Over the course of the last few weeks, a small trickle has grown into a gushing current. It has acted much like the rising waters of a flood. Fortunately, also like the behavior of a flood, it seems to have crested in the last few days. Thankfully, unlike a flood, this deluge is filled with considerably more delight. I’m talking of course of the near complete takeover of our social media news feeds with first-day-of-the-new-school-year photographs.
How many times has this been asked over the course of the last few days, or even this whole summer? The extremes of higher-than-average temperatures and the accompanying humidity here in Minnesota combine to make for some pretty big challenges for us and our neighbors.
To welcome in the month of September today feels like a forced goodbye to summer. I’m confident that the students and teachers in our lives would agree. Of course, I had experienced a particularly enjoyable summer as I was on sabbatical for six weeks of July and August. Combined with the first six weeks I was away in April and May, gave me a real taste of a schoolteacher-like holiday. I hope the teachers are feeling just as rejuvenated for their return to work as I did.
This trio of adjectives are the qualities of our life together that sit central to the vision God has for this church. Our Visioning Team centered on these descriptions in their work to develop the vision statement that now guides our work. As we consider the experience of being the church in this place, we want this collection of virtues to serve as both expectation and aspiration. If others might wonder what to expect from Prince of Peace, then let this description offer some insight. If we’re wondering how to respond to any new concern, we will keep these qualities central to our efforts.
The Butterfly house is open once again for the State Fair. Over the next 10 days, thousands of visitors will walk inside and have all those brilliantly colored butterflies flying around them. They may even have one or more land on a should, head or outstretched hand. And here’s my fair-goers pro-tip…
I was sitting on the deck of our cabin, a spot you could find me much of the past three weeks, when a Monarch butterfly landed on my knee. It didn’t stay there long but it did hang around the area for a while. I tracked it as it darted around the various plants along the shore, searching for some fortifying nectar no doubt. I can’t see a Monarch anymore without immediately thinking of my friend and former colleague, Pastor Lynn Erickson. Monarchs and thoughts of Pastor Lynn always make me smile.