Lifelong Skills for Stuff

“...but in this world nothing can be said to be certain,
​except death and taxes.”
~ Benjamin Franklin, The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin

“The difference between death and taxes is death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” ~ Will Rogers

​March 4, 2025

​Beloved:
          It’s March 4th and I just completed my January? (nope!), February? (nope!) goals of 1.) delivering my documents to the accountant who does my taxes and 2.) sorting, shredding, filing, digitizing, reorganizing all the paper I accumulated in 2024.
          Is it fun?  Not especially.  Is it ever so satisfying?  Hands down, without a doubt, absolutely yes!  I keep less than a tenth of the paper in that file box and empty my shredder bucket at least twice.  The accountant will give me back a blue bound set of tax returns I’ll file in a banker box on a closet shelf and I’m done for another year.
          Home Ec probably isn’t taught in high school anymore but if it was and if I taught it, a unit on managing household paperwork would be included under the heading LifeLong Skills For Stuff Everybody Has To Deal With.  Of course, household paperwork is hardly the only unit to fit under that heading, just the one on my mind as I drove over to the accountant’s office this morning.  I’m also working on Ash Wednesday, and plans for Lent, the spiritual preparatory season for Holy Week and Easter.  Lent is not spiritual business as usual, but rather a time of deeper, more honest reflection, of sorting through our hearts and minds for what belongs and what does not, what is serving the faith we claim and what is not.  A time of clarifying our desires and our intentions in light of Christ.  A time of confession and repentance, of renewal and recommitment to the morals and values of this faith.
          I don’t teach Home Economics but I am a pastor, keeper of the spiritual life together of a set of believers in this time and place.  A privilege that still startles me when I see it clearly.  For Lent this year, I have a few bits and pieces to offer that you might find useful.  I’ll keep adding them here as I find them, rather than send multiple emails.  For the first, I’ve chosen a tiny book for us to read together - The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer.*  Let me hear from you if you plan to read it so we can set up times for discussion.
          Watch for more Lenten devotional material to be added to the our Home Page. 

~peace & prayers,
​pastor annette

          After compiling the devotional materials list, I feel inspired to create my own Lenten music playlist - ​on Spotify where I listen to music - which I will post soon.