Dear Friends,

Years ago, while on a South Pole expedition, the British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. He had to wait for quite some time. Then suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, “It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!” They replied, “We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, ‘He may come today. Then, finally, you did.’”

That story could be seen as a parable for the spiritual life. And it is specifically a parable applicable for Lent, and for our approach to Holy Week which starts with Palm Sunday on April 5th. The season of Lent has traditionally been seen as a time of waiting and preparation. Just as Advent is about waiting for the entry of Christ into the world 2000 years ago, so Lent is about waiting for the entry of the resurrected Christ into the world, as we celebrate it at Easter [and later, in another version, at Pentecost.] Our preparation for Easter is about the hope that just as God broke into human history in the resurrected Christ on the original Easter day, so too God can and will come to US again and again in any and all situations where life seems to have died or hope been crushed. The promise of Easter is that God will be present again and yet again in this world in ways that can continually gladden our hearts, and make the world better.

Hope is not always easy to maintain, and especially in hard times such as these. But the key is to keep the hope alive; and to be proactive in our readiness. Observing Lent and Easter isn’t essentially about observing religious holidays. That is just a vehicle.  Much more, it is about a readiness of mind. It’s about a readiness to receive the spirit of God in a new way.

May we nurture that readiness of mind such that this will be a most wonderful season of Holy Week and Easter……….and Spring………for each and all of us.

Your Pastor,

Tony Acheson

Dear Friends,

Hard times abound these days. Some of us have already been directly hurt. But even for those of us who have not lost jobs, homes, businesses or incomes, there is nonetheless for many of us a gnawing fear about what the future will bring: how will the downturn affect our retirement; what will happen to our children? None of us can change global trends on our own. But one thing we always can change and control is what we do with our minds and attention. We can always determine what it is we value and focus on.

There is a story of two friends walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking horns, taxicabs squealing around corners, sirens wailing. The sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, one of them said, “What an interesting place to hear a CRICKET” His friend said, “What? You must be crazy. You couldn’t possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!” “No, I’m sure of it,” his friend said, “I heard a cricket.” “That’s crazy,” said his friend. The man, who thought he had heard a cricket, listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed.  “That’s incredible,” said his friend. “You must have superhuman ears!”  “No,” said the man who heard the cricket. “My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you’re listening for.” “But that can’t be!” said the friend. “I could never hear a cricket in this noise.” “Yes, it’s true,” came the reply. “It depends on what is really important to you. Here, let me show you.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few COINS, and discreetly DROPPED them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs.  “See?” said the man who heard the cricket. “It all depends on what’s important to you.”

The hard times around us are real. We must not be in denial about them. But there is also nothing to be gained by obsessing about them. We should no doubt keep abreast of the daily news. But we should also avoid over-focusing on it. Even when there is yet more bad news from the global markets, there is always also fresh good news about things of good, beauty and worth that continue to be ours to focus on and immerse ourselves in, and find delight in.

So….listen for the crickets. Even in the city. Even in the winter. Even when times are hard.

Tony Acheson

Dear Friends,

On Saturday, January 17, several church members attended an informational meeting that focused on planned giving. The Trustees and I had invited Rufus Cushman to come and lead the meeting. Mr. Cushman, whose career was in finance, now offers his professional knowledge as a volunteer to Vermont UCC churches.

Our session with him was informative and productive. Our main goal, both in inviting him, and in looking ahead, is to create a proactive program by which to encourage the members [and friends] of Greensboro Church to include gifts to the church in their estate planning. Such gifts most frequently take the form of bequests in people’s wills, but can also take the form of outright gifts during our lifetimes [sometimes known as 'giving with warm hands'] and other alternative vehicles, about which we will be providing more information in future months.

As your pastor, I am becoming increasingly aware that being proactive about planned giving is an important element in safeguarding our church’s future. Although the annual stewardship response of our membership continues to be positive and encouraging, a sustained planned giving program, aimed toward proactively including the church in our wills and among our bequests, is an area that I believe is, and needs to be, a priority for the church in its ongoing approach to stewardship in the next couple of years.

In saying this, I am fully aware that endowments must never be a substitute for regular, ongoing support for the church. We clearly must beware not to allow accrued investments to become a crutch to avoid what we must be doing in the here and now. Having said that, though, I am also deeply convinced that having a plan for ongoing strengthening of our endowment is an important part of the overall mix of our financial picture. I say this for three reasons. One is that a solid endowment can serve as a significant kind of shock absorber during rough times. Two, a strong endowment can help assure that the church will be able to financially afford the kind of professional leadership it will want-and will need to acquire–as it moves into the future. And three, a reliable endowment can help assure that the church will continue to be able to serve pressing human needs in this community, especially during periods that may be unpredictably difficult, whether in society at large, or in the church itself, or both.

One specific development that came out of our January 17 meeting is that the Trustees will soon be forming a Planned Giving Committee. This will be an opportunity for the church’s lay leadership to think through how best to create a strategy, and advocate for its implementation, regarding this important work. In the months ahead, we will be providing regular information about a range of planned giving options.

In the meantime, I encourage you to ask yourselves about whether your hopes for the church’s best future are currently included in your own ultimate financial planning. What the church provides, in this community and beyond, is a most worthy body of work to underwrite. I ask you to proactively consider lending your hand to that future support in these days of our physical life when we all still can.

Thanks for your consideration.

Tony Acheson

Dear Friends,

The start of a new year is a largely symbolic occasion, bringing individuals opportunity to reflect on the possibilities of change and new beginnings in their lives.

Stepping into 2009 brings all of that, but also guarantees major changes in the world around us and in our collective lives. We have no control over such change. We can control how we respond to it, however. Our economic and societal difficulties are a given. But whether or not we learn and benefit from them— a rich and actual possibility—lies squarely in the hands of our own capacity for choice, and willingness to respond to problems in ways that spring from our highest and most affirmative values, rather than from fear, or habitual negativity.

Though it has its share of flaws, American society demonstrated this past fall an ability to move through some of its most deeply entrenched fears and self-limitations when it elected its first president of color. What has been most encouraging is not simply that more than 50% of us were prepared to make this choice, but the fact that so many of our citizens who may not have voted for the president-elect on November 4th, appear to have genuinely cast their votes based on legitimate criteria of party affiliation and political philosophy, not race. This is evidenced by the genuine pride of many McCain voters in America’s willingness to embrace a new history by electing a black president, and the authentic, even eager willingness by many of them to support him as he begins his work, and to commend him for his initial choices, such as staff selections, where they agree with them.

No one should deny the real damage our current economic problems wreak. But those same challenges also bring a possible benefit by prompting us to consider new avenues for organizing and conducting ourselves. Widening the door of opportunity into the oval office is one way that has already happened. We also can make these bad economic times work for us in other ways. We can and must confront them with greater emphasis on cooperation; creative and non-ideological problem-solving; respectful listening and political conversation between those with different ideas; using the powers of the federal government emphatically but not excessively; and providing generous resources both to those who are in material need, and also to those with creative, entrepreneurial ideas that may generate new avenues of wealth and opportunity for all of us down the road.

These may seem like the worst of times, but they are seeded with opportunity that could lay the groundwork for a future ‘best of times.’ One example of such an opportunity is making a national commitment to generating new wealth by maximal harnessing of the sun and wind, as well as a more efficient use and stewardship of the energy we already have.

The best way forward is to lend our voices to the coming debates proactively, and to speak out for loving and creative solutions rather than conflictual and destructive ones. The goal is not just to better our economy; but to do it in a way that betters our national and global community. Approaching our troubles that way also betters us as individuals.

What fascinating times. If we approach it in the right way, 2009 really could be a happy new year for a growing number of our people.

Tony Acheson