September 4 Proper 18 Click here for readings.

For years there have been warnings of how global warming will affect the weather and pleas for lowering the use of gasoline through higher mpg cars and alternative fuels. Now the impact of not paying attention to the sentinels of our time is coming home to us. Hurricanes and rising gas prices may force us to hear what has been ignored so far. It is not just the wicked who are suffering and dying - it is our planet and all of us with it. The words of Ezekiel ring true in our day.
Paul's letter to the Romans gives hope in the midst of despair. "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers." Only when we see that we are one on this "fragile earth our island home" (BCP p. 370) and that each of our actions contributes to either building up or tearing down the community of creation will things change.
Martin Bell says that "messiah" builds community and gives life to individuals (both - not one or the other), the "demonic" tears down community and takes away life. Whose forces will we join?

To donate money to assist those who are suffering Click here for Episcopal Relief and Development. Your dollars can be in the places of need within hours.

Here is the latest news report from ERD:
ERD Responds to Hurricane Katrina

8/29/2005
[Episcopal Relief and Development]
As Hurricane Katrina leaves behind devastation in Florida and Louisiana, and closes in on Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, Episcopal Relief and Development has mobilized in support of communities affected by this disaster.

After tearing through Florida on Friday, the Category 4 hurricane regained force over the Gulf of Mexico, with winds topping 145 mph.

This morning, Katrina touched down again, just east of New Orleans, Louisiana. Hurricane–force winds caused a path of destruction 250 miles across. A million New Orleans residents avoided harm by obeying a mandatory citywide evacuation.

Seventy percent of the coastal city is below sea level, and is protected from flooding by levees and pumps. After pumps failed in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, filling the streets with six feet of water, dozens of people had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses.

Katrina is over Mississippi this afternoon. Storm surges in Gulfport, Mississippi have already plunged the city under ten feet of water. Winds tore the roofs off buildings in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Disaster officials will begin assessing the damage to Louisiana and Mississippi today.

Hurricane Katrina is one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit the US. Experts estimate that it could cause between $10 and $25 billion worth of damage. If the higher assessments are confirmed, Katrina will be the most expensive hurricane in US history.

On behalf of Episcopalians, ERD has sent emergency funds immediately to the Diocese of Mississippi. This emergency assistance will help vulnerable people whose homes are destroyed or severely damaged. ERD support will help the diocese provide aid to community members through two mobile response trailers, which are equipped with supplies like chainsaws and generators to assist in the recovery.

We are waiting to hear what kind of aid is most needed in Louisiana. We have also offered emergency assistance to dioceses likely to be affected as the storm moves inland, including Alabama and Tennessee. Forecasters also warn of the risk of high winds, flooding, and scattered tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

We offer our prayers for the people affected by this disaster – those whose homes are under 10 feet of water, those who have lost family members, and those whose businesses have been blown down and swept away. Please join us in praying for people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Episcopal Relief and Development, an independent 501(c) 3 organization, saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. We provide emergency assistance in times of crisis and rebuild after disasters. We enable people to climb out of poverty by offering long-term solutions in the areas of food security and health care, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.

August 28 Sunday thoughts - I am not preaching this week but have been thinking about the readings. Click Here to read them.
Moses and the burning bush intrigues me. So much of nature seems to be holy ground. The long sandy beaches with basalt headlands found on the Oregon coast, our church camp near Esterbrook, Wyoming, and many other places evoke a sense of union with the Divine.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning writes:
"Earth’s crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes and the rest sit around it and pick blackberries.”
Arthur Ocean Waskow and Phyllis Ocean Berman write: "Moses chased after the dancing lamb just as it disappeared around the mountainside; tripped, cut his knee, lost one sandal in a bramble patch. He rose hobbling, saw another patch of brambles — burning.
Yelling "Oh my God!" he dashed to clear a firebreak lest flames spread to the other dry thorn bushes on the mountain. His other sandal clattered unheeded off the path. He tripped, fell into this blazing bush, moaning, "Oh my God, my God." Click Here for the rest of this meditation.
The burning bush can be seen as Moses' shame of being raised a son of privilege while his sisters and brothers live as slaves. This shame rises up as he tends his sheep in the wilderness. God calls him to use his gifts and life experience to free the people. In this moment of awareness, when shame of life circumstances and choices are turned to gift and opportunity, the ground becomes holy. How can we open ourselves, allowing the Holy One to transform our lives into Holy Ground?

Very Well-Rounded You have: 70% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and 70% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph on the right represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored above average on emotional intuition and above average on scientific intuition. (Weirdly, your emotional and scientific intuitions are equally strong.) Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake. Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 66% on Scientific You scored higher than 44% on Interpersonal

Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

August 21, thoughts for Sunday. Click here for Readings
Jesus says in today's Gospel " I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." I have often wondered what he meant by this until I read an article on the use of binding and loosing regarding the Torah and the Laws contained in it. Instead of the usual interpretation as forgiving of sins or being the gatekeeper of Heaven, the article says Jesus is referring to whether laws apply or not in new situations. His charge to the community of his followers is that they have the responsibility of deciding how to apply the laws of old to a changing world. The metaphor of keys tells of a call to unlock the scriptures in our time. The charge is not to use the the scriptures to lock people in but to open the doors to the liberating power of God.
The midwives of the time of Moses' birth had to choose obedience to pharaoh or their faith in God. Paul in Romans puts it this way - be a living sacrifice - do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. There will always be choices - some have life threatening and life giving possibilities - often the same choice contains both.
A statement I heard this week encapsulates what I think the readings are saying to us as a people of God.

"I tell you with my life that God is good."

Can we witness to this goodness as we live our lives this week?

Thoughts on the Fourth of July for Sunday July 10
Isaiah 55:10-13
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.


Today is the Fourth of July - a big day in the life of this small Western town. We have a parade, a buffalo barbecue, and rodeo. Fireworks of all sorts up to almost "dynamite" size are available - so it sounds like a war zone all weekend. On Saturday evening the local orthodontist put on a fireworks display to rival many towns. We can sit on our deck and watch it across the valley. Tonight the town will have another display. We can watch it from our back deck. We are surrounded by festivities celebrating our country's birthday. This year, however, I don't feel like celebrating - I just feel sad. To me the country seems to have gotten off track. We are mired down in a war that was started on false pretenses but cannot really abandon now. We can't leave the people whose lives we have changed until there is more stability and infrastructure in place. We seem to be sliding backwards in the founding ideals of the Declaration of Independence - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some seem to feel that safety comes from restricting rights of individuals and their ability to make personal choices. The current taxation policy is growing the gap between rich and poor, and financing our lavish spending by selling our selves to the Chinese and others willing to lend us money. Health care is a scandal. Basic preventative care is unavailable so people wait until they are desperate to go to the doctor. Children are growing up - sick, uneducated and hungry. What kind of future does all of this portend? Is there Good News anywhere? Does the hope foretold in the passage from Isaiah exist or is it just wishful thinking?
Jesus tells a parable in the lesson from Matthew for Sunday

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
"Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"
"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

I have always believed that the "soil" of this country was good - with abundance for all. It seems this year that the soil has become hard and rocky. I think it is going to take some tilling and fertilizing - the difficult work of gardening to get the soil back in shape. The promise of the Statue of liberty burned brightly for my maternal grandmother's family form Scotland and my father's family from Norway as they stepped off the boat just a generation ago. I hope we can continue that legacy for those who have always been here, for those who came unwillingly and for those yet to come.

A week ago I awoke to find that my voice had gone, totally, even whispering would only start a coughing fit. A marathon week of a meeting, visit with our grandson, a quick trip to Jackson Hole for a funeral service, and services on Sunday in Rock Springs and Eden together with a cold left me voiceless. First thing I learned was - I talk more than I listen (big surprise to my friends LOL). It has been a good time - listening and knowing that I cannot respond. This caused me to listen more fully without preparing my response as the person is talking.
Now I am recovered - will I continue to live the learnings?

TRINITY SUNDAY Click here for Readings
The concept of the Trinity was developed by the early church to clarify the boundaries of acceptable belief in Christianity. Although many of the same questions remain about the nature of God, and different religions and denominations give various answers, the concept of the Trinity has captured an idea of God that is really breathtaking. It is not an answer that limits but one that invites. In the Rublev icon there is space at the table for the viewer - as if to say join us in our contemplation. There are many depictions in art of the Trinity. Using the image search function on Google will bring up a variety. The Celtic designs feature abstract interweaving often forming a heart in the center. Another that reveals the passion of God is by Pieter Coecke Van Aelst. Art and dance seem to be able to express this idea better than words. As a revelation of God words fail to catch all the nuances of the Divine - the dance of relationship between the Creator, the Christ, and the Spirit - all participating in one another and yet separate manifestations of the Holy One.
I think it expresses a balance of life in this time and space and all that belongs to life beyond. The Navajo concept of Ho'zho' - Walk in Beauty - captures this balance, as do other religious traditions. The Trinity reveals perfect balance that we are called to find in our own lives.
The creation story from our readings today speak of God creating through the breath/Spirit to incarnate life as we know it. At each stage of creation the writer of Genesis says "and God saw that it was good." Good or Tov (in Hebrew) is more than our concept of good vs. bad - it has the sense of "order" or being in right relationship. All things in creation are good - they are in balance and in right relationship to the divine. Part of the story of the fall is that humans get out of this balance - they forget their relationship to the Holy. Nevertheless, humans cannot destroy the essential goodness of creation and our essential goodness as created in the image of God, all of us, unique, yet bearing the image of God.
The Trinity calls us back to our essential being - calls us to join the dance of creation, learn the steps of the dance, bringing our selves into the sphere of the divine. No wall flowers at this dance - all are invited.
The Shaker hymn Simple Gifts embodies this sense of finding our delight in the steps of the dance of the Holy in the Trinity.

Some poetry by John Donne
Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Father, part of his double interest
Unto thy kingdom, thy Son gives to me,
His jointure in the knotty Trinity
He keeps, and gives to me his death's conquest.
This Lamb, whose death with life the world hath blest,
Was from the world's beginning slain, and he
Hath made two Wills which with the Legacy
Of his and thy kingdom do thy Sons invest.
Yet such are thy laws that men argue yet
Whether a man those statutes can fulfil;
None doth; but all-healing grace and spirit
Revive again what law and letter kill.
Thy law's abridgement, and thy last command
Is all but love; Oh let this last Will stand!

EASTER 7 and ASCENSION Click Here for Readings.
Ascension is one of those church holy days that is a mystery to me. The whole idea of Jesus ascending through the air into heaven is hard for someone who has seen the pictures of earth from space taken by the Astronauts. Instead I think of Glinda in the movieThe Wizard of Oz rising up into the air in her bubble with all the Munchkins waving and shouting "Goodbye, Goodbye" in their little squeaky voices. There are many artistic depictions of the Ascension. Salvador Dali shows Jesus from the disciples point of view and some androgynous heavenly being receiving him. There is an icon showing just Jesus feet as he goes into the clouds and leaving footprints on the rock below. If you use the image search on google you will find all sorts of conceptions of this event. The gospels also have varying accounts. At some time Jesus parted from his followers - there was a sense that they would not see him again in quite the same way. But as he left them it was as though the heavens opened again. As when Jesus was baptized, at the crucifixion when the veil of the temple was torn in two, so at this event the doorway to the full reality of God was wide open - it would never been seen as closed again. I love the response of the angel in Acts - "why are you standing around looking up into heaven?" In another place they are told go to the city and wait for power from on high. The time between Jesus' Ascension and Pentecost is called a time of impotence or a time of waiting by John Westerhoff. Between his apparent disappearance and the coming of the power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is a time when we need to wait - not an easy thing for modern day life. We want to learn patience and we want that now as the old joke goes. The disciples gathered to pray, study and worship as they waited. It was a time of preparation for the ministry that would soon envelop them. Perhaps that is something for us too.

EASTER 5 Click HERE for Readings.
Often when we read this gospel we only think of afterlife. Perhaps this is because it is read at funerals and preached as an afterlife passage. Rarely does Jesus intend his messages to apply to "heaven" as in after we are dead. His concern is with life here and now. The kingdom of God is in your midst is how Luke reports it. Heaven (afterlife) is interesting but as the father, in a Woody Allen movie, answering the main character's question about whether he worries about what happens, you know, after? says "after? after? who cares - I will be dead."
Only God knows what happens after and God in Christ challenges us to make this world a place where all can experience the realm of God. In the Lord's Prayer we say each Sunday "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earthas in heaven." When we begin to read this Gospel through that lens we hear Jesus assuring us that no matter where we go we will find a home. He will prepare that place for us and be there wherever life takes us. buckaroo Banzaiin the 80s cult film says "wherever you go there you are." We learn as we grow up that the grass in not always greener somewhere else, we will not be a different person, we still take ourselves and our gifts and challenges with us. Without help we cycle around the same old stuff. The promise Jesus makes is that he will prepare a place for us by being the way, the truth, and the life. This is not a message of exclusion and damnation for those who are someplace else in their walk - it is a message of hope for us.
It is like going camping with an expert guide who knows the challenges and rewards of the wilderness. One who is with us showing us the path, who can read the signs of the wilderness, and who is ahead of us at the campsite with the tent set up and the dinner on the fire at the end of a long trek. It is a relationship with the One who can be trusted to lead us and who as the Psalmist says "holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip." and "who brings us to a place of refreshment."
Last night (Saturday, April 23) Passover began for our Jewish sisters and brothers. Our reading from Deuteronomy contains the question of why Passover is celebrated. "we were slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out with a mighty hand" With out liberation we are all slaves to things that do not matter ultimately. We get caught in the struggles of position, power, honor, shame, addiction, abuse --- God wants something else for us. God wants us to live with justice and peace, and in community with one another and the creation. When we become children of God we are expected to assist with the bringing of this "heaven" to the world. As the letter of Peter says "Once you were no people, but now you are God's people:" "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the might acts of the One who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
The many mansions tells us that there are many places where we may find ourselves, there are many ways that God has of calling to people to join in bring heaven to earth, but we are assured that no matter where life takes us - Christ will be there preparing a home for us. We will never be strangers again - not to one another, not to the world, not to God.

HUMOR ALERT
Inspired by Jon Carroll's article in SFGate:

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sibling Jackhammer of Sweet Reason.

Get yours.

From a breakaway group

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sister Immaculate Sword of Grace. What's yours?

Easter 3 Click Here for Readings
Early thoughts for Sunday's sermon.
In our EFM online group on Monday evening we did Theological Reflection on a painting of Jesus at Emmaus. The angles and planes of the painting both separate and join the figures and objects. In the painting the wine in the chalice is split and the bread is still unbroken. It seems to be the moment before recognition of Jesus in their midst. It reminds me of all those moments just before the world can never been seen in the same way again. For the people of Israel the Red Sea split before their eyes and they can continue their journey to liberation from slavery. For the husband and wife at Emmaus all their preconceived ideas of life and death are about to be shattered. They could not see that it was the Risen Christ accompanying them on the road home because they could not see beyond their ideas about what happens when someone dies. All of us have opinions and positions about "how things just are" - and yet the Spirit comes and breaks through those ideas in the lives of our ancestors in faith. Journeying with Christ we will have these life changing, mind altering experiences. A wild ride with a wild God.

DYING, DEATH, and other thoughts
The media feeding frenzy surrounding the Schiavo and Schindler families has evoked all sorts of reactions. Politicians have tried to make political capital out of the case. Various groups have tried to convince the courts and the public of their closeness to God and what God would want. Others align themselves with the husband or with the wife or with the parents. The only thing I can discover in all this is a deep unknowing of motives, reactions, reports and the whole process of dying. We do not really know what Terri Schiavo wanted, what her husband is thinking in his heart of hearts, what the parents really want, or even if anyone is right about anything. Our thoughts are primarily a projection of our own hopes and fears.
Those who have disabilities are alarmed that the case is a sign of what might happen to them if this is just one step on a slippery slope to no medical intervention when people have conditions that are deemed inconvenient. There is good reason to be alarmed given our history as humankind on this earth. Those who have had to face death in their loved ones and the prolonging of life when there is no hope of recovery and nature would take over if it weren't for our medical techniques - fear the consequences of a wrong choice. Who ultimately gets to decide? The spouse, the parents, the courts, the legislature, religious institutions?

Out of all this I have had these thoughts but no conclusions:

1) Get a living will and end of life directives written up NOW!!! Spare your loved ones the agony of not knowing your wishes. There are lots of place to obtain a form - on the web, from hospitals and doctors, from attorneys - many are free.

2) Dying with dignity: guess what - death is not dignified, it is messy and terrible. Sometimes there is pain which one hopes medical care personnel can alleviate - but not always. One's body is taken over by others who must care for one's every need. This is not all bad. In my short time as a priest - I have witnessed amazing times in the process of death. Families are open to healing of relationships that seemed impossible. The power of the Spirit can strengthen the bonds of love and compassion. Not always, but as many times as I have seen it I come to expect it.

3) Judge not lest you be judged - the journey to death for the dying and those surrounding him or her is not an easy path. For those of us outside of the immediate circle - love and support is the best thing that can be offered. For those of us caught up in the whirlwind of last days, however long they last, give each other slack. Many things are said in grief that can cause further pain to one another. Remember the stages of grief are not linear or accomplished once and for all. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance are like the ball in a pinball machine - rocketing back and forth between the posts, getting stuck for a time, sometimes lighting up the whole body and sometimes causing everything to stop with a big TILT! Everyone make his own Tear Soup with her own ingredients and its own cooking time.

4) Live today. Be present with one another. Tell people you love them, you appreciate them. Don't wait. Death can come this moment as well as sometime off in the future. We will die - it is the only way to continue. For me it is a mystery and an adventure. I have written about it before and will probably write about it again.

5) And as Mary Oliver says in The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand …
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,  
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done? …
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

6) Alcoholics Anonymou puts it this way - when will you start showing up for your life?