Jim McDonald's blog

Throwing a pile of vegetables, seafood and beef together to be cooked in concert to arrive done meant that things had to happen quickly. At the Mongolian Grill last night, cooking to raise funds for choir tour, I felt like the psalmist, "My cup overflows." The dinners kept coming, some meatless, some with an egg that if you squashed it just right it might break without leaving its shell as an extra ingredient.

Watching our sanctuary Advent Wreath lit each week with candles signifying love, joy, hope, and peace, has made me realize just how much we all walk around with inward lights of love, joy, hope and peace.

Whether or not you were one of those who got to experiment with matches or candles, or read old words from Isaiah, you wear those Advent lights in your giving, in your smiles, in your hopes that spill over to so many little actions, all of which walk us closer to Christmas.

Isaiah 2:1-5

When we look back into the world of ancient Israel. Into this world of ploughshares and pruning hooks. While It may be that in normal times, life was about plowing and planting and pruning and praying for good weather. However in times of crisis, things took a different shape.

Remember sensitivity training. Every word and gesture had to be in the right now. Popular in the 70s

You couldn’t say, “What are you planning to do after supper?” or “Are you going home for Thanksgiving?” These were all forms of avoiding the moment in front of you. It was terrifying, because all the ways we’d each learned to manipulate interactions and take conversations onto our safe territory were stripped away, and we had to be honest and truthful not about our past but about what was going on right this minute, right now, not just in our own minds, but in the room.

I watched someone texting with one hand and shopping for groceries with the other.

Rabbits and Resurrection
John 20.1-18

Remember the early Christian church and how Christians were persecuted for believing that someone else beside the Roman Emperor could be King of the Universe. Our Mothers and Fathers in the faith were stoned, burned and fed to ravenous lions. Nero’s depraved acts initiated a period of violent persecution, torture and martyrdom for Christians that lasted into the 4th century.

This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. In the evening we will gather at 7PM for prayer and song scripture and reflection and of course mark our foreheads with ashes to mark the beginning of Lent.

It was a strange week. Last Monday began with the continuing saga of the conflict in Egypt. We were bombarded with images that carried the forecast of new storms. Nightly we heard the crowds cry “O Pharaoh “let my people go”, a cry coming out of an economic malaise to ears that seemed unresponsive.

Tuesday and Wednesday you could hear the Chicago area cry “Let’s be done with winter”. It doesn’t have quite the urgency as does a confrontation with Pharaoh but feelings of oppression can get muddied. Tuesday we hardly noticed what the groundhog had to say.

A Big Thank You to all who have raised their pledge for this years budget. The most difficult miracle that ever took place in scripture can be found...drum roll please...Acts chapter 2! "All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need."