September 28, 2022

The weather seems to have suddenly shifted into autumn. The temperature is beginning to consistently drop and even the sunny days have a crispness to them. Morning walks now require a sweatshirt. It can't be long before we start seeing snow.

But between now and that first snowfall on what will probably be a gray, blustery day, we have these early days of autumn. The early days of a seasonal change when we need sweaters or light jackets in the morning, only to forget them at the office because it's warmed up. The early days of autumn when leaves change from the long, green season to the season of reds, yellows, oranges and all shades thereof. The early days of autumn when hot chocolate is a comfort drink rather than a drink of necessity.

This seasonal change is a reminder that change is all around us. By virtue of being alive we are subject to change. We do not live out our lives as toddlers, but we change and learn and grow and, eventually, die. The church lives a yearly cycle of change beginning with Advent and cycling through the seasons of Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. Individual parishes also live through cycles of change throughout its life. As we look back over the life of Saint John's, there have certainly been changes and cycles from our beginning on Mulberry Street to the fire at Antietam and Summit to where we are now.

As we enter this seasonal change, this is a good time to evaluate changes in our own lives. As the trees begin to lose their leaves, are there things we can lose – extra coats or clothes we no longer use, for instance? Before those leaves are lost, they provide the world with radiant colors. How might we provide the radiant colors of God's love to the world around us? Before long, the world will be cold, bleak, and dark. When that change comes, may we be warm, cheerful, and bright.

Blessings

September 21, 2022

And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8

Most of yesterday was spent in two meetings. The first was an organization meeting of sorts with Circles, USA (https://www.circlesusa.org/), a community based organization designed to help reduce poverty and remove the barriers that stand in the way of that goal. This program is reaching out to local government officials, businesses, and faith organizations. The goal is to have it up and running by November or December. They are looking for what they call Allies to walk with people for 18 months through the program and to have groups volunteer to sign up for one month and serve a meal once a week.

I followed that up by attending the HARC meeting. At that meeting we discussed how HARC could help faith communities work together, how we could support children in the community, how we could work for justice and equality for those who are not treated equally or as less-than, and how we might help each other create stronger houses of worship. I also had a brief conversation with the chaplain at Meritus who said that, because of the shift in how Meritus runs their Spiritual Care Department, they are looking for people willing to be trained as volunteer chaplains.

When I got back to the office I had three messages waiting for me from people who needed financial assistance of one kind or another. And after a few other tasks that needed to get done, it was time for Evening Prayer.

I mention all this not to complain about how yesterday went, but as a reminder.

Doing justice is difficult work and seems never-ending. The work to help people escape poverty is ongoing. The work we do, both with ourselves and in our organizations, toward racial equality and other aspects of unjust systems is ongoing. It is also tiring. It can be exhausting. It is also work the Lord requires us to do.

There are days when the pleas for financial assistance seem never-ending and they come back to back to back. Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated with those requesting help. It's almost always painful to have to turn someone away or come to terms with the fact that I can only help in limited ways. But I must always remember that these people by simply by the nature of their humanity and divinity deserve to be treated with kindness.

And finally, at the end of the day, no matter how difficult the struggle for justice, or how often my patience has been tested, I still need to make time to pray.

Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with the Lord are not three separate things, but three things intertwined. To do justice means to love kindness; and doing those things over and over again can wear us out. So it's vitally important to remember to walk humbly with the Lord and allow him to have a space in your life.

Blessings,

September 14, 2022

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him – Collect for Holy Cross Day

Know for certain that thou must lead a dying life; and the more a man dieth to self, so much the more doth he begin to live unto God. – The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A' Kempis

Today is Holy Cross Day, one of those days I think we don't pay much attention to. Other than Good Friday, with its Veneration of the Cross, or the weekdays in Holy Week when we walk the Way of the Cross, we tend to avoid it. If I were to guess why that is it would be because we don't like that it reminds us of suffering and death.

To be sure, the empty cross symbolizes Christ's victory over death. Almost every Easter hymn recognizes and celebrates this fact (Christ is alive! Let Christians sing. His cross stands empty to the sky – Hymn 182). But in order to be a symbol over death, you have to have experienced death in the first place – there is no Easter without Good Friday. As much as the cross is that victorious symbol, we are also confronted with the fact that it was an instrument of torture on which Jesus had his hands and feet nailed through and hung in agony for three hours.

So we have a complicated relationship with the cross, in that in order to live we must first die.

Today's Collect leads us in that reflection. Our redemption is a glorious celebration that is achieved through the mystery of the cross and crucifixion. Through the lifting up of Christ on the cross the whole world is drawn to him in that salvific act. As Jesus took up his cross to destroy death, we are also called to take up our cross to destroy that which would destroy us.

Thomas A' Kempis recognized this when he wrote his meditation on the cross. We tend to be selfish creatures. We tend to live for ourselves. But it is in dying to self that allows God to dwell more fully with us. Each time we allow ourselves to get out of the way, we give God room to get in the way. Unfortunately that is neither easy nor painless.

Christian discipleship is hard work. It requires steadfastness when we would rather give up. It requires dedication when we would rather take a nap. It requires self-control when we would rather indulge our senses. It requires us to put to death those desires and habits which would keep us apart from God.

On this Holy Cross Day may you reflect on the humility of Jesus as he suffered and died on a cross which now stands empty and leads to the way of life and peace. And may you have the strength and courage to carry your own cross, putting to death that which keeps you from living a full life in God.

Blessings,

September 7, 2022

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame: *

deliver me in your righteousness. -- Ps. 31:1

This past Sunday's sermon revolved around lex orandi, lex credendi, the saying that means praying shapes believing. Our prayer life can inform and shape our wider life if we allow it to do so. During that sermon I had ushers pass out a small Daily Devotional tri-fold taken from the BCP. The devotional leads us through prayers in the morning, at noon day, and in the early evening. There are, of course, other times you can pray, but (as I suggested) if you set an alarm on your cell phone to ring at those times you will be guaranteed three times a day when you settle down and spend some time with God.

Another time to pray is at the close of day. The BCP service for the end of the day is Compline, and the portion of Psalm 31 above comes from there.

My wife and I pray Compline at bedtime almost every night as part of our routine. Within that service there are several Psalms, readings, and prayers from which the Officiant can choose to read. When it's my turn to lead, I will typically alternate readings and prayers, but I will always choose to read Ps. 31.

My reasoning for that is because, for me, prayer and liturgy have a way of seeping into me the more familiar I am with it. Maybe this is why I like being an Episcopalian so much – the service has the same path and the same cadence week after week, month after month, year after year. Far from being rote and monotonous, this familiarity allows the liturgy to become part of me to the point that it keeps me grounded when I feel flustered and anchored when I feel like I'm drifting in the abyss.

In this chaotic world, may we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life find familiarity and strength, solace and comfort, groundedness and security in the routines of regular prayer and worship. And may we never look at these times of prayer and worship as an obligatory duty to be performed but as a privilege to sit with God in spaces that are holy.

Blessings,