The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

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2009-05-12T10:44:00.002-04:00

We're now using "Episcopalians in Marlboro," a social network available to anyone. ThisWeeksNews and ThisWeeksSermons are not posted in the Blog area. You can share photos, start a discussion, talk back to sermons, become a member.

A visit with Amelia (and Jenn and José)

2009-04-30T21:00:00.007-04:00

Rob and I spent a couple of days in California last week. JFK to San Francisco on Thursday, returning Saturday. The weather was beautiful, but while it was HOT here, it was beautiful but COLD there. Temperature was in the 50s and it was windy. And I didn't even take along a sweater. Got to spend quality time with Amelia, and got to see the awesome condo that they'll be moving into within the next few weeks.

Here's a little "movie":

Dinner with Amelia

ThisWeeksSermon—April 26 Easter 3

2009-04-30T19:44:00.001-04:00

ThisWeeksSermon—April 19 Easter 2

2009-04-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

ThisWeeksSermon, the 2d Sunday of Easter, April 19th

ThisWeeksSermon—April 12 Easter Day

2009-04-15T14:18:00.002-04:00

Please follow THIS LINK to the Easter Sunday sermon.

Sorry for the hiaitus in postings. It's been busy!

No audio this week, either. Forgot to hit the START button.

FYI: I'm testing a different venue for online our parish "social networking." Click here to join Episcopalians in Marlboro. Let me know if you have any trouble with it.

Fr. Jerry

ThisWeeksSermon—March 22, Lent 4

2009-03-23T19:16:00.004-04:00

“Breathe on me…”
The 4th Sunday in Lent, March 22d, 2009

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“The dog was just breathing on me. It was kind of nice, actually. . . .”
“You know, the word dog is God spelled backward.
And all I could think of for the next couple of days were the words from that hymn that we sing at baptisms.
It kept relentlessly running through my head, except the word God got replaced with the word Dog.
Breathe on me breath of Dog.
Fill me with life anew
You know the tune. Very pretty.
That I may love what you love, and do what you would do.
The concept of Life, the breath of Life, abundant life, I was swimming in it for days.

It was everywhere.

It was all over me!”

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Audio version available. CLICK HERE

Several of my friends and relatives suggested that I NOT begin my sermon this morning the way I’m about to.
But I’m doing it anyway, although I admit I’m kind of nervous about it.
Here goes.
By now everyone has to know that I have a dog.
Jackson the big white standard poodle.
And right about now I can “hear” Bill Borchert thinking, “Oh boy, here comes another one of those sermons about the dog….”
He’s right.
Sort of.
I can’t help it.
I absolutely love animals, and especially dogs, and especially this dog, because he’s my dog.
One of the things that I especially like about pets, in general, is that when I connect with a dog or a cat or a bird (I’ve had them all as pets) I feel an awesome connection with another species, with all of Creation, with God’s creation.
One of the things I like, about dogs in particular, is that they live “in the moment.”
It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday.
It doesn’t even matter what happened 15 minutes ago.
There’s no yesterday.
There’s no tomorrow.
There’s just “right now.”
The present moment.
Many spiritual people refer to this phenomenon as experiencing the “sacredness of the moment.”
Many claim that meditation will take you there, and that when you are there, you’re in the very presence of God.

The night of the breath
Jackson sleeps on the bed with me.
It’s a big bed, and he’s usually nowhere near me.
Maybe he simply prefers the foot of the bed.
Or maybe he sees me as a “top dog” and respects my space.
Maybe it’s a kind of guard-dog position.
I don’t know.
But the other night I had just dozed off.
I rolled over and realized the dog, oddly, was right next to me.
I could feel his breath against my face.
Somehow he’d moved up on the bed, and gotten his head between the pillows.
I peeked through my eyelids.
He was on his side, nose toward me, looking right at me.
I opened my eyes wider.
He moved his head even closer!
(I want you to know that this is a dog who does not have bad breath.
So it wasn’t disgusting, or anything like that.)
He was just breathing on me.
And it was kind of nice, actually.

The word God
You know, the word dog is God spelled backward.
I hope you don’t think I’m being sacrilegious, but all I could think of for the next couple of days were the words from that hymn that we sing at baptisms.
It kept relentlessly running through my head, except the word God got replaced by the word Dog.
Breathe on me breath of Dog.
Fill me with life anew
You know the tune.
Very pretty.
That I may love what you love, and do what you would do.
Breathe on me breath of Dog!
The concept of Life, the breath of Life, abundant life, I was swimming in it for days.
It was everywhere.
It was like all over me!

The uniqueness of John’s gospel
In the first three gospels, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the word Kingdom is used 113 times.
But in the fourth gospel, the so-called Gospel of John, it’s different.
It is used only twice.
In John, it’s all about the concept of “Life,” Life with a capital-L, abundant life.
It’s not about the Kingdom.
And John’s “life” theme comes up in his morning’s passage from that fourth gospel.

Authorship of the 4th gospel
It was allegedly written by John, the son of Zebedee, a member of the inner group of Jesus’ followers.
According to legend, John lived into old age in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in what is now Turkey.
It was a very important center of early Christianity.
Paul preached there, and John, the son of Zebedee, is said to have lived there.
It was in Ephesus that he is said to have composed not only this fourth gospel, but also three letters that made it into our New Testament, and maybe even the book of Revelation.
This legendary authorship is highly improbable.
The gospel was probably written near the close of the first century, well after John’s death.
And that makes it a close contemporary of Matthew and Luke.
There’s even evidence that it went through several editions.
And many scholars think that the gospel of John is actually the product of a “school” of writers who had been influenced by John.
Those writers (or that writer, as the case may be) would have us believe that the words we heard this morning were spoken by Jesus himself, spoken during a secret conversation with Nicodemus, a leading member of a strict Jewish sect.
The writer(s) began the passage with the words, “Jesus said,” and then they put quotation marks around their own words, describing their own theology as though Jesus was talking about himself.
Jesus said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that those who believe in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
They’re not Jesus’ words, and anyway, it would be kind of weird to have Jesus talking about himself in the third person!
And the tense is off as well.
Surely, instead, if they were Jesus’ words about himself, he would have said, “God so loved the world that he IS GIVING [present tense] ME [1st person], so that believers will have life.”
What we get in the gospel of John is clearly first century theology.
The words are the writer’s own analysis of what the coming of the “son of God” meant to them.
It was faith in God, the Holy One they had seen in the life of Jesus, faith that could breathe new Life into others, not some time later, but now.
That was their message.

The Christianity that I seek
The essence of Christianity that I find lies beyond the scriptures that were written well after the life of Jesus.
The essence of Christianity that I find lies beyond the creeds that are third and fourth century creations.
The essence of Christianity that I find lies even beyond the familiar words of our liturgies that were shaped most dramatically by the 13th century.
The essence of Christianity cannot be bound by the words of a 2000 to 3000-year-old religious system.
The essence that I seek must always go beyond religious traditions.
I do not believe that God is a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim or a Buddhist, or anything else, even though these traditions have pointed hundreds of millions of people toward the Mystery of God.

Jesus gives a picture of God
In the Bible stories of Jesus of Nazareth, we get a picture of the God that Jesus was pointing us to.
God is portrayed as a life-giving, life-enhancing, awesome, surprising presence.
The God that Jesus called “Father” was one of generosity, of invitation, of inclusiveness.
Jesus pointed us to a God who would bring healing to the human condition.
Jesus pointed to a God who opened people’s eyes, opened rooftops, opened the doors of a wedding banquet, offered a new experience, a new way of being, a new creation, New Life.
Jesus pointed to a God who passed through all boundaries, and held each person’s place and dignity as paramount.
The God that Jesus was pointing us to is the One who created us from the earth, filled us with with a Divine, Holy Spirit, breathed the breath of life onto our faces and into our bodies.
The concept of Life, the breath of Life, abundant Life.
We’re swimming in it.
It’s everywhere.
It’s all over us.

ThisWeeksNews—March 22, 2009

2009-03-23T15:54:00.011-04:00

Another quick trip to California. Returned Saturday evening following an uneventful but productive flight. That nonstop from coast to coast provides a rare opportunity for several uninterrupted hours. Quality time with the next day's sermon! Returned with a camera full of photos, and a couple of short "movies." On Friday, Amelia picked up a Matchbox toy car, deciding it was not a car, but a car phone! Click on the video to see this funny scene.

Sunday morning at the church, we welcomed visitors from Martha's Vineyard and from the coast of Maine. It was incredibly satisfying to hear a very positive reaction to their experiences in our little church. Sometimes you just don't know whatcha got until someone tells you so.

I have a few photos from the coffee hour. And then later on, from the Lenten potluck program. Boys and girls decorated a cake decorated with symbols of the Easter Passion.

Holy week is fast-approaching. A week from Sunday is Palm Sunday. Then weekday services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We'll also be doing the Easter Vigil on Easter Saturday, inviting people from the community who wish to be baptized ("open baptism").

The gifts of God for the People of God…No strings attached.

Then, finally, Easter Day. Each event offers its own experience as we relive the story of the end of Jesus' life and the birth of the spiritual Christ power. Services on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will begin at 7 o'clock. Easter Day celebration will take place at the regular time, 9:30.

Here are some of the announcements from yesterday's service booklet:

Coffee hour arrangements…
If no one has signed up to provide for us at coffee hour, and if I can remember (!), I will swing by Dunkin’ Donuts on my way to church and pick up a couple of boxes of Munchkins each Sunday. The weekly cost is a little over $15. If you’d like to assist in underwriting this, contributions will be accepted. For some, I expect it’s an option that’s better than taking a turn at hosting.—Fr. Jerry

Care to join me for dinner at Casa Milanese May 16th
Once again it’s the Highland Rotary’s annual “Service Above Self” dinner-dance at Casa Milanese. Vito Dispens will be receiving the award. It’s also Highland Rotary’s 25th anniversary.
Silent auction, music, dancing, prime rib, chicken Francaise, stuffed filet of sole. Last year about 20 of us from the parish attended. Filled two tables. It’s a ready-made parish night out. All we have to do is pay the $40 per person and show up! Cocktails at 6, dinner at 7. See me to reserve a place at the table!—Fr. Jerry

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?
If you were baptized in The Episcopal Church, you’re automatically an Episcopalian. If you were baptized elsewhere, but confirmed in The Episcopal Church, you’re an Episcopalian. If you were confirmed elsewhere, but received into the Episcopal Church by the laying on of hands, you’re an Episcopalian. If not, an awesome opportunity awaits.
On the last Saturday in May, Confirming and Receiving of new members will take place at our Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It’s an awesome setting for any occasion, but especially for this rite of “belonging.” Interested? Let me know. Preparation will be painless…even enjoyable.—jb+

LiturgicalNote (for reading of the gospel)
In Anglican churches, as in the early church, members of the congregation take an active part in the liturgy: responses, songs, hymns, etc., and by “Amens,” we ratify and make our own the prayers spoken by others.
In addition, members of the congregation may do the following:
Stand and face the reader during the reading of the gospel, and make the sign of the cross with the right thumb on the forehead, lips, and breast when it is announced.

Got contributions for rescued dogs & cats?
Our Church school boys and girls are collecting supplies for the Animal Rescue Foundation in Beacon. They’ll be delivering the supplies as part of a monthly “field trip” to ARF.
Here’s what they’re asking for: • Cash contributions, • Paper towels • Heavy-duty, extra-large garbage bags, • Clorox bleach, • Pedigree dry and wet dogfood, • Puppy Chow, • Friskies wet cat and kitten food, • Purina One or Purina Cat Chow dry cat food, • Purina One or Purina Kitten Chow dry kitten food, • Cotton rounds, • Clorox Clean-Up Spray, • Newspaper, • Catnip and Pounce cat treats.

Birthdays & anniversaries
Birthdays
3/22 Niki Tauffner
3/25 Diane Baker
4/5 Joanne Ward
4/5 Evelyn Gilman
4/17 Mary Ruvolo
4/18 Richard Chilcott
4/22 Felicia Harrington
4/26 Bryan Cuilty
Anniversaries
3/27 Wayne and Barbara Carroll
4/27 Bill & Reneé Borchert

Calendar*
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 25, 12:00am The Annunciation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 28, 10:30am Wardens’ Conference 2009
Sunday, March 29, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 29, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice
Saturday, April 4, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, April 5, 12:00am Palm Sunday
Tuesday, April 7, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, April 9, 7:00pm Maundy Thursday Eucharist & Agapé
Friday, April 10, 7:00pm Integrity
Friday, April 10, 7:00pm Good Friday
Saturday, April 11, 7:00pm Holy Saturday Easter Vigil
Sunday, April 12, 2:15pm Easter Day
Tuesday, April 14, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, April 16, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch)
Tuesday, April 21, 7:00pm Vestry
Income and expenses
Income Expense Variance
Budget, Jan. 1–Jan. 31 $3,833 $4,227 -$394
Actual, Jan. 1–Jan. 31 $4,904 4,735 $169
Last week (March 15) Not counted (Budgeted weekly = $884)

ThisWeeksSermon—March 15 Lent 3

2009-03-16T20:22:00.003-04:00

“Express the 10 Commandments by holding a dance!”
The 3d Sunday in Lent, March 15th, 2008

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"Understanding the Ten Commandments as a set of burdens overlooks something essential. The commandments are not prefaced by the words, “Here are ten rules. We can also think of them as descriptions of the awesome life that wins out in the “zone” of God’s emancipation.
“Because the Lord is your God, you are free not to need any other gods.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free to rest on the seventh day.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free from the tyranny of lifeless idols.
“You are free from murder, stealing, and greediness as ways of establishing yourself.”

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The Ten Commandments: three versions
I’ll bet you didn’t know that there are three different versions of the Ten Commandments in the Bible, and none of them lists just ten.
There’s one list of 17 commandments in Exodus, another list of 21 commandments in Deuteronomy…
and a third list of 27 commandments later on in Exodus.
They got combined in various ways to come up with ten.
And the list we read this morning is the best known of the three.

What is a Biblical literalist to do?
Comparing the versions leaves those who hold a literalist view of scripture in more than a slight predicament.
How could God dictate three versions of the same law code, and supposedly to the same person?
Of course the reason for the discrepancies is that each was written at a different time, and in a different context.

Jesus and the Ten Commandments
As you know, when Jesus was asked about the Law, he came up with this answer:
Love God with all your heart and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
What you may not know is that he drew that “summary” from two separate places in the Hebrew Bible.

Words from our Presiding Bishop
Our presiding bishop had this to say about the two commandments that Jesus identified.
As Episcopalians, she said, we try to follow those two commandments.
We believe that they are central mandates, and that they are clear.
We are to love, welcome, and include all people into fellowship in which “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all are one in Christ.
It is in these two overarching commandments and central mandates from the Bible that we find the authority of Scripture.
We don’t look for that authority, she says, in any handful of scattered, isolated passages, selectively gathered to rationalize intolerance, cruelty, or injustice.

Words from Julia Childs
Some of us can remember Julia Childs.
She’s the woman who, through a public television series and a number of cookbooks, brought the art of French cooking into many American kitchens, including mine.
She was such a delightful person.
She is said to have claimed this about her theology:
"Good theology,” she said, “like a good recipe, does not waste words.
Love God and love your neighbor."
Those looking for an airtight, Bible-based ethical system undoubtedly find this too simple, to simplistic.
But of all the teachings of Jesus contained in the gospels, Jesus himself gave priority to these two commandments.
If we really want to know what Jesus would have us do, we have to take these two commandments as seriously as he did.

Ten 500-pound commandments
You may remember reading about Judge Roy Moore.
He was chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
He waged a fight to keep a huge Ten Commandments monument in his courthouse, and he lost that battle!
Here’s an interesting fact that I ran across:
That monument weighs almost 5300 pounds.
That’s just over 500 pounds for each commandment.
The Judge had been lugging this 5000-pound albatross around from one public appearance to another on the back of a flatbed truck.
Whenever the truck came home to Alabama, it took a 57-foot I-beam crane, attached to the ceiling of a warehouse, to retrieve the monument from the truck.
Even this five-ton crane buckled visibly under the weight.

The point is...
There’s a point that can be made about all this.
In the popular religious consciousness, the Ten Commandments have somehow become huge burdens.
They have become heavy weights.
They have become 500-pound obligations.
For a lot of people, the Ten Commandments are all about constraining human behavior.
Most people can’t name all ten.
But at the same time, most people are sure that at the center of each commandment is a wagging finger, “Thou shalt not.”
For others, like the judge hauling the 5000-pound monument around, the commandments are heavy yokes, harnesses to be publicly placed around the necks of misbehaving neighbors.
That 5000-pound monument sitting on the bed of a truck is a perfect symbol of that heavy yoke.
In our ancient Old Testament history, Babylonian gods were heavy idols that had to be trucked around, and Isaiah was scathing in his criticism:
“Those hunks of wood are loaded on mules and have to be hauled off, wearing out the poor mules.
Dead weight, burdens that cannot bear burdens, hauled off to captivity.”1

Missing something essential
Understanding the Ten Commandments as a set of burdens overlooks something essential.
The commandments are not prefaced by the words,” “Here are ten rules.
Obey them.”
Instead, they are breathtaking announcements of freedom.
I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.2
We’ll never get away from calling them the “Ten Commandments,” but there’s a whole other way to look at them.
We can also think of them as descriptions of the awesome life that wins out in the “zone” of God, the awesome life that wins out in the realm of God’s emancipation.
“Because the Lord is your God, you are free not to need any other gods.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free to rest on the seventh day.
“Because the Lord is your God, “You are free from the tyranny of lifeless idols.
“You are free from murder, stealing, and greediness as ways of establishing yourself.”
The Decalogue begins with good news of what the liberating God has done, and then it describes the shape of the resulting freedom.

Let’s hold a dance!
Dr. Thomas G. Long, a member of the faculty of Emery University’s Candler School of Theology, makes this suggestion.
If we really want to symbolize the presence of the Ten Commandments among us, we should hold a dance.
The good news of the God who set people free is the music.
The commandments are the dance steps of those who hear the music playing.
The commandments are not weights.
The commandments are wings, wings that make it possible to catch the “wind” of God’s spirit and fly.
The Ten Commandments: declarations of freedom
To see the Ten Commandments as declarations of freedom is far more true, far more authentic, far more fulfilling than hauling around tons of dreary obligation and worrying about whether the springs and shocks under a flatbed truck are going to hold up.
God spoke all these words:
“I am God, your God, who set you free, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery.”
Jerry Brooks+

ThisWeeksNews—March 15th, the 3d Sunday in Lent

2009-03-16T19:46:00.003-04:00

Three down, two to go … Sundays in Lent, that is. I wouldn't exactly say that spring is in the air, but it is 8 p.m. as I write this, and my outdoor thermometer reads 45 degrees. By Wednesday, they're predicting daytime temperature of 60 degrees. Sixty degrees, when you're in the sun, feels like summer to me, having grown up in Seattle!

Here's my progress report:

• Sunday afternoon potluck/Lenten programs have been well attended. How great it is to be a part of this piece of The Episcopal Church. Wonderful food, great friends, and thoughtful sharing with one another.

• Funds have been collected to allow us to proceed with phase 1 of the Sunday school kitchen rehab. Next step: bring a crowbar to church.

• Nonperishable food items are being collected for the Stone Ridge food pantry.

• Reneé's been offering two choir practice sessions each week for those who want them. Anthems will be ready for both Palm Sunday and for Easter.

• Kickoff meeting for the May yard sale took place this morning. Reneé Borchert, Lea Buttner, Patti Ogden, Julie Segnet, and I met this morning and laid out the strategy for getting from here to there.

• Reneé and I hosted the dinner meeting of the Mid-Hudson Region Executive Council, which met in the undercroft Thursday. Should have taken pictures. Between the two of us, we can do a pretty good job of creating a "dinner party." Food came from the Highland Cafe (Diocese will reimburse).

FROM THE SERVICE BOOKLET:

Care to join me for dinner at Casa Milanese May 16th
Once again it’s the Highland Rotary’s annual “Service Above Self” dinner-dance at Casa Milanese. Vito Dispens will be receiving the award. It’s also Highland Rotary’s 25th anniversary.
Silent auction, music, dancing, prime rib, chicken Francaise, stuffed filet of sole. Last year about 20 of us from the parish attended. Filled two tables. It’s a ready-made parish night out. All we have to do is pay the $40 per person and show up! Cocktails at 6, dinner at 7. See me to reserve a place at the table!—Fr. Jerry

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?
If you were baptized in The Episcopal Church, you’re automatically an Episcopalian. If you were baptized elsewhere, but confirmed in The Episcopal Church, you’re an Episcopalian. If you were confirmed elsewhere, but received into the Episcopal Church by the laying on of hands, you’re an Episcopalian. If not, an awesome opportunity awaits.
On the last Saturday in May, Confirming and Receiving of new members will take place at our Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It’s an awesome setting for any occasion, but especially for this rite of “belonging.” Interested? Let me know. Preparation will be painless…even enjoyable.—jb+

Birthdays & anniversaries

Birthdays
3/22 Niki Tauffner
3/25 Diane Baker
4/5 Joanne Ward
4/5 Evelyn Gilman
4/17 Mary Ruvolo
4/18 Richard Chilcott
4/22 Felicia Harrington
4/26 Bryan Cuilty

Anniversaries
3/27 Wayne and Barbara Carroll
4/27 Bill & Reneé Borchert

Calendar*
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 28, 10:30am Wardens’ Conference 2009
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice
Saturday, April 4, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Tuesday, April 7, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, April 9, 12:00am Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 10, 12:00am Good Friday
Saturday, April 11, 12:00am Holy Saturday
Thursday, April 16, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch+conversation

ThisWeeksSermon March 8th Lent 2

2009-03-09T12:39:00.003-04:00

“Learn the art of cow-releasing”
The 2d Sunday in Lent, March 8th, 2008

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Was Jesus influenced by Buddhism?

“These Truths keep popping up, unbridled, irrepressible, unstoppable.
Centuries before Jesus, these same Truths surfaced within Confucianism and Daoism in China, within Hinduism and Buddhism in India, within monotheism in Israel, and within philosophical rationalism in Greece.
The Truth that bubbles up from God is that more is not better.
Release the cows, and look in the other direction.
Discover the real you.”

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May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Audio version is available. Click here.

In the first reading...
In the first reading this morning, we heard the legend of God’s covenant promise to Abraham to identify him as the ancestor of a multitude of nations, throughout all generations.
All subsequent history of the Jewish people has rested on this promise.
The people of Israel were to be God’s people.
Forever.

In the second reading...
In the second reading, Paul argued that God’s promise to Abraham has special value for Christians as well.
As it was for Abraham, it is faith that is crucial, not keeping of the law.
It’s faith that makes the promise effective.

In the gospel...
In our gospel reading this morning, Mark wanted us to understand the kind of messiah that Jesus really was.
Jesus’ participation in human life was total, to the point of death.
Mark wanted us to understand something about what it costs to follow Jesus, to follow Jesus all the way to the cross, and beyond.
This was not the kind of messiah that anyone was expecting.
For that matter, it wasn’t the kind of messiah that anyone would have wanted.
Mark wants us to know that Jesus took an unexpected path.
It was a path into the world of Alice in Wonderland, a world where everything is topsy-turvy.
In the world that Jesus took his followers into nothing was what anyone would have ever expected.
“Those who want to save their lives must lose their lives,” Jesus said, but those who will give up everything, including their lives, in order to follow him, they’re the ones who would save their lives.
Self-sacrifice is the way to saving yourself, saving your true self.
What good does it do to get everything you want, and lose you, the real you?
What could you ever trade your soul for?

Buddhist teachings about giving in order to get
Buddhism embraces a similar teaching.
It is said that if you really want to achieve salvation, it’s very difficult to live as a worldly person, because being worldly, you are subject to problems of the world, the needs of the world, and the temptations of the world.
There’s a Buddhist parable about this.
One day, the Buddha was sitting in the woods with 30 or 40 monks.
They were in he midst of an excellent lunch, and they were enjoying one another’s company.
A farmer passed by, a very unhappy farmer.
He asked the Buddha and the monks whether they had seen his cows passing by.
The Buddha said they had not seen any cows.
The farmer expressed his unhappiness.
“I have 12 cows,” he said, “and I don’t know why they all ran away.
“I also have a few acres of sesame seed plantation, and the insects have eaten up everything.
“I suffer so much I think I am going to commit suicide.”
The Buddha said, “My friend, we have not seen any cows passing by here.
“You might look for them in the other direction.”
So the farmer thanked him and went away, and the Buddha turned to his monks and said, “My dear friends;
you are the happiest people in the world.
“You don’t have any cows to lose.
“If you have too many cows to take care of, you will be very busy.
“That is why, in order to be happy, you have to learn the art of cow-releasing.
“You release the cows one by one.
“In the beginning you thought that those cows were essential to your happiness, and you tried to get more and more cows.
But now you realize that cows are not really conditions for your happiness.
“They actually are an obstacle for your happiness.
“That is why you want to release your cows, one by one.
“Learn the art of cow-releasing.”

Was Jesus a Buddhist?
Well, Mark put it in a different way.
Self-sacrifice is the way to saving yourself, saving your true self.
It’s Jesus’ truth, but it’s also a Buddhist truth.
I once brought up this apparent coincidence with Jane, my spiritual director.
I asked whether it is just a coincidence that Jesus’ teachings often sound just like Buddhist teachings.
Teachings of the Buddha had been proliferating in the ancient world for about 500 years by the time Jesus began his ministry.
So that’s why I asked Jane if she thought Jesus might have been influenced by those teachings.
Her answer was twofold.
“A lot of people think so,” think that Jesus was influenced by Buddhism.
“Some claim that during the years in which we know nothing about Jesus’ life, that would be the period between the story of Mary and Joseph losing their 12-year-old son Jesus in the Temple, the period from that incident until Jesus’ baptism as an adult in the Jordan River, some claim that during those “lost years,” he very well may have traveled and may have been influenced by Buddhism.
But Jane doesn’t think so.
She thinks that Truth-with-a-capital-letter, like today’s Truth about how to save your True self, about the art of cow-releasing, she thinks that Truth like this simply bubbles up comes from the Very Spirit of Life, comes from the Heart of the Universe, bubbles up from the living God, from the One who transcends all things yet is present in them.
These Truths keep popping up, unbridled, irrepressible, unstoppable.
Centuries before jesus, the same Truths surfaced within Confucianism and Daoism in China, within Hinduism and Buddhism in India, within monotheism in Israel.
One One of those truths that has bubbled up from God is that more is not better.
“Release the cows, and look in the other direction.
“Discover the real you.”

What really matters...
Clearly, we’re in the midst of a terrible global financial crisis, and an equally terrible environmental crisis.
These are crises that ask us what is real, what is lasting, and what really matters.
A crisis reminds us that circumstances always change.
And in the midst of the current crises, right now might be just the right time to seek this thing called “contentment.”
Now might just be the moment when spiritual gold can be found, treasures of character and strength.
Spiritual gold does not depend on the economy, or on politics, or on health, or on security, not on any of that.
Treasures of character and strength depend on “contentment.”
Contentment.
It’s the path to “enlightenment.”
It’s the path to salvation, here and now, in the ordinary moments of life.

An affirmation for these days
May we release all burdens of guilt.
May we release all burdens of shame and fear.
May we release all burdens of loss from the past burdens that no longer serve us.
May we release needless fear, and anxiety about the future.
May we be present, in the moment, and filled with loving kindness.
May we be centered, peaceful, and at ease.
May each of us enjoy both material and spiritual well-being.
This is my prayer.

ThisWeeksNews—March 9th

2009-03-09T11:26:00.002-04:00

Golly. Here we are, almost half-way through Lent. It's a busy time of the year.

Weekly Lenten potlucks on Sunday afternoon. About 15 of us spent two hours together yesterday. Great food. Good wine. Awesome discussion for adults while the kids did "their thing" over in the Sunday school. Adults are investigating spiritual tools and sharing stories of our life journeys. It's going well.

Meanwhile, the choir is practicing twice a week, getting ready with Palm Sunday an Easter anthems. Vacation Bible school "sets" already are being painted, and contributions are coming in to fund the rehabbing of the "rectory" kitchen. We're collecting nonperishable food items for the Stone Ridge food pantry, and we're collecting supplies for the Animal Rescue Foundation in Beacon.

Here are a few announcements from Sunday's service booklet:

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?

If you were baptized in The Episcopal Church, you’re automatically an Episcopalian. If you were baptized elsewhere, but confirmed in The Episcopal Church, you’re an Episcopalian. If you were confirmed elsewhere, but received into the Episcopal Church by the laying on of hands, you’re an Episcopalian. If not, an awesome opportunity awaits.
On the last Saturday in May, Confirming and Receiving of new members will take place at our Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It’s an awesome setting for any occasion, but especially for this rite of “belonging.” Interested? Let me know. Preparation will be painless…even enjoyable.—jb+

A window of opportunity: please help!
We have a window of opportunity, right now! Resources are available right now to “gut” the 1950s rectory kitchen, put up sheetrock, and then tape, spackle, and paint the room. No charge for labor. All we need is $500 for materials. If each of us were to drop an extra week’s contribution into the plate, we’d immediately have more than enough funding for the project, and would not miss this opportunity. I hope you’ll join me in continuing as much as you’re able to make our Sunday school facilities as inviting as possible.
Remember to mark your contribution as “Rectory Kitchen” and include your name if you like. Special envelopes are available in the pew.—jb+

Want offering envelopes for 2009?
Using offering envelopes for making contributions to the church has a couple of advantages. One is that no one else in your pew will know how much you’re contributing. Another is that the treasurer will track your contributions during the year and provide documentation for IRS deductions at year-end. So even if you weren’t able to participate in our annual pledge drive, you’re still entitled to envelopes. Please speak to me if you’d like some.—Fr. Jerry

LiturgicalNote (the Sign of the Cross)
In Anglican churches, as in the early church, members of the congregation take an active part in the liturgy: responses, songs, hymns, etc., and by “Amens,” we ratify and make our own the prayers spoken by others.
The sign of the cross is made by touching the hand sequentially to the forehead (father), heart (son), left shoulder (Holy Spirit), then right shoulder (Amen). The sign of the cross may be made by individuals at any time. In public worship, the sign of the cross may be made
• At the conclusion of the Creed
At the absolution, following confession
When the celebrant blesses her- or himself during the consecration
Before receiving communion
At the final blessing

Birthdays & anniversaries
Birthdays
3/9 Jim Gephard
3/9 Benjamin Gephard
3/11 Derek Tauffner
3/14 Erin Gephard
3/22 Niki Tauffner
3/25 Diane Baker
Anniversaries
3/27 Wayne and Barbara Carroll

Calendar
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 12, 6:00pm MidHud Exec Committee
Thursday, March 12, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 15, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 19, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch+conversation
Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Sunday, March 29, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 29, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice

My Ash Wednesday "remarks"

2009-03-04T16:34:00.003-05:00

“Ash Wednesday”
Ash Wednesday, February 25th, 2008

A deeper faith
Father Jeff Golliher is an Episcopal priest at St. John’s Memorial Church in Ellenville.
He’s also a cultural anthropologist.
He has traveled widely to understand the spiritual dimension of the environmental crisis.
For more than ten years, he was canon for environmental justice and community development at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
He now is the environmental representative for the worldwide Anglican Communion at the United Nations.
But mainly, he’ll tell you, he’s a parish priest, and a spiritual director.
He’s written a book called A Deeper Faith, A Journey Into Spirituality.
The book takes the form of a series of letters to a “dear friend” on a spiritual journey.
Lent: the most holy time of the church

Here are a few excerpts:
You are entering the most holy time of the church, a time that represents the most difficult part of a spiritual journey.
It begins with Ash Wednesday, the first day in the season of Lent, when we turn our attention solely to self-examination and fasting in preparation for Holy Week.
The teachings of the church say that anyone can make this passage, but no one can make it alone.
The fact that you’re beginning to realize that you really can’t do this tells me your instincts are good, and precisely for that reason, all your doubts have surfaced, with a vengeance.
Believe it or not, this is a perfectly normal reaction, given the circumstances.
You actually are following the spiritual path, so don’t be surprised that it’s difficult.
There is, in fact, more to life than we can accomplish on our own.
We really do need God’s help.
And when our minds finally meet up with reality, our egos don’t like it one bit.
Welcome to the spiritual path.
Self-examination in Lent
Concerning your self-examination in Lent, I suggest reflecting on some burdensome expectations you’ve likely placed on yourself.
You say that you’re getting nowhere.
You say a dead end has been reached.
My advice, at times like this, is to examine our feelings about the permanently closed door very carefully, and take them to God in our prayers.
Honestly, what else are we going to do?
Do we really want to give up now, believing that the door will remain forever shut?
Now is definitely the time to remember those personal qualities that have brought you to this place in your life:
honesty, loviing-kindness, perseverence, steadfastness, your genuine struggle with life and faith.
You have these qualities, and you’ve used them well.
What next?
So what now?
I can’t tell you exactly what to do, but I will share with you what I do.
This is an ancient spiritual practice, deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, and based on one of Christ’s teachings that I take quite literally.
It begins with the tell-it-like-it-is words we hear on Ash Wednesday:
Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Although these words may see startling and abrupt, they express one of the most clear-minded thoughts we will ever hear.
The fact of our mortality is unavoidable and very real, and of all the endings in our lives, this, obviously, is the ultimate one.
There’s absolutely nothing morbid about this.
To remember we are dust puts everything else about the here-and-now into perspective.
There is an ending.
The next step is to follow Jesus’ directions about how to pray.
In a very simple and straightforward way, he says, Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
I want you to find a quiet, secluded place, perhaps a room in your home.
Go there, alone, and close the door behind you.
You are the one closing the door, no one else but you.
Before you begin to pray, I want you to do something else.
Never mind that it sounds a little crazy.
Remember that image you have of the permanently closed door, the dead end?
The door with a sign over it that says, “It’s all pointless.
I’ll never get anywhere on the spiritual path.”
We give up or never try because we’ve been told so many times that the door won’t open.
Instead of turning away, I want you to face the truth about yourself.
I want you to yell at the closed door in your mind.
Do it as an act of defiant courage or as an act of faith, but do not take “no” for an answer.
Yell until you’re sick and tired of yelling.
Yell at it until you find yourself laughing.
Whatever it takes to break the spell, do it.
This gate cannot be taken by storm.
We can’t knock it down, but we can overcome our disbelief.
We can enter into the ending.
Finally, while you’re still in your room, I want you to say the “Jesus Prayer,” the Prayer of the Heart, with as much devotion and loving-kindness as you can find within yourself.
This short prayer comes from the Eastern Christian tradition.
The words of the prayer, said repeatedly in a mantra-like way, are simply these:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
The words are ancient, and if you say them enough, the spirit will carry you into the depth of your heart, and God’s.
This is the actual “room” that Jesus is really talking about.
The door will open, because Jesus will open it for you.
I should warn you now that the mind always resists.
As negative thoughts arise, they inevitably will, simply observe them, without making judgments, and then return to the words of the prayer.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Let them carry you, gradually, to the place of deep spiritual rest within yourself.
Jesus will help you find it.
I hope you will do this spiritual practice throughout the forty days of Lent.
This is my suggestion.
It will be a huge step on the spiritual path.
Even if it makes no rational sense, I want you to do it anyway.
It’s not “giving up chocolate”
Obviously, the kind of Lenten fast I have in mind involves much more than giving up chocolate.
I’m talking about shedding the belief, whether conscious or unconscious, that we have been abandoned, that we have no choice, that we are forever stuck in the way things are.
This great experience of the spiritual path requires our “dying to the world.”
It is the ancient way.
We are mortal creatures with immortal souls.
Yet even death, our greatest fear cannot prevent God from opening that door that seems so clearly shut.
It is possible to enter into the ending we’re so eager to deny.
You are right.
This is an ending, but the passage still exists.
I’m encouraging you to enter into this ending as an act of faith, and I’m telling you that there’s more going on in heaven and on earth han we know or believe.

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro—February 8th

2009-03-03T08:39:00.004-05:00

The first Sunday in Lent on the first of March. Seemed like it should've been the start of spring. When I was a boy growing up in Seattle, I always bought my mother local, fresh-cut daffodils for her March 9th birthday. That was Seattle. This is New York, and right now, at 9:45 a.m., it's only 10 degrees out there. And I'm not even mentioning the wind-chill factor.

Lots of photos from a kid-friendly mass

Sunday it was our turn to provide a more kid-friendly mass. The boys and girls greeted folks at the door and distributed service booklets. They also presented the bread and wine, and took up the collection. Cameron read the lesson (perfectly). At the consecration of the elements, they joined me at the altar. And then, at the conclusion of the service, they dismissed the congregation. "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord."

Photos are posted on our Facebook page:

(This link should work. Please let me know if it doesn't!)

Lenten potluck series: week 1

We kicked off Lent with the first of five Sunday afternoon (4–6 p.m.) potlucks. The first hour was social. Food, a glass of wine, food, conversation, food…well…you get the idea. Lots of great food! Social time for adults. Social time for the children.

Emily brought the most incredible "dog" with her. It's a big poodle-like stuffed animal that wags her tail, barks, wimpers, sits, stands, pushes back at you when you scratch her ears. Uncanny! I made a one-minute "movie" of the "dog" in action. Click here. (Please let me know if the link doesn't work.)

If you’re not an Episcopalian yet, would you like to be?

A window of opportunity: please help!
We have a window of opportunity, right now! Resources are available right now to “gut” the 1950s rectory kitchen, put up sheetrock, and then tape, spackle, and paint the room. No charge for labor. All we need is $500 for materials. If each of us were to drop an extra week’s contribution into the plate, we’d immediately have more than enough funding for the project, and would not miss this opportunity. I hope you’ll join me in continuing as much as you’re able to make our Sunday school facilities as inviting as possible.
Remember to mark your contribution as “Rectory Kitchen” and include your name if you like. Special envelopes are available in the pew.—jb+

Mid-Hudson Lenten event March 4th
A Lenten program, “From Ashes to Fire,” is being presented by the Mid-Hudson Program Committee. The Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche (diocesan Canon for Pastoral Care) and The Rev. Canon John Osgood (dioscesan Canon to the Ordinery) will each make a presentation, with time allowed for questions and discussion. Wednesday, March 4, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Zion Church, 12 Satterlee Place, Wappingers Falls. Sandwiches and beverages will be provided. No cost. See me to reserve a seat.—jb+
Lenten quiet day at the Monastery March 7th
The Rev. Gwyneth MacKenzie Murphy will be leading a Lenten quiet day at Holy Cross Monastery Saturday, March 7, 9:30–3:30 p.m. (Cost expected to be $15–$20.)

Looking forward
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm "From Ashes to Fire"
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Thursday, March 5, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 7, 9:30am Lenten quiet day
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 8, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 12, 6:00pm MidHud Exec Committee
Thursday, March 12, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 15, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 19, 11:30am "Third Thursday Thing" (mass+healing+lunch+conversation
Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 26, 7:30pm Choir practice XTRA
Sunday, March 29, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 29, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice

Pancakes and Ashes: a reminder

2009-02-24T12:31:00.001-05:00

Pancakes tonight, 5:30-7 at the church. No beads required.
Ashes tomorrow night, 7 at the church. A fresh start toward Easter.

ThisWeeksSermon February 22d, The Last Sunday After the Epiphany

2009-02-23T11:52:00.002-05:00

“The light in our hearts”
The Last Sunday After the Epiphany, February 22d, 2008

+ + + + + + + + + +
“My spiritual director once asked me how far I could get in the Creed before choking on the words. I won’t share my answer. But I too am a product of our literal-minded culture.”
+ + + + + + + + + +

+ + + + + + + + + +
”…so they lapsed into poetry. When this life was born, the life of Jesus, they said a great light split the dark sky. Angelic choruses peopled the heavens to sing of peace on earth. They told of a virgin mother, a rejecting world, of stars and kings. Light once more separated the darkness. There was no other way to talk about it.”
+ + + + + + + + + +

Streaming audio available. Click here.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Two magical stories
We got two stories of magic and miracles in this morning’s readings.

Elijah passing his prophetic role to Elisha
First it was the story of the prophet Elijah, passing his torch as the leading prophet of Israel to his understudy, Elisha.
It has all the markings of a heroic folktale, preserved as oral history, and that’s of course what it is, a heroic folktale.
It almost has the ring of a children’s story, in its simplicity and repetitiveness.
Elijah running God’s errands, first to Bethel, then to Jericho, and then on to the Jordan River, and all the while Elisha being told, over and over, “You stay put!”, but he doesn’t stay put.
He insists on tagging along anyway.
Everyone seems to know that it’s Elijah’s last day on earth, but for some reason, no one’s supposed to talk about it.
At the Jordan River, we discover that Elijah has a bit of the “magic of Moses” in his old bones.
Elijah rolls up his coat, hits the water with it, the water divides, and he and Elisha are able to walk across, reminiscent, of course, of Moses parting the Red Sea.
Elijah is then sucked up into heaven by flying horses.
And that’s where our reading stopped today.
But if you read on, you’ll find in the next verse or two that Elisha picks up the coat that Elijah left behind, and he’s able to do Moses’ magic as well.
He hits the water with Elijah’s coat, the water divides, and he walks across again.
The torch has been passed, from Elijah to Elisha.

The gospel
The other story of magic and miracle this morning was in the gospel, where Mark tells a story of Jesus’ “transfiguration,” Jesus’ dazzling, but temporary, metamorphosis, his clothing becoming whiter than white, and a voice of God coming from the clouds, “This is my Son,” the voice said, “the Beloved; listen to him!”
The torch has been passed again.

The point of the stories
The point of these stories of magic and miracle are to show that Elijah had inherited the standing of Moses, that Elisha had inherited the standing of Elijah, and that Jesus shared the historic prophetic tradition of all three of those major religious figures as well.
These stories show a continuity of ancient Israel’s faith with the birth of Christianity, a connection between Jew and non-Jew, a connection with the same God.

These stories are “true myth.”
The stories of course both have mythic qualities.
The Bible as a whole is way more poetry and myth than it is history.
It’s kind of unfortunate that we live in one of the most literal-minded cultures of all time.
We have trouble grasping the idea of “true myth.”
The two words seem to contradict one another.
I can vouch for that.
I used to think I had to cross my fingers when I recited the Nicene Creed.
My spiritual director once asked me how far I could get in the Creed before choking on the words.
I won’t share my answer.
But I too am a product of our literal-minded culture.
It’s not surprising that the Bible largely remains a closed book.
If you treat the biblical myths as history, as something literal, you end up either with distortion, or absurdity.
What the Bible genuinely is, is our story, our story told in myth, our story explained using parable, our story overflowing with metaphor, and allegory.
The Bible is our story, tracing the evolution of the human soul, and its relationship to the mystery we call “God.”
The Bible is our story, tracing the evolution of the human soul, and its relationship with the wider human community.
The Bible is our story, tracing the evolution of the human soul, to the cosmos itself.
The power of our story, told in myth and parable and metaphor, the power of our story for inspiration and transformation is immeasurable.
The true myth of the Bible can change lives.
And it does.

How can we describe the Jesus experience
Jack Spong writes about the effect that Jesus had on the women and men who followed him around.
They had tasted the power that was in Jesus, and they were made whole by it.
They felt a new freedom.
They knew what it meant to live in the moment, to live in what many call “The Eternal Now.”
They became agents of the power of Jesus.
They shared those gifts, and they shared their stories, from generation to generation, creating and re-creating our story, transforming it, making all things new.
As the power moved among those human beings, light once more separated from darkness, and it was good!
They searched for the words to describe the moment that recognized the fullness of this power, living in history, living in the life of this person, Jesus, but words failed them.
So they lapsed into poetry.
When this life was born, the life of Jesus, they said a great light split the dark sky.
Angelic choruses peopled the heavens to sing of peace on earth.
They told of a virgin mother, a rejecting world, of stars and kings.
Light once more separated the darkness.
There was no other way to talk about it.
Paul: Darkness and light
We read a bit about “light” from of one of Paul’s letters this morning.
What Paul said about darkness and light was this:
Those who have been touched by the God they see in Jesus have seen the Light, and it’s as if seeing the Light at the very first moment of creation, knowing the spiritual presence of God in Jesus, as if brand-new, knowing the spiritual presence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, knowing the presence of the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”
It’s the Light that shines in our hearts.
It has separated the darkness.
(And I don’t need to cross my fingers any more.)

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.
Jerry Brooks+

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

2009-02-22T19:30:00.004-05:00

Austin James Perillo came to church today!
It was very busy this morning at The Episcopal Church in Marlboro. Austin James Perillo was welcomed into full membership, and it was witnessed by a full house—nearly 70 of us. Austin's parents are Manny and Valerie. They were married nine years ago at our church and live in Dutchess County. What a warm, friendly group of visitors we had today. The movie included here includes photos taken during the service, at coffee hour, and later in the Sunday school, where Lea Buttner, Reneé Borchert, and their children have already begun preparing the sets and props for the 2009 vacation Bible school in June.

A perfect opportunity to improve our kitchens
At last week's vestry meeting, we decided to act on the two kitchen improvements that we've been talking about for quite some time. It seems like the classic "perfect storm," where things surprisingly come together all at the same moment to bring about change. We had previously raised about $1500 toward changes in the parish hall kitchen (new sink, built-in dishwasher, and kitchen counter). Turns out, Carolyn Cuilty, our treasurer, is working for a firm that in the business of kitchen upgrades, and some deep discounts are a possibility. Looks as though we will be able to move forward sooner rather than later.

The original kitchen in the former rectory has been an embarassing eyesore embarassing in the midst of our office and Sunday school rooms. Sgt. Bukavinsky, from the Eastern Correctional Facility, has been urging us to take advantage of services provided to nonprofit organizations by inmates. They currently have two teams available with guys who are skilled at putting up sheetrock. Steven Gilman provided a professional estimate of costs for materials, and it totals about $500. If we can raise that amount quickly (and I think we can), we can transform that room into usable space and eliminate an eyesore.

We owe the Diocese some back-payments
Turns out we paid the Diocese less in 2008 than we should have. The vestry will make an effort to manage funds this year in such a way that we're out of debt within 12 months.

Pancake supper Tuesday 5:30-7 o'clock: bring us your palm branches from 2008
It's an Anglican tradition, the pancake supper held on the evening preceding Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras without beads. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit. We'll be burning palm branches from 2008 Palm Sunday to be used the next day, Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday eucharist and imposition of ashes at 7 o'clock
Our service will begin at 7 o'clock Wednesday. I'm trying to come up with a list of alternative services in our area for those who are unable to make our service. Will keep you posted.

Red Cross blood drive on Saturday in our parish hall
The Red Cross will be taking over the parish hall Saturday from 9–2 p.m., hoping to replenish their supply. Spread the word!

Lenten family potlucks begin this Sunday
We'll be getting together at 4 o'clock on the next five Sundays sharing potluck meals. Following the meal, adults will stay in the parish hall for a program provided by the Congregational Development office of the National Church: Spiritual Journey: A Small Group Resource. The children will take part in a parallel "track" suited to their needs. We did this same sort of thing last year, and it was well received.

Birthdays
2/23 Nicholas Gephard

Anniversaries
2/24 Susan and Joe Jurkovic
Calendar*
Sunday, Feb. 22, 4:00pm Bach Cantata at Monastery
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 5:30pm Pancake Supper
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes
Saturday, Feb. 28, 9:00am Red Cross blood drive
Sunday, March 1, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, March 1, 9:30am Family-friendly mass
Sunday, March 1, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm "From Ashes to Fire"
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Saturday, March 7, 9:30am Lenten quiet day
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Tuesday, March 17, 7:30pm Choir practice
Thursday, March 19, 11:30am “Third Thursday” mass + lunch
Saturday, March 21, 9:00am Faith is a Verb Adult Formation Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Choir practice

ThisWeeksSermon February 15th 2009

2009-02-18T15:33:00.003-05:00

“God is Wonder, not judgment.”
The 6th Sunday After the Epiphany, February 15th, 2008

“The revelation of God is Wonder, not judgment.
The only true response is silence, not certainty.
Sacred text is poetry and story, not commandment.
Religion is experience, not dogma.”

“For me the experience was the result of receiving the dreaded cancer diagnosis and then unexpectedly, being aware of the Wonder of it all, somehow, without warning, knowing a connection with God and the Universe that could not be undone, no matter what, ever.”

CLICK HERE to start streaming audio version.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Namasté
Namasté.
As you may know, “namasté” is a common spoken greeting in the Indian subcontinent.
It’s an expression of deep respect.
It’s commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists, but it’s also associated with spiritual meditation among Christians, and all over the world.
In India, the word is spoken at the beginning of a conversation, “Namaste,” with prayerful hands, palms facing one another.
At the end of a conversation, when departing, the same hand gesture is made, but usually without words.
Taken literally, namasté means “I bow to you.”
In yoga, namasté is said to mean, “The light in me honors the light in you.”
Other interpretations are, “I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me.”
Or “the Divinity within me greets the Divinity within you.”
“Your spirit and my spirit are One.”
These ideas should not be foreign to Christians.
The whole idea that God would become incarnate in a human being, Jesus, is the quintessential example of “God-within-us” in our tradition.
There are lots of other examples as well.
Early Christians spoke about Jesus being “in the Father”, one with God, and the Father being “in” him, and Jesus being “in” us, and us being “in him,” and so forth.
We as a church claim, actually to be God’s body in the world.

Naaman’s young skin and my old skin
Changing the subject here for a minute.
In this morning’s first reading, from the second book of The Kings, Naaman went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan River, following the directions of a holy man, and his flesh was restored, we’re told.
It became like the flesh of a young boy.
The leprosy, it’s called Hansen’s Disease today, the leprosy was gone.
He was clean.
(You know, I look at myself in the mirror and I think “If only I could get a bit of that Jordan river water.”
Wouldn’t we all like to have our flesh restored to the flesh of our youth!)
Nonetheless, the aging of our skin, clearly, it’s to be expected.
It happens.

Recognizing the wonder of God all around
But I think there’s another way to look at it.
Instead of focusing on what it is we expect, we can look for the un-expected, we can look for the surprise.
Call it “Wonder,” with a capital-W.
Wonder.
It’s all around us.
When I look in my mirror, and all we see are these wrinkles, and I wish, if only I could take a swim like Naaman’s, in the Jordan River, and be restored?
Instead of focusing on what’s expected, and trying to wish these wrinkles away, I might look at them as “an awesome Wonder.”
I might think of them as something more.
How about thinking of them as “patterned lines of experience.”
Where we see those extra pounds and protruding midsections, what we might see instead could be confirmation of the Wonder of “abundant life.”
When there are tears of regret, they can actually be miraculous occasions for the Wonder of of tenderness and empathy.
Those tears can be “moist opportunities for compassion.”
Where we experience failure, the Wonder of new opportunities presents itself, the Wonder of seeing things in new ways.
Paul celebrated this concept, you know, in his letter to the Colossians:
“…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
If we want to, we can lose ourselves in the Wonder of the un-expected.
We can welcome the surprise as hiding-places of the Wonder of God.
It’s possible to live being open to possibilities of divine revelation all around us, the Wonder of an incarnation……
of God with us, of God within us.
The wonder of the Light that is within all things that live and move and have their being.

An old joke about what we don’t recognize
Ian Lawton, an ordained Anglican priest who is now “Executive Minister” at a large community church in Michigan, told this joke in a recent sermon.
There’s a saying, he said, that Jews don’t recognize Jesus, Protestants don’t recognize the Pope, and Baptists don’t recognize one another if they run into each other at a Hooters restaurant.
In his sermon, Ian Lawton added one more.
Cynics don’t recognize beauty, even when it’s sometimes right under their noses.
It’s easy to become cynical, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t blind a person to the beauty that’s all around.
And then Ian Lawton said this about Wonder (and I especially like this part):
The revelation of God is Wonder.
It’s not judgment.
The only true response is silence, not certainty.
Sacred text is poetry and it is story.
It is not commandment.
Religion is experience, not dogma.

From a J.D. Salinger short story
In 1954 J.D. Salinger published a short story called “Teddy.”
Teddy, in the story, is a ten-year-old with enormous spiritual insight.
In this story, Teddy is having a conversation with an adult on a cruise ship.
Here’s what Teddy said:
“I was six when I saw that everything was God, and my hair stood up, and all,” Teddy said.
“It was on a Sunday, I remember.
My sister was a tiny child then, and she was drinking her milk, and all of a sudden I saw that she was God and the milk was God.
I mean, all she was doing was pouring God into God, if you know what I mean.”
An experience like that can change the way you see everything around you.
For me, the experience was the result of receiving the dreaded cancer diagnosis and then, unexpectedly, being aware of the Wonder of it all, somehow, without warning, knowing a connection with God and the Universe that could not be undone, no matter what, ever.
An experience like that lets you see everything around you with new eyes.
You feel different.
Not only do you feel more connected to everything, but you feel more compassionate, more content to simply be in the moment.
There’s a sense of participating in something huge, and grand, and much larger than any individual human being.
The boundaries between me and the rest of life are gradually, but surely, dissolving.

Wonder and Effortless Action
If you are overwhelmed by Wonder at the sight of a coral reef, or by a pristine mountain lake where the water’s so clear that you can stand waist-deep and still count your toes, if these experiences are true for you, you’re not very unlikely to throw an empty beer can into the water, or anything else that doesn’t belong there.
If you look at the stars and you’re overwhelmed by the size of the universe, you’re less likely to think that you’re the center of the world, or that the universe exists simply to satisfy your own needs.
If you’re lost in the joy and pleasure of a toddler learning life’s lessons, you’re a lot more likely to be compassionate toward that child, and probably toward others as well.
If you have these experiences, you know something of the Wonder of God’s presence here and now.

The revelation of God is Wonder, not judgment.
The only true response is silence, not certainty.
Sacred text is poetry and story, not commandment.
Religion is experience, not dogma.

Namaste.
When Wonder in me greets Wonder in you, there is only one of us.
In the eyes of God, those wrinkles and expanding midsections and tears and failures are gone.
They have disappeared in the waters of the Jordan River.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer.
Amen.
Jerry Brooks+

Valentine flowers for Amelia Jane

2009-02-17T17:10:00.002-05:00

The two grandfathers (Los Abuletos) remembered Amelia Jane on Valentine's Day. Mom and Dad let her unwrap the Fedexed bouquet and recorded it for the rest of us.

I had something to say about this experience in my sermon Sunday.

"If you’re lost in the joy and pleasure of a toddler learning life’s lessons, you’re a lot more likely to be compassionate toward that child, and probably toward others as well. If you have these experiences, you know something of the Wonder of God’s presence here and now."

ThisWeeksNews Sunday, February 15th

2009-02-17T16:34:00.003-05:00

Well, we're closing in on the end of the Epiphany liturgical season. Ash Wednesday is February 25th, a week from tomorrow. Time is passing faster than ever, it seems. What I'm thinking is that time passes quickly when you're enjoying yourself; it drags when you're not. If that's so, then for me it's a good thing tht the pages of the calendar turn quickly.

Baptism this coming Sunday
This coming Sunday we'll be baptizing Austin James Perillo, borne to Manny and Valerie on June 21st. We baptized Austin's brother a couple of years ago. Hope you'll be joining me Sunday to welcome this little boy and his family into our family.

Pancake supper Tuesday
Two days later, February 24th, it'll be the annual pancake supper—a tradition that goes back to days when our denomination in this country was the Church of England. I don't recall what time dinner was served last year. Stay tuned. I do, however, know what time we'll be observing Ash Wednesday with imposition of ashes: February 25th at 7 p.m.

Lenten potlucks: five Sundays
On the five Sundays in Lent, we'll be meeting for an early supper—4 o'clock each week. The meal will be pot luck, followed by a two-track program: something for adults, and something for boys and girls. The adult track is titled "A Spiritual Journey." The purpose is to view our lives as a "spiritual journey" and, hopefully, to deepen our spiritual awareness. One effective eye-opener for many is the power of stories. Each of us has her or his own story to tell. So we'll be looking closely at our own stories, hoping to glimpse God moving in our midst. This could be the makings of a truly meaningful Lenten preparation for Easter.

Mid-Hudson Lenten event March 4th (****Highly recommended by me, four stars)
A Lenten program, “From Ashes to Fire,” is being presented by the Mid-Hudson Program Committee. The Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche (diocesan Canon for Pastoral Care) and The Rev. Canon John Osgood (dioscesan Canon to the Ordinery) will each make a presentation, with time allowed for questions and discussion. Wednesday, March 4, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Zion Church, 12 Satterlee Place, Wappingers Falls. Sandwiches and beverages will be provided. No cost. See me to reserve a seat.—jb+

Calendar

Thursday, Feb. 19, 11:30am Third Thursday Mass+healing, then lunch & conversation
Sunday, Feb. 22, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, Feb. 22, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, Feb. 22, 4:00pm Bach Cantata kickoff
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Tuesday, Feb. 24 Pancake Supper
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes
Saturday, Feb. 28, 9:00am Red Cross blood drive
Sunday, March 1, 9:30am Family mass
Sunday, March 1, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm "From Ashes to Fire"
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Saturday, March 7, 9:30am Lenten quiet day
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday
Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Friday, March 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, March 15, 4:00pm Lenten potluck

ThisWeeksSermon, 5th Sunday After Epiphany

2009-02-10T12:14:00.009-05:00

“Remember what we’re here for.”
The 5th Sunday After the Epiphany, February 8th, 2008

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“What this story says to me is that it’s a good thing to just stop for awhile.
Stop the multitasking.
Do one thing at a time, intentionally.
Enjoy the wonder of being in the present moment.
Recognize holiness and even divinity in the people and things around you.
Entertain new possibilities, and be open to seeing the world in a new way.”

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Click here to listen to streaming audio version of the sermon.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

Thursday morning at the train station
Thursday morning Rob and I arrived more than half an hour early for the 10:33 train into the City.
Allowed plenty of time.
Wanted to be sure to find a parking space.
It was really cold outside.
But it was warm in the waiting room.
Three of us sat on a bench in the sun.
Rob on my right, then me, and then, on my left, a woman I’d spoken with briefly as we were buying our parking tickets.
Thirty minutes with nothing to do.
So I pulled out my laptop computer and placed my laptop in my lap.
Started it up and got three things going at once:
checking for eMail, looking up the weather report for the next couple of days in San Francisco, and calling up my things-to-do list, doing all three of these things simultaneously, and at the same time, keeping my eye on her, the woman ten feet to my left, on the bench.
She asked me to watch her black canvas bag, which she left on the bench, while she stepped out for a smoke.
While my fingers tapped away on my keyboard, I did keep an eye on that bag, looking back and forth between it and the computer.
I kept an eye on the bag until she came back, and after that, I kept an eye on her.
What she did when she got back was immediately kneel in front of the bag, as though in payer.
I could hear her talking to the bag, but couldn’t make out the words.
I kept typing, and listening, and sneaking a peek every once in awhile.
This kind of multitasking comes naturally to me.
I do it all the time.
“Rob,” I whispered.
“I think that woman over there is praying to her suitcase!”
I kept typing.
Then finally, I got an idea of what was actually going on.
I tested my idea.
“What’s in the bag,” I asked her.
The answer: two cats.
She had been on her knees all this time talking with her two cats.
A kind of prayer, I suppose.
But not what I was thinking.

Here’s the way my day goes.
As I said, this multitasking thing is something I do all the time.
If I’m in the kitchen, the TV is on.
If I’m in my office, I’m listening to the radio over the internet:
news from Boston, contemporary music from Woodstock, classical music from Seattle.
I grind coffee beans and make a double cappuccino while I’m preparing the dog’s breakfast and portioning out his medications.
I never just read the morning paper.
I read the paper and watch TV at the same time.
My day goes something like this.
I set out to answer eMail, but then the phone rings.
It’s a client asking me to fix a bad link on a website.
It’ll only take a minute.
So I don’t go right back to the eMail.
Instead, I start up Dreamweaver, the program that manages my websites.
It’s a big application and takes awhile to open, so I decide there’s time to synchronize my iPod with my computer, and so I start that.
Then the phone rings again.
I can see it’s Val Stelcen in the bishop’s office returning my call.
Better drop everything and take that one!
She has a request.
She wants me to send out eMail to Ulster County clergy.
Of course I still haven’t gotten back to my original eMail, but I follow through with Val’s request anyway, and that’s the way my day goes, switching from one thing to another to another to another.
This way of working is called “multitasking.”
For most of us, it’s the way we live our lives these days.
Read while we exercise.
Eat breakfast on-the-go.
Text-message while listening to a lecture.
Talk on the phone while grocery-shopping.
Talk on the phone while driving a car!
It’s what we do.
Multitasking.
Switching from thing to thing to thing.
Never just focusing on one thing at a time.

The brain switching
The word multitasking comes from the world of computers, actually.
I can ask my computer to do any number of things, all at once:
transform a bunch of photos into a movie, print a 500-page document, add up a column of figures, whatever.
The computer will complete all the tasks, eventually, but it might slow to a crawl, and if I give it too much to do all at once, it might even give up and crash.
Something called “context switching” is what slows the computer, the need to continually switch from one workspace to another.
For us, the kind of multitasking that we take for granted is the human version of “context switching.”
What psychologists say
In the last couple of decades, psychologists have been studying the nature and limits of human multitasking, and the effects of “context switching” on humans.
They see that all of these switches that we make on a daily basis gobble up our energy, and affect productivity.
We may complete all the tasks eventually, but productivity can slow to a crawl.
If we try to do too much all at once, like the computer, we may very well, ourselves, crash.
Context switching is disorienting.
And what’s more, psychologists note, frequent context switching interferes with one’s ability to feel happy.
Timothy Ferriss, a productivity guru, argues that you should rarely multitask and should instead devote full attention to completing just a very small set of defined goals in a given time.
Jesus needs time alone.
This morning in the gospel reading, Mark told a story about Jesus going about healing people who were sick and disabled.
It didn’t seem to matter who needed help.
Jesus responded to anyone who asked.
Clearly, even this early in his ministry, Jesus was gaining a reputation.
Mark says that people were flocking to Jesus, and in today’s story, it apparently had been overwhelming, switching from person to person and thing to thing, as we do.
It had to have been stressful.
And apparently it was.
One thing right after another.
Nonstop.
What a day for Jesus.
A human version of the dreaded computer crash.
Here’s what happened next:
The next day following that frenetic series of healings, the next day early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
In the midst of everything, Jesus simply left.
He stopped what he was doing, and disappeared.
Didn’t say anything to anyone.
Didn’t leave a note.
He simply left.
Went to what Mark called “a desolate place,” a place with no distractions.
And there he prayed.
This sent his disciples scrambling.
They searched everywhere.
The crowds wanted a show, and the disciples couldn’t find the star of the show.
When the disciples did finally find Jesus, he said “no.”
“Let’s move on.”
In the midst of this frenzy of activity and fame, Jesus had sneaked out the back door to pray to the god he called “father,” and and to reorient himself to his calling, his purpose.

Many things to be learned
Of course there are many things to be learned from this passage, but what stands out for me is that Jesus recognized his need to get away.
Even the one we call the “son of the most high” could not get his thoughts straight in the midst of so many things happening around him all at once.
Too much context switching from thing to thing to thing.
Too much multitasking.
He needed time alone, to think, to pray, to regain his focus.
There’s a sort of hunger, an insatiability, that can come with being in the spotlight all the time, and Jesus rejected that feeling outright.
He remembered what he was there for.
Fame and power were not it, not what he was there for.
Staying busy all the time was not what he was there for.
And those things are not what we’re here for either.

The point of the story?
What this story says to me is that it’s a good thing to just stop for awhile.
Stop the multitasking.
Do one thing at a time, intentionally.
Also, for maybe only 10 or 15 minutes in the midst of the day, just stop, with intent, and think about regaining some perspective on what’s going on in your life, in your family, in our community, in our country, in the world.
Enjoy the wonder of being in the present moment.
Recognize holiness and even divinity in the people and things around you.
Consider the connection between ourselves and all things that live and move and have their being.
Entertain new possibilities, and be open to seeing the world in a new way.
Jesus recognized that he needed to get away, to retreat, and to reorient himself to his calling, to his purpose.
Jesus said “no” and went off to a desolate place where he got back in touch with the One he called “Father.”
We can do the same.

Jerry Brooks+

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro—February 8th

2009-02-10T10:35:00.012-05:00

Savannah Laurette Collin became a member of The Episcopal Church this past Sunday. Baptisms at our church seem to be particularly joyous occasions. It gives me enormous pleasure to be able to offer this sacrament which celebrates the miracle of new birth—in this case, Savannah's first rite of passage.

We had quite a crowd in church Sunday, with many visitors. We counted 72 in church, with 60 taking communion. Anne Borchert again prepared a cross-shaped cape, this time for Savannah. Fortunately, Christine Eagan had brought some delicious pumpkin muffins. Nonetheless, Joanne Ward had to run out for bagels and break to ensure enough for everyone. (We were surprised by Sunday attendance.)

It also was Boy Scout Sunday this week. Eric Borchert attended church in full uniform, looking awesome. (Can't believe we didn't get a photo of Eric, but take my word for it. Eric looked great in his uniform!)

Photos from Sunday are included in a separate posting. Click here to view.

Lenten quiet day at the Monastery March 7th

The Rev. Gwyneth MacKenzie Murphy will be leading a Lenten quiet day at Holy Cross Monastery Saturday, March 7, 9:30–3:30 p.m. (Cost expected to be $15–$20.)

Birthdays
2/13 Madison Segnit
2/16 Martha McMullen
2/23 Nicholas Gephard

Anniversaries
2/24 Susan and Joe Jurkovic

Calendar
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7:30pm Choir practice
Friday, Feb. 13, 7:00pm Integrity
Sunday, Feb. 15, 9:15am Church school dropoff
Sunday, Feb. 15, 9:30am Mass
Sunday, Feb. 15, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7:00pm Vestry
Thursday, Feb. 19, 11:30am Mass+healing, then lunch & conversation
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm Choir practice
Tuesday, Feb. 24 Pancake Supper
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes
Wednesday, Feb. 25 Ash Wednesday
Saturday, Feb. 28, 9:00am Red Cross blood drive
Sunday, March 1, 9:30am Child-friendly mass
Sunday, March 1, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30pm Choir practice
Wednesday, March 4, 6:30pm Lenten Program: “From Ashes to Fire”
Thursday, March 5, 9:30am VBS planning
Saturday, March 7, 2:30pm Sunday school to ARF
Sunday, March 8, 2:15pm Nursing home ministry
Sunday, March 8, 4:00pm Lenten potluck
Sunday, March 8 Girl Scout Sunday

Click here to view the "live" version of the parish calendar.

Snapshots—February 8th Baptism of Savannah Laurette Collin

2009-02-10T10:27:00.006-05:00

Savannah Laurette Collin became a member of The Episcopal Church Sunday morning at her baptism. Savannah is the daughter of Dierdre and Matthew Collin, married at our church two years ago. It was a very happy morning at our church!

Pizza with roasted veggies, a pear rustic tart, and two days later dessert with Amelia

2009-02-09T10:37:00.006-05:00

It's always wonderful to spend time with a one-year-old, especially when she's your granddaughter, but I've got to tell you that one of the perks on each Thursday-to-Saturday visit is the meal we get to prepare together.

Saturday it was a homemade pizza. Whole wheat crust, mozzerella cheese, roasted butternut squash and broccolini and red onions and parsnips followed by…

…a pear-and-ginger rustic tart. Served it with low-cal vanilla ice cream.

We may be gone…
but not forgotten.
Jenn's in D.C. on business for a couple of days. José is "home alone" with Amelia. Last night we entertained her as she polished off a container of baby yogurt.

Amelia is definitely into electronics. If it has a button or a switch, she's there. And this Skype service is the best thing ever as far as she's concerned.

Our day at the beach in San Francisco

2009-02-06T18:39:00.004-05:00

Spent the day Friday in San Francisco. After Amelia saw her pediatric dermotologist, we headed for Ocean Beach (where the Cliff House is). Then we headed for The Presidio and finally back to Berkeley, where we had a great authentic Mexican lunch and did some shopping. Cherry trees are in blossom!

Back to New York tomorrow….

House-painting, finally

2009-02-04T19:47:00.003-05:00

I think we moved here in 2005 and that it'll be four years this coming summer. Brand-new construction, but without light fixtures, towel bars, bathroom mirrors -- and all with a thin coat of a yellowy "white" splashed everywhere. And I do mean "splashed."

Four days into this, the main floor walls are done, but not the woodwork yet. The ceiling in the front hall is more than 30 feet up at its highest point. What a chore.

What you see here is pretty much the color scheme, although my monitor isn't representing the red accurately at all. I call the part that's painted red the "elevator shaft." It starts on the ground floor in my office, enclosing stairs leading to the door on the far left in this photo. On this, the main floor, the "shaft" encloses a half-bath on one side and provides a solid (red) wall in the kitchen. On the third floor, it rises to the vaulted ceiling and encloses the guest bath.

All the woodwork will be white. Not the creamy color you see here. I won't tell you what this is costing, but my spiritual director/companion, Jane Leifer, suggests that I deserve to live in a beautiful space. She told me that when, in year 2 here, I told her we had bare light bulbs everywhere there should be a light fixture.

Enough about me … and the paint.

Off to California tomorrow.

ThisWeeksSermon, 4th Sunday After Epiphany

2009-02-04T13:47:00.007-05:00

“Rock-paper-scissors-Jesus”(A homily for kids)
The 4th Sunday After the Epiphany, February 1, 2008

Click here to start streaming audio.

What’s in this picture?
Rock, paper, and scissors, right?
What’s stronger: Rock, paper, or scissors?
Of course, rock.
What’s stronger: paper or scissors?
Of course.
It’s scissors.
What can you use to cover up a rock?
Right, paper.
So who knows how to play……
that rock-paper-scissors game……
where the strongest one wins.
How to play the game
You hold out one had, palm up.
Make a fist with the other hand.
Come down on the flat hand counting 1-2-3.
Then show your choice: rock, paper, scissors.
Who wins?
If you come down with paper…
you win over the rock…
but but you lose if it’s scissors.
If you come down with the rock…
you win over the scissors…
but you lose if it’s paper.
If you come down with scissors…
you win over the paper…
but you lose if it’s the rock.
[Try it]
Don’t do this now!
But sometimes when this game is played…
the winner gets to slap the wrist of the other person.
It can hurt.
Only a game
Rock-paper-scissors is only a game…
but in real life…
some kids sometimes……
try to show that they’re stronger than others.
They try to show that by acting tough.
Sometimes……
they try to show that they’re stronger……
by saying mean things to other kids.
Some will pick on other kids……
that they think are not as strong as they are.
Some will even try to show that they’re stronger……
by beating up on other kids.
Today’s story
The story that I read a few minutes ago was about Jesus.
Jesus was a teacher.
And once upon a time…
he was teaching people in the town’s meeting place.
They called it a synagogue.

So in the story…
Jesus was talking with the people……
there in that synagogue.
He was telling them things……
they’d never thought of before…
wonderful things they’d never heard before.
And everyone was really turned on……
by what he was saying.
Everyone except this one guy.
It was a guy who was acting crazy.
He kept interrupting Jesus.
“Jesus.!”
“I know who you are!”
“You’ve come to destroy us!”
This guy had an evil spirit inside of him…
a demon that was making him say bad things.
But this story has a happy ending.
(I love stories with happy endings, don’t you?)
It shows us how strong Jesus was.
All Jesus had to do was say was…
“Be quiet!”
“Come out!”
And guess what happened.
The evil spirit did exactly what Jesus told it to do.
The evil spirit came out of the man and everyone was amazed.
They couldn't believe that Jesus was stronger than the evil spirits.

The point of the story
What this story tells us is that Jesus had power over evil.
He showed that God is stronger than our worst enemy.
Jesus was strong…
but he never used his strength……
to hurt anybody.
Instead of a rock-paper-scissors slap…
or taking whatever he wanted……
whenever he wanted it…
he used his power to help people.
This is a story with a happy ending.
And people told this story to one another……
because they wanted everyone to know……
how much God loves us.
They wanted people to know……
that we should use our strength……
the way Jesus did.
So now what?
So now what do you think is stronger?
Rock-paper-scissors…
or Jesus?
It’s a new way to play
I have an idea for a new way to play rock-paper-scissors.
You know…
Jesus never did this. [clenched fists]
Jesus never clenched his fists.

Jesus lived his life with his palms facing up…
even when he was facing his enemies.
Here’s my idea.
Let’s play rock-paper-scissors-Jesus…
and let’s have it come out Jesus every time.
So it’ll be 1-2-3-Jesus…
with our palms facing up…
the way we hold our hands……
when we take communion.
Both hands open to God.
1-2-3-Jesus.

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

2009-02-04T12:11:00.009-05:00

Sunday, the first of February, was the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. It was also children's Sunday at Christ Church. Boys and girls from the Sunday school welcomed those who came to church, distributing service booklets. Billie-Jo Buttner read the lesson from the Old Testament (and did very well!). They presented the bread and wine and took the collection. During the consecration, they stood with me at the altar. Scroll down for photos.

Vacation Bible School planning has started

The team that's preparing for the 2009 vacation Bible school kicked off their preparations at a meeting held this week. Last week the event was set at the beach, this year's it's in the mountains. You'll be hearing about progress as the next few months go by, and you'll be asked to help by providing some needed materials.

Choir practice was scheduled to begin yesterday

Bad news. Had to cancel. Another snowstorm … again. Rehearsal will begin again next week, preparations for Easter.

Baptism next week

This coming Sunday we'll be baptizing Savannah Laurette Collin. Her mom and dad were married at Christ Church a couple of years ago. Give me a great deal of pleasure to be able to offer this sacrament to their offspring.

EpiscoBuild fundraiser Sunday

There's an EpiscoBuild (Habitat for Humanity) fundraiser scheduled for Sunday at St. George's Church in Newburgh. (Details at the end of this blog.)

Nursing home visit rescheduled

Our visit to the Hudson Valley Nursing Home will take place on the 3d Sunday, not the 2d Sunday, this month.

Photos from Sunday morning

Nicholas and Benjamin Gephard at coffee hour. Brianna Gilman brought cupcakes that appeared to be "groundhogs." Chocolate sprinkles for fur, slivered almonds for buck teeth, etc. Delicious, too!

The sermon was for the kids. I taught them my own version of rock-paper-scissors, about the "strength" of God in Jesus. It went this way: rock (a fist), paper (flat hand, palm down), scissors (1st and 2d fingers forming scissors), and Jesus (both palms up, one over the other, as though receiving communion). Our youth in the parish are definitely a priority for all of us.

Boys and girls at the altar at the elevation of the conscrated bread and wine.

And here they are as the communion is being distributed.

Evelyn Gilman receiving communion with her mom, Brianna.

Four newly elected members of the vestry were "commissioned" Sunday. Left to right, Erin Gephard, Paul Segnit, and Joanne Ward. Bill Borchert (far right0 was elected warden.

Announcements

EpiscoBuild fundraiser this afternoon

The internationally acclaimed, faith-centered drama troupe—Coventnt Players—will be performing Sunday at 4 p.m. at St. George’s Church in Newburgh. It’s a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity and “our house,” EpiscoBuild. Since 1963, Covenant Players has pioneered the use of drama as a communications resource in the church. Units of Covenant Players travel throughout the world communicating the reality of the Gospel in churches of all denominations. Suggested admission is $10 for adults, students and seniors, $5.

Lenten quiet day at the Monastery March 7th

The Rev. Gwyneth MacKenzie Murphy will be leading a Lenten quiet day at Holy Cross Monastery Saturday, March 7, 9:30–3:30 p.m. (Cost expected to be $15–$20.)
Mid-Hudson Lenten event March 4th
A Lenten program, “From Ashes to Fire,” is being presented by the Mid-Hudson Program Committee. The Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche (diocesan Canon for Pastoral Care) and The Rev. Canon John Osgood (dioscesan Canon to the Ordinery) will each make a presenttion, with time allowed for questions and discussion. Sandwiches and beverages will be provided. No cost. See me to reserve a seat.—jb+

A Friday afternoon with Amelia Jane January 9th

2009-01-27T15:46:00.007-05:00

My last trip to visit Amelia (and Jenn and José, of course) was an entirely different experience. She wasn't quite walking much on her own, but she was definitely ready -- and finished crawling. My day Friday was spent mostly playing with her toys, letting her lead me around by my index finger, helping her with lunch, walking her in her stroller. No longer an infant in my eyes. A little girl now.

Here's eight minutes of video I shot that day.

CLICK HERE (You might have to double-click the image to get the movie to play. For some reason, I had to. Mine is not to reason why.)

ThisWeeksSermon (Actually, my annual report)

2009-01-27T11:26:00.007-05:00

"Annual meeting 2009”
The 3d Sunday After the Epiphany, Jan. 25, 2008

"This past year has been awesome, I think…

filled with programs and activities…

and a couple of major improvements in our facilities."

Streaming audio version of the sermon is available. Click here.

I don’t have a real sermon this morning.
In previous years, on the Sunday of the annual meeting, I preached during the Eucharist.
Then I made my report in the parish hall.
This year it’s different.
I’m making my report here, and now.
Sort of an informal “state of the church” address.
Here goes.
Membership statistics (parochial report)
Each year it’s our job to file a parochial report to the national church.
There’s a website where statistics get reported.
It provides the number-crunchers with numbers to crunch.
The guidelines given for counting heads is to count anyone who has participated actively in the life of the church in any way during the previous year.
It’s a bit ambiguous.
Do you count the husband or wife or adult child who shows up on Christmas and Easter?
I don’t know.
Do you count the “friend of the church” who sends a check for $20 every now and then?
I don’t know.
I do know that I struggle with the long list of names we’ve collected, trying to figure out who’s in and who’s out.
Basically, here’s what I’m reporting this year.
Summary
I’m reporting 15 new members.
And I’m reporting 39 fewer members.
(Thirty-nine people didn’t “leave” this year, obviously.
It was a matter of cleaning up the records.)
Communicants in good standing?
I’m reporting 103.
Average Sunday attendance last year?
The numbers is 46 (up 9%).
Easter attendance last year?
That number was 92 (up 12%).
We had two adult baptisms.
We baptized six people under the age of 16.
Financial statistics
Carolyn Cuilty, our treasurer, submitted the financial portion of the annual report.
What began last year as a deficit budget worked out alright in the long run.
We ended up with several thousand dollars at year-end.
An approved budget
The vestry has approved a balanced budget this year.
We have fewer families pledging this year than we had last year.
The way we balanced the budget was to apply the surplus from last year to make ends meet.
(The vestry had been hoping to hold that money in reserve, and egg nest for emergencies.)
Copies of the 2009 budget should be available in the parish hall.
Election of new vestry and wardens
Ida Davis has now completed her 3-year term on the vestry.
Ida has been a thoughtful and supportive member of the vestry, and we greatly appreciate her commitment to this ministry.
Her claim to fame, I think, is that roadside sign!
Ida was the one on the vestry who kept nagging us (me?) to make it a priority.
And an awesome sign it is!
I also want to thank Ted Millar for stepping in and completing Bill Ogden’s 2d term.
That opening was created when he became warden.
Joanne Ward has completed her two-year term as warden.
I’m very pleased to report that he’s agreed to be nominated for a three-year term on the new vestry.
The annual meeting
Following the service, we’ll hold our annual meeting.
Call to order
Please hurry downstairs so we can start the meeting quickly.
Lunch will be waiting!
Election of officers
Vestry has come up with a slate of candidates, which I’ll present after calling the meeting to order.
If additional nominations are not made, the nominations will be closed, and the slate will be declared “elected by acclamation.”
If of vote is required, the polls must stay open for an hour before counting and closing the meeting.
closed/election by acclamation.
In order to vote, By the way, here’s who can vote (according to our bylaws):
Persons of the age of 18 years or more belonging to the parish, who have been baptized and are regular attendants of its worship and contributors to its support for at least twelve months are qualified to vote.
Treasurer’s report (she’s not here)
Ordinarily, our treasurer would give an oral report describing the proposed budget.
She had every intention to be here.
She even prepared and delivered dish to share at the potluck.
She found she had to be out of town this morning, and as I said, copies of the budget are available downstairs.
And of course she and any of the vestry members are available to discuss church financial matters any time.
Reports from employees, officers, volunteers
I’d like to take a few minutes downstairs to give employees, officers, volunteers, and anyone else an opportunity to speak briefly.
The “business” should be over fairly quickly.
If you don’t have time to stay for lunch, you might consider staying long enough to hear what goes on at the meeting.
The year 2008
This past year has been awesome, I think, filled with programs and activities, and a couple of major improvements in our facilities.
Programs and activities
Here’s the list of things we did in 2008:
Epiphany “regifting” party
Nursing home ministry
Inquirers’ meetings in January
Habitat for Humanity EpiscoBuild
Sunday school burned palm branches for Ash Wednesday
Lenten potluck dinners (w/kids’ activities)
Maundy Thursday agape meal
Many baptisms
Attended Doing Church at the Cathedral
Acolyte festival at the Cathedral
Yard sale!
Vacation Bible school
Parish cookout
Choir!!!
Blessing of the animals
Animal Rescue Foundation support
Scheduled children’s services
Diocesan convention
“No strings attached” pledge drive
St. Nicholas Advent breakfast
Taizé with Presbyterians
Two Christmas eve services
Choir
Sunday school & childrens activities
Child-friendly masses
Parallel activities during Lenten adult group & at cookout
Awesome Sunday school room (child-friendly)
Great curriculum
An awesome Vestry
Facilities
In terms of our buildings and facilities, I’m thrilled to read this list:
Sacristy rehab almost complete
Fine new stained glass windows
New chairs in the parish hall
Dishes and napkins and tablecloths mysteriously appearing
Cleaning services
The year 2009—All that, and more!
The year 2009 promises to be all that, and more.
Programs and activities
The lineup of activities right now includes:
Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper
Lenten program
Easter vigil w/open baptisms
Spring yard sale
Vacation Bible school
Blessing of animals
Parish cookout
St. Nick Advent Breakfast?
Thanksgiving dinner (?)
Taizé service?
Epiphany pageant
Facilities
Finish sacristy
Kitchen upgrade (?)
A Note on Today’s Reading from Paul
In this morning’s second reading, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul suggests that the church is the ongoing “epiphany” of Christ in the world, the ongoing “face” of Christ in the world.
The church is what Christ looks like to the world.
As the sign of the immanence of God’s kingdom, the church, Paul says, and its members, should live as though there will be no tomorrow.
I don’t think that means to operate a church without a budget, or to make our way through the church year without a calendar, or not to make plans and keep records.
To me it means that the church, its members, should stay “in the moment.”
Life right here, right now, in this little church, is pretty awesome.
We have a tight budget.
But we have a lot of enthusiasm.
We have a lot of energy.
We have a lot of love for one another, a lot of concern about others, appreciation of God’s creation, and an awareness of the sacredness of every human being, and every moment.
We celebrate the Eucharist this morning remembering Jesus’ death, and proclaiming the real presence of Christ, on the lookout for Christ’s coming at any minute.
Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

THE NEW VESTRY…

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

2009-01-27T09:46:00.018-05:00

This week it was the week of the annual meeting. I delivered a sort of church version of a State of the Union address. I'll include it in a separate posting.

It was the first Sunday since the Sunday before Christmas without inclement weather, and attendance was back to normal. Fifty-six of us gathered for worship, communion, and a vast potluck lunch. Sunday was also the 50th wedding anniversary of Bob and Anne Borchert. Not only the "date," but also the "day." Bob and Anne were married on a Sunday at St. John's Church in Kingston. They provided the flowers at the altar (yellow roses and white carnations), and Anne offered a few remarks appropriate for the occasion.

Erin Gephard, Paul Segnit, Joanne Ward, and Karen Enamorado were elected to the vestry. Bill Borchert was elected as warden. All by acclamation. They will be formally commissioned this coming Sunday during the service.

Sunday was also the last time we were able to pray for "our deacon, Tony" during the Prayers of the People. Deacon Tony, although always a deacon, retired from the active ministry effective January 25th. He and Richard, I'm happy to say, will remain members of our parish, and after a short absence, will return as parishoners March 29th, just in time to help out during Holy Week and Easter. (A retired deacon, similar to a retired bishop or priest, can be called upon to assist in a parish.)

Birthdays & anniversaries

Ruth Scott's birthday was Sunday. Julie Segnit's birthday is tomorrow, January 28th.

Brianna and Steven Gilman celebrated their wedding anniversary Sunday as well.

Parish calendar

Want to see what's ahead in the next few weeks. Click here. CALENDAR

Schedule of volunteers

Want to see who's volunteering to do what in the next few weeks. Click here. SCHEDULE OF VOLUNTEERS

Please let me know if you'd like to fill in any of those open slots, particularly on Ash Wednesday. I'm reluctant to schedule anyone that day without knowing who will be attending.

Sunday brunch

Here are photos taken during our coffee hour brunch during and following the annual meeting:

Winter's not so much fun when it's too cold to go out

2009-01-26T20:06:00.003-05:00

Jackson and I had been walking the Rail Trail for about 45 minutes a day -- until the weather got cold. The Trail is only about a long block away, and more often than not, during the week, he and I were the only ones on the trail, except for an occasional deer. I've been able to let him off the leash, which he truly loves. I keep thinking of Forest Gump when I'm out there with him. "Run, Forest, Run!!!," I shout.

Just 109 days now until our campsite opens up for the season. That would be 15.57 weeks, but who's counting....

The Baptism of Madelyn May Millar

2009-01-26T19:40:00.008-05:00

On Sunday, January 18th, we welcomed Madelyn May Millar into membership in The Episcopal Church. Madelyn's godmother, Stephanie Santise, held Madelyn while I asked the blessing. Mom and dad (foreground), Ted and Lydia looked on, camera in-hand.

The baptism took place on one of the bitterest Sundays of the season. The weather, however, didn't prevent friends and family from being on-hand for the occasion.

I swear the cake weighed 40 pounds! About the same as a good-sized gog. Mom wasn't particularly pleased with the frosting color. Shocking pink! But I've got to tell you, the color didn't matter when you tasted it. I resisted taking some home.

It was a happy moment for mom and dad. We're looking forward to watching that little girl grow up in our midst.

Instead of a hard, cold wooden bench…

2009-01-26T12:41:00.009-05:00

Just a thought….

But what if each of us purchased two or three feet of cushion (just enough to meet our individual "needs"), imagine how much longer the service could be on a Sunday.

[I'm joking about that, but I do think that pew cushions would be an elegant addition to our Victorian church. Something to think about. Comments?]

ThisWeeksSermon, 2d Sunday After the Epiphany

2009-01-23T14:00:00.018-05:00

"Two ways to live your life”
The 2d Sunday After the Epiphany, January 18, 2008

Click here for streaming audio.

+ + + + + + + + + +

Samuel and Nathaniel, touched by God…

Madelyn May Millar, a new member of the human race…

Bob recovering in a hospital room…

An unforgettable water-landing on the Hudson…

And the everyday miracles that mostly go unnoticed. …

Believe or don’t believe.

It’s a choice.

Albert Einstein said this:

"There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as if everything is.

I believe in the latter,” he said.

+ + + + + + + + + +

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier. Amen.

Miracle on the Hudson
With both engines out, a cool-headed pilot maneuvered his crowded jetliner over New York City and ditched it in the frigid Hudson River waters on Thursday.
All 155 onboard were pulled to safety as the plane was slowly sinking.
It was, many many people have said, “a miracle on the Hudson.”
After everyone had been rescued, the empty airliner floated for a long while, partially submerged.
For me, that aircraft took on a life of its own.

Every time I saw it, floating lower and lower in the water, it seemed no longer a vehicle for moving people from place to place, but something having a life of its own, but dying.
That airliner was a huge flying bird, struck down, floating there, dreadfully sick, but now more like a terminally ill whale at the shoreline, its nose submerged, its “eyes,” (the windshields) peeking at me just above the waterline.
I actually felt something for that drowning jetliner.
The passengers had been saved, but the whale was dying, a metaphor, possibly, for so many sacrifices in life that miraculously turn out to have purpose, a metaphor even, for the stories of The Passion of the Christ.
It was a “perfect storm” in reverse, an extraordinary combination of circumstances that made possible what people are calling a miracle, a miracle on the Hudson.

Miracle in a hospital room
I was in a room in the intensive care unit at St. Francis Hospital Thursday when channel 4 began coverage of the event.
I was visiting Bob, the Bob we’ve been including in our Prayers of the People for the past few weeks.
Bob had major surgery this week.
Things had been going well when I saw him Tuesday.
The talk was focused on getting out, going home, getting better.
I was out of town Wednesday.
But Thursday I called on Bob again.
Got to his room.
Someone else was in “his” bed.
Well that’s a discovery you don’t want to make very often.
I was imagining all sorts of dire explanations.
A few minutes later, though, the woman at the nurse’s station was able to find him and direct me to the room they’d moved him to.
Something had gone very seriously wrong on Tuesday night.
His temperature had gone up.
His whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
He was vomiting unrecognizable stuff.
And he was scared to death.
In another time and place, he probably would have died.
Turns out they had to “open him up” again.
They did that, and by Thursday, the day I found him in the ICU, it seemed that a miracle had occurred.
Bob was sitting up.
Still attached to medical equipment, but sitting up, carrying on intelligent conversation, once again talking about getting better, going home, recovering.
Overnight, a miracle.

The birth of a child
This morning, in a way, we’re celebrating another miracle, the miracle of the birth of a young couple’s daughter, and her grandparents’ granddaughter, and her uncle’s niece, the birth of a brand-new member of the human race.
This morning what we’re celebrating is a holy miracle that Madelyn May Millar, born just four months ago, was born a child of God, a “Human Wonder.”
(While we’re at it, we might want to celebrate the miracle, that Maddy slept all the way through the night on one night this past week.)

About miracles
Miracles don’t only occur in such noticeable ways as a new birth, or a dramatic recovery from surgery, or a completely unpredictable Hudson River jetliner landing.
Miracles occur in ordinary situations as well.

Miracles bubble up
Deepak Chopra is the Indian-American medical doctor who has written extensively about spirituality and on such topics as mind-body medicine.
This guy suggests that miracles happen every day, not just in remote country villages, not just at holy places halfway across the globe.
Miracles happen here, he says, in our own lives.
Miracles bubble up from their hidden source.
Miracles surround us with opportunities, and then they disappear.
Miracles are the shooting stars of everyday life.
When we see shooting stars, their rarity makes them seem magical.
But, in fact, they streak across the sky all the time.
We just don’t notice them during the day.
They don’t show up in bright sunlight.
At night they show up only if we happen to look up at the right place, at the right time, on a clear, dark night.
Although we think of miracles as extraordinary, miracles also streak across our consciousness every day.
We can choose to notice miracles, or we can choose to ignore them, unaware that our destinies may hang in the balance.
Dr. Chopra suggests that we should tune into the presence of such miracles, and in an instant, life can be transformed into a dazzling experience, more wondrous and exciting than we could ever imagine.
Ignore a miracle, and an opportunity is gone forever.

Samuel’s miracle
In the first reading this morning, the young boy Samuel heard a human voice in the night.
Eli gave Samuel some advice, basically told him to expect a miracle, suggested that he listen for God in a human voice.
And Samuel did.
It was a miracle.

Nathanael’s miracle
In our reading from John’s version of the story of Jesus this morning, Nathanael goes to meet Jesus for the first time.
Jesus seems to already know Nathanael personally, although they’ve never met.
For Nathanael, that was the miracle.
It was a life-changing moment for Nathanael, who suddenly recognized Jesus as the long-awaited one sent from God.

Two ways to live your life
Samuel and Nathaniel, touched by God, Madelyn May Millar, a new member of the human race, Bob recovering in a hospital room, an unforgettable water-landing on the Hudson, and the everyday miracles that mostly go unnoticed.
Believe or don’t believe.
It’s a choice.

Albert Einstein said, Albert Einstein said this:
"There are only two ways to live your life:
one is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as if everything is.
I believe in the latter,” he said.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness. This is our prayer. Amen.

ThisWeeksNews from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro

2009-01-23T12:02:00.004-05:00

Taking a bit of a shortcut this week, publishing ThisWeeksNews on the blog instead of separately. Busy. So much to do, so little time.

Attendance has been spotty. Since Christmas Eve. Weather, week after week, snowy, icy, slushy, but nonetheless very beautiful! Here's what the church looked like a couple of weeks ago. A winter wonderland!

Baptism of Madelyn May Millar

Sunday we baptized Madelyn May Millar, now four months old. Madelyn's entourage helped fill the church. I'll upload a few photos from the baptism in a separate posting.

Annual meting & potluck this Sunday (Jan. 25)

This coming Sunday is our annual meeting. And we'll be having lunch together. It's going to be a true potluck; whatever you bring to share is what we'll have to eat. (Maybe everyone will bring dessert. Could that be a bad thing?) Julie Segnit and I talked about being organized about the food, but, once again, the weather got in the way.

Martha McMullen honored at diocesan altar guild event

Sunday afternoon, a number of us went with Martha McMullen to an event at Christ Church in Poughkeepsie, where Bishop Taylor honored long-time members of altar guilds. Our Martha McMullen has served on the altar guild at our church for 61 years! More than anyone else in attendance. The service was beautiful. Solemn Evensong, with a sermon by The Rev. Canon Constance Coles. An elaborate reception was offered right in the church, at "the crossing." (I like the idea of using the "sacred" space for fellowship as well as worship.)

Jazz Cantata: a fundraiser for Rural and Migrant Ministries on Sunday
A concert benefiting the work of Rural & Migrant Ministries will be held at Christ Church in Poughkeepsie on Sunday, January 25th at 7:30pm. Rural & Migrant Ministry is a multi-faith organization serving rural and migrant people in New York since 1981 through programs of youth empowerment, education, and accompaniment. The ministry acts to overcome the prejudices and poverty that degrade and debilitate all members of our society, by building communities that celebrate diversity, achieve true mutuality and offer dignity and opportunity to all. Rural & Migrant Ministry is an interfaith organization whose members believe that inspiration comes from participation in the creation of a just world.
The concert will feature a Jazz Cantata written by local composer Gretchen Gould, as well as a performance of the Chichester Psalms composed by Leonard Bernstein. The musical program will be presented by the combined choirs of Christ Episcopal Church, the Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church Chancel Choir, and the Shalom Singers, a joint Christian-Jewish choral group. A Mexican folkloric dance troop will also perform. Suggest donation at the door: $12.00.

Parish calendar
Click here to see what's coming up in our parish.

ThisWeeksSermon, 1st Sunday After the Epiphany

2009-01-13T14:29:00.003-05:00

"I believe in…" not "I believe that…"
The 1st Sunday After the Epiphany, January 11, 2008

“But I’d like to make a distinction between believing “in” something and believing “that” something. I believe “in” the Genesis creation stories. But I believe “that” Darwin’s theory of evolution is true and correct.”

Click here for audio recording of the sermon. (Starts out slow! Couldn't find my sermon. Had left it in the parish hall. One of my worst fears. While Bill Borchert went after it, I made small talk.)

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

Wednesday, in the ice storm
Wednesday afternoon I came down here to the church to makes copies of the Sunday booklets.
You may recall that Wednesday was the day of the ice storm.
Jackson-the-dog, by the way, came with me.
I let him out of the car.
He immediately spotted the church’s family of wild turkeys way down at the bottom of the cemetery.
Jackson took off after them running down that icy hillside like a racehorse that had just left the starting gate.
That was HIS big excitement of the day.
But not mine.
Mine was seeing the splendor of our world that afternoon.
Everything, every twig on every tree, every pine needle, every wire, every single thing, ice-covered, dazzling, the world transformed into an enchanted place.
On the way home, I took the long way around, up Western Avenue, and then north on Lattintown Road, working my way among the orchards and vineyards.
Simply breathtaking.
Even Jackson, who ordinarily collapses on the back seat, was standing on all fours, taking it all in, noticing that the world had changed.
And it was true.
The world was different.
For me, it pointed to a truth that the world is always changing.
An evolutionary process is going on right before our very eyes, all the time.
Creation is not something that happened.
It’s something that’s happening.

What a coincidence
Seems a coincidence that this week’s awe-inspiring ice display, and my reaction to it, should precede our reading today of the first verses of the first book of the bible:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
It also seems a coincidence that almost simultaneously, we’re coming upon Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday.
And this year:
it will have been 150 years since his publication of a book that continues to rock the boat, The Origin of the Species, in which he tells of an ongoing, evolving creation, creation, not yet complete, even now.

Darwin Day
Friends of mine winter in central Florida.
It’s a place where the population prides itself in its biblical conservatism.
It’s a community where a large and vocal number of people view the Bible as the literal, inerrant, word of God, divinely dictated.
Pam and Tom are part of a radical minority group that’s planning a birthday party for Darwin, right there in the buckle of the Florida Bible belt.
They asked me if I’d join them on Darwin Day, in my clerical garb, to demonstrate that there are alternative ways to read the creation stories, and ALL of the Bible for that matter.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Actually Darwin Day is an annual, international celebration of science and humanity held every year.
Right now birthday celebrations and badminton parties and Sunday sermons are being planned for early February in churches and synagogues and schools all around the world.
Darwin Day celebrates the discoveries and the life of Charles Darwin.
But more generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge has contributed to the advancement of humanity.

Darwin was an Anglican
I expect that most opponents of evolutionary science don’t know that Charles Darwin was brought up Christian.
He was an Anglican.
He was a member of the Church of England.
And he held onto his faith even after he published The Origin of the Species.
And he was never happy about being called an atheist.

About the book
When the book was published, it created quite a stir.
There were two main issues.
One was that people mistakenly believed that Darwin was denying that there could be any kind of divine purpose in nature.
The other was that Darwin included human beings as part of the evolutionary process as well.
This was particularly shocking.
Humans, after all, had been God’s special creation.

The problem for biblical literalists
In the United States, it’s said that 50 percent of the population still believe in the literal truth of the biblical creation stories, a much higher percentage than in other parts of the world.
I find our high percentage hard to believe.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that even today, teaching of evolutionary science is a huge “hot button” for many fundamentalist Christians.
The problem, I think, is that if you begin with the premise that all of the Bible is the inerrant word of God, you’re building a very flimsy house of cards.
If any one part of the Bible is called into question, then just about ANY other part of the Bible becomes vulnerable to question as well.
And then the house of cards begins to collapse.

Genesis: a story of all sorts of beginnings
The Genesis creation stories (there are two of them, you know) the two stories are not science as we understand it.
They come from a time when physics and metaphysics were not separate.
They were lumped together.
The physical and the spiritual were woven into the same cloth.
God spoke from the clouds.
Snakes could talk.
Angels appeared from out of nowhere.
The creation stories are not science.
Instead, they belong in the classification of “myth,” but it’s myth in its most awe-inspiring form.
It’s a form of literature that was our religious ancestors’ way of asking themselves a number of questions:
Who are we?
How did we get here and where are we going?
Why are we here?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
What’s our place in this world?
These, I think, are the big questions that emerge from the Genesis creation texts.
Science answers “How?”
Religion answers “Why?”
Science leaves unanswered the greater question of why we’re here, of what’s the point of life?

I believe “in,” not “that.”
We read in the book of Genesis that God created the heavens and the earth,, God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
I believe in that story.
But I’d like to make a distinction between believing “in” something and believing “that” something.
I believe “in” the Genesis creation stories.
But I believe “that” Darwin’s theory of evolution is true and correct.
What I believe “in” is the idea of God, a prime cause.
What I believe “in” is that there is a God who was present at The Big Bang that started the creative process going.
What I believe “in” is the idea that all of creation, particularly humanity, is created in the image of God.
What I believe “in” is the idea that we have responsibility for creation, that we are here not to destroy the world, but to look after it and tend it.
I believe “in” the Genesis stories of our beginnings.
They are about faith.
They are about pausing in astonishment at the size and the scope and the beauty of creation, pausing in astonishment at the symmetry and the mathematical precision and the diversity of creation, pausing in astonishment at all of the possibilities of life.
I saw it there in that ice storm on Wednesday.
Everything, every twig on every tree, every pine needle, every wire, every single thing, ice-covered, dazzling, the world becoming, the world transforming itself, into an awesome enchanted place.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

ThisWeeksSermon. The Epiphany, January 4th

2009-01-05T20:15:00.003-05:00

“Hope for a new Epiphany”
The Epiphany, January 4, 2008

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

The Bishop & me…
"His hope is that forms of religion that have found expression in denying the human rights of others, in opposing the insights of science, in negativity toward stem cell research, his hope, and my expectation, is that those forms of religion will quietly fade from our public life."

The Bishop & me…
"His hope, and mine, are that new, progressive forms of religion will express themselves in our national life in ways that are more earth-centered, more enhancing of justice, and more humane."

The Bishop & me…
"His hope, and mine, are that traditional themes of yesterday’s Christianity might be translated into Christianity that is a more open, more universal, and a less creedal form of religion."

Three “wise men”: the Persian version
In the 13th century, in Persia, the place we now call “Iran,” they were telling the story of the three kings this way.
The three kings brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in order to learn whether the new child was a king, a god, or a healer.
If he accepted the gold, he was an earthly king.
If he accepted the frankincense, he was a god.
If he accepted the myrrh, he was destined to be a healer.
The baby Jesus accepted all three according to the legend.
In return, Jesus gave the three kings a small locked box.
They later opened the box and found that it contained a stone.
Jesus had made them the present of a stone to indicate that they should be firm and constant in their new faith.
Because the kings didn’t understand, they threw the stone into a well.
As soon as the stone fell into the well, a burning fire descended from heaven and filled the well.
The kings took some of the fire and carried it to their own country, where they worshiped it as a god.
Marco Polo, describing this myth, explained that this is how those Persians came to be fire-worshipers.
Today, scholars will tell you that such stories of wise men following a star are long on pageantry, and very short on history.
That would of course include today’s version, from Matthew, as well.
Long on pageantry.
Short on history.

Epiphany: the Meaning of Jesus
The word epiphany comes from the Greek word for “showing forth,” for “manifestation.”
It describes a feeling, a sudden realization or insight of the essence, or the meaning, of something.
The arrival of Persian wise men at Jesus’ birthplace was intended to demonstrate that the God revealed in Jesus was not just God for the Jews.
The presence of those Persians demonstrated the inclusiveness of God’s affection, of God’s concern and care for all peoples.
It wasn’t a new idea.
We heard it this morning in the two readings.
Centuries earlier, Isaiah, was celebrating the return of Israel from its exile.
Isaiah wrote about a time when all races and nations would come to the God of the Jews, bearing gifts.
In the second reading, writing to church people in Ephesus, Paul claimed that this inclusiveness of previously unacceptable people in the church was fulfilling God’s plan.

How will religion influence national and world affairs in 2009?
Susan Jacoby is a strait-shooting author and reporter, and an avowed atheist.
I love reading her stuff.
This week, at the “On Faith” website offered by the Washington Post, participants were asked to comment on the following question:
“How will religion influence national and world affairs in 2009?”
Her comment was, “Why should we expect anything different from religion in 2009?”
Nothing much will change.
Here’s her prediction.
Conservative Muslims will continue to make trouble for secular governments.
Islamist radicals will launch more terrorist attacks somewhere.
In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox will continue to occupy territory they believe God gave them.
The Roman Catholic Church will continue to pursue its strategy of trying to fight poverty without controlling population and trying to address AIDS through abstinence-only education.
The rights of women will continue to be a flash point as Islamists, in particular, do everything they can in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan to undo the fragile advances that have been made by women and to intimidate girls who want to get an education.
Right-wing religious organizations will continue to do everything possible to hold back the tide of gay rights.
In the U.S., they will still try to push their anti-evolution agenda on public schools.
Proselytizing groups like Mormons and Pentecostals will continue their busybody efforts to convert non-Christians around the world.
The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Newark, on the other hand, is somewhat hopeful.
His hope is that forms of religion that have found expression in denying the human rights of others, in opposing the insights of science, in negativity toward stem cell research, his hope, and my expectation, is that those forms of religion will quietly fade from our public life.
His hope, and mine, are for “A New Epiphany,” a new religious consciousness that will begin to rise, a religious consciousness based on enhancing humanity, based on grasping life in all of its complex wonder and diversity, based on having the courage to live fully, to love wastefully, and to be all that each of us can be.
His hope, and mine, are that new, progressive forms of religion will express themselves in our national life in ways that are more earth-centered, more enhancing of justice, and more humane.
His hope, and mine, are that traditional themes of yesterday’s Christianity might be translated into Christianity that is a more open, more universal, and a less creedal form of religion.
I believe that to be, for us, Jesus’ gift in the Persian myth of the three kings, the gift of the small locked box containing a stone, indicating that we should be firm and constant in our new faith.
To me, this is where the meaning of The Epiphany lies in our times.
May we not throw the stone into the well.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

The Epiphany: pageant, choir, blessing the news windows!

2009-01-04T19:49:00.006-05:00

It was a great day at The Episcopal Church in Marlboro yesterday. • Started off with the Liturgy of the Word, then Prayers of the People, then the Sunday school boys and girls putting on the the Pageant of the three kings arriving at the birthplace of Jesus. • Then followed blessing of the five new asesome stained glass windows. You'll see photos of Ike Craft and Martha McMullen, two of the donors. • Finally an anthem offered by music director Reneé Borchert and our choir.

This little slideshow is a collection of photos taken by Dom Bernardo. (Thanks, Dom!)

Click here to view the slideshow.

ThisWeeksSermon. December 28, Christmas 1

2008-12-30T09:54:00.004-05:00

“Finding meaning in our own lives”
1st Sunday After Chritmas, December 28, 2008

“Progressive Christianity, in a world hungry for change, is not about a new set of beliefs to either accept or reject. Progressive Christianity is about providing a framework around which spiritual people can find meaning in their own lives, in their own adventures, in their own dreams.”

“The conversation is no longer about whether Jesus was the son of God, or not, or the Christ, or the Word of God. That’s an old conversation. Now the conversation is about whether you live with the same courage, the same passion for justice that Jesus lived with.”

Audio version of the sermon is available.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

The older I get…the more I worry about it.
The older I get, the more often I find myself not being able to remember people’s names, or titles of movies, or dates.
Recently, I spent one whole day trying to remember Oprah Winfrey’s name.
I could describe her in great detail.
I could have asked anyone for her name and gotten it right away.
But I stuck with it, determined to remember on my own.
I think of my brain as a computer’s internal hard drive, filled with all kinds of information, but with one corrupted track.
Oprah’s name is there, but not readily accessible.
I want you to know that I I finally did remember, on my own, without asking for help.

It’s always been this way.
This experience is not particularly new to me.
You see, I’ve never been able to remember names and dates.
And I definitely do not have an affinity for numbers.
History?
All those names and dates?
Forget it.
Economics?
Got my only college “D” in economics.
In seminary, in order to graduate, you had to pass the Bible content examination.
I took it at the end of the first year.
Flunked.
I took it at the end of the second year.
Flunked.
I took it at the end of the third year, my last chance.
I swear I didn’t do any better the third year than I had the first year.
But somehow they passed me.
Wanted to get me out of there, I guess.
I’m good with the big picture, but I’m not good at the details, the numbers, the names, any word that begins with a capital letter, actually.
Never have been.

What I did do well at
What I did do well at in college was creative writing, and literature, and philosophy.
In seminary, my best work was in apologetics, theorizing about God, putting forth ideas, and then offering reasoned arguments justifying my ideas.
Got “A’s” in those classes.

John’s gospel: theology, not history
This morning, Deacon Tony is out of town, which means that I got to read the gospel.
In my mind, this morning’s passage, the beginning of John’s gospel, is probably the most beautiful piece of writing in the Bible.
Plus, it’s not history, no names or dates or places.
It’s not a story, easily mistaken for history.
It’s theology.
Ideas, theory, conjecture.
And it’s stunningly beautiful.

In the beginning, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
It’s a “big bang theory” from the first century!

The evolving idea of who Jesus might be
This idea about who Jesus was, that Jesus was the Christ, and that the Christ was the Word, and that the Word had actually been present at the beginnings of the universe, this idea came at the conclusion of the church’s first-century thinking about who Jesus had been.
It’s the conclusion to theology that evolved over a period of 60 to 70 years following Jesus’ death.
Paul (20 years later)
Paul, who wrote only 20 years after Jesus’ death, explained Jesus this way:
He said that God simply declared Jesus to be the “son of God” at the time of the resurrection.
For Paul, resurrection had nothing to do with a physical resuscitation of a deceased body.
It had to do with raising Jesus, a spirit, into the eternal life of God.
It happened all at once.
There was no split between resurrection and ascension.
That idea came later.

Mark (20 years later)
Mark, writing 20 years after Paul, that would be 40 years after Jesus’ death, Mark explained the way God “got into Jesus” by telling a baptism story.
God declared Jesus to be the Son of God by the actions of the spirit when Jesus was baptized.
Mark agreed with Paul, except for the timing.
For Mark, it did not happen at the resurrection.
Instead, the heavens opened, and the Spirit descended.

Matthew (50+ years later)
Matthew, writing at least 10 years after Mark, that would be 50 years after Jesus death, Matthew claimed that it was an unnamed angel who explained Jesus to Joseph in a dream, that God “got into Jesus” at the moment of conception, conception by the Spirit.

Luke (60 years later)
Another 10 years pass, and we’re up to about 60 years after Jesus’ death, when Luke repeated the birth story, but this time gave the angel a name, Gabriel, and the message was to Mary, not Joseph.
Luke is the one who introduced the need for an ascension because he transformed the story of Easter into a physical emergence from a tomb.
Once you had a resurrected Jesus walking around, there had to be a way to remove that physical body from this world into the realm of God.
Hence an ascension.

John (65 years later)
Finally, five years after Luke, more than 65 years after Jesus death, John declared that there had never been a time when God had not been in Christ.
John in this morning’s gospel reading explained Jesus as the “enfleshment” of the Word of God, the Word that had spoken at the dawn of creation.
That’s the evolution of first-century theology, from Paul, to Mark, to Matthew, to Luke, and finally to John.
In that order.
The bottom line, though, for each of these writers, the thing they had in common, was that they knew they had met God in the life of Jesus.
They disagreed about the details.
But that was the bottom line.
It was bishops, in the early part of the fourth century, they’re the ones who cast these ideas in concrete, to be passed on to subsequent generations in the form of the Nicene Creed.

We live in a world ripe for change
The world we live in is ripe for change.
Things are bad, and seem to be getting worse.
I know I don’t have to provide any details.
Everyone knows it.
Democrats, Republicans, Europeans and Asians and Africans, it seems that everyone is ripe for change.
On November 3d, Barach Obama said, “it’s no longer about whether we have big government or small government.
That’s an old conversation.
The conversation now is about having good government.”
The situation in our churches is comparable.
Mainstream church membership and attendance are declining.
One in five Americans define themselves as “spiritual,” but not religious.
That’s more than 45 million Americans, spiritual but unchurched.
The church lacks relevance.
The churches carry on with the old conversations.
But it’s not about whether God exists or not.
That’s an old conversation.
Now it should be about our experience of the sacredness of the moment, and about grasping for the most poetic, extraordinary language that will describe our experience.
The conversation is no longer about whether Jesus was the son of God, or not, or the Christ, or the Word of God.
That’s an old conversation.
Now the conversation is about whether you live with the same courage, the same passion for justice that Jesus lived with.
The conversation is no longer about whether the Bible is the divinely inspired, inerrant word of God, or not.
That’s an old conversation.
The conversation is no longer about history, names and dates and places, chapters and verses.
No Bible content exams any more.
That’s an old conversation.
The conversation now is about ideas, theory, conjecture.
It’s about whether you are moved by the experience of our religious ancestors striving to do the best they could in horrific circumstances.
Progressive Christianity, in a world hungry for change, is not about a new set of beliefs to either accept or reject.
Progressive Christianity is about providing a framework around which spiritual people can find meaning find meaning in their own lives, find meaning in their own adventures, in their own dreams.

The Word: Let it be ours
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
May that Word, in these days, come from our hearts, and be our words, in new conversations.
This is my prayer.
Amen.

Inviting the community for Christmas

2008-12-24T09:29:00.002-05:00

Got some roadside signs out in our "front yard," U.S. Route 9W. An invitation to spend Christmas Eve with us -- no strings attached! This was an idea that came from the vestry at our last meeting.

Seen from both directions:

XMAS EVE

5:00

9:00

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

ThisWeeksSermon. December 21st, Advent 4

2008-12-22T08:45:00.004-05:00

“A close encounter of the 3d kind”
4th Sunday in Advent, December 21, 2008

[Oops! No audio this week. Technical difficulties.]

"The point I want to make is that the true miracle is not a supernatural birth.
Supernatural birth stories about kings and queens and gods proliferated in the mythology of the ancient world in those days.
The true miracle, actually, was the experience of Jesus, himself a sort of “close encounter of the third kind.”
Jesus, so much like God that we find it hard to tell Jesus and God apart from one another."

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.

Amen.

A close encounter of the 3d kind.
The other day I was thinking about that Steven Spielberg film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
It was science fiction, about UFOs.
Came out in 1977.
It tells the story of an Indiana electrical lineman and his encounter and obsession with UFOs, unidentified flying objects.

Three kinds of “encounters”
A close encounter of the first kind is any UFO reported to have been within about 500 feet of the witness.
A close encounter of the second kind is a UFO that leaves markings on the ground, causes burns or paralysis, frightens animals, or interferes with engines or radio reception.
A close encounter of the third kind includes a sighting of the occupants…aliens.
In this morning’s gospel reading, it was Mary who had a close encounter.
It wasn’t with a UFO.
It was maybe a UFA, unidentified flying angel.
But it was definitely the “third” kind, a sighting of the alien itself.
The gospel story
God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David.
His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name was Mary.
Gabriel greeted her:
“Good morning!
“You’re beautiful with God’s beauty, beautiful inside and out!
“God be with you.”
Mary was thoroughly shaken by this encounter, not by the UFA, the “unidentified flying angel,” but wondering what was behind a greeting like that.
But the angel assured her.
"Mary, you have nothing to fear.
“God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call him Jesus.
“He will be great, be called 'Son of the Highest.’ ”
“The Lord God will give him the throne of David.
“He will rule Jacob’s house forever, no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
Mary said to the angel, “But how?
“I’ve never slept with a man.”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you.”
“Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.
“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is?
“Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant!
“Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”
And Mary said, “Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
“Let it be with me just as you say.”
Then the angel left her.

It’s exactly right.
This gospel story on this particular Sunday morning, is exactly right.
On this last Sunday before Christmas, we’re telling the story of how Mary was told that she was to give birth to the son of God.
It’s a fantastic story, and I think it’s best to describe it exactly that way, as a fantastic “story,” not history.
What it’s really about is the mystery of the incarnation of God, the mystery of an external, supernatural, out-there, above-the-clouds God taking on the human flesh of a baby boy named Jesus.
We tell it as a story because it cannot be described in other ways.
The point I want to make is that the true miracle is not a supernatural birth.
Supernatural birth stories about kings and queens and gods proliferated in the mythology of the ancient world in those days.
The true miracle, actually, was the experience of Jesus, himself a sort of “close encounter of the third kind.”
Jesus, so much like God that we find it hard to tell Jesus and God apart from one another.
This was a close encounter with God who walked with us, ate and drank with us, cried with us, died with us.
That’s the true miracle.
God with us.
That’s the miracle that calls us to a deeper faith, the miracle that tells us there’s more to life than meets the eye, more to life than buying things, more to life than getting ahead of everyone else.

Just three days left
In three days, on Christmas Eve, we’ll be reexperiencing a “close encounter of the third kind,” once again telling a story of God who took on the human flesh of a baby boy.
In the meantime, in the next three days, there are opportunities for some other close encounters.
Try this.
In the next three days, stop, and listen.
Listen to the world around us.
Listen, really listen, to what others are saying.
In the next three days, listen to Mother Nature.
Listen to the birds, and the wind.
Listen to the Spirit, listen to your own heartbeat.
Remember that Jesus said, “Love your enemies.”
In the next three days, make an effort to show loving-kindness to everyone, including yourself.
Ask for help from the God that you know.
Every moment in life is “pregnant” with possibility.
You don’t always know how it is “conceived.”
But the miracle the wonder of each moment’s “immaculate conception” awaits us, each moment a new possibility, a possibility for a new insight, a possibility for a new Knowing.

It’ll be the best Christmas
Say “yes” to now
Say “I don’t know” to mystery.
Say “thank you” to life.
If you can do these things, I expect a smile will then appear on your face, that you’ll see the world differently, and that this Christmas will turn out to be the best ever.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness. This is our prayer. Amen.

Greening of the church & providing Christmas dinner to 90+ families

2008-12-21T18:04:00.006-05:00

After a very rough start this morning with bad weather and snarled up traffic on Route 9W, we left the church looking beautiful and ready for Christmas Eve services. The poinsettias this year are awesome! Combine the recent interior paint job with five new stained glass windows, pew candles, and a professional cleaning service and wow! Couldn't be nicer.

Remember…

Christmas Eve services are at 5 o'clock and 9 o'clock. The early service will be more child-friendly and family-oriented. The later service will be followed by a reception that Rob and I will be hosting in the undercroft. You're invited!

After leaving Marlboro this afternoon, I went on up to the Methodist Church in Highland, where we packed boxes of food for almost 100 families. Pasta, soups, canned goods, rice, stuffing mix, apples, etc. Tomorrow we'll top off the boxes with the perishables.

Some snow photos for Amelia

2008-12-20T17:26:00.004-05:00

Poor Amelia. She lives in California in a place that never knows snow. She's never even seen snow. These photos are for her.

By the way, the dog is "Jackson." "Kendall Jackson," actually. Well, to be completely truthful, it's "Kendall Andrew Jackson." He prefers just plain "Jackson."

Installation of new church windows finished today

2008-12-18T18:06:00.003-05:00

Here are a few photos I took this afternoon of the final installation of new windows.

The first new window is in place!

2008-12-16T17:16:00.004-05:00

The first of the new windows was put in place today. It's the window closest to the choir pews, dedicated to the families of Bill and Patti Ogden. We were promised that all five windows would be installed before the snow flies. They've almost made it!

The St. Nicholas Collection on display at The Church

2008-12-16T17:04:00.005-05:00

Just ran into this photo as I was emptying my camera. This is Anne Borchert's collection of St. Nicholas figurines, temporarily "loaned" to our church for the St. Nicholas Breakfast on the 6th.

ThisWeeksSermon. December 7th, Advent 2

2008-12-11T16:30:00.007-05:00

The focus this past Sunday—the 2d Sunday in Lent—was on the boys and girls in our Sunday school. They distributed the service booklets, seated people, took the collection and present it and the bread and wine at the offertory.

Cameron read the lesson. All of them stood with me at the consecration, fingertips holding down the altar. We used a prayer of consecration written to be child-friendly. It came from the Church in Wales, and we're using it with the bishop's permission this year.

I put together this little slide show, wanting to tell the "story" from the gospel. (I'm surprised that I'm having to rethink and relearn how to talk with children.) The presentation included an award-winning four-minute cartoon.

Here's a link to the slideshow I used Sunday: "Waiting for God, A Story of a Prophet and Two Second Cousins."

And here's a link to the cartoon. It's on YouTube.com.

"Give Up Yer Aul Sins - Birth of John the Baptist"

A busy first week of Advent

2008-12-04T15:41:00.006-05:00

It's been quite a week, and it's not over yet!

Sunday was our celebration of God's generosity, and our own. The Gifts of God (represented by balloons) for the People of God -- no strings attached. Balloons everywhere, untethered. It was awesome, as was the reception following the service and hosted by the vestry.

That afternoon I drove down to St. Andrew's Church on Staten Island. They are celebrating the parish's 300th anniversary. Clergy processed into the church between two rows of bagpipers. Inside, music was provided by two choirs, organ, piano, brass, wind, and strings. Our presiding bishop celebrated and preached, and I actually got to have a brief conversation with her.

Yesterday, Rob and I attended a cocktail party IN the newly opened Cathedral of St. John the Divine. All of the furniture had been removed for this event. Around the edges enormous bouquets of flowers were on display, six full bars were set up, and small tables and chairs were grouped in a few places. A small army of waiters offered hors d'oeuvres. We got to hear the organ come back to life and then CBS' Harry Smith (the morning program), Sam Waterson (Law and Order), and Bishop Sisk spoke in turn. There had to have been 1000 people there. Looking over the crowd was something like looking down over Grand Central Station at rush hour, only with no one going anywhere.

A smaller group was invited to dinner, I would guess maybe 100. Nothing but the best of everything. The whole evening was unforgettable. I am so grateful to be in this place at this time -- able to live in a beautiful rural setting, part of a great congregation and community, and able to participate in the life of one of the most progressive dioceses in the Church. This must be heaven!

The baby…a year old on Saturday!

2008-12-02T20:18:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving dinner with Amelia, Jenn, José, Karin, Ron, and Rob. Amelia was in rare form all day long!

Balloons: No strings attached!

2008-12-02T11:05:00.008-05:00

The Gifts of God for the People of God in our community … no strings attached. That's the expression of God's generosity and ours, too, as we live out our calling to be the presence of God in the world. The balloons in church on Sunday, floating freely, unattached, symbolized our intention to actually give away the gifts. It's all about generosity.

The balloons coincided with the ingathering of our pledge commitments for 2009. The celebration of the eucharist among the free-floating ribbons was awesome. And following the service, the vestry hosted a spectacular "coffee" hour. Hors d'oeuvres, mimosas, and a spectacular cake from The Pastry Garden.

Take a look….

ThisWeeksSermon, "Advent. Make it count!"

2008-12-02T09:18:00.003-05:00

“Advent: Make it count!”
1st Sunday in Advent, November 30, 2008

Audio version is available.

"Lots of preachers speak as though the gospels are history, that the wise men really followed a star, that Jesus really said all of the things attributed to him in the gospels.
Lots of preachers speak as though biblical prophecies are accurate peepholes into the future.
But it’s is not the 13th century any more.
And it’s dishonest to ignore centuries of biblical scholarship simply in order to cling to eroding traditional belief."

"When will God finally “open the heavens and come to us.” When will God blast our enemies to smithereens. When will God crash into our existence with a cosmic bullhorn! A loud and noisy Advent. That’s what we want. A loud, noisy Advent."

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

Only a few more minutes. Make ‘em count!
Often when I’m teaching an aerobics class, and we get near the end of the workout, I’ll look back in the mirror and notice that maybe some of the people in the class are looking a little tired, running out of steam, apparently coasting along, toward the cooldown and the final stretch.
“Just five more minutes,” I shout out.
“Just five more minutes.
As long as we’re here, we might just as well make the next five minutes count for something!”

Mark 13:24-37: the end of our workout
This morning’s gospel reading suggests that the day of Christ’s coming will be like this:
The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall out of the sky.
The “powers in the heavens” will be shaken.
When we see these things happen, it’ll be the end of our “workout”!
We’d better make the most of the time we have left!

Some “bibilical criticism” in passing
The author of that gospel, Mark, places the prediction on Jesus’ lips, but they’re not Jesus’ words.
They’re the words of Mark.
They’re words that reflect the thinking of the church in the first century.
Lots of preachers speak as though the gospels are history, that the wise men really followed a star, that Jesus really said all of the things they say he said in the gospels.
Lots of preachers speak as though biblical prophecies are accurate peepholes into the future.
But it’s is not the 13th century any more.
And it’s dishonest to ignore centuries of biblical scholarship simply in order to cling to eroding traditional belief.
What’s important about it, I suggest that we see the dire warnings as mere conjecture from a first century world, and leave it at that.
The important point of the gospel for us today, I think, is not about a catastrophic apocalypse.
It’s the bit about the uncertainty of the timing, the uncertainty about exactly when to expect the The Divine to “jump into our lives, as God does do, from time to time.
Keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come.
Keep awake.
You never know when it’ll happen.

For Isaiah: God’s on vacation?
In this morning’s first reading, the prophet Isaiah begs for God to “come out of retirement.”
“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.”
Isaiah was lamenting the fact that God had been elusive, that God was absent, God, on an extended vacation.

The same for us?
Isaiah’s experience of course is not unique.
It can be that way for us as well, particularly in troubled times like those we’re we’re living in right now.
Our American expectation is that God will want to bless each of us personally, and that God will “bless America.”
But everything seems to be going to hell, financial hard times, rising inflation, higher taxes, unemployment.
An endless war, and genocide, and terrorism, and famine.
Global warming, and energy shortages, and disappearing natural resources.
The list goes on and on.
And more and more of us are feeling it.

Like being in the wilderness
Where we are now is something like being with Isaiah, captive in Babylon, lost in a sort of Godless wilderness, facing uncomfortable questions.
Where in heaven or on earth has God been with all of this going on around us.
Why are things so screwed up?
Why don’t we have the answers?
Are we being punished?
Have we done something wrong?
When will God finally “open the heavens and come to us.”
When will God blast our enemies to smithereens.
When will God crash into our existence with a cosmic bullhorn!
A loud and noisy Advent.
That’s what we want.
A loud, noisy Advent.
But most of us, most of us get the God of Isaiah, the God who hides from us, the God whose presence is more elusive more elusive than we want God to be.

The Advent comes when we least expect it
Some people spend a lot of time trying to work out the details of when and how Jesus will come again.
In the process, they fail to grasp the truth that Christ will not come twice, but has already come hundreds of times appearing as “God-with-us,” “God in us.”
The awareness of that presence, however, is a different matter.
The awareness of the advent of God in our midst is not always there.

My experience
I find that awareness will come, but it comes when I least expect it.
I’ve got to be on my toes to notice it.
I’ve got to be alert, watching and listening for that window of opportunity.
I’ve got to be expecting the unexpected!

Look in the mirror
Look into the mirror and look for the real you.
Take a walk by yourself.
Light a candle and gaze into the open flame.
Let the vision of God emerge in God’s own time.
The wilderness of doubt and despair we’re in provides the very opportunity we need.
On a spiritual path, a “wilderness” is a very good place to be.
Think for yourself, and realize that none of our thoughts, not yours, not mine, can possibly define, or contain, who we really are, or what God really is.
It’s then that the hidden God can come out of hiding and become God our Savior.
Our very own Advent.

Chesterton: God sometimes chooses to enter by the back door
G.K. Chesterton, an influential writer who lived through the turn of the last century suggested that God often works in unexpected ways.
Chesterton pointed out that God sometimes chooses to enter our world, in a barn at the edge of town.
Sometimes God comes down and slips in the back door of life’s slums to surprise us from behind.
That’s how Isaiah’s prophecy became the Christmas story.
And that’s how, for us, in a world gone awry, the prophecy of Isaiah still comes to pass, slipping in the back door.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Only three more weeks
Today I stand in your midst, fast-approaching the celebration of the birth of the one in whom we have seen God.
It’s all coming too fast, I’m thinking.
There’s so much to do to get ready for Christmas.
But I want to stay focused on what Advent is really all about.
For me, it’s a bit like being at the tail-end, of an aerobics class.
A little tired, coasting along toward the cooldown and final stretch.
“Just three more Sundays,” I shout out.
“As long as we’re here, lets make these remaining weeks in Advent count for something!”
Keep awake, for you do not know, when the master of the house will come.
Keep alert.
You never know when The Divine will “jump into your life.’
God will do that, you know, from time to time.
It’s your Advent.

Selecting color(s) for our "open" floorplan…

2008-11-27T13:20:00.004-05:00

These are paint samples we've tried out to use on what I call the "elevator shaft" that runs up through the house, from the ground level, cutting through the living room and kitchen, and ending above the bedrooms. We like the red-red a lot, but it's too darned much red everywhere. Both living room rugs are red. The huge painting on the far wall is very red. Etc. The terra cottas don't do well with all the red in the room.

Therefore ... we're leaning toward the lighter green. (I know, it looks like gray in this photo, but it's a lighter version of the darker green in actuality.) Where there's carpet, it's a version of this same green. I'm thinking that's going to be it.

The other walls would be

This little patch of the darker color is what we plan to use everywhere else in the "living" space.

ThisWeeksSermon: "“Food, water, warm clothing, shelter, etc”

2008-11-23T19:03:00.003-05:00

“Food, water, warm clothing, shelter, etc”
Christ the King, November 23, 2008

"I plan to send an article to local newspapers inviting anyone who wishes to be baptized, or wishes to have children baptized. Just show up at the door for the Easter Vigil. Make your promises. And receive the sacrament. No strings attached."

"Helium balloons on strings will float unattached overhead in church and in the parish hall, balloons representing the Gifts of God for the People of God in our community, strings hanging down…unattached."

Click here for a streaming audio clip of the sermon.

Feast of Christ the King
Today we celebrate “Christ the King.”
It’s the idea that the returning Jesus might return as royalty, sovereign, judgmental, with absolute authority, separating the sheep from the goats.
The feast of Christ the King is always celebrated on the last Sunday of the church year.
Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians are among those who join in the observance.

Christ the King: the concept
We make a distinction, you know, between the Jesus of History, and the Christ of Faith.
So when we speak of Christ, it’s not Jesus’ last name, Jesus Christ, son of Joseph and Mary Christ.
When we speak of Christ, it’s the “resurrected,” spiritual Jesus we talk about, not the bodily Jesus.
“Christ the King” is a title for the resurrected Jesus.

This morning’s story (Matthew 25:31-46)
The celebration of Christ the King is based on several passages of scripture.
This morning we heard one of them, Matthew’s version.
Matthew presents our entire reading as though the words came straight from the lips of Jesus, Jesus predicting his own return as a king, seated on a throne, separating the sheep from the goats.
It’s Matthew’s portrayal of the last judgment, the event that the first Christians were expecting would happen at any minute.
It’s Matthew speaking, not Jesus.
It seems to me, however, that what’s really interesting in Matthew’s story is not the judgment-day scenario.
Instead, it’s the glimpse we get of the early church, not their hopes and dreams, but a glimpse of their values, the values that our Christian ancestors held regarding the Christian life.
• Feed the hungry.
• Provide drinking water for those who thirst.
• Provide housing for the homeless.
• Provide clothing for those who are cold.
• Visit the sick.
• Visit prisoners.
The early Christians figured that our eternal destinies hung on either of two sentences.
I was a stranger and you took me in.
Or, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.
Members of the early church for the most part were Jews.
And for Jews, hospitality was at the core of religious ethics.

Welcoming the stranger: our mission
It’s an interesting coincidence, getting this hospitality lesson from the first century, at the very time we’re focusing on our ministry of hospitality here in Marlboro.
Offering the Gifts of God to the People of God in our community, with no strings attached.
We have opened our doors to neighbors we don’t necessarily know, offering the sacraments.
On Saturday, April 11th, that’s Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, I propose to offer an opportunity for “open baptism” at our church.
I plan to send an article to local newspapers inviting anyone who wishes to be baptized, or wishes to have children baptized.
Just show up at the door for the Easter Vigil.
Make your promises.
And receive the sacrament.
No strings attached.
It’s not just sacraments
And of course you all know that our hospitality extends beyond simply offering sacraments.
Our generosity is expressed as well in ways that Matthew described.
Feeding the hungry, providing housing for the homeless, clothing for those who are cold, visiting the sick.

Food Bank of the Hudson Valley
From your contributions, we send $600 a year to the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
In their hands, they’re able to provide more than $6000 worth of food to those who are hungry.
What a deal!

Food pantry at Church of Christ the King in Stone Ridge
Just this week, the leadership in our parish, your vestry, asked me to look for an Ulster County Episcopal parish that is struggling to keep the shelves of its food pantry stocked.
I’ve done that, and it turns out that the Church of Christ the King in Stone Ridge is experiencing exactly that situation, overwhelmed with requests for food and running short.

Housing
In our parish it’s not just sacraments and food that we offer.
We also help provide housing for the homeless.
Once again this year, our church will be involved with Habitat for Humanity, this time building a brand-new house for a family in Newburgh.

Clothing
We also provide clothing for those in need.
In this case it’s school clothes for 35 boys and girls in Tanganyika, most of whom have been orphaned as a result of the AIDS epidemic.
Not only that, we provide schoolbooks and feed those children as well, breakfast every day.

The sick
We visit the sick.
And not just our own parishioners, taking communion, or stopping by.
Once a month we visit residents of the Hudson Valley Nursing Home, talking with them, singing with them, taking Holy Communion to them.

What happens when we offer hospitality?
We do all these things with no strings attached, no expectations that we’ll receive anything in return.
But of course we often do get something in return.
When we show true hospitality, we let people know that someone cares about them.
We let them know that God cares about them them.
And we have the satisfaction of having done something selfless, something right, the satisfaction of having made the best investment of our own time and of our own money that we possibly could.

Jesus at the door
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is depicted as standing and knocking at the door.
Here I am!
I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person.
Most of us would have no problem opening the door to Jesus.
But when the person at the door is an undocumented immigrant, an ex-convict, or a stranger, what should we do?
Do we ignore the knocking and hope the person will go away?
Do we open the door and tell her or him to go away?
Or do we open the door and ask the stranger in, to share what we have.
We know the answer to that question.
It’s “open the door and ask the stranger in to share what we have.”

Our “immigrant” at our church door
It was at a vestry meeting in late spring or early summer, a cold night for that time of year as I recall, it was then that an “immigrant” of sorts showed up at our parish hall during our vestry meeting.
Didn’t knock.
Let himself in and stood in the doorway.
Homeless.
He had left his things outside, hidden away in the bushes.
He was looking for a way to stay warm on a cool night.
And he was hungry.
We stopped the meeting
I wish you could have seen members of your vestry scrambling to help.
Extra clothing found in their cars, a blanket, a sweatshirt.
Digging around in the refrigerator to find something he might want to eat or drink
What does a homeless person do on a cold night on Route 9W.
Turns out he was rather fussy about clothes and food, and was very persistently independent.
But he sat through our meeting.
The best we could do for him was to get him up to McDonalds in Highland with enough money for a couple of meals, and offer directions to social services in Poughkeepsie.

Vestry hosting Nov. 30th
The leadership in this parish is awesome.
All the right instincts.
It’s a pretty amazing experience to sit with them at a vestry meeting.
Members of this vestry have already turned in their pledge commitments.
And next Sunday, the day the rest of us will be returning our pledge commitments, this vestry will be hosting a rather gala reception following the service, a celebration of God’s generosity and of our ability to offer hospitality.
Cake from The Pastry Garden, hors d’oeuvres.
Helium balloons on strings will float unattached overhead in church and in the parish hall, balloons representing the Gifts of God for the People of God in our community, strings hanging down…unattached.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

ThisWeeksSermon: "Abundance, generosity, and sharing the wealth"

2008-11-11T14:01:00.003-05:00

“Abundance, generosity, and sharing the wealth”
The 26th Sunday After Pentecost, November 9, 2008

“I don’t know about you, but I think it’s safe to say that after a couple of thousand years, we can be sure that the Messiah is not going to reappear in the way those early Christians expected.”

“Matthew ended by telling us exactly what the kingdom of God should look like.
It is feeding the hungry, he said.
Clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and those in prison.”

Click here to listen.

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier. Amen.

This morning’s readings
Some interesting readings this morning, I think.

First reading: Wisdom of Solomon
The first reading, from the Wisdom of Solomon, was written only about 50 years before Jesus was born.
It’s worth mentioning, I think, because in this book of the Bible, God is described in the feminine.
Wisdom is another word for God, and Wisdom is a feminine noun.
Wisdom is a “she.”
We’re told that this feminine God is radiant and unfading, accessible, easy to spot by anyone looking for her.
Imagine that!
God the Mother.

Second reading: Paul’s correspondence
And then I can’t go on to the gospel without briefly mentioning the second reading, as well.
It was a piece of correspondence between Paul and members of a newly organized church that he’d started up in Greece.
This correspondence is maybe the earliest writing included in the Christian part of the Bible, written maybe as few as just 15 years after Jesus’ earthly walk.
At that time, you know, the early Christians were expecting Jesus to return, as the messiah, the Christ, any minute.
Literally.
Sucking everyone up into the sky.
They thought that absolutely everyone would be resurrected with Christ when that happened, and they were worried about what would happen to friends and family who had already died.
Paul was reassuring them that when the time came, everyone would get to go, the living and the dead.
What’s particularly noteworthy is that it’s this little passage that’s the basis for the fundamentalist belief in “the Rapture.”
Many believe it’s literally going to happen that way.
It’s also this little passage that’s the basis for the bumper stickers.
In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned.
And the bumper sticker responses:
After the rapture, can I have your car?
I want you to know that the word rapture doesn’t even appear in the Bible.
The entire concept is based on this one paragraph taken from a letter written by Paul, a Jesus-follower who turned out to be very influential in the formation of the church as we know it today.

The gospel: Matthew & the 10 maidens
This morning gospel of Matthew picked up that thread, not about a rapture, but about waiting for the return of a Messiah.
Matthew invites us to believe that it was Jesus who told this story about bridesmaids waiting for a bridegroom who was delayed.
Matthew invites us to believe that it was Jesus who predicted his own resurrection and return in a second coming.

Parable of the 10 bridesmaids: not Jesus’ words
The reading, referred to as “the parable of the ten bridesmaids,” may simply have been derived from common lore in the ancient Near East.
Some scholars think it may have been totally the creation of Matthew, the writer, not a story told by Jesus at all.
The bridesmaids who were ready to go to the party got to go.
The ones who weren’t ready were shut out.
It nothing like other parables of Jesus.
Jesus was the guy who was always going against against the grain, both religious and social, always questioning conventional wisdom.
This story, instead… confirms conventional wisdom, defends the status quo.
There’s no unexpected twist at the end, typical of Jesus’ parables, no riddle to figure out.
It all turns out as expected.
Also, the parable emphasizes the social boundaries between those inside, and those outside.
The closed door is a definitive boundary.
Jesus, on the other hand, was much more interested in breaking down social barriers than he was about erecting them.

American values: individualism & meritocracy
It’s easy to read this morning’s parable of the ten virtuous bridesmaids as a tribute to a core American value: our value of rugged individualism, the priority of looking out for number one.
It sounds more like our culture than the mind of Jesus.
The “password” for entrance into God’s kingdom has never been “try harder.”
The kingdom’s economy has never been one of scarcity.
(If I share with you, I won’t have enough for myself.
That’s not what Jesus ever suggested.)
Instead, the kingdom of heaven is about abundance, about generosity, about sharing the wealth with one another.

Jesus’ values: generosity
Jesus embraced as his own those who were excluded by the respectably religious people of his day.
He was a friend to sinners.
He was a friend to people who were avoided by religious people.
His hospitality, and openness, and his generosity got him into terrible trouble with those who believed it was their job to maintain strong moral standards, maintain the law, maintain the status quo.
It eventually got him killed.
Nowhere in scripture will you find the mantra, “Love the sinner but hate the sin.”
In spite of how often you hear that sentence, it's usually the sinner, not the sin, who’s ostracized, criticized, crucified.

A second coming, really?
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s safe to say that after a couple of thousand years, we can be sure that the Messiah is not going to reappear, at least not in the way those early Christians expected.
For us the story’s got to be about something else, maybe about staying awake, not losing heart, not losing faith, keeping hope alive.
Maybe it’s the idea that the kingdom of God is always yet to come, just beyond our reach.
Maybe it’s the idea that the best is yet to come, although it may not come in the way we expect it.
This morning’s story was the way Matthew began chapter 25.
But he ended it on quite a different note.
He ended it by telling us exactly what the kingdom of God should look like.
It is feeding the hungry, he said.
Clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and those in prison.
Two wolves inside, good and evil: Feed the one who wins.
There’s a native American (Cherokee) story that goes to the heart of it.
One evening an old grandfather told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside of people.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves that live inside each one of us.
One wolf is Evil.
That wolf is anger, envy, and jealousy, greed and lies.
The other wolf is Good.
The good wolf is joy and peace and love, hope and humility.
The good wolf is compassion, and empathy., truth and generosity.”
The grandson thought about the battle between the wolves or a minute or so and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The Cherokee grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

Twins are new members November 9th

2008-11-11T13:34:00.003-05:00

Twins Emily and Mason Smit were baptized yesterday at The Episcopal Church. A full house, with a celebration following the service. Lots of energy. Take a look!

Church school boys & girls sing on All Saints Day

2008-11-07T16:26:00.002-05:00

During the celebration of All Saints Day, also a children's service Sunday, the boys and girls from our Church School performed. It was a song they learned this past summer at our vacation Bible school. They did a great job! Take a look.

ThisWeeksSermon November 2d, All Saints Day

2008-11-07T16:05:00.004-05:00

“A glimpse of the oneness of life. Heaven”
All Saints Day, November 2, 2008

"All we do need is to realize that everything we need, we already have. We are complete and whole as we are. We have your own experiences. We develop your own spirituality. We even put together our own portraits of God. It’s okay to name God in any way that makes sense to you. It’s good, and right, and Godly, I think, to walk a path that is authentic for you."

Well, it’s come and gone again.
Halloween.
Not my favorite time, by any means.
Doorbell ringing.
Dog barking.
Kids holding out open bags, expecting contributions of candy, pranksters spraying their fathers’ shaving cream all over the place, and costumes, a once-a-year opportunity to pretend to be someone you’re not!
A doctor or a witch, a nun or an astronaut, whatever.
My favorite talk-radio psychologist, Dr. Joy Browne, says that Halloween is the one time in the year when men have permission to dress up as women, and women can dress up as professional “ladies of the night.”
It all started with a fourth century holy day
All of this pretending started, you know, as a result of Halloween’s proximity to All Saints Day.
Halloween on the last day of October.
All Saints Day on the first day of November.
All Saints, is the day in which all of the dead are remembered.
But it’s more than that.
It’s the day when we’re asked not only to “remember,” but to experience a oneness with those who have gone before.
We call that oneness “the Communion of Saints.”
It’s not just them, “communing” with each other.
It’s us and them, in communion with each other.
In the Catechism at the back of the Book of Common Prayer, the Communion of Saints is defined as “the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together.”
In a few minutes, in the Nicene Creed, we’ll all claim, out loud, that we believe in the “Communion of Saints.”
It’s a spiritual connection that we have, all of us who are alive, with all who have died, those who are here, with those who have departed.
When we say we believe in the Communion of Saints, we’re saying that we are part of one, single, mystical body.
One entity, one reality.
We’re saying we live in togetherness with the departed.
For the preacher
For a preacher, All Saints Day is an opportune moment to talk about something we do a petty good job of talking about in church:
life and death.
In one of T.S. Eliot’s well known poems, he asked this question:
"Why should anyone love the church?"
It’s the church that tells us of life and death, and all that we would wish to forget.
It’s the church that is tender where we would be brittle,, and brittle where we like to be soft.
The church tells us of evil and sin, and other unpleasant facts.
We constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within, by dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
"Why in the heck should anyone love the church?"
The church tells us of life and death, and all that we would wish to forget.
Christians’ understanding of afterlife
The Christian understanding of life after death has traditionally depended on the idea that God was an “out-there,” record-keeping deity, a sort of Santa Clause living above the clouds, knowing if you’ve been bad or good, Santa, before whom you would have to appear for judgment at the end of your days.
That idea of judgment portrayed human beings as chronically immature people, children, who stood quietly before an authoritative parent figure sitting on a throne.
Children, waiting to receive either an eternal reward, in heaven, for our goodness, or an eternal punishment, not in heaven, for our badness.
The notion of heaven
The idea of heaven has a long and interesting history.
In Hebrew culture, some long-ago rabbis believed in a very specific and literal notion of the heavens.
They believed there were actually seven heavens.
The first shielded the light at night.
The second housed the snow and the rain.
(This was not science.)
The third housed righteous souls, the fourth housed the angels, and so on.
(When someone says she’s in seventh heaven, she’s so happy, this is where the expression comes from, the Hebrew notion of seven heavens, each closer and closer to God.)
At the giving of the law to Moses, it’s said that the heavens were opened, and the Israelites were able to gaze at the majesty of the seven heavens.
On the other hand, less-literal Hebrew mystics interpreted the seven heavens far more internally and symbolically.
There were no literal seven heavens.
These less-literal mystics interpreted heaven as a process, a process of going deeper and deeper within oneself, deeper to greater self-knowledge and clarity.
For them, the seven heavens were interpreted as realizations of something inexpressible.
Never a literal place
Those mystics of course had it right.
The heavens were never literal places.
They were always more than that.
They have always been profound insights from within oneself.
If you’ve had the privilege of sitting with someone just before she or he has died, or maybe even in the last days and weeks before death, you may have witnessed an indescribable peace, a peace that comes over individuals when they become accepting of death, at one with their situation.
If you’ve had that privilege, then you’ve gotten a glimpse of the oneness of those who are living and those who have died, all things united.
Many people see that, and know that, before they die.
Hebrew mystics described it as “the skies opening.”
And every once in awhile we are gifted with that vision, a peek, a glance at the divine.
Every once in awhile we are gifted with a glimpse of a sacred wonder and mystery of Oneness with all.
Life after death
I deeply believe in God, even though I struggle to put it into words.
My current favorite definition of God (you may recognize it) is "God the Awesome Mystery that Moves Among Us and Lives Within Each One of Us."
I’m sure that I cannot tell you who God is, or what God is.
Nor can you tell me.
We're human beings who are bound by both time and space, and yet when we speak about God, we're trying to describe that which is not bound by time and space.
I believe that to be true, as well, of our ideas about the afterlife.
When we speak about afterlife, we who are bound by time and space are trying to describe that which is not bound by time and space.
You don’t have to escape this world
We do not need to escape this world in order to experience the reality of heaven and God.
We do not need to be told what to think by ancient writers of our scriptures.
We do not need priests, or bishops, or any other authority to tell us what to think.
All we do need is to do is realize that everything we need, we already have.
We are complete and whole as we are.
We have your own experiences.
We develop your own spirituality.
We even put together our own portraits of God.
It’s okay to name God in any way that makes sense to you.
It’s good, and right, and Godly, I think, to walk a path that is authentic for you.
Be who you are
Halloween, with its bags of candy, shaving cream pranks, and pretending to be someone you’re not.
Halloween was the day before yesterday.
Today, it’s All Saints Day here in our church.
No need to pretend to be someone we’re not.
Today, the church tells us of life and death, and all that we would wish to forget.
But today the church also tells us of heaven and hope.
The church offers a glimpse of the oneness, of the living alongside the dead, of all things united in the Communion of Saints.
Today we are offered a peek, a glance at the divine, a glimpse of a sacred wonder and mystery.

ThisWeeksSermon October 12th Pentecost 22

2008-10-14T21:15:00.004-04:00

“Welcoming the stranger.”
The 22d Sunday After Pentecost, October 12, 2008

"This, I believe, is our mission in this community, to offer the approval and kindness of “that which is greater than us,” to offer the gift of acceptance, and to offer it without expecting a single thing in return."

"Even though scholars are producing more books and articles, challenging us to rethink what it means to be a Christian today, often one of the last places you will hear these topics being discussed is in church."

[Audio version of the sermon available by selecting the link on the right side of this page.0

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

In the next weeks and months, we have three (possibly four) baptisms and two weddings coming up here in our little church.
Caleb Matthew Hurst, born in August, will be baptized in two weeks.
Two weeks after that, Jason and Emily will be baptized.
These twins were born in January.
Along the way, there’s a possibility that we may even be baptizing Amelia Jane, our granddaughter, depending on how mom and dad work out the logistics of bicoastal family and friends.
Then, in May, we have the Smith-Richardson wedding, Matthew and Renai on the 9th of May, and later, in August, it’ll be the Cudak-Crawford wedding, Dawn and Sean on August 8th.
Most of you haven’t met any of these folks.
And I can already hear a little grumbling in the background.
“They come here to baptize their babies, or to get married, but after that, we don’t see them again.”
But, you know, I think that’s perfectly all right.
We may not see them again.
On the other hand, we just may.
It may not be this winter, or this spring, or this year, even.
But we make a connection.
We offer a gift.
And it’s a gift like any other gift.
No strings attached.
This gift is the gift of the grace of God, given without the expectation of anything in return.
I refuse to be the “police” of the sacraments, deciding who should or should not receive God’s blessing.
Giving away the sacraments unconditionally seems totally right to me.
This, I believe, is what Jesus would have us do.

Our mission/our ministry
Actually, I think this generosity might very well be the mission of this parish in this community, offering “the gifts of God for the people of God” in Marlboro, New York, offering the unconditional acceptance of God to those who simply ˆ for it.

Honest dialog: missing in our churches?
We offer these gifts in the context of our beautiful liturgy, and in an open-minded environment where there exists the possibility of questioning and dialog about what God is, and who Jesus was.
For example, the question of how God could be thought of as loving, generous, and merciful, and then arrange for his own son to be tortured and killed.
We can talk about such a question here.
Another example.
Is Christianity God’s only, or even best, option for bringing salvation to the world?
Maybe not.
We can talk about that question here as well.
The latest thinking about the historical Jesus, and about the twisted roots of the Christian beginnings, appears on the front pages of Time magazine and Newsweek, but these things are seldom discussed in churches.
Even though scholars are producing more books and articles, challenging us to rethink what it means to be a Christian today, often one of the last places you will hear these topics being discussed is in church.
Surveys show that people in the pews want our churches to address these issues in an open and direct way.
They want a safe place to talk about our Christian roots, and about our religious beliefs or disbeliefs.
It’s ironic that as churches are declining in membership, the general public seems to have more interest in religion and spirituality than ever.
People are looking for churches that are not afraid to talk about a more progressive approach to Christian traditions and beliefs.

Reclaiming the core of Christianity
The interest in reclaiming the core of Christianity, distinguishing the myth and the mystery from the facts and the history, this interest actually was surfacing years and years ago, when I was in seminary, but it was a best-kept secret by the clergy for a long time.
Still is in some places.
It wasn’t talked about.
It’s mainly in the last couple of decades, though, that a number of books aimed at lay people have been written about the historical Jesus, books that challenge our traditional and orthodox perspectives.
Previously these books were written by scholars, for scholars, but not so much any more.
Everybody’s reading them.
Ignoring the challenging issues and questions that have been raised by science and scholarship has not worked in the past.
It is not working today.
And it will not work in the future.

Everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.
This morning we heard the parable of the wedding celebration.
There are actually three different versions of it: a version by Luke and another in the Gospel of Thomas.
This morning we have Matthew’s version.
Matthew turned the parable into an allegory of salvation.
A king (that would be God) prepares a feast for his son (Jesus).
The king invites his subjects (the Jews) to the banquet.
Those invited treat the invitations lightly and end up killing some of the king’s servants.
The king destroys them and their city (Jerusalem).
Then the king invites foreigners to the feast.
This allegory would have been alien to Jesus.
Remember, Jesus was a Jew, and this story has been thoroughly Christianized.
Matthew’s prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem was actually looking back.
That destruction had already taken place.
Matthew went on to add a warning addressed to the one who came to the banquet not properly dressed.
Here Matthew is referring to people who have joined the Christian community, but turn out to be unfit, and so they’re expelled.
Matthew, throughout his narrative, dwells on the idea that there will be a last judgment when the good and the bad, the deserving and the undeserving, will be sorted out.
The words, Many are called, but few are chosen
are considered to be entirely the creation of Matthew.

The centerpiece of the parable
The centerpiece of the parable, however, comes down to this, I think.
Guests were invited off the street.
They didn’t do anything to earn the invitation.
It was a gift.
This is a story about God’s “grace,” the gift of free, unmerited approval and generosity of God.
Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; just come to the wedding banquet.
Or as Eugene Peterson puts it in his interpretation of the reading, … the prime rib is ready for carving.
Come to the feast!
That’s God’s invitation.
Come to the feast.

Paul Tillich said this
Paul Tillich, one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century, said this about the meaning of this invitation.
You are accepted.
You are accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know.
Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later.
Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much.
Do not seek for anything; do not intend anything.
Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.
When that happens to us, we experience the grace of God.

Our mission
This, I believe, is our mission in this community, to offer the approval and generosity of “that which is greater than us,” to offer the gift of acceptance, and to offer it without expecting a single thing in return.
I believe that we, in this community, are called to minister to those who have no minister, to welcome the stranger, with no strings attached.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

ThisWeeksSermon October 5th Pentecost 21

2008-10-06T15:01:00.004-04:00

“We all breathe the same air.”
St. Francis of Assisi & Blessing of the Animals, October 5, 2008

" Those of us who have held an animal companion
as it breathed its last breath,
we know this to be true.
These other animals,
the nonhuman ones,
are an integral part of God’s creation."

[Note: The audio version is clickable on the right side of this page. The quality is not good! But if you adjust the volume as you go along, it's listenable. Technical difficulties! Also, the first part of the sermon wasn't scripted. I had been counting on covering that base by publishing decent audio. But since that failed, I listened phrase by phrase and keyed it here for you. Read on.]

I ran into this book this summer when I was camping up in the Adirondacks.
The woman who runs the campground, Pam, had been reading it and recommended it, and it looked really cool, and I thought it might contain something that I could use at one of the children’s services, and so I bought the book. It’s called Swine Not. The subtitle is A Novel Pig Tale.
Jimmy Buffett wrote the book, believe it or not. You know, he’s had several books on the New York Times best-seller list, including nonfiction. Who knew! Of course I remember him because of his song, “Wasting Away in Margaretaville. We could sing a few bars.
Let me read what it says on the flap inside the back cover.
“It was serendipitous when longtime friend Helen Bransford showed Jimmy a short manuscript and photo-illustrations based on her pet pig, Forkie. For years Helen’s friends had been entertained by her funny stories about her adventures in New York City, hiding the family pig in an upscale hotel. Now Bransford, an author and artist, presents readers with an unforgettable pigaccompanied by a tale that only Jimmy Buffet could invent.
So this is a story about a pig who lived in a New York hotel. I’ve got a few notes here.
The story starts in a little town in Tennessee, Vertigo, Tennessee. That’s where Rumpy the pig lives with her family on this farm. The story ends up in New York City in this posh hotel across the street from Central Park. The characters in the story are Rumpy, the pig. In Tennessee, she was an entertainer. She danced for people. I think it was the tango. I can’t quite remember. When she entertained, she’d be the star of the show. She also could play soccer. The position she played was goalie (I think). She wore a face protector, and guarded the goal. She would guard the net and did a very good job of it, using her nose to send the ball flying back. Rumpy has a keen sense of smell. And I understand that all pigs do. At one point in the story, she could smell cotton candy half a block away, and head right for it.
Another character in the story is a cat. The cat’s named Syrup. She plays a smaller role, but it’s important nonetheless.
There are twins in the story, a boy and a girl. The boy’s name is Barley. He is an avid soccer player. When Rumpy played soccer, they’d kick the ball back and forth out on the field down in Tennessee, and also in Central Park, eventually. Darryl Meacham, the soccer player, is Barley’s hero, his role model in life. Barley wants to be Darryl Meacham.
Maple, the twin sister, she loves to sew, and she’s very very good at it. Her goal in life is to be a fashion designer, and her role model in life is the fashion designer Karen Wu. She wants to be Karen Wu when she grows up.
The mom is Ellie. On the farm, she’s really an “earth mother.” She gardens, and she cans, and she cooks, and she’s really especially good at pastries.
The dad is Oscar. I think Oscar is modeled after the author, Jimmy Buffett, because he’s kind of a vagabond, a drifter. He and his wife haven’t divorced, but he disappears, and then he comes back, and everybody loves him when he’s there, but they never know when he’s going to leave or when he’s going to come back. So that’s Oscar.
In New York City, there’s a character named Boucher. They call him “Boucher the Butcher.” He’s the head chef in this hotel restaurant, and you never read about him without a knife in his hand. He is not a vegetarian. He loves serving very rare, bloody meat to his patrons in the hotel restaurant.
Then, the other two people who appear in the book eventually are Lukie, Rumpy’s twin brother, and Darryl Meachem shows up at the end of the story as well.
So the family, they move from Vertigo, Tennessee to New York City. Ellie, the mother, gets a job as the pastry chef in this kitchen where Boucher the Butcher runs things. It’s a posh hotel. Upper East Side. Across the street from Central Park. Famous restaurant. People come from all over to eat in that restaurant.
The family’s given a penthouse to live in. It’s totally glass. Windows all the way around. They call it “the fishbowl.” It’s quite a beautiful place. They can look down in Central Park and beyond. The problem is that they have Rumpy the pig living with them in this glass house that everyone can look into, and there’s a rule in the hotel, and the rule is “No exotic animals allowed.” Dogs and cats are okay. But not pigs. So Maple, the twin sister, she’s pretty creative, and she figures out a way to disguise a room service cart in such a way that they can squeeze Rumpy into the bottom of the cart. There are places for her feet to come down through the bottom so she can move the cart around. They give her a little porthole so she can see where she’s going. Tablecloth to the floor. Dirty dishes on the top so it looks like it belongs there. And Rumpy can actually navigate the halls of the hotel, and into the elevator and everything. The other thing that Maple, the twin sister does, is she creates a costume for Rumpy. It’s a costume that makes Rumpy look just like a dog. It’s so believable that Rumpy can walk through the hotel lobby without being detected. When she gets out on the sidewalks, dogs are coming up and sniffing her. They believe she’s really another dog.
Well, the drama in the story is about Rumpy’s loss of her twin brother. They were separated when they were babies. She longs to find her brother Lukie. Her understanding is that Lukie’s living in New York City somewhere. So this whole thing’s about her reconciling with her brother. So the story climaxes one night when Rumpie gets a scent of her brother, Lukie. She can smell him. He’s over in the park somewhere. She’s alone in the glass penthouse. It’s at night. She works her way out of the hotel, across the street, and into Central Park, and she’s on the trail of her brother, following him through the park. She’s in the zoo, and then guess what, Boucher the Butcher shows up with a sharp knife in his hand, and he’s interested in pork chops. Rumpy takes off running like crazy. But as she’s running, she notices a shed on fire, and there’s a sign on the side of the shed. (She can read, as a matter of fact.) There’s a sign on the side of the shed that says, Flammable Materials Inside, Explosives, right? So, trigger. Alarm! She sees this old woman sitting on a park bench with her back to it, the shed that’s on fire, and about to explode, and so Rumpy hesitates in her race, runs over, grabs the woman by the sleeve, spins her around so she can see what’s going on, and then she saves this old woman’s life. And it turns out that the mother of the mayor of the City of New York. It’s this “random act of kindness” that really turns things around for Rumpy. And she eventually does connect with her brother, Lukie.
I just want to read a couple of pages. It’s big print, so don’t worry. (Really nice illustrations. Every chapter starts with a really nice illustration. I’ll share the book with anyone who wants it. This is Rumpy speaking. Every chapter has a different speaker. Sometimes it’s Barley, the twin boy, sometimes it’s the girl, sometimes it’s Rumpy.
There is a song sung by great human named Aretha Franklin called “Respect.” I used to dance to it back in Vertigo when I entertained the locals. To tell the truth, I didn’t actually listen closely to the words. What I loved was the beat and particularly that place Ms. Franklin would sing, “Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me,” over and over again. Be you human, animal, vegetable, or microbe living at the bottom of the ocean, if you can’t dance to that part of the sing, well then, you need to move to another part of the galaxy. Humans do have their moments, you know, but they often make things much more complicated than they really are. We animals fight over territory, but nothing we have ever done has started a war. Sometimes I think it must be hard to be a human with a brain that can at times create such wonder and at other times wreak such havoc.
I had come to New York expecting the whole human world to fit into mine, and I was kicked out-of-bounds like one of Barley’s explosive crossing shots on the soccer field. I admit I whined and got depressed, but even in my times of hopelessness, I still knew in my deepest heart that somehow, some way, I would see my brother again. The gods of good fortune had smiled down on me, and because of a random act of kindness, my world came together the way I had always dreamed it would. I didn’t have to hide, wear a dog suit, or stuff myself into a room-service table any more. Not only had I found my brother but along the way I had earned a little “respect”—which in my humble, piggish opinion is all any of us really want anyhow.
At first, when Maple and Barley saw Lukie, they assumed I had a boyfriend. But Ellie chewed on her lip for a moment and said, “I can hardly believe it, but that is no boyfriend—that is Rumpy’s twin brother. I remember him from when they were babies. See how much they look alike?” Everyone made a huge fuss, and I twirled and twirled so Ellie would understand that she had been absolutely right.
A few hours after my ordeal with the Butcher, I was perfectly refreshed and enjoying my newfound celebrity status. E-mails and text messages spread the world like wildfire throughout the hotel about the heroic you-know-what living in the fish tank on the roof. And—get this—Lukie and I were invited to have dinner the next evening with the mayor and his mother. I was happy.
Rumpy put it this way:
“I didn’t have to hide, wear a dog suit, or stuff myself into a room-service table any more.”
(No more pretending to be something I’m not.)
“Humans often make things much more complicated than they really are.”

A special bond
Our relationships with our animal companions……
are pure and simple.
The bond between me and my dog……
is like no other relationship.
All of our communication is absolutely basic.
It’s eye to eye…
nose to nose…
my tug on the leash felt on the neck of the dog.
Do you want to go for a walk?…
my spoken question gets a tip of the head…
a wag of the tail…
twitch of the ears.
Two creatures of love…
two creatures in love.
Him and me.
Those of us who have lived with dogs or cats……
or birds or chickens or horses…
or even pigs…
we know this to be true.
Those of us who have held an animal companion……
as it breathed its last breath…
we know this to be true.
These other animals…
the nonhuman ones…
are an integral part of God’s creation.
And Creation is a way for us……
to connect with the Creator…
and with a sense of The Holy.
Holy birds and their songs…
holy snow-capped mountains…
holy rivers and their trout…
holy dogs and cats and birds…
and pigs.
There’s something spiritual to it.
From Genesis, the first book of the Bible:
God created all life in the waters…
every species of flying birds…
to reproduce on Earth.
Humans and animals.
From the book of Ecclesiastes:
“We all breathe the same air.”
It was evening, it was morning—Day Five.
jerry+
Sunday, October 5, 2008

Blessing of the Animals, Francis of Assisi, Oct. 5, 2008

2008-10-05T20:44:00.005-04:00

It was bring-your-pet-to-church Sunday in Marlboro. All creatures great and small. Take a look! It was wonderful (although at times it felt a bit like an episode from "The Vicar of Dibley").

Photos of our lunch "cruise" in the Adirondacks

2008-10-02T19:19:00.003-04:00

A week ago Tuesday, six of us from our campground in the Adirondacks drove up to Raquette Lake for a lunch cruise on the W.W. Durant. Raquette Lake is famous for its 100+ miles of shoreline (lots of inlets and islands) and because it's the only spring-fed lake in the Adirondacks. No rivers flow in; only out. Before the late 1920s, when the first roads were opened, the only up was via rail, with great connections from metropolitan areas. Several hotels once stood near the rail station. And extremely wealthy Americans built "Great Camps" on the shores of the lake. Hotels are gone. But the Camps remain. Two hours on the boat, lunch prepared by a Culinary Institute chef, and all for $33. I'm uploading a six-minute "movie." Fast-forward if necessary.

ThisWeeksSermon September 28 Pentecost 20

2008-10-02T15:36:00.003-04:00

“The Bible is the finger pointing to the moon.”
The 20th Sunday After Pentecost, September 28, 2008

“Some might think that taking scripture apart like this ends up leaving a person with nothing certain, nothing left to cling to.

But I say it’s just the opposite.
Understanding what Jesus really said and what Jesus really did, and distinguishing it from the story-telling of the writers, frees us from the mind-numbingness of having to accept every word at face value.”

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

Imagine this scene
Imagine this.
It’s 9:25 on a Sunday morning.
Most of us are here settling in for our celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Reneé’s working her way through some appropriate pre-service music.
Finally, at 9:30, I make it to the back of the church.
We ring the bell.
And then a stranger dressed in black, wearing a round clerical collar, and maybe even a bishop’s purple shirt, this stranger enters the church, pushes his way past me and the acolytes at the back, rushes up to the lectern, and starts telling us what’s wrong with The Episcopal Church, and what’s wrong with us in particular.
We’d be astonished, then probably incensed.
I’d be right up there, in his face.
“Who are you!”
“Who sent you?”
“Where do you come from?”
And “What right do you have to be here?”

Part 1—It’s about questioning Jesus’ authority
In this morning’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel, it’s Jesus who was that stranger.
Jesus is the one who was a “party-crasher” in the temple.
And it was the priests in the temple who confronted Jesus.
“By what right are you doing these things?,” they wanted to know.
“Who gave you this authority.
Jesus answers by challenging them to what amounted to a theological debate.
He opens with a question concerning John’s authority to baptize and preach.
“You answer my question,” Jesus says, and then I’ll answer yours.
“Then I’ll tell you where my authority comes from.”
Jesus traps them with a question about the “authority” of John the Baptist, a question they cannot answer.
“Was John an agent of God or not?”
Well, the priests didn’t think John was sent by God.
What they did think was that John was just a crazy guy off the streets, but they couldn’t say so.
They were trapped.
They knew that John was a popular preacher who drew large crowds.
And they were afraid of the crowd surrounding Jesus.
The priests figured out that the tables had been turned on them.
So they refused to answer.
And Jesus replies in kind.
“You don’t answer me?”
“I won’t answer you.”
“I’m not going to tell you by what authority I do things.”

Part 2—It’s about saying and not doing
And then Jesus lunges into a story about a farmer who has two sons.
One who agrees to work in the vineyard, but doesn’t follow through and do the work, and another son who doesn’t agree to work in the vineyard, but eventually does do some work.
Both brothers say one thing, but do another.
And so Jesus asks the priests this question:
“Which of the two did what the father wanted?”
They choose the son who at least did some work.
But it’s apparently not the right answer.
My guess is that the right answer is that neither son did what the father wanted.
My guess is that Matthew included this vignette as a criticism of the priests who say one thing but do another.
They claim to be faithfully obedient to God, but they are clueless about what God is doing in the world.
They are faithful followers of the scripture, but they’re unable to see God at work in the life of John the Baptist, or in the life of Jesus.

Part 3—It’s now about believing or not believing
In the third piece of today’s reading, that contrast between saying and doing, oddly, becomes a contrast, instead, between believing and not believing.
But it doesn’t make sense.
The tax collectors and prostitutes did not say one thing but do another.
They said “Yes” and they believed.
The Pharisees did not say one thing but do another.
They said “no” and they remained unbelievers.

The more you know about the Bible, the richer it becomes
This incongruity between the story of the two brothers and the description of the tax collectors and prostitutes suggests that the conclusion is probably Matthew’s creation, just an add-on.
In fact, the the whole temple scene is thought to be Matthew’s creation.
If you’re looking for guidance from the lips of Jesus today, you won’t find it in this morning’s reading.
This is Matthew speaking.
Matthew is reflecting the anti-priestly teachings of the church in the first century.

Taking scripture apart
Some might think that taking scripture apart like this ends up leaving a person with nothing certain, nothing left to cling to.
But I say it’s just the opposite.
Understanding what Jesus really said and what Jesus really did, and distinguishing it from the story-telling of the writers, frees us from the mind-numbingness of having to accept every word at face value.
There are other ways to approach the writings bound up in the Bible.

Gospel-based discipleship
A couple of years ago I attended a small-church workshop in the midwest.
One of the things that was introduced to us was a different way of reading the Bible.
It’s called “gospel-based discipleship.”
It’s not Bible study.
It’s more of an “encounter” with the Bible.
It was suggested that when reading the gospel narratives, we listen for three things:
First, listen for any words or ideas that jump out at you.
Second, listen for what God (or Jesus) might be saying to you.
And third, figure out how that insight might affect the way you live our life.
In this morning’s gospel, for example, the words that jump out at me are authority, and the word you.
Jesus is asking, “Where do you think my authority comes from?”
And that question takes me back a few chapters in Matthew’s gospel, to where Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do others say the Son of Man is?”
They answered, John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, etc.
“But what about you,” Jesus asked.
“Who do you say I am.
Jesus doesn’t appear to care what others have said.
This is personal.
“Who do you say I am.
That’s a question that gives me permission think for myself.
You see, I think it’s up to each one of us to answer that question for ourselves, and to trust that answer.
Who do I say Jesus is?
Who do you say Jesus is?
What does each of us know to be True, really really True, about God, about Jesus, and pretty much about anything else beyond this reality?

Spiritual journeys
During the last couple of months, I’ve been on a spiritual journey with two companions.
Neither lives close by.
It’s an “internet journey.”
Terry is a fellow camper I met up in the Adirondacks.
Bradley is a high school kid in South Carolina who’s thinking about a future as an Episcopal priest.
Terry and Bradley ask me questions about God.
Sometimes it seems they want some kind of authority, an authoritative answer.
But I don’t have it.
My comeback is, “What about you?”
“What do you think about God?” They may figure their ideas aren’t good enough.
But they are good enough.

Bradley’s creed
Bradley decided that he would write his own “creed,” expressing what he believes about God, about Christ, about the Bible, etc.
Here’s Bradley’s creed, sharing it with his permission.
You can find it on the internet if you know where to look:
I believe in God, a God who is at once transcendent and immanent, who is both knowable and un-knowable, who is the source of life, Love, and the ground of all being, who is the great comforter in our time of need.
I believe in Jesus the Christ, who is eternal.
I believe Jesus points me to who God is.
In Christ I see the image, the Icon of God, the reflection of God; for that reason I believe the Christ is the Incarnation of God.
I believe in the Bible as the Word of God.
God speaks to me through the bible, and In the bible I find God.
I believe that the bible is “the finger pointing to the moon,” that is, it’s the bible that points me to God.
All this from a 16-year-old high-schooler telling us what he thinks about God.
Pretty awesome stuff.
jb+

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

ThisWeeksSermon September 21 Pentecost 19

2008-09-24T20:07:00.003-04:00

“Credit and debt: religious issues? ”
The 19th Sunday After Pentecost, September 21, 2008
May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.
Jonah: It came in a night, it perished in a night
I laughed out loud when I first looked at today’s first reading.
Charming in its simplicity, it reads like a child’s fairy tale.
God sends Jonah to predict God’s judgment on the evil city of Nineveh, and the complete destruction of everything there.
The people of Nineveh repent, and then, unexpectedly, God changes his mind about destroying the city.
God’s mercy wins out over God’s justice.
Mercy trumps justice.
Jonah had wanted it to be the other way around.
Justice, not mercy.
Simply stated, Jonah was ticked off.
Went off in a huff, like a spoiled child.
Made a temporary dwelling for himself just outside the city.
Then the part that got me to burst out laughing.
God “appoints” a bush, like appointing a clerk of the vestry or something, God appoints a bush and makes it come up over Jonah’s head, to make Jonah more comfortable.
Reminiscent of Jack and the Beanstalk, this magic bush grows up out of nowhere to provide shade.
Then, overnight, a magic worm is chosen by God to help teach Jonah a lesson.
God “appoints” a little worm to attack the plant, and the plant it withers.
(What do you suppose biblical literalists make of this one?)
Anyway, the scorching sun beats down on Jonah's head, and he faints.
Too weak to even stand up.
He begs for death.
Finally, though, I think the lesson comes down to this.
God says to Jonah:
You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow.
It came into being in a night, and perished in a night.
Well, all I’ve been able to think about this week, in relation to those words from God, is about the economic catastrophe that we’ve been in the midst of, an economic crisis likened to the 1929 stock market crash that brought on the 1930s depression era.
The current situation has been brought on, at least in part, by failure to regulate lenders offering low-interest mortgages with zero down payment, but also brought on by the quick buying, then quick reselling of real estate and artificially jacked-up prices and with huge profits.
Everyone had been gambling that this “house of credit cards” would not fall.
But it did fall.
The money has been squandered.
Risks were taken that should not have been taken, and we are suffering because of it.
God said to Jonah:
You are concerned about the bush which you didn’t work for.
Instead of “bush,” think “profit” for a minute.
God said to Jonah:
You are concerned about the “profit” which you didn’t work for.
It came from out of nowhere.
And now it’s gone.
Taxpayers are bailing out financial institutions.
Our children and grandchildren may well be left to pick up the tab.
“On Faith”—a religious blog
“On Faith” is an internet blog on religion sponsored by the Washington Post and Newsweek magazine.
You’ll find a link to that site on our homepage.
Each week a cross-section of “panelists” respond to a topic.
(Our diocesan bishop, Mark Sisk, incidentaly, is one of those panelists who often participates.)
Panelists comment, and readers are allowed to react.
This week’s topic is about the economy:
“Are the economy’s recent financial failures also moral failures?”
And “Are credit and debt religious issues?”
Those were the questions.
Credit and debt: clearly religious issues
The Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is professor of theology at the Chicago Theological Seminary.
She’s one of the panelists at this “On Faith” blog.
This week, she said that credit and debt clearly are religious issues.
She points out that Jesus certainly thought so.
We all know the story of Jesus entering the temple and driving out all who were selling and buying.
That was not about putting a stop to rummage sales in church.
He overturned the tables of the money changers.
They were money brokers, bankers.
Jesus took on the bankers who were ripping off the pilgrims who came during Passover.
He physically disrupted the largest “National Bank” in Israel, the organization that hooked the poor on high-interest credit and drove them into debt.
They were the target of Jesus’ anger, those bankers who were in cahoots with the priests who ran the temple.
These unjust lending practices drove many residents into extreme poverty.
These practices created vast slums in Jerusalem.
Jesus stared greed in the face, even as it had penetrated the very space called “religious.”
The rich get richer at the expense of the poor
The Rt. Rev. N.T. Wright is Bishop of Durham in England.
He’s regarded as probably the top theologian in the Anglican Communion these days.
He also writes for the “On Faith” blog.
He pointed out this week something else that we all should know.
In the Bible and in the Koran, it’s forbidden to use money to make money.
In other words, it’s forbidden to take interest, even though pretty much the whole global economy nowadays is built on that system, and not much else.
The idea of using credit, “taking the waiting out of wanting”, he calls it, the idea of using credit once was thought to be a sign of moral degeneracy.
Bishop Wright suggests that pervasive use of credit is a major indicator of society’s ill-health.
Bishop Wright doesn’t have a remedy, but he says he does know that whatever the remedy is, it will involve cheerful generosity.
He talks of money as “an idol.”
And he says, “Giving money away is the first great step toward dethroning that idol.”
He says he has yet to see any actual good arguments for a system where the rich get richer at the expense of the poor.
Reading the Bible selectively
Susan K. Smith is senior pastor at a UCC church in Columbus.
In her posting on the blog, she points out that we all are pretty selective when it comes to quoting Scripture and applying it to our lives and work.
But the Bible clearly says it’s good to be generous.
It’s wrong for us to be greedy.
Usury, charging interest, overcharging of people, is clearly condemned in the Bible.
“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, charge no interest.”
That’s God speaking in the Book of Exodus.
In the Book of Leviticus, it says this:
“Do not take interest of any kind, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.”
The push-pull tension between people and money has been an issue since the beginning of time.
And our current horrendous economic situation shows where our hearts have been.
In spite of American pride in being a religious nation, it’s clear that it’s money that comes first, above everything else.
God’s generosity
In the story of Jonah this morning, we encounter God who was more about mercy than about justice, God who pointed out to Jonah that the bush that God “appointed” to provide shade wasn’t anything that Jonah had earned.
It appeared one day and was gone the next.
God scolded Jonah.
Pointed out that mercy trumps justice.
Currency in God’s realm
In Jesus’ parable this morning, the workers who only work for one hour receive the same pay as the workers who work all day.
To our capitalistic, consumerist minds, this is very troublesome.
It seems grossly unfair.
From the point of view of work and wages, it’s a gross in-justice.
In truth, however, the parable has nothing at all to do with the money paid for work done.
It’s not about justice.
The parable is about God’s mercy, God’s tenderheartedness, God’s compassion.
The “currency” in the realm of God is not dollar bills.
It’s God’s freely given favor.
It comes to us as a gift, totally unearned.
It’s the same gift that Jesus told his followers to offer others.
Following our brother Jesus, Jesus, our teacher, means living in the Realm of God that Jesus talked about.
It’s a realm in which generosity trumps stinginess, where mercy trumps justice, and where our “currency,” our “net worth,” is measured not by dollar bills, but by the tenderheartedness and by the compassion that we freely offer to others.
Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

ThisWeeksSermon September 14 Pentecost 18

2008-09-14T21:52:00.004-04:00

“ How to follow Jesus? Be kind. Be forgiving.”
The 18th Sunday After Pentecost, September 14, 2008

May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.

Imagine a world in which

Imagine this.
Imagine a world in which everybody would forgive everybody for everything.
Not just following the words, “I’m sorry,” but a world in which everybody would forgive everything anyway, even when there was no regret.
Imagine a world with no grudges, no arguments, no retaliation.
Just forgiveness.
It would be quite a different world.
It would be a new and better world.

The parable of the unforgiving servant, part 1
This morning we heard a parable, the story of the unforgiving servant.
There are two parts to it.
The first part of the reading is thought to have come from Jesus, most of it, at least.
A secular ruler, probably a government official, someone in charge of tax collections, this ruler canceled a servant’s huge financial obligation.
Ten million dollars!
Told him he didn’t have to pay it back.
We don’t know why the servant owed all that money.
Doesn’t seem to matter.
But then, as the servant leaves the ruler, he runs into another servant, one who owes him a debt of just a hundred dollars.
When the second servant can’t come up with the money, the first servant refuses to forgive the debt.
Instead he has servant no. 2 tossed into prison.
This story contrasts the response of the secular ruler with the response of the first servant.
One is willing to forgive a staggering debt.
The other refuses to cancel a petty sum.
Then, when the secular ruler finds out about the first servant’s stinginess, he sends the first servant off to be punished, “tortured” is the word we hear.

The parable would have ended here
This is the point at which Jesus’ parable would have ended.
The way a parable works, you see, is that the hearer is invited to choose the appropriate behavior.
Jesus would have left it right there., a parable, simply a story with a lesson, left for us to figure out.

The parable of the unforgiving servant, part 2
But Matthew adds part 2 to the parable, his own interpretation, his own conclusion, at the end of the reading.
He sees the story not as a parable, but as an allegory, a story that reveals a hidden meaning.
Matthew suggests that the story is theology.
It’s about God.
“Secular ruler” is code for the word “God”, and “servant” is a code word standing for “church members.”
So the moral of the allegory for Matthew is in the ending he created, where Jesus suggests that “torture” is what God will do to you and to me, unless we find it in your hearts to forgive each one of our brothers and sisters.
That’s Matthew’s idea: if you don’t forgive the failures and mistakes of others, God won’t forgive your failures and mistakes either.

Jesus’ meaning
For Jesus, the parable was not meant to be a threat.
Jesus had intended the parable to end without Matthew’s conclusion, leaving it to us to figure out that forgiveness cannot be halfway.
Forgiveness cannot be negotiated.
Forgiveness cannot be compromised without some very bad consequences.

Matthew 18—the centrality of forgiveness
What both parts of this morning’s gospel reading portray, however, is the centrality of forgiveness for those of us who follow Jesus.
We know that God persistently forgives.
We know that God lets go of the past, in order for us to get a second chance, or a third chance or even a fourth opportunity to experience new life.
This same persistent forgiveness is required of us as well, in our personal relationships, in our communities, in our politics, everywhere.
Just as God is infinite in God’s forgiveness, so we should be, also, reconciling with those who have hurt us, even when they don’t apologize.

You Don't Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right
Brad Hirschfield has written a book called You Don’t Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right.
He points out that we live in a world in which religion is killing more people than at any time since the Crusades.
A former militant himself, he now renounces all delineations of people into categories of totally right or totally wrong, entirely good or entirely evil.
He wants to build bridges among people of different faiths, even including those with no faith at all.
He’s devoted to teaching inclusiveness, celebrating our differences, and delivering a message of acceptance.
It’s not just to feel good.
It’s a strong antidote to the blind passions and willful arrogance that are a threat to all of us.
He points the way to derail the continuous conflict by addressing several points, but mainly, he writes about how justice can coexist with mercy and forgiveness.

Forgiveness: central to Jesus’ message
If you were to distill the great spiritual teachings from around the world, distill them to their most basic principles, one thread would emerge to unite them all.
That thread is Kindness.
It’s not the sweet, sentimental thing that we might think it is.
Kindness.
Instead, kindness is an immensely powerful force that can transform individual lives, can ripple out to change and improve relationships, change our communities, and ultimately, even change the world.
Kindness is a practice that can be cultivated, he suggests.
Practice speech that is truthful and helpful and loving and forgiving.
It was central to Jesus’ message:
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Fascination with Jesus
I’m here because I am fascinated by Jesus.
I am profoundly affected by Jesus’ life, indelibly haunted by Jesus’ death, and genuinely compelled by Jesus’ teachings and example.
Jesus is my role model for life, the one I wish to follow.
And following Jesus means loving unconditionally.
It means offering hospitality to strangers.
It means showing compassion for the poor.
It also may mean opposing the traditions of religious and political authorities, upsetting the pious expectations of what an upstanding Christian should say or do.
Following Jesus means subverting religious certainty.
It means making people responsible for their own lives.
And following Jesus means forgiving without limit.
When Peter asked “how many times?,” Jesus answered “not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Easy to say
These things are easy to say, but difficult to live out.
But just imagine a world in which everybody would forgive everybody for everything.
Not just following the words, “I’m sorry,” but a world in which everybody would forgive everything anyway, even when there was no regret.
Imagine a world with no grudges, no arguments, no retaliation, no war.
Just forgiveness by everyone.
It would be quite a different world.
It would be a new and better world, you can be sure.
It would be the world that God imagines for us.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life.
Bring us to know the goodness that flows from the heart of the universe and may we be expanded in heart and soul by that goodness.
This is our prayer. Amen.

"An Evening with Bishop Roskam" September 10th

2008-09-12T17:29:00.002-04:00

What really happened at Lambeth
Billed as “An Evening with Bishop Roskam,” the event took place Wednesday evening, Sept. 10, at Christ Church in Poughkeepsie. Members of Episcopal churches in the mid-Hudson region were invited to meet with The Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam as she shared here observations about what really happened at Lambeth.

She said she was pleasantly surprised at the way the conference unfolded. The previous Lambeth, held in 1998, was political. This Lambeth was “spiritual from the getgo,” she said. It began with three days of retreat in Canterbury Cathedral, a very “thin place.” The Archbishop of Canterbury was at his best when leading the retreat and with the reflective part.

Each day began in the “big top” with eucharist, which included excellent preaching and music and prayers from all around the world. That was followed by breakfast and small-group Bible study for the bishops. Spouses followed a different track. Bishop Roskam’s small group was very diverse. As the conference progressed, topics drew the bishops deeper and deeper into conversation.

Bishop Roskam said she was pleasantly surprised and very encouraged by remarks made by the Archbishop about midway through the conference. In his reflections, he talked about Christians feeling that they were understanding themselves as being led into something new. He pointed out that there always were Christians who were led in that manner. It’s a justice issue. But more important, it witnessing to the power of God.

“Near the end of the conference, after a trust level had been built, we had really profound conversations,” Bishop Roskam explained. “It didn’t change minds, but it did increase understanding, both ways.

“When you hear what we heard about the context in which they live … some were going back to churches where their lives were in danger. The martyring goes on now, people eing martyred for their faith, now.”

No conclusions were reached. Following the Archbishop’s request, they didn’t decide anything at this meeting. The bishops agreed to meet again in five years. Some couldn’t bear to part, and didn’t wish to wait ten years.

Bishop Roskam fielded questions from the audience at the conclusion of the two-hour “Evening.”

jb+

Babysitting in Washington, D.C.

2008-09-12T17:15:00.005-04:00

She's sleeping!

Rob and I drove down to Washington, D.C. yesterday. Jenn and José are involved in a conference here this week. We have adjoining rooms in a large hotel in Arlington. We're here to spend some quality time with mom and dad, but mainly to do some childcare today.

What a wonderful little girl. Just nine months old now. Growing so fast, learning so much. Wow!

However, caring for her takes me back a number a years to when I was a young father. That's when I learned to pray. "Please God, in your mercy, please let this baby go to sleep, just for awhile."

Finally walked her up and down the halls in this hotel in her stroller. That knocked her out.

See many of you Sunday!

jerry

ThisWeeksSermon September 7 Pentecost 17

2008-09-08T22:21:00.002-04:00

“ The Bible: Divine Revelation or Divine Realization?.”
The 17th Sunday After Pentecost, September 7, 2008
May I speak only the truth, and may only the truth be heard by you, in the name of God our Creator, our redeemer, and our sanctifier.
Amen.
In The Episcopal Church, you know, at the end of each of the first two readings, there’s always a versicle, sometimes a versicle followed by a response.
We’re offered a few options.
It can be “Here what the Spirit is saying to God’s People,” when reading from the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, or it can bec
“Here what the Spirit is saying to the churches,” when reading from one of Paul’s letters to the churches he started up.
An alternative we’re given is simply to say, “Here ends the reading.”
It’s the one I prefer.
We begin with the words, “A reading from the book of whatever.”
Seems appropriate to simply conclude with “Here ends the reading.”
The default response in our church, however, and in most churches of the “catholic persuasion,” is the statement, “The Word of the Lord,” and the response, “Thanks be to God.”
This one gets me, and not in a particularly good way.
The word of the Lord?
I don’t think so.
But I remember Bill Clinton saying, “it depends on what the meaning of the word IS is”?
And it’s kind of like that for me.
The Word of the Lord.
It depends on what you mean by the word WORD and what you mean by word LORD when you say “The word of the lord.”
A divine revelation from God?
I don’t think so.
The literal truth handed down by God?
Nope.
The inerrant, infallible, unchanging Truth?
No way.
So why call it “the Word of the Lord”?
What must a person think when hearing about God drowning everyone on the planet except Noah and his family, or about God drowning the Egyptian army, or about God calling for the massacre of Canaanite men, women, and children.
Could that possibly be the “Word of the Lord” in any literal way?
What would an unchurched visitor in our midst think on hearing Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he says, “Wives be subject to your husbands, as unto the Lord.”
Or where he points out in his letter to Timothy that women were created second, they sinned first, and should keep silent in church?
The word of the Lord?
I think not.
And then there’s the gospel, of course.
We raise the book high as we carry it down the aisle, revering that book as though the book itself is something to worship, something “holy,” inspired somehow and handed down from generation to generation.
We call it “the Word of God” as well.
This morning’s gospel
Let’s take a look at this morning’s reading of the “Word of God” from Matthew’s gospel.
Here we find Jesus talking with his friends.
Jesus says, “If another member of the church does wrong, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.
If that person listens to you, you have won him over.
But if not, take one or two others along with you, so you have witnesses.
If that doesn’t work, tell it to the church.
If that doesn’t work, treat the person like a pagan or, worse yet, like a tax collector.”
Does this sound anything like words from God?
Did Jesus really have a bad-tempered set of followers who engaged in no holds-barred confrontation?
Jesus of course was the one who spoke of loving your neighbor, turning the other cheek, loving your enemies.
Does this passage sound like something Jesus could have suggested?
“Tell it to the church, and if that doesn’t work, excommunicate the person?
Jesus would not have suggested such a thing.
Not on your life!
Anyway, he couldn’t have.
Jesus couldn’t have spoken of the church at all.
The church didn’t exist yet, hadn’t even been though of.
The church wasn’t recognizable as an institution for many decades after that.
This little excerpt we heard this morning was put into Matthew’s gospel because Matthew needed to say something to the members of his own faith community, members who, from time to time, faced internal conflict.
So even though Jesus’ own attitude toward similar people was quite different, the later ecclesiastical practice of excommunication, was based on this particular passage.
And as a result, the church throughout the ages, has latched on to the power of excommunication as its prime way of keeping its members in line.
Today it’s pretty ineffective in disciplining defiant members.
And when excommunication does occur, people usually just go away mad, or switch denominations.
Conflicts still divide the church, but these days the only people now banished, excommunicated, are clergy who transgress, who cross the line.
In progressive Christianity, a shift
We live in a culture, I think, where we’re much more comfortable with black-and-white, than we are with shades of gray.
Public opinion polls conducted during the past few years have consistently found that more than a third of Americans believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Fundamentalists are convinced that every word in the Bible is literally true and was handed down by God.
A majority of adults in this, the most religious nation in the developed world, cannot name the four gospels or identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible.
Nonetheless, a third of Americans cling to the story of creation that appears in that first book of the Bible that they can’t even locate.
Why do they cling to that story?
Someone has told them it’s in the Bible, and that it’s true.
How can anyone understand what creationism means or make an informed decision about it if they can’t even locate the source of the creation story?
A progressive approach to religion
The progressive approach to religion, with its many shades of gray, is determined to make room for secular knowledge, and to make room for cultural changes.
In the progressive Christian movement, there’s been a shift.
It’s a shift in understanding the Bible, a shift that’s away from seeing it as “divine revelation,” to instead understanding it as “divine realization,” understanding the Bible as a record of our religious ancestors’ evolving realization of what God is, and what God might be wanting at any particular point in time.
When the Bible and scientific truth are in conflict, we need to recognize that it’s the Bible that's wrong.
That's not a problem, unless you think that God wrote the Bible, because that would mean that God had to be wrong. But the Bible was written between 2000 and 3000 years ago.
How could anyone think that absolute truth could be captured in an ancient document authored over centuries by dozens of people. Episcopal Bishop Jack Spong, rightly, I think, puts it this way:
"Religious claims for the literal accuracy of the Bible are nothing more than the conclusions of frightened people who cannot deal with the world of today and so they hide in irrational conclusions.", they hide in the world of yesterday.
Paul Tillich & the Bible
Paul Tilllich was one of the great fathers of progressive theology.
There’s a wonderful story about him having to do with the Bible.
Tillich was teaching a class. He had a belligerent student who didn’t think Tillich had a high enough view of the Bible as being the “Word of God.”
In each class the student would raise his hand and ask all sorts of questions about the Bible.
And Tillich would always give some abstract explanation of the Bible as the Word of God.
One day it was too much for the student.
He grabbed his Bible, rolled it up in his hand, and ran down to the front of the room and began waving the Bible in Tillich’s face. “Tell us once and for all, is this the Word of God or not?”
Tillich calmly answered, “The Bible is the Word of God, if, instead of gripping it, you let it grip you, if you allow it to be a tool in which you realize the inexpressible.
The point is that once the Bible has been liberated from needing to offer divine absolute authority for all time then the Bible can become a wonderful tool and a contemporary resource for everyday living.
This morning’s gospel
This morning, that resource for everyday living comes in the very last sentence of Matthew’s story, where Jesus says, Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
Scholars aren’t sure Jesus actually said it.
But it sounds like Jesus.
And not only that, it expresses a Truth that you and I know every Sunday when two or three or more of us gather around this altar in this church.
Those words express a Truth that we experience in the liturgy, when we recall the wonders of the “divine realization,” passed on to us and continuing even now, realization of God moving among us, God living within us, God transforming our lives, even revealing new Truth, in our place and in our time.
When two or three of us are together because of Jesus, we can be sure that Jesus is also here with us.
Prayer
Eternal God, the Great Mystery that is outside everything and yet at the same time inside, keep alive in each one of us the search for a faith that is real, a faith that helps us to live happier lives, a faith that gives us a fuller meaning to life and the events of life. This is our prayer.