MumPastor

Friday Five - Social Media

2010-01-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

This Friday Five from RevGalBlogPals seemed like a good one, since I have not posted since October (!). I have been wondering what is bloggable and what is not. I have been wondering why I chose to blog and what I get out of blogging. So let me respond to the FF here:

Kathrynzj writes:

I had the joy of spending time with Songbird last weekend, someone I would have never met had it not been for the blogosphere. Now we keep in touch using a large variety of methods: blog (hers a lot, mine not so much lately), facebook, twitter, text messaging, chat and email. So far there has been no skype.

It got me to thinking of the pros and cons of these relatively new means of communication and interconnecting and so I ask you the following:

1) What have been the benefits for you of social networking (blog, twitter, facebook, etc...)
The benefits are many - meeting new friends through RevGals (although I have not met many IRL, there are a few who seem like kindred souls), finding old friends through Facebook and keeping in touch with people's daily lives, even those who live in the same town but don't have time to call, and for my two best college friends, feeling like a part of one another's daily lives twenty years after graduation.

2) Which medium do you use the most? Or if you use them all, for what do you use each of them?
I have used chat programs for years, since Starman was in Australia in 1989 and we got in trouble for all the bandwidth we used (hah! kilobytes, it must have been) while using emacs chat on Unix machines. By far, chat has been my most used social media - my two best friends from college are on Windows Messenger, and I often chat with at least one of them every day, although they are in the West and I am here two time zones away. My mom and I use Skype, and I always have my FB window open while I work. I find FB most useful for keeping in touch - I often have a quick minute to write a comment on a post, and when I post, I find that lots of friends chime in with support or a laugh when I need it most.

3) If you could invent a networking site (with no limits on your imagination), what would it provide? What would it not provide?
Hmmmm...I agree with some others that all the silly games (Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc) could go away from FB and it would be better as a result. And the chat feature on FB does not work well at all. Otherwise, I am pretty happy with what I use. In fact, I use it too much! It feels like a guilty pleasure to pop open that FB window a lot of the time, when I am supposed to be doing something "useful".

4) Who have you met that you would not have met if it were not for the 'miracle' of social networking?

I was so happy to meet up with some RevGals at the Festival of Homies last year, and I hope to do the same this year. Otherwise, I haven't met anyone new, just a bunch of old high school buddies. I wonder about that. I am not an extreme extrovert in my blog or on RevGals, but there are bunches of RevGals with whom I would really enjoy spending time. I guess I am a bit intimidated since everyone else seems to know everyone else so well.

5) Who do you secretly pray does not one day try to 'friend/follow' you?
I am glad that there is an "unfriend" feature on FB. 'Nuff said.

BONUS: What was the most random/weird/unsettling/wonderful connection you made that would not have happened if it were not for the ease of which we can find each other in the computer realm?

Nothing amazing, but getting back in touch with my seminary faculty advisor has been richly rewarding, as has the support I have received from HS friends, actually some friends I had from 1st grade! For that reason, FB continues to be my favorite.

Thanks KZJ!

Rev Gals Friday Five - Lifesavers!

2009-10-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

I found this Friday Five intriguing and worth musing about, and it is a good way for me to finally post! Thanks Kathrynzj. Here is her post over at RevGals and my answers:

In honor of BE Three I thought I'd offer up a Friday Five of lifesavers. I'm going on our cruise (are you?) because I am excited about meeting up with my blogging buddies again, I am interested in the speaker and because when I went on the first one my life was saved (okay, that may be a little over-dramatized but if you saw me getting on the boat and then the difference when getting off the boat you would know of what I speak).

I don't expect - or need - another life saving moment but I want to support the conference.

Of course lifesavers can come in all sizes and with far less drama. I would readily admit that I have considered a person (children's sermon substitute), the location of a bathroom, and a beverage (the last diet coke in the back of the fridge - score!) all to be lifesavers at one point or another.

And so today I ask you - dramatic or fairly common - what have been/are your lifesavers:

1) Your lifesaving food/beverage. Can I have more than one? The first would be Coke Classic. Not diet. Even while on Weight Watchers I allow myself 8 oz. a day at lunch. There is nothing like the flavor and the fizz and that nice little jolt of caffeine to keep me going, especially since I don't drink coffee or black tea.
Then there is a daily hot cocoa, preferably made by Starman using our cappuccino machine (given to me by my dear M-I-L) - I use skim milk, Hershey's special dark cocoa, and granulated sugar. Yum. I have to give this up while on WW and it is quite painful!
But really, chocolate in any form, mostly dark, has gotten me through life - through having three under 5's in my house, through long nights of studying physics and chemistry and then Tillich and Barth.

2) Your lifesaving article of clothing. I have a few of these too, but I will just mention two - my light blue polarfleece zip-up from REI - comfy and warm. And my Wicked Good Slippers, fleece lined with plastic soles, from LL Bean. Did I say warm? And did I say I spend my winters being COLD all the time? Yeah. Wool socks, too.

3) Your lifesaving movie/book/tv show/music.
When I am down, Phil Collins cheers me up. No doubt. Or helps me wallow. Depending. Right now, I like

Follow You Follow Me, which epitomizes the 25 years Starman and I have been together. I saw this in concert, and loved the background too!

It doesn't fail to bring me up when I am down!

4) Your lifesaving friend.
Many of these, actually. Too many to list - I have been blessed. Two are my best friends from college, who now live 40 minutes apart from one another in Colorado. We've been together since we were 18. We lived together, and Starman lived with us, so they know him well. We IM each other three or four times a week. They accept me for who I am, and they know me well.

Starman of course. I never get tired of being with him! Looking forward to a date night tonight. He is funny, and fun, and caring. And sometimes he even cleans the bathrooms!

5) Your lifesaving moment.
One that I can think of happened about 6 weeks after Skye, my eldest daughter, was born. After four miscarriages and a stillbirth, her very presence seemed like a precarious gift. She was "born blue" with the cord wrapped around her neck and had to be pulled out with forceps. It took her two weeks to learn how to nurse. I felt as though we were fighting for her survival. But one day, when she was six weeks old, she looked at me and smiled. And I knew she was ok, and I knew I loved her, and I knew I could trust that love. I don't know why I received the gift of her life, or the gift of the two others who followed her, and did not get to hold the five before, except in my heart. But I finally trusted the gift, that day.

Of course there were more of these as well...

What about you?

Sermon for Pentecost 15B

2009-09-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

(ed. note - this sermon has no real title, cause I couldn't think of one!)
Did you find yourself missing the smell of fresh pencils and new markers these past few weeks? Did you maybe find yourself wanting a new notebook or a new backpack? Maybe you even found yourself shopping for some back-to-school clothes – at least for fun!

I know the majority of you here no longer start school each September, or even have anyone in your household who is in that mode any more. But there is something about the fall weather, and the air in September, that makes us think of new starts, and school days, isn’t there? Of course, you know in my house, I am the only one who doesn’t go to school. This year, I have three girls at Amazing Elementary – a kindergartener, a third grader and a fifth grader. And of course my husband Starman never left school – he got his PhD in 1991 and since then he has been teaching physics in one form or another at university.

There is a certain sense of expectation that comes with September, no matter how long it has been since you last sat in a classroom. Here at MidCity First, as well as at other churches around this square and in fact, around the country, this is the Sunday when we start our programming for the year – new Sunday school classes, choir at the 10:50 service, a sense of “hustle and bustle” to the church that we don’t see as much of during the summer. New Sunday school teachers are commissioned – in fact, this past week I met with 8 people, including a some of you here , to begin a year of Disciple Bible study, that, if all goes well, will finish up next June. Oh, and by the way, I would love for a few more people to join that class, so see me after service if you are interested! The class will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 on Wednesday evenings starting September 23.

So, with all this talk about school and classes, it seems kind of fitting that our scripture passages for this week are centered around the ideas of teaching, and wisdom, and knowledge. We have a passage in Proverbs that talk about Wisdom.
And in James, we hear about what it takes to be a teacher, and how dangerous the very act of speaking can be. And then, in Mark, Jesus gives his disciples a pop quiz – one that Peter alone seems to pass, but then Peter fails the big midterm exam that comes a few verses later.

We started reading from the book of Proverbs last week, and will continue with this book as our Old Testament lection next week as well. Proverbs is kind of a sticky book. A lot of short sayings make up the book – sayings that people like to quote when they work for them – like “better a neighbor who is nearby, than kindred who are far away” (Prov. 27:10). But like most short sayings, there is often another side to the story.

In today’s reading we hear about Wisdom. Wisdom is one of those great and wonderful things. Wisdom is a quality we want to possess, but which remains elusive and hard to define. To help the reader gain an understanding of Wisdom, the writer of this section of Proverbs has created a character, a literary device: Wisdom personified as a woman. This character, Wisdom, has some things to say. And some of these are not very nice things. In this section of Proverbs, Wisdom is full of scorn and anger. She is angry that her people are not listening to her, angry that she has stretched out her hand to help and the people have ignored her. A teacher whose words are ignored by the students is not a happy teacher! So, says Wisdom, because you have chosen to ignore me, because you have chosen to reject my advice, I will not be there to save you.

Wait a minute. If this Wisdom is an aspect of God, as we may believe it to be, then is this a God we want to know? This isn’t the God revealed in Jesus, who grants us grace even at the last hour. This God, this Wisdom, seems particularly devoid of grace. I have to tell you, I am not really sure what to make of Wisdom, here, laughing at those who have messed up.

H. James Hopkins, writing for the preaching resource Feasting On the Word, has this to say:
Many of us struggle with this side of Wisdom, this swaggering, self assured, “I would listen to me if I were you” representative of God. Perhaps the poet who penned Proverbs overstates his/her case just a bit. Perhaps God does not actually laugh at the calamities we bring upon ourselves. Still it is difficult to argue with the truth of Wisdom’s warning. When we forget about the ways of God, we often get ourselves into some terrible predicaments. When we think we are beyond the basic lessons of loving justice, doing kindness, and walking humbly with God, we often end up doing or saying things we regret.

Did you ever have a teacher like Wisdom is personified here? A teacher who made you realize the consequences of your actions? A teacher who pushed you a little bit, maybe made you grow in ways you didn’t want to grow?

My eighth grade algebra teacher, Mr. M, was such a teacher. I can’t think of anyone who liked Mr. M. He was strict, and never once cracked a smile in class. And he introduced us eighth graders to the horror of pop quizzes. We never knew when they were going to come. We would walk into his class and sit down (none of us ever talked before class when we walked into that classroom). And he would always march in right after the bell, at a fast clip. And then would come those dreaded words, never on any particular day – he was very good at surprising us, without any warning at all. “Put your books inside the desk or on the floor.” That’s all I remember. “Put your books inside the desk or on the floor” and then he would hand out the paper for the day’s pop quiz.

I learned to be scared in Mr. M’s class. But I also learned to be prepared. I learned a lot of algebra that year, and maybe even enough so that I was ready for the rigors of engineering school when they came along 5 years later.

The kind of God portrayed in Proverbs is not an easy God to live with. I am not even sure I do believe in that kind of God. I think it's a huge mistake to tell a story of God's judgment and wrath without also telling the story of God's love and saving grace. But the warnings from Proverbs ring true, nonetheless. I have seen the consequences of my actions played out in ways that have taught me a lot – and made me even more grateful for the grace I know God provides.

The passage from James is more of a cautionary tale than an admonition in the way of Proverbs. James is considered a form of wisdom literature, but in James the words that are spoken are more reminiscent of Jesus’ own sayings.
This week, James has a lot to say about a very small part of our bodies – the tongue. The writer uses every kind of comparison to make the point of how much power is wielded by what we say, and how we say it. This is not the time to bring out the adage “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” – do you remember that one from your school days? Was that true for you? I think this is one of those cases when a proverb doesn’t really work.

Language is a powerful tool. And when you are in a position of power over others, it becomes especially important to be aware how you use language. Think of the teachers you have known who have inspired you, encouraged you, challenged you in ways that made you a better person than you were before you knew them.

My track coach and calculus teacher, Mr. K, was one of those teachers whose words I will never forget. Mr. K was not a young man when I met him – and he certainly wasn’t a runner. He had been stricken with disease when he was a child and had been hospitalized for over a year. And one of his legs was about 2 inches shorter than the other, causing him to walk with a permanent limp.

But he was an inspiring and encouraging coach and teacher. His attitude was that each of us should try to do our best, every day, in the classroom and on the field. He would print up time sheets after our races – not noting so much who came in first, or second, or last – but comparing our times on the course to our previous times and noting when we had beaten our time – had gotten a “personal best” for the course. When we ran a race, he would pace up and down the field about 100 yards from the finish line, yelling for each person on the team – and he would not stop cheering until his last runner had crossed the line. I know – because sometimes that last runner was me. As soon as I came out of the woods and started that last sprint toward the finish of our cross-country course, I would hear him. “Come on Di! Come on Di!” he would shout – he had nicknames for everyone on the team.

One year our girls’ cross country team wasn’t a particularly strong one, and I happened to be the seventh best runner on the team. Seven runners went to the state meet every year, and so, I along with my six much better teammates started some extra practices to get ready for the meet. The problem was, I was always a few minutes behind my fellow runners, no matter how hard I tried. One night after practice I was waiting for my mom to pick me up, and feeling pretty sorry for myself, and wondering if I should just quit the team. Mr. K was walking to his car when he saw me. He came over and put an arm around me. “Tell Uncle Frankie what’s wrong” he said. We never called him that, but the funny name he called himself did get me to smile. I told him how I felt like I wasn’t good enough to run in states, and I was just letting my team down. “I chose you to run that race” he told me, “and I think you’re good enough. Just get out there and do your best.” A few weeks later, I ran the race. I didn’t come in last, and Mr. Kelley was there, cheering me on, somehow managing to be at several points in the course, just when I needed to see him. “Come on, Di!”

Every now and then when I go back to my hometown, I’ll meet up with Mr. K in the grocery store or around town. And I will always remember how he encouraged me – how his words made me be a better person, if not a better runner.

The tongue can be used to encourage or discourage. That’s true not just for those who have jobs that label them as “teachers” but for all of us. Those of you sitting in the pews tonight might think “well, no one really pays any attention to what I say. It doesn’t really matter.”

But I can tell you, your words matter to me, even when I am the one who is supposed to be speaking. I am always looking out for those of you who are smiling and nodding at me during the service (don’t worry I don’t expect any amens!) And it means a great deal to me when one of you tells me afterward that something I said resonated with your own experience. I wouldn’t be here, if I couldn’t also trust you to tell me when I mess up (there are a few of you who can do that well) and to tell me to get out of the way on occasion so we can all worship.

Words matter. As United Methodists, here in this place today, I would not be before you and you would not be here listening if we did not agree on this. Indeed, for me an important component of my call to ministry is a call to preaching. But how does God act in the world through our words? Who speaks for God?

I must confess that I've never much liked that prayer from Psalm 19, the one we said at the end of our call to worship: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” When I was growing up, we had a preacher who said those words – and then went on to condemn us all from the pulpit. Now he was a real “fire and brimstone” preacher – something like the writer of our Proverbs passage. And, I will confess, after a while I became convinced that this man was not speaking well on behalf of the God that I knew, the God of Love.

So is seems kind of pretentious for me to pray those same words up here before I preach. I know despite my studies and training and earnest striving that my view of God is really just one small sliver of all the wonderful things that God is about, and I know that for all my experiences, I cannot hope to comprehend all of the different ways in which God interacts with the people of the world, with the people here in this place. So from my small and limited view, despite my prayers, I am not going to get it right every time. Occasionally I am going to miss the mark. Some of my sermons are going to be clunkers. And despite the fact that I stand here before you now, my words are my own words, not God's words. I do not, by myself, speak for God.

And yet, I do believe that something powerful, something of God, can happen when we are together – when we use our tongues to praise God together. The thing is – it takes all of us, singers and musicians, preachers and hearers – to make worship happen. Not just the words of my mouth. But the prayers and hopes and open hearts of all of us. For the truth of God's words comes not in the speaking in one voice, but through the voices of many. Together, all of us can speak for God. And the words of God act not just in the speaking, but in the listening, where each of us is here together. Yet alone in our hearts, we each find the one truth we need to hear today. Just as God speaks in many voices, we each receive from God in accordance with our where we are and what we need to hear.

So consider, as James tells us, how we can all use our tongues in wise ways instead of foolish ones. Let us look to each other for models. Consider those wise and wonderful teachers who have shown us what it means to speak with wisdom. And remember, each of you are a speaker on behalf of the family of God. Your voice can be God's voice. As you go forth from this place, know that the God of truth goes with you. Know that you, each of you, has something to say, a word to share, that can encourage someone, and bring the Good News to someone who needs to hear it today. Go forth to share what you know – this Jesus, who came to lose his life so that we may all be saved. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

RevGals Friday Five - Recharge!

2009-09-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, it has been a LONG time since I have paid any attention to this here blog. Mostly, I have been confining myself to SpaceBook, because I just dig the instant feedback and for some reason when I blog, I get all concerned over whether anyone reads what I write. Not a good reason to blog.

This Friday Five, from one of my fave bloggers, Sally who blogs here brought me back. Here is what she writes over at RGBP:

A few weeks ago my lap-top battery died, suddenly I found myself looking at a blank screen and was rather relieved to find that it was only the battery and not the whole computer that had failed. This morning a new battery arrived in the post, and suddenly I am mobile again!

After a week with what feels like wall to wall meetings, and Synod looming on the horizon for tomorrow I find myself pondering my own need to recharge my batteries. This afternoon Tim and I are setting off to explore the countryside around our new home, I always find that walking in the fresh air away from phones and e-mails recharges me. But that is not the only thing that restores my soul, so do some people, books, pieces of music etc....

So I wonder what/ who gives you energy?

1. Is there a person who encourages and uplifts you, whose company you seek when you are feeling low?
That would have to be my husband, Starman...we have been through a lot together, and he is a great listener, comforter, and even better a great dancer! We don't usually get down at the same time, so we can bring one another up. On October 25, we will celebrate 25 years of togetherness (our first date was that night in 1984, when I was a freshman in college and he was a senior).

2. How about a piece of music that either invigorates or relaxes you?
When I am feeling low, I like music that has a beat, to lift me up. I like some of Phil Collins' or Genesis' stuff, and lately Axel F, the theme song from Beverly Hills Cop of all things, has been playing loud in my car.

3. Which book of the Bible do you most readily turn to for refreshment and encouragement? Is there a particular story that brings you hope?

I love the "comfort passages" in Isaiah. This week while at the bedside of a parishioner I read Isaiah 25 to a woman who has been in her hospital bed for 3 months.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. 8Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

9It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

4. A bracing walk or a cosy fireside?

Both, in that order! I walk every day, and I do mean every day, no matter what the weather...and it clears my head and recharges me and readies me for what lies ahead. But in the evening, a cosy (love that British spelling Sally!) fireside is the place to be, with the family gathered round.

5. Are you feeling refreshed and restored at the moment or in need of recharging, write a prayer or a prayer request to finish this weeks Friday Five....
I am in serious need of a recharge after a very busy summer of trying to fit work in around the girls' summer schedules! But today, Starman is taking the three, right after school, for a weekend in Michigan at his parents' cabin. I can't go, since I have to preach. It will be the first time, ever, that I have been alone for more than a few hours in our house! I have been looking forward to it for weeks. I have a long list of cleaning chores, but the hammock is already set up in the backyard, and it promises to be a beautiful weekend - my prayer is that I can balance making the house look better with taking some time to read and reflect and journal. If you could pray that I end the weekend feeling refreshed, recharged, and accomplished, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you! And if you are not a reader of RGBP, post your own recharging thoughts in the comments :)

Thank you Sally!

Friday Five - Exercise!

2009-07-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sophia over at RevGalBlogPals has created a meme based on one of my favorite things - exercise! So, without further ado:

She writes:
So how about you and your beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit?

1. What was your favorite sport or outdoor activity as a child? I loved them all - my mom played basketball, softball, tennis with us. We skated on the cranberry bog near our house. Once, my best friend David and I took a yardstick and measured 50 yards on our street so we could run 50 yard dashes and time one another. He taught me how to hit a wiffle ball. We climbed trees, and rode our bikes everywhere. In the winter, we had great sledding hills nearby. We lived near a small lake, and the ocean, so swimming was another favorite pastime. We spent a LOT of time outside, and it was fun!

2. P.E. class--heaven or the other place?
I actually really enjoyed P.E., starting in 7th grade, when my new best friend and I decided to take it 5 days a week because we liked the teacher, Miss Littlefield. With all that practice, although I had very little innate athletic ability, I learned to swing on the rings all the way across the gym, to run the hurdles, and to do at least three pull-ups. I learned, more than that, to enjoy sports and that practice made me better at them.
In high school, P.E. became more dull, but by then I was running track and didn't really have to pay attention to it.
In my college, we were required to take 4 semesters of P.E. class to graduate - this was a very nerdy engineering school, so it was kind of an interesting requirement. There, I learned how to scull on the Charles River (really fun!), how to play water polo, and a little bit about rock'n'roll partner dance. Again, really fun!

3. What is your favorite form of exercise now?
I walk 6 days a week with my Golden Retriever dog Dunstan, around a small lake near our house in the early morning. These walks are always what I need, whether they are alone with the dog (when I listen to pray-as-you-go on my iPod and generally try to be in a state of prayer) or with several close friends.
On Saturdays, and a couple of nights a week, I have been playing soccer with a group of moms who are mostly like me - 40 something, in basically ok shape, with varying levels of skill. It is really fun to play a team sport and not be as self conscious as the teenager I was the last time I played! You need to understand, I never, ever saw myself as a jock, especially since my mom is one, and can beat me still at just about every sport. So I marvel that I can actually score a goal once in a while.

4. Do you like to work out solo or with a partner?
Both - although I never look forward to the solo walks as much as the ones with friends, they are often just what I need when I haven't taken the time to pray.

5. Inside or outside?
Outside. All the time. No such thing as too cold, too hot, or too rainy or snowy when I have finally accumulated the right equipment after all these years - rainpaints, rain jacket, layers, waterproof walking shoes, crampons for icy sidewalks, a headlamp - I will not be deterred!

Thanks Sophia! This was fun and one of my favorite topics!

An Update - if you can call it that

2009-07-10T09:56:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers,
I have been quite remiss in posting to this blog, and I notice those who used to read it haven't been lately, probably because my posts have been well, rather DULL! But that is my life - watching girls grow up, writing sermons, trying to keep the house in some sort of order, walking my big fuzzy dog and petting my too furry cats. Not very interesting. But lots of fun!

Watching for the Morning - Pentecost 4B

2009-06-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

His daughter was dying. He was sure of it now. The little, ragged breaths she took had slowed down and he could barely hear them. Her body, once lithe and strong, now sank into the blanket on the mat he had laid on the floor beside their own. Her mother would not leave her side – she sat there all day, all night, moistening her child’s dry lips with water, praying silently, singing all the childhood songs she could remember.

She had only been this way for a week. The fever came on suddenly, and would not leave her. But she hadn’t eaten, and yesterday she couldn’t even swallow the little bit of water her mother tried to give her. She was dying, he was sure of it.

He had been in the synagogue every morning and every evening to pray, joining the minyan of old men there for the death-anniversaries of their wives or their fathers. He had asked everyone he met to pray for her. He had called the doctor in not just once, but every day, but at this point even the doctor with all his ideas and remedies didn’t know what to do.

It was from one of his neighbors that he heard that this man Jesus had come to town. Jairus had been hearing about Jesus for a while now – he seemed to be attracting a bigger and bigger following. Some people said he had performed miracles – had cured a man who had a withered hand, made a paralyzed man walk again, had made many sick people well again. But then again, he had done some of this healing on the Sabbath, in direct contradiction to the Law. And the last Jairus had heard, this Jesus was over on the other side of the lake, hanging out with Gentiles, even talking to pig farmers. Pig farmers! Talk about your unclean Gentiles!

After praying in the synagogue that morning, he went back home to see how she was doing. His wife met him at the door. He had never seen her look like this – her face drawn, her whole body curling in upon itself. But it was the fear in her eyes that hit him the hardest. He had never seen her so afraid. “She’s not speaking any more, Jairus, and she won’t respond to me at all!” his wife said, “Please, do something! She is going to die!”

It was that fear that drove him back out. He headed for the doctor’s house – but on the way he saw the crowd, with Jesus in the middle of them. Some of his friends from the synagogue were there, on the outskirts of the group, trying to seem uninterested and aloof. They saw the desperation in his eyes.

When he saw Jesus, that desperation took over. No one else could save her. This man had healed so many, he knew it now. Jesus could save her, too. Ignoring his friends’ stares and whispers, he pushed to the front of the crowd and fell at Jesus’ feet, “Please, sir, please, you can make her well, I know you can. Please heal my daughter, my only daughter. Come and lay your hands on her, so she may be made well, and live. Come, please, lay your hands on her so she made be made well and live.”

Have you been where Jairus is? Have you been to that place of desperation – that place where you find yourself just begging for something to change in your life…that place where you will do anything to make it happen?

Our Psalm for today, Psalm 130, speaks from that place. This Psalm is titled “A Song of Ascents” and is one of a group of songs with this name. It is thought that these songs were sung by faithful Jews on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for a festival celebration. On their journey, they would sing or chant these songs to express their feelings as a group, but also as individuals. It is interesting that these psalms are not all psalms of joy, but speak of the many different emotions the pilgrims may have been experiencing on their journey.

Psalm 130 begins at the point where Jairus is when he speaks to Jesus. “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.” The depths, the deep places of our souls, where we can do nothing but cry out to God.

Our Old Testament lesson, from the 2nd letter of Samuel, also speaks from this place. This summer we have been reading about David – about his anointing by Samuel – the youngest son of Jesse, brought in from the fields. And last week, about his defeat of Goliath – the little guy with the slingshot and no armor defeating the mighty warrior.

But now David is in a different place. David is in the depths of his soul. Saul, the previous king of Israel, had spent months chasing David and trying to kill him while asserting his own authority. And Saul’s son, Jonathan, had stood up for David against his father. David had run from Saul, and had even had the chance to kill Saul, but he had not taken it. David and Saul had continued as adversaries, with Jonathan trying to support David, until a final battle with the Philistines, when Jonathan is killed and Saul, badly wounded, kills himself so the Philistines will not have the satisfaction of killing him.

In our passage for today, David uses an ancient hymn called the Song of the Bow to express his grief and sorrow – not just for his close friend Jonathan, but also for his adversary Saul. His words echo through the ages in a cry of pain and loss, especially the last verse, where we read of his deep love for his friend.

Unlike the gospel reading, neither the 1st Samuel reading or the reading from the Psalms offer healing. In both of these readings, we hear instead the pain and agony of fresh grief – we hear the cries of those who are overwhelmed by all life has thrown at them.

Can you hear your own voice in those cries? What do you do when you are in that place, that place of depth and sorrow, that place of grief and fear, the place where you are so overwhelmed? How do you move from that place? Is it even possible to do that?

I believe all of us encounter those places in our lives. I know I have shared here some of those places in my own life. There are places, it seems, when God has left us, when we are all alone, and we have no idea where to turn.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord…where is the morning, the dawn we seek? Why are we stuck in the darkness?

When I was a little girl, I was a pretty nervous kid. One night my cousins from Belgium were at my grandmother’s house for a visit– Su, who was my age, and David, who was the same age as my sister. We were having so much fun playing together that we decided it would be a great idea to sleep over that night. So, around 8 o’clock, my parents left for home, about 20 minutes away, and my grandmother got us all settled in bed. It didn’t seem to take anyone else very long to get to sleep, but I tossed and turned and began to worry and fret. I didn’t have the stuffed elephant I usually slept with. Would I ever be able to fall asleep? What if I didn’t sleep all night? My grandmother was a pretty strict woman, and I thought if I woke her up, she was going to be really mad at me. But finally my worries got the best of me, and I tiptoed into the living room. My grandmother heard me, and came out of her bedroom. I tearfully told her I just couldn’t sleep. Instead of scolding me, she offered to call my dad, and while we waited for him to come, she told me how she herself had been scared to sleep away from home, and how when she went to Girl Scout camp she couldn’t sleep all night, either. I was not scolded by her, or by my dad who got out of his own bed to collect me. And once back home, I fell asleep immediately. The dawn came again.

In my desperation, I cry to you O Lord. O Lord, hear my cries!

The Gospel story shares a response to desperation – in desperation, Jairus leaves behind his worries about what his friends may think, his concern about what someone with his standing in the community would do. He ignores proper protocol and instead reaches out to Jesus with everything he has.

The woman with the hemorrhage reaches out to Jesus as well. As a woman living with a bodily discharge for 12 years, this act of pushing through a crowd, of even touching Jesus’ cloak, was an act of courage born of desperation. According to Jewish law, a person with a bodily discharge was unclean and could not be touched, could not be in a group of believers. We can imagine that for 12 years, this woman had been alone. She had been isolated, ostracized – and probably weak and worn out. Finally, she cannot take it any more. She overcomes her fear of retribution, her fear of being recognized and called out, and makes her way to Jesus. Unlike Jairus, she doesn’t beg for Jesus’ attention, but quietly reaches out to touch him – and receives his power, and his blessing.

What does it take for you to reach out to Jesus? Where do you have to be before you recognize that God is right there waiting for you?

One of my blogging friends led me to this year’s commencement address to the graduates of Wellesley College. The journalist Kimberly Dosier spoke of her own times of life in the depths, and the choices she made. Her words, as recorded by the New York Times on Sunday June 14, are these:
You chose a Wellesley grad who spent the first decade of her career broke, begging for freelance work, who constantly heard that she was under qualified or, later, overqualified (that means old) or basically just plain wrong for whatever it was she wanted to do. She eventually ended up with a really great job, doing exactly what she wanted to do, exactly where she wanted to do it: in the Middle East. And she got hit by a car bomb; they nearly took her legs off. She had to come back from the dead, roughly five times, and learn how to walk again. So it tells me a lot about you and your current state of mind that you all thought you needed to hear from me, with whatever lessons I had to offer from those experiences, as you leave college for the rest of your life. In short, you all want to know how to be bomb-proof, right? So, you're right: I learned a lot. Most of all, that every time I ran into a wall, I had two choices on how to face it: hope or fear.

Hope, or fear. Do we really always have such a choice? Sometimes, in our depths, it doesn’t really seem like hope is a choice we have. When we have exhausted all possibilities, when someone we loved more than life itself has died, how can we choose hope? Where is the hope?

I have asked myself the answer to that question during dark days of grief and anger. And sometimes, I haven’t had an answer to that question. When we are lying in the darkness and feeling alone and afraid, the answer may not be there. When I tossed and turned in that bed at my grandmother’s house that night, I could not see an answer, for fear had consumed my ability to see. God was nowhere to be found, until I got up and chose the hope that my grandmother would not scold or punish me, but listen to me.

Where is the Hope? Where is the morning, the dawn we seek? How can we wait for the dawn when we are sitting in the darkness? In our Scripture, the word for hope and the word for wait, or watch, are the same. So when we choose hope, we join those who watch, who wait for the morning.

Choosing hope over fear is not easy. It is a decision we have to make over and over again. It does not solve all of our problems – it does not mean that suddenly our child will be raised from the dead, or our illness will disappear. It does not change the diagnosis the doctor makes.

What it does change, though, is how we live. If we can take one small step in hope, we will become aware of God’s presence beside us. Because I truly do believe that God has not left us, even when we are crying from the depths of our souls.

So, this is where the hope lies. The hope lies in the fact that even in the darkness, God is with us. God is with us is through the night. Somewhere deep in our souls we recognize that the morning will come. Somewhere, we know God will not abandon us. We can mourn, we can cry out to God, knowing that God will come to us. Knowing that in fact God is right there with us even if all we see is darkness and despair. And so we know, the morning will come. In what time, in what way, we do not know. And this is where the hope lies. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Friday Five - Talkin' Bout Pop Music

2009-06-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Mary Beth over at RevGalBlogPals writes:

Happy Friday to you all!

The sad news of Michael Jackson's untimely death has me thinking about music and its effects on us - individually, as cultures, as generations. Let's think about the soundtracks of our lives...

1) What sort of music did you listen to as a child - this would likely have been determined or influenced by your parents? Or perhaps your family wasn't musical...was the news the background? the radio? Singing around the piano?
We didn't really have all that much music in our house as I remember. No piano, my sister played guitar but hated to practice. In the car, my mom liked to play John Denver and Johnny Cash...so they and Kenny Rogers were my early favorites, as well as Neil Diamond.

This song was actually the "theme" of my wedding in 1989 to Starman. We saw John Denver in concert in the early 1990s...guess that early imprinting had an impact!

2) Going ahead to teenage years, is there a song that says "high school" (or whatever it might've been called where you lived) to you?
Well, there were a bunch...here are a couple of important ones, the first from my breakup with my first "real" boyfriend:

Eewww! That is a hard video to watch!

And then the song that was played at our junior prom, where I had a lot of fun with a good friend:

3) What is your favorite music for a lift on a down day? (hint: go to www.pandora.com and type in a performer/composer...see what you come up with!)

I really like this one, but I have a lot..

4) Who is your favorite performer of all time?
Without a doubt, Phil Collins. Saw him live in 2004 and with Genesis in 2007. I love his music and the lyrics to his songs, and I must admit to even thinking he is kind of cute now (not so much when he was younger)

his drumming is out of this world!

5) What is your favorite style of music for worship?

I love it all, actually, depending on the time and place. At our Youth Annual Conference I can get into the praise music. When in a cathedral I enjoy the choir. At our home church our choir does a mixture of anthems and gospel music, and I enjoy both...

Some of my favorite hymns to sing are Gather Us In by Marty Haugen, Guide My Feet, and Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

Last week the choir sang "River in Judea" and I have been humming it all week.

Thank you Mary Beth!

RevGal Blog Pals - Friday Five -

2009-06-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Jan over at RevGal Blog Pals writes:

Digh, Patti. Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful,
and Live Intentionally. Guilford, CT: Skirt!, 2008.

Jennifer recommended this book, which I got because I always value Jennifer's reading suggestions. The author of Life is a Verb, Patti Digh worked her book around these topics concerning life as a verb:

* Say yes.
* Be generous.
* Speak up.
* Love more.
* Trust yourself.
* Slow down.

As I read and pondered about living more intentionally, I also have wondered what this Friday Five should be. This book has been the jumping off point for this Friday.

1. What awakens you to the present moment?

Usually, it is something one of my girls does - maybe something annoying, maybe something cute, usually something loud...I tend to spend most of my time in the present moment when they are around!

2. What are 5 things you see out your window right now?
Starman painted our porch when I was gone to Annual Conference for church, and that is a nice sight to see! Also our porch swing, unfortunately with the weed wacker on it so I can't sit there right now. A stick he used to stir the paint, and our good kitchen shears on the railing, not sure what he used those for! And the beautiful trees that line our street.

3. Which verbs describe your experience of God?
loving, forgiving, pushing, opening, holding

4. From the book on p. 197:
Who were you when you were 13? Where did that kid go?

Active, sports loving, anxious, God-loving, worrywart, hard working, tree climbing - I haven't changed much! Wish I had grown, and I have quite a bit, but that person is still just beneath the surface most of the time, for better or for worse.

5. From the book on p. 88:
If your work were the answer to a question, what would the question be? God asking "Can you show the world how much I love EVERYONE? Can you tell the world my story?"

Bonus idea for you here or on your own--from the book on p. 149:
"Go outside. Walk slowly forward. Open your hand and let something fall into it from the sky. It might be an idea, it might be an object. Name it. Set it aside. Walk forward. Open your hand and let something fall into it from the sky. Name it. Set it aside. Repeat. . . ."

Spent the ride home from Annual Conference basically doing that, and figuring out that it seems that God is telling me it is time to move forward with my long in coming ordination process.

Thanks Jan!

Seeds and Trees - Pentecost 2B

2009-06-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

(ed. note...I don't actually even mention the gospel here, just using Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Psalm 92)
“Weeds and Trees”
Well, it happened this week. I knew it was only a matter of time, with a 10 year old girl, and an 8 year old girl, and a 5 year old girl. We were headed somewhere in the car, and Freckleface, the eight year old, said to me, “How did you dress when you were a teenager, Mom?” When I told her, I pretty much dress the same way I do now, she said “I can’t imagine a teenager dressing that way!” I had to push the point, “Why not, Freckleface? Is there something wrong with the way I dress?” “You just dress so old” she told me.

Sigh. Well, actually, teenagers in the early 1980s did wear oxford shirts, and skinny jeans, and white running shoes. They also wore leggings, ripped sleeveless sweatshirts, and feathered hair, but I didn’t tell Freckleface that, mostly because I never adopted that style (well, ok, I did do the feathered hair). But it is official, I guess. I am old. My children think I dress old. I celebrated my 40th birthday a few years ago. I have friends who are my age who have children who have graduated from high school. My own three girls will all be in elementary school next year, and I don’t see any more babies coming to our house.

One of the benefits of working here at Medium City First United Methodist Church is that I am one of the younger people on the staff. And because I didn’t even start seminary until I was in my 30s, and I am still in the ordination process and have been for the past 10 years, it is easy to still think of myself as young – a young clergyperson, just starting out. And I am just starting out, and I do have a lot to learn, but by the time WisePastor was my age, he had been a pastor for 20 years already. So playing that young card only gets me so far.

What does it mean to get older? In our culture, we seem to like people to be just the right age – somewhere between 25 and 35, I think. If you are younger than that, you are too young, and beyond that, you are, well, out of touch, as my daughters made very clear to me the other day.

As WisePastor mentioned to you last week (or as you may have heard me say), for the month of June he and I have decided to focus on the Psalms in our preaching. We don’t usually read the Psalm for each week in our services, although I do try to use it in the call to worship. With four readings as a part of our revised common lectionary each Sunday, reading all of the texts during worship isn’t always easy, and frankly, I don’t usually focus on the Psalm when I preach, so leaving it out hasn’t seemed like such a bad thing.

WisePastor and I are not really alone in this practice. Peter S. Hawkins had this to say in a recent article in The Christian Century:
Most worshipers take the psalms for granted, treating them like background music that establishes a mood but has little grip on the imagination. Yes, the 23rd Psalm is brought in for comfort at funerals, and folks would miss the “green pastures” and “still waters” were they not invoked. But mostly psalms provide responsive readings no one really attends to, or offer a transition between more important scriptures.

I hope you all paid attention when Dalton (Jacob, WisePastor) led you in the reading of today’s Psalm. Because I think it has a lot to say to us, especially when we couple it with the other readings for this week.

I didn’t have (WisePastor) read all of our readings for today, or else there is no way we would have gotten done with worship before the sun went down/lunchtime/Sunday school hour was over. In addition to our reading from Ezekiel, there was also a reading from 1 Samuel in our Old Testament selections for this second Sunday after Pentecost. This passage tells the story of how David got to be king of Israel after Saul – maybe some of you are familiar with it. God sent the prophet Samuel to visit Jesse, a farmer who lives in Bethlehem. Jesse has a number of fine sons, and when Samuel shows up, Jesse obediently trots them out, one by one, for Samuel to see. Samuel is looking for some word from God that the one he sees is to be the next king of Israel. Samuel keeps expecting that the next one he sees is going to be the one God wants – as the elder sons are trotted out, one by one, for inspection. But one by one, God rejects them. Finally, no one is left, and Samuel asks Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” “Well,” Jesse admits, “there is one more, the youngest one, he is out with the sheep.” Jesse didn’t even consider David as a possibility – he didn’t fit that narrow age range he assumed God was looking for to make a good king – maybe in those days it wasn’t 25-35 but 15-25, since life spans were so much shorter.

Samuel asks to see David, and Jesse calls David in from his shepherding job. And that’s it. “Rise and anoint him” God tells Samuel – and David becomes King David, a youngster who makes some mistakes, to be sure, but the one who also leads Israel to a period of great triumph, and who becomes the ancestor of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.

What happens when we tell people they are “too old” to be of any use any more, or on the flip side “too young” to know what is really going on? What happens when we dismiss people because we think we can’t learn anything new from them, or that they are somehow just not really going to add anything to our community?

Today’s Psalm addresses that issue. The Psalm begins as a pretty standard song of praise. In fact, many of the Psalms start out this way, singing praises to God. Now, before you think singing praises to God is a kind of mundane thing to do, think about what this Psalm is saying here, and who is saying it. This Psalm was likely written during the time of the Exile, when the Israelites were forced to move to Babylon, and forcibly acculturated by the Babylonians – told to act and dress and worship the same gods the Babylonians did. They were displaced from their homeland. They were forced to live on the lowest rungs of society. And yet, they sing songs of praise to God.

And that is not all. They declare here, in this Psalm, that they will not only continue to live as God’s people, even in a strange land, they will flourish. And not only the young and virile among them, but even those whom everyone else has forgotten,. Listen to these words again:
The righteous flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they still produce fruit, they are still green and full of sap, showing that the Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Think again, Babylonians, if you think you can just throw the old Israelites away. Think again if you think there is nothing new we have to offer.

Children strong enough and wise enough to become kings. Older people still vigorous enough to sing praises and to produce fruit for God’s kingdom. Again and again, God’s word shows us how God turns our own expectations upside down. Again and again, God takes what the outside world considers too young and weak or too old and used up, and makes it into something new.

The passage from Ezekiel furthers this understanding of what God can do. We don’t get to read much from the prophet Ezekiel, except for that passage we read a couple of times a year about the dry bones in the desert coming to life. Ezekiel was a prophet during the terrible, tumultuous time in Israelite history when Jerusalem was attacked and many residents of the city, including Ezekiel himself, were deported to Babylon. Our passage for today comes in the middle of prophecies of Israel’s destruction – and yet, it is a word of hope. “From the lofty top of a cedar” the prophet says, God will take a sprig, a new shoot, and plant it in the ground.

Notice that God isn’t going to start all over again with a new tree, although, of course, God could do that if God wanted to. God is starting from something that is already there, a cedar, a strong and straight tree. And the sprig that God takes from this tree is going to grow.

I have been attending a few of the neighborhood meetings that WisePastor has been holding in some of your homes the past month or so. I love to hear what you have to say about the church – how Medium City First, the congregation of this church, has been there for you through good times and bad. How many of you have formed strong friendships in this church. And how many of you have been here for a very long time, and have raised your children here.

But I also hear some pain when you speak – because not all of your children have chosen to stay here. And you see churches around here, mostly non-denominational churches, where there seem to be a lot more cars in the parking lot on a Sunday morning. And so you ask yourselves, “do we have to be different to be God’s church today, in these times? Do we have to dress differently, act differently, have different kinds of music here in order to grow, in order for our grown children to want to come back here to worship?

I think what our scriptures are telling us today is that we still have something to offer. I think we are hearing that this old church, standing here in the center of Medium City, still has some sap running through it. Should we keep doing things exactly the same way we have been for the past 50 years? Well, first of all, we aren’t. We have changed some of the songs we sing. We have changed our liturgy – the outline of our services. And we can continue to try new things – new sprigs will keep coming up out of this strong cedar that is our church.

But God has plans for us here at Medium City First United Methodist Church. God has plans for us to continue growing strong – and to grow in new and surprising ways, ways that people might not expect from a church that has been around for so long. We have both history and potential.

So yes, we need to change. But we do not need to become anything else than what are already becoming. We can stand firm on our traditions, proud of what we have accomplished, and still be nimble, vigorously responding to new challenges and meeting the ever-changing needs of God’s people and the people of this community. We do not have to concern ourselves too much about what are not, because to be honest we are quite busy enough working on what we are becoming. And what we are, what we are becoming, and what we will be is the church, this church which serves God and brings God’s love to all of the world, right here, right now, one person at a time, all in the name of Jesus Christ.

So go out from this place to show the world that you are sprigs growing from an old cedar. Show the world that Medium City First, this strong church right here in the center of the city, is here to stay. Together, let us be the church God is calling us to be. Together, let us stand tall and straight, with the pure sap of God’s love running through us. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Friday Five - vacation, all I ever wanted!

2009-05-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

Mary Beth at RevGalBlogPals writes: I'm showing my age...this was an anthem of my high school years. Wanna hear it? Give this link a try.

Love this song from my h.s. years as well, Mary Beth! We must be close to the same age! I am writing this as we are on our way to our first family vacation in a while – three days at Starman’s aunt and uncle’s house, a beautiful and spacious home on the shores of a little lake in Michigan – we are all looking forward to some time away! I just got back from the Festival of Homiletics this afternoon, so for me it is nice to have a weekend without responsibilities, a weekend to play with my daughters and Starman, and to be with relatives who have become good friends.

While you're bopping along to that (or perhaps holding your ears...?), let's think about VACATIONS! I certainly am!

1) What did your family do for vacations when you were a child? Or did you have stay-cations at home?
When I was a very small girl, and in elementary school, my dad’s friends the Browns invited us up to their cabin in Maine every year, on Sebago Lake. We looked forward to this week all year. I never realized it was the only vacation my parents could afford, and they never talked about it that way.
The Browns had a canoe and a motorboat and three children in their teens who seemed impossibly grown up. The teen boys (on whom of course I had huge crushes) would take us out in the motorboat, and Patty, the girl, would play endless games of Sorry with us and have turtle races and tell us great ghost stories that centered on the path that went off into the woods behind the cabin, where there was an abandoned Model T Ford, filled with weeds and vines. Every night at supper, everyone would take turns saying the blessing – when I was about 7 I finally had to take my own turn. I was nervous and excited at the same time. After I was done, I remember Mr. Brown telling me I did a good job. Little did he know where that would lead! My parents are still in touch with the Browns – their oldest son is a Presbyterian pastor. They are a wonderful family.

2) Tell us about your favorite vacation ever:
That would have to be our honeymoon – 20 years ago this week! My husband spent the 12 weeks immediately before our marriage in Australia – in 1989 this meant email communication and a fax or two. We left the day after our wedding for two weeks at Disney World. OK, I realize this will lower my esteem in some peoples’ eyes – but we LOVED it. We had spent more money than we had to get a card that gave us three meals, a round of golf every day, a park hopper pass, and some perks like renting a little single person motorboat to zoom around the lake. We arrived late Sunday night and were greeted as we entered the hotel: “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Starman, we have been expecting you!” And it was the same the whole week – we were treated with courtesy but not fawned over, we were comfortable – and we were alone together for two weeks – the longest we had ever spent together! We played golf, we swam, we enjoyed getting to know one another again after Starman’s long absence. Bliss!

Last year, we went back with our three girls and my parents, and again we had a wonderful time. There is something about WDW that allows me to relax, and to live in a moment, like I have trouble doing almost anywhere else.

3) What do you do for a one-day or afternoon getaway...is there a place nearby that you escape to on a Saturday afternoon/other day off?
These don’t happen very often nowadays…our weekends are spent cleaning house, taking the girls to various activities, and of course, at church – but last Sunday night, before I went to the Festival of Homies, we walked down the street for dinner at the local Lebanese restaurant, followed by some gelato at the gelateria down the street (where we ran into some school friends of the girls). When we got home, I snuggled on the couch with the three and we got out the Little House on the Prairie TV show DVDs and watched an episode together.

During the summer, I try to have at least two days with the girls during the week, and we like to take road trips – to the zoo, which is huge and fun, to the Natural History Museum, to the botanical gardens, or to hike in our beautiful Metroparks…hopefully bringing friends along. These trips are becoming more fun and less work as they get older!

4) What's your best recommendation for a full-on vacation near you...what would you suggest to someone coming to your area? (Near - may be defined any way you wish!)
Um, well, as much as I like living here, vacationing in this area of the Midwest isn’t the most exciting thing I can imagine. I guess a week at Lakeside, a former Methodist campground that has turned into a wonderful little community on Lake Erie where you don’t lock your door or your bike, there are two ice cream stores, a beach, mini golf...and a Cokesbury store. For this time in our lives, with small children, it is a nice safe place to go, with beautiful views of the lake, and nice evenings in little cottages. Bonus – we have our annual conference of the UMC here! Much better than the last place we lived, where the AC was at a college in the middle of cornfields where the wind never stopped blowing and there was no place to take a walk.

5) What's your DREAM VACATION?
For right now, with the girls the ages they are, another Disney trip would be great! We camped there, which was just our style. For just Starman and me, two days at a little B&B we found in Maine, off the beaten path, with a good hike up Mt. Chocurua in between and visits to all the LL Bean outlets on the way. (we get to do this later this summer to celebrate our 20th!). We have managed one night at this B&B in Fryeburg. MEPeace With Inn for the past three years. It is wonderful!
Someday, I would love to go back to Africa and Europe and do missions work and really get to know the people...yes, it would feel like a vacation to me.

Bonus: Any particularly awful (edited to add: or hilarious) vacation stories that you just have to tell? ("We'll laugh about this later..." maybe that time is now!)
Well, we do laugh now, but – when Brown Eyes was 2 months old, Freckleface not yet three (and not potty trained) and Skye 5, I had the bright idea that I wanted to spend two full weeks camping in northern Michigan. It rained and was in the 50s all week, which was bad enough, but even worse was that we had some relatives who lived in a nice house nearby – and they didn’t even invite us in out of the rain! We had that little 1985 tent trailer – basically all that it held was our beds – we had to cook and eat outside, and of course, deal with pull ups and a little potty and a bathroom that was a five minute walk away…a long way for a three year old! Now I know we were a rambunctious bunch – but one day, we met these relatives for pizza at the local restaurant, and after lunch, it was pouring rain. They got up, and left us at the table, with no where at all to go, while they went back to spend the rest of the day in their nice, warm, dry house with two bathrooms and a washer and dryer. We drove to the local Wal-Mart and just walked around for two hours waiting for the rain to let up. I was pretty angry, and we didn’t go back there for about 3 more years!

Thanks Mary Beth!

Tonight at the Festival of Homiletics....

2009-05-20T19:08:00.001-07:00

...I went somewhere I never thought I would go. Tonight's session was a night of music and theology, with Beth Nielsen Chapman, Darrell Scott, and Adrienne Young singing, and Barbara Lundblad, Anna Carter Florence, and Craig Barnes offering theological responses to their songs. The first song played was this - I can't find it on YouTube which is really too bad, because hearing it was what did it to me:

Dancer to the Drum - words and music by Beth Nielsen Chapman
Fast asleep in the dawn of ages
The soul of every child
Has waited to be born a stranger
Underneath the drum of his mothers heart

Lying deep in a dream of darkness
Where fear has never gone
Each spark of a life is started
Blind and pure to the world we come
Blind and pure to the world we come

Each of us a dancer to the drum
Each of us a dancer to the drum
Blind and pure we come

One is born into a life of hunger
One will be a king or a rich man's son
One will kill out of greed or anger
One will give his life for another one

There are smiles in the lies of innocence
There are blooms in the walls of stone
And we will see ourselves
In the eyes of everyone we have ever known
Everyone we have ever known

And the heart, the heart will ever be a witness
And precious time, no treasure is worth
And the child, the child will carry our existence
Through the days that we have on earth

Each of us a dancer to the drum
Each of us a dancer to the drum
Blind and pure we come

Fast asleep in the dawn of ages
The soul of every child
Has waited to be born a stranger
Underneath the drum of his mothers heart

This song, this song...this song spoke to me the words I would imagine my sons speaking to me - the two sons who were born too soon to live outside my womb. This song - my little boys, underneath the drum of my heart, lying in the dream of the darkness of my womb, who knows what they would have become? Thank you, Beth, and Michael and Gabriel, you still live on in my heart.

Friday Five- Friends!

2009-05-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

It’s time for another Friday Five! Jan over at RGBP writes:
Ever since I found out I could be the hostess for the third Friday Five of each month, I have not been able to get the thought of friends out of my mind. Being an only child (all growed up) who moved around a lot in my lifetime, friends have always been very important to me. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: "The way to have a friend is to be a friend."

So today let's write about the different kinds of friends we have, like childhood friends, lost friends, tennis friends, work friends, and the list goes on. List 5 different types of friends you have had in your life and what they were/are like.

Let’s see, this is one of those that I have been thinking about all day…and here is what I have come up with:
1. Intergenerational friends - right now, these include my advisor from my youth group (who is now 79) and his wife, our daughter’s godparents who are near retirement and grandparents, my seminary advisor who recently retired….and a couple of my daughters’ babysitters, who are now in their early 20s. I love what I can learn from both younger and older friends, and, well, just the great time we have together.
2. Church friends – we have some of these from each of the four important churches in our lives thus far. I just spent an evening with the missions team from the church where my husband and children belong, here in our town. I laughed until I cried – these are really fun folks! We have spent a week each of the past five summers with this group and it is a blast. At each of the churches, we have become friends with the clergy, which is funny because I myself wasn’t in seminary in the first two places. I’ll include seminary friends here, mostly because I don’t have many I keep in touch with. I don’t feel good about not making lasting friendships in seminary, but it just didn’t happen. BUT I do have some great friendships with people I knew WHILE I was in seminary.
3. Colleagues – I’m thinking here of people with whom I’ve actually worked, both as an engineer and now as a pastor. Funny enough, two of the closest friends I have in this category are men – I guess that isn’t too odd, since I worked first as a civil engineer. And also funny enough, these two were/are my bosses. They are mentors as well as friends, but we have a lot of very good times together. I hope they would consider me a friend too. I also belong to the Order of St. Luke, and after retreating with them last year, am pleased to count some of my brothers and sisters in the order as friends. Also, through my various connections with the Episcopal Church, I am happy to have colleague-moms to share both parts of my life with.
4. Fraternity siblings – I lived in a co-ed fraternity during my four years as an undergraduate, and we took our pledge seriously (see the sermon post below if you want to know the pledge). And I am happy to say that through the miracle of Facebook, I have gotten back in touch with a bunch of them. But even before FB, there were two girlfriends here who have, through instant messaging and phone calls, remained close in the 20 years we have known each other. These are the friends who know me best, whom I can call at any time, day and night, who will always be there for me and I for them. My husband is also a member of the fraternity, so I count him here. Great, strong bonds.
5. Mom-friends. We moved to this town when I had a three year old and a newborn. And for the past 8 years I have developed some very strong friendships and networks here – book club, preschool moms, babysitting co-op, elementary school playground – these are the places I go daily and am renewed and rejuvenated. Here in this town I am mom first, pastor second (the church I pastor part-time is 40 miles away). I have walking buddies and soccer buddies to play with. I have people I can talk to about bad days and good ones. It is a great life in a great place. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
It is late, but I will as my bonus link my bosses blog – Electric Circuit Rider (you can get a sense of his humor from the title). I like what he writes. I like how he thinks. I don’t know if I will be able to spend 38 years in the ministry like he has, but I hope I still sound as fresh and enthusiastic after those years if I do.

Thanks Jan, what a great chance to reflect!

Abiding in God, Abiding in Love - Easter 5B

2009-05-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

Back in the mid 1980s when my now husband and then boyfriend Starman had been dating for a couple of years, we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, the Bisuteki grill. The Bisuteki was one of those Japanese places like a Beni Hana, where you sit with a bunch of people at a table and a chef comes over and grills your food for you. We were kind of shy, so we didn’t usually strike up conversation with the people at our table, but on this occasion, we couldn’t help but overhear the dialogue between a couple sitting next to us…it went something like this:

“Well, here’s to us! And to our moving in together”
“Cheers! So, what did you say your mother did for a living?”
“She’s a teacher. How about your mom?”
“What did you say you liked to eat for breakfast?”
“How many sisters do you have?”

It became very clear to us that this couple were dating, were about to move in together, and yet had no idea who one another was! This was a concept that seemed particularly strange to Starman and me as a couple – you see, we lived together before we even dated one another! Let me explain…

At the University where Starman and I both attended school and met on the first day of my freshman and his senior year, a full 30% of the student population lived in off-campus housing of some sort – in the 1980s when we were there, there just weren’t enough dormitories to house all of the students. So, when freshmen arrived on campus, they immediately entered “Rush Week” – when they visited fraternities, sororities, and off-campus living groups to try to decide where to live. I ended up, rather by accident, joining one of two co-ed fraternities on campus, formerly the Zeta Zeta fraternity. Now, before you wonder about our living conditions, all 33 of the fraternity members slept in bunk beds in the third floor attic of the house, in one big room, women on one side and men on the other. But each of the “study rooms” on the second floor was co-ed. So Starman and I, along with two other members, lived together in a quad room when I first moved in.

Living in the same house with 30 other people, people from different cultures and backgrounds, people with different habits and musical tastes (this was college, remember) taught me a lot. In addition to learning Starman’s habits (he likes to go to bed late and sleep late, and he is clean but not very neat), I learned a lot about the difference between living with someone, and abiding with them.

Abiding isn’t a word you hear very often in American English these days. It seems almost quaint – I have a plaque we received as a wedding gift that says “Every house where love abides, and friendship is a guest, is surely home sweet home, for there the heart can rest.” Nice poetry on a pretty plaque, but what does it mean? In our scripture passages from the first letter of John, and from the gospel of John, this word appears no fewer than fourteen times. This word is a favorite with the Johannine community that most likely wrote these letters – all in all, in the gospel of John and the three letters of John, the word mano, the Greek word translated as “abide” here, appears 64 times!

It seems to me that what Jesus is saying, and what John is saying, in these two passages, has to do more with how we live together than the fact that we do live together. Does the word “abide” mean something different to you than the word “live”? It does to me…and I think it did to the writer of the Gospel and the epistle lessons as well.

In the Greek, the word mano actually has several meanings. I went to my Strong’s Ehanced Lexicon, a dictionary of Biblical Greek, and found that the word had several different meanings. I hope you don’t mind a little Greek lesson here…in the Greek, mano means to remain, or abide in three different contexts. With respect to place, it means to sojourn, or to tarry in a location, not to depart, to continue or to be present. Tarry is another great old word – when is the last time you “tarried” a while with someone? I picture a pot of tea shared between old friends, as they sit with one another and enjoy one another’s company. Or even, as one of my blogging friends pointed out, Philip abiding for a while with the Ethiopian in our Acts lesson for today.

With respect to time, the word means “to continue to be, to last, to endure, not to perish.” To abide, then, means to have staying power. For me, a great example of that is most of you here – you who have been coming to this service for years, or who have been members of this church or another church for years, through thick times and thin, good times and bad. You abide. This church abides, here on this corner after over 175 years.

Finally, with respect to a state or condition, the word “abide” means to remain as one, not to become another or different. I like to think of this usage of the word as the way a family can abide, or a church can abide, or a relationship can abide – where the people in the relationship vow to remain as one, no matter what happens around them.

In our lesson from the first letter of John, we read in verse 16, “God is love, and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them.” and later in verses 20 and 21 “Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from God is this: Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

So we have two things to do here – to abide in God, and to love our brothers and sisters.

Think back to all the people you have lived with in your life. Maybe for you that isn’t very many people, maybe for you it is a lot. Who are those people you truly “abided” with, and who did you simply live in the same place as? How do we really get to a place of abiding with the people we live with? Can you abide with someone you don’t even always like?

Living with 30 people in the fraternity house was a lesson in what it means to abide. We took a pledge when we joined the fraternity, a pledge to commit ourselves to “the fraternity as an institution, the group of people in it, the individuals in that group, and the development of ourselves”. You can imagine, with thirty people in the same house, there are some people I got along with more than others. But as a group we were committed to being together, and I tried to uphold that pledge.

One night, I came into the living room, where, as usual, there were about 10 of us studying, or reading. “Does anyone want to go out for ice cream?” I asked. Going out for ice cream in college in Boston was something everyone did, no matter what the weather – I think this was a pretty cold winter night. Of all the people in the room, only George wanted to come with me.

Now, George was not my favorite person in the fraternity. We got along ok, but he was very talkative and not a great listener. In fact, I had done pretty well at avoiding being with him alone for most of that year. But, I had asked, and so off we went.

As we walked to the ice cream store, George kept up a pretty steady monologue. And at first, I found myself getting annoyed. But then, something happened. I don’t think I consciously reminded myself of my pledge to support the individuals in the group of people I lived with. But I did decide I might try to enjoy this trip out for ice cream, and actually listen carefully to what George had to say. And as we walked, I began to see George differently. I began to abide with George, rather than just hanging out with him. George hadn’t changed on that walk, but I had changed, and it was a good change.

Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever found yourself suddenly, or even not so suddenly, able to see someone in a different light, to really abide with them in a way you couldn’t before?

With three little and growing girls in our house, I think a lot about the commandment given at the end of our first John passage. Loving your sister all the time is a tough thing to do, I can tell you. Perhaps it wasn’t for you when you were growing up, but it sure was for me – I have one older sister, and we seemed to be in competition over just about everything. And my three, some days, seem to spend more time fighting together than playing together, no matter what I do to intervene.

It’s not always easy, is it, to love the ones with whom you live? Those who know your good habits and your bad ones, those who see you in all your moods. But this is exactly why Jesus calls us to do it. For if we can’t love those with whom we live, how can we love those who live across the world from us? If we cannot love those right in front of us, how can we claim to love God?

Abiding in love means doing just that – abiding in the fullest sense of the word. Taking time to tarry, to be with those around you, fully present to them. Working to be one with them, to connect with them.

And, in that abiding, we gain another abiding as well – God’s love, God’s spirit, abiding in us. How many of you remember that old hymn, Abide with Me? The first stanza goes like this:
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Abide with me, God. Stay with me through the darkness and trouble. Sojourn with me as I travel through life. If we can trust that God will and does, indeed, abide in us, then we are free to abide with one another. We are free to bring our whole selves to our relationships. We are called to find ways to tarry with our brothers and sisters – both our blood relatives and our relatives in Christ.

So, take the time to abide. Abide with those you love, with whom you live – take the time to simply be in one another’s presence, to listen carefully to one another. Abide with those you encounter – at work, in your daily life, here in this community – and understand how much richer your life can be for abiding. And above all, abide in God – for it is in this primary relationship, with the one who formed and made us, that we find strength, and solace, and understanding.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.
“Abide With Me” words by Henry F. Lyte and music by W. H. Monk, United Methodist Hymnal #700 (1989, United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, Tennessee).

Friday Five: BUGS!

2009-05-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sophia over at RevGalBlogPals writes: As I was walking the beach today, I was surprised and delighted to find it swarming with ladybugs. The sweet little red beetles are one of my favorite insects and also my daughter's blogname--though as of this morning she was thinking of changing it to Butterfly. I'll keep you posted.

This got me thinking about spiritual insect trivia: Did you know that medieval mystics and theologians esteemed the bee for its dedicated work and transformation of ordinary ingredients into sweetness? That Spider Woman is an important creator Goddess to many Native American tribes? Or that Francis of Assisi was reminded of Jesus not only by lambs being led to slaughter, but also by worms (think "I am a worm and no man" from the Psalms)-- so he picked them up and took them out of stomping-vulnerable spots?!
In that spirit, this week's Friday Five is a magical mystery tour through God's garden of creepy crawlies!
1. Ladybugs or ladybirds? Pillbugs or roly-polys? Jesus bugs or water skeeters? Any other interesting regional or familial name variations?
Ladybugs, roly-polys, water bugs, yes. Also wooly bears - those caterpillars that are orange and black and tell you (by the width of the orange stripe) how long winter is going to be in New England...
2. Stomp on spiders, carry them outside, or peacefully co-exist? Oh, always bring them carefully outside - I can remember my grandfather doing this, and my mom, and I persist, although they do freak me out!

3. Favorite insect? Butterflies, and moths, just love them. Also lightning bugs, so much fun to catch and release on a summer night.

4. Least favorite? June Bugs! When I was about 8, I had a bad dream that involved thousands of June bugs crawling all over me. They were crawling on my face, and I couldn't open my mouth to scream. Ever since, I can't stand them. When they come out in summer, I hide.

5. Got any good bug stories to share?
When my husband and I had our first apartment in Chicago, our landlord brought (by mistake) with her from Texas palmetto bugs - big huge flyig cockroaches. I had never seen such things. My husband out of town, I called my upstairs neighbor down to deal with one in the bathroom. In he went with a broom. The next thing I know, I hear him scream: IT FLIES! And lots of banging. My friend and I were in hysterics outside the door. He did kill it. We called the exterminator the next day.
Bonus question: share a poem, song, quotation, etc. about insects. Ogden Nash has a few, including:
Gnats are numerous, but small
You hardly notice them
At all.

(of course this isn't true)

Thanks Sophia!

Friday Five - Celbrating the Seasons of Life

2009-05-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sally over at RGBP writes:

It is the first of May, or as I have been concentrating on dialogue with folk interested in the new spirituality movement this last week, it is Beltane, a time to celebrate the beginning of summer. The BBC web-site tells us that:

Beltane is a Celtic word which means 'fires of Bel' (Bel was a Celtic deity). It is a fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.
Celtic festivals often tied in with the needs of the community. In spring time, at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.
Beltane rituals would often include courting: for example, young men and women collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.

Another advert for a TV programme that has caught my eye on the UK's Channel 4 this weekend is called Love, Life and leaving; and is a look at the importance of celebrating the seasons of life through ritual and in the public eye, hence marriages, baptisms and funerals.

I believe that we live in a ritually impoverished culture, where we have few reasons for real celebration, and marking the passages of life;

So

1. Are ritual markings of birth marriage and death important to you?
I love rituals. I belong to the Order of St. Luke, which is a group of mostly United Methodists, a dispersed religious order dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, teaching, and practice. So, good liturgy is very important to me, and I like to celebrate these life passages with it. I echo Auntie Knickers in that I do wish there were ways to recognize birth other than baptism, especially since several of my children died before birth and were not able to be baptized.

2. Share a favourite liturgy/ practice.
I celebrated my first infant baptism last weekend, and it was a high point of my ministry to date. The little boy sat calmly and wonderingly in my arms as I scooped the water over his head with my hand. It was beautiful.

3. If you could invent ( or have invented) a ritual what is it for?
I also agree with Sally here - I would love to develop a ritual for "coming of age" that would recognize the journey an adolescent has made to date, and the importance of their own decision to follow their faith. Jews have the bar/bat mitzvah, but our confirmation services pale in comparison, especially in the United Methodist church. My Episcopalian friend celebrated something called "Rite 13" with her son last week, I would like to find out more about that!

4. What do you think of making connections with neo-pagan / ancient festivals? Have you done this and how?
I have really not done much with ancient cultures at all. I have been in a church that has a large African-American population for about 6 years now, and I enjoy the ways we introduce some of that culture into our worship, especially through music and altar art. I think we need to be aware of and inclusive of non-Euro culture as we create worship. I am enjoying reading about your experiences, though, Sally!

5. Celebrating is important, what and where would your ideal celebration be?
Wow - I love parties, and with our 20th Wedding Anniversary coming up, I can envision a celebration like this:
Early morning outside worship and walking the labyrinth, followed by worship with Eucharist and renewal of vows, followed by a big dance party to 80s music!

Thanks Sally, this was fun, but it is way too late! WIsh I had come in earlier!

Friday Five - Signs of Hope

2009-03-20T08:31:00.001-07:00

Today's Friday Five from RevGalBlogPals is from Songbird, who lives in Maine and is one of my favorite bloggers. She writes:

My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song of Solomon 2:10-13

In the late, late winter, as the snow begins to recede here in Maine, we begin to look almost desperately for signs of spring, signs of hope that the weather has turned and a new day is on the horizon. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter and Spring twine inextricably, the crocuses and daffodils peeking through the Earth as we await the risen Christ.

Share with us five signs of hope that you can see today or have experienced in the past.

Well, if someone living in Maine can be hopeful about spring, I here in Ohio should be able to be too! So here goes:

1. Sun! We had a very gray fall and early winter, but for the past couple of weeks, we have seen more of the sun - and even today, that deep blue sky that I used to see in New England. No matter how cold it is (it is in the 20s today!) the sun reminds me that spring is coming.

2. This morning on our walk, my friend and I saw the first Great Blue Heron who returned to the lake near our house. I have in the past counted up to 14 here, and it is always a treat to see them, so majestic, walking in the shallows. We live in the city, so it is even more of a treat that they come visit us here.

3. Spring Break! This afternoon begins a week of spring break for Skye and Freckleface, and Brown Eyes gets two weeks beginning today as well. We aren't going anywhere, but we will watch movies, sleep in, and just enjoy each other, I hope!

4. Soccer! I started playing soccer with a group of moms about 1.5 years ago, and next weekend we will try to begin our outdoor season. I am amazed at how much I enjoy this hour on Saturday mornings, running around and playing a game I have never played before. We are supportive of one another, play for fun, play hard, and have a great time. Two weeks ago, the coach of our high school boys team found out about us and offered free footskills clinics for us, so we have been in the gym the last two Tuesday nights - what a great opportunity!

5. M - the little boy I have been tutoring on Friday mornings - was very excited to read a book well above his level today. He worked hard to read every word, repeated the ones he couldn't get at first, and went back to the classroom literally hugging the book. As I went to leave - he showed me a butterfly he had cut out and colored. With a grin he said "I did this for you!"...I will keep that butterfly above my desk this spring as a sure sign of hope.

Thanks Songbird!

A guest blog from Starman

2009-03-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, I wanted to post this Lenten reflection from Starman, well, just because I really like it! It talks about things I have been thinking about a lot, especially after reading a recent post written by my friend WisePastor which you can find at his blog Electric Circuit Rider. Let me know what you think:

On occasion I am asked "What does a scientist see in religion?" For
years my response to this has been to wonder aloud why anyone should
care what a scientist thinks on this subject? Why should it matter
more than, say, a lawyer or a doctor or a factory worker or a letter
carrier? Why should my opinion on this subject matter to anyone in
particular? You should go ask an expert.

Lately, however, in the popular culture we see articles and books by
people who seem "speak for science" on these issues. So it is worth
remarking simply that there is no consensus among scientist on any of
these issues despite what you may be reading.

Science is an amazing and wonderful thing, and if you ask me about it
sometime, I will happily give you an earful. As a species and as a
culture, we literally owe every major aspect of our modern lives to
the impact of science and associated technology, and this has been a
huge benefit to humanity. (Yes, the modern world has its multifold
dangers and problems, but we really do not want to go back to living
in a world where life expectancy is less than 40 years and most
children die of hunger or disease before reaching adolescence.)

Science as we now know it depends on two things (1) the historical
discovery and codification of the "scientific method" a few hundred
years ago, and (2) the happy fact that our universe seems to be
governed by a relatively small number of mathematical rules -- rules
that can be inferred and verified by careful observation and
measurement.

Science is a powerful tool for finding detailed answers to all kinds
of important well-structured problems. But science does not help that
much to help us solve a wide range of ill-structured problems. We can
use science to predict to six decimal places where a given electron is
likely to appear. But we cannot use science to help us much in
deciding what career to choose, how to spend our time, who to marry,
who to vote for, and what the right and just thing to do is in any
given situation. For all kinds of important and challenging problems
that we face every day, science comes up short.

By the way I am not comfortable with some idea of "God of the gaps",
and I find very uncompelling this idea that there are some things that
can be explained by science while other things cannot. In fact, it
seems to me that science is extremely comprehensive when it comes to
"explaining" pretty much every aspect of our existence. Science tells
us that all of our thoughts and feelings result from a series of
complicated interactions between the neuron cells in our brains.
Science further tells us that the human animal, like all other
animals, has evolved from earlier species, and that all life is
governed by the genetic information encoded by the DNA in our cells
which follows rigorously the rules of chemistry that in turn result
from the fundamental properties of sub atomic matter and energy. This
"story of science" is supported by a vast structure of interlocking
observational evidence. This story that tells us that who we as human
creatures, and what we are made of are governed from top to bottom by
the fundamental mathematical laws. I feel strongly that this "story
of science" is important for every person to know about, even those
people who have no direct connection to science. For example, if
tomorrow morning the physicists at CERN make a discovert that allows
for a new theory to accounts for every particle ever observed -- a new
Theory of Everything -- then such a discovery will almost certainly
have huge practical impact, leading to great new technical innovations
and new discoveries that can be used to make the world a better place.

But we need more than an explanation. Even a Theory of Everything
will not help anyone understand how to live a compassionate and
fulfilling life. If I am wracked by guilt, unable to forgive the
person who hurt me, or paralyzed by an ethical dilemma, then any
"explanation" -- that all of these experiences are a by-product of
certain patterns of firing synapses in my brain -- is not actually
going to help me cope with what I am experiencing. It's not that
science fails to explain, it's just that explanations by themselves do
not actually solve our problems.

During the season of Lent, we are asked to turn inward and to reflect
on our faith. We are all on a journey of life, and the real questions
about God are not primarily concerned with whether or not there is any
scientific evidence to support or deny God's existence (there isn't).
And despite what you may have heard from Intelligent Design advocates,
it's not about finding unsolved scientific mysteries or documenting
miracles or anything else that seems to demonstrate how faith in God
trumps the laws of science. In my view none of these things gets at
the heart of the matter which is this: What is your relationship with
God and what does this mean in terms of how you will live your life?
This is what we are asked to reflect on during Lent, and indeed for
all our lives.

What is your relationship with God and what does this mean in terms of
how you will live your life? How will you answer this ill-structured,
knotty and sometimes messy and difficult question? As Christians we
look to Jesus, what he said and what he taught us to help us answer
this question. The life of Jesus, the value of the church community,
and the message we share with the world by our love.

To me it is an amazing and wonderful paradox that even though we all
journey through life alone, we also journey together. What is your
relationship with God and what does this mean in terms of how you will
live your life? Each of us must answer this for ourselves. Each of
us will have a unique answer. And yet, we come together to share in
our journeys. We find common ground even through our differences, and
this common ground is what it is all about. When we come to worship
and prayer, when we turn to God, and we turn to each other, we do so
not because we are seeking explanations, scientific or otherwise, for
it all. (Indeed, I am very suspicious of anyone using a religious
argument to "explain" something). Instead, we come to God for meaning.
We come to God to understand who we are and why we are here. We come
to God to help us cope with the pain and injustice of our world, to
cope with broken relationship and broken dreams, to help us face our
own too-obvious flaws. We come to God with gratitude, the joy of
life, the support of family and loved ones. We come to God to learn
what we must do to work together to make the world a better place, how
we must share with others, and what it means to love your neighbor.

Feed my sheep, said Jesus.

My two cents.

Can I just say, I love this man?

Friday Five - MidLent Check In

2009-03-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

Can it really be the middle of Lent? Over at RevGalBlogPals, Sophia writes:

So here's an invitation to check in on the state of your spirit midway through "this joyful season where we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed" (Roman Missal). Hopefully there's a good deal of grace, and not too much crisis, in your mid-Lenten experience!

1. Did you give up, or take on, anything special for Lent this year?
I am trying to do several things this Lent. I want to develop a time for devotion, separate from my daily dog walks/pray-as-you-go sessions, so I have been trying to spend some time each night on my knees in prayer, and then some time journaling. This has been working out ok, probably 5 nights of 7. Not bad. I wish it could be better. A couple of things I have tried (like limiting facebooking to 1x a day, and playing my guitar) have utterly failed. BUT at least I have learned something about myself - I need and crave social interaction, and if I don't get it then I will seek it out via electronic means. Now to figure out WHY that is so important to me (is it that I am unsure of myself? Is it that I am avoiding things I really need to do?)
2. Have you been able to stay with your original plans, or has life gotten in the way? see above!

3. Has God had any surprising blessings for you during this Lent?
I wish I could say yes. Learning more about myself has been a blessing, but in many ways I am still stuck in some same old ruts, that I need to get out of.

4. What is on your inner and/or outer agenda for the remainder of Lent and Holy Week?
I am planning a meeting with my spiritual director, whom I have not seen for about 6 months. And I am ordering a copy of Kathleen Norris' Acedia today - I am surely suffering from this malady/sin, and I want to deal with it! I will continue to work on my evening devotions, but some of my daily agenda stuff needs to change. Writing a sermon all in one day (Thursday) to preach on Saturday really isn't working! I need to come up with a better pattern, that still fits with the girls' and our family schedules.

5. Where do you most long to see resurrection, in your life and/or in the world, this Easter?
Ah. I long to feel an inner spring that has nothing to do with the miserable weather. I long to be a more empathetic mom. I long to become a better preacher and really feel I have a good word to give to the people each week. I long for our church to know how much it has to offer, and to offer that to the world.

Bonus: Share a favorite scripture, prayer, poem, artwork, or musical selection that speaks Lenten spring to your heart.

This song came up on my iPod this morning and I realized it is all about where I am right now:

The words really fit my life, and how I feel, straying again and again,
Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Thank you Sophia!

Lent

2009-03-01T15:04:00.001-08:00

Lent. The concept of repentance and making new are really resonating with me this year. I have some habits that I know I need to break, or to at least change, and I am trying so hard to do so. But the ruts are worn so deep, the responses are almost unconscious. I cannot do this on my own, but I guess that is the point, isn't it? Even Jesus had the angels ministering to him in the desert.

I pray that I will find some angels to help me through the wilderness.

Signs and Covenants - Lent 1B

2009-02-28T17:51:00.001-08:00

It was probably the most sick and scared and ready to die I have ever been in my life. It was in January of 1986, in the North Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles off the coast of Bermuda. I was part of a research team on the research vessel Oceanus out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. We left the Sargasso Sea after we were done with our sampling. Then we were hit by this severe winter storm. And now we were in the middle of it. A little 170 foot boat listing 16 degrees on a side, waves washing over the deck so badly that we had to change our heading so we wouldn’t capsize. I just wanted to get back home.

In the fall of 1984, I had tried to meet with my freshman college advisor and was told “he’s on a cruise”. At first I thought “cruise” meant vacation, lots of food, suntanning. But no, going on research cruises was part of his work! I immediately decided I would find out more about this profession of chemical oceanography.

And so, 18 months later, here I was. I didn’t realize that I would get terribly and violently seasick as soon as the ship left the harbor. And now, in the midst of this terrible storm, I just wanted everything to stop moving! I tried going downstairs to my cabin but that just seemed to make things worse. Finally, I went up to the bridge. The captain took one look at me and said “There’s only one thing you can do. Keep above decks – and keep looking up toward the horizon” I went outside to the deck, grabbed a rope, and lay on top of a wooden crate. I forced myself to look out and up at the horizon, and I prayed that I would make it through the next hours. And finally, I started to feel a little better. Looking out at the sky, I felt that the world was more than the heaving and tossing waves surrounding our little boat. The sky, gray as it was, was a sign for me that we were going somewhere.

But nothing compared to the next morning, when I awoke to find the ship slowly cruising back into the Woods Hole harbor. Land! The sight of land on the horizon was one of the sweetest views I have ever experienced. It had only been a six day cruise, but six days surrounded by a heaving ocean were more than enough for me.

Have you ever been on a ship on the ocean, or maybe even one of the Great Lakes, where you have gone far enough away from land that you are surrounded by nothing but water? It can be a frightening experience, with the seas rising and falling in a never ending rhythm around you.

Our Old Testament story for today is the last part of the story of Noah. Almost all ancient societies tell a similar story, of a great flood, waters covering the earth. But the story of the Hebrews is unique, because the story doesn’t end with a ferocious God being conquered. God’s power is still present at the end of the story – God’s bow, unstrung, placed in the sky, facing upwards instead of towards humanity, no longer a weapon of destruction but a sign of promise. God’s choice – to make a promise to Noah, to Noah’s descendents, and even to all of the animals who had been with Noah on the ark.

In our passage for today, God is the only one who speaks. Noah makes no response, and is asked for no reply, to God’s promise. God simply tells Noah “what I just did, I will never do again. I covenant with you and with all living creatures to never again destroy the earth.” Never again will the entire earth be covered in water. Never again will only a small remnant remain of God’s creation.

The rainbow is a sign – a sign of the first covenant between God and humanity, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible. That word, “covenant” isn’t one we hear very often today. A covenant is a promise, but more than a promise. In the study guide for the Disciple Bible Study series, the author defines the word covenant like this:
Covenant is not contract. Covenant is an agreement worked out between two parties. Covenant means a binding pact between God and God’s people.

A binding pact between God and God’s people. And a rainbow for a sign.

Can you remember the first time you saw a rainbow? We don’t see them very often here in northeast MidwestState. According to the website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, three things have to happen in order for you to see a rainbow: (1) the sun has to be lower than 42 degrees from the horizon, (2) You have to be facing rain, and have the sun behind you, and (3) the sunlight has to be hitting the raindrops to produce the prism of colors that make up the rainbow. My husband will tell you that the rainbow effect depends on the raindrops having a near-perfect spherical shape, and the number and size of the drops is very important. With all of those requirements, it seems amazing that we can see them at all.

Sometimes God’s signs are hard for us to see. Sometimes, it seems like God is not really giving us any signs at all. Have you ever looked for a sign from God and had trouble finding it, trouble seeing your way out of the wilderness? When I was on that boat in the middle of the ocean, the gray sky was the only sign that I wasn’t completely surrounded by water – I saw no sign that the storm was going to end. Sometimes God does God’s work without a sign, it seems. Sometimes we have to make the signs ourselves, with God’s help, to let others know that God is present. Sometimes, when we take the time to make the sign, God shows up in the midst of it.

We’ve been talking about signs quite a bit in the new Marketing Committee here at the church that was formed at the beginning of the year. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the building of the chapel, this wonderful space where we get to worship together every week. And yet, if you are standing outside the church on Number Street, you won’t see any signs that announce the presence of this space. We have a big sign that says who we are, SmallCity First United Methodist Church, and our address, CCC Number Street, but nothing that says the sanctuary is over there, and the chapel is over here. We have a little sign that we put out by the door on Saturday nights announcing our service, but nothing permanent. I hope that soon we will be able to have a sign that tells the world, or at least that part of the world that drives or walks down Number Street, that there is a chapel here, and we have a great time together worshipping on Saturday evenings – and invites people to come on in!

God gives Noah his promise after he endures the trial of the flood. For Jesus, it was, rather, the opposite. You might remember that we read the story of Jesus’ baptism just seven weeks ago, but then, we stopped our reading at verse 11 – “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Today, we take the reading further, as we hear that immediately (Mark’s favorite word again) after he was baptized, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, where he remained for 40 days. This story comes at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, before Jesus has, as far as we know, done anything at all to merit God’s favor. Jesus appears on the scene where a crowd has gathered to be baptized by John. Jesus joins the crowd, and with them is baptized, and then, God tells him how much he is loved.

We don’t know much about Jesus’ time in the wilderness from this passage in Mark. We know that he was tempted by Satan, was with the wild beasts, and was waited on by angels. And we know his time in the wilderness was the same length of time as the flood, and of our Lenten journey – 40 days. What signs did Jesus look for when he was in the wilderness? How did he know his Father was with him? Was he able to trust in the word he had just received, that he was the Beloved Son?

What gets you through your wilderness times? We all have them, don’t we? Times when we aren’t really sure where we are going. Times when God seems more distant than present. Times of loss, times of struggle. Maybe you are in one of those times right now.

I vividly remember Lent back in 1996 – 13 years ago now. We had lost our son, who was born still, on February 2 of that year. In a couple of weeks, my body began to return to normal, but I didn’t. I went back to work, but it was hard for me to concentrate on anything. I found myself thinking about Michael, as we had named him, almost all the time. We were fortunate to have a pastor who could tell us that grief doesn’t have a time table – that we weren’t supposed to “get over” our loss in a short period of time. Lent for me that year lasted more than 40 days – but in that wilderness, there were signs. People who had been through similar experiences – who shared our pain with us. A pastor who made time to talk with us and grieve with us, and let us know that we were not going nuts. Sometimes, even just a beautiful sunny day.

And the sacraments of the church. Sacraments are signs – one definition of a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” For us in the United Methodist Church, we recognize two sacraments of the church – two special signs that we “do” – knowing that God works in and through them. These are baptism and communion. The sacraments are tangible signs of God’s presence among us – the water of baptism reminding us of God’s spirit working in and through us – water, like the water that represented chaos in the flood, used by God instead to cleanse and renew us. And the bread and the juice we use for communion – signs of Christ’s body and blood, representing God’s self giving in Jesus Christ. Indeed, the visible hallmark of the worship experience is the giving and receiving of signs of God's love. From the songs we sing and hear, to the handshakes and hugs we exchange, to the cross on the altar. We know God is in this place. We know because we see the signs. This is why we are here, so that we can see the signs of God, so that we can remember the covenant of love. In my wilderness times, I come back again and again to receive communion, the Eucharist, literally the sign of thanksgiving. By this body and blood, I am healed.

As we enter the season of Lent, our liturgical walk in the wilderness, 40 days before we arrive at the joy of Easter, we are asked to turn inward. We are asked to assess our lives, to reflect on how we have responded to God's will. Sometimes, when we do this, we find ourselves looking into bleak and dark corners, things about ourselves and our lives that are painful, things that cause us fear, things that make us feel poorly about who we are and what we are worth – wilderness places. During Lent we are asked to face these dark corners of our lives. We are asked to shine a light into these corners, to sweep out the heartache and the dust, and to open the doors to the coming Spring of God's love and acceptance. This is not easy work. And we cannot do it without God's signs.

We need the signs. We seem to be built this way, don't we? Throughout our entire live, every day, we need to be reminded of the fundamental nature of God's unconditional love for each of us. This is our weakness and our strength: we keep forgetting about God's love. We keep falling into darkness and despair. And yet, all we need to climb out of our dark hole once again is just one little sign from God. One little reminder, and we can be back in the light of love.

Thank God for the signs of love. Thank God for the rainbow. Thank God for the dry land. Thank God for the bread of life, the cup of salvation, and all of the signs that lead us from darkness and hunger to love and light as we walk in the wilderness of life. Thank God for the signs of God’s covenants with us.

Amen.

Fork in the Road Friday Five

2009-02-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Singing Owl over at RevGalBlogPals writes:

I am at a life-changing juncture. I do not know which way I will go, but I have been thinking about the times, people and events that changed my life (for good or ill) in significant ways. For today's Friday Five, share with us five "fork-in-the-road" events, or persons, or choices. And how did life change after these forks in the road

This was one that required some thought! Here are five I can remember:
1. One early fall night, my friend Jennifer invited me to join her at our church's youth group. I was a sophomore in high school, she was a freshman. The group had about 12 members, sometimes more. I went that week and never looked back. The counselors, Mr. and Mrs. "C" were in their 50s then, but they related to us like I had never seen an adult relate to a kid before. I became very, very close to them, and my theology and even political views were formed as I spent a lot of time with them over the next few years. I don't think I would have ever heard my call to ministry if it weren't for this couple, who are now in their late 70s. They literally saved my life several times, when I was down and depressed and didn't know where to turn. God Bless them!

2. On May 22 of my senior year, I was accepted off of the waiting list to Big Name Engineering school. I had already filled out my dorm preference card for Smaller Name school, where I had a full scholarship. But my dad was so excited to see me get into Big Name School, he told me we would figure out how to pay for it. I didn't think I would survive at BNS, and I almost didn't, but I am really, really glad I went there, mostly for #3 below:

3. When I went to college at the Big Name Engineering School, I knew no one. It was Rush Week, my parents dropped me off on the big street by the school, and I was on my own. After seeing all the dorms in a couple of hours, I decided to call the co-ed fraternity where my ex-boyfriend's friend was a member, even though I had only met him once. I went over there on Saturday morning for breakfast, and, you guessed it, never looked back! In this wonderful living group, where I lived for the next four years, I met my three best friends ever, one of whom is my husband Starman, the love of my life for the last 24 years.

4. Starman asked me out on October 5 of my freshman year at BNS. He wasn't my ideal picture of a boyfriend - I was very preppy back in 1984, and he still was part of the "hippy" look - long hair, flare pants. He wasn't tall, he wasn't muscular. But he had great eyes and we seemed to have an endless supply of things to talk about. I said yes. By December I knew I wanted to marry him. I have never dated anyone else for more than a month. He still isn't a great dresser, but he has short hair now. And he can fix just about anything that breaks. And we still have an endless supply of things to talk about!

5. In 1995, we decided it was time to have some children. Got pregnant fast the first time, but lost 5 babies through miscarriage and stillbirth in about 3 years. Each time, we had to decide whether we wanted to try again, whether it was worth the possibility of heartbreak. After all those losses, the doctors finally figured out the formula, which included bedrest, two heparin shots and a baby aspirin every day, a cerclage at 12 weeks, progesterone shots daily through twelve weeks and modified bedrest. Oh, and constant unrelenting nausea necessitating trips to the emergency room. We did it three times, and it worked three times. I am so glad we didn't give up!

Of course, deciding to give up consulting engineering for seminary was another choice, and there of course were more after that, but these are 5 big ones. This question reminds me of my favorite poem, by Robert Frost, and I will leave you with that:

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy, and wanted wear,
Although for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I left the first for another day
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back

Oh, I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood and I
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

Thank you Singing Owl!

Coming Clean - a sermon for Epiphany 6B

2009-02-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve been praying hard this week for two different families. My friend, X whom I told you about last week, just had a baby boy on January 28. X you might remember, is a pastor down in South Carolina. Although his baby J seemed fine at birth, it turned out that he needed major heart surgery. J has come through his first surgery now, and seems to be on the road to recovery. I am sure there are hundreds of people praying for J and for his parents as they go through this ordeal. And in this case, the prayers seem to be “working” – the odds are good that after the surgery is complete, J will be able to lead a normal and long life.

I have also been praying for a family from my daughters’ elementary school. C is in my daughter Skye’s fourth grade class, and she has an older sister, a younger sister in first grade, and a three year old brother. Their father, D, found out about a week or so ago that he has cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer has already spread throughout his organs and into his brain – and it looks like it is inoperable and incurable. He has only months to live. Many people who know the family from our elementary school, their church, and in their neighborhood are praying. But the prognosis, while not absolutely predictable, is grim.

I was thinking of these two families as I read the Old Testament and Gospel passages today about two very different healings. What can these passages tell us about God’s power to heal? What does it mean to be healed, anyway? Why do some people receive miraculous “healings,” while others do not? What do we do when we do get healed? What do we do when we do not?

First, we have the passage from 2 Kings, the story of Naaman. Naaman is the commander of the army of Aram, or Syria, who has just defeated the Israelites. Naaman is pretty high up on the social ladder, which makes his leprosy less of a pariah like disease and more of just a very physically uncomfortable one.

In Biblical times, leprosy was the word for any number of skin diseases, not just the disease we envision today. But whatever disease Naaman had, it was certainly one that was very uncomfortable, even painful, and chronic – it had been bothering him for quite some time.

Naaman really isn’t sure what he can do to cure himself, but he is desperate enough to listen when a nameless slave girl – an Israelite who had been taken captive during the war – recommends a path to healing. Almost wistfully, the slave girl laments, “If only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease.”

Naaman wastes no time – he goes to his boss, the king of Aram, and asks him for help. And the king sends him off to Samaria – not to the prophet that Naaman is looking for, but to the king – king-to-king, power to power. The king of Israel is understandably upset to see Naaman, gifts in hand, ready to be healed. How is he supposed to heal Naaman? He’s no doctor! He bemoans his fate, wonders if the king of Aram is trying to start a war over this, or what.

Then Elisha shows up. Elisha is a prophet who was a protégé of the great Elijah – and he is ready to do God’s work. But he isn’t going to do it the way Naaman expects. In fact, he doesn’t even come out to greet Naaman. He just has his servants tell Naaman to go down to the Jordan, wash in it seven times, and he will be clean.

Naaman is understandably upset. The Jordan is kind of a muddy creek, especially in comparison to the Abana, a swift flowing and clean mountain stream. Why would washing in a muddy river do any good? But again, it is a servant who helps him out here, basically asking him what he has to lose. And after following Elisha’s instructions, he finds that his skin has become not only healed, but renewed, like the flesh of a young boy.

Naaman follows instructions – he listens to those he normally probably wouldn’t pay any attention to, those in a social class far below his own. And it works. He is no longer a leper. He has become clean – clean as a new baby. And, he in turn comes clean and recognizes who has healed him – not his boss the king, or the King of Israel, but God Godself, working through servants and through the prophet Elisha.

It seems to me that Naaman jumped through a lot of hoops to get what he was seeking – healing of an annoying, if not debilitating, disease. He was, by all accounts, desperate – desperate enough to travel to another country, desperate enough to bring riches beyond belief with him, and finally, desperate enough to listen to those he normally would have ignored, at best.

But what Naaman received was more than a physical healing. I imagine he looked at the servants in his life in a new way after this. I imagine he wasn’t so quick to label them as below him, not worthy. And I imagine he had a new respect for the prophets of Israel. And finally, from our last verse, I know that Naaman had a new relationship with God as a result of his healing.

What changed for Naaman, then, wasn’t just the texture of his skin but his circle of relationships. The same can be said of the leper in our Gospel story for today.

The leper in the story from Mark isn’t some big important general like Naaman. He doesn’t even have a name. He meets Jesus after Jesus has left the city, probably because he himself isn’t allowed to be in the company of others. He doesn’t doubt Jesus’ ability to heal him, but he does wonder if Jesus will choose to do so. And Jesus does. When the leprosy is gone, he returns to the city to tell everyone of his good fortune. He, too, “comes clean” to his friends, and presumably to the priest Jesus sent him to in the first place.

But he doesn’t follow instructions. Instead of keeping quiet as Jesus has sternly warned him to do, he goes and tells everyone what Jesus has done – how Jesus has healed him, how Jesus touched him and made him clean. Jesus, by touching a leper, is now himself unclean. And the former leper has become Jesus’ latest evangelist.

Two men, two different stories of healing. Two different responses to being made clean. But in both cases, the healing of their disease changed their relationships with others. The leper in Mark, we can presume, now becomes a part of society once more, returns to his family, is no longer an outcast. And Naaman we can imagine, is now a follower of God, and more aware of others.

So what are these healing stories really trying to tell us? At face value, it might seem that being healed is just a matter of following the right formula, taking the right number of baths in the right river, or of begging Jesus for a cure. I have to tell you, sometimes I do wish it were that simple. I wish that if we just brought our cancer ridden friend to Jesus, and begged him, the cancer would be gone. Do you have people you wish that for as well?

Most of us here have lived long enough to know stories where prayers for healing have resulted in a miracle – children cured, successful one-in-a million chances for a surgery to work. Maybe you even know someone who had a cancer diagnosis, and that cancer disappeared.

But for all those stories, we know stories of those who were not physically cured. We know about mothers and fathers who didn’t get to raise their children to adulthood. We know of children who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and whose lives ended tragically and all too soon.

How do we as Christians put all of this together? How do we make sense of it all, especially after reading these stories today? I have to tell you, stories like these mystify me, and they anger me. As we said in our prayer of confession, it is stories like these that make us think that we can take the credit by praying to God for a cure, and we can blame God when it doesn’t work out.

I don’t think it is that simple. To understand what is going on here, we need to understand what healing meant in the time these stories were written. In Jesus’ time, there were many “healers” – people who went around the country giving people various prescriptions that may or may not have helped their physical diseases go away. With a limited understanding of illness and its effect on the human body, it was both easier and more difficult for those folk healers than it is for our modern health professionals to diagnose and treat illness.

Jesus, we all know, was more than a folk healer like these others. That may be part of why he told the leper not to tell anyone what he had done. Jesus was about more than physical healing. Jesus came to restore relationships, to renew faith, to show the world who God was.

So disease was different, and healings were different. If we hold these ideas in our minds as we look at these stories, what can we learn? Maybe more than “God heals those who ask for it” Maybe “God shows us, again and again, how God wants us to live” From Naaman, we learn that paying attention to those you might not even notice can lead you to a new way of life. From the leper in Mark, we learn that it is almost impossible to keep the Good News of Jesus Christ a secret. From both of these stories, we gain a new concept of community – a community where your former enemies, the ones who have conquered you in battle, become the ones in need of healing, and are healed by their interactions with you.

What is your “leprosy” – what is the disease you carry with you wherever you go? We all have something about us that we would rather not have, that we are afraid will alienate us from our friends and communities. This is the thing Jesus came to heal. Our separation, our inner wounds, our alienation from others – this is what the ancient disease called leprosy represented in Jesus’ day. Maybe it is a bodily disease you carry with you – a chronic illness like fibromyalgia, or Crohn’s disease, or AIDS. Let me assure you, I don’t believe it is wrong to ask God to heal you of such a disease. I don’t believe it is wrong for us all to pray that those who are sick in body, or in spirit, may once again become well.

But, like Naaman, we need to be aware that the answer to our prayers may be more than we are seeking. Frederick Beuchner, in his book Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, puts it this way:
What about when the boy is not healed? When, listened to or not listened to, the prayer goes unanswered? Who knows? Just keep praying, Jesus says. Remember the sleepy friend, the crooked judge. Even if the boy dies, keep on beating the path to God’s door, because the one thing you can be sure of is that down the path you beat with even your most half cocked and halting prayer the God you call upon will finally come, and even if he does not bring you the answer you want, he will bring you himself. And maybe at the secret heart of all our prayers that is what we are really praying for.

This idea, of “beating down the path to God’s door” gives us a sense of direction when we are in need of healing. When we literally do not know where to turn, we can turn to God. When we can do nothing else but pray, then that is exactly what we can do. We beat a path to God's door, with nothing more to offer than our miserable hurting selves. And the good news is that having arrived to God's door, the one thing we can be absolutely sure of is that God will take us in. God will accept us in the place where we are, with all of our doubts, with all of our desperate needs, with all of our sickness and sin. God will open the door. God will take us in. In from the cold and the dusty road, from the dirty water and the fear of disease. In to the good clean warmth of God's everlasting love. This is the gift of prayer. A gift to cleanse the body and the soul, to heal the broken heart, and to lift out spirits in love. A gift of healing that is available to us every minute of every day. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Friday Five: Pets!

2009-02-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

Sophia over at RevGalBlogPals writes:
My son's tiny beloved lizard, Elf, is looking and acting strange this week. His skin/scales are quite dark, and he is lethargic. We are adding vitamin drops to his lettuce and spinach and hoping and praying that he is just getting ready to shed his skin--but it's too soon to tell. Others in the ring have also been worried about beloved pets this week. And, in the saddest news of all, Songbird has had to bid farewell to her precious Molly, the amazing dog who is well known to readers of her blog as a constant sacrament of God's unconditional love.

So in memory of Molly, and in honor of all the beloved animal companions who bless our lives: tell us about the five most memorable pets you have known.

1. My heartdog, Munro, a.k.a. Eaton's Eastshore Yorick, (1990-2003) Munro was the first dog that ever owned me entirely, I bought him for myself as a gift for getting my Master's degree. He was a light colored Golden Retriever. I could write books about him - he helped me adjust to living in Chicago, far from family. He was a Frisbee champ - and if you said the word "Frisbee" - he would cock his head just so, and his ears would perk up. We played about 1/2 hour every day before I left for work. When he was about 3, my husband began bringing him to work with him in the physics dept. of the University of Chicago. He became kind of famous, for Starman set up a webcam that would take his picture in the office every 5 minutes. There were lots of Munro Channel fans. He helped with physics demonstrations for freshman physics lectures, and would sit and wait for a ball to be "shot" from a "cannon" and hopefully land in his mouth. He helped me get through the years when we longed for a child, through miscarriages and a still birth. When Skye finally arrived, he was the best big brother ever. He was unassuming, and kind, and just about perfect. He died from bone cancer - we had his leg amputated in June, but it had already spread, and we had to put him to sleep on December 27, 2003.

2. Cricket was my family dog from the time I was 1 to 13. He was a ball of energy, a Heinz 57 mongrel with lots of border collie in him. He could climb trees to get a ball, pull us on our sled, jump through hoops and over sawhorses. He was a really fun companion. When I couldn't sleep, I would go into the hall where he lay and lie next to him, and my mom would find me there the next morning.

3. Dunstan, our current Golden, a rescue who was about 18 months old when we got him in the summer of 2005. A goofball, very pushy for attention, very unlike Munro, but he tries to be good. He is a great companion for my morning walks, and yesterday spotted an otter on the ice on the lake for me. He follows me everywhere. I wish I liked him the way I loved Munro.

4. Breezy, or Kentucky Breeze, my sister's horse, who is kind enough to let my children ride and groom her every summer when we come to visit. I have grown to love her.

5. Bramble, my sister's Australian shepherd dog, whom she has trained for wilderness search and rescue. He can find anyone anywhere, and has gone on countless searches as a team with her. He did find an 80 year old retired priest in a field after the man had been missing for two days. Although a bit dehydrated, the man was fine. I love to watch the two of them work together and am very proud of both of them.

In the photos: Breezy and Skye with my sister PiperGirl, Dunstan and Bramble on a summer hike, Munro with Skye on his last Christmas in 2003, and as a bonus, Shammy and Lucky our brother-and-sister cats, also a part of the family and great cuddle kitties!

At Your Service - a sermon for Epiphany 5B

2009-02-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

“I just can’t wait for spring” Manny told me when we met last Friday. Manny is a second grader in my daughter’s class, and last Friday I got to spend an hour with him, as we worked together on his reading skills. “I love the way the leaves sound when the wind blows through them. It gets inside me. I just can’t wait for the green leaves and the grass.”

How about you? Are you waiting for spring too? As you are all aware, spring is still a long way off…here in northeast Ohio I try not to count on warm weather until late May. Who can forget last Easter, March 23, when we had a foot of snow on the ground and the wind was blowing?

It’s hard to wait, isn’t it? I must admit to you that I am TERRIBLE at waiting for things – just ask my husband! He knows that if he wants to surprise me, he can’t give me any hints that something fun is coming my way, or I will torture him into telling me what to expect. I like to plan, I like to have everything laid out, and I HATE to WAIT! How about you?

As I read the Scripture passages for today, the idea of waiting wasn’t initially what came to my mind. I must admit that the Isaiah passage has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and not because of an image of waiting. In the last verse of the passage it says “and those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not be weary and will walk and not faint.” What beautiful imagery! I know this passage is a favorite of many of you as well.

The psalm for today, which we used as our call to worship, brings us back, though, to the another focus of this passage. In verse 10 it says “His delight is not in the strength of a horse, or pleasure in the speed of a runner.” Hmmmm…that was enough to bring my fleet feet to a halt. If the passage is not about running fast, then what is the point? That is when I started to think about the idea of waiting.

Different versions of the Bible use different words for the beginning of verse 31, where we read today “those who wait for the Lord” The King James version says “They who wait upon the Lord” while the New International Version says “They who hope in the Lord” The Hebrew word used here can be translated as hope, or wait, or even “look for” I know when I am waiting for something, like spring, I do spend a lot of time “looking for” it – I heard on the radio the other day that a man is sure that spring is coming because he saw some ants in his house. And how many of you tuned in to see whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not on Monday? If he didn’t, winter was supposed to be over, but he did, so we are supposed to wait another six weeks until spring. Of course, we know here in northeast Ohio that winter never ends on February 2, but we keep looking, and waiting…and hoping!

The idea of waiting as hoping is something that resonates with me. Waiting as hoping is something that a lot of us do. When we wait to hear how a medical test has turned out, or wait to see someone we love, we are hoping. With a husband who travels a lot, I spend a lot of time waiting and hoping for his safe return. Probably the most difficult time I waited for Starman was when he left on what was supposed to be a four week trip to Australia back in 1989, yes, 20 years ago. He left on a cold winter day in February, and expected to be home in early April. His experiment was flying on a weather balloon, though, and we all know you can’t make plans based on the weather. Our wedding was scheduled for May 27, and in mid-May, he called and asked me “how many days before the wedding do I actually have to arrive in order for us to be able to get married?” Every day there seemed to be a new problem, either with the instrument, or with the weather, or with the computer program. He arrived home on May 18, just one day before it would be too late for us to get the blood tests needed to get our marriage license.

What have you waited for? Perhaps, like me, it was for your fiancé to return from far away so you could get married. Perhaps it was for your children to be born – I know from experience that can be a very long wait! Or perhaps you waited for your loved one to return from a war overseas, or for a job offer, or for a time when you could retire from your job. As you get older, there seems to be more waiting instead of less – waiting for someone to drive you somewhere when you have decided to give up your car, waiting for doctor’s appointments, waiting to hear from loved ones who are too busy to call. Even waiting here in the chapel (sanctuary) for worship to begin.

Waiting is hard work, don’t let anyone fool you. It makes sense to me that the ones who serve us in restaurants are called the “wait staff” – waiters and waitresses. They work very hard at the business of waiting, don’t they? For that reason, I also like the King James translation of the Isaiah passage, where it uses the phrase “wait upon the Lord” rather than “wait for the Lord.” That’s quite a different picture, isn’t it? If we can think of ourselves as waiting upon the Lord, the picture goes from one of passive sitting to active service.

My mentor pastor, Phil B, told me the story of John Milton when I stopped by to visit him one cold winter’s night, as I was working on this text. Phil recommended I read a poem by Milton called On Blindness. Milton wrote his poem back in the 17th century, when being blind meant many different things than it did today – without keyboards or Braille cards, it was difficult if not impossible for a poet to go on writing after he became blind. Milton was forced to dictate his later writings to a scribe. In his poem, he states that God does not need the work that a man may do, God wants us only to take the yoke God has given us. And in the last line, he speaks this truth: He also serves who only stands and waits.

He also serves who only stands and waits. Through our waiting, we can be serving God and others. So what are we supposed to do while we wait? Exactly how is waiting supposed to be helpful to anyone?

I think part of our answer can be found in the way we use that phrase, “to wait upon” – as a way of serving. In our Mark passage for today, we see that phrase again, in a different way. In one of the first acts of his ministry, Jesus heals the mother-in-law of Simon. She is ill in bed with a fever, and Jesus goes to her and takes her hand. As soon as Jesus touches her, her fever is gone – and she gets up and serves the visitors.

In this passage, the word used for serving is one that is close to my heart – the word “diakoneo” – from it comes our word Deacon. In Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon, if you look up this word, the first definition is, again, “to wait upon” – there’s that idea of waiting again.

Here in the United Methodist Church, we have two “orders” of ordained ministry – two pathways for a person to enter into full connection with the church. People who are called to a ministry of elder commit themselves to serving as pastors of local congregations, to a ministry of service, word, sacrament and order. Roger made that commitment 36 years ago in June. Elders are assigned by the bishop to their appointments.

The ministry of a deacon is a little less clear cut. Deacons are called to a ministry of service and word – they act as the connection between the church and the world. Deacons are not assigned by the bishop but find their own positions, sometimes in a church as a minister of Christian Education or Youth Ministry, sometimes outside of the church as a chaplain in a hospital or even as a social worker in a secular organization. Deacons represent the church wherever they serve. They may be called to “wait upon” or wait with others in the hospital or at a clinic, or to wait with someone and assist them as they wade through the paperwork required for an adoption.

Paul could easily have been talking about deacons in the passage we read today from 1 Corinthians. When I first read this passage, where Paul says he has become “all things to all people,” I was a bit confused. Was Paul saying that he was changing who he was just to get people to agree with him? That didn’t seem right. Was I supposed to do things that I wouldn’t normally do, just to get people to come to Christ? What happened to being principled?

I think, though, that Paul is saying something different. Paul is not going to change who he is, a Jew by birth, a follower of Christ now. Paul is, however, going to do what it takes to communicate the gospel with all those around him. If it takes being weak, he is willing to become weak. If it takes remembering his Jewish heritage, he will remember his Jewish heritage.

When I was in high school I worked for three summers in the maintenance department of Charles River Breeding Labs, a company in my hometown that bred rats for laboratory experiments. I was the first female ever to work on the maintenance crew, and the rest of the workers had no idea what to make of me. At first, they all tried to avoid me – they told me I couldn’t eat lunch with them, because it made them feel uncomfortable. The first year I worked there, they actually had a pool to see how long I would last – at the end of the summer, the head of the department gave me two tickets to a Red Sox game – the winner of the pool was me.

I worked there for two more summers. It wasn’t an easy job. We spent any day that wasn’t raining outside – painting. We painted everything from cinder block walls to chain link fences. I showed up to work on time, wore the same green uniform everyone else wore, and tried to learn how to keep my paintbrushes as clean as my supervisor, Adrian, wanted me to. I didn’t change who I was – I didn’t pick up the swearing habits or start smoking like some of them did. But I also lost some of the superior attitude I had when I started there – I had thought these guys wouldn’t be as intelligent as I, a college bound high school student. I was wrong, and I figured that out pretty quickly. By the end of that second year, they asked me to eat lunch with them. And by the next summer, I was invited to their softball games and parties. I was able to be myself, and yet, be a maintenance worker like them. I never denied who I was, a churchgoing hardworking student, but I didn’t amplify the differences between us. Instead I focused, and they also focused after that first year, on what connected us – getting through the long hot summer days, getting our work done, sharing our brief lunch breaks and even our music.

There is a funny ending to this story. One of my coworkers was a fellow high school student named Larry. Larry and I worked together a lot, and talked together a lot. Larry actually helped me to feel better when I was down, and we both helped each other get through the long days and mandatory overtime. When we left after that last summer, I didn’t know what Larry was going to do next. But a couple of weeks ago, I found Larry on Facebook, one of those social networking sites on the internet where you can find all your old college and high school friends. It turns out Larry is a pastor too – after owning his own electrical company for a few years, he started working as the youth pastor at a growing church in a neighboring town. Now he is the campus pastor at a large church in South Carolina. I guess being a maintenance worker is good training for the ministry!

Has something like that ever happened to you? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were called to do something, to be someone you didn’t really see yourself as, but found out that by doing that job, or being that person, you could connect with people you never thought you would connect to? That is service, and waiting as service – I was waiting to go to college, but instead I found out about the lives of those who never had a chance to go to college. And we served one another by being a community for one another.

The website for the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship puts it this way:
It takes some practice to shift from “being the experts” to “coming alongside,” to shift from “giving the answers” to “becoming all things for all people”

So where are you waiting these days? Can you see your waiting as active service – waiting in a doctor’s office as a chance to pray for those who are waiting with you, waiting to hear some news from a loved one as a chance to serve that person by telling them you are praying with them, that you will be alongside them? As the church, we are called to all be servants of Christ, and therefore servants of one another. Let us go out to serve, to wait upon, those in this community, and around the world. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Another Friday Five

2009-01-16T13:42:00.001-08:00

First, for those of you who may not be familiar with RevGalBlogPals, it is a blog I found a couple of years ago, "An Open Table set for a diverse group of people -- women pursuing or discerning a Christian vocation -- and their friends -- all are welcome!". You can find it here. It is a blogging community, a place where I have found preaching ideas, support for being a pastor, and lots of fun - and a bunch of bloggers I admire and read. Each week, they have a "Friday Five" meme - a question or list of questions that help us get to know one another. So, read on!

This week's installment, written by Songbird, one of my favorite bloggers, says this:

Whether it's new friends or new loves or new employers, what are five things people should know about you? There's also a link to a cool song from the musical "Rent" but I can't figure out how to post that...someday I will become more sophisticated.

Five Things About Me:
1.I am deeply in love with Starman, and love our three children fiercely. Family time comes first no matter what.

2. I graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Twice. But that does NOT mean I am smart. It means I worked my butt off. I wear my college ring because despite working harder than I ever have before or since, I also had the time of my life there - I met Starman, and many of my friends there, including two who, though they live far away, are still the best friends I have. It also means that I can "talk technology" and I don't appreciate those who think that because I am (a) a woman or (b) a pastor, I can't.

3. I am a Christian United Methodist. I value the tension between social responsibility and liturgical authenticity. I can't see being anything else, although I have strong disagreements with some UM policies. I will work within the system for change, and not leave it.

4. I love to be outside. I need to be outside daily, in any kind of weather. The lake and ravine near our house are part of what keeps me sane. They are where I hear the voice of God

5. I value community. I like having friends and being a friend. If I am your friend, I will do my best to be a good one. I will bake you brownies when you are sad. I will watch your children. I will laugh with you (and I love to laugh) and I will cry with you.

and one more, because five weren't enough!
6.I am a New Englander, actually, to be technical, a Bostonian. Despite living for the past 18 years in the Midwest, I can still pahk my cah in Hahvahd Yahd, or my fahtha's, if you get the idear. I love and miss the mountains, the ocean, the history. Someday, I want to live there again.

Thanks as always, Songbird!

Friday Five - Pancakes!

2009-01-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Sophia over at RGBP writes:
Last week Sally gave us a beautiful, spiritually reflective Friday Five, so it's time for something light and fluffy (literally). It's inspired by the fact that as I write this my dear spouse TechnoGuy, with the assistance of daughter Ladybug, is making a batch of chocolate chip pancakes with two Christmas presents. One is the Knott's Berry Farm mix which came along with jam, boysenberry syrup, and biscuit mix from my aunt (we ended up with two sets, since my parents passed theirs on to avoid sweet and carb-y temptation). The other is the large size Black and Decker electric skillet he was thrilled that I got him online -- our trusty wedding present normal size one still works at going on 20 years, but the Teflon is getting worn, and he wanted more cooking space. So pull up a chair to the kitchen table and tell us all about your pancake preferences.

1. Scratch or mix? Buttermilk or plain?
Pretty much exclusively Bisquik here, funny because with all the other things we make, from brownies to pizza dough, we make them from scratch. But Starman admits I make better pancakes than he does, which, since he is the chief cook, is quite a compliment!

2. Pure and simple, or with additions cooked in?
I like plain, or blueberry, or chocolate chip if I am feeling decadent. Sometimes apple if we have some good apples around. The girls pretty much stick with plain, although Brown Eyes the four year old is always up for some chocolate!

3. For breakfast or for dinner?
Either one! We have them every Saturday morning as a treat for the girls. But we occasionally have "breakfast for dinner" as well - although then I would try to leave out the chocolate chips to be more nutritious (don't ask me why dinner has to be more nutritious than breakfast, it makes no sense I know!)

4. Preferred syrup or other topping? How about the best side dish?
Vermont Maple Syrup, Grade A of course. Growing up in New England, the idea of anything less was anathema. For Skye, it is Strawberry All Fruit Jam, in the microwave for a minute to make it liquid. The girls have not inherited a love of the maple flavor from me - more proof that they are growing up in the Midwest?

5. Favorite pancake restaurant?
In Wilmette, Illinois was Walker's Original Pancake House - the only place I know that would make pancakes that tasted like homemade. Anyplace else, they seem flat and chewy to me. The lines at Walker's on Saturday morning went out the door and down the sidewalk.

Here in the further east midwest city, we haven't found a good breakfast pancake place. I was just saying to Starman the other day that we never go out for breakfast any more. My parents back in New England go out AFTER church every Sunday, but their church service is done before 9 am! Here, we start at 9:30 with Sunday school and usually don't get home before 1 pm!

Bonus: Any tasty recipes out there, for pancakes or other special breakfast dishes? Bring 'em on!
Sorry to say, nothing. I eat the same thing every morning - Quaker Oats, some frozen or fresh blueberries added, and a little dollop of Stoneyfield Farms fat free vanilla yoghurt. There you go - a recipe! It is filling, and quite tasty, and only 4 WW points if you include 8 oz of OJ!

Thanks Sophia! That was fun!

Homecoming

2009-01-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes
It's worth leaving work early
To see her little four year old face
Light up when I come through the door
To watch her run to me
And feel her whole body wrap me up
In one big
Hug

RGBP Friday Five - Beginnings and Endings

2009-01-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

Sally over at RGBP writes:

As we look back we may come to understand how God has worked in and through us in joy and saddness. how we have grown against what may seem impossible odds. As we look forward we may do so with expectation, and we may do so with fear and trembling. As we look back and forward in New Years liminality I offer you this simple yet I hope profound Friday Five in two parts:

First list five things that you remember/ treasure from 2008
1. Our family trip to Disney World - Three girls, two sets of grandparents, Starman, and me, for a hot week in May. Pure vacation.
2. Preaching the Easter Sunrise service at the cemetery on the hill, sun rising behind me, a foot of snow around me, temperature about 20 degrees F. It was a short sermon, but wow, it was a neat thing to do!
3. Being appointed as a licensed local pastor, same job, different title, and new responsibilities...like the wedding I get to officiate at tomorrow! I am enjoying my new role, and loving my continuing work with Wise Pastor.
4. The Chicago Missions trip we took, my last official duty as Youth Minister to our home congregation. Saw old friends, worked very hard, loved every minute of it.
5. Five days at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada with Starman. He was at a conference, I joined him. Found out that I can keep myself busy and occupied (doing sermon research and planning while he went to talks) and enjoy myself by myself, even when I don't have three daughters clamoring for my attention! Starman had a bad cold, but was a good sport, hiking up the mountains around the lake together.

Then list five things that you are looking forward to in 2009
1. Continuing to learn and grow as a pastor, hopefully attending some training/continuing ed events (Lectionary Homiletics?).
2. Celebrate 25 years of together-ness with Starman come October. Wow.
3. Enjoy my last days with a preschooler and at the same time look forward to having three girls in school for full days come September
4. Spend some time hiking and enjoying New England this summer.
5. Deepen my relationship with God, continuing to see my spiritual director and journaling and reading more.

Sally also gave us this blessing from the Iona Community that I share here:

We stand to face the future:
God behind us in the past
Christ before us; the way ahead;
Christ beside us in this moment;
Christ beneath us in our weakness;
Christ above to shield us-
beneath the shadow of his wings we are safe;
Christ between us to bind us in the unity of his love;
Christ in us equipping us with his all sufficient grace.
Thus armed and guided, and protected we face the new year.
Now we arise and go forth on the journey before us,
knowing that, where Christ leads, life is a journey home.
Therefore we travel in faith, in hope, and in love,
in the name of the Father/ Mother, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
May the blessing of God
be upon us
all this year
and into eternity. Amen.

I echo that blessing to you all. Sally, thank you for adding this time of reflection to my day!

I'm IN!

2008-12-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

So, the real reason I started this blog is because I have been reading the revgalblogpals blog for over a year, and, well, I want to be a cool revgal too! When I finally got my preaching license I thought it would be a good time to start. And now, today, when I haven't written anything for weeks - I'm a revgal! Thank you Mompriest for introducing me, and I will try to become more faithful at writing now that people may even actually read what I write (wink)

I don't have a lot of time for formatting here, suffice to say I love to read revgals and there are a couple of you whose blogs I follow...and I like to see what you are doing, look at your photos, and read your fantastic writing. I would love to meet you all IRL, someday. And I hope to post here more often and give my take on life in this old rust belt town where Starman and I are working and raising our family.

Blessings to all on this 5th day of Christmas!

RGBP Friday Five - Windows of the Soul

2008-12-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

Sophia over at RGBP writes:
This Friday Five is inspired by my husband's Lasik surgery yesterday....He'd been contemplating it for a while and was pushed over the edge by the fact that we put too much money in our healthcare spending account this year and it would have been gone anyway. (There was only enough for one eye, but the kind people at the eye clinic figured out a way to divvy up the charges between surgery and followup in January=next year's spending account). So please say a little prayer for his safe recovery and share with us your thoughts on eyes and vision.

First of all, Sophia, prayer said - and I hope the recovery goes well!

1. What color are your beautiful eyes? Did you inherit them from or pass them on to anyone in your family?
I have blue-green eyes, not quite hazel. Starman's eyes are almost the same color. Skye's eyes are blue gray, and really quite beautiful - she has had comments made on her eyes since her birth. Freckleface also has big blue eyes, but Brown Eyes, the 4 year old has - you guessed it - brown eyes, and has since she was born! How did two blue eyed parents have a brown eyed baby? I have no idea!

2. What color eyes would you choose if you could change them?

A little deeper blue would be nice, but really, I don't mind my color at all.

3. Do you wear glasses or contacts? What kind? Like 'em or hate 'em?

I have worn corrective lenses since 3rd grade, and contacts since 9th grade, when I started running track. After so many years with contacts, I find wearing glasses really annoying, and when I must wear them, I feel very unattractive and nerdy - of course, part of that issue is that I AM a nerd, with two science degrees, so perhaps I should embrace the part? I know I will need to go the bifocal route soon, and I am not looking forward to that!

I have a "lazy eye" like my dad, and he at 65 or so gave up driving because of eye problems - so I wonder if things will get worse down the road. I dread going to the eye doctor because I really just can't see well out of my right eye at all, even with correction it is still about 20-40. I always tried to memorize the chart when I was younger, but now I just admit, I can't see! Fortunately, my left eye is pretty good

4. Ever had, or contemplated, laser surgery? Happy with the results?
No surgery here, too expensive for me, and I am so used to wearing the contact lenses.

5. Do you like to look people in the eye, or are you more eye-shy?
I am definitely someone who likes to make eye contact with people. WHen I preach, I find myself focussing on one person, then another, for just a split second, but I try to be careful about that so they don't think what I say is meant "just for them" in the wrong way! But I find face to face conversation very important - I can tell a lot about how a conversation is going by looking someone in the eye.

Bonus question: Share a poem, song, or prayer that relates to eyes and seeing.
I was going to share Brown Eyes' song which is of course, Brown Eyed girl, but many of you have shared that already. I thought of one of my favorite Elton John songs, but I am too tired to figure out how to post a link, so I will just include the lyrics here:
Your Song
It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

Thanks Sophia, for a Fun Friday Five!

Grateful

2008-12-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

So, how do you thank two friends whose favors you could never return? I am feeling exceedingly grateful today. This week, my friend MusicMaker took two days out of her hectic family and work schedule to drive me 8 hours away to a nearby state. In that state lives a friend and her family who used to be our neighbors. This loving friend, SaltOfTheEarth, gave me, that's right, gave me, her car. It's a 1995 Toyota Camry, it has 108K miles on it and it runs just great.

I am in awe. I am amazed. I hope I can somehow pay this forward someday. Now Starman doesn't have to walk in the rain and sleet and snow to pick up the girls from school while I am at work. Now we can get the girls to different places at the same time. Now, I don't have to drive a gas-guzzling minivan 90 miles twice a week just to get to the church. Wow.

Thank you, MusicMaker. Thank you, SaltOfTheEarth and your families, too. What could I ever do to deserve such wonderful friends?

Advent Simplicity, light and beauty Friday Five

2008-12-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

Sally over at RGBP writes:

"Imagine a complex, multi-cultural society that annually holds an elaborate winter festival, one that lasts not simply a few days, but several weeks. This great festival celebrates the birth of the Lord and Saviour of the world, the prince of peace, a man who is divine. People mark the festival with great abundance- feasting, drinking and gift giving....." (Richard Horsley- The Liberation of Christmas)

The passage goes on, recounting the decorations that are hung, and the songs and dances that accompany the festival, how the economy booms and philanthropic acts abound....

But this is not Christmas- this is a Roman festival in celebration of the Emperor....This is the world that Jesus was born into! The world where the early Christians would ask "Who is your Saviour the Emperor or Christ?"

And yet our shops and stores and often our lives are caught up in a world that looks very much like the one of ancient Rome, where we worship at the shrine of consumerism....

Advent on the other hand calls us into the darkness, a time of quiet preparation, a time of waiting, and re-discovering the wonder of the knowledge that God is with us. Advent's call is to simplicity and not abundance, a time when we wait for glorious light of God to come again...

Christ is with us at this time of advent, in the darkness, and Christ is coming with his light- not the light of the shopping centre, but the light of love and truth and beauty.

What do you long for this advent? What are your hopes and dreams for the future? What is your prayer today?
In the vein of simplicity I ask you to list five advent longings....

1. I long for my children to know what it means that their God came to earth in a little baby, that this baby grew just as they are growing, that this baby came for the whole world

2. I long for myself to find a balance between worshiping and decorating, gathering with friends and finding time alone to be in God's presence.

3. I long for a way to be able to give more - more out of my pocket, more time, more freely, to those who are truly in need.

4. I long for those who are in need to know some peace this season, to be warm, to be fed both physically and spiritually.

5. I long for peace, here in my community, in our country, in the world. True peace.

May each of you be blessed with satisfaction of your own longings this season. Thank you Sally, for a chance to reflect on this cold and gray December morning.

Mix and Stir Friday Five

2008-11-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

Songbird over at RGBP writes:

In a minor domestic crisis, my food processor, or more precisely the part you use for almost everything for which I use a food processor, picked the eve of the festive season of the year to give up the ghost. A crack in the lid expanded such that a batch of squash soup had to be liberated via that column shaped thing that sticks up on top.

Can you tell this is not my area of strength?

Next week, I'm hosting Thanksgiving. I need your help. Please answer the following kitchen-related questions:

1) Do you have a food processor? Can you recommend it? Which is to say, do you actually use it?
Starman is the cook. We got a cuisinart as a wedding gift 19.5 years ago, and we like it. Every week, he uses it to make pizza dough (Thursday night is pizza night). Other than that, we use it rarely. It has a home in a cabinet under our buffet.

2) And if so, do you use the fancy things on it? (Mine came with a mini-blender (used a lot and long ago broken) and these scary disks you used to julienne things (used once).)
Nope, uh-uh. Too scary looking!

3) Do you use a standing mixer? Or one of the hand-held varieties?
I bought a Big Honkin' Mixer last year. I LOVE it. I really like to bake, especially cookies, but my arm and shoulder could no longer handle mixing stiff dough. Now I make cookies way TOO often! But it is so easy, and they come out great!

(And isn't that color delightfully retro?) Yes! I love it! Our kitchen in my growing up house was just that color, a la 1970s. Mine now is black, matches our appliances, but not quite as cute!

4) How about a blender? Do you have one? Use it much? Yes, also got a blender as a wedding gift in 1989. The color of the base has turned sickly yellow for some reason, but it still works. During the summer, the girls get "slushies" of juice and ice almost every morning.

5) Finally, what old-fashioned, non-electric kitchen tool do you enjoy using the most? Gee, all I can think of is that I MUST have a complete set of measuring spoons and cups on hand for my baking. And I recently lost my pastry blender, and have yet to find one that is up to the job. Good cookie sheets are also worth their weight in gold. Anything else, ask Starman!

Bonus: Is there a kitchen appliance or utensil you ONLY use at Thanksgiving or some other holiday? If so, what is it?
Probably the baster, and the potato masher.

Songbird, I would say go for the Big Honkin Mixer - it is way cool! Have a great Thanksgiving!

No More Whining

2008-11-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

OK, I am done with whining. Yes, my husband is out of town and it snowed and two girls have been ill, and then last night little Brown Eyes fell and cut her chin open, necessitating a trip to the emergency room and some special glue to stick her back together.

BUT really, I don't have much to complain about. I don't have any big work responsibilities this week, so I can be housefrau and not get concerned. I have a warm house, a good running car, in short, I have it pretty easy. And Starman will come back Sunday and won't be gone for a good long time. So that's it. I am done complaining. I hope. Give me strength!

There Must Be A Law

2008-11-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

There must be a law, really. My girls are generally VERY healthy. They rarely get ill. Starman left last Thursday for 10 days in Argentina. He is unreachable except I know he will TRY to call every night.

Thursday night, Freckleface woke me up at 12:30 am saying she was feeling like she was going to throw up. I spent about 45 minutes with her, and when she didn't, I went back to bed. The next day she told me she had barfed 4 times. She never woke me up, and cleaned up after herself...so, she stayed home Friday. Thankfully, she seems better now.

Today, Skye woke up and said her throat was really sore. It has been "itchy" for the past couple of days. We went to church #1, skipped church #2, and came home. AFter lunch she collapsed in bed. She has a fever of 102 degrees.

It isn't fair. How come I have TWO girls getting sick with different viruses all in the four days since Starman left? Thank goodness I don't have to preach next weekend, but really, there must be a law. A law that says "when the spouse leaves, the kids will get sick" and another law that says THIS JUST ISN'T FAIR! For the girls, who need extra care, or for me, who can't give it to them and do everything else too.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

2008-11-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I celebrated my first baptism, of a 50 something year old bachelor who has been coming to our little Saturday night service for about 8 months. He is quite shy, but has a good sense of humor. I like him a lot. He has been going to membership classes for the past month and wants to join the church, and found out by asking his mother, with whom he lives (and who has never been to our church) that he had never been baptized. So yesterday at about noon I got a phone call from our parish visitor telling me that he hadn't been baptized, and would I baptize him after the service?

Well, I don't really believe in private baptisms. So I tried to call him but got his mom instead. Then I finally reached him. He didn't want to do it at first, but he was pretty easy to convince. When I got to the church, I sat with him for a couple of minutes. "We are your family" I said, "and we want to share in this." He agreed quietly.

When it came time for joys and concerns, I told the congregation we had a big joy to celebrate, and he and the parish visitor came forward. We went through the entire order of service from the United Methodist Hymnal. I got to pour the water, play with it, and finally got him quite wet with a Trinitarian dousing. It was really powerful for me, and I think for him too. This morning he told WisePastor, the senior pastor, that he was really glad I got him to do it with the whole congregation rather than by himself.

Another milestone in my life as a pastor. Some (well, really most!) days being a pastor is the only thing I ever want to be. That, and a mom, although I could do without cleaning up after everyone (Starman is in Argentina!)

Remembrance Day Friday Five

2008-11-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

Sophia (formerly known as Mother Laura) over at RGBP writes:
Earlier this week the U.S. celebrated Veterans' Day, known in many other countries as Remembrance Day. At this time last year I was commuting to a postdoc in Canada, and I was moved by the many red poppies that showed up there on people's lapels in honor of the observance. Unlike a flag lapel pin, which to me has political connotations and implies approval of our current war, the poppies simply honor the sacrifice and dedication of those who have followed their consciences by serving--sometimes dying--in the military.

This week's Friday Five invites reflection on the theme of remembrance, which is also present in the feasts of All Saints, celebrated in many liturgical churches on November 1, and All Souls--known in Latin@ cultures as the Day of the Dead--celebrated in some the following day.

1. Did your church have any special celebrations for All Saints/All Soul's Day?
on All Saints Day, November 1, I was preaching and leading worship, since it was a Saturday night. We had a table with candles, and the other associate pastor read names while I lit the candles. A bell was rung as each name was read - 24 this year in this parish. One was the first funeral I have ever done, last Thanksgiving, and her widower husband and daughter were there - I was so glad to see them. We also showed pictures of each one on our screen in the sanctuary. It was quite powerful. I preached on the All Saints theme as well.

2. How about Veterans' Day?
I did mention in during my prayers, but we had no special service or hymns during the service. I am a dove, but I strongly support those who have sacrificed so much. I wasn't quite sure how to deal with the whole issue during a normal church service though...

3. Did you and your family have a holiday for Veterans' Day/Remembrance Day? If so, how did you take advantage of the break?
The girls did have the day off from school, two of them, the four year old did not. Thankfully my parents were visiting and took the two older ones to the NASA museum nearby, a treat for my dad, who worked on rockets for part of his working life as an electrical engineer. I had to work.

4. Is there a veteran in your life, living or dead, whose dedication you remember and celebrate? Or perhaps a loved one presently serving in the armed forces?
My dad was a sergeant in the Army for two years, serving in the Army Corps of Engineers in Germany during the Korean conflict. It had a profound impact on his life, and especially made him angry when Vietnam vets were treated poorly on their return to the US. Other than that, most of the people I am around are, like me, pacifists.

5. Do you have any personal rituals which help you remember and connect with loved ones who have passed on?
I often share memories of my grandparents, especially my mother's mom, with my girls. And I see snippets of her in them. Whenever we go back to Wilmette, I make a point to stop and spend some time in the cloister garden of our church there, where the ashes of two of our born-too-soon sons are buried. I am not a "date oriented" person, but at times will remember their birthdates (December 31 and February 2) as well as their due dates, but it is a private memory.

Thank you, Sophia...

Oil Reserves - sermon for Pentecost +26A

2008-11-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

In our Old Testament reading for today, we come upon the Israelites as they have finally reached the Promised Land. We have skipped over much of the book of Joshua, including Joshua’s crossing of the Jordan into Canaan, the conquest of Canaan by Israel, and the allotment of Canaan to the 12 tribes of Israel. The Israelites have now settled in their new land, and so Joshua asks them, “whom will you serve?” What is your choice, now that you have finally gotten where you have wanted to go for so long? Will you choose to follow the Lord, or will you choose another way?

Choices. We have just gotten finished with making some choices, haven’t we? Whether you voted absentee or stood in line last Tuesday, the time for making choices for who will be President of the United States for the next four years, who our judges will be, whether or not we will have casinos in our state – all of these choices have been made. If you didn’t vote, then the choices were made for you. But I hope you did, and I hope you took the opportunity to make your voice heard.

Sometimes it seems as though we make a thousand choices every day. As a mom of three young girls, I am faced with not only my choices but their choices as well, as they turn to me for decisions. “Do I need to wear my winter coat today?” “Can I watch TV now?” “Can I have a piece of my Halloween candy?” Often, these choices don’t have clear consequences, and I find myself wondering if I should say “yes” or “no.”

The Israelites don’t really have a “mom” they can ask to help them make their decision. But they do have a choice. God isn’t going to force them to serve God. The Israelites can choose to be incorporated into the local culture, worship the local gods, or go back to serving the gods of Egypt.

What makes it easy for you to make a choice? What makes it difficult? I am sure there are some choices we make every day, choices that are good for us or bad for us, that we make without a second thought. Things like what we will have for breakfast, what we will wear, whether we will return a phone call or an email, or even answer the phone. What does it say about the human condition that so much of what we are and how we define ourselves is lived out in the choices we make? What do the choice we have and the choices we make tell us about God?

And by the way, sometimes those little choices add up to becoming one big choice. Sometimes those little choices lead us to a place where we realize that we've made the wrong choices. Sometimes making small bad choices put us in a place where we are find ourselves with no choice at all. That little warning light on the dashboard means it's time to get the car serviced. It's a busy life, so we can put off the trip to the repair shop one more day, right? Then days stretch into weeks, and before you know it, you find yourself and your disabled car on the side of the road, facing a major bill for a new transmission, not to mention the towing fee and the fact that you just missed your critical appointment. Small choices sometimes lead to big consequences.

We as a nation have made those kinds of choices over the years. I have titled this sermon “Oil Reserves” mostly because of the gospel story, but when we think of this term literally, we are faced with the crazy shortage and supply and demand economics we went through this summer as oil prices topped $100 a barrel and gas prices were above $4 a gallon. At that point, many of us made choices – choices to stay home or combine our errands into one trip. Choices to not go on a car vacation or to walk to places rather than to drive. Some of us even made a choice to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle, if we were able to make that choice. I thought about getting a motorcycle for my weekly trips out here from our home in Cleveland Heights, but then I realized that riding a motorcycle in the winter doesn’t really work.

How do little choices add up for you? Since you are here, I can assume that you have made the choice the Israelites made – as they told Joshua not just once, but three times “We choose to serve the Lord.” What does that mean for you? What does it mean for you to serve God? What does it mean that God gave the Israelites this choice anyway? If God is all-powerful and since the people of Israel were God's people, why didn't God simply command them to serve? You must serve God! End of story. Why give them a choice, especially when the Israelites have such a track record of making poor choices.

What does it mean for us today, as Christians to have a choice about how we will serve God. You may think that you have already made this choice. After all, here you are. But in fact, do we not need to decide over and over to what it means to serve God? Doesn't choosing to serve God mean a lifetime of making this same choice over and over?

For me, choosing to serve God can be reflected in a thousand little decisions that I might make every day. Little decisions, like whether we are going to have an Advent wreath in our home and do a devotion with the girls each night. Or whether I will try to say prayers with them before they go to bed, even when they don’t really want to and I am feeling pretty tired and not much like praying either.

What choices do you have to serve God every day? What are the decisions you must make over and over again? Decisions like whether or not it is just too nice outside to go to church this week, or whether you should call that person who sits next to you in worship who hasn’t been here for a couple of weeks. Decision about what it means to actually live out a life of service to God by serving our neighbor.

Perhaps can think of those decisions we make, the ones where we choose to serve God, as a kind of oil – oil for our lamps.

Our Gospel lesson for today is the story of the ten bridesmaids, and it can be a difficult passage to hear and understand. We read in the gospel that the bridesmaids were waiting outside of the banquet hall, waiting for the bridegroom. To gets some context, we need to understand the wedding customs in first century Palestine. Weddings in those days didn’t start at a particular time, but instead began whenever the groom arrived. The bride got herself ready and waited. And in this case, waited and waited. As the preacher Sharyl B. Peterson writes,

When guests received an invitation for, say, 4:00 Saturday afternoon, the wedding itself might start Saturday afternoon, or it might start some time Saturday evening, or perhaps on Sunday morning, or maybe not until Monday or Tuesday.

The possible hold-up wasn’t the bride but the bridegroom. Bridegrooms were busy, working people, and time was understood quite differently in the Middle East in those times from the way we understand it here today, and you didn’t hurry these things. So, the wedding ceremony started whenever the bridegroom got there, and you never knew just when that might be.[1]

So the bridesmaids wait. And they all fall asleep, despite the admonition at the end of our passage to “keep awake”. But then when they are awakened to learn the bridegroom is about to arrive, there is a problem. Some of the bridesmaids have extra oil for their lamps, just in case their wait was longer than they anticipated. And some have not.

Now, at this point, the bridesmaids who have the extra oil don’t share their oil with the others. Instead, they tell them to go out to buy some more. And by the time the “foolish” bridesmaids return, the doors to the banquet hall are closed, and they have been locked out of the festivities.

It doesn’t seem really fair, does it? Why don't those bridesmaids who have the oil share with those who do not? Where is God's grace here? Where is the grace for those bridesmaids?

There is a children’s song that goes along with this passage that I most recently heard performed by the Veggie Tales – those animated vegetables that act out Bible stories. They sing:

Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning

Give me oil in my lamp I pray

Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning

Keep me burning till the break of day

It goes on like that, with the next verse, Give me joy in my heart keep me singing, and then - Give me love in my heart, keep me serving. I am sure you could think of some others (there is one “give me gas for my Ford keep me running for the Lord”, but that doesn’t really help me with my point here).

It's worth remembering that the story of the bridesmaids is a parable, and the oil in the lamps is a metaphor for something. And, to my thinking, it would be a mistake to think of the oil as some kind of transferable commodity, something that can be bought and exchanged, having monetary value. No, I think the oil instead represents something much less tangible, something that is not easily transferred from one person to another. To me the oil in the lamps might represent the choices that have been made, the choices over a lifetime, the choices we make to serve God. And each time we make a choice for God, we fill up our lamp with a little more oil.

Now, just to be clear here, I don’t want to say that it is our job to judge the foolish and the wise bridesmaids, or that somehow we can pile up a list of good deeds that will allow us to enter the banquet – to join Jesus at the heavenly banquet. I really do believe that the grace of God's love is available for all, everyone, and that there really are no actions we can take, no choices we can make, that can deny us this grace in the end. All of the bridesmaids had access to oil before the wedding. God's love is available to everyone.

The question for us, then is what we choose to do with the gifts of God. Will we chose to serve God all of our days? Or will we make foolish choices, choices make it harder to see and understand the love and grace that God has offered us. The gift of God is the ability to make a choice. The oil in our lamps are the consequences of our choices. When we do good things for others – especially when we join together in Christian community with one another – and when we spend our time cultivating our relationships with others and especially with God – we are adding oil to our lamps.

And what does this oil bring us? Why is it important to keep our lamps trimmed and burning? Because when we have lived a life of choosing to serve God, we are prepared for any eventuality. We know that God is with us, no matter what life's journey brings to us. When we reach times of stress or pain - as we all will - we will find ourselves turning to God for comfort and hope. That turning, that opening of ourselves to God’s healing presence, will not be an easy one. But perhaps it will be somewhat easier, if we have already spent our lives turning to God. When we have already taken the time to cultivate our relationships, to be there for others, to really know one another in our communities, especially our community of faith, then we have the oil we need to get through good times as well as bad times.

As most of you know, before I had my three beautiful daughters, my husband and I endured many pregnancy losses. Of course, these were times of great grief for us, times when we didn’t know what we were going to do next, times that tested our faith.

But the last miscarriage I had, on New Year’s Eve 1997, turned out to be one where I found out about spiritual oil. I started seminary in the fall of ’97, so after the miscarriage, I returned to the seminary one cold January morning, just in time for the chapel service. I hadn’t personally told anyone what had happened to me, but the community, a community of faith, knew. As I walked into the chapel, two of my friends found me. Each of them silently took one of my hands, and we sat together for the entire service like that, hands clasped together, hope literally flowing from them into me. My “oil” was replenished that day, because I was a part of that community of faith, because I had made the choice to make myself vulnerable, because I had chosen to take the path God had opened to me to go to the seminary in the first place.

Perhaps you have a story like that one as well – a story of how this community has helped you get through a loss or a disappointment in your life. Each week, as we sit together, as we share our joys and concerns with one another, as we worship together, we are refilling our lamps with more oil. If you think about it, this is really part of what worship is about. We come here to be in the presence of God and each other, to be renewed and refilled. God's love pours into us like warm oil into an empty vessel. We are filled with goodness and love. And that oil will be available to us when we need it. We can keep it in reserve all week long. We can take it with us wherever we go throughout our whole lives. It won’t even fluctuate in price. It is a great gift, and it doesn’t cost us very much at all.

Thanks be to God for the many ways in which God has filled our oil reserves each week – for friends who encourage us, for communities where we can share and support one another, for a God who longs to be in relationship with us. Thanks be to God who have given us this wonderful choice, a choice we make with all of our minds and all of our hearts and all of our souls. We have been filled. Let us make the choice, again and again, to serve God.

Amen.

[1] Sharyl B. Peterson, “Oil Crisis”, found at www.goodpreacher.com, http://www.goodpreacher.com/journalread.php?id=627

Been A While

2008-11-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

I started this blog mainly because I admired the people and the blogs over at RevGalBlogPals but I haven't written much lately...for no good reason other than I seem to be in major writer's block. I've been up to little snippets over on Facebook but that is about it.
So, nothing deep nor profound, but I'm still here, thinking, praying, writing sermons, figuring out what to do next.

2008-10-24T08:03:00.001-07:00

Singing Owl at RGBP writes:

My daughter, her husband, and their toddler, Trinity Ann, are moving from Minneapolis, Minnesota to our place. It's a long story, but the short version is that they will be loading a Ryder truck on Saturday, and on Sunday afternoon we will unload it into a storage unit in our town. They will move themselves, their two cats and their BIG dog into our place. Yes, there will be issues, but this Friday Five isn't really about that. (Prayers for jobs for them and patience for all of us are most welcome, however.) This post is about locations. My husband has lived at 64 addresses in his life so far (16 with me) and he suggested the topic since we have moving trucks on our minds.

Therefore, tell us about the five favorite places you have lived in your lifetime. What did you like? What kind of place was it? Anything special happen there?

Wow

Wow, 64 places - I can't even imagine....I have lived in three different states, and 9 different places in my life. Not very many, especially because I lived in three of those places for less than 3 months. So, the five favorite:

1. Definitely the co-ed fraternity Epsilon Theta at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I lived from 1984-1988 with about 30 other people in a big Victorian house in Brookline, MA. Always someone to do something with, lots of trips out for ice cream, lots and lots of studying. I met my husband Starman there on the first day I stepped foot into the house, and my two best friends to this day, one of whom Skye is named after. It is a beautiful house, but more than that, I love co-operative living, and we did it well there.

2. For two years after that, I lived with Skye's namesake and two other friends at a neat little apartment in Somerville MA - above the mom of one of our church friends. She was a wonderful landlady, and it was such fun to set up house with good friends.

3. My parents' house, where they still live in a small town north of Boston, is a great place. I had a very small room to myself, a mate's bed with the drawers under it, a desk where I could write, two windows looking out on a big oak tree....I still love going back there.

Can you guess, I miss New England? I love the sea and the mountains, I love the hills and the woods. We go back once a year. It is never enough...But

My last favorite place is where I live now, in the first house Starman and I have ever owned - I love the family we have created with little girls and critters...I love our bedroom up on the third floor where we can go to escape the chaos.

In my dreams, I would live in a snug cabin in the mountains of New Hampshire, near a rushing stream, somewhere like Zealand Falls Hut. It will never happen. But it is a dream.

Thanks Singing Owl!

If you have lived in less than five places, you can tell us a about fantasy location.

Swim test Update!

2008-10-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of Skye! After the terrible Monday swim test, she told me she wanted to try again. Tuesday she worked with Miss Mermaid, and Thursday, she, her friend, and I went to a pool that had a 12 foot end. She held on to my back and we swum to the deep end together, then her friend and I went under as far as we could. Then we used kickboards, and finally she did the swim test twice with me - treading water and then swimming to the end. She felt much more confident.

Yesterday, we went back to the pool for the real thing. She tried it once, but got water in her face and couldn't breathe. The instructor let her try again, and she did it! She still stopped about 3 yards from the end of the pool, but the instructor recognized that she was nervous and passed her anyway. She starts practice Monday, and she is excited!

I was so scared that she would freak out again, I was almost beside myself. Miss Mermaid recognized that there is a very deep emotional connection between Skye and me, more than with the other girls. She is my first child to survive, after 5 previous losses, and I have a very fierce love for her. I need to learn how to separate that, and how to separate emotionally from her. I know that.

BUT! I am so happy for her to have succeeded, and glad she took the opportunity to try again. I am hoping she will enjoy the pratcices and understand what it means to be able to trust your body, and to know what she is capable of physically, which is a lot! Yay!

RGBP Friday Five - Business Trip!

2008-10-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Mother Laura over at RGBP writes:

I spent a good bit of time today registering and making travel arrangements for the American Academy of Religion meeting in Chicago at the beginning of November. (Anyone up for a meetup? Shout out, okay?) I'm not presenting this year, so I'm busy sending out resumes and cover letters, but at least I'm not stressing about getting a paper written.

I'll see friends and teachers from grad school, try to resist temptation in the book hall, attend some presentations if time permits, and, God willing, have some preliminary interviews in the everlasting college-teaching-job-search process--prayers welcome, as always. And, thanks to my dear Mom who agreed to babysit and donated some frequent flyer miles, it will also be a busy-but-happy getaway with my sweetheart.

So for today's Friday Five, you're invited to share your experiences with the exciting, challenging world of business travel....

1. Does your job ever call for travel? Is this a joy or a burden?
Typically, I don't travel at all for my job as associate pastor - but the church where I work is 35 miles from our house, so I do commute! The commute is becoming a burden more and more as I spend more hours there, as gas prices go up (and thankfully recently came down) and as I want to be at more of the congregational activities...

2. How about that of your spouse or partner?
Ah, this is different. Starman is an experimental astrophysicist (sounds impressive, doesn't it?) and his current experiment is in Argentina, a long way from the upper midwest US where we live. He has always traveled for his work, from South Africa, to two three-month stints in Australia just before we were married, to Albuquerque where his last experiment was. Because he works with international collaborations, he often goes to meetings overseas - last month he was in Switzerland for a week working at CERN, where the Large Hadron Collider was turned on and then broke right away (nope, he didn't break it!). It is because of his extensive travel (up to one week every month) that I have chosen to dial back my career to half time or less while our three daughters are young.

3. What was the best business trip you ever took?
When I was an environmental engineer, I spent three weeks in Kalamazoo, Michigan, floating down the Kalamazoo River in a small motorized rowboat, doing oversight for the EPA while another group took sediment and water samples. I became good friends with the crew I worked with, and we had a great time together, joking and laughing and getting to know one another on the river, eating and even dancing together in the evenings. That was the time I loved my job the most.

4. ...and the worst, of course?
Hard to say. I like to travel, but I guess the hardest time for me was the month I spent in Detroit, living at my inlaws and working in the city an hour away on a sewer mapping project. I was working by myself, in another consultant's office, and they were not as friendly as my rowboat crew, so I spent my long days alone, poring over maps, and my nights trying to get some sleep away from my new husband and not put out my in-laws (who were very gracious). I was exhausted and bored.

5. What would make your next business trip perfect?
Well, I leave Monday for three days at an Order of St. Luke Convocation/Retreat - but I don't have any close friends in the Order, so I will not have any joyful reunions. I am looking forward to attending the Lectionary Homiletics gathering in the spring, when I hope to be able to meet some RGBPs, see some old friends, and stay with a friend from our Chicago days...springtime in Atlanta sounds just about right!

Thanks Mother Laura!

Swim Test

2008-10-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

This is a post that is hard for me to write, but I am trying to work through some things, and I would love to hear any comments or suggestions.

Last night, Freckleface (our 7 year old daughter) and Skye (our 9, almost 10 year old daughter) went to a pool in Next Door Town to "try out" for the swim team. I say try out in quotes because there really was no failing, as far as I could see - all they had to do was tread water for 1 minute and then swim one length of the pool. Now, Skye has been taking a private 15 minute swimming lesson every week for the past 6 years. That's right, 6 years - every Tuesday, we go to a nearby nursing home with a 92 degree pool and all four of us (Brown Eyes included now, she is 4.5) get in the pool, and our wonderful teacher, Miss Mermaid, gives the girls each some part of her time. Every Tuesday.

We had been working with Miss Mermaid for weeks to prepare for this "test" - Skye and Freckleface had been swimming laps, working on strokes, and when they weren't working with Miss Mermaid, I had them swimming laps with me. They were ready.

The pool was a lot bigger than they are used to, but they have swum in big pools before. And all they had to do was get to the other end

Freckleface went first. She easily tread water but had trouble getting to the other end, so she got out and tried again, and made it.

Then Skye got in the pool. She easily treaded water too, but then as soon as she started to swim she stopped. The pool was too deep, she said (12 feet). She didn't want to look down at the bottom.

I told her not to look, but she got out, crying. She got in again, but got out right away, sobbing that she couldn't do it. It was over.

I can't even hardly write about this without crying too. Skye is extremely bright, does very well in school. But she will not push herself phsyically. Or in any other way. She had the chance to take up an instrument this fall, but refused, because she didn't want to practice. She had the chance to play piano and take lessons, since we recently were gifted a piano, but she also refused to practice that. She said she would play soccer this fall, so I bought her cleats and shinguards, and signed her up, and she played for one week and now refuses to play. She can't ride a bike yet, despite many hours of my and Starman's working with her, and now she refuses to try.

I am getting tired of all these refusals. I know she can swim, and I know the team will be a good thing for her. She doesn't need to compete, just practice, no one is forced to enter a meet. I think she needs the physical activity, especially as she heads toward adolescence, and swimming is a sport you never have to give up. In short, I am considering forcing her to keep going to the tryouts until she makes it, and then to keep going to practices.

But part of me just wants to give up. Stop pushing her. Let her face her own consequences.

Sigh.

Ouch

2008-09-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was getting all the girls in bed (Starman is in Geneva, yes, Switzerland this week) when I found out that a parishioner I visited a couple of times in the hospital, whom I fully expected would go home just fine, had died. This is the second visit I have made to someone in the past four weeks who has died. And I just started doing visits five weeks ago. It hurts, although I barely knew her. It just hurts to know that those she cares about are grieving, and that someone I prayed with, someone I prayed for, is no longer here.

WisePastor just wrote "Part of the problem with being a "parson" (ME person) is that you work with your heart, and it gets broken over and over again" Ouch.

I am feeling rather raw tonight anyway, with Starman gone, and having to take care of three girls and a dog and two cats all by myself, and, well, just life - figuring out what it really means to take on this mantle of pastor, to be God's representative in the world (that seems too presumptuous anyway!). I need a big hug, but I will have to settle for three little ones - I guess that isn't that bad. My heart is broken, but that means it is also open, open I hope to hear what God has to say to me through all of this.

Slow Down

2008-09-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

So every Wednesday I come out here to BigChurch in MediumCity and I see things I would like to do or change. But every week I remember that I am not WisePastor the senior pastor, and I have not been here very long, and I have not even been doing ministry for very long. And usually there is a very good reason things are the way they are. So I tell WisePastor what I think, and he agrees, but then he tells me that before he got here, things were even more not the way we both want them to be, and they are slowly going in the direction we want them to be - fortunately at least, he and I tend to agree on where we are headed. It is kind of like piloting a large cruise ship, change takes time. I am used to steering a canoe, not a cruise ship. A couple of J strokes, and you are back on course. Not with BigChurch. There are more layers here than I know, and making a turn involves moving that rudder slowly, and changing engine speed slowly.

God, help me to give up my paddle and learn to ride the waves, not crashing through them like a destroyer, but slowly piloting the ship on the way YOU want it to go.

2008-09-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Mother Laura over at RGBP writes:
It's time for a Back-To-School Friday Five!
1. Is anyone going back to school, as a student or teacher, at your house? How's it going so far?
Four of the five of us over here are back to school. Starman started teaching August 25 - 69 students in a physics-for-masochists class at the unversity. Freckleface and Skye started 2nd and 4th grade respectively on August 26, and Brown Eyes has been slowly starting at her co-op preschool - she will be in class 4 days a week for 4 hours a day when it is all up and going on the 22nd.

Starman seems incredibly busy grading homework, posting solutions, answering email, but he is a very accessible professor. Skye has had at least three total meltdowns about all her homework. Freckleface has made a new best friend, as usual. And Brown Eyes just loves school!
2. Were you glad or sad when back-to-school time came as a kid?
I loved, and still love, school. I love new pencils and new notebooks. I loved seeing old and new friends and I love to learn! I got bored by the end of summer and was ready to have homework again, at least until high school.
3. Did your family of origin have any rituals to mark this time of year? How about now?
There was always the back to school shopping, and still is, although I limit it to one outfit and a pair of shoes for each girl (clothes are really expensive!). That was about it, and is about it. We take lots of pictures on the first day, with them lined up in front of the front door - it is cool to see how they grow!
4. Favorite memories of back-to-school outfits, lunchboxes, etc?
I had a Snoopy lunchbox I just loved. And I thought I looked really "mod" in 1972 starting kindergarten with my yellow tights, plaid miniskirt, and red jacket, made by my aunt. And my pixie haircut!
5. What was your best year of school?
Far and away my second year of seminary. The first year I was too busy worrying how to take notes and "do" classes when it wasn't an engineering school. By the second year, I was loving my classwork, enjoying my new friends, and loving my new baby, who was dropped off every day by her sitter in time for us to go to chapel together...what fun!

Thanks Mother Laura for a great Friday Five!

Clergy, or not?

2008-09-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

So, am I clergy, or am I not clergy? I have been trying to figure out this question for some time now. Once I started seminary I kind of felt like I was headed down the path to becoming clergy. What did that mean? For me, a rather introverted engineer, it meant I was finally claiming the name Christian for myself in a very public way. It meant that I was willing to consider myself a representative of the United Methodist Church, although I disagreed (and still disagree) with some of the policies of that church. When I had to wear a clergy collar as a chaplain intern at a Presbyterian nursing home/continuing care facility, it felt right.

Then we moved to Big Midwest City from Biggest Midwest City, and I became more of a mom than a pastor for a while, especially after I graduated from seminary. Then I became a youth ministry coordinator, and the senior pastor treated me more like an associate pastor, having me assist with communions and baptisms, leading worship several times a year. It felt good and right.

Then, a new senior pastor who told me at our first meeting that I was a layperson. She was right. I went back to sitting in the pew every Sunday. That didn't feel right. So I rooted around and WisePastor asked me to take over the Saturday night service at BigChurch in Medium CIty and boom - I was clergy again, in voice but not in name. I was reminded once a month when I had to find an elder to do communion that I was not ordained.

Now, I am a licensed local pastor, so within the walls of this church, I am clergy - I can marry, bury, and perform the sacraments. But outside these walls, I am still a layperson. So when I went to get a badge for the hospital, they asked "are you ordained?" - the answer is no. Do you want the title Rev. on your badge? No, I am not the reverend MumPastor. Yet.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that the district office sends me mail to the church addressed to Rev. MumPastor.

So, am I clergy or lay? Does it really matter? I have the work of God to do, and I am thankful. Confused. But thankful.

First Solo Communion Celebration and a sermon too

2008-09-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

I preached and led worship as usual this Saturday night at BigChurch. The difference was, when it came time to lead the communion service, I was it. There was no elder there. As a licensed local pastor, I get to do it all myself now. Well, not really myself. Actually, the Spirit, the people and I work together. I have been waiting to do this for a long, long, long time. It didn't feel much different, really. But it felt good.

once I figure out how to do it, I will post my sermon from tonight.

2008-08-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Over at RGBP, Singing Owl Wrote:

Here in the USA we are celebrating the last fling of the good ol' summertime. It is Labor Day weekend, and families are camping, playing in the park, swimming, grilling hotdogs in the backyard, visiting amusement parks and zoos and historical sites and outdoor concerts and whatever else they can find to help them extend summer's sun and play just a little bit longer.

It is supposed to also be a celebration of the working man and woman, the backbone of the American economy, the "salt-of-the-earth neices and nephews of Uncle Sam. With apologies to those in other countries, this is a Friday Five about LABOR. All can play. Put down that hammer, that spoon, that rolling pin, that rake, that pen, that commentary, that lexicon, and let's have some fun.

Here is my take on the questions, my First Friday Five (Only one day late!)

1. Tell us about the worst job you ever had.
For three summers when I was in high school, I was a maintenance worker for a large company in my hometown whose business it was to raise rats and mice for laboratory research. I was the first female ever to work in the department and the work was HARD. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the first summer when the guys in the department mostly tried to ensure I wouldn't come back - they wouldn't let me join them for lunch or breaks, and one of them tried to close me in the paint locker with him.

I stuck it out - mostly cause I didn't know better. But at the end of that summer the supervisor handed me two Red Sox tickets - there was a pool betting how long I would stay, and I won!

The next summer things got a little better, and by the third summer I was going out at lunch with the guys, going to their softball games, and generally having a good time. When I wasn't painting that is - I knew then I HAD to go to college! It wasn't really a bad job - I learned so much about myself and learned how to get along with the guys, something that came in handy in engineering school (and in ministry!)

2. Tell us about the best job you ever had.
These two jobs. Mom. Pastor. Right here. Right now.

First, I am getting PAID to read the Bible. I am getting PAID to talk to people and learn about their lives and pray with them. I am getting PAID to write! I love it!

Then, I get to enjoy three girls - play on the playground with them, share their lives...Brown Eyes just came in here and said "dude, you totally rock!" Life doesn't get much better!

3. Tell us what you would do if you could do absolutely anything (employment related) with no financial or other restrictions.
Well, actually, what I am doing. Maybe preaching a little less often. And I would hire someone to get the girls in bed by 8 p.m., I would just come up and read them a story and say some prayers and then they would go to sleep!

4. Did you get a break from labor this summer? If so, what was it and if not, what are you gonna do about it?
Yes, yes, yes! Lots of time in my home state of Massachusetts, hanging out with the girls. A very sweet overnight with Starman in Maine at our favorite B&B. A week in Chicago that was work but didn't feel like it at all.

5. What will change regarding your work as summer morphs into fall? Are you anticipating or dreading?
Fall is here. The big girls started school this week. Starman is back to teaching. And I am back to preaching, with the added bonus of going out to Medium City once a week to visit and to meet with staff. I love it, but I am not quite into the swing yet!

Bonus question: For the gals who are mothers, do you have an interesting story about labor and delivery (LOL)? If you are a guy pal, not a mom, or you choose not to answer the above, is there a song, a book, a play, that says "workplace" to you?
My best labor story is for Freckleface - I was a week before my due date, getting ready to move 6 hours away. Had a great lunch with friends. Hung out all afternoon. More friends came over for a dinner cookout. We were all enjoying the back deck in the summer sun when my water broke...I went to the bathroom, figured out what was going on, called the doctor, went upstairs to change and get a bag. Started contracting noticeably but not too painfully every 5 minutes. Got Starman off his computer where he was telling his work where he was headed...drove the 10 minutes to the hospital and couldn't sit down in the wheelchair - Freckleface was born 12 minutes after we arrived, and it would have been less, but we had to wait for the on-call doctor to get there! Wish they were all so easy!

Thanks for letting me post! This is fun!

Until you can see your brother or sister

2008-08-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

Last night was my first night back preaching the Saturday service at BigChurch in Medium City. This is a small service, usually less than 30 souls, most of whom are older than I, and I love them all dearly. BUT the service is getting smaller as more people are either homebound or recovering from surgery or, well, just not there. I have a vested interest in this service - I think it does fill a need in the community, and I think it could be a comfortable home for a lot of people who don't want to go to church on Sunday, or can't go to church on Sunday.

So, of course, I was thrilled when I got up to begin the service and saw a mom with a little baby come in. I welcomed her from the pulpit, which I don't normally do, but I wanted her to know that we were glad she and her little boy were there, and I didn't mind if said baby made some noise - I wanted her to feel comfortable.

Then, as I was making the announcements, another newcomer walked in. He was unkempt and unshaven, older, and I had seen him once before - when he cornered me after the service and asked for money.

Now, as I said, new people don't come to this service very often. When mom and baby came in there was a visible welcome on everyone's face, including mine - the women sitting across from her were just cooing at that baby. But when other man came in, and sat right in front of mom/baby, the whole congregation stiffened. Including me. Through my mind went the following thoughts:

Oh no. Not him. I wonder if he will ask for money again. I don't have any money and I don't know where to send him for help. I need to figure out where else he can go. Oh no. He just sat in front of mom/baby! I hope she doesn't feel uncomfortable. Why did he have to come this week? I hope he doesn't smell too bad and she feels like she has to leave.

The service went on, and Man didn't make any fuss. Baby did, and mom got up for a bit. Then I started preaching on the story of Moses, the little baby in the basket, who was three months old when his mother put him in that basket and into the Nile. It was easy for me to see this precious baby Mom was holding as baby Moses, and I told her she was a great object lesson for the week. But as I preached, I thought to myself

Man was a little baby one time too. A little three month old baby. I wonder if he had a mother who loved him like Moses' mother loved Moses, and like Mom clearly loves Baby.

Man got up and left just before the service ended. He walked down the hall toward the back door, but also toward my office, and I asked the usher to be sure he left the building, since my office is pretty far removed from anyone and I was going to be there for a bit after the service. I never got a chance to greet him. I never got the chance to see him, really, as more than a nuisance or a bother. Not even as a man.

Last week WisePastor, the senior pastor of BigChurch, said in his sermon, quoting someone, that the dawn has not come until we can look into the face of the stranger and see our brother or sister. God, help me to do that not just with Mom and Baby, but also with Man and others like him.

2008-08-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming to an end - school starts next week for Skye (the big sister, headed for 4 th grade) and Freckleface (the middle sister, headed for 1st grade). BUT Brown Eyes, the youngster who is 4, doesn't start preschool for good until September 15. This leaves me, who started my new job as associate pastor last week, without child care! Unfortunately Starman, my husband, is also gearing up for a new year teaching freshman physics at the university, and he isn't quite available, so to speak..

Praise God for my good friend who last night told me she adores Brown Eyes and would love to watch her each and every Wednesday, until school starts and then after it does start she will pick her up at school and watch her until Starman can come to get her. So I can go off to medium city to do my job.

Does anyone know how much it matters to find good, reliable, trustworthy and FUN sitters for your kids? I really can't do my job without knowing for sure my girls are well taken care of. So THANK YOU to sitter (I'll call her Jane Austen after her favorite author) and THANK GOD for good friends. Amen!

2008-08-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ta Da! I am finally a blogger! Hopefully this will be a space for me to do some pondering, invite comments on sermons, and grow and learn with God in the midst of the electronic world. Now, back to work on that sermon!