Attending to my resolutions with resolve, I'm back on my treadmill again.  There is that moment just beforehand, while lacing my sneakers, when I consider not working out on the treadmill at all.  Even those first few minutes on the treadmill seem like drudgery.  But I find that, after waling along for awhile, my mind becomes free for all kinds of activity.  I reflect on the day's events.  I pray.  I've even been known to compose sermons (or "Staff Notes," for that matter).  There's a tremendous freedom in the steady rhythm of my walking.

What rhythms in your lives offer you freedom?  I think of the swimmer doing laps or the pianist running fingers up and down the scales.  I think of my Grandmother Rouse with her crochet hook twisting and turning in a regular pace that produced afghans as well as much-needed quiet time.  Some of you may work at a job that requires a rhythm or pattern of motion.  These rhythmic motions can be understood as tiresome, or can be viewed as liberating.

The Church Year has its own rhythm.  Some Christian denominations pay scant attention to the days and seasons of the Church Year, except to mark the high points such as Christmas and Easter.  But our Lutheran tradition offers the opportunity to live and worship within these various seasons, celebrating particular days.  We begin the year with Advent, anticipating Christ's birth and second coming.  We rejoice in newborn king, and then move into Epiphany, where the glory and power of this king is increasingly revealed to us through scripture.  Soon we will journey through Lent, and consider the depth and degree of our Lord's love for us, which takes Him to the cross.

There are folks, even within our denomination, who find the marking of the Church Year confining.  But I liken it to being on that treadmill.  There is a tremendous freedom in the steady rhythm of walking through the Church Year.  When  we begin that journey, we are liberated to concentrate on the needful things.  We can reflect on the Son of God, who gave himself for the life of the world,  We can pray for his continual help in our lives.  We can praise him and use this God-given freedom to serve joyfully as his people.

Come and worship.  Come with me and enter into the rhythm of our Church Year.  I assure you it will not be tiresome.  On the contrary, it will invigorate your soul.