Sunday was a great day at EPUMC. We thanked Jean Myers for her many years of service on our hospitality team, the Hamline University A Cappella Choir was here to sing, it was the week that folks from the Pride Institute, a LGBTQ recovery residence, show up. And as it turns out, it was also our turn to have someone holding a couple of signs protesting our Christian support of the LGBTQ community to be on the shoulder of the road leading into our parking lot.  
 
A few of us had heard that protesters like this were making the rounds to churches like ours, but most of us were surprised by the sight. I went out to say a hello to the guy, offer him a cup of coffee and encourage him to be safe. He shared some rather judgmental and hateful views, and I went back to begin worship
 
As we began worship, I mentioned our guest who was on the shoulder of the road. I wasn’t sure what to say to our guests from the Pride Institute…I told them we do everything we can for this to be a safe and inviting space for them.  And then in one of those things that sometimes just sort of come out of my mouth I said, “We can handle this.”
 
I had been looking around at all the different people: kids and families, a choir loft full of college students, older members in the front pews and the people from Pride. Standing up I felt that power which is stirred when something brings to light a common value. And it wasn’t anger or malice for the guy with the GoPro camera strapped to his chest that was apparent.  It was the energy of a community willing and ready to stand up and be counted for something.
 
All of us were inspired on Sunday to frame the light of God’s love in ways other than judgment and hate. As the
A Cappella Choir sang, the depth of their blended voices touched the deeper parts of our souls that needed tending.  The scripture provided an encouraging word of affirmation and second chances. And the looks on the faces of those people from Pride when I shook their hands at the end…well it made me feel proud to be a part of this church
 
Now, I’m not saying that I want a different protester every week… what I am saying is that one thing our renewed vitality has provided us is the courage and focus to say, “We can handle it,” and trust that God will provide what is needed.
 
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
 
 
 

​Everyone has a story from our spring blizzard last weekend. At EPUMC, our story is that we had worship. At worship we had the baptism of the baby Jesus of 2017 who lives only two blocks from church.  And as his grandmother who drove up from Iowa (not Nebraska) just ahead of the storm said, “We’re having a baptism today.”
 
After Asher was baptized, I handed Asher’s dad his baptism candle. I always remind parents to light this candle on the anniversary of their son/daughter’s baptism day. As I stood there looking out at the 70 souls who had braved the weather to, in part, be present for the moment, I said to dad, “You’ll have a story to tell him.”
 
I’m not sure how Asher’s mom and dad are going to tell this story. For my part, I’m going to remember it as the day a mom’s and dad’s desire to follow through with a baptism played a big part in inspiring me not to cancel worship. How one set of grandparents risked driving through a blizzard to get here and the other drove across the Twins Cities at the tail end of the same blizzard. And how in his delight, Asher reached down for the big blue bowl that held the blessed waters of his baptism. Fortunately, dad was there to save the bowl.
 
The stories we tell about our lives in no small part define us. Like Asher’s day on Sunday, many of these days are full of love and hope and the light of life. Other days leave a mark that can be bittersweet at best. We remember not only anniversaries of births and baptism, but also of tragedies and death when love is lost. And here is the thing; you can’t always choose what your soul is going to bring to the awareness of your mind and heart.
 
I’ll refer all of you to someone with a higher pay grade than myself to explain the psychological reasoning for this and how the healing of grief and pain is often a lifelong process. What I’d like to say from my experience is that remembering a moment, a day, a time which holds either great joy or deep sadness can be a way God’s light is shining…framing our lives in God’s acceptance, love and mercy.
 
So it is that all of us who are have had a few more stories to tell are asked to remember at the baptism of those like Asher who are still so innocent. We are asked to remember what makes the water and the love and acceptance which showers down upon us sacred.
 
I believe that what makes this water and our memory sacred is that in them we experience God’s acceptance not bound by time…God’s love extends to all the moments in which we need it:  past, present and whatever time is to come. And perhaps the reason we keep remembering is the discovery there that all of life is by God’s grace, forever woven together in ways beyond our human capability to understand.
 
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
 

There are a couple of subjects I try not to write about in this column, and one of them is the weather. I’m going to break that tendency today.
 
The thing that is really getting to me are some texts I’m getting from a couple of bike-riding buddies who have moved to more southern climes. On the surface, their comments are innocent enough. Like my buddy from Nashville who said, “I had to mow my lawn for the first time today after going out for a great ride.” Or the guy in San Antonio who texted me at 11 o’clock one morning and said, “Had to start my ride at 7a.m. today before it got too hot to ride.”
 
Honestly, I don’t know how to respond. I mean which emoji do you use…Is there an emoji that expresses something like, “I’m very happy for you, but could you please keep that to yourself?” Or maybe one that illustrates “thanks for sharing.” Fortunately I’ve been friends with both these guys long enough for them to know what I’m really thinking when I say, “that is nice.”
 
Now usually at this point in my memo, I might put on a good face and go on about how our faith teaches us to grow in our ability to be genuinely happy in the good fortune of others and not to sink to passive-aggressive expressions of our feelings. 
 
Or I might less reverently but just as importantly reflect on the thought that sometimes you know who your best friends are because as another friend says, “You’ve got to take your shots when you get them.” And who else but a buddy would dare say something that might conjure deeper sentiments about a snow-storm in mid-April.  But I’m not going to do that today…
 
No, I’m just going to say four things: I’m grateful that the predictions for the latest snow and ice storm of the decade are for Saturday night and not Sunday morning. Second, we have a great team on our trustees that as much as is humanly possible is making sure the parking lot is cleared and the sidewalk shoveled by 10 a.m. on Sunday. Thirdly, we anticipate a great Sunday here at EPUMC. The baby Jesus of Christmas 2017 is being baptized. Asher has family driving through this storm from Iowa, so pray for them.
 
And finally, weather, in spite of appearing to raise differences, is often a point of common ground. I am planning on being an equally good buddy to my two friends when the opportunity arises. I’m waiting until mid-July to respond when my buddy in San Antonio cannot ride because it never gets below 90 degrees even at night. And as for my buddy in Nashville…I just heard he’s moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan this summer…Just sayin’….I’m looking forward to commiserating with him. 
 
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
 
 
 

It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball in Minnesota today. For a lot of my friends, it’s the most important day of the year. Seriously, I get texts saying that. I have this one friend whose mood shifts depending upon how the Twins are doing. If he weren’t something of a spiritual mentor to me, I’d say his life revolves around baseball.  I’ll admit to sharing some of his excitement, not enough to put on my long underwear and boots in order to head out to Target field today, but I will be taking off a little early to watch the game on TV.
 
Opening Day is always a day to be hopeful and excited. It’s a long season, (they play 161 games) which is a bit more like my life than the intensity of football. There are ups and downs and winning and losing. On any given day you can be at your best or worst. In baseball if you get a hit 3 out of 10 times, you’re a success. There are a lot of different yet important roles on any team. And there is usually a game tomorrow to make up for what you did today. Redemption is an important theme in baseball.
 
That chance to give it another try in order to sort of get it right or make up for a past mistake or poor showing is also an important theme of our Easter faith. I’ve always believed that God gives us as many chances as we need. As I was reading the Easter scripture in the gospel of John, I stumbled upon the observation that the first word Jesus speaks to Mary is the same question the angels ask  her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” One way to interpret that is that Jesus is giving Mary a second opportunity to perceive what the empty tomb meant and that her weeping might be misplaced.
 
In many ways Easter is like an opening day of baseball when we are reminded that we have a life full of opportunities and chances to recognize the presence of the risen Jesus. And just as my friend orders his days and moods around Twins baseball, Easter is an invitation to frame our life in God’s Light. 
 
Which reminds me, in case you are reading this and were not in church or you just want to watch it again, here is the link to see the “Frame Lighta” video. It’s on the homepage of our website, and it’s worth the 3 minutes.  I’d invite you to watch it a second time; be sure to read the ribbon at the bottom. Also the guy in this film looks a little like the guy in the Spring Training Films we had a few years ago, if you ask me.
 
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan