Medical missionary Albert Schweitzer once wrote a fable about a flock of wild geese that shamed a human with their ethical behavior.

Once upon a time there was flock of wild geese that rested upon a pond near the beginning of autumn. As they were resting one of the geese came to close to a wealthy person’s garden and the goose was captured by the gardener, who clipped its wings as punishment and then released it. When the geese started to resume their flight, the wounded bird tried frantically to fly off with them but couldn’t get off the ground.

Instead of flying away without the wounded bird, the flock circled around the pond and came to a water landing back where they had started. They were not going to leave without their ‘silly’ goose, their wounded compatriot. Fortunately the gardener’s clipping had not inflicted permanent damage, and after several days the damaged feathers had grown back well enough to allow the goose to take flight.

The flock’s loyalty to its wounded member touched the gardener’s heart and made him realize that he had been wrong to hurt a bird that had done him no harm. In, fact, as Schweitzer wrote, the gardener’s heart was changed as he gladly watched them as they finally rose together and resumed their long flight.

Albert Schweitzer would often use this parable, this fable when he spoke of the meaning of life: By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive. Moreover, a man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.

Each year during the Season of Lent I write about the spiritual disciplines of this holy season Lent. These are simple ways of allowing God to change our hearts – to make us more like Jesus. Every year the church asks us to give alms (that is, care for the poor), and pray and fast that we might be more attentive to the needs of the world around us. Still, in a much larger sense, I think that the disciplines of Lent call us to a reverence for life that is much greater than service to only those in need. When we give of our money, we remind ourselves that everything we have is a gift, and in fact the entire world is a gift that should never, ever be taken for granted – Lent calls us to have a deep reverence for the earth. When we pray, we are reminded that we are creatures before God and we stand with all the creatures of the planet – Lent calls us to a deep reverence for our fellow creatures. Ethics has to do not only with how we treat one another, but how we treat animals as well. We must have a reverence for life – all life! And when we fast, we remember not only the gift of food and that so many in our world go without food – Lent calls us to stand in reverence for the plants that sustain us. We are called to a reverence for trees and flowers, for the fruits of the earth and sea, for everything – everything that lives.

So even as Lent is a call to change our hearts in how we love our neighbors, Lent is equally a reminder that we are part of the created world and we must reverence all life around us. How might we do that this year? Perhaps we will be impelled to donate to the Animal Shelter or foster an abused or forgotten animal. Perhaps we will listen with more tolerant and understanding hearts to the justice cries of our vegetarian and vegan brothers and sisters and re-examine our use of food. Perhaps we will be more intentional with our prayers of grace before meals or spend more time walking in beauty of the natural world. Perhaps we will plant a garden, or make a commitment to recycle, or bicycle to work. There are so many ways to reverence the life around us. This year we must find a way to be more attentive to the call to reverence. As Dr. Schweitzer has reminded us:

By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive. Moreover, a man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.

Each year I use the February Column to reprise my Annual Report. As we enter this new year we pledge to support one another, prayer for each another and celebrate the good work that God has begun in this parish community. Peace my friends. Pastor Jeff

One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. I don’t get it, he said. Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did. But the winning woodsman just smiled and replied, But you didn’t notice, that every time I sat down to rest – I was sharpening my ax!

I know it seems a bit of an odd story to begin a pastor’s Annual Report, but this year I’d like to reflect less on what has taken place in the last year, and more on what is before us. I wish to share some thoughts about my upcoming sabbatical. From Mid-June throughout the month of July I will be away from my work here as pastor for a six week sabbatical. Sabbatical comes from the Hebrew word – Shabbat – literally, to cease. In the book of Genesis, a Shabbat is taken by God on the seventh day. God ceases from creation and rests. In the Book of Exodus Shabbat is the first command given after the flight from Egypt. In the Book of Leviticus, God commands that every seventh year is a time of Shabbat. In fact the command to Shabbat is given 170 times in the bible! And certainly you can not read the gospels without understanding that Jesus was a person of Shabbat – a man who often ceased what he was doing to rest.

These past ten years at Messiah have been a wonderful adventure. There have been so many great memories, great liturgical experiences, joyful gatherings and of course God has blessed this community in abundance. We are growing so quickly and in so many different ministries. Still, I know that to pastor a growing community into the next decade I need to sharpen my ax. I need to Shabbat – to cease from my daily activity and spend some time learning, reflecting, praying and resting. The ELCA recommends a sabbatical time every seven years for a rostered pastored and the Pastoral Parish Council and I have planned mine for this summer.

Starting in mid-June, Melissa and I and the children will be traveling to the Rocky Mountains as I will be enrolled in the Luther Academy of the Rockies. For two weeks I will be in class with seminary professors and theologians updating my understanding of the church and sharpening my theological ax. Afternoons will be spent with family, hiking, exploring nature and enjoying the beauty of the Rockies. Melissa and will then return home for a couple of weeks for family visits before heading off to the east coast. We’ll travel to Washington DC to re-visit my old university, spend time in historic Williamsburg, Va. and then spend a few days near the ocean on Virginia Beach.

During this time of Shabbat, Pastor Gil will be covering pastoral emergencies and presiding at Sunday liturgies. He will preach some of the liturgies and we will have guest preachers for some as well. The Pastoral staff will continue their great work in keeping the parish alive and healthy. I am aware that few people in life have the opportunity to take a sabbatical. I am grateful for the church’s financial support and for the council’s encouragement in this time of rest. During these six weeks I will pray for you, my Messiah Church friends, and trust that you will continue to gather faithfully every Sunday morning and lift me and my family in your prayers as well. God has done great things through our common ministry. I believe that God has even greater plans for us in the next ten years.

Every year as the old year comes to a close, the national media highlights the most influential people who have passed – an in memoriam for those who have died. 2011 saw the passing of perhaps one of the most influential designers and entrepreneurs of the last century – Steve Jobs. The creator and founder of Apple Corporation and the inspiration behind the personal computer, Steve often spoke to his employees about the importance of time – of using time wisely. Jobs believed that our time is limited – so we shouldn’t waste it living someone else’s life. He always told his design team not to be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. He told them never to let the noise of other’s opinions drown out their own inner voices. And most importantly, he encouraged his employees to have the courage to follow their hearts and to trust their intuitions. You already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. This was Steve Jobs’ legacy – to use our time wisely.

There is so much truth in Steve Jobs’ philosophy of time. The time we have is limited and thus so very valuable. I read recently:

• To realize the value of a year, ask a student who failed a final exam.
• To realize the value of one month, ask the mother of a premature baby.
• To realize the value of a week, ask the editor of a weekly magazine.
• To realize the value of one day, ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed
• To realize the value of an hour, ask two people in love waiting to meet
• To realize the value of a minute, ask someone who barely missed the train
• To realize the value of a second, ask the person who just avoided a crash
• To realize the value of a millisecond, ask the person who won the Olympic silver medal

All time is limited and thus so very valuable. And still we waste time! As Steve Jobs so deeply believed, we waste time by striving to live someone else’s life – when we spend all of our days trying to live up to other’s expectations of us – our parents, children, spouses or our bosses. It isn’t wrong to please other people, but we have to be authentic people. We have to claim who we are and love who we are and live who we are!

We waste time when we get caught up in dogmatic thinking. This is especially true of churches. Dogmatic thinking keeps us from looking at the future with a newness and freshness that brings life. Just because that is the way it has always been done, doesn’t mean that it’s the only way to do it! In our church community and in our personal lives we have to try new things, and begin new adventures, and dream new dreams because our time is valuable!

And mostly we waste time when we ignore our inner voice and fail to follow our hearts. Steve Jobs wasn’t a particularly religious man and yet he believed that there was something sacred within each human being that I call the voice of God. Every Sunday I finish the liturgy by blessing you. I remind you that God goes before you to guide you and is behind you to encourage you; that God is above you to watch over you and beneath you to support you. And then every week I end by saying: And may you discover the power of God within you and know that God will always be your friend. What I mean by that is that the sacred is within you, and if you reflect and listen to this voice, then God will lead you well.

And so as we embark on yet another year I pray that you will use this year wisely. I pray that you will again realize how precious is every year and month, every day and hour, every single minute and second. Do not waste this time. Dream great dreams for yourself and stop trying live up to everyone else’s expectations of you. Do not plod through another year dogmatically doing things the same way – take some risks, strike out anew, and live differently. And most of all listen to that voice within you – the voice of the Divine. Have courage to follow your heart this year and may you discover the power of God within you and know that God will always be your friend. Happy New Year my Messiah Church friends!