Friday Five: Signs

This is a Friday Five from Sally over at Revgals:

She writes about a difficult week in Dowham Market, and yet in the sadness there have been signs of real hope. And so she asks us if we have seen signs of hope... signs of spring... in our lives or in our communities.

What have you seen/ heard this week that was a :

1. Sign of hope?

Two babies, both two months old, who were in church on Sunday. One was German American, and named "Ami." The other was Indian (From Delhi, I believe) and named Nathanael. A small sign of the more integrated future of our congregation? I hope.

Oh, also, and seeing the eagles in Red Wing.

2. An unexpected word of light in a dark place?

I have had 3 funerals in the last 2 weeks, and the senior pastor has had about the same. I walked into our Fireside Room last week, where our Prayer Shawl Knitters gather. As we sat and talked and knitted, one of them said they enjoyed my newsletter column that had just come out (it was all about signs of spring and signs of resurrection.) another one added that she enjoyed singing Holden Evening Prayer for Lent, and a third person said they had appreciated my last sermon. Then someone else said, "Aren't you glad you came in here?" I was. Receiving words of affirmation and appreciation when you are not expecting them or even needing them is very hopeful.

3. A sign of spring?

I heard birds start singing this week, even though the temperatures have again fallen to just about 0 degrees.

4. Challenging/ surprising?

Our church based community organizing group is really taking on Racial Justice as a goal and an issue this year. We are mostly a group of mostly white religious leaders, and I believe that this will be a challenge for us. One of our African American women leaders spoke to us about what it was like to be an African American in the United States. She told us that as people of privilege we can never really know what it is like for her. I believe her. Another leader (from South Africa) challenged us to consider what was really in it for us to work for racial justice.

5. Share a hope for the coming week/month/year....

I Hope to be able to get my own laptop computer sometime this year (I know, it's mundane). And I have a hope (or is it just wishful thinking?) to write creatively again: poetry, stories, etc. Perhaps in the next year?

Bonus play... a piece of music/ poem guaranteed to cheer you?

Dvorak's New World Symphony always cheers me up. I like to listen to it during Easter.

Also, this song: