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THE LONGEST NIGHT

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It is definitely winter at the Vicarage now. I am feeding the birds everyday and just keeping ahead of their feeding frenzies. It tells me the last of the edibles in the forests are gone. The chickens are moving the hay I am providing for them, from one end of their enclosure to the other as they have need to keep the coop warm for their feet in the colder temperatures, and I am changing out their water twice a day now to keep it from freezing.

We are into the season of storms. Each day brings its own display of wind or precipitation and the sky is more often rheumy than not.

The day starts at 7 A.M., is gone y 4:30 P.M. and is bordered by several hours of wintry half light on each side. As we head towards the longest night of the year, I have to admit I am feeling affected by the darkness more than ever before.

To cope I am feeling led into still another deeper place of prayer. When not doing people work, I find myself bouncing back and forth between prayer and administrative work in about half hour increments.

I am feeling this necessary to keep my head on straight… and as a final work of preparation before the new year brings what I am sensing it will.

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2024 has been a hard fought battle with many large changes. It began with my mother entering hospice care. Mom passed in April. Shortly after that my daughter was diagnosed with cancer and the summer was given to hospitalizations and treatments. My sister went back to her ministry in the Netherlands and my son and his family bought a condo and moved out. Lots of changes. I think part of the reason for this prayer rhythm is to help me grieve all the change and trouble. There is a piece of me that I think is just entering into the grieving process now. I feel like I have said that before. Maybe I am not just entering the process. Maybe I am just in a new phase, a phase that is going to require a lot more prayer.

BUT … these depths of prayer are not just about grieving the past. It is about preparing for the soon to come move of God. My daughter, Melanie, was telling me about a vivid dream she had the other night, and how she believed it was a word from God about how He was going to bring breakthrough in certain areas of our community. She also believes that we are being called, as a church, to partner with Him in these areas.

It reminded me of a conversation I recently had with another minister about the body of Christ needing to spend enough time in abiding prayer to bring heavenly realities into the earthly realm. I realize this is not just about me personally. God is beginning to call the church into deeper prayer because that is what it is going to take to bring forth the miracles we are going to need in the days ahead. We are heading toward the world’s longest night.In that space of darkness the church is going to need to bring its brightest light.

“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever….The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness,a light will shine.” Isa. 9:1,2

SABBATICAL DAY 5: CONFERENCING

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

This sabbatical feels different from my last. During the last sabbatical my mother was just entering the most intensive part of her medical need. Travel was not really an option. Now Mom is gone. I guess I could go anywhere I want, but I don’t really have any desire to go anywhere.

I know many people think of sabbatical as a vacation. I don’t. I see it as a necessary change of life rhythm for the purpose of clarifying vision. I really need that. I feel more deeply than ever before that I need to see what is coming down the road. More than that I feel like I am commanded to it.

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One thing I did learn about sabbatical from last time was that the rhythm and events of sabbatical are only truly determined by God. I made intricate plans last time and God intervened heavily in my plans to change them. I didn’t get done all that was on my list, but I know now I did get done what I needed to do.

This time my plans are not as detailed, but I feel like I have come closer to matching God’s plans for this sabbatical. This first week of sabbatical was given to prayer and conferences. I attended several prayer services at TWR House of Prayer as they held their annual growth conference. Yesterday I was at Liberty Church in Shrewsbury MA for their L2L conference. Today I was at my own church for our Better Man Conference. I have pages of notes to pray through this next week as I seek vision from them for our church.

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This next week I am spending time in deep prayer, in working around the Vicarage, and in planning administratively for the church: I have budgets to do; missions job descriptions to update; and infrastructure plans to consider; I also think it is time to fill out the paperwork for the next step in my ministry licensing process.

My son and his wife are signing papers this week on a condo so I am beginning a big fall cleaning as they prepare to move at the end of the month. It feels like threads are coming together and I am beginning to see the tapestry, streams are blending in a divine confluence. I certainly am not the only one sensing this. I don’t even understand the bigger parts of it, but I am very clear on the fact that I need to understand my own small part of the stream. I think much depends on it.

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DO YOU FEEL THIS NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN THE LAST?

THE FOREST GARDEN IN FREE FALL

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We are falling quickly into autumn here in northern Massachusetts. The evenings get down into the 40s, but the days are still in the 70s. It’s that time of year when I fight with myself about whether or not to put on the heat at night. So far my frugal self is winning.

This morning I admit, I turned on one of the mobile heaters in the living room just until I didn’t need to wear a blanket in the house.

Today is my Sabbath so I have been trying to be mindful all day about my prayer time and about taking in the beauty of my surroundings.

The gardens are still full of beautiful fall flowers, like this stand of Maximillian sunflowers.

The nasturtiums are in flower. I have been adding the leaves and flowers to our salads these last few weeks.

The Japanese knotweed is absolutely beautiful right now too.

This St. John’s Wort is letting us know he is ready for what is to come.

The white and purple asters have been remarkable this year.

These tiny rose hips are already attracting the wild birds around the area. We are sure to be loaded with cardinals and bluejays this year through the winter. I hope we can get some good footage from Kristine’s camera.

While my daughter is not a fan of the goldenrod I love the brightness it brings to the season.

Today was not a big work in the yard day. I have been sitting out for my prayer sessions, but most of the day I have been in doing paperwork. Last week was yard work week. I got a lot of mint harvested and hung to dry.

I also mowed the whole yard…except the forest path. That I am afraid is looking pretty unkempt just now.

But Kristine got the chicken paddock moved. The chickens love it!

Well, all except for Partly Sunny. She escaped this morning through a hole in the fencing. We found her hiding in the bushes just behind the paddock. She complained when we put her back in the chicken yard, but I just checked on her and she seems resigned to her fate…at least for now. Kristine moved some of the fencing to deal with the hole and I am going layer some field stone around the bottom edges of the paddock to shore it up. All in all we are doing pretty well getting ready for winter.

WHAT DOES YOUR WORLD LOOK LIKE THIS FALL? OR IF YOU ARE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE WHAT DOES YOUR SPRING LOOK LIKE?

A BRIEF RETURN TO YOUTH MINISTRY

/ joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

This summer, as my daughter entered her six weeks of radiation treatment after cancer surgery, I took over a few pieces of her church ministry. One of the ministries I have been covering this summer is youth ministry.

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I was a youth minister for 19 years, but I have been retired from it for almost a decade. Which means the last time I seriously addressed this ministry I was still in my forties. Now as I approach sixty I am in a very different body than I was back then.

I knew going in that I was going to need to lean on the youth team in a way I never had before. Fortunately for everyone, my daughter has spent a good deal of time raising up a very talented and capable team of people to help lead our youth group.

This summer the brother and sister team of Trinity and Christian helped out. Trinity was our chief sound and media tech. Christian actually shared the preaching responsibilities with me and helped with games.

Troy operated as one of our games masters and an alternate media tech.

Patrick in the lower left hand corner of this picture was our worship leader.

And Pam, the lady on the right, was our chief administrator on site and called the weekly announcements for us. My daughter organized us each week, by making sure all of our supplies were set up weekly and by sending out the weekly duty roster for us. I was really just the pastoral presence in the room which was good because honestly I felt really rusty going in.

Still we managed to pull off the summer program and the fellowship trip to Kimball’s ice cream.

It was a very active summer.

We drew in some extra help for driving to the Kimball’s event. Carrie Hackett (pictured at the end of the table) stepped in with her car to help us get to Kimballs. Carrie is our adult Doing Life and outreach coordinator.

Sadie Bauver pictured here with the blue baton is one of our youth and she is finishing up the summer as our worship leader. I am finishing out the summer as the youth preacher. This has been an all hands on deck situation. I am so blessed that all the hands have risen up to help!

THE HARVEST IN THE FOREST

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I have not tended my garden for nearly seven years. I always had good intentions…but life just kind of kept getting in the way. This year life has changed. I find myself with a bit of “extra time”, and so I have gone back to the garden. It was foresty seven years ago when I last paid attention to it. Now, after seven years of neglect it is like I have a small Mirkwood forest on my hands.

All summer long I have mowed and weed whacked. I have moved raised beds. I have pruned and even weeded the beds. I have brought in new soil and turned over old soil. I have divided plants that were crowding each other and pulled up others to give room for new growth.

Still the forest runs wild around me. And you can never tell what wildness might visit you on any given day.

This little guy stopped by for a visit one day last week along with a groundhog I startles out of the daisies. Yesterday as I met with a missionary in the prayer tent we were visited by curious squirrels and chipmunks a flock of grackles and two hummingbirds. A rabbit even stopped by to chew the clover near us.

The flower gardens are out of control. I can’t keep ahead of the deadheading. But their purpose os fulfilled as they attract the pollinators to the forest garden.

This wall of hydrangeas is chock full of bees everyday. The harvest is beginning to come in.

I picked and ate our first tomato today. I also picked our first egg plant. It was tiny but Kristine cut it up and put it in the rice with tonight’s supper. We have picked a gallon of raspberries. The blueberries are just coming in this week. I think I missed the currants, but I will check to see if there are any left tomorrow on my day off.

I am just beginning the journey of permaculture in my yard, but I sense I am going to learn many lessons along the road. The first: I don’t control the harvest. It comes when it wants. I must catch it when it comes.

A Weekend Of Prayer and Family

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

It is summer. Here in New England with summer being so short (lasting really only two. months) we try to cram in as much summer living as we can. This weekend the Parks and Rec department scheduled inn the annual Food Truck Festival. It was all hands on deck for this huge event, so my daughter Melanie had to work the event from start to finish. Her husband James also had to work, so I got to watch their girls, my granddaughters Daniella and Abigail.

We watched “Bluey” and”Monsters At Work” on the Disney Channel

Then we went to the playground for some much needed playtime in the sunshine. We even stopped at the Food Truck Festival, but the girls didn’t see anything they liked (except ice cream of course) and so we ordered a pizza from where their Dad works and hunkered down until Melanie and James were finished their work.

On Saturday all the kids went to the beach and I met mum with my Father-in-law for lunch at Kerrick’s Tavern in Orange MA. Doug is up visiting his brother and sister-in-law who are both ailing. But we found time for lunch and catching up.

After a ride through the countryside, I dropped Doug off at his brother’s house in Athol MA. Since it was time to pray I decided to take little prayer tour around the area. I stopped at Silverlake St. Cemetery where my family is buried. There I heard I felt the Spirit of God urging me to begin tying up loose ends.

At Tully Lake I contemplated how long my family has been connected to this area of the world. My great great great grandfather was a pastor in this region back in the mid 1850’s. My family has been actively spreading Christianity in this part of the world for a long long time.

At Doane’s Falls I was once again thinking about how much spiritual water has been over the bridge since my family came to this region. How many lives have we been able to touch over the centuries and how many more souls remain to be impacted before the age of the worlds changes.I

I know my great great great grandfather probably thought the same way I am thinking now, but I feel like time is short and the message must be brought to our generation.

HERE IS THE MESSAGE I PREACHED ON SUNDAY OF YOU CARE TO LISTEN.

https://fb.watch/t2Of-Ueiw2