This is another busy week! I remember being able to take the week after Christmas and Easter easy. Doesn’t quite happen that way anymore. But before I get into the events of this week, I want to celebrate and thank the many people who made the Holy Week a blessed experience. I am grateful to Robert for all the melodious controbutions. Jon Fallon not only outdid himself for the brunch, but he also made two amazing soups for the Maundy Thursday service. Mitch Reed donated a beautiful flower arrangeemnt for Easter Sunday and Tami spent almost four hours on Satuday with Savvy and I, to make sure the sanctuary was ready for worship on Sunday. I am grateful to all the readers who helped us with worship services, to all who joined us for the All Night prayer vigil, and those who participated in the potluck brunch. It was a week full of blessings and reminders of God’s love.
This past Monday was Earth Day and the focus for this year is ‘Protect Our Species.’ To learn about this year’s focus, click here, but for 2018 the focus was to end the plastic pollution. I don’t know about you, but I am pretty guilty in that respect! Some of the easy ways we can help our planet is by reducing our use of plastic bags for groceries, or plastic wraps for food. Stop using plastic straws, utensils, plastic bottles for water, or something as little as the plastic cover for our coffee cup, can significantly reduce our plastic problem.
From poisoning and injuring marine life to the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our food to disrupting human hormones and causing major life-threatening diseases and early puberty, the exponential growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival. (www.earthday.org/earthday)
This week is also the week we United Methodists are waiting eagerly to see what the Judicial Council (the United Methodist Court system) will do. If you remember, after the February General Conference session the Traditional Plan was challenged for its constitutionality. Judicial Council is meeting in Evanston this week. I invite us to hold the members of the Judicial Council in your prayers and ask the Holy Spirit to fall upon them.
On Sunday, we will celebrate Fran Marquardt’s birthday! We will sing her favorite hymns during worship. Please join us in wishing her a happy 90th birth day, sing with her and perhaps even hear her rap!
People of God let us keep sharing the love of God with this hurting world. I ask you to hold the people of Sri Lanka in your prayers and all those who are affected by these tragic events.
God bless you and remember, I am always your partner in justice!
