Ministers Musings

Did you have a perfectly wonderful Christmas?  With candles and chocolate and family and one happy dog?  Or with lots of singing and jolly grandchildren?  Or maybe it was perfectly quiet and relaxed with cheese and puzzles and a small tree with gold garland?  I had a very nice Christmas, but it was not perfect.  There were short tempers and crying cousins mixed in with the laughter and singing; the quiche should have been warmed, the dog jumped too much, and some of the gifts just weren’t quite right.  I’m not complaining at all.  I loved our celebrations.  But I can’t call them close to perfect.  We were all, dog included, going on to perfection.

I have similar expectations for the year 2025.  There will be happy times, I trust, songs to sing, games to play, hills to ride down fast on a bicycle.  There will be opportunities to make a difference in the world, chances to proclaim the gospel, to offer a listening ear, to help feed hungry neighbors, to stand up for truth when lies are seeking the upper hand.  There will be days of sorrow and disappointment, and times when I will be angry and not be able to do anything to solve the problem at hand.   And there will be many moments of nothing all that special at all. Hours of driving, of working at a computer, of almost getting a great idea, but not there yet.  And there will be dinner to think about, to plan and then to cook, every night.  Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming, considering all that in the first week of January.  How will we get through?

Around here, we say thanks.  Every day.  Sometimes for the dog, sometimes for the love of friends, sometimes for grandchildren, sometimes for an especially fun choir anthem, always for the food, whatever it is.  Saying thanks reminds us that it’s all gift, that God provides for us, even through difficult times.  Saying thanks grounds us in the wonder of each particular day.  Not perfect days, but often quite nice days.  If God is full of grace, loving and giving – and God is – then receiving goodness from God is always at the heart of our lives as God’s people. Gratitude is where we begin.  From gratitude, from acknowledging our dependence on God’s gifts and our joy in receiving them, we can then grow into imitators of that same grace.  From gratitude we move to loving and forgiving and then to standing up for truth.  It’s how we grow in grace and holiness, how we go on to perfection, day by day, year after year.

Blessings to you in the year that lies ahead.  May you be thankful for all of God’s gifts in your life.  And may you grow in love and grace.  

Pastor Cathy