“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another.” 1John 3:14 Dear Friends, I’m writing to you on the warmest day of the year so far. The warm breath of spring is blowing upon us as we continue to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord. The fifty days from Easter to Pentecost are, in the Northern Hemisphere, always a season of flowers and growth, warming temperatures and good rains. These seasons point us toward a hopeful, life-filled future. This spring when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees, we expect Brood X cicadas. They will crawl out of the ground and begin to make an awful racket. Our dogs will try to catch them, they will gross us out when they crash into us and the noise. It is life that has been underground come into the world. It would be easy to make an analogy between cicadas and the three day lapse between Jesus’ death and resurrection. A harder, but far less disgusting image is bees. I noticed last weekend at our daughter Sara’s a wooden box in her garage filled with wooden panels with plastic centers with hundreds of diamond shapes imprinted upon them. She had built a beehive. In a week or so she will receive a swarm of bees to put in her hive. They will enjoy pollinating the flowers, plants and trees she has in her huge yard and probably the neighbors’ farms as well. Sara is looking forward to their thriving and filling the hive and the many panels with honey. I don’t know very much about bees, but they sure seem more a5ractive and quieter than cicadas. And they are be5er flyers. I recently read The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. It is about a beekeeper in Aleppo, Syria as the civil war starts. The beekeeper and his family struggle through much difficulty and tragedy as they suffer through bombings, decide to flee and eventually arrive in the U.K. Throughout the novel, the trauma of the keeper is interrupted by images of his beekeeping days – the gentleness of the bees, the productivity and community life of the bees. The keeper is dependent upon his community to make the journey and rejoices when he finds in England a type of bee that was thought extinct. His new life in the UK includes teaching beekeeping to the Syrian immigrant community and becoming part of the beekeeping community in England. I don’t really know anything about bees, so I’m sure an analogy between bees and Easter is not perfect. But bees, like the resurrection are future oriented. The bees are a hope for life as they spread pollen and enable the growth of 25% of our produce. We look for that day of future abundance because of bees. The bees are willing to sacrifice and work for the good of the beehive. Their hope for the future frees them to give on behalf of the whole hive. Similarly, the promise of the Resurrection of new life in Christ frees us to put aside our own concerns to love our siblings in Christ. “We know that we have passed from death to live because we love one another.” The Resurrection of Jesus allows us to be free enough from concern about our own deaths to bring love and life to others. Blessings, Kevin Stainton The Pastor’s Letter The Pastor’s Letter The Pastor’s Letter The Pastor’s Letter H e r i t a g e P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h May 2021
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“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another.” 1John 3:14
Dear Friends,
I’m writing to you on the warmest day of the year so far. The warm breath of spring is blowing upon
us as we continue to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord. The fifty days from Easter to Pentecost are, in
the Northern Hemisphere, always a season of flowers and growth, warming temperatures and good rains.
These seasons point us toward a hopeful, life-filled future.
This spring when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees, we expect Brood X cicadas. They will crawl
out of the ground and begin to make an awful racket. Our dogs will try to catch them, they will gross us out
when they crash into us and the noise. It is life that has been underground come into the world. It would be
easy to make an analogy between cicadas and the three day lapse between Jesus’ death and resurrection.
A harder, but far less disgusting image is bees. I noticed last weekend at our daughter Sara’s a
wooden box in her garage filled with wooden panels with plastic centers with hundreds of diamond shapes
imprinted upon them. She had built a beehive. In a week or so she will receive a swarm of bees to put in her
hive. They will enjoy pollinating the flowers, plants and trees she has in her huge yard and probably the
neighbors’ farms as well. Sara is looking forward to their thriving and filling the hive and the many panels
with honey.
I don’t know very much about bees, but they sure seem more a5ractive and quieter than cicadas. And
they are be5er flyers.
I recently read The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. It is about a beekeeper in Aleppo, Syria as the
civil war starts. The beekeeper and his family struggle through much difficulty and tragedy as they suffer
through bombings, decide to flee and eventually arrive in the U.K. Throughout the novel, the trauma of the
keeper is interrupted by images of his beekeeping days – the gentleness of the bees, the productivity and
community life of the bees. The keeper is dependent upon his community to make the journey and rejoices
when he finds in England a type of bee that was thought extinct. His new life in the UK includes teaching
beekeeping to the Syrian immigrant community and becoming part of the beekeeping community in England.
I don’t really know anything about bees, so I’m sure an analogy between bees and Easter is not
perfect. But bees, like the resurrection are future oriented. The bees are a hope for life as they spread pollen
and enable the growth of 25% of our produce. We look for that day of future abundance because of bees.
The bees are willing to sacrifice and work for the good of the beehive. Their hope for the future frees them to
give on behalf of the whole hive. Similarly, the promise of the Resurrection of new life in Christ frees us to
put aside our own concerns to love our siblings in Christ. “We know that we have passed from death to live
because we love one another.”
The Resurrection of Jesus allows us to be free enough from concern about our own deaths to bring
love and life to others.
Blessings,
Kevin Stainton
The Pastor’s Letter The Pastor’s Letter The Pastor’s Letter The Pastor’s Letter
H e r i t a g e P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h
May 2021
Stay connected to Heritage Presbyterian Church!
HPC Website: www.hpcmason.org
Weekly Worship at 10:15am Sundays
In Person Worship is by RSVP only; masks and social distancing required.
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Children & Youth private Social Media Group pages: ---
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.
Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away,
when you lie down and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 6:5-7
Each year, we take time to honor and thank our Sunday school teachers; those in our congregation
who have taught, led, and mentored us, as we learn about Jesus and deepen our faith.
This year’s pandemic has certainly reduced the number of those who had the title “Sunday School
Teacher”, but the quarantine has also encouraged each of us to adopt the role of TEACHER and
FAITH FORMATION LEADER in our own homes.
We offer a virtual “Thank You” and “Bless You” to each of you who has shared time, faith, and cre-
ativity to guide faith formation in your own homes.
We also offer a sincere THANK YOU to those who taught and led classes through weekly ZOOM
and socially distanced in-person gatherings this past year. Our teachers will be honored in worship
on May 16th.
Kids of the Kingdom and Tweens: Debbie Hamann and Morgan Perkins
Youth Group Advisers: Alicia Fehrenbach and Steve RiZ
Lenten Small Group Leaders: Nelson and Suzanne Kennedy, Sue Monteith, Jeremy and