Pastor's Pulpit

Sometimes I think we get it right the first time around. It’s February and that brings to mind Valentine’s Day. My earliest memories of Valentine’s day was Kindergarten. Mom got boxes of cheap Valentines cards, one for each kid in the class and every kid got a collection of cards along with these little candy hearts that were the color and consistency of Tums antacid tablets that has slogans like BE MINE, LUV YU and CUTIE printed on them. Then I got older and Valentine’s Day became more focused on romance, making it even harder to work up the nerve to ask a girl to the Valentine’s dance. Eventually I thought of Valentine’s Day as the quintessential Hallmark holiday. You know the type the candy and card people invented to sell candy and cards once a year. There was a little Italian restaurant that Lynne and I used to go to back East that was around the corner from our house. The food was good and the prices didn’t break the bank. It was one of our favorites, except for Valentine’s Day. On Valentine ’s Day, they would have a “special menu” of 6 items and double the price. I couldn’t blame them. They had a business to run and the “special menu” streamlined what promised to be a busy night.

Talk about squeezing the joy out of life! When I was in college, we had a visiting professor from Ireland who was a great favorite of the gang I hung out with. Knowing that things were done differently in Ireland, we decided to introduce him to an American Valentine’s Day. We got a shoebox, decorated it with tissue paper and lace hearts cut from doilies and stuffed it with school kid type Valentines cards and candy hearts. We invaded his class with shouts of

‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’ and handed out the cards and candy to all of his students. The look of bewildered amusement on his face was worth the price of admission! It remains one of my cherished memories from my college years.

Now when I think of Valentine’s Day, that’s the image that presents itself. In the end, Valentines’ Day is not about the various martyrs named Valentine that the church venerated. It’s not about the Roman fertility ritual Lupercalia that the church sought to replace. It’s not even about the Shakespeare’s Valentine sonnets or all the love songs in the world. Valentine’s Day is about letting everyone know that they are special, not because of what they do for us but simply because they are in our lives and we are thankful for them.

Come to think about it, isn’t that what church is all about? Jesus meets us wherever we are and removes the often self-imposed obstacles in our lives. Forgiven, and free from shame, the Holy Spirit directs us to a community in which we celebrate and proclaim our experience of God’s grace. Together we seek to share that experience with everyone that the Father places in our paths. There may not be a lot of tissue paper and lace doilies in our worship services, but the bewildered awe of God’s overwhelming love and grace are always there. That’s probably worth a few candy hearts.

See you in church!

Paul

There are changes in the New Horizon office staff effective January 2023. Sarah Young is the new Administrative Assistant. She is married to Jaime Young and they have three daughters; Jaydyn Arnold, Eleanor Arnold and Leia Young.  Sarah’s family were long time members of First Presbyterian Church. Sarah is active in Cub Scouts with Pack 15. She is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Council Bluffs Chapter. She enjoys plastic canvas sewing, needle point, gardening, family history and Council Bluffs history.

Cindy Spetman has “retired” from the Administrative Assistant position. She is returning to the Finance Clerk position. She will work one or two days a week and help in the office as needed.