30 Main Street, PO Box 392, Salisbury, CT 06068     Tel: 860. 435.2442 © Congregational Church of Salisbury Website by  Designs & Images From the Pastor's Desk Be Still In the silence that follows, I invite you to prepare yourselves to worship God.  These are the words at the beginning of our worship service each Sunday.  After announcements and prayer concerns we spend a minute or two centering ourselves for worship.  Ideally, during this brief time we are able to put aside the pressures of our daily lives and simply open ourselves to God's presence. Ideally.  In reality, one or two minutes are not enough time to prepare oneself for worship.  This month, as we begin Lent, I invite you to consider other strategies that you might employ to prepare yourself. The first and easiest tactic I suggest is to sit in silence when you enter the Meeting House.  Each Sunday morning, our gifted musician Al Sly provides you with a prelude.  All you have to do is rest in the beauty of the music and let the stresses of the week evaporate.  Take a few deep breaths.  Close your eyes.  Invite God in. A second, more involved approach is to prepare yourself at home.  This is the one that I use.  Get up a bit earlier on Sunday morning and find a quiet place to sit with your coffee.  Read from the Bible or a devotional book and reflect on what the day's reading means to you.  Choose a few words or phrases to use as “breath prayers” during the rest of the day.  This approach allows you to arrive at church prepared for worship. Another option might be reading the selected readings for Sunday ahead of time.  The Sunday readings are most often selected by Tuesday and by calling the office, or sending me an email, you can find out what they are.  Read them over and reflect on what the words mean to you.  When you come to worship on Sunday, the readings will be familiar to you and perhaps you will experience them in a new way. Lent is a season of preparation.  Traditionally, people have given something up or adopted a new discipline as a way of preparing for Easter.  This ritual can be helpful in drawing your attention to God in new ways.  You will also have an opportunity for contemplative prayer on Wednesday evenings and book discussions on Thursdays during Lent.   Give yourself the gift of preparation.  In the words of the psalmist, Be still and know that I am God. Wishing you peace on the journey,  Reverend Diane Monti-Catania To contact Pastor Diane  by phone: 860.435.2442, or by email Pastor.Diane@salisburycongregational.org February 2012 “No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”