On Easter Sunday, Amy and I reminded all of us that we are called to be Resurrection people — people who see possibility and hope even in seemingly impossible situations. People who have the audacity to dream and work and live into a better future. We are currently in the 50 Days of Eastertide (April 9-May 27) in which we especially remember what it means to live into a Resurrection mentality and soul-ability.
At United Parish, Eastertide also coincides with our annual Stewardship season, when together we re-commit ourselves to supporting the work of our collective ministry. Just like public radio and other organizations, we ask our members to make financial and service pledges for the fiscal year ahead (July 2023-June 2024). Pledges help us plan our budget and programming.
At a more personal, spiritual level, this Eastertide, we are looking at our “money stories.” All of us have a relationship with money, which started in childhood. Over the years, each one of us gets to shape it. Steeped in as we are in a thoroughly capitalist culture, money and the market have a lot of influence over how we think about life, success, productivity, happiness. Money remains one of the “hot topics.”
As we’ve been reminding ourselves over the past two Sundays, God’s economy calls us to live a mindset of “enough” and abundance — and to pay attention to the deeper spiritual resources that sustain us, and how our material resources help or hinder that.
This Sunday we’ll look at the Torah, and how God’s economy calls us to abundance and forgiveness of debts (Deuteronomy 15:1-11) and to the Gospel and how our attachment and obsessions about money can get in the way (Matthew 19:16-22). We will reflect together on what we need to release about our own money stories, in order to live into more of God’s sense of abundance and mutual support.
We also invite you to offer your support and even join us at 8am for the Walk for Hunger to support Project Bread. Click here for more info.
In faith,
Kent
Recommitment: Exploring our Money Stories
Remember (April 30)
Release (May 7)
Reimagine (May 14)
Restore (May 21) — Consecration Sunday, when we bring forth our pledge forms.
Image credit: “Finding Release” by Lauren Wright Pittman; Inspired by Matthew 19:16-22; Acrylic, ink and watercolor on canvas; © a sanctified art | sanctifiedart.org
