Dear Caldwell,
Our passage from Sunday to Sunday this week crosses an important threshold. Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, our time of preparation for Holy Week and Easter. Each of us may have our personal disciplines and spiritual practices for this time of year. At Caldwell, we are invited to spend these weeks together and individually “remembering” who we are and whose we are. We are God’s Beloved, though we often forget that gift and lose sight of its reality.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God says to us, “I have called you by name. You are mine.” However, the world can strip away our sense of belovedness. Also, we can put worldly things between us and God – bad habits, idols of all sorts, mindsets, attitudes, perceptions of ourselves or others. Yet, through grace, the Lord invites us to return to the Divine’s embrace. Thus, we invite you to “Become the Beloved” again, through an intentional change you take up – call it your own transfiguration or metamorphosis. As I quoted Henri Nouwen in Sunday’s sermon (from his book Life of the Beloved):
“From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are. Becoming the Beloved is the great spiritual journey we have to make.”
Jesus began his own time of devotion to God by entering the wilderness and we have two chances to look at that story (Matthew 4:1-11). Tomorrow, Caldwell leads the first of the Elizabeth Communities of Faith (ECF) Wednesday services, noon at Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church, three blocks east of Caldwell. Come and worship with members of four other Elizabeth churches and stay for a simple meal. The ECF Lenten theme, “There and Back Again,” deals with the role of wilderness and how we can draw closer to God there. Come and worship and stay for a simple meal. You can read an Observer article with more on that here:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/01/4725292/lenten-services-will-focus-on.html#.UxX-rPldVqU
Then on Sunday, Rev. Evie will take us back to that same text in our worship service as we venture forth together to “Become the Beloved.”
Reminders:
- Yoga, for peace of mind and body, tonight at 6:30 in Upper Price.
- Theology on Tap: our new midweek offering for fellowship and spiritual development, is tonight at 7 p.m. at Kickstand Burgers on Central Ave. Come and jump in as we are just getting started. All ages welcomed!
- Sacred Relationships – Women and God the Father: This Wednesday study, particularly for women, meets Wednesday nights in the Price Building at 6:30.
Prayers: Please lift up these situations:
- Dee Blackburn, and her partner Betsy West. Dee is scheduled for surgery to remove malignant growths in her neck on March 18.
- Maggie Devries’ granddaughter, 12-year old Claire, who is in the intensive care unit in a hospital in Denver. Claire suffered a severe diabetic crisis and her body is also fighting an infection.
- Yvette Wilson, who is recovering from a procedure on her upper spine.
- Julie Price and her family as Julie’s father, Herman, suffers kidney failure and related complications.
See you soon, if not tomorrow at noon at Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church.
In Christ,
John