By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Scripture:  Luke 13:31-35

​Are you still looking for that hour of sleep you lost last weekend?  Timing is important, right?  It seems so basic; to simply roll the hands of the clock forward one hour; easy peasy.  But research indicates our bodies have an established rhythm and that daylight savings time is followed by a spike in things like auto accidents, work-related injuries, strokes and heart attacks.  
Most of you are aware that, beginning April 25, I will be on a clergy renewal sabbatical.  I’m also currently engaged in a clergy renewal program through Benedict Inn consisting of five retreats drawing together clergy women of varying denominations across the U.S. and Canada.  When I set out to write my sabbatical application, I realized the second of the retreats would begin on April 29 and that Easter comes late this year, April 21st.  So, I reasoned, to begin my sabbatical mid-week after Easter would be perfect timing.  Easter Sunday will be over and I’ll have a couple days to rest, relax, and prepare before I head to the retreat at Benedict Inn.  But never would I have imagined one year ago that April 26 – yes, just one day after my sabbatical begins – would be the date that the United Methodist Judicial Council will hand down its ruling on the legislation passed at General Conference a couple of weeks ago.  In the United Methodist Church, no decision made at General Conference is ever a “done deal” until it has been subjected to Judicial Council review.  Only the Judicial Council has the right to determine if legislation is “constitutional.”  So, what seemed to me to be perfect sabbatical timing one year ago, has turned out to be anything but.  Not to mention, I’m traveling to the UK amid a Brexit disaster.  Timing is important. 

"Into Thine Hands..." © Sunny Miller, 2019 www.sunnymiller.us

By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Scripture:  Luke 4:1-13

An overweight businessman decided it was time to shed some excess pounds.  He took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to work to avoid his favorite bakery.  One morning, however, he showed up at work with a gigantic coffee cake.  Everyone in the office scolded him, but his smile remained nonetheless.  "This is a special coffee cake," he explained.  "I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there in the window was a host of goodies.  I felt it was no accident, so I prayed, 'Lord, if you want me to have one of those delicious coffee cakes, let there be a parking spot open right in front.  'And sure enough, the eighth time around the block, there it was!"[1]

[1] Illustration taken from eSermons.com.

By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Scripture:  Luke 9:28-36

​Lent begins this Wednesday.  Lent is a “season” on the church’s calendar; a period of 40 days (excluding Sundays) during which we spiritually prepare for the celebration of Easter.  Here at Trinity, Lent unofficially kicks off each year with our Fat Tuesday pancake supper.  This year our event will focus on the ministry of UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief.  You can read more details in this morning’s bulletin.  Our Pancake Supper concludes with a service to transition us into Lent.  We call it “Beads to Ashes,” emphasizing that – as we enter Lent – we put the colorful, celebrative beads of Mardi Gras aside and put on symbols of repentance and mortality: the ashes that will be applied to our foreheads in the shape of the cross.
Another common symbol of Mardi Gras is masks.  In New Orleans, krewes who organize the parades don masks that allow them to behave in ways that might ordinarily be deemed socially unacceptable.  At the Mardi Gras following Hurricane Katrina, members of many krewes mocked and ridiculed FEMA.  Anything goes on Fat Tuesday and, with the anonymity of a mask, no one fear Wednesday morning reprisals.