Seasons are important. We certainly divide the annual cycle of life into four seasons. We often talk about a temporary circumstance as being only for a season. With the accumulation of some years, we begin to think about the seasons of our lives. Some of those might be—childhood, high school or college, a first job, marriage, the birth of children, middle age, the loss of parents, retirement or the joy of grandchildren. 

If we are paying attention, we might also pick up on the spiritual seasons of our lives---the ways in which our relationship with God, our sense of God’s presence in our lives, or the call of God to us might be changing. Speaking for myself, I see it most clearly in my prayers. For some time now, I have opened my public and private prayers with the same or similar words:  Gracious God, thank you for the many ways in which your love has been revealed to us this day.  Thank you for the ways in which you have allowed us to express your love to others.

This is also a season in my life when I am trying to reduce the number of things I own. As I declutter my physical life, I see a similar pattern in my spiritual life. Doesn’t it really come down to this- how do I see the love of God being poured out for me and how I am serving my Lord and God by sharing that love with others? It’s a joy for me to be aware of the many, many ways in which I experience the love of God every single day. Thinking of my service to God with such a singular focus has brought a new joy and gratitude to my daily life. With this has also come simplicity and clarity about how I serve Jesus Christ.

I pray that for you and for our church the love of God will be seen with more clarity, understood more deeply and shared unsparingly. It is a joy to love you and to serve with you.  
 

Take care,

Lucy

Rev. Lucy Turner, Executive Associate Pastor and director of Stewardship & Development