Each year, in the spring, we plan for the year to come, by creating a budget and by bringing it to the congregation for their approval. Just prior to that time, we seek to obtain support from the members and friends to be able to continue the efforts and the ministries of the church through the annual pledge drive, budget drive, canvass or what I like to call “Celebration Sunday”.

In most years, we take this task for granted. Sure we need to have finances to keep the place afloat, to open the doors, turn on the heat, contribute the dues, and pay the salaries. This year, the topic of money is front page each and every day as the country, the state, the local schools try to figure out how to keep the doors open, the heat on, pay the dues and salaries. Undoubtedly, this affects us all, but it also asks us to clarify our priorities. Do we go out for a fancy dinner or stay home and play cards with family and friends? Do we purchase a fancy new car, or replace the water pump on the old one?

The awareness of gratitude reigns large. We begin to develop an appreciation for those things we have and love, and for those things that help us make meaning in our lives. In hard times we turn to each other; we take on what is now called, “social capital”: our friendships, our marriages and partnerships, and our support networks such as this wonderful congregation. It’s social capital that got someone like Barack Obama elected, despite what might have seemed like great odds. The experts tell us that in times like these, nurturing social capital is the smartest thing we can do. So, it seems to me, that our budget drive couldn’t have come at a better time. Let’s nurture and cultivate and tend to this place that plays such an important role in our lives. Let’s “sew seeds of gladness” that we can huddle together in this modest little (but flamboyantly needed) home of ours and make a difference to each other and to the lives of so many outside our walls.

Please make every effort to attend worship on March 15th for Celebration Sunday. As we sing in the hymn, “Bright morning stars are rising--Day is breaking in my soul.”