All

Posted on

Sermon: Heritage Sunday

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” After I read this and some of the other history of our church, I read the Gospel for today and had myself a little laugh… Then they came to Enid; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”

The interesting thing about a church’s history is that you can really only talk about the buildings and the clergy, the people and who served, the money or the lack there of, and so on. What you can’t really tell in the history of a church is how God moved in the people. How the power of the Holy Spirit transformed lives. How Jesus truly entered this house and began the work of the Kingdom of God in this place. The buildings, the people, and all are only a part of our heritage, because it is these workings of God in our lives and the lives of those around us that are reflects our true heritage, and that really is the most important thing.

Jesus “took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’” Our heritage is about welcoming the child, welcoming Jesus into our midst and loving him and loving one another, for what other sign can we show that God is present than by our love for Him and our love for one another? Does the height of a steeple prove that love? Or the size of our endowment? Or even the number of cars in the parking lot? Do any of these things demonstrate the love of God and the love of one another? Not really. They do demonstrate commitment and courage. They also show a desire to honor God in visible ways. None of this is bad or wrong, but what they can’t show is love, because love is an action of the heart. True love is that which seeks the good of the other without regard for self and that is what it means to welcome the little child, but that is not something that can necessarily be documented. Instead, it is a feeling, almost a presence.

This past week, we had our Saints Book Club. We’ve just finished reading In This House of Brede. A beautiful story about the lives of the nuns living in a convent. The main character, Philippa, had come to the point when the older nuns would decide if she would be allowed to stay and become a fully professed sister. She was afraid they would not allow it, so she went to the sanctuary to pray, asking God to allow her to stay. The scene is set: “The light flickering by the tabernacle was warm, alive, and as if they were still there, she heard what the nuns had sung last night at Benediction: ‘Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.’” Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. In that place, she could “feel” the prayers from the night before, because as was stated, “If a place has been filled with prayer, though it is empty, something remains; a quiet, a steadiness.” Our sanctuary is the same. You can “feel” the presence of the prayers that have been said there over the last century, but it’s not just that… and it is the reason I’m so happy to be serving in this place, because, I can see the heritage in buildings and the books and the art, but more importantly, I can “feel” that more important heritage—that heritage of God’s work and transforming power—I can feel that you have always performed the work that Christ called on his disciples to perform. That is, in the name of Jesus, the child has always been welcomed here. In the name of Jesus, you have always loved and there really is no greater heritage than this.

This year… your church is 128 years old. May the love you have shown in those years be a source of inspiration to continue in this great work of the kingdom for the years to come, until the great day of the Lord’s return.

Let us pray: We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

St. Matthew’s original building.
Posted on

Sermon: Proper 19 RCL B – “Build or Burn?”

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice.  Mark Twain was not a fan of Jane Austen and is reported to have said, “Everytime I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig Jane Austen up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”

The American academic and Shakespearean scholar, Duncan Spaeth, stated, “I know why the sun never sets on the British Empire: God wouldn’t trust an Englishman in the dark.”

Someone once asked Ghandi: “What do you think of Western civilization?”  Ghandi replied, “I think it would be a good idea.”

A young Hollywood wannabe was once bragging to the the great actress Miriam Hopkins.  The wannabe said, “You know, my dear, I insured my voice for fifty thousand dollars.” Hopkins responded, “That’s wonderful. And what did you do with the money?”

Bessie Braddock served in the English Parliament for twenty-five years.  Encountering a somewhat intoxicated Winston Churchill, she said to him, “Winston, you’re drunk.”  Not thinking much of Bessie Braddock, Winston replied, “Bessie, you’re ugly, and tomorrow morning I’ll be sober.”

It seems that insulting someone has been around for a as long as there has been language and I’m guessing even the caveman new a thing or two about putting one another down.   Growing up, I would have to say that my ability to insult someone was limited to that witty comeback, “Yo mama!”  I may have improved since then.  Many have and some even make a living at insulting others.  For example, if it weren’t for the insults, the twenty-four hour news stations would run out of something to say within the first five minutes.

At times, the insult is just folks who give each other a hard time, and if they ever cross the line, an apology will follow, but it seems the insult has grown into a way of life.  Not the sign of some quick witted response, but an assault to tear down and destroy.  And when the words are no longer sufficient, threats and violence will ensue.

I remember years ago reading Ray Bradbury’s great dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451.  Seems it was one of those required readings, so I just muscled my way through it without much thought, but I reread it again just a few weeks ago and was amazed.  A bit too close to reality.  Neil Gaiman (sci-fi and horror author) wrote the introduction to the edition I ordered and although I don’t normally read the introductions to books—don’t necessarily want someone telling me what I’m supposed to think about a book I’m about to read—I did read this one, because of who wrote it.  In it, Gaiman wrote, “When I reread it as a teenager, Fahrenheit 451 had become about treasuring books and the dissent inside the covers of books.  It was about how we has humans begin by burning books and end by burning people.”  I had to underline that, because it is so true.  As the story goes, those who would read were first insulted, then persecuted, then… burned.  As I read the story, I came to a line that made me stop reading.  I had to get up and walk around for a bit before continuing: “Those who don’t build must burn.”  We see a lot of burning these days.  The events of twenty years ago that we remembered yesterday provide the perfect example, but in truth, we do the same thing everyday when we decide to burn instead of build. 

We burn others by cruelly insulting them from our hearts.  By speaking or even thinking of how to bring them lower.  By raising our voices in angry confrontation.  By dismantling the works of others for our own perceived benefit, in order to exert and promote our own opinion, or simply for the heck of it; but our ability to do so is not a sign of our strength.  It simply shows our capacity to burn.  Why?  “Those who don’t build must burn.”  Those who don’t want to take the time and find the courage to build and create, those who become jealous and feel threatened by others’ successes, those who are simply too lazy to create, and so on… those are the ones who will burn, because it is much much easier to burn than it is to build.  

Jesus has been going from town to town.  He has been teaching, healing, feeding, and loving.  Jesus has been building up the Kingdom of God.  He asked the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  In doing so, Jesus is not fishing for compliments.  He is secure in the knowledge of who he is, but he is evaluating the work.  Are the people… are you beginning to understand who I am and what we are building?   It sounds positive.  The disciples answer, some say you are “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”  That is good, but Jesus wants to know what those who have been closest to him think.  Are they grasping even more of the truth than the crowds, so he asked them specifically, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”  Yes!  The work is being accomplished and we are building something here, but don’t tell anyone about what you know of me.  Why?  Because there are those who aren’t building anything and if they discover too soon, they will try and burn it all down before the time has come; and Jesus knew who those were that would burn: the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes.  He also knew that they would eventually succeed, so he tells his disciples, you are not to be like them.  You are not to follow their example of burning.  Instead, you are to follow my example, by building: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  You as my disciples are to follow me in building up the kingdom of God, because we’re not building something that moths and rust can destroy or something that thieves can break in and steal.  No.  We are building something eternal.  What did Jesus say, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  Destroy this temple, burn it to the ground, and I will build a temple that not even death can destroy.  He did and we are to follow, taking our cross, being crucified with him and being raised to a new and eternal life that not even death can touch.  And we not only build up ourselves, but we are to build up one another.

1 Thessalonians 5:11—“Encourage one another and build one another up.”

Ephesians 4:29—“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up.”

Romans 14:19—“So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

1 Corinthians 14:26—“Let all things be done for building up.”

Not only does this apply to those we know and love, but Jesus also makes it clear that this applies to those that hate us: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

Am I preaching on this today because I know of a problem within this body of Christ?  Absolutely not.  I see nothing but love and compassion among you, but what I do see is an increased desire within society to insult and to burn.  It is like an infection that is going unchecked and unless we are aware of it and the symptoms, then we become susceptible, and then we become those who burn, no longer building up as Christ has called us to.  As St. Paul teaches, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  

From the poem, Ulysses, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Come my friends, tis not too late to seek a newer world.”  Let us be the ones that build and in the process, join with Jesus in the great work of making all things new.

Let us pray: Lord, make us instruments of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.  O, Divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen.F

Posted on

Journal: September 11, 2021

It has been a slow and quiet Saturday, so I decided to add a bit of excitement to the day. Yes. I cut the cat’s toenails. It is an event that brings on screams of displeasure, shouts of anguish, bleeding (mine… most certainly not the Queens!), and then a game of, How Far Can I Sink My Teeth Into Your Ankle. A game that is only appreciated by cats, but one they engage in with the same vigor and conniving that Voldemort went after Harry. I can still walk, so that is a bonus.

A picture I took from the observation deck of the WTC. Around 1989. Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Today I have also remembered. I’ve remembered 20 years ago and what happened and where I was. What happened… we all know. Where was I… I had just entered seminary and we all knew that the world had forever changed. I remember crying and knowing there wasn’t a dang thing I could do. I remember being so angry that I confessed to wanting to be in hell the instant the terrorist opens their eyes and realized how very wrong they were and knowing the eternity of punishment they would be receiving. I remember today, but with perhaps a bit less venom, but let’s just say that I am still no Saint and a long ways from it. I will leave room for God and his vengeance. Now, I’m mostly afraid of the vengeance that is directed towards and deserved by me. I pray: I don’t need a mansion in heaven. Just a cot in the basement will be fine for this poor wretched sinner. Just please, Lord, let me in!

Did I mention that I had finished reading Fahrenheit 451? I read it many moons before and it didn’t mean much then. Now… well, I hope you’ll read tomorrow’s sermon (or come hear it preached!), but let’s just say that it had considerable more impact the second time through than it did the first. One thing that did not make it into the sermon (perhaps another time) was when Clarisse said to Montag, “You’re not like the others. I’ve seen a few; I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night.” It just made me think. When someone talks… look at them. When they talk about the moon, look at the moon. And when it rains… well… tilt your head back and open your mouth. I’m off on A Man Called Ove now and very much enjoying it. Same author that wrote Anxious People, which you’ll recall won high marks in our little world. After that, I’m not sure, but it may be the next book club selection for the Saints Book Club at the church.

Movies: we’ve made some progress in this department simply because I went back and watched some favorites, but it didn’t start that way. Yes. I was bored, so I stuck with it: 10.0 Earthquake. Maybe it is just me, but with a title like that, I fully expect Denver to become beach front property! My stars! We’ve had a few shakes here in Oklahoma and that movie didn’t produce half the excitement. Well, maybe except for when the beach swallowed up a surfer, but that could have been a scene out of Sand Sharks, which we all know at least had a decent body count! Oh my goodness! I see there is a Sand Sharks II! Where the heck is the remote. I hope I have a job after confessing to have watched the first one. But! Yes! One I’ve rewatched was the entire Matrix Trilogy. Why? Because they are making #4. I can honestly say that I’ve not been this excited about a movie coming out since The Lord of the Rings and not the most recent one, but the animated version they made back in 1978! I’ve watched the trailer of the new Matrix (due out Christmas) and now, after watching the trilogy again, I know what #4 will be about: love. Yes. Love. Severus had his “Always” and so does Neo. “Hello, Trinity, love of my life. Let’s meet in New York and catch a show! I found a way through time and the machines and all the way back to you.” I love a good love story. Click here for the preview to The Matrix: Resurrection. They won’t let me embed it… go figure. Dang machines!

What I’ve learned: as I’ve gotten older, the capacity for the amount of BS I’ll put up with has diminished significantly. That goes for the BS that I dish out to myself. I use to believe that bit, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I would like to live a life that the Lord has chosen for me and one that does not involve so much drama. I can deal with life’s drama-that’s just a part of living-but that created bit, the bit that you think is real, but that really only exists… in the Matrix… that’s the bit I’m weary of. Ask yourself: “Is it live or is it the Matrix?” You know what I mean. If it is live, deal with it. If not, in the words of some very wise three legged dog, “Kick some dirt over that shit and move on.”

Thought for the day (and it does link to the sermon for tomorrow): “Those who don’t build must burn.” – Fahrenheit 451 (p.85) People will burn all day long, but you… you never get tired of building. It is easy to burn. Strike a match and watch what goes up. Building, on the other hand, is work, hard work and dang well worth it. I definitely have my struggles and there are days when I want to chuck it all in, but when I come to my senses… I’ll put on my rundown cowboy boots and dig those heels in. As my friend St. Joan of Arc would say, “It was for this that I was born!” You got this… Illegitimi non carborundum.

Posted on

Sermon: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

It is a rather obscure feast day for Episcopalians, but it is on our calendar: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a fixed day, always occurring on September 8, which is exactly nine months after a feast day occurring on December 8 that is not on our calendar: The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. None of the information we have for either of these feasts comes to us from Holy Scripture, but rather from tradition and other non-biblical text, such as the Protoevangelium of James, also known as the Gospel of James, which is one of the infancy Gospels of Jesus, covering the time of Mary’s conception through Jesus’ birth.

The narrative tells about Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, who like Abraham and Sarah could not conceive a child, but instead of giving up, they prayed all the more fervently. Because of their faithfulness, an angel of the Lord appeared to Anne and told her, “The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.”

Hearing the news, they created a sanctuary in their home for the child so that she might remain pure. Following Mary’s birth, she was given to God. James tells us, “And Joachim brought the child to the priests and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations’ . . . And he brought her to the chief priests, and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be for ever.’”

Reflecting on these great events, St. Augustine, writing in the fifth century said, “[Mary] is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” Through her, the Messiah was given, and through him, we receive new birth. If nothing else is as it truly happened, that much is. Through Mary’s fiat, her “Yes” to God, our Salvation entered the world.

Did any or all of what James tells us occur? I don’t know, but… I feel that there is some truth behind it, because there had to of been something special about Mary for God to have chosen her, out of all the women to ever be born, to give birth to his one and only Son.

So today is a birthday celebration. The birth of our Savior’s mother, which reminds us of Jesus’ birth, but also ours. They were both born for a reason and so were we… so were you. It is also a reminder and a demonstration of God’s faithfulness to those whom He calls and to those who turn their lives over to God’s will. Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word,” and Jesus declared, “Not my will, but yours, be done.” Both gave themselves fully to God. They did not hold back. Our calling as God’s children is to do the same.

Let us pray: O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, with joy and wonder we seek to make our own your Magnificat, joining you in your hymn of thankfulness and love. Guide and sustain us so that we might always live as true sons and daughters of the Church of your son. Enable us to do our part in helping to establish on earth the civilization of truth and love, as God wills it, for his glory. Amen.

Posted on

Sermon: Proper 18 RCL B – “Time Alone”

Photo by Nick Kwan on Unsplash

A man made an appointment with the famous psychologist Carl Jung to get help for chronic depression. Jung told him to reduce his fourteen-hour workday to eight, go directly home, and spend the evenings in his study, quiet and all alone. The depressed man went to his study each night, shut the door, read a little Hermann Hesse or Thomas Mann, played a few Chopin études or some Mozart.

After weeks of this, he returned to Jung, complaining that he could see no improvement. On learning how the man had spent his time, Jung said, “But you didn’t understand. I didn’t want you to be with Hesse or Mann or Chopin or Mozart. I wanted you to be completely alone.” The man looked terrified and exclaimed, “I can’t think of any worse company.” Jung replied, “Yet this is the self you inflict on other people fourteen hours a day”

For several weeks, we talked about the Holy Eucharist and Communion.  The benefits, the mystery and also the way in which it binds us together as a community.  When we spoke of the community, I shared with you the statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey: “Individualism therefore has no place in Christianity, and Christianity verily means its extinction. The individual Christian exists only because the body exists already. In the body the self is found, and within the individual experience the body is present.”  However, without further investigation, we could come to believe that we can only practice our faith when gathered together as a community, but with all things, we must seek the proper balance, because there are also times, in practicing our faith, that we must be alone with Jesus.  There are so many fine lessons in our Gospel reading this morning, but that was what I kept thinking on.

First there was the encounter with the Gentile woman, of Syrophoenician origin and the tongue-in-cheek bantering between her and Jesus.  Then, in a different town, the people bring Jesus a deaf/mute and asked Jesus to heal him.  It is here that we read, Jesus “took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”  Jesus healed him.  The man could hear and speak, but in order to do this great work in his life, Jesus brought him to a private place, away from everyone else.

Christianity cannot exist outside of the community of the faithful, but the individual needs private time with Jesus, so that Jesus can do great work within them.  However, like the fella who went to visit Carl Jung, so many of us, when we have time alone, will fill the air with all sorts of noise, because the idea of being alone or even alone with Jesus, is terrifying.  Yet the truth remains: we must have community and we must have this time alone with Jesus.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it best in Life Together: “One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.”  His conclusion, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.  Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.”  His reasoning for time alone with God: “Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God.  You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out.” (p.77f)  Therefore we need community, but we need the alone time as well.

What does this alone with Jesus while at the same time being in community look like?  It is about like this very moment we have now.  We are gathered here as a community, but there is also this reverence, awe, (and when the preacher shuts up) silence.  A time of being together, but also a time to listen to ourselves and to God.  A place of encounter between the Creator and the created.  A time to be alone with Jesus so that he might perform a great work within us.  It sounds easy—sit quietly with Jesus—but it is actually hard work and requires practice.  Why?  Because we don’t know how to stop.  To stop doing, talking, digesting every form of media… we simply do not know how to do what our parents and everyone else tried to get us to do the entire time we were growing up: we do not know how to sit still and be quiet, but… we can learn.  If there were two pieces of advice I would give you on how to sit still and quiet with God, it would be these 1) be intentional and 2) have a pen and paper handy.

First, intentionality.  I have one of those brains that’s always traveling somewhere, but if I’m focused on one particular task, I can stick with it.  However, if I’m going to be focused on a task, I have to schedule that time.  I make an intentional “appointment” to accomplish a certain work.  I think that the same is true with our private time with Jesus.  Yes, we can have those moments throughout the day, but in order for that greater work to be accomplished, we need to intentionally schedule time to meet with God.  That might sound ridiculous to some, “Excuse me God, but tomorrow I have the 9 a.m. hour free.  Would that work for you to meet?”  Sounds silly, but if you don’t schedule that 9 a.m. hour with God, then I guarantee you something else will fill it and it won’t be God.

Second, pen and paper.  Best friends.  I love the post-it note.  I’ve scheduled my appointment to complete a particular task.  I’m focused and in the groove.  Yet, even though I’m focused, some random piece of information pops into my head, “I need to write that message to the Bishop.”  At that point, I have a couple of options: I can stop what I’m doing and write the message or I can go on with what I’m doing, but afraid I’ll forget to do it or… I can pop off a post-it note and jot it down: “Write message to Bp.”  I can confidently stay focused on what I’m doing, knowing I won’t forget the other bit.  The same is true with that scheduled time with God.  All sorts of things are going to come up during it.  If I let a thought or concern persist, then my time with God is a wash, but if I’ll take just a moment to write down that thought, then I know it is safely dealt with for the time and I can get back to God.

Again, this may all sound a bit too pragmatic in our relationship with God and spending time with him, but let me ask you this: how’s your current system working out for you?

Just as we were intentional in coming here today to spend time with God in the family of the faithful, we must also do the same in our private time with Jesus, because we need both: community and time alone with our God.  The two are inseparable.  What is the end result? Henri Nouwen, in Can You Drink this Cup?, described it best: “Community is like a large mosaic. Each little piece seems so insignificant. One piece is bright red, another cold blue or dull green, another warm purple, another sharp yellow, another shining gold. Some look precious, others ordinary. Some look valuable, others worthless. Some look gaudy, others delicate. We can do little with them as individual stones except compare them and judge their beauty and value. When, however, all these little stones are brought together in one big mosaic, portraying the face of Christ, who would ever question the importance of any one of them? If one of them, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete. Together in the one mosaic, each little stone is indispensable and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God. That’s community, a fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.”

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, author and inspirer of all things holy, hear our prayers for our Church.  Send forth Your Spirit that we may humbly be guided by your Divine Will.  Touch our hearts with true generosity to raise up a house of God for the inspiration and renewal of all your faithful.  We ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Posted on

Journal: September 1, 2021

Well… it wasn’t COVID (according to the two tests I took), but everything pointed in that direction. Cough, fever, congestion, no taste/smell, death warmed over, etc. It still bought me ten days of quarantine and although I’m not a huge people person… ten days is a bit much to be alone. Many thanks to all the messages, notes, breads, and cinnamon buns I received. Truly a blessing.

When it comes to no taste/smell, eating is just weird. What you discover is that temperature and texture become the primary attractions. A nice cold chicken salad with fruit, nuts, chunks of chicken… brilliant. Peanut butter on cheese is like having a wad of congealed, slightly solidified… you get the picture. It ain’t pleasant. Although, it was peanut butter that first keyed me in that I was missing those two senses. Yes… I always have a bit of peanut butter with my breakfast, but a week ago Tuesday, I opened the jar and… nothing. Really? And then it hit me. I thought, What is the most potent smelling item I have in the house? Answer: Benedictine! (Created my a monk in 1510 from 27 different plants and spices. Supposedly, only three people on the planet know the complete recipe… brilliant!) On a good day, you can take a solid sniff of Benedictine and you’ll likely burn your eyebrows off and most definitely all your nose hairs! It is delicious, but you must approach it with caution. It is meant for sipping and small sniffs. On that Tuesday, I picked up the bottle, removed the cap and gave a tentative… sniff. Nothing. I mean… nothing. I then grasped the neck of the bottled and breathed it in as though it were my dying breath… not even the vapors could penetrate the void of my sniffer! Granted, it was only 8-ish in the morning, but I gave myself a short taste….. my head bowed, my eyes teared, and my heart sank. Not even a tingle. I am happy to report that after ten days quarantine and two negative COVID tests, the sniffer and taster are back 90% with the exception of peanut butter. Odd.

Last week was spent mostly sleeping and waiting for test results. That is boring on many levels, but this week picked up and I was able to work some solid hours and read. I finished, In This House of Brede, and this evening completed, Billy Summers, by Stephen King. You should read Brede. An amazing and beautiful story. Billy Summers is a completely different kind of read. It is not your normal Stephen King supernatural. In fact, there is no supernatural in it (with the exception to a few excellent references to The Shining: The Overlook Hotel and that lively topiary out front.) Side-by-side, I would have to give Brede a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and Billy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2. Sorry Mr. King, but side-by-side… yeah. Next up is one I read many years ago, Fahrenheit 451, but having recently reread 1984, I thought I should… remember. Definitely putting a dint in that stack… with several others waiting to join (I will resist you, Amazon!)

Movies… seriously? How is it so much money can go into making so many bad movies? I may have to make my own.

Tomorrow I get to re-enter the world. I understand that it has been hot out there and based on the news I’ve been reading… COVID or not, I am an exceptionally blessed individual. The world is a mess right now and is in need of your prayers. Say one or two, even if it only amounts to, “Dear God….” followed by the shaking of your head. He gets that. I’m certain He’s done a bit of that Himself here recently.

Oh… before I forget: Nikita is the name of the Pinot Noir that I’m currently making. It is not named after the American version of this movie or the TV series (ugh), but after the original, La Femme Nikita, starring Anne Parillaud (hubahuba), written and directed by Luc Besson. Why Nikita… I’m thinking she will live up to this name. Will not be bottled until early October, but… wowza. Lots of flavor (even for one who is only at 90% tasting!) Haven’t come up with a label for it yet, but that image right there may just do the trick.

What I’ve learned: It won’t spoil the plot, so… Billy Summers is partly about a guy who is writing a book. It speaks of the joys and the “zone” you get in while doing so. That said, it made me hungry to write again. I’ve had a few fitful starts here recently, but I think I’m ready now. I actually don’t do well with too much time on my hand (which I’ve had), I don’t feel any pressure, but now… oh, yeah… I just looked at my calendar. Bring on a bit of pressure and bring on the words. Love it all.

Thought for the day: you will never know true desperation until you hang onto a C-17 cargo plane during takeoff in hopes that you can escape your current situation. Live your life like Zaki Anwari would have lived his had he survived. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Posted on

Sermon: Propler 16 RCL B – “Bread of Heaven, Part IV”

Two Jewish boys were trying to outdo each other on how far back they could trace their family lineage. The first said, “My family can trace our ancestry back almost two thousand years to the great Rabbi Akiva. So how far back does your family go,” he asked the second.

Without missing a beat, the second boy says, “I don’t know. My father told me that all of our records were lost in the flood.”

Family trees. Family reunions. Family photos. Families that are happy, dysfunctional, dysfunctionally happy, extended, small and so much more. No matter what type of family you have—good, bad, or indifferent—you did not become a member by choice and you’re stuck with the one you’ve got.

The word “family” describes our biological family, but is also good to describe a group of individuals who have a common thread, so it is often used as a way of describing the Church. You are my Church family and the comedian Les Dawson describes you well: “Families are like fudge – mostly sweet, with a few nuts.” And you know who you are.

Not only family, the Church is also described as the Body of Christ, describing our unity and how we need one another. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” And a little further on, “There may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” We do not exist for ourselves, we exist for the Body. Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, was quite emphatic on this: “Individualism therefore has no place in Christianity, and Christianity verily means its extinction. The individual Christian exists only because the body exists already. In the body the self is found, and within the individual experience the body is present.” This unity is the fulfillment of Jesus’ great priestly prayer recorded in John’s Gospel: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

We have this unity, but it is a unity that can exist at different levels, that is why when Paul speaks of the Body of Christ, he speaks of the body of all believers, but also about the Body of Christ as the local church; so we can say that contained within this church of St. Matthew’s, we are the Body of Christ, while still being a part of a greater body. As that body of St. Matthew’s, we gather as any family gathers, but in this family, there is a true dependence on one another, which means this body of St. Matthew’s has all that it needs to be the church in this place, but it cannot be that church without you. We have a dependence on one another, therefore we have a responsibility to one another. As St. Paul teaches, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

However, in order for this body to be real, something more than just nice words, then we must have a common thread running through us all, and we do, Jesus. We have him, not just in our profession of faith, but as we said last week, we have his real presence in his body and blood that we receive in the Eucharist, and it is this Eucharist that provides a real and tangible common thread, binding us together.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” We abide in him and he abides in us, therefore, we abide in one another. St. Francis de Sales preached, “We are all nourished by the same bread, that heavenly bread of the divine Eucharist, the reception which is called communion, and which symbolizes that unity that we should have one with another, without which we could not be called children of God.” This has been the belief of the Church since the very beginning. The Didache is a first century liturgical book and at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, while holding the bread, the priest would say, “As this piece of bread was scattered over the hills and then was brought together and made one, so let your Church be brought together from the ends of the earth into your Kingdom.” God’s Kingdom in heaven and God’s Kingdom here on earth.

Have you ever been to a wedding where, toward the end of the ceremony, the couple lights a unity candle? They’ve got a large candle in the middle and smaller ones on each side. The two smaller ones are burning and the bride and groom each take one the smaller ones and together they light the candle in the center. The interesting bit is what comes next: do they place the smaller candles back in their stands still burning or do they blow them out first. Did they light a flame together, but maintain their own separate flames, or do they extinguish their individual flames and truly only exist as one. (I once heard that the couple left the smaller ones burning, but after moment, the bride leaned over and blew out the grooms. To that, someone said, “During the marriage ceremony two become one — on the honeymoon they discover which one.”) Seriously, in the end, there should only be one flame and the same is true for us as the family and body of Christ, made one through Jesus who gave himself for us all.

Today, as you come forward to receive the body and blood of Christ, remember that we are the family of God, the Body of Christ, and recognize that we truly need one another. Without you, each of you, we are diminished. With you… with you we become a flame that can set the world on fire with the love of God.

Let us pray: Lord God, you have built in heaven and on earth a single Church of truth and love and Holy Spirit; one family and communion, whose temple is the Lamb, One body indivisible, here and beyond: the body of Your dear Son. The unity of holy Church, its might, its Gospel, proceeding from Your unalterable will, is truth and love and Holy Spirit. Its ministries stream from your heart. We pray Lord that we might become this Church in this place: a beacon to the lost, a salve for the wounded, and a family for all. Jesus, in your name. Amen.

Posted on

Journal: August 20, 2021

My question for today: exactly when did they start using super glue to seal up the single serve string cheese? I can only imagine these things going in some small child’s lunchbox. I finally broke out a knife and slit it along the side and there may have been a few choice words along the way. Now that I’ve got that off my mind…

Movies: started several, finished none. Oy. Next.

I continue the Camino prep / exercise. After going at it strong for a week I gained two pounds. Rrr. Ok. Fine. I’ll just keep at it knowing that the process works. Exercise and burn more calories than you take in. That’s how it is supposed to work, although it can be as frustrating as opening a single serve string cheese! Each day I have to tell myself the Nike slogan and then put on my Brooks and do it. I will definitely get there.

When Christians fight one another: a disgrace. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Satan greatly approves of our railing at each other, but God does not.” There are more than enough studies out there showing that the Church is in decline and there are also several studies that show one of the greatest contributing factors is the way Christians treat other Christians. Yep. That’s right. The greatest harm to the Church is not from the outside, but from within. Think about it: you see fighting in your home, at work, on the TV, in social media and you think to yourself, “I’ll go to church, because there I will find peace and unity.” But instead of finding peace and unity, you find more upheaval, more of the same, more of the world. Who needs that?! Not me. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” — Brennan Manning.

The Christian is to remain humble. The Christian is to see themselves as the greatest of all sinners and their brothers and sisters as souls to be loved. The Christian is to build up and not tear down. The Christian does not wave a flag, the Christian carries a Cross (a Cross that is for you to be crucified upon so that you might die with Christ and Rise with Christ.) The Christian is a candle in a dark cave, seeking out the lost and showing the way to freedom, fresh air, and The True Light.

“Finally, brothers (that includes you sisters, too!), whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me (I was going to delete that bit, because it is not always what you see in me) practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)

My goodness! He went and got all preachy on us.

What I learned today (and have known, but wanted to say): I also believe in miracles.

Thought for the day:

St. Teresa of Calcutta

“These are the few ways we can practice humility:
To speak as little as possible of one’s self.
To mind one’s own business.
Not to want to manage other people’s affairs.
To avoid curiosity.
To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
To pass over the mistakes of others.
To accept insults and injuries.
To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
Never to stand on one’s dignity.
To choose always the hardest.”

Blog at WordPress.com.