​For June’s article of Musings, I want to talk about change but from a theological viewpoint. Due to the recent COVID, and now as you will seek an interim pastor, St. Luke’s is experiencing change.

Change is inevitable. Biblically and theologically speaking, change is essential and part of God’s creation. Creation involved change – from nothing, from the formless void, to a beautiful creation. Unlike many world views in which time is cyclical, inescapable, or meaningless, Biblical time is purposeful, forward moving, and climaxing in the fulfillment of God’s promises and plan.

However not all things change. First, God does not change. God is relationally dynamic; that is to say, God is personal and lovingly and graciously interacts with all of creation. God does not change in nature, character, or attributes.

Human condition has not changed. From the fall of Adam and Eve, all humans who have every lived (save for Jesus) have been sinners by nature and by choice. No matter how good or how bad any individual person’s actions may be, all have fallen short of what God expects and demands.

Change, even chaotic change, can be good. Studies in chaos and complexity theory have shown that equilibrium leads to stagnation which leads to death. Change, and even moving to the edge of chaos, is what causes living systems to adapt, find new solutions, and improve. The disturbances caused by change and chaos can be, in fact, life savers. Remember how God brought radical change to Israel, often through her worst enemies.

The key, therefore, is how we evaluate change. Should we embrace it or resist it?

What is actually changing? As America changes rapidly, the church must clearly identify the changes worth confronting. How often are we expending energy simply resisting change that affects our sentimentality about life and culture and our preferences about the church?

How can and will God use change for His glory? As hard as it is, we need to work to see the biggest picture possible – God’s. What is He doing through these changes? What does He want to do in my individual life, in my church, and through believers in America and around the world? How are these changes moving us toward the fulfillment of His promises?

Change is rarely comfortable. I am convinced that more often than not God is waiting for us to seize the moment, “making the most of the time” (Col. 4:5b), internally and externally to our society.
Pastor John

Seems like the world before the pandemic never existed. We're in, by far, the craziest period of time in most of our lives. Maybe 9/11 is up there with the current situation, but even such a tragic event isn't quite as surreal as what we're all going through right now.
I recently came across a good quote- “Mental health is just as important as physical health.” ~Unknown
Our main focus during this challenging time is quite rightly on our physical well-being. But we shouldn’t forget about our mental health considering these are stressful times for all of us. I am sure these questions floated in your minds-
Will we get sick? Will our loved ones die? Will we have enough food to feed the family?
How will we pay the bills? How long do we have to stay in? Will things ever get back to normal?
So many questions, so many concerns.
I want to share some good mental well-being tips can help see us through the challenges that lie ahead.

#1: Be Present
Being present means being fully in the moment. It’s not being distracted but engaging with what is.
So instead of filling your mind with worrisome news, tend to see what is going on right in front of you. In this way, you are there both physically and emotionally, which helps keep negative thoughts out of your head.

#2: Feel and Validate Your Feelings
We all experience an increase in uncomfortable feelings during challenging times.
Invalidating our feelings is harmful to our mental well-being. It erodes our self-esteem and leaves us feeling broken and defective. It makes us disconnect from ourselves, and we begin to make all the wrong choices because we no longer know how we feel and what we want.
Staying mentally healthy during difficult times requires you feel your feelings and allow yourself to process them, which means not fighting or avoiding them.
It also means that you must learn to validate your feelings. This involves you normalizing and empathizing.
You do this by telling yourself that it’s okay to have this feeling, and that any human with the kinds of thoughts you’re thinking or the kind of experience you are having would feel how you’re feeling. Tell yourself that it’s okay. That is reassuring.

#3: Engage with Something Meaningful
We can choose something fun, something silly, something creative, something lighthearted. We can come up with new projects or can focus on being productive in some way. We can improve our relationships by having some fun or being caring toward each other. We can play with our kids.
Whatever it is, choose something. Get present and engage with it.
It will take your mind off things. It will give you a break.
Don’t let a difficult situation confine and restrict you.
This is something most of us have in common: We all want to feel that we are useful in some way, that we have a purpose, that we’re doing something valuable.
And there are so many different things we can do to have that experience. But in order to do so, we need to have space in our minds, which requires us to practice being present, to feel our feelings and to validate them.
In hard times, it's important to remember these four words that have rung true throughout time:
This too shall pass.
Of course, that's not the way it feels right now. Logically, you know the lockdown will end and there will come a day in your life where these times are a distant memory, but emotionally, it feels like we'll be stuck forever.
One the one hand, we're all looking forward to the day when this will be all over -- so those words can be solace if you embrace them. On the other hand, it'd be a waste not to draw valuable lessons you can look to in the future.

Keep Watching via live streaming on www.stlukestrappe.org , which connects to St. Luke’s UCC Facebook page.

Until we meet again……Pastor John

​During my very first week in Greek class with Rev. Dr. Robert Kelley at Pittsburgh Seminary, we were required to memorize the first verses of John 1{ in Greek!}: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then by the 2nd week the entire Chapter One in Greek! This, for St. John, and for you and me, is set in the context of God’s creation, incarnation, and re-creation.

Easter morning demonstrates God continuing to give the gift of life to His people. Easter is the re-creation of God’s celebration of humanity. It is God’s entrusting of God’s self to human beings—to you and to me— through God’s incarnation. Divinity was clothed in humanity so that humanity might be clothed in divinity.  Easter means that you and I are holy and intended to be holy, not as an achievement on our own, but as a gift
from God. This is the gift of Christmas that culminates in Easter—the gift that empowers us to become children of God.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a sacrament? Have you ever looked at someone across the street and said, “Hey, look! There is the sacramental image of God”? What is it that prevents us, do you think, from seeing that image in ourselves and each other? In Jewish tradition, rabbis recount that each person has a procession of angels walking ahead of him or her and crying out, “Make way for the image of God.” Can we even begin to imagine how very different our lives and our world might be if we lived with this as the reality and truth that guides our lives? It would mean that everywhere we go, God’s angels would go before us shouting out loudly and clearly, “Here comes an image of God!”!

And so, what Easter morning means for us is the fulfillment of the Incarnation, that day known to us as Christmas, as “God with us” to share our joys and bear our sorrows. In truth, Jesus 33 years of “God with us” continues today, for us, in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit!

And so, if that is the truth of Easter for us, then it may also be the Easter truth for our next-door neighbor, for those we love, for those we fear, for those who are like us and those who are different, for the stranger, and yes, even for our enemies. It means that we cannot limit Easter to a one-day event. We must begin to think of the “Easter Son-Rise” as a style of daily living and a way of being. We must begin to understand Easter as a verb rather than a noun—and to live out our daily lives with that understanding.

PRAYER
Our Lord and our God, on this day when we celebrate your resurrection, help us to come to understand that
Easter is much more than a one-day celebration each year. Help all of us to know and understand ourselves as
an “image of You.” And empower us to live out our daily lives as your image to our family, friends, neighbors,
strangers, and yes, even, our enemies. Amen.

Grace and Peace, Pastor John

​With St. Patrick’s day in March, I thought an article on Irish culture would be
appropriate. I have been rereading Thomas Cahill’s The Hinges of History series, How the Irish Saved Civilization. It is a fascinating book drawn on the notion of illiterate, semi-nomadic warrior barbarians become an emerald isle of saints and scholars who saved Western civilization? In How the Irish Saved Civilization, Cahill tells us to look to men like Patrick, who was brought in chains to Ireland. He dedicated himself to making sure nobody would ever arrive that way again. Grafting traditional Christian teachings to the positive elements of Irish myths and magic rooted in nature, Patrick planted a message that spoke directly to the Irish psyche and heart. Patrick brought a non-Roman form of Christianity to an island of people fierce in their
traditions of loyalty, poetry, courage, and violence. Which I have argued for years that Ireland is more of Celtic Christianity vs Roman Christianity. Cahill argues the Irish scribes, monks who copied the great literature of the world, who approached their work with pride and playfulness, turning a task that many would consider dronelike into an art form. When the monks take off to
establish monasteries and spread Christianity throughout the world of early medieval Europe, they bring their books. The monks replant the seeds of learning and scholarship in lands barren of these since the fall of the Roman Empire. So, thanks to the Roman Legions and Emperor who could not be bothered with the Emerald Isle due to facing the Franks and Goths on the banks of the Rhine. More and more I have discovered fascinating information on Ireland from the perspective of history and personal genealogy. Did you know one of the oldest composed hymns is an Irish hymn ‘Be Thou My Vision’? One of my favorite Celtic blessings is : Nár laga Dia thu which means ‘May God never weaken you’ These words say volumes about one’s faith! See you in Church, Pastor John