By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12, 16b-21
https://youtu.be/M2-esz4ZtNw

I think I’ve shared before that many years ago before my dad’s passing, when he was visiting with Britt and me and our dogs, he heard me say to one of the dogs, “I love you.”  I say that to my dogs quite a lot.  “Do you think they know what love means?” my dad asked, “What the word means?”  I paused to think about his question.  “I do,” I replied, “because when I tell them I love them I am generally doing something kind toward them, something they enjoy – petting them, feeding them, cuddling with them.  In fact, they probably have a better understanding of the word than some humans who have been humiliated and abused by those who say they love them.” 
Like that old cliché, “pretty is as pretty does,” love is as love does.  Or, as the writer of first John puts it to his readers, “let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”[i]  Friends, our understanding of love doesn’t come from a dictionary.  It comes from our experience with those who claim to love us.  Love is as love does.


[i] 1 John 3:18.  NRSV
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By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Video: ​https://youtu.be/4ERDGISuQic

Matthew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
 
There is something I have noticed in recent weeks: the COVID pandemic was an inflection point for many of us.  Who knows why? Perhaps because it reminded us of the fragility of life; perhaps because many of us had “down time” that provided space for deep reflection; perhaps because what we had to go without forced us to think about what we value most.  Whatever the root of our introspection, many people seem now to be emerging from this global pandemic ready to make bold, sweeping change to their lives.  As I dialogue with people, I hear this theme of a renewed focus on relationships and a refusal to continue to hold our deepest hopes and dreams at bay.  We recognize the need to seize the moment and not kick the can of emotional fulfillment perpetually down the road, so to speak.
Perhaps you are familiar with the Eisenhower Matrix with its four quadrants encouraging careful evaluation of the important versus the unimportant, the urgent versus the non-urgent.  It is often used as a life-coaching tool, inviting careful evaluation of the way we utilize our time, talents and treasure.  It challenges us with the question: are we living our lives with awareness and purpose or are we simply succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent?  Are we dedicating our time, our talents, and our treasure to that which we value most?  Are we “all in” for the right things?
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By Pastor Tracey Leslie
Scripture: John 20:24-31
https://youtu.be/rwgLlZV0XBc

​NRS John 20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
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