Pastor’s Message for February 2026

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.”
-Isaiah 26:3

     Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

     As I write this letter, the snow is falling, sometimes heavily, sometimes lightly, but consistently. The week leading up to these storms is a constant rush of analysis and data points. I didn’t even know there was a European model and an American model, or what those words even mean! But suddenly, I was a weather expert, trying to decide along with our church trustees what the risks were of either opening or closing our buildings for worship. We chose the safety of our members and community. Resources which would have been spent to clear the parking lots and sidewalks could be used elsewhere. I think we made the right decision. Just clearing my driveway will be an all-day task by the time the snow finally stops falling.

     Storms have a way of shrinking our world. The horizons shrink. Familiar landmarks vanish under snowdrifts. Our lives become contained in the bottle of our house and family. Maybe a neighbor helps a neighbor remove the snow from their driveway – and maybe that’s their only interaction in months. The cold reminds us of how good it is to have a warm place to stay; freezing winds remind us our bodies are fragile and limited. And all of this happens during some of the darkest days of the year, where sunshine is a preciously rare commodity.

     And into these moments, a prophet like Isaiah speaks. “You will keep in perfect peace…”

     Perfect peace doesn’t necessarily mean the storm stops and the winds calm. Isaiah doesn’t promise sunny skies and plowed roads. Isaiah reminds us of God’s abiding presence. The hymnwriter Charles Tindley put it this way:

When the storms of life are raging stand by me.

     What God promises is presence in the midst. You might say God promises “God with us” – Emmanuel. Not an internal feeling of safety, but something deeply rooted within us. When the world is frozen and fragile, God is with us. When the familiar is buried in the snows of doubt, God is with us. When the church building is closed and the roads are impassible, God is with us!

     Peace doesn’t require us to ignore the storm; it invites us to encounter the Prince of Peace in the midst. May God keep us in perfect peace in the days ahead.

God loves you, and so do I,
Pastor Jim