I was not an accountant, but once as a Navy musician I had the collateral duty of Fiscal Petty Officer for one of the bands I was in. The keeper of the treasury. I had to order all supplies for the band – everything from sound boards to clarinet reeds. I also had to provide for any equipment repairs that could be made locally or send instruments back to Fleet Support. Thankfully I had a computer program that made it easier, but I still had to keep a paper ledger. Woe to me if the numbers didn’t jibe!

Now in my second career, yet first vocation as a baptized child of God, I (we as a congregation) are blessed to have a fantastic Treasurer. She makes the extra effort of presenting the financial statements or budget report in methods that are easily understood – charts, summary statement that let us know exactly where we stand. Income vs. expenses. Budget, year-to-date, amount over and amount under. We have had a rugged year, with income less than outgo. Beyond numbers and dollars, the life of the church is clearly about people. Here we have also had losses and gains. People die or move on, people join our congregation. As I reflect on my “pastoral balance sheet”, there is a mixture of concern and joy. No one wants to lose a member out of anger or misunderstanding. Those are more painful even than the deaths. Such is the balance sheet of life. A constant succession of losses and gains. It brings a combination of memory and expectation. The unseen or disguised player in the play about the ebbs and flows of life is grace. As we remember and constantly feel the pain of loss, we are given the gift of grace. It is the expression of God’s unbounded, unconditional love. Just imagine how boring life would be without the balance sheet, the markers of what and who we have lost and what we account as gain. Both are blessings. May life’s balance sheet be always “in the black” for you.

Pastor Art