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First Congregational

United Church of Christ

... exploring the frontiers of faith in Jesus

Lenten Thoughts from the Parish Nurse

Easter Morning

cross with sunI am like a child on Christmas morning. I can't wait to get up. Today is Easter. How do I contain my joy ... my happiness ... my rebirth into everlasting life?

This week began with our Palm Sunday Service. That evening was our April Healing Service and for those present an opportunity to reaffirm their baptism was offered. I chose to have this done by Pastor Ensworth. To have my Baptism reaffirmed as an adult is a moment I will never forget.

This week I have tried hard to walk with Jesus. To feel his uncertainty, his pain, his fear, his passion. On Maundy Thursday when the Christ light was snuffed out, my world was plunged into darkness. I felt lost on Good Friday. My Jesus who is always with me was lost to me ... I couldn't reach him. This shows me what my life would be like without my faith. I couldn't live with this emptiness.

Easter morning comes and heart and soul are filled with Light. I feel my faith born anew. I take my place as a Child of the Light filled with grace. Washed clean with the blood Jesus shed for me. I pledge anew to follow Jesus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and he shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!

Day 42
Good Friday brings such sadness. My heart is heavy and there is no joy. There is only dark emptiness where once there was HOPE.

Day 41
Today is Maundy Thursday. Tonight we will have a Soup Supper and then go into the Sanctuary for a Tenebrae Service. Tonight I will hear the pounding of the nails through Jesus' flesh. The light that Christ brought to this world will be snuffed out and I will plunge into darkness so black that it will cause me pain.

Day 40
This time of year lets me renew my baptism. To claim anew to be a Child of the Light. I commit anew to follow the teachings of Jesus and to feel again the gift of God’s grace.

Day 39
And so Holy Week begins. For me personally, it is a very special time. It is a time when I can feel the deep agony of what my life would be like without my Jesus.

Day 38
Trust in the slow work of God. Don't try to force things.
His hand is leading you.
Pray.
Keep the Faith!

Day 37
One of my favorite authors, Joyce Rupp, writes about "Leaning on God." She says that some people lean on crutches when their limbs won't work for them; and other people lean on each other when their hearts can't stand alone. She goes on to ask the God of shelter and of strength: "How long will it take for people to recognize that God is the source of inner power?" He is always there to lean on and continues to transform us with the power of His love.

Day 36
It is easy to see God at work in times of crisis, but what about when you go to buy dog food, or buy tomato seeds, or open your mail on a Monday morning? God knows what we need before we do and I am sure he smiles when our need is made known to us by His gift. Thank you God, I really needed that!

Day 35
How many times do we stop and really think what it means to live your faith. Tim tells us that "faith is a road to transformation." What I to tell you is, "faith is not a head-game." You can go to Sunday School, you can go to Bible Study, you can have perfect attendance on Sunday mornings, but if you can't move your faith from a "fact finding tour" to a "mission trip," you have missed the entire point of the journey.

Day 34
Being a Christian is serious business. It is hard work. At times it can leave you emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted ... but you sure sleep good!

Day 33
I spent this beautiful sunny spring afternoon at a national Hospice conference and I didn't have to leave Waterloo to do it. It was brought to Waterloo through a joint effort of Allen College, Cedar Valley Hospice, and the Hagarty Waychoff Grarup Funeral Service.= This conference brought the latest accepted information and research regarding the grief process, Anticipator Grief and Complicated Grief. No more are the universal stages of grief the ones defined by Helen Kubler-Ross, but grief is viewed as a personal journey as unique as each individual. Everyone will grieve differently. Everyone will take their own time with it. Grief is now viewed as a disruption in relationships. We grieve for every loss, be it the inability to run a marathon any longer or the loss of a beloved pet. There are deaths of family members and we grieve for the loss of long-time family friends. To love is to grieve ... and God will walk the journey with us. Think how he must grieve for his lost children.

Day 32
God's love is unconditional.
I did nothing to earn this love
When I really stop to think about God's love, when I finally get my arms around this truth, it almost takes my breath away.
This is GRACE ... unearned love.

Day 31
I had an enjoyable day. Today was Church Circle. We always have a good time in community. I always come away with something very significant to think about whether we have a structured program or just sit around talking, enjoying each other's company. Today I was talking with a friend who had been at another meeting this week where the speaker handed out plain stones and told everyone in the audience that there was something they all had in common. Could "anyone tell what that was?" Everyone looked at their rock and at their neighbor's trying to see what they had in common. No one could tell. The speaker said ... "They are all flawed in some way. Just like we all are." I have been mulling that over in my mind. Yes, we are all flawed. We are all broken. We all need healing in some way ... either our mind, our body or our spirit. My healing prayer today is that you will all feel God's healing power at work in and through you. There is nothing that God can't do. Think of the lame man who had not walked for 38 years. He was healed. God can heal you too.

Come to First Congregational Church at 6:30pm on the first Sunday of every month. We have a quiet, calming Healing Service. There isn't a big crowd that gathers, but rather a small caring group. The service is quiet and prayerful like everything we do at First Church. What have you got to lose except flaws? We all got 'em to lose, so, come on down! It could change your life.

Day 30
If the only prayer you say in your entire life is "Thank you," that would suffice.
-- Meister Eckhart

Day 29
"Lord, why can't I master the screw driver? It is not that I haven't tried. And while we are on the subject, you already know that I am not so good with a hammer either. You were terribly good with carpentry tools, so do you suppose you could look over my shoulder this afternoon and tell me what I am doing wrong? Stay really close just in case I hit my thumb. Amen."

Day 28
...... Have you loved, My Children?
Have you loved My Children?
And you answer ......

Day 27
When we come face-to-face with God, he is going to ask one question, but he is going to ask it twice ...

Day 26
... and she prayed, "Touch me God,
and let me know you are here."
God reached down and touched her.
But, she brushed the butterfly away ... and walked on.

Day 25
I remember reading something by Rabbi Harold Kushner where he told of seeing two children building sand castles on the beach. A big wave would come and crush their castles. When this happened, they would take hands and run down the beach laughing and build another castle. What he took away from that day was the thought that we as humans build our complicated life-structures on sand and sooner or later that wave will come that crushes what we have built up. Only then will we find out what truly matters ... that you have a person to take hold of your hand, to run with you laughing down the beach to build something new.

Day 24
Your friend is experiencing one tragedy after another. You go to comfort and support him. He turns and asks, "What will sustain you when everything else falls away?"

Day 23
Now be honest ... have you ever felt anything as joyful as that first warm sunny day after the winter's cold? Oh God, what a blessing!

Day 22
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to keep silence and a time to speak
Ecclesiastes 3:5, 13

Day 21
I have heard that along the west coast of the United States huge red cedars grow. They are tall. Strong looking trees, but their roots are very shallow. If one of these trees fall others fall with them. So how do these trees stand so tall and appear so strong? They lean on each other. They weave their branches together and support one another.

Day 20
My freshman year at Cornell College I took a Religion course, "History of the Bible." We studied the Bible from a historical perspective not a religious one. Our textbook was the Revised Standard Bible. The Bible stopped being a collection of Sunday School stories and became a historical record. I know on thing ... I wish I had paid more attention!

Day 19
Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
--Anna Bartlett Warner

Day 18
"Whenever you pray, go into your room ... and pray to your Father who is in secret." (Matthew 6:6)

Growing up "The Secret Garden" was one of my sister's favorite books. You have a secret garden you can go to whenever you feel the need. You don't have to travel far. Simply turn within to the place where the "real" You lives. That's your Secret Garden where you can spend time alone with God.

Day 17
My Jesus. Who is he? (Mark 4 35-41)

One Sunday morning Pastor Ensworth stepped down from the pulpit and stood level with the congregation and began to tell us a story. Without notes, he gave his sermon. Through his words we were brought into a boat filled with frightened Disciples. While the sea thrashed and waves crashed down on their little boat, their Master slept. The Disciples were so afraid ... their faith shaken.

I too am in that boat. The storm of Life is about me ... my fears, my pain, my brokenness. Jesus BECOMES my peace-of-mind. With Jesus I have nothing to fear.

Who is My Jesus? The one who calms my ocean of life.

To read Pastor Ensworth's sermon "Who Is This Man?" based on Mark 4:35-41 ...

  1. Click on Sermons above
  2. On the left of the page click on Favorite sermons
  3. It will be the first sermon on that page: Who Is This Man? (2/9/03)

Day 16
There is healing power in the ordinary. It came to me today in the soft warmth of the sun and the chirping of birds in the tall pine tree by my house. Suddenly the world was made right again. I remember the first morning home following a long illness. How healing it was to go into my own kitchen and make a cup of tea and look up into the blue of the sky. Today may you experience the healing power of the ordinary.

Day 15
My mind today is focused on last week and how we all feared being plunged into darkness. We all feared the darkness so, the "being without light." Christ said, "I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness." (John 8:12) As Tim lit the Christ Candle on Ask Wednesday he said, "Kindle a flame to lighten the dark, and take all fear away." That is what Christ did. He brought Light into this dark world. These days of Lent I think about this Light and what my life would be like without my Jesus.

Day 14
Maybe God sends us the gift of winter storms so we have some needed "Downtime." This is time when we can forget about the demands of our busy life and stop and do nothing. This thought made me think of an essay that Anna Quindlen, one of my favorite authors, wrote entitled "Doing Nothing Is Something." In it she said that she did not believe you could write poetry, compose music or become an artist without downtime and plenty of it. What passed as "boredom" she thought was really the quiet moving of the wheels inside the mind that fueled creativity. I believe that storms should be required "downtime" and if the gift of God's snow and wind didn't do it for us ... the cable box can be unhooked and the modem removed.

Day 13
I have a small bottle of bubble liquid that was given to me at Dusty and Jennifer's wedding. Something came over me today and I rolled down the window of my van and began to blow bubbles out into the cold winter air. As they floated upward I thought about our prayers to God. I thought about different religions sending prayers heavenward by burning incense. Then I asked myself a question. When we pray we bow our heads. Isn';t that going the wrong way? Now I know why in some churches they pray with their faces turned toward heaven and their arms open wide ... to open their hearts, mind and soul to God's grace.

Day 12
Tomorrow our Church Family celebrates the life of a very special lady. I will never see a chocolate covered doughnut without thinking of her. I will think of her on spring days when tulips are in bloom and my mind wanders back to the days of hats and gloves and fine bone china tea cups. She was a Lady. How easy it would have been for her to give up ... but she was in church most Sundays. The drivers of our church van were her Lancelot. She taught me lessons in courage, grace and humor. Lois, when you see Charles, Fern, Bob, Margrete and everyone, tell them we will be seeing them soon and to start planning for a really, really big Church Potluck.

Day 11
Today I am Homesick. This is the only way I can describe what I am feeling. I long for something just beyond my reach. For an instant I think I have what it is isolated in my mind ... and then it slips away. Is it my earthly home ... or my heavenly home that I long for? As I write these Lenten Thoughts I pray Psalm 19:14 ... "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."

Day 10
There was a discussion about the upcoming documentary regarding the possible finding of Jesus' tomb. I was asked if this shakes my faith. My answer is, "Absolutely not! It reinforces my faith." God sent Jesus to live the human experience and all that includes. Today my name is on a tombstone in Memorial Park Cemetery ... but am I there? No. Will I ever be there? Never! My spirit will soar and my earthly remains will be far above Big Bear Lake in California among cool ferns under the shade of tall, tall trees. This is the closest to heaven I have found on this planet Earth. So I say ... don't believe everything you read "carved in stone." I prefer things written on the heart, in the mind and on the soul!

Day 9
Everyday I drive by the cross that is in front of St. Edwards church. Everyday it serves as a reminder to me of the Light that Christ brought into this world. Today I needed to go around the block to look again. I need to see the purple cloth waving in the cold wind. I rolled down the car window and took long deep breaths of that cold air to try to become one with the purple cloth. The Christ Light is as vital to my very existence as the air filling my lungs. Without my faith I would suffocate.

Day 8
Seems I lose this closeness with God ... when I am frantically flying from one place to another. All the business may ruffle the softness of God's arms and why I feel I lose contact with him. Maybe that is why I need to still the air to really feel Oneness with God. Is that why it is so easy to feel God's presence when I look out on mountains or the shadows of the desert ... or the ice on a rose bush?

Day 7
God does not ask us to change in order to love us. He loves us just the way we are ... wrinkles, warts and all. He comes to us and opens his arms and takes us in. Why is it that sometimes you can feel that closeness and other times you feel so alone? I am certain of one thing ... it isn't God that changes.

Day 6
We are all one with everything on earth. Is that why God made the world round? Then there is the Golden Rule, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Appearance, religion, language, society may appear to separate us and we think can turn our backs on each other and walk away ...... but the world is round. If we walk away from each other long enough, we will eventually meet again face-to-face. What will we say to each other then?

Day 5
Last night there was lightening and thunder. Strange to hear in February in Iowa. My dog and I were safe, secure and warm, but I was not comfortable. I was uneasy. I began to pray and within my mind's eye I saw God's Children huddled in doorways, under bridges and overpasses. Will I ever know true comfort again?

Day 4
I saw a documentary a month ago, but I did not really see it until tonight. Tonight I finally understand that my survival depends on that "switch on the wall" and that switch depends on fossil fuel. This is not acceptable to me. This has to change. Mr. Gore, you have my attention ... and yes, changing this truth will be inconvenient, but we must!

Day 3
This Parish Nurse has had a cold, which has given me an opportunity to do my own independent taste test of chicken noodle soup. This judge declares the winner to be Wal-Mart Great Value brand Chicken Noodle Soup. As I sat looking at the unfamiliar can, I began to think about what other things I might be missing by always sticking to the familiar ... to the comfortable. I don't want to be "closed off." I want to be open to God and His plan for me.

Day 2
When we think of Lent we think of fasting. Did you know the John the Baptist fasted, but Jesus did not? Maybe we have the wrong idea about "fasting." When you fast you pull inward and think only of yourself. Jesus' teaching says we should look beyond ourselves. Fasting with the mouth is going the wrong direction to me. Isaiah 58:5 states that God desires not fasting from food or the wearing of sackcloth, but rather that you share your bread with those in need. This is the example of fasting that Jesus showed us. Fasting with the heart, not with the mouth. Prepare yourself for Easter this year in a new way. Select someone or some project to fast upon. (thoughts formed while reading "PRAY ALL WAYS" by Edward Hays)

Day 1
I read in a magazine that Joan Rivers said: "I don't exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor." I couldn't seem to get that statement out of my head. Something kept tugging at me. Then it came to me. My reply to the world is ... "Everyone get on your knees and open your eyes and you will see that plain river rocks sparkle more beautiful than diamonds in the Light of His Son."