My family, I mean my immediate family living here in the US, have now been permanent residents of the US (Green Card holders) for more than 5 years which means we are now eligible to become US citizens. We are exploring the entire process, including the citizenship test. Mary and I are still eligible to vote in Australian federal and state elections but it is now almost 10 years since we lived there, and we believe that it is important to vote where we live, and that this is part of our civic duty and responsibility.
0 Comments
We have been blessed to have Vicar Dave and Isaiah Keller with us here at Ascension for almost 2 years. Together we say thanks to Vicar Dave for his ministry in our church community and beyond. I personally want to thank him for all his assistance given to our church and to me during the time I have been recovering from my injured shoulder. We all feel we have walked a deep journey with Vicar Dave and Isaiah, especially through the passing to glory of Jeremiah Keller. We pray God’s strength and courage for all the Keller family. (Vicar Dave will be serving an interim congregation at Whitehall, Michigan, this June and July, and interviewing in a number of Michigan churches to receive a permanent call. When that first call is confirmed, he will be ordained. Vicar Dave’s oldest son Elijah is marrying on August 9th.)
How was Easter for you this year? Personally I had a deep and very meaningful Holy Week again this year. Some of you were able to attend the Seder meal on Maundy Thursday led by Jewish professor Rachel Bendor. That helped me feel the setting of that last supper Jesus had with his disciples before we went into our Maundy Thursday worship. Along with many others, I was very moved by our Good Friday evening worship, with the music, the singing, the story, and holding a nail, and then being able to drop it in a metal bucket right at the front of the church. Easter sunrise worship was awe inspiring, seeing the sun rising, and also being able to see the moon in the other direction, and to get our Easter lantern lit from the fire there in Serenity Park, and then a few hours later seeing a lot of children hunting for eggs in that same park. It was wonderful to see our sanctuary so beautiful with flowers and candles and banners and people, and to sing those Easter hymns and songs, and hear again the Easter Gospel. Thanks to all who made this year’s Holy Week at Ascension so memorable. As I write this, I have just come back from physical therapy at the OSU Martha Morehouse Center for physical therapy. After some warm up on a hand bike and some pulleys, the therapist stretched my arm in all directions. Thankfully he did tell me to let him know when the pain from the stretch was becoming intolerable. He said that in my exercises that I should ‘push into the pain.’ And be aggressive about it. He says this is the way for me to gain more movement. The pain cannot be avoided. Thankfully there is ice, and at night a hot shower, and a pain med here and there. Even so, some pain cannot be avoided if I want to have full use of my shoulder and arm again. Thinking ahead to March, Ash Wednesday is on March 5th, beginning the season of Lent for another year. Lent, with its 40 days, gets me thinking about Jesus being tested in the desert, and the 40 years of wilderness wonderings of the Israelites, a time of struggle and testing for them. I think that for me, Lent began early, in Advent, on Tuesday, December 10th when I slipped on black ice in front of my house and badly damaged my shoulder.
If someone were to ask you that question, what would you say? I could say – that’s January 6th each year; I could also say – that’s the Sunday closest to January 6th. I could also say – that’s a season of the church year, its length depending on how early or late Easter is that year. (In 2014 we will have a longer Epiphany season – all through January and February.) |
AuthorsPastor Tim Vicar Kimberly
Categories
All
Archives
April 2020
|
|
Find Us
|