Wales' Tales

The World’s an icebox just right now,

As cold as it could be,

And ice is clinging in that cold

To every road and tree.

The wind is blowing snow around,

A fine and icy brew,

And what I really want to do is

Have a cup of stew.

Just looking out the window

Causes me to shiver.

It chills my feet, my arms and toes.

It even chills my liver.

It makes me long for summer bees,

For grass and trees and flowers.

A time to sit, enjoy the breeze

And shade of leafy bowers.

But living in the broad Midwest

Requires that I choose

To deal with different seasons –

It’s perfection that I lose.

The blustery cold, the sizzling heat,

The joy of spring and fall,

In Kansas, we are stuck with that.

We struggle though it all.

It also teaches that in life,

We face a host of change.

Things never are the same again,

They cross a broadening range.

Our lives are filled with ups and downs,

With laughter and with tears,

The cycles of our life go by,

The passing of the years.

But through it all, if we are wise,

We see the greater plan

That God has set to guide the way

To follow as we can.

For change will come and days will pass

And joy in life increase,

When we discover in that change is

God’s promises of …

                                           Peace,

                                           Pastor Alex

Wales' Tales

Holy Cow! The year’s near gone
And soon a New Year starts.
A whole new year for us to use,
With spirits, hands and hearts.
There’s time to serve and hope and dream.
There’s time for joy and tears,
With weeks and months to fill with things
That chase away our fears.
But there’s a part of human beings
That goes the other way.
We see the time. We have the plan.
And then we go astray.
We start to worry where to start,
Of what we need to do.
We put things off. We’re slow to move
And in no time, we’re through
A host of weeks, a slew of months,
With nothing of import,
Before we have a chance to act,
We find that we are short
Of time to do what we had said,
Of plans we made and lost,
The dreams that died a quiet death
Without a thought to cost.
So as the New Year just begins
Perhaps we need to say
That we will try to do new things
With every brand new day.
To exercise, to write that note,
To show some extra care,
To be involved in projects great,
And get out of THAT chair!
Don’t just assume the “old” ’s ok,
That what we did is fine.
Because there may be joy out there
To share with yours and mine.
So get a start on making change
Allow “what was” to cease.
Just take a breath, reach out in faith
And live a life of…
                                Peace,
                                Pastor Alex

A.D.V.E.N.T.: E is for Emmanuel

Has God ever come to you in a dream? Have you ever heard God in another mysterious way? Did it require you to defy social convention, or was it an easy request? Did you dismiss that call, or did you respond? When was the last time you stepped out in faith, beyond a Facebook post about Phil Robertson or a Twitter rant or an email forward?

Read Isaiah 7:10-16 & Matthew 1:18-25.

This is how Matthew describes the birth of Jesus – from the perspective of Joseph. Imagine all the feelings that Joseph must have been feeling. He was a righteous man, and here was his pregnant fiancé. He must have felt foolish, embarrassed, angry, scandalized, cuckolded – like the husband who hears Maury declare “You are NOT the father!”

Yet righteous Joseph defies social convention because of God’s call to him in a dream. He ignores ‘what other people might think’ and stands by Mary – he continues to be with her, to share in her journey to Bethlehem and to birth. Joseph responds to a higher righteousness, one that goes above and beyond in response to God’s call. And he could do it because God was with him.

In the birth of Jesus, God chooses to be with us. God acts out of love, and a little baby is born. A little baby is born, and a righteous man responds to a higher righteousness. A righteous man responds, and a pregnant woman is not left alone in her time of need. A pregnant woman who is not left alone births a bouncing baby boy, and this boy saves us from our sins and continues the relationship of “God with us.”

And God was not just with our biblical ancestors – God is with us today as well. How have you experienced God with you? Goosebumps? Things coming together? Dreams and visions? Protection? Guidance? Camp Heartland? How have you experienced “God with us” at Trinity? How can we continually prepare for God to be with us?

God has promised us Emmanuel, and God keeps God’s promises. May we see beyond the reality tv show drama, beyond the tinsel and the trimmings, beyond the commercialism and the family drama, to behold the babe in the manger – to behold “God with us” yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Amen.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Kate

Wales' Tales

Just nine days until it’s time
To celebrate the birth
Of one who came to show the way
To those who live on earth.
You’d think that we would understand
What Christmas really means,
But most of us just lose our way,
Caught up in manger scenes.
We think of shepherds, Kings and stars,
Of stables, trees and lights,
Of memories of years gone by
That fill us with delights.
The music and the dinners,
The family gathered in,
All sugar-coat reality,
The price of human sin.
The baby that we welcome,
A gift from God above,
Arrives on Christmas morning
As a sign of endless love.
The stable was a symbol of
Poverty and need.
The shepherds kneeling on the dirt,
Were outcasts, poor indeed.
The star that shown so brightly
That lit the way so clear,
Reminds us that hope of God
Will always be so near.
The kings who made their journey
Were seekers on a quest
Searching for the answers
When God had sent the best
That anyone could offer,
A savior for the world,
Yet lying in a manger with
Swaddling clothes unfurled.
And somewhere in the shadows,
The future to foretell,
A ministry, a cross of wood,
A lifetime lived so well.
All symbols of a promise,
Our sin to find release,
The gift of God incarnate,
To bring us joy and ….
                      Peace,
                      Pastor Alex

Wales' Tales

The cold and snow came rushing in
Before I had a chance
To make the change in how I live,
Or find some winter pants.
My scarf was hidden in my stuff.
My gloves were still in storage,
My boots were stiff and way too cold.
For breakfast I had porridge.
But now the sky is oh so blue,
The snow is white and frozen.
And winter is in place for now
Not something I have chosen,
But life itself is full of things
That I would never chose,
Events that make me quite surprised,
With things to find and lose.
The doors that would not open,
The path that seems too hard,
The barriers that block my way,
The dross I must discard.
A lifetime full of miracles,
Of joy and bitter tears,
The ups and downs of every day,
The triumph and the fears.
But as we move towards Christmas time
I also am aware
That God with wisdom far above,
Has planned to offer care
For wayward sheep, for silly geese
Who try too hard to win
A game of life that seems so full
And yet seems rather thin.
A plan that called for simple birth,
And life of service true,
Of death and resurrection
And the chance to start anew.
So as I find my winter clothes,
My complaining to release,
I’ll settle down and watch the snow
And just enjoy God’s…
                                    Peace,
                                    Pastor Alex