I came back from vacation on Sunday - a very nice service, a good day, lots of space. Then came Tuesday. We're building a new sanctuary, and I had an 8:00 meeting with the electrician, the contractor, and the building committee. The sound tech showed up as well - then in walked the person in charge of security, data and phones. So we meet - while the roofers are working on both the current and future sanctuary roofs. Have you ever tried to meet in a hollow shell of a building, while the roofers are at work? (They gave us twenty minutes - then started in again.)Meanwhile, out back of our offices, a huge track-hoe was digging the new sewer line - right through my son's Eagle project. (He was not happy when he found out on Wednesday.) And the electrician said yes, the pendant lights in the current sanctuary could be used in the new one - and the next thing I knew, they were all taken down. (We may not have any lights at all in the sanctuary this Sunday!) They had to come down when they did. We just weren't expecting that - not yet, anyway. And they are all currently stored in my office!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, two congregants are getting ready for major back surgery, one is recovering from a hip replacement, one from a cracked rib, and one from a dislocated shoulder. There is a congregant newly in hospice care, and several who have just lost spouses. People are dealing with children who have bi-polar disorder, new moves or anticipated moves into assisted living, and a couple are looking at vocations for ministry. One person is giving up her involvement in a long worked-on, long held dream - so it will have a better opportunity to grow. Another is pruning back her involvement in many things so she will have an opportunity to heal. Still another is taking a new position at work that will have unknown effects on everything else he does. Life is chaotic, to say the least. And I'm trying to keep my head above water, and above all, learn God's priorities for my life. God, in the chaos, in the confusion, in the midst of all the demands - what is your call to me?
I know it's not the building. I've got a few pieces I need to do, and do well. The rest belong to everyone else. And as much as it has to do with the people God has sent me, and as important as that is, I still have a call to connect with those I haven't yet met. I had one good opportunity for that this week, and another is coming up next week. I've joined a community board that will meet quarterly, dealing with GLBT safety issues. The police were there, the health district was there, the college was there, the youth center was there...and I was there, too. I'm not so involved as many of the other folks were, but I was glad to be present, and to be able to connect with others who are wanting to make the community a safe place for everyone. As a person of faith, I can add an important voice to that conversation. Then, next week, I've got a young adult meeting with our District Superintendent. What does church mean to you? Tell us about your life of faith. If you were going to attend a church, what might it be like? What would matter most to you? Some of the people coming already attend a church - but some do not. We'll talk, at least for a while, and learn from one another. I'm even thinking of meeting in our unfinished new space - a good place for such a discussion, I think...
Even in the midst of chaos, a purpose, a direction, a polestar can be found. And it always resides in God's call, God's will, God's creativity - ever new, ever constant, ever faithful. Chaos is the birthplace of new creation. May it be so in our lives.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lazy Days of Summer
Vacation is coming up the end of this week. I usually do vacation by going as hard as I can, as long as I can. Fishing, hiking, boating, viewing wildlife, identifying wildflowers - that's all part of my summer vacation. And it goes from before sunup until after sundown. I don't want to waste a single minute!
Not this year. This year, I'm planning to incorporate a fair amount of Sabbath time into my vacation. Time to let my body rest, as well as time to let my brain and my emotions get some rest. Time to read some, relax some, play some, sleep enough, really get rested. When I get restless, I can always grab the pole and hike out to the Gros Ventre River to fish. I usually don't catch anything there - but there are bank beavers, and I can watch kingfishers and swallows. The canoe is coming with, so there will be time on the oxbow to see pelicans, sandhill cranes, osprey, maybe even some otters - and always a beaver or two. Even moose, if we're lucky.
There will be afternoon thunderstorms and bright, sunny mornings. The road to camp will be covered with bison - unless they've already moved on. We're even talking about a canoe trip on String and Leigh Lakes. There's good fishing there, and there are always mergansers with babies on String Lake. Active - yes. But also time to simply relax, just be, simply experience the beauty that always surrounds us when we go to the Grand Tetons. Time to sit on a beach, sit in a canoe, sit in camp. Time to read a book, read the game trails, read the waters. Time to watch the skies, watch the Perseids meteor shower, watch the wonder that surrounds us. From the tiniest wildflower to the grandest Teton - we watch everything intently, and with gratitude.
Rest. Time away. Time to simply be, and to be thankful. Real Sabbath time calls me into a thankfulness I don't always enter otherwise. Real Sabbath time - on vacation, or simply on a day off, reminds me of the rest God entered into on the seventh day, blessing it, and declaring it holy. It is a holy and a sacred thing to rest. Our culture doesn't always recognize this. I don't always recognize this. But when I do recognize it, I am able to enter into thanksgiving, praise, and an openness to the presence of God in my life that sustains me, that brings me rest. God grant me wisdom, to always set aside time for Sabbath!
Not this year. This year, I'm planning to incorporate a fair amount of Sabbath time into my vacation. Time to let my body rest, as well as time to let my brain and my emotions get some rest. Time to read some, relax some, play some, sleep enough, really get rested. When I get restless, I can always grab the pole and hike out to the Gros Ventre River to fish. I usually don't catch anything there - but there are bank beavers, and I can watch kingfishers and swallows. The canoe is coming with, so there will be time on the oxbow to see pelicans, sandhill cranes, osprey, maybe even some otters - and always a beaver or two. Even moose, if we're lucky.
There will be afternoon thunderstorms and bright, sunny mornings. The road to camp will be covered with bison - unless they've already moved on. We're even talking about a canoe trip on String and Leigh Lakes. There's good fishing there, and there are always mergansers with babies on String Lake. Active - yes. But also time to simply relax, just be, simply experience the beauty that always surrounds us when we go to the Grand Tetons. Time to sit on a beach, sit in a canoe, sit in camp. Time to read a book, read the game trails, read the waters. Time to watch the skies, watch the Perseids meteor shower, watch the wonder that surrounds us. From the tiniest wildflower to the grandest Teton - we watch everything intently, and with gratitude.
Rest. Time away. Time to simply be, and to be thankful. Real Sabbath time calls me into a thankfulness I don't always enter otherwise. Real Sabbath time - on vacation, or simply on a day off, reminds me of the rest God entered into on the seventh day, blessing it, and declaring it holy. It is a holy and a sacred thing to rest. Our culture doesn't always recognize this. I don't always recognize this. But when I do recognize it, I am able to enter into thanksgiving, praise, and an openness to the presence of God in my life that sustains me, that brings me rest. God grant me wisdom, to always set aside time for Sabbath!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Profoundly moved
Scripture this week begins with the telling of the death of David's son, Absalom, and of David's mourning for his son. "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" In the paper this morning, the photo of a mother, grieving for her sixteen year old son, drowned in the Columbia River while swimming with friends. A name given - is he our Carlos - the one who used to attend Scouts? Is he our young man? We don't even know yet - but we weep with that mother, "O Carlos, my son, my son, Carlos!"
And from there we go to Psalm 130, known by its Latin name, "de profundis", out of the depths.
"Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!" The Psalms are my refuge when I no longer have the words to speak to God. One of the psalmists will have found those words, voiced them already, and they are collected for me to use, for us to use as community. The "de profundis", often used in funeral masses, is one I return to, time and time again, at times of loss, tragedy, or sin. It reminds me, not only that others also experience the depths, from which it seems we can scarcely be heard, but it reminds me as well that my hope is in the Lord. I am called to watch and to wait for God's steadfast love, and power to redeem.
But the losses are no less profound - the depths are no less deep - the sensation that we are not connecting with God is no less present. When I am in the depths, "de profundis", I am indeed profoundly moved - but I am often also immobilized. Each person responds differently to tragedy, to loss, to separation. I tend to respond with an inability to respond. It is then that I count on a praying community to hold me. It is then that I depend upon those who love me and care about me to hold me up before God, offering me their strength, their prayers. And through the steadfastness of that community, I am able again to voice my own complaints, my own praises and my own laments to God.
It is a holy thing, to do this for someone else. To enter into their depths, their lament, and offer them to God as if they are your own - that is sacred work. May you enter into that work, as God calls you to enter it, and offer your voice when your friend, companion, or loved one no longer has the ability to voice for themselves their lament. Allow yourself to be profoundly moved by others, and bring them, with a full voice, before God.
And from there we go to Psalm 130, known by its Latin name, "de profundis", out of the depths.
"Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!" The Psalms are my refuge when I no longer have the words to speak to God. One of the psalmists will have found those words, voiced them already, and they are collected for me to use, for us to use as community. The "de profundis", often used in funeral masses, is one I return to, time and time again, at times of loss, tragedy, or sin. It reminds me, not only that others also experience the depths, from which it seems we can scarcely be heard, but it reminds me as well that my hope is in the Lord. I am called to watch and to wait for God's steadfast love, and power to redeem.
But the losses are no less profound - the depths are no less deep - the sensation that we are not connecting with God is no less present. When I am in the depths, "de profundis", I am indeed profoundly moved - but I am often also immobilized. Each person responds differently to tragedy, to loss, to separation. I tend to respond with an inability to respond. It is then that I count on a praying community to hold me. It is then that I depend upon those who love me and care about me to hold me up before God, offering me their strength, their prayers. And through the steadfastness of that community, I am able again to voice my own complaints, my own praises and my own laments to God.
It is a holy thing, to do this for someone else. To enter into their depths, their lament, and offer them to God as if they are your own - that is sacred work. May you enter into that work, as God calls you to enter it, and offer your voice when your friend, companion, or loved one no longer has the ability to voice for themselves their lament. Allow yourself to be profoundly moved by others, and bring them, with a full voice, before God.
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