They're all out of air.
You can tell Christmas is past by the deflated Christmas figures you see in
front yards. Those huge, inflatable Santas and reindeer, Mickey Mouse and Goofy,
the dancing penguin from that Happy Feet movie, Tigger the tiger from
Winnie the Pooh, Snoopy and Woodstock from Peanuts - left
outside they look like rag dolls collapsed beneath snow drifts, abandoned now
till first thaw. After the holidays our lives can feel like that, too, like
the air's gone out of things, like our dreams have deflated, like there's something
missing.
But this is not to be an empty time for us. We dwell in the season of Epiphany,
a time of seeking and discovery. It began with our reading about wise
men from the East following a star, seeking Jesus, "the child born king
of the Jews," discovering him in his mother's arms. We search for Jesus,
too - for that one who can give meaning to our lives, comfort us when lives
are lost, enable us to reconcile with what we've done or left undone, equip
us to be the people God calls us to be.
What we discover at Good Shepherd is that Christ is in our midst, filling us
up to do together what none of us could do alone. We weathered a gang fight
that threatened Vacation Bible School, and held an Octoberfest with pumpkins
to spare. Sunday School has never been better attended, better staffed or offered
better curriculum. Quilters warmed new bodies and souls in far off lands; and
for th efirst time our School Kits were packed by our children, to better discover
where those learning tools go. A new chime choir holds early bird rehearsals,
a women's coordinating council is emerging, and a Natural Church Development
team is working to teaching us to reach out. Site preparation has left us finally
ready to build a building for the church, the mortgage on the property continues
to shrink even as our building fund continues to grow, all without an "official"
fund raising campaign. At worship we continue to add to the number of readers,
communion assistants and worship leaders. On the horizon is the possibility
of a midweek kid club and a summer arts and crafts festival. We have not emptied
out after Christmas.
At Good Shepherd we do best what we have always done best - enveloping the broken
and the lost with the Christ they were seeking, embracing strangers with the
Christ who has discovered us. Celebrate Epiphany with us, my friends, in worship
Sunday mornings and at the Annual Meeting the last Sunday of February - and
see where we discover Christ anew.
Pastor Jim
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it;
if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. 1 Corinthians
12:26-27
From the Shepherd's Song Newsletter -- February 2007
Copyright 2006 by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
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E-mail your comments and questions to Pastor Jim in care of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at gslc@sirus.com.