Folds - and Life Questions

I was blown away by "Between the Folds," a 54-minute documentary about origami. Ah, but don't let that stop you from reading further! You have NEVER seen origami until you have seen this film.

The experience that turned me onto origami in a minimal way happened in the 1980s. It was the height of tensions between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Both countries were amassing huge numbers of nuclear weapons. The congregation for which I was working at the time joined other congregations around the United States and worked to achieve the goal of making 2,000 paper cranes as a symbol of our wish for peace between the nations. These were to be mailed to the USSR. I remember teaching children how to make them - and that, basically, is the extent of my paper folding career.

But, this film shows that there are so many amazing things one can do with a single, square piece of paper - without scissors or glue. There are an infinitesimal number of things one can make with just a simple piece of paper - from the uncomplicated to the intricate.

Some origami artists can do some amazing things with 500 folds or more, turning paper into realistic looking animals or people. Others are more minimalist in style and create beautiful things with just a single fold. Others can make their creations open or close on their own. Here are just a few samples of how folding can transform a piece of paper:

From this series of simple folds....

....to this (a few more folds)...

...to this - hundreds of folds!

This documentary had me asking questions:

1. How is life like origami? Is all of life about "folds?"

2. What does this film say about creation? How do the not-so-obvious messages in the film address what it means to be the body of Christ?

3. What does this say about the church in these times? In some respects, I almost feel as though the church has allowed itself to be limited to a single square sheet of paper and has not allowed itself to be folded. And if it did allow itself to be folded, the possibilities for ways of doing ministry, for ways of being church would be limitless! What possibilities does the artist-creator "see" in the yet unfolded sheet?

Advent is a time when we look for Jesus to come again. Each day, Jesus enters our lives. Will I pay attention to the folds that Jesus is making in me? What are the folds I need to make in my ministry?

The film inspires visions - Happy folding!

Oxymoron Christians

Oxymorons for 2011:

• Loving Christians
• Generous Christians

How would you use these oxymorons in a sentence? Here are a couple examples:

As "loving Christians," members of the Florida Family Association are doing everything in their power to "educate people on what they can do to defend, protect, and promote traditional, biblical values" and by doing so they are getting companies to boycott the TLC show, "All-American Muslim."

Hate and mistrust are Christian values.

Members of the House of Representatives, many are whom would call themselves "generous Christians" (especially in election year) voted to pass HR 3630, "the misleadingly named Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. The bill extends the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance, but it cuts benefits by 40 weeks."  In addition to that, it also "adds qualifiers designed to slam the door on the jobless, like requiring a drug test before the unemployed can receive benefits." Nothing like kicking someone when he or she is already down.

Class-ism is a Christian value.

NO!

We need a reminder, Jesus, to show us what it is like to truly follow you - to be loving and not judgmental, to be generous and not greedy. Help us to get away from being "oxymoron" Christians.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come!

Do Not Be Afraid

Today, my older son boarded a plane and headed to Bogotà, Colombia for a ten day vacation to stay with a friend he met while working at a local amusement park this past summer. I have never met this friend. I have never met his family. I only know what I have heard about Bogotà over the past several years. And I also know what I read on the state department's website about conditions in Colombia. I could rattle off a list of warnings that I found on the website - and I did rattle them off to my son - as he made his plans to go. Here are just a few gems:

• Watch out in the airport. Pick pocketers are looking for passports - especially at Christmas...

•  "Violence by narco-terrorist groups continues to affect some rural areas as well as large cities..."

• DO NOT take a cab. If you do, only take the cabs that are located in this particular area....

• Be careful what you wear; people have had jewelry ripped off from around their necks...

• US government officials and their families are only allowed to travel to major cities by air..."they may not travel by road outside urban areas at night..."

I could list about a half dozen more things.

My son just looked at me as though I were crazy. But, I told him, it is important to be aware of these things so that he can be wise.

Fear - What an interesting creature that is. It prevents us from meeting new people, from having conversations with members of the Tea Party and/or participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement, from seeing another person unlike ourselves as a child of God.

During the Bush years, fear was always at our doorstep and it made me angry that we were made to feel frightened. I fought this tooth and nail. Our conversations around the dinner table often addressed this problem. We saw people in our country giving up their rights just to be "safe." We discussed the fact that God is with us no matter what happens - and that means we can live with less fear in our lives.

I did a search of the phrase, "Do not be afraid" in the Oremus Bible Browser and discovered that these words appear 67 times in the Bible. The fact that these words are spoken so frequently in the Bible says something about our human condition. In the Old Testament, it's mostly God  and the prophets who issue this command, although the angels, Moses, Joseph and others say these words as well. Angels and Jesus are the primary ones speaking these words in the New Testament. Sixty-seven times! Imagine that!

It is Advent and I hear the story of Joseph and young, pregnant Mary. In Matthew, an angel appears to Joseph and tells him "do not be afraid." When Mary learns the news of her pregnancy, it is an angel who shares this news with her in Luke, starting with these same words. An angel appears to Zechariah as well to let him know that Elizabeth will have a child, too. Again, the angel's greeting begins with the words, "do not be afraid."

I am trying to hear the angels speak to me in this moment, in my experience of Advent -  as my idealistic son wanders off into a strange country that he doesn't know. I smile to myself knowing that he must have taken our family conversations to heart. And oddly, I am thankful for that, even now as I struggle myself to not be fearful. My son is teaching me again, "do not be afraid." He makes me proud.

So for now, I will keep him in my prayers and give thanks to God that nothing separates us from the love of God; that we are all held in the palm of God's loving hand. And, I will try to think about how the parents of my son's friend must have felt when he came to the United States to work for the summer. I bet they were afraid as well. (I wonder what their state department said about travel to the states!)

As I wait for my son to come home, I will also pray for the day when we all can live without fear:

Come, Lord Jesus. Come!

Advent II Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus!
You can't get here fast enough for me.

I don't mean Christmas
And everything this season brings.

I mean you - now - here.

I grow weary of turning on the television
Only to hear
Wealthy leaders blaming people who are poor of starting class warfare -
Only to see
Examples of hate among people who supposedly love the same God -
Only to know
That these kinds of things will continue into the next year.

Come, Lord Jesus.
Or, at the very least -
Turn us into people of justice and peace and
Help us all to remember your commandment
To love our neighbors as ourselves -
To want the very best for our neighbors
Even if it means giving up something for ourselves -
Out of love for, concern for
Our neighbor.

Turn our hearts, Lord Jesus
And come.

Ahead

But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’  
Matthew 28: 5-7

 Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

The angel says,
He is going ahead of you
That is where you will see him.
Do not be afraid.

What is there to be afraid of
If Jesus is ahead of us,
Already there
For us?

Already there
To share our pain;
Already there
To share our joy;
Already there
Like a scout
Checking out what is ahead -
To see
Where the treacherous roads,
The grueling trails,
The unmarked paths
Might be.

He is risen!
Just one more way he is
Ahead of us,
Ready to greet us every day
In this life as the risen Lord,
And the life to come.

Jesus is the way.

About the photo: This is a picture of my parents who were walking ahead of me when I took this photograph of them on a visit to a botanical garden in Florida. When I look at this picture, I am reminded that not only does Jesus walk ahead of us, but Jesus walks arm and arm beside us.

About the blog:  For Lent this year I decided to reflect on scripture and write about those reflections in a blog. I thought that the discipline of writing something every day was a worthwhile challenge! So, instead of  "giving up" something for Lent, I decided to start something new. It has been a good practice, a challenging one for sure. There were days where it was difficult to find something to say. At other times the scripture passages really spoke to me and what I was experiencing in my life. It has been a helpful discipline for me. What's next? Who knows!

Singing

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:1-2

Holy Saturday. For me, this means it is time to sing the devil away!

In my middle school and high school years, my family lived in an old farmhouse on a piece of property that we affectionately named, "Nutty Acres." When I was in high school, my parents threw a party every year on Holy Saturday. They invited about 15-20 friends and colleagues over for brunch...and singing.

After brunch, everyone found a place on the floor or on the sofa to sit. Dad pulled out his handcrafted washtub bass. Some of us faced the big red enamel words my mother painted on the wall going up the stairway, "For heaven's sake! Let people live their own lives!" (a quote she liked by A.S. Neill of Summerhill fame). I dutifully passed out the song sheets my mother had typed up and printed.

My brothers and I were the only ones there of our age. It was an adult gathering. But, I loved it because they knew my name and would talk with me. They were like having adopted uncles and aunts.

I remember sunlight streaming in the farmhouse windows, the laughter, and the way we would raise the roof with our singing. Holy Saturday. We were singing the devil away!

Today is Holy Saturday and my friends are scattered across the country, so while we may not be able to gather together for brunch, we can still lift our voices in song - wherever we may be - to sing the devil away.

And when tomorrow comes, we will see that the tomb is empty and Christ is risen!

Here are a few lines of the songs I remember singing (before we became sensitized to the gender issues in the words we used). Sing along with me! For an extra special treat, click on the link in each song to take you to a youtube video of the song.

Allelu, allelu

Everyone sing allelu 

For the Lord is risen it is true,

Everybody sing allelu

God said he would send his son, allelu, allelu

And salvation would be done, allelujah

-------

Die gedanken sind frei

My thoughts freely flower
Die gedanken sind frei
My thoughts give me power
No scholar can map them
No hunter can trap them
No man can deny
Die gedanken sind frei

-------

I saw raindrops on my window

Joy is like the rain

Laughter runs across my pain

Slips away and comes again,

Joy is like the rain.

------- 

Sons of God, hear his Holy Word,

Gather 'round the table of the Lord.

Eat his body, drink his blood,

And we'll sing a song of love,

Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluia

-------

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Spirit, 

we are one in the Lord, 

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
And they'll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love, 

And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

-------

 He is the shepherd and we are the sheep,
His banner over us is love
He is the shepherd and we are the sheep,
His banner over us is love
He is the shepherd and we are the sheep,
His banner over us is love
His banner over us is love.

-------

Provoke

‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds’, he also adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

Hebrews 10: 16-18, 23-25

I love these passages. There is a lot of good stuff in these words! Here are a few things that I am thinking about:

•  "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Let's keep this simple: If God does that for us, why can't we do that for each other? I am reminded of Joan Baez's song, "God is God." I'm not God, you're not God - God is God. So why do we keep judging others as if we were God? Why should I remember the sins of others - and who am I to keep account of them?

• "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful." What do we hold fast to these days? There is always something new coming our way - and we let go of what is old and move on to the new. We have no rock, nothing to hold onto in this world. In addition to all that, our world, on some days looks quite grim. What kind of world will be left for our children and our children's children? But, God is the constant, God is our hope who we cling to. For me this is a good reminder that no matter how bleak things appear, that I can put my hope and trust in God. Where everything else in this world cannot be depended upon, God is the one in whom I can depend.

• "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds...encouraging one another." When I was a child, my brothers and I would provoke each other incessantly. We weren't provoking one another to love! We were provoking each other to anger. Children do that kind of thing. You would think we would outgrow that.  But, now we are all only grown up children who allow the likes of Donald Trump and Glenn Beck to provoke us to be angry and fearful. Provoking with untruths. They are addressing our baser selves. It's not pretty. They provoke us in unhealthy ways, we provoke others - and the cycle continues. What if, what if we provoked others to love? Good deeds? What if we encouraged one another instead of hoping that the other fails?  How absolutely counter cultural this is!

On this holy Good Friday, may we remember, God, that in Jesus, you have forgiven our sins; that through Jesus, we can live in hope; and that with Jesus, we are called to provoke one another to love!

P.S. Here is Joan singing  "God is God." There are other versions on youtube. Check them all out to find your favorite version of this song!

Thanks

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.1 Corinthians 11:23-26

After he had given thanks ~

He knew he was going to be betrayed;
He knew someone would deny knowing him;
He knew he would suffer a horrific death;
Yet, he gave thanks.

Was his prayer of thanks
For the food they ate that night,
For the way God provides
Sustenance?

Was his prayer of thanks
For the blessing of companions -
Even when those friends
Sometimes hurt you?

Was his prayer of thanks
Knowing what God was going to do
Through his death - that it was not going to end there -
That there would be new life?

May we remember, Lord
To give you thanks all the days of our lives
And most especially
In the difficult days we face.


May the first prayer from our lips
Be "Thank you, Jesus!"

Storm

Today I am moved by the words to this hymn, #703 in the Evangelical Book of Worship.(I am surprised to see that the text is by Marty Haugen!)

There are storms in our lives and at times we wonder if God even listens, if God even cares. Again, I am reminded of the cross - and how God not only listens, but experiences our pain, walking with us through the pain to the other side.

O GOD, WHY ARE YOU SILENT?

O God, why are you silent? I cannot hear your voice;

the proud and strong and violent by life's relentless storm;

you promised you would hold me with tenderness and care.

Draw near, O Love, enfold me, and ease the pain I bear.

My hope lies bruised and battered, my wounded heart is torn;

my spirit spent and shattered by life's relentless storm;

will you not bend to hear me, my cries from deep within?

Have you no word to cheer me when night is closing in?

Through endless nights of weeping, through weary days of grief,

my heart is in your keeping, my comfort, my relief.

Come, share my tears and sadness, come, suffer in my pain,

oh, bring me home to gladness, restore my hope again.

May pain draw forth compassion, let wisdom rise from loss;

oh, take my heart and fashion the image of your cross;

then may I know your healing through healing that I share,

your grace and love revealing, your tenderness and care.

Healing

We are broken, Lord ~

We are the one who cannot find his way
Who struggles with the first steps;

We are the one who is disappointed and hurt
By the roadblocks put in his way;


We are the one who is uncertain about
The lump, the pain, the numbness;

We are the one who agonizes over
Divisions in the church;

We are the one who is suffering
From depression;

We are one the who feels the slings and arrows
Of those who bear false witness;

We are the one who is distressed, crying inside
As she watches the pain of her loved ones;

We are the one who goes to bed hungry;
We are the one who lives in a war zone;
We are the one who has been abused;
We are the one who is homeless;
We are the one who ~

Here we are, broken,
At the foot of the cross,
Seeing our Savior
Bearing our burdens, our sorrows, our losses,
Suffering. Broken, too,
Yet knowing that there is a resurrection,
There is healing,
There is wholeness and life
From this One.

Prayer 1

This is the prayer that was sent out in our daily synod prayer e-mail. I really liked it, so I decided to post it here, too.

God of love,

My prayer is simple:

Your son, Jesus, suffered and died for me.

I know only

that I cannot have real strength

unless I rely on you.

I cannot feel protected

from my many weaknesses

until I turn to you

for forgiveness and your unalterable love.

Help me to share this

strength, protection and love with others. Amen.

Woman

Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, ‘Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.’ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. Matthew 26:6-10

I am only a woman.

Since the beginning of time
I have been
Servant, mother
Washer woman,
Mistress, some man's property,
A widow
A damsel in distress.

Through much of time I have been
Told where my place is.
I have been abused
And then blamed for it.
I have worked my fingers to the bone
And have not received pay for what the work was worth.
I have been silenced, looked down upon, told that I am worth
Nothing.

This Jesus comes along
And I see things and hear things
That the men who surround him do not understand.
Through my sisters Mary and Martha
He became a friend to me as he was to them.
Through my sister at the well,
He became one who welcomed me, an outcast like her.
Through the woman who grabbed the hem of his garment,
He became my healer.

No, these men do not seem to see what I see,
Or hear what I hear.
Jesus is turning things upside down
Talking about a kingdom
Where the rules are different than what they are now,
Where God reigns with compassion, justice, love, mercy.
Doesn't that sound just like a woman?

The way Jesus talks and the way he treats people - 
I know his life is in danger.
I can sense that he knows this, too.
But, he has changed my life -
Is changing all our lives.
So I do what I can do
And pour the oil on his head
(It is the least I can do)
For someone so precious, so dear to me.

He has changed my life forever.

I know now that I am more than a foolish woman
Pouring expensive oil on my Lord's head -
I am a cherished and loved child of God
More precious than any oil.
I am a woman!

Grief

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes waste away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. Psalm 31:9-10





It breaks my heart
To see your heart break
Tears overflowing
For one we love
Who has lost his way for a time.

This aching does not go away
Does not resolve easily, but
Simmers deep down.
I try to hold it together.
One of us needs to,
Or so I think.

We watch him
Stumble,
Repeat mistakes
And wonder to ourselves
If this will ever change.

At times we cling to hope,
This time, surely this time
He understands,
He will move on,
He will take that step forward.

But, it is only the baby steps
We can truly hope for -
While we agonize over
The larger steps going backward.
Yet we are still there,
Aching for him and at the same time
Cheering him on.

God, you know our sorrow
And pain.
Is this how you see us -
As children taking baby steps forward
And giant steps back?

Do you cry for us, God?

Do you cheer us on?

Trials

"Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am he." (John 18:5)


The woman said to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." (John 18:17)

This is the year of Matthew, so this Sunday we will be hearing the story of Jesus' passion from that gospel. However, on Good Friday, we will hear it from the book of John. Today I want to reflect on John's version of the passion because he tells part of it in a way that is different than the other gospels.

When I read the story of Jesus' arrest and trial, I picture John as a kind of film editor. While the other gospels shoot Jesus' trial and sentencing in one take and Peter's denial of  Jesus in another, John splices the film so that the scenes of Jesus on trial are interspersed with Peter's own...trial! Unlike the other gospels, this one deftly shows that there is not just one trial going on. There are two. Perhaps, even three.

Here is the set up:

Scene 1: Jesus truthfully tells those who arrest him who he is.  Peter slices the ear off the high priest's slave.

Scene 2: Jesus is take before the high priest and is judged.

Scene 3: In the courtyard, Peter is asked if he is one of Jesus' disciples. He denies it. He denies who he is.

Scene 4: Next, Jesus is in front of the high priest being asked about his teachings. He speaks the truth when questioned.

Scene 5: Cut away to the courtyard again where Peter denies knowing Jesus - twice. The cock crows; that is his sentence.

Scene 6: Now Jesus is in front of Pilate, being questioned again, telling the truth again.

Jesus tells the truth and is sentenced to death, an innocent man. Peter lies and gets away with it; his only sentence is given by the crowing of the cock. Both Jesus and Peter - in very different ways - are condemned. In my mind's eye, I see Peter slithering away after he hears the cock's "sentence."  At the same time I try to juxtapose this image of a spineless Peter with Jesus' words in Matthew 16:18 where he refers to Peter as the rock on which Jesus will build his church. What an inauspicious beginning for the church!

There is, for me, a third trial going - or at least that is what I read between the lines.  This is the trial that condemns me, too, for I am not any better than Peter.

It amazes me to think - that Jesus is counting on spineless human beings to be something more than they are. Jesus doesn't want us to deny whose we are. Instead, Jesus calls forth our better selves. Jesus sees something in us that we don't see in ourselves.

That's what happens to Peter after Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension. Peter finally "gets it" and is ultimately martyred for sharing the Good News in Jesus Christ.

And so, I have questions from all of this:

• How is Jesus calling forth the "better selves" of those who who are part of the church?
• Where is Jesus calling us to be in his name? 
• In what places does the church need to speak truth to authority?

Sorrow

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes waste away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. Psalm 31:9-10

Who hasn't felt like this at one time or another? A sorrow so deep that it weighs so heavily on the heart?  One of the things I like about the book of Psalms is how these prayers, these songs - though written long, long ago - are just as relevant today. For me, the Psalms are a powerful way to connect with my ancestors in the faith.

I took these pictures this past week when it seemed to rain every day. To me, they visually express some of the grief that cries out in this psalm. (Click on the photo for a larger view).

My life is spent with sorrow...

...and my years with sighing...

....my bones waste away...

Only

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Tonight was the last of our Wednesday Lenten services. We have been using Holden Evening Prayer - and we say this pray towards the end of the service.

I have always liked this prayer. Something about the way the words flow. The way they sound. The pauses between the phrases, like breathing deeply. I do not think I would change a single phrase or a single word.

The words that jump out at me most are "but only." There is so much going on around us, so much uncertainty. The only thing we know with any certainty is that God is there with us on the journey.

I had a brief conversation with a colleague the other day at a meeting I scheduled for volunteers who will be leading a world hunger lock-in this summer for youth. We had just finished playing a game of Monopoly - a simulation game where it demonstrates that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We both commiserated over the fact that life today really seems worse. "I've never seen it this bad," he said to me. "And I don't think it has anything to do with my age." At the moment, I agreed.

But, I did not (and do not) stay in that "dark place" very long. I know there have been difficult days in the past; there will be difficult days in the future. There are always "unknown perils." And - what if. What if the days are growing more dangerous, more grim?

I only have to say the last sentence of this prayer; these words really get to me, deep into the core of my being:  We do not know where we go, "but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us."

I do not need much more than that. That is the only comfort I need!

Judas

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14-15


When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." Matthew 27:3-4

What possessed you,
Strange man?
One minute a follower,
A friend
Someone who walked
The same path
Told stories, laughed, cried.
Shared meals together on the road
Traveling from town to town.
Witnessed miracles
And heard wondrous
Stories about the kingdom.

    Was it not enough?
    Did the rabbi fail to meet your expectations?
    Or did you sense
    The growing dis-ease of the local leaders?
    Was it fear that drove you?

I know you
You are in me
During times
When I should have confronted those with power
Instead of giving into it -
Those life circumstances when I was complicit
In an obvious injustice
Because it was less of an annoyance
Than taking a stand -
Moments when it took less effort, frankly, 
To go along with the status quo.
And the bottom line:
Sometimes it is just easier to find
A scapegoat.

It is fear and then the guilt:
Watching an innocent
Fall victim
To a horrible betrayal.
It is not enough to say,
I am sorry.

    How amazing these words, then:
    Take, eat; this is my body...
    Drink - this is my blood of the covenant -
    Poured out for the
    Forgiveness
    The wondrous forgiveness
    Of sins.
    For you.
    For me.

    How can it be?
    How can it be?

Asses

Look carefully! See the colt's black legs?

"The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them." Matthew 21:6-7

Nothing deep to ponder today.

But, if there are readers out there who can help me with this, I'd appreciate it!

This is the first time I noticed that Jesus sat on a donkey AND a colt. At least, that is the version Matthew tells. If this is the case, that must have been tricky business! I dare you not to laugh when you close your eyes and imagine this scenario.

This had me asking, "why?"  Is there some cultural or symbolic explanation for this? Curious, I googled  "why did Jesus sit on a donkey and colt?"  I found some interesting websites including one titled, "Jesus Had Two Asses." (I kid you not!)

Other websites take this text much too seriously - specifically those bloggers/writers who take the Bible literally. They are trying to explain WHY the Matthew text has Jesus on both the donkey and colt while the passages in Mark, Luke and John differ from that....Something about the fact that if a colt was taken then surely the mother of the animal would not be left behind - and so, the mother is taken along with the colt and is left unmentioned in the other gospels. Ah yes, the story of mothers - silent supporters of their offspring - barely worth mentioning except for the occasional reference from Academy Award winners!

Okay - so these websites didn't answer my question however there was one site which gave a grammatical explanation: Perhaps "them" refers to the garments, not the two animals.... Rats! I was hoping for something deeper!

I have already thought about this too much. It is a beautiful day and I am going to tend to my garden!

Broken

In church today, we heard the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones - and we heard the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

These stories make me think about what is dead or broken in our world - and what needs breath, new life. Our world is upside down:

• The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; most of our leaders seem to be bought by corporations. Our world is being run by self-interest rather than love and care for our neighbor. Some believe that if we don't tax the wealthy some of that money will trickle down to those in need. But, that's not the case. Why do so many of us believe this anyway?
• I think of what we have done to our oceans in the past year alone. The explosion of the oil rig sent millions if not billions of gallons of oil into the ocean, killing off wildlife. Who knows what the effects of all the radioactive waste that has been dumped into the ocean off the coast of Japan will do to creatures that depend on the ocean for life. Our greed and refusal to change our lifestyles is affecting the way we treat our planet.
• We are driven by our fears and anxieties which leads us to distrust those who we perceive as being different from us. So, there are some who fabricate stories about our president and his place of birth. There are some have rifles pointed at immigrants trying to make their way into this country.

In an earlier blog I stated that I have hope because I "know how it will all end." In the end, all things will be made whole. I believe that with my whole heart. In the meantime - with one foot in this earthly kingdom and one foot in God's kingdom - it's difficult  to be patient sometimes. It feels as though we are on a large, fast moving ship heading for an abyss.

Can we turn the ship around somehow?

"Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications....I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope." (From Psalm 130)

Unbound

"The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth, Jesus said to them,, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'" John 11:44




Unbind us
From whatever holds us back:
Our fears,
   selfishness,
       lack of self confidence
            skepticism.

Let us go
To share with others
How you have freed us,
   given us new hope,
       healing,
           life!

Weeping

Jesus began to weep.  John 11:35

  

We weep.

Jesus weeps with us.

Waiting

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6


Little one has said her prayers
Hours ago, hours ago
But her tiny body
Tosses and turns:
   Fire, did she smell fire?
   Are those eyes of a monster by her curtains?
   What of the witch that waits under her bed?

At college, she feels the emptiness
In her heart, like a weight
Pulling her down into the abyss
The evening minutes pass
Slowly.
   What is life about, really?
   What is out there for her?
   What is this invisible burden she feels?

New mother in the maternity ward
Joyful - yes, because of her new son.
But, such sorrow, too.
She gazes through the hospital window
Into the night sky -
And knows the women giving birth
In Kuwait are seeing bombs in their night sky.
   Everything seems foreign to her;
   The evening sky is full of nightmares
   And apocalyptic specters.

She lies next to her lover;
He sleeps, fitfully.
They have loved for so many years!
She is afraid to sleep -
He has had these symptoms...
   If she sleeps, she may not know if there is an emergency
   She might have to deal with.
   She stays awake, alert.

          She watches for the morning when the fears disappear,
             When her sadness is but a mist.
                 She watches for the morning with a longing
                    So deep; she waits for the sun.
                        Even more so, she waits for the hope
                           That comes in the Son.

Out!

...Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" John 11:45








Jesus is calling us out:
  "Church, come out!" 

Come out!
from behind the walls of the building ~
   there is a world out here where God is moving. 

Come out!
from the non-life-giving traditions ~
  look at what new things God has given us!

Come out!
from your fears ~ 
   with God, nothing is impossible, remember?

Come out!
from the desire to some how control the Spirit ~
   instead, let the Holy Spirit breathe through you.

Come out!
from antagonistic behavior ~
  live a life of giving and forgiving.

Come out!
from your pettiness and insecure behaviors ~
  there's real work to be done; join in!

Come out, Church!
Come out!

Shadows

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him while Mary stayed home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask..."

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
John 11:20-22, 32

Martha,
The impatient sister
Wondering why her sister
Won't help in the kitchen -
A meal must be made
For their friend.
Practical.

Mary,
The sister held captive
At the feet of Jesus
Bending on every word
That he might say
Has no time for making meals
For now, she lives in this moment.
Seeker.

But watch how the tables turn
When their brother dies!

It is Martha who seeks, believes
Proclaims, confesses:
You are the Messiah,
The Son of God.

It is Mary who is angry this time
Doubting and hurt:
My brother is dead.
If only you had been here.

We are shadows of ourselves:
Sometimes faithful;
Sometimes doubting.
The one constant
Is the presence of Jesus.

Bones

Thus says the Lord go to these bones: "I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live." Ezekiel 37:5









A sign of aging ~
These weary bones
Ache
As I slowly rise from
The chair in which I sit
Or my bed
It takes awhile
To get moving.

A few deep breaths,
Some stretching,
I am moving again.
I am ready to live this day.

A sign of aging ~
These weary bones
Complain
As it fears the change
Or as it feels despair
Are we dying, dying?
Consumable
Church.

It requires the Holy Spirit
And the effort of stretching
To move again.
To live.

Story

"Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus...."

"What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened."  He said, "He is a prophet...."

 "Here is an astonishing thing!  You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened your eyes." ..."If this man were not from God, he could do nothing..."

"And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe."

(from John 9:1-41)

Nothing original to post today! Just a couple ideas I took away from today's sermon:

1. There are two miracles in this story from John. The first is that Jesus heals the blind man. His vision is restored. The second is that as the man repeats his story, he comes to faith and his eyes are opened a second time.  The first time this person tells about how he is healed,  he says it is a  man who has healed him; then he calls him a prophet the next time he responds to inquiries; when he is asked a third time about his healing, he knows that the one who has healed him is "from God;" and, when Jesus finally asks him a question - the man recognizes who Jesus for who he is and says "I believe. Telling his story changed him. His eyes were opened a second time. Telling our faith stories changes us!
2. I think this is an interesting observation: Jesus heals the blind man by taking dirt (with which we were originally made) and adds water (how we are made a new creation) to make mud which is applied to the man's eyes to give him sight.

You NEED to tell your story. I NEED to tell my story.
(I can't wait to hear yours!)

Overflowing

"....My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Psalm 23:5-6





God is a God of abundance,
   not scarcity.

Here is our sin:
We live as though
  Our resources are limited ~
Hoarding,
Consuming,
Stockpiling,
Accumulating.

We live with the consequences:
Poverty.
Fear of the other.
Inequity.
War.
Unhappiness.
Hunger of all kinds.
Emptiness.

Abundance is:
God's gift!
Joyful gift, joyful giving!
Wholeness abounds
Turning a few loaves and fishes
Into enough for all,
Teaching that in sharing,
Giving away,
There is
Plenty.
Abundance!

Peculiar contradictions -
The more hoarding,
The less abundant our life;
the more we give,
the more our cup overflows.

God is a God of abundance,
  Not scarcity.

Believe it!
Live it!

Senses

[The man who was blind for birth and had been healed] answered them and said, "I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?" John 9:27

In this Sunday's gospel (John 9:1-41) people are blind to Jesus' actions in healing the man who could not see and they also appear to be deaf, because they keep hounding the healed man, asking repeatedly, "What did Jesus do to you?"

Such doubters they are; such doubters we are!

God,
You come to us in so many ways
Yet, sometimes we can't quite believe
It's you
Whose actions we are seeing in the world
It's you
Who is calling us
It's you
Who is speaking through someone who has seen you
It's you
Who is healing us with your touch
It's you
Who is moving in and among us
It's you
We smell in the incense that rises in our prayers to you
It's you
We feel and know in the refreshing waters of baptism
It's you
In the bread and wine we taste.
It's you.


We shout out to you:
"We believe; help our unbelief!"

Activity: Where have YOU seen God on the move in your life, in your community, in the world this week? Share your observations - or read the observations of others - on "God Sightings in the Northeastern PA Synod."

Anointed

The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." 1 Samuel 16:12b

"You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Psalm 23:5

Anointed one,
Holy and set apart,
Robes and head
Wet with oil
Called to serve
As God's holy priest,
Aaron.

Anointed one,
Holy and set apart,
Unlikely chosen one,
A child, really ~
(But, God sees with the heart)
Made king ~
David.

Anointed one,
Holy and set apart,
Chosen
To bring good news,
To release captives,
To give sight to the blind,
To free the oppressed ~
Lamb of God,
God's own Son,
Jesus, the Messiah.

Anointed ones,
Holy and set apart,
Washed in the waters of baptism
And marked with the sign of the cross forever,
You and me ~
Children of God.

Anointed, we live to serve God.
Anointed, we know God's never-ending love.
Anointed, we see the holy in others.
Anointed, we belong to God.

Blind

"....he was born blind so that God's works may be revealed in him." John 9:3b

Questioning 

Jesus' authority

(We are blind)

Young people searching for their niche in this world,

not quite seeing where they belong

(We are blind)

Not recognizing that the best way to care for one's own needs 

   is to put the needs of others first

(We are blind)

Idolatry - finding gods in wealth, superiority, belongings - 

   things that do not last.

(We are blind)

Forgetting that God is moving ahead of us, 

present for us always, all ways 

(We are blind)

Congregations in turmoil,

thinking inwardly instead of outwardly

(We are blind)

Reckless use of God's creation,

not giving consideration to consequences of our actions

(We are blind)

Our nation

thinking we are superior to other nations

(We are blind)

Choosing fear

Over trust in you

(We are blind)

We are blind ~

Gives us sight, Lord,

So that your works may revealed through us.

- Helen Keller - 

In many ways, she really could see!