June 24 Sermon

In the silence of the stars, In the quiet of the hills, In the heaving of the sea, Speak, Lord.
In the stillness of this room, In the calming of our minds, In the longing of our hearts, Speak, Lord.
In the voice of a friend, In the chatter of a child, In the words of a stranger, Speak, Lord.
In our service of word & sacrament, Speak, Lord, for your servants listen. Amen. 

[adapted from a prayer by David Adam]

Whenever we get to the stories of Jesus & the storms on the Sea of Galilee, I am reminded of the Breton Fisherman’s Prayer who knew something about being fearful as they are tossed about on the sea (a plaque which was presented to JFK & sat on his desk):

'O God thy sea is so great and my boat is so small'

Our lives, our small boats can get thrown off course especially when something surprising arises in the great sea of life.

A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town.  One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk. After a brisk five-mile hike, she decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone.  She hopped in the car, drove to the center of the village and went straight to the combination bakery/ice cream parlor.

There was only one other patron in the store: Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee.  The woman's heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with those famous baby-blue eyes. The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely.

Pull yourself together! She chided herself. You're a happily married woman with three children, you're forty-five years old, not a teenager!

The clerk filled her order and she took the double-dip chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other. Then she went out the door, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman's direction.

When she reached her car, she realized that she had a handful of change but her other hand was empty. Where's my ice cream cone? Did I leave it in the store? Back into the shop she went, expecting to see the cone still in the clerk's hand or in a holder on the counter. No ice-cream cone was in sight.

With that, she happened to look over at Paul Newman. His face broke into his familiar, warm, friendly grin and he said to the woman, 'You put it in your purse.'

That’s a true story.  Sometimes it can be a Paul Newman, but much more often it is something much more traumatic like the death of a loved one, hearing the doctor say it is cancer, losing your job, or even your car breaking down, those unexpected storms that throw our boats off course, that cause us to panic, tossing us off balance and creating much anxiety and even despair in our lives.

Within each of us, though, is the grace of the awakened Jesus in today's Gospel: the wisdom, the patience, the courage to discern the presence of God even amid the storms of tension, fear, anxiety, and tragedy we experience. 

The words Jesus addresses to the storm can just as well be addressed to us and to our hearts: “Peace! Be still!” In the tempests of our lives, like in the reading from Job, we need to hear God’s voice in the midst of the whirlwind which will lead us to the peace and stillness we want; to calm our lives as we navigate our small boats through life's stormy Galilean sea.

This year's Boston Marathon on April 16 was run under brutal conditions: sharp whipping winds, frigid temperatures and torrential rain battered the runners all along the 26-mile-route.

But one runner was determined to finish the race no matter what - even if it took her until the next day to finish. Mary Shertenlieb's story is among the most remarkable stories of this year's marathon.

This was Mary's first marathon ever - a special one because it has been five years since she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. The 42-year-old mother of two decided to run the Boston Marathon to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the renowned treatment and research facility where Mary was a patient.   She also wanted to show others that there is still reason to hope when cancer is diagnosed.

Mary was soaked even before starting the race. About 12 miles into the marathon, the cold began to get to her. Because of her compromised immune system, she'd been warned to stop running if she got this cold. At 13 miles, she ducked into a medical tent, where one of her nurses at Dana-Farber urged her to stop. Her lips were purple and her body shook with chills. But Mary was determined to go on.

"I kept thinking, I've done harder things than this. I've had cancer three times. I can surely, mentally, do this."

So Mary pressed on. At 15.5 miles, she ran into her running companion's father, who took them into a Dunkin' Donuts to warm up. She knew her body couldn't take it anymore. On the verge of tears, she called her husband, Rich. 

Rich had an idea. Why don't they go home and wait for the rain to stop? Mary could take a warm shower and get some real clothes on. Then they would go back to where she stopped and finish the marathon at her own pace, on her own terms.

And that's what they did. At 8 p.m., she and Rich went back to the Dunkin' Donuts and, together, finished the last 10.7 miles of the race - just the two of them, following the trail of orange peels and smashed cups, all the way to Boston. Rich alerted friends and supporters of their plans on social media. Sometimes they trotted, much of it they walked. Just after midnight, they crossed the finish line in downtown Boston, where they were met by police and volunteers and friends and fans.

Mary had already met a $15,000 fundraising goal for Dana-Farber - but when word about her unusual marathon path got out, donations soared beyond $41,000.

Mary said, "It was just overwhelming. I'm not a big crier, but I just burst into tears. I never thought I would feel this happy being in last place! I imagined myself crossing that finish line and I crossed it differently and I crossed it last, but I feel more fulfilled having it this way."

[The Boston Globe; TODAY.com/NBC News.]

In her marathon through the storm, Mary Shertenlieb realized the spirit of Jesus with her in her boat, in her determination to finish the race to raise money for Dana-Farber, in the care and concern of her supporters, in the understanding and resourcefulness of her husband who knew how important it was to her to finish. And she too was giving hope by running that race!

The voice of Jesus speaks to us in the encouragement and support of others calling us beyond the fears, misgivings and doubts that stop us from the abundant life. Jesus speaks in the voices of those who reveal the grace of God's presence in our everyday lives and who challenge us to be the means of that grace for others.   Even if the storms rage around us, may we hear and become Jesus' peace and stillness so we can ride out the grief and hurt and despair to the calm of God. Amen.

Understanding Baptism in the Episcopal Church

From Scott Gunn's blog:

It’s difficult to separate baptism and eucharist, but as this is a gathering focused on baptism, allow me to just say some fairly obvious things our prayer book teaches us about baptism. The catechism says, 

Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God. 

And

The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God’s family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit. 

Let’s pause here and say a few things about four aspects of grace conferred in baptism.

1. Union with Christ in his death and resurrection. There it is, the Paschal mystery. And, yet, I rarely hear mention of the Paschal mystery, let alone sermons about it. Perhaps, if we want to recover some sense of baptismal identity, we would do well to heed St. Paul’s advice a bit more often and preach Christ, and him crucified.
2. Birth into God’s family the Church. Here, the question of “Are you born again?” is settled. Yes, we are born again in our baptism. And in that birth, we are adopted into Christ’s body, the church. It is puzzling to me why some of us continue to wonder about the markers of whether someone is inside our outside the church, when our liturgy and our teaching are so clear. (As an aside, we should absolutely care for and minister to those outside the church, following the example of our Lord Jesus. He fed the multitudes. But he also had high expectations of those who had committed to be his disciples.)
3. Forgiveness of sins. The slate is wiped clean in baptism. To say this is to acknowledge that our slate was covered with sins in the first place. I mention this because a priest I know was recently chastised by her rector for mentioning “sin” in a sermon. “Don’t use that word,” the rector said, “use ‘shortcomings’ instead. It is so off-putting to talk about sin.” If we cannot see our sins, we cannot see our need of redemption. And if we cannot see our need of redemption, it is not surprising that baptism is reduced to a token rite of passage.
4. New life in the Holy Spirit. Here we are reminded that baptism is both by water and by the fire of the Holy Spirit. How can anyone say “nothing is happening” in baptism when the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit descends upon the newly baptized, offering new life in the grace of the Holy Spirit?

Not only does our prayer book insist that something life-changing and world-changing is happening in baptism, but the entire prayer book offers an ecosystem founded in baptismal ecclesiology. You can see it manifest nearly anywhere you look.

Read his whole article.  It will help you with what we believe (theology) of baptism in the Episcopal Church.

An Octave of Prayer for General Convention

From Acts8 Moment:

The Acts 8 Movement invites every member of the Episcopal Church to join us in an Octave of Prayer for General Convention.  For eight days, beginning Sunday, June 24, 2018 through the start of General Convention, we offer a suggestion for a specific prayer intention, as well as a collect you might use.  We hope you will pray at various times of the day, but especially at 5:08 pm. (The number 5 is for the 5th book of the New Testament, the Book of Acts, and 8 is for the 8th chapter.)

June 24, 2018 – Pray for all bishops and deputies

O God, the fountain of wisdom, whose will is good and gracious, and whose law is truth: We beseech you so to guide and bless our deputies N. and N., our bishop(s) N. [and N.], and all deputies and bishops, that they may make wise decisions and enact faithful resolutions that please you, to the glory of your Name and the welfare of this Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

June 25, 2018 – Pray for Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and President Gay Jennings

Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in the 79th General Convention for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it. We pray especially for the leadership of Michael, the Presiding Bishop, and Gay, the President of the House of Deputies, that they may exercise the ministry of leadership wisely and faithfully; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

June 26, 2018 – Pray for the Episcopal Church Center Staff

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, and especially for the officers and staff of the Episcopal Church Center, who serve our church faithfully, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

June 27, 2018 – Pray for all those in Austin who will offer hospitality

Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be served but to serve: bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of others; that with wisdom, patience, and courage, they may minister in his name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the love of him who laid down his life for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

June 28, 2018 – Pray for evangelism

Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

June 29, 2018 – Pray for racial justice and reconciliation

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

June 30, 2018 – Pray for God’s creation

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.

July 1, 2018 – Pray for the mission of the church

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Pray for Convention!

Almighty God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in Austin, TX for the renewal and mission of the Episcopal Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to
pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

#WorldRefugeeDay #RefugeesWelcome

“Our work with and for refugees began when we began to follow Jesus, to follow His way and His teachings.” ~ PB Curry

Join us this #WRD18 in prayer and action in support of our newest neighbors. Support this historic ministry and ensure refugees are welcomed to a haven of safety and opportunity. Give online at http://EpiscopalMigrationMinistries.org/Give  or text “EMM” to 41444.

Learn more here:

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal-migration-ministries

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/video/world-refugee-day-2018

June 17 Sermon

Lead me Lord,
In the paths of peace
In the roads of righteousness
in the ways of commitment.
Lead me Lord,
Down the tracks of thoughtfulness
In the streets of compassion
By the journey of joyfulness.
Lead me Lord, in love, today. Amen. (David Adam, adapted)

We begin our summer journey together through the parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.

Parables are rooted in the images of everyday life in the days of Jesus and yet a parable is “where the ordinary has gone askew and thereby shocks us into realizing that the parable leads us into another way of thinking about life.” (John R. Donahue)

For Jesus is trying to expand our mind, to get us to consider things more deeply - What is the Kingdom of God like?

A sower sewing seed - the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how; but then comes the harvest! A mustard seed – the smallest of seeds – after its sown, it grows & becomes the greatest of all shrubs!

What is the Kingdom of God like? It starts small and then it develops…

In the course of our lives we all have met individuals who radiate an inner light. They make you feel respected and valued, they listen with concern and compassion, they genuinely care for others and the good of all. Their laugh is musical and their manner infused with gratitude.

Even if they don’t know it, they are living into the Kingdom of God that Jesus talked about.

New York Times' columnist David Brooks wrote a few years ago that he has been blessed to meet those who radiate such an inner light and “it brightens my whole day. But I confess I often have a sadder thought: It occurs to me that I’ve achieved a decent level of career success, but I have not achieved that. I have not achieved that generosity of spirit, or that depth of character.”

Brooks has found that there are "two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral - whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love?

"We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important than the résumé ones. But our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character.

"But if you live for external achievement, years pass and the deepest parts of you go unexplored and unstructured. You lack a moral vocabulary. It is easy to slip into a self-satisfied moral mediocrity. You grade yourself on a forgiving curve. You figure as long as you are not obviously hurting anybody and people seem to like you, you must be O.K. But you live with an unconscious boredom, separated from the deepest meaning of life and the highest moral joys…”

So Brooks “set out to discover how those deeply good people got that way… we could say these accomplishments amounted to a moral bucket list…” List includes things like humility, self-control, contentment, enthusiasm, benevolence. He explores this list by using the examples of President Dwight D Eisenhower, Dorothy Day, Frances Perkins (Episcopalian!), and author George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans). “Their lives often follow a pattern of defeat, recognition, redemption. They have moments of pain and suffering. But they turn those moments into occasions of radical self-understanding.”

Good people, Brooks writes, "are made, not born - that the people I admired achieved an unfakeable inner virtue, built slowly from specific moral and spiritual accomplishments." ["The Moral Bucket List" by David Brooks, The New York Times, April 11, 2015.]

Brooks words that “good people are made not born” remind me of Tertullian, a 2nd century Christian theologian who wrote that “Christians are made, not born.”

They are both right. It takes work to be that good person, that Christian, who Jesus calls us to be in this world today. People who grow capable of that deep love and are able to share it.

The Gospel images of the persevering farmer and the tiny mustard seed challenge us to move beyond our own shortcomings and doubts in order to live into the eulogy virtues of humility, selflessness, love and compassion; to radiate the inner light of God's grace to others in our mustard seed-size acts of generosity and understanding.

In our world so full of division and hate, we need to develop our moral bucket list, our faith & virtues, those mustard seeds, and rise up to bring love and help keep families together in our world today.

Christ calls us to embrace the faith of the Gospel farmer and the hope of the mustard seed: to be willing to plant whatever seeds of Gospel hope and compassion that we possess, wherever and whenever we can, in the certain knowledge that it will, in some way, result in a harvest of God's life and love, the Kingdom of God. By such faith, may we possess the grace and wisdom of those in our lives who are a blessing to us, those who have that inner virtue/light and so we in turn can become a blessing to others. Amen.

The Moral Bucket List

The Moral Bucket List

Original Article by David Brooks

A Jewish Perspective

The Moral Bucket List (a response)

and similarly The Second Mountain: The Next Big Challenge in Your Life (Aspen Institute)

and a TED Talk too...

Thinking about Romans 13

In light of the the words from the Attorney General of the United States and the President' press secretary, who both referred to Romans 13 in support of immigration laws & policies that purportedly require the separation of immigrant children from their parents. I found these articles helpful in thinking about what Romans 13 says:

Romans 13: A History of Jeff Sessions's Favorite Verse

Romans 13 and Revelation 13 in a national crisis 

The William Stringfellow Project: Conscience and Obedience 

Sessions cites Bible passage used to defend slavery in defense of separating immigrant families

and also...

Romans 13, N.T. Wright, and a Christian Response to Paris

Suicide Prevention Resources in Connecticut

From WTNH:

Suicide rates are on the rise across the United States according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In Connecticut, rates of this cause of death have climbed between 19-30% from 1999 to 2016 and now labeled as a major public health issue...

News 8 spoke with Dr. Emily McCave MSW, LMSW, a certified mental health first aid trainer and Associate a Professor of Social Work at Quinnipiac University. She has recommended many different steps to take and how to identify warning signs of suicide and suicidal thoughts.

Warning Signs of Suicide:

• Talking about wanting to die
• Looking for a way to kill oneself
• Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose
• Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
• Talking about being a burden to others
• Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs
• Acting anxious, agitated or recklessly
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Withdrawing or feeling isolated
• Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
• Displaying extreme mood swings

The more of these signs a person shows, the greater the risk. Warning signs are associated with suicide but may not be what causes a suicide.

Social media has allowed a different type of communication. These platforms allow for the publishing of the best experiences, positive aspects and photos. The perception that a person is happy based on scrolling through social media accounts is not an accurate portrayal of what the individual is really feeling. 

Platforms like Facebook have been working on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that elevates possible suicidal threats. A community operations team and the AI team system work 24/7 to flag and investigate concerning posts. Facebook has released suicide prevention guidelines for reporting this type of content here. Instagram also allows for the reporting of threats here. Twitter has informed users about how to report self-harm and suicide here.

What can you do to help?

Always call 9-1-1 first if you are a threat to yourself or others
Speak to your family, friends and loved ones. Have a conversation and really ask how they are feeling. Listen and offer assistance when needed
Seek help through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255. This is a confidential phone call offering emotional support 24-hours a day, 7-days a week
Call 2-1-1 in Connecticut. The United Way will connect residents to health and human services in the community at no cost. Connecticut 2-1-1 also offers a database of local services and help Lifeline web chat as a service of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. Conversations online are free and confidential Text TALK to 741741. You are able to text with a crisis counselor about any painful issue which you need support for
Receive certification in Mental Health First Aid. The 8-hour long long teaches individuals how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders. Find a course here

Watch our Facebook Live interview with Dr. Emily McCave.

A Hymn on Refugees & Immigrants

When Jesus Went to Egypt
PASSION CHORALE 7.6.7.6 D ("O Sacred Head, Now Wounded")

When Jesus went to Egypt,
Safe on his mother's arm,
His parents stayed beside him
To keep him safe from harm.
And when they crossed the border,
They were allowed to be
Together — seeking refuge —
A Holy Family.

O God, we pray for children
And families coming here
Now facing separation,
And filled with grief and fear.
For children, loved and treasured,
Are ripped from loving kin.
This deed, by any measure,
Is torture. It's a sin!

O God, you're like a mother
Who won't forsake her own.
You're like a loving father
Who welcomes his son home.
Now give us, by your Spirit,
The strength to challenge wrong,
To seek the best for children,
And keep all families strong.

Biblical References: Matthew 2:12-18; Isaiah 49:15,66:13; Luke 15:11-32; Matthew 25:31-46
Tune: Hans Leo Hassler, 1601; harmony by Johann Sebastian Bach, 1729 ("O Sacred Head, Now Wounded") (MIDI)

Text: Copyright © 2018 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: bcgillette@comcast.net New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com/

Permission is given for free use of this hymn to churches seeking to support immigrant families.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is a mother, grandmother, former foster mother, pastor and hymn writer. She has seen children screaming as they have been taken from the arms of those they love. Carolyn also served as a hosting pastor for an immigrant group for five years in her church. Her 300+ hymns are all posted online at www.carolynshymns.com

Sermon: June 10

Creator God, we are fashioned, male and female, in the likeness of your glory. Gather us around Christ, our teacher. Grant that by doing your will we may truly become disciples, brothers and sisters of the Son. We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (Peter J. Scagnelli, 1992)

The crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul…”

Jesus the Lunatic. Jesus the Leader of the Demonic. Jesus was living in a way that challenged much of the culture around him, even as he fulfilled the will of his Father.

Jesus was changing things, and that makes people upset. Faithfulness, Jesus said, is not tied to blood or ancestry, not tied to the patriarchal society at all. “Whoever does the will of God is part of the family.”

"Here is the Good News: Jesus is not out of his mind; Jesus is not filled with demonic spirits. Rather, Jesus has the mind of God; Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit - and invites all of us to be of the same mind and same Spirit in a new family as his sisters and brothers." (David Ewart, 2012)

But even as we live into that same spirit that Paul tells us in his 2nd letter to the Christians in Corinth, there are some of the baptized who embodied the holy spirit in a surprising ways as they followed him. Who like Jesus, were considered out of their minds.

They are Holy Fools (yurodivy) There have been Holy people whose stories, still revered in Orthodox Churches (especially Russian), which sound absurd to us and yet speak the Gospel truth.

Simeon the Holy Fool who lived in the 6th century, the patron saint of holy fools, was a monastic in the Syrian desert and devoted his life to prayer. Years later, Simeon returned to town, inspired by God to do good.

“Arriving at the city gate, he found a dead dog on a dungheap, tied its leg to the rope around his waist, and entered the city dragging the comatose canine behind him. This was only the beginning. For Simeon had decided to play the fool in order to mock the idiocy of the world and also to conceal his own identity…

During the church services, he threw nuts at the clergy and blew out the candles. In the circus, he wrapped his arms around the dancing-girls and went skipping and dancing across the arena. On solemn fasting days he feasted riotously, consuming vast amounts of meat & beans – with predictable results. In his lifetime, Simeon was regarded as a madman, as an unholy scandal.” (from Ship of Fools)

“That life made him subject to insults, abuse and beatings, which Simeon endured with patience. In spite of his seemingly strange behavior, Simeon the Holy Fool healed many people by his prayer, fed the hungry, preached the Gospel, and helped needy citizens of the town. Many of Simeon’s saintly & miraculous deeds and his acts of kindness were done secretly and only discovered after his death.

That crazy fool, St Simeon died about 570 AD and was buried by the city poor in a place where the homeless and strangers were buried. While the body of Saint Simeon was carried, several people heard a wondrous church choir, where none was seen.” (Wikipedia)

Simeon is not alone in Christian history for there were other Holy Fools. (St. Xenia of St. Petersburg)

“There was the great St. Basil the Holy Fool of Moscow, a man so revered by the people that the Cathedral in Moscow was named in his honor. Basil walked through Moscow wearing nothing more than his long beard. Basil threw rocks at wealthy people’s houses and stole from dishonest traders in Red Square.

Some of the wealthy saw him as a trouble maker but many in Moscow saw his holiness. Czar Ivan the Terrible feared no man but Basil dared to tell Ivan that his deeds would lead him to destruction. One story, in the midst of Lent, when Orthodox Russians keep a rigorous vegetarian fast, Basil presented the czar with a slab of raw beef, asking him “Why abstain from meat when you murder men?” Countless Russians died for much less, but Ivan was afraid to let any harm come to the saintly Basil.

Occasionally Ivan even sent gifts to the naked prophet of the streets, but Basil kept none of these for himself. Most that he received he gave to beggars, though in one surprising case a gift of gold from the czar was passed on to a merchant. Others imagined the man was well off, but Basil discerned the man had been ruined and was actually starving, but was too proud to beg.

George Fedotov, a scholar of Russian spirituality, explains that for persons who have achieved a high degree of holiness, they do not want people to praise them for their holiness, so they play the fool to remain humble.” (extracts from Frank Logue & Jim Forrest)

Simeon the Holy Fool was a secret saint, his story was a holy farce like that of Basil of Moscow, and their lives shows how God chooses "the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27). The Holy Fools don’t want us to focus on them but on what they have done. It was the poor and needy who knew of the saintly Simeon & Basil...

“Why does the Church occasionally recognize people whose lives are not only completely at odds with society but who often hardly fit church either? The answer must be that Holy Fools dramatize something about God that most Christians find embarrassing, but which we vaguely recognize is crucial information.

It is the special vocation of Holy Fools to live out in a rough, literal, breath-taking way the “hard sayings” of Jesus. While never harming anyone, Holy Fools raise their voices against those who lie and cheat and do violence to others, but at the same time they are always ready to embrace these same greedy and ruthless people. They take everyone seriously. No one, absolutely no one, is unimportant. In fact the only thing always important for them, apart from God and angels, are the people around them, whoever they are, no matter how limited they are. Their dramatic gestures, however shocking, always have to do with revealing the person of Christ and his mercy.” (Jim Forrest)

We follow in the footsteps of one who some considered out of his mind, and yet we know through Jesus, we have life and have it abundantly. May the Holy Fools teach us about Christ and his mercy and then may we go and do likewise in our world today. Amen.

Faith Leaders Statement on Family Separation at Our Borders #KeepFamiliesTogether

Recently, the Administration announced that it will begin separating families and criminally prosecuting all people who enter the U.S. without previous authorization. As religious leaders representing diverse faith perspectives, united in our concern for the well being of vulnerable migrants who cross our borders fleeing from danger and threats to their lives, we are deeply disappointed and pained to hear this news. 

We affirm the family as a foundational societal structure to support human community and understand the household as an estate blessed by God. The security of the family provides critical mental, physical and emotional support to the development and well being of children. Our congregations and agencies serve many migrant families that have recently arrived in the United States. Leaving their communities is often the only option they have to provide safety for their children and protect them from harm. Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children.  

As we continue to serve and love our neighbor, we pray for the children and families that will suffer due to this policy and urge the Administration to stop their policy of separating families.  

His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian 
Diocesan Legate and Director of the Ecumenical Office 
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America

Mr. Azhar Azeez President
Islamic Society of North America

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera
Bishop of Scranton, PA
Chair, Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs

Senior Bishop George E. Battle, Jr.
Presiding Prelate, Piedmont Episcopal District
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Bishop H. Kenneth Carter, Jr. 
President, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop Episcopal Church (United States)

The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer
General Minister & President
United Church of Christ

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Rev. David Guthrie
President, Provincial Elders' Conference
Moravian Church Southern Province

Mr. Glen Guyton 
Executive Director 
Mennonite Church USA

The Rev. Teresa Hord Owens
General Minister and President 
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rabbi Rick Jacobs 
President
Union for Reform Judaism

Mr. Anwar Khan
President 
Islamic Relief USA

The Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller 
President, Provincial Elders' Conference 
Moravian Church Northern Province

The Rev. Dr.  J. Herbert Nelson II 
Stated Clerk 
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rabbi Jonah Pesner 
Director 
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

The Rev. Don Poest
Interim General Secretary 

The Rev. Eddy Alemán 
Candidate for General Secretary 
Reformed Church in America

Senior Bishop Lawrence Reddick III 
Presiding Bishop, The Eighth Episcopal District 
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

The Rev. Phil Tom 
Executive Director 
International Council of Community Churches

Senior Bishop McKinley Young 
Presiding Prelate, Third Episcopal District 
African Methodist Episcopal Church

Tackling Racial (and other) Bias Today

How we tackle our bias is important.

Starbucks began to address this, you can find their work here:

https://starbuckschannel.com/thethirdplace/
https://dcl24jcpeau8t.cloudfront.net/media/channel/2018/05/30/sbux_team_guidebook-5_30.pdf

I found this article to be very enlightening: 

How Mindfulness Can Defeat Racial Bias

An excerpt:

Research shows that mindfulness practices help us focus, give us greater control over our emotions, and increase our capacity to think clearly and act with purpose. Might mindfulness assist police and other public servants in minimizing the mistaken judgments that lead to such harms? Might they help the rest of us—professors and deliverymen alike—minimize our biases as well?

In a word, yes. The good news is that mindfulness and related practices do assist in increasing focus and raising awareness, and have been shown to assist in minimizing bias. While the research is ongoing, studies are beginning to show that mindfulness meditation and compassion practices serve as potent aids in the work of decreasing bias.

We are called as Christians to use such mindfulness & prayer to decrease our bias and to help us love one another as God has loved us.

Holy Fools

Purchase St. Xenia Icon Here

St. Paul asked: “Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1: 20-21)

Get to know some of the Holy Fools:

• St. Basil the Holy Fool of Moscow
• St. Xenia of St. Petersburg
• St Simeon the Holy Fool also here

Writings on the Holy Fools:

• Holy Fools in Russian Literature 
• What Is A Holy Fool?
• Holy Foolishness
• Speaking to the Soul: To Be a Fool

Wendell Berry - A Poem About Hope and Place

There is a wonderful introduction of Wendell Berry by Bill McKibben, and also a segment where Berry introduces the poem, but if you only have time to hear the poem, it starts at 7:00. The poem follows:

It is hard to have hope. It is harder as you grow old,

For hope must not depend on feeling good
And there is the dream of loneliness at absolute midnight.
You also have withdrawn belief in the present reality
Of the future, which surely will surprise us,
…And hope is harder when it cannot come by prediction
Any more than by wishing. But stop dithering.
The young ask the old to hope. What will you tell them?
Tell them at least what you say to yourself.

Because we have not made our lives to fit
Our places, the forests are ruined, the fields eroded,
The streams polluted, the mountains overturned. Hope
Then to belong to your place by your own knowledge
Of what it is that no other place is, and by
Your caring for it as you care for no other place, this
Place that you belong to though it is not yours,
For it was from the beginning and will be to the end

Belong to your place by knowledge of the others who are
Your neighbors in it: the old man, sick and poor,
Who comes like a heron to fish in the creek,
And the fish in the creek, and the heron who manlike
Fishes for the fish in the creek, and the birds who sing
In the trees in the silence of the fisherman
And the heron, and the trees that keep the land
They stand upon as we too must keep it, or die.

This knowledge cannot be taken from you by power
Or by wealth. It will stop your ears to the powerful
when they ask for your faith, and to the wealthy
when they ask for your land and your work.
Answer with knowledge of the others who are here
And how to be here with them. By this knowledge
Make the sense you need to make. By it stand
In the dignity of good sense, whatever may follow.
Speak to your fellow humans as your place
Has taught you to speak, as it has spoken to you.
Speak its dialect as your old compatriots spoke it
Before they had heard a radio. Speak
Publicly what cannot be taught or learned in public.

Listen privately, silently to the voices that rise up
From the pages of books and from your own heart.
Be still and listen to the voices that belong
To the streambanks and the trees and the open fields.
There are songs and sayings that belong to this place,
By which it speaks for itself and no other.

Found your hope, then, on the ground under your feet.
Your hope of Heaven, let it rest on the ground
Underfoot. Be it lighted by the light that falls
Freely upon it after the darkness of the nights
And the darkness of our ignorance and madness.
Let it be lighted also by the light that is within you,
Which is the light of imagination. By it you see
The likeness of people in other places to yourself
In your place. It lights invariably the need for care
Toward other people, other creatures, in other places
As you would ask them for care toward your place and you.

No place at last is better than the world. The world
Is no better than its places. Its places at last
Are no better than their people while their people
Continue in them. When the people make
Dark the light within them, the world darkens.

-Wendell Berry

Our Lady against all Gun Violence (Mother of Sorrows)

Ferguson Mother of God: Our Lady against all Gun Violence, 2015

Acrylic Collage painting © Mark Dukes

From Sojourners:

Fr. James Martin, S.J., a Jesuit priest and popular author and speaker, shared July 9 on Facebook  an icon of “Our Lady of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence.”

In the icon, Mary is depicted as a black woman with her hands up. Where her womb would be is a small black silhouette of Jesus in a similar posture, but in the crosshairs of a gun.

The posture, while a clear reference to the “Hands up, don’t shoot” slogan birthed in Ferguson, Mo., in response to police violence, is also the “orans” position of prayer, as Fr. Martin explained. Orans, which in Latin means “praying,” is a position that designates pleading or supplication to God.

“Essentially an icon is an invitation to prayer and meditation,” Fr. Martin wrote.

“Our Lady prays for all who are targeted by gun violence: African-Americans, the poor and marginalized, and police officers. All are her children. All are our brothers and sisters. Let us ask Our Lady to pray for us.”

Icons are commonly described as “written,” not “painted.” The Our Lady of Ferguson was written by Mark Dukes*. It was commissioned by the Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones of Trinity Church Wall Street.

This is not the only icon written in response to recent acts of violence. Nikola Saric, a Serbian artist, wrote a haunting icon in response to the martyrdom of 21 Christians who were beheaded by ISIS in February 2015.

*Mark Dukes discovered Byzantine styled icons in his twenties after leaving art school to go on a spiritual quest. He investigated a calling to be a monk in an Eastern Orthodox monastery in Texas where he saw Byzantine styled icons for the first time. He fell in love with the form and continued to 'write' icons even after he decided that he didn't have a calling to be a monk and had left the monastery. He has been blessed to have worked on the iconographic programs of two nationally recognized churches- St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church and the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church- both of San Francisco.  Through these projects, his work has been featured in national magazines such as Vibe, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Magazine.
(https://www.requiemfor10000souls.com/mark-dukes-bio-page/)

#LoveWelcomes - Our Refugee Welcome Mat

YOU CAN FLEE WAR, BUT THE VIOLENCE DOESN’T STOP THERE

The current refugee crisis has women and their children trading an unsafe home for unknown waters.

With almost nothing but a life vest, they arrive in an unfamiliar world in search of a new life.
Women refugees have come together with Thistle Farms to start the first social enterprise in Ritsona, Greece. Women are weaving welcome mats that include the fabric from life vests worn by refugees on their journey to Greece. Thistle Farms has partnered with I AM YOU to help women gain economic freedom.

The Welcome Project is committed to helping women find their path forward. Your purchase is our opportunity to offer them safe harbor and help navigate their new life. Thank you for joining us in believing that love is the greatest force for change in the world.


[Our welcome mat purchase is hanging on our altar.]

Collect for Refugees

God our Creator: We ask for your loving presence and for your peace to be with refugees in our local communities and around the world. Be with all who live in fear. Be with those whose lives and livelihoods are under threat, and whose religious freedoms are being compromised. Be with us as we strive to enact your will in our welcome and support of refugees. Give us strength and courage to be witnesses to your love. Guide us to be advocates and servants, ministers of welcome and bearers of hope, especially for those seeking refuge. In your Holy name we pray. Amen.

(This Prayer for Refugees was shared by the Refugee Community Center at the Episcopal Church of the Mediator (Allentown), Diocese of Bethlehem, slightly adapted)