June 15, 2011 - Pastor Carlan's Blog

Dear Family of Faith,
Last Sunday was awesome! The attendance was superb for summertime (176), the special music of the choir and bell choir was moving, the banners and flowers were beautiful, the communion was renewing, but it was the release of the dove that was the most powerful of all. When it flew out of its cage so gracefully and perfect, I was stunned by the message of freedom it carried with it-- the Holy Spirit is at large in the world!God is loose in this place, never to be confined. There is so much potential in us because of God's abiding Spirit-- potential to change the world for good. Thanks to all the musicians and those who gave the red begonias and especially to Kathy Hackemer who arranged for the dove. It was a day I will always remember.
Sometimes when I'm doing nothing or something of little consequence, God's Spirit gives me a great thought about life or a sermon theme or a word to share with others. Many times these best thoughts of God end up sliding into the great oblivion of forgetfulness. It is so frustrating! I have learned to counteract that loss by keeping a pad and pen by my bed, in my car, and at my desk. Yet I wonder why it is that such powerful inspirational moments seem so fleeting-- as if there is but a moment's chance to fasten on to truth before it evaporates forever. Could it be that such times of communion with the eternal are much more common than we realize-- that those instances of recognition of God's favor and inspiration are just a fraction of the times God speaks to us? Maybe we are so focused on worldly things that we miss the eternal in our midst. Maybe we work too much and meditate too little, calculate too much and contemplate too little. Maybe we are too fixated with life's duties that we don't take time to daydream the thoughts of God. This summer I encourage you to take time out for God-- go fishing on a quiet lake, sit in the hammock without a book, sun on the beach with nothing to do but listen to the waves, or even just stare into space while sitting at your kitchen table. No doubt you will sense the presence of God. Just have your notebook ready!
When I first came to Spring Hill, I kept my Pastoral Prayers to a two-page limit-- two hand-written pages of thoughts and petitions to offer to God on all our behalf. Lately, though, there is never enough room on those two sheets for all the needs of the congregation and our world. I'm spilling over into the margins every Sunday! So many people who are dear to us are going through rough times. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. If you feel like that, don't give up praying. You don't have to pray for everybody every moment of the day. When someone comes to mind who needs your prayers, just lift that person to God right then wherever you are. Then you can go on with your life. That's what it means to me to "pray continually" as the Apostle Paul admonishes. It's never a burden, but a joy to bring people to God, for God is the Source of all our blessings.
With affection,
Pastor Carlan

June 8, 2011 - Pastor Carlan's Blog

Dear Family of faith,
Have you ever really wanted one of your kids to do something that they didn't seem much interested in? That's a little how I feel in regard to the bus trip to the Synod worship on July 3rd. So far only 15 people have signed up for this incredible opportunity. Although I myself have been a delegate to the meeting five times, most people rarely, if ever, get a chance to experience the denomination together in worship. It is spectacular, inspirational, and educational-- all at the same time. Judging from previous experience (there have only ever been 27 Synod meetings before in the history of the U.C.C.), I can predict that there will never be another General Synod meeting in Florida in my lifetime. That's why I'm so keen on having as many of you go as can. The $13 bus ticket cost is so small when you consider what you would pay for gas to drive to Tampa, for parking, and for tolls. Even so, if anyone wants to go and cannot afford it, please talk to me, and I will find a way for you to go. Also, for those of you who are concerned about bringing walkers, etc.: the bus has room underneath for such things. As you can tell, I really don't want any of you to miss the chance to meet the denomination's officers and experience the best we have-- not to mention all the booths and kiosks with information about everything the U.C.C. does. It will be a wonderful experience, one we will talk about for a long time. You still have two weeks to get your tickets.
This past week I read some words that kept echoing in my head: "The best chance to be whole is to love whatever gets in the way until it ceases to be an obstacle." It was an excerpt from a book called The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. There are many things that get in our way in life, many obstacles that seem to block where we want to go. Sometimes those obstacles are people, sometimes they are circumstances, sometimes they are unexpected events, sometimes they are diseases. They break up our wholeness, make us anxious and discouraged, ill and unfocused, obsessed and angry. Yet if we can only accept what irritates us, like a grain of sand in a pearl, and surround it with acceptance and see it as something we can learn from, then our "obstacles" cease to keep us from being whole inside. Although we may not be able to get to where we wanted to go or do what we wanted to do at the time, we can still be content and grateful and joyful. Who is getting in your way? What is stopping you from doing what you really wanted to do? Embrace those people and those things that stand in your way and find your inward peace by wrapping them up in love.
With affection,
Pastor Carlan

June 1, 2011 Pastor's Blog

June 1, 2011
Dear Family of Faith,
Sometimes the newspaper has stories that are almost unbelievable because of the sorrow they engender in my heart. There were two this past week that brought great sadness to me. One was an incident at the Redneck Games Festival in Inglis where a 15-year-old New Port Richey boy stabbed a man to death because the man got in a dispute over revving an engine with the boy's father. The father's anger will likely result in a long prison term for the boy. The second item was the picture of a grieving Tampa woman at the funeral of her 13-month-old grandson who was killed by her daughter's boyfriend. If that were not enough pain, the grandmother stood out on a Tampa street the day after the child's death to raise money for his funeral expenses! A fifteen-year-old killer and a thirteen-month-old victim, a father who will spend the rest of his life regretting his anger and a grandmother who will spend the rest of her life wishing she had been home! Life doesn't get much rawer than this. On those days when I struggle to pay my taxes or listen to people complain or wish that I lived closer to my kids, I think about such sorrows and how small my problems are when compared to many in this world. I was thinking that same thought this past Monday on Memorial Day when I thought about all the young men and women who gave up their lives on foreign battlefields who had barely graduated from high school-- and how much of life I have lived since those school days-- a life they never got to experience. It's no wonder the Apostle Paul admonishes us (Philippian 2: 14) to do all things without murmuring or arguing. What do we have to murmur or argue about when compared to the burdens of so many others? Surely we are blesssed. The trick is to remember it, and live with gratitude. I hope to do so, and I pray that you can, too.
With affection,
Pastor Carlan