Church Today

When we awoke this morning , it was to a tiny blanket of snow. The trees look so pristine and beautiful with just a dusting of snow.


On the way to church as we traveled through still falling snow, R says, "It looks like we're getting attacked by a bunch of little minions." :-)


Our Pastor's sermon was about Jacob. First off, we can't figure out how he left the pulpit and got to the sacristy. As he started his sermon from the back of the nave, he was limping. Many of us thought it was from dancing at last night's Reformation celebration. But no, he was just imitating Jacob after he had wrestled with God and acquired a permanent reminder of that evening.


Wrestling with God is a serious business and we do it too often. Questioning what He has said and done and trying to put our human reasoning around it, or justifying our own sinful behaviors by trying to twist His Word.


But even in his deviousness, God blessed Jacob, and He blesses us in our continued state of sin too!


Towards the end of Pastor's sermon, he talks about the reunion that Esau and Jacob have and that it was warm and affectionate, with them kissing and hugging. R lets out an audible, "ew!" because she thinks guys kissing guys is gross. Well, at least we know she was listening to the sermon...


Not having been raised Lutheran, but converting after being married, there are times when I feel a bit left out of the "little secrets clues." Our church doesn't have communion every week, but every other week instead.


Since we were in the back of the nave, as usual, being the short person I am, I couldn't see if there was communion or not. I was asking S to look as she is taller than I, and my hubby leaned over and said, "Yes we are having communion because the candles on the altar are lit." I looked up and sure enough, ALL the candles were lit. I always wondered why sometimes the two candles closest to the Bible aren't lit some Sundays. Now I know, and I'm feeling this is a very "duh" moment because I never put the two things together.


I was wondering if someone was at church today as we gathered up our coats to leave, and I asked hubby if he had seen her. He said, yes, she was the one "canting." (Cheryl, I thought you'd like that one.) Since then we've been discussing what the proper term is for someone who is a cantor. Is it that they cant? Then we morphed that into the woodchuck thing: How much cant would a cantor cant if a cantor could cant cant? We have a warped sense of humor around here! ;-)