Lutheran Woman Today

Our blog has moved

2009-07-06T12:10:00.005-05:00

Thanks so much for reading this blog. We do hope you'll follow us to the ELCA's official blog site. They asked us to move our site over, and being good Christian women, we complied.

Please bookmark the new site and follow us through an RSS feed.

http://blogs.elca.org/lwtmagazine/

Excited for study this fall

2009-06-17T15:10:00.001-05:00

Several women have stopped by the Women of the ELCA display at Let the River Flow (ELCA large congregation event) and said they've attended LWT Bible study intro events with Sarah Heinrich and they are "so excited to study Romans."

How about that?! (Paul and Luther would be so happy!)

Linda Post Bushkofsky
Executive director

Voices: Audacious Assignment

2009-06-16T14:45:00.001-05:00

By Kate Sprutta Elliott

Welcome to our summer Bible study, “Mary: A Woman for All Seasons” by Christa von Zychlin. In this session, we reflect on Mary’s life as a very young woman. Christa writes, “Hope was bare and frozen for God’s people who lived on a hilly strip of land called Judea. . . . And yet, just like the buds in earliest spring, God’s life forces were stirring. God’s power was about to be made known in a teenager’s courage to take on an audacious assignment.”

Are you willing to take on “an audacious assignment” yourself? In “Do Not Be Afraid—I Dare You,” Tana Kjos writes that “living a bold life on purpose, a life like Mary’s, begins with knowing that God is calling you to participate in something bigger than yourself.” Tana goes on to challenge readers to “participate in God’s mission to bless the world.” Are you willing to work boldly with God to bless the world?

We can begin blessing the world in the places nearest to us. As we reflect on Mary as a young woman, let’s think about ways we can have a positive influence on the young people in our lives—in our families, our congregations, our communities.

In “Singing with Mary,” Jennifer Baker Trinity considers how we can be mentors to one another—older to younger, younger to older—and how music itself can mentor us in our faith. She writes, “Think of a song you learned as a child that you still know by heart. . . . When you hear that melody, you are transported to another place. The music itself becomes a mentor that accompanies you along your life’s journey.”

In many congregations, young people seem to drift away as they grow up. In “Will They Be Back?” Rod Boriack writes, “It’s tempting to think that if we could just get them back through the front door and sitting in a pew again, all will be well. . . . But it’s not that simple.” Rod’s suggestion: Take the time to reach out and talk to the young people you know and to really listen to their stories.

For many young people, the milestone in their life of faith is confirmation, when they publicly affirm their baptism in the presence of the community. Jennifer Phelps Ollikainen reminds us that “we are named by Holy Baptism as ‘children of God.’ We share the joy and responsibility of shaping one another in the Christian faith.”

Finally, in this issue, we honor a writer whose faith has been an example and encouragement to many of us—Marj Leegard. Anne Edison-Albright interviewed Marj, who turns 89 in August, at her home in Detroit Lakes, Minn. We hear in Marj’s own words about her life’s journey and the joy of writing. She has been a mentor to many and a gift to the church. While she is retiring from her regular column, we hope that she will still write for us from time to time. Thanks be to God for Marj’s witness!

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You can contact her at LWT@elca.org.

How is God at work in this world through your hands?

2009-06-01T11:34:00.003-05:00

How would you illustrate it through a 30-to-90-second video?

The churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is inviting members and the general public to submit their videos to a contest inspired by our tagline: "God’s work. Our hands."

Prizes include a $5,000 ministry grant for ELCA congregations or a $2,500 cash prize for individuals. Second prize in both categories is an HD flip video camera.

The contest runs from June 15, 2009, through July 15, 2009. Learn more!

Go with us to Wartburg Seminary

2009-05-29T15:25:00.003-05:00

Recently, the Lutheran Woman Today team visited the first Bible study introductory event of the summer at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Get a taste of what the experience was like through this video.

What we've been up to

2009-05-26T14:48:00.004-05:00

Your LWT editorial staff just got back from Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, where the author of the 2009-2010 Bible study, the Rev. Sarah Henrich, introduced "To God's Beloved: Paul's Letter to the Romans" to a crowd of nearly 150 women (and a few men). These dedicated learners and leaders heard Sarah describe, explain, and outline this essential epistle (which Martin Luther said would even be worth memorizing!).

Sarah has several other LWT Bible study intro events on her schedule, all over the country. There's probably one close enough that you could go, too! See LWT Bible Study Intro Events for more information.

We've attended the Wartburg event for the past few years and we find it so very worthwhile. Meeting readers who are so dedicated to studying Scripture with the women of the church, hearing your concerns and questions as an author outlines her study, helps us know more about you -- and that helps us serve you better. We're glad we get to do it -- and we couldn't do it without your generosity. So thanks.

Just before our trip to Iowa, we had lunch with the authors of the 2010-2011 Bible study, the Revs. Jensen and Linda Johnson Seyenkulo. Jensen is a New Testament scholar now serving as Director for Rostered and Authorized Ministries in the churchwide Vocation and Education Unit. Linda, a trained family therapist, is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Park Forest, Illinois. Together they are the parents of three. They will be writing on unity and diversity in the early church and what that can mean for us today. We can tell you that they are full of exciting ideas -- but no titles yet! We will post titles and theme verses as soon as we have them.

Voices: Unexpected Heroes

2009-05-12T11:29:00.002-05:00

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

The heroes I know aren’t superheroes. Not one of them can leap a tall building. Not one has x-ray vision (some of them barely have any vision without their bifocals). No superpowers, no capes, no fancy high-tech spy gadgets.

No, the heroes I know are the ones who show up. They are the ones who help at the soup kitchen or lead the Bible study or make the quilts or visit the veterans’ hospital—even though they themselves may be struggling with chronic illness or money worries or family problems. Some of them are barely getting by, but still manage to bring something to the potluck or make a donation to World Hunger. When they say they’ll pray for you, you know they will. These are women and men you can count on. It’s likely that you know some heroes like these. They see service and loving loyalty—hesed—as an expression of their faith.

This month’s Bible study is the final session of “The Hidden Hand of God.” The writers point out that Esther is an unexpected hero: “It is an orphaned young woman, rather than a prophet, priest, or warrior king like David, who delivers her people. Esther is an example of hesed toward the community even at great personal risk.”

In this issue, you’ll read about several unexpected heroes. In “A Wink and a Prayer,” Peggy Tampson tells of her mother’s powerful witness as she was dying: “Every doctor received a warm hand squeeze from the only hand that worked, a hearty thanks, and a wink (because words couldn’t be counted on to come out right). Roommates told us how Mom’s encouragement at night kept them hopeful. She introduced them all to her best friend, Jesus.” It’s a tribute that’s especially appropriate as we celebrate Mother’s Day.

In “Showing the Love of Christ” LaRayne Topp introduces us to St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Fremont, Nebraska, and to Mavis Heidemann. In 1971, mothers of mentally challenged adults asked Fremont’s churches for Christian education for their grown children, and St. Timothy answered the call. “Mavis Heidemann was one of the first teachers. Mavis continues to fill that role today—at the age of 87.” It would be easy to see Mavis as the unexpected hero here, but it’s not that simple. The students are heroes too.

Also in this issue you’ll find a profile of a Women of the ELCA leader in Eveleth, Minnesota—Marian Chase. Author Mary La Plante describes how the circles in Marian’s congregation live out the Women of the ELCA purpose statement “by participating in Bible study, forming a close faith community, and engaging in action to help the poor, hungry, and disenfranchised.”
Finally, in “What Kind of Christian,” Patricia Lull reflects on how she chooses to live as a woman of faith. She challenges readers to use her article “to start a conversation with the people you care about the most. What do you want your children, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, neighbors, and co-workers to know about the shape of your life as a Christian?” This is a good reflection question as we prepare for the life-changing windy blessings of Pentecost.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You can reach her at lwt@elca.org.

LWT's 2009-2010 brochure is ready!

2009-04-24T11:44:00.012-05:00

Learn more about upcoming Lutheran Woman Today issue themes and Bible study sessions for September 2009-May 2010 by downloading our new brochure.

Hang the brochure on your church bulletin board or put it in your Bible for easy reference. To receive a copy, call 800-638-3522, ext. 2730.

Every issue of Lutheran Woman Today brings you articles that inform, challenge, comfort, and encourage.

As we prepare for Easter

2009-04-09T13:48:00.002-05:00

This is an excerpt from the April 2007 issue of LWT.

by Bryan Cones

The Easter Vigil service begins, like birth, in darkness. As the sun sets on our Holy Saturday vigil with the entombed Christ, something unexpected happens: Instead of a funeral, the darkness of the tomb finds a challenge. A fire is lit in the darkness, and the faces of those gathered to mourn reflect its light. One great candle marked with the cross is blessed and lit: "Christ, yesterday and today, the beginning and the ending. To Christ belongs all time and all the ages; to Christ belongs glory and dominion now and forever." In one moment, the power of death is undone.

"The light of Christ," sings the minister. "Thanks be to God," we sing in reply. As the Christ-light shines, it also spreads to the candles of the baptized, who share Christ’s victory over death. What began as a vigil for the dead has been transformed; it has become a celebration of life, a celebration of all who have passed through the cross to new life and a hopeful waiting for those yet to be born in Christ.

In joy we sing the Exsultet, our hymn of victory, a great thanksgiving for deliverance from death: "Rejoice, now, all heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne!" Having walked the 40 days of Lent, recalled the betrayal and death of Christ, waited in the silence of death, we now finally hear the good news: "Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes forever!" Not content to listen, we must respond: "This is the night!"

The LWT staff wish you blessings and peace as you walk with Jesus through the Three Days (Triduum) and come to the waters of new life on Easter.
Kate Elliott

Faithful Disobedience

2009-04-01T15:22:00.004-05:00

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

Disobedience makes me uneasy. I like to know and follow the rules. I figure that people smarter than I am made them, and they had their reasons. Even when there is no one around, I stop for the stop sign and use my blinker to signal the turn.

The rules make me feel safe. But not everyone experiences them that way. Before the civil rights movement in this country, the rules dictated where African American people were allowed to sit or eat or go to school or live. Those unjust rules deserved to be resisted. Rosa Parks took a risk to disobey those rules and we remember her today as a hero.

This month’s Bible study session focuses on Esther’s decision to help her people. The writers tell us, “Mordecai persuades Esther. She will disobey the king's rule and risk her life. Shedding her former passivity, she now takes charge . . . She will act with hesed toward her people. Like the men in the fiery furnace of Daniel 3, she understands that she is risking her life.”

In “For Such a Time as This,” Mary Nelson tells of her mother’s arrest at age 78 for civil disobedience. When she was asked why she did it, she said it was for the world’s children. Nelson writes, “Like Queen Esther and my mother, we sometimes find ourselves in situations that call for faithful disobedience.”

But how do you know when to act and what to do? It takes discernment. Ginger Anderson-Larson is a spiritual director at an ELCA seminary. In “God’s Clues,” she writes about her experiences with students who seek discernment: “In open conversation with others and in quiet listening to God, the Holy Spirit will let us know God’s plan for us.”

When we’re trying to figure out what to do, we wish we could know how it will turn out. In “From Scripts to Faith,” Martha Stortz reminds us that life seldom turns out the way it does in the fairy tales and we can’t be sure of the ending. Yet there is hope: “No matter how far we’ve wandered or been wrenched away from where we thought we were going, God is there, the grace we can count on.”

It takes courage to change the script, even when the circumstances seem to require it. In “Applecart Lessons,” Phyllis Kersten shares what happened in her congregation when the torch was passed to the younger generation—and it wasn’t all sweetness and light. What would it take for the women to break out of the trap of nostalgia? Kersten writes, “What it took for the Women of Grace was for the older leadership to receive the gifts and ideas offered by the younger members for what they truly were: gifts from God, even though these ideas might threaten to turn some of their established world upside down.”

This month we see the world turned upside down in dying and rising of Jesus Christ. May you be blessed by the surprising new light of Easter.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You may write her at LWT@elca.org.

Modern-Day Esthers

2009-03-27T09:48:00.002-05:00

by Linda Post Bushkofsky

I imagine the women in your life are hard-working, faithful, and compassionate disciples. A few might be heroines, but fewer would claim the title. Once in a while, however, we are privileged to meet a modern-day Esther, a woman who stands up for what she believes in and changes the course of history. I recently met several women who fit this description, Lutheran women in the West African nation of Liberia. To understand them, you need to understand the socio-political landscape of Liberia over the last three decades.

It is hard to describe the enormous effect of the civil war in Liberia. It began in 1980 with a coup and continued, more or less, until 2003. Whole villages were destroyed. The basics of modern life we take for granted—dependable electricity, clean water at the touch of a tap, telephone service—were lost in 1990, and have not yet been restored in most of the country. Few families were left untouched by the war—husbands, fathers, sons were killed, and mothers, daughters, sisters were raped. Barbed wire and shards of glass bristling atop concrete walls are constant reminders of the war, as are the 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers stationed throughout Liberia.

I met the women of St. Luke’s parish in Phebe, who received a grant from Women of the ELCA in 2007 for a program of postwar trauma counseling and job skills training. They described how their lives have been changed through the program, helping them cope with their losses and helping them to find a way to create new lives today. Women of all ages learned soapmaking in the job skills training. Despite their many hardships, these women sang and danced in praise of God.

I met Esther, a Wartburg Seminary graduate who runs the Lutheran Training Institute in remote Lofa County. She has no vehicle or running water, and the generator-supplied electricity runs just five hours a day, but she praises God regularly for the blessings she receives as she oversees vocational training programs for former combatants.

I met Esther and Fossah who, with Leymah, prayed for peace and started a peaceful revolution that led to the end of the war (LWT highlighted these women in January/February 2004, “Lutheran Liberian Women Unify for Peace,” and again in January/February 2005, “Persistence and Peace”). I met Christian women who continue praying and fasting for peace today.

What makes these Liberian women modern-day Esthers? Like the biblical Esther, they have taken a stand for what is right, they have faced down evil, and they have risked their own lives in seeking change. It’s no wonder that so many American Lutheran circles have been named after Esther! My prayer for you is that you and the women of your congregational unit will be willing to take a stand for what is right, that you will be willing to risk as you seek change in meeting our common mission.

Linda Post Bushkofsky is executive director of Women of the ELCA.

Hidden Power

2009-02-27T09:48:00.004-06:00

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

When I think of hidden power, I think of spandex underwear. You know, the kind that helps a gal look good in a form-fitting dress or a clingy knit pantsuit. One of my friends tried on one of these spandex shapers when she was shopping for a mother-of-the-bride dress a few years back. In the store’s fitting room she was able to squirm into it without much drama. But then she couldn’t get out of it! When she wriggled it up to take it off over her head, she got stuck with her hands waving in the air. She had to call out to a salesclerk for help. She decided against buying it. Hidden power or no, she couldn’t imagine spending the long day of the wedding wrestling a malicious undergarment.

For many of us, our image of hidden power is not quite so graphic—although it may be as uncomfortable as that spandex strangler. We don’t like to think of ourselves as having power—most of us were raised to be modest, humble, unassuming. We’re not sure we should want power, and we don’t always recognize it when we have it.

This month’s Bible study session introduces the book of Esther and explores the nature of power and how it can be used foolishly or wisely. The writers discuss Esther’s power and how she “uses her intelligence, wisdom, and gifts to advance herself. . . . this puts her in a position to save her people.”

In “Emboldened and Empowered,” Susan Engh exhorts us to recognize our power and use it to make a difference. “We have a choice: We can wring our hands, hoping and praying that someone else with enough power will come along and solve the problems that we see around us. Or we can claim and build enough power to address our communities’ problems, meet noble goals, and live out our faith values in the world.”

A notable example of women who have exercised their power in service to God are those who have worked in global mission. In “Unsung Heroines,” Anne Basye tells the stories of women who gave their lives to serving in the mission field and whose contributions go largely unrecognized. Though their power may be hidden from the wider church, these faithful women truly have lived out the ELCA theme “God’s work, our hands.”

Using power wisely requires that we respect others and ourselves. In “R-E-SP-E-C-T,” Serena Sellers reminds us that “Healthy respect for others can give us mentors, friends, and long-lasting love. Healthy self-respect allows us to recognize both our gifts and our limits and live a more balanced life.”

Finally, Beverly Piro writes in “Making a Way to the Font” that “The ancient church baptized adults before sunrise on Easter Day, linking the ritual dying and rising of the newly baptized Christian with the resurrection of Christ from death to life.” She describes how her congregation prepares those who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil.

So, too, let us prepare our hearts for Easter and the joy-filled power of new life in Christ.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You may write to her at LWT@elca.org.

About those Leader Guides Linda mentions

2009-02-18T13:58:00.002-06:00

Thank you, Linda, for mentioning the Leader Guide that LWT produces to help Bible study leaders prepare for each session.

The Leader Guide for next year's study, "To God's Beloved: Paul's Letter to the Romans" is really excellent. Our author, the Rev. Dr. Sarah Henrich, has included lots and lots of background information to help leaders and study groups get the most out of this study.

Paul didn't think his letter would still be studied two thousand years later--if he had, he might have explained some things that his first hearers would have understood easily but we might miss. But our author explains them for us in the Leader Guide. Things like apocalyptic thinking. The very high value Paul places on friendship. What exactly Paul means when he says the word law. These and many other fine points of Paul's great letter are made clear in the Leader Guide that Dr. Henrich wrote specifically to go with this nine-month study.

The Leader Guide also helps leaders decide which of the many new "If You Have Time" topics will be most useful for their particular group in the time they have together, and which to recommend for discussion at another time. Many leaders will be delighted with the suggestions included in the Guide for this new, more flexible format!

The Leader Guide to "To God's Beloved: Paul's Letter to the Romans" will be available later this spring through our supplier, Augsburg Fortress.

While on sabbatical

2009-01-27T09:43:00.002-06:00

You may have read over at www.womenoftheelca.org that I'm currently on sabbatical, traveling around the U.S. capturing stories of ministry in our organization. You can read my blog about my travels by clicking here. Here are a few magazine and Bible study related observations from my week in Arizona.

All the women I met are engaged in the study found each month in Lutheran Woman Today.

Women mentioned especially how much they are enjoying the current study.

Some of the younger (and possibly busier) women mentioned that they appreciated the references in the study to the articles in the magazine ... often they are able to go back after their own circle meeting and read those articles when they likely had only glanced over the issue before the meeting.

The women who are leading a particular session -- especially if there are multiple groups in the congregation doing the same study -- will meet with a pastor of the congregation early in the month for review and training prior to leading the session. I wonder why this still happens when the leader's guide is so well done and provides all that a leader really needs to know?

And finally, last night I had the privilege to be with a Bible study circle in a Tucson congregation, and it struck me again how very rich our studies and conversations are. As I reflected on the evening, I felt a bit sorry for those who don't have this regular opportunity to gather in a small group for Bible study. When you're getting ready to attend next month's circle study, won't you invite another woman to join you? Help another woman learn more about God through study and help her experience the support and joy of being in fellowship together.

January session

2009-01-21T09:55:00.002-06:00

My travel schedule was so busy in the fall that I didn't make it to a single circle meeting. :( But 2009 is a new year, and we live in grace! I was able to participate in the January meeting of my circle. What a great discussion it was!

With the presidential inauguration less than two weeks away, our discussion was peppered with lots of references to how we as a nation function, how we are perceived in the world, what good we can do collectively, etc. It was a very rich discussion. We especially talked about what it means to be Christian in the workplace or political arena and how we respond to the "fires" we encounter there.

On a practical note, thanks to the magazine staff for making LWT article selections in the midst of the Bible study. That really helped folks draw connections with the powerful articles and the Bible study itself. And kudos to the staff, too, because more than one woman remarked about how very good the Jan/Feb issue was.

Voices: God Sticks by Us

2009-01-06T15:33:00.007-06:00

by Terri Lackey

I’ve led a remarkably easy life. My parents are still alive with a 60th anniversary fast approaching. Both sets of grandparents died at ripe old ages. My brothers and sisters are healthy, and I am happily married. I can recall only two personal tragedies: the day my sister murdered my pet mouse (well, it was mouseslaughter, really; she didn’t mean to), and the time I ran over my own dog, an 11-year-old Airedale who had been resting in the shade of my truck.

God has not pointed me toward a fire pit or a lions’ den and asked me to jump in. There was that scare I had with cancer a couple of years ago, and who knows, I might still succumb (most certainly I will die of something). But I don’t feel I’ve been tested, asked to prove my faith in the way that was required of Daniel or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the January/Feburary issue’s two Bible study sessions. Maybe the test is our response to suffering. Do we beg God to deliver us or do we ask God to accompany us?

“As Lutherans, we treasure the assurance that God’s gracious hesed toward us is revealed in God’s presence with us through all the joys and trials of life,” the Bible study authors write in session five. “This is part of what Luther called the theology of the cross.”

Does the theology of the cross work both ways? Robert O. Wyatt in “In the Fire with Us” recounts his difficulty with experiencing Good Friday. “Yes, I tried to feel what I imagined I was supposed to feel: excruciating pain in empathy with Jesus’ pain . . . [and] thankfulness that the Lord’s death has set me free. But it just didn’t work. Year after year, I would sit through Good Friday services unmoved.” But that changed when Wyatt experienced his own trial by fire and felt God in the flames with him.

God accompanies us and we accompany others. Marjorie Pagel writes about a bold woman—Venice Williams—who saw a need for girls to have a safe space to talk about their own fiery issues. The Milwaukee-area program, CHOICES, involves older women accompanying young girls on their journey to womanhood. Girls in the program are invited to a weekly gathering that includes a sit-down dinner and conversation on topics important to them.

One of the topics the girls might discuss is gossip. In “The Gospel on Gossip,” Cynthia Washington tells us that gossip is a way to let others know how you feel about something without confrontation. But it is also an attempt to establish pecking order or advance our own agendas. “We are all flawed, doing our best to get through the day under invisible burdens. Offering compassion for and tolerance of others’ faults is what Jesus would do,” Washington writes.

And so Jesus is our example. Even he asked God, “Remove this cup from me.” But he did not end his prayer there. “Yet not what I want, but what you want.” May we have the courage to pray the same, resting in the assurance that God will stick by us in every trial.

Terri Lackey is managing editor of Lutheran Woman Today.

Christmas reflection

2008-12-18T14:58:00.007-06:00

An excerpt from our December issue

by Catherine Malotky

Millennia ago, Christmas came without our efforts. Mary waited, womb full of child, hoping that all would go well. Like all women who give birth, she had to give herself over to her body, to let it do its work of bringing forth the life it had harbored for so long. Joseph waited too. The shepherds waited. The Magi waited. The angels waited. The world, though it did not know it, waited. In time, the baby came. And in that baby, God came. Into time and space God came, to be so close, so present, that we could taste and feel and see and hear and smell God’s goodness and love.

When you think of it this way, every baptism is Christmas happening. Every time you go to the table for bread and wine, Christmas comes to you. Every time two or three gather in faith, it’s Christmas once again. Because the promise of Christmas is not that we do it perfectly, but that God does.

God’s presence, our hope
We have the whole year to celebrate God’s gift to us at Christmas. God’s presence is true every day of the year, and someday, it will be our eternal joy. So what we produce in this season—our plans, our cookies, our gifts—are all fine and well, but the greatest gift of this season is that none of it need be done in order to make Christmas happen.

What difference might that truth make to you? Can you give yourself the gift of time to think about it, to wonder? We might just begin to recover from “affluenza” or overspending. We might begin to live more open to receiving God’s gift of love and acceptance. We might begin to see ourselves as enough, created full and whole. We might find ourselves rich with forgiveness, for our own shortcomings and the shortcomings of others. And we might find a well of compassion for the world God so loves and learn to trust in God’s abundance for all.

Every time we are able to live as if Christmas were true, Christmas becomes incarnate a little bit more. Every time we fail to, God’s steadfast love remains, calling us to health and freedom. Every time we fail to, we can look to the cross and then the empty tomb, and remember what lies ahead for that baby, as well as for us. Death, yes. But also new life, hope, and promise.

So this holiday is no small thing. In faith, there is plenty to outshine Santa, outlast Santa, and out-hope Santa. It’s a miracle, a lavish gift, and it’s ours.

The Rev. Catherine Malotky serves the ELCA Board of Pensions as retirement planning manager. An ordained pastor, she has also been an editor, teacher, parish pastor, and retreat leader.

The editors of Lutheran Woman Today wish you a blessed Christmas!

Voices: True Identity

2008-12-08T16:37:00.002-06:00

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? When I was in college, I had a roommate, Donna, who looked a lot like me. Or she would say I looked a lot like her. We were the same height, had the same hair style and color, and we both wore glasses. Often people (especially professors) would mistake one of us for the other. We used this to our advantage once in phys ed, when I wasn’t feeling well and she went to class in my stead. It worked—the professor didn’t realize it wasn’t me. Though when I went to class the next week, he commented that I had improved considerably since the previous class (Donna was even less athletic than me).

In this session of the Bible study, we meet Daniel and the three young men who serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar. As Jews living in a foreign country, they face the questions of how to practice their faith and maintain their identity as the people of God. The writers ask, “People wondered how much to adapt or adjust to another nation’s values and customs. Was there a danger of being absorbed into the larger culture and losing their identity?”

We struggle with the same questions in our own time. Maggie Rourk reminds us in “St. Nobody” that although the world will assign us an identity, “. . . we can place on ourselves the identity label that our Savior has ready made for us: Child of God. And on that label is also imprinted Saint and I am, and I am also becoming.”

At this time of year, we may find the expectations of our culture and the promises of our faith at odds—we need to remember our true identity as people grounded in Jesus Christ. As Catherine Malotky writes in “The Perfect Holiday,” we have two holidays happening at once—the commercial and the religious. She asks, “How do we care for ourselves and those we love in the midst of the cultural celebration and still be open in faith to the deep truth of this season—that God comes to you and to me freely, as a gift of deepest love . . . ?”

Two other articles in this issue help us think about how to meet the challenge of honoring Christ’s birth while recognizing the reality of the consumer culture around us. Susan Greeley writes about the journey through the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. She encourages us to “look at the whole church year, and celebrate these first three seasons as if they were three verses of the same song. It’s a beautiful tune sung in many different ways around the world.”

Sue Edison-Swift offers a reflection on gift giving: “After 30-some years of Christmas gift-giving, I guess I have figured out a few things. Since I’m an impulse buyer, I give up malls and mega-stores for Advent. . . . I've stopped worrying about parity or even consistency. Some years there are folks in our lives who just need a little Christmas more than others.”

As you and your family journey through these holy seasons, we wish you blessings and peace and joy.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You may write to her at LWT@elca.org.

The rest of the story

2008-12-02T14:19:00.002-06:00

This is it. This candle bowl is of my most favorite Christmas presents of all time. It plays a part in the story I wrote for the December issue of Lutheran Woman Today: Fear Not! A reflection on Christmas gift giving.

I must have been quiet in the backseat of the car as we drove to Grandma's on Christmas Day. I was 10. My family opened Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve, so I'm guessing my Christmas doll sat next to me. I would never tell my Mom that I was disappointed, but I was. Hadn't she noticed that I was growing up and getting too old for dolls?

I had low expectations for the Christmas gift I would receive from Grandma. For example, the year before I had asked for a blue cardigan, picturing my classmate Jackie's cool navy blue sweater. The sweater I opened was turquoise, a very uncool turquoise. It fit and that was it; this would be my sweater for the winter.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I unwrapped a blue glass bowl. "It's beautiful!" I exclaim. "It's grown up!" I say to myself. What is it? I wonder. Aunt Sally read my face and explained: "It's a candle bowl. You can put flowers and candles in it and create a centerpiece."

With that candle bowl Grandma offered me the gift of recognition. She had seen my emerging self.

It doesn't matter that my best-Christmas-gift ever was an accident. Many years later I learned "the rest of the story." As Grandma was wrapping presents on Christmas Eve she realized that she had forgotten to get a gift for me. That's when she eyed the candle bowl, the one she had bought for herself, the one that still sat in its square box surrounded by tissue paper....

Reflect on one of your all-time favorite Christmas gifts. What made it so special?

Advent blessings, Sue Edison-Swift

Pass the Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T15:00:00.001-06:00

Here's an excerpt from one of Marj Leegard's first "Give us this day" columns for Lutheran Woman Today. It remains one of my favorites. Thanksgiving blessings, Sue Edison-Swift.

"...Memories have a way of bundling together every good thing about many Thanksgivings, many holidays. So, perhaps it's no surprise that when we live with the reality of [the present] celebration, nothing seems as perfect as it was then.

"When we are children the family is what it is: family. When we grow older we see the family as fragments, as memories. There are empty chairs. It is difficult to realize that there have always been empty chairs. The family that seemed so complete when we were kids was fragmented to our grandparents."

Marj goes on to offer her four-step plan for celebrating Thanksgiving:

1. Return to a child's frame of mind. "This is the day. These are the people."
2. Share stories. "Fill those empty chairs with wonderful memories."
3. Accept what the day brings with joy. "If I have one kind of pie, I'll smile and say, 'I believe I'll have apple.'"
4. Offer thanks for God's many blessings. "The past holds the present steady and makes the future possible. Pass the blessing along this Thanksgiving."

Voices: Giving Thanks

2008-11-04T15:00:00.006-06:00

By Audrey Riley

Not long ago, I visited my doctor’s office for a checkup. It was perfectly routine--park the car, check in at the front desk, chat with the nurse, shake hands with the doctor, notice that he still keeps his stethoscope in the freezer, chat with him for a minute, shake hands again, check out at the front desk, and out to the car. I was on the road again in twenty minutes. Perfectly routine.

But I noticed something: I must have said “thanks” 10 times in those 20 minutes. Thanks to the kid who held the door for me. Thanks to the little girl who eagerly pushed the button for floor three. Thanks to the receptionist. Thanks to the nurse, at least twice. Thanks to the doctor, at least three times. Thanks to the appointments clerk. Thanks to the parking lot attendant.

What called forth all these thanks? Well, partly, I admit, was the habit my mother instilled in me (thanks, Mom); but a large part was sincere gratitude. Words can’t express how grateful I am to my doctor and the whole crew who work with him. Where would I be without them? Merely saying “thank you” isn’t nearly enough.

So how do we express gratitude when words aren’t enough? I personally thank my doctor by following his orders. A longstanding tradition among Lutheran women is the Thankoffering. A pal tells about a friend who drove all night through a horrible snowstorm, and when she finally got home, she put a five-dollar bill into her Thankoffering box. When her mother heard about it, she went to her Thankoffering box and put in a twenty!

What are you grateful for? How do you express it? Do you put a little something in your Women of the ELCA Thankoffering box? Thanks!

The Thankofferings you and your unit send to Women of the ELCA are an important source of financial support the churchwide women’s organization has. Everything the churchwide organization does is dependent on your generosity.

What do your Thankofferings do? They make possible the many resources and programs that you, your congregational unit, and your synodical women’s organization find so valuable. They’re used to train your synodical treasurers and other officers. They’re used to support the activities of the churchwide officers and executive board. Your Thankofferings make it possible for us to bring the most inspiring and exciting speakers, preachers, and musicians to Women of the ELCA events, including the Triennial Gatherings. Your Thankofferings also make it possible for us to make our annual gift to the ELCA, which supports hunger ministries and much more.

In this issue, you’ll find a devotion and resources that might be helpful as you think about your Thankoffering or plan a service for your women’s group. (You can find Thankoffering resources on our Web.)

Your Thankofferings make it possible for the churchwide organization to serve you. We’re grateful. Thanks.

Audrey Novak Riley, associate editor of Lutheran Woman Today, is grateful for dedicated readers, among many other things. Thanks!

Voices: Beyond Loyalty

2008-10-17T13:48:00.002-05:00

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

Have you ever witnessed loving loyalty that goes beyond, that is extravagant?

Several years ago, when my father was very ill and I was traveling a lot between my apartment and my parents’ home, my friend Stuart would feed my cat. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I know it was a hassle for him to get to my place every day, especially since he took the train. For me, his kindness meant one less thing to worry about during a time of great stress. After my dad died, I stayed with Mom for another week to help with things like delivering death certificates to the bank and writing thank-you notes. Stuart faithfully fed my cat that week, but he went a step beyond. When I finally got back to my apartment, exhausted, I found fresh groceries—Stuart had shopped for me so that I wouldn’t have to go back out on my first day home. That felt like hesed to me, extravagant loyalty at that difficult time.

In this session of the Bible study, the writers reflect on Ruth’s loving loyalty and Boaz’ recognition of it (see theme verse, Ruth 2:13). The writers assure us, “By reflecting on women who have modeled hesed in the past, we gain resources to inspire and equip us to take risks in exercising the loving loyalty to which we are called.”

Most of us have been on the giving, as well as the receiving, side of loving loyalty at some time in our lives. Through a series of letters, the writer of “Hesed and the Freedom Fund” tells how a dinner party and the generosity of her friends changed her life: “This was one of the most important evenings of my life. Thank you for being there for me . . . thank you for teaching me how to seek and accept help graciously.”

Part of the Freedom Fund’s hesed in that story was its financial assistance to the writer. Catherine Malotky writes about financial health, security, and generosity in “Living from Trust.” She asks us, “What is it about our need for security that can so quickly slip into hoarding and then into greed?” The antidote is to learn to live out of the security given us in our baptism and to trust God’s care for us—and that allows us to be generous with others.

Another type of generosity is less tangible, but not less significant. Most of us know what it’s like to be ignored or passed over—especially as we get older. In “The Gift of Recognition,” Lynn Ramshaw suggests that we share a universal need to be recognized for who we really are. When we realize that we are recognized by God, we are free to give others the recognition and regard that they also seek. She writes, “Being recognized as truly created in the image of God, and then recognizing all others in the same way, is an invitation of our journey.”

May you rest in the loyalty, security, and recognition of your friends, family, and God this month, and then spread those gifts to others.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You may write to her at LWT@elca.org.

What we're working on

2008-09-26T13:36:00.002-05:00

I know you like to hear about what we're working on these days, so here's what's on my desk. I've been working on the next LWT Bible studies -- the Summer 2009 study on Mary, the mother of Jesus, written by the Rev. Christa von Zychlin, who is currently serving a congregation in Wisconsin; and the 2009-2010 September-May Bible study on Paul's letter to the Romans, written by the Rev. Sarah Henrich, professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary.

I love working on the Bible studies -- I learn so much! Along with reading what our authors send us, I study the topic myself so I can be a helpful editor. There's always more to learn about Scripture, and what a blessing that is! (Ask me sometime how many Bibles and commentaries I've got scattered around my cube here.) And this week, I've been soaking in Romans.

Paul's letter is certainly one that believers can study over and over again. He's writing to a community that has close ties to the church in Jerusalem, where he's not especially popular. He wants to persuade the Roman Christians (and through them, the Jerusalem Christians) that he is preaching the true gospel and that they can trust him and support him in his calling to spread the Good News among all nations. A delicate task!

We can tell he put a lot of time and thought into this letter, carefully and thoroughly explaining what he preaches in terms that the Roman Christians would appreciate -- and since the Roman Christians included people of both Gentile and Jewish background, he explains in terms that will help unite the two groups in an ever closer communion.

And that careful, thorough, persuasive explanation makes this letter one of the foundation stones of our own faith still today. It was in Romans that Martin Luther found the goodness of the Good News. He wrote that this letter is "the chief part of the New Testament" and "the purest gospel." He even went so far as to encourage Christians to memorize it!

I don't know if I'm able to go that far -- but I do know that I'm delighted to get the chance to read it and study it, with the help of our author Sarah Henrich, and in company with you.

Voices: Starting Out

2008-09-02T14:56:00.003-05:00

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

I don’t know about you, but every year I find the first back-to-school advertisements to be kind of exciting. September is a month of new beginnings—new notebooks, new pencil cases, new teachers. For those of us shaped by the academic year, each autumn marks the start of a new journey. For me, it is more like new year’s than that day in January when people make resolutions. September feels like a fresh start, scary and hopeful, with the promise of adventure.

In this issue, we begin our new Bible study, “The Hidden Hand of God: Wisdom Stories from Ruth, Daniel, and Esther.” The first session, “The Journey Begins,” explores the themes of hesed (loving loyalty), heroic risk, and the hidden hand of God in the book of Ruth. Authors Gwen Sayler and Ann Fritschel write that Ruth “is the story of a young woman’s courage to take incredibly heroic risks to secure a future for her mother-in-law and herself, and of God’s hidden hand at work in human actions to bring blessing beyond what the human actors even dream possible.”

When most of us think of the book of Ruth, we remember that beautiful declaration in which Ruth promises Naomi “where you go I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people and your God my God.” We don’t always remember that both Naomi and Ruth are grieving the loss of their husbands. In “A Tale of Two Widows,” Martha Stortz tackles two aspects of widowhood: the distinction between grief and suffering and the fact that one cannot return to one’s old life. “Sometimes we are so busy looking for an old life that new life could be doing cartwheels in the living room and we wouldn’t even notice. Our hearts need time to adjust. Grief gives us that time.”

While Ruth decides to accompany Naomi back to Orpah makes a different decision. Martha Sterne writes in “Orpah’s Choice” that “Orpah is not right and Ruth wrong. But neither is Ruth the only heroine in the story.” She asks us to consider that “Orpah quietly makes an important and brave choice, too. She knows herself and she assesses reality and she realizes that her new life will be found in returning home.”

Pondering Orpah’s choice might be new to some of us. It is an example of how big and rich the study of Scripture can be. Lutheran women have a long history of doing Bible study together—it is part of our heritage. The church is catching up! The new ELCA “Book of Faith” initiative is a multi-year campaign to invite Lutherans to become fluent in Scripture.

In this issue, we have excerpted a section from Opening the Book of Faith, a new resource that’s part of the initiative. This section is written by Mark Allen Powell, who begins: “We Lutherans believe that the Bible tells us what God wants to say to us.” After this affirmation, he describes how Lutheran insights can open up the Bible. Opening the Book of Faith is a terrific resource—the first of many. We encourage you to join the conversation.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You may write to her at LWT@elca.org.

Introduction videos here!

2008-08-15T12:47:00.005-05:00

The 2008-2009 Bible study videos are here. In addition to a video that introduces you to the entire nine-session study, The Hidden Hand of God: Wisdom Stories from Ruth, Daniel, and Esther, there are nine short videos that help you with each session.

Have you noticed that the ELCA Web site is new? Well, Lutheran Woman Today is in the process of moving its content over to that new site. The videos are located on the new site, and the first Bible study session that Kate mentions below is posted on our old site. It's a bit schizophrenic right now, but we promise to bring all our personalities together by moving all our content to one site.

If you get confused and want to ask us a question, just email us at lwt@elca.org.

In the meantime, enjoy the videos!

Terri Lackey, managing editor