February 9, 2024

Feb 9

February: A Month in Transition

Some people really don’t like winter. I personally love winter. It is my favorite season. I miss winters in the northern Allegheny Mountains, which is found in the snow belt between Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York. Though I took advantage of Southern California’s mild winters by biking and other warm weather activities, I missed real winter weather. Seattle has a more wintery climate (though I am still waiting for my first opportunity to shovel snow this year), but not quite wintry enough. I have on a rare occasion gone east to cross-country ski and skated at the Northgate ice rink, but far less than I would like.

I understand I am in the minority here with my affection for winter, but isn’t winter a season on a par with all the other seasons? Not according to the ancient Romans. The earliest Roman calendar gave no names to the first two months of winter, what we now call January and February, because winter months were not worth naming. Of course, eventually they did name those first two months of the year. February got its name from the ritual of purification that took place on February 15. It was a rite that prepared you for the Spring that was to come and to get on the good side of the gods whose blessing you would like in the productive seasons of Spring, Summer, and Fall.

It seems that February was named to be a transitional month. And in some ways it still seems that this is true. Often considered the last month of winter (though I can recall some delightfully wintry Marches!), it is a transition into Spring and longer, warmer days. It is the month when Punxsutawney Phil offers his prognostication about how soon Spring will actually come. It is Black History Month, a month when we as a nation are called to consider the history of our Black friends from around the world who became our neighbors, what kind of country we were them, and what sort of nation we will become together.

In our nation currently, this February is a month of consequential elections, crucial congressional decisions and votes, watershed judicial rulings and verdicts, all contributing to the climate for our national election later in the year. As a global community we are considering the options of war and peace; who we are hospitable to and who we shun; who our allies are and who our enemies are, to name a few. It is possible March may look very different than February once it concludes, in our country and around the world.

As a church we begin our season of “purification” on February 14, Ash Wednesday. It is our season of applying spiritual practices to prepare us for the season of Resurrection—Easter. (I hope if you haven’t already, you will sign up to contribute a short prayer to our communal Lenten Devotional.) It is also a season when we are considering moving forward without people we love in our lives.

As well as being a time of grieving subtractions in our community, it is also a time of celebrating additions. Specifically, it is a time to give God thanks and praise for our new full-time pastor, Lauren St. Martin. Lauren will begin her first day “in the office” on Thursday, February 15, when we will spend the day getting oriented and begin prayerfully casting visons and making decisions together. Pastor St. Martin will also be preaching her first sermon as our pastor on Sunday, February 18.

I love winter. I am especially relishing this winter, regardless of the Cascadian climate we inhabit. I am thrilled to be working with Lauren, a friend and now a colleague. Join with me, in the midst of all the challenges of this season, to celebrate this great gift God has afforded us. Might we pray that we all would be good stewards of Lauren’s gifts and skills among us, even as she and I pray for God’s guidance on how we might best share Christ’s ministry among you all.

With great thanks and audacious hope,

~ Pastor Todd