Friday Five: Road Trip!

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

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)

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)

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!

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

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)

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!

 ~~~ 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

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!

"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

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

"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



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!

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!

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!)