Wednesday, February 24, 2010
At a shopping mall in Albury, Australia there was sign over a large area in the mall. It said; “Centre of life.” Maybe somebody might think that shopping was the “center of life'” but when we went to explore the sign, we saw that it marked the food court dining area. Now, of course, food itself may not be the center of life either, but in the church we also have pointed to a dining table and food as the center of our identity and worship life. Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper, is the center of life for us. We are centered in the fellowship of Christ where we share together this feast of faith, hope and love. Christianity is a community of grace, hospitality and welcome. God's table is at the center of life for us. There is a place for you! Share the invitation!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
O GOD, who makes all things new, new stars, new dust, new life; take my heart, every hardened edge and measured beat, and create something new in me. I need your newness, God, the rough parts of me me made smooth; the stagnant, stirred, the stuck, freed; the unkind, forgiven. And then, by the power of your Spirit, I need to be turned toward Love again. Amen.
- Pamela Hawkins
The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent
From p. 30 of The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent. Copyright (C) 2009 by Pamela Hawkins.
via Upper Room web site
- Pamela Hawkins
The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent
From p. 30 of The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent. Copyright (C) 2009 by Pamela Hawkins.
via Upper Room web site
Friday, February 12, 2010
Lent and Green Space
Green Space.
City planners and developers know the idea of having green space. We cannot have all concrete and buildings. We need boulevards, hedges, setbacks and parks with grass and trees. It is spiritually true as well. You need green space in your life. We cannot be all work and business. Sabbath is green space; so is prayer, joy, beauty, rest, laughter and pleasure. These are not luxuries, but necessities! Are you planning and protecting green space for you and those around you. Are you spending time there?
City planners and developers know the idea of having green space. We cannot have all concrete and buildings. We need boulevards, hedges, setbacks and parks with grass and trees. It is spiritually true as well. You need green space in your life. We cannot be all work and business. Sabbath is green space; so is prayer, joy, beauty, rest, laughter and pleasure. These are not luxuries, but necessities! Are you planning and protecting green space for you and those around you. Are you spending time there?
Ash Wednesday Wisdom
Bishop Sally Dyck's recent blog article invited us to think about the Haiti earthquake and what it might be like to be trapped and wondering if you will even be found. She told of some trapped persons singing hymns together during the 55 hours of waiting. She then asks us to think of what hymn or scriptures we might recall or recite if we were in some similar situation. We were invited to post our thoughts as comments. Frankly, it's not a thought I want to go very deeply into. Oh yes, I could think of my favorite reassuring verse or songs, but to really contemplate my death....and what my final thoughts would be; I would rather not do that even though the recent tragic situations do push us to those imaginations. As a pastor, with you, it has also come much too often as we gather for those funerals and memorials in the church family.
Yet, our Christian spiritual journey does push us exactly into that unpopular corner of pondering our mortality. It is not just the fear based ranting of an old time preacher announcing that you could die tonight! We intentionality have a few special days assigned for it All Saints Sunday is one, Easter too! But it gets specifically named in the up-coming season of Lent and Ash Wednesday Its not a well attended day in most of our Protestant churches and , many don't even acknowledge it. The day of the Ashes smudged on us with the solemn words "Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return;" is a deeply honest recognition of our mortality, our fragile giftedness upon the earth. It is not meant to be a day of groveling in morbidness. It is reverently naming a truth of who we are. Even in the ashes, we are marked for life in Jesus Christ and are marked with hope as God's beloved people. Death will be a part of the journey in Life. Our denial only distorts the spiritual condition.
In my journal I have pasted some pages based on Stephen Levine's research project called "The Year to Live.” Levine teaches in the areas of grief and terminal illness. He worked with questions such as : If you thought the coming year would be your last, what changes would you make in your life? Who would you connect with? Would you have any regrets? Then in his “project” he acted as if he would be alive for only one more year. He reviewed past events, both good and bad, that had impacted his life. He was inspired to show his gratitude and appreciation to the many people who had touched his life in positive ways. He developed a more loving and compassionate view of the world. He found strength to forgive past hurts and resentments that he had been hanging on to. The thought of dying allowed him to find the courage to commit to living a full life, and in a way to overcome the fear of death. When you are living on borrowed time, every minute counts. His project was less about completing "a bucket list" of adventures, than about doing good, volunteering, encouraging others; living more gently, reflecting on life, from a different Light. I think that is ultimately what the Lenten ashes are meant to do. You are dust, but the Lenten discipline calls us to a time of reflection, reorganizing, considering the direction of life. We are dust but this dust too, is held and formed into life by the hand and breath of God; creator of heaven and earth. Maybe Mary Oliver has the spirit when she says “To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go." ~ Mary Oliver ~ (American Primitive)
Peace,
(also printed in the Park newsletter)
Bishop Sally Dyck's recent blog article invited us to think about the Haiti earthquake and what it might be like to be trapped and wondering if you will even be found. She told of some trapped persons singing hymns together during the 55 hours of waiting. She then asks us to think of what hymn or scriptures we might recall or recite if we were in some similar situation. We were invited to post our thoughts as comments. Frankly, it's not a thought I want to go very deeply into. Oh yes, I could think of my favorite reassuring verse or songs, but to really contemplate my death....and what my final thoughts would be; I would rather not do that even though the recent tragic situations do push us to those imaginations. As a pastor, with you, it has also come much too often as we gather for those funerals and memorials in the church family.
Yet, our Christian spiritual journey does push us exactly into that unpopular corner of pondering our mortality. It is not just the fear based ranting of an old time preacher announcing that you could die tonight! We intentionality have a few special days assigned for it All Saints Sunday is one, Easter too! But it gets specifically named in the up-coming season of Lent and Ash Wednesday Its not a well attended day in most of our Protestant churches and , many don't even acknowledge it. The day of the Ashes smudged on us with the solemn words "Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return;" is a deeply honest recognition of our mortality, our fragile giftedness upon the earth. It is not meant to be a day of groveling in morbidness. It is reverently naming a truth of who we are. Even in the ashes, we are marked for life in Jesus Christ and are marked with hope as God's beloved people. Death will be a part of the journey in Life. Our denial only distorts the spiritual condition.
In my journal I have pasted some pages based on Stephen Levine's research project called "The Year to Live.” Levine teaches in the areas of grief and terminal illness. He worked with questions such as : If you thought the coming year would be your last, what changes would you make in your life? Who would you connect with? Would you have any regrets? Then in his “project” he acted as if he would be alive for only one more year. He reviewed past events, both good and bad, that had impacted his life. He was inspired to show his gratitude and appreciation to the many people who had touched his life in positive ways. He developed a more loving and compassionate view of the world. He found strength to forgive past hurts and resentments that he had been hanging on to. The thought of dying allowed him to find the courage to commit to living a full life, and in a way to overcome the fear of death. When you are living on borrowed time, every minute counts. His project was less about completing "a bucket list" of adventures, than about doing good, volunteering, encouraging others; living more gently, reflecting on life, from a different Light. I think that is ultimately what the Lenten ashes are meant to do. You are dust, but the Lenten discipline calls us to a time of reflection, reorganizing, considering the direction of life. We are dust but this dust too, is held and formed into life by the hand and breath of God; creator of heaven and earth. Maybe Mary Oliver has the spirit when she says “To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go." ~ Mary Oliver ~ (American Primitive)
Peace,
(also printed in the Park newsletter)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
As Sara and I plan to join Beth on her next trip to Mumbai in March I have been trying to find out about the methodist church and came up with this info from http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/resources/news/?C=6088&i=26320
Slumdog Millionaire" and the True Story of Hope in Methodist Street Children's Ministries
"Slumdog Millionaire" swept the Academy Awards. Yet the subject of the movie is not new to the Methodist Ministry in Mumbai, India, which has been helping street children for decades.
Tune in to this three-minute video to witness the real-life story of hope for street children in Mumbai.
The Methodist Church in Mumbai supports 20 centers for street children in 13 impoverished communities. Children from 1 to 14 years old have a safe place to receive a meal, health care, recreation, and a simple education. Older children are taught technical skills like chalk making and weaving. The children also learn Bollywood dance steps. After all, Mumbai is home to the largest film industry in the world.
"As portrayed so well in the movie, 'Slumdog Millionaire,' many street children are forced into a life of begging either by family members or by unscrupulous adults who used them for their own gain," said Max Marble, Office of Creative Ministries, The United Methodist Church, Missouri Conference, and the maker of the series "MissionCast." "It is my hope that the movie will continue to draw attention to the plight of street children the world over."
Support these United Methodist Advance projects to continue providing hope to the street children of Mumbai.
#3020560 - Talents Intended for Development and Enterprise (Mumbai)
#3020515 - Technical Training for Street Children (Mumbai)
#212383 - Women Equality and Development of the Community Outreach Program (Mumbai)
Slumdog Millionaire" and the True Story of Hope in Methodist Street Children's Ministries
"Slumdog Millionaire" swept the Academy Awards. Yet the subject of the movie is not new to the Methodist Ministry in Mumbai, India, which has been helping street children for decades.
Tune in to this three-minute video to witness the real-life story of hope for street children in Mumbai.
The Methodist Church in Mumbai supports 20 centers for street children in 13 impoverished communities. Children from 1 to 14 years old have a safe place to receive a meal, health care, recreation, and a simple education. Older children are taught technical skills like chalk making and weaving. The children also learn Bollywood dance steps. After all, Mumbai is home to the largest film industry in the world.
"As portrayed so well in the movie, 'Slumdog Millionaire,' many street children are forced into a life of begging either by family members or by unscrupulous adults who used them for their own gain," said Max Marble, Office of Creative Ministries, The United Methodist Church, Missouri Conference, and the maker of the series "MissionCast." "It is my hope that the movie will continue to draw attention to the plight of street children the world over."
Support these United Methodist Advance projects to continue providing hope to the street children of Mumbai.
#3020560 - Talents Intended for Development and Enterprise (Mumbai)
#3020515 - Technical Training for Street Children (Mumbai)
#212383 - Women Equality and Development of the Community Outreach Program (Mumbai)
ALLOWING OURSELVES TO MOURN develops our capacity to feel life’s joys. I believe that positive and negative emotions are two sides of the same coin. Of course, many of us would prefer to experience and deal with only positive feelings. We often feel uncomfortable with our own or others’ sadness, anger, disappointments, fears. … As we learn to feel all our feelings, we explore what it means to be fully human, to be all that God created us to be.
- Mary Lou Redding
The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Lessons from the Beatitudes
From p. 31 of The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Life Lessons from the Beatitudes by Mary Lou Redding. Copyright (c) 2006
And also this similar thought: God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you have two wings to fly, not one.
— Rumi quoted in Love Is a Fire by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
by way of Spirituality and Practice
- Mary Lou Redding
The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Lessons from the Beatitudes
From p. 31 of The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Life Lessons from the Beatitudes by Mary Lou Redding. Copyright (c) 2006
And also this similar thought: God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you have two wings to fly, not one.
— Rumi quoted in Love Is a Fire by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
by way of Spirituality and Practice
Thursday, February 4, 2010
from Verse and Voice at Sojourners
Silence frees us from the need to control others ... A frantic stream of words flows from us in an attempt to straighten others out. We want so desperately for them to agree with us, to see things our way. We evaluate people, judge people, condemn people. We devour people with our words. Silence is one of the deepest Disciplines of the Spirit simply because it puts the stopper on that.
- Richard Foster, from his book Freedom of Simplicity
- Richard Foster, from his book Freedom of Simplicity
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
"Let us remind the frivolous how much they need to gird up their loins and flight like gladiators against the common enemies of humanity. And let us also remind the earnest contenders for all good causes how much life needs the illumination of beauty, the enrichment of art, the refinement of grace, the stimulus of rhythm, and the leaven of laughter. Life is a struggle and life is also a dance." Winfred Garrison, Affirmative Religion, 1928
copied from http://religiousliberal.blogspot.com/
copied from http://religiousliberal.blogspot.com/
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