Dear Friends in Christ -
Wow. What a totally amazing full-of-the-Holy-Spirit weekend. Dozens and dozens . . . nearly a couple hundred in all . . . came forward at this morning's services to rededicate their lives to Jesus. At the end of the 10:00 a.m. Eucharist, the chapel was practically rocking on its foundation as we lifted our voices together to "Shout to the Lord" in song. People were standing up to eat the yummy potluck supper because all the chairs in the parish hall were full.
Now, hours later, I'm in my home office aerie overlooking the parking lot, basking in the afterglow. Strains of "God is so good" and "waves of mercy, waves of grace; everywhere I look, I see His face" (one of our teens' favorite songs) echo in my head.
Everything in the building has been put back to rights. Except one thing. I notice that the back door is open. And I smile. It's a sign. The door's open to God now; no turning back.
And who would want to? When I'm in a worship service like the one today, I hear echoing back from fellow travelers on this Christian walk that it's hard, that we fall along the way, but it's so good to be reminded that there's a goodness to be found in God's way that doesn't exist anywhere else. Thank you for being there with me today. It was such a joy to be there with you.
Now the journey continues. As I scurried across the parking lot under my umbrella to shut the door, I had this child-like gleeful thought: God's in there now and I'm not going to let him out!
Now I just wonder: what might he do now, rattling around in new spaces in my life? In our lives together?
One place I expect to hear some answers is in our Faith Alive Follow-up Gathering this Wednesday night from 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the Chapel. (Childcare for little ones will be available.) Music, prayer, listening for what's next.
Faithfully yours,
Janet+
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
God Sightings
Dear Friends in Christ -
It's going to be a big weekend at St. Paul's. God's going to be showing up - all over the place.
God will be making appearances in many ways and places at Faith Alive tonight and tomorrow.
God will be present in the ministry of our parish as we extend blessing and care to the Anderson family in the loss of their beloved son/brother. We'll open our parish hall for a post-burial luncheon for the family and close friends. Our beloved chef, Sam (a neighbor of the Andersons), will prepare the luncheon.
God will be show up in a powerful way on Sunday morning, too, as we gather as a whole parish family for worship and a fellowship potluck.
As you look ahead into this weekend, try to make as much time as you can to show up for the God who's showing up for you. You won't regret it.
Blessings,
Janet+
PS - A God-sighting in my own morning prayer time came in humorous form, a verse I didn't remember was in the Bible: " . . . he drives like a maniac." (Aides to King Joram told him that they were sure it was King Jehu approaching. How did they know? His crazy driving!) May we be known in our community by more positive descriptives!
It's going to be a big weekend at St. Paul's. God's going to be showing up - all over the place.
God will be making appearances in many ways and places at Faith Alive tonight and tomorrow.
God will be present in the ministry of our parish as we extend blessing and care to the Anderson family in the loss of their beloved son/brother. We'll open our parish hall for a post-burial luncheon for the family and close friends. Our beloved chef, Sam (a neighbor of the Andersons), will prepare the luncheon.
God will be show up in a powerful way on Sunday morning, too, as we gather as a whole parish family for worship and a fellowship potluck.
As you look ahead into this weekend, try to make as much time as you can to show up for the God who's showing up for you. You won't regret it.
Blessings,
Janet+
PS - A God-sighting in my own morning prayer time came in humorous form, a verse I didn't remember was in the Bible: " . . . he drives like a maniac." (Aides to King Joram told him that they were sure it was King Jehu approaching. How did they know? His crazy driving!) May we be known in our community by more positive descriptives!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
An Invitation
Today is an Ember Day. Ember Days, a longstanding tradition in the Church (three days on the cusp of each new season – March, June, September, December), are times set aside to reflect on the season just past and to prepare for the new season ahead.
In this Year of the Spirit, as we prepare for a new season at St. Paul’s, I found today’s Gospel reading particularly compelling: Matthew 4:18-25, the story of Jesus calling the disciples. There was clearly something about Jesus that caused them to drop everything when he issued a simple invitation: “Follow me.”
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Except, as we know from trying it, following Jesus isn’t easy. Not in the least. So why do it, then?
The author of today’s reflection in Forward Day By Day spoke to this question – and to my heart – with these words . . .
“Several years ago I visited the Holy Land. It is not easy to travel around Jerusalem, Galilee, and Judea. The terrain is uneven and paths are steep and rocky. When I crossed the Sea of Galilee, a sudden windstorm arose and I could identify with the disciples who were afraid. What made those fishermen leave everything and follow this itinerant preacher who offered them nothing but hardship?
This question might also be asked of us today. When we are baptized and confirmed we choose to follow Jesus. Our life would be less complicated without that promise. Following Jesus means putting others ahead of self, striving to meet standards higher than those of the world, and even sacrificing ourselves.
So why do we do it? Because Jesus is pure love, and love is hard to resist. The rational thing for the disciples (and for us) would be to run the other way. But often we do irrational things in the name of love. Sometimes that gets us in trouble. But thank God that I can follow Jesus and be irrational. It is the irrational love of God, seen in Jesus, that I aspire to.”
Together, may we also aspire to experience, and to share, the irrational love of God.
Faithfully,
Janet+
In this Year of the Spirit, as we prepare for a new season at St. Paul’s, I found today’s Gospel reading particularly compelling: Matthew 4:18-25, the story of Jesus calling the disciples. There was clearly something about Jesus that caused them to drop everything when he issued a simple invitation: “Follow me.”
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Except, as we know from trying it, following Jesus isn’t easy. Not in the least. So why do it, then?
The author of today’s reflection in Forward Day By Day spoke to this question – and to my heart – with these words . . .
“Several years ago I visited the Holy Land. It is not easy to travel around Jerusalem, Galilee, and Judea. The terrain is uneven and paths are steep and rocky. When I crossed the Sea of Galilee, a sudden windstorm arose and I could identify with the disciples who were afraid. What made those fishermen leave everything and follow this itinerant preacher who offered them nothing but hardship?
This question might also be asked of us today. When we are baptized and confirmed we choose to follow Jesus. Our life would be less complicated without that promise. Following Jesus means putting others ahead of self, striving to meet standards higher than those of the world, and even sacrificing ourselves.
So why do we do it? Because Jesus is pure love, and love is hard to resist. The rational thing for the disciples (and for us) would be to run the other way. But often we do irrational things in the name of love. Sometimes that gets us in trouble. But thank God that I can follow Jesus and be irrational. It is the irrational love of God, seen in Jesus, that I aspire to.”
Together, may we also aspire to experience, and to share, the irrational love of God.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Lesson #16 - GOING PLACES, OR NOT
Lesson #16 - GOING PLACES, OR NOT (Continuing reflections on Moses and the Israelites and our St. Paul's community)
For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking hard about the answer to this question, “How do I know for sure that I’m doing the right thing, that I’m obeying God?” I’ve been wondering about that because as I reflect on the story of Moses and the Israelites, I am shocked and puzzled by the harsh reality of their lives: they wandered in the desert for 40 years.
Ugh. Wandering sounds a lot like being lost. Desert sounds barren, lonely, harsh, uncomfortable. 40 years sounds like a long, long time. It’s all the more dismaying when the facts are laid out plain: the desert was a little spit of land that could be walked across in 11 days.
The Israelites were in the desert more than 14,000 days. As a post on “Theology Web” explains: If the Israelites had traveled at the rate of only 1 mile per day for 5 days a week, they could have traveled from Egypt to China and back in 40 years and still had time for the occasional battle or other diversion.
So what were those Israelites doing all that time? Probably they were stationary for large chunks of time. Or they were going in circles, making camp at places where there was water, staying until food for their livestock ran out, and then moving on.
Scripture tells us that God kept them in the desert on purpose because of their disobedience and lack of faith. How? Did he mess with their ancient GPS coordinates by rearranging the stars they guided themselves by? Did he allow the flu bug to circulate through the camp so regularly that they had to keep resting and waiting for people to get better? Did he stir the fires of resentment and argument, keeping them at odds with the other nomadic tribes, who prevented them from taking direct routes across the desert?
But perhaps the more important question this: How do we avoid getting stuck in the desert? The Israelites certainly didn’t set out to be disobedient. We don’t set out to be disobedient. But somehow we, too, find ourselves wandering – sometimes for years – with our hearts aching for something more, something better, but not quite finding it. Existing, but not really living.
As a leader, of course, I can’t help worrying that it was at least partially Moses’ fault. Was he not showing them the way? Was something awry with his own internal compass? Certainly at one point, God told Moses he would be personally punished for not trusting in him (the water incident in Numbers 20, when the people said they were dying of thirst and Moses complained at God, too, fearing he wouldn’t provide for them).
Radical trust is what God requires of us. That’s hard. But I don’t want us all to be wandering the desert for 40 years, so I think I/we should do our best.
So now to tackle the next question: what does radical trust look like?
Faithfully,
Janet+
For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking hard about the answer to this question, “How do I know for sure that I’m doing the right thing, that I’m obeying God?” I’ve been wondering about that because as I reflect on the story of Moses and the Israelites, I am shocked and puzzled by the harsh reality of their lives: they wandered in the desert for 40 years.
Ugh. Wandering sounds a lot like being lost. Desert sounds barren, lonely, harsh, uncomfortable. 40 years sounds like a long, long time. It’s all the more dismaying when the facts are laid out plain: the desert was a little spit of land that could be walked across in 11 days.
The Israelites were in the desert more than 14,000 days. As a post on “Theology Web” explains: If the Israelites had traveled at the rate of only 1 mile per day for 5 days a week, they could have traveled from Egypt to China and back in 40 years and still had time for the occasional battle or other diversion.
So what were those Israelites doing all that time? Probably they were stationary for large chunks of time. Or they were going in circles, making camp at places where there was water, staying until food for their livestock ran out, and then moving on.
Scripture tells us that God kept them in the desert on purpose because of their disobedience and lack of faith. How? Did he mess with their ancient GPS coordinates by rearranging the stars they guided themselves by? Did he allow the flu bug to circulate through the camp so regularly that they had to keep resting and waiting for people to get better? Did he stir the fires of resentment and argument, keeping them at odds with the other nomadic tribes, who prevented them from taking direct routes across the desert?
But perhaps the more important question this: How do we avoid getting stuck in the desert? The Israelites certainly didn’t set out to be disobedient. We don’t set out to be disobedient. But somehow we, too, find ourselves wandering – sometimes for years – with our hearts aching for something more, something better, but not quite finding it. Existing, but not really living.
As a leader, of course, I can’t help worrying that it was at least partially Moses’ fault. Was he not showing them the way? Was something awry with his own internal compass? Certainly at one point, God told Moses he would be personally punished for not trusting in him (the water incident in Numbers 20, when the people said they were dying of thirst and Moses complained at God, too, fearing he wouldn’t provide for them).
Radical trust is what God requires of us. That’s hard. But I don’t want us all to be wandering the desert for 40 years, so I think I/we should do our best.
So now to tackle the next question: what does radical trust look like?
Faithfully,
Janet+
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)