Dearly Beloved,
Grace and peace to you, Van Meter UMC Family!
I love the month of May. It is a month of celebrations! We honor and remember our mothers and women who are like mothers to us. We celebrate the accomplishments of our graduating seniors from high school and college and share their excitement about beginning the next chapter of their lives. We celebrate spring rains, fresh air, and more time spent outdoors.
I recently saw a far-off plume of smoke and wondered what was burning. I hoped it wasn't the beginning of a wildfire like those burning up thousands of acres in Georgia and Florida. A little farther down the road, I realized it was a controlled burn, tended either by farmers or wildlife managers to burn off last year's growth from waterways, ditches, and the like to control invasive plants, improve habitat, and prepare for a new season of growth, renewal, and the promise of another harvest. This was for me an unexpected sign of spring.
How curious it is to realize that the fire that can destroy and consume is also the fire that encourages new life to grow. That we use fire at this time of year to encourage new growth is quite appropriate this month as we come to the close of the Easter season. Since Easter Sunday, we have been exploring the extraordinary miracle of Jesus' resurrection, why resurrection matters to us, and how it changes the way we live each day of our lives. In three weeks, we will celebrate the birth of the church made possible by the radical and lifegiving outpouring of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost.
May 24 marks the end of the Easter season and Pentecost Sunday. We will relive the story of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. On that day, the outward sign of the Holy Spirit was seen and heard in the roaring wind, and the flames of fire that appeared to dance among the believers, as they gathered together in an upper room, waiting for a sign from Jesus.
The Pentecost story reminds us again and again that the fire of the Holy Spirit didn't come to consume and destroy, but to bless, equip, and empower all disciples for continuing Jesus' ministry in the world. Let us live as people on fire with the love of Christ, so that all others see Jesus more clearly in the way we love and care for the strangers and outsiders around us. Let the light of Christ's love burn brightly, lighting up the darkness, bringing all those around us into the circle and warmth of Jesus' love, here and now.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
In Christ's gracious love,
Pastor Cathy