Wales' Tales 10/27/14

The colors surround us in bright reds and golds,

The magic of autumn so neatly unfolds

The change in the season from summer to fall,

And we as the viewers are witnesses all

To how God has given a rhythm to life -

The rising and falling, the joy and the strife.

A pattern of changes that come every year,

The laughter and sorrow, the smile and the tear.

And watching the leaves as the fall to the ground,

Reminds us that winter will soon be around

To chill us and taunt us to stay safe and warm,

Avoiding the wind and the snowflakes that swarm.

But now from my window I watch the leaves dance,

They swirl and they swivel as if in a trance.

They pile near fences and ‘neath every tree,

They hide from the rakes that they know soon will be

Seeking to catch them and take them away,

No time for the dancing, no time left to play.

For now, there is time to continue to dance,

And if they are lucky perhaps there’s a chance

To be used as a book mark, put in a report

That some child needs for learning to sort

The trees and their phylum, or fruit that they give

To nourish the creatures who need them to live.

For there is a cycle, a turning in time

That God has created to fit in God’s rhyme.

And we are a part of that life-long release,

The highs and the lows that will lead to God’s…

                                                            Peace,

All You Need is Love

Some fans have been patiently waiting for this week for 29 years: the return of the Royals to the World Series. With the series tied at 1-1, hope still exists, and most of America seems to be rooting for this Cinderella team. The players have worked hard, going to practice over and over again, fixing their mistakes and learning to work as a team. They have eaten the right food and taken the right amount of rest. They have dedicated their whole lives to this moment. To what have you dedicated your whole life? To what have you given your heart, your mind, your soul?

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Matthew 22:34-39.

We are supposed to love God with our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are being asked for our whole lives, we are being asked to dedicate everything to love. Just as professional athletes give all of themselves to the game, so should we give all of our lives to God. That means we incorporate showing up to practice, getting the right nourishment, and getting Sabbath time.

For as the Beatles sang, “all you need is love.” While they make it sound simple, the truth is that love is hard work. Loving God means giving of yourself; loving God means making time for worship, for reading the Bible, for deepening your relationship with God. Loving your neighbor means making sacrificial time to work at Let’s Help or Harvesters or the Rescue Mission, or giving your time to a neighbor, or increasing your pledge to Trinity’s ministries as we reach out to our neighbors. When we love our God and love our neighbors, we all get what we need. As we give to each other, so do we receive. Everyone shares their love for God and their love for each other, and that’s when we witness real Christian community.

Come on Sunday and hear stories of how Trinity is changing lives. Come on Sunday, ready to worship with your whole heart, mind, and soul. Come on Sunday to be nourished and find rest, come on Sunday to practice the rhythms and the language of loving God and loving our neighbors. For when we fulfill the two greatest commandments, it could take us all the way to the championship: with all the love we need as we glorify God, share Christ’s love, and make new disciples.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Kate

Wales' Tales 10/20/14

Witches, spiders, bees and cats,

People wearing funny hats,

Gathered in the parking lot,

Spying out the things we got

To celebrate our Trunk and Treat.

Come for fun and come to eat

Hot dogs, chips and stuff to drink,

Time to laugh and time to think.

What makes Halloween so fun?

In the dark and in the sun,

Is it costumes, fun to wear?

Or the candy that we share?

Or a time to change our look,

Recognize the chance we took

At being some else in play,

Even only for one day,

We can be the one we choose,

For one day, not much to lose.

Batman, princess, hero strong,

One who sings a different song,

Vampire, villain, zombie chase,

All our fears we can erase

By being someone we might see,

Knowing that we cannot be

The person who we imitate,

For it’s a game that we relate

To trying on another’s skin,

Aware that we can never win

That person whom we try to be.

It’s hidden in a mystery.

And when the mask we must release,

Discover that it’s us in…

                                    Peace,

Wales' Tales 10/13/14

“I haven’t got a thing to wear,”

Said the maiden to the tailor.

I wonder if you have some cloth

To attract that handsome sailor.

Would you make a dress so fine and fair

That no one could resist me?

The tailor thought for quite a while

For the task was rather risky.

The tailor knew that what one wears

Is really just a cover

Attracting just the rover’s eye

Before they might discover

Exactly what was ‘neath the cloth -

The person deep within

For every wise and wistful soul

Will check below the skin.

What’s in the heart?

What’s in the mind?

What makes this person tick?

Is what I see a truth revealed

Or just a parlor trick?

The search for meaning, love and truth

Is life’s impressive tale,

A task that each one must resolve,

Succeed, perhaps to fail.

To search restricted to our sight,

Or smell or touch or taste,

Is search without the total sense

That causes us to waste

Our days in racing to and fro,

To chasing after wind,

And in the process, not to know

How often we have sinned

Or missed the message loud and clear,

Tis not the clothes you wear,

But how you live your life in faith,

To love and hope and care.

So as the tailor recognized

Not cloth, nor silk, nor fleece,

Can make one more attractive

Than the armor of God’s…

                                                Peace,

Wales' Tales 10/6/14

If only God would give us

Instructions for this life,

It’d be a whole lot easier

To live without the strife

Of being a young parent

When kids become a part,

Or when we’re old and feeble

And a loss hits near our heart.

Or when we’re in the process

Of choosing our life course,

Or needing to adjust our way

When faced with a divorce.

But life is when we’re learning
to deal with highs and lows,

And we so often find ourselves

Where heaven only knows

The answers to the questions,

The path that we might take,

Events in life that set us off,

Or cause our hearts to break.

But life is an adventure,

A gift from God to use

And we must make decisions

When things in life confuse

Our wisdom and our knowledge,

Our trust and our resolve,

The things we take for granted

When the solid might dissolve.

Yet if we get the feeling

That we make this trip alone,

We fallen into the old trap

Where humans are so prone

To think that God is distant

God’s caring just might cease.

The truth is that God’s always near

To help us find God’s…

                                                Peace,