Rise in glory James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano on a hit HBO series. Prayers for you and for those who loved you as a friend and family member. A real person whose death will leave a void in the hearts of these people.
What I don't get is the grieving that seems more about the role he played than the man himself. I admit I never watched the show. I don't watch much TV anyway (except baseball and Downton Abbey) but I was never drawn to a show about mobsters. I am told it was great because it showed complexity and James Gandolfini made a violent character sympathetic. Variety says "The actor was praised for his deft juggling of the character’s violence and sensitivity, making the murderous crime lord a sympathetic figure."
So maybe someone can explain why this is a good thing? And why it should be held up as something wonderful? What next - sympathetic characters who are rapists? (oh right we already have those in real life.)
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Cannon Beach
Since we have moved to Cannon Beach permanently (or as permanently as one goes anywhere) - I have been taking photos of the birds at our feeder and other things we see on our walks. My current favorite.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
EASTER
Notes for Easter: Readings are here.
Garden – early morning – before sunrise – gray dark matching the feelings in her heart and mind
All hope dashed – gone
It is like that time when you felt it was the end of hope –the turning away or betrayal by someone you thought was a friend, the diagnosis of a possibly terminal disease, death of a beloved, loss of job, realizing you will not fulfill the promise of your youth. Who has not had times when all hope seemed gone, when there is no going back to the joy of what once was?
This is Mary – her beloved Rabbi, the one who healed her of all that kept her from living fully and joyfully. Gone, dead, in the tomb, over. The End.
Tears streak her face as she carries the spices and oils for a last act of devotion.
Then the shock of the empty tomb. Heart stopping shock. Bewilderment, panic, who? What? where?
And now a gardener – echoing that long ago Garden when God walked in our midst in Eden – but all she sees is some one who might have an answer to her confusion. She cries out to the man with her questions. No answer only her name. Mary.
And oh the joy – it is Jesus – the beloved one – the one who makes all things whole and right and good. Yes even in this moment of joyous reunion – a warning – do not cling to me. Tears threaten – are you just a dream – only a trick of my mind? But no – it is really Jesus but now more than the one who walked the earth for those short few years – showing us that we cannot go back – we cannot cling to what has been – there is no life there.
It is in the next steps that true resurrection happens for Mary. Resuscitation is trying to blow life back into the old way of being – a walking death – resurrection is living in the truth of now. We cannot go back – back to the days before events of death, loss, youth – but God is beckoning us on into the future – trusting that is the way to true life.
As Mary Magdalene takes in this new way of being – Jesus sends her out to tell the others.
Bearing the news like a burning torch through the darkness of their days – she flings open the locked doors of their hearts with “I have seen the Lord” –
Have we grasped this truth? The truth that life awaits us today and tomorrow Or are we still sitting in fear and grief and loss – wishing for what cannot be – blind to what can be?
This morning we sang the hymn:
Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.
When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Your touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.
Shed the husk of yourself – that hard shell that surrounds you – allow yourself to stretch and grow into the life to which Christ is calling. Allow yourself to be tender.
Practice resurrection!
Wendell Berry says in the Poem Manifesto: the mad farmer liberation front
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
...
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
(I had a friend with whom I would have tea, she was in her 90s and quite blind, one day she said come and see what I have done in my backyard. And so we went and I saw 2 little fruit trees. She said - my friends think I am crazy as I will not live to see them fruit nor will I even see the flowers bloom - -but I say others will and I will have the satisfaction of that knowledge.)
...
Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
...
Practice resurrection
So go seeking the wild God -- the one who will not stay in the safe places, behind locked doors or locked hearts. Where? At the meals we serve in the parish hall or at the food bank to help people stretch their budget. Wherever people work for peace or justice. Where there is compassion and love in the midst of sorrow and despair. In the AA and NA groups meeting in our hall. Here in church sharing the bread and wine, body and blood of Christ - risky business - touching the holy - taking it into ourselves that we might return to the world. For God is the source of our life and the way of life and the journey's end - God beckons us on - standing in the future - calling you beloved.
Practice resurrection!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Annunciation
A poem for when the annunciation and the passion fall in the same week:
THE ANNUNCIATION AND PASSION.
by John Donne
TAMELY, frail body, abstain to-day ; to-day
My soul eats twice, Christ hither and away.
She sees Him man, so like God made in this,
That of them both a circle emblem is,
Whose first and last concur ; this doubtful day
Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away ;
She sees Him nothing, twice at once, who's all ;
She sees a cedar plant itself, and fall ;
Her Maker put to making, and the head
Of life at once not yet alive, yet dead ;
She sees at once the Virgin Mother stay
Reclused at home, public at Golgotha ;
Sad and rejoiced she's seen at once, and seen
At almost fifty, and at scarce fifteen ;
At once a son is promised her, and gone ;
Gabriell gives Christ to her, He her to John ;
Not fully a mother, she's in orbity ;
At once receiver and the legacy.
All this, and all between, this day hath shown,
Th' abridgement of Christ's story, which makes one—
As in plain maps, the furthest west is east—
Of th' angels Ave, and Consummatum est.
How well the Church, God's Court of Faculties,
Deals, in sometimes, and seldom joining these.
As by the self-fix'd Pole we never do
Direct our course, but the next star thereto,
Which shows where th'other is, and which we say
—Because it strays not far—doth never stray,
So God by His Church, nearest to him, we know,
And stand firm, if we by her motion go.
His Spirit, as His fiery pillar, doth
Lead, and His Church, as cloud ; to one end both.
This Church by letting those days join, hath shown
Death and conception in mankind is one ;
Or 'twas in Him the same humility,
That He would be a man, and leave to be ;
Or as creation He hath made, as God,
With the last judgment but one period,
His imitating spouse would join in one
Manhood's extremes ; He shall come, He is gone ;
Or as though one blood drop, which thence did fall,
Accepted, would have served, He yet shed all,
So though the least of His pains, deeds, or words,
Would busy a life, she all this day affords.
This treasure then, in gross, my soul, uplay,
And in my life retail it every day.
Source:
Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
E. K. Chambers, ed.
London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 170-171.
THE ANNUNCIATION AND PASSION.
by John Donne
TAMELY, frail body, abstain to-day ; to-day
My soul eats twice, Christ hither and away.
She sees Him man, so like God made in this,
That of them both a circle emblem is,
Whose first and last concur ; this doubtful day
Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away ;
She sees Him nothing, twice at once, who's all ;
She sees a cedar plant itself, and fall ;
Her Maker put to making, and the head
Of life at once not yet alive, yet dead ;
She sees at once the Virgin Mother stay
Reclused at home, public at Golgotha ;
Sad and rejoiced she's seen at once, and seen
At almost fifty, and at scarce fifteen ;
At once a son is promised her, and gone ;
Gabriell gives Christ to her, He her to John ;
Not fully a mother, she's in orbity ;
At once receiver and the legacy.
All this, and all between, this day hath shown,
Th' abridgement of Christ's story, which makes one—
As in plain maps, the furthest west is east—
Of th' angels Ave, and Consummatum est.
How well the Church, God's Court of Faculties,
Deals, in sometimes, and seldom joining these.
As by the self-fix'd Pole we never do
Direct our course, but the next star thereto,
Which shows where th'other is, and which we say
—Because it strays not far—doth never stray,
So God by His Church, nearest to him, we know,
And stand firm, if we by her motion go.
His Spirit, as His fiery pillar, doth
Lead, and His Church, as cloud ; to one end both.
This Church by letting those days join, hath shown
Death and conception in mankind is one ;
Or 'twas in Him the same humility,
That He would be a man, and leave to be ;
Or as creation He hath made, as God,
With the last judgment but one period,
His imitating spouse would join in one
Manhood's extremes ; He shall come, He is gone ;
Or as though one blood drop, which thence did fall,
Accepted, would have served, He yet shed all,
So though the least of His pains, deeds, or words,
Would busy a life, she all this day affords.
This treasure then, in gross, my soul, uplay,
And in my life retail it every day.
Source:
Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
E. K. Chambers, ed.
London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 170-171.
Monday, March 11, 2013
4 Lent
Readings are here.
Notes toward a sermon.
A retelling of how much God wants us to be in right relationship with God and each other - the father tries to get each son to see the love - not just good and bad, right and wrong.
A young couple was very poor. The wife had a $50 dollar bill in her pocket for groceries for the month. As she headed out to the grocery store, she stopped by the bathroom. Then she noticed the $50 was gone. She knew exactly where it was!! The husband took apart the whole plumbing system right down to the septic tank and found the $50. God loves us and wants us in relationship more than that. God will seek us out to the worst possible places to show us that love. It is called grace -- just like this church where we are today. What does that say to us as people of Grace Astoria?
Some background on the cultural setting thanks to Kenneth Bailey.
“As the prodigal approaches his village, he knows that he’ll face the Kezazah, a Jewish tradition that permanently rejects (or shuns) a villager who loses his money among foreigners. He must reach his father before the villagers reach him. Unexpectedly, he sees his father sprinting toward him past on-looking villagers—not with anger on this face but joy. Before the prodigal utters a word of his confession, the father hugs and repeatedly kisses him. Overwhelmed, the prodigal spontaneously utters “I’m not worthy” having experienced the bread of life, grace in its truest form. The prodigal’s planned words of repentance transformed into an experience of accepting his father’s love. Joyfully, the father proclaims that his son is alive—perhaps for the first time. The father, aware that his son is starving seeing his tattered clothes and wasted frame, chooses to first address his son’s starving soul. The father provides three inedible things for his son’s soul: Shoes signifying that he accepts him as a son, not as a hired servant as the prodigal planned; a robe indicating how special he is to him; and a signet ring empowering him to transact business within the village. There will be no kezazah. The father will surely protect his son.” (Bailey)
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Power which feels like powerlessness
by Richard RohrThe supreme irony of the whole crucifixion scene is this: he who was everything had everything taken away from him. He who was seemingly “perfect” (Hebrews 1:3, 5:9) was totally misjudged as “sin” itself (Romans 8:3-4). How can we be that mistaken? The crucified Jesus forever reveals to us how wrong both religious and political authorities can be, and how utterly wrong we all can be—about who is in the right and who is sinful (John 16:8). The crowd, who represents all of us, chose Barabbas, a common thief, over Jesus. That is how much we can misperceive, misjudge, and be mistaken.
Jesus hung in total solidarity with the pain of the world and the far too many lives on this planet that have been “nasty, lonely, brutish, and short.” After the cross, we know that God is not watching human pain, nor apparently always stopping human pain, as much as God is found hanging with us alongside all human pain. Jesus’ ministry of healing and death, of solidarity with the crucified of history, forever tells us that God is found wherever the pain is. This leaves God on both sides of every war, in sympathy with both the pain of the perpetrator and the pain of the victim, with the excluded, the tortured, the abandoned, and the oppressed since the beginning of time. I wonder if we even like that. There are no games of moral superiority left for us now. Yet this is exactly the kind of Lover and the universal Love that humanity needs.
This is exactly how Jesus “redeemed the world by the blood of the cross.” It was not some kind of heavenly transaction, or “paying a price” to an offended God, as much as a cosmic communion with all that humanity has ever loved and ever suffered. If Jesus was paying any price it was to the hard and resistant defenses around our hearts and bodies. God has loved us from all eternity.
Adapted by Fr. Richard Rohr from The Great Themes of Scripture: New Testament
(available from Franciscan Media)
Image by Salvador Dali
Sunday, March 03, 2013
3 Lent
Readings are here.Thoughts toward Sunday: Theme might be "wake up" "pay attention"
Moses has run away from Egypt and his people's troubles. He's now married and tending sheep - a long way from being raised almost as a son in Pharaoh's palace. Perhaps the company of sheep, caring for their well being reminds him of the Hebrew people toiling away (not building pyramids regardless of Charleton Heston movies!), laboring for low or no wages, treated as aliens though they had been there for generations and once a welcome presence. The knowledge of their plight and the insight into the politics of empire smoulder in his mind and heart. He sees a strange sight that evokes all those memories and hears again the plea for their liberation from the heart of his very being - that place where God dwells in us. He could have continued on with his new life but a new call was lodged in his heart.
Paul responds to the Corinthians who live in a multi-cultural, multi-faith port city, who are the seekers in his time - new to a faith in Christ and like all converts - somewhat holier than thou. He warns them that spiritual pride gets in the way of a true relationship with God and that sometimes those who proclaim their holiness most loudly -- are actually still doing those very same things they rail against. True faith reveals itself in acts not words.
The Gospel wrestles with the continuing question of the Bible and of all faiths - why do bad things happen and why do good things happen. Is it God, is it my faith, is it punishment, is it reward? Or do things just happen because of the way the earth is created (earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, fire, flood), and because of human actions (climate change, dams and buildings built with shoddy materials, drunk driving,) - all with consequences. While I think certain choices lead to certain consequences I don't believe God zaps people or rewards people individually with intent. The world is created with tectonic plates that have to move to maintain a stable planet but God does not call forth an earthquake because people did something God did not like. But humans often do arise to their greatest potential in the face of disaster and tragedy (not always - but often). God made us with a desire to help one another and God made the earth - but still life is not God's pop quiz. As Jesus is on his way to the cross -- we are shown that God joins us in our sorrows, suffering, joys and celebrations - enters into life and does not hold Godself above us or apart from us.
Jesus ends this passage with the story of the fig tree -- the owner thinks the tree is a lost cause and it should be cut down to provide wood and make space for a more productive tree. But the gardener (often the metaphor for God - see Eden in Genesis - and the scene with Mary Magdalene at the tomb) want to give the tree another chance. The gardener wants to free up its roots so they can grow a bit - add a little manure to fertilize it.
All of these lessons can show us how we can grow more fruitful in our lives - how we can be witnesses to our faith - one is "notice" - pay attention to the holiness around us. Two is don't compare ourselves to others - pay attention to our own faith and deeds. Three: things happen - try to see the opportunity instead of the disaster -- let God loosen up your roots and use the manure to grow stronger, deeper, closer to God.
“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning
And I found this
Sunday, February 24, 2013
2 Lent
Thoughts toward a sermon. Readings are here
The theme of this week's readings for me is passion. Our passion for God and God's passion for us. Each reading has slightly different angle on what it means to be faithful and one with God.
Abraham is having an argument with God about what God's promise of descendants means. God has made a promise that Abraham will be the father of a mighty people but nothing seems to be happening in the life of Sarah and Abraham that indicates when this will happen and they are not getting any younger. Abraham is demanding that God keep the promise. (The Old Testament does not have any problem with people having fights with God or at least heated discussions- - Moses argues with God, Abraham argues with God, the psalmists argue with God, Job, Jonah, and on down the line). They lay it all out - their anger, their dismay, their dissatisfaction, their laments as well as their joy. Something maybe for us to learn - that God can take it. And knows our hearts anyway so no use in hiding. There is really no resolution of this discussion at this time in the scripture - later yes, but for now just the enigmatic ritual of cutting the animals and birds in half and seeing the torch and smoking fire pot pass between them. Symbols of the fire and smoke that will lead Moses and the people across the desert later in Exodus? Any way signs of obedience by Abraham and immense holiness in this moment in the dark. This is a covenant of pure grace - God will fulfill the promise but nothing is asked by God in return. Abraham's response is faith even though nothing was demanded.
Paul's passion is for the converts, those who have begun to follow Christ through the words of Paul's testimony. Now these followers are confused by other preaching. In early Christianity there was one strand that demanded all converts become Jews through male circumcision and following the dietary rules. Paul is quite angry that these demands are being made as he sees that Christ has done away with these requirements. "their glory is their shame" - is showing off something that should be kept hidden - the marks of circumcision, "their God is the belly" is the requirements around food. These are not wrong to Paul but putting these things above the faith in Christ is wrong. He is really angry with Peter since Peter had the revelation in the dream where Peter learned that all people are acceptable to God just as they are but now Peter is holding himself out of fellowship with the Gentiles and going back to his belief before his dream.
Jesus' is on his way to the cross - the ultimate passion. He loves the people and sees the oppression they are suffering and how that oppression makes them act towards each other. Hearkening to the image of Wisdom - the compassion of God - with God from the beginning he sees them as baby chicks running about with the fox chasing them - he longs to bring the to himself for safety - knowing the only safety is in giving up power and revenge and living in right relationship with each other and God. His lament is deep from within the heart of God. God longs to draw the whole world to Godself - but they will not turn from the hunger for power over one another.
I was listening to a discussion of films about slavery on my way home yesterday - especially 2 current ones - Django Unchained and Lincoln. The reviewers saw them as very unsatisfactory portrayals of answers to the terrible era of slavery. Django Unchained answered with over the top violence that was not possible in that time and Lincoln answered with law. There was actually more violence after the passage of the 13th amendment and there was law. But in the end it took the non-violence of the civil rights era with Martin Luther King Jr and the lunch counter sit ins to finally begin the real dismantling of slavery and its effects -- there is still more to do but to me this is the way that Jesus is commending to us in his lament over Jerusalem.
We are called to live as though in that Holy City -- not the physical space but in the space of our dreams where all people can live in peace and prosperity. We pray for the actual peace of Jerusalem and we pray that we can live as though it is already happening.
The lessons challenge us to ask - do we have passion for our faith - how can we recall that first sense of the holy we had as children, how can we care for one another as brothers and sisters, how can we see the world as God sees the world - not "from a distance" but from with life here in the midst of it all. Whether we are called to act in small ways or large ways-- it all makes a difference. Paul calls it being imitators of him and by that he means not himself but the faith that is in him - acting our way into right belief rather than trying to believe our ways into right actions. Each act of kindness and compassion and concern changes the direction whole world. As they say about the Butterfly Effect.
The theme of this week's readings for me is passion. Our passion for God and God's passion for us. Each reading has slightly different angle on what it means to be faithful and one with God.
Abraham is having an argument with God about what God's promise of descendants means. God has made a promise that Abraham will be the father of a mighty people but nothing seems to be happening in the life of Sarah and Abraham that indicates when this will happen and they are not getting any younger. Abraham is demanding that God keep the promise. (The Old Testament does not have any problem with people having fights with God or at least heated discussions- - Moses argues with God, Abraham argues with God, the psalmists argue with God, Job, Jonah, and on down the line). They lay it all out - their anger, their dismay, their dissatisfaction, their laments as well as their joy. Something maybe for us to learn - that God can take it. And knows our hearts anyway so no use in hiding. There is really no resolution of this discussion at this time in the scripture - later yes, but for now just the enigmatic ritual of cutting the animals and birds in half and seeing the torch and smoking fire pot pass between them. Symbols of the fire and smoke that will lead Moses and the people across the desert later in Exodus? Any way signs of obedience by Abraham and immense holiness in this moment in the dark. This is a covenant of pure grace - God will fulfill the promise but nothing is asked by God in return. Abraham's response is faith even though nothing was demanded.
Paul's passion is for the converts, those who have begun to follow Christ through the words of Paul's testimony. Now these followers are confused by other preaching. In early Christianity there was one strand that demanded all converts become Jews through male circumcision and following the dietary rules. Paul is quite angry that these demands are being made as he sees that Christ has done away with these requirements. "their glory is their shame" - is showing off something that should be kept hidden - the marks of circumcision, "their God is the belly" is the requirements around food. These are not wrong to Paul but putting these things above the faith in Christ is wrong. He is really angry with Peter since Peter had the revelation in the dream where Peter learned that all people are acceptable to God just as they are but now Peter is holding himself out of fellowship with the Gentiles and going back to his belief before his dream.
Jesus' is on his way to the cross - the ultimate passion. He loves the people and sees the oppression they are suffering and how that oppression makes them act towards each other. Hearkening to the image of Wisdom - the compassion of God - with God from the beginning he sees them as baby chicks running about with the fox chasing them - he longs to bring the to himself for safety - knowing the only safety is in giving up power and revenge and living in right relationship with each other and God. His lament is deep from within the heart of God. God longs to draw the whole world to Godself - but they will not turn from the hunger for power over one another.
I was listening to a discussion of films about slavery on my way home yesterday - especially 2 current ones - Django Unchained and Lincoln. The reviewers saw them as very unsatisfactory portrayals of answers to the terrible era of slavery. Django Unchained answered with over the top violence that was not possible in that time and Lincoln answered with law. There was actually more violence after the passage of the 13th amendment and there was law. But in the end it took the non-violence of the civil rights era with Martin Luther King Jr and the lunch counter sit ins to finally begin the real dismantling of slavery and its effects -- there is still more to do but to me this is the way that Jesus is commending to us in his lament over Jerusalem.
We are called to live as though in that Holy City -- not the physical space but in the space of our dreams where all people can live in peace and prosperity. We pray for the actual peace of Jerusalem and we pray that we can live as though it is already happening.
The lessons challenge us to ask - do we have passion for our faith - how can we recall that first sense of the holy we had as children, how can we care for one another as brothers and sisters, how can we see the world as God sees the world - not "from a distance" but from with life here in the midst of it all. Whether we are called to act in small ways or large ways-- it all makes a difference. Paul calls it being imitators of him and by that he means not himself but the faith that is in him - acting our way into right belief rather than trying to believe our ways into right actions. Each act of kindness and compassion and concern changes the direction whole world. As they say about the Butterfly Effect.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
1 Lent
Thoughts toward a sermon:
Readings are here.
The theme of today's lessons as I read them is temptation. For the people of Israel it is the temptation to forget that all things come of God and to somehow think "we did it" ourselves. Our cleverness, our smarts, our possessions - we forget that they are gifts. The God of abundance provides and those who have supported us in life have made it possible to be in any sort of "promised land." For Paul the temptation is to believe that those who follow Jesus as Messiah are the only people God cares about. And for Jesus- the temptations are those things that focus on self and power over others rather than reliance on God and service to others.
The reading from Deuteronomy is written as a prediction - that when they come into the promised land they are not to forget. Most of the Old Testament was actually written down in a period when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been divided and conquered and the leaders were in exile. All scripture needs to be read from at least 3 levels - one when it happened, one when it was written and what was going on then, and one from our perspective reading it back from our time. The warning not to think they accomplished all this by themselves comes from believing that it was just this sort of hubris that brought them into exile. The people are trying to figure out how to get back into alignment with God.
Paul in Romans is struggling with how the Jews who don't follow Jesus and see his wonderfulness can still be the chosen people. Paul of course still considers himself a Jew but one who has had a further revelation of the Messiah - the one they had all been waiting for. Many do not believe this to be the case. For about 3 chapters of this letter he wrestles with his thoughts, what he has experienced and what he sees. We only have a short bit of it in our lesson today but it sets out what in the end he comes to believe. That yes Jesus is the Messiah and yes the Jews are still the chosen people. In many ways Paul reminds us that the experience of Jesus shows that God shows no partiality. The stories of Jesus' interactions with people is one of inclusion -women, Baal worshippers, disciples, rich, poor - all are welcome. So Paul in the end comes down on the side of mystery and letting judgement belong to God.
In the Gospel, Jesus is just beginning his ministry. The temptations to power, miracle and magic focusing on himself are very real. He can do all these things of the temptations. But always he returns to his call -- not a quick fix, not a magic trick, not a spectacular show - but the slow and steady living as God would have him live - showing God's love to the world. Love that takes him to the cross and life rather than an illusion of power and vengeance. Jesus resists the call to make bread out of stones to feed himself, to leap off the temple roof and test God, or to claim worldly power. He calls us to, Yes, feed the hungry, but also to look beyond to "why are people hungry?" A quick fix is to stop at providing a meal without the deeper reflection
If we are to follow Christ - these three readings have some ideas for us as well. Gratitude. Inclusion. Love. When we are tempted to believe the "self made man or woman" myth to remember that it took a village to raise us (as the saying goes) and that all creation is a gift of God. We can shape it and form it and use it but we cannot create it. Give thanks. When tempted to exclude someone or some sorts of people, to remember God's incredible love for us and to extend that love beyond ourselves. Be welcoming and affirming of others. When we are tempted to power and revenge and greed remember Jesus washing the feet of his followers - a leader who was not afraid to lose face. Whose sense of self was so perfect that he did not have to build it up by "looking good." Walking the talk as they say in AA. Believe that you are beloved of God and do not have to earn that status. Give that love back into the world.
Readings are here.
The theme of today's lessons as I read them is temptation. For the people of Israel it is the temptation to forget that all things come of God and to somehow think "we did it" ourselves. Our cleverness, our smarts, our possessions - we forget that they are gifts. The God of abundance provides and those who have supported us in life have made it possible to be in any sort of "promised land." For Paul the temptation is to believe that those who follow Jesus as Messiah are the only people God cares about. And for Jesus- the temptations are those things that focus on self and power over others rather than reliance on God and service to others.
The reading from Deuteronomy is written as a prediction - that when they come into the promised land they are not to forget. Most of the Old Testament was actually written down in a period when the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been divided and conquered and the leaders were in exile. All scripture needs to be read from at least 3 levels - one when it happened, one when it was written and what was going on then, and one from our perspective reading it back from our time. The warning not to think they accomplished all this by themselves comes from believing that it was just this sort of hubris that brought them into exile. The people are trying to figure out how to get back into alignment with God.
Paul in Romans is struggling with how the Jews who don't follow Jesus and see his wonderfulness can still be the chosen people. Paul of course still considers himself a Jew but one who has had a further revelation of the Messiah - the one they had all been waiting for. Many do not believe this to be the case. For about 3 chapters of this letter he wrestles with his thoughts, what he has experienced and what he sees. We only have a short bit of it in our lesson today but it sets out what in the end he comes to believe. That yes Jesus is the Messiah and yes the Jews are still the chosen people. In many ways Paul reminds us that the experience of Jesus shows that God shows no partiality. The stories of Jesus' interactions with people is one of inclusion -women, Baal worshippers, disciples, rich, poor - all are welcome. So Paul in the end comes down on the side of mystery and letting judgement belong to God.
In the Gospel, Jesus is just beginning his ministry. The temptations to power, miracle and magic focusing on himself are very real. He can do all these things of the temptations. But always he returns to his call -- not a quick fix, not a magic trick, not a spectacular show - but the slow and steady living as God would have him live - showing God's love to the world. Love that takes him to the cross and life rather than an illusion of power and vengeance. Jesus resists the call to make bread out of stones to feed himself, to leap off the temple roof and test God, or to claim worldly power. He calls us to, Yes, feed the hungry, but also to look beyond to "why are people hungry?" A quick fix is to stop at providing a meal without the deeper reflection
If we are to follow Christ - these three readings have some ideas for us as well. Gratitude. Inclusion. Love. When we are tempted to believe the "self made man or woman" myth to remember that it took a village to raise us (as the saying goes) and that all creation is a gift of God. We can shape it and form it and use it but we cannot create it. Give thanks. When tempted to exclude someone or some sorts of people, to remember God's incredible love for us and to extend that love beyond ourselves. Be welcoming and affirming of others. When we are tempted to power and revenge and greed remember Jesus washing the feet of his followers - a leader who was not afraid to lose face. Whose sense of self was so perfect that he did not have to build it up by "looking good." Walking the talk as they say in AA. Believe that you are beloved of God and do not have to earn that status. Give that love back into the world.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Ash Wednesday
Readings are here.The reading from Paul's 2nd Letter to the Corinthians excerpts a longer passage about our ministry as reconcilers. As Christ has reconciled the world to God in his life, death and resurrection - so we are to be about the ministry of reconciliation. In the catechism (BCP p. 855) we are asked what is the ministry of the laity (the baptized)?
The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take
their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.
But what is reconciliation? The Latin word implies bringing (back) into a circle, the Greek katalasso (as used by Paul) speaks of being changed/changing -- specifically changed from being opponents, adversaries, enemies to being friends,compañeros, sisters and brothers in one body. According to Paul, in Christ, God has been reconciling the world to God. And now this is the ministry of all who have been reconciled. (thanks to Paula Jackson)
We are called to enlarge the circle so all know they are within the arms of God - beloved sons and daughters, and to include all of creation. The ashes symbolize the fact that we all come from the same matter -- dust or stardust as I prefer - all of creation is one. In a circle there is no power differential - all are equal, no up/down, near/far, in/out. The circle gets broken with wars, abuse, poverty, prejudice but we are called to be menders and repairers of the fabric of life. The Greek word drives this point even further. How can we live into a world where adversaries, opponents, and enemies become friends, sisters and brothers? We start with those around us. We, as attributed to Gandhi - we become the change we want to see. Not becoming doormats - that is not what is required, but by understanding our own beloved worthiness -- and standing for that - not with violence but with love.
So receive the ashes and remember....
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Notes towards a Last Epiphany sermon:
Lessons are here.
Transfiguration:
Jesus and disciples – off to pray as usual after being very busy, Peter, James and John see the same old Jesus – then everything changes. They see him as he really is - the fullness of his glory.
Seeing things that were always there.
1. Walking with children as we did this past week with our 4 y/o and 6 y/o - seeing things through their eyes.
Lent is a time to learn to see again for the first time
2. I know someone who is a SCUBA diver, he says: one of the simplest things I learned when I was a diver was that the things you can know about the ocean from the surface are only a fraction of what there is to know about the ocean.
During Lent we will have opportunities to learn how we might see more about God and our community.
Valentine’s Day on Thursday following Ash Wednesday. Lent can be a time to see those whom we love again for the first time? Deepen relationship. Remember we are beloved as well.
Seeing with with new eyes – what do we have to let go of? Take on?
Paul to Corinthians - about how we lose heart – and how we might gain new hearts for God and one another – living our faith openly. Allowing the fog to lift and seeing the sun/Son?
On Ash Wednesday we will remember that life is short and to rejoice in one another and being here today.
Remember you are stardust and to stardust you will return.
What’s happening for Lent at Grace?
This week Ash Wednesday – open all day! 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. services
Other Wednesdays – Soup, Sustenance, Taizé
We will also take time to tell our stories of being a part of Grace. We will be sending out an exercise for everyone this Lent in preparation for the arrival of the new rector – what are our core values?
And during this season I would encourage you to:
The exercise - Finding our Strengths
Lessons are here.
Transfiguration:
Jesus and disciples – off to pray as usual after being very busy, Peter, James and John see the same old Jesus – then everything changes. They see him as he really is - the fullness of his glory.
Seeing things that were always there.
1. Walking with children as we did this past week with our 4 y/o and 6 y/o - seeing things through their eyes.
Lent is a time to learn to see again for the first time
2. I know someone who is a SCUBA diver, he says: one of the simplest things I learned when I was a diver was that the things you can know about the ocean from the surface are only a fraction of what there is to know about the ocean.
During Lent we will have opportunities to learn how we might see more about God and our community.
Valentine’s Day on Thursday following Ash Wednesday. Lent can be a time to see those whom we love again for the first time? Deepen relationship. Remember we are beloved as well.
Seeing with with new eyes – what do we have to let go of? Take on?
Paul to Corinthians - about how we lose heart – and how we might gain new hearts for God and one another – living our faith openly. Allowing the fog to lift and seeing the sun/Son?
On Ash Wednesday we will remember that life is short and to rejoice in one another and being here today.
Remember you are stardust and to stardust you will return.
What’s happening for Lent at Grace?
This week Ash Wednesday – open all day! 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. services
Other Wednesdays – Soup, Sustenance, Taizé
We will also take time to tell our stories of being a part of Grace. We will be sending out an exercise for everyone this Lent in preparation for the arrival of the new rector – what are our core values?
And during this season I would encourage you to:
Fast from judgment, Feast on compassion
Fast from greed, Feast on sharing
Fast from scarcity, Feast on abundance
Fast from fear, Feast on peace
Fast from lies, Feast on truth
Fast from gossip, Feast on praise
Fast from anxiety, Feast on patience
Fast from evil, Feast on kindness
Fast from apathy, Feast on engagement
Fast from discontent, Feast on gratitude
Fast from noise, Feast on silence
Fast from discouragement, Feast on hope
Fast from hatred, Feast on love
What will be your fast? What will be your feast?
based on and explanded from PB Arthur Lichtenberg.
The exercise - Finding our Strengths
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Astoria OR
LENTEN EXERCISE
Finding our strengths
Name: ____________________________ Date joined Grace:__________
I. Tell about a time at Grace when you thought to yourself “yes, this is why I love being a part of this church.” Describe the event. (date:_____________)
II. Besides you who was there?
III. What did each one do to make it happen?
IV. What else made this possible (building, special circumstances, etc)
V. What did you bring to this event? What did you do to make it possible?
VI. What Core values of Grace are reflected in this event, in your opinion?
VII. If money and facilities were no problem – what is your dream for Grace?
Monday, January 21, 2013
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