Pastor's Pen - May 2008

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Ascension of Our Lord, the Festival of Pentecost, the celebration of the Holy Trinity, the end of the Sunday School year, the recognition of graduates, and the beginning of our summer schedule of worship are but a taste of what the month of May will have to offer. Following a relatively quiet April, May will be filled with celebrations and activities from beginning to end. It is true that some of the events indicated are more familiar and immediate to us than others. At the same time it is important that none of the events and what they mean are lost to us. Perhaps one thing that all of these occasions have in common is the change that they bring.

Jesus' ascension marked a turning point in the lives of his followers. No longer with them as he had been and yet still promising to be with them always, Jesus said that in the midst of change would come the gift of God's Spirit. As advocate and comforter, the Spirit would point Jesus' followers to him in the midst of an alien and hostile world. As the believers reflected upon their experience with God, the doctrine of the Trinity was developed over centuries of time as a way of trying to use human words to describe the divine reality. In a world that worshipped God in many different ways, the language of one God in three persons was a change that both threatened and excited.

The end of the Sunday School year and the recognition of graduates is a ready reminder of the changes that the passage of time brings to the live of all of God's children. It is good to be reminded that time is a fleeting thing and had a finite quality to it as well. Time is not limitless. Time is a valuable gift that has been given to us to be used wisely and generously as the children of God. The changes that come with time encourage us to consider the commitments in our lives. They provide us with the incentive to reconsider the ways in which we choose to use the time that is ours. With the proper choices and focus the changes that are marked by time become occasions for rejoicing in the cycles of human life and experience as opposed to occasions for regrets because of opportunities that were missed.

In the midst of what appears to be the busy-ness of May, May we not lose sight of the one who is changeless in love and grace and promises to be with us always.