Out of hiding

Dear Friends in Christ -

Slowly over the course of the past couple of weeks, leaves on the tree outside my living room window have budded and unfurled, resulting in a brilliant fluff of light green foliage. This foliage obscures my view of the street. And I have to confess that I like it that way. I like hiding behind things sometimes.

In the today's Daily Office reading (Luke 4:38-44), though, Jesus is clearly all about getting people to face up to things. He's particularly interested in getting the people who are following him around to own up to the real reason they're chasing after him. Jesus has a mission: to proclaim the Good News of God's love and saving power. The physical healings that Jesus did were not an accident - they were a natural outgrowth of his tremendous love and care. But the healings paled by comparison to what Jesus really came to share.

Since we're firmly attached to these mortal bodies, it's hard for us to imagine anything more powerful than physical healing. But what Jesus came to share was even more amazing and transformative than the healing of our bodies. When push came to shove (literally), he opted to quit healing and focus on teaching, to save us, to save our souls.

Only when we're willing to come out of hiding, to see Jesus and to let him see all of our need (not just the physical hurts, but the holes in our relationships and souls, too) will we hear His full message and know the full measure of His power to save us.

Faithfully,
Janet+

There was this moment . . .

. . . in the car today,
Ed was driving
I was riding shotgun
with my bare feet on the dash
the kids in the back seat

Fresh spring air
breezing through the open windows
as we drove down streets
lined with daffodils and tulips

We were cracking jokes
of the kind my mother always
frowned upon
about toots
and other small rudenesses

There really isn't anything
that is better for my soul
than the sound of my family
laughing together

Joyfully,
Janet+

Turning 40

Dear Friends in Christ -

My husband, Ed, turns 40 today. It's one of those "milestone" birthdays. For Ed (and for me two years ago, when I turned 40), it's an occasion for reflection. How many of our goals for life have we met? Which ones still lie ahead? Ed and I can easily fall prey to the temptation to take ourselves too seriously at times like this.

So leave it to my almost-90-year-old grandmother to lighten the day. My grandmother's been sick, so I called her in her hospital room today. She sounded perkier than I expected, for which I was thankful. As we chatted, I mentioned that it was Ed's 40th birthday. She said, with a girlish giggle in her voice, "Please tell him for me - 'Wow, that's really old.'"

Perspective. It's one of the greatest gifts we can receive. Life is short. Life is good. Life is a gift - a gift that multiplies as we share it.

With thanksgiving for my beloved husband on his birthday,
faithfully,
Janet+

Sermon on sharing

Dear Friends in Christ -

Yesterday, I gave a sermon on the importance of doing "show and tell" with our faith, being a living example for the benefit of our children. I also talked about sharing (yes, it's true that it's harder as we get older and not easier!) - and the fact that "Christianity is not a spectator sport."

I also mentioned that someone in the congregation (NOT the treasurer or collector! :-) ), asked me to preach again soon about money. I might just do that. But in the mean time, I read the following in yesterday's Forward Day By Day, felt inspired by it, and wanted to share it with you.

All blessings on your continually blossomin Easter journey.
Faithfully,
Janet+

Acts 4:32-35. Everything they owned was held in common.

Having experienced Easter, the early church lived Easter. Possessing the Risen Christ, they happily concluded that this saving reality made all other possessions irrelevant.

As one who preaches and practices tithing, I once only half-jokingly proposed in a stewardship sermon to my 225 congregants-the professional and intellectual elite of our county-seat college town-that all 226 of us do three things: quit our jobs; go to work at McDonalds; and then based on that new income level prayerfully commit to tithe, to giving 10 percent of our pretax income to God through the church.

If we did that, the annual giving of our 96 pledging units would increase from $188,606 to $293,800. As we did that, not only would our congregation's needs be totally met, but also our church could build two Habitat for Humanity houses in our town every year. Just imagine what we could do if we gave God not what is left, but what is right.

Easter invites us to greater hope-and generosity. The early church wasn't filled with kooks, just filled with faith.

First Communion

Dear Friends in Christ -
Tomorrow, four of our treasured little ones will make their First Communion. Please pray for Cole, Zoe, Renee and Jessica today, that God will prepare their hearts insice in an even more special and tender way than their parents prepare their special clothes to put on the outside. What a wonderful day it will be!
Faithfully,
Janet+

Why she catches our attention

Dear Friends in Christ -

It's been all the rage this week to hear Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent. Everybody's talking about the stirring singing of this 50-ish never-been-kissed spinster. There was even debate at St. Paul's choir rehearsal about how talented she is/isn't.

I think the more interesting question is this: why does she catch our attention? What is it about her that draws us in and stirs our hearts? Consider this answer: We find her performance compelling because each of us has a talent (or two!) that's just waiting to be uncovered and shared. In the midst of our work-a-day lives, we long to do the things dearest to our hearts, crafts and arts through which we can share the deepest parts of who we are. (Let's face it, we'd like it if those things brought in some notoriety and/or cash, too!)

May God's love draw your talents out into the light, that your goodness may shine and that the world may be blessed through them.

Faithfully,
Janet+

Resurrection Power and St. Paul's

Dear Friends in Christ -

Christ's resurrection is for us as individuals AND for all of us together as a faith community - and it poses an important question for us as individuals and for all of us together. The question for us as individuals is: what does God want Resurrection power to create, renew, empower in me? The question for us as a church family is: what does God want Resurrection power to create, renew, empower in our church?

The question of what Resurrection does for our church is an important one, especially at a time in our country when there's a lot of talk about the demise of Christianity (last week, Newsweek magazine's cover article was about the decline and fall of the Christian church in this country).

I think the #1 thing that Resurrection power does for our church is hold us - a very diverse bunch of people with very diverse opinions and perspectives on life - together. God is jealous for the unity of His sons and daughters, so it's no surprise that His power goes forth from him to do the work of holding us together.

The following article from yesterday's Forward Day By Day is an excellent reflection on unity. I was inspired by it, and I commend it to you.
Blessings!
Janet+

Psalm 8 - "You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, to quell the enemy and the avenger."

The psalmist probably had in mind a fortified hilltop city, but a recent visit to Botswana's glorious Okavango Delta widened my understanding of what a stronghold can be.

Surrounded by water-starved land, the Okavango is the world's only inland delta, a lush garden teeming with herbivores (impala, antelope, Cape Buffalo)-and carnivores (lions, leopards, hyenas). A fellow traveler lamented the plight of the prey: "There's nothing they can do."
Actually, there is plenty: sticking together as a herd with multiple ears and eyes makes life easier for all. They keep quiet and stay hidden. The grazers' skills combined with the lush foliage routinely frustrate nature's most accomplished predators. In essence, the Okavango is one huge,
camouflaged stronghold where grazers not only survive, but flourish.

Life with God is much the same-or can be. Stick together; stay vigilant; hide in God-for God is not only a secure stronghold, but also our sure Deliverer.

The unity of the Church is...something much more than a means to any end-it is itself the one worthy end of all human aspiration; it is the life of heaven. -William Temple

Resurrection Power

Dear Friends in Christ -

CHRIST IS RISEN! So what difference is that reality making in your everyday life?

For me, the difference is that I'm overflowing with creative energy. You might think that that's odd for someone who just worked 80 hours last week. But the powerful joy of the resurrection renewed me over and over - and I found myself making deviled eggs after the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday rather than taking a nap. (I'd never tried making deviled eggs before, so I asked one of our resident cooking experts for a recipe at coffee hour and tried it out. YUMMMM!!)

My culinary success propelled me to try some other creative things. So far this week, my projects have included crocheting two scarves and 1/4 of an Irish lace shawl, making 7 scrapbooks of family memorabelia and kids art collected over the past 3 years, trying another new recipe (gluten-free noodles and cheese with ham) and gardening - ripping out bushes so the rototiller man can come on Saturday and make flower and vegetable beds. I also spent several hours catching up with friends I haven't connected with during the busy-ness of the last month. By last night, I was pooped, thoroughly happy - and surrounded by mountains of laundry (guess what I haven't done during the last 10 days?!).

I recognize that that's a little over the top. In order for it to make any sense at all, you have to know this: what I received from worshipping with the St. Paul's community as we encountered Christ's death and resurrection was an over-the-top gift of grace to me.

If you received some grace this Easter - peace, joy, renewal - let it show!! Find a way to create something or to bless someone this week. And the power of His resurrection will continue to flow. Jesus would like that.

Alleluia - Christ is Risen!!!
Faithfully,
Janet+

HE IS RISEN

Dear Friends in Christ -

On this day may Christ, in some new way, share with you the power of His victory over death, that you may have Life, and have it abundantly!!!

Alleluia - Christ is Risen!
The Lord is risen indeed - Alleluia!

Joyfullysinging the praise of our Saviour,
Janet+

Lump in my throat

Dear Friends in Christ -

I approach these holy days, I do so with a lump in my throat . . . the kind of lump that comes with great sorrows and great joys. As you move through these days, reading meditations at home, joining in our worship services, this is my prayer for you: that God will come so powerfully to you that you FEEL his presence and are MOVED from where-ever it is that you are to where it is HE is calling you to be. That's transformation - and that's the reason Jesus went through all that He did. For you.

Faithfully,
Janet+

Judas' Day

Dear Friends in Christ -

If I were going to give Holy Wednesday a name, I would call it "Judas' Day." It's the day each year when we read the lesson from the Gospel of John where Jesus identifies his betrayer. Jesus does so reluctantly, in response to a question from John, who is urged to ask by Peter.

In some ways, identifying Judas as the betrayer probably made the rest of the disciples express a sigh of relief - "Whew. Good. It's not me."

But what we know now that we are able to see how the whole story unfolded is that, in fact, all of the disciples betrayed Jesus. Peter, the one who wanted so badly to know the identity of "the" betrayer, ended up betraying Jesus by denying him in public even before his death. All of the disciples fled after Jesus was arrested and not a one of them stuck around at the foot of the Cross as Jesus died.

"For all have sinned . . ." All, not some, all have betrayed Jesus. For some of us, our betrayals are dramatic, visible, sometimes public. For others, our betrayals are smaller. But whether big (one swift blow) or small ("a thousand cuts"), all betrayals lead to death.

May God give us the grace, on this "Judas' Day" not to be distracted by his betrayal, but to focus on our own. And to let our grief and sadness over our own betrayal lead us to know our need for the Saviour.

Faithfully,
Janet+

Beyond my means (schedule-wise)

Dear Friends in Christ -

I become aware of how far I'm living beyond my means when change breaks into my routine. Holy Week is always a tough time schedule-wise for most of us. What we discover when we try to make room to pray a little more and/or to come to a few extra worship services is that we've already overspent our most precious resource: time. There's not enough breathing room in our days, and - without really shaking things up - there's certainly not enough time to spend hours in Holy Week at church.

As we ask, "How are we going to manage all this," the words from heaven spoken so many times to people in the Gospels ring through to us: "Fear not!"

In order to follow Jesus to the Cross, we may have to give up a thing or two this week - a kid's sporting event, working on a hobby, watching a favorite TV show. When you're faced with the question about what to give up, ask yourself: is the thing I need to give up for this week in order to stay with Jesus going to change your life? If not, choose to stay with Jesus. What he's doing this week will change your life.

Faithfully,
Janet+

How is a rector like God?

Dear Friends in Christ -

Priest humor. The things that we priest types find funny might seem sort of odd to others. But we keep chuckling along to the beat of our own drums anyway.

Perhaps you were just the least bit curious about the question in the title . . . "How is a rector like God?" Answer: She/he can issue an invitation, but can't force you to show up!

I hope you all know that YOU really are invited . . . wanted . . . called to Holy Week and Easter services. If I could, I would issue engraved invitations to each one of you, with individual reminder calls to motivate you to come. The Holy Spirit is going to show up each time we gather, and I don't want you to miss out!

Faithfully,
Janet+

Piggybacking on a good idea . . .

Dear Friends in Christ -

Have you seen the Lenten billboards sponsored by the Catholic Church? They invite people to accept Jesus' invitation to "BE RECONCILED" by coming to confession. This nation-wide emphasis of the Catholic Church, advertised around the country on billboards, in radio spots, and in newspapers and other print materials. Msg. Chris Walsh, Rector of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in downtown Shelton, wrote a book about reconciliation that's being featured in this emphasis on making confession.

The Catholic Church's emphasis on confession puts a spotlight on God's invitation to come to Him and to do what it takes to "get right" with Him and with others. Every time I've driven by one of the billboards, I've secretly wished that I could put little tags on all the billboards and print ad and radio spots that says, "P.S. - this works for Episcopalians, too!" Did you know that? Whether you're Catholic or Protestant, all Christians believe that confession is good medicine that clears the blocks in the arteries of our relationships.

As Episcopalians, we "confess" together every time we gather for worship (in our Sunday services, it's that prayer we say right before the peace). But sometimes that's not enough. I say that not because "big sins" need some sort of special forgiveness, but because sometimes we need to spend some time one-on-one talking about/working through a sin that has really dogged us, so that we can put it behind us permanently.

If you would like to get something off your chest and to prepare to fully experience the power of Christ's resurrection, please don't hesitate to email (revjanet@stpaulsct.org) or call (929-1722). Now is the time. Christ's power to heal and reconcile is for YOU.

Faithfully,
Janet+

A meditation on unity . . .

Dear Friends in Christ -

Studies show two things about churches that are diverse (in terms of age, race, socio-economics, and/or other factors): (1) they tend to be healthy and (2) they tend to grow deep, though slowly.

St. Paul's is filled with a great spectrum of people. True, we're not very racially diverse - but neither is the neighborhood we're located in. We are VERY diverse in terms of age, socio-economics, political perspectives and other factors.

Today's reading in "Forward Day By Day" really stuck out ot me, and I wanted to share it with you. May you be blessed as you reflect on it. (And I would love to hear what you think about it!)

Faithfully,
Janet+

Psalm 133. Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity!

Unity, though, is not uniformity. In Saint Paul's beautiful, practical metaphor, the Body of Christ has many different parts in one diverse yet unified whole. What the church-local and universal-needs is patient prophets, loyal dissenters, and militant moderates.
Our prophets need to be patient. They see farther than we do, and they need to be patient with us as we, by grace, cover new ground that is old to them. Our dissenters need to be loyal. My best growth has often come through clear-eyed critics who, through candor, insistence, and, above all, love, have helped me grow. Our moderates need to be militant, anchoring their positions not in passivity, but in their passion to keep us together as one.
Into which category do you fit? Can you live into your corresponding, counterbalancing opposite and maintain your integrity? How can you in your prayers and actions make this psalm a reality today?
Being a family is hard work. But as the psalmist says, when we stick together as the family of God, heavenly blessings can and will flow.
PRAY for the Diocese of Accra (West Africa)
Ps 131, 132 * 140, 142; Jeremiah 26:1-6; Romans 11:1-12; John 10:19-42