Thank you to all who have been willing to support this experiment in exploring together our journey from Shrove Tuesday through Easter. Your willingness to write materials from your heart and be open to others has been a gift.
One participant has asked if we are able and willing to keep this forum for sharing our journey together, telling stories to each other, and admitting those places where we have more questions than answers. This is a question for the community that has been gathered, and for the official sponsor which is the Christian Formation Committee. If you have found this a worthwhile place to spend your time, please contact Diane Davis with your thoughts and consider what you are willing to contribute in terms of your own writing and time.
From my perspective, I have enjoyed this opportunity to experiment as a moderator for this kind of community forum. I have learned to trust that there would be enough material for something new every day, even if I didn't have something done in time. Now that we are past the intensity of Lent, it would be appropriate to relax that expectation of a daily essay. Yet it cannot become so relaxed that there is no reason for people to visit.
I have other blogs that I have been leaving fallow during this Lent, and look forward to continuing those.
Your comments are requested, either in person, or using the "comments" link immediately below.
Bruce Calvin
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Times of Living In-between
On this Holy Saturday evening, when I know MSP blog-readers probably won’t see this until after Easter, if at all. I am writing as a way to reflect on my thoughts of today. I have long experienced this day between the anguish of Good Friday and the joy of Easter Sunday as a kind of disturbing void. This morning I finally finished Philip Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew, and was struck by his closing comments about the meaning of this day:
And so today I have come at last to glimpse the meaning of Holy Saturday, at least for me. It is a metaphor for the in-between time, not only between Jesus’ death and resurrection or other specific events in our lives, but as the time in which we all live out our lives, in-between what happened, what is promised, and what we hope is to come.
Nancy Warren
…in a real sense we live on Saturday, the day with no name. What the disciples experienced in small scale—three days, in grief over one man who had died on a cross – we now live through on cosmic scale. Human history grinds on, between the time of promise and fulfillment. Can we trust that God can make something holy out of a world that includes (Yancey, who wrote in 1995, says Bosnia and Rwanda; I’d now substitute Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Nigeria, among others) and inner-city ghettos and jammed prisons in the richest nation on earth? It’s Saturday on planet earth; will Sunday ever come? ...It is a good thing to remember that in the cosmic drama, we live out our days on Saturday, the in-between day with no name.This afternoon I received an email from a former rector, retired bishop and beloved friend of almost 40 years, updating friends on the condition of his wife, Barbara, also a beloved friend, who experienced a brain aneurysm last Palm Sunday afternoon and has been hospitalized in intensive care since then. While Barbara’s doctors consider her to be in danger for several more days, her spirit is incredibly strong and she has made amazing progress. Her husband wrote today:
So for all your prayers and/or fervent hopes, we thank you from some place in our souls that has been bountifully fed. You are helping us walk the tightrope between anxiety and hope. It is a Holy Saturday kind of reality that we are in right now. Our Holy Saturday will be extended this year. We believe that we are past the worst of Good-Friday-like dread, but we are not yet ready to sing Alleluia. In our good time, we trust we will echo the Alleluias that many of you will be singing this Sunday.
And so today I have come at last to glimpse the meaning of Holy Saturday, at least for me. It is a metaphor for the in-between time, not only between Jesus’ death and resurrection or other specific events in our lives, but as the time in which we all live out our lives, in-between what happened, what is promised, and what we hope is to come.
Nancy Warren
It Will Be Alright
It is probably scandalous to admit, especially on Easter, that I have always struggled with the likelihood of resurrection. I have never been able to "just believe" it. While I was in seminary, I had a professor who insisted that Jesus' resurrection was not a historic event. Dr.Joseph Weber would point to the four Gospel accounts to back up his assertion that no one is reported seeing or in any way experiencing the actual resurrection. If there are no personal accounts of what happened when the dead body of Jesus became alive, then it is not a part of recorded history.
As I continue in my Lent discipline of following Kathy Staudt's challenge What if it's All True, I again face my doubts. I must insist that I see doubt as the refiners fire for faith, and I am in no way disparaging doubt. But what if it is true, which is not about if the events are factual, but as Kathy notes, "(w)hat if the whole thing is a whole lot bigger than we thought?"
Mark Harris, an Episcopal priest in Lewes, Delaware and blogger at Preludium, describes a recent dream in his post: A dream: It will all be alright. In his dream, he found himself in a room with anxious people, and realized he was in a gathering of people perplexed by the death of Jesus.
(I recommend reading the whole article and look at the block print that he created after the dream.)
Rev. Harris' description of a presence, a person, who absorbed the anxiety, spoke of reassurance and pointed them to the future seems very right to me. As he notes, "At the same time I didn't see Jesus, or at least not to recognize him. But I knew he was there."
That kind of knowing something is true, that kind of shift in perspective to seeing something or someone not previously seen or understood makes more sense to me than magical appearances and disappearances. I have experienced times when a Presence has calmed my fears and released me from doubt. But those kinds of experiences are also impossible to describe or explain to someone else.
So maybe in telling that story of people's experience of the resurrected Christ, as we all do when telling a story, the actual facts were rearranged, some dropped and a few bits added to make it better? So, the story we have may not describe exactly the events, but does carry the essential truth of the experience? That sounds like truth to me.
As we sing together "Christ the Lord is risen to today!" this Sunday morning, I will be able to accept my doubt while also knowing that it is true:
As I continue in my Lent discipline of following Kathy Staudt's challenge What if it's All True, I again face my doubts. I must insist that I see doubt as the refiners fire for faith, and I am in no way disparaging doubt. But what if it is true, which is not about if the events are factual, but as Kathy notes, "(w)hat if the whole thing is a whole lot bigger than we thought?"
Mark Harris, an Episcopal priest in Lewes, Delaware and blogger at Preludium, describes a recent dream in his post: A dream: It will all be alright. In his dream, he found himself in a room with anxious people, and realized he was in a gathering of people perplexed by the death of Jesus.
The feeling is that of a funeral parlor where a person had died unexpectedly or out of order. There is the anxious and questioning presence of a doubt – the doubt that there was meaning in this life and if in this life, in ours as well. Very quickly, and without much contact with others in the room, I took on their anxious questioning.
And then someone entered the room who seemed to absorb all that anxiety, and without addressing the group as a whole, and without even being a person of note ( I don’t have any sense of what he or she looked like, although I knew the presence of the person, as did everyone else), the person spoke and said,
“It will all be alright. Just as I said. It will be alright and what I promised will be true.”
I was positive it was Jesus, and that I was one of his friends and a follower and that I was meant to be there.
(I recommend reading the whole article and look at the block print that he created after the dream.)
Rev. Harris' description of a presence, a person, who absorbed the anxiety, spoke of reassurance and pointed them to the future seems very right to me. As he notes, "At the same time I didn't see Jesus, or at least not to recognize him. But I knew he was there."
That kind of knowing something is true, that kind of shift in perspective to seeing something or someone not previously seen or understood makes more sense to me than magical appearances and disappearances. I have experienced times when a Presence has calmed my fears and released me from doubt. But those kinds of experiences are also impossible to describe or explain to someone else.
So maybe in telling that story of people's experience of the resurrected Christ, as we all do when telling a story, the actual facts were rearranged, some dropped and a few bits added to make it better? So, the story we have may not describe exactly the events, but does carry the essential truth of the experience? That sounds like truth to me.
As we sing together "Christ the Lord is risen to today!" this Sunday morning, I will be able to accept my doubt while also knowing that it is true:
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!Bruce Calvin
Saturday, April 23, 2011
The Great Vigil of Easter
The Great Vigil of Easter was celebrated as early the 2nd century as recorded in the Apostolic Traditions of Hippolytus. Marion Hatchett writes in his commentary on the American Prayer Book,
In the Great Vigil of Easter we celebrate and make present the pivotal events of the Old and New Testament heritage, the Passover of the Hebrews from the bondage of slavery in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land, the Passover of our Lord Jesus Christ from death, and our own Passover from the bondage of sin and death to the glorious liberty of new life in Jesus Christ.
For many centuries the Great Vigil was the one time each year when new members, known as Catechumens, were baptized and received into the complete fellowship of the church. Our vigil service this year will have a time for renewal of our Baptismal Vows, followed by the Eucharist.
The Eucharist at the vigil is considered the first Easter Day service of Holy Communion. Once again, the celebrant will proclaim Alleluia. Christ is risen! This is the first time since the beginning of Lent that we have heard the word "Alleluia." It is followed by the people's response, The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! Later in the Eucharistic prayer is the proclamation, Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. The congregation responds, Therefore let us keep the feast, Alleluia! It is during the singing of the Gloria in Excelsis when the chapel is transformed from its Lenten bareness into full Easter glory as the lilies are brought in and candles on the altar are lit.
In some parishes, following the Easter Blessing and final dismissal, the congregation throws a party to celebrate the resurrection, complete with lots of food, libations, and dancing.
Fr. Showers
Sonnet for Holy Saturday
A spring-like day conceals a broken heart
but more than that an emptiness within;
a tear in time, a breech in heaven's art,
but more than that a sin to end all Sin.
Can this be all we have to say to Love;
does all creation count for nothing more;
could it be that which must be born above
does all but turn us not to heaven's door?
Each time around this awful truth we turn
forgets how soon forgetting never knows
each moment as a gift we cannot earn
forgets how Life Your grace alone bestows.
Goodness waits not for us our turn to take.
Goodness knows not that one She can forsake.
but more than that an emptiness within;
a tear in time, a breech in heaven's art,
but more than that a sin to end all Sin.
Can this be all we have to say to Love;
does all creation count for nothing more;
could it be that which must be born above
does all but turn us not to heaven's door?
Each time around this awful truth we turn
forgets how soon forgetting never knows
each moment as a gift we cannot earn
forgets how Life Your grace alone bestows.
Goodness waits not for us our turn to take.
Goodness knows not that one She can forsake.
Friday, April 22, 2011
It is Finished
The Gospel of John’s account of the death of Jesus is read on Good Friday. In this account the author shows a Jesus in control right up to his last breath;
"It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30In this final act of obedience to the Father he loved, the fabric of the universe was changed.
The author of John has Jesus the Son sent by the Father to save the whole world. Jesus, Son of Man, died on a cross, bleeding from his pierced side, trusting in the Father. Jesus, the Son of God, revealed God’s love in categories derived from human experience. Now manger and cross are forever linked. "It is finished" and now something new is possible.
This love of the Father, who Jesus loved, was not a soft affective love; it was and still is the very essence of our character and identity as post-Easter Christians. Jesus told his disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus loved all the world without restraint and not counting the cost.
Three women and one disciple were standing at the foot of the cross and heard the final words from the Son of Man; "It is finished." Only in the days and weeks ahead would they realize it was only beginning.
Good Friday is good because not only because we already know the rest of the story, but because, fundamentally, the relationship between God and the world was altered in Jesus’ final act of obedience.
“It is finished." Then he bowed his head and up his spirit.
Fr. Showers
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Good Friday
It’s been a long haul through Lent to get to Good Friday. Arriving at Good Friday is bittersweet. We know this commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death, but we also know the end of the story and it’s a good one.
When Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was taken by Temple guards to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court where the priests and elders sat in judgment of whether or not Jewish law had been violated. They found Jesus guilty of blasphemy but their death verdict had to be carried out by the Romans. Jesus was taken to the Roman courts, first before Pontius Pilate and then before Herod Antipas. Neither was willing to make a decision regarding Jesus. Ultimately Pilate, who knew Jesus was innocent of the charges against Him, but was afraid of the religious schemers of the Sanhedrin and the political implications of not following Roman Empire laws, gave in to the crowd’s riotous calls to crucify Jesus.
All four gospel accounts mention the same location for the crucifixion:
Mark : 15:22 “And they brought him to the place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull)”
Matthew: 27: 33 “And when they came to a place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull)”
Luke: 23:33 “And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.”
John: 19:17 “So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol’gotha.”
What follows is the agonizing path Jesus took from the court to the Calvary. He was beaten and whipped, mocked and spit at. A thorny crown was placed on His head and He had to carry His own cross. On the way He was too weak to carry His cross and Simon helped Him. He met His mother and other women of Jerusalem. Where are most of His disciples? Why are they not there with Jesus? The women are the believers and stand by Him throughout this final days. When He is nailed to the cross He was offered a mixture of vinegar, gall and myrrh to alleviate suffering, but He refused to drink it. He was placed between two criminals. There was an inscription above His head which read “The King of the Jews.” For six hours Jesus endured His fate and cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” Didn’t Jesus know He would die for us? Why would He say this? During His last three hours darkness fell over the land and when Jesus finally gave up His spirit, an earthquake occurred. Then Jesus was removed from the cross, wrapped in a shroud, placed in a tomb, and the entrance was sealed with a large rock.
Station 1: Jesus is condemned to die
Station 2: Jesus takes up his cross
Station 3: Jesus falls the first time
Station 4: Jesus meets his mother
Station 5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross
Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Station 7: Jesus falls the second time
Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Station 9: Jesus falls the third time
Station 10: Jesus is stripped of His garments before the crowd
Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Station 12: Jesus dies on the Cross
Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb
Station 15: Jesus is raised from the dead
When Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was taken by Temple guards to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court where the priests and elders sat in judgment of whether or not Jewish law had been violated. They found Jesus guilty of blasphemy but their death verdict had to be carried out by the Romans. Jesus was taken to the Roman courts, first before Pontius Pilate and then before Herod Antipas. Neither was willing to make a decision regarding Jesus. Ultimately Pilate, who knew Jesus was innocent of the charges against Him, but was afraid of the religious schemers of the Sanhedrin and the political implications of not following Roman Empire laws, gave in to the crowd’s riotous calls to crucify Jesus.
All four gospel accounts mention the same location for the crucifixion:
Mark : 15:22 “And they brought him to the place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull)”
Matthew: 27: 33 “And when they came to a place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull)”
Luke: 23:33 “And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.”
John: 19:17 “So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol’gotha.”
What follows is the agonizing path Jesus took from the court to the Calvary. He was beaten and whipped, mocked and spit at. A thorny crown was placed on His head and He had to carry His own cross. On the way He was too weak to carry His cross and Simon helped Him. He met His mother and other women of Jerusalem. Where are most of His disciples? Why are they not there with Jesus? The women are the believers and stand by Him throughout this final days. When He is nailed to the cross He was offered a mixture of vinegar, gall and myrrh to alleviate suffering, but He refused to drink it. He was placed between two criminals. There was an inscription above His head which read “The King of the Jews.” For six hours Jesus endured His fate and cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” Didn’t Jesus know He would die for us? Why would He say this? During His last three hours darkness fell over the land and when Jesus finally gave up His spirit, an earthquake occurred. Then Jesus was removed from the cross, wrapped in a shroud, placed in a tomb, and the entrance was sealed with a large rock.
Stations of the Cross
The process of Jesus’ being sentenced to death until the resurrection is known as the Stations of the Cross.Station 1: Jesus is condemned to die
Station 2: Jesus takes up his cross
Station 3: Jesus falls the first time
Station 4: Jesus meets his mother
Station 5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross
Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Station 7: Jesus falls the second time
Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Station 9: Jesus falls the third time
Station 10: Jesus is stripped of His garments before the crowd
Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Station 12: Jesus dies on the Cross
Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the Cross
Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb
Station 15: Jesus is raised from the dead
Stations of the Cross - by St. Francis of AssisiJoan Shisler
Most merciful Lord, with a contrite heart and penitent spirit
I bow down before Thy divine Majesty.
I adore Thee as my supreme Lord and Master.
I believe in Thee.
I hope in Thee.
I love Thee above all things.
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
my only and supreme God.
I firmly resolve to amend my life;
and although I am unworthy to obtain mercy,
yet looking upon Thy holy Cross
I am filled with peace and consolation.
I will, therefore, meditate on Thy sufferings,
and visit the Stations
in company with Thy sorrowful Mother
and my holy Guardian Angel,
to promote Thy honor and save my soul.
I desire to gain all indulgences granted to this holy exercise
for myself and for the soul in Purgatory.
O Loving Jesus,
inflame my cold heart with Thy love,
that I may perform this devotion as perfectly as possible,
and that I may live and die in union with Thee. Amen
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, is the Thursday of Holy Week. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning “command.” It stems from Christ’s words in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you.” This is the command or mandate to “love one another as I have loved you.” A lot of tradition is attributed to this day. It commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Ordination.
Three of the four Gospels (Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22) tell us that Jesus shared a final meal with his disciples called the Last Supper on the night before he was crucified. They state that the meal that was shared was a Passover meal and the institution of the Holy Eucharist occurred during this meal. Passover, a Jewish tradition which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, is recorded in the book of Exodus. Jews also celebrate the birth of the Jewish nation after being freed by God from captivity. In the Jewish tradition three events are incorporated into the 8 day Passover celebration beginning with a meal known as a Seder: freedom through God’s intervention and deliverance, Hag HaMatzah or the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Yom HaBikkurim or First fruits, all mentioned in Leviticus 23.
The Gospel of John (starting in chapter 13) deviates from the other gospel accounts and suggests that Jesus was crucified before Passover. It begins the first of the three days known as the “Paschal Triduum” which lasts from the Vigil on Holy Thursday until the Vigil of Easter. John’s version has Jesus having the last meal a day before the beginning of Passover and has him being crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover meal. It is on this day that the sacrificial lambs are slaughtered and symbolically it makes Jesus the Lamb of God.
John focuses on Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, demonstrating how Christians should love one another through humble service. This event is traditionally celebrated on Maundy Thursday as well. Occasionally on Maundy Thursday the events of the foot washing and the Last Supper or Passover meal are often celebrated in conjunction to incorporate all four gospel accounts. The meal is called an Agape Meal. An Agape Meal is a Christian fellowship meal that recalls the meals Jesus shared with his disciples during his ministry and is associated with the Last Supper. It is the original potluck supper. After a common meal, it is then that Jesus gave the disciples the bread and the wine, the Lord’s Supper.
During the Last Supper, Jesus commands his disciples to love with humility by serving one another and to remember his sacrifice. When Jesus shared the final meal with the 12 apostles before going to the cross, he told them one of them would betray him. Even so, He then shared with them the first Eucharist , the blessing of the bread and wine and offering these as symbols for the remembrance of his body and blood. After the meal, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden at Gethsemane. Each of the Gospel writers describe the events of that night with slight variations so reading the four accounts (Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke 22:40-53 and John 18:1-11) will complete the picture. It is here, after spending some time in agony, thinking about what is to become of him, Jesus is arrested. Judas identifies Jesus with a kiss and he is taken away. Of course this is not the end of the story. On Good Friday Jesus is crucified, he rests in the tomb on Holy Saturday and on Easter Sunday, the Resurrection!
Joan Shisler
Three of the four Gospels (Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22) tell us that Jesus shared a final meal with his disciples called the Last Supper on the night before he was crucified. They state that the meal that was shared was a Passover meal and the institution of the Holy Eucharist occurred during this meal. Passover, a Jewish tradition which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, is recorded in the book of Exodus. Jews also celebrate the birth of the Jewish nation after being freed by God from captivity. In the Jewish tradition three events are incorporated into the 8 day Passover celebration beginning with a meal known as a Seder: freedom through God’s intervention and deliverance, Hag HaMatzah or the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Yom HaBikkurim or First fruits, all mentioned in Leviticus 23.
The Gospel of John (starting in chapter 13) deviates from the other gospel accounts and suggests that Jesus was crucified before Passover. It begins the first of the three days known as the “Paschal Triduum” which lasts from the Vigil on Holy Thursday until the Vigil of Easter. John’s version has Jesus having the last meal a day before the beginning of Passover and has him being crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover meal. It is on this day that the sacrificial lambs are slaughtered and symbolically it makes Jesus the Lamb of God.
John focuses on Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, demonstrating how Christians should love one another through humble service. This event is traditionally celebrated on Maundy Thursday as well. Occasionally on Maundy Thursday the events of the foot washing and the Last Supper or Passover meal are often celebrated in conjunction to incorporate all four gospel accounts. The meal is called an Agape Meal. An Agape Meal is a Christian fellowship meal that recalls the meals Jesus shared with his disciples during his ministry and is associated with the Last Supper. It is the original potluck supper. After a common meal, it is then that Jesus gave the disciples the bread and the wine, the Lord’s Supper.
During the Last Supper, Jesus commands his disciples to love with humility by serving one another and to remember his sacrifice. When Jesus shared the final meal with the 12 apostles before going to the cross, he told them one of them would betray him. Even so, He then shared with them the first Eucharist , the blessing of the bread and wine and offering these as symbols for the remembrance of his body and blood. After the meal, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden at Gethsemane. Each of the Gospel writers describe the events of that night with slight variations so reading the four accounts (Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke 22:40-53 and John 18:1-11) will complete the picture. It is here, after spending some time in agony, thinking about what is to become of him, Jesus is arrested. Judas identifies Jesus with a kiss and he is taken away. Of course this is not the end of the story. On Good Friday Jesus is crucified, he rests in the tomb on Holy Saturday and on Easter Sunday, the Resurrection!
Joan Shisler
Sonnet for Maundy Thursday
They gathered in that room yet one last time
Not knowing then how precious time might be
Until the hour had come to name the crime
And sentence You to die upon the tree.
And tell us now again what was so Good
That Friday when You left for kingdom come,
When crown of thorns and throne of splintered wood
Were hardly signs Your Father's will be done?
The Time for Your return seems overdue
While hopeless souls lose will to be set free.
So be our guest and tell us what to do,
While Faith remains in us who did not see.
But how can Heaven send that One who died
But Who, once risen, never left our side?
OK, your turn. The link for Sonnets for Dummies is still calling your name (See "Holy Sonnets for Holy Week"). I actually had to use the link for Special Dummies, but I'm sure you won't.
Bob Stephenson
Not knowing then how precious time might be
Until the hour had come to name the crime
And sentence You to die upon the tree.
And tell us now again what was so Good
That Friday when You left for kingdom come,
When crown of thorns and throne of splintered wood
Were hardly signs Your Father's will be done?
The Time for Your return seems overdue
While hopeless souls lose will to be set free.
So be our guest and tell us what to do,
While Faith remains in us who did not see.
But how can Heaven send that One who died
But Who, once risen, never left our side?
OK, your turn. The link for Sonnets for Dummies is still calling your name (See "Holy Sonnets for Holy Week"). I actually had to use the link for Special Dummies, but I'm sure you won't.
Bob Stephenson
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Good News Will Make You Crazy
In Common Prayer, a Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, authors Shane Clarborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro have compiled a variety of devotional resources.
Their prayers for Monday of Holy Week are based upon the story in Mark 14:3-9, of the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus - a radical act of devotion. They include these words of Emmanuel Katongole, a contemporary Ugandan theologian.
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you, wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing, once again into our doors.
Father Showers
Their prayers for Monday of Holy Week are based upon the story in Mark 14:3-9, of the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus - a radical act of devotion. They include these words of Emmanuel Katongole, a contemporary Ugandan theologian.
Mary represents the ‘rebel consciousness’ that is essential to Jesus’ gospel. Wherever the gospel is preached, we must remember that its good news will make you crazy. Jesus will put you at odds with the economic and political systems of our world. This gospel will force you to act, interrupting the world as it is in ways that make even pious people indignant.They close with this prayer:
While we sat in darkness, Lord Jesus Christ, you interrupted us with your life. Make us, your people, a holy interruption so that by your Spirit's power we may live as a light to the nations, even as we stumble through this world’s dark night. Amen.In closing, I leave you with this blessing for Holy Week:
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you, wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing, once again into our doors.
Father Showers
Holy Sonnets for Holy Week?
Joan's inviting blog on writing in the Haiku form for Lent stirred me to try it, which I found to be a spiritual exercise worthy of serious consideration. Go back and check it out and try it this week if you haven't already done so.
Then, last week, when I was looking back at John Donne's sonnets on death, etc., in anticipation of Passion Sunday, it occurred to me that maybe the sonnet would also work as a spiritual exercise - a bit longer with more rules to follow, but hey, it's Holy Week! Time to do penance for all those lapses in your good intentions since Ash Wednesday (Am I the only one who had lapses? God, I hope not!).
A dream last night came surging back just now
With full force when I read the sacred word.
This Holy Week one knows not why or how,
But some thing deep within the soul is stirred:
If grain falls in the earth and time is ripe
A death brings forth its fruit in full array.
To contemplate one's life in just such light
May blunt those fears so often faced each day.
But breaking faith with ancient bonds within
Can be the work of more than just a dream.
So long did fear to know the way pretend
One knows not how to ford a different stream.
But God alone is who the soul knows best,
But only God puts all souls fear to rest.
Here is a link if you want to give it a try: www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-a-sonnet.html
Bob Stephenson
Then, last week, when I was looking back at John Donne's sonnets on death, etc., in anticipation of Passion Sunday, it occurred to me that maybe the sonnet would also work as a spiritual exercise - a bit longer with more rules to follow, but hey, it's Holy Week! Time to do penance for all those lapses in your good intentions since Ash Wednesday (Am I the only one who had lapses? God, I hope not!).
A dream last night came surging back just now
With full force when I read the sacred word.
This Holy Week one knows not why or how,
But some thing deep within the soul is stirred:
If grain falls in the earth and time is ripe
A death brings forth its fruit in full array.
To contemplate one's life in just such light
May blunt those fears so often faced each day.
But breaking faith with ancient bonds within
Can be the work of more than just a dream.
So long did fear to know the way pretend
One knows not how to ford a different stream.
But God alone is who the soul knows best,
But only God puts all souls fear to rest.
Here is a link if you want to give it a try: www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-a-sonnet.html
Bob Stephenson
Monday, April 18, 2011
Availability and Vulnerability
There are two simple words at the center of the Rule of Life for the Northumbria Community – availability and vulnerability. Since discovering that Rule several years ago, I have tried to live my own life with availability and vulnerability.
Let me backtrack. Many years ago, David found a prayer book developed by the Northumbria Community in England. The Northumbria Community is a geographically dispersed community that has its home on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It is shaped by a spirituality based in the history and experience of the Celts. What holds that community together is their Rule of Life, summarized by the values of availability and vulnerability. As Richard Foster states in the introduction of Celtic Daily Prayer:
Holy Week was a time when Jesus was fully available to those who needed him, while becoming totally vulnerable to the fear and cruelty of those who controlled the religious and government institutions. In his acts of availability, such as washing the disciple’s feet, Jesus turns around the expectations of his friends by caring for them. In his interactions with those in power, he refuses to return violence for violence, hatred for hatred. During this week, we recall his betrayal by one of his disciples, beatings by soldiers, abandonment by his friends, crucifixion by an oppressive state, and death.
So, in continuing on my Lenten discipline of what if it’s all true, what can I hope to learn from Jesus tragic, and ultimately triumphant, journey? I don’t know. Maybe nothing. But if I can find a way to stay available and vulnerable to reliving his story, I hope to be able embrace those values more fully in the power of resurrection and Easter.
Let me backtrack. Many years ago, David found a prayer book developed by the Northumbria Community in England. The Northumbria Community is a geographically dispersed community that has its home on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It is shaped by a spirituality based in the history and experience of the Celts. What holds that community together is their Rule of Life, summarized by the values of availability and vulnerability. As Richard Foster states in the introduction of Celtic Daily Prayer:
These are vows that extend both vertically and horizontally: available to God, available to others; vulnerable to God, vulnerable to others.While I make no claim to be a member of the community, nor have I ever visited there, I have tried to adopt those values into my life, with their challenge and hope. I continually find myself returning to them over and over again, because they seem to be at the core of my struggles to live a life centered on God. This year, I will consciously bring those challenges of availability and vulnerability into this week between Palm Sunday and Easter.
Holy Week was a time when Jesus was fully available to those who needed him, while becoming totally vulnerable to the fear and cruelty of those who controlled the religious and government institutions. In his acts of availability, such as washing the disciple’s feet, Jesus turns around the expectations of his friends by caring for them. In his interactions with those in power, he refuses to return violence for violence, hatred for hatred. During this week, we recall his betrayal by one of his disciples, beatings by soldiers, abandonment by his friends, crucifixion by an oppressive state, and death.
So, in continuing on my Lenten discipline of what if it’s all true, what can I hope to learn from Jesus tragic, and ultimately triumphant, journey? I don’t know. Maybe nothing. But if I can find a way to stay available and vulnerable to reliving his story, I hope to be able embrace those values more fully in the power of resurrection and Easter.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A Rule of Life
As we approach the end of Lent, and the beginning of Holy Week, a question may rise in your mind, “What next?” Whether you have given up some food item or bad habit, or taken on additional activities such as prayer, Bible reading, or service as part of your Lenten journey, how do you feel about all of that ending on Easter?
Like a trellis that supports a rose or a grape vine, your Rule of Life can help you become more intentional about how you shape your time and your relationships. Because you write a Rule to address the specific circumstances and issues in your life, it provides a way to stay on track and to remember what is important. When your life changes, you change your rule to reflect the new situation.
In How do I create a Rule of Life? The Rev. Jay Rozendaal, provides a place to start. He notes that there are many things that you already do that would be a part of your Rule of Life, such as regular times for prayer and worship, community service projects, family activities or workouts at the gym. Starting with what you already do may be surprising and encouraging. When considering what else to add, he notes:
Not everyone is interested or in a life situation that supports this kind of commitment. But for some, it is a useful tool.
I invite you to take a moment, pray to God for guidance, then be quiet for a minute or two. Close the silence by saying aloud “Amen.”
Whether you want to commit to a Rule of Life may not happen right away. Nothing may happen in the time of silence. Whether or not something happens really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have set aside some time to open yourself to God. At root, that is what any Rule of Life is about; for those who have adopted a Rule of Life, it is one way to continually open themselves to God.
Bruce Calvin
- Relief – “now I can eat what I want!”
- Satisfaction – “This has been a good time: I am glad to have done it and I am glad it is coming to an end.”
- Guilt – “Another year when I have failed to live up to my resolutions.”
- Hope – “This has been a great experience, and I want to keep doing something, maybe more or maybe less, to build upon what I have done. Perhaps I can start doing this regularly?
Like a trellis that supports a rose or a grape vine, your Rule of Life can help you become more intentional about how you shape your time and your relationships. Because you write a Rule to address the specific circumstances and issues in your life, it provides a way to stay on track and to remember what is important. When your life changes, you change your rule to reflect the new situation.
In How do I create a Rule of Life? The Rev. Jay Rozendaal, provides a place to start. He notes that there are many things that you already do that would be a part of your Rule of Life, such as regular times for prayer and worship, community service projects, family activities or workouts at the gym. Starting with what you already do may be surprising and encouraging. When considering what else to add, he notes:
It should be do-able (do not set yourself up to fail) but not superficial (do not just take an easy way out); it should be a commitment but not a straitjacket.If you are intrigued by the Benedictine perspective, I recommend the workbook Creating a Rule of Life by the Community of Reconciliation at the National Cathedral. It includes a series of areas to consider, several sample Rules, and additional resources. Since that particular community is based in Washington, DC, you could also attend their weekly, monthly or special events. If you want to read a book, At Home in the World: A Rule of Life for the Rest of Us by Margaret Guenther is excellent.
Not everyone is interested or in a life situation that supports this kind of commitment. But for some, it is a useful tool.
I invite you to take a moment, pray to God for guidance, then be quiet for a minute or two. Close the silence by saying aloud “Amen.”
Whether you want to commit to a Rule of Life may not happen right away. Nothing may happen in the time of silence. Whether or not something happens really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have set aside some time to open yourself to God. At root, that is what any Rule of Life is about; for those who have adopted a Rule of Life, it is one way to continually open themselves to God.
Bruce Calvin
more than words
The recent deaths of three high school students in our community challenge us to a deeper contemplation of our common humanity. At a time when so much global and domestic suffering threatens to overwhelm our senses and drive us in search of those safe diversions that leave us comfortably numb, a local tragedy that impacts people we know, people our children know, calls us up short.
Such an immediate threat to the sanctity of our own families or our friends' families, forces us to look more deeply into those reservoirs of truth that we have been filling since childhood with the Wisdom of the Ages: .... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. At what age did we first hear and perhaps commit to memory those familiar verses from John Donne, not foreseeing then just how they might prove valuable, yet instinctively knowing that they would?
Our religious formation provided us with similar words early on: ....though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff - they comfort me.. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Yet there is always the risk that things learned in our precritical youth are not our first choices as adults when crises threaten too close to home. We may well have learned everything we needed to know in Sunday School, but what is the likelihood that we will return to the story of Noah's Ark when storms threaten our coast as they do this weekend? NOAA would be a more obvious choice.
And as powerful as the story of Holy Week may be at its core with its language and imagery of God-in-our-midst as suffering servant who washes our feet and calls us to an unconditional love for one another, Lenten observances notwithstanding, we may still opt to look elsewhere for that hedge against our fears and uncertainties regarding death when it happens so close to home.
However, Holy Week can teach us much about ourselves and the choices we make, when what we treasure most is at stake. Five weeks ago the invitation to a Holy Lenten observance during the Ash Wednesday liturgy included Holy Week. But Holy Week is like that last mile in a marathon, or anything else in life that tests the limits of endurance. And too often we end our Lenten observance after Passion Sunday, or even before, because the details of Jesus' last week with his disciples can leave us feeling awkward and uncomfortable at best.
Unlike finishing a race, Holy Week does not show us "what we are made of." Ash Wednesday reminded us of that: Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Going through Holy Week ultimately shows us Easter and By Whom we are made - shows us that for every death we encounter there is the resurrection hope: life is changed, not ended. But Holy Week also shows us how fragile and frail our humanity can be when facing the realities of death.
The language we use to express our sorrow for someone's loss is often awkward, if not clumsy, because we seek to remove the pain of grief too soon. Grief is pain that ultimately heals, leaving behind the scars that are permanent signs that we have loved. Offering to share that pain is the best we can offer anyone in such a place. But even then we must take care to know our limits in making such an offer.
Holy Week gives us poignant reminders of how promises to stand by one in their grief or in their dying, can fall short. Peter's denial that he would deny knowing Jesus, followed by his subsequent denials, provides us with a contemplative tool as we consider how we have been there for others in the past in their grief or in their dying, and how we might do it differently in those times that are ahead of us.
Our past inadequacies in the face of death puts us in good company with Jesus' closest friends in the days before his death. The words which best expressed this in John's Gospel, ...and they remembered that he had told them this after he was raised from the dead, hint that we too may only see clearly in hindsight.
But God blesses our frailty in the presence of death and the dying, and infuses those occasions with grace in ways that we may know only in hindsight or perhaps never know. Yet in each year that we are willing to walk through this solemn season to its conclusion, there is always the promise of having our eyes opened in new ways. There is the promise of knowing beyond doubt that, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God..
Or, if you prefer the language of the poet, Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful....Death, thou shalt die.
Bob Stephenson
Such an immediate threat to the sanctity of our own families or our friends' families, forces us to look more deeply into those reservoirs of truth that we have been filling since childhood with the Wisdom of the Ages: .... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. At what age did we first hear and perhaps commit to memory those familiar verses from John Donne, not foreseeing then just how they might prove valuable, yet instinctively knowing that they would?
Our religious formation provided us with similar words early on: ....though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff - they comfort me.. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Yet there is always the risk that things learned in our precritical youth are not our first choices as adults when crises threaten too close to home. We may well have learned everything we needed to know in Sunday School, but what is the likelihood that we will return to the story of Noah's Ark when storms threaten our coast as they do this weekend? NOAA would be a more obvious choice.
And as powerful as the story of Holy Week may be at its core with its language and imagery of God-in-our-midst as suffering servant who washes our feet and calls us to an unconditional love for one another, Lenten observances notwithstanding, we may still opt to look elsewhere for that hedge against our fears and uncertainties regarding death when it happens so close to home.
However, Holy Week can teach us much about ourselves and the choices we make, when what we treasure most is at stake. Five weeks ago the invitation to a Holy Lenten observance during the Ash Wednesday liturgy included Holy Week. But Holy Week is like that last mile in a marathon, or anything else in life that tests the limits of endurance. And too often we end our Lenten observance after Passion Sunday, or even before, because the details of Jesus' last week with his disciples can leave us feeling awkward and uncomfortable at best.
Unlike finishing a race, Holy Week does not show us "what we are made of." Ash Wednesday reminded us of that: Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Going through Holy Week ultimately shows us Easter and By Whom we are made - shows us that for every death we encounter there is the resurrection hope: life is changed, not ended. But Holy Week also shows us how fragile and frail our humanity can be when facing the realities of death.
The language we use to express our sorrow for someone's loss is often awkward, if not clumsy, because we seek to remove the pain of grief too soon. Grief is pain that ultimately heals, leaving behind the scars that are permanent signs that we have loved. Offering to share that pain is the best we can offer anyone in such a place. But even then we must take care to know our limits in making such an offer.
Holy Week gives us poignant reminders of how promises to stand by one in their grief or in their dying, can fall short. Peter's denial that he would deny knowing Jesus, followed by his subsequent denials, provides us with a contemplative tool as we consider how we have been there for others in the past in their grief or in their dying, and how we might do it differently in those times that are ahead of us.
Our past inadequacies in the face of death puts us in good company with Jesus' closest friends in the days before his death. The words which best expressed this in John's Gospel, ...and they remembered that he had told them this after he was raised from the dead, hint that we too may only see clearly in hindsight.
But God blesses our frailty in the presence of death and the dying, and infuses those occasions with grace in ways that we may know only in hindsight or perhaps never know. Yet in each year that we are willing to walk through this solemn season to its conclusion, there is always the promise of having our eyes opened in new ways. There is the promise of knowing beyond doubt that, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God..
Or, if you prefer the language of the poet, Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful....Death, thou shalt die.
Bob Stephenson
Friday, April 15, 2011
Reflecting on Community
An important aspect of my Lenten reflection has been focused on evaluating my parish internship experience and looking forward to what a future parish assignment might bring. In light of my formation as a member of Middleham and St. Peter’s for twenty five years, I have come to recognize the most important factor in the church equation for me is community. The two most significant examples of community I’ve ever experienced were through Middleham and St. Peter’s.
The winter of 2009-2010 when my husband had his heart surgery, the support through community that I received was what sustained me during that time of fear, stress, and a complete overhaul of my mindset of Tim’s mortality. The prayers, visits, food, and people staying with him while I was in Baltimore, and not able to be home, are just some of the ways that people poured out their love. The most moving of all was the delivery of a prayer shawl to the hospital just prior to his coming out of surgery, so that when he woke up it was covering him. Knowing that loving hands had made it and so many people had prayed over it gave me great comfort.
The most significant spiritual experience I ever had came through the community that developed among those who served on the search committee as we looked for a new rector, resulting in calling Father David. That group was led by the spirit. Such a strong sense of community was felt among the members, that there is no doubt in my mind that it was God’s will that Father David be among us.
Interestingly, community spirituality is a Biblical concept. The story of Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures is more about the community’s relationship with God than about individual relationship with God. Surely they would have developed a keen sense of community as they wandered through the desert for forty years.
In the New Testament, Paul uses the expression in Christ frequently as the image of life in a community that is centered in Christ. These communities were small and intimate groups who met in small spaces where only 10-15 could gather.
The sharing of food marked these Spirit centered communities. Not really so different from our gatherings today. We socialize around pot luck, serve food for meetings, and most importantly are fed from the Holy Table at the Eucharist.
Community makes our sorrows easier to bear and joy more complete. As we enter into Holy Week, we can be mindful of the love that surrounds us in this community. It is a precious gift.
Nancy Wakeman
The winter of 2009-2010 when my husband had his heart surgery, the support through community that I received was what sustained me during that time of fear, stress, and a complete overhaul of my mindset of Tim’s mortality. The prayers, visits, food, and people staying with him while I was in Baltimore, and not able to be home, are just some of the ways that people poured out their love. The most moving of all was the delivery of a prayer shawl to the hospital just prior to his coming out of surgery, so that when he woke up it was covering him. Knowing that loving hands had made it and so many people had prayed over it gave me great comfort.
The most significant spiritual experience I ever had came through the community that developed among those who served on the search committee as we looked for a new rector, resulting in calling Father David. That group was led by the spirit. Such a strong sense of community was felt among the members, that there is no doubt in my mind that it was God’s will that Father David be among us.
Interestingly, community spirituality is a Biblical concept. The story of Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures is more about the community’s relationship with God than about individual relationship with God. Surely they would have developed a keen sense of community as they wandered through the desert for forty years.
In the New Testament, Paul uses the expression in Christ frequently as the image of life in a community that is centered in Christ. These communities were small and intimate groups who met in small spaces where only 10-15 could gather.
The sharing of food marked these Spirit centered communities. Not really so different from our gatherings today. We socialize around pot luck, serve food for meetings, and most importantly are fed from the Holy Table at the Eucharist.
Community makes our sorrows easier to bear and joy more complete. As we enter into Holy Week, we can be mindful of the love that surrounds us in this community. It is a precious gift.
Nancy Wakeman
Thursday, April 14, 2011
A Strange Richness
David Shapiro writes in his forward to Anne Porters’ book of poetry, An Altogether Different Language
In this same volume her poem For My Son Johnny talks about the life and death of her retarded son and of her failure to fully understand or respond to his life.
Her poem Native Americans places the life Jesus in our common context:
In these final days of Lent her poems have again called me to see a strange richness in all of life.
Fr. Showers
it is her oscillation between the literal, symbolic, allegorical and even anagogic worlds that gives her sparse poetry it’s strange richness.Porter's poems lead me to consider anew the most ordinary of things as objects of delight and avenues of faith. The title poem calls all of us to listen in a new way to voices in and around our world.
An Altogether Different Language
There was a church in Umbria, Little Portion
Already old eight hundred years ago.
It was abandoned and in disrepair
But it was called St. Mary of the Angels
For it was known to be the haunt of angels,
Often at night the country people
Could hear them singing there.
What was it like, to listen to the angels,
To hear those mountain-fresh, those simple voices
Poured out on the bare stones of Little Portion
In hymns of joy?
No one has told us,
Perhaps it needs another language
That we have still to learn,
An altogether different language.
In this same volume her poem For My Son Johnny talks about the life and death of her retarded son and of her failure to fully understand or respond to his life.
Her poem Native Americans places the life Jesus in our common context:
Blue eggshells
Empty in the grass,
On the rough-coated hills
Translucent,
The little pasture-rose.
Eagle’s shadow
Sweeping the high pasture,
Wordless gospel.
Older than the sun
And younger than the dew,
Poor as the larks
He came into the world
And walked from town to town
Without a stick or sandals
Carrying his new fire.
And today I saw him out on the street
In front of the post office
Tired out, young,
About the age he was
The day they killed him,
Native pastor
Of a small parish
Up on the reservation
He stood there listening
To an old Indian woman,
One of his people
One of his disinherited
And cheated people.
Eagle’s shadow
Crossing the high pasture
Silent gospel.
In these final days of Lent her poems have again called me to see a strange richness in all of life.
Fr. Showers
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