When I was a child I loved to read books by Astrid Lindgren, a Swedish author who lived from 1907 to 2002.  One of my favorite heroes was Pippi Longstocking and her friends Tommy and Annika.  In one of the books Pippi said, “The world is really full of things only waiting to be discovered.”
            
I really like these words; for me, these are words full of wisdom.  Pippi said these words to her friends when they were going out to play “finding things.”  “What are we to find?”, and “What are we to look for?”, they asked.   “Just go out there,” Pippi explained to them, “The world is really full of things only waiting to be discovered.”

I like Pippi's words and her way of looking upon life very good and useful.  The words from her have had a treasured place in my mind since I read them the first time as a boy.  Not that you find the things you would expect to find, we may add, not that you always find it in the places where you think they would be.  But you will always find something, and then it's up to you to make use of it.

These words are also a joyful wish for the New Year as well.  When we look on it, there is probably not a huge difference between December 31st, 2005 and January 1st, 2006.  The huge difference is often what Pippi is encouraging us, to use our fantasy, to be alert and curious when we live through the New Year.

At Christmas we heard the message that God has given the Son to the world, and by that God has changed our lives, with the new light that shines on it.  The word became flesh and lived among us.  We are the ones now to discover the light and God's promises  in the world.
            
The New Year is only a few hours old.  To me, a new year is exciting for many reasons.  I always look at a New Year with positive anticipation.  This could be the greatest year of our lives, and there are many reasons why it could be.  And who knows, maybe 2006 will be the year when many new things wait be discovered in our lives and in this world.  I am convinced that it will also be a wonderful year again for our congregation, with all the challenges and joys we will face. 

It is certainly not impossible that 2006 will bring you something very joyful, because the world is really full of things only waiting to be discovered.  Now all you need to do is go out and find it.

Happy New Year.

Rev. Wilfried
Minister 
minister@sanfranciscoucc.org

 
Last month the Steering Committee announced that we would begin worship at Old First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, February 5th.  However, they have not made a final decision.  There is some feeling that we should remain on Polk Street, and move worship into the front of the office space.

There are pros and cons for each location.  At Old First, we would be further away, and we would have only 15 minutes to set up, as the space is in use until 10:45 a.m.  The space in the office is already very tight, and adding worship to that space would make it even more scrunched.

There are no easy answers, and the Steering Committee is still wrestling with the problem.  If you have any ideas, you are invited to contact members of the Steering Committee:  Ken Tipton, Chair; Brenda Bonhomme; Lucille Dean;  Bob Huber; Nancy McManus; Joe Story; Kirk Thomas, or the Rev. Wilfried Glabach.

We must vacate 1300-1302 Polk Street by the end of January because of earthquake retrofitting laws.  Watch for announcements as to where we will worship beginning Sunday, February 5th, or contact the church office:  (415)
441-8901 or e-mail:   minister@sanfranciscoucc.org

 
Lawrence Dettner died at 70 years of age on December 20th; he had been  a member since 1962.  We also just learned that his mother, Mabelle, had died in 2002.   We praise God for their lives, and may they rest in peace

The Dettner was generous to our congregation; they had furnished a room in the Post and Mason building, which was then named for them, the Dettner Room.  They owned a printing business, and for many years printed our bulletins, which Ed Steiner tells us were always nicely done.

May God bless the Dettners as they mourn the loss of Lawrence.