Hope in a Pumpkin Spice Latte
I have to laugh when I see the hype for a cup of coffee. For the Pumpkin Spice Latte - it's all seriousness. I know it's appearance is more than just a new flavor - especially this year.
Tradition. We love traditions - they bring order and sense to our lives and make things seem right and good. This year has been anything but normal and order has seemed to be on the fritz. A visible sign for all of us coffee lovers is the traditional PSL back within our grasp. It's more than a cup of coffee right now. It's that we are meeting milestones, traditions and rights of passage all in the midst of a pandemic and these signs are helping in tremendous ways. We can look ahead as church and say - Faith Formation will be starting up, First Communion and Confirmation dates have been set - and as ever - we will have the Feast Days and Holy Days, Seasons and Celebrations that arrive in the fall. We have a great gift to share with our communities right now - steady, reliable, beautiful and joyful Tradition.
Sacrament. If you ever memorized a definition of sacrament, it might have been that it is a visible sign of God's invisible grace. The church is a sacrament to the world - a visible sign that God is alive and here in our midst. The greatest work we can do this fall is to lean into what it means to be sacrament and take up the challenge. We are to be signs of hope, mercy, gratitude, wonder, grace and joy. If we want to serve well, we must have at the top of our to-do list (like Jesus) to bring good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to captives and sight for the blind (Luke 4:18).
Those we serve, you, and I, and the world need hope this fall. We could use a marketing tool or a brand like PSL - that would remind people of the words of Julian of Norwich "All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
We have so much to offer all the world right now - and at the heart of it is the heart of Jesus.
We offer love. It covers all the needs and it implies trust, hope, joy and everything in between.
That delicious PSL points to the fact that all will be well. The year will unfold as it has before and we have a beautiful important task to embark upon. We are the brand - we are the ones who lead all people to Jesus by our love. Let's get out there!
Peace,
Jane
