After watching the events of the trial of Fr. David Bollinger, I am both relieved and disappointed in the reality of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church in governing our Church. It is the first time I have seen the ecclesiastical process of justice in action. In fact I believe that it was the first time that anyone in that ecclesial courtroom had ever been there before. The novelty of it all made the progress of the trial a bit unwieldy at first, but the Court handled the issues well, with solemnity and seriousness. This was no TV drama. In fact, no witnesses were called and no evidence allowed to be presented because the Diocese did not provide the requisite materials and lists of witness for the pre-trial discovery in a manner that would have provided fairness to both sides. In other words the Diocese did not play by the rules of basic juridical fairness in preparing for the trial.
It was in the clear sense of duty by the judges of the Court to see to it that the trial was going to be fair that chief judge, Carter Strickland made it clear that the Court was not going to cut any slack for the Diocese or the Bishop. The failure of the Diocese to be prepared for the trial when it had brought the charges and after three years of waiting was not going to be tolerated by the Court. Also it was clear that the Court “took umbrage” at the attempt by Bishop Adams to have the trial moved to another jurisdiction. That attempt was vetoed by the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Central New York. I must admit I was relieved because there was considerable talk out and about in the diocese whether David could get a fair trial because the bishop had spent so much political cache on it.
In any case, Bishop Adam’s reputation is severely tarnished by not only bringing the charges, but also by the actions of the legal team under his direction. The attempt to move the trial to another jurisdiction when items for discovery were ordered by the court was not a wise move on his part. The failure to provide the proper information in the discovery portion of the legal proceedings, the refusal to provide the Shafer Report when ordered by the Court, and continual delay in the proceedings have shown a propensity of our Diocesan to not provide for the appropriate climate of fairness for the clergy and laity of the Diocese.
In addition, the Diocese, which is responsible for equitable justice, refused to pay for the legal counsel for Fr. Bollinger. Fr. Bollinger had been forced to file for bankruptcy in January due to the loss of salary, loss of health benefits and the loss of standing in the Owego community in which he tried to gain employment in the time before the Court convened. He was unable to secure legal counsel to help defend him even though the Diocese secured a separate firm to lead the prosecution. It is incumbent upon the Church to be above reproach when it can so easily ruin a person’s reputation without ever resolving the issue. It is also incumbent for such proceedings, accusations and evidence to be manifestly available to the public, for it is the Light of Christ that we wish to shine down on such proceedings. As Church, we must be willing to undergo the perusal of the whole community so that we are not seen as hiding or obfuscating the facts. The recent history of churches to do that demands that we be more than open about legal proceedings in which we are involved.
One of the things that attracted me to the Episcopal Church was that all persons, laity, clergy and bishops had access to the power structure of the Church. What I have seen is that the structures that once held great checks and balances on power have been eroded in the revisions of the disciplinary canons of Title IV. Clergy are quite vulnerable in the present day. There are those who would see the Constitution and Canons as an alternative to the basic rights afforded us as citizens of the nations in which we live. I do not remember my Canon Law professor ever telling me that I gave up my rights as a citizen of the United States when I was ordained. Yet we have bishops who will tell us that Canon Law is like the Military Code of Justice. That was certainly not the intention of the founders of the Episcopal Church. Those rights to a fair and speedy trial are as much ours as clergy as it is for any citizen. For as Dr. Martin Luther King said: “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
We are not above the law in the Church. We must be, however, absolutely willing to call forth from ourselves, as Church, a way of living and doing business that gives no hint of malice, obfuscation, or sloth in the face of equality. To be anything else tarnishes the Gospel for which we are gathered and formed. But I was gratified that even the canons leave something to be desired and Diocesan authority left something to be desired, the sense of fairness was embodied in the judges, both clergy and lay.
The Epicopal Church has been under much pressure over the past 4 years, pressure that seems unfair and hurtful. But what is still evident is that it is the people in the Church that still make us hope. The faith in Jesus Christ still abides among us, and it matters not who assumes authority among us, it is the Incarnation of Christ that rights the wrongs of life. Thanks be to God.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
What are we here for?
July 8, 2007
Sermon Pentecost 6C
Part of the work of a parish looking for a new pastor is to look hard at itself to evaluate its ministry and mission. It can be a time of introspection, and rightly so. Often during the time of the previous pastor, there are elements of the ministry of a parish that emerge that can only be addressed during an interim. But it can also be a time of navel gazing—of turning inward because that is comfortable and familiar. The interim can be a time of clinging to what is familiar rather than preparing for the newness that will come in the new pastor.
Today’s readings give us an opportunity to look beyond ourselves. They jar us from our comfort to gaze at mission. I am sure that our gospel reading jarred those who followed Jesus too. Jesus appoints seventy to send out to teach and preach, heal and cast out demons. He sent them out to do the things that he did. And to everyone’s surprise, and to them themselves, they accomplished that for which they were sent.
Prior to this, Jesus had healed, cast out demons, and taught about the coming kingdom. But now it was the disciples turn. No longer were they to be disciples. Dicipulos is the word for one who learns. But they were to be called apostulos—those who were sent. It is at this point we realize that we should not rely totally on the message of the 12 apostles. Numbers in Jesus’ day had symbolic meaning. The 12 apostles were to stand for ministry to the 12 tribes of Israel—those who had been lost during the diaspora of the 5th century BC. It had always been assumed that the Messiah would return and bring with him the lost tribes of Judah that had been displaced during the Babylonian Captivity.
But to send out Seventy apostles meant that Jesus was sending his followers out to the Nations. In Genesis there is a statement that there are 70 nations in the world and for Jesus to send out 70 meant that the message, the good news that God was the God of the entire world was to be spread over all the earth. No longer was the faith of Israel limited to the ethnically Jewish. No longer was the faith of Israel limited to those who practiced the customs of the Laws of Moses. The faith in one true God was to be celebrated and lived by the entire world.
The message of Jesus was that God is in charge. God is a loving figure that embraces all humanity. It was this message, this good news that the apostles were sent out to share. And it was through this message that people knew freedom, were healed of illness, were returned to their right mind and knew joy. Those who had followed Jesus went out and shared the peace that Jesus had taught them. They returned awed by the authority that he had bestowed upon them to do the work they participated in.
It is this message that each and every one of us has received. The people of Redeemer Church have not been gathered together just to feel comfortable with one another. We have been called together to be about taking this message out, we are all called to teach that which we have learned of Jesus’ message to others. Even in our search for a new pastor, we cannot wait to be about this mission of Christ. It is all too easy to say, “We should wait until our new pastor comes before we take the message to others.” No, what makes a parish attractive to a new cleric is that there is already ministry by the congregation going on.
Now I know I am preaching to the summer folk—to those who don’t take a vacation from church during the summer. I know it is not the time to try to set up new directions for the parish in July. But I would like to suggest to you that today’s readings call us to look hard at the mission and ministry of our congregation in the light of our baptismal vows. It is the work of the parish to go out—not just sit in our church. It is the mission of Christianity to take the message of hope and joy to others.
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But first we must be willing to recognize that the mission is hopeful, the mission is joyful. During an interim it is easy to forget why we come. We are often overwhelmed with running the church by ourselves that we forget the joy that brings us to be disciples of Christ. This not a time when we can allow ourselves to be distracted from the fundamentals of our faith—the realization that our salvation is based upon the wideness of God’s mercy and that we are embraced by the love of God no matter what we have done or are going to do in our lives. The faithfulness of God is ours for all time.
If we dwell on anything we must be willing to dwell on God’s faithfulness to us and that faithfulness calls forth from us the gratitude that manifests itself in our sharing that faith with others. During an interim it is so easy to get lost in the maintenance of just keeping on. But this passage reminds us that we have a much richer and fuller mission during the interim. We are called to proclaim in how we live and how we share our congregation with others. It is not enough just to come on Sunday and do the custodial things of keeping the church open. The ministry beyond the parish is the work of the disciples of God too. What is happening about how you teach others about your congregation? How are you reaching out to others by sharing God’s word with them? Are you transmitting your hopefulness to others about God’s being in charge of you life? Are you even hopeful about the future of this parish and about being a member of this congregation? These are all questions that you need to be asking yourselves, not in an accusatory way, but in an important and transparent way so that you can be clear on what you wish to share with the Nations—with the world out there that needs to hear of God’s loving care.
The most important thing that a congregation needs to learn during the interim is what its mission is. It is so important for all of you to look not at what you need to sustain yourselves, but what you need to go out to the people in this area of the city and serve them. What is special about this congregation? What is significant about all of you together that you have to offer the mission of Christ? What are the unique gifts that you have among you that help those who have not heard of the love of Jesus know Him? It is not about ministering to yourselves, it is about what you are going to preach to the Nations. And if you have ever spent anytime looking at the people who walk up and down Main Street, you will know that the Nations are on our door step.
How are we supposed to do that? Jesus told his followers several ways to meet people. He said do not get stuck with those who will not listen. He says to share the peace with one another. Share each others hospitality. We are to go about like lambs amidst the wolves—not with a kind of naïveté that will get you killed--but with the sure confidence that God’s peace reigns. For remember what the signs of the kingdom of God were? The wolf and the lamb will lie down with one another.
Peace is the sign of what we do in our Christian lives. It is the message that Jesus was trying to get across to the people of God. When we are willing to have confidence in God’s peace, the people will listen. They will come; they will know the power of God in their lives. The real question is whether we are living and teaching this peace. The real question is whether we are sharing this peace with others.
Today’s readings, in my mind are essential to the future and hope of this congregation. I believe that they are essential to the future and hope of all congregations: Are we preaching and teaching the hope that God holds for all the peoples of the world. Are we willing to live this hope and peace and are we willing to share it with others as they come to know Christ by our outreach? This not just the question just for Redeemer; it is the question that faces all Christians and for all who find God in their lives. We need but look at the crises in the world today to know that we need to know this hope and peace and share it. But it must start here. It must start within our hearts and out our front door for it to have any validity in Iraq, Darfur, Pakistan, India, Brazil or even on our town councils. It must start here.
Are you ready to address the mission and ministry of this parish? Are you ready to evaluate your own personal mission of hope and peace? Those are the questions that face us in the light of today’s readings. And we may not ignore them. AMEN
Sermon Pentecost 6C
Part of the work of a parish looking for a new pastor is to look hard at itself to evaluate its ministry and mission. It can be a time of introspection, and rightly so. Often during the time of the previous pastor, there are elements of the ministry of a parish that emerge that can only be addressed during an interim. But it can also be a time of navel gazing—of turning inward because that is comfortable and familiar. The interim can be a time of clinging to what is familiar rather than preparing for the newness that will come in the new pastor.
Today’s readings give us an opportunity to look beyond ourselves. They jar us from our comfort to gaze at mission. I am sure that our gospel reading jarred those who followed Jesus too. Jesus appoints seventy to send out to teach and preach, heal and cast out demons. He sent them out to do the things that he did. And to everyone’s surprise, and to them themselves, they accomplished that for which they were sent.
Prior to this, Jesus had healed, cast out demons, and taught about the coming kingdom. But now it was the disciples turn. No longer were they to be disciples. Dicipulos is the word for one who learns. But they were to be called apostulos—those who were sent. It is at this point we realize that we should not rely totally on the message of the 12 apostles. Numbers in Jesus’ day had symbolic meaning. The 12 apostles were to stand for ministry to the 12 tribes of Israel—those who had been lost during the diaspora of the 5th century BC. It had always been assumed that the Messiah would return and bring with him the lost tribes of Judah that had been displaced during the Babylonian Captivity.
But to send out Seventy apostles meant that Jesus was sending his followers out to the Nations. In Genesis there is a statement that there are 70 nations in the world and for Jesus to send out 70 meant that the message, the good news that God was the God of the entire world was to be spread over all the earth. No longer was the faith of Israel limited to the ethnically Jewish. No longer was the faith of Israel limited to those who practiced the customs of the Laws of Moses. The faith in one true God was to be celebrated and lived by the entire world.
The message of Jesus was that God is in charge. God is a loving figure that embraces all humanity. It was this message, this good news that the apostles were sent out to share. And it was through this message that people knew freedom, were healed of illness, were returned to their right mind and knew joy. Those who had followed Jesus went out and shared the peace that Jesus had taught them. They returned awed by the authority that he had bestowed upon them to do the work they participated in.
It is this message that each and every one of us has received. The people of Redeemer Church have not been gathered together just to feel comfortable with one another. We have been called together to be about taking this message out, we are all called to teach that which we have learned of Jesus’ message to others. Even in our search for a new pastor, we cannot wait to be about this mission of Christ. It is all too easy to say, “We should wait until our new pastor comes before we take the message to others.” No, what makes a parish attractive to a new cleric is that there is already ministry by the congregation going on.
Now I know I am preaching to the summer folk—to those who don’t take a vacation from church during the summer. I know it is not the time to try to set up new directions for the parish in July. But I would like to suggest to you that today’s readings call us to look hard at the mission and ministry of our congregation in the light of our baptismal vows. It is the work of the parish to go out—not just sit in our church. It is the mission of Christianity to take the message of hope and joy to others.
\
But first we must be willing to recognize that the mission is hopeful, the mission is joyful. During an interim it is easy to forget why we come. We are often overwhelmed with running the church by ourselves that we forget the joy that brings us to be disciples of Christ. This not a time when we can allow ourselves to be distracted from the fundamentals of our faith—the realization that our salvation is based upon the wideness of God’s mercy and that we are embraced by the love of God no matter what we have done or are going to do in our lives. The faithfulness of God is ours for all time.
If we dwell on anything we must be willing to dwell on God’s faithfulness to us and that faithfulness calls forth from us the gratitude that manifests itself in our sharing that faith with others. During an interim it is so easy to get lost in the maintenance of just keeping on. But this passage reminds us that we have a much richer and fuller mission during the interim. We are called to proclaim in how we live and how we share our congregation with others. It is not enough just to come on Sunday and do the custodial things of keeping the church open. The ministry beyond the parish is the work of the disciples of God too. What is happening about how you teach others about your congregation? How are you reaching out to others by sharing God’s word with them? Are you transmitting your hopefulness to others about God’s being in charge of you life? Are you even hopeful about the future of this parish and about being a member of this congregation? These are all questions that you need to be asking yourselves, not in an accusatory way, but in an important and transparent way so that you can be clear on what you wish to share with the Nations—with the world out there that needs to hear of God’s loving care.
The most important thing that a congregation needs to learn during the interim is what its mission is. It is so important for all of you to look not at what you need to sustain yourselves, but what you need to go out to the people in this area of the city and serve them. What is special about this congregation? What is significant about all of you together that you have to offer the mission of Christ? What are the unique gifts that you have among you that help those who have not heard of the love of Jesus know Him? It is not about ministering to yourselves, it is about what you are going to preach to the Nations. And if you have ever spent anytime looking at the people who walk up and down Main Street, you will know that the Nations are on our door step.
How are we supposed to do that? Jesus told his followers several ways to meet people. He said do not get stuck with those who will not listen. He says to share the peace with one another. Share each others hospitality. We are to go about like lambs amidst the wolves—not with a kind of naïveté that will get you killed--but with the sure confidence that God’s peace reigns. For remember what the signs of the kingdom of God were? The wolf and the lamb will lie down with one another.
Peace is the sign of what we do in our Christian lives. It is the message that Jesus was trying to get across to the people of God. When we are willing to have confidence in God’s peace, the people will listen. They will come; they will know the power of God in their lives. The real question is whether we are living and teaching this peace. The real question is whether we are sharing this peace with others.
Today’s readings, in my mind are essential to the future and hope of this congregation. I believe that they are essential to the future and hope of all congregations: Are we preaching and teaching the hope that God holds for all the peoples of the world. Are we willing to live this hope and peace and are we willing to share it with others as they come to know Christ by our outreach? This not just the question just for Redeemer; it is the question that faces all Christians and for all who find God in their lives. We need but look at the crises in the world today to know that we need to know this hope and peace and share it. But it must start here. It must start within our hearts and out our front door for it to have any validity in Iraq, Darfur, Pakistan, India, Brazil or even on our town councils. It must start here.
Are you ready to address the mission and ministry of this parish? Are you ready to evaluate your own personal mission of hope and peace? Those are the questions that face us in the light of today’s readings. And we may not ignore them. AMEN
Saturday, June 30, 2007
No Turning Back
No Turning Back
Pentecost 5C
It was just a few weeks ago that I preached a sermon on Justification by faith. It was a sermon about God’s working out our salvation, that it is not by our works that God saves us. We do not have to do anything save accepting the salvific work of Jesus. But then why do we have these readings? If God does all the work of salvation, what are we worried about? Christianity is easy. And yet….
Throughout this Pentecost season we hear of the ministry of Jesus. We hear of what it means to be disciples. And in today’s readings we hear of the cost of discipleship. And while our salvation is worked out for us, it is free. There is for the Christian the need to recognize that the life of the Christian is costly simply because there are others who would compete for our attention.
In today’s Gospel of Luke we find Jesus setting ‘his face towards Jerusalem.’ This is a statement showing Jesus’ resolve. The journey to Jerusalem is not a vacation or even a pilgrimage. It is an encounter with God. Jesus’ purpose in life is to be addressed in Jerusalem. In Luke, “to be taken up”, both means ‘journeying UP to Jerusalem and also being taken up by God, ascending to God’s presence’. There is determination in what Jesus is going to do. He and the disciples must go through the territory of the Samaritans.
Now, Samaria was not a welcome place for Jews. It would be like having to walk through the West Bank or the Gaza Strip for a Jew today. This was not a place where he would be welcome. Jesus’ disciples offer to bring down some kind of retribution upon those who do not welcome him. But for Jesus, violence is not the answer. He moves on toward Jerusalem.
One person offers to follow him, and Jesus says something quite cryptic. He says that he has no home, not even a place to sleep. Is the disciple willing to be homeless too? Is the disciple willing to follow when there is no destination in sight? Another disciple is invited to follow, but family obligations are in the way. Another offers to follow but asks only to say good-by.
And Jesus’ response is not like Elisha in the first reading we heard this morning who saw to his obligations at home and THEN followed Elijah. Jesus says something harsh: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
For those who call themselves Christian-- who know the salvation of God though faith, there is no middle ground. It is all or nothing. And it is here that we find that salvation may be free, but the life of a Christian is costly. It is not about paying back God for all that we have been given, it is a matter that if one does not throw one’s self totally into following Jesus, the fullness of God’s life in us cannot be found. There is not to be a lukewarm Christian. We either follow whole-heartedly or we cannot honestly call ourselves by Christ’s name.
Does this mean that we are to be perfect? Not hardly. There is no way that we can be. Does this mean that we are holier than others? Nope!
It means that as Christians we are willing in our lives to make Jesus’ agenda ours—we are willing to leave the comfort of the familiar to follow Jesus with a kind of determination that is single-minded. The life of one who follows Jesus is about commitment to Jesus’ message that violence is not the answer and domination is not the way to live a God-centered life. Vengeance cannot be the way that we live out our faith.
Jesus taught a kind of dispossession, a refusal to be caught up in consumerism, or power brokering for the sake of knowing God more intimately, for the sake of knowing one another more lovingly. Ultimately Jesus refused to allow the basic fear in life to deter him from spreading the news that God could be foremost in people’s lives.
Jesus taught that those fears that are likely to turn us from God are phoney. Just like today, the people of Jesus’ day were afraid of what was happening around them. They didn’t like being occupied by Rome. They feared not being able to pay their taxes or the rent. They worried about the unrest and terrorism in their world. They feared what would come in the future. And Jesus taught them that if they kept their eyes upon God, nothing could harm them because their salvation was already accomplished in the love of the Father.
The Christian life is no different today than what Jesus taught then. We need not fear what cannot destroy the soul. Over and over Jesus taught that we don’t have to worry about what we have or don’t have. We don’t have to worry about what is going to happen. We need to be single-minded about whose way we are going to follow, the way of fear and anxiety, or the way of confidence in God. That sounds simple, but it isn’t easy to live. It takes constant vigilance.
Some years ago I decided to put a vegetable garden in the yard of my rectory in DC. This was a plot that had not been turned over before so I decided to rent a rototiller to help with the project. I spread a good bit of organic material over the area that I wanted to till knowing that the soil was meager and needed additives. I had broken some of the area with a spade, but it needed the kind of mixing that the tiller could do.
Now, gardening is a contemplative endeavor. It requires a bit of single-mindedness. And my unfamiliarity with tillers demanded that I put all my attention on my plowing. I had gotten most of my small plot finished and was on my last furrow when a parishioner came up on the other side of the fence and called to me. When I looked up, the tines of the tiller caught on the chain link fence and in the flash of an eye, the rented rototiller was hanging four feet up the chain link fence. It required a trip to the hardware store for bolt cutters to cut the tiller out of the fence. And no longer was my safe little fenced-in backyard garden secure. There was a hole the size a moose could go through in the fence!
I knew then with no uncertainty what the meaning of Jesus’ one liner of today’s Gospel meant: God wants us to know what it means to be so totally focused on living the life of generosity to one another that we cannot be distracted by the fears that those in power would have us focus on. One of the ways that those in power manipulate others is by keeping us anxious, by keeping us afraid, by keeping us focused upon ourselves and our own needs.
Now, I am not talking necessarily about governmental power although I think that governmental power does do this no matter what party you follow. I am talking about anyone who uses power to manipulate. This might mean a boss, a teacher, a pastor, a bishop, a neighbor, a spouse or even a child, anyone to whom we are willing to give power in our lives. It might even mean Madison Ave. or the Stock Exchange. Jesus taught us that we do not need to fear these powers when we put God first. It also means that we have to surrender ourselves to the moment and not the future or the past. It means that we take seriously that God will provide all that we need and that what our idea of success is not necessarily God’s idea of success.
‘Putting our hand to the plow without looking back’ means that we cannot dwell in the past, that God’s life among us is always calling us to a kind of newness that is in front of us. Jesus’ way demands vigilance that will not deter us. Allowing ourselves to be centered on the loving way of Christ is not hard as much as it requires focus. It requires an unwillingness to be distracted with the fears that others would have us entertain.
The cost of discipleship is not one that is paid by the world’s currency of greed, power and manipulation. The cost of discipleship is paid in a willing spirit to embrace the selflessness that Jesus had. Jesus had no home or even a place to lay his head to which he could be attached or tied. He had no possessions save the clothes on his back. He depended up on the generosity of others even for a grave because his life was centered upon the God that could not be encapsulated, manipulated or circumscribed by the law, by the priests, by the leaders. Jesus’ way to know God was to jettison all the trappings that could imprison him so that he could preach God’s love to everyone who would listen.
What I am suggesting to you and to me is that if we are going to know the fullness of Christ’s love for us, we must be willing to live as one unhindered by possessions, fearless in the face of loss, willing to leave it all when called. To do anything else would compromise the free gift of love that God gives us in Christ Jesus. We must be willing to face life fearless of what we might loose, whether it is our possessions or even our image of ourselves. The cost of discipleship is to live in a consumer world without the need to consume, to live in a power-filled world without the need to be powerful, to live in a fear-filled world without the need to fear. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer was wont to say, grace may be free but it isn’t cheap.
I invite you this week to inventory the grace in your life. Are you willing to give up all that you are and have to follow Jesus? That’s what it costs, brothers and sisters. We must be willing to give it all up in the twinkling of an eye. Can we do it? Are we willing to do it?
About a month ago, a friend of mine from St. Peter’s in Bainbridge came to hear me preach here at St. Luke’s. I hadn’t seen her in 20 years and it was a delight to have her here. At ninety-something it was a delight to see her smile and hear her laugh. But just last week, she had to give up everything. She died. At some point, Helen had to give up all she had accumulated, all she treasured for those 92 years, possession, family, and friends, even herself. We all must do that at some point. Are we ready? Are we to recognize that we have no home but in God alone? That is what it costs to be a disciple of Jesus. That is what it means that we cannot put our hand to the plow and look back. Helen followed her row and without any doubt I know that she abides now without fear, without need in the arms of the God who loves her and us all.
This is what it means to follow Christ. AMEN.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Five things for summer
I have just joined Revgalblogpals and having a great time listening to sisters talk about the readings for Sunday, the issues of being a pastor and just the normal being a woman in a still male dominated Church/world. Friday the blog called us to share what speaks of summer for me. It is a fun way to get in the "game" so to speak. And since this blog is called "For a Season" it seems appropriate to address the existential reality of where I live.
These are the questions I have been asked, What is:
1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s)
My favorite summer foods include cold raw tomatoes, garlic, basil with balsamic vinegar over hot pasta; A gin or vodka and a lemon-lime frizzel drink that my local grocery sells; grilled anything; ICE CREAM; grilled trout (preferably which I have caught that day); strawberries from the area in which I live (not those tasteless golfballs from Watsonville). And I could go on forever. Food is one of my loves.
2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.)
My favorite music is classical. Anything from Satie; Mozart; Handel's Water Music;
3. A childhood summer memory
Girl Scout Camp, my salvation!
4. An adult summer memory
Standing in the middle of a trout stream and catching a four lb trout in Montana.
5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities) I long to have a week away to do nothing but read, look a the water, and fish.
These are the questions I have been asked, What is:
1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s)
My favorite summer foods include cold raw tomatoes, garlic, basil with balsamic vinegar over hot pasta; A gin or vodka and a lemon-lime frizzel drink that my local grocery sells; grilled anything; ICE CREAM; grilled trout (preferably which I have caught that day); strawberries from the area in which I live (not those tasteless golfballs from Watsonville). And I could go on forever. Food is one of my loves.
2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.)
My favorite music is classical. Anything from Satie; Mozart; Handel's Water Music;
3. A childhood summer memory
Girl Scout Camp, my salvation!
4. An adult summer memory
Standing in the middle of a trout stream and catching a four lb trout in Montana.
5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities) I long to have a week away to do nothing but read, look a the water, and fish.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
The affirmation of youth
Now that summer is here and I can sit on my porch or in my living room with the door open and listen to the children play, I hear the young voices of the nearly 25 children of our neighborhood playing ball. I hear voices saying “thank you” and “please” from them just as much as I hear “gimmie that” and it makes me wonder at my age group’s evaluation of them.
I am getting to the age when I am supposed to find fault with the young. I am supposed to get grumpy and say “the world is going to hell in a hand basket.” And I am not so sure. I have to admit some of the things that I see on TV and certainly the music I don’t understand and feel uncomfortable with it, but I find the kids I meet in church are basically like I was when I was their age---ungainly, tongue-tied (believe it or not!) and so awkward that I would not go back to that age even if I had a chance. They have certainly the sense of fair play that I had, with a wonder that life shouldn’t be fairer.
I have just finished watching the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts-Schori, on a stream from PBS. If you haven’t seen it (http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06082007/watch2.html ), it is well worth seeing. I am more and more seeing the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in her election. Her thorough-going sense of science that is at peace with her faith is wonderful for the Church at this time. It flies in the face of the anti-intellectualism that is assaulting Christianity from all sides. And her seeming unflappability in the face of questions is wonderful to behold. Her absolute confidence seems almost child-like, youthful and deeply hopeful. This is what we need if we are to survive as a Church.
She does not believe that the Episcopal Church will split over this entire hullabaloo over human sexuality. And even with her scientific background she has a full sense of the weight of history and context in which we live out our Christian faith. She gives me hope that the Church can and will rise to her expectations.
Now that is naïve, I know. However, sometimes I need to touch my youth too in order to welcome the new, the tough newness, which is abroad in the Church.
Will she be able to direct the Church into a place where those of faith can worship in a manner that is consistent with a faith under girded by a relationship with an all loving God? Will the Church be able to address the changes that are needed to survive this division between those who would cast us into a faith that does not inquire or does not challenge? With the leadership of ++KJS I see her ushering in a continued time of welcome and a continued time of challenge. Will some have to leave? Of course! Will others come? Of course! Thus it has ever been.
I consider ++KJS young. She has not been ordained as long as I or has the wealth of experience that I have. But she has qualities that I admire that will take the experiences she has as bishop and develop a theology of ministry for herself and for all of us in the Church. I believe her when she says that her science informs her faith and I would also guess that her faith informs her science. She stands comfortably in those two streams in a way that gives me the courage to stand in the various streams of my life and give them meaning. What more can I ask of a Presiding Bishop? What more can I ask of any other human being?
She asks for a season of discernment regarding the consecration of gay bishop. It is not so much discernment about LGBT issues—that is not what is in her mind because her understanding of Scripture and science does not judge LGBT Christians. But she calls a moratorium for the sake of community. I am not sure I agree with her, but I will follow her. I am not sure she is right, but ‘for a season’ I will suspend judgment for the sake of community.
Now if she can address the need in the Church to address the growth of over reaching power of bishops for the health of the Church…..well, then she will have attained sainthood in my estimation.
I am getting to the age when I am supposed to find fault with the young. I am supposed to get grumpy and say “the world is going to hell in a hand basket.” And I am not so sure. I have to admit some of the things that I see on TV and certainly the music I don’t understand and feel uncomfortable with it, but I find the kids I meet in church are basically like I was when I was their age---ungainly, tongue-tied (believe it or not!) and so awkward that I would not go back to that age even if I had a chance. They have certainly the sense of fair play that I had, with a wonder that life shouldn’t be fairer.
I have just finished watching the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts-Schori, on a stream from PBS. If you haven’t seen it (http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06082007/watch2.html ), it is well worth seeing. I am more and more seeing the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in her election. Her thorough-going sense of science that is at peace with her faith is wonderful for the Church at this time. It flies in the face of the anti-intellectualism that is assaulting Christianity from all sides. And her seeming unflappability in the face of questions is wonderful to behold. Her absolute confidence seems almost child-like, youthful and deeply hopeful. This is what we need if we are to survive as a Church.
She does not believe that the Episcopal Church will split over this entire hullabaloo over human sexuality. And even with her scientific background she has a full sense of the weight of history and context in which we live out our Christian faith. She gives me hope that the Church can and will rise to her expectations.
Now that is naïve, I know. However, sometimes I need to touch my youth too in order to welcome the new, the tough newness, which is abroad in the Church.
Will she be able to direct the Church into a place where those of faith can worship in a manner that is consistent with a faith under girded by a relationship with an all loving God? Will the Church be able to address the changes that are needed to survive this division between those who would cast us into a faith that does not inquire or does not challenge? With the leadership of ++KJS I see her ushering in a continued time of welcome and a continued time of challenge. Will some have to leave? Of course! Will others come? Of course! Thus it has ever been.
I consider ++KJS young. She has not been ordained as long as I or has the wealth of experience that I have. But she has qualities that I admire that will take the experiences she has as bishop and develop a theology of ministry for herself and for all of us in the Church. I believe her when she says that her science informs her faith and I would also guess that her faith informs her science. She stands comfortably in those two streams in a way that gives me the courage to stand in the various streams of my life and give them meaning. What more can I ask of a Presiding Bishop? What more can I ask of any other human being?
She asks for a season of discernment regarding the consecration of gay bishop. It is not so much discernment about LGBT issues—that is not what is in her mind because her understanding of Scripture and science does not judge LGBT Christians. But she calls a moratorium for the sake of community. I am not sure I agree with her, but I will follow her. I am not sure she is right, but ‘for a season’ I will suspend judgment for the sake of community.
Now if she can address the need in the Church to address the growth of over reaching power of bishops for the health of the Church…..well, then she will have attained sainthood in my estimation.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
To think or not to think
The conversations at Father Jake’s blog bring to mind such an important piece of what it means to be an Anglican in the US or an Episcopalian for me. Ever since my swimming the Thames, I have noticed the high level of intellectual engagement in the Church. It has been a point of pride that educational prowess has always characterized seminary-trained clergy. It is not surprising then that I find myself bumfuzzled by the current level of anti-intellectualism that is characterizing some in the Episcopal Church.
During my seminary and then doctoral studies I strained to understand JDE and P for OT classes and embraced higher criticism as I understood what redaction meant. Now, I am expected to take seriously clergy who reject basic scientific data and scholarship of Scripture. To find that clergy are being ordained who belittle such complexities in the Bible and then thump arcane 5th century theologians makes me suspicious not only of their training and testing, but upon their honesty in the process towards ordination.
As one of the commentators on Fr. Jake’s blog reminded me that underlying the discrimination in denying Bishop Gene Robinson by the Archbishop of Canterbury is a denial of science. Now that is remarkable as the ABC is seen as a superb academic. But the kind of anti-intellectualism that ++Williams is succumbing to is considerable.
For the past 50 years or so both the medical and the social science disciplines have shown that homosexuality is neither an aberration of human mental health nor a threat to the social fabric. Same sex love has been a part of the human social contract of societies as long as there has been human relationship.
For the past 50 years or so, Scripture scholarship has shown that the homophobic passages found in the Bible are ones that do not apply to present day any more than the prohibition of wearing garments of more than one kind of thread. And yet… and yet…
Still we hear the same things trotted out whenever we have to deal with inclusion of GLBT persons.
The uber-right has spent a great deal of money and effort to reinforce for all Christians that science is not to be trusted. It reminds me of the parents of students in the school where I was teaching not wanting their children to learn more than what they knew. They wanted to control what their children learned as well as control their children. I am sure that they had the best intentions for their children. But knowledge and learning are not controllable. Once a child has learned to research an issue, if they are curious, they will learn on their own. What is incumbent on a parent to do is teach the child the values that will help them order what they learn. Protecting children from life is an anti-intellectualism that is rooted in fear and power.
The failure of the ABC to invite +Gene Robinson means that ++Cantur has caved into the anti-intellectuals that have invaded the Church and who have decried biblical scholarship as undermining the faith. He as succumbed to the pressure of those who have not had educations allowing them to embrace the ever-widening experience without giving the structures, values or spiritual center to discern what is right or wrong.
The real fear from the uber-right in the Communion is that they fear that if they meet +Gene they might find out that his spiritual depths far out strip many of their own and that would not do. I do hope that +Gene will attend as a guest and continue to tear down the walls of prejudice and fear that he has been doing since his consecration.
We as Church have asked much of +Gene by confirming his election. We have opened the minds of many people to an understanding of Christ’s love through him. God reveals Gods-self in the flesh of humanity, in the truths of science, in the love of people for one another, not through covenants, creeds or law. We may not throw out our minds or our hearts to accommodate present culture.
During my seminary and then doctoral studies I strained to understand JDE and P for OT classes and embraced higher criticism as I understood what redaction meant. Now, I am expected to take seriously clergy who reject basic scientific data and scholarship of Scripture. To find that clergy are being ordained who belittle such complexities in the Bible and then thump arcane 5th century theologians makes me suspicious not only of their training and testing, but upon their honesty in the process towards ordination.
As one of the commentators on Fr. Jake’s blog reminded me that underlying the discrimination in denying Bishop Gene Robinson by the Archbishop of Canterbury is a denial of science. Now that is remarkable as the ABC is seen as a superb academic. But the kind of anti-intellectualism that ++Williams is succumbing to is considerable.
For the past 50 years or so both the medical and the social science disciplines have shown that homosexuality is neither an aberration of human mental health nor a threat to the social fabric. Same sex love has been a part of the human social contract of societies as long as there has been human relationship.
For the past 50 years or so, Scripture scholarship has shown that the homophobic passages found in the Bible are ones that do not apply to present day any more than the prohibition of wearing garments of more than one kind of thread. And yet… and yet…
Still we hear the same things trotted out whenever we have to deal with inclusion of GLBT persons.
The uber-right has spent a great deal of money and effort to reinforce for all Christians that science is not to be trusted. It reminds me of the parents of students in the school where I was teaching not wanting their children to learn more than what they knew. They wanted to control what their children learned as well as control their children. I am sure that they had the best intentions for their children. But knowledge and learning are not controllable. Once a child has learned to research an issue, if they are curious, they will learn on their own. What is incumbent on a parent to do is teach the child the values that will help them order what they learn. Protecting children from life is an anti-intellectualism that is rooted in fear and power.
The failure of the ABC to invite +Gene Robinson means that ++Cantur has caved into the anti-intellectuals that have invaded the Church and who have decried biblical scholarship as undermining the faith. He as succumbed to the pressure of those who have not had educations allowing them to embrace the ever-widening experience without giving the structures, values or spiritual center to discern what is right or wrong.
The real fear from the uber-right in the Communion is that they fear that if they meet +Gene they might find out that his spiritual depths far out strip many of their own and that would not do. I do hope that +Gene will attend as a guest and continue to tear down the walls of prejudice and fear that he has been doing since his consecration.
We as Church have asked much of +Gene by confirming his election. We have opened the minds of many people to an understanding of Christ’s love through him. God reveals Gods-self in the flesh of humanity, in the truths of science, in the love of people for one another, not through covenants, creeds or law. We may not throw out our minds or our hearts to accommodate present culture.
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