I'll be taking a break from this blog for a while. I can't say how long it will be.
I have found this blog and the people I have met through it to be a wonderful thing in my life. There are some personal struggles going on in me right now that I have to pay attention to.
I will be back, but for now, I need to take a break and see what God has in store.
I will probably be stopping your places in the blogosphere so that I can keep up with how you are doing.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Friday Five: Seasons of Life Edition
It is the first of May, or as I have been concentrating on dialogue with folk interested in the new spirituality movement this last week, it is Beltane, a time to celebrate the beginning of summer. The BBC web-site tells us that: Beltane is a Celtic word which means 'fires of Bel' (Bel was a Celtic deity). It is a fire festival that celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.Celtic festivals often tied in with the needs of the community. In spring time, at the beginning of the farming calendar, everybody would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields.Beltane rituals would often include courting: for example, young men and women collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.
Another advert for a TV programme that has caught my eye on the UK's Channel 4 this weekend is called Love, Life and leaving; and is a look at the importance of celebrating the seasons of life through ritual and in the public eye, hence marriages, baptisms and funerals.
I believe that we live in a ritually impoverished culture, where we have few reasons for real celebration, and marking the passages of life; So
1. Are ritual markings of birth, marriage, and death important to you?
Yes. In worship I often say special prayers for a new birth or marriage. When a member of our congregation dies, I say a memorial prayer in the beginning of worship.
2. Share a favourite liturgy/ practice.
I like our funeral liturgy very much. The congregations I serve are warming up to the idea of me marking other passages like graduation, the start of school, and other kid things.
3. If you could invent (or have invented) a ritual what is it for?
I would like to see something for high school baccalaureate. I know there are lots of services out there, but I'd like to see something that really speaks to the kids about the enormity of what they are about to embark on as young adults on their own--plus, I have to help our local high school students with theirs and I'm a little stuck.
How about a ritual or blessing or prayer or something for the first time your significant other sees you in your clergy collar? I know it sounds stupid--really I do. But, I am dating someone who never saw a girl in a collar and its freakin' him out. He knows that I am the same person with the collar on as with it off, but he's really freaked about seeing me in my collar for the first time.
4. What do you think of making connections with neo-pagan/ancient festivals? Have you done this and how?
I think its a good idea to Jesus-size things if we can. Why reinvent the wheel?
5. Celebrating is important, what and where would your ideal celebration be?
An ideal celebration would include those who are closest to me, probably include a beach, likely some kind of wine, maybe a fire....I don't really care what the occasion is...
Another advert for a TV programme that has caught my eye on the UK's Channel 4 this weekend is called Love, Life and leaving; and is a look at the importance of celebrating the seasons of life through ritual and in the public eye, hence marriages, baptisms and funerals.
I believe that we live in a ritually impoverished culture, where we have few reasons for real celebration, and marking the passages of life; So
1. Are ritual markings of birth, marriage, and death important to you?
Yes. In worship I often say special prayers for a new birth or marriage. When a member of our congregation dies, I say a memorial prayer in the beginning of worship.
2. Share a favourite liturgy/ practice.
I like our funeral liturgy very much. The congregations I serve are warming up to the idea of me marking other passages like graduation, the start of school, and other kid things.
3. If you could invent (or have invented) a ritual what is it for?
I would like to see something for high school baccalaureate. I know there are lots of services out there, but I'd like to see something that really speaks to the kids about the enormity of what they are about to embark on as young adults on their own--plus, I have to help our local high school students with theirs and I'm a little stuck.
How about a ritual or blessing or prayer or something for the first time your significant other sees you in your clergy collar? I know it sounds stupid--really I do. But, I am dating someone who never saw a girl in a collar and its freakin' him out. He knows that I am the same person with the collar on as with it off, but he's really freaked about seeing me in my collar for the first time.
4. What do you think of making connections with neo-pagan/ancient festivals? Have you done this and how?
I think its a good idea to Jesus-size things if we can. Why reinvent the wheel?
5. Celebrating is important, what and where would your ideal celebration be?
An ideal celebration would include those who are closest to me, probably include a beach, likely some kind of wine, maybe a fire....I don't really care what the occasion is...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Drawing a blank
It feels as though I have so much to say, but when I sit down to type it out, I keep drawing a blank. There's been so much going on that maybe I'm just not ready to process it all.
I think the final chapter in the WM saga has ended. It's been a painful time. I pray that the right person will come into his life and that whoever she is, she will feel as lucky as I have felt to be with him. It still hurts and probably will for a time, but I am pretty sure that if he can't see that he is letting go of the best thing he had going, I probably don't need to be with him anyway.
Church has been a challenge, too. We are looking at the possibility of selling some land for development. It's been a lesson in this culture for me--one I'm not sure I wanted to learn. I've also discovered that there are a couple of folks in Big-little church that are not willing to entertain the idea because they think we need the land for our growth.... Growth? Really? I don't see it. Maybe that's a good thing. They see something I don't--or they are willing to work to help us grow and become vital rather than stay stagnant and eventually die.
There I go again, drawing a blank. There's really a ton of things I need to write about so that I can get them off my mind, but I just can't think of them.
I think the final chapter in the WM saga has ended. It's been a painful time. I pray that the right person will come into his life and that whoever she is, she will feel as lucky as I have felt to be with him. It still hurts and probably will for a time, but I am pretty sure that if he can't see that he is letting go of the best thing he had going, I probably don't need to be with him anyway.
Church has been a challenge, too. We are looking at the possibility of selling some land for development. It's been a lesson in this culture for me--one I'm not sure I wanted to learn. I've also discovered that there are a couple of folks in Big-little church that are not willing to entertain the idea because they think we need the land for our growth.... Growth? Really? I don't see it. Maybe that's a good thing. They see something I don't--or they are willing to work to help us grow and become vital rather than stay stagnant and eventually die.
There I go again, drawing a blank. There's really a ton of things I need to write about so that I can get them off my mind, but I just can't think of them.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
*sigh*
I spent yesterday with a family who just got news that their husband/father/grandfather has a brain tumor. They did the surgery. It was malignant. He has about a year. *sigh*
The time that I spent with this family was really amazing. The man's two children were there and they are so 'head over heels' for their dad and he for them. He and his wife are so very close and the love and care that passed between all four of them yesterday was very holy. It was a privilege to spend that time with them.
I'm not their pastor. They are friends of the congregation. Their pastor wasn't there nor had he called. I feel a sense of call to this family and to give pastoral care, but where are the boundaries? I don't want to enter into some kind of turf war or be accused of "sheep stealing" or any of that. I went to the hospital because a family member asked me to, because I buried the wife's father this past fall, because I knew they would be alone at the hospital and I didn't want that for them in these uncertain days, and because I believe God calls us to compassion--even if we are not pastors.
Please pray for Barry as he faces the uncertain days ahead.
The time that I spent with this family was really amazing. The man's two children were there and they are so 'head over heels' for their dad and he for them. He and his wife are so very close and the love and care that passed between all four of them yesterday was very holy. It was a privilege to spend that time with them.
I'm not their pastor. They are friends of the congregation. Their pastor wasn't there nor had he called. I feel a sense of call to this family and to give pastoral care, but where are the boundaries? I don't want to enter into some kind of turf war or be accused of "sheep stealing" or any of that. I went to the hospital because a family member asked me to, because I buried the wife's father this past fall, because I knew they would be alone at the hospital and I didn't want that for them in these uncertain days, and because I believe God calls us to compassion--even if we are not pastors.
Please pray for Barry as he faces the uncertain days ahead.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Friday Five: Good Friday Edition
1. How will you pray and worship today?
Truth be told, I hope I do worship today. I am finding it hard to do so amidst all of the preparations and other details surrounding this day/week. I am preaching one segment at our community Good Friday worship and then have Tennebrae tonight at Big-little church.
2. Share a powerful memory or memories of Good Friday past.
The first time I heard the strepitus. I don't remember when it was, but I do remember jumping out of my seat and then thinking about the anguish of the day.
3. How have you grown and experienced God's love during this past Lent?
Could I skip this one? It has been a difficult Lent for me both personally and professionally. I have often felt throughout these forty days that God is on vacation in Tahiti while I am here wondering many things and earnestly praying for some sort of answer--one way or the other.
4. In whom do you see the face of the suffering Christ most clearly?
The folks who came to our food drive. Many of them have jobs, homes, and families, but they just can't make it. Their children made it very clear that Christ is present among us.
5. Where do you find hope for resurrection?
Honestly, today, I don't know. I sat here for several minutes really trying to think of a good answer to this and I can't come up with one. I know how terrible it sounds. As a pastor I should have a bold answer to that, but I just don't. I hope for resurrection in a number of places in my life, but to see signs of it? I'm just not sure.
Bonus: Share a song, poem, or prayer that makes the paschal mystery come alive for you.
I don't know if the paschal mystery comes alive in this poem, but it has been one that I am pondering as I write a sermon for Sunday:
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" from The Country of Marriage
copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry [I hope I got the lines correct!]
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made.
Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Truth be told, I hope I do worship today. I am finding it hard to do so amidst all of the preparations and other details surrounding this day/week. I am preaching one segment at our community Good Friday worship and then have Tennebrae tonight at Big-little church.
2. Share a powerful memory or memories of Good Friday past.
The first time I heard the strepitus. I don't remember when it was, but I do remember jumping out of my seat and then thinking about the anguish of the day.
3. How have you grown and experienced God's love during this past Lent?
Could I skip this one? It has been a difficult Lent for me both personally and professionally. I have often felt throughout these forty days that God is on vacation in Tahiti while I am here wondering many things and earnestly praying for some sort of answer--one way or the other.
4. In whom do you see the face of the suffering Christ most clearly?
The folks who came to our food drive. Many of them have jobs, homes, and families, but they just can't make it. Their children made it very clear that Christ is present among us.
5. Where do you find hope for resurrection?
Honestly, today, I don't know. I sat here for several minutes really trying to think of a good answer to this and I can't come up with one. I know how terrible it sounds. As a pastor I should have a bold answer to that, but I just don't. I hope for resurrection in a number of places in my life, but to see signs of it? I'm just not sure.
Bonus: Share a song, poem, or prayer that makes the paschal mystery come alive for you.
I don't know if the paschal mystery comes alive in this poem, but it has been one that I am pondering as I write a sermon for Sunday:
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" from The Country of Marriage
copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry [I hope I got the lines correct!]
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made.
Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
And then I said...
I attended the funeral of the mother of one of our members today. The mother was Catholic.
The church was stunning. Lovely stained glass. Beautiful icons.
The daughter of the woman who died is my member. Her family has been through absolute hell this year. Both her father-in-law and mother-in-law died--six months apart. This illness was not an easy one, either. There are underlying issues throughout the family. She takes care of most everyone.
Since I've been here I have been with them often. I feel like part of their family. They are strong and faithful and a witness of God's grace to me. The daughter called the other night to ask if I would read a lesson at the funeral---"since you are part of the family and there is no one else who can..." Absolutely I will. It would be an honor.
When I got to the church today, I checked the reading and read it in the Bible I had brought from home. The priest comes to the back of the church and says, "You'll use OUR book to read from..." (How hospitable of him!). Then he says, and you WILL reverence the cross before you approach the lecturn. (Yes, Father...) Then he calls me up to the "Big Boy Chair" and says, "You know, I don't know if I should allow you to read today. You're not a fully initiated Catholic. Only fully initiated Catholics are allowed to read...."
And then I said, in the most gracious voice I could muster at the moment, "Thank you for your graciousness in allowing me to read and for the kind pastoral care you are showing the family by not making an issue of this..." He looked away and went to his room.
Little did I know that he had made an issue out of it the day before with the daughter.
Don't get me wrong. I love the Catholic faith. My own denomination descended from it. I value the tradition and heritage our Catholic brothers and sisters hold dear. I try as often as I can to be involved ecumenically. What really bugged me today was the total lack of hospitality (no communion for the family--most of them weren't Catholic...) and the arrogance with which the service was conducted (the priest said "him" several times, when it was a woman we were burying... no hope... no grace...).
*sigh* I have to do a funeral tomorrow. I pray that I will offer hospitality and grace to this family in their moments of deep grief and sorrow.
The church was stunning. Lovely stained glass. Beautiful icons.
The daughter of the woman who died is my member. Her family has been through absolute hell this year. Both her father-in-law and mother-in-law died--six months apart. This illness was not an easy one, either. There are underlying issues throughout the family. She takes care of most everyone.
Since I've been here I have been with them often. I feel like part of their family. They are strong and faithful and a witness of God's grace to me. The daughter called the other night to ask if I would read a lesson at the funeral---"since you are part of the family and there is no one else who can..." Absolutely I will. It would be an honor.
When I got to the church today, I checked the reading and read it in the Bible I had brought from home. The priest comes to the back of the church and says, "You'll use OUR book to read from..." (How hospitable of him!). Then he says, and you WILL reverence the cross before you approach the lecturn. (Yes, Father...) Then he calls me up to the "Big Boy Chair" and says, "You know, I don't know if I should allow you to read today. You're not a fully initiated Catholic. Only fully initiated Catholics are allowed to read...."
And then I said, in the most gracious voice I could muster at the moment, "Thank you for your graciousness in allowing me to read and for the kind pastoral care you are showing the family by not making an issue of this..." He looked away and went to his room.
Little did I know that he had made an issue out of it the day before with the daughter.
Don't get me wrong. I love the Catholic faith. My own denomination descended from it. I value the tradition and heritage our Catholic brothers and sisters hold dear. I try as often as I can to be involved ecumenically. What really bugged me today was the total lack of hospitality (no communion for the family--most of them weren't Catholic...) and the arrogance with which the service was conducted (the priest said "him" several times, when it was a woman we were burying... no hope... no grace...).
*sigh* I have to do a funeral tomorrow. I pray that I will offer hospitality and grace to this family in their moments of deep grief and sorrow.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Prayers please
Please pray for WM and his dog, Max. Max had four seizures last night and WM is to leave today for his daughter's wedding in a far away place. Max and WM have a very special connection. I love Max, too. This is breaking my heart and with the strangeness between WM and I, I don't know what to do or how to help.
So, if you would, please pray for them both. Many thanks.
So, if you would, please pray for them both. Many thanks.
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