Honesty

My one word for 2015 is “Honesty.”

Let’s see how I did with Honesty in March.

March was very busy with Lent and activities at the church. It started off with a group of us from Bethany feeding the college students dinner at The Lighthouse, an open and affirming Christian college fellowship at the University of Puget Sound here in Tacoma. We fixed Mexican food, and they seemed to love it. The best part was, we got to stay and eat supper with them, and then participate in their discussion after dinner. We talked about money and finances and how they relate to the church. They are thoughtful, kind, and interesting young people, and I am more hopeful for the future when they grow up.

We’ve also had a weekly Vesper Service every Wednesday night for about half an hour. Very similar to a Taize service.

In Sunday School we’ve spent the month reading Marcus Borg and Dominic Crosson’s The Last Week, What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem.

You can read reviews on Goodreads by following the link. So much of what has been things that I’ve struggled with is explained. You may or may not agree with their conclusions, but it will definitely make you think.

Lunch Bunch was a trip to Pomodoro, an Italian restaurant in the Proctor District here in Tacoma.

It was good, but nothing special as Al and I frequent it often by ourselves.

Al and I continued our foray into creative writing with a formal fiction-writing class. It was fun, although I didn’t write much of anything until I was suddenly inspired for the last class to write the semi-genealogical, semi-fictional account of the Christening Robe and the people who were baptized in it. It was made by my great-grandmother in 1875 to baptize my father’s mother, and now five generations of the family have worn it for their baptism.

This is my granddaughter, Kate, at her baptism in 2002.

I’ve been very busy with meetings for Olympia Presbytery and for my work with the Commission on Ministry, although not as busy as in February. I guess all the preachers are feeling a little overwhelmed with Lenten activities, too.

Pierce County Hunger Advocates held a workshop to teach churches how to conduct an offering of letters, sponsored by Bread for the World.

We had a small turnout, which was really sad, because we had a couple of great speakers. One was a principal here in Tacoma whose school has over 90% of the students on free or reduced price lunches. That’s major poverty. This fall, congress is going to be taking up the school lunch program, and we really need the citizens in this country to write letters to ensure they don’t cut it to the bone as they have threatened to do with so many “safety net” programs. Help if you can.

I struggle on with my diet. I DO have a new picture of me that shows some of the weight I’ve lost.

I credit my FitBit and MyFitnessPal with whatever success I’ve had. The weight is coming off very slowly, but at least I’m not gaining anything back.

The church is doing a capital campaign to raise money to bring the facilities up to ADA standards and to do some needed repairs on our 80-year-old building. THAT, of course is taking up a lot of my time. Since I’m being honest, I only hope we haven’t bitten off more than we can chew.

Not too much about HONESTY in this report, but I’m remembering my word, and trying to live my life in HONEST relationships.