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Across the Pastor’s Desk by Joy Knoppel

Grace and peace to you from the God who is, who was and who is to come!

It is hard to believe that it is already May 2023. One of the best things about spring is watching the new life that emerges all around us. I know that is cliche, but it is true. Recently I have loved watching all of the birds in the Albert Lea area. We have the blue herons, the pelicans, the owls, the warblers and even some loons (just to name a few).

Watching the birds around me always reminds me of Matthew 6:25-27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly God feeds them.Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” and the message of peace that it brings.

In our world finding peace seems impossible because we are constantly surrounded by different kinds of noise, but one of the beautiful things about our faith is that it reminds us that in the midst of the noise our faith has the power to bring silence and peace. We have been blessed with the Holy Spirit and through that spirit can draw upon the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding — a peace that only comes from our loving God.

So as you go out this week and enjoy all of the beauty that spring has to offer I hope that you will watch the birds. I hope that you will notice all of the carefree ways that they soar in the sky and swim in the pond, and I hope that you will find that same carefree, God-given-peace in your own life too.

I pray that you will be reminded that God is taking care of the birds in the same way that God is taking care of you.
Blessings of peace.

Joy Knoppel is pastor at First Lutheran Church.