May 29, 2024

Wednesday Word:  The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is this Friday and commemorates her visit to her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who was herself six-months pregnant with John the Baptist.  After Elizabeth meets her at the door, Mary replies with the song that has come to be known as the Magnificat, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord . . ."

This event is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, and takes place after the angel Gabriel visits Mary to announce that she will conceive and give birth to Jesus.  There are a few things from this story that are worth considering:

During this time, Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, has ben struck mute because of his encounter with Gabriel.  After Elizabeth conceived, she spent five months in self-imposed seclusion.  Mary, unmarried, pregnant, and probably more than a little scared, left her home and stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, most likely trying to sort things out with a trusted confidant.  Mary may have been present for the birth of John before she returned to her home and the protective care of Joseph.

Thinking about this particular Feast and everything associated with it, I am most intrigued with those three months Mary spent with Elizabeth.  We all need a trusted friend and quiet place to go when we are faced with difficult and/or confusing times.  Who is that person, and where is that place, with whom can you have sacred, trusted conversations and feel the presence of God? 

Life can be difficult.  The Feast of the Visitation reminds us we don't need to make this journey alone.
 
Blessings,

May 22, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Not Human Enough?

I read something the other day that made me stop and rethink the idea of being human. 

We have all said, I’m sure, at one time or another, “Hey, I’m only human.”  This is often said in response to some mistake we’ve made, or following some instance that highlights our fallibility.  The sentiment is derived from our sinful nature and the many examples, both in Scripture and in life, of people making mistakes of all kinds and any number of lapses in judgment.

Examples include, but are not limited to, Adam & Eve eating forbidden fruit, Noah getting drunk, the golden calf incident, all of Judges, Peter’s denial of Jesus, Paul admitting he doesn’t do what he should, and other incidents of which I’m sure you can recall.  We tend to blame our shortcomings on our humanness.

Jesus, however, didn’t have any of those shortcomings that I know of.  “Well, yes,” you might say, “that’s because he was God incarnate.”  That is certainly true, as we hold that Jesus was fully divine. 

But Jesus was also fully human.  One of the beautiful things about the Incarnation was that it gave us the example of how to live as humanly possible in relationship with God.  Through his death and resurrection, Jesus destroyed sin and death, making the whole creation new. 

Instead of blaming our shortcomings on being human, what if we tried to be more human in the same way that Jesus was human, living into that new creation that he made possible?  Our humanity is a gift from God, and Jesus showed us how to unite that humanity to God. 

May we look at our humanness not as a defective state of being prone to mistakes, but as the way we are drawn into relationship with God, and then work to live like Jesus – being more human.

Blessings,

May 15, 2024

Wednesday Word:  The Time of Thanksgiving

Two weeks ago, I wrote about time and how our concept and perception of time played into our lives.  I talked about visiting a friend without your watch, and of having your time in church focused on what you put into worship rather than what you get out of it.

In discussing time and church, the author of Life on the Vine used the example of Thanksgiving.  To paraphrase, when we visit friends or family for Thanksgiving, we don’t pay attention to the clock.  Unless we have to make a run to the airport, we don’t come into a Thanksgiving event with the expectation that it will be over in an hour and a half.  Our expectation is to arrive mid-morning or early afternoon, to help prepare a meal, to visit with people, maybe to play a few games, to share that meal, maybe watch a football game, help clean up, and then say our goodbyes sometime later that evening.

In the best of circumstances there is no drama, there are no worries about how long one stays, there is plenty of fellowship, and everyone shares a good meal.

Church should be the same way.

Our Sunday liturgy is called “The Holy Eucharist.”  Eucharist is a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.”  Our Sunday liturgy is literally, “The Holy Thanksgiving.”  Everything we do on Sunday is done in thanksgiving:  We give thanks to God for the Holy Scriptures which we have received over the ages, and we give thanks for the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood in which we partake as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.

Every Sunday is a time of Thanksgiving in which we leave the time constraints of the world behind and enter into God’s time – a time of mystery, fellowship, and the sharing and partaking of a holy meal. 

May we learn to treat the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Thanksgiving, with the same excitement and involvement as we treat our own Thanksgiving Day in November.

Blessings,

May 8, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Prepare for Departure

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Ascension.  This day comes 40 days after the Resurrection and commemorates the day Jesus was taken into heaven.  This event, however, is only attested to in two places:  Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9 (it also appears at the very end of Mark, but this was most likely added later in an effort to make the gospels harmonious).  Additionally, it is only in Acts 1:3 where we are told Jesus appeared to his disciples during a 40-day period.

Liturgically speaking, we have spent the last 39 days with Jesus in a post-Resurrection celebration of sorts.  We have wondered at the empty tomb.  He has appeared to us to show us his hands and feet.  We ate fish with him on the shore.  He has appeared to us on a walk.  Our eyes have been opened to his presence in the breaking of the bread.  And as a symbol of this new life we have with him in the power of the Resurrection, we have put the General Confession on hold as we live into this joyful time.

But tomorrow is Ascension, the day when we are now, officially, left on our own.  This is the day when Jesus says something like, “My work here is done; now go and do likewise.”  We are being left behind to help bring about his vision for the world.  We are being left alone to help manifest the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.  We are being left on our own to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ.

This is, no doubt, a big job.  It’s also a job that, to be quite honest, people have not been very good at. 

These are some of the things we have been asked to do in Jesus’ absence:  love each other as he has loved us; baptize people in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teach people everything Jesus has taught us; feed and tend the sheep; witness to the good news in ever-larger circles. 

Granted, we have been tasked with a huge task, and it may seem impossible for any of us to do all of what we have been asked to do.  But here’s some good news:  YOU don’t have to do everything, but everything can be done by us.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  We are all good at some things, but not others.  If we put all that together, we can accomplish great things. 

As Jesus prepares for his departure tomorrow, think about all Jesus has asked us to do; and then pick one thing, just one, to focus on in the coming year. 

Jesus is leaving.  How will you fill in the gap?

May 1, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Time and Productivity

I’m rereading a book called Life on the Vine, and there’s a section where the author discusses time and productivity.  It’s not a deep dive into these topics, but he brings up some points about how different cultures view time and when western culture first segmented and regulated time into hours, minutes, and seconds.  European monks, with their scheduled prayer life, were the first to use mechanical clocks, with the earliest known clock being built sometime in 996.

But this tool originally designed to help keep the monks’ prayer life ordered soon became society’s task master.  We now get up when the clock tells us to so we can eat breakfast so we can be to work on time so we can take lunch at noon so we can clock out at five so we can be home to eat dinner and go to bed early enough to be rested for when the clock tells us to get up and do it all again.  Companies tell us when and where to report to and how much we need to get done in order to be productive.  So much of our lives revolve around the clock and how we view productivity.

We see this in phrases like, “spending time,” or “wasting time.”  When we go on vacation, people want to know what we did, and seem to be disappointed if we tell them, “Nothing.”

This focus on time and productivity even shows up in church.  I’ve known people who got upset with me if Sunday service went longer than an hour fifteen.  Depending on the service, sometimes they were upset if service went longer than 55 minutes.  The author wonders, “Given the time spent at church, are they disappointed they didn’t get more out of it?”  But we need to remember:  it isn’t what we get out of it, it’s what we put into it for God.

To combat the oppressiveness of the clock and the Protestant work ethic of being productive, here are some ideas for you to consider.  Visit a friend or acquaintance with no more intention than to simply be with them for a period of time, and leave your watch at home.  Refocus your point of view so that church isn’t about what you get out of it in 60-75 minutes, or about getting to breakfast on time, but how you work to connect with God during that period.  With the warmer weather, sit outside and listen to the world.

What if God’s idea of time and productivity are how we spend it with him and what we learn about him?

Blessings,