A change in seasons has happened. Yes we even get changes in seasons in Arizona, although not quite as dramatic as in other parts of the country. In fact when you are new here you really don’t notice it that much. It is sunny pretty much every day in Arizona and it very seldom gets real cold. The first few years you are here all you really notice is that the heat finally goes away and it gets comfortable for several months before the heat gets turned back up again. After you have been here awhile though you start to notice the subtle differences in the seasons, in a sense you learn a new normal. Basically you learn to complain about different things and rejoice in other stuff that many people would think strange. For instance in the summer when the temperature drops to 99 you rejoice that finally you have a cool day. When it’s 109 you rejoice that after 18 days in a row it’s not above 110. When it drops below 32, which doesn’t happen often, panic and hysteria kick in because in Arizona most of the piping is outside and nothing is insulated from the cold so pipes start breaking throughout the community. I have lived in North Dakota, Indiana, Idaho, Montana, Michigan and even in Wyoming where it gets really cold and my pipes have never burst. So it was ironic that the day I arrived in Phoenix it dropped below 32 and my pipes broke in my house. I had lived through winters of weeks on end of 30 below without a problem, first day in Arizona with 32 above and I have a major disaster on my hands. But that’s Arizona, sunny, warm, hot, sometimes wonderful and always a little strange.
A change in seasons is about to happen in the church as well. In a little over a month we will be ending the season of Pentecost and entering the season of Advent and with that a whole new church year. For those us who follow a liturgical calendar we will be entering season B. It is a three year cycle of A, B, C and then we start the whole thing over again. As a pastor who went through his phase of trying to “be with it.” I used to make fun of the church year and all the colors and old traditions. At a certain point along the way I realized that I wasn’t “with it,” in fact I had probably lost it along the way but just can’t remember where, to loosely quote Johnny Carson. I know if you reading this and you are under 40 you are probably asking yourself, “Who is Johnny Carson?” More evidence I am no longer with it. I have relearned recently to deeply appreciate the change in seasons in the church. I know they are not in Scripture and they are certainly not points of doctrine, but that doesn’t make them unimportant. Right now we are in the season of Pentecost. This season starts with the Day of Pentecost which usually occurs somewhere in late May or early June, depending on when Easter is. It is day of red. Red represents the fire of the Holy Spirit coming down on the church. It is a color of power and strength. The Sunday after that is White because it is Trinity Sunday. White stands for purity, and sinlessness, perfect for a Sunday focusing on the three persons of the Godhead. The next Sunday the color turns to Green and remains Green for usually twenty some weeks. Green is the color of life and growth and the season of Pentecost focuses on the life of the Christian, it is also sometimes referred to as the non-festive half of the church year. There is one festival though that we as Lutherans celebrate and that is the usually the last Sunday in October when we celebrate the Reformation, where the color is Red again. The new Church years usually starts at the end of November with Advent. The color for Advent is Blue, which is a royal color and a color of anticipation. During Advent we celebrate the various comings of Christ. We celebrate his first coming at Christmas, we celebrate his coming into our hearts by faith and we celebrate his second coming which we are still waiting for. Advent is of course followed by the season of Christmas which is also White. The season of Christmas takes us into the New Year and is followed by the season of Epiphany which is Green. Epiphany means shining forth and during this time we celebrate the miracles of Jesus while he was here on earth. Jesus was both man and God but for the most part people just saw his humanity while he was here on earth, but at times he would perform a miracle and his divinity would shine forth out of his humanity. Epiphany is then followed by the season of Lent which is represented by the color Purple, which is a color of suffering. During Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross. We look at his coming suffering for us and it all leads up to Good Friday which is represented by the color Black, the color of sin and death. Thankfully two days later we celebrate Easter with the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The season of Easter is presented by the color of White. This season then leads us back to Pentecost where we started. Each of these seasons has a different color and a different focus. These seasons keep us on track and keep us in a rhythm. We also have special celebrations during all of this, unusual things happen in the church, sometimes some big event in the world will cause us to stop and take notice and related it to God in some way, but for the most part the seasons come and go and we continually get reminded of the law and the gospel. The law shows us our sins and the Gospel shows us our Savior. Each season looks at those two things differently but at the end of the day it all comes down to the fact that Jesus died for our sins and that he offers us his free forgiveness through faith in him.
I will admit that I miss the four seasons, I particularly miss the early fall. I believe there is even a Clint Black song that contains the line, “There is just something about the early fall.” Early fall in Arizona is not as different from summer as it is in other parts of the country. I make up for that by making pumpkin bread and drying pumpkin seeds. I also observe the seasons of the church which in fall begin to change as well. There is also something about the early fall in the church, the pace changes, the air changes, and I like that. A cold cloudy day wouldn’t hurt though. Just a special request.
Pastor Fred
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
PATIENCE SOUP
I love making soup. Typically when people think of soup they think of something that they eat in late fall or in the winter. In Arizona most people consider it too hot to eat soup in the summer. I mean who wants to eat soup when its 115 outside? I get that, I understand that, but I love soup all year round. I eat soup even when it is 115 outside. I stand over the pot stirring whipping the sweat off of my brow and then I eat it with more sweat pouring out. I just love soup. It probably helps that I also like hot weather, although sometimes 115 is pushing it. If I had my way we would eat soup every night I like it so much. The other members of my family though, are not quite as fanatically about it as I am. My wife likes soup. My kids are not big fans yet. I say yet because I am slowly working on their taste buds and they are starting to eat some of my soups. They particularly like my homemade chicken noodle soup. I have several soup books in my library. The books all have different approaches to soup. For instance I have one book entitled, “500 Soups”. It has a bunch of different categories like cold soups, meat based soups, and grained based soup etc… and then every soup has about 6 variations. The soups in this book are all very good and they usually only take at most 45 minutes to make. There is a soup in there called, “Chili beef soup with cheese topped tortilla chips.” I use lamb instead of beef and my family says it tastes just like the “Mexican Pizza” at Taco Bell. The difference the soup is healthy for you while the Mexican Pizza isn’t. The soups from the book are easy to make and don’t take a lot of time. We eat a lot of soup from this book.
I have another soup book though that takes a very different approach it is called, “The Best Soups in the World.” It literally has soups from all around the world and even from different time periods in world history. The recipes have ingredients that are sometimes hard to come by and the instructions can be very complicated and time consuming. Some of the soups in this book can take hours and hours to make and one mistake and you might as well pour it down the drain. Soups in this book have names like, “Basler Mehlsuppe” which is from Switzerland. “Armenian Trahana Soup” which is from Armenia and takes a week to make from start to finish. Then there is “Soupe de Poisson” from Marseilles which has recipes within the recipe. Whenever one of these soups is on the schedule my family takes a step back because they never know what is going to happen. They just know I am going to be obsessed with my cast iron Dutch oven over the stove for several hours and that I am not to be disturbed. I absolutely treasure this book. I don’t even let people turn the pages in it until I have a blood sample, social security number and their first born child as collateral. I usually only make two soups a month from this book, because of time constraints, I need to make sure there are no conflicts on the calendar and that I will have time alone to make the soup. These soups require preparation and great care and above all these soups require patience. With the “500 Soups” book you just kind of put it together and cook it and the soups are pretty good. With these soups though, much patience is require and the ending result is either something out of this world or it is horrible. The conclusion I have come to in the last six months is that really good soup, soup that causes you to forget where you are at and what you are doing and why you even exist, requires patience. Patience is a key ingredient.
The thing about a good soup is that it needs to slowly cook and certain ingredients need to be added at certain times. The amount of the ingredient is many times measured by taste and smell. You have to let it simmer, you can’t rush things, you can’t speed up the process and get really good mind blowing soup. Things need time to cook down, to cook together, and to release flavors. Spices need to be added in small amounts and herbs need to be stripped from the stems and crumbled just so between your fingers over the soup. If salt is being added, it can’t be put in until the last minute and then you can’t over salt because you can’t take it back. Pepper needs to be ground at the last minute also, but only to the point that its taste comes out and not to the point that people choke when they eat it. Patience and calm is needed in all of this.
I never have understood the concept of the angry soup maker that is sometimes portrayed on TV. After I get done making soup, I am the calmest guy in the room. All of my stress is gone and I am in a very good mood. I am also very patient at this point. I have taken ingredients and put them in a pot and added heat and over the course of a couple of hours I have added this and that, stirred endlessly with my wooden spoon, covered the pot and let it simmer on its own, checking every once in a while on its progress. If I have added wine, I probably I have also drank some, my hands smell of garlic and maybe mint, thyme, sage, pepper, basil and a few other herbs and spices. The house smells wonderful and now all there is to do is eat the soup that patience has created. The thing about this patience soup is that it seems to translate to other areas of my life as well. I tend to be more patient with people in general after I have been making soup.
Now I know the standard Christian response to this will be, pastor what you really need to do is read Scripture and pray if you want patience. I agree and I do that, but I also believe that God works through the common everyday things that we do. When we are in need of some quality like patience or kindness, he doesn’t just say take a couple of Bible verses and call me in the morning after you pray. He gives us vocations, avocations and sometimes vacations to keep us healthy. I need patience, therefore in addition to prayer and Scripture, I need soup. I think that is true of everyone. It may not be soup for you, but maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s a hobby or a craft like cooking, but everyone has something. How do you slow down and focus and develop things like patience? If you don’t have anything right now what are some ways that you can start to find them?
Pastor Fred
I have another soup book though that takes a very different approach it is called, “The Best Soups in the World.” It literally has soups from all around the world and even from different time periods in world history. The recipes have ingredients that are sometimes hard to come by and the instructions can be very complicated and time consuming. Some of the soups in this book can take hours and hours to make and one mistake and you might as well pour it down the drain. Soups in this book have names like, “Basler Mehlsuppe” which is from Switzerland. “Armenian Trahana Soup” which is from Armenia and takes a week to make from start to finish. Then there is “Soupe de Poisson” from Marseilles which has recipes within the recipe. Whenever one of these soups is on the schedule my family takes a step back because they never know what is going to happen. They just know I am going to be obsessed with my cast iron Dutch oven over the stove for several hours and that I am not to be disturbed. I absolutely treasure this book. I don’t even let people turn the pages in it until I have a blood sample, social security number and their first born child as collateral. I usually only make two soups a month from this book, because of time constraints, I need to make sure there are no conflicts on the calendar and that I will have time alone to make the soup. These soups require preparation and great care and above all these soups require patience. With the “500 Soups” book you just kind of put it together and cook it and the soups are pretty good. With these soups though, much patience is require and the ending result is either something out of this world or it is horrible. The conclusion I have come to in the last six months is that really good soup, soup that causes you to forget where you are at and what you are doing and why you even exist, requires patience. Patience is a key ingredient.
The thing about a good soup is that it needs to slowly cook and certain ingredients need to be added at certain times. The amount of the ingredient is many times measured by taste and smell. You have to let it simmer, you can’t rush things, you can’t speed up the process and get really good mind blowing soup. Things need time to cook down, to cook together, and to release flavors. Spices need to be added in small amounts and herbs need to be stripped from the stems and crumbled just so between your fingers over the soup. If salt is being added, it can’t be put in until the last minute and then you can’t over salt because you can’t take it back. Pepper needs to be ground at the last minute also, but only to the point that its taste comes out and not to the point that people choke when they eat it. Patience and calm is needed in all of this.
I never have understood the concept of the angry soup maker that is sometimes portrayed on TV. After I get done making soup, I am the calmest guy in the room. All of my stress is gone and I am in a very good mood. I am also very patient at this point. I have taken ingredients and put them in a pot and added heat and over the course of a couple of hours I have added this and that, stirred endlessly with my wooden spoon, covered the pot and let it simmer on its own, checking every once in a while on its progress. If I have added wine, I probably I have also drank some, my hands smell of garlic and maybe mint, thyme, sage, pepper, basil and a few other herbs and spices. The house smells wonderful and now all there is to do is eat the soup that patience has created. The thing about this patience soup is that it seems to translate to other areas of my life as well. I tend to be more patient with people in general after I have been making soup.
Now I know the standard Christian response to this will be, pastor what you really need to do is read Scripture and pray if you want patience. I agree and I do that, but I also believe that God works through the common everyday things that we do. When we are in need of some quality like patience or kindness, he doesn’t just say take a couple of Bible verses and call me in the morning after you pray. He gives us vocations, avocations and sometimes vacations to keep us healthy. I need patience, therefore in addition to prayer and Scripture, I need soup. I think that is true of everyone. It may not be soup for you, but maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s a hobby or a craft like cooking, but everyone has something. How do you slow down and focus and develop things like patience? If you don’t have anything right now what are some ways that you can start to find them?
Pastor Fred
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