Pastor's Message

June 2009
                                                                                          

SPRING SPIRIT STEPS

During the past few weeks the world outside my door has undergone a dramatic change.  It has changed from a dull gray/brown to a vibrant green.  The various shades of green are punctuated with flowers that are all the colors of the rainbow.   What were yellowish, swelling buds on the trees just a few days ago have burst forth into full leafs almost overnight.   It seemed that I could almost see the Hosta in the front yard growing before my eyes.  Almost everywhere I look there is a newness and freshness to life.

There is another dramatic change going on, a change of a very different nature.  My father-in-law lies in a hospital bed waiting to be transferred to a hospice.   There he will spend his final days.  This man who just a few months ago was giving violin lessons is having difficulty remembering the word blanket as cancer spreads throughout his brain; the beginning and the ending of life being played out on the same stage. 

His family has been working in shifts, being with him during his waking hours.  While sitting in his hospital room, one of his daughters told him that she had to run some errands and she would be gone for a couple of hours and asked him if that was alright with him.  He indicated that it worked out well because he wanted some time alone to think about what his life had meant.

Life is beginning and ending each day and, no matter where we are on that continuum, each of us will reach those final days.  How much more meaningful would life be for each of us each day if we took a few moments from time to time to reflect on what our life means.

If we lived our lives with a greater awareness of the finiteness of life, of what our life means, would we make the same choices on how we would spend our time?   Might we choose to spend more time with friends and loved ones?  Might we choose to deepen all our relationships?  Might we dedicate ourselves to greater service?  Might we set different priorities?  Would our lives look at all similar to how they look now?

In this time when the newness and freshness of life is so obviously surrounding us,  I would encourages each of us to take some time to walk in the new grass, to wander amongst the trees, to reconnect with mother earth and contemplate the meaning of our lives in this time and in this place.

 

May you have peace in your day.

 

Pastor Bob