"Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one. Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant . . ." - Isaiah 44:8,21
Dear Friends in Christ -
I could say that I like writing my Annual Report to the parish, but that would be a bald-faced prevarication. In other words, a lie. Writing anything is something of a struggle, but writing for the recordbooks is an out-and-out slog.
So why do I put nose-to-grindstone and sit down to do it? Because it's a requirement of the job. Why do I always end up writing more than required? Because I always learn stuff as I do it. The past unfolds its secrets as I clickity-click play-it-again-Sam on my computer keyboard. "Ah, yes; I had forgotten about that." OR "Oh"-sigh-"surely we can do that differently next time." OR "Wow! I hadn't realized that small thing had such an impact!"
Over and over the prophets of the Old Testament call us to remember. The word remember literally means 'to reassmble' or 'to put back together again.' Remembering puts God back in God's place, not only in our past, but in our present. Remembering puts us in our place, too; it humbles us and realigns us for the present, as well as for the future.
Today is a day that our entire country has set aside for remembering, but I wonder how many of us actually took time to remember that
. . . less than 40 years ago, schools were still segregated.
. . . less than 45 years ago, redlining (boxing black people out of certain neighborhoods) was still legal.
. . . less than 45 years ago, interracial marriage was illegal.
Because of the passion for justice held by Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, all of these things have changed in our lifetimes!
As we remember the noble things done by King and other God-fearing, Jesus-following folks who have gone before us, let us leave our own marks in the pages of history by recommitting to those things which invite 'justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.'
Faithfully,
Janet+
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Cure or Call
". . . I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." - Jesus (Mark 2:17b)
Dear Friends in Christ -
This past Wednesday morning, as I was typing my blog post during the huge snow-storm, it was snowing on my fingers, INSIDE my house. The snow was coming in over my desk through a crack between the window and the frame that's been developing as this 170-year-old house shifts bit by bit, season after season.
Today, as I was covering the window with double-sided tape and plastic sheeting and tightening the plastic with my 1850 watt hair dryer (done in a flash!), I was thinking about all the other frayed edges of my life. Messes not cleaned up, things left undone. Author Kris Carr's words from the morning newspaper echoed in my head, "Everyone has an under-the-gun feeling . . . maybe they are overweight, depressed, they hate their job, or their cholesterol is too high . . . they all have a piece of the puzzle to tweak." Yep. That sounds about right.
But the remedy Carr is currently touting - the "Crazy Sexy Life Diet" - didn't seem like quite the answer. While her green-stuff diet certainly seems capable of helping me shed that extra ten pounds, it certainly wouldn't help with my other problems - getting the bills paid or getting the kids to do their chores or . . . or . . . or . . . I'm looking for more.
What Carr has to offer is a cure - a remedy for a specific problem. What Jesus offers his disciples is a CALL - a way of life. Following Jesus goes beyond simple problem solving. His call is an invitation to move with Him along the path where truth and beauty are all tangled up together, the path toward heaven. Jesus didn't spend much time giving his disciples diet and exercise tips. That's probably because He figured those things would fall into place for His disciples if they were putting first things first. It's not that good habits won't help. It's just that tweaking the puzzle pieces - sealing up the cracks, losing the weight - doesn't add up to the same thing as focusing on the one most important thing. We 'get out from under-the-gun' by knowing our purpose and living it, by answering Jesus' call.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Dear Friends in Christ -
This past Wednesday morning, as I was typing my blog post during the huge snow-storm, it was snowing on my fingers, INSIDE my house. The snow was coming in over my desk through a crack between the window and the frame that's been developing as this 170-year-old house shifts bit by bit, season after season.
Today, as I was covering the window with double-sided tape and plastic sheeting and tightening the plastic with my 1850 watt hair dryer (done in a flash!), I was thinking about all the other frayed edges of my life. Messes not cleaned up, things left undone. Author Kris Carr's words from the morning newspaper echoed in my head, "Everyone has an under-the-gun feeling . . . maybe they are overweight, depressed, they hate their job, or their cholesterol is too high . . . they all have a piece of the puzzle to tweak." Yep. That sounds about right.
But the remedy Carr is currently touting - the "Crazy Sexy Life Diet" - didn't seem like quite the answer. While her green-stuff diet certainly seems capable of helping me shed that extra ten pounds, it certainly wouldn't help with my other problems - getting the bills paid or getting the kids to do their chores or . . . or . . . or . . . I'm looking for more.
What Carr has to offer is a cure - a remedy for a specific problem. What Jesus offers his disciples is a CALL - a way of life. Following Jesus goes beyond simple problem solving. His call is an invitation to move with Him along the path where truth and beauty are all tangled up together, the path toward heaven. Jesus didn't spend much time giving his disciples diet and exercise tips. That's probably because He figured those things would fall into place for His disciples if they were putting first things first. It's not that good habits won't help. It's just that tweaking the puzzle pieces - sealing up the cracks, losing the weight - doesn't add up to the same thing as focusing on the one most important thing. We 'get out from under-the-gun' by knowing our purpose and living it, by answering Jesus' call.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Peace
"For [Jesus] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." - Ephesians 2:14
Dear Friends in Christ -
It would be good if the Arizona shooting that cost six people their lives and seriously wounded Congresswoman Gabby Giffords brought a cessation political hostilities. But so far it hasn't. And my guess is that it won't. It could. But it won't. Unless . . .
There is one way to breach the dividing walls we have so expertly erected: trust.
Rational minds immediately put forward the argument: but we CAN'T trust those people. And rational minds are correct. 'Those people' can't trust us either. None of us is trustworthy. No, not one. We all do bad things, squander justice, compromise on truth, fail.
Trust is still the answer. We just have to pick someone to trust who is truly trustworthy. Someone who laid it all on the line. Someone who REALLY risked big to win big.
Whether people believe Jesus is Savior or prophet or teacher, the example of his life stands: he did what was right even when it infuriated those in power; he said the truth even when his popular support dropped. These examples may look like the opposite of peacemaking, but a true word spoken or an honest action taken is like a light that pierces through darkness or like a plumb line that reveals what straight looks like, even when we're standing on uneven ground.
Peace. We know what it looks like, smells like, feels like. We know it in our bones. We're called to follow Jesus into putting skin on it. Our skin. Now.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Dear Friends in Christ -
It would be good if the Arizona shooting that cost six people their lives and seriously wounded Congresswoman Gabby Giffords brought a cessation political hostilities. But so far it hasn't. And my guess is that it won't. It could. But it won't. Unless . . .
There is one way to breach the dividing walls we have so expertly erected: trust.
Rational minds immediately put forward the argument: but we CAN'T trust those people. And rational minds are correct. 'Those people' can't trust us either. None of us is trustworthy. No, not one. We all do bad things, squander justice, compromise on truth, fail.
Trust is still the answer. We just have to pick someone to trust who is truly trustworthy. Someone who laid it all on the line. Someone who REALLY risked big to win big.
Whether people believe Jesus is Savior or prophet or teacher, the example of his life stands: he did what was right even when it infuriated those in power; he said the truth even when his popular support dropped. These examples may look like the opposite of peacemaking, but a true word spoken or an honest action taken is like a light that pierces through darkness or like a plumb line that reveals what straight looks like, even when we're standing on uneven ground.
Peace. We know what it looks like, smells like, feels like. We know it in our bones. We're called to follow Jesus into putting skin on it. Our skin. Now.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Interruptors
"But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus* could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter." - Mark 1:45
Dear Friends in Christ -
Some years ago, a friend of mine gave me a handful of little things; each one was about the size of a stack of 8-12 quarters. These little things were made of pieces of colorful clay twisted and folded together into fun, imaginative shapes. He called them "interruptors," and he said that they were to be hidden around the house in places where family members would run into them unexpectedly, so they would be playfully interrupted on their way to grab the Chex box at breakfast or the car keys on the way out the door with a reminder that someone was thinking of them. Then the person interrupted would, hopefully, place the interruptor in someone else's path. I would hide one in Ed's shoe. He would find it and, days later, I would find the same interruptor in the cup-holder in my car. To this day, the interruptors turn up around the house occasionally in unusual places.
Today it's Mother Nature - the Great Interruptor - that reminds me of the NECESSITY of being shaken out of our regular routines. We need to have something, someone break in and remind us that we're more than just cogs in a machine. It's not only OK, it's important to step outside of the regular pattern, to shake things up a bit in order to get in touch with what's really real.
Today's Gospel lesson reads like the author is following one of those little toy cars that turns around when it bumps into something. Jesus interrupts a woman's illness so that she can provide hospitality to the guests her son brings home for dinner. Jesus interrupts the demons' regular pattern by not allowing them to speak. Jesus himself is interrupted by his disciples when he's praying . . . and maybe it's that interruption that makes him decide to interrupt their planned schedule and visit Galilee, a place not formerly on their itinerary. When Jesus gets to Galilee, he heals a man with leprosy, interrupting what otherwise would have been a permanent separation from his family. Then the healed man returns the favor: he interrupts Jesus' plans to fly under the radar by telling everyone about what has happened to him.
Interruptions are often uncomfortable. But if we receive them as Spirit-gifts, interruptions can be healing. On this day of winter wonderland interruption, may you enjoy the grace of being stopped in your tracks, redirected and renewed.
Joyfully at home instead of at church (the place I usually enjoy being at 7:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning),
Janet+
Dear Friends in Christ -
Some years ago, a friend of mine gave me a handful of little things; each one was about the size of a stack of 8-12 quarters. These little things were made of pieces of colorful clay twisted and folded together into fun, imaginative shapes. He called them "interruptors," and he said that they were to be hidden around the house in places where family members would run into them unexpectedly, so they would be playfully interrupted on their way to grab the Chex box at breakfast or the car keys on the way out the door with a reminder that someone was thinking of them. Then the person interrupted would, hopefully, place the interruptor in someone else's path. I would hide one in Ed's shoe. He would find it and, days later, I would find the same interruptor in the cup-holder in my car. To this day, the interruptors turn up around the house occasionally in unusual places.
Today it's Mother Nature - the Great Interruptor - that reminds me of the NECESSITY of being shaken out of our regular routines. We need to have something, someone break in and remind us that we're more than just cogs in a machine. It's not only OK, it's important to step outside of the regular pattern, to shake things up a bit in order to get in touch with what's really real.
Today's Gospel lesson reads like the author is following one of those little toy cars that turns around when it bumps into something. Jesus interrupts a woman's illness so that she can provide hospitality to the guests her son brings home for dinner. Jesus interrupts the demons' regular pattern by not allowing them to speak. Jesus himself is interrupted by his disciples when he's praying . . . and maybe it's that interruption that makes him decide to interrupt their planned schedule and visit Galilee, a place not formerly on their itinerary. When Jesus gets to Galilee, he heals a man with leprosy, interrupting what otherwise would have been a permanent separation from his family. Then the healed man returns the favor: he interrupts Jesus' plans to fly under the radar by telling everyone about what has happened to him.
Interruptions are often uncomfortable. But if we receive them as Spirit-gifts, interruptions can be healing. On this day of winter wonderland interruption, may you enjoy the grace of being stopped in your tracks, redirected and renewed.
Joyfully at home instead of at church (the place I usually enjoy being at 7:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning),
Janet+
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A new name?
"Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it." - Revelation 2:17
Dear Friends in Christ -
Names are important. They signify life-giving connection. When parents want to guide or protect their children, they call them by name: "Michael, come here." And if a first call isn't headed, unfurling more of the child's name often proves effective . . . "Michael Frederick Jones, come to me NOW!"
The apostle John tells us that God promises to give three gifts to churches that remain faithful to their first love (Christ) by listening to the Spirit. The three gifts are manna, a white stone, and a new name.
These are no ordinary gifts.* Manna is a gift of nourishment that sustains body and spirit, connects us with our Source, and never spoils or runs out. The white stone is a gift of power for living (a white stone signfies a vote). The new name is the biggest gift of all. A new name signifies that we have so become God's own that he blesses us with a new, even deeper, specific kind of connection with himself. A new name affirms us and moves us even further down the path of transformation.
My friends, in 2011, let us commit again to listening to the Spirit, that we may receive all the blessings God has for us. If God was going to measure us by our fruit and call us by a new name, what would that name be? Joy? Hope? Faithfulness? Kindness? What would we want that name to be?
My friends, in 2011, let us commit again to listening to the Spirit, that we may receive all the blessings God has for us, including food that doesn't run out, power for living, and new name.
Faithfully with you, listening -
Janet+
*Resource: www.revelationcommentary.org
Dear Friends in Christ -
Names are important. They signify life-giving connection. When parents want to guide or protect their children, they call them by name: "Michael, come here." And if a first call isn't headed, unfurling more of the child's name often proves effective . . . "Michael Frederick Jones, come to me NOW!"
The apostle John tells us that God promises to give three gifts to churches that remain faithful to their first love (Christ) by listening to the Spirit. The three gifts are manna, a white stone, and a new name.
These are no ordinary gifts.* Manna is a gift of nourishment that sustains body and spirit, connects us with our Source, and never spoils or runs out. The white stone is a gift of power for living (a white stone signfies a vote). The new name is the biggest gift of all. A new name signifies that we have so become God's own that he blesses us with a new, even deeper, specific kind of connection with himself. A new name affirms us and moves us even further down the path of transformation.
My friends, in 2011, let us commit again to listening to the Spirit, that we may receive all the blessings God has for us. If God was going to measure us by our fruit and call us by a new name, what would that name be? Joy? Hope? Faithfulness? Kindness? What would we want that name to be?
My friends, in 2011, let us commit again to listening to the Spirit, that we may receive all the blessings God has for us, including food that doesn't run out, power for living, and new name.
Faithfully with you, listening -
Janet+
*Resource: www.revelationcommentary.org
Friday, January 7, 2011
Unfinished Christmas
"I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." - Revelation 2:3-4
Dear Friends in Christ -
Over the past 10 days, I have done lots of good things. I have rested, I have played, I have done TONS of laundry, I have worked (much less than usual!), I have prayed. And I've made progress on getting Christmas presents out to my parents and friends, but I'm still not done.
I called my mother today to confess what she already guessed: her gifts haven't even been entrusted to the good folks at UPS yet. She said, "That's OK. I'm just calling this the 'unfinished Christmas.'"
I laughed . . . and felt relieved by her patience and good humor. And then I started to wonder: Is Christmas ever 'finished?' Is it supposed to be finished?
The birth of Christ was just the beginning. Our annual celebration of Christmas is the reminder that we're all in the midst of a process of being made new. And though we often for finished perfection NOW, heaven is not yet. We still have work to do.
The words of the apostle John (above) in today's reading from Revelation call us not only to continued patience and good work, but also to remember to keep Christ, our "first love," at the center of our lives even as we cross over beyond the Feast of Epiphany into a new season.
The words of Howard Thurman (below) point the way for us to live Christ's love in the days ahead.
Faithfully with you in the continuing work of Christmas,
Janet+
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To teach the nations
To bring Christ to all
To make music in the heart.
--- Howard Thurman
Dear Friends in Christ -
Over the past 10 days, I have done lots of good things. I have rested, I have played, I have done TONS of laundry, I have worked (much less than usual!), I have prayed. And I've made progress on getting Christmas presents out to my parents and friends, but I'm still not done.
I called my mother today to confess what she already guessed: her gifts haven't even been entrusted to the good folks at UPS yet. She said, "That's OK. I'm just calling this the 'unfinished Christmas.'"
I laughed . . . and felt relieved by her patience and good humor. And then I started to wonder: Is Christmas ever 'finished?' Is it supposed to be finished?
The birth of Christ was just the beginning. Our annual celebration of Christmas is the reminder that we're all in the midst of a process of being made new. And though we often for finished perfection NOW, heaven is not yet. We still have work to do.
The words of the apostle John (above) in today's reading from Revelation call us not only to continued patience and good work, but also to remember to keep Christ, our "first love," at the center of our lives even as we cross over beyond the Feast of Epiphany into a new season.
The words of Howard Thurman (below) point the way for us to live Christ's love in the days ahead.
Faithfully with you in the continuing work of Christmas,
Janet+
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To teach the nations
To bring Christ to all
To make music in the heart.
--- Howard Thurman
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Epiphany Blessing
May Almighty God, who led the Wise Men by the shining of a star to find the Christ, the Light from Light, lead you also in your pilgrimage to find the Lord.
May God, who sent the Holy Spirit to rest upon the Only Begotten at his baptism in the Jordan River, pour out that Spirit on you who have come to the waters of new birth.
May God, by the power that turned water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana, transform your lives and make glad your hearts.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever.
May God, who sent the Holy Spirit to rest upon the Only Begotten at his baptism in the Jordan River, pour out that Spirit on you who have come to the waters of new birth.
May God, by the power that turned water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana, transform your lives and make glad your hearts.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Let there be peace on earth . . .
. . . and let it begin with us . . .
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation,
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
- Omaha Home for Boys
Faithfully with you as we open our souls to light,
Janet+
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation,
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
- Omaha Home for Boys
Faithfully with you as we open our souls to light,
Janet+
Saturday, January 1, 2011
15 Exercises NOT to do in 2011
15 Exercises NOT to do in 2011 (Source unknown)
1. Jumping on the bandwagon
2. Wading through paperwork
3. Running around in circles
4. Pushing your luck
5. Spinning your wheels
6. Adding fuel to the fire
7. Beating your head against the wall
8. Climbing the walls
9. Beating your own drum
10. Dragging your heels
11. Jumping to conclusions
12. Grasping at straws
13. Fishing for compliments
14. Throwing your weight around
15. Passing the buck
Here's to a New Year full of standing firm on our solid rock (Christ) and jumping for joy!
Blessings,
Janet+
1. Jumping on the bandwagon
2. Wading through paperwork
3. Running around in circles
4. Pushing your luck
5. Spinning your wheels
6. Adding fuel to the fire
7. Beating your head against the wall
8. Climbing the walls
9. Beating your own drum
10. Dragging your heels
11. Jumping to conclusions
12. Grasping at straws
13. Fishing for compliments
14. Throwing your weight around
15. Passing the buck
Here's to a New Year full of standing firm on our solid rock (Christ) and jumping for joy!
Blessings,
Janet+
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