Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25

It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, though it is a race dedicated to many absurdities and one which makes many terrible mistakes: yet, with all that, God himself gloried in becoming a member of the human race. A member of the human race! To think that such a commonplace realization should suddenly seem like news that one holds the winning ticket in a cosmic sweepstake. I have the immense joy of being a member of a race in which God became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

Thomas Merton(Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26

If you really belong to the work that has been entrusted to you, then you must do it with your whole heart. And you can bring salvation only by being honest and by really working with God.

It is not how much we are doing but how much love, how much honesty, how much faith is put into doing it. It makes no difference what we are doing. What you are doing, I cannot do, and what I am doing, you cannot do. Only sometimes we forget and we spend more time looking at somebody else and wishing we were doing something else.

We waste our time thinking of tomorrow and today we let the day pass and yesterday is gone.

Mother Theresa

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27

At this time of the year, most people ache for renewal. The hoo-hah of the holidays is past, the days are short and the winds are cold. For many recreational runners committing to a future race date provides a sense of renewal, an opportunity to regain the purpose and enjoyment of running. It begins with circling the special day on the calendar, the first step of this journey of renewal. With that, a sense of hope comes to life and all things are possible. Training plans hit paper, promises are made and goals are dreamt, and sometimes spoken aloud. There is joy, there is doubt and there is pain, but most of all, there is renewal.

Lent offers the perfect training time to renew one’s faith with Easter as the big day. Whether one is in tip top spiritual shape or shaking the rust off dormant “faith muscles”, Lent provides a special time to reflect on where we are in our faith fitness and where we want to be at Easter, and beyond. And it all starts with that first step.

Bob Ansheles

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28

As we approach another Easter I look into my own life for renewing my beliefs. I find again that pragmatism enters into my renewal. My faith is renewed by relationships with others and beliefs that have developed through many years. Many of these long held ideas that have been strengthened by the various things I have read and the thoughts I have shared with others. In addition, seeing the lives and conduct of others has spoken to me. Sometimes I wish I could be more spiritually in tune with happenings, but yet find my renewal comes from contacts with other people.

There many ways people are living today that do not seem to following the teachings of Jesus and the instructions from God. The greed shown by so many leads me to wonder where we are going. Yet, the next article or book I read makes me appreciate what some modern Christian has done to help his fellow man, and I realize that these activities give me hope. Moreover, the longer I live the more aware I become that I do not have to judge others, but just see to my own thoughts and conduct.

Religious music has always been an interest of mine. I have trouble adjusting to the word changes in our new hymnals; not to the theology of the changes, but the change when I have sung them that way for so many years. I do enjoy the newer hymns and the choir choices which are part of our services. For instance, “In the Bulb there is a Flower” is one of my favorites.

So let’s go into the Lenten season with open minds to receive the inspiration of the weeks to come and the thrill that comes from the young people and their enthusiasm.

Ruth Piper

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29

I’m not a person who has deep philosophical thoughts, but I do possess a strong faith in God and Christ. This past year, that faith has helped me sustain a positive outlook through several life passages, while not life-threatening, certainly life changing, in my own life and in those I love.

So much of life is putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. Sometimes it’s so much so that we find ourselves in a rut…doing the same thing over and over for fear of change. But this past year has been full of change for me on all sides. As our daughter graduated from college, we agonized and waited with her until she found a great teaching job. Our son, having earned his master’s degree in architecture, followed the love of his life to Brussels and to Venezuela, now engaged to be married, returning to Madison to live and work. My mother, living alone for nearly a decade in the farmhouse we all grew up in, finally realized the need for more care and human contact, just moved into an assisted living facility. And I gave up something I’d been doing for 35 years. I finally came to the realization that the ORUCC choir was way beyond being ready for a “real” choir director, so I resigned that position. And to our great fortune, we are now blessed with someone who’s not only a fantastic musician but also very well-liked and energizing.

Amid all this, I needed to trust that God would provide the grace and wherewithal I need to make these transitions. I feel that my life has been blessed in so many ways. The sermons that Winton delivers each Sunday, the thoughtful prayers that Ree leads, my own prayers and encouragement from friends have all contributed to my continuing sense of hope for our future.

Vicki Nonn

SATURDAY, MARCH 1

Sometimes say softly to yourself: “Now, now. What is happening to me now? This is now. What is coming into me now? This moment?”

Then suddenly you begin to see the world as you had not seen it before, to hear people’s voices and not only what they are saying but what they are trying to say and you sense the whole truth about them. And you sense existence, not piecemeal – not this object and that – but as a translucent whole.

Brenda Ueland (If You Want to Write)

SUNDAY, MARCH 2

My experience of spiritual renewal is deeply rooted in my conversion experience that happened when I was 21 years old, a college senior studying at UW-Eau Claire. This unexpected encounter with grace profoundly changed the direction of my life. And yet, it caused great turmoil as well. I often go back to that moment and recall the experience, how someone shared with me the good news of Christ, and how without any forewarning, my heart was immediately filled with feelings of joy. The seed of Christ was awakened in me that day and that little seed has grown and continues to grow to this day. But as many of you know, growth not only brings joy, it also brings discomfort and struggle. Trying to make sense of that experience was very difficult for me at first. But with lots of help and wonderful mentors, the seed started to take root and grow.

It has been 25 years since this experience. And a lot of things in my life have changed. I often get discouraged or feel sad and depressed about the condition of our world and about the religious intolerance and hatred that exists. I also find it hard sometimes to “believe” in something that cannot be “proved.” And yet, when I start to feel this way, my mind simply takes me back to this conversion experience, almost without hesitation, and I consider my “little” awakening once again. That awakening was real, it brought me into my true vocation, it gave me life. What can I do?

Perhaps this unexpected encounter with grace has taught me to try and be open to how God may visit me this day and throughout my days. To be open to the deep and awesome mystery that God’s Spirit is ever present to us is a daily spiritual discipline for me. In essence, what I’m trying to do is keep my guard down, rather than up. This feels a bit vulnerable and unnerving to me at times but I believe it is the path of spiritual renewal for me. It has been a good journey so far.

Tammy Martens