Posts by Martha Brunell

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Mayfield Memo – November 15, 2019

by Martha Brunell

The seeds of the season are all around us, a quiet and generous abundance to provide for next year’s growth. Unclouded Days – the DeKalb Festival Chorus and the Wild Blue Ukulele Orchestra This spirited performance will take place at the First Lutheran Church, 324 N. 3rd Street, DeKalb at 7:00 pm, Saturday, November 16. […]

Mayfield Memo – November 8, 2019

by Martha Brunell

When I moved to St. Louis in the late 70’s, I was amazed that there were still roses at the Missouri Botanical Garden in November. I had never encountered November roses in upstate New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts where I had previously lived. Since then, on occasion, even much further north than St. Louis, I […]

Mayfield Memo – November 1, 2019

by Martha Brunell

On occasion when I was growing up in upstate New York, Halloween was an affair complete with snow. This year in northern Illinois we had a rather dramatic display of that possibility as we began the darker half of the year in the northern hemisphere. Don’t forget that Saturday is the night when you turn […]

Mayfield Memo – October 26, 2019

by Martha Brunell

We are about a month away from the end of the church year and the end of ordinary time, the long season of Pentecost. The liturgical color for ordinary time is green.  However, on this last Sunday in October, the green is interrupted with the bright red of the spirit as we celebrate Reformation Day. […]

Mayfield Memo – October 17, 2019

by Martha Brunell

As we gather to celebrate 159 years of Mayfield life on Sunday, we consider all the seeds of life strewn widely in years past and those that we still can scatter and tend for the thriving of neighbors near and far and for the earth on which we stand. Celebrate with us Sunday in body […]

Mayfield Memo – October 12, 2019

by Martha Brunell

The Mayfield peanut butter collection totaled 109 jars. Thank you to Cary for providing peanut butter leadership week to week and for delivering the peanut butter to the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva. Taste of Kenya It was good to see so many Mayfield people at the October 11 Taste of Kenya event. It […]

Mayfield Memo – October 4, 2019

by Martha Brunell
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Today is the feast day of Saint Francis. This autumn sky photo reminds me of his canticle to the sun composed to celebrate creation. It begins with reference to Brother Sun and Sister Moon. Better Together Our children’s fall unit on diversity, “Better Together” continues this Sunday with the first of two weeks centered in […]

Mayfield Memo – September 21, 2019

by Martha Brunell

Happy Autumn (9.23.19, 2:50 am) Thanks Peggy for another beautiful photo. If you look to the far upper right side of the picture, you can glimpse a caterpillar just getting into position for a chrysalis to form. Quietly in northern states where monarchs have spent the summer and spring, the drama of transformation and preparation […]

Mayfield Memo – September 14, 2019

by Martha Brunell
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And another new life emerges. A new season begins. The super generation of monarchs is upon us, emerging from chrysalis after chrysalis. They are the ones who will make the 2000 plus mile journey to Mexico, winter over, and then begin the migration back north in the spring. What courage it takes to lean into […]

Mayfield Memo – August 29, 2019

by Martha Brunell
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The colors of high summer’s blooming are fading, and the Monarchs will be headed south in a few weeks.  But the beautiful evidence of a season of fruitfulness is still with us. How fortunate we have been to bear witness to it again. Northern Illinois Food Bank You can currently support the Northern Illinois Food […]