SUNDAY THOUGHTS:
The lessons are from the Book of Esther, the Epistle of James and the Gospel of Mark. The theme, according to the Collect is a prayer for grace as we run to obtain God's promises to partake of heavenly treasure.
The Book of Esther is a tale of how a woman saves a nation by stepping up to the plate at a crucial moment. It is told in a melodramatic style - with reversals of fortune and opportunities to laugh as villains are brought to justice. When Purim is celebrated in the Synagogue (usually in March) the reading of this story is accompanied by boos and hisses and clattering of rattles at the mention of Haman's, the villain, name and shouts and cheers for Mordecai and Esther. The point of the story seems to be that when the time comes it is not always the strong and powerful who win the day, but that we must be willing to act if we are so called.
In the gospel - Jesus is also making the point that the kindom of heaven is made up of little ones, those who even in small acts - like a cup of water for someone who is thirsty - do the thing that brings us all closer to living in the way that God would have us live. Often we think that "little ones" means children but in this passage it is the Greek word "mikron" - same as where we get "micro." In this case Jesus is referring to those on the margins - the widows, the orphans, the poor, the powerless. He is giving hope to all who feel that life is too much to handle and who are always struggling. He is calling those who have gifts, no matter how small we may think they are, to use them to care for one another. Dylan Breuer has a commentary on this at her blog, Sarah Laughed.
James, as usual, offers practical advice on church life. Luther did not like the Epistle of James as he thought it was a "works not grace" book of the Bible. Luther was so overwhelmed by the notion of grace that he dismissed the Letter of James as to works oriented. Also interesting is that the Book of Esther does not mention God at all. It is a good thing they were all left in the Bible as we have received it - makes us know that there is a broad range of approaches to the faithful life. The task is to run the race and know that we already have the gold medal.

Walking along the streets of Lander under a canopy of golden cottonwoods with scatterings of red here and there. It must be something about Fall but my friend and I were talking about suddenly grown up kids whose photo in the local newspaper reminds one that they are no longer skinny little boys but about to launch into adulthood young men. The conversation then went to people in our lives who still hold an image in their minds of us at 1 or 5 or 10 or young nubile 20 somethings or whenever. I was thinking, hunh, what a concept - we live on as 10 year olds somewhere in the world of someone else's imagining. A funny sort of immortality and sort of sweet - unless of course that person still treats us in real life as a 10 year old - then not so funny but aggravating.

THOUGHTS FOR SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 24:
I am preaching for the next couple of weeks so spending some time thinking about the lessons for Sundayand what might be said about them. The Gospel speaks of servant leadership and welcoming a little child as God should be welcomed. In our culture we revere children - at least our own children and think - yes - God is all that perceived goodness and innocence and love. Then I read a commentary on the role of children in the time of Jesus at the UCC worship site. It says:
"John Pilch is helpful once again in shedding light on the customs and culture reflected in Jesus'’ actions and words. A child in our culture is much valued and is put first in our priorities (at least, we say so, regardless of the number of children in poverty). In the time of Jesus, a child was lowest on the priority list (no "women and children first" here). Even in medieval times, Mediterranean cultures put a low value on children; "Thomas Aquinas taught that in a raging fire a husband was obliged to save his father first, then his mother, next his wife, and last of all his young child" (The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday, Cycle B). This is the reverse of our order today in Western culture, so it'’s easy for us to sentimentalize the action of Jesus in picking up a small child and exhorting his followers to welcome "one such child" in his name as a way to welcome him. Instead, we might hear it as a radical command, an upsetting one even."
Who could I use as an example from our cultural context to show something of what Jesus is saying? What came to me is: a group of powerful leaders of religion, industry and politics were meeting with Jesus and discussing who is the best leader and most powerful among them all, the most "in" of the group - Jesus looks to the illegal immigrant cleaning person who is emptying the trash - and says -----
The other lessons speak about the signs of those who follow God's ways and the signs of those who do not. The lesson from Wisdom challenges all who are self indulgent at the expense of others and the letter of James repeats these challenges and notes the signs of these ways in communities.
The Collect (opening prayer) calls us to "be not anxious" - it seems that giving up our need to gather too much to ourselves and to use people for our own ends leads us to more rather than less anxiety. Power and control seem like the way to less anxiety but it is a paradox that it as St. Francis says:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grand that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

As we pray: Jesus stretched out his arms of welcome on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come into his embrace.

VISITING WASHINGTON D.C. AND ENVIRONS:
Following a trip to Sewanee, TN and some work with the Trainers for EfM, I flew into Washington DC to spend some time with our granddaughter and her parents. Lots of fun hanging out with a 1+ year old and playing "Hi Dair" under the dining room chair.
A surprise highlight of my trip was visiting the Washington National Cathedral. I went there to see some friends who work there and as we were chatting one friend said - "How about presiding at the Eucharist this noon?" So we went off to the sacristy where the Vergers got us set up and told me all I needed to know. Then we took our places in the choir and doing Eucharist at the High Altar - what a rush! To think of all the history of that place and those who have celebrated in that space in the past and yet to come. YIKES!

LEAVING CANNON BEACH
The fog is rolling in from the ocean as we sort and pack. Tossing old lettuce and bits from the refrigerator. Putting something in the freezer to take out and thaw upon our next arrival. Grandkids and their parents came to visit. Sandcastles were built and destroyed. Waves were jumped and buckets filled as the tide came in and went out. The Pacific Ocean on the Oregon Coast freezes your feet and makes your legs ache if you stay in for more than a few minutes. When we were children we called it "refreshing" - now we call it "frrrreeeeeeeezzzzing." Wet suits have allowed the more adventurous to surf and kayak but mostly it is a sandcastle building, seashell collecting, and strolling beach.
Yesterday (Sunday of Labor Day weekend) we gathered the clan to baptize a great nephew in the ocean. His cousins had been "done" a few years ago, I performed the parents' wedding by the falls and lake up the Columbia Gorge and now we came together again to affirm our support for this child, to recognize that he is born blessed, and to help him to grow into the fullness of that blessing. He did not think much of the whole project - nothing quite like being dipped in the Pacific Ocean to wake a boy up from his cozy nap in his daddy's arms. Even if he forgets we will remember.
So now it is goodbye to our little house and off for the golden aspens of Wyoming.

Does this remind you of any bishops you know?



Thanks to Anglicans Online for the cartoon by Thomas Nast.

SUNDAY
The light has suddenly taken on its autumn slant. Yesterday it was summer and today it is fall. The temperature is the same, the kids are still vacationing from school - but there is that slight shift that says - get in the wood, buy the hay for the horse, start watching for frost (even though we hope that is a few weeks away). Maybe people see this elsewhere but it is very pronounced in the wide open skies of Wyoming.
Today I drove to Rock Springs to lead services for Holy Communion Episcopal Church, a talented group of people whose music ministry is delightful, varied and excellent. I do supply priest work for them whenever I have a Sunday when I can make the 2 hour drive over and 2 back across South Pass. One bonus is that usually gas is cheaper there than in Lander (40 cents right now!). I have commented before about the drive. Today I saw a fox dash across the highway and a herd of wild horse grazing as well as some sage hens waddling along the roadside.
My sermon did not turn out quite as I had envisioned it. I focused even more on the Ephesians reading than I had in my original thinking (see previous blog post). Judy Boli in her sermon shared on Sermonshop, a sermon discussion listserv from Ecunet told some great stories about the difficulties of living into the Ephesians model. As I was driving to Rock Springs, just past the town of Eden, where you have to slow down to 45 mph, two cars from Colorado blew by me at much more than the 65 mph speed limit. I had very bad thoughts about them (we call them "Greenies" for their green license plates and have the usual next door rivalries with Colorado) and even pondered giving them the traffic boors "salute" - all while thinking about the whole idea of this sermon.
This sort of spiritual "up short" happens to me often. I am feeling holier than thou and what I will tell you about how to be holy - when - bam!!! I laughed and shared it with the congregation who laughed with me (hopefully not at me too much.)
But the whole point of posting this evening is that as I was driving out of Rock Springs I learned how much this little mining town had changed. It is currently one of the fastest growing areas of our state - once again due to the mining industry, oil and gas, this time. But the kicker is - now they have both a Starbucks and a Sushi restaurant - I mean what a shock - Rock Springs - Starbucks?? Rock Springs -- Sushi?? Wow - now I have seen it all. A whiplash of history - from crossing South Pass where my great grandmother as a young girl walked with her family on the Oregon Trail to Starbucks and Sushi in Rock Springs. YIKES!!!

AUGUST 10 - Random thoughts towards Sunday ---
Sunday's lessons reflect on the summary in the Collect:
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will.
In the story of Elijah he is fed in the wilderness by an angel when he felt that he could no longer go on. He is fleeing for his life at this point - he thinks he is the only person left who worships God. He has had a big confrontation with the priests of Baal (for some reason Ahab and Jezebel are trying to kill him after he won and killed all their priests!). The angel urges him to eat and drink and continue his journey.
The letter to the Ephesians urges thieves to give up stealing and work honestly - not to gain wealth for themselves but so they can share with the needy. The purpose of life lived according to God's will is to share God's gifts with one another.
The idea of "God's Will" is often confused. People use it to try to comfort each other in tragedies - "it was God's will" "it is for a purpose God only knows" or when we escape danger and death - "a blessing" or more "God had a reason for saving me" -- this just does not work for me. For me - things just happen in a world of mortality. God's will, to me, is living in the way God would have us live, loving and caring for one another and the earth, knowing each other to be our brother and sister - not our enemy, even when we are seen as enemies to those "others." Hard to live into though. Jesus models this behavior and it gets him crucified. The letter writer of the Ephesians sees that it is even hard to do with those closest to us - our families, our communities, our churches. The letter gives some places to start, things we can do if we choose:
"Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
To live this sort of life requires nourishment - the kind of food that fills mind, body and soul. Eating and drinking to strengthen ourselves for the journey.
Jesus in the Gospel of John offers himself as this sort of nourishment. He is the Bread of Life - the one who walks with us and can lift us up in times of fear and loss. We come to the Eucharist to drink the wine of encouragement and eat the bread of sustenance. It captures for us the essence of our faith. Wine lifts our spirits and bread fills our bodies.
Wine is made from bunches of individual grapes - brought together and allowed to age into that which we share in the cup. Bread is the product of individual seeds sown, grown and tended, harvested and ground into flour, baked and broken for us. It is like our church - individuals coming together to feed the world. It is not for ourselves (unless we want to be thieves and worshippers of the idols of wealth) but for the world. At various times we may think we are being ground up or hot with the baking - but the outcome is promised when we stay with it - new life.
May we live in God's will - realizing that it is the only true life - like fish in water. Or as we pray:
"Oh God in whom we live and move and have our being." We pray that we will have the faith to recognize that truth.
Thanks to all on Propertalk and Sermonshop discussion lists for their thoughts and ideas.

LAST WEEK OF JULY:
Sunday the lesson was from the Gospel of Mark. What caught me attention besides the feeding of the 5000 from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, was the sentence: "Then he (Jesus) ordered them (the disciples) to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass."
I imagine this crowd that has followed Jesus out into a deserted place, milling about, stirring up the dust of the desert-y wilderness. Sort of like the part of Wyoming between Shoshone and Casper - rocky, scrubby land without much water. They are really lost, it is getting dark, and they are hungry. Fear is lurking in their hearts. As the sun begins to set, Jesus asks the disciples - so what kind of resources do we have here? They thought they were going to go on retreat with Jesus - he had said "come away and rest," be part of the "in crowd" - hanging out with the master. Now they are faced with an impossible task and only a bit of bread and fish. The crowd's fear becomes their fear - it is catching that way.
This is the moment when Jesus says - go sit on the green grass. Green grass - when had that appeared? If you have not lived in the dry parts of the world - you might not see the significance of green grass. Green grass means water, oasis, resting place, abundance. A sign of God's abundance in the midst of our dry lives. The feeding continues - it fills their physical hunger - and more. If feeds the hunger of the heart. Lying about on green grass, cool, refreshed, resting. We become like children, kick off our shoes and sandals, roll down the hills, scamper after butterflies.
Take the last days of July and find some green grass for your life.

SATURDAY: the world is going crazy, summer is hotter than ever, family anxieties abound, arrggh. Fun news to balance - our granddaughter is almost 1 year old, our 7 y/o grandson is visiting us for a couple of weeks, and we have a new grandson born June 28. We were on the West Coast for a couple of weeks - returned to find the house buried in cat fur. Luckily we had confined them to a few rooms but the combination of no one vacuuming, no one using the cat comb, and the hot weather made for an "hair-raising" return. They were all happy and well fed however thanks to our critter care person who also kept our deck plants going. We have a crop of yummy tiny tomatoes that so far have not made it beyond our mouths to a salad. Speaking of eating - we bought into a vegetable plan this year - and have fresh veggies delivered each week from a local gardener. We ate beets (red and white), wilted greens (chard and beet), salad with fresh spinach and nasturtium blossoms last night for dinner. Just before we left for our trip we ate the last of our asparagus - we have a huge patch that has been growing since we moved into this house 29 years ago. Every year we remember with our taste buds the delights of the freshly picked.
The world of the church is looking up for me and our family - the Episcopal Presiding Bishop elect - Katharine (doesn't that sound great!) interview in Time Magazine sums it up:
TIME: What will be your focus as head of the U.S. church?
JEFFERTS SCHORI: Our focus needs to be on feeding people who go to bed hungry, on providing primary education to girls and boys, on healing people with AIDS, on addressing tuberculosis and malaria, on sustainable development. That ought to be the primary focus.
Our Family: YESSSSSS!!
She will be interviewed on CBS News Sunday evening - check it out.

Episcopalians Excited by Unity in Church

No doubt you have seen the headlines in the NYTimes and other places "Episcopalians Shaken by Division in Church"? But what I witnessed at General Convention this time was overwhelming unity on most all issues. The biggest unifying excitement came with our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals as our main priorities.
Each day of Convention a different goal was showcased. One day the Chaplain had us snap our fingers every 3 seconds for a child dying of preventable cause. One day women gathered to read Goodnight Moon to pictures of children - one by one the women "died" from preventable lack of maternal health - leaving the children without a mother - often an orphan. The determination to focus our resources on these things as well as HIV/AIDS, clean water, education of women and girls, and extreme poverty, unified our time together. It is sad that a few people want to leave the church just when it is becoming alive again to its real call of service in a hurting world. That will not deter us but they will be missing out on an opportunity to join a movement of the Spirit. This is led in many cases by our younger members, teens, twenties, thirties - who see that our earth is one community where those who have must help those who don't.
Too bad the headlines don't report the things that will make a difference.

Uhoh -- read more about this "shocking" God at The Cartoon Church

Cartoon by Dave Walker.