Christian Education….

 

Hide and Seek is a childhood

classic. Whether played outside

in the fading light of a summer

evening with neighborhood friends

or with gleeful scampering around

the house hiding behind doors from your family, it never fails to entertain. Age doesn’t seem to matter. Could the frantic hunt for the car keys (or the eyeglasses, or the other shoe) when we get older be an unconscious return to play? Does that sense of relief when the lost item surfaces echo the joy of “finding” your playmate?

 

I wonder if God likes a good game of “hide and seek?” There are certainly several parables used in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd which have an element of “hide and seek.” Take the woman who lit a candle and swept her room from corner to corner until she found the coin she had lost. How about the treasure the man found buried in a field? Or the merchant who spent his entire life searching for the perfect pearl and when he found it, sold everything he owned to purchase it? Is that why Jesus told us the story of the prodigal son? The son had certainly disappeared from sight; yet his father went out every day to watch for him. The joy he felt when he finally saw his son coming down the road led him to throw a feast! 

 

Jesus’ parables always hold a hidden meaning, sometimes more than one. He gives some great clues though. The parables always have something we can relate to from our own experience: wheat, seeds, coins, sheep, housekeeping, water, wolves, cooking, family. Jesus invites us to be “it.” We get to seek the hidden message.

 

God is pretty inventive when it comes to hiding places too. You can find him in the fragrance of flowers, in a smile, in the rustling of golden aspen leaves, in the song of a mourning dove, in a fond grandmother’s hug – in all kinds of wonderful places. He’s there when everything seems dark and scary too – in the friend who sits with you in the hospital waiting room; in the light which shatters the darkness; in the soft voice soothing your nightmare, in the compassion of strangers.

 

 Lent is a great time to play “hide and seek” with God. Winter hides a number of things we miss:

warmth, flowers, sunshine, the freedom to run coatless. The game tends to be played largely indoors and the daylight ends early, so we often play in the dark. What happens to the seeds lying buried beneath the snow? Are they dead? Where did the sunshine go? When is it coming back? What does Jesus mean when he says the Kingdom of God is like the two measures of flour a woman mixed with yeast? How can something as big as a Kingdom fit in a mustard seed? How can a person be born again? Living water – what’s that?

 

Holy Week brings its own twist on the hide and seek game. Jesus tells us to look for him in the Bread and Wine he consecrates at the Last Supper. He invites us to come to the Garden to pray with him on Holy Thursday. He enters the tomb and when the women come to look for him, he’s gone! Could the old tradition of hiding and seeking Easter eggs (which children love to play) echo the discovery of new life in Christ? After all, eggs and seeds and cocoons are pretty good places to hide, don’t you think? And when we find Him – there’s a great, big celebration!

Church School Bake Sale

 

Thank you for a successful Valentine Bake Sale! 

 

The Church School Valentine Bake Sale took place on February 10th.  It was a BIG success, raising over $300.

 

Thanks goes to all the generous St. John’s bakers, as well as those who bought all of those sweet yummies!  Proceeds will assist the Church School with purchasing the many learning materials and supplies used.

 

Sunday, February 24th the Church School hosted Coffee Hour by offering some of the unsold goodies.  We hope everyone was able to enjoy.  Many thanks again,

 

Pam Sheetz and Jackie Williams

Bake Sale