27)–(Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
• “Follow Me” (Matthew 8:18-22)–(Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, in central Kansas)

The first session dealt with “daybreak,” with reference to God’s creation of light on the first day of creation. We were reminded that “each sunrise represents God’s gift of life,” and we were invited to “write a list of the things that make your life meaningful.” I didn’t quite get mine done at daybreak today, but here there are:

• The chance to live another day;
• A heart that is in rhythm;
• People who love me and people to love;
• The sights and  sounds of children (especially grandchildren!);
• A purpose in life and the power to live;
• Colleagues, however old or young they may be;
• A refreshing nap once a day (or more often as needed);
• A dog who looks past my faults;
• The opportunity to live a life that “becomes the gospel;”
• Light in the midst of darkness.

Yes, I know that there is nothing spectacular or extraordinary about the list, but I think that is part of the point. It is the ordinary things that help to make life meaningful.

Lord, thank you for your power and presence. Thank you for your gifts in abundance that make life meaningful. Help me to live in a spirit of gratitude, and guide me to welcome each new day as a yet another gift from you. Amen.

A Different Kind of Ash Wednesday

Lent is the season of the church year that leads up to Easter. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, it lasts forty days, not counting Sundays. It commemorates the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying.

The season of Lent is an opportunity for us to get our lives more in tune with God’s expectations. The invitation that comes to us in the service of worship for Ash Wednesday is “to observe a holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.” The ashes that we receive on Ash Wednesday are a sign of our repentance—”Repent, and believe the gospel”—and a reminder of our mortal nature—“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Ash Wednesday this year was much different for me. Rather than getting ready for the service that evening—preparing the order of worship, checking on the bulletins, locating the ashes, and so forth—I was in Wichita, receiving the needed treatment to get my heart back in rhythm.

In my case, the issue was “atrial fibrillation.” This is “an irregular and often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow to the body.” While not life-threatening, the situation does need to be treated so that the heart again beats in its proper rhythm.

When I discovered that I had inadvertently scheduled this procedure on Ash Wednesday, I was upset with myself. I felt like it was my responsibility to take care of the service. It was my job to get everything done. But then, members of the church staff and the Staff Parish Relations Committee began to help me see things more clearly.

In retrospect, perhaps Ash Wednesday was precisely the right day to have this procedure done. After all, Lent is a time to get our lives “more in tune with God’s expectations.” It is a time to get the rhythms of our life in harmony with God. Sometimes that can be done easily. Other times it requires intervention.

I am grateful for the skill and care of those who looked after me in Wichita. I am grateful for a congregation that cares. I am grateful for a staff and a Staff Parish Relations Committee that have my best interests at heart. I am grateful for God who sustains and strengthens us at all times! I am grateful to have my heart beating “in rhythm” once again. I am grateful for the season of Lent to get my life more in tune with God’s spirit.

Grace and Peace,

Mark Conard

The Rest of the Story

The late Paul Harvey was one of America’s best known radio announcers and commentators. I remember learning the necessity of waiting for him to complete his broadcast with the delayed statement, “Good Day,” that came at the end of each broadcast.

I also liked hearing “The Rest of the Story.” It almost always  brought new understanding or perspective to a long familiar story or perhaps something I had never previously heard.

In this season of Lent, we have the advantage over the disciples in that we already know “The Rest of the Story.”  It is hard to imagine living life with Jesus so many years ago without knowing how things would turn out.

Their expectations, so far as we can tell, were that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be welcomed as a conquering hero and to inaugurate the new Kingdom of God on earth. It was beyond belief when they saw their leader arrested, convicted,  tortured, humiliated, and put to death.

And yet, there was  “the rest of the Story!” It took place on what we now call Easter Sunday morning, and it brought the astonishing and unbelievable news that Jesus had been raised from the dead!

There are times when I think that I would like to know “the rest of the story” about how things will turn out here at First United Methodist Church! I sometimes think that I would like to know what moment will make the difference, what conversation will be the key, what prayer will bring the answer, what program or project will get us turned around, and yet I don’t have that kind of knowledge.

What I do know is more important than any short-term goals and self-serving desires. I know that the God whom we seek to serve is more durable than any suffering, more persistent than any opposing forces, more constant than any misunderstanding, more faithful than any accusation, and more powerful than death itself!

It is this God–the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ–who is with us in all the moments of our life. It is this God–the one who raised Jesus from the dead–who already knows “the rest of the story!”

It is this God, whom we are called to serve faithfully, even though we do not know for certain how the story will turn out! In the meantime, we seek to trust God with all that we have and all that we are. Because it is this God, who already knows “the rest of the story,” and it is a story of life and love and light!

May you have a blessed Easter, already knowing “the rest of the story!”