Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Friday Five: Odds & Ends

2012-01-27T12:09:00.001-05:00

RevGal Sally invites us to play this week's Friday Five:

I have had a ridiculously busy week so apologies for the fact that this is rushed and even a bit late, but here goes, even in the busyness of the week what has

1. Inspired you
2. Challenged you
3. Made you smile
4. Made you cross/ made you want to weep
5.Kept you going?

Sally, thanks! I've been busy, too, but not too busy today to play along.

1. What has inspired me: I was inspired by the Confirmation classes on Monday night. The younger class is not into it, even yet, but they keep coming and trying to figure it out. The second year class has formed a group, is interested in church life and is responsive to their pastors. They are so full of potential and energy and they, at least at the moment, want to spend some of that on/at church.

2. What has challenged me: A conversation with a beloved young relative who is choosing a non-traditional path and part of that is being unashamedly "not Christian" although exceedingly Christ-like. I am challenged to be a whole lot more clear on the desired outcome of my own life and ministry. I'm also challenged about my role in "church as usual" even though that's not what I want either.

3. What has made me smile: One goofy thing: This cat thing in the picture above. It sits on the middle of my mom's dining room table. During the day, its hand waves up and down because of that solar cell. Waving hello . . . or good-bye . . . ? ? ?

4: What made me want to weep: The struggles of another beloved young relative.

5: What kept me going: VACATION! I arrived in Baton Rouge Tuesday about noon and have been hanging out with that branch of my family until I go to New Orleans tomorrow to get on the big boat for BE 5! The anticipation of ten days of vacation & continuing ed, a little Cajun Country time, sun, laughter . . . that's what's been keeping me going for awhile now.

A-HA!

2012-01-06T12:20:00.001-05:00

Welcome 2012! A New Year brings a new resolve to write the blog more regularly. After spending the last few days trying to decide when and how to jump back into the blog pond, here comes inspiration from this brand new Friday Five, thanks to kathrynzj at RevGalBlogPals.

The question: What are five (more or less) of your "A-ha" moments. Where have you had a moment of clarity?

Some of the many "A-HA!" moments that have brought light and hope to my world:

Don't take anything personally. Receiving someone seriously (respectfully, attentively) is more helpful. Whether it's a cut-to-the-heart criticism or a glowing compliment, it says much more about the one who delivers it than the one to whom it is delivered. This "a-ha" was courtesy of Don Miguel Ruiz' book The Four Agreements. Each is simple (not necessarily easy) and "a-ha"-inducing:

Be Impeccable With Your Words

Don't Take Anything Personally

Don't Make Assumptions

Always Do Your Best

I am still standing. The title of one of my favorite Elton John songs, "I'm Still Standing" could be the title of the "a-ha" moment I had during one particularly dark moment as I was living through the aftermath of the end of my 23-year marriage. I couldn't see even as far as the next moment. No way could I figure out what I would do or how I could make it financially, emotionally, physically, professionally -- you name it. It all seemed hopeless and empty. And then I took an honest, more objective, inventory of what was really there. I had food in the house; I had a house to live in; I had children who loved me and who hadn't rejected me; I could count on some friends to be friends; I had a job (two jobs actually!) and income capability . . . the list probably went on, but it didn't need to. It wasn't even about "counting your blessings" but rather seeing all that is there rather than what isn't there.

I'm just not that into . . . Christianity. The "a-ha" was finding out that neither was Jesus. Jesus was a Jewish rabbi and carpenter who predated Christianity. Jesus showed us what God is like, not what religion should be about. Jesus embodied life and love, not law and rules. Jesus welcomed and included and invited and turned things upside-down, all the while pissing off the powers-that-be and the religious apologists and traditionalists. A-ha! Maybe it's OK to be a Jesus-called, Christ-devoted pastor serving the institutional church and appreciating church history, and still not be (too much) into the religion of Christianity.

I'm more suited for interim ministry than settled pastorates. It turns out that it is possible to be successful by certain standards, and still be unfaithful to the real me. So, now I am through measuring "ministry success" by particular accomplishments or by how well-received I am in congregations I serve. I have been very blessed in each setting in different ways. But in interim ministry, I am more ME, more authentic and free, and I have more fun and get to play games. A-ha! Maybe those I serve will be more free, too!

I'm older than I thought I was! I know very well that I'm 58 years old, but when I got an invitation to the denomination's retirement planning seminar -- two years ago! -- and realized that invitation wasn't extended at all prematurely, it was a real, and not-altogether-unpleasant, "a-ha" moment. You mean I get to be this age and still feel this good and enjoy life this much?! WOW!

Living Messages

2011-10-15T12:07:00.001-04:00

Sermon for Oct. 16, 2011
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Exodus 33:12-23
Matthew 22:15-22

On one end of our story today, we see Moses – begging for a glimpse of God. And on the other end of the story we have the early church in Thessalonica – waiting – expectantly – for Jesus to return as promised.

Just a glimpse – pleaded Moses.

Soon and very soon – we are going to see Jesus – have said GENERATIONS of Jesus followers.

Like Moses, if we are going to step out in faith, if we are going to take this trip with God, we want to KNOW that God goes with us. Moses even says, “Hey God, if you aren’t really going to go with us, just let us stay here.” And EVEN WITH God’s reassurance that God will go with us, and give us peace – Moses wants more – something more concrete. Moses wants to see God in all of God’s glory.

Now, we know the rest of the story – what God will and will not do to reveal God’s Self to Moses. God will let Moses get a glimpse of God’s backside, but that’s all. That’s hardly God’s glory revealed completely.

And we also know that – as of October 16, 2011 at (whatever time) – what the Thessalonians expected in the return of Jesus – and what we have expected in the second coming of Jesus has not happened – at least as far as we know. Yet, the desire to SEE JESUS – that longing that preoccupied the Thessalonians and others in the early church – that longing continues to this day – some TWO THOUSAND YEARS later.

Because – as Moses well knew – the journey with God is a long journey for us instant-gratification humans. And – as the Thessalonians well knew – the way of Jesus is not always easy or smooth.

You probably know more about the story of Moses than you might about the Thessalonians and Paul – so let me give you the background. One Bible trivia fact about the Bible book of 1 Thessalonians is that it was likely written before any other book of the New Testament. Thessalonica was the largest city and capital of the province of Macedonia. Paul visited there on his second missionary journey. Paul went to the Jewish synagogue and preached there for three Sabbaths. By that time, many had come to believe the gospel – including Jews, pagans, and some leading women of the city.

That sounds great, but it’s also a problem for the powers that be. For you see, it wasn’t long before that, that a certain Jewish rabbi named Jesus had done something very similar. Jesus had captivated the attention of many people of HIS day. Jesus painted a picture of what the Kingdom of God is like – and Jesus himself was a picture of what God’s will on earth looks like when a human being lives as God intended. People who are attracted to God’s realm are the strangers who are welcomed, the hungry who are fed, the naked who are clothed, the women who immediately gain full personhood, the outcast who is invited into the core group, the children who are embraced and looked up to. The good news of God’s realm IS good news for the least, the lost, the lonely and the love-starved. And so Jesus is handed a coin – and confronted by the political leaders AND the religious leaders. To answer the question, "Should we pay taxes or not," Jesus spoke in the language that is very well understood by citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven – “Give to Caesar what it Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.”

The powers that be in Thessalonica saw people beginning to look at life differently – getting fired up over a new way – coming together to make a difference in the world that was the opposite of government ways of doing. Love instead of demands. Caring for the least instead of lining the pockets of the influential. An economy that begins with the poor instead of the rich. And the sure and certain knowledge that, while it is true that the image stamped on the government-minted coin is that of Caesar – the image indelibly stamped on human beings from the beginning of time is the image of God.

[Some of the above paragraph from Nora Tubbs Tisdale, "What Makes a True Patriot" Day One, Oct. 9, 2008, quoting Dr. Albert Curry Winn]

The rest of the story is that the good news of Jesus Christ had been so powerfully preached and so openly received that the people had become – as the Bible says – “living messages” – the gospel no longer confined to a place or to words preached, but now proclaimed in the very lives of these new converts. Paul was asked to leave – threatened really – and in order to preserve the good work that had begun in the community of believers, Paul left by night.

So their first pastor Paul – now gone – writes to them of his joy that they accepted his message. Paul knows of their suffering. You can imagine the persecution they must have suffered when they began to live boldly as God’s agents of transformation and reconciliation – the trouble they must have faced as they were labeled as living messages of good news to women, to the poor, to the outcast.

You can just feel the peer pressure when they dared to oppose the Caesars of war and torture.

You can relate to what they endured when they confronted sexism and racism and homophobia and divisions of every kind.

You can just about feel how hard it was for them to leave behind making enemies and to stop being intolerant and to stop practicing economics that leave so many behind.

They were new creations.

The eyes of their hearts had been opened.

They now KNEW that they were stamped with the image of God – and they COULDN’T HELP being living, breathing messages of God’s liberation – convincing communicators of God’s love for ALL humankind (no exceptions).

They had soaked up their TRUE identities in Christ – and Paul thanks God – and thanks them – for their faith in God and their loving work – AND – for their firm hope in Jesus Christ.

Thessalonica might seem to have very little in common with [name our specific area] – our corner of the world – except for this:

There are still people – all kinds of people – who really do want to know if God is real. They would love to get a glimpse. Some of these are religious people looking for a second coming of Jesus. Some of these are people who look for spiritual ecstasy in drugs or sex or shopping or hoarding things &/or money. Some of these are young people who long ago gave up looking to church to be a place for THEM to encounter God who speaks their language. Some who want to know God are people who think they don’t have a place in church because of their gender, age, race, color, gender identity, sexual orientation or because they were born in New Jersey or Texas or some other flat land place. And SOME people who have given up on the living God are people who still come to church – hoping, and praying, that God will appear – for real – in all of God’s glory.

This was as true in Thessalonica as it is today around here.

It is still as true now as it was then that the good news is good news for those who are perishing and foolishness for those who think they already have found a better way – which is often Caesar’s way or the way of another idol. So, it will happen that the good news of Jesus Christ announcing the arrival of God’s realm will be met with everything from disbelief to outright anger and opposition.

It is also true – as true now as it was then – that a pastor – whether his name is Paul or her name is Sharon [or other pastor] – is only the pastor – only (on a good day) a messenger – ONE messenger of God’s claim on our lives, ONE messenger of the good news of the grace and forgiveness and call to discipleship that can be found by following Jesus Christ. A pastor is ONE messenger of God’s eternal desire for all people to live as one with justice and peace and freedom for all. A pastor is ONE messenger of the power that the Holy Spirit pours out upon a community FAITHFUL to gather – WILLING to be changed – the power there is where two or more are gathered with God’s agenda and priorities uppermost.

I understand the gratitude of Pastor Paul of Thessalonica because Pastor Sharon of the [X] United Church of Christ is ONLY the pastor – not the church – WE are the church. When the pastor leaves the building – the church does not cease – the good news does not stop being told – and when a pastor enters the building – that lets no one off the hook – FOR YOU, my friends – YOU – every day and in every way – YOU are the witness to what God is doing here at this church – what God is doing in the world – the love that God pours out on ALL the PEOPLE. I hope you know that the faithful witness of good news is YOURS to share. The gospel is a treasure that YOU bear to the world. Not just me [and Pastor X] – but YOU – are called to be convincing communicators – living messages – of God’s permanent-ink image imprinted on each person from the beginning.

Preach the good news always – if necessary – use words.

[quote often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, its origin is unknown]

Amen.

Friday Five: The Things We Do For Love

2011-10-07T06:24:00.001-04:00

Songbird's invitation to today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five:

I have a friend who, when she has to be away from her child, goes to the trouble of planning a present for each of the days they will be apart. (This is not one of those stories where "a friend" means the person who is telling the story.) I'm impressed by her organizational skills and her creativity and her thoughtfulness.

She does these things for love.

And although love looks different depending on how we best express it, there are definitely things we do for love. So for today's Friday Five, please share the following five things:

1) Something you did for love that was a hit
Probably because of the story above, the first thing that came to mind is ancient history now: When they were little, I used to make faces out of the finger food on the kids' plates.

2) Something you did for love that was more of a miss
In ways big and small, I have been trying to show love and support and respect to some beloved loved ones at a special and critical time and it's made things worse it seems.

3) Something someone did for love of you
A biggie: For my 50th birthday, my daughter helped the congregation arrange a really wonderful surprise party and gift me with a liturgical robe that I had been wanting. Her unexpected presence there was a big part of the delightful surprise!
A nice thing: I have gotten some very sweet emails lately, unexpected ones, thanking me for what we've shared &/or for being in each other's lives.

4) Something you *wish* someone would do for love of you
Someone recently planned a fun and relaxed, bordering on zany, time of just goofing off together. I love when that happens. I feel loved and understood when that happens. I *wish* it happened more often.

5) Something you've done for love of God
The United Church of Christ has embraced a thing that Gracie Allen said to George Burns way back: "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." Very often, I'm tempted to place a period and orchestrate completion and resolution. Sometimes I can't do it for myself, or even for someone else, but loving God, I let there be a comma and stay open and ready.

Friday Five: Home Sweet Home

2011-09-30T07:39:00.000-04:00

Bird bath at my Mom's house

Songbird is thinking of home today and offers this RevGalBlogPals Friday Five:

1) Where was your first home?
I was brought home from the hospital to a little ranch house on Corozal Road in El Paso, Texas.

2) Do you ever dream about places you used to live?
Yes.

3) If you could bring back one person from your past to sit at your dinner table, who would you choose?
My maternal grandmother. Many a good time was spent around many tables with her.

4) What's your favorite room in your current living space?
That's a tough one. Right now, it would probably be the kitchen. It's where the coffee is!

5) Is there an object or item in your home that represents home to you?
Anything flannel. The robe, the sheets, the back of a cozy throw -- these represent comfort and, for me, home is all about comfort and rest.

Friday Five: Endings and Beginnings

2011-09-23T16:01:00.001-04:00

Sally at RevGalBlogPals is finishing up her Master's thesis for a programme that began in 2006. Her Friday Five for us:

How about you as you look back over the last few years:

1. Have you completed something? What was it, and how did you celebrate?
This is very timely as I just completed a 3 year pastorate. It was a mismatch from the get-go, but we all attempted to make the best of it and there was palpable relief for all that it was coming to an end. The celebration at the church was a very nice reception with a gift after the final worship service last weekend. My own celebration is happening now as I spend a week of vacation in Baton Rouge with family and enjoy the things around my niece's wedding tomorrow.

2. Is there something that you are waiting to begin?
I get to begin a new ministry at a church next week.

3. Is there a project you keep putting off and why?
I want to get rid of almost all of my books. I am putting it off because I would love it if those books could be of use to someone else, especially the ones related to ministry and faith. I am thinking of having a party and inviting my pastor friends to come over and just take what they want.

4. What would be your dream project/job?
I am doing my dream job, but more and more I wonder if part of the dream might be a different location. I am getting tired of trying to hide my southern roots and trying to fit in to a culturally strange part of the country that might not fit me anymore.

5. Be creative, you are going to publish a book/song/poem, what is the title?
Lately, the book I'd like to write, dedicated to parishioners and colleagues that just don't get it:
I'm Not Your Friend.

Just For Fun: Fairy Name Generator

2011-09-15T15:33:00.000-04:00

It's a great day for some fantasy escape!

My fairy name is Feather Hailglitter

She protects and comforts the lonely.
She lives in high places where the clouds meet the earth.
She can only be seen in the light of a shooting star.
She wears pale blue like the sky and has cheery turquoise wings like a butterfly.

Get your own fairy names from The Fairy Name Generator!

Friday Five: Workspaces

2011-09-09T06:54:00.003-04:00

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five is about workspaces and what's in them. Today, revkjarla invites us to name five things in our workspaces that are special. Some of mine are:

A Jack Sparrow puzzle -- pictured here, it was a gift from a friend and lives on my home desk.

A crystal jar -- a gift from the first church I served, it was given -- and has remained -- full of M&Ms and usually resides on the desk of my pastor's study. I'm moving out in the next two weeks so the pastor study stuff is in transition, too.

A magnetic puzzle -- the kind with little men (or women?) you can stick together. Turns out those pocket crosses are magnetic, too, as are paper clips. It's also usually on my pastor study desk. Kids play around with it when they come in to eat M&Ms.

An "EASY" button -- as in "That Was Easy" -- pushed mostly in irony lately, or would that be sarcasm?

A "To Do list" -- I make them because I should; I ignore them because I can.

Friday Five: September Blessings

2011-09-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

I had a Flintstones lunch box a lot like this one

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five as posted by kathrynzj:

Headquarters for me is the northeast of the United States. Here school is getting back in session, the tease of autumn is in the air (or the hope for the tease of autumn is in the air) and church life is gearing up to full throttle.

One thing I've learned with blogging and social media is that the where I live is not necessarily where you live. And so I want to know what September means to you, in your place of the world and time in your life.

This week's Friday Five is:

What are 5 things that the beginning of September mean to you?

Bonus: What's one thing you could do without?

Thanks, Kathryn, for posting this one!

September is my favorite month and here are a few reasons why:

September starts with a holiday weekend. Yea, Labor Day!
September is my birthday month. My birthday sometimes falls on a national holiday, as it does this year. Sweet!
Back to school clothes and school supplies. Still love 'em.
The color red. Tinged leaves, school house icons, apples -- all in my signature color.
A mini-New Year-type season of new beginning. A good time to reassess and regroup and start anew.

Bonus: I could most definitely do without the October, November, and/or December holiday "buy me" displays and ads making their initial appearance in my favorite month.

Friday Five: Road Trip!

2011-08-19T10:23:00.005-04:00

We found star fish in a place like this in Big Sur

RevGal Jan has just returned from a great road trip! She invites us to share five road trips of our own, including best and worst. Here goes:

EARLIEST: Fairly regular road trips from El Paso, TX to Cloudcroft, NM. Some of my earliest memories of vacations are of this trek from the desert to the mountains, from hot to cool, from dry sand dunes to lakes and streams and fragrant trees. We stayed in a little motel court, fished in a nearby lake, and learned my dad's rule of fishing: "You catch 'em, you clean 'em, you cook 'em, you eat 'em!"

LONGEST: My family of origin took several summer trips from El Paso to California. The longest of these lasted two weeks and we went to San Clemente, Pismo Beach, and Big Sur. Miscellaneous highlights: the first time I saw blue jays and redwinged blackbirds, eating a halibut my mom caught, the redwood trees, day trip to Monterey and eating shrimp, camping in the pop-up camper, my sister finding a $5 bill (in the early 60's!) in the parking lot of a fancy restaurant where we ate dressed in very casual vacation clothes because my dad said that it didn't matter if you could pay!

WORST: (Let's hide this one in the middle of the pack.) A summer road trip from Dayton to Maine. I had always wanted to go to Maine, and it is still one of the favorite places I've ever been. The trip itself, a year before the marriage ended, was awful. Words have not yet been invented to describe the pain of that trip.

BEST: Always, kids in the car on trips near and far! When the kids were 2, 8, and 9 we moved from Dallas to Philadelphia. One leg of that move involved me driving with just the kids from Richmond VA to Philadelphia in our family van. One of the older kids was "riding shotgun" and trying to read a map while we all sang along to a cassette tape of "Camp Song Sing-A-Long" the songs they had learned at camp or VBS. At one point, I needed to have a look at the map, so we exited the highway somewhere near Washington DC. Immediately we found ourselves at a security gate outside of some kind of unmarked compound with armed guards coming out to ask us what we were doing there and making it very clear that we needed to be gone sooner rather than later. These are the kinds of things that happened before GPS and cellphone support for road trips! It was not as stressful as it was funny! And it was typical of the fun I remember having with the kids in the car.

FANTASY: The stereotypical RV fantasy: take the house on the road! There might be some fun people along (or not). There might be an agenda -- visit all the minor league ball parks or state parks or all the relatives or all 49 land states -- or not. It would be fun to just go and see and be out there, exploring.

Friday Five: Counting Blessings

2011-08-12T14:07:00.001-04:00

Newest family member: Daniel

Terri gives us a short and sweet Friday Five at RevGalBlogPals:

Offer five gratitudes you recognize in your life.

OK, then, in no particular order:

Very good health. I was blessed with great genetics and have continued to be blessed by health care that's been accessible enough and affordable enough. I'm approaching another birthday and I am grateful for how it's going.
Meaningful work. At this moment, I am grateful that my work life is alive and well and going in some good new directions. Recently, when I thought it might very well be over with, I was called yet again.
Gluten Free Pizza. I made this recipe for GF pizza crust today for a pizza lunch that I've been wanting. It was easy and it's really really good! Toppings: fresh basil, home grown tomatoes, onion and red pepper.
Cooler weather. I can feel autumn in the air. And it feels really really good.
Family, family everywhere. I am really grateful for a scattered family. It's the fact, so let's celebrate the joys of it! They are scattered all the way from Portland, OR to the deep South to NYC and Vermont. I'm grateful for the experience of anticipating trips to visit them and looking forward to their visits with me. In the next six weeks, I get to go to Portland, OR and Baton Rouge, LA. So grateful!

BONUS: An unexpected blessing today was being touched by "The Place I Want to Get Back To," the Mary Oliver poem posted by Terri. Thank you, Terri, for the many ways you speak to our spirits.

I'm Still Game (Part 3)

2011-08-11T06:10:00.003-04:00

This is Part Three of a game that began with Robin's invitation to play. Here are my Part One and Part Two. It took me a day or so to respond to Part Three, which got a lot more contemplative:

Third Question: What do you consider to be the big question or conundrum of your life?

My answer: "Am I doing the right thing?"

Which brought up even more questions:

How do you know "when to hold 'em" and "when to fold 'em"?
Is there even a "right thing" anyway?
Is the right thing always the loving thing, and vice versa?
Why do some decisions seem so easy for me and not for others? (and vice versa)
Why can't people get along?
Is choosing love the same thing as choosing God?
Just because it's easy for me, does that mean it's good/right?
Just because it's painful/difficult for me, does that mean it's time to stop?

And wandering off to other things:

Why am I so blessed?
What is my responsibility to the world?
Why does God's way seem to lose to other ways?
Am I on God's way or in God's way?

Is "introspective" the same thing as "contemplative"?

Will I ever find and make a recipe for really good gluten-free bread?

And it goes on . . . and on . . .

Robin's disclaimer: I should probably warn you at this point that there is absolutely nothing behind these questions other than my own imagination. I dreamed them up a couple of days ago when I was trying to work something out for myself, and they produced what seemed to me an intriguing insight.

It's OK, Robin. I'm hooked! I'm still having fun with it. You've made me think. And even more, you've reminded me to celebrate some things I had forgotten were even hanging around.

I look forward to the final part that -- my guess and my hope -- will produce my own intriguing insight. Or something else entirely!

I'm Game! (part 2)

2011-08-09T19:56:00.003-04:00

The Dallas skyline at night

This is a continuation of this post from yesterday.

Today's question: Within each of your groups, do you see commonalities?

I responded to today's question in RED!

1. Five colors: Magenta, lavender, forest green, ivory, Christmas red -- These are colors found in nature and also in interesting interiors.

2. Five cities: Dallas, TX; Portland, OR; Baton Rouge, LA; Portland, ME; Santa Fe, NM -- I have been to each of these and each has a sentimental attachment of some kind. I've actually lived in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

3. Five landscapes: Central American jungle, organic farm, Cajun bayou, Smoky Mountains, open sea -- Each of these is a combination of exotic and comforting. These are places I've been, more specifically, places that I'm grateful to have been and experienced.

4. Five interiors: Hogwarts, rustic cabin, castle, country church, general store -- I'm gonna take a guess that these are all quirky, surprising, spiritual to me.

5. Five things you might wear: skirt, t-shirt, jeans, pj's, sweater -- comfort, definitely comfort, and casual and relaxed.

Looking forward to part three, Robin!

I'm Game!

2011-08-08T10:13:00.002-04:00

Robin at Metanoia has invited her readers to play a multi-part game of some kind. She has posted the first step, and when at least 10 people have responded, we get to find out the next step. I have so appreciated Robin's depth, and so I trust her whimsy. Wanna play?

Robin's game:

Take a minute and write down your responses to the following. No context ~ just whatever responses pop into your mind. Be as general or specific as you want, using as few words as possible.

1. Five colors: Magenta, lavender, forest green, ivory, Christmas red

2. Five cities: Dallas, TX; Portland, OR; Baton Rouge, LA; Portland, ME; Santa Fe, NM

3. Five landscapes: Central American jungle, organic farm, Cajun bayou, Smoky Mountains, open sea

4. Five interiors: Hogwarts, rustic cabin, castle, country church, general store

5. Five things you might wear: skirt, t-shirt, jeans, pj's, sweater

When at least ten people have responded, either in their comments or in their own blogs, I'll tell you the next step. There are four steps in all.

Wednesday Randomness: Breast-feeding, Jesus, etc. Edition

2011-08-03T08:18:00.005-04:00

Last week, "the Cat" from Sweet Memes commented on my Friday Five. I enjoyed visiting that blog which plays blog memes and has a nice blog roll of them, too. Here are today's random questions posed by the W.T.F. Weekly Meme (which stands for Wed., Thurs., Fri., of course!):

1) Veterinarians always say people should not feed their leftover food to their pets, but one of my dogs has eaten people food for his entire 16 years of life and has no health issues. Do you feel it's okay to feed people food to pets or should you always follow the vet's instructions?
I haven't usually fed my cats people food. For a special treat one Thanksgiving, I put a small plate of turkey by her food. She ignored it. That said, the other day, I found her licking clean my dinner plate when my back was turned. Cats!

2) Have you ever become addicted to a game (of any sort)? If so, what was it?
I can easily get addicted to things I enjoy! My son and I played an online game "Final Fantasy" over several months and it definitely captured my attention.

3) This week is World Breastfeeding Week. Should women be able to breastfeed in public places (assuming their [sic] covered up)?
Yes. Yes. Yes. And why should they cover up? The trouble is with the eyes of the beholder, not with the visibility of the most natural and healthy food source for new children.

4) It is National Clown Week. Because of my ex-husband, clowns freak me out. Have clowns ever scared you?
I don't remember being scared of them, but I'm not a big fan of the clown or the circus, which did scare me on a regular basis.

5) If you became a spy and could pick anyone (living or dead, real or fictional) as your partner, who would it be?
Patrick Jane, "The Mentalist"!

6) Last week my boyfriend told me this, "I get life philosophy from pop culture." Where do you (or did you) get the majority of your life philosophy?
I am captivated by the Jesus philosophy, even if I'm not always enamored with the so-called Jesus religion and its claimants. That's a shameless paraphrase of Gandhi: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." Can you tell I'm stinging a little right now?

7) My local newspaper did a story over the weekend about stories taxi cab drivers hear while driving passengers. It was a "taxi cab confessions" type story. Have you ever had a deep conversation with a cab driver?
No.

8) Cottonelle has introduced a toilet paper cover. (Watch a V commercial here.) Do you think toilet paper should be hidden or is it okay for people to see it "naked" in your bathroom?

This is what advertising is all about!

9) The Food Network's show "Meat & Potatoes" is rated "M" for "Meat." Many movies are rated "PG" for "Parental Guidance." Some video games are rated "E" for "Everyone." What is your life rated?

"A" for "Amazing"!

10) What was a quick decision you once made that changed your life?

Due to certain family situations and pressures, it was an instantaneous decision, made under duress, that my college major would be medical technology. Some of the future consequences of that decision: ditching my severe fear of needles, moving to Dallas as a young adult to do a med tech internship, and a terrific fall-back career that has been very good to me.

Friday Five: Decisions, Decisions (deja vu edition)

2011-07-29T10:07:00.000-04:00

Today I am the guest host of the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five!
The inspiration for today's Friday Five: I have been in a long discernment process specific to place and kind of pastoral call. In the past month, I have let my current congregation know that I am ending my ministry with them in September. I have accepted a call to serve as an interim for a nearby congregation.

I remembered a fun Friday Five from awhile back that I enjoyed playing, so I started thinking up pairs so we could play it again. When I looked back, I saw that Songbird had come up with that post when she had been in heavy-duty discerning mode herself. The post was almost exactly a year ago! It felt like deja vu!

So, after making sure that I hadn't repeated anything from last time, I came up with these pairs and here are my own choices:

1) Sunrise or Sunset: SUNRISE
2) To the Mountains or To the Beach: MOUNTAINS

3) Coffee or Tea: COFFEE

4) Advent or Lent: LENT

5) "Raindrops on Roses" or "Whiskers on Kittens": RAINDROPS ON ROSES

BONUS -- RAINDROPS ON ROSES: I grew up in the desert of El Paso, Texas, so raindrops events were special occasions. When it would rain, we would go outside and stand in it and let it splash on our faces and make our hair wet and stomp in the fleeting puddles. El Paso got most of its rain in August, as I recall. I didn't own an umbrella until we moved to Baton Rouge when I was 13.

My paternal grandmother had roses! Because they were west Texas roses, they rarely got raindrops on them. Her rose garden had about 40 different varieties and they were all close to the road. People would stop their cars and take pictures of her amazing roses. The secret to her roses, she told me, was daily watering to soak the roots and fertilizing with manure. There's a profound metaphor in there somewhere!

Happy Anniversary, RevGals!

2011-07-20T17:37:00.009-04:00

~~~ It's all about the pedi ~~~

Dear Rev Gals ~~~

Happy 6th Anniversary!

On this occasion of your anniversary, I am inspired to remember my blogging journey and to reminisce about how we met and got to know each other. I can trace my blogging life back to my first blog posts beginning in August 2002, a few months into my call as pastor of the very rural Dille Parish UCC in LeRaysville (Bradford County), PA. I served there from May 2002 until November 2009, and I wish now that I had blogged about more of the many delightful congregational experiences I was blessed with there.

I found you for the first time, RevGals, when I was still serving that church, sometime in late summer 2007. No doubt I spotted your badge on some blog surfing expedition, clicked on it and found a world of sisters. As soon as I peeked into your worlds, I knew that we belonged together.

My first post as a RevGal was September 1, 2007, the post that you found the day I was introduced by you in the September 3, 2007 "Monday Meet 'n Greet."

Then our relationship faltered. Indeed, we broke up for awhile. It wasn't you; it was me. I wrote nine blog posts in September and October 2007 and then blogged nothing until October 2008 when I wrote about that year of blogging silence. It was to be my one and only blog post until I started again (again) in July 2010, almost two years later.

By then, you had dropped me, and I don't blame you. I had failed to live up to the "BlogPal" part of our RevGalBlogPal relationship. Still, when I noticed my blog name missing from your blog roll, I knew that I wanted to be a more regular blogger. And I was determined to earn my way back into your RevGal circle of cute feet.

Since July 2010, I have written at least one blog post a month, except for February 2011. I write, looking forward to your visits and soaking up your comments. I confess that when I write a post and the comment number stays at "0" I wonder what that means.

After I had blogged enough to call myself a blogger again, I requested that my blog name be put back on the roll. The result was that I was re-introduced to you in the November 1, 2010 Meet 'n Greet.

By then, I had also signed up for B.E. 4.0 and was beyond excited! The trinity of my anticipation: cruise, cool author, and RevGals. I had loved the only other cruise I had taken. I had read Carol's first book and was looking forward to meeting her and to hearing what she would say about Reframing Hope. I was especially thrilled to finally meet you in person, RevGals. What a way to fulfill a week of continuing education!

Let's celebrate!

The first RevGal I met was the very welcoming Rev Honey (do you have a blog? I would link!) on the bus to the boat. My delightful and full-of-surprises roommate was Kathleen. I am still a little fuzzy on all of your names, nicknames and blogs. I did get to spend some quality time with St. Casserole and an oh-so-fun-loving group on our two shore un-excursions dubbed the "Shop and Drink" tour. It could have also been called the "Laugh, Laugh some more, and Laugh even more than that" tour!

In you, RevGals, I have found a community that is diverse, fun, thought-provoking, seriously spiritual, winsomely wacky, and amazingly talented. You set a very large table ladened with good gifts, and I am very honored to be able to help with some of the table setting.

On this, your 6th anniversary, I am especially grateful for you. When I was facing the first Sunday after resigning from my congregation, and I spoke of it at last week's 11th Hour Preacher Party, your encouraging words and prayers held me strongly.

Happy Anniversary, RevGals, and many many more! May God bless you in ways yet to be imagined! I pray that I can be as good to you as you have been to me.

Shalom,

Sharon

Friday Five (plus): My Name Spells Gratitude

2011-07-15T09:49:00.001-04:00

H + O = An odd home in Albuquerque

Jan is a RevGal pal who came up with a fun Friday Five today: She invites us to make an ABC Gratitude list. "Use your name or nickname of about five letters and express your gratitude about something that starts with each letter." My first name has six letters, so I'm stretching the Friday Five to this "Friday Six" objects of my gratitude today:

S -- Singing. I have been struggling with laryngitis for the past week. I kind of like the break from talking, but I miss singing. Singing is a sign of good worship, overflowing joy, or a playful time.

H -- Home. I am grateful when I feel at home. I'm especially grateful for the ways I can feel at home when I'm away from my own house -- with family or friends, and especially when I feel at home in a totally new place.

A -- Ancestors. Think of all the DNA combos that came together over eons to create each person! I also wonder about what movements of their lives are playing out again in mine.

R -- Reunion. Coming back together with family or friends is sweet!

O -- Oddities. I am grateful for the out-of-the-ordinary things that get my attention and change me -- things like thinking outside the box, doing something new, stretching outside the comfort zone, or a unique piece of art or something amazing in nature.

N -- Naps. Yeah, naps. The Sunday ones, especially.

Sunday Sermon: Ministers -- ALL!

2011-06-18T23:34:00.008-04:00

"Just do it!"

Matthew 28:16-20

The scene is a mountaintop. Any time you have a mountaintop scene in the Bible, get ready for something big!

Remember where Moses met God to get the 10 commandments? A mountaintop. The prophet Elijah ran away up a mountain when all looked lost for him and God showed up for Elijah where?

On the mountain. Jesus’ disciples surely would remember that amazing day that Jesus had taken Peter, James and John up the mountain. It’s the day we call Transfiguration Sunday -- Jesus was transfigured, his clothes turned a dazzling white and two strangers appeared with Jesus -- guess who? -- Elijah and Moses! -- up on that mountaintop.

The disciples knew all about the mountaintop. Back then, people believed that if humans were to encounter God, the best place to go was up the mountain.

This mountaintop story is the very next story that Matthew tells after the story of Jesus’ resurrection. Matthew says that newly-resurrected Jesus met the disciples and said: “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” [Mt.28:9-10]

So here they are -- in Galilee -- this time ALL the disciples of Jesus gathered on the “mountain to which Jesus had directed them.”

What do you think they were expecting from Jesus there? Some things they might have expected, they didn’t get:

Explanations -- Jesus didn’t explain to them what went so horribly wrong after that great Palm Sunday parade where Jesus was cheered as “King of the Jews” only to be crucified dead and buried in less than a week.

Re-hashing -- If Jesus was still thinking about what had been done to him by the priests or the judges or the disciples even, Matthew didn’t find that worthy to talk about.

Solutions -- Jesus didn’t help them to understand how Jesus, dead and buried, was now Jesus back with them.

If Jesus did have some explaining to do, those explanations are not recorded by Matthew.

If Jesus told them important things to believe about him, we don’t know those beliefs from Matthew.

Matthew’s story of what Jesus did and said after the resurrection is so short and so direct, it is stunning. If you want to see a contrast, go back to the beginning of the gospel of Matthew and see how many -- how many -- verses Matthew takes to lay out -- generation to generation -- the genealogy of Jesus -- from Adam to Joseph. Matthew goes to great lengths to explain how Jesus has all the right ancestors. Matthew also gives a very detailed account of Jesus being arrested, charged, tried, and crucified. Matthew uses more words to tell what happens to Jesus’ crucified body than about what happens on this mountaintop.

About the resurrected Jesus, Matthew has few words.

The gospel good news according to Matthew is simply this: Jesus is alive; he said “meet me at the mountain”; and the disciples show up where Jesus said he would be.

And then and there, on that mountaintop, Jesus gives them -- ALL of them -- their marching orders. Church tradition calls this the Great Commission -- what Jesus said up on that mountain:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me...” Whatever else this means, Jesus’ having been given “all authority” means that Jesus has the freedom and power to say and do whatever he pleases at this point. All options are open to him. What will he require of his disciples? What will he incite them to do?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations [“the human family”], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Now, if you are a disciple on that mountain, hearing Jesus commissioning you in this way, sending you out to do what Jesus himself had been doing, what do you do?

If you are a Peter-type disciple, you might say, “Gung ho! I’m ready! You can count on me, Jesus!” Because that’s how Peter was: bold, always ready for a challenge, ready to fail and get back up again and go on to the next place where Jesus was going.

But what if you are a Bartholomew or a Thaddeus? Who? Bartholomew and Thaddeus were called by Jesus as two of those first 12 disciples, but we don’t hear much about them that was worth writing down. They were never in a leadership role that we know of. Other disciples were in the spotlight. Others are more famous. Yet unsung Thaddeus and Bartholomew are given the same commission as the others -- the same good news; the same marching orders; they were passed the same mantle of ministry that Jesus himself had carried out:

ALL of them were sent to GO to whomever and wherever God’s love and healing is needed.

ALL of them were being sent out to seek others in the human family and invite them to join together in community to learn and grow to love Jesus and serve him too.

ALL of them were being encouraged to introduce others to God the Creator, God the Redeemer, God the Sustaining Spirit. Hadn’t Jesus initiated those first twelve into God’s holy priesthood? Now ALL of them were to be priests to others.

And ALL of the disciples had graduated to become the teachers who would walk with new disciples.

In other words, ALL of them were now sent to do with and for others the very same things that Jesus himself had done with and for them.

ALL of them -- the confident Peters as well as the “who me?” types, the Bartholomew and the Thaddeus and the Mary and the Martha -- the unlikely YOU and the unlikely ME.

ALL of us sent off the mountaintop with a mission, and ALL of us held together by the same promise: Jesus goes with us, always.

In our own United Church of Christ Statement of Faith, we say “yes” to following Jesus off that mountaintop.

God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world …

"… We're not called to make churchgoers, [that is we are not called to “bring people in here” just to “fill the pews” with] people who include religion as one among many respectable civic activities. We're [each and every one of us] called to make disciples, people who really follow Jesus as Lord." [Dylan Breuer, with my modifications]

So to become a church member, then, is really to make the decision to enter the ministry. Each and every one of us has been given the ministry that Jesus had: to share good news; to make disciples; to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That’s the good news ministry of the church of Jesus Christ. It is YOUR ministry – and mine! The Bible tells us so. Ready or not, Jesus goes with us. So be excited! Be ready! If you are a baptized member of this church, Jesus has already called YOU to ministry in his name – and given you everything you need to be faithful to that call. God has called US together – and made us ministers – ALL! Thanks be to God!
============
Above photo is of a teen's feet from UCC General Synod 27

Friday Five: Discovery

2011-06-10T11:31:00.001-04:00

On today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, Dorcas shares a beautiful experience of taking her four year old granddaughter to the symphony and wondering if young Trinity would enjoy the experience. An avid Mozart fan, (in Dorcas' words): "[Trinity] was hopping with excitement, but we gave her lots of coaching, and when we arrived she gazed about with wonder at the lovely venue, and when the orchestra began to tune up she sat up straight and gazed, enraptured, with her mouth literally open. It was pure delight to watch her enjoying brand-new sights, sounds and surroundings." A discovery moment for both generations!

Here is a Friday Five of my own moments of insight, discovery or awareness from childhood and later:

"Do what Daddy says." Recorded in the baby book of my sister who is 19 months younger than I am is this precocious advice to me, uttered when she was probably two and a half: "Sharon, if you would just do what Daddy says, you wouldn't get spanked so much." I tried. I tried to learn the "behave" lesson. I'm not there yet. Hence the pic above. My hope: Maybe I'm making history!

Love is Awareness. A fifth grade writing assignment was to complete the phrase "Love is . . ." with one, and only one, word. My conclusion: Love is Awareness

I am ~~not~~ a feminist! Another assigment, this time in a seminary theology class: Choose a non-traditional theologian's book to read and compare/contrast with more traditional theology. For those of us who had no clue where to begin with the long list the prof had given us, she suggested choosing a theologian that we thought we would not like. That was easy; this native Texan stay-at-home mom chose a feminist theologian. I was about one and a half pages into Rosemary Radford Reuther's Sexism and God Talk and, to my incredible shock, I found that she was she was speaking my language about God things. She made sense. I had not even realized how much "translation" work I had been doing in order to make the gospel message real in my life.

Please understand me! I began to understand myself much better when I was introduced to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in seminary. I knew that people had different personalities, but I had never had the differences explained in categories that made sense. I began to see that there are many different ways that people approach life and process information, and that we need all kinds in order reflect God's image more authentically in community. Through further testing at the end of seminary, I discovered that I had learned to function a certain way (as an ESFJ) when I had to be "on" and in front of people. When I am relaxed and safe and "off duty" or too tired to keep up the pretense, I go about life in a far different way (INFP). Good to know!

Grandmother world. Because we lived in the same city until I was 13, I was blessed to spend time with my grandmothers during my growing up years. At their houses, I discovered the world of feeding chickens, gathering eggs, flower gardening, making jam, learning to sew, eating "ladies lunch" at the department store restaurant or at the lunch counter at the drugstore. With them, I was someone I couldn't be anywhere else: a granddaughter. And they got to be the grandmother. Now I'm the grandmother to a grandson. I wonder what we will discover with each other?

Friday Five: Summer Reruns

2011-06-03T08:03:00.009-04:00

"The cousins" on the family cruise

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five is an invitation by Songbird to be inspired by this season of summer TV reruns and list five things that are worth a repeat. Coincidentally, today is also National Repeat Day!

1. Family vacations: My extended family is spread all over the country from east coast to west coast to gulf coast and beyond. We do attempt to gather for special occasions, the next one being my niece's wedding in September in Baton Rouge. A few years ago, we took a family cruise -- my first cruise -- and all of us were there -- my mom, all of her children and their spouses, and all of their children and the newest family member at the time, my son-in-law. We have also taken some beach vacations in Florida and met in Gatlinburg, TN one year. We don't do it every year, but a family reunion-type gathering is always worth a repeat.

B.E. 4.0 new friends
at church together, sorta!

2. A cruise: Last year's RevGal B.E. 4.0 was my first repeat cruise after the family cruise. I had an ever-lovin' blast! B.E. is definitely an experience worth repeating, so I'm getting my application ready for next year's B.E. 5.0. Since we sail from New Orleans, that week of Continuing Ed will definitely be combined with a vacation to the Louisiana relatives (see #1).

3. Planting a garden: I repeat the "dig in the dirt" ritual every year. My main "crop" is herbs and this year's star is basil I grew from seed. Some oregano apparently didn't make it from the plant, but did reseed itself. The others are cilantro, parsley, sage, chives, mint, and dill. I tucked in there somewhere an orange pepper plant. I also sprinkled some extra color by planting few marigolds and impatiens among the perennials that are already looking great.

GranGran and Daniel:
an "I love you" moment
between my mom and my grandson

4. "I love you": Always worth a repeat, as often as possible.

5. "Damages" TV show: I had never heard of this show but ran across it on instant Netflix and was hooked on the reruns after watching the first episode. Glenn Close stars as a lawyer, and it is dark and very suspenseful. According to its Wikipedia entry: "The show is noted for its plot twists, nonlinear narrative, technical merit, season-long storylines and the acting ability of its cast." I also have enjoyed reruns of "Deadliest Catch" and "Modern Family" and "Desperate Housewives." I didn't get hooked on "Glee" or "Pushing Daisies," for what it's worth.

Thanks, Songbird, for the rewind through some things worth rerunning!

Friday Five: All About Allergies

2011-05-27T09:12:00.001-04:00

My nose started feeling sneezy as soon as I saw the picture of the ligustrum bush on this week's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five. Mary Beth is highly allergic to them and I am too. We had ligustrum bushes all around our house in El Paso because they grew so easily there. That was the first thing I discovered I was allergic to. So, here's my Friday Five about allergies:

1. Do you experience any season allergies?

Yes, I'm allergic to spring things, especially white flowering trees and bushes.

Not allergic to chocolate! (this cake is flourless)

Do you have any other allergies? Yes, sadly -- aspirin, sulfa, keflex and penicillin as well as adhesive tape. It's not technically an allergy but wheat and gluten are not my friend.

2. What kinds of symptoms do you experience during your allergic reactions?

Let's just say it's not pretty.

3. How do you manage your allergies?

In my dreams, I'm on a cruise for May and June every year. In reality, I take Singulair daily, keep an inhaler for possible asthma emergencies, avoid all of those drugs as well as wheat and gluten. I don't avoid going outside, but I would not knowingly go anywhere near a blooming ligustrum!

4. What is the strangest allergy you ever heard of?
Aren't some spouses allergic to each other? I think I've heard that, and that would be strange. (Had to google it to see; edited to add link)

5. How do you feel about school policies banning peanuts and other allergens?
I'm out of the school child loop, so I don't know about those policies. In general, it would be challenging to ban everything that might be potentially harmful to someone else.

Happy Birthday, Frank Oz!

2011-05-25T10:02:00.006-04:00

Bert and Ernie

Today is the 67th birthday of creative genius Frank Oz.

How do I love him? Let me count some of the ways:

He was Jim Henson's closest collaborator
On The Muppet Show, Oz was Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal and Sam the Eagle
On Sesame Street, Oz was Bert with Henson as Ernie and was Miss Piggy to Henson's Kermit the Frog
Also on Sesame Street, Oz played Cookie Monster and Grover.

Yoda

Chief puppeteer and collaborator with George Lucas in creating Yoda for the Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back and was the puppet and voice for Yoda in that and later films
Co-director, with Henson, of The Dark Crystal
Directed the movies The Muppets Take Manhattan and Little Shop of Horrors
Directed some of my favorite zany-yet-poignant movies: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, In and Out, and Housesitter
I wanted to like it, but I wasn't quite as thrilled with the Oz-directed Bowfinger
Also directed The Stepford Wives and The Score

With gratitude, a very Happy Birthday, Frank Oz!

Sunday Sermon: Taste and See!

2011-05-22T06:40:00.017-04:00

Perfection

Growing into Salvation
1 Peter 2:2-10
May 22, 2011 -- Jerusalem UCC

It’s always a special day to celebrate Confirmation. Alissa, we rejoice with you today as you make public your affirmation of your baptism as you keep on taking steps of faith throughout your life.

Those of us who have already made Confirmation promises remember today our own Confirmation Day and the special moment it is to get up and say, in front of God and your church, that Jesus is -- for me and for you -- the way, the truth and the life.

On this Confirmation Day, the Word of the Lord comes to us from Peter, that disciple of Jesus who was the first disciple to proclaim “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

Peter got it right, you see, in that moment.
And in the very next moment, he made a fool of himself by trying to protect his “Messiah” from the suffering and death that would come.
Peter goes from head of the class to being called “Satan” in the blink of an eye.
Yes, that’s Peter!
The one who declared that HE would NOT be the disciple who would deny knowing Jesus.
“Not me, Lord!” Peter swore.
Jesus knew better. Not once, but THREE times, Peter denied Jesus to save his own skin.
Yes, that’s Peter!
Faithful disciple and faithless coward -- all in the same body.
Powerful preacher and pitiful example -- all rolled up into one.

The name “Peter” ironically means “rock.”
And it is on THIS rock -- Jesus said -- that he would build his church.

Real live people are the rocks -- the living stones of the church --
People like Peter and like you and me
Who, in our best moments -- in our high church moments surely --
KNOW the good news of Jesus Christ
KNOW God in Christ Jesus is alive
KNOW that the heart of the gospel -- the good news --
is simply that Easter proclamation:
“Christ is risen!”

We are as qualified as Peter
And as UNqualified as he was
to be claimed by God as God’s own
so that you and I and we
“may declare the wonderful deeds of the ONE who called you out of darkness
into God’s marvelous light.”

In Christ Jesus, we are the town criers -- we are testimony tellers -- about the reality of God in the real world of our lives.

How often do we talk about what God is up to?

Recently -- a lot! The past few days we have heard more about what God MIGHT be up to than usual, thanks to a doomsday message by Family Radio International founder Harold Camping. His prediction of the apocalypse gained a foothold in the media and with certain groups of people. People of faith and people of no faith have been hoping -- or dreading -- that God would fulfill history by bringing on the rapture -- yesterday -- at 6:00 p.m.

A preoccupation with the end times is nothing new. The early church had more reason THEN than we do NOW to believe that Jesus would return soon and very soon. Peter turns every one's attention away from a super-natural rescue mission by God to the marvelous things that God has already done and what God is NOW DOING in the lives of resurrection people.

If nothing else was proven by all of this rapture talk these past few days, it is that the preoccupation with what God MIGHT do -- and the fascination with what ONE MAN proclaimed God WOULD do -- these are things that people are captivated by somehow.

The world is looking for God. The world needs good news -- the gospel -- that resurrection people have to proclaim.

I don’t have to tell you that people are hurting. I don’t have to tell you that the environment is suffering. I don’t have to tell you that stress is causing mental and physical pain in people’s lives. I don’t have to tell you that way too many people in our wealthy country are food insecure. You know. So, really it’s no wonder that people who don’t even claim to be people of the Christian faith were sort of caught up in the idea that yesterday at 6:00 p.m. God would DO SOMETHING BIG -- maybe God would give us the break we crave and just scoop us up and show us some heaven.

People are hungry to know that God is alive.
People need to see where God is at work
People need to hear where God is alive
People need to be shown that God’s love is real.

And they are looking to people like us -- those of us who say that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life - the son of the LIVING God - those of us whom God has called LIVING stones -- so that we “may declare the wonderful deeds of the ONE who called you out of darkness
into God’s marvelous light.”

The beautiful light of the day of our confirmation -- the beautiful light of the day of our baptism -- there is nothing like those days -- for the one who is baptized or confirmed -- and for the church. TODAY is the day that we know we will taste and see that God is alive here. God showed up and is claiming us and especially claiming Alissa today, but not just Alissa. For when the Holy Spirit is poured out, we are all splashed on by power of God.

We call that “salvation” my friends. Well, WE don’t always call it salvation in the United Church of Christ, but let’s do call it “salvation” today because big time, very real salvation is what the world is so very hungry for.

So, let me tell you about salvation so that you will know what salvation is and not be distracted by what salvation isn’t.

If you are getting nervous about this whole line of preaching, well so am I. There’s nothing that puts me in either a cold sweat or a bad mood worse than some well-meaning person in my face about my salvation. “Are you saved?” some will ask. “How do you know?” I can help you with this -- here’s the answer. You can memorize it. The answer to the question “Are you saved?” is “yes, no, and not yet.”

The “yes, I am saved” part is what has already happened to each of us. There are different ways to describe that: We have had an encounter with the risen Christ. God is real to us. If nothing else, you know that the Holy Spirit was poured out on you at your baptism and your confirmation. Peter says, “Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good . . . “ (1 Pet. 2:2) There are different ways to describe it, but “yes” salvation DID happen to you in your past if the love of God in Christ Jesus is part of who you are.

The “no” part is that we HAVE been promised a day when God will save all of creation. That day did not happen yesterday. Don’t look for it or try to predict it. No one knows the day or the hour so it’s not really a thing to spend a lot of time trying to nail down. No, God hasn’t saved the world yet. God’s history has not been fulfilled yet. No, God’s kingdom has not come on earth as it is in heaven. No, we are not saved in the way that God ultimately desires.

The part we live in every day is the “not yet” part. Are we saved? "YES," because of our baptism; "NO"because God’s fulfillment of history has not happened; and “NOT YET” because we -- who live between what DID happen and what WILL happen are the “works in progress” -- we are BEING saved all the time.

I like what author Maya Angelou says about this. When someone says to Maya Angelou “I’m a Christian” her response is “Already?”

“Growing into salvation” -- you can also call it discipleship; you can call it following Jesus. This is the life-long movement of our faith -- what we do together as the community of faith called teh church -- we are growing into salvation.

The apostle Peter says it this way in verses 2 and 3 (1 Peter 2:2-3)
“Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, crave pure spiritual milk, the way that newborn babies do, so that by it, you may GROW into salvation.”

Getting stuck in the past --or being preoccupied with the future -- is to miss the opportunity to live in the good news and to proclaim good news for TODAY!

What Peter tells us about this is every bit as real -- maybe more so -- than looking to the clouds or to an earthquake to produce evidence of God’s real life salvation.

This is what Peter says to us:
Be like a newborn baby about it.
Crave the spiritual milk so that by it you may grow into salvation.

Now this is graphic if you take Peter seriously. Because we know that Peter was not really talking bottles and formula.

Peter gives us a very mother-like image of God. If you are a mother, or have been close to one, with an infant, you know that Peter is talking about something very very real.

When it comes to milk newborns are relentless! Do you want to be a hungry newborn? REALLY? Think about it . . .

When a newborn is hungry -- he is not all that cute. She screams persistently. Baby knows who has the milk. The baby gets close and can smell it. Baby gets all excited about it - baby roots around, little head bobbing all around -- almost breathless -- so eager sometimes that hungry baby makes it even more difficult to get the milk that is so badly wanted.

In a very real way, it is a cooperative effort between Mom and baby -- Mom needs to give milk to the baby and the baby needs the milk.

Once feeding the baby is vigorous and enthusiastic -- single minded -- concentrating on the milk only looking up to look into the mother’s eyes.

The newborn doesn’t quit taking in that milk until she or he is good and satisfied. And a well-fed baby is peaceful, sleepy (or asleep), relaxed, happy.
We look at THAT baby and say “Aw … isn’t she cute? or isn’t he cute?” Yes, for about 2 hours and then that precious baby is crying for that milk all over again!

THAT’S the way Peter is asking us to approach the “pure SPIRITUAL milk” that we are to have.

What is that pure spiritual milk?

It is what God has to offer us -- different from the imitations that we so often settle for
The pure SPIRITUAL milk is tasting that GOD IS GOOD,
the spiritual things that only come from God -- for our growth and nourishment.

It would be a misunderstanding and a mistranslation to hear that this milk is specifically the Bible words found in the book we call the Bible. I want to convince you of the value of being fed by your Bible -- but the word “word” is not found here. If you see this translated as “the milk of the word” that is a mis-translation. The Greek word is an adjective not a noun, and that’s all you need to know unless you want to know more. But if you are going to feast on the milk of things that feed you, and if the Bible does feed you, and I hope it is ONE thing that does, then I want you to know what you are feeding on!

Peter uses vivid colorful language here to make a point: Peter calls us living stones. Peter tells us to taste -- regularly -- that the Lord is good -- and to be relentless in pursuing that tasting -- like a newborn in search of milk. Spiritual practice is what we call that in the Christian faith.

Peter pretty much calls God a nursing mother, ready and able and present with us to show us where the nourishment we really crave is to be found; God is ready to hold us in our anxiety and need; God is -- even now -- giving us exactly what we need to grow us into salvation.

God has literally spread a table before us -- in the life we have -- in the people, the situations, the circumstances -- even in the presence of our enemies -- even in tragedy -- Gods’ mighty acts are there to be seen and tasted -- and to be told. And, of course, always in the church. These rocks of the faith all around you are living stones, hungry newborns, not stuck on the birthing table, but still growing into salvation.

This table is ready. Have you tasted that the Lord is good?

Keep on craving what God has to offer YOU
So that by accepting the gifts of God, you may grow into salvation, today and forever. Amen.

(The very precious photo above is courtesy of Amy at Anktangle and was published in her post called Growing and Gaining, which would have been an excellent sermon title for this one!)

Friday Five: Favorite Words

2011-05-20T16:03:00.000-04:00

Add friends &/or family and enjoy!

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five is inspired by the Spiritual Formation hour at Jan's church where they have been sharing special words with each other and the stories they inspire. Jan has invited us to write about 5 words we really like and tell why you have chosen each word. These came to me today, in this order, when I was writing my 750 words to start the day.

Lagniappe -- (LAN-yap) a French word that means (my translation) "delightful extra things you didn't deserve"; it's the idea behind the baker's dozen of paying for a 12 donuts and getting 13. Lagniappe represents the generosity and party atmosphere that characterizes both Cajun Country's "let the good times roll" and what I have known of God's grace.

Vocation -- from the Latin vocare meaning "to call" and I know that because of a seminary paper I wrote at least 20 years ago! I love this word because it inspires me and reminds me of why I do what I do when I don't remember. It is also the antidote to un-church-like words like "hire" "job" and "volunteer."

Picnic -- I have always loved this word! "Picnic" sounds like the party it is! To declare "picnic!" is to set aside regular schedules and table manners, pack a basket, go outside, play games, eat finger food, take naps in the sun ... the list could go on and on. And you have to add a crazy "K" before you add "-ed" or "-ing"!

Careful -- Word that inspires trust and comfort and sometimes slows me down in a good way.

Y'all -- The English language is bereft of a plural "you" and so we have made up our own. My greatest linguistic prejudice (blush -- there are many!) is that I cringe every time I hear the northern plural slang of you -- "youse" or "you's" and sometimes "youse guys" -- my skin is crawling to even write those. When I hear "y'all" I know I am close to people who get me.

Thanks, Jan, for the Friday Fun!

Recognizing Jesus in Life Abundant

2011-05-14T15:35:00.017-04:00

Lakshmi Mandala of Wealth and Abundance

John 10:1-10; Acts 2:42-47
May 15, 2011 -- Jerusalem UCC

Remember Easter?

Merely three weeks ago, we gathered here to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

Remember Easter?

Easter was a great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Easter is more than a celebration of what happened to Jesus. Yes, Christ is risen; he is risen, indeed. But to paraphrase the old riddle about the tree falling in the forest: If a Savior is risen and no one sees the Savior / no one recognizes the Savior / then IS he risen indeed? Is the Savior alive if he’s not alive with us? In other words, what difference does it really make what happens to Jesus, unless something happens to us, too?

Radical conversion is not the preferred style of Pennsylvania German Reformed Christians. The style in this corner of the world is the way of the ancestors who settled this territory and of the old country from whence they came: You are born into the faith; your parents were Reformed or Lutheran, or your mom was Reformed, your dad was Lutheran (or vice versa) and you were baptized into the faith (I’ve heard) of the same sex parent and then confirmed into that same faith when the time came. A radical conversion experience is not required, nor is it expected.

Sometimes … sometimes … you might run across someone who is not born into the faith but who begins following Christ later in life. One such man began his Christ following at mid-life. He was a successful businessman. As a successful businessman, he picked as his church the flashiest church, the one that seemed most successful in his town. He had a fancy car that he parked with all the other fancy cars in the lot on Sunday. He fit right in and thought that this would be the right place for him. He figured these fine upstanding folk would help him to follow Jesus more and more.

And then some months later, this man went through some economic hard times. That’s not hard to imagine in our world today, is it? This man lost everything, including his fancy car.

So, he started walking to church. He was wearing the same clothes week after week. He was no longer like the others in the congregation; he stood out as different from them.

Pretty soon, two of the church elders asked to come and visit him in his home. They arrived to find a home that had been emptied by the Sheriff and the debt collectors. He was asked -- nicely -- please -- to find another church community because he “no longer witnessed to the abundant life” that members of the church were called to live! [This story came from the blog “I Am Listening” by Peter Woods; blog post "Jesus the Gate, and Paddy Plenty" May 9, 2011]

Sounds pretty awful doesn’t it? We would never judge someone for not having a fancy car -- we would never notice that someone is wearing the same clothes over and over again -- we surely aren’t the kind who would say that the abundant life of Jesus is absent when someone doesn’t have a TV or even if they don’t have furniture. I hope we might suspect that Jesus is calling us to an abundant life not measured by fancy things -- yours or mine.

In that way, there’s no real difference between us Jesus-people and any decent person who is prejudiced against another. Any good person certainly can treat another person with respect and care apart from any grounding in church life, apart from being a disciple of Jesus. You don’t have to be a disciple of Jesus to be a decent human being, to welcome people who are different from you, to work for equality for all people; you don’t have to have been baptized or confirmed to value the things that cannot be bought by silver or gold.

And … it’s also quite possible to be in church every single week and know your Bible and then sincerely come to a similar conclusion as the elders in the story: that is, because we know there are certain demands of discipleship and standards of faith , we can become convinced that faith commands us to act as God’s agent of a kind of … sorting … of those who are in the flock. To paraphrase George Orwell: All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others.

So, who is right and who is wrong? The good person who does the right thing and never comes to church and doesn’t know Jesus -- or -- the church people who sort the “others” into who is in and who is out because they sincerely want to do what God would do -- OR -- what about the person who knows Jesus and manages to be welcoming and caring and non-judgmental? Who is good and who is bad? Who gets the Jesus seal of approval?

This is what we have our Bible for. And this is what we misuse our Bibles for. Like the elders in the story, it is possible to even use the words of Jesus to make it OK to dismiss another. Not that you or I would ever do that. We would never use the Bible to make our point that someone else is not worthy … that they are wrong.

Oh. Yes. We. Would. And we do. It’s just too tempting. The Bible is so use-able that way. And a distraction. The Bible becomes a distraction when we use it to justify, divide, accuse or even to let us off the hook. Shall we forget Easter so easily? Easter was not a doctrine, it was a discovery. Easter didn’t give birth to condemnation, but to a community.

Remember Easter? The day when the horror of crucifixion was replaced by the relief and joy of recognizing the risen Christ? Remember Easter? Remember the story of Thomas the one who doubted and the other disciples? Remember the story of Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus? Whatever the topic of conversation was before the risen Christ appeared, the focus of the conversation changed radically in the presence of the risen Christ. The talk then became all about who was with the risen Christ, how they knew him, how they recognized him, what he said, and where he was going next. Their whole life focus shifted away from what had seemed so urgent; now they were consumed with going to where Jesus was going to show up next. They came together over this one thing alone: They recognized the risen Christ and they oriented themselves to being in the presence of the risen Christ above all other things.

Fast forward to the day we call Pentecost - the day of the extravagant outpouring of God’s Spirit - and among the communities that came alive at Pentecost, here is the risen Christ, very much present in true abundance [Acts 2:42-47]:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

If ever there was a picture of abundant life, here it is. Teaching and learning, but no memory verses and no sorting verses. They had all things in common, but that doesn’t mean they were all alike or agreed on everything. They were busy, a busy-ness oriented around their faith life and brothers and sisters in Christ. There was church business all right, the business of the church being breaking bread, doing mission projects, learning and teaching, worship, building community.

As a friend of mine put it this week: “[They were] living the gospel instead of merely alluding to it now and again.” [Liz on her blog Journalling in a blog post “Stealth Preaching” May 14, 2011]

Another respected colleague said to a group recently: “There is no recipe for church growth. If there was, someone would have written the book by now. If we had such a recipe," he said, "we would have a lot more growing churches.

Well, I respectfully disagree with my distinguished colleague. That book has been written and here it is in Acts Chapter 2 verses 42-47: a recipe for church growth in words and word pictures we can all understand. It’s not that we don’t have a recipe, and it’s not that it’s complicated or complex, and it’s not even that it’s impossible for normal regular people to do should they decide to get the ingredients together for this recipe and start cooking. This recipe for church growth has been tried and proven over and over again -- in every generation -- it’s just that the conversation in churches is too often not this conversation -- the business in church is too often not this business -- the greatest imagination that a church possesses is usually reserved for buildings and buildings-to-be. The recipe for church growth and for adding disciples to the flock is a great recipe -- and so we decide we can best cherish this amazing recipe by keeping it safely in the recipe box -- untested and untasted. Something else about that recipe for the vital growing church: In a church our size, if 25 people --just twice the size of our Consistory -- if just 25 people made a commitment to intentional regular discipleship practices together, abundance would be assured. It just works that way.

So, I invite you to begin to pay attention. Notice and celebrate what goes on already around here that reveals the risen Christ. Get a little hungry enough to add one of the ingredients of the Acts 2 church to your life. Let's make ways add more of those God-life ingredients to the life of our church. What we do here with what God has given us matters.

We are Easter people all year long. Our baptism promises propel us to be a resurrection community where the agenda of Jesus becomes our agenda. Confirmation rituals mark the beginning of a lifetime passion to become faithful disciples. Church is not just a place to go; church is more than a once a week worship service; church is the God-gathered US who would dare to attempt the recipe for an Acts-chapter-2-type Miracle-Grow community. Then will our Savior be risen indeed and the risen Christ is recognized in us and among us.

Jesus the Christ -- alive and well at Jerusalem United Church of Christ in Trachsville / Palmerton -- that church where they don’t just talk about the things of the faith, they actually live the gospel … abundantly. Amen.

Comforting the Disillusioned

2011-05-11T11:37:00.012-04:00

Monday, I was shocked and disillusioned when I heard that Sojourners made the decision not to post on their blog a video ad made by Believe Out Loud (ad is on the right after you click). It was "deja vu all over again" reminding me of the rejection by CBS in 2004 of the United Church of Christ "Bouncer" ad as "too controversial" when it demonstrated that all people should be welcome in church. And then in 2010, CBS accepted an issue ad by a conservative group, Focus on the Family. CBS defended their flip-flop, citing the economy as the reason for accepting FoF's advocacy ad.

Tuesday, I was overjoyed when I heard that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted to allow the ordination of openly gay and lesbian ministers.

So, you never know. Sometimes progressives take an unexpected giant step backwards and sometimes the church takes a long-overdue step forward. And sometimes it's hard to tell what exactly is going on.

This "controversy" about who is welcome in church and who isn't, and why, reminds me of something that happened at the first church I served. After one Sunday morning worship service, a woman came up to me, out of breath and excited (not in a good way), to report that there was a new couple in church that day. They were both men, young men, she said -- "a couple!" I was secretly excited to think that a same sex couple would come to our church! So I asked her how she knew that they were gay. "You can just tell," she said, sour-faced. She went on to describe how they sat close together, even had their arm around each other at one point, and talked to each other in a way that you "could tell" she insisted.

I still couldn't imagine this in 1994 in our American Baptist church. I mean, why would a young gay couple think we would be a cool enough church for them? At least that was my thought! So I asked her what they looked like. The woman then began to give a great description of my 17 year old son (whom she didn't recognize because he had shaved his head during that week) and his 19 year old cousin (who was a "stranger" in our midst with long curly hair at the time). They had grown up favorite cousins and didn't see each other often, so they were affectionate to the point of being labeled correctly a same sex couple, but not in the way that she assumed!

She was relieved.

Really? What had changed? The only thing that had changed was her own perception.

In the midst of my own disillusionment with Sojourners, and now in light of my delight with the PC-USA vote, my own perceptions are challenged by an inspiring blog post written by Katie Mulligan entitiled "Believe Out Loud and the Sojourners Kerfluffle." Katie's challenge is to go beyond disillusionment with Sojourners and, I would add, beyond celebration with PC-USA, to self examination and local action. Katie asks the very direct question: What about your church?

How would a queer person know they are welcome in your church? How would they know that they could come to the potluck and not have to endure another conversation on how the gay are ripping the fabric of America? How would they know they could come to Bible study and know that they could talk about the fullness of their life without people praying that they straighten out. How would they know that you won't look at them and their family as if you'd just eaten rotten fruit? Because it's not on your church websites, friends. I look, and it's not there. It's not on my church website either. We're all just pussyfooting around this whole welcome the gay thing--and golly, I'm a queer pastor!

We have a ways to go! The church's welcome is still too often full of pre-conditions not limited to sexual orientation and gender identification. Progress seems too slow. My comfort: the great cloud of progressive and liberal Christians who are disillusioned right along with me, and also determined. Even when it's with baby steps and measured voices, we are still working for justice and full inclusion and the good news of God's love for all people.

Sunday Sermon: Recognizing Jesus at the Table

2011-05-08T08:43:00.008-04:00

Luke 24:13-35; Acts 2:14a, 36-41
May 8, 2011 -- Jerusalem UCC (Palmerton PA)

The Child by the Church Door

Cleopas and his wife were confused. They were walking to the town of Emmaus, trying to sort out what had happened the past few days. In deep conversation they were, and then this stranger joined them -- seemed to come from out of nowhere -- and not only that, this stranger seemed to not know anything about the big news coming out of Jerusalem.

Little did they know that this was Jesus.  Jesus was the stranger who had joined them on their walk to Emmaus. It’s a funny thing: Cleopas and his wife knew all about Jesus. They knew he was a man of God, a prophet, powerful in deed, amazing teacher, God’s own, popular with the people. They knew that Jesus had been tried and sentenced to death and was crucified. They knew -- and they were confused -- that some women -- that very morning -- had found an empty tomb where the body of Jesus should have been and now were claiming that angels had said that Jesus was alive. Yes, Cleopas and his wife knew all about Jesus; they may even have been with Jesus just a few days before; but when Jesus joined them on the road in a new day, they didn’t know Jesus.

Imagine having Jesus walking along beside you, talking to you and asking questions, and even teaching them everything there is to know about the very history of the Messiah -- and still -- not being able to recognize Jesus when Jesus is right there!

The only thing worse would be to stop expecting Jesus to show up at all. I almost gave up -- years ago -- encouraged by my Sunday School teachers -- or I should say DIS-couraged by some of my childhood Sunday School teachers. You see, as a child, I had no trouble believing the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  I had the faith of a child -- a faith that said if God decided to raise Jesus from the dead, then it was done.

My urgent question was: “Where is he? Where is Jesus? If Jesus is alive [as I knew he was] then where is he NOW?” The answer: “He’s in heaven” didn’t help me out. I was old enough to have some sense that this heaven where Jesus was, was somehow different than the sky. But … but … more than that, I knew that, if Jesus was alive, he wasn’t out in space hanging out on some faraway planet somewhere. I knew -- somehow I knew -- that Jesus was a lot closer than that because Jesus loved me -- THIS I did know. I also found out that there are only so many of those hard questions that a Sunday School teacher will tolerate before she loses her cool. I grew up somehow holding onto “Jesus Loves Me” even when, at times, my Sunday School teachers seemed to have run out of love in the form of patience.

So, back then, at about age 8 or 10, I absolutely had no idea what a sacrament was. That is, I didn’t know that Communion -- the bread and grape juice -- was a sacrament. I knew it was called “Communion” and I knew that it was the body and blood of Jesus for me. I knew that as a young child. At Communion, I got Jesus. It’s not quite like the walking talking Jesus that Cleopas and his wife got, but it was all I had and it was plenty enough. Because even though I was very young, and even though I was very outspoken and at times a real pain to my Sunday School teachers, I was drawn to church and drawn especially to Communion.  And -- somehow -- kneeling with others at that altar -- on the same level, so to speak, all of us together eating the bread and taking the juice -- I received an outward and visible sign of God’s grace. In other words, I knew God loved me even though it looked to me that there was no possible reason for God to love ME!

Little did I know that that's what a sacrament actually is -- an outward and visible sign of God’s grace. I totally experienced sacrament but there’s no way I could have described what happened at that altar sufficiently to convince an adult that I had any idea of what was going on. You would have described that little girl as so many children have been described: too young and too ignorant to know what Communion means. So -- somehow -- and this was a miracle -- I managed to keep very quiet about anything related to Communion and not call attention to my bread and juice life , lest some well-meaning adult take that experience of Jesus away from me, too.

Perhaps - I don’t remember -- but perhaps I had somewhere heard this story of Cleopas and his wife. Both were adults. They were grown up adults who finally recognized Jesus when they were all gathered around the table and Jesus took bread, broke it, blessed it and gave it to them. These two had missed all the other great big hints that Jesus was with them. Jesus’ resurrected body didn’t give them a clue. Jesus walking with them didn’t tip them off. The stories Jesus told them didn’t ring a bell. What they knew ABOUT Jesus wasn’t the same as KNOWING JESUS. And where they finally knew Jesus was at table -- in the blessing, breaking and sharing of the bread.

And then he was gone.

Their questions had to be flying: “Where is he? Where is Jesus? If Jesus is alive, and they knew he was just a few seconds ago, then where is he NOW? And will we be able to recognize him the next time?”

One of my prayers for our time together today is that God’s Spirit will ignite in each of us the passion of a child -- the passion of a Cleopas and his wife -- a passion to be in the presence of the risen Christ. The Risen Christ among us -- is the reason the church is like no other organization or group anywhere. We come here with the expectation we take to no other place . We come to this place and - especially - we seek among these people with similar expectations -- that we will somehow, together, gathered, recognize and experience the presence of the risen Christ - again.

Today, some of you are remembering an experience you had of the risen Christ sometime in your past. You were on a retreat years ago, or at a camp as a child, or up the street at Renee’s Personal Care Home just last week. Perhaps you were in a hospital bed or beside one. Or maybe, in a moment of grace, someone said to you something that, to them, seemed ordinary, but for you was a word of affirmation that said “God loves you; I see some of God’s best work at work in you.” Are you ready to recognize the risen Christ in new ways -- today?

And I know that there are children and youth here today who are looking at us older folk -- we who have more experience in church life -- and they are wondering: “What are we doing here? Where IS Jesus anyway?” Today, they are looking to us to set tables for them as they begin to experience the presence of the living Christ -- tables of learning, tables of welcome, tables full of food and laughter, tables where the good news is told, and sung and celebrated in ways they understand, and they are even hoping we will take them to share the bread of life at tables beyond these walls.

The WAY WE ARE COMMUNITY matters.  THE WAY WE DO COMMUNITY matters. Community Life is a ministry and a mission. Community life doesn’t just happen in these walls because we have a sign outside that says “church.” Community means we unlock the doors. Community is having more greeters that we seem to need. Community is each person who is here being here, fully present to the community. Community is name tags!

And about my childhood Sunday School teachers -- I thank God for them regularly. I did challenge them -- and you can bet I was THE challenging kid in all of the place and not in any way that was fun or exciting for them. And they also had their own flaws and rough places and -- at times -- unkind language. Even so -- they set the table for me in Sunday School class week after week. They never gave up on me. It never occurred to me that a Christian adult would ever give up on me or any child in church. It was only as an adult -- and an adult pastor at that -- that I found out that there are people who do give up on the church, they sometimes give up on each other and they sometimes give up on what God might be doing in the midst of a church mess or a personal mess or in their dealings with a challenging church member (sometimes a child) because they can’t figure it out and it’s too hard to stay in church. If you sometimes find me to be a pastor with determined to challenge the assumption that it's just fine when people give up on church or give up in church, whether you give up and leave or whether you give up and stay in limited ways, it’s because I know it means EVERYTHING to a community -- and to a child -- when people stay on the road and stay open to the stranger who comes along, when people don’t leave the table before the presence of the risen Christ -- there all along -- is recognized.

So, come to this table of welcome and hospitality. YOU have been on a long trip and YOU are welcome. Come with your eyes open expecting to recognize the One who has been among us all along -- the risen Christ. Come to this table with your whole self -- body, mind, soul, strength and even the parts of yourself you thought you had left behind or safely kept out of sight. Come, and then be surprised once again. For this table is not a destination, this table compels us to go on as a community of faith and to go OUT as witnesses of the resurrection. Cleopas and his wife left the table so filled up with the good news of the reality of the living Christ that they had to GO -- they couldn’t keep it to themselves; they had to share the good news. So, come and fill up with the gifts of God for the people of God and then let us GO to be the good news community overflowing with the presence of the living Christ. Amen.

Friday Five: Word Associations

2011-05-06T09:49:00.004-04:00

Songbird, who blogs at Reflectionary, just got back from a most excellent vacation. Today, as host of RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, she foldly remembers five words from that vacation and invites us to play "Word Association"!  Great idea! Here are those words, with the first word that came to my mind:

1) Airport - adventure

2) Baseball - Rangers

3) Art - children

4) Chocolate - heaven

5) Grill - party

Bonus: Tell us a story that comes to mind based on one of the word pairs.

ART - CHILDREN: In my family of origin, there was not much emphasis on art. We were all about the academics (dad was a high school principal, mom an English teacher) and I graduated from college as a science major, to become a med tech not a pastor, and thinking of "art" as an exotic thing for people who are not like me.

And then there were children! I was blessed to be able to be a stay-at-home mom of three.  A most excellent thing about these children were that they were very responsive to play of all kinds. Because it seemed like a fun thing to do, I kept an abundance of art supplies in the house, and on any given day, we were playing with play dough or finger painting or decorating the patio with sidewalk chalk. My role was mostly the boundary-setter, encourager / art appreciator and cleaner-upper leader.

One day, I found the older two (at about ages 6 and 5) underneath the dining room table, painting the underside, Sistine Chapel style, with two bottles of White-Out liquid paper and the little brushes that come with it.

They are all grown up now, and all three are uniquely gifted artists and art savvy beyond what I ever could have imagined.  All are gifted writers.  All are culturally literate beyond my leading. One is a beautiful dancer and draws; one is a writer by vocation (and does things that combine math and art!); and one has a great blog, crochets, and creates in the kitchen.

I still keep art supplies handy, for any children who happen along and also for me. Sometimes a girl just needs to get out the crayons or the water colors and have some fun!

Friday Five: Resurrection Preview

2011-04-08T07:05:00.001-04:00

RevGal Dorcas extends the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five invitation today by asking us to anticipate resurrection: "List five ways that your life is moving toward light, joy, hope -- new things: new ideas, new people, new hobbies ... and so on." Thanks, Dorcas, for a glimpse of resurrection as Lent becomes ever more arduous.

I once was a towel and now look at me!

1. New Food: Curry -- I'm looking forward to experimenting with curry recipes. I think I was sort of promised some delicious recipes by a few RevGals on Twitter the other day, that may be wishful thinking talking. Something called "red curry" sounded fascinating. If I get lucky, some curry recipes or links will be left in the comments.

2. New Idea: Blog -- I am still working up a new blog inspired by B.E.4.0. Lent has demanded pretty much all of my creative time and energy. I'm hoping the season of Resurrection gives me some time to pursue that further.

3. New People: Hispanic friends -- Our Penn Northeast Conference UCC has several things going relating to the Hispanic community that is growing in and around Allentown. It's a whole new set of people to enjoy!

4. New Activity: Writing Online -- I haven't written "the book" yet, but I am writing regularly at 750words.com. It's been more regurgitation therapy than anything else so far. I'm a total sucker for the rewards and stickers and such that you get by doing the work.

5. New Ministries: Lots! -- We have a ton -- I mean a ton -- of kids and youth in, and orbiting around, our church. I am looking diligently for the needed lay leadership emerging that could give us a real youth group. We have building challenges that could lead us to rethink the way we do Sunday School, or perhaps a new building program may be in the works. And some of the complaints that have been swirling may be answered with technology rather than trying to patch old wineskins like the church newsletter.

To See What the Good Shepherd Sees

2011-04-03T07:28:00.003-04:00

My very favorite version of Psalm 23 by Bobby McFerrin.

I probably posted this before. Well, here it is again!

John 9:1-41; Psalm 23

Life is difficult. And sometimes it’s even worse than that. Sometimes life is broken.

At this very moment, in this very place, a significant number in our congregation are grieving. If you have lost a loved one in the past two years, it would be totally normal for you to be still grieving pretty intensely, to have some tender places and some sad moments. If you are not one of those, you could reach out from where you are sitting right now and touch someone who is broken from the loss of a loved one.

If not that kind of broken, sitting among us today are other kinds of broken: Health is broken; finances are broken; relationships are broken;

I’m not speaking generally about what could happen among us. This is what is happening right now among us, to you and to me, to us.

One day, as Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. Broken eyes. Broken life. Never had seen the color of his mother’s eyes. Never had seen a sunset or a lightning storm. He couldn’t even see who was walking by him. Really broken man with blindness.

What do you see when you see broken? The disciples looked at the blind man and saw someone to talk about, someone to solve. They saw broken and wanted to find out who was to blame.

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

In their question “Who sinned to make this happen?” is the unspoken put-down: “This blind man must’ve done something awful to have deserved this. Or was it his parents? Poor thing, bless his heart.”

They call them disciples because they have a lot to learn from Jesus. Don’t we all?

We see broken and we sometimes try to figure it out -- who is at fault -- who sinned -- who made this happen?

Or, we see broken and try to solve for the unknown, like broken life is an algebra equation.

Or, we see broken and secretly -- or not so secretly -- thank God that, even though I am broken in some way, even though we are broken in many ways -- there is always someone worse off, poor things.

When Jesus sees broken,

Jesus doesn’t assess the situation for fault or solutions;

Jesus is not the one who makes this situation into a Sunday School lesson or a sermon;

Jesus doesn’t look down on the person.

What Jesus did was to actually touch the man who was blind. Jesus used his very own warm spit, got his hands really dirty with actual dirt, and made mud to put on the man’s eyes.

Jesus wants the blind to see, whether it’s a man who was blind from birth -- or disciples who now are able to see that, in God’s eyes, broken is another word for someone who can be touched with good news.

We see broken, we feel broken, we are broken, and when we want to be touched by good news, we oh-so-often turn to those familiar words of comfort, “The Lord is my shepherd …” This is a beautiful picture of God in the beloved Psalm 23 -- an appealing, approachable God who takes good care of us. When we are broken, looking for comfort, we place ourselves in the hands of this kind shepherd who is the very God of the universe, meeting us with dirty feet and a shepherd’s crook.

There is comfort in these words when we are broken -- and there is more than comfort.

For in the story of “The Lord is my shepherd” the God of the Universe will not add to the pain we have by putting us further down. The broken come to the “The Lord [who is] my shepherd,” and there are no questions asked; there is no trying to figure out who is at fault -- who sinned -- who made this happen? Good Shepherd sees “broken” as just another word for someone who is ready to be touched by good news. “The Lord is my Shepherd” … I am not found wanting … I do not fall short … I will be picked up by the Shepherd, not put down.

Because the Shepherd is good? Yes, surely. And the Shepherd is not a blind shepherd. Seeing you, in whatever state brings you to the shepherd, you are welcome, picked up, brought along, and given the best things that the Shepherd has to give -- no matter who you are, what you have done, or what has been done to you.

We love the 23rd Psalm. Because, when the going gets really rough, we turn to the Good Shepherd It’s one time when it’s OK -- even better than OK -- to see ourselves as incredibly valued. “You anoint my head with oil” we say, without blushing or blinking. You know what that means? Just as surely as young shepherd David was chosen to be king, we each are God’s first round #1 choice to be God’s chosen ONE. We claim that worthiness when it looks like, to all the world and to our own eyes, that we are most broken.

We even SEE for a moment the incredible little lamb that God sees: For our lives to matter, it’s not about figuring out life’s broken places; it’s not about being better so we can keep bad things from happening to good people; it’s not even about painstakingly picking up the broken pieces of life and working, working, working, to put them back together again.

During the time that we are saying the 23rd Psalm, we are each a child of the King, we are princes and princesses, the only child. We get rest in green pastures, peace beside still waters. We have a name and a purpose. The place at the table is assured and prepared. Our path is one with the Good Shepherd, the Lord of the Universe. During the time we are repeating the 23rd Psalm, we are not defined by our brokenness, by what has happened, by who sinned or who didn’t sin, or by popular opinion or by unpopular opinion. While we are in the 23rd Psalm, we see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus and we like what we see, or we wouldn’t turn to those words -- to that picture -- when something breaks.

Having been seen like that -- Having been loved like that -- Having been picked up and chosen like that -- the challenge then becomes to be like Jesus, that is, to really see people -- and ourselves. To see -- to notice -- with the eyes of Jesus. For you see, the way of Jesus is supposed to be our way too. Jesus SAW beyond the diagnosis to the person -- and then Jesus was not afraid to put himself out there -- to get dirty and use spit if need be -- and touch a life, to give of himself, to pick someone up. Indeed, Jesus made less of himself -- even to the Cross -- to lift up others.

There are a lot of broken lives in here that need to be held up and handled with care. We are a people who can do that for each other. Let’s take seriously this place as “sanctuary” from the put-downs and the harsh “for your own good” false remedies that only add to the pain.

And -- out there -- there is a world full of broken lives -- whole countries of people’s broken lives -- Japan. Sudan. Afghanistan. We can give to One Great Hour of Sharing offering. We can work for justice and peace. We might even take a mission trip again one of these days.

There’s a world full of broken lives -- far away and very very close by --

Let’s not merely have sympathy for those poor people. Let us not look upon the visibly broken as not blessed, poor things, bless their hearts, while we wonder at how blessed we are. To see what God sees, broken is another word for someone who can be touched with good news.

Let’s reach out and do some healing touching.

Let’s give away the gift of Life that Jesus gives.

Amen.

Friday Five: Very Very Good

2011-04-01T07:50:00.002-04:00

A snowy cemetery in December in PA

The Friday Five at RevGalBlogPals today is perfect for Lent-in-Full-Swing. Thanks, Kathryn, for asking us to do something do-able for busy RevGals: a "quick pick" of five things that are good in our lives right now and -- the bonus -- one thing we could do without.

The five good things:

Health and strength.
Just the right amount of very good social life.
An uncharacteristically peaceful spirit
The awareness of co-workers in the struggle for justice and peace.
I am looking forward to vacation the week after Easter!

And I could do without another funeral during Lent. Monday will be number four of the season.

A blessed Lent, everyone!

There’s a spring that waits ... and waits ... to be

2011-03-30T17:02:00.000-04:00

Winter Alert: 1"-3" of snow over the next 36 hours

Basil-To-Be For the Herb Garden

Destination: Feet Freedom!

Sermon: Living Water

2011-03-26T16:51:00.013-04:00

There are many venues and vessels, but one Living Water.

Surprising Words of Life: THEM
John 4:5-42
March 27, 2011

Jerusalem United Church of Christ,

Palmerton PA

“She is not a prostitute. She doesn’t have a shady past.”

Yet, if you have ever heard this story of “The Woman at the Well” you have probably heard this woman described as a prostitute, a woman of ill repute, a multi-married harlot. If you talk to your friends and relatives who heard sermons on this woman today, you will hear her described as shameless, shameful, and sinful.

And yes, she was an outcast. She is all alone at the well in the heat of the day. In the middle eastern desert culture, all of the other women in her town would have come in a group to draw water from the well in the cool of the morning or the evening. The woman who encounters Jesus at the town well is alone there at noon with her bucket. She was outside the circle of “us” women. She is a “them” - the “other” - obviously the outcast.

There is no doubt that this woman was different. She was probably a lot different from the other women who gathered at that well who were married to their first husbands. When Jesus invites this woman to call her husband, she replies that she has no husband. Jesus agrees: "You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband" (4:18). She is an outcast -- a THEM, not one of the US crowd.

She is not just different from the other women, she and Jesus are very different from each other, the conditions perfect for an US-THEM fiasco. Jesus is male and she’s female, and that alone foreshadows the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus understanding gap. In that culture, a man and a woman would not be even that much alone together or to talk to each other directly. What’s more, Jesus is a Jew; the woman is a Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans the text tells us “do not share things in common,” another way of saying they avoid each other to keep from being tainted by the other and to keep from killing each other. The woman is known, perhaps even famous, for her lifestyle; Jesus is the stranger in this town.

The beginning of the conversation foreshadows a major misunderstanding. She is there to get the cool wet well water that Jesus is thirsty for but has no way to reach. So, Jesus asks her for well water, and then he provokes her by saying that she should be asking him for something called living water that she doesn’t even know she’s thirsty for. Water! Sitting at a well, they can’t even talk about water and understand each other.

This doesn’t look like the setting for a life-giving situation. The rules of the day would keep them apart in the first place. Men and women can't be in the same place and don’t talk to each other. Jews and Samaritans have nothing to do with each other. That’s one way to prevent misunderstandings and even war: Just don’t have anything to do with each other when “US” know how “THEM” can be.

And still today, we hold THEM at arm’s length. Like the Jews and the Samaritans of old, like ancient men and women, we have our reasons for not getting mixed up with whoever the “THEM” is to “US” -- for “everyone” already knows how they are, all of those we label THEM:

THEM Muslims don't get freedom to freely build worship spaces.
THEM people of color are still not welcome in every neighborhood.
THEM gay people don't get the same rights as others to marry.
THEM unemployed people don't deserve adequate health care.

Listen to the news, pay attention to conversations. See how often the THEM are labeled and dismissed as not like US and worse, against US, a threat to US. Instead of walking through these, our unfamiliar Samarias to meet up with suspicious Samaritans, we walk around THEM, we keep THEM at a safe distance.

My own experience: In El Paso, THEM were Mexicans. In Baton Rouge, THEM were black people. In Dayton, THEM were the people from Appalachia. In Bradford County, PA, THEM were the Amish. In this area, well … you know …

Sometimes THEM is the new person in town who looks familiar, but is harder to get to know.

When I lived in Dallas, northerners who moved in there with their fast talking ways sounded to us very angry and not very nice.

When I moved from Dallas to Philadelphia, people were surprised that someone who talked more slowly with a Southern accent actually had a brain and could use it. Our children, who had been in the gifted program in their Dallas schools, were tested in Philadelphia for being slow learners because they “talked slow” and didn’t understand their teachers’ fast speech. Our Texas-born kids were unable to de-code some of the expressions of fellow United States citizens that were to them -- quite literally -- foreign ways of speaking.

THEM … simply put … are THEM who aren’t US -- the HER or the HIM who is not ME. It’s understandable and seems even desirable to label people because it takes time to get to know who that particular HER or HIM or THEM really is and even to see that some of THEM are not like the others of THEM. Such real encounters require effort and energy and precious time. We will need to take a risk, a leap of faith, we might say.

Jesus’ meeting with the woman at the well is complex, and rich, and deep and takes a chunk of time. Indeed, this is the lengthiest story of Jesus with anyone in all of scripture. You would think we would at least know her by name. Instead, she gets from us a label -- “Samaritan woman” or “Woman at the Well.” Let us not also label her sinful, shameful, prostitute or attach to her a shady past.

Jesus did not label her. Jesus merely named who she was and what he saw:
When she tells Jesus that has no husband. Jesus agrees: "You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband" (4:18).

That just sounds bad, doesn’t it? One conservative preacher is typical. His sermon describes this woman as “a worldly, sensually-minded, nonspiritual harlot from Samaria” and later calls her something worse that I will not say. Where does this so-called interpretation come from? John, the narrator of the story, never says this. Jesus, the main character of the story, never calls her a sinner, never names a sin, never calls for repentance.

This is more likely a tragic story rather than a scandalous one. In each of these marriages, she might have been widowed or abandoned or divorced. Likely she was not the one taking command of any of these situations, as men in those days had legal and religious power that women simply did not have. It is very possible that the man she was living with might have been the brother of her last husband. If that husband had died, the brother was supposed to marry her. Perhaps it was this current “man who was not her husband” who didn’t do right by her. There are a number of very likely scenarios where this woman is the victim not a harlot, which makes her story sad and painful rather than making the woman sinful and deserving of scorn. [I have taken this view before, but today was also influenced by David Lose's blog at Huffington Post.]

Jesus could have walked around Samaria that day. Some would say there were many reasons he should have avoided that foreign place.

Yet, think of all that would have been missed if Jesus had walked around Samaria:

The woman wouldn’t have met Jesus the Messiah.
She wouldn’t have been introduced to this thing called living water with her name on it.
Jesus wouldn’t have gotten to have this theological conversation with her, the likes of which he frankly never had with any of the twelve male disciples.
Jesus wouldn’t have seen more in her than anyone before had seen -- she was wise, smart, articulate, courageous, and generous -- at least that.
She wouldn’t have become a good news missionary for Jesus.
Many other lives would have remained unchanged, untouched by good news, unhealed by living water.

So … Jesus walked through Samaria. And not just a walk through, but he made an important stop at the well. For to see who this woman really is, is to listen to her and look her in the eyes. To get beyond the label “sinful woman” is to be courageous enough to sit with her for awhile even if it makes your knees shake and your voice quake. For us western 21st century Christians, hearing her story means taking the time to understand an ancient foreign culture that is very different from ours today. We then get to celebrate that this woman’s story is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who sends her to become the first evangelist, the first missionary Jesus sends to “foreigners” to both of them -- Samaritan men!

That’s how "THEM" becomes a compelling word of life. For God is already among THEM, just as God is already speaking to US. God's grace can transform our avoidance -- even our wars -- into holy encounters. There’s no strange formula for such holy encounters. In this congregation, we have a congregational covenant to guide our own relationships toward sacred bonds.

As members of this church, we covenant to do what Jesus and the woman did, things like:

Take the time to value the process of relationships
Risk face-to-face communication especially when that seems impossible
Be persistent in clarifying communication and making relationships
Hear what is being said and receive that as a gift
Be ready to grow and change together
Expect that God is able to create good outcomes and even amazing ones

So, when our journey takes us to foreign places, let us never hesitate to walk through Samaria and let’s take our sweet time. There’s great good news at that strange well when God brings unlikely THEM's together. And there’s living water enough for all. Amen.

Wordless Wednesday: The Flowers of March

2011-03-23T17:01:00.000-04:00

Three weeks ago on a cruise

Today in Pennsylvania

Temptation's God Surprise

2011-03-13T07:24:00.004-04:00

Surprising Words of Life: Temptation
Matthew 4:1-11; Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
A sermon for Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Palmerton, PA

Crawfish adorned Christmas tree

This story of Jesus in the wilderness seems strangely familiar to us. Our Holy Scripture tells us that Jesus was “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.” So it makes a lot of sense to us that Jesus, when he taught us to pray, included this particular plea: “Lead us not into temptation” and we pray that prayer every single Sunday.

“Lead us not into temptation.” God forbid that what happened to Jesus would happen to us -- that is, that the Spirit would lead us into wilderness places and put before us a buffet of delicious temptations.

I don’t know about you, but when I pray that prayer, “Lead us not into temptation,” I find myself inserting my temptation of the week -- something I’m struggling with or something I want to avoid.

“Lead me not to the dessert menu.”
“Don’t get me all tempted to get lost in a book when I should be doing housework.”
“Lead me not anywhere close to that person where I might say something in anger.”
Or the more general: “Lead me not into things I have no business doing -- the temptation to do this when I should be doing that.”

I sort of pray that prayer “Lead us not into temptation” -- as a general -- and sincere -- “Keep me out of trouble, God!” and God knows what that trouble is. My great fear, of course, is that surely God does know my temptation, so God could be really good at leading me right into it just to test me -- yet again! “Lead me NOT …” I pray!

Still things go very wrong sometimes.

On a tragic global scale, this week we are reeling from the massive devastation from a gigantic earthquake or two and the tsunami that came along with that. It was predictable that the day would not pass before someone put a “God spin” on the events of the day. Sure enough, someone said to me regarding the big earthquake that God must be trying to get Japan’s attention with such a display of force. God testing; God finding someone or some group or some country deserving of being led to the brink and over the brink. “Whatever they did, God, to get that judgment -- whatever temptation they gave into -- deliver me -- deliver us -- from that!”

“Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil.”

I sometimes wonder if we think of that prayer as our religious rabbit’s foot. “Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil” -- an incantation of protection -- calling a time out from God’s relentless judgment that can show up anytime in natural disaster, like this week’s earthquakes, or human-created devastation like the recent shootings in Tucson.

When devastation comes, we wonder where God is in the tragedy. If all lives were not saved, then we say that God must have been sending a message to someone or worse, God must have abandoned someone. After all, the very fall of humankind -- we have been told -- was the result of a woman -- Eve -- who had clearly been told not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Then she was tempted to do so by a serpent. She ate the fruit, and everything changed from the unspoiled garden to a world where God is no longer pleased with humans, work makes you sweat, childbirth hurts and people are out to get each other. Lead us away from the kind of temptation that messes up the world like that!

The great temptation -- of the first humans and of Jesus -- is to turn away from God at the precise moment that the longing for God is the greatest. The first humans had an abundance of good things and of God things. The only thing left was to be like God. It’s tempting indeed, when things are going well, to be like God instead of being with God.

Jesus’ wilderness experience was no Garden of Eden. Jesus was physically hungry in an actual dry desert and alone. It’s tempting indeed to fill that hunger and powerlessness with temporary food and false power.

Jesus could have played the God role. If anyone could be God, it's Jesus, for he was God. He had just been baptized and affirmed by God, “This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased” and being Son of God we say that Jesus himself is fully God. Walking around in a real body, we also say that Jesus is fully human. In the wilderness, Jesus comes face to face with what it means to be fully human.

To be fully human is to be aware that we aren’t quite complete all by ourselves. We have what’s been described as a hole in our beings that we are always looking around to fill up. Whether living in the abundance of Eden or in the dryness of the wilderness, there’s always the temptation to fill that God-shaped hole with something -- or someone -- that is not God-shaped at all. These stories from Genesis and Matthew say that the God-shaped void might seem to be shaped like a piece of forbidden fruit or a power play.

For you or for me, we might think that the hole is shaped like more things, a bigger house, a promotion or a raise, or the perfect life partner. Sometimes it’s shaped like another piece of cake.

Blaise Pascal was the one who said that we all have this “God-shaped hole.” The temptation to fill that hole with all kinds of things reminds us: There is no filling for that God-shaped hole except our relationship with God.

And there is more to it than just finding God and plugging that hole once and for all. To live the God-life and to be a Jesus-follower doesn’t solve that emptiness and doesn’t plug the hole for good and forever. What Jesus showed us in the wilderness is that humanity is not a puzzle to be solved or a task to be completed. To be human is to accept being human over and over again.

We get to practice being human every day! We might, over time, with lots of practice, be less likely to fill our God space with other things, but we will have the chance to practice being fully human every day!

We especially get to practice when tragedy strikes. Doesn’t anxiety take us right to the place where we are really tempted to play the role of God? We might even say -- with that little voice in our ear that is the same one Jesus heard -- “God would want me to make sense of this and I can do that!”

So we can give into the temptation to be the all-knowing voice of God and say:

“This earthquake is God making a point.”

“That war or terrorist attack is God’s judgment on those people.”

“These are surely signs of the end times”

"Here's the reason God let your loved one die."

In our fear or our anger -- and especially in our helplessness -- how easy it is to give into the temptation step out of being fully human and take on the role of God -- to share God’s wisdom instead of showing God’s love -- to speak for God instead of speaking to God.

Temptation in whatever form turns out to be simply the next chance we will have to take on the role of God instead of taking in God to fill the void.

Temptation’s gift of life: In whatever circumstance of anxiety or of abundance, the God-seeking place in each of us -- that God-shaped void -- asks the question: “Where is God in this?” The God-shaped void demands an answer! The temptation is to answer quickly. Our faith says, “Slow down and stay with the question.” The temptation to answer quickly gives us a holy opportunity to let the question lead us.

The question “Where is God now?” may pull us to our knees in prayer.

“Where in the world is God?” might propel us into each other’s loving and comforting embrace.

Staying with the question “Where is God in this disaster?” might inspire us to justice actions or to compassionate acts of relief.

“Where is God when things are going well?” could bring us together to search the Bible, to share our lives, to walk with each other down the road a bit.

Staying with the question -- inviting God in as well as our fellow humans -- and just maybe -- something brand new and incredibly surprising might show us that -- yes, indeed -- God is here!

For real.

Amen.

Friday Five: Favorite Things About Lent

2011-03-04T07:20:00.003-05:00

I'm B-A-A-C-K! I'm back home in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains, I'm back from the boisterous and thoughtful adventure that was BE 4.0 and I'm back to blogging. Thank you RevGalBlogPal sisters (everywhere!) for this venue as perpetual encouragement and energy boost. I have coffee in front of me and a day of major big-time catching up ahead of me. And -- oh yeah -- it's Lent in just a few days! Ack! And ... I am still rocking a little, as if still rolling on that big boat!

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five:

What are some things you appreciate about the season of Lent? Perhaps you would share 5 of them with us. And for your bonus question feel free to share one thing you could do without.

Ash Wednesday: I like the messiness of the ashes as a defining marker of the beginning of the season. I don't understand Ash Wednesday without ashes, but I found out it does happen. In the first year of a particular call, I went along with our UCC church's tradition of sharing Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday services with a neighboring (happened to be Methodist) church. Their pastor was appalled that we were imposing ashes at the Ash Wednesday service, that year hosted at our church. He refused to participate in imposing the ashes or receiving them.
The Color Purple: I like changing paraments and wearing the purple stole. I found out on BE 4.0 that the clergy stole evolved from a pastor's need for a sweat rag! Well, then, give me a purple one!
A New Beginning: Like New Year's Day and the first day of school, the beginning of Lent feels like a good time to do some self-reflection, begin new habits &/or look to the future. So, Lent also gives me the gift of ...
Disciplines: I have lately started using the word "practice" instead of "discipline" because it helps me to remind myself to actually "do practice" or otherwise I don't think I will ever "be disciplined." I usually add a practice or two rather than taking something away.
Good Friday: It's a hard service to mess up or embellish a lot as the story speaks very well for itself. I like to wallow in it -- yes, wallow rather than immerse -- because the implications are profound and deep and I'm pretty sure I've not yet touched the bottom of that deep end.

BONUS -- The one thing I can do without: If I had to say one thing, it would probably be the church Easter egg hunt which is held, strangely enough, on Palm Sunday! The reason for that date: "People are too busy on Easter" and "The kids' Easter clothes might get messed up!" My childhood family Easter egg hunts -- yes, multiple egg hunts at multiple family homes -- were wonderful! I haven't figured out how the one we do at church adds a thing to what families can -- and will -- do for their kids. I have nothing at all against a church Easter egg hunt; I just don't get it.

Friday Five: Books R Us

2011-01-21T10:16:00.003-05:00

Jan at RevGalBlogPals has enticed me out of the spectator seats and back onto the blogger playing field with today's Friday Five. Books do it for me every time!

1. What books have you recently read. Tell us your opinion of them.
I'm in a group that is reading Diana Butler Bass' Christianity For the Rest of Us. I do recommend it, although the lay people in our group don't seem all that inspired by it. On my last day off, I re-read Eat Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert), a book that reminds me what spiritual journey looks like on a modern day seeker apart from the institutional church.

2. What books are awaiting your available time to be read.

At the top of my pile is War is a Lie (David Swanson), "a thorough refutation of every major argument used to justify wars, drawing on evidence from numerous past wars, with a focus on those wars that have been most widely defended as just and good."

3. Have any books been recently recommended? I'm looking forward to reading Carol Howard Merritt's Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry for a New Generation. I hope it will begin to answer the question raised for me by Eat Pray Love: Wouldn't it be great if the church was a place where spiritual seekers found God instead of having to give up church in order to find God? I am all in favor of exotic locations as pilgrimage destination, though!

4. What genre of books are your favorite, along with some titles and/or authors you like best?

I don't know if this is an official genre, but I'm sort of a sucker for modern-day morality parables. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) is a favorite, as is The Shack (William P. Young). I also have enjoyed God on a Harley (Joan Brady), The Knight in Rusty Armor (Robert Fischer), The Dragon-Slayer with a Heavy Heart (Marcia Powers) and The Princess Who Believed in Fairy Tales (Marcia Grad). If you ever see any of these on a dollar table at a book sale, grab it!

5. What have you read lately that you have a strong urge to recommend (or condemn)?

I strongly recommend Rita Nakashima Brock's latest book Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire. It is a very life-giving look at the historical make-over, in art and story, of Jesus as shepherd in the earliest church to Jesus the very dead sacrificial lamb. She does some cool things with Song of Solomon, too! Reading this takes me back to the thrill of seminary learning days. Yeah, I know, I'm a total church and Bible geek!

Friday Five: Favorite Things of the Season

2010-12-03T08:38:00.002-05:00

The RevGalBlogPals Friday Five today is an invitation to name five things that mark the season for me and one thing that doesn't do it for me.

1. Candles, including the "fake" window candles

2. Christmas tree lights, any kind, the more the merrier!

3. The movie "White Christmas"

4. Snow!

5. Christmas Eve worship service, especially lighting the Christ candle

The one thing that doesn't do it for me is when those who are most vocal about "Jesus is the reason for the season" tell me that they won't be coming to the Christmas Eve worship service because "family comes first."

Friday Five: Pies R Us?

2010-11-26T07:45:00.001-05:00

Brownie in a pie! Yum!

I'm glad I finished up last week's Friday Five yesterday, so I could play today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five about pie!

I am two years gluten free, and I've not delved into GF pie crusts yet. But I did have a pie life before, and hope to have a pie life again someday. I've discovered and multi-tested a great (very great!) GF brownie recipe, though!

Are pies an important part of a holiday meal? I didn't grow up with much pie on an every day basis, so a pie does say "holiday" to me. I did serve a delicious holiday meal yesterday without pie. The sweet potatoes were like dessert, though.

Men prefer pie; women prefer cake. Discuss. My experience says "true" to this one.

Cherries -- do they belong in a pie? I've never been a big fan of cherry pie. I prefer them as a topping to cheesecake. [Note to self: Find GF graham cracker crumb recipe!]

Meringue -- if you had to choose, is it best on lemon or chocolate? I'm not a big fan of meringue. When the choice is lemon or chocolate -- anything -- the choice is always chocolate! (Anyone remember the boxed pudding cake mixes, back in the day, that came in chocolate or lemon?)

In a chicken pie, what are the most compatible vegetables? Anything you don't like in a chicken pie? I used to pick out the peas from the pot pies we had as a kid. I would probably stick with the basics -- carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, peas.

Friday Five (Thanksgiving Day edition): Unexpected Blessings

2010-11-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

This is a leftover from last week's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five. We were challenged to name five unexpected things we are thankful for. In chronological order:

Each of my children: Of course, it is expected that I am grateful for each of my three now adult children. Each one's actual entry into my life was unexpected in a special way that I cherish.

Becoming a pastor: I was the kid in Sunday School that everyone dreaded having in their class. And, yes, kids overhear teachers saying these things! My crime was that I had questions that the teachers were not very good at answering to my satisfaction. My little secret was that, while all the other kids were bored with Sunday School and especially the worship service, I was both fascinated and strangely captivated by the whole thing. I went to seminary because I had always wanted a graduate degree, and I thought it would be like going to Sunday School full time! If they could see me now. . . !

Amazing journeys: I've gotten to travel to a lot of different places, mostly in the U.S., with some travel to Latin America. The journey of my life has been more wonderful and life-giving than I could have ordered off of the best menu of choices. The people in my life -- family, friends, parishioners -- have been unexpected blessings over and over again. Even the rough, rough roads have been unexpectedly blessed.

Church life: I never expected that I would want to be a pastor, much less be able to, much less derive joy from it. I get so frustrated sometimes that I feel like I'm stuck in the temple, Jesus-style, whip in hand, either whacking the money changers over the head or wanting to so badly that I'm screaming, mostly on the inside. Alternately, I'm crying over Jerusalem and feeling so totally impotent that it hurts. Church life is hard for me because I really do believe Jesus Christ is good news for the world and for the church! I have gotten to see glimpses of miracles, quickly vaporizing usually, but -- still -- I have been privvy to many unexpected blessings!

Daniel: I truly am a person who would have lived a full and complete life, and been totally happy with my own children, if grandchildren had never happened for me. Daniel's advent was totally out of my control, so his presence in this world is, for me, indeed an unexpected miracle.

The Comfort of Quitting

2010-11-17T07:41:00.001-05:00

My niece Laura took this picture

I quit.

I quit trying to "win" NaNoWriMo. Winning would have meant writing 50,000 words of a so-called novel in the 30 days of November. I started off strong, believing that this was my "winning" year. As of a few days ago, I have put away NaNoWriMo writing for 2010. Quitting means that, for the fifth year in a row, I have played and not won.

My inner Pollyanna has struggled a little bit this time in her efforts to turn quitting into winning. She's a persistent one, though, and has declared that, indeed, I quit one thing so I could win:

The opportunity to spend three whole days, and two partial days, with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
Some deliciously long conversations with cherished friends and family.
A few sacred, unencumbered days to walk with a family through the death of their 45 year old relative.
The joy of writing and writing and writing on the so-called novel, and now I have won back the joy of a more relaxed writing schedule for sermons, blog posts, and whatever else I want to write.
Some much-needed goof-off time. Did I say much needed?

And ... I won the once-in-a-lifetime chance to make 2011 the year I win NaNoWriMo for the first time!

Friday Five: It is Well With My Soul

2010-11-05T17:27:00.003-04:00

Not my photo, although it seems very familiar.

The Friday Five invitation at RevGalBlogPals talks about perks and privileges for which we are grateful. To quote kathrynzj over there: There are many perks in my life for which I give thanks and then there are some that make everything right in the world during the moment I am enjoying them. I'm wondering what a few of those things - five to be specific - are for you.
I think of perks as those things that are truly the icing on the cake and undeserved or unexpected, like God's grace and falling stars. These are things that I really didn't expect to be part of my life, so they are the perks that come to mind today:

Chili's: For me, Chili's represents the privilege of going out to eat and also is a piece of family tradition that dates back to good memories of dining at the first Chili's restaurant in Dallas, TX, way back in the day. In fact, I enjoyed a bit of the Chili's today for lunch with my first-born.
Technology: Include smart phone, computer, iPod, cable TV, Netflix, Skype, internet research, online role-playing games, and even worship technology. I am not very patient with people who vilify technology outright. I do not use all of those things in any given day, or every week even, but I am grateful for the things, and the people, they bring into my life.
Meaningful work: I can't say that my work is always my play, but darn close. The privilege is sharing faith and life and God together. The perks are the travel and the many, many people I would never have met otherwise.
Corrective Lenses: In my case, bifocals. My life would be beyond fuzzy without them. No driving, movies, or being able to see my congregants' faces during the sermon.
Being a grandmother: A grandchild turns out to be a serendipity that was/is totally out of my control to create or wish into being. Daniel (now 5 months), along with three amazing adult children and a wonderful son-in-law, are all fantastic perks of this time of life.

Some See Fungi

2010-11-04T06:55:00.005-04:00

Some "rare" Texas mushrooms

Words: The dawn of Day Four of NaNoWriMo and I have completed a tenth of the 30-day journey of 50,000 words with a current word count at 5163.

As if the voices in my head are not sufficiently taunting and belittling, Laura Miller at Salon.com opines that NaNoWriMo is a (quote) "waste of time and energy." "Better Yet, Don't Write That Novel" Laura advises those of us who would give ourselves permission to write a whole lot of *compost* for a whole month.

Better yet, read Carolyn Kellogg's rebuttal (debunking?) of Miller's article. At LA Times online, she offers Twelve Reasons to Ignore the Naysayers: Do NaNoWriMo. Why, she makes it seem almost harmless for a couple of hundred thousand writers -- or "writers" -- to have occupied themselves producing 305,703,617 words so far in 2010!

Picture: Taken in Southlake, Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth area) in September, this picture of mushrooms in my sister's front yard is evidence that it does, indeed, sometimes get soggy in Texas.

You say "fungus"; I say "mushroom"! And then, I write about it, because it's what I do.

Words and Pictures: Day Three

2010-11-03T06:33:00.002-04:00

Words: Slightly ahead of pace with 3410 words. Mood: satisfied!

Picture: This sweet daisy bloomed for about a month until 2 nights ago when the freeze seriously wilted it. The joys of warm weather are captured in this picture, especially the joy of gardening during the warmer season.

Farewell sunny daisies and fluttering butterflies!

Hello simmering soup and flannel robes!

Words and Pictures: Day Two

2010-11-02T07:40:00.003-04:00

Coffee & General Synod 2009 "goodie bag"

Words: I have to write 1666.666~ words a day in order to "win" NaNoWriMo by writing 50,000 words in a 30-day month. Yesterday, my first day total was 1671. It was my day off. Writing my quota today will be more challenging.

Picture: Finding coffee at a United Church of Christ General Synod is easy. Finding good coffee is divine! It's not a great picture -- and it may actually be tea! -- but it brings back memories of General Synod in 2009 when I got to sponsor our conference youth delegation: a two-day drive, fun youth, Habitat houses, amazing worship, old and new friends, and the always-appreciated reminder of why I keep on saying "yes" to this call to ministry.

A Month of Words and Pictures

2010-11-01T08:22:00.003-04:00

Good-bye, October! Hello, November! Pumpkins forever!

The Words: 50,000 of them, courtesy of NaNoWriMo, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month. Why? For the joy of writing, of course! So many words over there, so there will be pictures over here.

The Pictures: Lisa Clarke at Polka Dot Cottage is celebrating a Month of Gratitude by taking pictures of things that bring her joy. Thanks, Lisa, for a great idea and for your invitation to everyone to play.

Today, these small pumpkins make me smile!

Friday Five: Comfort Media

2010-10-29T11:41:00.003-04:00

RevGalBlogPals Friday Five today is about Comfort, media style.

Comfort, yes! Comfort media, absolutely! I have my own selection of movies and TV shows that are never old, no matter how many times you watch them. These are the treats you curl up with during a bad cold or to unwind after a particularly challenging Consistory meeting. Just sayin' ...

And don't forget the comfort food! In honor of the last few days of Fair Trade month, treat yourself to some Fair Trade chocolate from Theo Chocolate, the only only organic fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the United States. For something hearty and spicy, check out my daughter's yummy Rattlesnake Pasta -- freshly posted today! Surprise, it's vegetarian! Be ye comforted to the max!

My media comforts trend toward strong women, slapstick comedy and just plain escape:

Legally Blonde (movie) starring Reese Witherspoon as a blonde who is underestimated by almost everyone but herself. Witherspoon herself seemed to be underestimated until she won the Oscar for Walk the Line.

The Closer (TV show) starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. She is sassy, competent, Southern, and is surrounded by a great supporting cast. I watch every episode I can find, no matter how many times I've seen it before. It's just a fun show to watch.

Pretty Woman (movie) which is great Richard Gere and great Julia Roberts. I watch the whole movie to get to the last line, which gets me every time.

Fletch (movie) starring Chevy Chase. I almost have this movie memorized and I still think it's hilarious.

Instant Movie or TV Marathon -- My daughter introduced me to The Deadliest Catch when we watched a bundle of episodes together marathon-style. I am now watching the first three seasons of Mad Men with my son whenever we get the chance to squeeze in a few episodes. I love Netflix!

Knew Better, Did Better: Fair Trade Buying

2010-10-25T12:33:00.008-04:00

Janee Payne: Freshly-picked coffee beans

"I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better." -- Maya Angelou

October is Fair Trade Month. The "special month" is ending, but the opportunity continues year-round to buy with justice in mind by seeking out fair trade products.

ABOUT FAIR TRADE, from the Fair Trade USA web site: "The Fair Trade Certified™ Label guarantees consumers that strict economic, social and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of an agricultural product. Fair Trade Certification is currently available in the U.S. for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, flowers, sugar, rice, and vanilla."

TWO KINDRED SPIRITS:
This week (Oct. 25-31) is International Nestle-Free Week. Once again, coincidentally, my thoughts are swimming in the same stream as my amazing youngest at Anktangle. She makes a convincing case for staying away from all things produced by Nestle, and she details how difficult that is to actually do. Shameless, totally biased plug: Amy's blog is special (like she is!) and her activism is filled with love for her family, for justice, and for life itself. Spend a few minutes browsing!

I have been inspired by Jan at Yearning for God who has written regularly about Fair Trade products, especially fair trade chocolate. Pay her a visit today and wish her a very "Happy Birthday!"

SOURCES FOR FAIR TRADE PRODUCTS:
Equal Exchange: Fairly Traded Coffee, Tea, Chocolate and Snacks.

Green Mountain Coffee has a fairly extensive selection of fair trade (many are organic) coffees and teas.

Small Farmers, Big Change: "A green and more just food system starts with small farmers."

Divine Chocolate: "Divine is the only Fairtrade chocolate company which is 45% owned by the farmers. While Fairtrade ensures farmers receive a better deal for their cocoa and additional income to invest in their community, company ownership gives farmers a share of Divine’s profits and a stronger voice in the cocoa industry."

Sweet Earth Chocolates: This company's "organic fair trade confections for chocolate lovers everywhere" includes wedding favors and bulk ingredients.

Mountain Rose Herbs (also teas, spices and essential oils) is committed to sustainability and ethical stewardship. A significant number of their products are fair trade and part of the standards and values of their business.

DOING BETTER: Some of my favorite things are coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, flowers, sugar, rice, and vanilla. I will enjoy them all the more by doing justice in the buying of them.

Saturday Video Joy: Garments of Love

2010-10-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

"Garments of Love"

by Christopher Grundy, Eden Seminary professor

Therefore, as God's chosen people,

holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

[Colossians 3:12-14]

Friday Five: Joy of Friendship

2010-10-22T09:50:00.003-04:00

The RevGalBlogPals Friday Five today is about friendship:

Who is the first friend you remember from childhood? During my preschool days, Yvonne and I were inseparable at school. One day, she walked in front of someone who was swinging and got kicked in the head and there was blood and she had to leave school suddenly. Happier memories involved field trip days and our first experiences of going on a "trip" with packed lunches.

Have you ever received an unexpected gift from a friend? A friend gave me a going away party when we moved from Philadelphia to Dallas. The party itself -- of young women from our Sunday School class -- was a huge gift, though not unexpected. The unexpected gifts were that each woman had embroidered a tea towel for me. (Remember: Young women, Dallas, luncheon party, in the mid-80s!) The most unexpected and long-remembered gift was when she played the then-new song "Friends are Friends Forever" and we all cried together.

Is there an old friend you wish you could find again? Or have you found one via social media or the Internet? Yes to the first question. There are a couple of people I wouldn't mind finding again, including the women at the party I mentioned above, but I'm not looking for them, either. To the second question: Many of our high school friends are reconnecting via Facebook and have had a couple of get-togethers that I have been unable to attend so far. There is a plan for us to gather for our (*cough*) 40th high school reunion next year, but in a location far, far from any official reunion function(s).

Do you like to get your good friends together in a group, or do you prefer your friends one on one? Slight preference for one-on-one.

Does the idea of Jesus as a friend resonate with you? Yes, among a host of other images.

I'm Wearing Purple Today

2010-10-20T09:41:00.008-04:00

Today is "Spirit Day" and I'm wearing purple to speak out against anti-LGBT bullying. It is also a reminder to me to speak up whenever I hear language that demeans anyone for any reason. I am thankful for organizations and groups who have brought LGBT human rights issues into the mainstream and advocated for equality for all.

GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ) amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality. Go their Wear Purple page to show "Spirit Day" purple on Facebook and Twitter.

The Human Rights Campaign works for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equal rights. Find out what actions are taking place in your state by clicking on a drop down menu on the home page.

I'm especially grateful for the Jesus followers who are the United Church of Christ. The UCC has historically been a pioneer faith in issues of justice and equality, including marriage equality for all. Geoffrey Black, general minister and president of the UCC, was one of the national religious leaders who signed the Clergy Against Bullying Statement.

Yearning for God celebrates the "It Gets Better" You-Tube project

Anktangle celebrates the beauty of purple in pictures.

Kristin at Halfway to Normal proclaims "Not up for debate: Acceptance and love for all"! Amen!

And Geaux Tigers! Today, I wear my purple LSU Tiger shirt in solidarity with teens who didn't live until it got better for them.

Peace. With justice. Now.