Five Years

            It popped up on my Facebook page the first thing this morning. “See Your Memories,” it said, and then a post I wrote five years ago about becoming a resident of Summit, New Jersey. Yes, I’ve been living here, serving as Pastor here for five years, which hardly seems possible that it’s already been five years, which is good news if the saying is true that “time flies when you’re having fun.”

            In the post that I wrote five years ago, I mentioned that I could not find my way from the front door to the back door of the house without relying on my GPS, which was a bit of an exaggeration, but also a reminder of how new everything seemed five years ago. Over the course of these past five years, that newness has worn off, and there’s much that is good about that. Now, I feel comfortable here, at home here amidst sights that are now familiar. 

And yet, there is also something that makes me want to cling to a sense of newness, because when places and people are new, we pay more attention. We are open to surprise, around each curve, in each conversation, no matter how brief. We see better. “And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new’” (Revelation 21:5). For that One seems to like newness, and maybe that’s because that One wants us to pay attention to the familiar stuff of our everyday lives; to be open to surprise and wonder; really to see life, the world, the universe surrounding us.

--Pastor Don Steele

The Iona Community

I have been intrigued by the Iona Community ever since I first visited the small island of Iona, located off the west coast of Scotland, in 1986. Iona is the place where, in the 6^th Century, Columba came from Ireland to launch his Christian mission in Scotland. Today, the dominant structure on Iona is the Abbey, which was reconstructed, starting in the 1930’s, on medieval foundations. During Lent, we are bringing prayer services used in that Abbey to Central Church, each Thursday evening at 7:15 pm.

However, the Iona Community is so much more than the island. It is a community of women and men, spread out around the world, joined by a five part rule that unites the community. And I think that the five part rule gives us practices that we could well use during Lent:

1)      Daily prayer and Bible reading. For the 40 days of Lent, try to spend some time in your day reading from the Bible, even just a verse or two, and spend some time, even just a short time, reflecting on your life—what concerns you, what brings you joy.

2)      Sharing and accounting for the use of our resources, including money. During Lent, review your finances. What percentage of your income are you giving to help others? The Bible talks about giving away a “tithe” or 10%.

3)      Planning and accounting for the use of our time. Take a look at back at your calendar since the beginning of the year. How have you been using your time, and how much deep satisfaction is that use of time bringing to you?

4)      Action for justice and peace in society and the integrity of creation. Get in touch with those things that you hear in the news that genuinely move you. What are you doing to be a part making things better in the world?

5)      Meeting with and accounting to each other. Is there a group of people with whom you can talk about how you are doing with the four points above? This is not therapy. This is about growing as a disciple of Jesus, which is the whole point of Lent.

Pastor Don Steele

Olympic Dedication

When I was little, I remember watching Peggy Fleming compete in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. It is the first memory of the Olympics that I have. A few weeks later, I remember my Dad taking me to an ice skating rink—my first time on skates—and I was a failure as an ice skater. I could barely stand on the skates off the ice, let alone on the ice. How did Peggy Fleming do it—the jumps, the spins, skating backwards?

It was years later that I came to understand the dedication it takes to become an Olympic athlete—the hours of practice, the personal sacrifices, the focus that these incredible athletes must have to keep at it even when they lose, even when they fail. Peggy Fleming was born with some natural talent, no doubt, but those natural abilities did not take her to the Olympics. She worked at it.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1,2). And Bible scholars think that the image was of ancient games, maybe something like the Olympics, only the point was not about athletics, it was about life. Life is race. In order to get anywhere, it requires dedication, focus, even sacrifice. There will be losses and failures, stumbles and slips along the way, but the question is what kind of life are you leading?  What purpose, what goal are you working to achieve? 

--Pastor Don Steele