Dear Friends in Christ,
“Law and Order” is going off the air. After twenty years (not quite a
record, evidently), they’re done… only to be brought back again in Los
Angeles, as I understand it. It’s never been a show I’ve made sure I was
home to see or bothered to record when I wasn’t able to be there. Even
so, from time to time I would drop in and find myself caught up in the
story line. It strikes me that the scripts delved into parts of the human
experience most of us are grateful we’ve never had to see first hand.
What I’ve always marveled at though is the show’s continuing popularity…
even though the cast has turned over time and again. Clearly, it wasn’t
the characters that made the show --- as engaging as they may have been.
It was the story. And it was the fight for justice --- which even in
shades of gray – was a fight that was won more often than not.
So it is also with the people of God. The characters keep changing, to be
sure. Since the beginning of time God has worked with and through the
likes of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and his family, Abraham and
Sarah, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. God has spoken through
prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea. God worked in the
lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, and a group of twelve
ordinary men who Jesus called as his disciples. Through people such as of
Paul and Peter, Lydia and Steven, and you and me the story of God’s love
and grace and power keeps getting lived out. The story is much the same.
And often it leads us into unexpected places. And yes, it too, is a fight
for justice… a fight that God promises will ultimately be won.
And so I’m wondering about how that old story is living in and through
you. What unexpected places has God led you into and through? How do you
see good being served, grace being shared, love being given? Where do you
see God changing lives in the ways God has always changed lives? In what
ways is God working in you?
Peace to you and many blessings,
Pastor Janet
Coming up at Salem:
On Saturday, May 29th at 8 a.m., mulchers will gather at the church to
spread mulch on our gardens. Bring a shovel, a broom, or a rake and join
in the fun!
On this Memorial Day Week-end we honor veterans in prayers of thanksgiving
and at fellowship hour between services. Be sure to join us as we thank
them for their service.
Weather permitting, the 10:30 service this Sunday, May 30th, will be held
outside. Bring a lawn chair and join us!
On Wednesday, June 16th, we kick off the study of the book Receiving the
Day: Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time, by Dorothy C. Bass.
A copy of the book is available in the Welcome Center. Pick yours up and
join us as we gather to share a meal and conversation. Bring a dish to
pass and bring the kids, too. Programming will be available for them as
well!
Salem Grace Notes Archive
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Grace Notes, May 11, 2010
Grace Notes May 11, 2010
Recently we buried my Mother. The date was April 19th, a beautiful
Monday. We had her Visitation the day before, on Sunday afternoon. She
looked so beautiful, so peaceful, in the favorite dress she had chosen to
be buried in years before. We put three calla lilies in with her, one
from each of her sisters, whom she loved and they her. She had carried
those elegant flowers at her wedding 68 years earlier. Her daughters
followed suit, carrying them at our weddings too, a family tradition born.
She had chosen her own casket 15 years prior, when my Dad died. She
didn’t want to be a fuss to her six children, though certainly we each had
fussed her many times! She was devoted to us and we knew it. What a
wonderful spoiling, to know how well-loved we each were.
We asked that her casket be in the sanctuary, right in front of the
baptismal font, which is front and center, and right by the Paschal
candle, which was lit the whole afternoon, as it was during her funeral.
My Pastor brother said the placement of Mom by the font was perfect, “the
circle of life”, he said, from baptism and back again in God’s House for
the death rites. One sister said she felt safe in the sanctuary as the
people streamed through to pay their respects. I had no words, just felt
through and through the rightness of having our faith-filled Mom back in
the church she worked in and loved for many many years.
The next day, after everyone but family was seated for the funeral, we six
closed Mom’s casket, tucking her in for the last time. In the sanctuary
we spread the magnificent pall over her, thereby signifying to all that
this woman was God’s child, God’s daughter, and she belongs to God wholly
now. Fancy or plain, the casket itself was only a container of a dearly
loved person who now has gone Home, where she belongs, where we all belong
one day. We had seen angels come for her in her nursing home room, so we
had been given Heavenly assurance of her salvation.
We had marvelous bulletins, thanks to our creative secretary. One of the
six Great-Grands had written a note to Great-Grandma, “Have a great time
in Heaven” she wrote. Isn’t that perfect? We had music and song from our
gifted church musicians. We had a Grandson bagpiper, who lead the
recessional with “Amazing Grace”, and it was amazing grace, God’s grace.
We had a Pastor we trusted, we relied on, to listen, to care, to shepherd
us through the planning to be done only once but never forgotten. We were
so blessed to have this help.
The love of God for us all was palpable. The people of God came with
tears, with cards, with flowers, with love and sympathy for us. Their
presence mattered deeply. Their prayers carried us, held us up during
those days of deep pain and sorrow. We are so grateful for the love of
God that shone through each of these people. I have said for years that I
don’t know how people who lack faith get through life. I continue to
believe that. God is by our side every step. All we need do is ask. All
God ever asks of us is to love God back. We are profoundly, everlastingly
grateful to our Mom for teaching us to do just that: love God back. We
do, and in doing so, our blessings overflow.
Thanks be to God.
Judy Bergeson
Diaconal Minister, Salem Lutheran
SALEM EVENTS THIS WEEK:
The Children’s Advocacy Center WALK is this Saturday at Hopkins Park in
DeKalb. Abused children need help and protection; this agency exists just
for that purpose. They provide medical, legal, and social services
advocacy and coordination. Of course we want to support this CAC and so
any children in our County who are being mistreated. Salem has a team;
support it by pledging $10 or more to its walkers. Preregistration is at
8:45 for those who have not preregistered online. Registration for
preregistered walkers is at 9:15. At 10 AM walkers begin either a ¼ mile
or 5 mile walk. Registration fee is $15 and includes lunch and a T-shirt.
This is Jesus’ work.
Don’t miss.
Monthly Morning Ministry takes place this Saturday also, from 9 till 12 in
the Chapel Lounge. Marvelous handwork is done there. Come join the
oh-so-satisfying fun!
Blood pressure screening will take place in the church office after the 8
and 10:30 services this Sunday. What a gift to us.
Remember that our Summer Devotional writings are due this Sunday, May 16th!
Recently we buried my Mother. The date was April 19th, a beautiful
Monday. We had her Visitation the day before, on Sunday afternoon. She
looked so beautiful, so peaceful, in the favorite dress she had chosen to
be buried in years before. We put three calla lilies in with her, one
from each of her sisters, whom she loved and they her. She had carried
those elegant flowers at her wedding 68 years earlier. Her daughters
followed suit, carrying them at our weddings too, a family tradition born.
She had chosen her own casket 15 years prior, when my Dad died. She
didn’t want to be a fuss to her six children, though certainly we each had
fussed her many times! She was devoted to us and we knew it. What a
wonderful spoiling, to know how well-loved we each were.
We asked that her casket be in the sanctuary, right in front of the
baptismal font, which is front and center, and right by the Paschal
candle, which was lit the whole afternoon, as it was during her funeral.
My Pastor brother said the placement of Mom by the font was perfect, “the
circle of life”, he said, from baptism and back again in God’s House for
the death rites. One sister said she felt safe in the sanctuary as the
people streamed through to pay their respects. I had no words, just felt
through and through the rightness of having our faith-filled Mom back in
the church she worked in and loved for many many years.
The next day, after everyone but family was seated for the funeral, we six
closed Mom’s casket, tucking her in for the last time. In the sanctuary
we spread the magnificent pall over her, thereby signifying to all that
this woman was God’s child, God’s daughter, and she belongs to God wholly
now. Fancy or plain, the casket itself was only a container of a dearly
loved person who now has gone Home, where she belongs, where we all belong
one day. We had seen angels come for her in her nursing home room, so we
had been given Heavenly assurance of her salvation.
We had marvelous bulletins, thanks to our creative secretary. One of the
six Great-Grands had written a note to Great-Grandma, “Have a great time
in Heaven” she wrote. Isn’t that perfect? We had music and song from our
gifted church musicians. We had a Grandson bagpiper, who lead the
recessional with “Amazing Grace”, and it was amazing grace, God’s grace.
We had a Pastor we trusted, we relied on, to listen, to care, to shepherd
us through the planning to be done only once but never forgotten. We were
so blessed to have this help.
The love of God for us all was palpable. The people of God came with
tears, with cards, with flowers, with love and sympathy for us. Their
presence mattered deeply. Their prayers carried us, held us up during
those days of deep pain and sorrow. We are so grateful for the love of
God that shone through each of these people. I have said for years that I
don’t know how people who lack faith get through life. I continue to
believe that. God is by our side every step. All we need do is ask. All
God ever asks of us is to love God back. We are profoundly, everlastingly
grateful to our Mom for teaching us to do just that: love God back. We
do, and in doing so, our blessings overflow.
Thanks be to God.
Judy Bergeson
Diaconal Minister, Salem Lutheran
SALEM EVENTS THIS WEEK:
The Children’s Advocacy Center WALK is this Saturday at Hopkins Park in
DeKalb. Abused children need help and protection; this agency exists just
for that purpose. They provide medical, legal, and social services
advocacy and coordination. Of course we want to support this CAC and so
any children in our County who are being mistreated. Salem has a team;
support it by pledging $10 or more to its walkers. Preregistration is at
8:45 for those who have not preregistered online. Registration for
preregistered walkers is at 9:15. At 10 AM walkers begin either a ¼ mile
or 5 mile walk. Registration fee is $15 and includes lunch and a T-shirt.
This is Jesus’ work.
Don’t miss.
Monthly Morning Ministry takes place this Saturday also, from 9 till 12 in
the Chapel Lounge. Marvelous handwork is done there. Come join the
oh-so-satisfying fun!
Blood pressure screening will take place in the church office after the 8
and 10:30 services this Sunday. What a gift to us.
Remember that our Summer Devotional writings are due this Sunday, May 16th!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Grace Notes May 4, 2010
I came across a man the other day who cut my heart to the quick. He was
removing the flower buds from his peony bushes! Snip, snip, snip he went,
and with each snip my heart broke. I couldn’t help but ask if he didn’t
like them or something, and he answered they get too heavy and fall on the
ground. At first I thought he was cutting off every single round ball of
promise, but I saw today he had left a few on the very top.
Growing roses I have learned you prune smaller, weaker buds so the plant
gives its energy to the ones remaining, producing larger blooms. But I
don’t think that’s the way peonies work (tell me if I’m wrong!).
Maybe it will help you understand my distraught if I tell you what
memories peonies evoke for me. When I was a very young girl, we spent
Mother’s Day and Memorial Day at my Great-Grandma’s, Great-Aunt’s, or
Grandma’s home, and each of their yards sported a wild profusion of
beautiful, fragrant peony bushes heavy with bloom. Family photos were
taken among the peonies and huge bouquets graced the tables in and out.
Those slides and movies are part of my core memories of these kind,
flower-loving women who barely graced my childhood before they were gone.
I haven’t been able to get the picture of the man snipping off peony buds
out of my mind. It reminded me of a day when our young sons came to show
us the new “balls” the neighbor boy had discovered…..our peony buds!!! We
were cheated out of any blooms that year, and that’s how I felt as I
watched the man the other day.
Then I got to thinking how children and youth are like peony buds. We
can’t wait to see them bloom and develop to their full potential, but
sometimes they and we are cheated. Sometimes they try to grow in very
unfriendly places and they don’t get the nutrients they need. Sometimes
others crowd them out, and sometimes they aren’t noticed or appreciated at
all. Sometimes they are damaged by the choices or actions of those who
care for them. Sometimes they are cut down by disease or carelessness, and
sometimes they are left in the dark.
This weekend at Salem we mark Mother’s Day and honor Graduates. While we
know no mother is perfect and many carry their own wounds, we hope and
pray mothers everywhere help their children bloom. Graduates carry hearts
full of hope and promise and perhaps a little fear…their own and those of
all who have helped to shape and guide them. They are tender buds opening
to a sometimes cruel and ugly world. Let us give thanks for their beauty
and fragrance and help them bloom profusely and heavily to bless all who
pass by, becoming all that God has planned them to be.
Carla Vanatta, Associate in Ministry
Salem Lutheran Church, Sycamore, IL
This weekend at Salem:
Salem Softball Team Games Friday, May 7th, 6:30 p.m.: Blue Team at
Sycamore Park Field No. 10, Orange Team at Cortland Lions Park. Come and
route for your teams!
Worship 5:00 Saturday, 8:00 & 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 8th and 9th.
Salem Graduates will be honored at the 9:15 a.m. Hospitality Hour this
Sunday and at 10:30 worship; sponsors – Salem Youth and Family Ministry
Team.
Blood Pressures will be taken in the church office after each service this
weekend for those interested.
Spark Bible Fundraiser: help place Spark NRSV Bibles in Salem Sunday
School Classrooms this fall, $15 each.
removing the flower buds from his peony bushes! Snip, snip, snip he went,
and with each snip my heart broke. I couldn’t help but ask if he didn’t
like them or something, and he answered they get too heavy and fall on the
ground. At first I thought he was cutting off every single round ball of
promise, but I saw today he had left a few on the very top.
Growing roses I have learned you prune smaller, weaker buds so the plant
gives its energy to the ones remaining, producing larger blooms. But I
don’t think that’s the way peonies work (tell me if I’m wrong!).
Maybe it will help you understand my distraught if I tell you what
memories peonies evoke for me. When I was a very young girl, we spent
Mother’s Day and Memorial Day at my Great-Grandma’s, Great-Aunt’s, or
Grandma’s home, and each of their yards sported a wild profusion of
beautiful, fragrant peony bushes heavy with bloom. Family photos were
taken among the peonies and huge bouquets graced the tables in and out.
Those slides and movies are part of my core memories of these kind,
flower-loving women who barely graced my childhood before they were gone.
I haven’t been able to get the picture of the man snipping off peony buds
out of my mind. It reminded me of a day when our young sons came to show
us the new “balls” the neighbor boy had discovered…..our peony buds!!! We
were cheated out of any blooms that year, and that’s how I felt as I
watched the man the other day.
Then I got to thinking how children and youth are like peony buds. We
can’t wait to see them bloom and develop to their full potential, but
sometimes they and we are cheated. Sometimes they try to grow in very
unfriendly places and they don’t get the nutrients they need. Sometimes
others crowd them out, and sometimes they aren’t noticed or appreciated at
all. Sometimes they are damaged by the choices or actions of those who
care for them. Sometimes they are cut down by disease or carelessness, and
sometimes they are left in the dark.
This weekend at Salem we mark Mother’s Day and honor Graduates. While we
know no mother is perfect and many carry their own wounds, we hope and
pray mothers everywhere help their children bloom. Graduates carry hearts
full of hope and promise and perhaps a little fear…their own and those of
all who have helped to shape and guide them. They are tender buds opening
to a sometimes cruel and ugly world. Let us give thanks for their beauty
and fragrance and help them bloom profusely and heavily to bless all who
pass by, becoming all that God has planned them to be.
Carla Vanatta, Associate in Ministry
Salem Lutheran Church, Sycamore, IL
This weekend at Salem:
Salem Softball Team Games Friday, May 7th, 6:30 p.m.: Blue Team at
Sycamore Park Field No. 10, Orange Team at Cortland Lions Park. Come and
route for your teams!
Worship 5:00 Saturday, 8:00 & 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 8th and 9th.
Salem Graduates will be honored at the 9:15 a.m. Hospitality Hour this
Sunday and at 10:30 worship; sponsors – Salem Youth and Family Ministry
Team.
Blood Pressures will be taken in the church office after each service this
weekend for those interested.
Spark Bible Fundraiser: help place Spark NRSV Bibles in Salem Sunday
School Classrooms this fall, $15 each.
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