this past weekend my family read through this year’s ‘Gifts for Life’ magazine from Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), and my son, Isaac, was instantly captivated by the thought that he could buy a $12 mosquito net that would help to save the life of someone he’s never met who lives half-way around the world.

as the church slides through the end of pentecost’s ‘ordinary time’ and into what is always the very extraordinary time of advent, i ask folks to pay particular attention to ways to get involved during this time.

Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” Mark, ch.13

no doubt about it — the times are changing. most obviously, we’re moving quickly from fall into winter — the leaves are down, the temps are down, and the sun is, mostly, down. less obvious, perhaps, is the change from one season to the next in the life of the church — in many places numbers are down, giving is down, and enthusiasm is, generally, down. and while we often do our best to look for external excuses for our poor showing, author alan hirsch suggests the church is simply “perfectly built to do just what we’re doing today.” so what is that supposed to mean?

annual pledge cards are available this week at the church, along with a cover letter from the vicar and a draft 2010 mission budget.

the good work we do at holy trinity requires pledge income from the ht community so we’re able to draft a realistic budget, which both commits us to the mission God has laid out before us and also helps us to hold ourselves accountable to meet our goals and fulfill our obligations to God and to our neighbors.

then he called his disciples and said to them, “truly i tell you, this poor woman has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” mark, ch.12

the story of the widow’s mite is one of the most compelling stories in all the Gospels, evoking in us sympathy for the widow and a new sense of self-sacrifice in her honor. it’s always a timely reading, coming as it always does in the midst of ‘pledge season.’ but i think the crass connection between the widow’s giving and our own misses the point.