Conse--what?
This next Sunday at our church is what we call Consecration Sunday. It is sort of like what New Year's Day is all about: Looking back and looking ahead. It's like the old Greek god Janus , who had a face that looked forward and a face that looked backwards. An appropriate god to provide the name for the month of January. But this isn't specifically about a new year, although in a sense it is. In agricultural communities, the harvest is pretty much past, crops are in storage or have been sold. There is a time of settling accounts and seeing how things turned out. Then comes the time of planning for next year. What should be planted? What plans should we make? The same is true of churches, as well as our personal lives. On Consecration Sunday, we look both forward and backward. We look backward and recall all that God has blessed us with. We give thanks for these blessings and then reflect upon how we might pass those blessings on to others. A blessing hoarded is a bles...