February 18th Ash Wednesday service with imposition of ashes will be held at 7:00 p.m.
All of the Wednesdays in Lent we will offer an Education Hour at 10:00 a.m. and Lenten Prayer Service at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome to gather for lunch at the Centerville Diner afterwards.
Many of us are aware that this is a complicated moment in our shared life. People hold different views about current events and public policy, and faithful people of good conscience don’t always agree on how best to respond. At the same time, it’s also true that some of our neighbors are carrying fear and uncertainty right now, especially within immigrant communities, and that reality deserves our care and attention.
Scripture gives us a steady place to stand in moments like this. Again and again, God reminds the people not to forget those who live among them with fewer protections. “You shall love the stranger as yourself,” Leviticus says, “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The call isn’t rooted in politics, but in memory, compassion, and faithfulness.
Jesus lives this teaching not through arguments, but through presence. He stays close to people who are anxious, overlooked, or unsure of what tomorrow might bring. He reminds us that love of neighbor begins not with agreement, but with attention, with showing up in ways that say, you matter here.
This month, for Second Sunday, as a simple expression of that care, we’re reaching out to our neighbors in the nearby mobile home communities with small gift bags on Super Bowl Sunday. There’s no message attached and no expectation in return. It’s simply a way of saying: we’re glad to share this neighborhood with you.
In times that feel uncertain or divided, these small acts help keep our communities human and connected. They don’t resolve every difference, but they do help us practice the kind of care Scripture asks of us: steady, local, and rooted in love.
May we continue to be people who notice one another, who make room, and who choose compassion even when the path forward isn’t simple.
Just pull up under the portico and we will deliver them right to your car!
Monday, February 16: 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 17: 6:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. or until sold out
Fasnachts are sold 6 per bag; we offer glazed, powdered & plain while supplies lase. First come, first served. No pre-orders please.
Welcoming Others Into the Mess
As we move through December’s full sparkle and January’s deep quiet, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to let people into our lives — not just when everything looks “picture perfect,” but especially when it doesn’t.
Recently, when talking with our council, someone asked me how a beloved member of our congregation was doing as she navigates a confusing and uncertain health situation. The question itself was an act of love. But what struck me most was what sits underneath that concern: the sheer grace of having people who want to be welcomed in, even when the house isn’t tidy, the dishes are undone, and the paperwork is piling on the dining room table.
In a season when every commercial and Instagram post tells us to polish up our lives until they shine like a freshly lit Advent wreath, it is a brave and sacred thing to let someone see the mess.
Because the truth is:
None of us were meant to live curated lives. We were meant to live connected ones.
The Incarnation — God choosing to dwell with us — is the ultimate expression of this. Christ was not born into a sanitized, carefully staged nativity scene. God came into a world of political turmoil, overcrowded housing, exhausted parents, and a feeding trough that probably smelled exactly like… well… a feeding trough.
God shows up in the mess.
And God teaches us to show up for one another in the same way.
So, as we enter these next two months, the festive rush of December and the deep-breath reset of January, I want to encourage you:
· Let someone come over even if you haven’t had time to clean.
· Reach out even if you feel disorganized, overwhelmed, or not quite yourself.
· Say “yes” when someone asks if you need anything, even if that’s not your usual instinct.
And be that presence for others, a safe harbor where perfection is not required.
Life is full of dishes-in-the-sink seasons, and paper-on-the-table seasons, and bewildering-diagnosis seasons. What a gift it is to have companions who step across the threshold anyway.
This winter, may you be surrounded by people who love you enough to enter the beautiful, holy mess with you, and may you have the courage to let them.
In the Light of Christ,
Pastor Gretchen
Bad Ideas Lead to Good Ideas: A Creative and spiritual Hack for Breakthroughs
I have a phrase that I have always lived by, but started sharing it as a joke with my husband. Now it has grown into one of my favorite life tools:
“Bad ideas lead to good ideas.”
It began as a way to break through his frustration when he hit executive dysfunction. Stuck in the overwhelm of a problem, he would shut down. I’d nudge the ice with this phrase, toss out something ridiculous, and before long, we’d be laughing our way into real solutions.
But the longer I’ve lived with it, the more I realize this isn’t just a clever trick. It’s rooted in both science and mysticism.
The Science of Why “Bad Ideas” Work
When we feel blocked, our nervous system often tips into fight, flight, or freeze. Creativity collapses, and the problem feels impossible. The brain narrows its options.
But when we say, “bad ideas are welcome here,” something amazing happens:
· It reduces stakes. The pressure to be perfect drops, and our prefrontal cortex (responsible for problem-solving) comes back online.
· It taps divergent thinking. Studies in creativity research show that brainstorming “wrong” or “silly” answers actually primes the brain to make novel connections. The “bad” ideas become scaffolding for better ones.
It invites play. Play signals safety to the nervous system, which increases dopamine. Dopamine fuels pattern recognition, the brain’s ability to spot connections it missed before.
In short: when you allow bad ideas, you’re hacking your biology for breakthroughs.
The Spiritual Dimension
Mystics through the ages have described something like this process.
· In contemplative prayer, St. Teresa of Ávila spoke of beginning with “imaginary prayer” (your own attempts, clumsy as they may be) before being lifted into “infused contemplation” (grace breaking through).
· In yogic philosophy, imagination is the doorway into ether — the subtle field of possibility where all things exist. Even a rough, imperfect entry opens access to flashes of clarity.
Many modern mystics would call this working in the ether — tossing something into the field, however flawed, and trusting the field to respond with something truer, richer, clearer.
That moment when the “fantastic answer” arrives? It’s the same current as a eureka moment, the breakthrough. What began as a silly offering becomes the channel for revelation.
How to Use This in Daily Life
1. Name the stuckness. Say it aloud: “We’re stuck.”
2. Invite the bad ideas. Make the rule: no idea is too dumb, too impossible, too silly.
3. Play. Offer a terrible solution and laugh about it. (“We’ll just knock down the whole house and start over!”)
4. Listen for the shift. Notice when your body relaxes and a new thought sneaks in.
Catch the good idea. It will often feel obvious and easy once it shows up.
Why It Matters
“Bad ideas lead to good ideas” isn’t just a quip, it’s a spiritual principle. It reminds us that failure isn’t final; it’s fuel. That play isn’t frivolous; it’s a portal. That imagination, even in its silliest forms, can open us into the field where wisdom resides.
So, the next time you’re stuck, don’t clench harder. Offer the bad idea. Break the ice. Let the laughter loosen your system. And then watch, the good idea will come tumbling in with ease.
