Dear Friends through Christ:
Yesterday I stopped at Cumberland Farms for an ice coffee. Got back in the car and headed home up I-95. It was raining, as it always does this time of year, and I noticed my car windows were fogging up rather quickly. So, I turned on the defog, but it seemed to get worse. I was bummed. This is a brand-new truck.
Why can’t they seem to make things that work? Then I realized, I still had my mask on, and it was my glasses fogging up and not the windows.
I realize this story does not shine a good light on my mental state, but I am sick and tired of the virus and can’t wait until masks are history. However, I am also sick and tired of the political unrest in this country. I have seen relationships between friends and family torn apart over opinions learned through various human stories.
That is why for the month of October, and longer, we are going to be hearing and hopefully listening to a different kind of story. God’s story. Our story. We are going to revisit some of the beautiful biblical stories from our youth—Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, The Tower of Babel, Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions Den. My hope is that these truth stories will teach us, not only about the nature of a God, who is with us every step of the way, but also our nature, where we resist God’s will every step of the way. My prayer is that this ancient holy literature will help each of us to understand that maybe our glasses are a little foggy because of the human stories we listen to. Trust God! Trust Jesus!
During this time, normally the church would focus our worship structure around stewardship—time, talent and treasure. And maybe I should, because two months of closing our doors, and five months of worshipping less than 50% of normal is beginning to take a toll. Therefore, I will focus most of my energy on what it means to be a good steward of our Lord in the next letter. But right now, I do want to thank everyone who has offered up their time, talent and treasure through this crisis; especially to those who haven’t been able to worship the past seven months; especially to those who work in the food pantry to serve those less fortunate; especially to our council and treasurer who continue to meet and prepare for our future; especially those who help take care of all the daily chores at this Lampstand. Thank you and stay safe.
One last thing before I sign off. I can use some help on our community garden. The vision is still a little foggy, but the idea is still wonderful—a garden to sow a little hope and beauty around the church. We have the beds built and enough topsoil, now we just need to fertilize and plant. Once we (somebody smarter than me) figure out how to water, Peace Lutheran will host its first annual Garden Party one Saturday this month. Just bring a shovel, hoe or rack and get dirty. I’ll email you the date later when my glasses clear up.
Keep the Faith! Trust God! Trust Jesus! And as Bugs Bunny says, “That’s All Folks.”
In Christian Love,
Pastor David Trexler
PS—I don’t normally do this, but I would like to give a big shout out to Wanda Pinkerton. When Wanda received her stimulus check, she used the money to start making masks to help fight the virus. For the past six months, she has been giving away these well-made and stylish masks, not only to our church members and pantry guests, but throughout the community.
I will always remember her as the “Mask Lady” who kept me styling during the pandemic. Thank you Wanda!
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