Prepare the Way!

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, 

               make straight in the desert a highway for our God.     Isaiah 40:3

This is one of the Daily Office readings appointed for today in this second week in Advent. 

On a trip to the Holy Land last year, I was aghast at the vastness of the Judean Wilderness.  Yet it was from near this very place that Isaiah wrote, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  

It is hard work to make straight paths in the desert. The land is inhospitable. The day I took this photograph, it was 114 degrees outside – and very dry. Construction crews are not willing to work out here. The single road is ancient, the same one Isaiah would have used. It curves and winds through paths of least resistance.

Advent invites us to this work. If we look at the parched desert as a metaphor for our lives, we are called to prepare a way for the Lord, to prepare a place for God to reside in the midst of our lives, as parched and cluttered and messy as they may be. Advent begs us to make a hospitable place in our lives for God.

How can we create an oasis for God in our lives? Prepare a way! 

Thomas Merton December 10th

                                                                               

“Peace Amidst Chaos” by Timothy Mietty

Today, the church remembers Thomas Merton, a contemplative Trappist monk and prolific writer. Notably, Merton is remembered for his ability to remain fully engaged in the world even though he lived in a cloistered monastery.  

At Advent, we are called to similar work.  We are called by the secular world to jump into the fray of Christmas preparations, of frenetic shopping and over-indulgence, and yet, we are called to be contemplative too. How do we find peace amidst chaos?

Advent invites us to consider our lives and how we live them.  Advent invites us to consider how being followers of Jesus Christ affects our lives and our place in the world.

Merton put it this way:

             “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.” 

How do we find peace amidst chaos? 

How can people of faith remind the world that peace is available and accessible?

Advent Reflections: Wonder

They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.  Psalm 78:11     

In Advent we are called to wonder about what has been and what is yet to come.  We remember and the birth of our Lord and Savior and we remember that he promised to come again. Advent calls us to pause and wonder. 

God sent his precious Son into the world FOR THE LOVE OF US! 

In spite of our often lukewarm response, the fact that God sent his only Son into the world FOR US is a constant source of wonder to me. As we anticipate His coming again, Advent also begs these questions:

How do we respond? How will we respond?

Take time this week to wonder. 

Clement of Alexandria - December 5th

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”      1 Kings 19: 11-13

Clement was  Greek philosopher from the 2^nd century. He lived at a confusing time where philosophy, science, and religion were all competing with each other. It was also the time of gnosticism, the belief that salvation was only available to a few lucky folks who had the right knowledge, or secret, of “getting into heaven.”  Among all these competing “voices” Clement believed Truth could be found.

We live in similar times.  There are the neo-atheists who believe that God simply “isn’t.” There are some religious folk who don’t believe in dinosaurs or evolution.  There are scientists hoping to find a man behind a curtain who calls himself “God.” And, yes, there are those Christians who believe that one simple, specific prayer is the key to “getting saved.”

Clement studied philosophy religion, science, and he was a Christian.  Somehow, in the midst of all the competing voices, Clement heard that “still small voice” that is God.  For us, Clement becomes a role model because he reminds us that in all the competing voices of the season, there is only one for whom we should listen:  that still, small voice that comes to us in the silence. 

As we enter the season of Advent, be aware of the cacophony: the advertisements that exhort us to shop early, the neighbors who remind us to decorate mightily, and our children whose lists grow ever longer.  
Then pause. Breathe. Listen. For that is the work of Advent.

Advent Reflections - Francis Xavier (1506 - 1552)

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; 
for those living in the land of deep darkness, a light as dawned.     Isaiah 9:2                                           

Today, December 3^rd, the church remembers Francis Xavier, a Spaniard of noble birth born in 1506. At the age of twenty, Francis traveled to Paris to study. There, he because friends with another young Spanish nobleman, Ignatius of Loyola, and together the two young men founded the Society of Jesus, also known as The Jesuits.

One of the themes of Advent is the theme of waiting in darkness, and Francis is a fine example of one who knew how to do that. Francis became the first Jesuit missionary and traveled around the world to India, Indonesia, Japan and China. Not knowing the languages, the cultures, or the religions of those he met, Francis spent the rest of his life making the Gospel of Christ known to people in far off places. He never returned home.   

• ·        Imagine taking a voyage around the world with no directions, no airplanes, no Internet. 
• ·        Imagine leaving all that you know and find familiar.
• ·        Imagine the darkness you might feel.  

How would you get there? How would you manage? What would you hold onto? 

As we travel through the season of Advent together, consider darkness – and consider the coming of the Light of Jesus Christ. 

Hope

When you think about hope, it is not very hard to think of many different sources for hope. We can find hope in our work or the work of others to make the world a better place. We can discover hope in the inspirational words of leaders, teachers, and preachers. 

But there is something unique about the hope that comes from Christ. In Christ we find that God does not stay far away from humanity, but becomes a part of us. This hope assures us that in the midst of our lives and world, God will be near to us. In Advent we wait in this hope and discover anew how God has been, is, and will be near to us.

Sometimes when I attend church on Sunday morning, I wonder where God is. I mean, here are all these people who showed up to worship God, yet I sometimes don’t think God is any more present there than anywhere else. But then I get those Sunday mornings where things are just different. It usually has little to do with the sermon, the music, or even the people around me. But something is different, because I leave knowing I have had an experience of God. I do not know if you have ever experienced that feeling, but I think it has something to do with my own willingness to discover God. May we each be open to the sudden arrival of the presence of God.

Look for hope today. Look for hope on the faces of the people you meet.

Look for hope in the midst of pain. Give hope to those you meet and be Christ in the world.

God, help me to be open to your movement in the world and in my life. May I be seeking you and, when you appear, feel your presence in my life. Amen.

Prayer

If you live in or near Chicago, most of you know the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this week. Triumph! Champions! Prayers answered!

 

But were they?
Certainly there were a lot of faithful Boston fans praying that their Bruins would beat our Blackhawks.
So…… were our prayers better?
Does God prefer Chicago over Boston?
Are we more faithful than the Boston people are?

The question this week becomes: Why pray?
Why pray when our aging parents are dying?
Do our prayers give them one more moment of life?

This idea of "effective prayer" has been a stumbling block for faithful folks for centuries. Like Job's friends, some of us may succumb to judging others when we see their prayers falling on deaf ears. Some of us might lose our faith when we perceive that our own prayers are just evaporating into the stratosphere. And worst of all, some of us might even begin to censure our prayers, fearful that God can't or won't do for us what's on our list.

The "sticky wicket" of prayer is that we get hung up on the outcomes. Instead, let us look at prayer from an entirely different perspective. Let us consider prayer as simply a deep conversation between us and One who loves us. In the very act of having that conversation, we are transformed. We begin to realize that God is God and we are not. We begin to recognize God's actions in the world and become more aware of God with us. And, finally (God willing) we will begin to recognize God's invitation to us to participate in God's world. God's invitation to us to participate in God's world.

Forgiven

"Your sins are forgiven." Luke 7:48

Some things are so good it's hard to believe they're true.
Sunday's gospel, about the woman who enters the house of a Pharisee and begins to weep and anoint Jesus' feet with precious ointment, caused quite a stir. The dinner was for insiders only……and yet, this woman, a sinner, crashes the party.
The story is about forgiveness, and the gratitude we experience when we realize we have been forgiven. Forgiveness allows for restoration of relationships. It allows us to hope in a future. 
But this story is also about judgment and hardness of heart. There are those who feel forgiveness is so precious that it should be meted out sparingly or with strings attached.
This week, ask yourself how you feel about that.             Should forgiveness be rationed?             Do you believe your sins are forgiven?             Do you live as though you have a clean slate?
In the economy of grace, forgiveness is freely offered, freely given.  How do we respond?

Visitation

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.       Luke 1:42

On Friday, we observe The Feast of the Visitation.

Mary, a young, unmarried teen, discovers that she is pregnant. She flees to the village of Ein Karem, a nine day walk from Nazareth, to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The very fact that Mary fled tells us that she must have had conflicting feelings about this pregnancy. What would Joseph think? How would she explain herself to her parents and to the townspeople? Scared and unsure, Mary must have been astonished by Elizabeth's welcome:

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?" (Luke 1:39-40)

Those words of welcome, of hospitality, filled Mary with the courage she needed to willingly accept God's call. Fear, questioning, and timidity disappeared as Mary felt the welcoming embrace of a distant cousin.

Are you available? God has put people all around us who need an encouraging word - a listening ear.      
Who is in need of your love and acceptance right now?

Wind

Last Sunday, the people of Moore, Oklahoma and the people of St. Charles, IL gathered together in their respective faith communities to celebrate the Day of Pentecost. Chances are, we all listened to the same reading.

"And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind,
and it filled the entire house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2)

I wonder whether the people of Moore have considered the irony of that reading in the wake of the tornado that decimated their town on Monday afternoon. The fact is: life is short. The fact is: we do not know the day or the hour. The fact is: life sometimes stinks.

This week, let us continue our prayers for those in Moore, and for all who suffer and grieve, and especially for those who have lost hope. And as we do, we recall Paul's promise to the people of Rome that we will hear this Sunday: that our faith assures us that we will find peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

May it be so.

Pentecost

Come alive in the Spirit!

The Whispering of the Spirit

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages………………. Acts 2: 1-3 

This Sunday is Pentecost. Imagine what it must have been like that day in 1st century Palestine. Those who witnessed the arrival of the Holy Spirit must have been shocked, amazed, and maybe even afraid. Imagine the noise! The ru'ah, the winds of God blowing in on them!

Now imagine Pentecost 2013. What new languages are being spoken? How does the world hear the Gospel? How do we experience the Holy Spirit? What languages do we use to boldly attend to the needs of the elderly, the homeless, and the undocumented workers that surround us? What languages are we speaking to them?

This week, pray that this Pentecost does not just become a festal day to wear red and comment on how beautiful the flowers are. The presence of the Holy Spirit is among us. Let us pray that the same Spirit that rushed in and over the apostles will give us the words and the ministries to speak to the world. 

  Julian of Norwich


Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Julian of Norwich. 
Julian lived in 14th century England during the Black Death, so it seems a bit surprising that her most remembered words were 
"All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well." 
Where does that kind of optimism come from?


Conventional wisdom at the time believed that God brought plagues and bad things to bad people, but Julian dismissed that rationale while facing a life threatening illness herself. After receiving "last rites" and at the brink of death, Julian received 16 "showings" or revelations of God's love which were published in her book The Revelations of Divine Love.

The question for us, it seems to me, is how do we respond when faced with our own plagues:  those of self-doubt, grief, or physical distress?

When faced with the things that plague us, Julian points us in the direction of God's love.  She reminds us that we can have utter confidence in God's faithfulness. Once again, the wisdom of the saints is passed along to us, exhorting us to live our lives in faith, not fear.  

Quotes from Julian's Revelations of Divine Love:

          -- There were times when I wanted to look away from the Cross,                                                    
             but I dared not. For I knew that while I gazed on the Cross I was safe and sound…

        --   God loves us and enjoys us, and so he wills that we love him and enjoy him, and firmly    
              trust him; and all shall be well.

          -- Flee to our Lord and we shall be comforted. Touch him and we shall be made clean.           
             Cling to him and we shall be safe and sound from every kind of danger.

          -- What, do you wish to know your Lord's meaning in this thing?                                               
             Know it well, love was His meaning. 
             Who reveals it to you? Love. 
             What did He reveal to you? Love. 
             Why does he reveal it to you? For love.

Marathon Madness

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 


I think of the valley of death that exists at the corner of Exeter and Boylston streets in Boston this week. I have walked that street many times; met friends on that corner. To see it covered in blood and detritus was appalling. 

As I have tried to wash that image out of my mind in the days since the attack, the words of the 23rd Psalm have served as a balm for my distress. But the fact is: evil exists. There are times when events in our world cast our collective sense of comfort and safety into the fire; times when we teeter at the edge of hopelessness. 

This week, let us remember that we are Easter people; and when the valley of the shadow of death threatens us, we cling to our Lord's words: I am with you. I will never leave or forsake you.

Do We Need Proof?

But Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."  John 20:25

I think Thomas got a bad rap.  After all, how many of us have called him “Doubting Thomas?”  Thomas had not been in the Upper Room when Jesus first came to the disciples, so when the disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord,” no wonder he was unwilling to take their word for it. He wanted proof.

As children of the information age, we, too, often ask for proof. Yet, concerning the mysteries of God, concerning the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, there will never be concrete evidence.  Just as there is no “block of love” sitting in a museum somewhere to prove that love exists, there is no “block of faith” in another museum somewhere.  Yet we are aware of the existence of both. 

This week, as we consider Thomas’ request for proof, let us rest in the truth of Christ’s answer to him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Are you blessed? 

Running Home to What We Know

Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."
They said to him, "We will go with you."  John 21:3



Peter had had it. After the crucifixion, after days being cooped up in the Upper Room, Peter announced, "I am going fishing." He wanted to go back home to what he knew, to what felt "normal." Apparently the others felt the same way; they journeyed back to Galilee with Peter.

When life spins out of control, when the present is too hard to face, we too, may wistfully dream about kinder, simpler times. We may long to return to what once was. Peter did. The disciples did. The thing is, as Peter retreated, God followed him.

God never leaves us - even when we are running away.
Do you perceive God with you this very moment?

From Palm Fronds to a Crown of Thorns

"Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. It wasn't always like this, but these two "events" in Jesus' life have been conflated into one Sunday. We shout "Hosanna in the highest" as Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem. We wave our palm fronds around, and sing "All Glory Laud and Honor," and it is a festive occasion.

Yet not more than fifteen minutes later, on that same Sunday, we read the narrative of Jesus' trial, crucifixion and death. In this second lesson, we all take part in shouting, "Crucify him, crucify him!" I find these two events being remembered during the same worship service quite disorienting.


We go from celebration and thanksgiving to accusation and crucifixion at warp speed. This week, think about the speed with which we levy our own judgments upon others in the present time: be they rock stars, politicians, or our own neighbors.

Self-examination

Jesus said, "…but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did." Luke 13:3

We are now solidly in the midst of Lent. According to the Book of Common Prayer, it is a time set aside by the church for self-examination and repentance. In the passage from Luke for the third Sunday in Lent, Jesus begs us to repent. It can all get quite depressing, and many of us wonder whether we should add sack cloth and ashes to the mix of our Lenten disciplines. 

Certainly, we should all take inward time to examine where we may fall short of God's dream for each one of us. And certainly we should take time to think seriously about how we might better align our lives with God's plan for us, but Lent is not all about self-flagellation and despair. If we focus on despair, and develop a self-loathing for our own sinfulness, we can miss the point of Lent. But…. If we observe a season of prayer, fasting, self-examination and penitence, we wil discover something new about God and begin to understand the potent gift God offers us: absolution and pardon. 

The sack cloth and ashes perspective makes it "all about us," but if we take seriously the call to the observance of a holy Lent, we will begin to better understand God's loving responses to us. We begin to realize that it's not "all about us" and discover, instead, that it's all about God's grace and God's infinite love.

A Smoking Pot

The Scripture: 

When the sun had gone down, and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day, the LORD made a covenant with Abram.  (Genesis 15:17-18)

The Whisperings: 

On Sunday, we will hear the passage from Genesis chapter 15 where God promises Abram many descendants and also the Promised Land. It is a story filled with mystery and ritual. First God walks outside with Abram and promises this childless man that his descendants with outnumber the stars in the sky. After this, a strange ritual which involves cutting animals in half occurs, followed by Abram falling into a "deep and terrifying darkness." Finally, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch mysteriously appear and pass between the sections of the divided (now dead) animals while Abram is sleeping.

God works in strange ways. As liturgically focused Anglicans, perhaps we are most comfortable with predictable patterns of worship, and many of us have grown to expect God to appear while we are devoutly on our knees praying or receiving Eucharist at the rail. Yet the story in Genesis suggests that God is at work in the loneliest of outposts and in the most un-ecclesiastical of venues.

This week, look for God in the strange places. Review any "weird things" that you have witnessed. Have you seen any dancing firepots? Was God in that place?

A Holy Lent

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent.

Almighty and merciful God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts, so that when we turn to you and confess our sins and acknowledge our need, we may receive your full and perfect forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
                                     
                                         (adapted from the Book of Common Prayer)

Resurrection

I am Resurrection and I am life, says the Lord. John 11:26

Resurrection is one of those "religious-y" words that we tend to put on a shelf, right there next to words like atonement, righteousness, and incarnation. It's not one of those words that you hear in line at the post office, for example. And yet, the Greek word for resurrection, anastasis, simply means "getting up again; awakening." It is an ordinary word and an ordinary occurrence; it means, in Greek parlance, that we literally resurrect ourselves when some power within us wakens us every morning.  

How might our lives change if we considered every morning's awakening as an anastasis: a grace-filled opportunity to wake up and be a new creation.  A new day to be wholly changed and transformed -- even when our lives, up to that one moment of awakening, have been spent simply wandering int he dark?  

Anastasis: its the opposite of stasis -- the opposite of staying the same. 

Precious

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you,  
I have called you by name,you are mine. 
Because you are precious in my sight, 
and honored, and I love you...   Isaiah 43: 2,5   


Imagine how different our world would be if we all believed that God really loves each one of us. Now, you may be saying to yourself, "But I do know God loves me," and that would be great. Still, the sad fact is that there are plenty of folks, who believe they are the exception, folks who believe, "Well, God may love everybody, but God cannot possibly love me; I am the one exception." These folks are hung up on their unworthiness, but that does not change the fact that God loves each of us anyway. Deal with it!

So here's the quantum leap: even when we are feeling loved by God, even when we are feeling cherished and precious, can we rest in that love and, at the same time, understand and accept the fact that God feels that way about everyone? That God loves the colleague who drives you crazy and the person who cuts you off in traffic just as much as God loves you?

Consider this: Life is not about punishment anymore; it's about forgiveness. And life is not about being good enough; it's about grace.

Oh – if only we could believe that with all our hearts and minds and voices. What a wonderful world it would be!

Light or Darkness?

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem asking, "Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?" When King Herod heard this, he was frightened.....               Matt. 2:1-3

This week, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. So often we envision this as a happy, sentimental time: three mysterious strangers on camels bringing gifts to a child in a manger. But the Gospels are rarely about sentimentality; they are always teaching us, beckoning us to see ourselves in the story as we begin to understand how humanity responds to God in the world. 

The Wise Men, or whatever we want to call them, respond with a healthy curiosity. Why has a light shone on this particular place at this particular time? They investigate and find a child, and they are enthralled by him; captivated. Herod’s response is the exact opposite: Herod sees this light and is determined to extinguish it. His fears rule him; he leads from a place of fear. He reacts from fear.

Perhaps we need to look at the Feast of the Epiphany as a study in light and darkness. Notice that the light shines upon Jesus. Those who are not ruled by fear follow the light and are recipients of that light.  Those who are ruled by fear merely want to extinguish the light.

We have seen the light of Christ; the star.  We worship it, and in worshipping it, Jesus reminds us that we are the light of the world. In worshipping it, we refract the light out into the world.

As we approach the Feast of the Epiphany, think about light: both the Divine Light that shines upon you and the Divine Light that you shine on those around you.  Hearts that lead with fear seek to extinguish the light. Hearts that lead with faith shine that light into a world in desperate need of it. How is your light shining in the world?

May the Star that is lit in you be a light to the world.