January 15, 2020

Resurrection

We are in the business of resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus is, in my opinion, the second biggest miracle our world has experienced. The first is the Incarnation – that moment when the immortal, invisible, omnipotent God became a mortal, visible, weak human being. However, it is Resurrection that most informs our faith. As Eucharistic Prayer B says, “In him, you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.”

We are in the business of moving from death into life. We are in the business of resurrection.

Whether that is the death of our own sins into a life of forgiveness and redemption, the death of our own antichrist behavior giving way to Christ-like behavior, a baptism from who we were into who we can become, or any number of other instances, we look for resurrection.

We have an opportunity to live into resurrection first hand.

Back in August one of our parishioners was arrested for attempted bank robbery. There is a long story there, but let's just say that Dcn. Sue has been doing all of the legwork with this situation in providing both spiritual and practical care. Our parishioner has spent from August 12 until January 14, that's 156 days, in jail. Due to the hard work of her caseworker, legal defense, and (yes) prosecutor, an agreement was reached that provided for her conditional release.

I was at her final hearing yesterday where release paperwork was signed, an apartment lease was being provided, transportation arranged, household items delivered, and a bag of clothes that I gave her. Dcn. Sue has more clothing for her, and her caseworker will be working closely with her to ensure she is on the right track and following the terms of her probation.

She also plans on attending the 10:15 service this coming Sunday.

In attending both her first sentencing and final trial, and in discussions with Dcn. Sue, I can tell you that she is heartily sorry for these her misdoings and has humbly repented (at least to the victim and the judicial system). She is also concerned about the reception she will get from the people at Saint John's. How she is received, though, is entirely up to each one of us.

I will close by reminding everyone that we are in the business of resurrection. We all have a resurrection story in our lives somewhere. May we be a part of her resurrection story.

Blessings,

January 8, 2020

Halacha is a word that means Jewish law. It is derived from the Hebrew word for walk. And the word for pilgrimage comes from the word leg.

I know all this because Rabbi Ari Plost told me all this recently in response to an e-mail thread regarding the HARC board meeting this evening and who would be in attendance. I said that I would be there and that I'm now doing most “normal” things. Rabbi Ari responded with, “Halacha.”

My journey from back surgery to full recovery is, like everyone who is recovering from one type of surgery or another, taken in small doses, sometimes quite literally one step at a time. As I progressed from walking fifty feet, to walking a short lap around my unit, to walking multiple long laps around my unit, to walking around the block, to (most recently) walking two miles, these progressions were taken a little at a time. Those first small steps in the hospital led to longer and longer trips.

Our journey doesn't begin at the end. Our journey doesn't begin with a two-mile walk three days after surgery. Our journey doesn't begin by impressive physical or mental feats. Our journey begins in the beginning. Our journey begins with small measures of practice.

I've always hated the question, “Where would you like to be in five years?” I'm never really sure how to answer that, because life can throw so many curve balls and twists and turns that that five-year plan becomes just another wasted resolution.

I think a better question is, “What would you like to get better at?” A deeper, more intentional prayer life. Donating time or finances to a deserving organization. Focusing on my children. Playing a musical instrument. The possibilities are endless. But none of us is going to pick up a trumpet and play like Louis Armstrong. None of us is going to step out of the house and run a marathon. None of us is going to read the Bible cover to cover this month.

Instead, make your journey one leg at a time. Take a small walk with whatever it is you want to get better at. Do you want to spend 30 minutes in prayer before you start your day? Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier and learn to spend 5 minutes in prayer first. And then walk a little further; pray a little longer.

As Rabbi Ari said, “Even the smallest measures of practice can lead us to greater efforts.”

Blessings,

Todd+

January 1, 2020

The Fourth Day of Christmas

We are in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I have been putting out a #ChristmasIsNotOver tweet daily since Christmas Day (the First Day of Christmas) in the hopes of reminding someone somewhere in the twitterverse that Christmas is not over, that there are #12DaysOfChristmas, and to be part of the #ChristmasResistance. I fear it's a futile effort, but it makes me feel better.

Today, January 1, is the Eighth Day of Christmas. It is the day of eight maids a-milking. More importantly, though, it is the Feast of the Holy Name, the traditional time (eight days after birth) when Jewish boys were circumcised and named. But today I want to talk about the Fourth Day of Christmas.

The Fourth Day of Christmas is December 28. On the Church calendar this day is the Feast of the Holy Innocents – the day we commemorate the innocent children killed in and around Bethlehem on Herod's orders as his response to the coming of the Messiah.

This was also the day in Rockland County, NY (about 30 miles north of NYC), when a group of wholly innocent Jewish people were viciously attacked in a Rabbi's home while celebrating Hanukkah.

Both groups, the Holy Innocents and the wholly innocent, were attacked out of fear and hatred. And just like then when a “voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation,” the voices of our Jewish brothers and sisters on that day were heard weeping with wailing and loud lamentation.

This past Sunday I preached a brief homily during Lessons & Carols addressing yet another attack on a group some people find worthy of attacking. The gospel reading for that Sunday was from John 1. We are all familiar with the passage: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

We are once again living in dark times. White supremacists and nativists have been emboldened to ramp up both their rhetoric and physical violence against people of the “wrong color” and/or those who “don't belong.” Women, LGBT people, and Jews also fall into this group of approved targets.

If we believe God is love, if we believe Jesus came to redeem the world, if we believe (as Scripture says over and over again) that God stands with the stranger, outcast, downtrodden, alien, and “others,” then we have a responsibility to stand up and speak out against all that is dark, hateful, fearful, and evil.

As an act of solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, I encourage you to attend Shabbat services next Friday, January 10, at 7:30 pm. Congregation B'nai Abraham is located at 53 E. Baltimore St. (between Locust and Potomac). If you receive this e-mail but are not near Hagerstown, I encourage you to find a synagogue close by and inquire how you may show your support.

I hope to see you there, because neither the Holy Innocents nor the wholly innocent should be forgotten.

Blessings,

November 27, 2019

Gratitude.

That word is especially appropriate on this day before Thanksgiving. Gratitude and Thankfulness go hand in hand as we reflect on everything for which we are grateful.

I am thankful and grateful for a whole litany of things: My wife and daughter; the parish I serve; friends I have made here on the east coast; modern communications that allow me to remain in contact with family and friends on the west coast; a hobby I continue to love; all of the various people who keep the ministries and outreach of Saint John's active and vital; a good and caring Vestry; a good medical team; and the list goes on.

One of the challenges, though, of listing all of these thanksgivings is falling into the trap of the Pharisee at the temple who prayed, “Thank God I am not like those other people.”

Giving thanks and being appreciative is one thing; seeing those as a blessing from God because you are better in some way than those other people is something else entirely.

So how might we avoid that “more blessed than thou” attitude?

What if, for every blessing you count, you counter that with an action that looks beyond yourself? In other words, if you're thankful for having enough food to eat every day, make a donation to the food bank, to Micah's backpack, or to Community Cafe. If you're thankful for having enough clothes, make a donation to places where clothing is needed. If you're thankful for having a roof over your head and safe place to sleep, make a donation to the Saint John's Shelter, to REACH, or to another agency that works to house the homeless.

This Thanksgiving we give thanks for all the blessings we have received, for that is meet and right so to do; but let us not forget or neglect to see how our blessings can be used to bless others in need, for that is our bounden duty.

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving,

November 20, 2019

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I ran across this saying in a little periodical some years ago. It struck me as particularly appropriate for us right now.

Our pledge campaign is wrapping up and our various commissions are working on their budgets for 2020. The Vestry will be working in conjunction with our Treasurer as we chart our financial course for the upcoming year. And all of that will be presented to the congregation at our Annual Meeting.

Our bishop has, over the past several years, put forth his vision for a Community of Love in the diocese. I have touched on that in a variety of places since I've been here at Saint John's. What does it mean to be a community of love? How do we interact with each other in that community? How do we interact with those outside of this particular community? As St. Paul wrote, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

In other words, love takes work, and it often takes people looking in the same direction.

In this beloved community of Saint John's, we express our love of God and others through our mission statement to Worship, Welcome, Serve, and Encourage. Love is a verb, and so are those four words. With those four words we practice love in a variety of ways, and we practice love by looking outward together in the same direction.

In our Worship, we look outward from ourselves toward the holiness of God. In our Welcome, we look outward to those who are seeking a spiritual home. In our Service, we look outward to those who are in need physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially. And in our Encouragement, we look outward to those whose only positive interaction may come from us.

Our pledge campaign is not simply a plea for money to keep the doors open and heat on. Our pledge campaign, in reality, is our chance to individually commit to being an active part of this beloved community. It is a place where we as individuals can express our active love by looking outward together as we work to make the kingdom of God a very real presence in the here and now.

If you have not yet completed and turned in your pledge card, please do so – not so much that we can set the 2020 budget, but more so we can all work to strengthen this beloved community as we look outward from God.

Blessings,

November 13, 2019

“I believe . . . that our humanity, the 'who we are,' is often laid bare and expressed in the inconvenient actions and time-consuming pursuits we undertake.” – Barry Mano, Publisher, Referee Magazine

I receive Referee Magazine every month, and every month it includes a Publisher's Memo. Think of this as the Rector's Ramblings for the officiating world. And, more often than not, he usually writes about something that can be applied equally to both officiating and the Church.

As I read this particular Memo, I was again struck by the similarities between the two.

Our lives, it seems, are driven by convenience. We run to the store in our cars to pick up a box of butter that we forgot when we were grocery shopping. If dinner can't be made in a crock pot on most weekdays, we scrounge through the refrigerator to find enough stuff we classify as a meal. Microwaves are the most used appliance in the kitchen. We get our news in headlines because it's not convenient to read the whole article.

A lot of this push for convenience comes into play because we seem to be more busy than we ever were and we just don't seem to have the time to take the time.

In his Memo, Mr. Mano refers to things such as carving wood, making repairs to cars or appliances, taking a long hike, and such. These are things, he says, that take time and offer a sense of satisfaction.

Which brings me back to church. Attending church is not convenient. It requires a person to get up early on their day off and commit to being in a place at a particular time that takes time and may offer a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment or completion or whatever word you find descriptive.

Committing to worshiping God takes time and is certainly not easy in this convenience-driven world. Committing to daily prayer can be difficult and also takes time. But like anything worthwhile – a friendship, a marriage, a hobby – these are not things of convenience. These things are difficult, but also an essential part of our being.

May you make the time to do that which is difficult, and may your soul be fed by doing so.

Blessings,

November 6, 2019

“Would you be willing to serve . . .”

And with those words, or something similar to them, the Rev. Ramelle McCall asked me to consider being on the team behind all of the liturgy for General Convention 2021. If you aren't yet aware, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church will be held in Baltimore from June 30 – July 9, 2021.

Fr. McCall serves as Priest in Charge of Holy Trinity, Baltimore, and as Urban Missioner for the Diocese of Maryland. He was appointed as Vice Chair to the GC21 Worship Committee, and he is working on putting a team together to pull this off.

One of the things he did was to ask me to serve as part of this body. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am an introvert and really dislike large groups. In fact, I was hoping to basically hide out in Hagerstown where it might have been possible to be overlooked for anything having to do with GC21. That didn't happen.

However, if I'm going to get asked to serve, it might as well be on a committee in which I have a good skill set (liturgy) as opposed to evaluating some resolution on the efficacy of canine baptism (I'm kidding).

But, like it or not, this is part of what I am called to do. In the ordination rite the Bishop says, “Now you are called to work as a pastor, priest, and teacher, together with your bishop and fellow presbyters, and to take your share in the councils of the Church.” In other words, remember that the Church is bigger than the particular parish you serve; because sometimes even priests need to be nudged out of their pews.

As we come to the end of the calendar year, this is something for which we should all remember: the Church is bigger than our pew, it's bigger than our parish, it's bigger than our diocese, and it's even bigger than our denomination. We are part of the Body of Christ – a living, breathing, active organism. If all we do is sit, then that body will eventually atrophy and die.

You may not be called to serve on a committee for General Convention, but there are plenty of areas around Saint John's for which you can serve. As some of our members begin to grow older and are not able to give as much time physically as they used to, or are in need of a long overdue rest, others need to step up to keep this part of the body healthy and active.

So, would you be willing to serve?