Regarding salt and dragon boats

"You are the salt of the earth..." (Matthew 6:13a)

This, I think, is why we are having such a hard time getting a whole team together for the Dragon Boat Festival this weekend. Salt, you see, is not much good if it is all together in the salt shaker--you have to spread it around and mix it in. So we have probably enough CrossWind people out there for at least three teams...but they are scattered throughout the other teams. Salt, get it? I figure that if the team that wins has anybody from our parish on it, we can count that as a win, right?

Actually, if you are are in town and you know anyone who is even remotely interested (or might be persuaded), we could use a few more willing rowers. (Note I said "willing", not necessarily "good" or even particularly "able".) This is a fun way to celebrate our community and our parish while enjoying that beautiful lake that God has give us.

(Also, this is my 100th post on this blog. How should I celebrate?)

~Pastor Sarah

The day after the parade

Well, it's official: I have been to my first Heritage Days. Wow, that was busy! Highlights (for me, at least) included the variety show on Friday night (at least, the part where I wasn't singing), the craft sale on Saturday, the lefse and tacos-in-a-bag at the sale on Saturday, and the worship service in the park.

Oh, and the parade. I had never been in a parade before, believe it or not. It was great fun, and next year, I'll come much better prepared. (Squirt guns. There should be squirt guns. Or at least one squirt gun--for me, of course. To keep the people on the float entertained while waiting for our turn to go.) An extra congratulations to the young ladies who participated in the Miss Minnewaska competition. (I always knew that the two from our parish were stars.)

Today, the festivities are mostly over, but you can still see a few remnants--notably, a few bits of sparkling streamers along the parade route. Until next year!

~Pastor Sarah

Blizzard Warning!

I know I should probably be complaining about this, like everybody else, but I still get a real kick out of having an actual blizzard warning. In central Ohio, where I grew up, we did not get blizzards. (There were actual blizzard conditions last winter, and they're still talking about it a year later.) Actual blizzards always belonged to the world of, say, Little House on the Prairie, so for me to say "we're supposed to be having a blizzard!" is kind of like stepping into one of the stories I read as a child.

That, and it really impresses my classmates from the South.

Still, as I type this, there are kids who need to get home safely from school, workers who need to get home safely from jobs, and probably all kinds of folks for whom this weather is really threatening, not just inconvenient. So, even as I secretly thrill to hear the word "blizzard" being thrown around, I'll also say a few prayers for those who do not have that luxury.

~Pastor Sarah

CrossWind Parish in the news

We have been in the Starbuck Times several times in the past few weeks, and I thought I would share a few:

• An article on Starbuck after school programs, including our K.I.C.K. and Minnewaska Lutheran's "Lightshine".
• And an article about the 30 Hour Famine.
• Some photos from the "Frozen Chosen" service on the lake also showed up this past week.

~Pastor Sarah

This is more like it

Today is cold and wet and dreary, which is pretty much the definition of winter back in Ohio. So I actually feel right at home. (It's slightly depressing, of course, but that's how it's supposed to feel.)

I would post the text of my mini-sermon from the service on the lake yesterday, but it was partly based on a previous post, so there it is already (almost). For all that I protest about the sheer insanity of standing on a frozen lake when the temperature isn't even freezing, it was tremendously fun. (I made up a few theories about the effect of large cracks on the way out. I can't help it. I just wonder about things like that.) I even got to stand on an area of clear ice and hear it cracking (after which I stopped doing that). I have concluded that ice fishers are either brave or crazy, but in a good way.

The ice had me pretty well distracted at first, but the service was delightful. We had a small, dedicated little group, and the weather was magnificent. Once again, I was happy to be part of this community.

~Pastor Sarah

Happy February!

We had a bit of a heat wave over the weekend, which actually succeeded in melting some of the snow. It looks to be cold for the next few days, maybe a little warmer towards next weekend--just so long as the ice is solid for next Sunday's "Frozen Chosen" worship service out on the lake! (Coming from a climate where lakes that big do not freeze over very much, I am wary enough as it is.)

In my research, then, I have found a few biblical passages describing winter weather. See, for instance, Job 37:1-13--not a book we often quote, but the imagery is striking:

By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast. (Job 37:10)

And then there is Psalm 147:

He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
   he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
(Psalm 147:16-18)

~Pastor Sarah

Snow again

Everyone assures me that we do not usually get this much snow, but really, I'm not concerned. (I did go to school in South Carolina, but I did not grow up there. I was nearly born in a blizzard.) Although I realize I may be eating these words by late April, I actually kind of like snow. I really do not enjoy shoveling off my car every morning, but this is neatly avoided most of the time because I am blessed with a garage.

As a kid, of course, snow mostly meant possible snow days, which was always good. In college, I started noticing the snow more for its own sake. It's beautiful, and extraordinarily complex, when you think about it. A single snowflake is a marvel of God's creation, tiny and perfect and complete. Put a whole lot of them together, though, and they can literally change the face of the world. Rough edges become smooth. Even the deepest valleys are less deep, in a literal acting-out of the Baptizer's cry, "Prepare the way of the Lord!" (c.f. Isaiah 40:3-5).

Have you ever seen a fresh snowfall in the city? Before, everything is brown and grey and ugly. After, even the dreariest abandoned lot has its own beauty. In just a short while, dirty cars and polluted air will turn it to sludge and muck, but for a moment, you could imagine that it will be perfect forever. In Starbuck, at least on my out-of-the-way street, it takes a little longer for the spell to be broken (less cars driving by, not so much smog), which makes the transformation perhaps a bit less obvious--but still, it's there, every single time it snows, softening the edges of my bootprints in my backyard. That, to me, is a perfect image of God's grace: we are covered in God's love like a blanket of snow, made pure and fresh and beautiful, all our sins and imperfections wiped clean. And unlike the snow, which is temporary, God's grace will last forever.

"...though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow..." (Isaiah 1:18b)

By spring, I may feel differently. But for now, whenever I see falling snow, I think of God. Is it any wonder it still makes me smile?

~Pastor Sarah

Hey, it's a blog!

I recently found out that apparently Starbuck has a blog as a part of the Horizons program that is currently in process around here. I just actually located it today (does that make me a bad blogger?), but I will definitely be checking it out.

~Pastor Sarah

It's a heat wave!

Okay, so it's only about 10 degrees, but that feels pretty good after last week, when we were happy if it got to negative 10. The high is even supposed to be almost freezing by tomorrow.

At times like this, I like to remember that we are connected to a much bigger church than we usually realize. We have brothers and sisters in Christ--even fellow Lutherans--who live far from the cold, frozen land of Minnesota, and it is practically our duty to think of them, right? So, for example, you could visit an actual Lutheran seminary, where there is a 60% chance of snow tomorrow morning, but don't let that fool you (spring starts in March). Or plan a trip to the Coastal Retreat Center in Isle of Palms. (I mean, seriously. Isle of Palms. With a name like that, it's got to be good.)

While we're at it, the entire Caribbean Synod sounds pretty good (if you are visiting their website and do not read Spanish, you can usually scroll down to find an English translation). Or you could visit Frederick Lutheran Church, the oldest congregation in continuous existence in the ELCA, which happens to be located in the Virgin Islands.

Of course, if you're like me and you still kind of like the winter weather, there's always Alaska.

~Pastor Sarah