May 25, 2022

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages. – Collect for Ascension Day

Tomorrow is Ascension Day, forty days after Easter, and the day the Church commemorates the return of Jesus, Son of God, to that spiritual plane of heaven where he sits at the Father's right hand. As Hymn 214 states, “Hail the day that sees him rise, glorious to his native skies; Christ, awhile to mortals given, enters now the highest heaven!”

The window in the North Transept depicts the Ascension with Jesus on a cloud as he rises from the green, earthly realm to the blue, heavenly realm.

We could look at this event as the time Jesus, trusting that his work on earth was complete, left us to follow in his footsteps. That is certainly one way to view it – that it is now up to us to love our neighbor as God loves us, that it is up to us to proclaim the Good News, that it is up to us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, restore sight to the blind, and proclaim release to the captives, that it is up to us to work to reconcile all people to God through Jesus Christ.

On my Twitter feed someone had a discussion asking about holiness. They said that, for them, holiness and being holy was about following rules, but now didn't quite know what it meant. I answered that, for me, holiness resonated with space. As in, where is it that I am present with God? Where is it I am at peace? Holiness isn't about rules, but about finding the presence of God.

That thought came back to me as I read the above Collect. Yes, Jesus has left us. Yes, Jesus now resides far above all heavens. But let us have the faith to perceive that he abides with his Church on earth through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

If I'm right that holiness isn't about following rules but about finding the space (or spaces) where we are fully present with God, how might we look for more spaces to be more present with God? In other words, are there places other than the holy space that is Saint John's where we can be present with God? The answer, of course, is Yes. But a good follow up to that question might be, “Are we actively looking for those spaces?”

As the Collect implies, may we have the faith to perceive the holy presence of God with us.

Blessings,

May 18, 2022

We can't be useful unless we are empty. – Br. Aiden, Diocesan Clergy Retreat

The diocese held a clergy retreat at Claggett Center this past Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning. It was good to get away, meet up with some clergy friends, share stories, and listen to our guest speaker. As a side note, I also won 6 out of 7 pool games, so that was fun!

Brother Aiden is a monk at the Holy Cross Monastery in upstate New York and he gave three presentations that touched on the general topic of holy presence. In one of the presentations he made the above statement. I'm sure that at some point or another you have heard something along the lines of, “emptying ourselves for God.”

That statement can, however, be taken to a negative extreme. It could be seen as a call to continually give of ourselves, emptying ourselves, until we reach the point where we have nothing left to give. This could be clergy who are bad at self-care. It could be teachers who run up against a system that continually requires them to give while not giving anything in return. Or it could be any other vocation that is based on service and care.

Brother Aiden pointed something out that helped me see this in a new way.

When we empty ourselves, we are removing things that we have used to fill us up that are in place of who God is asking us to be. We empty ourselves of the things, attitudes, desires, and/or other aspects of life that get in the way of living as God asks us to live.

It is through that emptying that we find God can fill our now empty space with a new direction, a new desire, a new interest, or a new insight to an old way of doing things.

Emptying ourselves for God doesn't mean burning out or going until we can't go anymore. Instead, think of emptying yourself for God as the spiritual discipline that allows you to get out of God's way so that your self-emptiness is now useful for God, and that usefulness is being holy (and wholly) present.

Blessings,

Todd+

May 4, 2022

Hence the necessity to die daily: how ever often we think we have broken the rebellious self we shall still find it alive. – C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 89

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

This is the opening acclamation of our worship service from Easter through the Day of Pentecost – fifty days of resurrection celebration when we (at least liturgically) celebrate the presence of the risen Christ amongst us. So far we have seen the empty tomb, have seen Jesus appear to the disciples twice so that Thomas would not be lost, and have seen Jesus cooking fish on the beach and telling Peter to “feed my sheep.” This coming Sunday we will hear Jesus talk about himself as a shepherd.

With his resurrection Jesus is pointing us to a new life, to a new way of being. In our baptismal covenant we state that we will continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, that we will resist evil, and that we will proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.

Additionally, our Lenten observances are there to help us reshape our lives through prayer, fasting, and working to make a right beginning.

Whether it be the words of the Lord's Prayer, or those of the general confession, or maybe even those of a personal confession, I am/we are led to believe that we/I have broken the rebellious self at least on a weekly basis, if not more. I am/we are led to believe that we have defeated sin and are able to lead holy and blameless lives.

But for all of that – for all of the alleluias and for all of the celebrations, for all of the promises to resist evil and proclaim the good news, for all of the disciplines and attempts to make right beginnings – sin is right there at my door looking to control me and woo me away from God with promises of personal greatness.

The rebellious self moves away from God daily. The rebellious self looks to establish itself as equal to or greater than God. And when we work to put an end to our rebellious selves, or to put an and to our selfish ways in an honest attempt to make God a priority in our lives, it can feel like a part of us is dying. It can feel like we have put a small part of us to death.

Perhaps Jesus knew this. Perhaps this was why he told, and tells, his followers that whoever wants to follow him needs to pick up their crosses daily.

We are in the Easter season, the season of joy, new life, and resurrection. It is the season of alleluias and walks with Christ. Let us not get so caught up in the Easter celebration that we forget sin is not only a hard habit to break, but that we are very good at finding new, creative, and justifiable ways to sin. Because when we get right down to it, putting our sinful nature to death and living in the joy of resurrection is a daily exercise.

Blessings,