Pastor Leanne's Message for the month of March 2024:
I have been thinking back to my family of origin – to the days of being cramped in a one-bathroom house with 11 people, one dog, three parakeets, four (mean) rabbits, and a lot of turtles. At one point, my sister Chris and I shared a bedroom with three little boys, whom we accused of never picking up after themselves (neither did we!). At night, we could hear our two sisters arguing in their bedroom, and our other brothers snoring loudly from theirs. We could never agree on what tv show we should watch, and the dinner table was a mad-house of elbows and vanishing food. I didn’t know that everybody didn’t live that way, in fact, I am not sure that I knew we were crowded: the volume of laughter, arguments, conversation, music and television seemed normal to me, and to this day, I can block out noisy distractions fairly easily and create privacy in my own head. There were times when having so many siblings made for great fun: the holidays were in-house parties.
The photo here is Easter, probably 1967 or 68 – I think I must have been around 10.
Like most families, we went to church on Easter Sunday dressed in our very best – hats, white gloves, and fish-net stockings were popular (my sister, Laurie has on her best “Jackie O” hat). I am sure I wore my first long stockings on an Easter morning. Dressing up for Easter worship was exciting: I loved being “fancy.” For this photo, my sister Carolyn did my hair up in a bun, and I was wearing a second-hand dress that a girl from our church had out-grown. I remember that I was very proud of it; it was so modern and stylish and for once I wasn’t wearing something that each of my three older sisters had worn. I loved Easter at church. I loved the pageantry, the singing of “Up from the Grave He Arose,” the lilies, all the people in their Easter finest clothing, and the Easter Baskets. After worship we came home for a family dinner, then the younger siblings would hide Easter Eggs for each other while my parents napped. These are good memories!
But my family is shrinking. My parents are long gone. Four people from the photo are no longer with us: my brothers Roger, Joel, and Scott, and my brother-in-law Dewie have died, and all in the last few years. I know that many of you understand the feeling of seeing your family shrink: it is disorienting - one never gets used to it, and one always carries a mental picture of the family as a whole unit, frozen in time, with the circle unbroken. I cannot see us any other way.
But here is the thing that dawns on me as I love on the faces of my childhood: the day we were celebrating is the day of restored wholeness. In scripture, Easter, resurrection, the bursting forth of Christ out of the grave and his victory over death is only the beginning of the promise of a God who gives back those whom we have lost. The Apostle Paul assures us that Christ’s resurrection is our resurrection as well, that his resurrection is only the “first-fruit of the harvest” – but we make up the rest of it. He says: (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 KJV) “13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so, shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
“Comfort one another with these words” – absolutely. Take hope and find assurance in the promise of God who declares that the time will come when we are united with all the saints who have gone before us, in a world where sickness, sadness, pain and even death are no more. For under the pictures of fancy dresses and suits, fine hats and white patent leather shoes, there is a serious message of faith which cannot fade: Christ has broken the power of death, and through his resurrection, we will all be redeemed.
Happy Easter, All !
Leanne
2024 SCHOLARSHIPS
The Scholarship Committee of First Presbyterian Church is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of scholarships for our church community. To be eligible for consideration to receive a scholarship, a student must be an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck or must have been an active participant in the life of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck for at least three years. The awards are given for students at any level of study beyond high school. Four years is the maximum for receiving scholarships: these need not be consecutive years. Graduate students may apply for scholarships, providing they are within the four year maximum.
The deadline to apply is May 17, 2024
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