Keeping up a blog is a little like caring for some small furry creature, except that the small furry creature is within you. In the night sometimes, it calls out to you and maybe you are able to awaken to its call. I have started about 6 blogs and all of them wilt from neglect and disuse. Part of the reason for not fulfilling the obligations of maintaining a blog is, out here, winter is just ending. Today, it is almost 60 degrees and it actually smells and feels like spring. Last week, there was a day when it was pretty warm, but it was really just a warning for a coming snowstorm. We got 5 inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. 20 miles out, to the south and east, it was 70 degrees and sunny. Such is the weather of the high mountains.
As spring comes upon us, our home has been blessed by a new black lab puppy named Xena. She is 10 weeks old, extremely cute, happy and growing fast. We are glad to have her and our other dog, Marla, who is 6 years old, is getting used to having another 4-legged critter in her midst. They are learning to play together and even share. For a few days Marla was put out by the whole thing, but she is rapidly recovering her sense of self and, in the fashion of divas everywhere, entitlement to attention and being first in everything.
Be that as it may, spring also means that the people who leave for the winter are returning slowly but surely for the summer. Our little cadre of locals welcome them back gladly. One of the locals told me this past week, after the snowstorm, that your spouse could have become pregnant at the beginning of winter and when she had her baby there would still be snow on the ground. There may be no other place in America where that analogy is so accurate, or likely to be said. I laughed hard when I heard him say it.
Worship at Mount Republic Chapel of Peace during the winter becomes an intimate and welcome gathering, reminding us that "wherever two or three are gathered, Jesus is with us". That is a blessing and provides an ember of strength to light the fires of spring and summer here. We have just started a Wednesday night Bible study on the Lord's Prayer, which has created lively and intense discussions about what Jesus' prayer means for us and what God intends in our lives together. On May 31st, Pentecost Sunday, rather than a sermon and on the recommendation of a close friend in Minnesota, I thought we might have an "Ask the Pastor Sunday". On June 7th, we will have a Hymn Sunday and will talk about the theology and history of the hymns we sing. On Friday, June 12th, the Girl's Choir from the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd will be here to perform for our community and church.
We are looking forward to the activities of spring and summer here and we await to find out what the Lord has in store for us. May our church and our community be a blessing to all who visit us.
Peace of Christ to you!
Pastor Seth
