Feb 1, 2024 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Sheila Wiedendorf…
I think a lot about grace these days, and about the futility of trying to organize time (I think they are related matters!). Yes, of course there are schedules to consider—appointments to keep, rehearsals to begin at the designated hour, children to get to school “on time,” etc. There are enough obligations to keep our calendars saturated from here to kingdom come! But calendars are not Time, calendars are abstractions of intention. I call mine my portal of manifestation—once I put something on my calendar some moment in the future begins to become “real.”
And that’s all well and good. Isn’t it a joy to be of use, of service in this world, and to honor our obligations with the due consideration of timeliness? But sometimes our so-called obligations aren’t necessarily the thing. We are human BEings, not human DOings (and yes, I am preaching to myself here!!!). It is only too tempting to keep on keeping on, remain busy with all those manifestations that our calendars usher in and not spend enough time just sitting still, breathing, being, accepting the fulness of what IS in the moment.
I truly believe that it is the radical acceptance of whatever IS in this moment that gives us sustenance for whatever right action we must take in future moments. God works in the here and now! Given the sum total of whatever has passed before us, this moment is inevitable, and this moment alone is true—regardless of the content. To resist what IS only causes unnecessary suffering—and the world offers suffering enough!
It is the deep awareness of the inevitability of this current moment, that this eternal Now, is the only truth we can know, that leads us to freedom from this unnecessary suffering. Our memory of the past is an interpretation of events—and the future hasn’t happened yet! NOW is what we’re granted so NOW is the time to breathe in whatever is, and recognize the beauty of God’s grace soaking in like forest rain.
And what a joy it is to share in this grace together in all the ways that we do!
A MOMENT OF GRACE
Here a man sits, grieving
an insufferable loss,
There a woman sits,
consoling him
Here a man sits
praying over the past,
There another sits,
holding the pray-er in prayer
Here a woman stops,
caught in a remembrance of sorrow,
There another woman notices,
offers a quiet smile
Here a woman walks,
defiant in the face of inner struggle,
There a man steps aside,
offering space for her private battles
Here I sit, quiet in this eternal now
between past and future,
There you are, knowing or unknowing,
sharing this moment of grace
Sheila F. Weidendorf
www.sheilamakesmusic.com
Jan 27, 2024 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
I played a lot of golf with my father. He grew up on a farm in the Great Depression. It was a family farm; it just did not belong to the Lindus family. The farm belonged to the Watsons. They owned the farm and a few others in Dekalb County. My grandfather was a sharecropper. He would tend to the soil and the crops, most every detail on the farm was under his stewardship. When the crop came in, if there was a profit, he got a share, a much smaller share than the Watsons. My father enlisted in the United States Navy and was soon off to the Pacific Theatre of World War Two. He would return from the war, but he would never return to the farm. He had a cordial but somewhat contentious relationship with the demanding taskmaster of his youth.
I played a lot of golf with my father. My love of the game brought him back a pastime that he had given up. Working long blue-collar days to provide for his growing family and coaching Little League baseball left little time for golf. A child of the depression, he was careful, conservative, he suffered no fools, he was a no-nonsense kind of guy. He provided me with every opportunity in life. On occasion on the golf course, I would be overthinking my shot options. Can I get the ball over the tree, can I carry the water, is it a seven iron or an eight iron? After too much deliberation, he would look at me impatiently and say, “Do something son, even if it’s wrong.”
Those words and so many others still echo in my mind. Wisdom from a man who retired from work at 67 and was dead by the age of 69. The problems of the world can be overwhelming. Turn on the news or pull up CNN on your computer and you will see images that are devastating and debilitating. Most of the carnage that we observe there will have no readily recognizable consequences for us, and clearly we are mostly impotent to effect any change in Israel, Palestine, Ukraine or on the streets of Chicago. For the past week, I have intentionally not turned the TV on, not for news, not for sports, not for weather. And guess what? I have been sleeping better.
This reality does not give me a pass, rather it challenges me to choose carefully how I use my time, energy, and money. I can hear my father saying, “Do something son, even if it’s wrong.” I also hear the voice of Jesus saying, “the poor you will have with you always.” Equally important, I hear Jesus challenging us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter those without shelter, and welcome the stranger. Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” The key is to apply ourselves in places where we can make a difference. We should not waste time wringing our hands, overwhelmed with grief of the human condition, considering ourselves helpless. The key is to make a difference where God has put us and to act as we are able to assist those who are in any kind of need.
Trinity Lutheran Church does a great job helping our neighbors on Whidbey Island. I thank you for your generous support and volunteer efforts right here at home. We also partner with relief and social service agencies in Washington State and across the globe. One of our global partners is Lutheran World Relief. Under their umbrella, and with the generous gifts of several large ELCA churches we were able to change the lives of villagers in remote Bihar, India. We now have the opportunity to partner with Lutheran Immigration and Relief Services (LIRS) to make a real difference in Guatemala. Many in Central and South America find themselves is such dire circumstances that they make the long, arduous, and dangerous journey to the southern border of the United States. Some find a home and welcome in this country of immigrants, others are sent back to their country of origin. https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/LIRS-Jan-23-2024-1-42 PM.pdf
Lutheran Immigration and Relief Services has started a new program to assist those returned from our southern border to build their lives in the communities where they live. Lutheran Immigration and Relief Services manages the funds and the program, but they have hired local people to run the day-to-day work among their neighbors. I am including an attachment that will allow you to read a few stories, stories that remind us that though we are a small church on an island in Washington, we can still make a difference in the world. Camino a Casa Success Stories Dec 2023
If you would like to support this effort, you can do so by writing a check to TLC and designating LIRS in the memo line. I will keep you in the loop as progress is made. Most of us are not in a position to solve the complicated immigration crisis at our Southern border, but that does not render us helpless. I had a meeting last week with Jon Buuck of LIRS, he assured me that together we can do something, there is hope. I would invite you to join me in helping refugees to build a better life in their own countries. I would invite you to join me in turning off the TV and making a difference where we can.
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your
Pastor Jim
Contact Pastor Jim if you have questions at [email protected]
Jan 20, 2024 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
To be quite honest, I have no idea what waits for us on the other side. Will the streets be paved with gold? Will there be streets at all? If there are heavenly choirs, would they have room for one like me who cannot carry a tune in a bucket? To be quite honest, the Bible has very little to say about heaven, and I have no real concept in my head of what eternal life on the other side might look like. But I am quite sure that we will only live once in this world. Our time on Earth is finite, not infinite. We will only pass this way once and that makes this a limited and precious resource. Recently, I had lunch with Bob Olson. In the final chapter of his long and productive life, he is quite reflective. Life is not easy for anyone Bob’s age, aging is not for the faint of heart. Our lunch was placed in front of us, we shared a prayer and then Bob said, “Every day is a gift, what are you going to do with the gift?”
I was looking for my golf ball. Had it been where it was supposed to be I would not have had to look for it. The ball was last seen headed for a small stream far left of the fairway. Eyes peeled, I scanned the water for a dimple, I looked in the mud for an entry hole. Keep in mind I have been honing these skills for 55 years. Then I was startled by a frog. The frog was crossing the stream with intention. I watched him swim for a moment, and then I noticed a leaf as it slowly passed the frog and me. It was caught in the current of the steam, no intention, no destination in mind, it was simply aimlessly going with the flow. To quote the great theologian and philosopher Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
The confluence of these two events got me thinking a lot about the importance of intention. I have stood waist deep in the Jordan River many times over the past 28 years. Trinity Pilgrims dressed in white, stumble into the water, shocked by cool temperature. They meet me there where Jesus once met John the Baptist. They have come to be baptized or to renew their baptisms. We talk briefly about their life in faith and why this moment is so important to them. Some were baptized as babies, carried by parents who have long since crossed over to the other side. When the moment is right, I ask them a simple question, “Is it your intention to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of your life?” Once they have answered in the affirmative, they are immersed in the waters and arise to a tearful hug.
If you only had a few weeks to live, would you live with intention? Would you consider more deeply your daily choices, the people you wanted to spend that time with, the cards that you would write, would text messages be replaced with phone calls or visits? Are we more like the frog crossing the stream, eyes focused on the other side, or are we more like the leaf, aimlessly going with the flow? This new year has just begun, the challenges and opportunities of 2024 are before us. I would encourage to answer the question that I ask in the Jordan River, is it your intention to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of your life? That confession of faith should lead us to live life with greater intention. For we are called by our baptism to ministry. Wherever God puts you this day, is your place of Christian ministry.
In all honesty, I have no idea what waits on the other side, I can trust God for that, but I do know that my days here are numbered and Bob Olson’s words echo in my mind, “Every day is a gift, what are you going to do with the gift?”
Live with intention my friends. Never ignore the gift that God has given you and do not ignore the calling that God has entrusted to you.
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your
Pastor Jim
Contact Pastor Jim if you have questions at [email protected]
Jan 13, 2024 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
”Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Trinity Lutheran Church gives a lot of money away each week, each month, each year. In the past 5 years alone, we have given away more than $2,000,000. That money has made a difference in the lives of your neighbors on Whidbey Island and God’s children across the vast expanses of the earth. Blessed to be a Blessing – we give money away cheerfully and thankfully. Generous giving is one of the privileges that come with accumulated wealth. Of course, Trinity Lutheran Church is not a building, it is a gathering of people. The building does not send this money out into the world to do good, you do, we do it together. Jesus talked about money much more often than I do. On this January morning as we wade into the waters of 2024, I don’t want to talk about money.
“God loves a cheerful giver.” I want to talk about your stewardship of the renewable resources that God has entrusted to you. Resources that are abundant, endless in fact, and totally free. I love the word “free.” Everyday you have the opportunity to share words of kindness. You will never run out of smiles by giving them away; hugs and handshakes, good wishes and common courtesies are at your disposal. The supply is endless and free. Having said that, being a good steward of these free gifts is a discipline, a decision, a choice. Sharing these simple renewable resources should be at the top of our daily “to do list.” Like most practices, this giving gets easier over time, it becomes a part of your DNA, and the more you sow the more you will reap. Scatter those smiles to the wind and they will come back to you. Of course, the opposite is true also, share your frowns, complaints, and bad attitude freely and you will reap the same in return. This is not God’s judgment; this is just the way it works.
Common everyday acts of kindness pay tremendous dividends. Your acquaintances will look forward to seeing you, you will be known as one who is generous, thoughtful, and considerate. You blood pressure will go down, and you will find life to be much sweeter if you stay on the sunny side of life. This does not just happen, it happens with intention, we set out to do it, we practice it and over time it is like riding a bicycle.
The new year is upon us, it is not too late for life changing resolution: to share an attitude of gratitude, to smile more, to be more considerate, to be more patient, to choose compliments over complaints. What is this going to cost you? Nothing! God loves a cheerful giver and this giving is absolutely free.
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your
Pastor Jim
Contact Pastor Jim if you have questions at [email protected]
Jan 6, 2024 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
“For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven, a time to weep and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3
Felicia was born in Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, New York in the Spring of 1962. The hospital was not far from the rent-controlled apartment where her father and uncles had been raised by Irene and Joe Brown. Grandma Irene lived in the same apartment for the better part of 50 years. The neighborhood was made up of immigrants, most of them Jewish. Grandma Irene was short in stature, but she had a big heart, she valued tradition, and she was uncommonly wise. There was little need for Irene to leave the neighborhood, her life and her community were there. Both sides of Felicia’s family were faithful practicing Jews. When Felicia was born, she was the first grandchild, a beacon of hope for the future, a child of Jewish traditions, her great-grandfather was a Rabbi.
By the time I came around Grandpa Joe had died, a few more grandchildren had arrived, and Grandma Irene was old but going strong. The firstborn granddaughter was 15 years old, 800 miles from Brooklyn, in the cornfields of Northern Illinois, when she began dating a Lutheran boy from the same high school. Felicia loved her grandmother and in the days before social media she would actually sit down and write her letters, slipping a photo in the envelope from the latest DeKalb High School homecoming or prom dances. Grandma Irene’s response was succinct, “It is nice that you have friends who are Christian.” The word “friends” was not underlined but the message was loud and clear. Grandma Irene, understandably so, wanted her firstborn granddaughter to be married to a nice Jewish boy. It would be quite scandalous in Brooklyn if she were to marry outside of the traditions and bloodlines of Judaism.
After nearly four years of dating, a ring was given and a proposal was accepted, an engagement was announced, and a date was set for a wedding in the summer of 1982 to be held at First Lutheran Church. Though invited to the wedding, Grandma Irene would decline to attend, she informed her granddaughter that instead of attending she would “sit shiva” for Felicia. Shiva is derived from the word “sheva,” which means seven. According to Jewish custom, all mirrors in the apartment would be covered, shoes would not be worn, friends dressed in black would stop by over a seven day period to mourn the death of Irene’s firstborn grandchild. I think that I was too young, to immature to understand the depth of Grandma’s pain, the disappointment that this Lutheran boy had brought upon a good Jewish family was real.
The wedding date came and passed, after a quick honeymoon and Felicia and I were off to Luther Seminary. Grandma Irene invited us to visit her in Brooklyn that next summer. From the moment we arrived I was her new best friend. She made food for me, I would sit at the kitchen table in her tiny apartment and listen to her stories, she fed me some more, and then she started cooking for me again. I like to eat, so we got along fine. One afternoon she called the superintendent to take care of a minor problem, he came right away, and before he left, she gave him some money. I asked, “Why did you pay him, isn’t that what he is supposed to do?” She said, “I did not pay him, I gave him a tip (TIP: To Insure Promptness) the tip was for next time, to make sure he shows up. I may really need him next time.” When our girls started arriving, the next generation of Jewish/Lutheran granddaughters, Grandma Irene did something truly amazing, she left the neighborhood in Brooklyn and crossed the country to visit us in Washington. She loved me like one of her own.
There is a profound wisdom that Grandma Irene imparted to us and modeled for us. I might summarize the lesson this way, “Sit Shiva and get over it.” The love that we have for our children and grandchildren makes us most vulnerable. We are prone to disappointment, grief, maybe even shame. Grandma Irene did everything she could to stop the wedding, to maintain Jewish traditions, to save her granddaughter and perhaps to save face. In the end she could not stop the love story, the loss was great but she would compound the loss by losing her granddaughter altogether. She had a choice, love her granddaughter and accept this Lutheran boy into the family or lose her granddaughter altogether. Grandma Irene would “sit shiva and get over it.”
Sometimes we cannot understand why our children or grandchildren would break from long-held traditions. We may be mystified by gender distinctions, pronoun identification, sexual orientation, religious practices, or political affiliations. Sometimes life just does not play out as we had planned or hoped. If that happens, take a page out of Grandma Irene’s playbook: sit shiva, acknowledge the grief, feel it, take comfort from your friends and family, but then dust yourself off and get over it. Remember, you have loved that child from the day that they were born, and now you will either keep loving them or you will lose them. Your love for that child should not be dependent upon your understanding of their lifestyle choices.
Grandma Irene became my best friend and I have done my best to take care of her granddaughter.
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your
Pastor Jim
Contact Pastor Jim if you have questions at [email protected]
Dec 30, 2023 | Pastor Jim's Blog
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
The words of Jesus, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28-29
The year is coming to an end, 2023 will slip silently into the history books replaced by a new year and a predictable rhythm of monotony, adventure, and uncertainty. The end of the year was wearing on me, a flare up of bursitis was making sleep less than restful, full calendars were interrupted by death, which added grief and funerals to the mix. The end of the year was wearing on me and then I was stopped in my tracks by an unplanned interaction. Every day I see dozens of people, some need family or spiritual counsel, others just need an ear, a prayer, or a hug.
The conversation in the cereal aisle of Payless began as many do: “Pastor Jim, how are you?” My usual response would be, “never been better,” but the end of the year was wearing on me. I replied, “All things considered, I am fine.” The unexpected response gave me cause for reflection. “So, you have not been busy, you must have lots of time on your hands?” Quizically, I said, “It has been very busy.” The man smiled and said, “Then certainly you have not had the time or capacity to do that.” “To do what?” I asked. “To consider all things. That is a serious undertaking. And I am guessing that if you really had the time and capacity to consider all things that your response to my question would have been different.”
The day moved on from there, I returned to the church with my oatmeal, but my mind was stalled in that earlier conversation. Mentally spinning, I reflected upon the profound framing of my life journey as offered by a casual happenstance meeting in the aisle at Payless. Had I considered all things? Had I ever considered all things? The end of the year had been a little challenging, but those challenges were most certainly first world in nature. Had I ever considered all things? I was born in a land of freedom and opportunity. Neither were earned by me, rather, they were given to me by the blood of patriots, by the sacrifice of my parents and by the visionary foresight of our nation’s founders. I have eaten fruit from many trees, but I have yet to plant a tree myself. I have driven on roads constructed by others. The schools I attended were built and paid for mostly by those who came before me. I do not have food insecurity, my home is comfortable, hot water arrives on demand, technology connects me with the world and my neighbors on Whidbey Island live and work in relative safety. Like the lily of the field, very little of what I have and what I have become can be credited to my hard work or wisdom.
If I really had time to consider all things, then I would be able to recognize that I have been blessed to a degree unknown to previous generations and to most of the world today. I have it better than 99% of the humans who have gone before me. All things considered, I guess that makes me a one percenter. Blessed to be a Blessing!
All things considered or should I say many things considered, I am more than fine, and it is time to pay it back and to pay it forward. May 2024 be a year of generosity, gratitude, and careful consideration of the many blessings that have come our way. Happy New Year!
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your
Pastor Jim
Contact Pastor Jim if you have questions at [email protected]
