By The Numbers

I have a confession to make. I love the church, and I love Jesus. I suppose those are good things, especially for one who is serving as a pastor of a Christian Church. But sometimes this causes me great sadness. Well, not so much sadness as heartache. Or, on a good day, it gets me excited.

You see, I recently read that 50% of people living in Southeastern Iowa do not have a religious affiliation; they are “religiously unclaimed”. That percentage is also the national average. It would seem that half of the people in this nation (and in my neighborhood) are not meaningfully connected with the body of Christ. I suppose I could have guessed as much, but this statistic starkly confronts me with reality.

And what are people who love the church and love Jesus doing in response to such a reality? Too often, we – me included – are not doing or saying much. I am indicted. Here comes into play my sadness and heartache. I hurt to think that many people are needlessly suffering from isolation, anxiety, bondage, and fear, apart from the hope of Jesus Christ and the ministry of his church. It grieves me to hear that so many people do not know the love, freedom, life, and grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Now the question is: will this reality excite me enough to open my mouth and extend my hand to do something about it? Can I speak to the people around me, not in condemnation, but with invitation and testimony? “Let me tell you what God has done for me!” (Can we articulate what God has done for us??) This is not a time for complacency. This is a time for compassion and boldness. May God give us a fire in our bones which will not allow us to keep silent.

Two weeks ago, Matt, Heather, and I journeyed to Indianapolis, IN for a Transition-into-Ministry conference put on the by Lilly Endowment. We spent four days in Indy with 100 or so other Residents like us, participating in Transition-into-Ministry programs like ours...eating good food, listening to inspiring speakers, and forming friendships with other young pastors from all across the country, in all sorts of settings and denominations.

It was a refreshing, encouraging four days! Stepping away from St. Paul for awhile, I was able to have a renewed perspective on this place and people that I am called to minister too. I spent time reflecting on my own gifts and call to ministry. Heather, Matt, and I all took a workshop about "Generations" and how different generations understand the church differently...how different generations of pastors seek to be pastors in different ways. Have you ever thought about that? How am I a different kind of pastor than Pastor Ron? Or Pastor Marty? How much of that has to do with my age? Or the fact that I'm a woman and they are men? I am learning that there are all kinds of factors that influence how we understand our role as pastor. It's quite fascinating! The amazing part in all of this is that different generations and gender and cultures bring different gifts to the table to share with God's people. God is into variety, and chooses a variety of leaders to lead Christ's church!

Since I got back from Indianapolis, I have not stopped raving about the passion and promise that I see in all of these young pastor that I met! There are exciting things going on in the church...not just in the future, when these 20 and 30-something pastors get further along in their careers...but right now, today, these gifted and insightful men and women are doing awesome things to bring God's kingdom more and more fully to earth. I do believe that this generation of pastors could change the way we think about church, and the way we think about God. I pray that the Spirit gives them the courage to be prophets and radical disciples of Jesus.

Oh...and if you recognize that guy in the picture on the right...that Pastor Lowell! He was at the conference too, leading some workshops and playing his drum. It was a gift to be able to visit with him and share stories about the blessing of St. Paul Lutheran Church in our lives.

Thanks again to Lilly for the wonderful, generous ways in which they are nurturing young adults in ministry!

Lessons from a Kiwi

Have you ever peeled a kiwi? I have, and let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. The first and only time I have peeled this small, odd, externally-brown but inwardly-green fruit was last weekend at my wife’s request. She kindly asked me to mix up the fruit salad, gave me the recipe, and pointed to an assortment of different fruits on the counter. Eager to help and to please, I set to work. “Peel and cube three small kiwi.” Okay. I checked in with her – “should I use a knife or a peeler?” Peeler. Okay. Well. Huh. The fruit was resisting my overtures. Umm. What? There. Ugh. The peel came off in small chunks, and I was pressing hard to make progress. Little by little it came. The peel stuck to my peeler. I was squeezing the fruit, and its shape was becoming deformed. The more peel I got off, the more deformed and slippery it became. Woops! Plop. On the floor. And I had two more to go! After that I had mangos to peel and cube! (The mangos weren’t easy either, but not as bad as the kiwi.)

I silently fumed. How can this be worth it? Can’t we just buy frozen or canned kiwi that’s already prepared? For all the mess, difficulty, and frustration I was experiencing, I would gladly pay extra to avoid this hassle.

By the third kiwi, it still wasn’t easy, but I had gained some technique. I didn’t let another one fall on the floor, either. I tasted a delicate bite of fresh kiwi. I calmed down and started to reflect. I am grateful for the ease of modern convenience, but is the easy way always the best way? Canned fruit does not taste the same as fresh-cut fruit. Peeling that kiwi gave me a greater appreciation for my fruit salad and a deeper connection with the earth which brought it forth.

The life of faith isn’t easy, either. I don’t know that it can be. So much faith is born in the messiness and difficulties of life. Canned faith might look tempting initially, but it won’t taste as good and won’t nourish you in the same way. Faith is hard at times, but the practice of faith is reinforcing.

Thinking back to Holy Week, I don’t think that Jesus found the life of faith easy either. Our life and salvation was born out of Jesus’ intense struggle and pain. Jesus didn’t take the easy way out, and thank God for that.

By the way, my wife loved my fruit salad.

An Open Lettter to Snuggie

Dear Snuggie,

Greetings! My name is Ann Rosendale. I am a pastor in Davenport, Iowa, and I recently received a Snuggie as a birthday present from my co-workers. They were noticing that I was constantly chilly in the office, and wanted to put an end to my work-day shivers. So, for my recent 27th birthday, they gifted me with a Snuggie!

I must say, I have never before been so delighted with an “as-seen-on-TV” product! I wrap myself in my royal blue polar fleece Snuggie day and night. The best part about the Snuggie is that it is hands free! I can sit on my couch and read a book (with my super-slim, totally portable, FREE book light, of course), play Guitar Hero: World Tour on my Nintendo Wii, or even eat my TV dinner without my arms ever getting cold! In fact, I am wearing my Snuggie right now as I type this letter! It is awesome!

I have told so many of my friends about my Snuggie satisfaction. I posted pictures of myself in the Snuggie on Facebook, modeling its loveliness for all of cyberspace to see! I have convinced many of my family, friends, and co-workers to try the Snuggie for themselves, and am hoping that others will soon hop on the Snuggie bandwagon!

Should you ever need a Snuggie spokeswoman, I’m your girl. I think that the Snuggie is the best thing since sliced bread! I would be honored and overjoyed to speak candidly about how the Snuggie has changed my life. I am also willing to appear in photographs, modeling the functionality of the Snuggie at home and in the workplace.

As the renown of the Snuggie grows, I would encourage you all to consider how you can make the Snuggie even better. Some suggestions that I might offer would be to add a hood to the Snuggie, or add some really cool snaps that can close up the back. My best idea to date is to create a “Snuggie for two!” I cannot wait to try out the next generation of Snuggie merchandise!

I am ever-grateful to all of you at Snuggie for making my life and ministry more warm and cozy.

Snug as a bug in a rug,

Ann E. Rosendale

"Packaged Hugs"

Sister Ann has recently joined millions of crazed Americans in raving about the power and practicality of “THE SNUGGIE”.

She was lovingly cloaked in her electric blue Snuggie just three days previous to her 27th birthday. After returning from a scrumptious Exotic Thai feast, we were in the foyer of House 129. The box was ripped open, as her friends surrounded her with the love ‘only a Snuggie can truly bring’. Pastor Matt made a comment that the blue really brought out the sparkle in Ann’s eyes. Tears of joy rolled from her eyes; never before had she felt so loved.

Heather and Ann prayerfully paraded the Snuggie wear around the St. Paul campus. Thousands were awed by her new glamorous multi-purpose wear. “Is that a Snuggie? I think I saw that on TV!,” they delightfully squealed. (Personally, I was a little worried about the riots and jealousy a coveted Snuggie can bring to a small faith community.)

As the end of the day approached, the excitement of the Snuggie began to blend into normality of everyday life. Yet, an hour before quitting time, Tammy and Heather were pleasantly surprised to hear Ann shouting words of true comfort: “For the first time in my life, I am actually sweating in my office. This is AWESOME!.”

This testimonial is brought to you by a dear friend and co-worker of a “True Snuggie Lover and Believer.” If you want the power of a Snuggie to hug your friends, check out Walgreens, Bed Bath and Beyond, or order one on-line. They’re two for one… And, really, who wouldn’t want some Snuggie love???

Sabbath

I've been thinking about Sabbath some this Lent.

We often think about Sabbath as a day of rest. God created the world in six days and on the seventh day God rested. Sabbath means to stop, to rest to cease.

But I read another defination of Sabbath the other day. What do you think about this?

From Walter Brueggemann's book, Mandate to Difference:

"So what is it that makes people like us weary? It is not working too hard that makes us weary. It is rather, I submit, living a life that is against the grain of our true creatureliness, living a ministry that is against the grain of our true vocation, being placed in a false position so that our day-to-day operation requires us to contradict what we know best about ourselves and what we love most about our life as children of God. Exhaustion comes from the demand that we be, in some measure, other than we truly are; such an alienation requires too much energy to navigate.

"So how to move from weariness and being burdened to Jesus? Well, by sabbath! But not sabbath like one more day of golf, good as that might be. Rather, sabbath rest by taking a break from our contradicted lives of anxiety and our silenced life of coercion. Sabbath rest consists in bringing our daily existence into congruity with our true selves... Sabbath practice is to break the denial and become 'truth-tellers,' for the truth will make us sabbath-free."



It IS tiring to try to be something that we are not. If I'm honest with myself, it's not the length of my "to do" list that makes me tired. I become exhausted when those things on my to do list are not meaningful, or life-giving, or aligned with the integrity of the person God created me to be. Thinking about Sabbath the way the Bruggemann does is freeing for me. Sabbath rest is not about doing more or doing less...it's about doing, and BEING better...BEING in a way that is in line with the human being that God created me to be.

What do you think about that definition of Sabbath? How can you become a Sabbath truth-teller today?

Teasing Me

I hated being teased when I was a child, and I grew up as the youngest in a family that loved to tease and laugh together. Much of it happened around the supper table, and I would conveniently get mad right as it was time to do the dishes. Finally one day my mom said to me that I can either be mad and pout all the time or I could learn to laugh along. Our teasing was a show of love and joy. At some point I found the humor and felt the love.

I feel a little teased these days. It’s the warm weather. Sixty degrees and sunny, in early February – spring is here! I’ve been walking to work and running outside. From my window I see scores of people circling Vander Veer Park all day long. The water from the snow has even dried from the streets! Maybe I’ll go biking later.

But we dare not put our winter coats away yet. Cold weather is bound to return before we really hit spring. The weather is teasing us, and it will make the cold days ahead even colder and more shocking. How cruel of Mother Nature to tease us like this!

Or we could look at it another way. We’re being given hope, hope that the long winter will end someday soon. Days of snow, thick ice, and sub-zero temperatures will not plague us forever. Spring will come, and life will bloom again.

Perhaps this is the type of hope we have in God. The fullness of God’s kingdom is not yet here, but it’s on the way. We get glimpses of it when we see acts of love and experience moments of peace. God “teases” us with joy and kindness and gentleness so that we may have hope for tomorrow, and for God’s coming reign. After all, teasing can be a good thing.