Midweek Message to My Mask" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 05/26/2021

 

Friends,  

The church council has adopted new covid protocols.  We will no longer require masks for those who have been fully vaccinated.  (The full protocols appear below.)  I have spent a lot of time with my mask this year and before I say goodbye to it, I wanted to share some thoughts.  

A message to my mask

Thank you. 

This has been a tough year and there were moments when I felt pretty hopeless and sometimes it felt like you were all I had in the fight to prevent COVID-19. 

I remember the first day I wore a mask.  It was a Sunday and we were told that masks could help prevent the spread of the virus.  I found directions on how to make masks online so I sat down with my sewing machine and made two masks out of some leftover fabric.  Dave and I put them on and looked into the mirror.  Didn’t we look weird? 

That weirdness faded as more and more people masked up.  Masks became a fashion statement.  All sorts of colors.  Some were printed with some sort of statement.  Sequined.  I went with basic black. 

You were controversial.  We worried about breathing.  You were hot in the summer, and we later discovered, warm in the winter.  Our glasses fogged up.  I know a person who wore a shield and without thinking smashed a sandwich into it at lunchtime. 

You were one more thing to remember as we walked out the door in the morning. 

I wondered if I would lose the ability to make appropriate facial expressions. 

We discovered how many people have some level of hearing loss and rely on reading lips to help them understand speech. 

The thing about prevention is that when it works, nothing happens.  We will never really know if the prevention worked or if the thing we were trying to prevent would not have happened anyway. 

You were just a small piece of fabric with two loops to go over my ears. 

I don’t know if you stopped a covid virus from entering my lungs.  I do know that it is now a year later.  I have not been sick this year. 

I am not entirely ready to let you go. I find you in my purse, in my workbag, in my car. 

And when I do, I sigh. 

I am certain you saved lives this year.   

So I just want to say thank you.  Sometimes small things matter a great deal.  Thank you for reminding me of that. 

Blessings,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-988-0636

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org. 

YES!  We worship!  Join us!  In-person at 8:30 on Sunday!  Live streaming at 8:30!  Or our special online service at 9:30.  Worship in the way that works for you! 

WDMUMC News!

This Sunday our worship series, The Promise, continues.  We will also honor Memorial Day by remembering those who have died.  Join in!

Changing worship time!  Our In-Person Worship will change to 9 am beginning June 6th.  Sleep in a little and then—come to church! 

New Covid Protocol

The Church Council voted this week to adopt these new covid guidelines. 

In the last few weeks, there has been good news in the effort to end the pandemic.  More and more people are getting vaccinated.  The CDC has stated that fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing.  Governor Reynolds has encouraged the lifting of restrictions.  Based on these recommendations and the current rate of infections, WDMUMC will no longer require masks and social distancing for people who are fully vaccinated.  Those who are not vaccinated are encouraged to mask and distance.   

As a church, we understand that everyone is using their judgment to determine what is right for their circumstances. Covid is a serious infection for those at risk.  We have learned this year that masking protects people from other infections besides covid.  If you would like to continue masking and distancing, you can do that.  We want to find our way through this pandemic in as safe and respectful a manner as possible.

 

"Midweek and Taking Sides" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 05/19/2021

 

Friends

I have been following the reports of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Each side has inflicted great violence on the other.  I will leave it to the diplomats to determine how to entangle the sequence of attacks that seems to be escalating. 

I want to take another side in the conflict.  I want to be on the side of the children.  Dozens of children have been killed in the conflict.  Hundreds more have been injured. Thousands of children live in fear and trauma created by the conflict. 

The news has reported that in one instance, an entire extended family was killed, except for one six-month-old infant who was found alive in his deceased mother’s arms.  That is a horror beyond imagination.

All of this has a legacy.  When we care for children, we form the future. Children grow to be adults based on the experiences of their childhood.

The Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) runs a large network of food pantries.  When Sarai Rice was the director of DMARC, she told me that hunger has lasting effects on children.  When children do not have proper nutrition in childhood, their brains do not develop in a healthy way.  I believe the same is true when children are exposed to violence and trauma.  It impacts their mental health. 

In recent months at WDMUMC, we have baptized babies and toddlers.  We gather around a child.  Just being in their presence brings joy.  We become childlike, making silly sounds and coaxing smiles.  To be in the presence of the child is to witness a miracle.  A child is an affirmation of life.  Innocence and vulnerability and expectation and hope. 

At those baptisms, we promise to surround the child with love and care.  In many ways, every child we baptize represents all the children of the world.  We, adults who vote and pay taxes and have a voice in the world, are promising children a healthy future. 

Pray for the children caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Pray for the children anywhere who face violence and fear and hunger.  Pray for children whose futures are at risk.

Prayers are a precursor to action.  Pray to God and then let God pray us all into action to take up the side of children. 

Blessings,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at WDMUMC.org. 

We worship!  Join us for worship on Sunday mornings in person at 8:30 or watch our Livestream.  Or watch our online worship at 9:30. Worship in the way that speaks to your soul. 

Coming Up At WDMUMC

Changing worship times!  Starting June 6th our in-person worship will start at 9 am.  See you there! 

Welcome, Royce! Congratulations to Rachel and Russell Vanderpool on the baptism of their son, Royce William!  Welcome to the church, Royce! 

 

Burnett Memorial  A memorial service will be held for Norma and Paul Burnett on Saturday at 1 pm at McLaren’s Funeral home.  All are welcome to attend.  Please surround Norma and Paul’s family in your prayers. 

 

"Midweek and a Prayer in Changing Times" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 05/12/2021

 

Friends,

Is it safe to come out?  What’s your assessment of the pandemic?  I asked someone yesterday if he thought the pandemic was over.   He thought it was beginning to shift from a pandemic (an acute worldwide disease) to an endemic (a disease that is common among the people).  An endemic is more manageable.  It is still serious, but the medical community is better equipped to address it, and we have greater immunity.  We have vaccines. 

But even as this shift is beginning to happen, we are being told to be cautious. 

Throughout this last year, we have been vigilant, trying to respond to the pandemic responsibly.  In some ways, the year has felt like a time-out.  

And yet while we have been taking this time out, life continued.  Babies have been born.  Children have gotten taller.  Students have graduated from high school and college.  Couples have fallen in love.  The elderly have gotten older.  Loved ones have died. 

Life seems to insist on going on. 

Throughout the year, we have had to adapt, and now we adapt yet again to a new reality.  Pandemics aren’t the only thing that presents us with a new reality.  A new baby, a new job, graduation, retirement, an injury or illness that changes our physical capabilities, the death of a loved one.  They can all bring us to a new reality.  When I hit a new reality time, it feels like a soul shift, a change in thinking.  How do I live into this new reality? 

Lately, I have been thinking about a particular prayer.  It happens to be “The Covenant Prayer in the in the Wesleyan Tradition in contemporary language.”  Don’t let the long title overwhelm you.  It is just a prayer. 

This prayer is like a parachute drop.  When I read it, I feel as if I am saying to God “ok, drop me into this new reality.  This is the life you have surrounded me with, drop me in—and go with me.” 

So here is the prayer. 

God of all,

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering,

Let me be put to work for you, or set aside for you,

Praised for you, or criticized for you.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.

And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,

you are mine, and I am yours. 

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

Let it also be made in heaven.

Amen

I think it is safe to come out. 

Blessings,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at WDMUMC.org.

And join in for worship!

In-person at 8:30 in the sanctuary.  Please wear a mask!  This service is Livestreamed!

And, our On-Line Worship premieres at 9:30 on our Facebook page.  Worship in the way that is right for you!

This Week at WDMUMC

All Church Picnic Tonight!  5:30 at Raccoon River Park in the shelters.  Sue W and Liz F have prepared supper for us!  Come and bring your lawn chair!  Great time to see people you haven’t seen in a while! 

Baptism!  This Saturday Isaiah James Hardman, son of Libby (Stoffer) and Zachery Hardman will be baptized.  Congratulations to everyone!  Including proud grandparents, Dick and Peggy Stoffer! 

In Memorial

A memorial service will be held for Kathy Hunzelman on Monday, May 17th at 11 am.  Kathy and her family have been members of WDMUMC since 1973.  Kathy is the mother of Lindsey Sheeder.  A visitation will be held on Sunday, May 16th from 2-4 at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway.  Our prayers go out to the Hunzelman family in the loss of their mother and grandmother.