In the first three months of 2021, 126 mass shootings took place leaving 148 dead and 485 wounded. Last week, in a surreal incident, another black man was shot to death just ten miles from where the George Floyd Murder Trial is taking place. The best response available? “Oops. Thought it was a Taser.” Violence. Death. Fear. These are the perverse “values” of our society."

These days we pass through a temperature check point at the dentist office, we pass through a TSA check when we board a plane, and some of us try to pass by the sweets in the grocery store because they are so tempting. One thing I will not pass is away. I hear people talk about the death of a loved one as that person having “passed away” or just dropping the word “away” and saying, “Uncle Joe passed.” This seems to be getting more common. I find myself increasingly uncomfortable with such euphonism.

Love can mean lots of things. We can love our cars, love chocolate, love our favorite sports team, and even love pizza. I think we all know that each of these is a trivial kind of love – more of a preference or attachment to a pleasure. We also know that when we say we love our family, love our spouse, love our children, we mean something deeper. I would not sacrifice much for a slice of meat-lovers pizza. I would, however, sacrifice much for my loved ones. That gets closer to the kind of love we talk about in relation to the love Christ shows us on the cross.

Well, I’m not sure any of us would say that we expected – or even welcome – the passing of a one-year anniversary for the pandemic. And yet… On the other hand… Looking at it from another angle… There is call for thanking God for the last twelve months. Despite the upheaval, the change, the challenge, the constantly moving reality that has been pandemic-patterned lives, we have been the Church for all 365 days of the last year. In frustration, I’ve heard folks say, “But we’re not doing anything,” probably referring to gathering for worship. Nothing could be less true. Here is a brief look at what I give thanks for this day (sorry, the list is long).

​​Is it too early to start talking about how much I’m looking forward to spring? This is my first time spending the winter outside of the tiny area of Ohio with which I’m completely familiar. The area is probably similar in a lot of ways to the winter here in central Iowa. I know that throughout March, the snow can come down so thick, heavy, and fast that a person is left wondering why the weather forecast was so wrong. That happens in Ohio. I know that the roads can become coated with a sheet of pure, slick, unrelenting ice in mid-April. That certainly happens in Ohio. And I know that even in early May, a winter storm can roll in with such severity that it closes schools, because that has happened in Ohio… and weirdly, that happens often.

Suffering has been a strong theme in the lectionary readings for last Sunday and for this Transfiguration Sunday. Do you like to suffer? If you do, let me know, because that is not a usual nor healthy human response. We try to avoid suffering at all costs. And when we do suffer, some put on stoic faces to not let anyone know. We want to be strong, or at least appear that way. It is not just our human suffering that we avoid, but we also dismiss the idea of a suffering Savior. Perhaps we resist that idea, because we are ones who know that if we are going to follow Jesus, then we are also going to be vulnerable to suffering ourselves. We would really prefer the easy way Jesus!