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From the Winter Comes the Spring |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 3/24/2010 9:00 AM | Greetings!
Today is one of those days when winter seems like a distant memory…
Well, okay, not so distant. Monday morning about 8:00 a.m. I sat down at my desk, turned on my computer and waited for it to boot up so I could check my e-mail. As it was coming up, I glanced out the window to see…SNOW! And not just a flake or two that I had to strain to see and wonder if it really was snow…SNOW! Flurries that danced all around in front of me. I was in shock. Of course, it stopped within about 5 minutes, nothing stuck to the ground and it turned out to be a reasonably nice day. But still, I thought, “Please! I can’t take it any more!” I was reminded of a cousin of mine who went to college at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. Marquette is about as far north as you can get in Michigan and is known for long, harsh winters. When he enrolled there he was looking forward to lots of skiing and snow-shoeing and outdoor winter activities. He reveled in being a “Yooper” – the designation for people who live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. About a month before he graduated, I had occasion to talk with him on the phone about something and in the course of the conversation I asked how things were in Marquette. He hesitated and said, “Well, it’s April. It’s been pretty nice lately: sunny, temperatures in the upper 30’s to low 40’s. This morning I got up, looked outside and saw 6 inches of snow on the ground. I involuntarily wretched.” “So,” I said, “not enjoying winter so much, huh?” He just sort of grunted a reply.
Lent can be that way sometimes, too. But my experience tells me that a hard Lent is followed by an even more joyous Easter. Whether we want to or not, Lent makes us face hard questions and take a good look at ourselves. And just about the time you think it’s over, we are faced with yet another difficult situation. As we near the end of Lent, we have some of the hardest days ahead. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, but even in the celebration that takes place on Palm Sunday, we know that cheering crowd can become the jeering crowd in a heartbeat. We know that we will once again have to deal with the downright dreary events of Maundy Thursday and the horror of Good Friday. We cannot go through the rest of Lent without reflecting on what Jesus endured for us…and wonder if we are ever worthy of such sacrifice.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I need to let Holy Week come and I need to deal with it. It is not easy, but it is necessary. Only by being immersed in the reality of what has been done for us during Holy Week can we truly celebrate the reality of what is done for us on Easter! Like the winter I so desperately want to end – part of me wants Lent to just be done. But when Easter comes, the clouds will lift and winter will be over again – no matter what the weather is doing. And it will all be worth it.
And to my yooper friends, there might be snow predicted for tonight (and there is), and the predicted high temperature for tomorrow might only be 28 degrees (and it is) and the lakes and rivers might still be frozen solid (and they are) but take heart: Easter is coming and that makes all the difference in the world.
For an updated list of events and an updated prayer list, please go to www.brookhavenchristian.org
For your prayer list
Roman Serrano, as he recovers from eye surgery that took place yesterday.
Beth Sheffer as she undergoes cataract surgery today.
Bill Lester as he undergoes back surgery today.
Upcoming Events
If you haven’t yet made your pledge to the Debt Reduction Campaign for 2010-2013, you can e-mail your pledge to our Stewardship and Finance Ministry at giving@brookhavenchristian.org We are close to our goal but need your help!
Don’t forget our Maundy Thursday service at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday April 1st as we mark the day with “A Service of Remembrance and Reconciliation.” Join us for this moving service.
Our annual Good Friday Prayer Vigil will take place from noon to 3:00 on Friday April 2nd in the sanctuary. Come and pray during those hours that Jesus was on the cross.
Our Cambodian friends of the International Christian Church have invited us to a service of dedication of their new building and worship space at 2:00 on Saturday April 17. The service will be approximately an hour long followed by a celebration dinner. All are invited to this wonderful event and the ICC has asked if any Brookhaven friends and members are planning on coming that they please e-mail Ruth Luckett at ruth@brookhavenchristian.org or call her at 404-237-3030 and she will forward all the names.
Mark your calendars for the Homecoming Celebration May 15-16. Dinner reservations for May 15 can be made by e-mailing Ruth Luckett at ruth@brookhavenchristian.org or by calling the office at 404-237-3030.
I hope you can join us as we continue our Lenten journey this wee and celebrate Palm Sunday. The sermon is entitled “The End of the Beginning” and the scripture is Luke 19: 28 – 40. Have a great rest of the week!
Be peaceful,
Brad | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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