from Pastor Sarah Moat
The cabin of Sigurd and
Elizabeth Olson on Listening Point.
Finally…it’s summer time. After a few weeks of pretty questionable spring weather accompanied by plenty of rain it finally seems like summer is here and I’m ready! I don’t know about you but I long for the change of routine, the laid-back rhythm of life, the increased hours of daylight, the ability to spend time outside and the opportunity to play with my family without all of the expectations of the school year. Come fall, I am usually just as ready for that change to occur as well but, for now, I am rejoicing in the reality that summer is upon us.
One soul-edifying summer ritual that I enjoy each year is to reread the book "The Listening Point" by Sigurd Olson. Olson is a northwoods travel and nature writer who talks about finding a quiet place to contemplate and be in awe – a place to return to. We share a love of Minnesota’s north woods and he does a fine job of quietly reflecting on the same rocks, trees and shoreline that draw me in on each visit. Olson calls this place his listening-point. He writes, "Everyone has a listening-point somewhere. It does not have to be in the north or close to the wilderness, but some place of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe."
I encourage you to seek out those listening-points in your life this summer. They may be with family, on vacation, at the cabin, at your work place, at church, in the garden, or in your community. Look for opportunities to contemplate God’s goodness in the midst of the new rhythms of daily life. I suspect that you too, will be renewed in your own listening-point.
We are working to making Gethsemane a listening-point for you this summer and trust that you will experience God here in new and comforting ways. One worship service with familiar music and liturgy will provide an opportunity to reconnect with your community. Our intentional Sunday forum schedule will offer occasional learning opportunities to provide sustenance for listening. If you are away on the weekend we have summer devotional materials available at the front desk and as a download. Our children and youth have many opportunities for renewal through camp and mission experiences as well as a new community-building group each Wednesday at Gethsemane.
Enjoy these summer days exploring, praising, thanking and rejoicing in new and different ways!
from Pastor John D.F. Nelson
When you think of the word “apocalypse,” what image comes to mind: fire, brimstone falling from the sky? Perhaps you imagine the complete destruction and end of all things?
Did you know that we are in the season of Apocalypse? Spring is nature’s natural apocalypse. Apocalypse comes from the Greek word, Apokálypsis; meaning "lifting of the veil" or "revelation." It is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of humankind, the lifting of a veil from misconception.
Now do you see the connection to spring? This is the time of year when the world that we thought was completely dead and frozen just a few months before, has totally come to life. Where there were snow drifts, now we have daffodils; where there were ice sheets, now we have jumping fish. I have a friend who moved into a new home over the winter and they are amazed at everything that is popping up out of nowhere in their yard, things they had no idea were there. Every day it is like a new gift as something springs forth.
In church we find the Apocalypse of John but we know it better as the Book of Revelation, or the last book of the Bible. The lectionary texts that we read on Sundays in this Easter season all turn to the book of Revelation, not because this is the end of all things, but because it is the beginning of something new. You may think of this as the time we are getting towards the end of the school year, the end of the program year, but this is just the beginning. What we thought was dead is alive; what we thought was done has now set us free.
Many people have misconceptions about Revelation as a confusing and depressing book of condemnation and judgment. But it is one of the greatest books of hope we have. What it reveals is that God has completed through Christ a rather amazing thing, the salvation of the world. No matter how evil tries to rear its ugly head, Christ reigns. No matter how many calamities fall upon us, justice will rule. No matter who stands before the throne, Christ’s forgiveness is offered.
Join us for our Sunday adult education series this spring as we study the book of Revelation and discover together how we can reclaim the Apocalypse and be a part of God revealing his love for the world.
from Bob Windels, Youth Director
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
My chosen sport in high school was cross-country track, by a process of elimination; it required no hand-eye coordination or understanding of a playbook, and little upper-body strength. But being 30 pounds leaner in those days, running a long way came easily for me. With practice, I learned how to pace myself for a three-mile competitive race up and down the hills of a golf course, pushing myself to stay near the front of the pack while saving something for a strong finish. I tried to pay attention to what my body was telling me, and adjust accordingly; some races I was surprised how great I felt, how easily I could pass other guys and charge up a long slope without getting tired, so I pushed a little harder to catch the leaders...while other days my lungs started to burn and my legs got heavy, which meant I had over-reached, and would need to watch some of those other runners re-pass me while I slowed to a jog for a while so that I could make it to the finish line and contribute something to our total team score.
My average race times continued to improve over those three years as I got older and taller, and my natural top sustainable speed brought me success without being particularly driven or disciplined. However, when I tried out for the cross-country team at St. Olaf, I quickly discovered that those guys were way out of my league, and I moved on. I trained for a few six-mile road races later, but gave it up for good in my early 30’s, finding the length of a basketball court to be about as far as I cared to run anymore.
And now, as of May 1, this Youth Guy is 50 years old, and I am definitely paying attention to what my body is telling me. I’m still playing pick-up basketball three mornings a week at the health club, but I take ibuprofen beforehand to ease the joint soreness. I still host youth group overnight lock-ins, but only with the understanding that kids go to sleep at 2 am so the adults can get 7 hours of rest, too. And I’ve had to start wearing reading glasses, which has allowed me to better see the increasing gray hairs.
Fifty seems like a poetic time to measure my progress; with four grandparents who lived into their 90’s, I have reason to hope I am only at the half-way point of my race on this earth. So, am I on track to accomplish what God may have wanted me to contribute to the team score? Am I bearing enough fruit? Am I keeping up? Should I be breathing harder? Am I still young enough to be effective in youth ministry? Although my career in the parish continues to feed my soul, should I be writing for a larger audience? Am I using all of my gifts to their best advantage? And what would I have to give up to make that happen? As I practice Faith in Daily Life, am I chasing appropriate goals in the name of Christ?
While I listen for God’s answers to those questions, I continue to be, at heart, a long-distance runner in my approach to relationships—with Nancy, three children, individual Gethsemane youth and parents, co-workers and friends, all of which require sustained effort and discipline and paying attention to the results. As I get even older and grayer, may God make me wiser at running each of those races.
from Pastor Sarah Moat
One of my preaching faculty at the seminary would always say, “So what?”
This wasn’t in that condescending way that adolescents sometimes use and we parents cringe at, but rather in a genuine, inquisitive way that encouraged us to think about the real meaning – the personal meaning - the transforming nature of a text that we were working with.
He taught us that it was never enough to simply talk about the text, that we had to engage it…we had to ask the question of each passage of scripture, “So what?” or, in perhaps somewhat less offensive terms, “what difference does it make?” When we look at the stories of Jesus throughout the Bible it is easy to get caught up in the details of his travels, his parables, his healings and other miracles but if we fail to see the scriptures as a witness to the life-changing work of Jesus Christ we are missing the point.
These questions were so ingrained in us that I continue to ask them regularly when I spend time with scripture and I can’t help but to ask them now, as we are completing the Surprise Me, God experiment. What difference does it make in the life of the congregation that we prayed together, Surprise Me, God, throughout Lent? So what if we were surprised as individuals or as a congregation by God’s presence in our lives?
So what? To start with, the fact that we prayed together and that we were open to God’s presence in our lives is worth celebrating! It has been a blessing to hear the surprise stories that have come up over the course of the experiment (thank you for sharing your stories and please continue to do so) but an even more exciting result of the experiment has been that that we are talking together about our faith, we are in tune to God in new or renewed ways and we’re sharing the stories with one another. This has been a wonderful surprise!
The response to the “so what” question is never complete, however, with mere conversation about God or even with simply recognizing God’s presence. Our interaction with God never ends with us just feeling all nice and cozy because God is present. God’s presence calls us forward – it propels us to live out our faith in the world. God’s presence in our lives equips us to respond to God’s people in the world.
Terry Esau, author of our Surprise Me, God experiment, wrote a follow-up book called “Be the Surprise.” Early in the second book he sums up the so what of our Lenten experiment, “Now that I have seen what God is doing in my life I want to be part of it…. let me go beyond being the surprise-ee to becoming the surprise-or. I want to love my neighbor as myself, in tangible ways.” In this Easter Season we are reminded again of God’s overwhelming generosity poured out to each one of us on the cross. As we become saturated with God’s presence may we look for ways that it can spill over as we live out our faith in the world.
We’ve been surprised together. Now, I am excited to see just how God is propelling us forward to Be The Surprise!
from Tiphanie Dirnberger, Director of Children's Ministries
During the season of Lent I have been participating in the “Surprise Me, God” experiment. This is not my first time doing this. In the fall of 2008 Pastor John made reference to this book in a sermon and he asked us to start our days by praying “Surprise Me, God.” It did not take me long to decide I had had enough surprises and abandoned the exercise.
This time around, with the book in hand, I have a new way of looking at the exercise. As I have been accumulating my surprises, I've thought of the people around the world who have had their share of surprises. I wonder if anyone in Haiti or Chile was participating in the “Surprise Me, God” experiment.
As I read Terry Esau‘s book and absorbed his surprises of being able to have lunch with a friend at D'amico’s or finding the mecca for purse shopping in New York City, I wonder how I would respond if my surprise for the day was that my world was turned upside down (literally) – no longer with a home to rest in, a place to go to work, no restaurants to eat in or friends to meet. My reasons for ending my first “Surprise me God” experiment seem trivial compared to the hardships the residents near the fault lines have faced. How would my faith hold up in such a disaster? Would I blame God? Would I ask for his guidance as I start to rebuild my life?
I think these are good questions to ask ourselves before we are surprised by something that could turn our lives upside down. Is God in my life only when life is going well? Or is God in my life only when I need help? Am I talking to God as much as I would with a good friend?
God would like to have a relationship with us at all times – the good times and the bad. God is like a friend who is always there – always reaching out to us. Terry Esau sums up his "Surprise Me, God" experiment with this conclusion: “God loves us so much that he wants to spend his days with us. Not just eternity, but today and tomorrow and the next day. Not just watching us, but walking with us. Not just observing but engaging with us.” Maybe our next experiment should be “Engage with God.”
