Ascension Blog

Brrrr….  Winter is definitely here!  After the very welcome blanket of snow with which God blessed us early in the week, we are now the beneficiaries of some wildly cold temperatures.  Of course, we are all used to it, but this being the first substantial dose of cold that we’ve had since last winter, well, it does come as somewhat of a shock!

But most of us are ready for it.  We have filled our oil and gas tanks, and we have sealed our windows and doors.  Of course, the name of the game is staying warm.  And we in the northland are experts at staying warm!

In my own home, we heat with wood.  We have a small woodstove located in the center living room of our home, and we have loads of wood stacked outside.  We, like so many of you, have established regular routines for gathering kindling, hauling wood, storing wood, stoking the stove, etc..  I have noticed also that the woodstove is the most common gathering place for our family – especially on days like today when the red of the thermometer dips into the lowest recesses of the scale!  We all stand, kneel and sit as closely as possible to this warm, inviting piece of iron which, for us, has become so much more than just a piece of metal.  Each day around the stove is almost like liturgy.  We do the things to take care of the stove; and in return, the stove gives back to us.

Our souls, like our bodies, crave to be warm.  Just as we are intentional about doing those things necessary to keep our bodies warm, if our souls are to stay warm, we must be no less intentional.  And just as our family gathers around the woodstove in order to keep our bodies warm, so the family of faith gathers around the altar to keep our souls warm.   It is at God’s altar that we are reminded that we are dependent upon God and upon each other.  It is at God’s altar that we hear of the outpouring of God’s love into our lives in the life and death of Jesus.  It is at God’s altar that we are invited to receive the gifts of bread and wine, body and blood, that nourish us and sustain us.  It is at God’s altar that together we say the prayer that our Lord taught us, and we ask that God’s will be done in our lives just as it is done up in heaven.  And it is from God’s altar that we, as people of faith, are sent back into the world.

Jesus tells us that we are to love God with our heart, mind, soul and strength.  This entails us having warm and pliable souls.  We just can’t love as we are called unless our hearts are warm.  So, come to the altar.  Allow coming to the altar to be as natural and necessary to you for spiritual warmth as coming to a woodstove is for physical warmth.  Extend your hands and hearts to receive.  Invite God to warm your soul.  And then go.  Go forth from the altar to bring the warmth that you have received to those living in a very cold world.

Thank you God for the blessing of the woodstove that warms our bodies.  Thank you God for the blessing of the altar that warms our souls.  Amen.

Art+

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 10:42 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.