40 Words of Lent: Journey (2/22/2021)

 

I love the image of journey as it relates to my own life of faith.  It is an ongoing path through life that sees it level places, its rocky ridges and sometimes its rough and difficult terrain.  Some of these images come from a book written in 1955 by Hannah Hurnard called "Hind's Feet on High Places" which is based on the passage from Habakkuk 3:19: "God, the Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer (hind) and makes me tread upon the heights." 

This allegorical tale follows the main character "Much Afraid" as she encounters the Shepherd who invites her to a new way of life.  She is accompanied by Sorrow & Suffering; and yet it is through them and the Shepherd that she comes to see and experience life in ways previously thought impossible.  Her journey takes many twists and turns, sometimes seemingly heading in the wrong direction, hounded by Pride, Bitterness, Self-pity and others in the fearings community.

Life can be very much like this in all the moments of our lives.  Some days seem without conflict and even a bit mundane.  Other times, the terrain before us looks impassable even to the point of not wanting to go any further and just stay where we are.  

Yet, Christ is always beckoning us forward, walking beside us and leading us through the most difficult of times. (the dark valleys and still waters of Psalm 23).  The thing to remember always in our life's journey is that we are not traveling it alone.  God offers us the gift of one another to walk alongside us.  Christ reveals his face in those what walk with us. 

Who is walking beside you this day?  

     How have you shared and received the love and peace of Christ in your companionship?

In our hymnal, the one song that I keep humming as I think of today's word is "I'm going on a journey" (ELW 446) which gets to the heart of this image: 

I'm going on a journey and I'm starting today

my head is wet, and I'm on my way

Christ's mark is on me; its on your too;

it says he loves me and he loves you too

I'm becoming this day a saint of God

it really doesn't matter what roads I trod

wherever I go, God's been there too

God's love has touched me and will carry me through

There are other saints who have said amen

they'll keep me faithful to my journey's end

along the way I want to be 

the kind of person that God set free

                                                Text: Kenneth D. Larkin; Music: Edward V. Bonnemere

                                                (c) 1994 Amity Music

May you find on today's journey where Christ meets you, guides you and offers you peace.

40 Words of Lent: Fast (2/20/2021)

 

Fasting is one of the disciplines of Lent that I conveniently “forget”.  The thought of “going without” seems like more of a test of my willpower that I will fail more often than not.  It is probably why I never really got the idea of giving up something for Lent.  Why give us something like chocolate when come Easter morning, I would start to dismantle that chocolate rabbit as soon as I could.  It’s not like I would give up chocolate forever and it certainly had very little to do with my faith.

For it is really about faith and our relationship with God at the epicenter of any of the Lenten practices.  In scripture, fasting was a part of repentance as well as mourning.  Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days at the beginning of his ministry.  It is a way to move from our normal routines and draw closer to God, to realize our dependence upon God.

In a culture that values success and independence, to think instead of giving up and dependence is counter intuitive. Yet, as people of faith, we look to the One in whom we live and move and have our being.  We turn to the One who gives us every breath that we take, to the One in whose image we are created.  Fasting reminds us of our reliance upon God.

A few years ago, Michael and I fasted one day a week from electronics; fasting doesn’t always have to be about food.  It realigned our focus that one day to our relationship with God and with one another.  It helped us to take a step back and remember what is really important 

What has or might help you draw closer in your relationship with God?  What might you need to fast from?

May we find in these days, a greater awareness of Christ’s love that is all around us! 

40 Words of Lent: Heart (2/19/2021)

 

The word "heart" appears in the Bible 886 times (563 in the Old Testament; 164 in the New Testament).

Hebrew: lebab: inner man, mind, will, heart ( Original Word: לֵבָב)

Greek: kardia: heart, mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center. 

                 Original Word: καρδία 

In English, we have often limited it (beyond the physical organ) to love or the location of feeling or emotion.  

I like the biblical understanding of it being our intention, will or the center of our being.  It is our motivation for life and the ways in which we seek to live - to live by our heart.  There is still room for "love" in this understanding, but as more than just a feeling or emotion.  When we proclaim our love for another, we are also stating our intentions for that relationship.  To love another is about more than how we feel, but how we act in relationship to them.

This is exemplified in the greatest commandment:  We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27)  This passage is followed by the story of the Good Samaritan that reveals how this man's heart acts lovingly and with intention towards his neighbor.

In Matthew's Gospel, we hear "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (6:21).  What is it that we hold fast to?  What do we treasure in our lives?

In this past year, we have re-assessed what is "essential" and most important not just for our individual lives, but for our community as well.  How do our hearts reflect what is essential?  How does our character/will/purpose reveal our hearts?

Christ's heart revealed his purpose as Jesus set his face for Jerusalem and the cross.   His heart overflowed with his intention to give of his whole self in love for the sake of the world.

May the fulness of Christ's heart meet us this day and may we seek to live whole-heartedly as God's beloved people.

40 Words of Lent: Labyrinth (2/18/2021)

 

Today's reflection on the word LABYRINTH is a video: https://youtu.be/OlbN3aSJFPc

40 Words of Lent: Ashes (2/17/2021)

 

Today's reflection on ASHES is a video:  https://youtu.be/sjWPzYtHhao

40 Words of Lent

 

40 Words of Lent

You are invited this Lenten season to use a word a day to reflect upon using the following prompts if needed.  When you hear this word:

·         What Bible passages come to mind?

·         What images does it evoke?

·         What might God be saying to you in this word?

·         Find an artistic expression of this word (art, music, dance, etc.)

 

Each of these words will be posted daily (except Sundays) on our Facebook page.  You are invited to share comments, videos and the like with your own reflections.  

Pastor Jen will be sharing some of her own reflections on each of these words.  They will either be video (on Facebook) or written here (and shared to Facebook)

 1)      Ashes (2/17)

2)      Labyrinth (2/18)

3)      Heart (2/19)

4)      Fast (2/20)

5)      1^st SUNDAY in Lent (2/21)

6)      Journey (2/22)

7)      Treasure (2/23)

8)      Heaven (2/24)

9)      Generous (2/25)

10)   Lock (2/26)

11)   Mask (2/27)

12)   2^nd SUNDAY in Lent  (2/28)

13)   Share (3/1)

14)   Search (3/2)

15)   Family (3/3)

16)   Repent (3/4)

17)   Mind (3/5)

18)   Mystery (3/6)

19)   3^rd SUNDAY in Lent (3/7)

20)   Commandments (3/8)

21)   Know (3/9)

22)   Kingdom (3/10)

23)   Riches (3/11)

24)   Wisdom (3/12)

25)   Perfect (3/13)

      26)   4^th SUNDAY in Lent (3/14)

27)   Worry (3/15)

28)   Strive (3/16)

29)   Judge (3/17)

30)   Store (3/18)

31)   Abundant (3/19)

32)   Creation (3/20)

33)   5^th SUNDAY in Lent (3/21)

34)   Value (3/22)

35)   Memory (3/23)

36)   Precious (3/24)

37)   Sacrifice (3/25)

38)   Renew (3/26)

39)   Follow (3/27)

40)   PALM SUNDAY (3/28)

41)   Gaze (3/29)

42)   Pray (3/30)

43)   Reject (3/31)

44)   Meal (4/1)

45)   Darkness (4/2)

46)   Silence (4/3)

47)   RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD (4/4)

 

We are Tinity (Don & Joanne Icken)

We are Trinity (Joanne and Don Icken)

1)      Names(s), where you live, hobbies/activities, other info about your family?

Joanne and Don Icken – We have lived in Mahopac for 35 years. We have two grown children. Kevin lives in Astoria and works for Lockheed Martin in Long Island and Lauren will shortly begin her MD residency in Emergency Medicine at Albany Medical Center. Don and I are retired computer programmers from IBM. Don is now the IT consultant at the Mahopac Library. Joanne is fully retired and volunteers’ “lives” at Trinity. Don enjoys working around the house and especially splitting and stacking wood. Joanne enjoys reading, cooking, crocheting and some gardening.   
           
2) When did you start attending worship at Trinity?  And why did you keep coming? 
We began attending Trinity in 2001. Joanne was raised as a Roman Catholic but wasn’t happy as she became more involved when Kevin and Lauren were small. Don’s grandparents were early members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Pearl River, NY, his parents were married there and he was brought up as a Lutheran there, but he wasn’t happy attending a Roman Catholic church so we started to shop around for a new church in the area. Pastor Maertens spoke with us on several occasions and we decided to attend worship at Trinity. The rest is history. Our children enjoyed Sunday School, Affirmation, and church activities and we got involved in the assorted ministries at Trinity.

3) Favorite experience at Trinity (be as specific as you can)? 
Don enjoys Sunday coffee hours and First Friday’s spending time talking with people. He enjoys Vespers, the Moravian Love Feast, and the Christmas candlelight vigil. Joanne enjoys service events and Senior Choir.

4) Favorite hymn and/or Bible verse/story and why it's your favorite?
Joanne’s favorite hymn is “Here I Am, Lord”.  I feel the lyrics are about being called by God and trusting him to be with you always. Joanne’s favorite Bible verse is Psalm 46:10 “Be Still and know that I am God!”. It relaxes her and reminds her to stop fighting as God is always with me.
Don’s favorite hymn is “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” because he remembers it from growing up and going to church with his family and “Little Town of Bethlehem” because it reminds him of Christmas. His favorite Bible verse is II Corinthians 8:15 “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”            

5) How have you experienced the presence of Christ in the congregation? 
We have experienced the presence of Christ while growing our faith through bible study, Pastor’s spiritual sharing, servant events and surrounding ourselves with our TLC family.  
           
6) What one word comes to mind when you think of Trinity?

When we think of Trinity the word that comes to mind is “Love” or “Friends”.  Bit of a disagreement here.