A Prayer by Walter Brueggemann (C) - slightly adapted for our circumstances from "Prayers for a Privileged People"
Springtime . . . when the living is easy.
We take our ease, even amid terrorism. The threat is mostly remote, and the war in Iraq (or Afghanistan or Sudan or . . . ) scarcely calls us in our privilege to attention.
And then, right in the middle of our easy living, the news breaks: an influenza outbreak.
There is sickness, death and it continues to spread.
We experience a sinking sense that the world is not safe, that our life is not free of threat, and we wonder where and when next will come assault on our well-arranged lives.
We turn to you, partly out of need, partly out of habit, partly out of trust.
We know you to be Creator, who maintains order, Redeemer, who loves us more than we love ourselves. But we are so self-sufficient, we do not easily turn from our ways to yours.
And so amid our trust in you comes our fated self-confidence, our urge to manage, our wish for self-sufficiency.
So we, unsettled in deep ways, want to believe more than we do. But even now we believe enough to know that your good way does not depend on our trust.
So be our God—yet again— this time, and we will be honest in our double-mindedness as we turn to you in our fear. Amen.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
State of CT on the Swine Influenza
From the Connecticut Department of Public Health:
Swine Influenza: What Connecticut Residents Need To Know (PDF)
also check out, the State of Connecticut's Pandemic Flu Task Force site:
CT Flu Watch
to keep up to date on happenings in Connecticut.
As of now, no changes in our normal Sunday worship for this Sunday.
Swine Influenza: What Connecticut Residents Need To Know (PDF)
also check out, the State of Connecticut's Pandemic Flu Task Force site:
CT Flu Watch
to keep up to date on happenings in Connecticut.
As of now, no changes in our normal Sunday worship for this Sunday.
Keeping it in perspective...
Managing Your Anxiety about Swine Flu
from the American Psychological Association
from the American Psychological Association
The sudden and near-constant stream of news reports about swine flu can cause anyone to feel anxious and worried. These reactions are understandable because there are unknowns about the spread and severity of the illness. Even during this period of uncertainty, you can take several steps to manage your anxiety and have a positive outlook.
- Keep things in perspective.
- Get the facts.
- Maintain a hopeful outlook.
- Stay healthy.
- Build resilience.
- Have a plan.
- Communicate with your children.
- Keep connected.
- Seek additional help.
Swine Flu Outbreak
Having watched the news and read stories online, I am reminded that we are dealing with a new flu strain that we are just learning about but there is no need to panic or to lock myself in a room alone.
Precautions and proper hygiene are always essential and during this outbreak, very necessary to help protect myself and others.
The flu has come to Connecticut, see these CT Post articles:
Stratford man likely victim of swine flu
Southbury man is 'probable' swine flu case
Of course, the flu can always be deadly, see this CNN article:
Regular flu has killed thousands since January
What are we doing in the Church to plan and prepare? I am visiting these sites and gathering info.:
Planning for Pandemic Influenza (Episcopal Relief & Development)
Pandemic Influenza Planning for Parishes.pdf (National Episcopal Health Ministries)
Preparedness Plan for Pandemic.pdf (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Davenport, Iowa)
Emergency/Pandemic Planning Powerpoint (Anglican Diocese of Niagara)
as well as...
www.cdc.gov
www.redcross.org
Precautions and proper hygiene are always essential and during this outbreak, very necessary to help protect myself and others.
The flu has come to Connecticut, see these CT Post articles:
Stratford man likely victim of swine flu
Southbury man is 'probable' swine flu case
Of course, the flu can always be deadly, see this CNN article:
Regular flu has killed thousands since January
What are we doing in the Church to plan and prepare? I am visiting these sites and gathering info.:
Planning for Pandemic Influenza (Episcopal Relief & Development)
Pandemic Influenza Planning for Parishes.pdf (National Episcopal Health Ministries)
Preparedness Plan for Pandemic.pdf (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Davenport, Iowa)
Emergency/Pandemic Planning Powerpoint (Anglican Diocese of Niagara)
as well as...
www.cdc.gov
www.redcross.org
Swine Flu: Top 12 answers you need to know
Answered by infectious disease expert Charles Ericsson, M.D., professor of internal medicine and director of Travel Medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
1. How do symptoms of swine flu differ from other types of flu? None, really, although this flu might include gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea and vomiting), as well as the usual respiratory symptoms. The basic symptoms may include: fever (100°F+), sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, chills, headache and body aches, fatigue.
2. If I felt flu-like, how would I know if I had swine flu? Swine flu is identified through a respiratory specimen taken within the first 4-5 days and sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is best not to report to the hospital, clinic or doctor's office, where you could risk spreading the disease. Again, call your doctor first to get instructions as to what you need to do next.
3. How long are people contagious? Adults are potentially contagious for the length of time one has symptoms, up to 7 days following the beginning of illness. Children can be considered contagious longer, up to 10 days. The initial incubation period is 24-48 hours.
4. Is there medication for this? Yes, although there is no vaccine, there are four anti-viral drugs commonly used to treat various strains of flu. Tamiflu or Relenza have shown to be effective against recently reported strains of swine flu. Prophylactic (preventative) use of anti-virals is not recommended. Previous vaccines for swine flu you might have taken would provide incomplete protection at best.
5. What are emergency warning signs of complications? Emergency warning signs in children are: Fast breathing or trouble breathing, bluish skin color, not drinking enough fluids, not waking up or interacting, being very irritable, fever with a rash, Emergency warning signs in adults are: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness, confusion, severe or persistent vomiting.
6. Can I catch it from pigs or from eating pork? No and absolutely not.
7. Can it kill me? Deaths have been reported from the Mexico City outbreak but so far, cases reported in the US have been mild and no deaths have been reported (as of April 27, 2009).
8. Should I cancel my vacation to Mexico? Check frequently with the CDC Web site for possible Travel Alerts.None of the more than 4,000 flights to Mexico from the US have been canceled as of this writing. However, some international airports in Europe and Asia are stepping up precautions and issuing alerts.
9. What if I'm on a plane? Should I wear a mask? Not necessary. The air on a plane is filtered.
10. How long does the germ live on surfaces, like on my desk if someone sneezes in my office? Influenza virus survives only minutes on inanimate objects or hands. Influenza is most easily spread by droplets that come into contact with our mucus membranes such as when someone coughs or sneezes in our faces. Good hand washing can diminishing the spread of the disease.
11. What can I do to take care of myself and others? If you are ill, stay home. Control your sneezes and coughs. If you cough into your hand, remember the virus could be live on your hand at least for a few minutes, so wash your hands before touching anyone else. If you get symptoms suggesting the flu, call your doctor. Resist going to the doctor’s office or a hospital to avoid sprading the disease to others.
12. What else can I do? Keep in touch with the most recent CDC messages through the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu
Downloaded from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
1. How do symptoms of swine flu differ from other types of flu? None, really, although this flu might include gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea and vomiting), as well as the usual respiratory symptoms. The basic symptoms may include: fever (100°F+), sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, chills, headache and body aches, fatigue.
2. If I felt flu-like, how would I know if I had swine flu? Swine flu is identified through a respiratory specimen taken within the first 4-5 days and sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is best not to report to the hospital, clinic or doctor's office, where you could risk spreading the disease. Again, call your doctor first to get instructions as to what you need to do next.
3. How long are people contagious? Adults are potentially contagious for the length of time one has symptoms, up to 7 days following the beginning of illness. Children can be considered contagious longer, up to 10 days. The initial incubation period is 24-48 hours.
4. Is there medication for this? Yes, although there is no vaccine, there are four anti-viral drugs commonly used to treat various strains of flu. Tamiflu or Relenza have shown to be effective against recently reported strains of swine flu. Prophylactic (preventative) use of anti-virals is not recommended. Previous vaccines for swine flu you might have taken would provide incomplete protection at best.
5. What are emergency warning signs of complications? Emergency warning signs in children are: Fast breathing or trouble breathing, bluish skin color, not drinking enough fluids, not waking up or interacting, being very irritable, fever with a rash, Emergency warning signs in adults are: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness, confusion, severe or persistent vomiting.
6. Can I catch it from pigs or from eating pork? No and absolutely not.
7. Can it kill me? Deaths have been reported from the Mexico City outbreak but so far, cases reported in the US have been mild and no deaths have been reported (as of April 27, 2009).
8. Should I cancel my vacation to Mexico? Check frequently with the CDC Web site for possible Travel Alerts.None of the more than 4,000 flights to Mexico from the US have been canceled as of this writing. However, some international airports in Europe and Asia are stepping up precautions and issuing alerts.
9. What if I'm on a plane? Should I wear a mask? Not necessary. The air on a plane is filtered.
10. How long does the germ live on surfaces, like on my desk if someone sneezes in my office? Influenza virus survives only minutes on inanimate objects or hands. Influenza is most easily spread by droplets that come into contact with our mucus membranes such as when someone coughs or sneezes in our faces. Good hand washing can diminishing the spread of the disease.
11. What can I do to take care of myself and others? If you are ill, stay home. Control your sneezes and coughs. If you cough into your hand, remember the virus could be live on your hand at least for a few minutes, so wash your hands before touching anyone else. If you get symptoms suggesting the flu, call your doctor. Resist going to the doctor’s office or a hospital to avoid sprading the disease to others.
12. What else can I do? Keep in touch with the most recent CDC messages through the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu
Downloaded from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Influenza (Flu) Prevention Advice
“There is a huge difference between preparedness and paranoia,” says Dr. Robert Emery, occupational health expert at the UT School of Public Health at Houston. “Although we’re dealing with a new strain of flu, a set of universally applicable preventive measures exist that can be employed right away by everyone to help stop the spread of this disease”
Proper hand hygiene
There’s a right way and useless way to wash hands—and wash away—micro-organisms. The object is to break down the protective membranes of germs, dislodge them from your hands and let them go down the drain. Plain soap in the right hands is strong stuff.
1. Lather well with a bar of soap or squirt a coin size of liquid soap in the palm of your hand.
2. Vigorously rub your hands together, soap up between your fingers, AND your wrists, front and back for 15 seconds. Sing the first chorus of any song you know and that’ll take you through the 15 seconds.
3. Rinse under warm, RUNNING water. Remember, the object is to dislodge germs. The force of water is key.
4. Dry thoroughly your hands with a disposable towel or under the blower, again, rubbing your hands together.
5. Discard the towel.
If you’re using alcohol-based gels as hand cleansers:
1. Put a dime-sized amount in one hand.
2. Vigorously rub your hands together and in between your fingers until the GEL IS DRY—about 30 seconds. DO NOT touch your face!
3. Once your hands are clean, do not touch your face, nose, eyes or lips.
4. Rubbing your eyes and nose provides a freeway for micro-organisms and good breeding ground once they’ve arrived.
Cover your cough
1. If you must cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with a tissue, your sleeve or your hand.
2. Throw the tissue away in a waste basket. Do not leave discarded tissues on your desk or other surfaces.
3. Then, wash you hands thoroughly.
The throw-it-away part is essential. Micro-organisms live a life span from a few seconds to days on inanimate surfaces such as desks, table tops, faucets…tissues. If your tissues are scattered on your coffee table, they then are in contact with community surfaces. Both the tissues and the surface it sits on can spread germs to the person who touches the coffee table.
If you feel sick:
1. If you begin to feel ill: feverish, achy, have a dry, painful cough, sore throat, go home from school or work and call your health care provider for further instructions.
2. If you feel sick with flu-like symptoms and you care for the very young or the very elderly or the chronically ill, inform your health care provider when you call their office.
3. If you have recently traveled to Mexico or to one of the areas worldwide that has reported a swine flu outbreak, inform your health care provider. He or she may prefer to treat you with prescription anti-viral medications from home, or may request that you come in for a visit. Follow instructions from your health care providers.
Downloaded from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Proper hand hygiene
There’s a right way and useless way to wash hands—and wash away—micro-organisms. The object is to break down the protective membranes of germs, dislodge them from your hands and let them go down the drain. Plain soap in the right hands is strong stuff.
1. Lather well with a bar of soap or squirt a coin size of liquid soap in the palm of your hand.
2. Vigorously rub your hands together, soap up between your fingers, AND your wrists, front and back for 15 seconds. Sing the first chorus of any song you know and that’ll take you through the 15 seconds.
3. Rinse under warm, RUNNING water. Remember, the object is to dislodge germs. The force of water is key.
4. Dry thoroughly your hands with a disposable towel or under the blower, again, rubbing your hands together.
5. Discard the towel.
If you’re using alcohol-based gels as hand cleansers:
1. Put a dime-sized amount in one hand.
2. Vigorously rub your hands together and in between your fingers until the GEL IS DRY—about 30 seconds. DO NOT touch your face!
3. Once your hands are clean, do not touch your face, nose, eyes or lips.
4. Rubbing your eyes and nose provides a freeway for micro-organisms and good breeding ground once they’ve arrived.
Cover your cough
1. If you must cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with a tissue, your sleeve or your hand.
2. Throw the tissue away in a waste basket. Do not leave discarded tissues on your desk or other surfaces.
3. Then, wash you hands thoroughly.
The throw-it-away part is essential. Micro-organisms live a life span from a few seconds to days on inanimate surfaces such as desks, table tops, faucets…tissues. If your tissues are scattered on your coffee table, they then are in contact with community surfaces. Both the tissues and the surface it sits on can spread germs to the person who touches the coffee table.
If you feel sick:
1. If you begin to feel ill: feverish, achy, have a dry, painful cough, sore throat, go home from school or work and call your health care provider for further instructions.
2. If you feel sick with flu-like symptoms and you care for the very young or the very elderly or the chronically ill, inform your health care provider when you call their office.
3. If you have recently traveled to Mexico or to one of the areas worldwide that has reported a swine flu outbreak, inform your health care provider. He or she may prefer to treat you with prescription anti-viral medications from home, or may request that you come in for a visit. Follow instructions from your health care providers.
Downloaded from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
How NOT to be Jesus...
{I am just not sure how he was trying to live like Jesus.}
Naked man arrested at Stratford beach
By Daniel Tepfer, Staff writer CT Post, 04/27/2009
STRATFORD -- A local man, who told police he was reliving the life of Jesus, was taken into custody for being nude Sunday on Short Beach.
Police received complaints from several beachgoers enjoying the unseasonably warm temperatures that a man was lying naked on the beach.
Angelo Dicks, 31, of Gregory Circle, was allegedly lying nude on the sand close to a number of families with young children, according to officers sent to the scene.
When Dicks was told that nudity is not allowed on the public beach, he allegedly responded that he was imitating Jesus, adding that he did not want to have a bikini line.
After refusing to get dressed and leave the beach, Dicks was arrested after a brief struggle with officers.
He was charged with risk of injury to a minor, breach of peace and interfering with police.
He was released after posting $5,000 bond.
Prayers in this time of Influenza Outbreak
As we watch and wait to see if this Swine Flu outbreak turns into a Pandemic, we can offer prayers during these difficult days:
We give you thanks and praise, O God of compassion, for the Heroic witness of those who in this time of plague and pestilence, are steadfast in their care for the sick and the dying, and loved not their own lives, even unto death. Inspire in us a like love and commitment to those in need, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (adapted from the prayer for the Martyrs of Memphis, Lesser Feasts & Fasts)
We humbly beseech you, O Gracious Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities, on those suffering from the Swine Flu; and, for the glory of your Name, turn from us this pestilence and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in your mercy, and evermore serve you in holiness and pureness of living, to your honor and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (adapted from the Book of Common Prayer)
O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers for all those suffering during this Swine Flu outbreak, and grant to your servants the help of your power, that their sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (from the Book of Common Prayer)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sermon: April 26
In the summer of 92, I led a youth backpacking trip in Michigan:
· weather was beautiful
· terrain was hilly and covered with trees
· the second day of the trip: we emerged from the forest, the trail went straight through a clear-cut or I should say disappeared into the clear-cut.
The trees that marked the path were gone. The ground had become overgrown with brambles and thorns and was uneven with the remnant of the tracks torn into ground to clear the forest. A terrible experience: · bruised and cut from the thorns and brambles · outdated maps to find our next campsite · three more clear-cuts · my co-leader broke her ankle in the last one. I remember thanking God at the end of the trip because there were no more clear-cuts to walk.
As I reflect on this experience now, I think of the scars on that piece of earth from the need to harvest all the trees and pave the way for Natural Gas. That dead forest was a sad area to walk through and it was not made for hiking. In those scars I walked through, I now see the print of the nails on Jesus hands and feet...
We might think that the environment and Jesus have nothing in common that Earth Day & Arbor Day, both events this week, have no connection to the Church. And yet we believe God came in the flesh, God came down to earth in Jesus. The same God who made us in God's image in the midst of creation, made us out of the dust of earth. Material things like the earth are connected to our own being.
In an early apocryphal gospel, the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus put it this way: "I am the light that is over all, I am the universe; the universe has gone out of me, and the universe has returned to me again. Split a piece of wood and I am there, lift up the stone and you will find me there." Hearing this, I think of John's Gospel that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
What this means to me about our relationship with nature, is that what we do to the earth, we do to Christ, in the same way what we do to others, we do to Christ. It is how we live in this world, on this fragile planet, our island home. As we move further and further from an agrarian society, I believe we are losing more and more of our connection to nature, to the environment. Too often we think of subduing the land and having dominion over the animals as if we were the owners of all this property rather than the tenants of a sacred bond.
Today, we live in a throw away society; once we get rid of it, its out of sight and its out of mind. We forget the landfills, the dumps that hold our garbage, our waste, all that we throw away. Often on a large scale we do not see the harm being done to different ecosystems by our constant need for wood, oil, coal, gas, chemicals, etc. Certainly no one thought of the consequences of the clear cuts that I hiked through. No seedlings, no trees were planted to replace all the trees that were cut down. The natural habitat that the animals, insects, and even us hikers lived in, was destroyed, replaced by something that provided only pain and discomfort. I see the hammers and the blood in that place, and wonder if anyone else hears the screams in that forest...
This is not to say that other places and companies are not practicing good stewardship of the land, good conservation methods, or that all the land must remain untouched. We are called to live lives of meaning, lives that are filled with the life of Christ but we cannot fully do so if we ravage our planet to fulfill our lavish needs. In the midst of this, resurrection happens. New life does begin. Earth Day, Arbor Day and Easter are connected. I've seen it.
We may not be like the original disciples, having come to believe in Jesus seeing him rise from the dead, but every day in the people we meet and in the environment we live in, Jesus is there waiting for us to notice, standing there in our midst, saying Peace. Look in the faces of family and neighbor, Jesus is there. Split the wood, lift up the rock, Jesus is there.
Walk through a clear-cut, help clean up sea animals caught in an oil slick, take a look at a toxic dump, see the scarred land from over development, and there you will find Jesus, and there you will find the wounds held out for us to see. The same selfishness, greed, indifference and violence that put Christ on the cross two thousand years ago still exists, it pollutes our land and it affects the environment, where we have lost our connection and we tend to ignore its effects. By ignoring it, we leave Christ on the cross, and the planet to suffer.
We can't wall ourselves off from the hurting environment or lock ourselves away from the nature of which we are a part. Jesus comes to us through locked doors to reveal his presence to us. And Jesus calls us out to live in his name, among the people God has created, on this our island home, all part of God’s creation. Its up to us to clean up this land, to take up our part, to give our voice to the hurting land, to speak out for something that has no voice of its own, to seek out a way to be good stewards of the gift that we have been given, so that our children and our children's children will have this land to live in and enjoy.
There should be no more burning rivers, no more toxins dumped into the environment, no more clear-cuts. This is not about profits or economic costs, this is about the cost to us, and our willingness to forget that how we live honors or dishonors the God who created us. We are an Easter people, we celebrate that Christ died for us and rose again and that through him, we have new life...
In this new life we are called to be good stewards of the animals and the land given into our care. Think about what can you do in your household, in this town, in the places you frequent. What do you have to say to our elected leaders? to companies? What do you have to say to the land? Today lets plant a few trees and seedlings, in clear-cuts, lets pick up the litter in this town, let's recycle our waste, and let's truly celebrate God's creation and celebrate the resurrection. Alleluia! Amen.
· weather was beautiful
· terrain was hilly and covered with trees
· the second day of the trip: we emerged from the forest, the trail went straight through a clear-cut or I should say disappeared into the clear-cut.
The trees that marked the path were gone. The ground had become overgrown with brambles and thorns and was uneven with the remnant of the tracks torn into ground to clear the forest. A terrible experience: · bruised and cut from the thorns and brambles · outdated maps to find our next campsite · three more clear-cuts · my co-leader broke her ankle in the last one. I remember thanking God at the end of the trip because there were no more clear-cuts to walk.
As I reflect on this experience now, I think of the scars on that piece of earth from the need to harvest all the trees and pave the way for Natural Gas. That dead forest was a sad area to walk through and it was not made for hiking. In those scars I walked through, I now see the print of the nails on Jesus hands and feet...
We might think that the environment and Jesus have nothing in common that Earth Day & Arbor Day, both events this week, have no connection to the Church. And yet we believe God came in the flesh, God came down to earth in Jesus. The same God who made us in God's image in the midst of creation, made us out of the dust of earth. Material things like the earth are connected to our own being.
In an early apocryphal gospel, the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus put it this way: "I am the light that is over all, I am the universe; the universe has gone out of me, and the universe has returned to me again. Split a piece of wood and I am there, lift up the stone and you will find me there." Hearing this, I think of John's Gospel that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
What this means to me about our relationship with nature, is that what we do to the earth, we do to Christ, in the same way what we do to others, we do to Christ. It is how we live in this world, on this fragile planet, our island home. As we move further and further from an agrarian society, I believe we are losing more and more of our connection to nature, to the environment. Too often we think of subduing the land and having dominion over the animals as if we were the owners of all this property rather than the tenants of a sacred bond.
Today, we live in a throw away society; once we get rid of it, its out of sight and its out of mind. We forget the landfills, the dumps that hold our garbage, our waste, all that we throw away. Often on a large scale we do not see the harm being done to different ecosystems by our constant need for wood, oil, coal, gas, chemicals, etc. Certainly no one thought of the consequences of the clear cuts that I hiked through. No seedlings, no trees were planted to replace all the trees that were cut down. The natural habitat that the animals, insects, and even us hikers lived in, was destroyed, replaced by something that provided only pain and discomfort. I see the hammers and the blood in that place, and wonder if anyone else hears the screams in that forest...
This is not to say that other places and companies are not practicing good stewardship of the land, good conservation methods, or that all the land must remain untouched. We are called to live lives of meaning, lives that are filled with the life of Christ but we cannot fully do so if we ravage our planet to fulfill our lavish needs. In the midst of this, resurrection happens. New life does begin. Earth Day, Arbor Day and Easter are connected. I've seen it.
We may not be like the original disciples, having come to believe in Jesus seeing him rise from the dead, but every day in the people we meet and in the environment we live in, Jesus is there waiting for us to notice, standing there in our midst, saying Peace. Look in the faces of family and neighbor, Jesus is there. Split the wood, lift up the rock, Jesus is there.
Walk through a clear-cut, help clean up sea animals caught in an oil slick, take a look at a toxic dump, see the scarred land from over development, and there you will find Jesus, and there you will find the wounds held out for us to see. The same selfishness, greed, indifference and violence that put Christ on the cross two thousand years ago still exists, it pollutes our land and it affects the environment, where we have lost our connection and we tend to ignore its effects. By ignoring it, we leave Christ on the cross, and the planet to suffer.
We can't wall ourselves off from the hurting environment or lock ourselves away from the nature of which we are a part. Jesus comes to us through locked doors to reveal his presence to us. And Jesus calls us out to live in his name, among the people God has created, on this our island home, all part of God’s creation. Its up to us to clean up this land, to take up our part, to give our voice to the hurting land, to speak out for something that has no voice of its own, to seek out a way to be good stewards of the gift that we have been given, so that our children and our children's children will have this land to live in and enjoy.
There should be no more burning rivers, no more toxins dumped into the environment, no more clear-cuts. This is not about profits or economic costs, this is about the cost to us, and our willingness to forget that how we live honors or dishonors the God who created us. We are an Easter people, we celebrate that Christ died for us and rose again and that through him, we have new life...
In this new life we are called to be good stewards of the animals and the land given into our care. Think about what can you do in your household, in this town, in the places you frequent. What do you have to say to our elected leaders? to companies? What do you have to say to the land? Today lets plant a few trees and seedlings, in clear-cuts, lets pick up the litter in this town, let's recycle our waste, and let's truly celebrate God's creation and celebrate the resurrection. Alleluia! Amen.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monroe historian seeks to preserve the past
The power had been cut to the Harral-Wheeler Mansion on Golden Hill in Bridgeport. In the darkness of the grand, Gothic-style house, Edward Nichols Coffey, then 19, armed with a flashlight, stood guard.
"I was one of a group of people trying to save the mansion," Coffey, now 70 and Monroe's town historian, said recalling that time in 1958. "But, at 2 a.m., some days later, the wrecking ball came."
He said he also testified before the state Legislature to press for preserving the grand house. It was willed to the city by Archer Wheeler, when he died in 1956. He was an heir to the Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine factory fortune.
The castle-like house with pinnacles and towers had been built in 1848 by Henry Harral, a city mayor, who died in 1854 of tuberculosis. Wheeler's father, Nathaniel Wheeler who created the sewing machine factory in Bridgeport in 1856, bought the house in 1866.
"Sam Tedesco had promised to save the mansion when he campaigned for mayor in 1957," Coffey said. " But, a week after he took office after beating Mayor Jasper McLevy in his re-election bid, Tedesco ordered its demolition."
All that is left of the mansion today, aside from renderings and photos, is a reconstructed bedroom in the Smithsonian and part of a parlor preserved in the Barnum Museum.
Coffey said this whole episode left a permanent impression on him that led him to work in various ways throughout his life to urge people to learn about and respect their past as well as preserve historic buildings.
Read the rest of the article on Town Historian & St. Peter's parishioner, here.
Friday, April 24, 2009
World Malaria Day
One child dies of malaria every 30 seconds in sub-Saharan Africa"I support World Malaria Day. We can rid the world of the scourge of malaria. We have the means. We often lack the political will. Let us reverse this trend and make our world malaria free”
~ Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
St. Peter's Children & Youth through the Church School mite boxes have raised over $130 for Nets for Life, a partnership founded by Episcopal Relief & Development.
You can help too! Visit Nets for Life or Episcopal Relief and Development to give.
To learn more visit: Episcopalians, Anglicans model faith-based anti-malaria partnerships: Malaria Day summit honors work of religious organizations.
Celebrate Arbor Day!
What is Arbor Day?
With Earth Day on Wednesday and Arbor Day today, we have occasions to remind ourselves of the beauty of God's creation and our call to be good stewards of that creation.
"All the trees of the forest sing for joy" (Ps. 96:12)
O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care.
National Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, is celebrated on the last Friday in April.With Earth Day on Wednesday and Arbor Day today, we have occasions to remind ourselves of the beauty of God's creation and our call to be good stewards of that creation.
"All the trees of the forest sing for joy" (Ps. 96:12)
O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Earth Day
On this earth day let us all remember our stewardship of this planet and its resources.
Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Day of Rememberance (Yom HaShoah)
The United States Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our nation's annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust and created the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a permanent living memorial to those victims. In accordance with its Congressional mandate, the Museum is responsible for leading the nation in commemorating the Days of Remembrance, and for encouraging and sponsoring appropriate observances throughout the United States.Observances and remembrance activities can occur during the week of Remembrance that runs from the Sunday before "Yom Hashoah" (Holocaust Remembrance Day) through the following Sunday. Days of Remembrance are observed by state and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, churches, synagogues, and civic centers.
Our prayer:
Almighty God, we remember before you this day those killed during the Holocaust, for the innocents murdered, for those who wrongly used your name to kill, and for those who did not speak up against such injustice. Guide us in our efforts to root out intolerance and prejudice in our world, that we may not make peace with oppression and may stand as witness to those who died. Help us to work towards the day when no one will fall to such a sword. We ask this through him who was executed as a criminal by an oppressive state, Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?
April 19, 2009 Op-Ed Guest Columnist NY Times
It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?
By BONO
It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?
By BONO
I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport. I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday.
“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea. Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year.
The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ... Carnival — rock stars are good at that.
Read the rest here.
“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea. Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year.
The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ... Carnival — rock stars are good at that.
Read the rest here.
Save Darfur & Practicing Resurrection
Go to: www.savedarfur.org
Around the country and across the globe, the Save Darfur Coalition is inspiring action, raising awareness and speaking truth to power on behalf of the people of Darfur. Working with world leaders, we are demanding an end to the genocide, and our efforts are getting results.
The key to our success is the millions of everyday citizens who have joined our movement. With you and other committed activists by our side, we will end the genocide.
We are an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. The Coalition’s member organizations represent 130 million people of all ages, races, religions and political affiliations united together to help the people of Darfur.
That is one way to practice resurrection.
Holy One, Help me to know how to respond to the violence and pain and suffering in Darfur. I want to close my mind and heart, to not know. But I do know. With this knowledge, give me the courage to act. Fill me with your hope and your love. Blow through this country with the wind of justice and keep your people disturbed and restless until they join in a great cry for an end to the killing. Help those who are suffering to know they are not forgotten. And change the hearts of all who act from greed or hatred or fear. Help us to know how to join in your great transforming love. Amen.
To learn about other ways to practice resurrection, visit here.
That is one way to practice resurrection.
Holy One, Help me to know how to respond to the violence and pain and suffering in Darfur. I want to close my mind and heart, to not know. But I do know. With this knowledge, give me the courage to act. Fill me with your hope and your love. Blow through this country with the wind of justice and keep your people disturbed and restless until they join in a great cry for an end to the killing. Help those who are suffering to know they are not forgotten. And change the hearts of all who act from greed or hatred or fear. Help us to know how to join in your great transforming love. Amen.
To learn about other ways to practice resurrection, visit here.
2nd Sunday of Easter: Sermon
Remember when you were scared as a kid, hiding under the covers. The covers were comforting as you hid from the danger, from whatever scared you. Having just read “A Nightmare in my Closet” to Rowan & Hannah, I was reminded of this. Of course, as we grow up, we no longer hide under the covers, but we do still hide from what we fear, and fear can control a 7 year old as it can control a 37 year old, as it can a 70 year old.
Just ask the disciples. They locked themselves away. They feared being caught, jailed, and even crucified. Hidden away they could not proclaim their faith. Hidden away they could not live out their faith. They had effectively covered themselves with a blanket in that locked room. Its not that they hadn’t heard the Good News, Mary Magdalene had already told them that she had seen the risen Lord and what Jesus had told her.
Did they believe her? Did they doubt the resurrection? Whatever it was, they couldn’t practice resurrection, they couldn’t celebrate, they couldn’t let go for fear had a hold of them. But they never guessed it would be Jesus who would end that fear, for Jesus burst into their midst, standing among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Peace. Something the disciples had not known for days after the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. Peace. It was an unexpected gift, much like the resurrection, and to remove any doubt, Jesus shows his wounds and the disciples rejoice and they begin to feel that peace. But his peace is not just a sit and be quiet sort of peace, this is a peace that is full of go and do. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus presence helps set them free from their fear, and it begins their ministry in the world. Jesus sends them out of their locked, fear full rooms, and into the world. This morning, Jesus comes into our lives this Easter, bursting into our locked rooms, letting his light on our fears. Peace he says to you and me; and we no longer need that security blanket, for God is with us, calling us to go forth.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: “Strange, that again and again, precisely in the hour we most ardently hope for Jesus' presence, we lock the door to him in fear of many other things. But far more wonderful, that Jesus does not let himself be hindered by those locked doors. The resurrected one does not let himself be held up by humanity on his way to humanity.”
Jesus will not be held back by our fears or locked doors, he still comes into our lives. That is where faith comes into play, for it is our faith that can help us at did the disciples to overcome our fears. But Jesus not only gives them peace, he gives them the Holy Spirit, breathing on them and helping them feel that God is fully present with them in that moment and as they go forth. It is the same Spirit we are given at Baptism that still surrounds us today, a Spirit that will not let our faith sit still or stay in fear.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “Mere waiting and looking on is not Christian behavior. Christians are called to compassion and action.”
We are called to love and act, for the peace that Jesus gives is a peace that also sends us out. Each and every week, we are fed here spiritually and sometimes if you go to Coffee Hour, your also fed there too, and then we go back into the world to pass on what we have received here. For Church isn’t just about our own feeding so we can feel good about ourselves, but God is in our midst to lift us up out of what we fear, so we in turn can lift others, to look around and practice resurrection.
Tomorrow is Yom Ha Shoah, the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust when we remember the 6 million Jews and others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis in WW II. But that call to remember is also to be a witness for today and to act now to prevent it from ever happening again. It is another way for us to practice resurrection wherever we may be.
For a nurse from Massachusetts, she went to Darfur in Sudan to work among the victims of a current genocide. “She wrote to her friends back home that, despite the all horrors she had seen, she never cried until one day three months into her tour. She and her nutrition team had just made porridge. The children were called to eat. Two brothers, five and two, caught her attention. After washing, in silence, they scraped the plate clean and then allowed the worker to wash their hands and faces again. Then the five-year-old stooped down to let his little brother climb on his back and, silently, the two went off to play. That's when the tears came. The nurse writes: "I watched the kids eat porridge and thought, do children at home even eat porridge anymore? And if they do, how much do they complain about it first. Perhaps they want Cocoa Puffs or Sugar Bears or 'something else.' And I realized I had witnessed one of the realities for the children in Darfur. Eating will never be about choice; it will always be about opportunity. This realization seemed amplified by their silence. They never said a word. I noticed the silence, and it filled me with deep sadness ... it was the intensity of the silence that was so disturbing. A fear that perhaps, if they made any noise or moved too quickly, the food would disappear or the provider would change their mind and take the food away. A learned reaction to a desperation that I never knew as a child and will never truly understand."
["When the tears came" by Grace M. Deveney, The Boston Globe, December 21, 2004.]
If we stay inaccessible in our own world, overwhelmed by our anxieties and everyday struggles, we can become paralyzed by fear. But in the outrageously Good News of Easter, God in Jesus calls us to see beyond our own fears, to move beyond our locked rooms, to take off the covers and to acknowledge the blessings we have received and the blessings we have to share, to see in this Eastertide that God is still with us, calling us to go forth & to act on those blessings & practice resurrection (in Sudan, in Monroe, wherever we may be). Amen.
Just ask the disciples. They locked themselves away. They feared being caught, jailed, and even crucified. Hidden away they could not proclaim their faith. Hidden away they could not live out their faith. They had effectively covered themselves with a blanket in that locked room. Its not that they hadn’t heard the Good News, Mary Magdalene had already told them that she had seen the risen Lord and what Jesus had told her.
Did they believe her? Did they doubt the resurrection? Whatever it was, they couldn’t practice resurrection, they couldn’t celebrate, they couldn’t let go for fear had a hold of them. But they never guessed it would be Jesus who would end that fear, for Jesus burst into their midst, standing among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Peace. Something the disciples had not known for days after the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. Peace. It was an unexpected gift, much like the resurrection, and to remove any doubt, Jesus shows his wounds and the disciples rejoice and they begin to feel that peace. But his peace is not just a sit and be quiet sort of peace, this is a peace that is full of go and do. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus presence helps set them free from their fear, and it begins their ministry in the world. Jesus sends them out of their locked, fear full rooms, and into the world. This morning, Jesus comes into our lives this Easter, bursting into our locked rooms, letting his light on our fears. Peace he says to you and me; and we no longer need that security blanket, for God is with us, calling us to go forth.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: “Strange, that again and again, precisely in the hour we most ardently hope for Jesus' presence, we lock the door to him in fear of many other things. But far more wonderful, that Jesus does not let himself be hindered by those locked doors. The resurrected one does not let himself be held up by humanity on his way to humanity.”
Jesus will not be held back by our fears or locked doors, he still comes into our lives. That is where faith comes into play, for it is our faith that can help us at did the disciples to overcome our fears. But Jesus not only gives them peace, he gives them the Holy Spirit, breathing on them and helping them feel that God is fully present with them in that moment and as they go forth. It is the same Spirit we are given at Baptism that still surrounds us today, a Spirit that will not let our faith sit still or stay in fear.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “Mere waiting and looking on is not Christian behavior. Christians are called to compassion and action.”
We are called to love and act, for the peace that Jesus gives is a peace that also sends us out. Each and every week, we are fed here spiritually and sometimes if you go to Coffee Hour, your also fed there too, and then we go back into the world to pass on what we have received here. For Church isn’t just about our own feeding so we can feel good about ourselves, but God is in our midst to lift us up out of what we fear, so we in turn can lift others, to look around and practice resurrection.
Tomorrow is Yom Ha Shoah, the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust when we remember the 6 million Jews and others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis in WW II. But that call to remember is also to be a witness for today and to act now to prevent it from ever happening again. It is another way for us to practice resurrection wherever we may be.
For a nurse from Massachusetts, she went to Darfur in Sudan to work among the victims of a current genocide. “She wrote to her friends back home that, despite the all horrors she had seen, she never cried until one day three months into her tour. She and her nutrition team had just made porridge. The children were called to eat. Two brothers, five and two, caught her attention. After washing, in silence, they scraped the plate clean and then allowed the worker to wash their hands and faces again. Then the five-year-old stooped down to let his little brother climb on his back and, silently, the two went off to play. That's when the tears came. The nurse writes: "I watched the kids eat porridge and thought, do children at home even eat porridge anymore? And if they do, how much do they complain about it first. Perhaps they want Cocoa Puffs or Sugar Bears or 'something else.' And I realized I had witnessed one of the realities for the children in Darfur. Eating will never be about choice; it will always be about opportunity. This realization seemed amplified by their silence. They never said a word. I noticed the silence, and it filled me with deep sadness ... it was the intensity of the silence that was so disturbing. A fear that perhaps, if they made any noise or moved too quickly, the food would disappear or the provider would change their mind and take the food away. A learned reaction to a desperation that I never knew as a child and will never truly understand."
["When the tears came" by Grace M. Deveney, The Boston Globe, December 21, 2004.]
If we stay inaccessible in our own world, overwhelmed by our anxieties and everyday struggles, we can become paralyzed by fear. But in the outrageously Good News of Easter, God in Jesus calls us to see beyond our own fears, to move beyond our locked rooms, to take off the covers and to acknowledge the blessings we have received and the blessings we have to share, to see in this Eastertide that God is still with us, calling us to go forth & to act on those blessings & practice resurrection (in Sudan, in Monroe, wherever we may be). Amen.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
What would Jesus tweet?
Trinity Wall Street performs virtual passion play on Twitter
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, April 14, 2009 [Episcopal News Service]
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, April 14, 2009 [Episcopal News Service]
For centuries Christians have re-enacted Christ's death in venues ranging from country churches and outdoor stages to vast cathedrals and concert halls, but perhaps never in the virtual world of social networking. That is, until this past Good Friday, when Trinity Church Wall Street in New York "tweeted" a Passion Play between noon and three o'clock on the social-networking and microblogging site called Twitter.
Twitter allows people to transmit, or "tweet," 140-character messages so that their friends and others who sign up to "follow" them can be updated on their whereabouts, activities and thoughts.
Read the rest of the interesting article here.
Twitter allows people to transmit, or "tweet," 140-character messages so that their friends and others who sign up to "follow" them can be updated on their whereabouts, activities and thoughts.
Read the rest of the interesting article here.
Sadness in Baseball
The beginning of the season has started with much sadness.First, the death of Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher killed in a car accident just hours after he pitched in a game, then legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas died before a game, and now Mark “the Bird” Fidrych a rookie sensation for the Detroit Tigers in 1976 died in an accident on his farm. (I remember The Bird as a child growing up outside of Detroit.)
A sport that loves its traditions, is mourning its own. May they all rest in peace.
Father of all, we pray to you for Nick, Harry and Mark, and for all those whom we love but see no longer. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Prayers for Easter Week
Remember its Easter week and celebrate!
Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer:
Monday in Easter Week
Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we who celebrate with
awe the Paschal feast may be found worthy to attain to
everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.
Tuesday in Easter Week
O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus
Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to
light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may
abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the
Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday in Easter Week
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his
disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith,
that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.
Thursday in Easter Week
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery
established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all
who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body
may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Friday in Easter Week
Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away
the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always
serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus
Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Saturday in Easter Week
We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us
from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the
kingdom of your Son; and we pray that, as by his death he
has recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal
joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer:
Monday in Easter Week
Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we who celebrate with
awe the Paschal feast may be found worthy to attain to
everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.
Tuesday in Easter Week
O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus
Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to
light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may
abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the
Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday in Easter Week
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his
disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith,
that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.
Thursday in Easter Week
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery
established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all
who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body
may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Friday in Easter Week
Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away
the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always
serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus
Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Saturday in Easter Week
We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us
from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the
kingdom of your Son; and we pray that, as by his death he
has recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal
joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Practicing Resurrection
What might Practicing Resurrection look like?Easter: Resurrection as a Spiritual Practice
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, an event many consider to be the centerpiece of their faith. But Easter is more than just a day. What happens when we think of it as a verb? Then the resurrection becomes a spiritual practice in daily life.
Look here for ways to practice resurrection.
Look here for ways to practice resurrection.
Easter Sermon
The preacher was standing at the front door, shaking hands as his parishioners came out. He pulled one man aside and said, "You need to join the Army of the Lord, son!"
"I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor," he replied.
"How come I only see you at Christmas and Easter?" asked the preacher.
"Because I'm in His Secret Service!"
Today, no one is in the secret service for we all called to celebrate and proclaim that Christ is risen! Alleluia! God has shattered the silence of Good Friday, when evil and darkness seemed to have won. We stood by the cross as witnesses on that day but in that prayerful silence we waited and hoped. Now it is God who shouts out new life to our world! God has renewed the earth and this has happened through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Church sees this and proclaims we all must celebrate! We all must proclaim Christ is risen! And for the next 50 days we will celebrate, we will party for Christ who has died, is alive, and we all can live into that new beginning!
As the author Nora Gallagher put it:
"Clearly, on that Easter morning, something happened to Jesus. But something happened to his disciples, too. They went into hiding after the crucifixion but after the news of Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome, and the resurrection appearances, they walked back into the world. They became braver and stronger; they visited strangers; they healed the sick. It’s not only what they saw when they saw Jesus, or how they saw it, but what was set free in them.
What if the life after death Jesus reveals is not a life exclusively for the dead? What if it’s a life available to us all — something that we the living can participate in, too? What if the resurrection is not about the appearances of Jesus alone but also about what those appearances pointed to, what the Risen Jesus asked? The resurrection of Jesus is a resurrection within us, now, in this time and place. A new pattern of events is set free around us, a new way of looking at one another and our world is opened up. It is what we do with this new freedom that matters. We have to practice resurrection."
[Adapted from Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment and Moments of Grace by Nora Gallagher.]
And to practice resurrection means we need to live it in our lives; not keep it as some best kept secret we lock away in our vaults for no one to see. But maybe its not a secret that we keep, but rather we are in awe and fear of the resurrection and we are not sure what to do.
Certainly Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome who went to anoint Jesus were so shocked at the Good news, they fled in terror and amazement…could it be true? He lives? For a time, they kept the news to themselves afraid of what others might say… But we would not be here celebrating if they never told anyone, for they finally did tell Peter and others, and all came to believe that Jesus burst from the tomb, and was indeed risen.
Maybe what we fear is the change in our lives if we truly celebrated and practiced resurrection. If we truly celebrated the resurrection, would people see us as crazy? What would practicing resurrection look like?
The author Megan McKenna tells a story about a time when she was leading a Bible study. She writes,
"Once in a parish mission when I was studying scripture (Luke 7: 11-17) with a large group, someone called out harshly, 'Have you ever brought someone back from the dead?'
My response was 'Yes. Every time I bring hope into a situation, every time I bring joy that shatters despair, every time I forgive others and give them back dignity and the possibility of a future with me and others in the community, every time I listen to others and affirm them and their life, every time I speak the truth in public, every time I confront injustice — yes — I bring people back from the dead.' "
[Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible by Megan McKenna]
From the Bronx in New York City, I hear the words of the Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood on practicing resurrection…
"The reason we're here this morning is not just because a resurrection happened, but because there's one goin' on. Every time I see a brother or sister come to Christ, there's a resurrection goin' on. Every time I see a man put down his bottle, there's a resurrection goin' on. Every time I see someone [a man] go back to school, there's a resurrection goin' on. Every time I see a man hug his son, there's a resurrection goin' on.”
[Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church by Samuel Freedman]
Jesus has brought us new life, new beginnings. It is there for us to live, to experience, to celebrate in our lives. The resurrection is God’s gift of redemption to us. But it is up to us to aceept that gift and then to live it in our lives. We have to make that new start, we have to love, to forgive, to listen, to change, to hope… And we can help bring that resurrection to others who are still living Good Friday lives. Let me end with the poet, Wendell Berry and some more thoughts on living in the light of Easter…
“So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap.
Practice resurrection.”
[Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front from The Country of Marriage, copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry]
Today, tomorrow, for the next 50 days of our Easter celebration and beyond, let us practice resurrection! Amen.
"I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor," he replied.
"How come I only see you at Christmas and Easter?" asked the preacher.
"Because I'm in His Secret Service!"
Today, no one is in the secret service for we all called to celebrate and proclaim that Christ is risen! Alleluia! God has shattered the silence of Good Friday, when evil and darkness seemed to have won. We stood by the cross as witnesses on that day but in that prayerful silence we waited and hoped. Now it is God who shouts out new life to our world! God has renewed the earth and this has happened through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Church sees this and proclaims we all must celebrate! We all must proclaim Christ is risen! And for the next 50 days we will celebrate, we will party for Christ who has died, is alive, and we all can live into that new beginning!
As the author Nora Gallagher put it:
"Clearly, on that Easter morning, something happened to Jesus. But something happened to his disciples, too. They went into hiding after the crucifixion but after the news of Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome, and the resurrection appearances, they walked back into the world. They became braver and stronger; they visited strangers; they healed the sick. It’s not only what they saw when they saw Jesus, or how they saw it, but what was set free in them.
What if the life after death Jesus reveals is not a life exclusively for the dead? What if it’s a life available to us all — something that we the living can participate in, too? What if the resurrection is not about the appearances of Jesus alone but also about what those appearances pointed to, what the Risen Jesus asked? The resurrection of Jesus is a resurrection within us, now, in this time and place. A new pattern of events is set free around us, a new way of looking at one another and our world is opened up. It is what we do with this new freedom that matters. We have to practice resurrection."
[Adapted from Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment and Moments of Grace by Nora Gallagher.]
And to practice resurrection means we need to live it in our lives; not keep it as some best kept secret we lock away in our vaults for no one to see. But maybe its not a secret that we keep, but rather we are in awe and fear of the resurrection and we are not sure what to do.
Certainly Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome who went to anoint Jesus were so shocked at the Good news, they fled in terror and amazement…could it be true? He lives? For a time, they kept the news to themselves afraid of what others might say… But we would not be here celebrating if they never told anyone, for they finally did tell Peter and others, and all came to believe that Jesus burst from the tomb, and was indeed risen.
Maybe what we fear is the change in our lives if we truly celebrated and practiced resurrection. If we truly celebrated the resurrection, would people see us as crazy? What would practicing resurrection look like?
The author Megan McKenna tells a story about a time when she was leading a Bible study. She writes,
"Once in a parish mission when I was studying scripture (Luke 7: 11-17) with a large group, someone called out harshly, 'Have you ever brought someone back from the dead?'
My response was 'Yes. Every time I bring hope into a situation, every time I bring joy that shatters despair, every time I forgive others and give them back dignity and the possibility of a future with me and others in the community, every time I listen to others and affirm them and their life, every time I speak the truth in public, every time I confront injustice — yes — I bring people back from the dead.' "
[Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible by Megan McKenna]
From the Bronx in New York City, I hear the words of the Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood on practicing resurrection…
"The reason we're here this morning is not just because a resurrection happened, but because there's one goin' on. Every time I see a brother or sister come to Christ, there's a resurrection goin' on. Every time I see a man put down his bottle, there's a resurrection goin' on. Every time I see someone [a man] go back to school, there's a resurrection goin' on. Every time I see a man hug his son, there's a resurrection goin' on.”
[Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church by Samuel Freedman]
Jesus has brought us new life, new beginnings. It is there for us to live, to experience, to celebrate in our lives. The resurrection is God’s gift of redemption to us. But it is up to us to aceept that gift and then to live it in our lives. We have to make that new start, we have to love, to forgive, to listen, to change, to hope… And we can help bring that resurrection to others who are still living Good Friday lives. Let me end with the poet, Wendell Berry and some more thoughts on living in the light of Easter…
“So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap.
Practice resurrection.”
[Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front from The Country of Marriage, copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry]
Today, tomorrow, for the next 50 days of our Easter celebration and beyond, let us practice resurrection! Amen.
Monday, April 6, 2009
This I Believe; A Survivor writes...
Read the whole essay here...I believe I’ve survived baby incest.
You wonder how I could remember something that happened to me before I could walk or talk. I wonder, too. I doubt myself.
I come from a crazy family. Just how crazy we were may never have been known to me if my aunt and uncle had not committed suicide when I was 10. Their children were 10, 8, 5 and 2.
This was not my first clue that I come from crazy people, but at least it was verifiable. It was not every day tragedy happened to middle-class people in a small town in the 1960s. It was unthinkable. And it had happened, right here, to us. To my cousins, now orphans. To my mother and father when my mother stepped into the breach and didn’t have a clue. To my sisters and me when our needs were dwarfed by the needs of my traumatized cousins.
Read the rest of this essay here...
Some more prayers for Child Abuse Prevention Month
You gave us to each other, Lord,
In love to live and grow,
One flesh created, giving life,
Delight and trust to know.
With grace for joy and constancy
You bless each human soul,
To mirror your self-giving love,
Make mind and body whole.
But anguished cries now rise to you
From hearts betrayed and shamed,
By lashing tongue and thrusting fist,
And touch unasked, unnamed.
The hands you made for tender care,
Love's openness to tell,
Strip self-esteem, wreak fear and death,
Make home a hidden hell.
Stretch out your nail-marked hands in love,
Make violence to cease;
Heal those whose cruel acts and words
Destroy their loved ones' peace.
Restore the homes deprived of joy,
Deliver those in pain,
Bring justice, liberty from fear,
And hope to live again.
by Anna Briggs
(Found in the SPCK Book of Christian Prayer)
-----------------------------------------------
Jesus, our brother and friend,
look with kindness and compassion
on those who were [sexually] abused.
You see the lost child within
still crying alone in the darkness
where the hidden wounds of childhood
still hurt, and make them afraid.
When they feel abandoned, give them hope,
when they feel ashamed, give them comfort,
when they feel unloved, give them faith,
when they feel betrayed, give them peace.
In the power of your resurrection
may love triumph over fear,
light shine in the darkness,
and the long reign of terror be ended. Amen.
by Tracy Hansen
In love to live and grow,
One flesh created, giving life,
Delight and trust to know.
With grace for joy and constancy
You bless each human soul,
To mirror your self-giving love,
Make mind and body whole.
But anguished cries now rise to you
From hearts betrayed and shamed,
By lashing tongue and thrusting fist,
And touch unasked, unnamed.
The hands you made for tender care,
Love's openness to tell,
Strip self-esteem, wreak fear and death,
Make home a hidden hell.
Stretch out your nail-marked hands in love,
Make violence to cease;
Heal those whose cruel acts and words
Destroy their loved ones' peace.
Restore the homes deprived of joy,
Deliver those in pain,
Bring justice, liberty from fear,
And hope to live again.
by Anna Briggs
(Found in the SPCK Book of Christian Prayer)
-----------------------------------------------
Jesus, our brother and friend,
look with kindness and compassion
on those who were [sexually] abused.
You see the lost child within
still crying alone in the darkness
where the hidden wounds of childhood
still hurt, and make them afraid.
When they feel abandoned, give them hope,
when they feel ashamed, give them comfort,
when they feel unloved, give them faith,
when they feel betrayed, give them peace.
In the power of your resurrection
may love triumph over fear,
light shine in the darkness,
and the long reign of terror be ended. Amen.
by Tracy Hansen
A Prayer for those affected by abuse
Dear God our Creator, we gather because we care about those affected by abuse: women, children, and men. We remember those who have lost their lives to this malfunction of our society. We pray that their souls are now at rest.
We remember children living in homes of domestic violence. Deliver them and protect them from further harm.
We pray for perpetrators, that they may seek help. Help them to relinquish their need to exert power and control.
We remember current victims whose lives are filled with fear and uncertainty, those who are trapped in the psychological cycle of violence and abuse, hope and false love.
We ask that you give them a new vision. Guide them with your wisdom to make sound choices that will lead to new life.
We give thanks to those who dedicate their lives to providing education, shelter, and support, remembering especially Covenant to Care for Children and the Center for Women and Families of Eastern Fairfield County.
Finally, O gracious God, be present with us, restore peace and hope, that we may persevere with your Holy Spirit. In faith we pray, Amen.
Adapted from a prayer written by the Rev. Angela F. Shepherd (from “Women’s Uncommon Prayers")
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and encourage individuals and communities to support children and families.From Covenant to Care for Children's letter to the editor:
Covenant to Care for Children participates in a nation wide tradition of observing April as Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month. We observe the month with many public awareness and education activities across the state involving starting with a statewide prayer offered the first weekend of April. This year Olivet Congregational Church, Bridgeport; Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Monroe St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Simsbury; The Parish of St. Catherine of Sienna, Trumbull; Long Ridge United Methodist Church, Danbury; Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Southbury; St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Monroe; First Congregational Church, Derby; Wilton Congregational Church, Wilton; United Church of Southbury; St. Bridget Church, Manchester; Kensington Congregational Church, Kensington; Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Trumbull; Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford and other faith communities are joining together to offer one prayer that Connecticut has the strength to end child abuse in Connecticut.
You can learn more here (from Covenant to Care for Children), and from their website:
- Remember that children are the future
- Recognize prevention is a shared responsibility
- Raise the issue of prevention
- Reach out to kids and parents
- Recommend ideas that your community can use
- Respond to family crises
The Power of Food
Food for thought!Sara Miles never expected to find herself at an Episcopal church handing out bread, beans, tomatoes, and groceries to crowds of San Franciscans. A lesbian, former atheist, and journalist, Miles had for years been suspicious of church-run charities. Then again, Miles had always been conscious of the power of food to connect people.
While reporting on the mid-1980s insurgency in the Philippines, Miles remembers vividly how a family she encountered en route cooked up fish and corn gruel for her and the group of guerrilla soldiers she traveled with. “Over and over again, I was fed and taken care of by total strangers.”
In 1995, Miles was living in San Francisco and happened into a service at St. Gregory’s Episcopal church in the Mission District. Out of pure curiosity, she took Communion. She recognized something in that moment that resonated with her—strangers handing her bread and wine.
Over the coming months, Miles became a convert and regular church attender. When she stumbled on a pamphlet from the San Francisco Food Bank, she saw an immediate connection between her faith, her activism, and her preoccupation with food. She convinced St. Gregory’s Church to let her start a food pantry.
Read the whole article here. (The Power of Food by Madeline Ostrander)
Our Monroe Food Pantry is here.
Sara's great book is called Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion and you can find it on amazon.com
Sermon: Palm Sunday
Take me out to the Ballgame…
And so it begins again, a time renewed, when every team feels like they can win the pennant. It is quite strange as we begin this Holy Week with the beginning of baseball. It kicks off later today on this Palm Sunday. The Detroit Tigers kick off their home opener on Good Friday with a game at 1 PM. I am not surprised Baseball has games these Holy Days, its just the way the schedule fell. But what should we do? Miss the games?
The Detroit Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg long ago on an October day when Yom Kippur fell on one of the World Series game days, didn't play, he went to synagogue instead. As one observer put it, “Greenberg seemed to have understood that there is more than one calendar in the world, and it is inevitable that their particular observances will sometimes clash. The Tigers' home opener surely was not scheduled to annoy the faithful.” (Harry Cook, Detroit news)
It reminds me that we live in a culture that no longer observes most holidays and the idea of a Holy Week doesn’t fit in with our pluralistic society. Easter is now a fuzzy spring bunny and there is no sense that Good Friday leads to Easter. To observe Holy Week, to let the passion of Jesus infuse our souls, goes against the grain. Most Christians jump from Palm Sunday to Easter, forgetting the three days from Maundy Thursday to Easter. Who wants to hear about suffering and death?
We hear so much about it on the news from Darfur or Afghanistan, even if it seems far removed from our daily lives, we see no Good News there. And without a supportive culture, its hard to live into these days. But live into them we must, if we want to understand the depths of our faith and the meaning for our lives today.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “We need to immerse ourselves over and over again for periods of time and very quietly into the living, speaking, acting, suffering and dying of Jesus, so that we may recognize what God promises and what God fulfills.”
As we listen to the life of Jesus this morning, we hear the echoes of our own lives: great triumphs, betrayal, suffering, and finally death. What had started out so gloriously with the triumphant march into Jerusalem, Jesus riding a donkey with palm branches and people shouting Hosanna! Now comes to its fitful conclusion with betrayal, arrest, beatings, and a cruel death on a cross. It was an end none of his disciples could fully grasp or imagine. They all fled. Save for a faithful few women like Mary Magdalene who watched until the bitter end.
Its hard at times to understand why it all took place in this way, but I think its our difficulty not God’s. Death and life look so very different, but for God they fall into one, for God is with us in both life and death. The idea of suffering is so opposite to our understanding of God and our faith, that sometimes Holy Week just doesn’t make sense. And yet, the whole Holy Week experience reminds us that even God’s own son, suffered just as we do. That suffering is part of our lives, not because God wills us to suffer but because of our own choices that we make and our being mortal creatures that we suffer.
Whether its watching starving children half way across the globe, or being with a family member ill with cancer, we just want to know why. And yet, the feeding of others lies in our hands if we have the will to do it, and we also understand that our bodies will fall ill. Suffering is part of our lives even if we don’t want it to be. Its how we rise up to meet that suffering that dictates its meaning for our lives.
There is an old saying that “what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.” And it is true that we can learn a lot through our suffering and we can become stronger for the difficulties that do lie ahead of us. But as I read an article on-line, I was reminded that that the saying is not always true.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and when it comes to our children, abuse and suffering can lead to permanent disability, what doesn’t kill a child does not make them stronger for Child abuse not only robs children of their childhood but it is needless suffering that we can help prevent. Jesus did not die on that cross so we can stand by and let the little ones suffer, its up to all of us to remember the children, to recognize that prevention is our shared responsibility, to report abuse when we see it, to reach out to isolated neighbors and to those in need around us, and to respond to families in crisis.
The cross beckons us to bear witness to Jesus’ suffering and death and to share in the suffering and to reach out to those experiencing it now.
As Dorothee Soelle put it, “To meditate on the cross means to say good-bye to the narcissistic hope of being free of sickness, deformity and death. Then all the energies wasted on such hopes could become free to answer the call for the battle against suffering.”
That is, our call is to take up our cross and follow Jesus, and to reach out to those who are suffering, to help them feel the abiding presence of God and God’s love through what we do.
It is said that when Hank Greenberg entered the synagogue instead of Tiger Stadium in 1934, the congregation applauded, for he had chosen to honor his faith that day. A poem was written by Edgar Guest:
Came Yom Kippur
holy fast day world wide over to the Jew,
And Hank Greenberg to his teaching
and the old tradition true
Spent the day among his people
and he didn't come to play.
Said Murphy to Mulrooney,
'We shall lose the game today!
We shall miss him on the infield
and shall miss him at the bat
But he's true to his religion
and I honor him for that!
As we once again, enjoy baseball’s opening days, we also must be true to our religion and walk with Jesus in his passion this Holy Week. And to do that we must take the time to live into his experience, from the last supper through the cross and beyond. For it is those experiences that will help our lives understand God’s promise to be with us always and will guide us in helping this suffering world. Amen.
And so it begins again, a time renewed, when every team feels like they can win the pennant. It is quite strange as we begin this Holy Week with the beginning of baseball. It kicks off later today on this Palm Sunday. The Detroit Tigers kick off their home opener on Good Friday with a game at 1 PM. I am not surprised Baseball has games these Holy Days, its just the way the schedule fell. But what should we do? Miss the games?
The Detroit Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg long ago on an October day when Yom Kippur fell on one of the World Series game days, didn't play, he went to synagogue instead. As one observer put it, “Greenberg seemed to have understood that there is more than one calendar in the world, and it is inevitable that their particular observances will sometimes clash. The Tigers' home opener surely was not scheduled to annoy the faithful.” (Harry Cook, Detroit news)
It reminds me that we live in a culture that no longer observes most holidays and the idea of a Holy Week doesn’t fit in with our pluralistic society. Easter is now a fuzzy spring bunny and there is no sense that Good Friday leads to Easter. To observe Holy Week, to let the passion of Jesus infuse our souls, goes against the grain. Most Christians jump from Palm Sunday to Easter, forgetting the three days from Maundy Thursday to Easter. Who wants to hear about suffering and death?
We hear so much about it on the news from Darfur or Afghanistan, even if it seems far removed from our daily lives, we see no Good News there. And without a supportive culture, its hard to live into these days. But live into them we must, if we want to understand the depths of our faith and the meaning for our lives today.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “We need to immerse ourselves over and over again for periods of time and very quietly into the living, speaking, acting, suffering and dying of Jesus, so that we may recognize what God promises and what God fulfills.”
As we listen to the life of Jesus this morning, we hear the echoes of our own lives: great triumphs, betrayal, suffering, and finally death. What had started out so gloriously with the triumphant march into Jerusalem, Jesus riding a donkey with palm branches and people shouting Hosanna! Now comes to its fitful conclusion with betrayal, arrest, beatings, and a cruel death on a cross. It was an end none of his disciples could fully grasp or imagine. They all fled. Save for a faithful few women like Mary Magdalene who watched until the bitter end.
Its hard at times to understand why it all took place in this way, but I think its our difficulty not God’s. Death and life look so very different, but for God they fall into one, for God is with us in both life and death. The idea of suffering is so opposite to our understanding of God and our faith, that sometimes Holy Week just doesn’t make sense. And yet, the whole Holy Week experience reminds us that even God’s own son, suffered just as we do. That suffering is part of our lives, not because God wills us to suffer but because of our own choices that we make and our being mortal creatures that we suffer.
Whether its watching starving children half way across the globe, or being with a family member ill with cancer, we just want to know why. And yet, the feeding of others lies in our hands if we have the will to do it, and we also understand that our bodies will fall ill. Suffering is part of our lives even if we don’t want it to be. Its how we rise up to meet that suffering that dictates its meaning for our lives.
There is an old saying that “what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.” And it is true that we can learn a lot through our suffering and we can become stronger for the difficulties that do lie ahead of us. But as I read an article on-line, I was reminded that that the saying is not always true.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and when it comes to our children, abuse and suffering can lead to permanent disability, what doesn’t kill a child does not make them stronger for Child abuse not only robs children of their childhood but it is needless suffering that we can help prevent. Jesus did not die on that cross so we can stand by and let the little ones suffer, its up to all of us to remember the children, to recognize that prevention is our shared responsibility, to report abuse when we see it, to reach out to isolated neighbors and to those in need around us, and to respond to families in crisis.
The cross beckons us to bear witness to Jesus’ suffering and death and to share in the suffering and to reach out to those experiencing it now.
As Dorothee Soelle put it, “To meditate on the cross means to say good-bye to the narcissistic hope of being free of sickness, deformity and death. Then all the energies wasted on such hopes could become free to answer the call for the battle against suffering.”
That is, our call is to take up our cross and follow Jesus, and to reach out to those who are suffering, to help them feel the abiding presence of God and God’s love through what we do.
It is said that when Hank Greenberg entered the synagogue instead of Tiger Stadium in 1934, the congregation applauded, for he had chosen to honor his faith that day. A poem was written by Edgar Guest:
Came Yom Kippur
holy fast day world wide over to the Jew,
And Hank Greenberg to his teaching
and the old tradition true
Spent the day among his people
and he didn't come to play.
Said Murphy to Mulrooney,
'We shall lose the game today!
We shall miss him on the infield
and shall miss him at the bat
But he's true to his religion
and I honor him for that!
As we once again, enjoy baseball’s opening days, we also must be true to our religion and walk with Jesus in his passion this Holy Week. And to do that we must take the time to live into his experience, from the last supper through the cross and beyond. For it is those experiences that will help our lives understand God’s promise to be with us always and will guide us in helping this suffering world. Amen.
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