October 3, 2018

Habit is overcome by habit

Thomas A'Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 21

We all have various routines that we follow, sometimes out of necessity and sometimes of our own making. Our various jobs or levels of education require us to do things in certain ways. For instance, those of us who are still working or in school need to get up this morning, shower, dress, eat, and get out the door by a certain time in order to be at the job or at school at the appropriate time. Our Monday through Friday routines are pretty much set for us.

I have a routine that I perform before every football game that ensures I have everything needed and am free to concentrate on the game.

Habits, though, are something deeper than routines. Habits may start out as routines, but, over time, they become part of who we are. The dictionary defines a habit as, “an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.” I think of people who smoke cigarettes, or Joe Morgan's left arm twitch when he was at bat, or my left foot pushing the clutch when coming to a stop sign (even though I now drive an automatic). And there are plenty of other examples we can think of, I'm sure.

Not all habits are good. Not all habits are healthy. Some habits are neutral.

Our pledge campaign is gearing up and we will all be receiving letters asking us to consider how we will support our parish with our time, talent, and treasure. As we prayerfully consider how we can do that, I would also ask us to consider our habits.

We are asked to love God, love neighbor, and change the world. We are asked to be the body of Christ in the world, and to be the face of Christ in our world. And we are asked to proclaim the message of the gospel, bringing hope to the hopeless, food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, love to the outcast.

As we look at all our parish does, and as we are asked to consider how we might participate in the life and ministries of our parish, what would happen if our participation and our routines became habits? What would this place, and the world immediately around us, look like if our routines became involuntary behaviors? In other words, what if we prayed habitually, worshiped habitually, loved habitually, welcomed habitually?

It can be done; but we will need to work hard at replacing our old habits with new.

Blessings,

September 26, 2018

Breath

If you are one of those people who looks forward to waking up to the Wednesday Word in your inbox, my apologies.

September has been one busy month; not only at St. John's, but in my household as well. Besides everything going on at church, by now you have heard that Joelene and I purchased a home (it's over by the Elk's Lodge). I won't bore you with all the details, but just know that we are done moving for a long time.

The weekend of the move I had a football game in Hancock on Friday, and a wedding in Hancock Saturday. Move or not, life goes on.

Work has been hectic. Home life has been hectic. And I know I'm not alone in feeling stressed, pulled, always moving. Many people are dealing with their own personal hecticity (yes, I made that up).

So wherever you are in your own life, whatever stresses you are under, however many different directions you are feeling pulled . . . take some time . . . slow down . . . breath.

Because, really, life works better when we remember to breath.

Blessings,

September 19, 2018

Remember, we are members of his body.

         Ephesians 5:30 (mostly)

I was in Baltimore last Saturday for the priestly ordinations of four people and for a meeting about how a Parish Lay Committee functions with regard to interns. The first event (ordinations) was not mandatory, per se, but since serving in Montana I have tried to live into my former bishop's edict that if there's a clergy event within two hours of you, you will be there. And since Baltimore is only an hour and a half, I tend to go to these things regularly.

The preacher for the ordination service was the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, Associate Dean of Students at VTS. Ordination sermons are sort of like wedding sermons, in that you're trying to say a little about what this new life means, how to best live into it, and give the subjects (in this case, the ordinands) one thing they can recall not only years from now, but tomorrow for that matter. Because, like weddings, the people for whom the service is designed, the sermon is the last thing on their minds.

In his sermon, Bishop Mathes said, “The opposite of remembering is not forgetting; the opposite of remembering is dismembering.”

I got to thinking about what he said. One of the major functions of a priest is to preside over Holy Eucharist, bless the elements, and administer Holy Communion. In that act, we who are many are one. In that act, we have been re-membered into the body of Christ. This was that memorable line that, hopefully, the new ordinands would never forget.

But beyond an ordination sermon for new priests, the Catechism also points us in this direction. “What is the mission of the Church? The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” In other words, the mission of the Church is to re-member all who have been dis-membered.

However that dismembering happens, intentionally or accidentally, may we never forget that we who are many are one body. Some of us eyes, some ears, some hands, some feet. May we never forget that it takes everyone to makeup the whole body of Christ.

As we move forward, let us never forget that our goal isn't to bring new people into our church – but that our goal is to re-member those who have, for whatever reason, been dis-membered from the body of Christ.

Blessings,

September 12, 2018

Life is changed, not ended. -- Commemoration of the Dead, BCP 382

There are lots of quotes about endings and beginnings. There are reflections on endings that are beginnings. Closed doors and open windows. Friends for a season. Good while it lasted. Moving on. And I'm sure you can think of many other quotes and thoughts about endings and beginnings.

But this line from the BCP has always resonated with me; probably even more so now as a clergy person who has dealt with my fair share of transitions – from moves to new people to funerals and much more. Change is inevitable. Anything that is alive experiences many changes. So carrying that understanding forward through our faith can can allow us to see not an ending but a change.

Which brings me to my most current “changed but not ended.”

In two days Joelene and I will sign papers and close the deal on our new house. This is both exciting and terrifying.

It's exciting because we are thrilled to have found a place that symbolizes our comfort and love of being here. It's a symbol of a sense of permanence that we feel about this place. And saying, “We bought a house,” means that looking forward doesn't necessarily entail looking west.

It's terrifying because I can no longer call the landlord/owner and say, “Hey, the garbage disposal is broken, can you please fix it.” I'm reminded of Red Green, who said, “If the women don't find you handsome, at least let 'em find you handy,” and am awfully glad my wife finds me handsome. And I wonder if “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey” changes if I'm looking at the thing from up top or from my back.

We have some big changes ahead. We have been renters for so long that this really is the end of life as we know it. But it's not really the end, it's just one more change in a life of changes.

So the next time you think you're facing the end, I encourage you to recall these words from the BCP: Life is changed, not ended.

Blessings,

September 5, 2018

Some things change, and some things remain the same

Toward the end of July I made the decision to terminate the Youth and Young Adult Minister position primarily due to budget issues. I never like it when things come down to money and the budget, but sometimes they do and decisions need to be made.

For a short period after that many of us were wondering where we would go from here with the parish youth program. While Joelene and Paul have done great things with the teens and J2A, there is more to our overall youth program than just that, and there was a period of uncertainty as we pondered our future.

Right about in the middle of that pondering I received a message from Heidi wanting to talk with me about this very thing. We set up a meeting, along with Susan (current Chair of the Christian Formation Commission), and talked about what we would like to see happen.

In the time that Heidi has been “on staff,” she has done some very good things with Children's Chapel and Sunday school. She will be taking over the acolyte program in October (following her wedding and honeymoon), and she is making plans for coordinating some youth group activities.

Some changes she has made have been good and necessary. Other changes have been simply minor tweaks to things here and there. What has remained the same is that we continue to have an active and engaging Children's Chapel program, and our Sunday school classes continue to be staffed by dedicated and loving volunteers who enjoy working with our children.

In her time at this position, Heidi has also been actively recruiting people to help with Children's Chapel and as classroom aides. I would expect that once October rolls around, she will be actively looking to recruit acolytes and people to help with the youth group.

If you would like to help, or if you would like to contact her to offer encouragement, you can do so via the Youth Minister e-mail. What has changed with that is who it goes to and who will respond (Heidi). What remains the same is the address: youthmin.stjohns@myactv.net

St. John's is blessed to have many people of many talents who volunteer their time and energy to the many ministries we provide, including Heidi. At this particular time, I am very thankful to have her step up and into a ministry she clearly enjoys, and I am looking forward to working with her in this role.

Again, feel free to contact her at youthmin.stjohns@myactv.net if you would like to participate in the youth program, or just to say, “Thank you.” And feel free to say that in person the next time you see her.

Blessings,

August 29, 2018

Pressure, pushing down on me

The opening line to the classic song, “Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie have been on my mind and a part of my life recently.

Today's Wednesday Word is a little different because it's mainly about me. I generally don't like to talk about me or things that keep me up at night with people, let alone a broad audience such as those who read this weekly missive. There are a lot of reasons why this is so, but only one that I will share with you here.

One of those reasons is that I am no different than you. You all have jobs and children and hobbies and responsibilities that push and pull you in many different directions. For me to complain or whine about things going on in my life only serves to minimize and/or devalue what you all experience.

That said, I realize it's also important for you to know what is going on, to a point, with me. It doesn't do anyone any good to spend time wondering what's wrong or why I've suddenly disappeared.

That said, here is some of what is causing some of that pressure in my life at the moment:

September.

September is pushing down on me. Purple events throughout the month, a special focus on opioids on 9/16, a movie, parish picnic, the resumption of Monday night classes, a confirmation class, a bishop's visitation, a wedding, and premarital sessions for an October wedding. Individually these aren't all that big of a deal. But, as I looked at my September calendar, they've manged to stack on top of each other very quickly.

A house.

You may have heard that we are looking at buying a house. I spoke with my loan officer yesterday and they need a few more things to get final: three additional bank statements, two letters explaining things that make them uncomfortable, and how we're going to deal with a needed repair. We're close, very close. In fact, he told me that it's basically a done deal, we're just crossing our t's and dotting our i's. And then, of course, the actual move from Point A to Point B.

Again, individually, probably not all that worrisome. But added all together, and on top of September in general, and there's a bit of pressure pushing down.

In the words of Julian of Norwich, “All will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.” This I know to be true.

But I'd still appreciate your prayers this month.

Blessings

August 22, 2018

Thank you

It has been busy around the office over the past few days. We are gearing up for September which will see a silent movie in the nave, the parish picnic, a presentation on the opioid crisis, St. John's Day, the return of our education offerings for all ages, and I can't remember what else.

Football season officially begins next Friday for me with a game at Clear Spring.

Commissions are working on their budgets, and I'm supposed to be going over our employee handbook.

And on and on it goes, the business of the church never ending, and the busy-ness of the church sometimes overwhelming.

Yesterday, amid the business and busy-ness, amid the meetings and writings, amid the various worries of one kind or another, I turned another year older.

And amid all those things I received many birthday greetings, most of which came from the people of this parish. Let me state for the record: one of the best birthday gifts I've received is the gift of you, the people of this parish. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives. Thank you for making me and my family feel at home. Thank you for making this job as wonderful and spiritually fulfilling as almost anything I've ever experienced.

Thank you for being with me on this incredible journey.

Blessings