A Word from Pastor Nathan

Dear Friends:

When twelve Disciples gathered to livestream Galileo Church’s worship service on Sunday night, we learned of a new podcast from WNJP. The broadcast is titled “Ten Things that Scare Me.” Here’s the description: “10 Things That Scare Me is a tiny podcast about our biggest fears. In each episode, one person talks. Alone in a room. It could be anyone. It could be you. It’s someone driven by fears that keep them up at night, that define their lives, and inform their choices. This is a podcast about them, about you, about us, and the world we inhabit together.”

During Lent, Galileo Church is riffing on this theme and doing a series called “6 Things that Scare Me.” As part of the Sunday evening worship service, two Galileo co-conspirators (what we call members) named six fears. Included in the named fears were the following: failure, heights, success, loneliness, spiders, and (wait for it) sea monsters. When each person concluded their list, the worship leader announced, “This is the Word of God for the people of God,” and the congregation responded, “Thanks be to God.”

An experience of some kind is part of Galileo’s worship service. We had to modify the experience for our twelve disciples, but it worked. On slips of paper, we wrote the things that scare us. After our slips were completed, we placed them on the cross in the alcove. Included in the named fears were the following: money, COVID-19, failure, never being good enough, 2020, death, failure, being helpless, and (wait for it) skunks. People responded that it was a meaningful exercise.

After talking with our worship committee co-chairs, will you join in this exercise with your fellow Disciples? There will be slips of paper on which to name your fears and tape for you to attach the slips to the cross. If you want to keep the things that scare you confidential, place the writing against the cross. We’ll keep these slips on the cross for the Lenten season. I expect it will be full.

Here’s the cool part: At the conclusion of Lent, Easter comes. Life springs forth from the cross and the grave. We’ll see signs of life all around where we once placed our fears. What a resurrection that will be!

Lenten blessings,