{"id":1338,"date":"2012-01-06T20:02:43","date_gmt":"2012-01-07T03:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1338"},"modified":"2012-02-08T21:14:11","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T04:14:11","slug":"pastors-pen-january-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1338","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Pen January 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"
The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;
\n<\/em>on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
\n<\/em>– Matthew 13:45-46<\/em><\/address>\n

Beloved of God,<\/p>\n

What will this new year, 2012, hold?\u00a0 When the calendar turns I begin imagining and hoping what the year will bring;\u00a0 the places I\u2019d like to go, the people to see, the goals to reach, the crises to avoid, the habits (healthy ones!) to cultivate.\u00a0 How about you?\u00a0 How far will you allow your imagination to carry you this year?<\/p>\n

There are some voices out there that have identified 2012 as the year in which humankind will see \u201cthe end of the world as we know it.\u201d\u00a0 Despite the many examples of false \u201cend time\u201d predictions through the centuries, some interpreters of the so-called \u201cMayan calendar\u201d suggest the end of the world will take place on or near the winter solstice of 2012.\u00a0 Hollywood is already cashing in on the theme.\u00a0 This is not a new phenomenon but an old, familiar one.\u00a0 Only time will tell.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, we as a congregation have some work to do!\u00a0 There are significant decisions ahead for us this month as we consider the shape our VISION and MISSION PLAN will take in the next 5-10 years, and as we decide what level of commitment we will bring to the table as we prioritize and fund our congregational ministries.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot to be excited about, and I hope each of you will be full participants in the process.\u00a0 These decisions belong to all of us acting together\u2014not just a few.<\/p>\n

In his gospel, Matthew packs a whole bunch of short, pithy parables of Jesus into the 13th chapter.\u00a0 Jesus is at his best as a teacher here\u2014using common images from everyday life as new metaphors for understanding what God is up to in the world:\u00a0 \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like\u2026 a mustard seed\u2026yeast in a batch of dough\u2026treasure hidden in a field\u2026 a merchant searching for fine pearls.\u201d<\/em> Who would ever have thought that the reign of God would be so accessible and at the same time so subtly hidden in ordinary things?\u00a0 Jesus invites us inside each image and gives us permission to activate our own imaginations to consider how and where God is at work in our everyday lives turning sorrow to joy, dead ends to new beginnings, and small gestures to grand movements of grace.\u00a0 When we can see God anew in ordinary places of our lives there\u2019s no end to the myriad ways we can experience \u201cGod-with-us.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week I presided at a memorial service for a woman I never met, but who has touched the lives of students and colleagues over a period of decades.\u00a0 Her name is Marcelyn Shadow, and she once was a member at Peace.\u00a0 By all accounts, Marcy left a deep and powerful legacy of learning and caring in the lives of hundreds of her middle school students.\u00a0 Her zeal for teaching and her unorthodox classroom style ignited a desire for learning that led a number of her former students into teaching careers of their own.\u00a0 When it came to working with these kids, Marcy was \u201call in.\u201d Teaching was her true vocation, the place where \u201cthe world\u2019s deep hunger\u201d and her \u201cdeep gladness\u201d converged.[1]<\/sup><\/a> Where is that place for you?\u00a0 That\u2019s a question worth asking as the rhythm of the new year begins.<\/p>\n

Blessings on the Way,<\/p>\n

Pastor Erik<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Frederick Buechner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:45-46 Beloved of God, What will this new year, 2012, hold?\u00a0 When the calendar turns I begin imagining and hoping what the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-newsletter","category-pastors-pen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1370,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions\/1370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}