Dear Friends in Christ -
Our mission team is traveling to Ecuador in just over two weeks. As part of the preparation of our hearts for this mission, we're committing pray the Lord's Prayer every day in Spanish.
As I prayed this prayer this morning, I realized that understanding of another language, another culture, begins with the willingness to open my heart and my mind, to take the risk to believe that I can understand, rather than protecting myself with "I can't."
As I pray this prayer, I hope that God will begin to build a bridge between me and the people I'll meet, making a way for us to understand and bless each other.
I invite you to pray it with our team. May the humble act of trying something new be a blessing to you, build a bridge in you.
Faithfully,
Janet+
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Padre nuestro que Estás en los cielos:
Santificado sea tu nombre,
venga tu reino,
sea hecha tu voluntad,
como en el cielo Así también en la tierra.
El pan nuestro de cada Día, Dánoslo hoy.
Perdónanos nuestras deudas,
como también nosotros perdonamos a nuestros deudores.
Y no nos metas en Tentación,
mas Líbranos del mal.
Porque tuyo es el reino, el poder
y la gloria por todos los siglos.
Amén.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Do our lives look different?
Dear Friends in Christ -
Years ago, a long-time preacher said to me, "Whether you're aware of it or not, as a preacher, you're always preaching first to yourself."
This past Sunday, I heard myself say something in the sermon that I preached, something that's been ringing in my ears ever since. It wasn't something I planned to say, it just came out as spoke.
"As Christians, do our lives look different than the lives of people around us?"
The reason that that question has been ringing in my ears is that I've worked so hard to have my life look the same as the lives of those I admired, to look good. When I was young and poor and struggling to figure out how to make a go of life, I aspired to have what others had: a nice place to live, a family, an education, a good job. Now, I feel totally blessed to have all these things, but I have to admit that I've cut some corners, that things in my life aren't always as good as they look - on the outside and, especially, on the inside. I'm not always true to my values. I hedge at doing some things that God asks me to do because I'm afraid that I'll be less comfortable or that people won't like me or that people will think I'm weird.
Honestly, I'm terrified of becoming one of those people whose life is a travelling bill-board for the causes they believe in. Yes, yes, I know - that white collar thingy is sort of a dead giveaway that I'm a church-type! But, sadly, I've discovered that many people don't actually think the collar means that much. Many people are so disillusioned with church that simply belonging to one doesn't raise people's expectations that there's something special, something God-power-sparkly, happening in my life.
The little devil on my left shoulder says, 'It's good to keep a low profile. You don't want peoples expectations of you to be raised; you'll just make God look bad when you make mistakes or get impatient and out of sorts.' The little angel on my right shoulder says, 'You sell yourself short thinking like that! Just DO IT - tell the truth, help where you can, push for fairness. Even if you don't get very far, you'll have made a bit of difference. It all adds up!'
Little choices. Little changes. Living a little bit closer to my values . . . Watch out! In a week or two or three, you might notice that something looks a little bit different . . .
Faithfully,
Janet+
Years ago, a long-time preacher said to me, "Whether you're aware of it or not, as a preacher, you're always preaching first to yourself."
This past Sunday, I heard myself say something in the sermon that I preached, something that's been ringing in my ears ever since. It wasn't something I planned to say, it just came out as spoke.
"As Christians, do our lives look different than the lives of people around us?"
The reason that that question has been ringing in my ears is that I've worked so hard to have my life look the same as the lives of those I admired, to look good. When I was young and poor and struggling to figure out how to make a go of life, I aspired to have what others had: a nice place to live, a family, an education, a good job. Now, I feel totally blessed to have all these things, but I have to admit that I've cut some corners, that things in my life aren't always as good as they look - on the outside and, especially, on the inside. I'm not always true to my values. I hedge at doing some things that God asks me to do because I'm afraid that I'll be less comfortable or that people won't like me or that people will think I'm weird.
Honestly, I'm terrified of becoming one of those people whose life is a travelling bill-board for the causes they believe in. Yes, yes, I know - that white collar thingy is sort of a dead giveaway that I'm a church-type! But, sadly, I've discovered that many people don't actually think the collar means that much. Many people are so disillusioned with church that simply belonging to one doesn't raise people's expectations that there's something special, something God-power-sparkly, happening in my life.
The little devil on my left shoulder says, 'It's good to keep a low profile. You don't want peoples expectations of you to be raised; you'll just make God look bad when you make mistakes or get impatient and out of sorts.' The little angel on my right shoulder says, 'You sell yourself short thinking like that! Just DO IT - tell the truth, help where you can, push for fairness. Even if you don't get very far, you'll have made a bit of difference. It all adds up!'
Little choices. Little changes. Living a little bit closer to my values . . . Watch out! In a week or two or three, you might notice that something looks a little bit different . . .
Faithfully,
Janet+
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A burning question
Dear Friends in Christ -
I spent the day with our three excellent Bishops and about 200 of my fellow clergy at a mandatory training day. Sometimes such meetings can be boring, but not today!
Our new Diocesan Bishop, Ian Douglas, has this idea that we experience more of God's awe-dropping power by:
1. Sharing our stories of how we've seen God move powerfully in our lives
2. Noticing how our collection of stories reveals our unique role in God's mission of reconcilation and renewal in the world
3. Moving out together as a parish (a deanery and/or a diocese) as agents of transformation in our community
As we talked together at this meeting, I felt very proud of St. Paul's. Over the past four years, we've done a lot of work - especially in the leadership workshops with Mac Barnum - sharing our stories and noticing our strengths. We've accomplished a lot together, too.
I came away with a burning question on my heart. WHAT would GOD have US to do NOW? What one big thing can we do together that would use our gifts and talents and really make a difference?
Hmmmm . . . Let's share our stories, notice the common threads, and see where God's calling us!
Faithfully,
Janet+
I spent the day with our three excellent Bishops and about 200 of my fellow clergy at a mandatory training day. Sometimes such meetings can be boring, but not today!
Our new Diocesan Bishop, Ian Douglas, has this idea that we experience more of God's awe-dropping power by:
1. Sharing our stories of how we've seen God move powerfully in our lives
2. Noticing how our collection of stories reveals our unique role in God's mission of reconcilation and renewal in the world
3. Moving out together as a parish (a deanery and/or a diocese) as agents of transformation in our community
As we talked together at this meeting, I felt very proud of St. Paul's. Over the past four years, we've done a lot of work - especially in the leadership workshops with Mac Barnum - sharing our stories and noticing our strengths. We've accomplished a lot together, too.
I came away with a burning question on my heart. WHAT would GOD have US to do NOW? What one big thing can we do together that would use our gifts and talents and really make a difference?
Hmmmm . . . Let's share our stories, notice the common threads, and see where God's calling us!
Faithfully,
Janet+
Monday, October 4, 2010
Garden Guilt
Dear Friends in Christ -
I spent time on this quiet, gray morning tackling my guilty conscience. Almost since my garden was planted this spring, I've felt guilty about not tending it well. Over the course of the spring and summer, I spent time going on training walks (in preparation for the Prayer Walk Around Shelton) instead of gardening, and my garden was the worse for it. Weeds grew up every which way. Beautiful produce went unharvested until it was past its prime.
Today I expected to have a rough go of it. I expected there to be little or nothing to harvest. I expected the weeds to be unconquerable. But I got my wheelbarrow and my garden gloves out and set to it.
The first surprise was that the weeds came out so easily. The weeds had gotten so big that they choked other weeds out, so it wasn't difficult to quickly make progess in clearing the garden beds.
The second surprise was that there was still so much to harvest - 3 kinds of tomatoes, 3 kinds of kale, 2 kinds of swiss chard, cucumbers, 2 kinds of onions, and even a beet! Garden grace gave me the tomato I ate today for lunch, the kale we had for dinner, and the potatoes and onions that are on the menu for tomorrow night.
I was really amazed at how fearlessly and faithfully the garden grew with such little tending. I was humbled to think of what might have happened if I had given the garden even a tiny bit more attention. I could have done a bit more, too, if I hadn't been avoiding the garden because of the guilt.
So today, as I weeded and harvested, I determined to learn from the error of my ways. Next year there will likely still be times when I don't tend the garden well, but instead of letting guilt keep me away even longer, I'll do whatever I can whenever I can. Next year, I'm going to forego the garden guilt and remember the garden's grace.
Faithfully learning . . .
Janet+
I spent time on this quiet, gray morning tackling my guilty conscience. Almost since my garden was planted this spring, I've felt guilty about not tending it well. Over the course of the spring and summer, I spent time going on training walks (in preparation for the Prayer Walk Around Shelton) instead of gardening, and my garden was the worse for it. Weeds grew up every which way. Beautiful produce went unharvested until it was past its prime.
Today I expected to have a rough go of it. I expected there to be little or nothing to harvest. I expected the weeds to be unconquerable. But I got my wheelbarrow and my garden gloves out and set to it.
The first surprise was that the weeds came out so easily. The weeds had gotten so big that they choked other weeds out, so it wasn't difficult to quickly make progess in clearing the garden beds.
The second surprise was that there was still so much to harvest - 3 kinds of tomatoes, 3 kinds of kale, 2 kinds of swiss chard, cucumbers, 2 kinds of onions, and even a beet! Garden grace gave me the tomato I ate today for lunch, the kale we had for dinner, and the potatoes and onions that are on the menu for tomorrow night.
I was really amazed at how fearlessly and faithfully the garden grew with such little tending. I was humbled to think of what might have happened if I had given the garden even a tiny bit more attention. I could have done a bit more, too, if I hadn't been avoiding the garden because of the guilt.
So today, as I weeded and harvested, I determined to learn from the error of my ways. Next year there will likely still be times when I don't tend the garden well, but instead of letting guilt keep me away even longer, I'll do whatever I can whenever I can. Next year, I'm going to forego the garden guilt and remember the garden's grace.
Faithfully learning . . .
Janet+
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Tacusa or Bust - October 26 thru November 2
Dear Friends in Christ -
Three weeks from this Tuesday, our seven-person mission team will be "wheels up" en route to Tacusa, Ecuador. The mission team met together for the first time today. What an amazing, diverse group of people . . .
- Four from St. Peter's in Oxford, one from Good Shepherd in Orange and two from St. Paul's (Kate Rennie and myself)
- People ranging in age from 20 to 60(+/-)
- Two men and five women
- A couple of seasoned vetrans of many mission trips; some folks who have never been on a mission trip before
- A couple of nurses, a priest, a college student, and folks of several other occupations
. . . a group of people united by enthusiasm for reaching out to others in God's loving care.
We're not just A mission team, we're YOUR mission team. We represent all of you, carrying your hopes and concerns and joys. Please keep us tethered to you by supporting us as you can. Want to help? Here are some things you can do:
- Show interest - ask us how preparations are going, ask to see the pictures when we return
- Give generously - THE CHURCH WE'RE BUILDING IS PAID FOR (HALLELUJAH!), but we could use help with travel expenses (about $1,300 per missionary) and some gifts (soccer balls and uniforms) for the kids (we're also taking 3 suitcases full of school supplies)
- Pray! - Pray that the political situation calms down (there was an attempted coup this week). Pray for safety in travel. Pray for good health. Pray for us to be good listeners to those we meet and fearless witnesses about God's goodness and love.
What our Deanery has done in building relationships with folks in Ecuador and in providing money to build a new church for the people in Tacusa is AMAZING! I'm grateful to be a part of it all, and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us as we travel. Our team fully expects to catch a fresh, greater vision from God.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Three weeks from this Tuesday, our seven-person mission team will be "wheels up" en route to Tacusa, Ecuador. The mission team met together for the first time today. What an amazing, diverse group of people . . .
- Four from St. Peter's in Oxford, one from Good Shepherd in Orange and two from St. Paul's (Kate Rennie and myself)
- People ranging in age from 20 to 60(+/-)
- Two men and five women
- A couple of seasoned vetrans of many mission trips; some folks who have never been on a mission trip before
- A couple of nurses, a priest, a college student, and folks of several other occupations
. . . a group of people united by enthusiasm for reaching out to others in God's loving care.
We're not just A mission team, we're YOUR mission team. We represent all of you, carrying your hopes and concerns and joys. Please keep us tethered to you by supporting us as you can. Want to help? Here are some things you can do:
- Show interest - ask us how preparations are going, ask to see the pictures when we return
- Give generously - THE CHURCH WE'RE BUILDING IS PAID FOR (HALLELUJAH!), but we could use help with travel expenses (about $1,300 per missionary) and some gifts (soccer balls and uniforms) for the kids (we're also taking 3 suitcases full of school supplies)
- Pray! - Pray that the political situation calms down (there was an attempted coup this week). Pray for safety in travel. Pray for good health. Pray for us to be good listeners to those we meet and fearless witnesses about God's goodness and love.
What our Deanery has done in building relationships with folks in Ecuador and in providing money to build a new church for the people in Tacusa is AMAZING! I'm grateful to be a part of it all, and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us as we travel. Our team fully expects to catch a fresh, greater vision from God.
Faithfully,
Janet+
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Son Burn
Dear Friends in Christ -
One of the "mysterious" stories about Moses in the Bible is "The Case of the Glowing Face" (Exodus 34). After spending time on Mount Sinai, Moses came down the mountain with his face glowing. His face was shining so bright that it scared people, and he had to wear a veil! Moses picked up that rosy glow from spending time in God's presence. It was as if the light of God rubbed off on him - literally!
It's been a long time since I thought of that story, but this evening when I looked in the mirror and saw my face glowing like Rudolph's nose, bright and shiny as can be!, it sprang right to might. And for good reason: I spent this beautiful day exposed to Glory - in the beauty of creation, in watching my kids play soccer and daughter ride a horse, in spending time with friends over lunch and bocce, and in blessing over 100 pets (and some of their owners!) at St. Paul's annual Blessing of the Animals. Perhaps a little sunscreen might have kept my face from glowing after all that, but I'm not so sure. When you see my face tomorrow, you might see only a sun burn, but I tell you truly, I think the glow is the result of spending this glorious day in the Presence of God!
Blessings,
Janet+
One of the "mysterious" stories about Moses in the Bible is "The Case of the Glowing Face" (Exodus 34). After spending time on Mount Sinai, Moses came down the mountain with his face glowing. His face was shining so bright that it scared people, and he had to wear a veil! Moses picked up that rosy glow from spending time in God's presence. It was as if the light of God rubbed off on him - literally!
It's been a long time since I thought of that story, but this evening when I looked in the mirror and saw my face glowing like Rudolph's nose, bright and shiny as can be!, it sprang right to might. And for good reason: I spent this beautiful day exposed to Glory - in the beauty of creation, in watching my kids play soccer and daughter ride a horse, in spending time with friends over lunch and bocce, and in blessing over 100 pets (and some of their owners!) at St. Paul's annual Blessing of the Animals. Perhaps a little sunscreen might have kept my face from glowing after all that, but I'm not so sure. When you see my face tomorrow, you might see only a sun burn, but I tell you truly, I think the glow is the result of spending this glorious day in the Presence of God!
Blessings,
Janet+
Friday, October 1, 2010
Remembering the password
Dear Friends in Christ -
Almost a month ago (September 3rd!), I put up a blog post about getting back to blogging, after a lull in posting over the summer. And I haven't posted a word since. It's been so long since I posted that when I went to put up a post today, I couldn't remember my password! Yikes!
In all honesty, it happened to me once before that it had been so long since I posted that I couldn't remember my password. In that case, I just got distracted . . . took my eye off the writing/connecting ball. This time, it was just a really difficult month for me.
Personally, my kids started back to school, with all the school-shopping, lunch-box-filling chaos that involves. Also, my husband and I took the plunge and did away with all remaining daily child-care for our kids, which means that we've made adjustments in our daily work schedules to allow one of us to be with the kids after school every day. We love spending more time with our kids, but work has been taking over every spare second that we're not with them - (early) morning, noon and night! In addition, I suffered a personal loss: a dear friend of mine died. She was the first person who reached out to me when my husband and I moved to Connecticut 13 years ago; she was a really amazing, bright-light sort of person, and I miss her.
Professionally, there were a number difficulties, too. I had to relieve my part-time assistant minister of his post because he just wasn't able to fill his role here. I had such great hopes that he would be able to help me shoulder the leadership burdens here, so it's a great loss to me and to the parish that it didn't work out. It's been a month of many pastoral crises, too: for the entire 30 days of September, there was a least one parishioner in a hospital somewhere in Derby, Bridgeport or New Haven. Most signficantly, a beloved parishioner, Kathy, passed away after a four-year struggle with metastasized breast cancer. She's safe at home in heaven now, but the world is a less good place without her.
There's a difference between password-forgetting due to distraction and password-forgetting due to overload. In "normal" times, praying and blogging are both "requirements" for me - for my sanity and, increasingly, for our parish connections. For the past month, it was either one or the other - either oxygen or food - and I chose to breathe!
But now, back to writing. There's something really good for me in the work of writing. I find joy in the art of wrestling to speak truth, speak hope, speak life! I was lamenting the struggles of the past month in conversation with a friend this week. He shared his philosophy of leadership, of life: "It's OK to lose your balance for a time, but make sure that 'time' doesn't last too long, or you might lose your self - and THAT'S a problem."
Today, I remembered my password, and thus I begin re - membering myself!
Faithfully yours,
Janet+
Almost a month ago (September 3rd!), I put up a blog post about getting back to blogging, after a lull in posting over the summer. And I haven't posted a word since. It's been so long since I posted that when I went to put up a post today, I couldn't remember my password! Yikes!
In all honesty, it happened to me once before that it had been so long since I posted that I couldn't remember my password. In that case, I just got distracted . . . took my eye off the writing/connecting ball. This time, it was just a really difficult month for me.
Personally, my kids started back to school, with all the school-shopping, lunch-box-filling chaos that involves. Also, my husband and I took the plunge and did away with all remaining daily child-care for our kids, which means that we've made adjustments in our daily work schedules to allow one of us to be with the kids after school every day. We love spending more time with our kids, but work has been taking over every spare second that we're not with them - (early) morning, noon and night! In addition, I suffered a personal loss: a dear friend of mine died. She was the first person who reached out to me when my husband and I moved to Connecticut 13 years ago; she was a really amazing, bright-light sort of person, and I miss her.
Professionally, there were a number difficulties, too. I had to relieve my part-time assistant minister of his post because he just wasn't able to fill his role here. I had such great hopes that he would be able to help me shoulder the leadership burdens here, so it's a great loss to me and to the parish that it didn't work out. It's been a month of many pastoral crises, too: for the entire 30 days of September, there was a least one parishioner in a hospital somewhere in Derby, Bridgeport or New Haven. Most signficantly, a beloved parishioner, Kathy, passed away after a four-year struggle with metastasized breast cancer. She's safe at home in heaven now, but the world is a less good place without her.
There's a difference between password-forgetting due to distraction and password-forgetting due to overload. In "normal" times, praying and blogging are both "requirements" for me - for my sanity and, increasingly, for our parish connections. For the past month, it was either one or the other - either oxygen or food - and I chose to breathe!
But now, back to writing. There's something really good for me in the work of writing. I find joy in the art of wrestling to speak truth, speak hope, speak life! I was lamenting the struggles of the past month in conversation with a friend this week. He shared his philosophy of leadership, of life: "It's OK to lose your balance for a time, but make sure that 'time' doesn't last too long, or you might lose your self - and THAT'S a problem."
Today, I remembered my password, and thus I begin re - membering myself!
Faithfully yours,
Janet+
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