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HT to Grandmere Mimi

Friday Five - surf's up!

RevGalBlogPals had an irresistable, to me, Friday Five. I love the beach - the northern Oregon coast is my psychic home - my home of the heart. Here are the questions if you want to play.

1. Ocean rocks, lake limps? Vice versa? Or "it's all beautiful in its own way"?
The basalt headlands and sea stacks are breathtaking. Haystack Rock is a favorite.

2. Year round beach living: Heaven...or the Other Place?
Heaven except for the winter rain, rain, rain.

3. Any beach plans for this summer?
Definitely - a beach run - only 1000 miles from here

4. Best beach memory ever?
Hard to pick one. Playing with our kids when they were small, sandcastles and a complete map of the coast of Washington and Oregon with our oldest grandchild, one of the kids saying "who put all this sand here for me?" Church camp at Gearhart in High School where I discovered church was more than Sunday services.

5. Fantasy beach trip?
Don't need fantasy - have been to the best - Cannon Beach, the beach in Puerto Rico at full moon, and the beach in Tanzania at Oyster Bay. This summer I go to the beach in the south of England and to Iona.

Bonus: Share a piece of music/poetry/film/book that expresses something about what the beach means to you.
Any song from Missa Gaia.

IV Pentecost - more

As I was driving to Rock Springs I was listening to NPR - Sunday Weekend Edition - and the broadcast of this week's This I Believe really resonated with what I ended up saying in my sermon. Read it here.

Colin Bates is a resident service assistant for people with mental disabilities and a student at Pennsylvania State University. He's finishing a degree in English and will pursue a MFA in creative writing. He lives in Bellefonte, Pa., with his cat, Cleo.

Most of my friends have recently graduated from college. Every so often, one will call me up to grumble about their new job, telling me how underappreciated they feel, or how they're not achieving the success they wanted. I enjoy listening to them. I think that's what friends are for. But it also gives me perspective on my own work.

I work with two developmentally disabled men, my bosses essentially, who each have profound mental retardation. They're loud without being able to speak. They're violent without understanding the consequences. They can't bathe themselves. They can't cook or work a job. Their behaviors range from catatonic to aggressive.

As a resident service assistant, I go to where these men live and help them in everything they do — bathing, dressing, cooking, feeding, cleaning, going to the bathroom — from the moment they wake until they go to bed. It pays nine bucks an hour.

Underappreciated? Try having your hair ripped out while changing a diaper. Try having the meal you've prepared thrown at you. Try being spit on.

The funny thing is, I love my job. I do. I know I'm young and still have a lot to learn, but here it is: I believe in helplessness, which is to say I believe we need other humans.

It isn't enough to be what our society has dubbed as successful. What we really need are others around us engaging, nurturing, listening and willing to sacrifice their time and agendas. I don't care if you're the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company or a single mother with five kids. Nobody is completely self-sufficient and so, in that way, we are all helpless. We're helpless unto each other.

The cool thing about the guys I work for is that they make their needs explicit. Things that take seconds for most of us, like changing socks, can take hours for them, but their vulnerability isn't a handicap so much as an example. Being with them, encouraging them — "Yes, the socks are on! The socks are off!" — puts things into perspective.

Most of the people I know are embarrassed by what they can't do. They see it as a sign of weakness and consequently walk around with burdened hearts. For my generation, the notion that success equals fulfillment has been pounded into our brains as if it were the truth. My generation is being told that if you can't do something alone, if you're not smart enough or capable enough, then you've failed.

So far, the turning points in my life have not been the times I succeeded at something, but the times I've whispered, "I'm lost," or, "Help me," or, "I need a friend." In becoming helpless, I've allowed myself to be shaped and supported by those who love me — which makes helplessness a gift.

And I have my bosses to thank for it. We've discovered the joy of helping and being helped. I believe sometimes our vulnerability is our strength.

Independently produced for Weekend Edition Sunday by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.

IV Pentecost

Readings are here.

Jesus is having dinner with the disciples and the usual suspects - sinners and tax collectors. Sinners were those who could not live up to the strict religious laws of the time. Those who could not keep from being "unclean" according to the rules of their religion. This would include any who came into contact with outsiders, blood, death, or who did not live up to the purity laws of the day. If you had a stall in the market place, or worked in a job where you touched unclean things - you were considered a sinner. Only the very wealthy had the leisure and ability to stay "clean." Tax collectors worked for the hated Romans - making their money by collecting taxes and adding on their "salary." It is really quite astounding for a person like Jesus to be eating dinner with such a motley crew. It is as if the most popular group in a social setting chose to hang out with the least popular. It is like when those with power and privilege - give it away to those without, taking second place or lower.

This passage from the Gospel of Matthew goes on with even more surprises. A member of the religious establishment comes into this mix to ask for help for his daughter. What love he must have for his daughter - to risk his position and status in the community for a girl child. Jesus does not question his presence or his request but jumps up to respond. On the way to the man's house, a woman- perhaps emboldened by the actions of Jesus, risks all to touch the fringe on his cloak.

As Jesus arrives at the house the crowd laughs at him for thinking he can save the dead girl. He breaks through that wall of laughter - and reaches out his hand to the girl. Over and over Jesus breaks through the religious and societal rules to bring healing to those who reach out to him.

These readings speak to those of us who feel unworthy because of the circumstances of our lives -- there is nothing (as it says in Romans 8) that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God has broken through all the walls of our lives in Christ. There is no longer a payment system - where we must do something to obtain this mercy and healing. The Psalm tells us this, Abraham and Sarah tell us this. Each proclaims and trusts in the promises of life even in the face of enemies or old age. No matter what we have done or not done - the door is always open to God.

In response we are called, as the Body of Christ, to also be open to others who come into our lives. Healing of the world will come through these actions.

Picture from the catacombs.

The Visitation

Mary and Elizabeth Icon by Laurie Gudim

4082

Remembering on Memorial Day - 4082



HT to Bruce in Portland.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

Readings are here.

I read in the news that once more we are suffering "compassion fatigue" or perhaps the US economy and worries about gas prices are tightening our generosity impulses. But what if we suddenly found everything swept away and we were totally dependent on neighbors around the world? What if our own government, like the government of Myanmar, was controlling most avenues of assistance? How would we cope? How would we hear the words of Jesus from our gospel today?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith?

Would we say - oh right, sure Jesus - easy for you to say with all those women providing for you along the way so you and your disciples can go on walkabout.
Yet - it was those who were barely making it through each day - who are the ones Jesus is talking with. Jesus talks about money and wealth more frequently than any topic except prayer. His concern is that we become so fearful about our money and things that we fall into loving things and using people instead of loving people and using things.

Jesus offers a variety of views about money, not all are about giving everything away but all are concerned about our anxiety and tendency to live in a scarcity model of being. In the parables, Jesus does not condemn wealth but he does condemn greed. The rich fool stores everything away and then loses it in a moment of bad luck. the unjust steward does not treat those under his control with the same justice as he is granted by his employer. In the story of the rich man and the poor man - Lazurus - it is the lack of concern by the rich man for the poor man outside his door. In the great judgment scene in the Gospel of Matthew, it is those who give material aid those who are sick, naked, in prison, or hungry who are blessed. And although he tells the rich young man to sell all he has and give it to the poor, in the story of Zaccheus - the tax collector is praised for repenting of his greed and giving only half away. The Gospel of Luke tells that good stewards are the ones who invest wisely and make money. The diversity of sayings from Jesus shows that Christians are called to reflect on the gifts we have been given and evaluate our use of them.

One core of Jesus' teaching is that in community we do not have to fear and hoard. Comes around, goes around is a way of life. When I am down - you help me up, when you are down, I reach out a hand.

Recently in Basin, Wyoming, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church showed how this can be done. A family's mother and daughter were in a terrible car wreck. The mother died and the daughter severely injured. A short time later the family house burned to the ground taking everything in the fire. Although several members of the extended family and their families were living there due to job losses and other events - no one was injured. But they were left destitute with only the clothes they were wearing. St. Andrew's and the community rallied to help them. A fund was set up at the local bank, a house was given to the family for shelter, food, clothing and groceries poured in. There is still the grief of loss of life and goods but the love shown by all through these gifts will carry them through the days to come.

Now what happens in a place like Myanmar where the whole community was devastated by a cyclone and the aftermath of flooding and loss of life? Where the government is not helping its own people? Where is the community when everyone is in the same condition? This is when the church can also be community for one another. After Hurricane Katrina, and the tsunami in South Asia and the earthquakes in Pakistan, Episcopalians came forth with amazing generosity and already Episcopal Relief and Development is working with partner churches in Myanmar to help with emergency needs. Although the government until this weekend was blocking aid from the US - ERD was able to work through Anglican churches in the region to get tents, blankets, fresh water, building supplies, medical care and other needed items in through trusted sources in the Anglican Communion. We, then are the neighbor in whom they are entrusting their hope.

You might say - but they are mostly Buddhists or Muslims - our church there is so small and our presence so tiny. When someone asked the Christians in Pakistan why they were helping all those "others" - they looked dumbfounded - and said - that is what Jesus teaches us. We are here as a witness to the love of God in Christ - it is not what we get in return, or that we are often persecuted for our faith, it is about showing what we believe. And so it is that we witness our faith through our gifts around the world. Somedays I think - will it never end - all these needs - I feel like the Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar with all the lepers clinging to him - "heal me, touch me, help me" they chant. And the truth is it will never end - Jesus was right - the poor with always be with us - but it is not just a poor person - it is a moving target - someday it might be me or you - as you know from when the terrible fires stopped short of destroying homes in the Green Knoll Fire.

So, there are two messages in this sermon (which my homiletics professor would tell me is a real no-no!!) One is about the inserts in your bulletin and doing whatever you can to assist Episcopal Relief and Development in this current crisis in Myanmar. The second and long term point is about the evaluation of our wealth and material goods in terms of Jesus call to worship God and not money. When we worship money and things we become fearful and anxious, when we put it in its proper place we are freed from fear and anxiety. We can consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and live in the present moment. We can plan and provide for ourselves and our families but without the tight grip of fear -- we can hear the words of Jesus saying:

"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." And we can rejoice in the beauty in this day - which may be the only one we have.

UPDATE from our diocesan listserve:

Dear Friends,

I just signed a check for over $8,000 to be sent to the Durney family in Basin. Once again our diocesan family has made me proud. God bless you all for your generosity.

Faithfully yours in Christ
Bruce Caldwell
Bishop of Wyoming

Jesus and money ideas from Mastering Mammon at Text Week.

Trinity Sunday

interesting bits for a Trinity Sunday...

Trinity: They took poetry and made it into a rule.

Karl Barth: The Word became flesh, and theologians made it words again.

God Is Not A Problem
by Killian McDonnell in Swift Lord, You are Not.

God is not a problem
I need to solve, not an
algebraic polynomial equation
I find complete before me,

with positive and negative numbers
I can add, subtract, multiply.
God is not a fortress
I can lay siege to and reduce.

God is not a confusion
I can place in order by my logic.
God's boundaries cannot be set,
like marking trees to fell.

God is the presence in which
I live, where the line between
what is in me and what
before me is real, but only God

can draw it. God is the mystery
I meet on the street, but cannot
lay hold of from the outside,
for God is my situation,

the condition I cannot stand
beyond, cannot view from a distance,
the presence I cannot make an object,
only enter on my knees.

Batter My Heart
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,
Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd 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!

And notes from last Trinity Sunday here

Pentecost v. 3

The Archbishop of Canterbury on Pentecost

You should live in a small town...

Guess it is a good thing I live in a small town!! HT to Eileen.

You Should Live in a Small Town

You prefer a close knit community to the bustle of the city. You like locally owned businesses, local flavor, and friendly neighbors. There's nothing boring about a small town!

Where Should You Live?

Pentecost v.2

Readings are here.

Textweek features the art and writing of Jan Richardson who explores the links between breath and fire and the stories of the people of God from the burning bush to today. On the Day of Pentecost the disciples receive the Holy Spirit and it manifests as tongues of fire. As God spoke from the burning bush to urge Moses to lead his people to liberation so the fire of the Holy Spirit is for the liberation of all people. We gather around fires as communities to tell the story of our faith. A friend of mine says church is just a formalized way of gathering the people, lighting the fire and telling the story. It is what we do in one way or another.
This Sunday is also Mother's Day - a day that has become the high holy day of the Hallmark calendar. It began with a very different intent than a sentimental day of idealized motherhood. According to wikepedia:

The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.
When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.
Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis meant it as a day to free the world of war. They hoped that the world would become inspired.

Inspired comes from the word for "breath" --- which is what the Holy Spirit does to make a new creation. The Spirit breathed upon the creation in the beginning, breathed life into humankind, spoke from the burning bush, led the people of Israel through the desert with a cloud by day and fire by night and today we celebrate the Spirit - inspiring the church to become the people of God.

Painting by Alexander Sadoyan

Pentecost

A video for Pentecost. How are we cracked by life? How can the Spirit get in?