How Many Ways Can I Be Grateful?

How Many Ways Can I Be Grateful?

May 5, 2023 | Pastor Jim's Blog

Today’s Word from Pastor Jim… 

A few weeks ago, on a cold Spring night, David Roth ended his concert in the safety and warmth of our sanctuary with a song about gratitude. The recurring refrain was “How many ways can I be grateful? How many ways?” It was a fitting way to end a beautiful evening of storytelling and song.

“How many ways can I be grateful? How many ways?”

David’s simple refrain, and the verses that accompanied it, carried a, sometimes forgotten, message of hope. The act of gratefulness moves our minds away from self-absorption, self-aggrandizement, and fear. It is hard to have perspective when one focuses most intently on one’s own navel.

“How many ways can I be grateful? How many ways?”

If we begin each morning by counting our blessings, we can face the day with a more positive attitude. If we end each day by counting blessings, we are more likely to slumber with sweet dreams. We could all benefit from having a gratitude journal to focus our thoughts and adjust our attitudes.

The opposite of a gratitude journal is the 24-hour news cycle. It is a bad news buffet of scandal, crime, violence, and catastrophe. It is a bad news buffet that blows threats out of proportion, and leaves the viewer with bad news indigestion. The 24-hour news cycle incites fear and distorts our perspective. Consequently, we spend far too much time focusing on scarcity, on what is lacking in our lives, on what is wrong with our nation and the world.

“How many ways can I be grateful? How many ways?”

Look around! The world we live in is abundant in beauty, bounty, diversity, and wonder. For those of us living on Whidbey Island, or in Northwest Washington, there has probably never been a period of greater safety and security. I don’t live with a Pollyanna philosophy; my head is not in the sand. I recognize that there are many environmental, economic, and political problems. We have work to do. We can and should be motivated to make a difference.

“How many ways can I be grateful? How many ways?”

Gospel means Good News. That Good News changed the world. Good news can liberate us and motivate us to greater love and service. Bad news can paralyze us, as we hunker down in fear. I simply think that we have underestimated the power of gratefulness. How might our lives, our days, and our nation be different if we gave gratitude the same floor time as fear? Could it be that there is more good news in the world than bad? If we were to construct a balance sheet, listing our blessings on one side and those things that threatened us personally on the other, what would that look like?

Gratitude does not negate real problems, but if we start with gratitude, if we recognize and name our blessings, we are more likely to be pleasant to be around and much more useful to the world God loves.

Blessed to be Blessing! I ask you, “How many ways can I be grateful? How many ways?”

One beggar telling another where to find bread, I am,
Pastor Jim

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

CREATION’S CORNER #3: A Walk in a Living Cathedral

CREATION’S CORNER #3: A Walk in a Living Cathedral

May 1, 2023 | Creation's Corner

I invite you to come for a walk with me along an old-growth forest tail as we savor the musty humus smell and the sounds that surround us.

It is spring and the resurrection of life from winter’s dormancy is bursting forth!

As we round a corner, a figure is kneeling a few feet ahead. He reaches into the litter and raises hands full of rich humus. Like a potter, He begins to mold a shape from the precious soil.

Gradually the form of a small figure begins to take shape. Covered with fur, its head hangs limp with no movement. Eyes are closed. It is lifeless. With His head bowed, He breaths into the face of His loving work.

Suddenly movement is seen and what had been a lifeless mound of soil becomes a living creature with velvet brown fur and expectant eyes that look toward us as we approach. The stranger slowly stands. Wisdom, Love, and Life are in His eyes. We know…!

He slowly and gently reaches out and hands us the creature with a smile. His only instructions are to love and care for it as He would as He turns and slowly walks down the path.

How amazing it is to be given the responsibility to care for God’s Creation.

Genesis 2:15 tells us to “shamar” (keep, preserve) God’s amazing Creation as we walk humbly with our God.

Thanks for reading.

Below are informational posters for Prairie Days, May 5 and 6 up in Coupeville — a great opportunity to learn about our local creation.

— Joe Sheldon

P.S. Direct comments to [email protected]

Dining at Canlis

Dining at Canlis

Apr 28, 2023 | Pastor Jim's Blog

Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…

Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” Mark 10:43-44

One-time, one-time several years ago, Felicia and I had a special memory. We ate dinner at Canlis restaurant in Seattle. One-time only and it was amazing. To be honest, I don’t remember what I had for dinner, what appetizers or entrees I enjoyed. I only remember the company and the hospitality. We enjoyed dinner with friends and we were treated to extravagant hospitality.

From the moment we arrived in the parking lot we were engaged, welcomed, and cared for at every turn. Our car doors were opened; we walked in, as our car disappeared. The maitre d’ greeted us, took Felicia’s coat, and walked with us to our table, thanking us for coming and asking if we were celebrating a special occasion. Felicia’s chair was pulled back slightly, allowing her to gracefully take her spot at a perfectly prepared table.

The dinner lasted for hours, the conversation was lively, and the servers seemed to anticipate our every need. I ordered a glass of wine after seeking the advice of the sommelier. Later I asked him the name of wine that I was drinking, and when it was time to leave, he brought me a little Canlis bag that contained the wine label. We pushed back from the table and headed for the door. There was the maitre d’ holding Felicia’s coat in front of the fireplace, warming the inside for her comfort. Outside our car was idling.

A meal at Canlis is expensive, but for a special occasion it is worth every penny. The food was outstanding I am sure, but it was the hospitality that left a lasting impression.

Every Sunday morning people come to TLC. It takes a lot of nerve to come to a church for the first time. Visitors are a little nervous, apprehensive, unsure what their experience will be, wondering if worship will be user-friendly, hoping that they will be welcomed.

Every Sunday morning they come, most times they are new to Whidbey Island, but others come as a result of some unspeakable loss, or devastating diagnosis.

On Sunday morning we work at Canlis. We are the servants of Jesus, called by Jesus. We work here, we set the table, we make the cookies, we welcome the guests that Jesus invited. We have no say in the guest list. The greeters are the first line of welcome, offering a smile and a handshake. The ushers are the maitre d’s. They too welcome the guests, offer them the morning menu and a smile as they guide them to a comfortable seat.

Hospitality is our central calling. It is opening the door for the Gospel to be heard. If our visitors don’t see Jesus in us, then their hearts may be hardened, and they may not see Jesus in Karl’s songs or in the sermon.

I read an article by a pastor who took his family to Disneyland. On Sunday morning before going to the Magic Kingdom their family found a local Lutheran Church. He later compared the hospitality that they experienced at the church and at Disneyland. It was a reminder that hospitality lays the groundwork for the hearing of the Gospel.

Every Sunday morning, they come, the guests of Jesus. Every Sunday morning, we all work at Canlis. Your assignment that morning does not come from Lana or Robin, it comes from Jesus.

See you at Canlis/TLC.
Pastor Jim

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Do You Believe?

Do You Believe?

Apr 21, 2023 | Pastor Jim's Blog

Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in gravity?

The oldest confession of faith is this; “In the beginning God created.” This a confession, nothing more. The story goes on to describe creation, but the details of this creation were not scientific in nature. The story was a faith story; it was never meant to be a part of a science textbook. It simply tells us, “who” created. It does not answer the question of “how.” If we use the book of Genesis as a literal description of creation, then we are being unfaithful to its original intent.

I was talking with a man last week; he said that his son was a scientist. His son believed in science, observation, theories that could be tested and ultimately proven. He did not believe in God. My response was quite simple saying, “It does not matter what he believes.” We do not have the power to change the truth, reality is not dependent upon our belief or denial. It is what it is.

Do you believe in God? Do you believe that this marvelous creation is nothing more than a cosmic accident, a billion years of synchronized, coincidental actions, the self-arrangement of elements from the periodic table? Can you look at a flower, a tree, the diverse birds of the air, or the inner workings of the human eye, and imagine that it all came about by chance? A Boeing engineer once said to me, “Believing that creation is just the coincidental coming together of material would be like throwing all the parts of a 737 in a field, and over a billion years it assembled itself into a plane that could take flight.”

In my view, it takes a lot more blind faith to believe that there is no higher intelligence than to believe that there is, in fact, a God. “In the beginning God created.” It is the oldest and most profound of human confessions.

I stand by that confession, and I am a firm believer in science. There is no need for religion and science to be in a contentious relationship. Anywhere we find truth, we have in fact found God. There is only one source of truth. The truth is not a threat to science or religion, rather it is a light that should inform the human journey.

Christianity is a mixture of truths, falsehoods, traditions, human constructs, and sometimes informed interpretations of scripture. We certainly do not have a corner on the market of truth. Time has proven both science and Christianity to be misguided and misinformed.

“My son is a scientist; he does not believe in God.” I suggested that the father would tell his son that he does not believe in gravity. Tell him that you refuse to believe in gravity and that you are going to jump out the window of the 10th floor of a building. It does not matter if we believe in gravity or God, the truth is not ours to change by our belief or denial.

God is a mystery. We see in a mirror dimly. God is beyond the grasp and comprehension of mere creatures, and that is what I am, a creature. I believe that God created; I believe that for three years humanity got a glimpse of God’s nature and intention. In Jesus, we have an infinitesimally small revelation of the Master of a universe that is so expansive that even science cannot imagine it.

A simple confession is all I need; “In the beginning God, in the end God, God described as love. Loved, forgiven and never alone.” That is enough, I can live and die with that.

One day closer,
Pastor Jim

[email protected]

CREATION’S CORNER #2: The Fruitfulness Principle

CREATION’S CORNER #2: The Fruitfulness Principle

Apr 16, 2023 | Creation's Corner

Let’s begin by considering the Biblical Concept of Fruitfulness.   On the fifth day of creation, we read in Genesis chapter 1 that God blessed all the living creatures of the waters and the birds who fly and said: “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth” Genesis 1:22 NIV. We should also note that in vs. 28 God gave humans a similar blessing – to be “fruitful and increase” in number. For humans, that blessing was followed by the directive to “rule” Creation.

How should we understand this “fruitfulness” blessing?  Was God referring only to reproduction in numbers? Or was it meant to be more? I suggest that it was both.

Donna and I, like many of you, have been blessed with children.  As I consider those precious gifts to us and look to their future, I pray that they will have fruitful lives – that they will be all that God intended them to be as they live to their full potential. I image that was to be God’s intention for all His creatures. This then relates to the question: how should you and I “rule” over Creation? Do our human lives enable God’s creatures to praise God through their own fruitfulness that their lives will be a resounding praise blessing to their Creator! Psalm 150: 6 – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. Stay tuned….

Thanks for listening. Direct comments to [email protected]