Greetings these dog days of summer!
The brightest star in the sky, Sirius (the Dog Star), greets us these July/August mornings before sunrise. Cultures across the centuries saw this star as a sign of the time of year. Egyptians knew the annual floods were near. Romans thought Sirius' heat combined with our own Sun to make summer so hot.
Yet, Sirius' rising in our morning skies across the Highland Lakes also means the fall rhythms of school, work, and life are upon us. Maybe you will agree with me...this is no ordinary Fall.
A lot of adapting, patience, creativity, and FAITH is what we will need in our toolbelts to navigate this uncertain time.
I say FAITH intentionally, not because I am a pastor and that is what pastors like to put in weekly emails...but because it's exactly how Jesus invites the disciples to live into the next moments in the story of the Feeding of the 5000 (our gospel reading for this Sunday - Matthew 14). They are told to feed 5000+ people with 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread...which is an impossible task...
IF they trust only in what THEY can do.
Jesus invites them to be open to possibilities they had never been open to before. God took their scarcity and turned it into abundance...and you know what...as I look at our Fall, I hear our national conversation leaning into language of scarcity...in how to return to school...in renters loosing eviction protections, in not enough of this or that...in who will be our next president. So much feels like an impossible task before us.
Jesus does not wave a magic wand over the fish and bread and they magically multiply.
No...abundance happened when the disciples heard and saw how what they had was a blessing...a blessing to not be afraid to share...generously, creatively, faith-full-y.
What do you have or are looking at this fall that looks like not enough? Hear Jesus saying a blessing over your "not enough" in this time...that you might be inspired in how to generously, creatively, and faith-full-y share what God has placed in your life...to live abundantly knowing it is woven into your very DNA because of God's love for you.
Part of the DNA of who we are as a congregation is found in the rhythms of worship, fellowship, learning, and serving we do throughout the Fall and seasons.
Please take 5 minutes to fill out the brief survey.
This will be invaluable in helping leadership and staff know how to shape our Fall in abundant, creative, generous, and faithful ways the rest of this year.
