Dynamic Times

Dear Friends in Christ -
As is the case almost every day, there were many articles in today's NYTimes that touched me deeply - stories of local and international loss and love, desperation and determination. Today there were also two articles that touched me personally.

The first article that touched me was about our Church. It was entitled "Anglican Conservatives, Rebelling on Gays, Will Form New Power Bloc." Our Anglican Communion has been struggling mightily over issues of Biblical interpretation for the past 30 years. Among the key questions: Should women be allowed to be priests? Should gay and lesbian folks be allowed to be priests or bishops? The leaders of the Anglican Communion have tried, and failed, and are still trying, to come to singular agreement on Biblical interpretation and how that interpretation impacts the way we deal with these issues. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Church and other Anglican provinces have enacted various positions on these issues - some ordaining women, some not; some ordaining people who are gay or lesbian, some not.

I feel tremendously sad and somewhat angry that some of the Bishops of our Communion can't or won't do what I see the people in our pews doing: struggling with the issues - and hanging together while we do it. Like so many, I do feel impatient for resolution regarding specific issues, but a look at history has sobered me and has tempered my impatience. In the past, it has often taken the Church decades or even centuries to get theologically clear on an important issue. I'm not sure this process can be rushed. Christ-centered unity (which is what we're supposed to be trying to achieve, not just decisions on who's right and who's wrong, who's in and who's out) requires great compassion gained through deep listening to the words and lives and cultures of all God's people.

The second article that touched me personally was about a woman's achievement: Lt. Gen. Ann Dunwoody's nomination for promotion to four star general. I'm not one to groan and moan about "glass ceilings" or "brass ceilings" but, believe me, I notice when they're there. I've experienced the spine-jangling pain of running headlong into a few. In reading this article, I felt joyful and celebratory to see Dunwoody recognized for her great accomplishments and supported for promotion in a system that clearly is far from gender-blind. This news also helps me dare to hope that my daughter will have one less glass ceiling to bump her head on as she rises to be whatever she's called to be.

We live in dynamic times, times so full of choices and changes that I'm always checking to see if I've got my Foundation under me. As I read these articles today, words from last week's women's Bible study echoed in my mind: ". . . good news to the poor . . . release to the captives . . . sight to the blind . . . the oppressed go free . . . the year of the Lord's favor." (Isaiah 61:1-2) Jesus' life, death and resurrection make these ideas more than just words printed on dusty pages. Good news and release and sight and freedom and favor are for me - for us - now. The places in our Church and in our world that aren't marked by these things need Spirit-powered renewal.

Why do I even bother to be concerned about these things when my own life is so busy and full? Because Spirit-powered renewal happens when we care and listen and learn and get involved. What's in it for you and me personally? The fear that comes with risk. The confusion that comes with change. The frustration that comes with waiting. The pain that comes with growth. The dazzling joy that comes with new Life.

Faithfully yours,
Janet+

Blind Men

Dear Friends in Christ -

Two men cry out to Jesus, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David."
The men around them say, "Shut up! Quit yelling and disrupting things!"
In that brief, intense exchange, we are invited to see who's really blind and to let Jesus' compassion open our eyes, too.

Faithfully,
Janet+

Faith-full . . . and blessed . . .

Dear Friends in Christ -

At the last Vestry meeting, I was a little nervous when we started talking about another repair needed on the Old Church. Our contractor told us that he couldn't guarantee the paint job on the inside of the windows unless we repaired the outside, because water's coming in. The glazing is shot.

Our contractor quoted us a very reasonable price on the repair of all 27 windows. But still, it was a lot of money - $8100, - and our cupboard for our capital maintenance funds was getting bare! The Vestry did the bold and right thing, the faith-full thing. They voted (unanimously) to expend most of the remaining funds on hand to do the needed repairs.

I was thrilled, but still nervous. I had confidence that we were being faith-full, but felt anxious about the increasing echo in our cupboard.

The next morning, the blessings rained down. $6,000 right there on my desk - contributions from people (parishioners and non-parishioners) who just wanted to help out with the continuing good work on the Old Church.

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Isn't God good?

Faithfully yours,
Janet+

Progress Report

Dear Friends in Christ -

It's been a month now since I returned from the "preaching camp" experience where I heard God's call (again) to put first things first. That means putting my connection with God first: literally and figuratively at the beginning of my day.

I've been trying to think of a name for this time that is set aside for praying and studying and writing. The name I've come to is "great work," a name that expresses both the wonder and the difficulty of the opening of the soul.

I had to make a mid-course correction in the middle of the month. After two weeks of setting aside time five days a week for "great work," I felt restless. I wasn't quite getting to the bottom of things, so I started setting aside time seven days a week.

The impact of this deeper connection with God has been profound. I feel better - body, mind and spirit - than I have in years. I feel clearer and happier and more present. My writing process is more enjoyable. And the fragrance of the blooming in my interior garden is beginning to flow out into my family life and into my work (sermons, etc.).

This whole process is not without tensions, though. I've basically doubled my prayer/study/writing time, which means that I'm not doing some things that I used to do. A look at my in-box provides ample evidence of what's not getting done. As does a look through my house. A bit of a mess.

I'm a pretty tidy person. I don't really like mess. But I'm striving to live in the center of God's will for me. Since I'm finite, that means giving up less important things so that I can focus on the more important things. Notice I didn't say giving up "unimportant" things. I don't consider the things that were filling my time "unimportant" - just less important than the most important things. Does that make sense?

What this means, of course, is that I've got some cleaning up to do. Some simplifying, some streamlining. At work, this means delegating some things and saying "no" to others. At home, it means planning ahead (unplanned things usually cost more money and energy) and simplifying (getting rid of unnecessary stuff - tripping over it and maintaining it consumes time I need for "great work").

Is this process easy? No. Am I self-conscious about things misplaced, disheveled, undone in the process? You bet. But I have confidence that, if I stick with it, "great work" will overflow into "great Life," for me and for those around me.

Here's to "great Life" for all of us!
Blessings,
Janet+

A conversation

Child: Please tell me I can have what I want.
Father: You can have what is best; will you take it?

The wolf and the pack

Dear Friends in Christ -
I'm a student of excellence. I so enjoy seeing and hearing and tasting and touching and smelling things that are beautiful and delicious and delightful and good.
I love watching sports played at the highest levels to not only enjoy the sweetness of the perfect shot, but also to listen to the players and coaches bear witness to how it's done. There's skill, yes, but there's also practice and determination, the honing of desire into will.
In team sports, the most important thing always turns out to be how the chemistry of the team, how the team learns to work together to get the job done. Phil Jackson, coach of the L.A. Lakers, knows the importance of teamwork. He started learning what he knows when he was a player himself, and now he has coached teams to 9 NBA championships.
Phil already knows which team will win this year's championship: the team that plays best together. Phil has won a lot of rings, and he'd like to win another (a 10th ring would mean that he's coached more teams in winning it all than any other coach in the history of the NBA). But Phil can't do it without his team. As Phil says (quoting a Zen master): "The wolf is for the pack, and the pack is for the wolf."
May such excellence be ours in the work we do together for God's kingdom!
Faithfully,
Janet+

Struggling with God

Dear Friends in Christ -

Here's a little thought for the day . . . something written by R.W. Kennedy, a fellow preacher. This reframes my thinking about struggling with God . . . how about you?
Blessings,
Janet+

"In Nikos Kazantzakis' novel Report to Graeco, a young truth-seeker travels to a monastic community off the coast of Greece to visit with the hermits there in an attempt to discover their way to God. one day the young man talks with an elderly hermit who has lived alone for 40 years. 'Tell me father,' the young man says, 'Do you struggle with the devil?' 'Oh, no my son,' the old man responded, 'My flesh is too old for that. I struggle now with God.' In astonishment the young man exclaimed, 'With God, father? Do you hope to win?' 'Oh, no, my son,' the aged hermit replied, [in all of my struggles with God] ' I hope to lose.'"

The wonder of silence . . .

is that, in it, I find treasures. Treasures hidden in plain sight, but which I would pass by in a blur without this silence. I would like to share with you this treasure that was unearthed in my silence today.
Blessings,
Janet+

The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Be Brave - Crack the Book

Dear Friends in Christ -

Here's a beginning-of-summer invitation: Come "crack the Book" here at the Rectory this Friday evening (June 13) at 7:00 p.m.

Reading the Bible isn't easy, but the effort to open and understand the Book is worth it. In our gathering this Friday, we'll take a look at the Gospel of John - and at a book to help us understand the Book, entitled "JOHN" from the Daily Bible Commentary series (copies are available at the Written Word bookstore). Don't let the word "commentary" scare you away. Just read the first 40 pages for our discussion; you'll find it's not too bad!

Our discussion will be informative - and FUN!
Blessings,
Janet+
PS - As always, there will be treats!