conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

friday five: don't call it a comeback edition

Jorge posted this on his site and it reminded me that I have not done this in some time...so here goes.

Please tell us your least favorite/most annoying seasonal...
1) dessert/cookie/family food

Gee, I dunno. I hate cookies with icing on them. I know. Anathema. But...ew!! And the fruitcake. What is up with that!? I know that the Trappists in Berryville, VA make e'm and all...but...again, ew.

2) beverage (seasonal beer, eggnog w/ way too much egg and not enough nog, etc...)

I love the nog...sans booze. Seasonal beers I never did drink. You know...I cannot think of one. I like the drink.

3) tradition (church, family, other)

Do I dare say it? Really? I mean, I just started this full time gig. Okay. I'll say it, but if I lose my job someone better put us up somewhere.

I hate all Christmas plays and full-blown pageants. I do. They make me squirm. I know. I don't have kids. I know. It's so cute. I know. And I think it's great that so many people love 'em. And so I will never complain again. Never. And I will not squash what the people in the church are passionate about. They are passionate about the pageant. Yay. And I am thrilled that our pageant this year is 12 minutes of happiness in the midst of the Lessons and Carols. That's beautiful. It's the Gospel passage. Last year we did this and it was glorious! But...yeah. I hate Christmas pageants. Um, I guess I'll pack my things now.

4) decoration

I like it all...even the rocking Santa Claus sled on the roof of that guys house up the road. I like it all. That it goes up in July is entirely depressing. But, yeah. I like the stuff, just not the timing.

5) gift (received or given)

See: fruitcake

BONUS: SONG/CD that makes you want to tell the elves where to stick it.

Oh...Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. It was clever. Once. Oy. Vey! Send it back!

There you go. I wish now that my blog was anonymous. But I'll take the punishment. I will.

Did I mention that I'm part of the Facebook group "Keep Christmas Out of Advent?" Oh, yeah, and the more sarcastic "Religious but not Spiritual?" Anyway...Have a great holiday, everyone!

friday feasting and sermon prep

Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ
and brought his brother with him
call us by your holy Word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay
and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

-www.oremus.org

Just prior to Turkey Day, Community Church sent out a letter listing all of our Advent happenings. We send it to members and others including those who come to a larger events like the 5K. It's a good thing for us to do...a little extroversion. On that Advent schedule is a listing of our worship services and the sermon titles through Christmas Eve. Yep. I have titles for all those sermons. So, now what?

This Sunday's sermon is entitled "Come to the Mountain." You can go here for the lectionary reading. I am focusing on Isaiah and Matthew. Isaiah reads: In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.

I find this time of year to be generous...spiritually generous. It's a limitation on my part to be certain, but as the leaves fall from the trees and the cold wind blows, these messianic readings from Isaiah seem to carry an extra punch. I have that old song running through my head..."A change is gonna come..." I love Sam Cooke. He's likely not showing up in my sermon. But these things seem to be floating about in my head this morning.

The scriptures beg us to come to the mountain and stand on the edge of some high precipice. We have to look out into a future that we cannot control, that we cannot dictate. This is life. There are ways we can pitch in, align ourselves. Matthew makes it very clear that our present participation in God's future is essential to Christian identity. There's no sitting around. Nope. The hour is "unexpected." So we must be ready. There are no signs or portents. There are no tea leaves to read. There is only our work and prayer.

I hope that you all have a great day. Tomorrow we green the church! That should be fun. The first Sunday of Advent is a communion Sunday for us. I'll try to keep it simple this time. I've been leaning toward more liturgy and not less the last couple of months. But this time I think I'll allow us to experience a little (a lot?) of silence. We have to go to the mountain top. Ya can't carry too much with you if you hope to make it. Leave those things at base camp. Let's keep it simple.

monday videoblog: thursday timeshift

Monday on Thursday, November 29



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the groaning board

Well, I finally posted the pictures from our Thanksgiving trip on the Flickr site. There were 85-ish for dinner on Thanksgiving. Take a gander at the photos. We had a really nice time.

Somehow, however, I never managed to have my camera when I was with my mother. She looked great. She's been walking. She's beautiful. Trust me.

advent prayer

Just sharing...

Above the clamor of our violence
your Word of truth resounds,
O God of majesty and power.
Over nations enshrouded in despair
your justice dawns.
Grant your household
a discerning spirit and a watchful eye
to perceive the hour in which we live.
Hasten the advent of that day
when the weapons of war shall be banished,
our deeds of darkness cast off,
and all your scattered children gathered into one.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near:
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

advent business

I am busy...preparing to wait.

Yeah, there's a lesson here. Maybe I'll post something of substance later.

a sermon

While I was away the associate pastor preached. Wow.

tuesday morning pages

"I must talk about God, or I cannot keep him in my mind. I must give Him away in order to have him." That is the law of the spirit world. What one gives, one has, what one keeps to oneself one loses.
-Frank C. Laubach, Letters by a Modern Mystic

I have been slowly reading a book entitled Letters by a Modern Mystic. One of the members of my church loaned me a copy. I'm reading it slowly because I want to chew on every page. Reading through it quickly, for me at least, means missing time to reflect. Laubach was a missionary in the Philippines in the first half of the last century. He wrote several books and was known as a "practical" theologian. It's all about how the rubber meets the road. These little letters are a revelation to me. It's wondrous to see what fueled such practicality.

He approaches the discipline of contemplation through "mindfulness." He begins an experiment where he tries to think about God intentionally for one fifth of the day. His goal is to think about God in all his waking moments. This is not an OCD spirituality. It is simple "mindfulness." This is what Paul means when he says "pray without ceasing." Well, that's the connection I make. Here's a letter from January 20, 1930.

Living in the atmosphere of Islam is proving - thus far - a tremendous spiritual stimulus. Mohammad is helping me. I have no more intention of giving up Christianity and becoming a Mohammedan than I had twenty years ago, but I find myself richer for the Islamic experience of God.

Islam stresses the will of God. It is supreme. We cannot alter any of His mighty decrees. To try to do so means annihilation. Submission is the first and only duty of man.

That is exactly what I have been needing in my Christian life. Although I have been a minister and a missionary for fifteen years, I have not lived the entire day of every day in minute by minute effort to follow the will of God. Two years ago a profound dissatisfaction led me to begin trying to line up my actions with the will of God about every fifteen minutes or every half hour. Other people to whom I confessed this intention said it was impossible. I judge from what I have heard that few people are really trying even that. But this year I have started out trying to live all my waking moments in conscious listening to the inner voice, asking without ceasing, "What Father, do you desire said? What, Father, do you desire done this minute?"

It is clear that this is exactly what Jesus was doing all day every day. But it is not what his followers have been doing in very large numbers.

This is one of the first letters in the book...and it is one that I have returned to a couple of times. His willingness to learn from Mohammad in order to be a better Christian is inspiring. It is also, though there were surely contemplatives in the US when Laubach was living, a sign of a basic spiritual drought in our country. There was little conscious connection for Protestants with the mystical/spiritual practices of Christ.

Bonhoeffer remarked that when he visited Union Theological Seminary in New York (roughly about the same time Laubach wrote this book) that the entire curriculum was about "practical theology." Systematic theology, patristics and the study of prayer itself was not the focus of the curriculum. Though this suggested something admirable about American Protestant Christianity (that faith and works go together), there is still a risk of the actions losing their Christian intention: which is to be Christ in the world. Who was Christ? The Son of God, Immanuel, God enfleshed, the person who prayed without ceasing. Laubach, at least this is the connection I make, is trying to rediscover the aspects of Christianity that American Protestantism has left behind.

It's been almost a century since he penned these words. But I think he had his finger on our common trouble in much of American Christianity, even those who are not protestant. The theology and the action, the prayers and the common (oft dull or boring and not the stuff of legend) life of Christian are all to be engagements with the will of God. We are to live - in our own way - exactly as Laubach suggests "so that no thought save the thoughts of God shall take birth in any human mind."

It's a good book. I commend it to your attention.

Here's a pdf.

hi

We're back.
Tired. But we're back.

away away...

Well, Trish and I are leaving early in the morning for Virginia. Y'all have a great Thanksgiving. Here's something to meditate upon whilst I am away.

The First Rule

The first rule is simply this:

Live this life
and do whatever is done,
in a spirit of Thanksgiving.

Abandon attempts to achieve security,
they are futile,

Give up the search for wealth,
it is demeaning,

Quit the search for salvation,
it is selfish,
and come to comfortable rest
in the certainty that those who
participate in this life
with an attitude of Thanksgiving
will receive its full promise

John McQuiston II, Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living, Morehouse Publishing, 1996, pp. 17-18.

A friend of mine sent that my way for the holiday. I thought you all might enjoy it. Peace to you and your family! And traveling mercies to all who need 'em. I foresee sweet potato pie in my future! Huzzah! Oo...and Virginia country ham. That's what I'm talkin' about.

who is left behind?

What's your eschatology? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Amillenialist Amillenialism believes that the 1000 year reign is not literal but figurative, and that Christ began to reign at his ascension. People take some prophetic scripture far too literally in your view. Amillenialist 90% Moltmannian Eschatology 75% Premillenialist 55% Postmillenialist 50% Dispensationalist 50% Left Behind 45% Preterist 45%

Hat tip to Huw.

forgiven and sleepless

We all readily agree that God forgives sin, that Jesus brought salvation from sin, but we have a very hard time seeing ourselves as those who need forgiveness and salvation. We watch the evening news or read the newspaper and decide that we really are not so bad after all; the things we may have done - may have done! - are not anything compared to what other people are doing.... We will never have an accurate picture of ourselves and our fallen human condition until we understand that there is no sin we are incapable of committing.... [But] God has come to bring the people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. We are forgiven as soon as we grasp the fact that we need forgiveness.

-Mary Anna Vidakovich

I'm sleepless in Wilmette again. Not that Wilmette makes me sleepless per se, but I am sleepless again. I figured I would say something witty like "Sleepless in Wilmette." Perhaps alliteration would be useful? "Sleepless in the suburbs?" What do you think? Yeah, I know. This whole musing is likely a product of sleeplessness.

I'm struggling to compartmentalize a couple of things. Not that compartmentalizing is always and everywhere to be honored among psychological card tricks. Oh no! But I'm completely consumed with things that are slatted for after Thanksgiving. And if I cannot put these things out of my mind just a little, I won't enjoy the holiday back home. These are the things that are waking me up at 3:30 in the morning. Lovely.

So, yesterday I was compulsively checking my e-mail when this quotation came through. I receive the Sojourners "Verse and Voice" e-mail every day. The accompanying verse is Matthew 5:46-47. "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?"

Yeah. You know, this is a strange little verse. I mean, it's well known (I think), but it's strange. We have to love more. That's all. But then when you start thinking about sin and forgiveness...Is it that really what this thing is about? Maybe. It's in the midst of Matthew's very long "Sermon on the Mount." It's similar in structure and effect to "you have heard it said...but I say..."

So is the failure to do these things sin? Sin is whatever is the subject of God's forgiveness. Well, that's one way of looking at it. We are always in the need of forgiveness. We are always in sin. There are the tiny things, the little things, the impossible to predict, seldom considered, insomnia producing sins that I need forgiving from today. Why? Well, they fall like dominoes and grow. Sometimes they lead to those really obvious sins...like, I dunno, talking at the theater.

I'm tired. I know. And maybe this is not making so very much sense right now. But somehow I am feeling the weight of my own sins these days...more than usual. And in the process of such remembering, I forget forgiveness. It flies out the window. It's elusive.

I cannot begin to tell you what it is. One-on-one Confession would be too specific a liturgy for me today. I need something else. I covet your prayers. I am wearing my burdens on my sleeve today. They are keeping me up when I know I need the rest...companions of the night reaches.

last night...

Follow this link to read the sermon from last night.

monday videoblog: a full weekend

Monday, November 19



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fretting

Ever have one of those days where your mind just won't stop? I have lots of those. I'll admit it. Call it obsession or worry if you like. But I have 'em. Today is the quintessential "Day of Fretting." I preached the stewardship sermon this morning. The liturgy for the service did most of the inspiring. The sermon was just one part of that. But I still carried a lot of anxiety about the sermon.

This evening's sermon is even more anxiety producing. I'm leaving Reconciler. That much is not really news anymore. But it's finally beginning to sink in. I'm just a little miserable right now.

sermon: the peaceable kingdom

Follow the extended link for the sermon for Community Church. I'll post the sermon for Reconciler later this evening on their site.

Proper 28 (33), Year C 2007
November 18, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette

The Peaceable Kingdom

I listen to XRT in the morning as I am getting ready for work. It’s perhaps my favorite radio station in Chicago. During the brief news report one day this week, the announcer read a story about the incredible drought in Atlanta, Georgia. Apparently there has been some discussion of how to pipe water from the Great Lakes to struggling areas of the country like Atlanta…a giant aqueduct.

There was a stunned silence in the radio studio following the report. Then the announcer said, “It’s like the end of days…” She was kidding and not kidding all at the same time. She commented that this kind of story makes her wonder if the whole planet is in some kind of trouble. Deep trouble.

The next song they played that morning was by REM…It’s the End of the World as We Know It…and I feel fine.

There’s so much to say about readings such as these this morning. But what I want us to concentrate on is one word: “endurance.”

From Luke’s Gospel:

You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Jesus is clear. The journey on which the disciples have embarked is anything but a cakewalk. It is quite the opposite. It would be dangerous. They would be challenged at every turn. Their own faith communities would not understand them. And the government would find them to be a threat. And as terrifying as all this was to consider, Jesus asks them not to be afraid or to change course. He asks them to endure. Endurance, steadfastness, and commitment are the pathway to peace.

This is what Jesus asks of all those who would follow in his footsteps. Christianity is not an escape. It is not a responsibility dodge. If we take our faith seriously, we realize that this is the case. The Peaceable Kingdom where the lion and the lamb lay down together demands our ongoing participation.

Glenn Hinson, one of my favorite Baptist scholars and spiritual writers, wrote a powerful article about Mother Theresa. Glenn reminds us that such endurance as Jesus asks of us is about putting a drop in the ocean. It is about the smallest actions, the daily decision to love the next person you meet as if they were Christ Jesus himself. And this will seldom be a grandiose act or a dramatic shift. It will be simple, direct, and small.

Mother Teresa was asked about her work and that’s how she described it. She said:

I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look only at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time.

Just one, one, one.

You get closer to Christ by coming closer to each other. As Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it for me.”

So you begin…I begin.

I picked up one person – maybe if I didn’t pick up that one person I wouldn’t have picked up the others.

The whole work is a drop in the ocean. But if we don’t put the one drop in, the ocean would be one drop less.

Same thing for you. Same thing for your family. Same thing in the church where you go. Just begin…one, one, one.

I know that I’ve been talking about Mother Theresa a lot. But somehow she has been on my radar lately. I think I need her example. There is this temptation for me in life to find that one sweeping notion or change that will fix everything. It’s the silver bullet theory.

If I can make one change, just one that will ease all my burdens and solve all my problems and yours, then that would be great. Let’s look for that. But it’s just not the case. Mother Teresa’s life, and Glenn Hinson’s writings about her serve to remind me what Jesus told his disciples. Life in God asks our endurance. And we have to pace ourselves. One drop in the sea. Just one. But in just that one drop, the entire sea is changed.

This morning we participate in The Walk of Faith. It is our annual stewardship Sunday. I want to thank the person who came up with this name. It expresses so much about God and our journey with God that we need to remember always. Faithfulness is a journey. Along that journey we will be challenged. It is not always easy. And it demands our complete commitment. We will have to help one another. We will need to hold hands with those walking with us. We will pray together. We will sing together. We will gather together in worship.

The strength we will find to walk together on this journey will be found in God. It will be found in prayer and worship, and in fellowship. We are to rediscover again and again that God desires us; that God is always reaching out to us in love. One, one, one…

Jesus says, “I am with you every step of the way.
There is nowhere you can go where I will not walk with you.
There is nothing that the world can throw at you that can separate us.
I love you that much.
You must have courage.
The way is not always easy. There are twists and turns that you cannot imagine.
But at the end you will know God fully.
You will be enshrouded in the Love of God.
It is the end of the world as you know it.”

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

a diversion

mandodoxy: the afterglow and a celtic saint

Last night's concert was outstanding. We weren't in top form, but we had top flight fun and those in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves. There was dancing and imbibing (thus ending one career line for many) and general frolicksome fun. I love playing in this band. Ah, to be One of the Girls forever...anyway.

Today is the feast day of St. Hilda of Whitby. She's One of the Girls as well. If I had put 2 and 2 together, I would have mentioned something last night and found an appropriate tune. There's sure to be something grand out there for her.

Well, here is a very brief biography.

St. Hilda (Hild), Abbess of Whitby
---------------------------------------------------
Born in Northumbria in 614; died at Whitby in 680.

Hilda was a grandniece of King Edwin of Northumbria and daughter of Hereric. Hild is her correct name and means "battle." Both she and her uncle were baptized by Saint Paulinus at York in 627, when she was 13. She lived the life of a noblewoman until 20 years later she decided to join her sister Saint Hereswitha at the Chelles Monastery as a nun in France. In 649, Saint Aidan requested that she return to Northumbria as abbess of the double monastery (with both men and women, in separate quarters) in Hartlepool by the River Wear.

After some years Saint Hilda migrated as abbess to the double monastery of Whitby at Streaneshalch, which she governed for the rest of her life. Among her subject monks were Bishop Saint John of Beverly, the herdsman Caedmon (the first English religious poet), Bishop Saint Wilfrid of York, and three other bishops.

At the conference she convened in 664 at Whitby abbey to decide between Celtic and Roman ecclesiastical customs, Saint Hilda supported the Celtic party. Nevertheless, she and her communities adhered to the decision of the Council of Whitby to observe the Roman rule and customs. Her influence was certainly one of the decisive factors in securing unity in the English Church.

Hilda became known for her spiritual wisdom and her monastery for the calibre of its learning and its nuns. Saint Bede is enthusiastic in his praise of Abbess Hilda, one of the greatest Englishwomen of all time: she was the adviser of rulers as well as of ordinary folk; she insisted on the study of Holy Scripture and on proper preparation for the priesthood; the influence of her example of peace and charity extended beyond the walls of her monastery; 'all who knew her called her Mother, such were her wonderful godliness and grace' (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopaedia).

Saint Hilda is represented in art holding Whitby Abbey in her hands with a crown on her head or at her feet. Sometimes she is shown (1) turning serpents into stone; (2) stopping the wild birds from ravaging corn at her command; or (3) as a soul being carried to heaven by the angels(Roeder).

a little something...

...to start off your Friday. I'll write something more substantive later. This is from the Young Fogey.

American [X]ism, which swelled its ranks to accommodate the spiritual enthusiasms of baby boomers in the late 20th century, is now aging. One estimate puts the average age of [X] converts (about a third of the American [X] population) at upwards of 50. This means that the religion is almost certain to see its numbers reduced over the next generation as boomer [X]ians begin to die off without having passed their faith along to their children.

YF reminds us: "Of course the article is talking about... Buddhists." And here's the link to the link from the...ah, just go. Oh, and there's this post about Christianity and money. Yahoo.

one of the girls are playing friday night...

Hey there gang! The Girls have a gig. This Friday! Oy yeah. We're playing after Dirty Water again. It should be a great night. But you need reservations...

Reservations

The Town Hall pub features cabaret style seating as well as traditional bar stools. Reservations may be made for tables by calling our reservation hotline.

We also recommend that all patrons wishing to sit in the table section arrive early.

Please note: Reserved seats will be released if you are not present 5 minutes before show time.

Reservation Hotline: 773-404-2555

The Town Hall Pub is located at:

3340 N. Halsted
Halsted and Buckingham
Chicago

We go on at 10pm...Yeehaw

Peace and all Good Things,

Tripp

a test balloon

This is the article for the church newsletter for December. I thought I would share.

Waiting for God is a constant theme in scripture. If Christianity is a messianic movement, and I believe it is, then it is founded on the notion of waiting for God. Waiting is an inescapable part of our spiritual DNA. The Hebrews of the Scriptures were waiting for a messiah. And we are waiting for Jesus to return. We wait. There is no escaping it. Advent is the season when we get honest with ourselves and own up to the fact that we are still waiting...waiting for a little transformation in our hearts, our relationships, and in our world.

Advent is a curious discipline for a people to share. We will gather together this December, and for the first twenty-four days we will wait. We will sit together in worship and wait. We'll sing about waiting. We'll hear sermons about waiting. We may occasionally "misbehave" and sing about the Infant God in a manger before we celebrate his birth, but this liturgical acting out only highlights that we are waiting. And we are not always comfortable with it.

It's such a challenging season. Sometimes I find myself looking around at the world and the Chicago area and wondering if God is actually with us. Suffering abounds. But then Advent comes around and I am reminded that God is with us. That the promise of the manger is real. And the promise of the Coming God is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. So, what's with all the waiting?

We uphold waiting, enthrone it and give it birth this time of year. Can this be wise? I think it is. Advent paints a picture of not just what has been or what can be, but principally of what is. Advent is the most accurate liturgical portrait of what Christianity is all about. We are waiting for a present God. Humanity is somehow incomplete, our relationships unfinished, and our faith filled with doubt. Wisely our religion reminds us of this in Advent.

Someone reminded me recently that "the past is in the now." The past waiting, the time of Mary's pregnancy is now. So, too, is Jesus' birth and the joyful proclamation of angels. These two opposing dynamics are both present in this very moment. Every moment, every breath is filled with this potency. Every moment of life is the moment when waiting and arrival collide. Neither is entirely present or entirely true. And yet both are entirely present and entirely true. It's the great spiritual paradox, and the mystery of our faith. We wait. And we celebrate the arrival. The past is in the now.

We wait for a God who is already with us: Immanuel.

We are also waiting on ourselves. We are waiting for each and every one of us to respond to the announcement “For unto us a child is born!” So much of the world's violence is the product of our own free will. Systems, too, will oppress. History has weight and momentum. We don't always know where to begin as we try to solve the world's problems. We don't know where to begin as we try to solve our own problems and bring healing to our relationships.

But maybe, just maybe, this is what Advent is trying to teach us...that we are waiting on one another to respond to the angelic call. Are you ready to respond? For unto us a child is born. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting, The Prince of Peace.

is this really about politics?

Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.
--Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton was not a pacifist. That may surprise some. He was a little too orthodox for pacifism. Though, born on the heels of WWI and converted around the time of WWII, war was often on his mind. If I remember correctly, his brother fought in WWII. Someone correct me here if I'm mistaken. It's been a while since I read The Seven Story Mountain. Still, I find great wisdom in this quotation.

Yesterday I was listening to NPR. There was a commentator speaking about Iran. The link is for an audio recording. Some things were said that surprised me. The general gist was that though the government of Iraq is clearly anti-American, the majority of the populace is democratically inclined and ambivalent about America or even in admiration of our government (gross paraphrase). I'm surprised by this take. I don't know why. Have I become somehow, I dunno, blinded by our own propaganda?

Governments speak out against governments. I get that. The American government may wish to go to war with the Iranian government. I wonder now just how democratic either of these two governments are. Admittedly, the commentator may have been speaking anectodaly. But I dunno.

How successful can a government be in representing its people? Maybe there is only so far a government can go to uphold the varied interests of its people...protecting the minority from the majority while still managing to "protect the national interest." Perhaps that's simply a reality we are forced to live with. But when the potential failures bring us into military conflict with another nation, I become deeply sad and frustrated.

I'm going to learn what I can about what's going on in Iran...about the accusations that the west has laid upon the government of Iran and the complicity of its people if any. Thomas Jefferson said "Every generation needs a new revolution." Are the current governments of both countries the fruit of revolution or the stage for a new one? Perhaps, if the commentator on the radio is right in his assessment of Iran, there can be a bloodless coup d'etat. I don't know. But I think I may start praying for one.

Elections are upon us again in the U.S. I've been listening to the rhetoric on both sides. Primary elections always entrance me. As politicians in the same party try to delineate themselves from one another, we get to see just how many diverse opinions actually exist in this country. That Giulianni and Huckabee, for example, are in the same party is really quite remarkable. I look at the slate on both sides of the aisle and think to myself that we seem to choose between revolution and status quo every election.

I think I am looking for a little revolution this time around. I wonder if there is a candidate of any stripe that is interested in one.

for the birds

Camille Paglia has this to say about the Birds. It was at the end of her rant about Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres.

The Chicago Tribune gave a rave review to "Hell in a Handbag," a satirical play by David Cerda and Pauline Pang inspired by my British Film Institute book on Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." I'm a character in it -- a know-it-all psychotherapist sent as a deus ex machina by Hitchcock to straighten out Bodega Bay.

Tippi Hedren and Veronica Cartwright, who starred in the original film, attended the Chicago premiere last month. The party photos are posted online: Tippi and Veronica can be glimpsed quaffing champagne in a limo and mingling with their vibrant stage doubles. The production photos of the charismatic Tracy Repep as Tippi/Melanie comically trapped in a minimalist telephone booth are not to be missed.

The play is a half-drag burlesque: The goody-two-shoes child Veronica/Cathy is played by a man, as is Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette in the film and David Cerda here), for whom my character (played by a "hawkish" Merrie Greenfield) conceives a sometimes buffoonishly irrepressible lesbo passion. Here I am effusively mourning over Annie's sprawled-out corpse, her foot caught in a rose trellis and her head heraldically ringed by stuffed birds. Love it!

I'm proud of my friends. I finally saw the show last night. My lovely wife and I house managed. They sold out on a Wednesday night. Imagine! Incredible. Good stuff. Try to get tickets if you can. The show closes this week.

and the meetings just keep on coming!

I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.
- Ronald Reagan

Today is a meeting day. I thought yesterday was a meeting day. Tuesdays usually are. But no. Today is The Meeting Day. I am meeting someone for breakfast. Then I am meeting people downtown at noon...and again at 2:00. It's all good stuff. I have to wear my clergy duds for the last one of the day. Ah, ecumenical hoohah, how do I love thee.

As you can see below, the soup recipe is ready for your experimentation. I enjoyed the soup. I hope you will as well.

I am planning the worship life of the church through Christmas this week. Hymns, introits, candle lighting, greenery, guest preacher or two...It's good stuff. I just need to put it aside, I think. I have two sermons to preach this Sunday.

The first is for Community Church. It is our "Walk of Faith" Sunday...our pledge Sunday. So, the cards are in the mail. And the lectionary is challenging. It should be interesting.

The second sermon is for Reconciler. I am preaching at my last worship service with them. Now, that thar is a challenge. I am looking forward to it. Again, the lectionary supports a mighty cool sermon.

But, unlike other weeks when I preach in both places, this week I have to write what is really two sermons. I usually tailor the sermons somewhat, but this week, given the occasion of my leaving, I think I need to say something different at Reconciler than I do at Community Church.

Keep us all in your prayers.

soup

Here's as close as I can come to the recipe that I made Saturday evening. Please tell me how it works for you and if you have anything you need me to clarify.

Ingredients:

3 lg. white onions
2 lg. carrots
6 cloves garlic
1 c. water
1/4 c. white wine (Pinot Grigio worked well...You want something crisp...maybe 1/2 c.)
6 c. veggie broth
swiss chard
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter (or more...mmm)
1/2 t. thyme
salt and pepper to taste

This is how I put it all together:

Heat the pot to medium, combining the oil and butter. Clean and slice the onions. You want to cut them along "the equator" so you have thin slices. I cut the onion in half and then cut the thin strips. You don't want rings. You just want thin strips. Put the onion in the pot with the hot oil/butter. Cook until the onions are golden brown. You want that color and flavor. Don't burn 'em. Just brown 'em. Mmmm.

While the onions are browning, peel and dice the carrots. You want them small-ish. Peel and slice the garlic as well. Don't crush the garlic, just slice it thinly. It makes for a lovely presentation when they float about in little translucent "chips." When the onions are browned, add the carrots and garlic. Let them "sweat" just a minute or two. Add the thyme. Stir. I covered the pot at this step.

After a minute or two, uncover the pot and add the wine. Let the alcohol cook out. Add the water, stir to bring things together and bring to a light boil. Once it gets to a boil, turn the heat to medium low (-ish) and let it simmer covered for 30 minutes. You want to let this onion broth come together.

Add the rest of your broth. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low for an hour. Salt and pepper to taste. Five minutes before you serve, chiffonade the chard. Add to the broth and stir so the chard doesn't clump. Nothing worse than clumping chard in your soup! Heh.

Ladle into your bowls. Enjoy.

alien immersion/fencing the table

With Baptists, we’re all just a few steps from the 19th century at any moment.
- Bill Leonard, church historian

The quotation on your right is from a news article that came to me from the Associated Baptist Press. It seems that our Baptist brothers and sisters in Arkansas are revisiting their liturgical policies. Take a moment to read the article. I included it in the extended section of this post.

What I like about the article is that Marus, the reporter, does a good job of reminding people of Landmarkism, a 19th century movement in Southern Baptist life. Baptists were trying to secure power in the South. Now, believe it or not, they held more sway then than they do now. It was during Reconstruction that Landmarkism really took hold, I think. Communities were banding together as strongly as they could and the church was the vehicle for this.

Anyway, Reconstruction is over. And the Arkansas Baptists are rethinking their position. They almost changed their policies/liturgy/theology to open communion to Christians who are not Baptist and to allow for transferral of membership from traditions who do not practice believers baptism or teach the right doctrine. Almost. But they aren't ready for all that.

Keep in mind that the congregationalist spirit lives in Arkansas as well. So all the convention can do is guide. Policing policy is much more difficult, as the article suggests.

Read on...

(Note: I am in the office early this morning. I get more done between 7 and 10 in the morning than any other time of the day. Yay!

Arkansas Baptists narrowly reject opening on communion, baptism By Robert Marus

VAN BUREN, Ark. (ABP) -- Arkansas Baptist State Convention leaders narrowly rejected an attempt Nov. 7 to remove a peculiar constitutional provision on communion and baptism that historians say is rooted in a 19th-century Baptist controversy.

Messengers to the body’s annual meeting, held at First Baptist Church in Van Buren, Ark., voted 383-225 to remove the provision. However, the motion required a two-thirds majority, and it fell a few percentage points short.

The proposal would have deleted a passage that has been in the state convention’s governing documents for decades. The phrase, following a section noting that the Southern Baptist Convention’s “Baptist Faith and Message” also serves as the ABSC doctrinal statement, says, “The ‘Baptist Faith and Message’ shall not be interpreted as to permit open communion and/or alien immersion.”

“Open communion” refers to the practice of offering the elements of the Lord’s Supper to any worshiper who is a baptized Christian, regardless of their church membership or denominational background. “Alien immersion” refers to Southern Baptist churches accepting transfers of membership from churches of other traditions that also practice believer’s baptism by immersion.

Both terms date to the 19th century, and opposition to both practices is among the hallmarks of a Baptist movement commonly referred to as Landmarkism.

“Baptism is not a matter of heritage, history or denomination,” said Greg Addison, chairman of the ABSC committee that recommended removing the provision, according to the Arkansas Baptist News. “Baptism is best and only defined by Scripture.”

Addison, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cabot, Ark., urged reliance on the “Baptist Faith and Message” section and Bible passages on baptism without further interpretation. He also said the committee “affirmed that we would never step away from any process that would remove or weaken our dependence on the ‘Baptist Faith and Message.’”

Addison also argued that the passage in question conflicts with another in the ABSC constitution that prohibits the state convention from interfering with the autonomy of local churches.

But Van Harness, pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Greers Ferry, Ark., argued against removing the phrase. He said open communion is not nearly as much a threat to the doctrinal standards of Arkansas Baptist churches as is alien immersion.

“We all agree that a valid baptism is a prerequisite for church membership,” Harness said. “When we receive someone into our church, we want to be sure they have had a valid baptism.... Only congregations that teach a correct doctrine of salvation and have a correct practice of baptism can authorize and administer a valid baptism.”

Despite the prohibitions, many Arkansas Baptist churches have long practiced open communion and accepted new members from non-Southern Baptist backgrounds without re-baptizing them. Pastor Randy Hyde of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., said his 95-year-old congregation “has never practiced closed communion, as far as I know.” He also said Pulaski Heights accepts as members those who have received believers’ baptism in other traditions.

Hyde said every time he presides at a communion service, he extends an invitation to partake for all Christians present, noting that the table of wine and bread “belongs to God” and not to the church.

“I think that’s theologically and biblically correct, and I think the Arkansas Baptist State Convention is representative of a culture that, from my perspective -- at least in light of this issue -- does not reflect what Scripture conveys.”

Baptist historian Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School, said the Arkansas provision stems from the state’s history as a center of Landmarkism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Landmarkism split many Southern Baptist congregations during that period, particularly in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. While some Landmarkists went on to form their own denominations -- two are still headquartered in Arkansas -- others stayed in Southern Baptist churches.

“One of the ways the state convention kept churches and pastors in the fold was to add that phrase” to its governing documents, Leonard said. “Many of those congregations look a lot more like Landmark-independent churches than they did denominationally based churches.”

The Landmarkist provisions come from an era in the South when Southern Baptists exerted much more cultural hegemony than they do today, Leonard said.

“When you had Southern Baptists as the sort of dominant, publicly privileged denomination, then many of these churches could afford to draw these lines, because people were going to join them anyway,” he said. “There were reasons enough to be Southern Baptist that churches had the luxury of drawing these distinctions.”

But today, Leonard continued, many young people and newer congregations have little or no denominational loyalty and have “no comprehension” of concepts like closed communion or alien immersion.

“There’s a kind of generic Christianity where these distinctions are difficult to make .... But you still have a core of people for whom these are important traditions,” he said. “They are the kinds of traditions, to these people, for which changing them would be a kind of watering down.”

He added, “With Baptists, we’re all just a few steps from the 19th century at any moment.”

In other action, ABSC messengers elected three officers who ran unopposed: Wes George, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rogers, Ark., as president; Clay Hallmark, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Marion, Ark., as first vice president; and Robbie Jackson, pastor of East Mount Zion Baptist Church in Clarksville, Ark., as second vice president.

Messengers also adopted resolutions on encouraging church unity and opposing a state lottery. They approved a $20.5 million 2008 budget, which includes 41.97 percent for SBC causes and 58.03 percent for missions and ministries within Arkansas. The .2 percent increase for SBC causes is the first such increase in a five-year plan to increase the SBC portion by 1 percent.

The 2008 budget represents a 2 percent increase over last year’s budget goal.

monday videoblog: sweet potato pie

Monday, November 12



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sermon: on the verge

Here's today's sermon. It's budget time!

Sermon: Proper 27 (32), Year C 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
November 11, 2007
POM Sunday

Job 19:23-27a
Luke 20:27-38

On the Verge

I'm afraid of heights.

This proved problematic when I would go hiking as a kid and then later in college. You see, I like the mountains. I like hiking in the mountains of Virginia. Old Rag. Humpback Ridge. These are great places along the Appalachian Trial to hike and to overlook the forest. But I'm afraid of heights.

Every time I would go on one of these expeditions with my friends, we would come to an overlook, some place where a slab of ancient granite juts out into space a thousand feet above the valley floor. One friend of mine from High School, John, was fearless. He would slide out the to edge and peer over. “Hey! Come and check this out!” He would shout. John knew better. But I would try. I would slide out as far as I could. But it was always to no avail. My fear of heights would get the best of me and I would scurry back into the woods, my knees knocking together and weak from fear.

There's a strange kind of shame in this particular phobia. I don't want to be afraid of heights. I can intellectualize the whole issue away. I can craft helpful images of strong rock and good balance. I can remind myself again and again that the turning of the earth on it's axis is one of the many reasons why I won't actually fall. But it all unravels. I just know that the slab of rock will crumble, or that my balance will falter, or that the very spin of the Earth will cause me to hurtle down into the valley below.

My fear of heights becomes a web of anxieties and I miss the beauty that is around me. The fear is real. The concerns are not going away any time soon. Try as I might, I am still afraid of heights. But what is most troubling is how that fear keeps me from enjoying the things I want to enjoy…from seeing the beauty of Washington National Forest…

I become distracted. And I miss the fundamental things that matter.

In today’s Gospel passage we encounter another group of people (specifically Sadducees who were Temple priests and believed in the resurrection) asking Jesus questions in the attempt to discredit him somehow. This is a fairly standard practice, even today. We question those who claim authority. We want to know if they are legitimate. We want to know if they are learned. And sometimes we just don’t trust what we hear. And so the Sadducees gather around Jesus and ask this question:

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

There’s a certain absurdity to this question. It’s like some cosmological word problem from math class. A train leaves Toledo bound for Tupelo Mississippi at 7am at 43 miles an hour…carrying kumquats…Another train leaves Akron for Tupelo at 4:36pm at 57 miles an hour carrying encyclopedias. What time will a third train arrive in Cleveland?

In my more generous moments I like to think that it’s not really some absurd cosmological word problem, but really one of those classic ethical dilemmas of the day. It’s a question that arises out of a sincere and honest fear. But it becomes absurd, a question meant to distract and not intended to be answered. It’s not rhetorical per se, but its answers are elusive or incredibly complicated, and impractical. It is like so many questions that our politicians are asked as they run for office.

At its core the question is about how God cares for those in need. Again, if you recall, a woman would not necessarily hold a job. Most women of this age, and at the time of Moses, would have been supported through the wealth of their families, their fathers and husbands, their adult sons when the time came. Moses’ law is simply a social security measure. It’s an act of generosity. If your brother passes away leaving a widow who has no adult child to care for her, then you take her in. We have an obligation to care for one another. It’s really quite simple.

This question, however, tries to complicate things. It tries to shift the ethical center around, complicating the issue as much as possible. The resurrection of the body means the resurrection of relationships and that means that some people’s lives are going to get really complicated if everyone is resurrected!

Wow, what a mess! Who will take care of whom? What about the widow, Sarah, or old Levi who had three wives? Yes, this is complicated. So, where does Jesus stand? Well, Jesus sees something else at work.

Jesus sees that this a question that is not so much about Moses’ law or even resurrection, but about the anxieties of the people. If one hears the question with a kindly ear, then it expresses a legitimate concern. “What about those who cannot take care of themselves? What about our responsibilities to one another?” And behind all of this is the question: “What about me?”

So Jesus responds:

Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.

Jesus is essentially trying to hold people accountable to a certain vision of the Kingdom of God. He wants them to understand that God is caring for them, upholding them. The resurrection as Jesus understands it is the full realization of God’s love for God’s creation.

Jesus wants the people around him, he wants us, to be upheld and to be held accountable to such a vision. He want us to realize that we sometimes allow ourselves to become distracted by anxieties and fear. Even legitimate fears can become distractions and we can allow them to take us away from the work that is at hand. The question that the Sadducees ask is just such a question. So Jesus in his wisdom seeks the question behind the question and speaks to the promises of God to love and care for all of us.

Jesus wants the Sadducees to remember the proclamation of Job. “I know that my Redeemer lives!” Job, too, is in the midst of an inquisition. And he is being challenged by his friends who test him with impossible questions about ethics, righteousness, right and wrong and the will of God. So Job proclaims the core of his faith. He does not get caught up in distractions. Job sees himself risen again from the dead. And he desires that his vision will be filled with God and no other. He recognizes that his health and salvation comes from God, that all he is, all he loves, is upheld in God’s grace. Job knows that at the center of all things is God.

This is how Jesus answers the Sadducees’ question. He cuts through their distractions and the anxieties and looks to the foundation of God’s desire for us all. And there is his answer.

Jesus’ entire ministry is about the little things that lead to this central proclamation. He knows that we are always on the verge of the Kingdom of God. He knows that the time is always ripe. He knows that God is always calling to us, asking us to stand in the security of Job. He wants us to let go of distracting anxieties and see the beauty of what is set before us.

Jesus also knows that there are real concerns, real needs. Thus, God heals. Thus, God steps across the false barriers, the false social limits that are set out of anxiety and fear, and Jesus meets people where they are. God’s work is to cut through the mess that we often so desperately cling to.

We are on the verge, brothers and sisters. We are on the verge of something tremendous. We are in the midst of transition and change here at Community Church. There is birth and rebirth, improvement and reformation. We are on the verge of the Kingdom of God.

Our lives are joined together in this work. How we live, love, understand one another, pay for our programs, keep our books, communicate with our committees, plan our events, and step outside these walls and minister to those in need participating in the Kingdom of God as it breaks through into our community shares this common foundation.

We are the proclamation of Job given flesh here in Wilmette.
We say: We know that our Redeemer lives.
We answer anxiety with hope and fear with compassion and courage.

Today is the beginning (the continuation?) of our collective conversation about the business and administrative life of our congregation. We are going to gather after worship and speak about what we love, how we care for one another and our community…and how we will pay for everything. It’s an exciting conversation.

We are on the verge of some amazing things here at Community Church. There are new ministries being born. There are old ministries being reborn. We are streamlining our efforts. We are focusing our identity.

We are on the verge of something tremendous…on a precipice overlooking a great valley. And it’s beautiful. Let’s not be distracted. It is the Kingdom of God.

Amen.

an interesting poem for sunday morning

In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being

Bird's afloat in air's current,
sacred breath? No, not the breath of God.
it seems, but God
the air enveloping the whole
globe of being.
It's we who breathe, in, out, in, the sacred,
leaves astir, our wings
rising ruffled - but only the saints
take flight. We cower
in cliff crevice or edge out gingerly
on branches close to the nest.
The wind marks the passage or holy ones riding
that ocean of air. Slowly their wake
reaches us, rocks us.
But storm of still,
numb or poised in attention,
we inhale, exhale, inhale,
encompassed, encompassed.

- from Denise Leverton, The Stream and the Sapphire

satreday musings

When I go to Rome, I fast on Saturday, but in Milan I do not. Do you also follow the custom of whatever church you attend, if you do not want to give or receive scandal.
- Saint Ambrose

Yesterday's gathering was great. The Minister's Council functions like a congregation for me. I'm not preaching. I'm not responsible for everything that happens. So, I can simply receive what is offered. I am fed when I gather with them. It's good stuff.

We did not talk about the Advent of God so much as how to cope with Advent life in a congregation. We were asked what we would like to give up, realistic or not, during the season. And from there we got into deep waters. We talked about gifts...learning to empty ourselves to receive gifts from God, from the communities we minister to...It's a constant struggle for all people. We carry so much with us (emotionally, physically) that there's no room for receiving. Our cups runeth over, and there is no room for grace. We have to let some things go in order to receive God's good gifts. Yeah...it was a nice day to dig around in this dirt.

Today is the Annual Meeting for the American Baptist Churches, Metro Chicago. I'm supposed to be there most of the day. Now, I am not so sure that I can be. There's a lot to be done for tomorrow. The sermon is coming along. And that's good, but it ain't done yet. I want to be done before I go to bed tonight. I still have to prepare for the adult Sunday school...Abraham.

Well, you all enjoy your day. I'll be back online again on Sunday morning.

away, away...

A novice master once responded when asked about a life lived in Christian authenticity, said that to be a Christian was not to know the answers but to begin to live in the part of the self where the question is born.…He was speaking of an attitude of listening, of awareness of presence, of an openness to mystery.
- Wendy M. Wright

Have you ever thought about going out to the suburbs for a day to talk about how not to let the Advent/Christmas season get the best of you? Well, today that is what I am doing. The local Ministers' Council (That's Baptist for "union.") is sponsoring a midday retreat of sorts to help us prepare ourselves for what is the "most wonderful time of the year." Between Advent/Christmas and Easter we pastors can get pretty carried away. So, we have to learn to take care of ourselves. If Advent is about waiting and expectancy, then let's let it be about that and not about the 3,476th thing that's on our list.

Well, that is the thesis at least. So, I'll be out of the office all day. I have a 9am meeting at a local coffee shop (I love those!). And then I'm meeting a couple other pastors in the city to carpool. It should be exciting.

Y'all have a great day!

huh...

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant. You're up for just about anything.

snoozeville, usa

Last night was the second night sans cats on the bed. Last night was the first night I have slept all the way through (six hours, mind you) in many, many months. Wow.

it'll take nineteen minutes of your time

...but it is entirely worth it.

Props to Dracula Man.

Now, just to keep your brain cells jumping, this is how I think about liturgy. I am not thinking "remixing" though it is intriguing when you think about some aspects to the Emergent Movement coming out of evangelical America and Britain...and Reconciler to some degree.

Lessig's point, however, about the difference between participant culture and recipient culture is the point I am trying to make about liturgy. Liturgy is something we do, and though reception is a kind of participation, it is a very passive one that may not lend itself to future action (though it can) or transformation. Participation has, I believe, a greater potential of effecting real change, transformation, action in the faithful.

Watch the video. Let me know if you think I am nuts. But I totally see a connection between what Lessig is saying and how liturgy could be/is being done. And here's a challenging question: Is liturgy "user generated content?" Hmm...

urggle

Well, some days are about cats...and some days are about herding the proverbial cats. Yesterday was the former. Today is the latter. Ah well.

There's a lot going on this week.

- a new program (MomCare) began today at CCW.
- Council Meeting tonight.
- I have another meeting Thursday night.
- Budget Meeting and sundry on Sunday after the service...There's a lot to do to prepare.
- We have an afternoon celebration with another Baptist congregation in the evening on Sunday. I have a lunch meeting today about this.
- Friday there is a regional clergy pre-Advent thing...all day
- I have the local Baptist judicatory Annual Meeting this Saturday.

Anyone wanna loan me a sermon?

free felines

The cats are going to drive me nuts. Yes, I know that it's a short trip, but I'm being driven batty no less. I am a light sleeper. And the cats have always woken me up in the evening...usually two or three times. Now, thanks to the new bed (may it be praised), territorial wars have begun anew. Not since we moved in the parsonage 18 months ago has it been like this. They fight, mew, cry, and generally scrap for inches. So, I've not slept for more than one or two hours at a shot. I'm going to have to get rid of the cats. Don't tell my wife. Maybe she won't notice. They come as a set. Three cats, one feline land grab...just for you. Leave a message if you want 'em.

urf...

monday videoblog: vibrate

Monday, November 5



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sermon: vibrate

This is the sermon. Thanks to Trevor Lettman for letting me use his tune, Vibrate, as an illustration. Whether he meant for it to be, I cannot say, but it is awesome theology.

Thanks, Trev!

The Feast of All Saints, Year C
November 4, 2007
The Community Church of Wilmette

Vibrate

Trevor's story-

• Lakewood Cemetery
• The fence is in D
• Fences are built to keep things out, to protect what is inside.
• They are also built to keep things from getting out.

• Prisoners
• cattle
• horses
• High School students

Trevor and I had a conversation about what may be a truism about the prevailing American attitudes about death. We keep it at arms length. We fence it in. We fence ourselves out. We keep death and the dead behind metal gates.

Trevor was pondering the noise he created as he dragged that stick across the fence. He thought about his mother, and how she said that he could make enough noise to wake the dead. And he wondered if that might not be a bad thing.

So, here is his song... (Yes, I am going to play and sing...again...)

Vibrate

All you souls, sing while you can
I release you today.
Underground, sing while you can
I release you today.

Though I know the day will come
When I'll be laying by your side
Well I know this might sound grim
But I'm prepared to take that ride with you.

So boys and girls, sing while you can.
Life is much shorter than you know.
So, use your voice to vibrate the wind
So they might hear you down below.

Beat your sticks on metal gates
Climb the headstones if you dare.
Well, to spite what you've been told
There's no reason to be scared today.
Today...

Can you hear our footsteps through the dirt
or are you on the air that carries sound,
the leaves on trees that fall each year
and make love to the ground?
So tell me can you hear?
So, tell me can you hear?

All you souls, sing while you can
I release you, today.
With bars bent out facing the street
It's time to make your getaway.

Well mama said that I was born to wake the dead.
Today I thank the Lord she's right.
I'll roll you over in your graves
And sing you fast asleep tonight.
...tonight

Trevor's song speaks of liberating the dead. He suggests that we have fenced them in somehow. His language is wonderful.

With bars bent out facing the street It's time to make your getaway.

Is it possible that our relationship with death has come to this? Have we fenced it in? Do we need to do something to liberate the dead? Perhaps we do. Trevor understands that liberation is more than political.

Our scripture passages this morning are about this kind of liberation.

We get a taste of Daniel's famous vision. Daniel is in Exile and he's looking for liberation from the oppressor, the Babylonians. So often this dream is interpreted to be about the end times, as an apocalyptic vision of an avenging deity bringing everything to a halt. And, in a sense, it is. It is about God's judgment. That much is clear. But it is not about God's judgment in some far off future. It is about God's ongoing and present judgment. And for Daniel, that judgment is always about the liberation of God's people.

Daniel remembers that the God who brought the people out of Egypt is with him in Babylon. And God will set the people free. It is a dream about liberation.

God's judgment brings liberation.
Paul and Luke understand this truth about God as well. Paul is praising the Ephesians for living a shared life that witnesses the promise of liberation. Liberation has come in Christ...through Christ's resurrection and through the faithful lives of the saints in Ephesus.

God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

1:22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 1:23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Paul praises the people for their ability and willingness to live lives proclaiming such liberation. No power stands over Christ. There is no power greater than Christ's liberating mercy. Living into the promise of such liberation is to be a saint.

And the language here is fantastic. It is like a dream that Daniel would have shared. It is like a song. It is a prayer. Scholars even suggest that this passage from Ephesians has been used as a communion prayer.

Luke, through the Beatitudes, gives us a description of saintly lives. These “blessed” are the liberated. They embody freedom. Christ, in Luke's recollection of the sermon, delineates between liberated behavior and other behavior, between differing virtues. It's incredibly challenging. Luke's gospel is the only one which includes the “woes.” Luke is pushing us around, trying to get us to see where true liberation lies. Liberation lies in the blessings of a life lived for Christ, bringing mercy and liberation to the world. Liberation brings liberation.

Life brings life.

The fullness of Christ's vision does not end with death. Trevor understands this. He sees the dead everywhere. Underground, in the air, in the leaves...And he sees us trying to imprison them somehow , keeping them at arms length, when all along the promise of God is liberation...even for the dead. Trevor wants to sing them free. So do I.

Today is the bittersweet Feast of All Saints. Today is when we take the time to ponder life and death. All Saints is a Feast to celebrate the promises that are made to us...and revealed in the lives of those dear to us. Daniel tells us of that promise. Paul tells us. Jesus in Luke's gospel tells us. As we remember our loved ones, we are called to celebrate.

But this is a bittersweet feast. We are like Daniel who stands in exile relying on visions and dreams. We are the Ephesians relying upon our own hope in an imagined future painted beautifully by Paul's words. And we are the meek, the persecuted, the frustrated recipients of Christ's own blessing.

We are the liberated.

Are you ready to sing?

saturday afternoon

I am spending my afternoon and evening working on stuff for tomorrow. I am finalizing my thinking about the sermon. You know, the language of dreams and visions is so vitally important to anything we do, and maybe especially for religious/spiritual life. Much that religion encompasses defies scientific language. Thus religious language exists. It is not that one is better than the other, it is that they serve different purposes.

I like the Daniel reading paired with the Beatitudes. How we speak of the dead, the saints and an afterlife demands dreams and metaphor. It demands a different language. Thus, we "vibrate the wind" with Trevor Lettman. Wondrous stuff.

I've included a picture of the bed. It's fun to have this big old chunk of furniture. It is the bed to beat all beds for us. Yay!

Finally, I am working through the adult ed lesson for tomorrow. We are reading Abraham by Bruce Feiler. It's a good adult ed book, I think. It poses interesting questions about Abrahamic traditions, story telling and our interpretive habits. Feiler does not toss the traditions out while learning about Abraham. He insists that we need to hold to the traditions as distinct as they are. Very cool.

the bed

The bed is here! We got a new bed. It's awesome. It has four posts and is so tall that my feet don't touch the ground when I sit on it. Trish may need a stool. I give Mike the Cat three hours to discover that the bed could also be an expensive scratching post.

Yay.

Heh.

Huzzah!!!

all souls: avril makhlouf

It has been my experience that the more sweet, the more gentle, the more truly soft an experience, the more difficult it is to write about.
- Rev. Ben Campbell

How do you sum up a life. Truly, it is an impossible task. There are never enough words. There are never enough tears or laughter or silent pauses...It cannot be done. But then there are days where we are called to remember. Today is the Feast of All Souls. Yesterday afternoon I learned that an old acquaintance of mine had passed away in September. Avril Makhlouf was a spiritual director at Richmond Hill. She was my first spiritual director. Follow this link for an online obituary. Here is the obituary from the Richmond Hill newsletter.

AVRIL MAKHLOUF, a founder and first Spiritual Director of Richmond Hill died on September 25, 2007. She was a companion and mentor to the entire Richmond Hill Community for a number of years, and for years wrote the regular column, InDirections, in UpDate.

After an early life in Malaysia and New Zealand, Avril earned a degree in Islamic History and Classical Arabic from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, and a doctorate in History from the University in Edinburgh. Her doctoral studies on The Doctrine of the Trinity in Early Arabic Christian Writers led to a life-long, passionate quest for greater understanding between Christian Churches of the East and West, and between Christians and Muslims. In the midst of her studies, she also spent five years as Public Relations Officer for the Kuwait Oil Company.

Last year she participated in the historic Catholic/Shi'a Dialogues at Ampleforth Abbey, which brought together Christian and Shi'a theologians and scholars to explore the common ground between them. She also chaired the Ecumenical Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

She was the western world's leasing authority on the spiritual development of Hindiyya Anne `ajaymi, a Syro-Lebanese religious woman who lived from 1727-1798. He published studies included an analysis of the record of her major mystical experiences which, although the dates are not yet established, occurred between her adolescence and middle age. She translated the record, which was written in Arabic, into English, and also translated Hindiyya^s Councils, composed later for the edification of the religious in her care.

Avril helped to found RUAH School of Spiritual Guidance at Richmond Hill. She developed the spiritual direction ministry and the systenm of adjunct ministers of spiritual guidance. Her high standards and professional and spiritual integrity were a central part of the foundation of Richmond Hill.

Grace and peace be to God's servants now and always.

the feast of all saints

O Christ, redeemer of us all,
Protect your servants when they call
And hear with reconciling care
The Blessed Virgin's holy prayer.

- vs 1 of the hymn assigned for today,
Benedictine Daily Prayer, A Short Breviary

Today is the Feast of All Saints. I am working on my sermon for this Sunday. In good (and oft frustrating) Protestant fashion, I have moved the feast to Sunday so we can all worship together at CCW. The Revised Common Lectionary suggests that such a move. And it seems like a good one to me.

I'll be singing in the sermon again. That's three times in one year beginning with U2' Peace on Earth last Advent. I am thinking that I won't sing again for a while. It's a bit much. This time, though, I am singing a song written by a friend of mine. Here are the lyrics. Enjoy.

Vibrate
by, Trevor Lettman

All you souls, sing while you can
I release you today.
Underground, sing while you can
I release you today.

Though I know the day will come
When I'll be laying by your side
Well I know this might sound grim
But I'm prepared to take that ride with you.

So boys and girls, sing while you can.
Life is much shorter than you know.
So, use your voice to vibrate the wind
So they might hear you down below.

Beat your sticks on metal gates
Climb the headstones if you dare.
Well, to spite what you've been told
There's no reason to be scared today.
Today...

Can you hear our footsteps through the dirt
or are you on the air that carries sound,
the leaves on trees that fall each year
and make love to the ground?
So tell me can you hear?
So, tell me can you hear?

All you souls, sing while you can
I release you, today.
With bars bent out facing the street
It's time to make your getaway.

Well mama said that I was born to wake the dead.
Today I thank the Lord she's right.
I'll roll you over in your graves
And sing you fast asleep tonight.
...tonight

pastor carol

I love it when Carol holds court. Carol is one of the pastors at the church that ordained me. She's excellent...a good preacher, mentor and friend. This picture was taken over the weekend at the house warming Trish and I attended. Click on the picture to see the rest of the set.