Easter Math!

Hey all,

Ever wonder how the date for Easter gets calculated? Here is a forward I got from Cathi that does a nice job of talking about it. Oh, and the pic echoes my sentiments on that long-eared flea hotel that has co-opted the holiday.

Easter in 2008

Do you realize how early Easter is this year and why? It's March 23! As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around in date on our Roman based calendar.

I found out a couple of things you might be interested in!

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. Here's the interesting info. This year (2008) is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here's the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2160 (152 years from now).

2) The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

3) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now).

4) The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has, or will ever see it any earlier than this year! And, by the way, the latest date that Easter can fall is April 25^th. The last time that occurred was 1943 and it will happen again in 2038, so it is more common for a late rather than an early Easter date.

Peace,
Kevin

2/29, China, and ...Churchiness!

Hey All,

This is a big year, ya know? First of all, it’s a leap year. That means that there is going to be a February 29^th. Have you thought about how you’re going to spend this extra day in your calendar? If you want to learn more about the history, etc of leap year, go here.

Besides being a leap year, this is also an Olympics year. The summer Olympics are going to be in Beijing, China. The official site is here .

But this year is also the year of the latest United Methodist quadrennial. In the parlance of the day, that means General Conference. Every four years the wise, the sage, the lucky, the luminaries, and the comparatively few gather together to debate and vote on whatever issues have been building for the last four years in the United Methodist Church. This is the ultimate vehicle through which the church structure changes.

Any proposed change has a long way to go: from the local church to the district to the conference to General Conference. The result is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, every voice has a chance to be heard. It is very democratic. On the other hand, however, change tends to occur much more slowly than it does outside of the church. It lacks a certain nimbleness.

So it ain’t a perfect system. But until it changes, it’s all the UMC has…officially. This General Conference in particular could make some important decisions regarding what direction the church is going to take as it moves forward. For more information, go here .

OK, folks, have a good one!

Peace,

Kevin

In the Year of our Lord...?

Hey all,

“What year is it here?” I heard that provocative and somewhat outlandish question from one of my professors. He uses it when he goes to various churches to give talks or consult. It’s a wonderful way to cluing the hosting church into realizing that they are, perhaps, behind the times.

Now, when I say ‘behind the times’, I’m talking about multiple levels. One level is technologically. If you walk into a church and the most sophisticated piece of technology in there is the microphone…they’re behind the times. But a church could also be behind the times spatially. Now I’m not talking about stained glass windows and stone buildings. Those things rock and can be used in ways that are quite up to date. I’m more talking about things like fixed pews and a raised pulpit. These types of things tend to limit the flexibility of the worship and the ability of the congregation to freely grow and evolve.

Perhaps the most important way that a church can be ‘behind the times’, however, is culturally. If you step through the doors of a church and you feel like you stepped into anything other than 2008, the church is behind the times. Check out the music, the structure of the worship, how people are dressed, how people talk, what (if any) cultural references you see or hear, etc… Sometimes it’s like the 50’s. Sometimes it’s like the 80’s. And, unfortunately, sometimes it’s like the 90’s…the 1890’s. The church doesn’t serve anyone by being a museum. Jesus is just as present in the culture of 2008 as He was in the culture of 1908, 1608, or 1208…or 0008 for that matter. In fact, there are things about Jesus we’ll never be able to know until we see him incarnated in today’s culture, both in Bridgewater and Beijing (or any other location you care to choose).

So the next time you walk into a church, take a few moments to soak it all in. Then, if you’re up to it, nudge the person next to you and ask “What year is it here?”

Peace,
Kevin

That Little Wharf-rat Saw His Shadow!

A Happy Groundhog Day to all of you….

I’m going to throw a wrench in the works by not talking about Groundhog Day at all. Not a whit. Not a jot. Not a tittle. You’ll have to go get your Groundhog Day fix elsewhere.

I AM, however, going to talk to you about Lent (a-ha! Gotcha! Mwahahahahahahaha). Lent is starting this week. Have you thought about what to give up for Lent? After all, that’s the traditional thing to do – give something up, yeah?

Well…let me propose an alternative. You can sacrifice and focus on Jesus during the period of Lent without necessarily giving something up (although if you want to, go ahead – I both support and endorse giving up stuff for God…I’ll be doing some of that myself in fact). You may find it just as beneficial though to ADD something (or several things) to your life during Lent rather than subtracting something from it. Here are a few examples…during Lent you could:

-Intentionally take some time in the morning or before bed to engage in a spiritual discipline of some type (read a passage of Scripture, journal, light a candle and spend some time in prayer, etc). If you already have a regimen of some type of spiritual discipline(s), consider adding a new one during Lent. Try Lectio Divina or the Jesus Prayer.

-You could engage in more service activities during Lent. Give blood, work a shift at a soup kitchen, donate food or clothes, etc.

-Make a POINT of being more humane to your fellow human. Hold open doors for people, let someone in when you’re driving, pray for people you see stopped on the side of road, give up your seat on the bus or train to someone else, etc.

We don’t have Lent police walking around making sure that you use this time of penitence and reflection as its intended. We don’t have Lent legislators passing laws mandating Lenten activities because they don’t think you have the ability to do it on your own (thankfully). So it is up to you. Take a few moments to consider Christ. Just take a few idle moments and let your mind rest upon Jesus. Let that guide your thoughts (rather than our natural inclination to rationalize a way to doing whatever we want to do) and make a decision about what to do (or not do) as we begin our Lenten journey together.

Grace and peace to you, my friends!

Blessings,

Kevin