Sanctuary in the Kitchen

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Since we are studying the book Meeting Jesus at the Table during this Lenten season, I was reading The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection, and Celebration (Weston/Woofenden), wondering how it may echo some of the themes of our sermon series. While not necessarily fitting into one particular chapter of Meeting Jesus at the Table, an essay stood out to me: The Kitchen as Sanctuary and Studio.

The authors share how Bruce Reyes-Chow (whose books we have also studied here at Eastridge!) uses his kitchen as a “place to unwind.” This is likely to ring true with those of us who enjoy cooking and baking, while the opposite may be true for those who struggle with these endeavors.

Bruce goes on to say: “there’s something about having a kitchen that’s yours, that is a place you can control, when you’re weighed down by the weight of the world and everything seems so uncontrollable.” In other words, start baking a cake and you’ll take your mind off the worries of the day. You may find peace. Baking, in particular, may lend itself to the “controllable”, as it typically requires strict adherence to the recipe for best results. In the kitchen, Bruce isn’t worried about what others think: he “just gets to create something.” What freedom and power in that! Have you ever considered that when you are whipping up spaghetti and garlic bread for supper?

To me, cooking and baking are like other things: practice makes perfect. Do enough of anything, and it starts to become easier, more manageable, even fun. I like how cooking allows me to experiment with ingredients (I’m a stickler for using what I have on hand and using up leftovers); while baking, as noted above, requires a bit more rigidity with measurements and ingredients.

Where else can we find peace and sanctuary? I think of nature, prayer, fellowship with others, worship. Other places and situations may come to your mind as you contemplate peace and tranquility, and the presence of God. The more we head there when we crave God’s restfulness (wherever “there” may be for you!), the more we can experience that peace. Again: practice makes perfect!

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to find sanctuary in You. Show me ways to find peace, restfulness, and your calming presence in my life, whether it’s heading out on a nature walk, or spending time in a quiet place in prayer. Help me to turn to you when I need the peace that only you can give. Amen.

Donna Gustafson

The Gift of Spring and Easter

One morning, while away, I woke around noon. When your hostess works, and others slumber, it is easy to also rest the day away.

My cup at my late breakfast featured love and one passage caught my eye. “Love comforts like sunshine after rain”. For some weird reason, I felt love surround me and so virtually I began walking the home-made path behind my daughter’s home. Beautiful cedars, small pines, tall bluestem grass and visions of flowers to come filled my mind. I slowly came back to finish my breakfast, but it was easy to check the bird feeder from the table. No bird was there but I knew it was too early for their afternoon feeding.

On my way to dress for the day, I found myself in awe of what a beautiful world God has made for us. But what a greater gift he has given us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…whomever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

March has come and I am home again. North winds blow and snow covers the ground but we turn to each other for the outpouring of love, then April and the cross will loom on the horizon.

We will hold our loved ones in our hands, maybe visit foreign lands, begin again to enjoy companionship of old and new friends and relatives. But we will remember the promise of everlasting life as we once again watch the world return to green and flowers and trees begin to grow welcoming the warmth. Christ The Lord is Risen.

Carolyn Olsen

Words from Proverbs

One who pays attention to the word will find good, and blessed is one who trusts in the Lord. Proverbs 16:20 

Reap What You Sow, Sow What You Reap

Do not be fooled: You cannot cheat God. People harvest only what they plant. If they plant to satisfy their sinful selves, their sinful selves will bring them ruin. But if they plant to please the Spirit, they will receive eternal life from the Spirit. We must not become tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time if we do not give up. Galatians 6:7-9

The Eastridge Chancel Choir sang a beautiful piece a few weeks ago based on this passage. The text touched me deeply: “You will sow what you reap, reap what you sow. What you plant in the kingdom will surely grow. And what you grow with love will surely bloom and the fruit of the spirit will come back to you. Do not tire from doing good and never give up when your road gets rough. For one day soon a great reward you’ll see from the good you’ve done when the harvest comes. You will reap what you sow, sow what you reap will surely keep until the day you’ll hear the words, He’ll say, “well done, my child, well done. My child, come taste the joy of heaven’s reward!”

The Message bible tells it this way: “Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the need of others-ignoring God!-harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. So, let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.”

It is easy to go through life without much intention. We might do things for others but only because it’s expected or what we “should” do. But is our heart in it? Is it done with conditions of what we might get out of it? Do we hope for some attention or accolades? Do we share our gifts freely or are we tired of give, give, giving without return? Are we willing to get involved and invested or stand on the sidelines, making excuses, and hoping someone else will do something? Or is it offered from a place of humbleness, joy, and love?

Merging the song and the Message passage together: what we grow IN LOVE in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in us, it will surely bloom and the fruit of the Spirit will come back to us. IN LOVE seems to be the ticket! Pray about “becoming love to the world”! Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things but we can do small things with great love”. Love is action. Love with intention. Do not tire from doing good. Our reward may not be of the earthly kind. What we plant IN LOVE, every chance we get, God will see to it the harvest will come and is used for good. Then, we will come to taste the joy of heaven’s reward!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we want to live with more intention and love. Help us to live from a place a of gratitude for all you are in our lives and respond with love. Encourage us when we tire of doing good. May you work through us as we plant IN LOVE. Amen

Diane Worrell Eaton (reprinted from 2022)

Welcome Spring!

Some scripture to ponder on this first day of spring! 

“Sing out your thanks to the Lord; sing praises to our God with a harp. He fills the sky with clouds, sends rain to the earth, and makes the grass grow on the hills.” Psalm 147:7-8 (NLT)

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

Photos, from top:

a cottontail, roadside

a meadowlark singing

a cardinal against new redbud blossoms

a Canada goose sailing through a willow tree reflection

a newborn bison calf frolicking

a male shoveler duck enjoying pond vegetation

a migrating palm warbler

a frog sporting a spider on its left eye (look closely!)

(photos shared by Donna Gustafson, click on each to view larger)

Trust God through the Tough Times

Yes, though I walk through the deep, sunless valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me… Psalm 23:4 AMPC

When walking through such sunless valleys, which we all do at times during our life spans, it is human for us to experience fear, dread, despair, hopelessness, worry, pain. Psychologically speaking, it is probably somewhat healthy to acknowledge and accept those feelings without letting us be consumed by them.

It is by our Faith in God that we can trust during those difficult periods of our life, that He will ALWAYS be with us during such times. God will not always rescue us from rough patches, but He will always be with us. We must trust this, read His word, and listen for direction and guidance from Him. 

Because He is with us, we can go through trials and hardships with stability, and positive attitudes. We can trust Him completely. 

One of my favorite quotes has for years been: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It is about learning to dance in the rain.”  If we put our Trust in God, we can find moments of goodness and joy in the scariest of times, knowing that there is hope.

Prayer: Father God, author of Love and Hope, help us to turn to you in faith during the toughest of times and in doing so, have positive expectations. Let us praise you and be thankful for your love and guidance in the toughest of times.

Connie Barry (reprinted from 2023)

I Hate War

Hymn: "Jesus is calling, calling, "O sinner come home!" by Will Thompson (1880).

"...and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children." Luke 7:33

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:44-50 

I hate war. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for many amazing people like my grandfather who fought in WWII against great evil. I have had many friends in the military who have risked their lives for our country. But war itself I hate.

No one truly wins in war. Innocent people suffer. The "least of these", like the children of the world, in the words of our Lord, suffer. I hate "hate." Reading of people calling for trans people to be erased or not to exist seems like it can only be motivated by hate or fear. I hate seeing children separated by family no matter the cause. I hate seeing billionaires get richer and richer and so many getting poorer. I hate seeing people get sicker who can't afford the medicine or procedures or health care they need.

I love Jesus. Jesus who ate and drank with all those others called "sinners." Jesus who said "let the little children come unto me."

Jesus who says "O sinner come home!" Jesus, God among us, who says "Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you..." I know many friends who feel their "enemies" are sometimes even other people who call themselves Christians. Others who say they are sinners or "not truly Christian enough" because they march for peace, or stand up for LGBTQ siblings, or say to them "you aren't right with God." I also love the Jesus who died on a cross, killed by an evil Roman government that delighted in torturing people it executed.  The greatest act of self-sacrificial love ever shown on the cross for us. "Therefore, siblings, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean. (Hebrew 10:19-22). This love is the supreme example of the opposite of so much I see and hear about in the world today.  This love that doesn't "insist on its own way but rejoiceth in the truth."

One of my favorite books is "The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus" by Rev. Fleming Rutledge, one of the first women who was ordained an episcopal priest. It reminds me of what true love is in light of so much hate in our world. It reminds me of little ways I can be the love of my Savior when I feel powerless.  She says so beautifully on page 275 - "Even in this old world ruled by Sin and Death, who would want to live a life of utter selfishness? To show any sort of care for others at all, some sort of sacrifice is necessary every day - to be magnanimous instead of vindictive, to stand back and let someone else share the limelight, to absorb the anger of a teenager in order to show firm guidance, to be patient with a parent who has Alzheimer's, to refrain from undermining a colleague, to give away money one would like to spend on luxuries, to give up smoking, to bear with those who can't give up smoking - all such things, large and small, require sacrifice. What would life be without it?"

I think she summarizes an important truth I need to carry with me each day ending her chapter "the question of Justice" saying, on page 143: "God in Christ on the cross has become one with those who are despised and outcast in the world. No other method of execution that the world has ever known could have established this so conclusively." Going on in her summary, "...in our world, something is terribly wrong and must be put right. If, when we see an injustice, our blood does not boil at some point, we have not yet understood the depths of God. It depends, though, on what outrages us. To be outraged on behalf of oneself or one's own group alone is to be human, but it is not to participate in Christ. to be outraged and to take action on behalf of the voiceless and oppressed, however, is to do the work of God." (Wm. B. Eeerdmans Publishing, 2015).

Prayer: May I continue to love as Christ loves, to participate with Christ on behalf of the oppressed, and continue to do the work of God as best as he enables me to do so! (Even when it seems hopeless!) May it be so, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, world without end, Amen.

Brent Shaw