Our daughter, Eden, recently graduated from the University of Dayton. As part of the commencement address, President Eric Spina riffed on the university’s mission statement: Learn. Lead. Serve. He spoke about the importance of their continuing to learn and grow in knowledge and compassion, challenged them to use what they have learned at Dayton to become the next generation of leaders, and how crucial it will be for them to use their gifts and talents to serve one another, their communities, and the world.

These were good words for an arena full of graduates on the brink of new adventures and discoveries, and equally important imperatives for family and friends in the room. Humans are wired to be in a continuous cycle of learning, leading, and serving. Maya Angelou famously said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

One of the misconceptions we often stumble into is when we reach certain milestones in our journey—confirmation, bar and bat mitzvah, graduation, vocational success, and retirement—and we think we are done learning, leading, and serving. But these are not occasions to matriculate out of learning and growing in faith, hope, and love. Rather, they are steps across a threshold into a new territory in the house of Love!

If you haven’t noticed, many of our weekly Bible study sessions are wrapping up for the spring and will be on hiatus for the summer. This isn’t because we believe that learning stops with the school calendar—quite the opposite! Instead, we hope these summer months will provide fresh opportunities for all of us to encounter God’s activity in a variety of alternate ways. Get outside. Read a book. Attend a concert. Jump into an online Bible study. Nap. Journal. Travel. Meet a friend for a delicious beverage. Each of these moments provides occasions for self-care, as well as instances to learn something new, create new patterns, and care for others.

I stumbled on a poem/prayer from Meta Herrick Carlson some weeks ago and I can’t stop reflecting on the power of her words. It is intended for graduates but has encouragement and fuel for us all.

You have been shaped by the requirements of progress and adolescent freedom,
but these statistics and awards are not all of who you are. Not even close.

Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not,
we are helping God keep the promises that extend beyond what you can do and earn in this world.

We remember your first and forever name: Beloved Child of God.
No matter how far you wander in any direction, we will remember what is already and always true.

You are already and always enough. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
You are more than one thing to God and to us. So graduate from some things, but not everything. Not this.

Dear friend, wherever you find yourself during this season, I pray that you continue learning, lean into leading, and seek ways to be a servant. Not only are these at the heart of the Christian story and call, but this is also where we discover our deepest joys as we encounter the living God.

Even more than that, I hope you can join the generations in saying, “I praise you God because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14.

Leaning into whatever is next,

Pastor Lowell

May always comes roaring in and doesn’t stop. Graduation ceremonies, graduation parties, last concerts of the year, end-of-the-year pizza parties, field days, bring a special lunch, wear your class shirt, prom, teacher gifts, end-of-year photo sessions, Mother’s Day events, moving out college students, Memorial Day weekend activities and the list goes on…

May is the month that feels as crazy as December without the reminders that we need to rest in the stillness and peace that the good news of Jesus' birth brings. Someone referred to it as Maycember this past Sunday. Wow, does that capture the frenzy that many of us feel.

Sometimes the frenzy doesn’t allow us to see the blessings of this season or rest in the transitional journeys that are happening for our kids or families. We have expectations of the perfect photo or event; we run late or forget something that seemed so important at the time which causes us to become frustrated or angry. We meet our teenagers, toddlers, or young adults’ angst with equal energy instead of empathy and calm.

Next Sunday we celebrate the Confirmation of some of our 8th graders. Yes, we add to the busyness of May, but it is a beautiful way to invite the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and be reminded of our Baptismal promises along with the students.

Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:
to live among God’s faithful people;
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper;
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed;
to serve all people following the example of Jesus;
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?”

 What can we do in this season to reflect this covenant with God in this time when we are stretched thin? Can we take life events and find how we are serving in the example of Jesus or striving for peace?

God has taught me a lot about humility in the busy seasons of my life. I tend to be prideful and think I can do it on my own. We need our community of faithful people to remind us of God’s unending grace and love. They push us to rest in God’s presence and peace.

Can we take moments to hear the word of God that comforts and turns our busyness over to Jesus and the love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)?   

Praying along with you that the light of Jesus enters our Maycember in ways that join us together to live, share, and celebrate with all people God’s love in Jesus Christ.

Peace always,

Angie Seiller, Director of Faith Formation

I woke up this morning in a sweat from a nightmare. I dreamt I had a huge fight with my best friend Emily. I had to calm myself down and remind myself that everything’s ok, it’s just been a few weeks since we connected. She’s been busy and so have I, making it difficult to talk like we’re used to doing. I want to share with her what’s going on in my life and hear the things that are happening in hers. Monday mornings used to be our time but something popped up and then another and now I’m out of that routine I had built. Getting back into a habit that we’ve fallen out of can be difficult. It’s not that talking to Emily is a chore, in fact I love it, but it’s the intentionality of saying “no” to certain distractions in order to say “yes” to maintaining this cherished friendship.

You can imagine that if I’m having trouble connecting with someone I love so much, I’m also having trouble keeping up with other habits like healthy eating, exercising, and most importantly, praying. These things all slide to the back burner when more “pressing” matters come about. And now my relationship with God is suffering. I’m feeling shame and guilt around not praying like I feel like I should, like I want to, and so I’ve been avoiding it even when I do have the time. Carrying around this shame and guilt is keeping me from living the life I feel called by God to lead.

This theme of the importance of prayer has really been hounding me the last few weeks. It was the message I took with me after the three retreats I attended in April. At one retreat, we read a poem called “Now is the Time” by Hafiz that talked about creating a truce with God and reflecting on the impossibility that God is anything other than grace. If God is grace, then I should have grace with myself as I would other people. That doesn’t mean to me that it’s ok to continue on in avoiding prayer time with God. Rather, it is critical to take this reflection and act on it. It’s time to talk to God about my shame and guilt and how I want to move forward in prioritizing my “God time.”

The first Thursday in May is America’s National Day of Prayer. It’s intended as a time to turn to God in prayer for our country. While our country could use prayers, I’m using it also as a day to refresh my habits of connecting with God. I am reflecting on my daily schedule and how I can prioritize prayer as a way to strengthen my relationship with God. Just like my relationship with Emily gets dusty without phone calls and FaceTimes, my relationship with God suffers when I’m not praying.

So what will this “God time” look like? For me, I like to hold a quiet minute or two to shake off the day’s distractions. Then I’ll use a daily devotion book like the little ones we have in the Gathering Space to read some Scripture and a reflection. I usually journal any thoughts I have from what I’ve read before moving into intentional prayer. In that moment, I bring to God my worries and fears, my joys and celebrations. It’s a time to really talk to God about what’s going on with me and how God would have me respond to life. And then I close with some more time in silence. This provides an opportunity to hear God through the reflections and realizations that come to mind. All in all, this process, sometimes referred to as the daily office, takes about fifteen minutes. 

When I have a larger chunk of time to devote to God, I love to really dive into the Bible and learn more about God through the Word. My favorite way to do that is called Lectio Divina. It’s a process where you read a particular text from Scripture multiple times, sometimes using various translations, hearing what sticks out to you. But it is far from the only way to strengthen your relationship with God. God calls to us through the Holy Spirit into this beautiful friendship. Perhaps you prefer to listen to some music, read the Bible, journal, sing, meditate, walk, or volunteer. There are innumerable ways we can encounter the Holy One. From my perspective, it hasn’t seemed to matter what avenue I use to connect with God, but rather that I am taking the time and dedicating myself to exploring and maintaining such an important bond.

How will you be spending the National Day of Prayer? Who will you be reaching out to? How will you be connecting with God? I pray that you find a moment to turn to God. May you sense God’s calling to you. May you answer and feel the sparkle of a renewed and deliberate relationship with the one that loves you so, the one that is grace.

Peace be with you,

Laura

At our recent Discover Lord of Life conversation, I couldn’t help but gush about the many reasons why I sense the Spirit of God is moving in and through us in mighty ways!

In addition to being a vibrant, growing church that welcomes and serves all in the name of Jesus, our commitment to life-long learning (we host seven adult Bible studies, Sunday morning learning for children and youth, plus faith resources for young families), and our focused efforts for reaching out and consistently serving our communities, Lord of Life is also a teaching parish for seminary students as they prepare for ministry. 

The four-year journey to become a pastor in our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is a blend of biblical, theological, and leadership coursework at a seminary, an eleven-week intensive at a hospital or care facility, and a variety of experiences within various church communities.

One of the crucial components of this journey is putting all the theory and classroom work into action in a congregation or other pastoral context. This internship is an opportunity to experience the full breadth of ministry and grow in leading, listening, and loving. It’s more learning by doing than only by mere observation.

Lord of Life has been an internship site for six seminary students! You may remember a powerful sermon, serving moment, or pastoral visit from Bob Akins, Tom Pairan, Lucas McSurley, Corey Wagonfield, Alec Brock, or Laura Applegate, who is currently serving among us. As we announced on social media this week, we’ll welcome Nicole Kiefer in August for the next two years (pictured).

Our community of faith is an attractive site for seminaries and students because we are a multi-generational congregation that hosts both traditional and contemporary worship. We offer a plethora of learning and serving opportunities each month for students to experience. We are connected with community partners as we work for justice and equality issues including LGBTQIA+, housing, food insecurity, addiction, and more. Our space is bustling every day of the week, not only with our various ministries, but also hosting our thriving 100+ Lord of Life Christian Preschool, various recovery groups, multiple Scout troops, and Vida Eterna Iglesia Luterana (Eternal Life Lutheran Church) Latinx congregation.

Here’s the beauty of being a teaching parish for seminaries. Theology students come to us to learn. While here, we try to expose them to the full spectrum of ministry moments, including all the things listed above, plus strategic planning, facility expansion and renovations, staff dynamics, and visits to hospitals, care facilities, and homes. During this season of formation, we are a place that gives permission for students to explore their faith, try out new things, make mistakes, and through it all be surrounded by a loving community. Imagine how brave they are to jump in and preach in front of hundreds of people! But there’s more to the story.

There is also a huge benefit to us! We learn from our seminary students. Fresh from higher education, they stretch our hearts and minds with recent scholarship, help us lean into new directions where ministry and congregational life is heading, and infuse enthusiasm for fresh expressions of how the Spirit of God is at work among us. 

Thank you for the many ways that you make this essential learning possible. Your patience and encouraging words help shape future leaders in confidence and grace. Your financial generosity makes this season of training possible. We have over $40,000 in the mission spending plan for seminary intern costs this year. Your prayers help equip our congregation for the work to which we have been called.

What a joy that our journey continues to be a holy cycle of give and take, comfort and risk, love and forgiveness. Thank you for investing in the future of our congregation, the Christian Church, and the world.

Living and learning,

Pastor Lowell

It was a last-minute decision in the early afternoon to head northwest to watch the eclipse. We live in Mason, so we were at 99.9% totality, but we decided we needed to experience this awe-inspiring event at 100% totality when it was so close. Who knows where we will be in the next 20 years when it happens again in this region?

It was a gorgeous day for a drive. We had the windows down, and music playing, and just kept heading North then West on the least traveled roads we could find. We ended up stopping in a cemetery on a hill. It seems like a great location to look out over the valley.

There were a few other cars, but we headed to a spot with no one else. We were there just a couple of minutes when another car pulled up right across from us. I thought it was odd that they pulled right next to us when there were plenty of other spaces to create your own observing spot. The driver then began to take all kinds of things out of her trunk from wet wipes to flowers to a solar-powered cross on stick. It was then that I realized that she wasn’t there for the eclipse, she was there to visit a grave.

She barely looked at us, but I gave her a quick hello which she acknowledged but kept moving. I wanted to give her privacy, but I was drawn to her as she kneeled and even lay on the ground as she lovingly cleaned the marker and trimmed the grass around the edges. She fussed with the right way to arrange the flowers and put up the cross.

I wondered if she knew the eclipse was happening but didn’t want to disturb her. Did she have glasses if she looked up when the sky began to darken? I had an extra pair. She wasn’t done but began heading back to her car. I took the opportunity to go and offer her the pair of glasses and acknowledge her beautiful work on the gravesite.

She didn’t know that the eclipse was happening. She was there visiting her 16-year-old daughter who had died from cancer many years ago. She told me that she knows she is happy in heaven with Jesus but misses her every day. She said that it is her faith that has held her while Jesus holds her daughter.

She graciously took the glasses and headed back. It was hard for me to hold back my tears as she laid on the grave and looked up at the sky with her glasses on, taking in that moment as close to her daughter as possible.

As we both watched the moon completely cover the sun, there was awe and beauty and sadness. One life basking in the sunshine of an exciting day, while another experiencing profound loss and sadness. In this world with all its immense complexities in creation and in each of our different lives, we are held together by God, our creator, and the power of hope that only Jesus brings. 

Living in hope and the revealing light of Jesus with you,

Angie Seiller, Director of Faith Formation

An Easter Message from Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the ELCA

“So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.” That's where the Gospel of Mark originally ended. And it just seems so odd to me. It's so abrupt. I mean, the women had seen the angel. He'd announced that Jesus was raised from the dead, and then he tells them all this good news and wants them to go on their way. And they just are not going to say a single word.

There are three words in that passage that really stand out for me, especially in the Greek. One is fear — phobos. We get phobia from that. The other one is amazement — ekstasis. We get ecstasy from that. And the other one has to do with being seized. It actually means “being possessed.” So we take a look at these women, and they've had this miraculous appearance by an angel. They've heard the good news that Jesus has raised from the dead, and they're too afraid to do anything about it, and they just are going to be silent. It seems that nothing changed. They came to take care of Jesus’ dead body because on the Sabbath they could not work. But on the first day of the week, they were there. They have this announcement, and then it's all the same.

Sometimes I think we feel like nothing's changed. Sometimes I think that the events in our country, in our church, around the world are just so terrifying and so overwhelming that it seems like the resurrection really didn't make a difference. But these three words really say something about the women, and I think about us and, most especially, about Easter. When they said that they were filled with amazement — this is this ecstasy, ekstasis — they were really standing. It means literally standing in a different place. So though they were still in the tomb and they hadn't reacted yet, nevertheless, everything had changed. And because of the resurrection, we, all of us, are standing in a different place. The whole of creation is standing in a different place. And the word for fear, phobos, phobia we get from that. But it's really a sense of trembling in the presence of God, of awe that they were actually filled with awe — not paralyzed by fear but filled with awe. And I hope this Eastertide and all year round, we have a sense of the presence of God that fills us with awe.

And it also says that they were seized with fear. Well, the word means “possessed.” And yes, we believe that in baptism because of the resurrection, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and we now are all Spirit-possessed.

When things seem to be staying the same, when things seem to be happening and coming at us so quickly, I think it's very important to take time to be a little amazed, to be standing in a different place, to have a sense of this awe and trembling before the Lord, and to allow ourselves to be possessed by the Spirit, who will give us power and courage in these times.

My favorite hymn is “Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song.” It's ELW 808 [our red hymnal]. And the last verse goes like this: “I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey; but courage will come with the sound of his steps by my side. And with all of the family Jesus saved by his love, we’ll sing to his dawn at the end of our journey.”

Be well, dear church. Happy Easter.

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

Watch Bishop Eaton’s message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PcfM141gIQ

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with nearly 3.5 million members in more than 9,100 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.