Pastor's Ponderings
March, 2008
Carpe diem por deo or “Seize the day for God.” I never took Latin in high school or college. In fact, it wasn’t offered because it is considered a DEAD Language. Given that, Latin is still the basis for the romance languages such as Spanish (which I did take) and Italian and for much of the medical and scientific terminology found in today’s enlightened rational world.
This is the month when our Lenten season comes to an end and we are faced with an empty tomb; it is the month when the first missionaries are ordained to go forth and tell the world that they have seen JESUS. During Lent we immersed ourselves in the promises given to us in baptism, which is the compass that guides us through life. Martin Luther believed in the Priesthood of all believers. From the first Easter to the present one, each of us is reminded by God, and called by God to CARPE DIEM POR DEO. The miracle of grace discovered in Easter Morning is as amazing as starting a family in your old age, as Abraham and Sarah did, or being reminded that our true citizenship lies beyond this world, as the Apostle Paul writes.
Your faith story, and that of those whom you meet on a daily basis, is really an Easter story that could be preached day in and day out somewhere in the world for Christ. Lent began as we were reminded by an ashen cross that we do not have forever. The clock is ticking; the forty days are unwinding. WE have now! We have today! When we know that the compass of our lives includes a cross and an empty tomb, when we know that we are headed toward a forgiving God, the news becomes good news. CARPE DIEM POR DEO begins now! Grab Easter today. Seize the day for God, after all God seized it for you! Make the most of it. Wow! What a great way to celebrate Easter.
Let’s think about seizing the day for God in terms of stewarding our lives, our resources, our gifts and talents in ways which would be as if we were living every day expressly for the glory and good for God. What would that look like?
It would mean living
from a place of gratitude for everything under the sun and
expressing that gratitude through words and actions to
those around us. It
would mean giving back what God has first given us:
ourselves, our time, and our talents, signs that
God is a gracious and merciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast God.
It would mean not worrying so much.
“Ask and you shall receive,” Jesus proclaimed.
When was the last time God didn’t supply for your
needs or my needs? God
may not always supply for my wants, but God has never let
me go without what is truly needed.
CARPE DIEM
POR DEO!
Easter is now.
Easter is in you!
Easter
people are waiting to hear and see your faith in God.
Start now.
What is something worthwhile that you have never
dared to do for GOD? How
different would your weekly calendar look if you did
something new for Jesus in the month of March?
Christ
is Risen! He
is Risen, Indeed!
Seizing the opportunities for faith in God,
Pastor Kate Schlechter