Reviewing the past few days

I haven't done much of a personal nature in my blogging. Friday and Saturday we got another strange spring snow. The out of town couple I was supposed to meet with for a pre-marriage session wisely chose not to come so I enjoyed more of a Saturday at home. I was looking forward to my "Easter re-done" service in honor of Easter Sunday on the Orthodox Church calendar but it looked like I should be re-doing Christmas! On Friday and Saturday I saw the High School play The Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940's. Nick had a more silent part this time, he was the figure in black.

I spent some time watching the live stream from General Conference in Texas. It was fun to see Ruth Wertzema from Red Bird Missionary Conference, presenting on Red Bird as part of the Town and Country ministry celebrations; saw Alan Bolte from NW district talking about the Hubbard church too! Sara is at GC Friday through Monday. She showed up in a couple of photos and I will post one later in this entry

Around 10:30 Saturday evening, Barb Boevers called to say that "Charles didn't make it." We all knew he was in serious condition but after the pace maker, dialysis and some other efforts we had hoped he would be able to return to Brainerd. So I felt my numbness; didn't sleep well that night, and wondered how I could manage, or how best, to announce this to the congregation, a dear friend and encourager for many and the long time lay leader for Park church. I will miss him.

While the theme of the Easter service , life and hope , was timely, we certainly were a congregation in grief. Sunday evening and Monday mid afternoon I was at the Episcopal House of Prayer, with some clergy colleagues as we spent time in contemplative prayer and learning about St John of the Cross and the Dark Night of the Soul. The EHoP retreat is set to go on until Tues noon but I didn't sleep well Sunday night either, away from home, so I am back to prepare for Charles's service. We have most of the service plans arranged but I will meet with family on Tues. when more of them will be in town.
When I got home on Monday I checked on another church member who was reportedly not doing well; had a phone message from a neighbor by the church who was concerned about the ownership and repair of a fence that has fallen by the church garage;
plus some emails with administrative matters. Tonight I hope for good sleep!

Now

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief.
Do justly, now.
Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly, now.
You are not obligated to complete the work
but neither are you free to abandon it. - The Talmud

A prayer for the day

From today's Upper Room web entry:

May I walk this day
in the realm of grace,
walking with You
my feet firmly on your earth-path,
my heart loving all as kindred,
my words and deeds alive with justice.

May I walk as blessing,
meeting blessing at every turn
in every challenge, blessing,
in all opposition, blessing,
in harm’s way, blessing.

May I walk each step in this moment of grace,
alert to hear You
and awake enough to say
a simple Yes.

- Robert Corin Morris
Wrestling with Grace: A Spirituality for the Rough Edges of Daily Life

From p. 213 of Wrestling with Grace by Robert Corin Morris. Copyright © 2003 by the author.

Earth Day

This is a version of what will be in the Clergy view column this Friday

Clergyview Rory Swenson Park United Methodist Church For April 25, 2008

April 22 is Earth Day and Friday is Arbor Day. I wondered how I could best talk about some faithful earth care. In the view of faith this is not only a matter of science, ecological education and political policy. It is a matter of the heart and soul. Stories tend to convey this better than facts and figures. So I share a story from India called the “The Tree and the Parrot.”*

Once upon a time there was a magnificent tree. It was ancient and taller than the others. It had many branches with great limbs and a root system that spread wide over and above the ground. It gave shade in the summer and kept enough leaves in winter to give protection year around. It was rich with fruit and the birds would come and feast in its abundance. Smaller animals would pick the fallen fruit on the ground When the rainstorms came the animals would huddle under the shelter of that tree.
There was also a parrot that had spent its whole life living in that tree It was his home and the bird and tree were such close friends that they didn’t need to talk. They could just be together. They noticed the other birds that chatted in the branches and they heard the stories and songs of others They endured the weather and the seasons. The tree gave its fruit and the parrot gave its company.
One day a hunter discovered that the tree was a great place to hunt the animals and the hunter also needed to feed his family. He shot an arrow with a poison tip and he missed the bird but it hit deep into the bark of the tree. This happened many more times until the tree began to sicken and die. Eventually the leaves fell, the bark peeled off and the branches became brittle. Soon there was very little fruit or it was bitter and small, and the birds could not eat it. The parrot was distressed. But what could he do? The year went on and the tree was in terrible shape. It was practically a great barren stick. Yet the parrot stayed. Other said he was foolish and that he too would get sick and die. But the parrot loved the tree and he could not leave it alone when it was dying.

Now God in heaven, looked down and saw this bright light shining in a corner of the world. This had not been so visible before so God sent messengers to see what was causing this bright light. It was of course, from the dying tree and the parrot that refused to leave.
God was pleased. This was a light of goodness and faithfulness. So much that God was moved to tears and it began to rain upon the earth and many of the tears dropped directly onto the tree. The tears of God brought healing and life and the tree began to come alive again, The rain lasted for three days and nights and when it ended, the tree was tall and vibrant and the wonderful new fruit on the tree was not like anything that had been there before. It was flowering and magnificent.

The parrot was filled with joy and danced and sang in delight. And God looked down to see the light shimmering and dancing. God wept with joy brought on by one of his creatures with such faithfulness and friendship. God felt the goodness of hope washing into the world.
As you ponder the story I will simply add that caring for God’s creation begins with your steadfast hearts, being truly present to the mounting signs of this planet’s ailments and distress; letting your light of example, and relationship and hope be seen. I believe it is pleasing to God.
(I have adapted this traditional story from On Your Mark, p. 155 by Megan McKenna; Orbis Books)

And a quote to share
There is an awe and reverence due to the stars in the heavens, the sun, and all heavenly bodies; to the seas and the continents; to all living forms of trees and flowers; to the myriad expressions of life in the sea; to the animals of the forests and the birds of the air. To wantonly destroy a living species is to silence forever a divine voice.
- Thomas Berry
The Dream of the Earth

General Conference will begin this week in Ft Worth TX. Keep this gathering in your prayers. My daughter, Sara, is one of the alternates but will only be there for a a few days starting next weekend.
The Minnesota Conference website will have links for you to check on and don't forget to check Jim Perry's blog also on my link list.

Signs of Spring and Easter revisited

Forget the nonsense with the groundhog back in February, I know my signs of spring and now they are here.
1)The wood peckers are drumming on the chimney cap and the mailbox and the basketball back board.
2) The frogs are singing!
3) Jim Trott, the church custodian, has started up the lawnmower.
4) The church men's group has been organizing the workday at Star Lake camp.
5) Water is trickling into my sump pump.

I was so spring minded that I decided to follow the Orthodox Church calendar and celebrate Easter Sunday (again) on April 27th. I won't be able to have the Hallelujah Chorus song with the choir at the close of the service and we won't have the Easter lilies and the candy...but we can bring back the scriptures and the hymns and the liturgy. Since it was "so early" this year maybe we will be ready for it this time!

And here's a quote just to add into the mix from Richard Rohr
Question of the day:
What "better" can I practice today?

A core principle of the Center for Action and Contemplation is: The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better. Just go ahead and live positively "in God, through God, with God."

In the short run, you will hold the unresolved tension of the cross. In the long run, you will usher in something entirely new and healing.

This was the almost intuitive spiritual genius of Saint Francis. He wasted no time attacking the rich churches and pretentious clergymen; he just went to the side and did it differently.

from Hope Against Darkness

Nature's Sense of Humor

I admit that it was presumptuous for me to have put away the snow blower. Of course I kept out the snow shovels and resisted the temptation to take the plastic off the screen porch one day last week. Is it spring or not? Sara and I had walked a few blocks away and appreciated the pussy willows but the frogs were not awake yet with a spring chorus. Not even an early soloist! Church members had reported numerous robin sightings but I had not seen one yet. Until this morning; after the snow fall and the school cancellations. I heard the neighbor's snow blower running before 6 am so I pulled out my snowblower again and cleared the driveway. And cleared it again after the snow plow left me a huge white sticky ridge. Then the robins arrived. At least a dozen, hopping along the road and a few came up into the driveway. They were all puffed up in their insulated look. I tossed a few old cherry tomatoes onto the driveway. I don't know if that is robin food or not. The cedar wax wings came by last week and picked the crab apple tree bare.
But now its off to do a couple of care center services. Maybe I will see more robins now that the snow is here. They stand out better. And I am glad the snowplow had cleared the road. Its easier for both the robins and me . Happy winter-spring! I think I will wake Nick up with some Christmas carols before I go.

PS The robins loved the cherry tomatoes!

More for remembering M.L. King Jr.

News and blogs the past couple of days have been a chance to read and remember again. So I appreciated this:
From The Reverend King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech on April 3, 1968:

It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preachers must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.
....

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

King was assassinated the following day.
Borrowed from the wounded bird blogspot

PUMS Retreat notes

These are a few of the notes from the retreat day with When the Heart Waits


Did you know that once the caterpillar encloses itself in a chrysalis, it undergoes a crisis as the structure of its cellular tissue begins to dissolve into an organic soup or “mush”? Once there is complete mush in the chrysalis, a number of organizer cells begin to rush around gathering other cells to form “imaginal buds”. These imaginal buds are initially independent multicellular structures that begin to give form to the organs of a new creature. As this happens the caterpillars’s still intact immune system perceives “threat” to the old order and often attack these imaginal buds as alien intruders! The “creature” (or whatever it is at that point) actually attacks/resists it’s own growth and transformation. Eventually the imaginal buds win out by linking up together. And eventually a beautiful butterfly emerges as result of this mysterious metamorphasis. ttp://lloyd.vanderkwaak.com/2008/03/24/183

•

The life of the spirit is never static, We’re born on one level, only to find some new struggle toward wholeness gestating within. That’s the sacred intent of life, of god - to move us continuously toward growth, toward recovering all that is lost and orphaned within us and restoring the divine image imprinted on our soul. And rarely do significant shifts come without a sense of our being lost in dark woods, or in what T.S. Eliot called the “vacant interstellar spaces” Kidd p. 4


p. 13- the Greek word for soul is psyche, and is often symbolized as a butterfly. Both the soul and the butterfly are metamorphosed. ...tempting..to think that the growth and emergence of my authentic self would happen with little time or effort on my part, that isn’t so. The fullness of one’s soul evolves slowly. We’re asked to go within to gestate the newness (the life of Christ)
God is trying to form; we’re asked to collaborate with grace.

•

....waiting provides the time and space necessary for grace to happen. Spirit needs a container to pour itself into. Grace needs an arena in which to incarnate. Waiting can be such a place if we allow it.

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world but let yourselves be transformed by the renewal of your mind in Christ Jesus!

.p 14 in Kidd..
“In soul making we can’t bypass the cocoon. Whenever there are bright new wings, there’s always the husk (cocoon) of waiting somewhere in the corner. “

...Your soul is your greatest work of art.


p. 14... I wondered if waiting was the “missing link” in spiritual evolving, the lost and forgotten experience crucial to becoming fully human, fully Christian, fully ourselves..

...when important times of transition came for Jesus, he entered enclosures of waiting - the wilderness, a garden, the tomb. Jesus’ life was a balanced rhythm of waiting on God and expressing the fruits of that waiting.

God makes us ask ourselves questions most often when He intends to resolve them. He gives us needs that He alone can satisfy and awakens capacities that He means to fulfill. Any perplexity is liable to be a spiritual gestation, leading to a new birth and mystical regeneration
– Thomas Merton

p. 30 she talks about addiction to...the quick and easy

. 31 An addictive behavior “keeps us unaware of what is going on inside of us”
quick fix solutions (are) a way of escaping the slow pain of uncertainty and self confrontation.


Be still and know that I am God” Ps 46:10

Go to your cell and your cell will teach your everything. Monastic wisdom


p. 35 ...we tend to align ourselves with the rhythm and pace around us. If you want to stay in your waiting, you’ll need to refrain from the frantic pace around you. The important thing is to be still.


p 43 ....our soul is the patient part of us.....our extroverted society will do its best to pull us away from our waiting

78 A creature can separate from an old way of existence, enter into a time of metamorphosis, and emerge into a new level of being.
Separation
transformation
emergence

“inner maze of waiting”

larva....Egypt
cocoon ...wilderness
butterfly ....promised land

Sources of crisis
Developmental transition life stages
Intrusive Events death illness accident moves, empty nest, betrayal.. Etc..

Internal Uprisings, Inner agonies that flare up. Restlessness, search for calling/purpose, stress, burnout..yearning

faith crisis ..fear//doubt

"A crisis is a holy summons to cross a threshold" p. 86

...



.p. 88
two common responses to crisis
1) “Fatalist/faithful...”It is Gods will” and force ourselves into outward acceptance....but very little inner work .trying to find comfort and peace of mind..
Or
2) reject the crisis ...fight it until we become cynical or suffer loss of faith ..goal is justice

3rd way.
“The way of waiting." Creating a painfully honest and contemplative relationship with ones own depth, with God in the center of ones soul. People who choose this way aren’t so much after peace of mind, or justice..(But are looking for) wholeness and transformation. They are after soul making.

You discover that the stormy experience can be an agent drawing you deeper into the kingdom, separating you from the old consciousness and the clamp of the ego.

....Martin Marty... “Brokenness and wounding do not occur in order to break human dignity but to open the heart so God can act.



P. 89 Luke 13:24
enter the narrow gate... Which only a few folks find.... You do it by way of tight, difficult uncomfortable places that separate you form the rest of the herd.

Gk word is
strive to enter ...
agonize


Chpter 5 Letting Go

Galatians 2:20 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me...


PART 4 Transformation

Chpt 6 Concentrated Stillness
“The cremester” P. 126 Read the definition of cremaster...What serves as your anchor point..your still point.?
Still point
sitting at Jesus’ feet
watching/waiting..same root word in Hebrew
resting/praying .137 share the same Greek word
beggar, waiting on side of the road

p. 129 Eugene Peterson The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it.. So the task is not to get God doing something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it.”


..129" This is the motivation behind waiting prayer. We place ourselves in postures of the heart, in the stillness that enables us to become aware of what God is doing so that we can gradually say yes to it with our whole being.”



the most significant events for Jesus took place in darkness:
birth
arrest
death
and resurrection.. Johns says “while it was still dark, Mary went to the tomb..”
.
.156 To “let him easter in us” is to let the Christ life incubate within the darkness of our waiting. “



If I have inside me the stuff to make cocoons, maybe the stuff of butterflies is there too.. Trina Paulus


They that wait upon the lord....
Shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings....

May Christ be born in you!
Spiritual gifts/gifts of the soul
lean how to be present to life, attunement, love of others..awake, aware... at-one-ment “atonement’


Compassion is the aim of spiritual growth..to be formed into Christ..to be filled with the love of God...

The Emmaus Christ, beyond our control

	Jesus is among us now in a new way as the Risen Christ, the Christ who is everywhere, beyond all limits of space and time. On Good Friday we saw the relationship of all humanity to God. We kill what we should love. We're afraid of the gift that would free us. On Easter Sunday we celebrate Jesus coming back into a world that rejected him. God had to come back in a disguised form. God had to come back, as it were, secretly, as a subversive, hidden—the Risen Christ. That's the Christ who energizes his Church, the Christ forever beyond our control. from Richard Rohr Radical Grace: Daily Meditations

World Clock

FYI
looking for a resource on global concern and justice related issues , go to Global Issues and choose a topic to look at. There are many!

Here is another sobering website: The World Clock

The World Clock documents a number of rapidly growing figures, including population growth, consumption of fossil fuels, military expenditures, and number of species to have gone extinct, all since the beginning of 2008.

And this to add into the mix:
a quote from B.B. Taylor....
Once, when I attended a workshop on teaching religion, a presenter talked about how he took his students on wilderness trips to give them a taste of life nearer the edge. Whether they went hiking or white water rafting, the point was to step outside their high-carb comfort zones long enough to encounter the untamed holiness of the wild.
‘Excuse me,’ a member of the audience said, ‘but are there predators in those places who are above you on the food chain?’
‘Well, of course not,’ the presenter said. ‘I wouldn’t put students in danger like that.’
‘I wouldn’t either,’ the man in the audience said, ‘but don’t lull them into thinking they have experienced true wilderness. It’s only wilderness if there’s something out there that can eat you.’

— Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

Refund

You can follow the cartoon or you can follow Jeffrey Ozanne's invitation to give some or all of the refund to the church. Several community service agencies are also seeing increase demand and less funding from donations. Something to think about in May when the checks arrive? Don't forget the Music Matters fund raising efforts in the Brainerd School District.
Most of the people I hear from say that they don't plan to run out and spend it. They will either pay down debt or save it in case of hard times coming.
Does this refund seem to be anything like the "bread and circuses" for the masses of the Roman empire...a grand distraction from the bigger picture? I better quit before the ramble becomes a rant.

p. 129 from When the Heart Waits, by Sue Monk Kidd
She quotes Eugene Peterson ..."The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it.. So the task is not to get God doing something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it."

I am keeping that thought in mind as I settle into work after a Monday off: returning some phone calls and emails, setting up Sunday worship bulletin (but not having to plan a sermon because Marianne Ozanne will bring a UMW Sunday message. ) I am preparing to lead the retreat this Thursday with Kidd's book plus some contemplative type experiences for the participants so I am pulling together a powerpoint and some prayer station materials . Need to go see a person in the hospital after her surgery yesterday, and call down to Abbot where a parishioner had angioplasty. Plus set up some pre-marriage counseling with two couples. And , with Beth ,we are waiting for news on her Bush grant application....plus whatever is yet to develop today....trusting that there is something of God for me to see in all of this!
Rambling again. Happy April Fools day!