A Season for Cleaning

In my mind there is a difference between spring cleaning and cleaning the house for guests.  In the spring, I concentrate on getting rid of all the dirt that has accumulated over a period of time.  It includes places where guests hopefully don’t look but I know there are issues.  Furniture is pulled out so I can get underneath and in the corners.   Closets and drawers are reorganized.  Things are removed off shelves so everything is wiped clean, not just around the edges.   Professional maid services call it “deep cleaning.”  

In contrast, in preparation for guests I might just hit the high points, the surfaces, straighten, or even stuff some papers in drawers to deal with another day.  The focus of cleaning is more about a pleasant environment of hospitality.  Especially when our children come home or bring friends, I want the house to be cozy, homey, and friendly.  I add some greens here and a candle there so that it feels as though I am ready to welcome them in for a long comfortable stay.

The church year has two seasons of preparation, Advent and Lent.  They come before the big celebrations of Christmas and Easter.  I have often thought of Lent as a good spring cleaning for the soul.  It is a time to look in the crevices, underneath aspects of my life and shake off the dirt that has accumulated.  This Advent my thoughts have taken me to this idea of cleaning in order to welcome a guest.  It is less intense than Lent but nonetheless significant.  How can I be a good hostess for the coming of the Christ child this Christmas?  What areas do I need to straighten? Is the environment of my soul ready and open for a long cozy stay?   Where might I add something that helps our relationship feel more comfortable?   

Perhaps these are thoughts for you in this Advent season of preparation.  With each card, decoration and baked good, I reflect on my efforts to welcome Jesus with equal hospitality and generosity.

Spam Trip - 2012

When I think back on some of the events of 2012,  a trip to the Spam museum was a fun highlight.  One of the "Trinity Trippers" was kind enough to share with me some of her reflections about the trip.  Enjoy!!  Thanks Ellamae for sharing!  - kg- 

Pastor Kathy took a group of Trinity Senior Citizens to the Spam museum in Austin, MN and since that time I have thought a lot about hogs, or pigs as some like to call them, and us as human beings or people as we are more commonly referred to.

Spending some of my youth living on a farm I was familiar with pigs and actually had never given them much thought.  I knew that they liked to wallow in the mud on hot days put their snoot in the feeder or foraged for food on the ground, oink lots and pushed other pigs out of the way and sometimes were just a nuisance.

The same can be said about people.  We sometimes wallow in our own self-pity thinking that life has not been fair to us.  Sticking our nose in other people’s business seems to be a favorite pastime.  And whether it’s shopping for groceries or going to a restaurant we like to be first in line and we too can make a nuisance of ourselves and all too often we forget our manners.

I looked on the Internet about pigs and was surprise to learn there is quite a variety and likened it to the variety of people on earth.  There is also a long list of quotes referring to people and pigs.  Most of the comments we make are not very complimentary.  We say someone “Eats like a pig”, they are “Filthy as a pig” or “Lives in a pigsty”, well you get the picture. 

In Matthew 15:10 &11 Jesus says, “Listen to me and understand this: a man is not defiled by what goes into his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”  So whether you “Bring Home the Bacon” and/or “Fry It Up In the Pan” perhaps we need to think about our words especially when we use them in reference to other people.

The Spam Museum was very interesting.  We were given a tour along with a video presentation and tried our skill at filling a Span can from start to finish.  This was fun but stressful as there was a timer clicking away from beginning to end. 

And of course Spam and the process caused me to think some more on the subject.  On occasion my Mom fried Spam for a meal and then there was only the original.  Today Spam has many different flavors.  Like people some are full of spices and some are bland.  But we are thankful that God loves us all. 

While I struggled trying to put the fake Spam into the can I thought there are times when I feel as if I am being pushed into places that I really do not want to go.  And, long before the ham was on the assembly line I wonder if the lowly pig knew what his final destination consisted of as he walked the plank onto the semi-truck.

The good news is that we as Christians know that the final destiny awaiting us has a much better outcome. 

In John 3:16 Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, and in John 14:2 Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you.”  

LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN.

Ellamae Butler

New Year's Resolutions

I used to be one of those people who made New Year’s Resolutions.  From 1997-2007, I kept an Advent/Christmas journal every year as part of my spiritual discipline.  Last year I looked back in the Christmas journals and saw repetitive hopes and goals for the new year.  Yet, it seemed that by mid-January  I usually would have  given up on any resolutions.  My resolve to eat right, exercise, and find greater balance in life would only last a couple of weeks until the ‘out-of –routine days’ began to take over.   In fact, for the last several years I have just quit making any resolutions.  It seemed to be only an exercise in disappointment. 

Last year, however, I came upon a new thought.   I decided that instead of a resolution I would choose a word for the new year – a word that I could keep all year long – a word that would give me a focus – a word that I could return to when I needed to and allow it to shape the year.  My word was “abide.”  It just came to me one day last January.  I knew the year would be filled with transitions at church, that there would untold changes ahead.  As my thoughts progressed, I began to imagine the Scripture from the gospel of John where Jesus talks about the vine and the branches.  “Abide in me as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”  (John 15:4) 

Day by day, change after change in 2012, I reminded myself to “abide”.  And it worked!  I had no idea the degree, the times and places that I would return to that word but each time I thought to myself, “This is so much better than a resolution!”  I remember this summer being so thankful for the insight of my new year’s word.  Instead of feeling guilty about my failures, I was redirected to who I am to be in Jesus Christ.  Instead of thinking I had to be doing more, I was reminded that I cannot bear fruit by myself unless I abide.  Instead of New Year’s Resolutions,  I had a Year Long Reminder.

And so in December, I started to get excited about a new word for a new year.  I thought about so many different options but finally on January 1, 2013, I decided on “peace.”  Once again, a Bible verse has helped to give me context.  Jesus says to his disciples in the farewell discourse in John, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  (John 14:27)  I have no idea what is ahead in this new year.  I just know that I will have peace – not my peace, not the world’s peace – peace given to me by Jesus Christ.

I wish all of you a year filled with peace and maybe even your own word as a year long reminder.