December 23, 2020

Yesterday I sent out a message saying that in-person worship services had been suspended indefinitely. I immediately received a text from a parishioner asking if I was canceling the Parking Lot Lessons & Carols. I responded, “Only if the weather is really bad.”

A weather app that I've come to trust is predicting approximately one quarter of an inch of rain beginning at 3:00 and continuing through the five o'clock hour. But it is also calling for temperatures in the upper fifties. So, unless that temperature changes, or the wind kicks up and it's raining sideways, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the 4:00 Parking Lot Lessons & Carols will go on as planned.

Bring an umbrella – or two or three or four. Bring your rain coats. Bring your flashlights.

On this Christmas Eve let us gather to read the story and sing the songs of Christmas. The weather may not be perfect, but I think it will do us good to gather safely and to see our friends and family of our parish who have become so important to us over the years.

And then let us celebrate the birth of Christ with our families to the best of our ability. Maybe that means we change some traditions, or start new ones, or create temporary ones to get through this season. Hopefully it also means joining us on our Facebook page at 10:45 tomorrow night for the late Christmas Eve service.

I titled this edition of the Wednesday Word “Defiance.” It was at this time, this first Christmas, that, as the Gospel of John says, the light of God broke through the darkness to shine on the world, and the darkness did not overcome it.

These are, no doubt, dark days. And some days it feels like the darkness is closing in. In-person worship is indefinitely suspended. It's going to rain on Christmas Eve during a planned Lessons & Carols. Our inability to gather and celebrate with friends is becoming weary. And any number of other dark, depressing things are piling up around us.

It is at this time that we need to shine some of the light of God into the world. Come and sing in the rain. Come worship online. Invite others to participate in our online worship.

Defiance isn't always grand acts of courage. Defiance certainly isn't not wearing a mask and rebuking the virus in the name of Jesus. Sometimes all it takes to defy the darkness is to shine even a little light.

Let us defy the darkness, shine our light, sing with joy, and proclaim to the world that God is with us, even and especially in dark times.

Blessings,

December 16, 2020

“I cannot be an optimist, but I am a prisoner of hope.” – Dr. Cornel West, Harvard University

In an article from TrinityNews (Trinity Church, Wall Street) back in 2014, Dr. West explained how he saw the difference between optimism and hopefulness by saying that hope allows us to see the darkness in the world while generating actions, work, and witness to bring an end to that darkness. Optimism, on the other hand (and in his opinion), is a naive belief that everyone will see a happy ending.

If you have been watching our worship services online you may have noticed that every Sunday the Advent wreath has a different banner facing the camera. Those four banners are Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. They coincide (roughly) with the themes of that particular Sunday of Advent. For instance, this past Sunday was Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of the pink/rose candle, and the Sunday where the traditional introit of the service has been, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” So the Joy banner is hung.

The theme of the First Sunday of Advent is Hope. In the gospel reading for that Sunday Jesus talks about the end of days. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and stars will fall from heaven. Nations will be in distress and people will faint from fear of what is coming. We are to keep awake and be alert, for the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour. We are given a glimpse of the coming darkness, but that admonition to remain awake and alert also gives us hope.

Our faith isn't based in optimism; it doesn't promise that everyone will see a happy ending. Instead, our faith is based in hope. Our faith tells us straight up, “There will be dark days ahead.” But our faith also gives us the hope of bringing light to a darkened world. Our faith gives us the hope to cast away the works of darkness. Our faith gives us the hope to, as Dr. West said, generate actions, work, and witness to bring an end to the darkness.

In Advent we are both preparing and waiting for the coming Messiah. That preparation comes from Jesus' warning to keep awake and alert. The waiting comes from the fact that no one knows the day nor the hour. So we wait. And we prepare. And in that waiting and preparation there is hope.

In these dark days of COVID, separation, and gathering restrictions, how are you shining the light of Christ and Church? How are you preparing to bring an end to the darkness? How do your current actions testify to both the need to wait and the need to prepare?

In this season of Advent, I hope you are not passively waiting for better days, but working to shine a light in the darkness.

Blessings,

December 9, 2020

 Advent is the season of waiting and preparation. It is the season of active quietness.

Sometimes we know exactly for what we are waiting and preparing. Right about now most of us are waiting and preparing for Christmas. Decorations are going up. Mailing lists are being reviewed. Cookies and mom's fudge are being made. Or maybe this year we have scaled back on all of the above because, to be honest, COVID has taken a toll on our ability to be joyful or productive. But however we are preparing for Christmas, we know it's coming and so we wait and prepare in our own way.

Sometimes we wait and try to prepare for the unpreparable. But how can we prepare for that of which we only know will be life-changing? How can we prepare for something of which we have only seen from the outside and for which we wait to be ushered into the inside? How can we prepare to take on something that will ultimately lead us into a new way of being?

I suppose all of the above can be applied to any aspect of our lives. Everything from getting married to accepting a new job or making a career change to deciding which college to attend will, if we think about it, lead us into a new way of being. We really aren't prepared for all that marriage throws our way. New jobs and careers have challenges we didn't see coming. And so it goes that we wait and prepare as best we can for what we think is coming.

I think all of this came to mind today because a friend and seminary classmate is one of the Final Four nominees for Bishop of Chicago. Their electing convention is this Saturday, so it's very possible that the Seabury Class of '04 will have its first bishop.

This week is probably the ultimate Advent week for my friend. He (and the other three nominees) will be patiently waiting for the outcome of the election. They are all preparing for Saturday. But how does one exactly prepare for the possibility that you might be a bishop by the end of the week? How does one prepare to not be shocked when you open your closet and see a row of purple shirts instead of black? How does one prepare to lead a diocese, not just a parish, and have canonical authority and oversight of possibly a few hundred other clergy?

My friend is preparing for the unpreparable.

So on this Wednesday and through this week, I would ask that you keep the Rev. Dr. Fulton Porter, his family, and the Diocese of Chicago in your prayers as they wait in preparation for the outcome of an election guided by the Holy Spirit that will determine their next bishop.

And regardless of what we are waiting and preparing for, may we always wait in prayer and be prepared to be changed into a new way of being.

Blessings,

Todd+