Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

And pastors everywhere are tired. Many services but a good tired. The joy of Easter is that love triumphs. The women found the empty tomb and in their fear they were also overjoyed. May we go tell others that Jesus has risen and may we let love win!

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As we enter Holy Week, many churches were filled with shouts of Hosanna! and people waved palm branches. Some churches also read the passion story of Jesus before Pilot. And while some churches will observe Holy Week and hold services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to remember the upper room and washing of feet as well as the crucifixion and the denial of Peter, some will not. Some churches will celebrate the Great Vigil of Easter and tell the stories of salvation as they wait for Easter to arrive. It is a reminder that not everything in the story of Holy Week is a celebratory moment, but that we must go through all the emotions of the week to arrive at Hallelujah!

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In her book "The Soul's Slow Ripening" Christine Valters Paintner talks about the practice of Three Essential Things. Finding those values that speak to who we are called to be in a particular season of life. Those things may change as we move from season to season or period of time in our life. What is essential for us in our 20's may change in our 60's and it is ours to seek what is essential that we may seek to live out the soul's deepest calling.

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Do you remember memorizing things when you were growing up? Poems, Bible verses, songs? There is a difference when we memorize things and when we learn them by heart. To learn something by heart, we let it become a part of who we are, we know it deeply and it shapes how we respond in the world What are verses, phrases, or stories that you know by heart? How does that help in your daily life?

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Sorry about last week. But honestly, it felt garbled and haywire. This week has not been much better. The war, the rising cost of things, the human lives lost. We are not yet in the Kingdom of God. We are not yet to the fulfillment of the promises of God, but we are called to keep working for justice and mercy. To do the small everyday acts to bring about goodness in a world where there is lots of darkness.

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The beginning of Lent starts with Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days before being met by the adversary. Hungry and tired, Jesus is met with tests that begin with If you are the Son of God...prove it. Yet Jesus knows that his identity is in God and therefore relies on God and not on self sufficiency.

Eleanor Hamilton, a pastor in Scotland has a Facebook page called "Whispers of Grace" and she writes beautiful poetry. She talks about wilderness of our own making or that is forced upon us. Her poetry resonated with me and I wonder how we might open ourselves up to the new that we are being prepared for and rely on God and not ourselves when we are in the wilderness of our lives.

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On Transfiguration Sunday, we stand on the mountaintop — glimpsing the radiant glory of Christ before turning toward the ashes of Lent. In this episode, we explore the movement from light to dust, from revelation to repentance, and from spiritual highs to faithful presence in ordinary days.

Transfiguration reveals who Jesus is: radiant, beloved, holy.
Ash Wednesday reminds us who we are: fragile, beloved, human.

Lent lives in the space between those two truths.

Join us as we consider how this season isn’t about perfection or performance, but about making room — room for truth, healing, and grace to seep into the fractures of our lives.

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In Matthew 5 as Jesus continues his sermon on the mount, he tells those listening "You are the salt of the earth;...you are the light of the world." Not you will develop into these things, but you are. You already have what it takes to flavor the world, preserve the good and heal the hurts. You already have the ability to shine forth and banish the darkness. What does it mean for us to be salt and to be light in the world around us?

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