March 29 Grace Notes

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy
city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4)

I'm back walking the bike path these days. Through the winter, it was
covered with snow and ice, but these last few weeks, the snow is gone and
the path is clear. I like it as I can walk uninterrupted by the need to
watch for traffic and I don't need to count the rounds I'm making as I do
when the cemetery provides my path… I just walk half an hour in one
direction and then turn around and come back. Yesterday as I walked the
sun was shining and the birds were singing --- a whole cacophony of sound
accompanied me --- and those birds themselves? They were crossing flight
paths in front of me --- almost leading me along. Now, I'm no expert on
birds. I can tell a robin from a sparrow from a cardinal from a dove ---
and I certainly saw all four yesterday morning. But I can't distinguish
one bird song from another… it all just sounded like gladness and like
spring itself might just be coming in spite of the fact that I'm still
needing to wear layers to keep warm in the early morning.

We are fortunate, of course, to live in part of the world where the
seasons do change… where predictably at this time of the year the crocuses
are blooming, the trees are budding, the grass is looking a little less
brown than it did a few weeks ago, and yes, the birds are singing. We
watch and listen for these signs --- these hopeful promises of days when
the earmuffs and the long underwear can be packed away for another season.
Surely those birds were a vivid reminder to me only yesterday that spring
is coming, in spite of its apparent delay…

We are indeed, most blessed, to live in a part of the world where every
spring we are given some real sense of what new life, renewed hope,
resurrection even might look like. These days? I can step out into the
sunshine and take a deep breath and know something of God's larger intent
for life not only in me but for the whole earth.

And so it is that these can be gifts to us in our life of faith as well,
giving us vivid reminders of how God is still at work in the world. And
in the same way that those birds were winging their way before me
yesterday morning, God gives us all kinds of other gifts along the way to
strengthen us in the journey… reminding us that an eternal spring will one
day be ours. When death and decay will be no more and all will be bursting
with life. Better even than anything we have begun to know here. Indeed,
in this meantime, God gives us gifts…. In bread broken and wine shared
around the altar rail, where each one hears God's promise of forgiveness…
and then in our lives as we seek to give and receive that forgiveness one
with another… In water poured on babies, and teen-agers and adults,
sometimes, too, who have been brought to faith and as we hear the promise
of new life given, we are confident that it's ours, too. In God's people
who reach across the aisle, and across our lonesomeness, reminding us that
as we belong with one another, we belong even more profoundly in God's own
loving care. In examples of love and sacrifice which make their way onto
the evening news and very often also live out in the cubicle right next to
us, we are given gifts that bolster us along the way, reminding us of
God's promise of life, new life, eternal life…

So keep your eyes and your ears and your heart peeled this spring… not
only for the sight and sound of birds winging their way before you, but
also for signs that God is already about his work of making all things
new… that in wondrous and mysterious ways God is leading us to experience
his promise that the time will come when all that causes pain and
suffering will be no more. That God's intent for us today and always is
Life… New Life…. Wonderful and Abundant Life… Amen.

Peace to you and many blessings,
Pastor Janet

Coming up this week at Salem:
On Wednesday, March 30 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., we gather for midweek Lenten
worship… The 2 p.m. service will be followed by pie and fellowship, the 7
p.m.service will be preceded by a soup supper beginning at 5:30. Be sure
to join us as we consider the 2nd Article of the Apostle's Creed, "Jesus
the Savior."

This week-end we will be celebrating Salem's 50-years and more members
between services beginning at 9 a.m. and at the 10:30 service. Be sure to
come and honor these saints for all the ways in which they have shared
their gifts with us.

Grace Notes, March 22, 2011

A few weeks ago I wrote about my upcoming rotator cuff surgery and
suggested there would be blessings hidden amidst the discomfort and
healing process. In the month since surgery, here are some of the
blessings I have experienced.

The sense of being held in prayer: as I focused on relaxing and
submitting to this medical procedure, I knew others were bringing me
before the Lord in prayer. I didn't need to tell God how I felt – somehow
I was sure God knew. The moving prayer and laying on of hands at worship
was a great mind picture and I brought the prayer shawl with me to the
hospital.

The goodness of God's people: notes and cards, flowers and meals arrived
at our home the first three weeks after surgery. Good wishes and loving
support continues to encourage me to patiently trust in the healing
process.

The support of my closest companion, Ron, as he cares for me at home –
being my other arm, helping me with basic needs, watching over my incision
and assisting me with passive therapy while he tries to balance this with
piano tunings and church work and his mother's needs as well. Our sons
have also been very helpful.

Perhaps the most surprising blessing has also been the most difficult. I
have made friends with the night. Here is how it happened. Those who have
gone through this surgery warned me that sleeping is the most difficult.
You either need to sleep sitting up in a recliner or propped up in bed
with a wedge and several pillows to both accommodate the large
brace/immobilizer and keep your shoulder in the right position. Normally
I sleep on my side.

After a week or 10 days of trying one thing or another and being awake
most of the night, I decided I had to change my expectations. Instead of
trying to sleep for 8 hrs. in one place, I decided it was fine to move
around, and it was okay to be awake for awhile. About the same time I
gave in to this routine, the earthquake occurred in Japan. God's people
there were heavy on my heart amidst untold tragedy and suffering to come.
I began to look forward to the middle of the night when I would move from
bed to a recliner and hassock to ease the strain on my shoulder. In the
quiet I talked to God and named all the suffering I could think of,
whether in Japan or within families or within our congregation. I would
put the prayer shawl around my shoulders and feel its warmth assuring me
God was near. I would think of all the people awake at night and pray for
them – those at work in factories and hospitals and fire and police
personnel – those up with new babies or sick children or birthing animals
– those awake from fear and worry, pain or war – those who roam streets
at night looking for food in dumpsters. You know, when you begin to pray
for the world, you never run out of categories!

So this night-time routine has become more pleasant. Now I patiently
expect to move to the living room about 1 or 2 a.m. and feel grateful I
can spend the next 20-60 minutes in prayer before I go back to sleep. I
feel good identifying with others who are awake at night; before I
selfishly never gave them more than a passing thought.

If you find yourself awake at night, rather than fight it I suggest you
might try embracing the night and the gifts it offers. I know it's very
hard if you are in pain, but even the time it takes for an Advil or
Tylenol dose to work gives good opportunity to reflect and pray.

This year at Salem we have added a new component to midweek Lenten worship
formed around Holden Evening Prayer, a prayer song by Marty Haugen called
"Watch, O Lord". I have been hearing this song in my head in the night
and it helps guide my prayer. I commend it to you as well:

Refrain: Watch, O Lord, with all those awake this night;
Watch, O Lord, with all those who weep.
Give your angels and saints charge over all who sleep.

Tend your ailing ones - in your love, Lord.
Rest your weary ones - in your love, Lord.
Bless your dying ones - in your love, O Lord of all….(Refrain)

Soothe your suffering ones – in your love, Lord.
Heal afflicted ones – in your love, Lord.
Shield your joyous ones - in your love, O Lord of all….(Refrain)

Hold your grieving ones – in your love, Lord.
Raise your fallen ones – in your love, Lord.
Mend your broken ones – in your love, O Lord of all….(Refrain)
Guard your little ones – in your love, Lord.
Guide your seeking ones – in your love, Lord.
Grant us all your peace – in your love, O Lord of all.

Thank you, God, for the night times of our life when we cannot see clearly
and must trust in your light and life. Amen.

Carla Vanatta, Associate in Ministry
Salem Lutheran Church, Sycamore, IL

Salem reminders:

- Midweek Lenten worship at 2:00 & 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays
- Prayer for our children, youth, and teachers on Spring Break this week
- Prayer for Japan and Libya and world leaders
- Traditional Lenten worship at 5 and 8 this weekend; Praise Team worship
at 10:30
- Final session of Poverty Perceptions study at 9:15 a.m. Sunday in
Fellowship Hall led by the Social Justice Team

March 16, 2011 Grace Notes

Grace Notes
March 16, 2011

There's an old saying I dredged up last week from ages ago. It's "don't
compare your insides with somebody else's outsides". Doesn't that say a
LOT in such few words? I suppose there are several ways to think about
that powerful little aphorism. What brought it to my mind again (where
had it been for all that time?) was the comparing we do so quickly,
comparing a mother or father to our own parenting, comparing a
co-worker's performance with our own, comparing a close friend to another
friend, and so on. We do it all the time, sometimes for good. It makes
sense doesn't it to get a second opinion when treatment for a health
threat is at stake. It makes sense to compare prices, especially when you
have to purchase a big item, like a house or a car or a refrigerator.
It's even fun to compare orchestras playing the same song; who does it
"better", according to your taste?

But more often than not, we do the comparing to someone's detriment.
"Well, I would never do THAT", we think, as we watch a tired Mom scold her
naughty child in a grocery store. "Why do they fuss like that? I never
would," we say righteously to ourselves as we watch a couple in a
restaurant hiss at each other in frustration or anger. Or anyway that's
what it looks like. And isn't that the point? What it looks like,
whatever "it" is. The truth is, we don't know what the apparent anger is
about. We so quickly judge. "I'd never dress like that; what a slob" we
think sometimes when we see someone in clothing quite different from our
own. Maybe that's what they've got. How often have we been wrong, I
wonder?

That goes for our own selves also. When we compare our insides to
somebody else's outsides, we usually do that when we are down or blue or
half sick or feeling fat or poor or dumb, all negatives about ourselves.
We make ourselves targets for our own tongue lashing and we put ourselves
down (though we're already down but have decided we aren't down enough!)
and we say ugly things like, "She's prettier than I am, always has been
and always will be", or "I'll never have enough money to do the kinds of
things that my neighbors do", or "Mom never has enough time for me but she
always does for her friends. . .job. . .other sibling. . .Dad. . . I must
not be loveable." It goes on and on. You know what I mean.

Well, that kind of comparing is a sin. Really. We are all God's
children. As it says in baptism, "You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit
and marked with the cross of Christ forever". WOW. That is so important
to remember! And it's important to remind one another when you sense that
someone is doing that to him or herself. It's mean. It's cruel. It's
close-minded. It's judgmental. It's self-righteous. It either puts down
someone else to raise your own self up or puts your own self down as you
raise someone else up. It's bad math, that kind of comparing. Nobody is
equal, when you do that kind of self-talk.

Different. Different. God made us all different, with different families
and different intellects and different gifts. SO many different gifts!
And we are different sizes and colors and shapes, for variety's sake.
Maybe God figured it would be easier to tell us all apart if we were each
made differently from one another! Who knows? And some of us are good
with our hands and some with our legs and some with our voice boxes and
some with our ears and some with our brains. Within each of those areas
are folks who are good in different ways: Mariah Carey sings quite
differently from Renee Fleming yet both enrich the world of music
immeasurably. Faulkner wrote brilliantly about Mississippi and Elmore
Leonard wrote engagingly about Chicago, yet so different from one another.
Each of us has talents. God wants us to appreciate these talents and
develop them and use them to God's glory. Now THAT is worth spending time
on.

Judy Bergeson, Diaconal Minister

COMING EVENTS AT SALEM:
*Salem Lenten services are at 2 PM followed by pie and coffee and 7 PM
each Wednesday in the sanctuary. All are welcome.

*Monthly Morning Ministry meets the third Saturday morning of each month
year-round from 9 AM till noon. Bring crocheting, knitting, embroidery,
Easter cards, whatever and do it in Christian company!

*Annually, the Northern Illinois synod sponsors a Congregational
Resourcing Event at Kishwaukee Community College from 8:30 till 3:15 PM.
Pre-registration is preferred but one may sign in at the door; $22/person
and includes lunch. There are many workshops on a variety of topics, all
helpful, all interesting.

*The Social Justice Team is presenting "Perceptions of Poverty" at Salem's
Sunday Coffee Hours from 9:20 till 10:15 during March Come listen and
learn!

*This Sunday, March 20, is the monthly G.R.A.C.E. service, where the
children lead all the parts of worship at 10:30 except the sermon. Come
watch them grow in faith.

Grace Notes, March 9, 2011

Grace Notes March 9, 2011

Big things are happening in our home and family. Some are joyous events,
like the coming birth of our grandchild in June. Some are pleasant, like
planning to bring the RV out of storage for another season of camping
trips. Some are more trying, like working through Carla's rotator cuff
surgery and therapy. And there are even some events that I can do nothing
other than dread. Which includes worry.

One recent worry involved accompanying a couple students at solo/ensemble
contest last week. I truly enjoy helping the students this way. One piece
was particularly challenging and I worried whether I could play it
adequately to support the student's performance. As with many musical
pieces, there were a couple spots that were most difficult…much of the
piece was more manageable. While practicing, I received a comforting
thought…"play the note that's here right now; you can't play the difficult
note until you come to it. Don't be so preoccupied with the difficult
thing to come that the whole piece suffers." That approach, that mental
attitude, helped me to put the whole piece together successfully. My
playing on contest day was certainly not perfect, but the difficult parts
came out alright.

Isn't life lived moment by moment? The only time we really have is the
second that is just happening. Humans are the only one of God's creatures
that has a sense of past, present, and future. It is both blessing and
curse to be able to plan ahead. I suppose worry is only possible because
we can imagine the future. Worry about what might happen robs us of living
the present moment to its fullest.

It is the first day of Lent. We often encourage a specific Lenten
discipline, either fasting by giving something up for the season, or
adding a new faith practice to our daily routine. If you are still looking
for a Lenten commitment, consider joining with me in worrying less and
trusting more. Don't ignore the big picture of life, but remember to live
the moment you are in right now. God promises to care for us even as he
cares for all creation. Trust him. Live and love every moment as fully as
God gives it…tomorrow will arrive at its proper time.

Ron Vanatta

Coming at Salem: Ash Wednesday worship today at 7 PM

Midweek Lenten worship every Wednesday beginning next week with Prayer &
Pie at 2 PM and Holden Evening Prayer at 7 PM…all services begin in the
sanctuary. The theme this year is The Apostle's Creed.

Soup Suppers each Wednesday March 16 through April 13 in Fellowship Hall
5:30 to 7 PM

Grace Notes, March 4, 2011

Do you like acronyms? The all-capital letters little word, each letter of
which stands for something? I do. Some of the names are too long to
remember, like FDA. We all know, from frequent usage, that FDA stands for
Food & Drug Administration. We just don't want to have to say all that
every time we refer to it. How about JFK? We know too that this acronym
stands for John Fitzgerald Kennedy and again, we don't want to have to say
all that every time. Besides, saying JFK has become kind of a term of
esteem over the years. So we find acronyms to be useful in our everyday
lives. How about this one? ACTS. We know what the word means when it is
not capitalized. What does it mean as an acronym? It stands for the four
types of prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.
We use all four in our services on Sunday mornings, don't we? Each is a
marvelous way to be in touch with our precious Lord. Isn't it cool that
church has its own acronyms! It's even better when we use each kind of
prayer.

Daily life calls for it!

So here I was thinking I was being "hard" on someone who was saying he
couldn't do anything useful anymore, that life may as well end, that all
the good days are over. I disagreed and said to pray, pray with your
whole heart for those near and dear to you, for those who live near you,
for those who live far away and are in the midst of war or famine or
disease. There is no end to the list of those who need prayer. I deeply
believe this, that the list of people who need prayer is endless; we could
spend all day and all night doing just that and not get anywhere near to
the end of that list! Stop and think about it for a minute. Try writing
down all the folks you can think of who would like or need prayers said
for them. Then write down those who don't even know you're praying for
them but who need it, including people in Egypt and Libya.

Then I got out the homework for the Women's Bible Study this morning.
What is the lesson but Simeon and Anna, Anna the widow for 84 years! She
was married for only seven years before she was widowed. Can you imagine?
And she filled her days and months and years with fasting and prayer, as
Luke 2 tells us. It wasn't being "harsh" to ask someone to be useful by
praying, not at all! In Anna's day, remember, women had far lesser status
than men, especially if they were widowed. They had no spouse protector.
And with no children either, they were really alone and at the mercy of
society. Yet here is Anna, staying in the Temple praying and fasting
night and day.

Out of curiosity, I polled the women in the Bible Study class. Had any of
them been prayed for? Had they felt the prayers? Did the power of the
prayers hold them up? Yes, yes, yes, in all sorts of circumstances. And
I was another yes. I have experienced the power and strength of being
prayed for. Otherwise, I'm sure that standing up for my Mom's visitation
and funeral would have been far more difficult. Prayer really matters.
Prayer really helps. Give prayer the priority it deserves in your life.
If you think you aren't useful anymore, think again!!!

May our Lord bless and keep you.
Judy Bergeson, Diaconal Minister

Somewhere along the way I learned "ACTS", one of those mnemonics that
helps you remember things. ACTS stands for the four kinds of prayer,
Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. In our church
services, we do all four of these.