From the Rector:

Faith

As we continue through the Lenten season, we begin to imagine the miracle of Easter.  Actually, the Resurrection is no more a miracle than the Creation of the Universe.  God is God and divine creativity is really beyond our well meaning attempts of explanation, anyway.  However, a deep appreciation of divine creativity can breed a raw form of trust, which is the essence of faith, trust in God.  Trust means that you and I know that we matter to God and that, together with every living thing, and even inanimate objects like the Moon, we play our part in God's unfolding designs.  Faith and trust are NOT meant to inflate us, or to inspire others to say "see how wonderful she/he is!"  Indeed, authentic faith leaves us a bit of a mess, a humble mess, fully aware of ourselves and our "selfish appetites and ways."  Authentic trust in God, instead, moves one toward self-honesty, and there finding that God's steadfast Love is the one true compass point.  This work often feels too hard for me.  I generally prefer to glide along the surface, as I have said before, staying busy in order to stay unaware.  Nevertheless, in spite of my general inclinations, I have this past week been on a two day retreat at the Cedar Brake Retreat Center in Belton.  I did not return from the retreat "refreshed or centered," as if that were an automatic result of a retreat.  But I did return a bit more aware of grace and my humble place in God's design, and that is a welcome gift of a time of self-honesty in the intentional presence of God.  I commend contemplation, silence before God, to you.  Not because you will get swift rewards, but because you might find your soul's deepest needs crying out to you.

One more thought - that Easter Resurrection "miracle" can surprise us, and the Holy Week Liturgies might be the best preparation for such a surprise, for if you live that week with Jesus and the Church, you might become disoriented enough (not just gliding through every day as if in a trance) to pay attention to your souls yearning for prayer and authentic faith. 

Devotion

I commend two devotionals in this April issue to you, one from Fr. Jim Williams and the other from Ed Woolery-Price, our Deacon Intern.  Each calls us to trust...

Church Attendance in April

I speak to you "from the heart" as your Priest and Rector.  I fully realize that after Easter Sunday, the weather gets prettier and spring lures many of us out into the lakes and the beaches and the parks and the back yard flowers.  I understand that children's extracurricular activities pick up steam.  Here is my hope for you and you church attendance in April.  Our Capital Stewardship Program teams are working very, very hard on having important events on Sunday, April 15, (the Sunday after Easter Sunday), Sunday, April 29, and Sunday, May 6.  Please do not drift into "warm weather church attendance mode" unthinkingly.  You will be receiving "Building on Our Sure Foundation" Newsletters describing these events in detail.  All I ask is that you make every effort to attend on these, and all the Sundays, of the Easter Season that you are available.  This is a hugely important period in our church life together, be a part of it!

God bless you one and all!

Merrill