It’s that season…

A season of thanksgiving

A season of Advent

A season of waiting and anticipation

A season of giving

A season of buying

A season of decorating

A season of parties

A season of family and friends

A season of Christmas

A season of over-spending

A season of cold and snow

A season of busyness 

So. Many. Seasons.

Which of these seasons are you wrapped up in right now? Are there more that didn’t even make the list? Which ones do you wish you could give up this year?

This is the season where I put on my alter-ego of #DJFrosteeFreeze and spend my evenings spinning upbeat Christmas songs at Kings Island’s Winterfest. During my five-hour evening shift, I stand in one spot and I see so many of these seasons playing out right before my eyes. I see how the stresses of life build to a point where people can’t enjoy the magical experiences all around them. 

In three nights of work so far, I have seen the following:

•  Parents yelling at seventeen-year-old employees because kids are cheating in the “everyone wins” games.
•  Parents yelling at each other because one parent wants to let the kids keep hula-hooping and the other parent doesn’t want the kids to miss the upcoming show. 
•  Adults pounding on the doors of the restaurant because they aren’t open within the first five minutes of the park opening. 
•  Adults beating someone else’s small children in a relay race so that they could get a tiny plush polar bear for themselves. 

That is just the start. I am sure I will see so much more!

This season of “joy” can quickly overpower us with stress and turn it into something dark and mean. Remember that each person you come across this season, especially retail workers, are beloved children of God and might just be at the end of their rope as well. Take a deep breath, relax, flash some a smile, pay someone a compliment, and pray that God’s love can be shown to all people through our words and actions this season. 

Pastor Corey

P.S. Come visit me at the Coca-Cola Party Zone.

I grew up in the 1970s on sixty acres in rural Minnesota. Growing up on a farm had its perks: riding horses, swimming in ponds, fresh produce from our garden, and fresh eggs every day. It was also inconvenient. All of those things take a great deal of work on a constant basis. It was a major effort to go away for the weekend or for a family vacation. Who would be willing to tend the garden and the array of animals we had? Not too many people were stepping up for those tasks.

If you Googled my hometown today, you would see a sprawling suburban area with a large school district much like West Chester, Mason, and Liberty Township. I enjoy a very good life today. Everything is right here for me: retail, entertainment, hospitals, and more. I have it all at the tip of my fingers. I live a life of convenience.

Yet on the inside, I am a farm girl at heart. I love to nurture plants and plan new beds for our lot instead of growing grass. I have a rain garden to help the water sink into the earth instead of running into the sewer. I try to use earth-friendly solutions to pests. I compost and try not to waste anything. I like to know where my food is grown. Reduce, reuse, recycle has become my motto. It is not convenient. Here are a few things that I have learned recently:

•  Did you know that our church recycling service does NOT recycle everything that can be recycled? The communion cups we use are recyclable, but not with the major recycling services in our area. Solo cups are recyclable somewhere, but not here. Many carry out dishes and food containers are not recyclable. Usually, only number 1 and 2 recyclables can actually be recycled.
•  Light plastics like shopping bags and plastic wrapped around a case of drinks cannot be placed in the general recycling cans. These can be taken to some grocery stores and recycled there.
•  The lids on some beverage bottles can be recycled, but most count as “trash” if placed in a recycling bin.

Because it is inconvenient, recycling is not a top priority for most of us. So what can we do to protect our environment? How do we remain aware of what we are buying and throwing away? How do we reduce our waste? Here are a few suggestions for you:

•  Pay attention to what you are purchasing. Are you buying products that are in containers that can be recycled or are made with recycled materials?
•  Place only recyclable materials into recycling bins. If there is too much “garbage” in with the recycling, the whole bin is tossed into the garbage. Liquids left in beverage containers are also considered garbage.
•  Remember to wash or wipe out all food from tinfoil containers, bottles, cans, and jars before placing them in the recycling bin.
•  Use a washable drink container for water and other beverages instead of using bottled beverages.

What can you do at Lord of Life to reduce, reuse, and recycle?

•  Instead of paper cups, please use a real mug and place in the kitchenette sink when you are finished.
•  When possible, use real plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware at your next meeting at church. We now have a conventional dishwasher in the kitchen as well as in the kitchenette.
•  Coffee and tea grounds and their filters are compostable and are collected weekly at church. Look for the bins.
•  Use the recycling bins provided throughout the building and follow the guidelines for what can be included.
•  If you use a paper cup, please pour out liquids in a sink and place the cups in a recycling container. Please note that the lids to the cups are not recyclable.

The saying “Waste not, want not.” Is ringing in my head from my childhood. There are many ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint. What suggestions do you have for our church community to make a difference?

Caring for the Earth,

Ava Fiebig

Some congregations have a lot of singers and they form a choir. Some have several folks who play guitar and they form a praise band. Some even have enough instrumentalists to make an orchestra. Here at Lord of Life, we have a lot of drummers. They’re everywhere. We have drummers who are kids of all ages and drummers who are adults. I played in the percussion pit for marching band in high school, and Pastor Lowell would rather use his vacation time to go drum with his band, Echelon, than go sit on the beach somewhere. After a few years of working with all these talented drum beaters, we finally decided to get some of them in the same room to drum together.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been rehearsing a new Percussion Ensemble to lead worship once in a while. So far, we have six drummers and instruments ranging from small hand drums to vibraphones and big steel drum pans. As we’ve expanded into the world of percussion, several folks have talked about the therapeutic power of drumming and suggested that we host a healing drum circle.

I’ve always seen percussion as a means to an end – someone has to keep the beat, help build the energy, and be the animal filling in all the crazy grooves. While I’ve known several people who have been active members of drum circles, I’ve never experienced them closely enough to see their usefulness.

Until a couple weeks ago …

During a Percussion Ensemble rehearsal, we were grooving on a communion tune – “Come Let Us Eat for Now the Feast is Spread.” It repeats over and over again until we decide to finish it. As we continued to embellish it, I found the “thinking” part of my brain turn off and suddenly I was in this other place, feeling the rhythm instead of trying to get it right. It was like this narrow tunnel of the notes on the page opened up to a giant cavern of expression and feeling.

Bingo. That’s what a drum circle is for. The rhythm helps us meditate and pray, and it lifts us to another mental state. Research has shown a correlation between therapeutic rhythm and drumming with increased physical, mental, and spiritual health. World religions have used drumming for thousands of years as an integral part of their worship. It can reduce tension, anxiety, and stress. It releases endorphins to help control chronic pain. It uses the entire brain and produces deeper self-awareness.

This Sunday, our new Percussion Ensemble will lead worship at 9:30 and 11 am. You’ll know several of the tunes, and there will be a couple new ones, too.

Then at 6:30 pm, everyone is invited to bring a drum or borrow one of ours to experience what I’ll loosely call a Lutheran-style drum circle. Think of it as a healing vespers service with drumming instead of singing. For about an hour, we’ll drum together, pray together, hear words from scripture, and hopefully find our center as we begin our new week.

I hope to see you there!

Rhythmically yours,

John Johns

I probably say “Yes!” more than I should. Without even thinking, the tiny word rolls right out of my mouth with no regard to cost or consequence. I say it without considering what it may require of me or my family. In my “yes,” I commit energy, resources, dollars, and time to the known and unknown invitation before me. Only after I say, “Oh yeah, no problem,” do I begin to weigh the impact of the new demands.

Most of the time, it works out. Other times, it becomes a giant train wreck of a moment when I’ve double-booked, overcommitted, and hyperextended an already full calendar and life.

At the same time, I don’t want to say a blanket “No” to everyone and everything. I’m not looking to shut down every invitation and opportunity in the interest of self-preservation.

I’m also not interested in extended deliberation before agreeing to have lunch or share in a volunteer opportunity. I don’t want to live in the land of “maybe.”

I was delighted when I walked into Kohl’s a few years ago and was enveloped in their new slogan, “In a word, Yes.” The customer service counter, relocated from the back corner of the store to the front, right next to the entrance, was unavoidable. Even if their “Yes” couldn’t always be a full-throated consent, they chose to pivot from a posture of possibility.

I’m glad that God’s “Yes!” to humanity and all creation throughout time is an intentional and pervasive one. God doesn’t agree to care for us out of guilt or pity, but out of all-encompassing parental love.

A prayer from Walter Brueggemann:

You are the God who is simple, direct, clear with us and for us.
You have committed yourself to us.
You have said yes to us in creation,
                        yes, to us in our birth,
                        yes to us in our baptism,
                        yes to us in our awakening this day.

But we are of another kind,
            more accustomed to “perhaps, maybe, we´ll see,”
            left in wonderment and ambiguity.

We live our lives not back to your yes,
                   but out of our endless “perhaps.”

So we pray for your mercy this day that we may live yes back to you,
                    yes with our time,
                    yes with our money,
                    yes with our sexuality,
                    yes with our strength and with our weakness,
                    yes to our neighbor,
                    yes and no longer “perhaps.”

In the name of your enfleshed yes to us,
          even Jesus who is our yes into your future. Amen.

From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann ©2002

Thank you for your “yes.”

Let me guess what you are thinking… How could Pastor Corey have anything more to say about stewardship that hasn’t been said in the last three weeks? In leading up to Commitment Sunday, November 3rd, we have been sharing the vision with the congregation of where the ministries of Lord of Life are heading in 2020. In order to make those ministries happen, it takes the generosity of many people, giving large and small gifts alike. With those gifts, we hope to plant seeds in faith to invest in our church home, our church family, and our community. 

This week you also received a brochure in the mail that explained the finances it will take to make those ministries a reality next year. What we didn’t mention in that brochure is that it will take more than just money. Once we have funds to launch the ministries we will need dedicated people with servant’s hearts to make them a success. Sometime in the new year, we will give everyone the opportunity to fill out a “Gifts and Passions Survey,” which will help you match your gifts and passions to the ministries of the church. 

In the meantime, we encourage you to begin thinking about what kind of commitment of time and talents you would like to give in 2020. One way that you can free up some time in your busy schedule is to begin scheduling faith development and service into your family’s calendar. Just as you put work, dinner, school, sports practices, music concerts, and more on your calendar, consider dedicating some time to God each week or month and see how God uses that in your life. 

There are ways this year that you can test out those waters. You can join us on Wednesday nights at 6 pm for dinner, fellowship, and Bible study. You can commit to serving on Sunday mornings in one of our services. You could sign up to be part of our new Small Group book study that begins the week of November 17. Are you not sure what I am talking about? Be looking in your mailbox this week for a special gift that will help you and your family discuss better ways to steward our time. 

We know that everyone at Lord of Life is in different stages of their lives. Some can give a lot and some can only give a little, in both time and money. It’s not about the amount you give, but about the intention behind the gift. I encourage you to increase in generosity this season, in a way that works for you, and see how contagious it can be and how God changes you in the process. 

Giving thanks for each of you,

Pastor Corey

A few weeks ago, the father of one of my best friends died unexpectedly. At 67, he had no pre-existing conditions, was physically active, and had been enjoying his first few years of retirement traveling around the world. My friend, Will, and his family were devastated. Will is an only child and his dad was the last member of his family. For many people, this would be a time they would be surrounded by a church community to help support them. But Will and his family left an emotionally abusive church years ago and chose not to put down roots anywhere else. Brian, four other friends, and I were the only people outside of Will’s wife and kids to attend his father’s service and burial.

I’m grateful each day for the many ways the Lutheran Church is different from some of the other Christian denominations. There are many churches that manipulate and take advantage of their members, that cover up terrible abuses, or that drive people away for questioning their authority. These are among the issues Martin Luther was trying to address when he sought to reform the Catholic church.

As a musician, I appreciate that one of the most visible (or audible) changes was in the practice of singing together as a congregation. Before the Reformation, most music was performed only by professionals and listened to by the congregation. Singing hymns brings everyone closer together as active worshippers instead of as spectators. It helps to seal us together as a worshipping body as we offer our praise, no matter our level of ability. It is an outward and visible sign of the inward sense of community we share. It is also a necessity, especially in difficult times like a funeral, to share this sense of community in singing our prayers and praises.

502 years later, the changes that grew out of Martin Luther’s theses continue to bring us together as a Christian community. They help us form bonds so that we are supported and can in turn help to support others. We are tied together in words and music, and also in grace and faith. This Sunday, as we hold our yearly celebration of the Reformation, come and sing with us!

In Community,

John Johns