Those of us who strive to follow Jesus are tasked with not only continuing his work, but spreading the gospel, AKA the “good news.” Still, I'll be the first to confess that I'm much more comfortable trying to show someone, through my life and actions, who Jesus is and what his promise of life abundant is all about than I am trying to tell them some kind of good news.

Easter is here! Christ is Risen! The darkness has passed, the light has returned, and hope springs to life anew.

So what's this about the shadow of resurrection? Didn't we leave the shadows behind on Good Friday? How could there possibly be a shadow-side to Christ's defeat of death and sin?

On March 24^th, a group of brave souls laughed in the face of a Palm Sunday snowstorm and showed up to paint the new Arts & Crafts Space. The transformation is now well underway and plans have already been made to apply the final coat of paint on Tuesday, April 2^nd at 5pm. Once the room is painted and set up the supplies for Loops of Love will be moved over from the existing meeting room.

I always find it fascinating when books I’m reading start talking to each other. Does this ever happen to you? Right now I’m about half-way into The Idolatry of God, the latest from Peter Rollins, and I’ve just started working through a draft copy of Mark Scandrette’s upcoming book on radical simplicity that he was kind enough to share. Though they’re dramatically different reads I have found they both resonate with the subject of aspiration.

To aspire to something is to direct your hopes or ambitions toward achieving that thing. The word comes from Latin and French origins meaning to breathe onto/into something. It’s the same Latin root word from which we get “spirit.” Perhaps another way of defining aspiration might be that we direct or commit our spirit toward a particular thing.

This reflection is inspired by John 15:9-17, the Church of the Brethren conviction that ministry is shared amongst all who are part of the community of Christ, and the opportunity to discern as a congregation how we will support our shared ministry in the coming year. It was shared on 9/23/12 as part of the final worship gathering of our 2012 Stewardship Series.