As Joey puts it...WHOA!

So wow, it has been months since I have posted on here.  Much has changed in my life in 2009 and I am slowly putting my past behind and hopefully it will be behind me for good by year end.

Here is where I go into the great change in my life. I have not mentioned this before, but through church I have met some wonderful friends. Some have helped me through my discernment process, and others have helped me through life and to recognize who I really am. One such person is my lovely wife Ruth. I met her in early 2006 while at church and we kind of kicked it off from that point forward. She went to school in New Hampshire and then moved down to Pennsylvania for a while. I saw her occasionally over those next couple of years, but there were two times I can think of that we really hit it off and that maybe I had more feelings for her than I realized. There was one time where she and I went as advisors on a youth group trip that I started to get to know her more. I had that kind of butterfly in the stomach feeling everytime I was near her but not evaluating the situation at that time, I just looked at it as a really good friend. At Christmas time she was there and we typically sat near each other and kept getting the giggles while making fun of something. Here again, same feelings came over me but I never put two and two together then.


On Christmas Eve 2007 she was there and was singing with her Mom. About 30 minutes before they sang Ruth begged me to sing with her but I was not ready and declined. I made her an offer that over the next year we need to pick a song, practice, and I promised I would sing with her on Christmas Eve 2008. I can remember sitting against the wall in the back of the sanctuary talking to her and kept finding myself checking her out. She went back to Pennsylvania after the holidays and I stuck to my promise and starting looking for some songs. I found one that I really liked which was “Simple Gifts” done to the tune of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. It was a beautiful arrangement and easy enough for us to pull off with little practice. I did not hear much from her over the spring and summer, so I had pretty much given up on singing with her, but in September a change had happened that not only changed my life, but hers too.

She moved back to Maine and starting to go to school up here while working. Ruth was a lifeguard at the Y in Waterville where we take the boys to every weekend. When I saw her toward the end of September I had this weird feeling of happiness come over me and I got that butterfly in the stomach thing happening whenever I saw her. We talked for a bit that first time at the pool and she mentioned singing again. By the end of October we were pretty serious about doing this on Christmas Eve. We talked to the music director at the church and was able to get a hold of the sheet music. We practiced a couple of times for about a half an hour and then it seemed that we had to perform so quickly. During the practice time and other Sundays at church I would find myself looking at her, yes, checking her out but getting lost in her as I looked at her. On Christmas Eve when she walked in wearing black dress pants and a red satin shirt I realized that not only was she the most beautiful thing on this planet, but I had some feelings for her that I knew I shouldn’t but I could not control myself for much longer. We sang and it was so awesome!

So things really evolved at that point.  We went to L.A. together for a week and had a blast and when we got back it was only a few short weeks that we moved in together in Augusta.  Everything pointed to signs that we were definitely meant to be together.  I proposed to her on Valentine's day and we booked our trip to Sandals in Negril Jamaica where we thought we'd get married.  After reviewing all the legal stuff we decided to just elope on April 8, 2009.

That was actually a cute story.  To elope, you need to have two witnesses.  When we filed our marriage license we tried to get some people on that day but couldn't get anyone so we called Todd and Ron.  Todd asked what they should wear and since the marriage took place in the print room at the Augusta city hall we weren't picky.  Well...they showed up with their jackets zipped up all the way and when they found us they unzipped their jackets and they were wearing these pastel colored tuxedo shirts from like the 1970's.  It was hilarious, and when the lady was ready to marry us she came out and said "and where is the happy couple", I couldn't resist and said which one?  We went out to eat afterwards and I had to leave to go teach, but when I got back to our apartment Todd and Ron were still there.  We visited for a couple of hours and it was a nice way to end our wedding day.

So now that we were married and the weather was getting nice, what did we do?  Well we camped and hiked all throughout the summer.  We found that KOA's are awesome campgrounds so we always found one close to where we were doing things.  Every weekend was filled.  We hiked Roundtop Mountain in Vienna, Tumbledown in Byron, Camden hills, Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Pierce, Mt. Monroe, and just recently Mt. Washington in the White Mountains.  We also hiked the Bold Coast trail in Cutler which was more a walk in the woods but very scenic.  Our first hike together was actually in February out in L.A. where we hiked Mt. Hollywood where we got our picture taken and it is my favorite one.

We also went to the Summer Solstice celebration in Rockland, the Blues Travellers concert in Freeport, the Blueberry Festival in Machais, and so much more.  We are living life to its fullest and enjoying every second of it and enjoying eachother.

Over the 4th of July weekend we took a trip out to Ohio to visit my family.  Ruth had never seen Ohio and her first comment about it was "wow...it's flat."  My Mom and sisters planned a reception for us and we had a great time celebrating our marriage with my family.  Ruth loves my family so much that I see us in the next year or so moving out there to be closer.  On Augusta 22nd Ruth's parents had a reception for us in Maine and we had a nice turnout and had a blast on the dance floor.  We have so many wonderful people in our lives.

We have many more weekends filled up throughout the fall with probably our last hike being Bigelow Mountain at the end of September for the fall foliage.  We have a trip planned to Ohio for Thanksgiving and a trip in October to New England College for Ruth's homecoming weekend. 

I am teaching two classes this semester and hope to start on my PhD in Information Technology specializing in Information Security and Assurance.  My term end in October for the Outdoor Ministries Committee so I will be stepping down for a while but not leaving my special place called Pilgrim Lodge.  I am on the Next Generation Committee for the Maine UCC Conference and will help decide the direction the conference takes with its three properties.  As I said, there is no reason to be in Maine anymore for me, and Ruth is all for Ohio or western PA, so after our Jamaica trip in February '10 I will heavily search for jobs out there.

Oh yea, forgot to add that Ruth and I have become advisors for the Middle School Ministry and the State Youth Council.  We went to beach day in July at Popham beach and will be going to fall convention at PL.  The Middle School Ministry had its first event and that went well with approxiamtely 65 middlers having a good time. 

I am so looking forward to the rest of the year and every year spent with my loving and beautiful wife Ruth.

Good by for now, I'll try to post sooner than 10 months.

Three topics to never discuss with friends or family: Politics, Religion, and Relationships

Another paper that could have went on and on but I was limited to 3-5 pages:

The title I have given to this paper reflects on what I was told growing up to not do at holidays when the family was together. It has been proven time and time again that discussing politics, religion, and relationships will inevitably end up in a debate or a flat out argument, thus ruining the holidays or family gathering, etc. So, how do we deal with them? Have an open mind, open heart, and a closed mouth.

Reading through last months Sojourner and Christian Chronicle, I discovered that a vast majority of the issues in the church are these three things. With the upcoming election the major issues are centering on the candidates for President. I have always been a firm believer in the separation of Church and State; however this cannot be done all the time. The reason I believe in this separation is because I would rather not have the government breathing down the necks of church leadership and clergy to tell them how to run their congregations. Unfair taxes and laws that maybe put in place for non profits could affect the sole purpose of the church and the people. On the flip side of this, I do not believe that religious bodies such as the Christian Coalition should be harassing our government officials to get laws passed against issues such as Gay marriage. The problem can go either way if a radical group or person tries to push their morals on either party. There will without a doubt be a debate.

Nevertheless, there is a very fine line between these two bodies, Church and State. There is an extreme possibility that members of the government body are also believers and regular church-goers, and visa versa. So what does this mean and why is it an issue in the church today? Well, this is an amazing year for presidential elections and whichever way it goes it will make history. We have a very diverse selection to make this year with Barack Obama being the first person of color President or Sarah Palin being the first woman Vice-President. This is becoming an issue in the church because from opinion and the opinions of the folks in the editorial of the Sojourner, the public needs to understand what faith background the candidates come from to make a well informed vote. Regardless of a candidates experience and past voting history their faith is what drives their decisions on moral topics. As we have seen, the press delving into a candidate’s religious background caused an up roar with the whole Jeremiah Wright incident as well as the threat of the UCC being fined because Barack Obama spoke to us at our General Synod in 2007.

I have tied politics and religion into one category of issues in the church, now I want to move to relationships. When speaking of relationships I am speaking of “style” of the relationship if you will. The style can be made up of a man and a woman, two men, two women, etc. This is a huge and ongoing issue in the church not only in the United States but abroad as well. Of course when there are two people gathered in God’s name, there is love. In my opinion whatever the relationship style, there is love and. It appears that a vast majority of the religious public still struggle with this notion. I read a few articles on this issue and it seemed that the comments to the article were an attack. This is obviously a huge issue to the church today.

Our current government tried to place in the Constitution of the U.S. a law to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. It failed of course, but here it happens again, politics, religion, and relationships. These three things are so tightly interwoven with each other that it is inescapable to talk about one and not talk about the others. So now we have groups such as the Christian Coalition going to the state capitols and picketing to gain support of congress men and women, to protect the sanctity of marriage which they believe is between a man and a woman. Originally before reading the articles I was leaning toward America as being more excepting of alternative relationships. This mind set comes from the more liberal views of Maine, but what I found out is a majority still oppose of this.

I think supporters have good intentions and the non-supporters do not have a theological leg to stand on. It makes it hard to love my neighbors when they do not love themselves. If they would faithfully exegete the passages they so dearly hang on to for their ammunition against it they would find that the Bible was written in a very different time and our God is a God of love.

With that being said, I think everyone needs to remember the two most important commandments that were told in Matthew 22:37-40: 37Jesus answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’38This is the first and most important command.39And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’40All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.” We will never be able to get away with controversy that comes from the issues of politics, religion, and relationships but we can move forward as God would want us to if we open our hearts, souls, and minds. More simply put, Love God, Love your neighbor, and love yourself.

The Perfect Time for Reflective Practice

As I started to write my first paper for Reflective Practice I realized that I should be posting this. I hope you enjoy it!

Having Reflective Practice this semester has been beneficial to a recent loss in my life. It was as if God knew there would be a loss in my life so close to the beginning of the fall semester that he guided me in the spring to sign up for this course. I have felt this way a couple of times that God is choosing my courses for seminary, not me.

My recent loss is the loss of a dog that meant the world to me. What made it worse was how it came about. Buster has been with me since he was probably 6-8 weeks old until he was about 6 years old. He went everywhere with me and he was my baby. He was a big dog, a Mastiff and weighed in at over 100 pounds. After my partner and I decided to adopt a couple of boys and the kids moved in, Buster became jealous and despite our best efforts to keep him separated from the kids, one of them got bitten. The way the law in Maine is Buster was taken away from me and quarantined. The thing that made it painful for me was I had no idea or right to know what would happen to him. I did however call the place where he was quarantined and asked what would happen to him and after they told me that he would be put to sleep after the ten days, I was devastated yet I was beginning to feel the whole in my heart filling up and the closure I needed was there. While it was not the way I would have wanted the situation to pan out, it had to suffice.

To add to this loss, I had no grief process to follow because I now had children that had to be put first. I was rushed out of the grieving process and had to be a strong parent. I am still grieving but by myself and try to relive memories. Like C.S. Lewis I have found the art of writing my thoughts and feelings. I post them on a blog (https://jturano.blogspot.com/) so that others can read about my experiences. I do not do this to be selfish and whine about my life, I do it because the Internet is a powerful place. It serves as a type of therapy for me and it allows others to use search engines to explore resources on life experiences. I do not always have solutions but what I do have is shared experience. What I mean by shared experience is that most everyone has lost a pet or had God call them to a ministry. By telling my experiences I prove to them that I am not the only one that has felt this way, and most importantly, they are not the only ones that feel a certain way. Blogging in a sense is a ministry of mine, and it was not part of my original intent.

Reading and watching the video of C.S. Lewis’ Grief Observed made me realize I was not the only one that dealt with loss of a loved one in the manner described in his book. He was basically doing what I did by writing journals about the process and finally publishing his experience. Sure, I probably could have done the same, but I chose to blog and he didn’t have computers or the Internet. Regardless of the type of loss, mine a dog, he his wife, the grief process is the same. You can believe me that I yelled at God and questioned his authority, how could he do that to me? I was angry at my partner, and I was angry at the kids but not directly. During this time I had to stay strong and put on a happy caring face while I was torn inside dealing with the loss. Alone I was going through a brief period of depression and the root cause was selfishness. I returned to the love of God and knowing that in my garden Buster will be there waiting for me.

Once I took the first step of returning to my faith which grounds me I was able to move forward. I no longer made all the accusations of why it happened and passing blame on everyone. It was an unfortunate accident that ended painfully but made me realize what I had learned. Buster taught me about life in the short time he was with me. By far the most important thing he taught me was unconditional love. What I have learned from reading Martin Luther King’s sermons is that love trumps hate. Not exactly his words but a more modern day translation.

As I go through my classes at BTS, I go on a roller coaster ride on where I think I should be in ministry. There are times I think I would like to have a church of my own or serve as a youth minister, and then there are times I return to my original call of serving an outdoor ministry. I am on the down hill part of the ride right now where I am returning to the original call. I am not the type of person that can counsel someone on their grief directly but rather share my witness so others can learn. What I see happening is a serious of books coming out of me to help others in all types of situations, while I am serving as a Director of an outdoor ministry camp. I am sure there will be situations when people will need it and I feel by talking about my experiences it will help them understand that they are not the only ones that have experienced something and how I came through it may be beneficial to them. Reflective practice is giving me the foundation to become more open and is helping me to fine tune my ministry of blogging life to the world.

The Last Time…

This is extremely hard for me to do, but I need to do it. I don’t want it to come across as selfish because there is now a huge hole in my heart.

On Sunday, there was an incident where Nick was bitten by Buster. Nick is ok but Buster is no more. He is no more because to keep our kids safe he had to go. This was the hardest thing I have had to do in my life so far.

See, I have had Buster since he was around 8 weeks old. In January of 2002 when I was unemployed, Carl told me to go over to the Humane Society in Augusta and look at a puppy he had seen there. Of course I dropped what I was doing and did. The moment I laid my eyes on him he touched my heart. In the visiting room there he was this little helpless brindle puppy that was so beautiful and full of life. He was so young that his teeth had not grown in yet. After about a half an hour with him I went and signed the papers. Because he was a stray he needed to be fixed before I could take him and they said it would be about a week. I stopped by every day after that to see him and bring him a toy.

The day they told me I could take him, I was so excited. I had bought all the puppy things for him while I was waiting like teething rings, toys, food, treats, and a kennel which he later knew as his “room” which was his safe place that he always went into. I picked Buster up at 10AM and put him in the back of the Sportage I was driving at the time. I was driving so slowly because he was so tiny and precious I wanted nothing to happen to him. I think I must have stopped every two miles to check on him to make sure he was ok. Everytime I did, he would look at me with those big brown eyes and wag his tail happily.

When we got to the house, he had had a little accident but I didn’t care because he was so helpless, but that was the start of teaching him what he needed to know. I walked him around the yard and I slowly introduced him to the other dogs. Everywhere I went Buster was with me, like a shadow, like a child. We would go to pet stores and everyone would come up to him and pet him and say how beautiful he is. I would take him down the toy aisle and let him pick up what ever toy he wanted. At home yes, he had his accidents but learned quickly to do his business outside. Once he learned that for the rest of his stay, Carl and I would let him out and he would pee and poop every time, even when we thought there couldn’t be anything left in that dog.

One night after getting used to living with the family he had now, he challenged Roxie and she took his head in her mouth and flung him across the room. She bit though his ear and he was once again a helpless little puppy screaming like I have never heard a dog scream…more like a child. I held him in my arms and brought him to the vet where after it turned out I over reacted and he was fine. From that point forward he had a little patch of white hair where she bit him and every time Roxie barked Buster would cower away.

The adjustment continued and after every meal up until he was over 50 pounds, I would pick him up and burp him after every meal. When he got even bigger, he still wanted me to pick him up and hold him but I couldn’t. Whenever Carl and I would watch TV at night or on the weekends, Buster would jump up on the couch and lay his head on my chest and go to sleep. If we had a fire burning, he would have his head up under the wood stove and pant and pant until we would tell him to go lay in the kitchen and cool down. It almost seemed like we could just talk normal to him and he would hear what we said.

More time went by and he strengthened in me what it means to love and to love unconditionally. There are so many memories I have of him like when he would bounce through the snow like a rabbit, or the first time he saw a lake. That was hilarious! He went running after Roxie and not realizing that he couldn’t walk on the water he sunk for what seemed like a minute, and then came flying to the surface paddling as hard as he could to the shore. One of Buster most favorite thing in the world was playing fetch. He loved it so much that we had to decide when he was finished because he would keep going until he was so tired and panting so hard it worried us. Buster loved going for walks and often times would run with Carl. He loved it so much and thought he had to try his hardest to not stop and when we did stop he wanted to keep going.

When the kids moved in life changed drastically for all three of our dogs. I guess it was jealously that Buster could not get past. We kept him away from the kids and that meant he was in the garage or in the kennel most of the time. The other two have adapted but Buster could not. His quality of life was draining but I still wanted to hold on and atleast know that he had a home, was fed, and still could have fun when we had the chance to play ball. To me, he seemed so happy and would always greet me with those big brown puppy eyes and a wagging tail say come down to me and he would give me those puppy kisses I love so much. Even though he was no longer a puppy, he will always be my baby.

The time came though when I had no choice but to let him go. On Sunday the animal control officer called and I told her she could pick him up. Because it was Sunday and no shelters were opened she said she would be by on Monday to get him. As I looked at him I realized he didn’t know what he did or the consequences of his actions. He still looked at me as if saying what can I do for you daddy Joe. I cried uncontrollably and he still did not understand but just licked the tears from my face. I held him tight I told him repeatedly that I loved him. The night when on as usual, he was outside, Carl brought him in to be fed; he seemed to not know the difference. After the kids and Carl went to sleep I went downstairs and brought him in the bathroom and closed the door. I held him and cried. All he could do was lick my face, ears, neck, and hands. He did not know this was the last time, the last night. After about what seemed like hours, I made sure he got to his “room” to go to sleep. He circled inside his room a couple of times like he always did before he would lie down somewhere and plopped down. He looked at me and inched his way closer licking and as if to say I want to give you more puppy kisses, you know the ones you love so I gave in and then went to bed where I cried myself to sleep.

Monday morning came and I went through the regular routine with the boys, but before I left I held Buster again and said I love you. After I dropped Nick off I headed to work with a lump in my throat holding back tears. It was supposed to be around 2PM that he would be picked up. After the kid’s caseworker had heard about what happened and reassured us that accidents happen but knew we were making the right decision for the safety of the boys, he sent me an email telling me he was very sorry and was praying for us. That did me in and I had to leave. I had to leave because this was the last time and I needed to make it right with Buster before he had to leave.

I went home, driving through tears. I got home and let all three of the dogs out to do their business. I let them back in and brought Buster upstairs. This was the first time since the end of May that he has been upstairs. This was the last time he would be upstairs. I wanted to give him happy memories if possible; I wanted to do whatever it took. I let him jump up on the bed and I laid down beside him and held him. I held him like we used to when he would sleep in the bed at night when he was much smaller. When we first got him he would sleep behind my head in between the pillow and the headboard. I took him into the kitchen and he went to the spot he always did when we were in there, like it had been no time at all. I gave him a couple of pretzels knowing this was the last time he would eat at the table. He did not make a mess, or drool at all like he used to, to the point that we though the faucet was dripping but it was him drooling continuously. He didn’t know this was the last time, so I wanted to make the best of it. I went into the living room and laid down on the floor. He did his normal pawing at my shoulders like he used to and licked my face, then plopped his heavy body and pointy elbows down on my chest and licked my face. I was crying the whole time. I sat up and held him and told him how much I loved him and I prayed, I prayed God would be with him and make what little life he had left safe, and also quick and painless…that on day we would be together again. There is so much controversy over pets and Heaven. Well, in my Heaven my loved ones are there and that includes pets. The Bible wasn’t written on how animals should live it was written about how we should live. It is unrealistic that God doesn’t allow ALL his creation to enjoy his peaceful garden. That is why I know in my heart Buster and I will be together someday.

Once I calmed down a bit, I took off Buster’s nametag from his collar, but it on my key ring and then I headed outside with Buster, knowing that it is only a few short hours away that we would need to depart from each other. I grabbed a leash and he jumped up and down in excitement and let out his cries of excitement. It was funny the noises he made when he saw the leash because he was so excited to go for a walk. We went one way and got a few houses down when I saw one of the neighborhood dogs that was never on a leash so I turned around and went the other way. We walked to the end of the road, Buster not caring where we were going, just that we were going. He didn’t realize this was the last time. I fought back tears and the lump in my throat was growing. I am not much of a runner, but I wanted him to experience it for the last time. The last 100 yards or so I let him run as fast as he wanted to take us. We probably went a good mile on our walk, I was out of breath and he was too but wanted to keep going. I went inside and got the water dish for him. I didn’t want to give him tap water so I dumped a bottle of Poland Spring in the dish and he drank it with his tail wagging in circles, only stopping to look at me and pant. He looked so happy but not knowing like I did that this was the last time. I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. After a he calmed down a bit I wanted to give him the chance to play ball…for the last time. He was so excited and better than he had ever been. He ran his hardest to get the ball and bring it back to me; he dropped it quickly every time which in the past took some coaxing to get him to drop it. He wanted to go and go and go. I took the camera and took more pictures and a quick video. It was around noon when I decided he needed to stop, to stop for the last time. I let him keep the ball with him because it was the last time. I took more pictures and then my cell phone told me I had voicemail. It never rang so I checked the voicemail and it was the animal control officer saying she was in town. I don’t know why it never rang, I had full power. I sit here wondering if God was saying just a little more time. I called her and she said she was 15-20 minutes away.

My heart dropped, I told her how to get to the house and then I put buster in the kennel to calm down from running so hard to please me. I held him tight, said I loved him and began to shake. I knew this was it, the last time. She arrived around 12:35PM and I signed my rights of buster over to her. I had to get this over with because there was no other alternative. I walked in to the kennel, pet Buster for the last time, held him, kissed him and told him I loved him and we’d be together again someday. I put the muzzle on him and the leash. I walked him to the back of her truck, and picked him up and guided him into the cage. I ran my hand over his head, behind his ears and around to under his chin where I looked him in the eye, and said good bye…for the last time. That was the hardest thing I have ever done. He just stood there with the muzzle on looking at me with those big brown eyes as if saying good bye to me but not understanding why or how or for how long. This is good bye for as long as you live on this earth my little Buster baby. I am sorry…I wished it could be different.

I spent the rest of the day in a zone, only being strong around the kids. The slightest little thing around that house brought a memory back that immediately made me cry uncontrollably and had to leave the room. The animal control officer stopped by to give us Buster’s collar and I am glad Carl took care of that because I couldn’t. I then took Ryan and Roxie down to the lake to go swimming and for a brief time I was smiling and having a good time, but then it would hit me that I can never do this with Buster ever again. All of those shoulda, woulda, coulda’s. I cried myself to sleep last night thinking about Buster and what he was feeling or thinking. Not understanding why he was there, wondering where I was and the rest of his family. He is just an animal that doesn’t understand consequences from his actions. I then wondered how long they would keep him alive, would he be adopted or put to sleep.

I sit here typing this through watery eyes trying to get this lump out of my throat thinking all those things. Thinking about what his future will bring. I could keep going, but I must move forward learning from what he taught me and knowing one day we would be together again. I haven’t been able to even look at his collar yet, but I think I am ready to hold it now. I am setting up a photo album that I cannot look at right now, but I plan to put all the pictures of him there. Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jturano/Buster

Buster has taught me a lot about life, unconditional love, determination, disappointment, trust, regret, how to have fun, happiness, and so much more. This is why the decision to let go and choose the kids safety over having him was so difficult. I wanted so bad to make it work, but it wasn’t meant to be I guess.

Buster, I love you and always will!!!

I am at NYE '08

I figured rather than clogging up this blog for NYE, I would create another. Please check out jturano01.blogspot.com

Would you rather watch me preach??

www.youtube.com/turanoj

My first preaching experience

Well, I finally did it. I was asked to preach at my church for Pilgrim Lodge Sunday. I helped to put the order of worship together, chose some very meaningful songs from the PL song book, and wrote and delivered the sermon. The songs I chose were: "Part of the Family", "Pass it On", and "Here I am Lord."

I was very nervous of course, but it meant so much to me to hear from so many people how well done it was and that they were really leaving with a message. I am going to post this for family, friends, and anyone that wants to read it. We tried to record it but I don't know how it turned out, if it came out ok I will upload it here or somewhere...Enjoy!

Spiritual connections through Outdoor Ministries
By: Joe Turano
Pilgrim Lodge Sunday Sermon
April 13, 2008


Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Often times when we think of spiritual places of worship or places to be close to God, we only think of places such as a sanctuary or a chapel in a Church, your car as you are driving to work or school, or in the privacy of your own home when you pray to God. These are certainly places to be close to God, but we cannot forget the first creation story in the Bible, Genesis 1. God is everywhere and as we grow in our spirituality we learn to define the world around us as a sacred place. This can be experienced through ministry, whether it be the Church ministry or something near and dear to my heart, Outdoor Ministries.

I have found my special place on this rock in the vast Universe in which we reside in. This place is Pilgrim Lodge in West Gardiner on the shore of Lake Cobbosseecontee. Pilgrim Lodge is the United Church of Christ’s Outdoor Ministry camp for the Maine Conference. Each summer, hundreds of people from children to adults gather in this powerful place to experience God’s creation, fellowship with peers, fun, and for most a very spiritual grounding that is longed for. These experiences are gained through day camps to week long camps and to further this exploration of God’s creation, trip camps to Moosehead Lake as well as Mount Washington. Pilgrim Lodge is a place that no matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey, you are welcome. Pilgrim Lodge offers one the opportunity to explore new horizons that will ultimately allow them to find themselves by being close to God in nature. The peaceful quietness of nature, the birds singing, the squirrels running down the handrail of the boardwalk, the sounds of a gentle breeze blowing through the pine trees, and children laughing, singing, and playing all add to the experience at Pilgrim Lodge. You do not hear the sounds of cell phones ringing, noise from a TV or radio, and to tell you the truth, you really do become disconnected from the outside world and the thoughts of constantly checking emails or catching your favorite TV show are not present at all once you head down the camp road. There is no hate or the passing of judgment at Pilgrim Lodge, only love, peace and tranquility is felt.

When we step back and take a look at today’s scripture lesson, I want to show you how the outdoor ministries help you experience faith in a way that many have never thought of.

· In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was dark God said, “let there be light” and there was light. He called the light day and darkness he called night…the first day.
o At Pilgrim Lodge, yes we have day and night. We have the lights of the boardwalk that lights our way by night, and by day the sun really allows you to see the beauty of this place.
· On the second day, God then created the dome that separated the waters below and above. He gathered the waters into one place and dry land appeared. The waters called Seas and the dry land called Earth.
o Pilgrim Lodge has a sky and land to which we see as we look across the lake to the horizon. The sea is also apparent at Pilgrim Lodge although our Sea is Lake Cobbosseecontee and the land is the wonderful place we call Pilgrim Lodge.
· On the third day God created plants and trees.
o Pilgrim Lodge is full of tall Pine trees and of all kinds of trees. There are beautiful plants everywhere you look. Some pretty enough to touch, but after all this is nature, so be careful.
· The fourth day God created the Sun and Moon and the stars in the sky.
o The sky is nice during the day, but at night this is an amazing experience. I have never before in my life seen so many stars. You are very far from the lights of the city that the complete darkness allows you to see all the stars in the sky.
· God then said let the waters bring forth swarms of creatures from those in the sea to those that fly in the sky, this was the fifth day.
o We get to see this at Pilgrim Lodge when Bryan’s son Eric goes out fishing and reels in a bass from the lake and after a quick smile returns it to its home in the lake. I have personally experienced the beautiful sight of hummingbirds flying from flower to flower to feed. Not to mention the other birds and butterflies that make there way through the sky. Just last year while canoeing with a group of campers I experienced both, an Osprey diving in the water and catching a snake. That did rock the boat for a minute.
· On the sixth day God created plant eating land dwellers and humankind.
o We don’t necessarily see cows and horses along at Pilgrim Lodge, but we do see a chipmunk or a squirrel go running down the boardwalk rail like it was a toll free highway and if you are lucky you might see a deer passing through. As far as humankind, this is an important piece to the picture. When you are at Pilgrim Lodge you are part of a very tight knit and caring faith family. The people you are with when you are there help you experience God’s love through them.
· On the seventh day, God rested.
o One of my favorite things to do at Pilgrim Lodge is early in the morning when most are still sleeping, I grab a cup of coffee and sit in a rocking chair on the front porch of the lodge. I like to rest and relax, take everything in and reflect on what happened the previous day. A couple of other times late at night I went down to the chapel to sit alone and rest while talking to God.

This scripture reading means so much to me because it is the center of my spiritual transformation. My first counseling experience was for Faith Foundations back in 2006. I was standing in the chapel at Pilgrim Lodge for the first chapel service of the short camp week. Something began to happen to me while I was reading my part of Genesis. I began to feel all the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders and I had a strong sense of peace and love come over me. I had no idea at the time what was happening to me and I tried to figure it out for quite a while. During this service I had truly begun to feel the power of this special place. I felt my heart opening up and understanding what the Pilgrim Lodge experience is about. I felt a great change in my life coming over me, a change for the good and a change to serve God. I felt love, not only from God but from every camper, Counselor, and Staff I saw as I was reading. I still was not sure at that point what it meant and I could not put into words what happened.
I also want to comment on member at the Waterville UCC and what she experience in Honduras. She said she was sitting on the roof of the church she was helping to build and she looked around and saw everyone working together, then the feelings I described happened to her, and she described it as almost dream like. That really hit home for me that it was not just me, these experiences are for everyone only if they open their hearts up and let God in. This is exactly where I am coming from when I say that God is everywhere and the world we are in is defined as a sacred place as a whole. I still today am trying to figure this out and I hope by sharing this I can come to grips with it in a way that I can present it to others as part of my witness. I am now a Master of Divinity student at Bangor Theological Seminary looking forward to ordination and one day having a camp of my own. This is the kind of spiritual growth that is offered in the outdoor ministries and places such as Pilgrim Lodge.

Pilgrim Lodge offers so many opportunities to connect with God, from enjoying fellowship with the faith community, to walking the Labyrinth, to singing fun and spiritual camp songs, to just sitting there taking everything in. Taking the opportunity to experience God’s work outdoors is an added feature to spiritual growth. It does it in such a way that you do not realize what is happening until you try it for yourself. There are many camps available at Pilgrim Lodge that will allow those of all ages to have an opportunity to experience this for themselves. There is a family camp, a day at camp, Grandparent’s camp, many camps for school age kids, camps for young adults, camps for women, and camps for men. For the more adventurous teens, there are two trip camps that are offered that really lets you experience God’s creation by hiking, playing, worshiping, and climbing to the top of a mountain to see as far as the weather allows how vast this creation actually is. As the Chair of the Outdoor Ministries Committee for the United Church of Christ Maine Conference I hope you will take this opportunity to share in God’s love and experience Pilgrim Lodge this summer. Remember, that’s how it is with God's Love, once you've experienced it, you spread the love to everyone you want to pass it on. Amen.

Pilgrim Lodge awakens...

I just had the opportunity to take a walk down the camp road to meet up with Bryan. It appears to me that PL is awakening from a long winters nap. As I was leaving I was thinking of a poetic way to describe what I saw, but nothing came.

So what I saw was more like PL is waking up and hitting the snooze bar on the alarm clock every morning. We have had a LONG winter. The camp road is mostly clear, but very soft. I would guess and say there is two feet of snow everywhere you look. I was surprised to see Steve back there getting things ready and Jump Start weekend is still a couple of weeks away. Steve said that some parts of the boardwalk are covered with snow up to the hand rails and you can literally walk up on top of it. Man I hope the snow melts. I am sure with the warmer weather and time it will, but we will still open the camp. So mark your calendars...Jump Start weekend starts on April 26th, come on out and help pull PL out of her winter bed. :-)

I am SO excited that the camp season is starting!!

Peace!