tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22873828471795124562024-03-23T15:12:07.332-07:00First Presbyterian Church of Lincoln, IllinoisLincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.comBlogger352125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-83663443159453243492024-03-23T15:11:00.000-07:002024-03-23T15:12:06.322-07:00Through Stained Glass: Palm Sunday -- Becoming Humble<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8KHvyfGNCwa28Ldy6_voinXxbfq2IoeL8NLiiLbZc-PkIZqzznSOqmP7diTyjE7-GZgpbGM7PKs2mu41aRGyRYqgyiEhK-BLlneWk8wd7bubbgI_gISm5FbZ6PL7IlAtbx_PQL2WVOzGDqYJzs5fiwEtdf1F6pXcoikCw6KswKUxXVUcJPF6UFW3a3HN1/s1087/cathy%20palm%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1087" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8KHvyfGNCwa28Ldy6_voinXxbfq2IoeL8NLiiLbZc-PkIZqzznSOqmP7diTyjE7-GZgpbGM7PKs2mu41aRGyRYqgyiEhK-BLlneWk8wd7bubbgI_gISm5FbZ6PL7IlAtbx_PQL2WVOzGDqYJzs5fiwEtdf1F6pXcoikCw6KswKUxXVUcJPF6UFW3a3HN1/s320/cathy%20palm%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Sixth Week of Lent: Holy Week</strong></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Becoming Humble</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Mark 11:1-11; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Psalm 31:9-16;</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 15:1-39</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">For the beginning of humility is the beginning of blessedness, and the consummation of humility is the perfection of all joy. </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Thomas Merton</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">For three years, Jesus walked with his disciples throughout Palestine, teaching and preaching and healing—gathering disaffected people with messages of a new kind of community that would flourish in hope and love. He turned expectations upside down, tore apart familiar systems of power and injustice, offered alternative ways of living. His was a “bottom-up” message, a story of inclusion and liberation designed to redefine the traditional social and political hierarchy—and one that brought him into direct confrontation with history. Jesus broke things—not to destroy, but to restore. Not to enable complacency, but to insist on action. Not to promote despair, but to announce joy.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It would be easy to identify with those who cheered and threw down their palm branches before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday—especially in the chaos and suffering of today’s world—but we would be mistaken. The “festal processions” and “Hosannas” are just one part of the story, and they are not the end of it. They are a story of exuberant expectation, but they belie the internal pain and external humiliation Jesus would suffer. He was a “broken vessel”— “wasted from grief;” the “scorn of adversaries;” a “horror to his neighbors;” a victim of “whispering and scheming.” Simply looking for someone to get us out of the mess we are in today would be to ignore our complicity in the world’s injustice and abdicate our responsibility to help fix it. It would give us an escape route from suffering—our own and that of others. Yet sacrifice is part of the redemptive, transformational love Jesus embodied, and this week we feel—perhaps more than any other time—the external and internal turmoil manifested in our journey as Christians. It is helpful to remember that feeling when we are tempted to withdraw into whatever security and safety we have created for ourselves.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">During his last week, Jesus did indeed stand before the existing power structures, but he did so not in glorious resplendent triumph as folks hoped, but in quiet defiance and humility—the epitome of stubborn determination, obedient “to the point of death.” To recall the words of Howard Thurman from an earlier meditation this month, he “yielded the nerve center of his consent” to a need greater than himself. He may have been publicly humiliated, but that did nothing to destroy his steadfast inner humility, a deep courage that manifested itself in strength—not in passive surrender but in extreme nonviolent resistance. Sir Thomas More wrote that humility is “that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot,” and Jesus shows us how to live from our “roots” and not by flashy ostentatious displays of power or influence—even in the face of our most challenging circumstances. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, it was not just about him—it was about us, too—about how we fit into the ongoing story—about our “becoming who we are” by taking risks, living into our freedom, exercising our commitment and neighborly hospitality, and stepping humbly into the footsteps of Jesus.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JJUyd45V3GXsnx2USj8-uHhrv-DBdqmPvxpGRSUSk6JLKZmw-VN5r5T6e38ZhJ60edqeKzVjvCg12cP4bOycsw9HHIwGCi3DZ-JM2OU_dbWc5F4JAlwnLXWrn0kHjmKI5nZPfzZEsa1UifF_5n3m0RBd45zqhZwSPMpBSQrG4e8Ff636A8Ca7YX3L-0d/s1029/cathy%20palm%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="1029" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JJUyd45V3GXsnx2USj8-uHhrv-DBdqmPvxpGRSUSk6JLKZmw-VN5r5T6e38ZhJ60edqeKzVjvCg12cP4bOycsw9HHIwGCi3DZ-JM2OU_dbWc5F4JAlwnLXWrn0kHjmKI5nZPfzZEsa1UifF_5n3m0RBd45zqhZwSPMpBSQrG4e8Ff636A8Ca7YX3L-0d/s320/cathy%20palm%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Whitney Plantation, Louisiana</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Becoming our best selves—living solidly by our roots—reflects our capacity for humility through listening, witnessing, and offering ourselves to receive the grace that changes us forever and leads us to act on behalf of a hurting world. “The Lord has given me a trained tongue,” writes the psalmist, “that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word…and I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward.” Humility, Jesus teaches us, is the greatest demonstration of strength—the certain pathway to joy. It is not about giving up or giving in—about denying who we are or succumbing to corrosive power structures—but rather about courageously becoming who God imagines and wants us to be. It requires sacrificing our delusions of control, relinquishing the idolatry of our own egos, and accepting the wonder of un-knowing. It is in humility, said Mother Teresa, that “our love becomes real, devoted, and ardent.” We are not imprisoned by our humility; we are liberated and empowered by it. Liberated to act on behalf of a hurting world even as our nerve centers become raw with the effort.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">During his life and ministry, Jesus emptied himself; he took risks and made commitments that shaped, freed, and transformed him into his best self—both divine and human—and this is our most sacred work as well. Because Jesus was humble, God “exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name.” And this we can know for certain: God searches us and knows us and calls us, too, by name—if only we are humble enough to be silent, listen and pay attention. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Questions for the Week</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">· How do you define humility? When does humility become mere servility or obsequiousness? How can it involve taking risks?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">· How does humility relate to service and compassion?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">· Have you ever suffered because you chose humility over ego? Have you ever stood bravely and quietly in resistance to power? What did you learn from this experience? </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">· Are there people in your life who model the kind of humble strength Jesus taught? Do you?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Practices for the Week</strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Keep an informal diary of “pride,” noting times when you insist on having your own way or silently feel resentment because you don’t get it. Write a prayer of humility. </span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Invite someone you haven’t seen for awhile for coffee or a meal. Make a conscious effort to learn more about their story. Listen with a humble, ardent and loving heart. </span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">St. Francis said, “What a person is before God, </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">that </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">he is and no more.” Come and walk the labyrinth and make a special effort this week to participate in other Holy Week opportunities provided at First Presbyterian Church. Come just as you are and stand before God without pretense.</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Prayer for the Week</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Disturb us, Lord, when</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> We are too well pleased with ourselves,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> When our dreams have come true</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Because we have dreamed too little,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> When we arrived safely</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Because we sailed too close to the shore.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">(Sir Francis Drake)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Inspiration: </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Humble</span></em></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A SUDDEN STILLNESS by David Whyte</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We love the movement in a seeming stillness,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the breath in the body of the loved one sleeping,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the highest leaves in the silent wood,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">a great migration in the sky above:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the waters of the earth, the blood in the body,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the first, soft, stir in the silence beneath a strident</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">voice, the internal hands of our mind,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">always searching for touch, thoughts seeking other</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">thoughts, seeking other minds, the great arrival</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">of form through all our hidden themes.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">And this breath, in this body, able,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">just for a moment to give and to take,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to ask and be told, to find and be found,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to bless and be blessed, to hold and be held.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We are all a sun-lit moment come from</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">a long darkness, what moves us always</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">comes from what is hidden, what seems</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to be said so suddenly has lived</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">in the body for a long, long time.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Our life like a breath, then, a give</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and a take, a bridge, a central movement,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">between singing a separate self</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and learning to be selfless.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Breathe then, as if breathing for the first time,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">as if remembering with what difficulty</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">you came into the world, what strength it took</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to make that first impossible in-breath,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">into a cry to be heard by the world.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Your essence has always been that first vulnerability</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">of being found, of being heard and of being seen,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and from the very beginning</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the one who has always needed,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and been given, so much invisible help.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This is how you were when you first came</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">into the world, this is how you are now,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">all unawares, in your new body and your new life,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">this is the raw vulnerability of your</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">every day, and this is how you will want to be,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and be remembered, when you leave the world.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">BLESSING FOR A BROKEN VESSEL by Jan Richardson</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Do not despair.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You hold the memory</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">of what it was</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to be whole.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It lives deep</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">in your bones.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It abides </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">in your heart</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">that has been torn</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and mended</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">a hundred times.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It persists</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">in your lungs</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">that know the mystery</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">of what it means</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to be full,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to be empty,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to be full again.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I am not asking you</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to give up your grip</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">on the shards you clasp</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">so close to you</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">but to wonder</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">what it would be like</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">for those jagged edges</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to meet each other</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">in some new pattern</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">that you have never imagined,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">that you have never dared</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to dream.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-80103634974383015132024-03-19T07:43:00.000-07:002024-03-19T07:43:52.907-07:00Through Stained Glass: Becoming Neighborly during the fifth week of Lent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4XkpEa57bmMvI0Zk3o2l19zD-hgy61p3rfFlm4LtZyraoxnHU7mvEpMihlK3mBSSbetjcqmt4fmH9gqySyeGCyjuCJud-Hc1Ib10r6JX9ulTLBjN6s-4N22DK7vmYvl-PWbiXXlfFOACbg3Du7zHt68Cem2YTqs51OyIm2GP2Ms50q-s4TO0YF6FHGFc/s5990/DSC09222.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2423" data-original-width="5990" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4XkpEa57bmMvI0Zk3o2l19zD-hgy61p3rfFlm4LtZyraoxnHU7mvEpMihlK3mBSSbetjcqmt4fmH9gqySyeGCyjuCJud-Hc1Ib10r6JX9ulTLBjN6s-4N22DK7vmYvl-PWbiXXlfFOACbg3Du7zHt68Cem2YTqs51OyIm2GP2Ms50q-s4TO0YF6FHGFc/w640-h258/DSC09222.JPEG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“Becoming Neighborly”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=75" target="_blank">Jeremiah 31.31-34 & John 12.20-33</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Sunday, March 17, 2024</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Fifth Sunday of Lent – Mister Rogers Sunday</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> On Sundays like today, two quotes come to mind when we delve into the essence of being a neighbor. The first, from the thirteenth-century poet Rumi, urges us to “Listen with ears of tolerance. See through eyes of compassion. Speak with the language of love." This resonates with our theme of understanding and compassion. The second quote from Death Cab for Cutie, “I want to live where soul meets body,” speaks to the depth of our relationships with our neighbors.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> To love our neighbors, truly as they are, begins with deep listening. What is their story, the one they carry within them, and not the one we assume? Only when we listen to their lives can we truly know how to love them.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddv1B1wZRAGgffSf758I-ohfMYjn3XJtRwqD6NvFPaQF3apzL5LkP8qKLs0XLpD_ZXWcfrFiLGwicVpPl1UutkREQt9fWyXR6VIRIUW3MtLKWrgZJzZ2F0jQ1Nb2W_GAG_F_UJ0vKcHgUa8NAZbCAdGb-YJAuDmMHwYe-0ONzms1eLo9WPEYialggWgn0/s2016/IMG_0292%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddv1B1wZRAGgffSf758I-ohfMYjn3XJtRwqD6NvFPaQF3apzL5LkP8qKLs0XLpD_ZXWcfrFiLGwicVpPl1UutkREQt9fWyXR6VIRIUW3MtLKWrgZJzZ2F0jQ1Nb2W_GAG_F_UJ0vKcHgUa8NAZbCAdGb-YJAuDmMHwYe-0ONzms1eLo9WPEYialggWgn0/s320/IMG_0292%202.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Joe Shaler shared about the<br />Central Illinois Veteran Commission<br />in Lincoln, Illinois.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table> What would you say if I were to ask you which instruction is repeated the most in the Hebrew Bible? Over 35 times, the Torah instructs God’s people to care for the stranger. I heard that the Seder meal is when our Jewish siblings seek out strangers to make them friends. This idea is straight from the Bible. In Exodus 23:9, we read, “You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19:33 says, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. In Leviticus 19:34, we repeat this refrain, “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> All of us in this room were once strangers to each other, whether at work, in this city, or maybe at school. We know the feeling of isolation, alienation, and discomfort of being new. It is easy to forget what that anguish feels like. We need little reminders. It is we who make people strange to us, estranged from us. And it is we who have the power to make strangers friends!</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> You may be wondering why we're discussing strangers when discussing what it means to be a good neighbor. The answer is simple: everyone around us - in front, beside, behind, above, and below us - is our neighbor! To be a good neighbor, we must accept our interdependence with all that surrounds us. We are closely connected to our fellow humans and our more-than-human kin. How we treat all forms of life reflects our true beliefs about God. And we become good neighbors when we're ready to go out of our way for others!</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> No one understood this better than Mister Rogers. A Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers was a television icon whose show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ ran from 1968 until 2001. Empathy, compassion, and love saturated every Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood episode. There are plenty of examples of these moments: Mister Rogers explains he is feeding the fish because he received a note from a girl born blind who was worried they were hungry. Did you know that in the first week Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired, Fred talked about the Vietnam War? In the land of Make Believe, King Friday the Thirteenth had built a wall to keep out the enemy, but his subjects breached it with messages of kindness and compassion, reminding his audience that it is better to connect than dehumanize. At the height of desegregation, he shared a cooling foot bath in a kiddie pool with Officer Clemmons, one of the first Black characters to be featured regularly on a children’s television program. Mister Rogers taught us that being neighborly means loving others without stopping to inquire if they are worthy of it.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> In today's gospel, there is a line that I enjoy. At Passover in Jerusalem, a group of Greeks approached Philip and asked, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." We don't know much about them, but their request is relatable. I have often said, "I wish to see Jesus." I understand the desire to have his presence, guidance, and companionship. I want to see Jesus as a teacher, preacher, healer, prophet, and peacemaker.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">However, I am puzzled by Jesus' response to the request. He talks about his death and says, "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." While Jesus' response is not lost on me, I still need clarification. It appears he is saying, "If you want to see me, look for me in the suffering of others. Then, go and help them." We can hear the lesson Mister Rogers’ mother taught him when he was a boy, “When things get scary, look for the helpers.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-A_l6xyJzxpkFcbopa_P3J5_DlWaFe3EthOkxTry_rNy1ygFfW8j7NqBn8tN1fSVGA-Dsxbv_orDQTrU0MTGyiVRFlfgTABbeYWqiDfcl3ufHIoN_WLJhxUgpd-vyD1tK9lIsnwoi84jKOaiQ7wjVW5doi_jlEvWjU7iZzJAyq8088Dnnf_VQ59l904g/s2016/IMG_0302%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-A_l6xyJzxpkFcbopa_P3J5_DlWaFe3EthOkxTry_rNy1ygFfW8j7NqBn8tN1fSVGA-Dsxbv_orDQTrU0MTGyiVRFlfgTABbeYWqiDfcl3ufHIoN_WLJhxUgpd-vyD1tK9lIsnwoi84jKOaiQ7wjVW5doi_jlEvWjU7iZzJAyq8088Dnnf_VQ59l904g/s320/IMG_0302%202.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>CindyAussieker and Marla Williams shared<br />about their work with "Moms Who Care" <br />in Lincoln and how they are caring for others<br />in our neighborhood. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Jesus is asking us to look beyond ourselves and serve those in need. To become neighborly means to love even if it leads to our crucifixion. Love is what lifts us from despair, love is what draws us into the fullness of Kin-dom of God here and now, and love is what will transform our neighborhoods. We are the helpers. God calls every one of us to join God in healing our neighborhoods. We help by caring for one another – especially the stranger. We bring about this love when we listen to one another, deepen our understanding of our neighbors’ experiences, and share our stories with others.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">God's people have always been committed to caring for strangers and immigrants because they were once strangers themselves. We are to do the same. Jesus’ love for the outcast and marginalized threatened the status quo and ultimately got him killed. Fred Rogers understood that if everyone knew someone cared about them, they may care for others. In Fred’s words, “You know, I think everybody longs to be loved and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And, consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they’re loved and capable of loving.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">To become neighborly means to love. Love boldly, extravagantly, and proudly. I love what Barbara Brown Taylor says, </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">“</span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">So love God. Love a neighbor. Be a neighbor, and let us not complicate things by arguing about specifics. </em><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You know what it means to do love because some time or another you have been on the receiving end of it, but remember that knowing the right answer does not change a thing. </em><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">If you want the world to look different the next time you go outside, do some love. Do a little or do a lot, but do some, and do not forget some for yourself.”</em></p></blockquote><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>The theme for our Lenten journey is </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">becoming</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. It is inspired by the ancient Christ hymn from Philippians 2 that speaks of </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">kenosis—</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to empty, to become nothing. We see this </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">kenosis</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> in Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection. The John reading gets to this with the parable of the seed. The seed empties itself to bring forth fruit, new life. I wonder what in us must we empty ourselves of to become more neighborly? What prejudices need to die to see the stranger – in ‘real life’ or in media – as our neighbor? What’s one simple act I could commit to that will make my neighborhood resemble the Reign of God? How can we love our neighbor and ourselves so that it becomes reparative, healing, transformative, and liberating?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As we ponder these questions, I leave you with this quote from Mister Rogers.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><i>“You don’t ever have to do anything sensational for people to love you. When I say ‘it’s you I like,’ I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch…that deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive: love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed. So in all that you do, in all of your life, I wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best of whoever you are.”</i></blockquote><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">May his wisdom and commitment to being the best neighbor inspire us to do the same. May we believe what Jesus taught and Mister Rogers echoed—that we all are deeply cherished and loved. May we begin to live this love in such a way that everyone we meet, all our neighbors, because remember, no one is a stranger to God, feels seen and loved.</span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-15386435598209339042024-03-17T17:29:00.000-07:002024-03-17T17:29:17.853-07:00Through Stained Glass: Week 5 -- Becoming Neighborly & Transformed<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPsMqV5Nc6CaxJbbdButvOi6HPBvhruO6iPVStK9X71jtEZ6Sbm6dn3AB54LBFdSAEuLNy2vq1YrebjR2pLNhCAGjJQkedYBX4de-RabGPIcy2UhXupPhFwXoJ7p_ZlIAfv-Oi75qb5gVt0eB9y3O794HF04Bmfznp8ay_SLoP3iRre__8wydaAYhbAtX/s617/kal%20week%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPsMqV5Nc6CaxJbbdButvOi6HPBvhruO6iPVStK9X71jtEZ6Sbm6dn3AB54LBFdSAEuLNy2vq1YrebjR2pLNhCAGjJQkedYBX4de-RabGPIcy2UhXupPhFwXoJ7p_ZlIAfv-Oi75qb5gVt0eB9y3O794HF04Bmfznp8ay_SLoP3iRre__8wydaAYhbAtX/s320/kal%20week%205.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Fifth Sunday of Lent</strong><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">March 17, 2024 [Celebration of Mister Rogers]</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">"I've</span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> always wanted to have a neighbor just like you. I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">" Mister Rogers</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Reflection Title: Becoming Transformed/Neighborly</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Jeremiah 34.31-34 & John 12.20-33</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Our Jeremiah text reminds us what it looks like to become. Surely, this new covenant description – this law written on the heart - breathed life into the weary and downtrodden, the exiled and the hopeless, who first heard it as it does for us today. It's a covenant of transformation, that much seems clear, but a preposition comes next. And I think that matters very much. Often, we hear the preposition "from" after the word "transformed," right? If I may be so bold, what if we considered another preposition here? What if instead of the new covenant transforming us, it transformed us into what we were always made to be? Some have called this the True Self, the Divine spark within us who understands what it means to "know the [Holy One]" and doesn't look to external authority for validation.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The John reading has a story describing a seemingly very different situation. We have "outsiders" wishing to see Jesus. And Jesus answers with some vague words about a grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying. What do these events have to do with the new covenant? Perhaps more than we might notice at first glance.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Transformation into requires a kind of death. Perhaps it's a death to the linear road we would prefer for our life's path; perhaps it's a death to the certainty others seem to promote so glibly; there are many kinds of death this new covenant asks. But the one that appears front and center in the John text is the death to exclusion. Jesus' response of the single grain of wheat dying so that it may multiply has to do with the expansion of the Kin-dom of God wherein ALL are invited to this new covenant of belonging.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As we consider the words </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">transformation</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> into, let us not forget their overlay with the word neighborly. Let us not forget the expansive nature of the Kin-dom of God within us and how it was never meant to stay there but build bridges, listen to stories, and disrupt narratives that exclude. May we become such good neighbors ourselves.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Questions for the Week:</strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">When have you felt the comfort of the law written on the heart? Perhaps a sense of "knowing the LORD" that transcended your circumstance?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Where in your life right now do you sense your prayers echo those of the Greeks (John 12): "[we] wish to see Jesus"?</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Practices for the Week:</strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Write, draw, or type out the word "expand." Carry it in your pocket, purse, wallet, or car as you come and go. Let it remind you—as you look at the faces of baristas or fast food employees, at children or grandparents, at friends or partners—that the Kin-dom of God within us is expansive, not exclusive.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Let your hand open (expand) when you feel the wonder, inspiration, or gratitude well up inside you at the neighborliness of knowing all are welcome to the new covenant. Let this be a physical reminder of the joy of participation in our transformation.</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Prayer for the Week:</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Open us, God, to a vision</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Bigger than ourselves.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Teach us how to become neighborly</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As we live into the law</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Your kin-dom invites.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Amen.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-26581030348689320952024-03-15T08:30:00.000-07:002024-03-15T08:30:31.457-07:00Through Stained Glass: Week 4 -- Becoming Committed Loving the World<p> <span style="color: #0e101a;">Becoming Committed – Loving the World</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Morning Psalms for the week:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 119, 145 (Monday); 34, 146 (Tuesday); 5, 147:1-11 (Wednesday); 27, 147:12-20 (Thursday); 22, 148 (Friday); 43, 149 (Saturday)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Evening Psalms for the week:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 121, 6 (Monday); 25, 91 (Tuesday); 27, 51 (Wednesday); 126, 102 (Thursday); 105, 130 (Friday; 31, 143 (Saturday)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Old Testament: </strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Gen. 49:1 – 50:26; Exod. 1:6 – 3:15</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Epistle:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 1 Cor. 10:14 – 13:3</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Gospel:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Mark 7:24 – 9:29</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">never be the same? Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around,</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show. Thus I’ll move</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and live and grow in you and you in me. (Will You Come and Follow Me</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">verses 4, 5)</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFI2NQZVtOUoIj2bhPgJkWs8D1VFi2rkH1OVUhvljGn3yoFJx9e-L-1ztc1TWHcgphM5d51hcw2u6o_IMYvRSP4sXYL1QzaerA400suecCxVSOaBlhNqSEQon2otDWDRQ5SrN3FYSuDTA2M3wygQV3MjB-3_rPndv74dUyyoqPYQD9AKKCBg4UfNTilHn0/s500/cathy%20441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="500" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFI2NQZVtOUoIj2bhPgJkWs8D1VFi2rkH1OVUhvljGn3yoFJx9e-L-1ztc1TWHcgphM5d51hcw2u6o_IMYvRSP4sXYL1QzaerA400suecCxVSOaBlhNqSEQon2otDWDRQ5SrN3FYSuDTA2M3wygQV3MjB-3_rPndv74dUyyoqPYQD9AKKCBg4UfNTilHn0/s320/cathy%20441.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>For God so loved the world…</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I would bet that these words frequently come to mind for many of us if—on the spur of the moment—we are asked to name our favorite Bible verse. A close second might be to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. Then of course, there is Paul’s beautiful exposition on love in 1 Corinthians. “If we do not have love,” says Paul, “we are nothing.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>I admit that these days, it can be hard to love the world. There’s so much chaos, pain and confusion; we are bombarded by it every day. It hurts. In 2020, as we were beginning to emerge from the pandemic, I wrote a poem called “Fever Dream.” I thought about sharing it—because I still sometimes feel this way—but thankfully (for you) I decided it was too bleak! Instead, I share this photo from Dauphin Island, Alabama—the place I go to experience the healing beauty of Creation and to let God restore my soul. We all have such places in the world, and they are incredibly important. In these places, we remember that the world was created in love, that love defines our deepest selves, and that love is the summons that calls us to move with Christ to reshape the world. In Dostoyevsky’s </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Brothers Karamazov</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, Zossima says, “What is hell? I maintain that hell is the suffering of being unable to love.” Wow!</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>Loving the world takes some practice—and a deep intentionality. It is much easier to join a crowd dedicated to self-interest than to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. The first way promises security and permits the exclusion of uncomfortable reality; the other invites challenge, even suffering. When Peter objects to Jesus talking about his impending suffering, Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus insists on a multi-dimensional life, reminding us that claiming our faith means leaving our fear and uncertainty behind and participating in the suffering of others. Following the crowd is easy, but it requires us to sacrifice our deepest selves to an ideology. The way of Jesus, on the other hand, leads to freedom and transformation—to self-discovery and ever-deepening commitment. Sometimes it’s easy to look around at our human-distorted “world” and think it is the world God intended. Yet throughout our gospel readings during Lent, we hear Jesus describe a different world, one that originated in undeniable and abundant love, and one that is within reach if we move and live and grow together with Christ.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-B_NjiGHb5R9qYGc_xsBx8uJOcnO9Flwaut1GB6vGqPM6qI2SqOluEDta5zWeSAifMFlSdQR9ol3893Wzi1g23phtoucYMlKdYTrDcJbL0ykuGs37l3GtmKsqu18O1aMO4QElM6e8M48KFeFH9vNWVhwgN8v-1aa52Dr3aNwBgMlECgslqZSQzUF3p0K/s889/cathy%20442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="889" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-B_NjiGHb5R9qYGc_xsBx8uJOcnO9Flwaut1GB6vGqPM6qI2SqOluEDta5zWeSAifMFlSdQR9ol3893Wzi1g23phtoucYMlKdYTrDcJbL0ykuGs37l3GtmKsqu18O1aMO4QElM6e8M48KFeFH9vNWVhwgN8v-1aa52Dr3aNwBgMlECgslqZSQzUF3p0K/s320/cathy%20442.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen goes directly to disaster areas—floods,</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.—to provide essential meals. Here WCK serves</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">food to Ukrainians displaced by war.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>Loving the world means, of course, loving and respecting and protecting our incredible physical world—our God-gifted garden paradise. It means loving the people who live in it—whoever, whatever, however they are. It also means loving ourselves even when we doubt or fall short of expectations. It means not giving up our commitment to do and be better. It means believing in the possibility of resurrection and restoration. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul lays out what this looks like. While he is writing to a specific church, his message provides a pathway for all of us, despite our diversity of mind or being, to live together differently—moving and living and growing in, through and with Christ. Into a broken world. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>Paul writes: “God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there be no dissention within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (1 Cor. 12:24-26) And he tells us clearly what it is that holds the body together: “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1Cor. 13:1-3) Love is the original wellspring.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>This sentiment is not unique to Christianity. Many cultures and religions are based on a similar call to love as a means of creating community and counteracting the pervasive influence of rampant and destructive individualism. The African concept of </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">ubuntu</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, for example, says that one’s sense of self is shaped by one’s relationships with other people—a way of living in relationship with others and with the natural world that begins with the premise, “I am only because we are.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>I hope that as we come to the end of this week of considering how we </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">become committed</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, you are inspired to pay attention to relationships, to celebrate the true reciprocity of community, to “love the ‘you’ you hide, to let yourselves be transformed by love. When the English poet John Donne was very ill, he heard funeral bells ringing across the city, and he wrote a short essay that became this poem:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">No man is an island,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Entire of itself;</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Every man is a piece of the continent,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A part of the main.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">If a clod be washed away by the sea,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Europe is the less,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As well as if a promontory were:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As well as if a manor of thy friend’s</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Or of thine own were.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Any man’s death diminishes me,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Because I am involved in mankind.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It tolls for thee.</span></p></blockquote><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>This poem reminds me of Paul’s message: “If all were a single member, where would the body be?” </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Will You Come and Follow Me?</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> is my favorite hymn because it exudes love and reminds me that God is present to us all through love and community.…”wherever two or more are gathered in my name,” says Jesus. It renews my own commitment and gives me strength. In </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Longing for Home</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, Frederick Buechner wrote, “Sometimes, by the grace of God, I have it in me to be Christ to other people. And so, of course, have we all—the life-giving, life-saving, and healing power to be saints, to be Christs, maybe at rare moments even to ourselves.” May it be so.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOmEnlAnYUiK6dq9v9rTmvmkBpUQPXXQ7irruVtpPfFM49NnuP7Egbr4J8JSfpmbfYfbhl4x3CzQD0ludJvbxQfT5z0eUAhk4AmF27B1bcwPRqI0R6tIuuoSsvwmX0ODX0L0hEqh_Rq7thzqVIB1LHxGVM7X7PLlKrF6AZ4LViCtg_KM0swPsVwY7aFbw/s558/cathy443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="558" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOmEnlAnYUiK6dq9v9rTmvmkBpUQPXXQ7irruVtpPfFM49NnuP7Egbr4J8JSfpmbfYfbhl4x3CzQD0ludJvbxQfT5z0eUAhk4AmF27B1bcwPRqI0R6tIuuoSsvwmX0ODX0L0hEqh_Rq7thzqVIB1LHxGVM7X7PLlKrF6AZ4LViCtg_KM0swPsVwY7aFbw/s320/cathy443.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Pando (“I spread’) Aspen Grove, located in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, is the largest, most dense organism ever found at nearly 13 million pounds. It originated from a single seed and spreads by sending up new shoots from the expanding root system. The clone spreads over 106 acres and consists of over 40,000 individual trees. The exact age of the clone and its root system is difficult to calculate, but it is estimated to have started at the end of the last ice age. Scientists are concerned today because the clone is showing signs of decline. For more information check out </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="http://www.friendsofpando.org" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">www.friendsofpando.org</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-75628997852784734342024-03-14T10:23:00.000-07:002024-03-14T10:23:43.890-07:00Through Stained Glass: Week 4 of Lent -- Becoming Committed<p> <span style="color: #0e101a;">Becoming Committed – “Tired of giving in…” </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Morning Psalms for the week:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 119, 145 (Monday); 34, 146 (Tuesday); 5, 147:1-11 (Wednesday); 27, 147:12-20 (Thursday); 22, 148 (Friday); 43, 149 (Saturday)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Evening Psalms for the week:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 121, 6 (Monday); 25, 91 (Tuesday); 27, 51 (Wednesday); 126, 102 (Thursday); 105, 130 (Friday; 31, 143 (Saturday)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Old Testament: </strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Gen. 49:1 – 50:26; Exod. 1:6 – 3:15</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Epistle:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 1 Cor. 10:14 – 13:3</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Gospel:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Mark 7:24 – 9:29</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name? Will you set the prisoners free </em><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and never be the same? Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen and admit to what I am you and you in me? (Verse 3, “Will You Come and Follow Me?)</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqN9bnY30iNoD9RjpfcdATNUx2tcYBILfSaTy8H4ANVGiSkzp8nCNML8tDwh2ffNlOnVgVYCOScEB-fh705KtXn_LK-tZqyaKGh9-uc9T1fxHF7X7FAzexAfZsWSRQ8i6ymwUjMXmVY8UerBJdpLy55v5kCsC22asNxEhMqNuOM-FV-sIpR6GUm6B1n8l/s705/week%204%20day%203%20pic%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="534" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqN9bnY30iNoD9RjpfcdATNUx2tcYBILfSaTy8H4ANVGiSkzp8nCNML8tDwh2ffNlOnVgVYCOScEB-fh705KtXn_LK-tZqyaKGh9-uc9T1fxHF7X7FAzexAfZsWSRQ8i6ymwUjMXmVY8UerBJdpLy55v5kCsC22asNxEhMqNuOM-FV-sIpR6GUm6B1n8l/s320/week%204%20day%203%20pic%202.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Rosa Parks Library and Museum</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Montgomery, AL</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I imagine everyone has a favorite historical action figure, but mine is Rosa Parks. Miss Rosa was born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her mother was a teacher and her father a carpenter. She suffered from chronic illness as a child and was repeatedly bullied. After her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Montgomery where she later worked as a seamstress and became active in the Civil Rights Movement. We (and I mean we white people) generally turn Rosa Parks into a romanticized, even non-threatening, hero, imagining her as a diminutive woman whose signature act of defiance was more serendipitous than intentional. But nothing could be further from the truth. Rosa Parks was a disrupter—a powerhouse of determination and commitment who devoted herself to advancing racial justice until her death in 2005 at the age of 92. A keen observer of human behavior, she recalled her grandfather guarding their front door with a shotgun as the KKK marched down the street; she saw the buses passing that carried only white students to school while she and her friends walked. Parks later wrote, “As far back as I can remember, I could never think in terms of accepting physical abuse without some form of retaliation if possible.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In 1943, Rosa Parks joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and became its secretary. In 1945, despite Jim Crow laws and discrimination by poll workers, she finally succeeded in registering to vote on her third try. She and her husband became early members of the League of Women Voters. Sponsored by liberal white friends, she attended the Highlander Folk School, an education center for activism in workers’ rights and racial equality. She turned that education into her life’s work.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Rosa Parks was not an accidental activist. She is perhaps best known for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Challenging segregation on the city buses had been tried unsuccessfully before, but following her refusal to give up her seat in the “colored section” of a bus driven by James Blake (who had left her standing in the rain 12 years earlier), leaders of the NAACP believed she was the best candidate to see through a challenge in the courts. Of her experience, Parks said, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, which I visited in 2022, documents the history of racial discrimination in transportation, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Boycott was a monumental undertaking. Local leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to spearhead the effort; 50,000 protest leaflets were distributed around town; Martin Luther King was recruited to lead the MIA. Under King’s leadership, a one-day Boycott was an astonishing success. In order to continue it, the MIA established a carpool system, with over 200 drivers and 100 pick-up stations. At the center of the effort were African American churches, which held meetings and raised funds to support the Boycott. Not just one person, but a whole community of people who were “tired of giving in.” The Bus Boycott lasted for 382 days, financially crippling the city’s transportation system and drawing national attention. On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court declared Alabama’s racial segregation laws for buses unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">No Name on the Street</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, James Baldwin wrote, “It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” Perhaps what Jesus shows us above all is that it is our sacred duty to resist the domination of an empire that relies for its strength on the ignorance of the governed and the disenfranchisement of the powerless. Rosa Parks was </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">tired of giving in</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. When Jesus caused a riot in the temple, he was </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">tired of giving in</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. By his own example, Jesus tells us that we, too, must be </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">tired of giving in</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> to injustice in </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">all </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">its manifestations. We, too, must overcome the fear of being uncomfortable, of facing fear and criticism. We, too, must resist the temptation to hide anonymously behind conformist practices or the conventions of the dominant culture. ‘Why are you talking about having no bread,” says Jesus to the disciples in frustration, reminding them to rely on him and not the “yeast” of empire. Through Jesus, wrote Marcus Borg, God becomes an “experiential reality.” God is not to be thought of “as a remote and transcendent creator far removed from the world, but imaged all around us.” </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Throughout the stories in Mark, we see Jesus engaging directly and intimately with the marginalized, elevating and celebrating them. His engagement is physical and personal—using dirt and his own saliva to heal, lifting the suffering by the hand, feeding the multitudes of outsiders who come hungry—literally and figuratively—to hear him preach. His frustration with the disciples is often palpable. “Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear?” (Mark 8:17-18) He might be talking to us as well! </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Pay attention to this world, says Jesus. </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Admit to what I am in you and you in me</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. Serve the needs of justice—not to be seen or recognized as those in power do to expand their influence, but because it is right. Lead when called to do so, but be willing to relinquish your privilege and take a back seat on the bus, ceding power to others who can speak for themselves. Jesus says, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mark 8:34-35) Courage, persistence, intimacy, attention, compassion—these are the requirements of a commitment that is “tired of giving in.” The questions for us, surely, are these: </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">What do we see that will cause us not just to bear witness, but to act? How will we use our privilege, our spiritual gifts, and our faith—the dirt and saliva of our lives—for the cause of justice and liberation?</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7B-YE8YHw87l8GaMhigcF7SQtCtWfCGXuIkAK3lX_0FxxT2g-Esxbt3g8TjB1GIOiixjcrkpuEMCH6TaLvMOSY-0wlg7jmPkVSJznex0H3r7EoKiC5Zrz_pm4z-PWA1el4rhRjbKIWwpkxkFTsp6PCWu2emjnpTsu0G57-J00mAzySK6dulrctrbwiz-m/s595/week%204%20day%203%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7B-YE8YHw87l8GaMhigcF7SQtCtWfCGXuIkAK3lX_0FxxT2g-Esxbt3g8TjB1GIOiixjcrkpuEMCH6TaLvMOSY-0wlg7jmPkVSJznex0H3r7EoKiC5Zrz_pm4z-PWA1el4rhRjbKIWwpkxkFTsp6PCWu2emjnpTsu0G57-J00mAzySK6dulrctrbwiz-m/s320/week%204%20day%203%201.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This is me in Montgomery with Miss Rosa and Keelan Adams </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> of Montgomery Deep History Tours</em></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-5758939093444024882024-03-13T07:27:00.000-07:002024-03-13T07:27:21.107-07:00Through Stained Glass: Lent Week 4 -- Will You Come and Follow Me?<p> <span style="color: #0e101a;">Becoming Committed – Will you Come and Follow Me?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Morning Psalms for the week:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 119, 145 (Monday); 34, 146 (Tuesday); 5, 147:1-11 (Wednesday); 27, 147:12-20 (Thursday); 22, 148 (Friday); 43, 149 (Saturday)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Evening Psalms for the week:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 121, 6 (Monday); 25, 91 (Tuesday); 27, 51 (Wednesday); 126, 102 (Thursday); 105, 130 (Friday; 31, 143 (Saturday)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Old Testament: </strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Gen. 49:1 – 50:26; Exod. 1:6 – 3:15</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Epistle:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> 1 Cor. 10:14 – 13:3</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Gospel:</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Mark 7:24 – 9:29</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him. Rather, it means to give one’s heart, one’s self, at its deepest level</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. Marcus Borg, </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time</span></u></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlrY3AV0K8yXghJDlLvTcTJLHn6YeymCtnCIza7XvkDYOFV-WiI93Qtm9tbKdLNObfzC70kPYMB1zYsOuLMX6V5SawJVr0K4Kh3eBP-JLbvqLNrfVxDhbCgtdgHB_SnZ14XBMViJ9JjsKac0g8aIOaLye2hb85o5jqXZ0eRd3ozKeHgoqMqedtuB2QXDU/s1231/cathy%204%20post%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1231" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlrY3AV0K8yXghJDlLvTcTJLHn6YeymCtnCIza7XvkDYOFV-WiI93Qtm9tbKdLNObfzC70kPYMB1zYsOuLMX6V5SawJVr0K4Kh3eBP-JLbvqLNrfVxDhbCgtdgHB_SnZ14XBMViJ9JjsKac0g8aIOaLye2hb85o5jqXZ0eRd3ozKeHgoqMqedtuB2QXDU/s320/cathy%204%20post%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Detail from Caravaggio’s </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Calling of Saint Matthew</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> don’t know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown; will you</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> let my name be known; will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name? Will you care for cruel</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> and kind and never be the same? Will you risk the hostile stare should your</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> life attract or scare? Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Several weeks ago during worship we sang these words from my favorite hymn. I cry every time I sing them. On the most immediate level, I am moved by such a simple and explicit invitation—one that calls for our intentional and uncompromising response. On a more subliminal level, I can’t help but remember all the stories we have inherited through Scripture that speak to us of calling. God cries to Moses from a burning bush: “Moses, Moses!” And Moses responds, “Here I am.” God calls to Samuel, “Samuel, Samuel!” Again the response is “Here I am”—though of course it takes the boy Samuel several tries before he realizes it is God who is speaking to him. Finally, he says to God, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” When God sends the angel Gabriel to Mary, she says, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be according to your word.” Then, of course, are all the invitations of Jesus, originating with his call to the first disciples and echoed down to us now for over two thousand years. </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Will you come and follow me?</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Maybe the reason this hymn always brings tears to my eyes is that it just feels so darn </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">personal</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. As Marcus Borg suggests, it speaks to my heart at its deepest level. What else can you do if you hear Jesus calling you </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">by name</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> other than answer? How else can you respond except to offer your own commitment in response? When a friend or family member asks you to do something, you don’t ask questions. When an injustice requires your response, you don’t run and hide. When you see a way to bring your special gifts to bear on behalf of another or for your community, you gladly share them. You don’t ask what’s in it for you…all you see is the holy gesture—the hand of a friend reaching out for your support. You “leave yourself behind.” The beautiful thing about the words of this hymn is that they resonate not with command, but with invitation and intimacy. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> The other thing that really grabs me is the emphasis on reciprocity. “Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?” These are words about relationship—a relationship that develops through our becoming committed </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">with, through and in </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Christ to show love, spread good news, and care for others despite their cruelty or kindness. The idea that we grow through Christ (and through this effort) is nothing new. That Christ grows through us? Now that is something to think about! To believe that we have a role in expanding the cosmic presence of Christ—</span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Christ—in the world is perhaps the most powerful invitation of all. Love, equity, reciprocity, transformation….that is what Jesus’ call to the disciples—and to us—involves. Throughout Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth, we see him exploring what it means to live a Spirit-guided life, as individuals and as part of a community—combining ideas of freedom and love, living from the heart and being moral agents in the wider world, celebrating one’s unique gifts and using them for the greater good. For Paul, our Christian faith is lived in community—and in loving relationship.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> This challenge is not without risk. We are to be bold, even if that means risking a “hostile stare.” Marcus Borg writes: “As a journeying with Jesus, discipleship means being on the road with him. It means to be an itinerant, a sojourner…it means undertaking the journey from the life of conventional wisdom, from life in our Egypt and life in our Babylon, to the alternative wisdom of life in the Spirit….to become part of the alternate community of Jesus.” It is not always easy, as the stories in Mark this week show us. But as Frederick Buechner writes in </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Longing for Home</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, “We have God’s joy in our blood,” and the reward of our commitment to following Jesus into the unknown is that we are irrevocably changed—as the hymn says, “Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?” </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> In her famous description of being visited by an angel of God, Saint Teresa talks about the “gentle wooing” between God and the soul. As you make your way through this week, may you find ways to create the space in your heart and soul to hear Jesus calling you—ever so gently and intimately, so softly and tenderly—by name. And may you find the love, courage and commitment to answer, “Here I am.” I leave you with these moving words of Albert Schweitzer from </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Quest for the Historical Jesus</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> as inspiration:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those who knew Him. He speaks to us the same word: “Follow thou me!” and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">AMEN</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYgjW0DxrcweHPMwnxIhbOHKLfrAyAuhdAD-mBb-JAnyF0QOreVzrAGVNDuP0h_hjuUIYEG9QmP8lqombQiTPGAdfStLLssfcb0cSkwe83iHMj03anPRS7hVo1aDqvQLwhApaDLcOxDJ_Cd_WWDA3RuAKqkkltxLruIrhwGzXRR_pH-As6b89VPwiSkhe/s432/cathy%204%20post%202%20pic%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="432" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYgjW0DxrcweHPMwnxIhbOHKLfrAyAuhdAD-mBb-JAnyF0QOreVzrAGVNDuP0h_hjuUIYEG9QmP8lqombQiTPGAdfStLLssfcb0cSkwe83iHMj03anPRS7hVo1aDqvQLwhApaDLcOxDJ_Cd_WWDA3RuAKqkkltxLruIrhwGzXRR_pH-As6b89VPwiSkhe/s320/cathy%204%20post%202%20pic%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Sunrise on the freedom highway between Selma and Montgomery</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> October 2022.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It was not enough to come out and listen to a great sermon or message every Sunday morning and be confined to those four walls and those four corners. You had to get out and do something.</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> John Lewis following the death of George Floyd</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S-Bq1YtpQL8?si=--2b03Q1lZGKs4im" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-90572180805068856852024-03-10T12:45:00.000-07:002024-03-10T12:45:46.468-07:00Through Stained Glass: Week 4 -- Becoming Committed<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmuaQnalQ7u-wi7nO69pLN3O0qtUoIejDrlwD4ld6GRzls_CHKqpWzxdI06FdIv-DU5njdeG9olBHvhyphenhyphenlr9ZiQZOiPRyU-lYqUqaSgWcH__XOiLYOH9XWW26r59m4KY2jhGrGmUaqZhbbPuY05UDZWtOVggOGGAobm-GV0cm9VSUopQ2SVOiUvJ3d-IJM/s582/Week%204%20Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="582" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmuaQnalQ7u-wi7nO69pLN3O0qtUoIejDrlwD4ld6GRzls_CHKqpWzxdI06FdIv-DU5njdeG9olBHvhyphenhyphenlr9ZiQZOiPRyU-lYqUqaSgWcH__XOiLYOH9XWW26r59m4KY2jhGrGmUaqZhbbPuY05UDZWtOVggOGGAobm-GV0cm9VSUopQ2SVOiUvJ3d-IJM/s320/Week%204%20Picture1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a;">Fourth Sunday of Lent</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">March 10,2024</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Reflection Title: Becoming Committed</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21 </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans. Dietrich Bonhoeffer</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Imprisoned by the Nazis after a failed attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer found his plans interrupted. But like others punished by the authorities for their threats to the reigning political powers—the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Alexei Navalny, and so many others—he did not abandon his voice. “Commitment,” wrote Howard Thurman, “means that it is possible to yield the nerve center of (one’s) consent” to a greater need than oneself. The poet Mark Nepo tells us that “the challenge of the living is to take what we hear, despite our diminishments, and make whatever music we can for as long as we can….to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">keep</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> listening, to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">keep</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> meeting life.” Bonhoeffer himself saw his confinement as “opportunity.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the Numbers text, the Israelites express frustration and anger about their wilderness experience, complaining bitterly about the lack of food and water, and about the poisonous snakes whose bites are killing them. They are impatient, petulant, eager for their exile to be over. They have lost their </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">commitment</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">—no longer sure of the opportunity evidenced by their liberation from the tyranny of Pharoah. Assuming they have offended God, they ask Moses to intervene, and God responds in a mysterious way. He tells Moses to make a serpent of bronze so that if a snake were to bite someone, the person could look at the bronze serpent and live. What an ironic and unexpected intervention—to make something that is killing folks a means of their survival! God is speaking a simple and literal language the stubborn and short-sighted Israelites can understand, much like a parent might take children afraid of the dark out into the darkness to dispel their fear. It is about changing perceptions and expectations—about expanding our awareness and world view. We are called beyond a myopic perspective based on fear, self-interest and immediate gratification into a mind-bending embrace of the possible, even the unexpected—an understanding not of what life </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">is</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> but what it </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">could be</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. You can almost hear God sighing as God searches for a way to manifest this wider view to self-absorbed folks whose minds and hearts are lost in the literal. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The poet Wendell Berry writes that “it may be when we no longer know what to do</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.” Over and over, God meets us where we are—in our diminishments and in our possibilities. God calls us into God’s steadfast love, a love that continually surprises us and awakens us to the commitment of discipleship. “Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God,” says John. This is not always easy work. As social justice advocate Dorothy Day wrote, “People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time.” It would perhaps be easier for us to give up—to see God’s interruptions as stumbling blocks, but what if we were to see them instead as stepping stones—as a way to move toward deeper commitment? “The heart is a muscle that wants to be exercised,” says Mark Nepo, “and though it feels like I will end each time my heart is broken, my heart only breaks into a larger version of itself.” What a statement of </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">becoming</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">!</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">God repeatedly cracks open our stubborn hearts, challenging us to yield the nerve center of our consent and to pay closer attention to needs around us that are bigger than our own desires for safety, security and personal recognition. In this breaking, we awaken to a life of committed service—one step at a time—until, as Frederick Buechner says, we come to the place where our deep gladness and the world’s hunger meet. The poet John O’Donohue calls this coming into the “rhythm of our longings.” God </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">so loved</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> the world, writes John in his gospel, that God sent the light to guide us. “For we are what (God) has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.” This is the heart of our commitment, our call to bear the beams of love in a wounded world, snakes and all.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Questions for the Week:</span></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scriptures tell us that God’s “steadfast love” is the grounding for our lives and work. How does that constant love provide you with a foundation to move forward even when you are not sure of the way? Can you think of times when God has led you in directions you had not anticipated—or maybe even welcomed? How did you respond?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">What are the things that block your path or distract you from living into the “rhythm of your longings?” How do you distinguish between the selfish desires of your heart and the “becoming” call of the Holy Spirit that results from mindfulness and freedom?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">To what are you deeply committed? How have your spiritual commitments changed? What were the stepping stones that led you there? What risks have you taken along the way, and how have they affected you?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">When has your heart been broken? How has that experience led you to a deeper understanding of yourself and a greater awareness of what God is calling you to become?</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Practices for the Week:</span></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Create a spiritual “to do” list and be mindful of the ways in which your daily activities feed or obstruct your spiritual engagement. Every time you feel a conflict, stop for a moment and witness the intersection. You might record the moment in a journal or write a short prayer to ask God what God is asking you to discern.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Make a list of your “commitments” and reflect on how they are “bearing the beams of love.” Do something that makes you uncomfortable and that draws you closer to the world’s hunger.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Participate in centering prayer at First Presbyterian Church.</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Prayer for the Week:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">My Christ, my love, my encircler,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Each day, each night,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Each light, each dark,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be near me, uphold me,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">My treasure, my truth.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">(from </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Celtic Prayers from Iona</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">)</span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-60988168230225993282024-03-03T14:01:00.000-08:002024-03-03T14:01:55.490-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Third Week of Lent -- Becoming Free: Paying Attention to the Questions<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180;"> <b>Becoming Free -- Paying Attention to the Questions</b></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">1 Cor. 7:25 - 10:1-13</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Mark 5:21 - 7:23</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> The gospel readings for this week recount important miracle stories, episodes in which Jesus demonstrates his power, exorcises demons, and heals suffering people in order to free them from their limitations and eliminate obstacles to their personal fulfillment. In every case, he removes burdens that keep folks from living their best lives. He restores—or in some cases establishes—their freedom to live meaningfully in a society that has often marginalized them. He frees them from their own fear and empowers their agency within the community. In Mark 6, Jesus gives instructions to the disciples—the missionary commands that will govern their conduct as they travel on behalf of his ministry, and in chapter 7 he challenges the “false teaching” of the elders, liberating the system itself from rigid practices that inhibit personal growth and accountability. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In his epistle to the Corinthians, Paul is also working out a system of practices to guide community life. He speaks at length about his own freedom in doing so, admitting that he takes on different roles to reach different folks. “What then is my reward?” he writes. “Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Everything we have read this week is about law and freedom—the law to guide us and the freedom to become whole under the law. As if this were not enough, we have also been making our way through </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Hard and Holy Work</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> on Kirk Night, examining the Exodus story and its call for us to re-examine our systems of belief, to pay attention to the places where laws and cultural norms have restricted freedom, and to open ourselves to new and more just ways of being in community. From the beginning of the week with Psalm 119, in our reading of Exodus, and through the gospel of Mark and the letter to the Corinthians, we have been exploring both our external and internal worlds through the lens of God’s commandments to the Israelites—our “conscience companions,” if you will. We have done that alone “in our cells” and together with others in our church family.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We live in a time that demands our attention. We can easily find examples of “false teaching” and of man-made laws designed to marginalize some in order to raise others to power over them. Like Paul, we must work out our theology in the context of the world around us; like the disciples Jesus instructs, we must sometimes make choices about where we go and what we do; like the psalmist, we beg God for guidance and help in re-committing ourselves to the justice, mercy and love Jesus embodied through his miracles. This is indeed “hard and holy work.” It takes discipline, devotion, self-awareness, and honesty. It requires us to take risks. It encourages our vulnerability. Whether we like it or not, the world too often promotes a kind of self-centered freedom that exploits our desire for power, safety, influence, and control. Based on fear, such a system discourages our questions and diminishes our freedom to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">become again</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> with each new day. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In his letter to a young poet, Rainer Maria Rilke advised him to “love the questions.” Kelli, in fact, preached a wonderful sermon on this during Adam’s sabbatical! Rilke writes:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">some distant day into the answer.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IzPJ_mX1oGr55GPF7pvbaqpB3z5iJqav28k9CmLLEppeRWh5E5jtXxUn6jhvicCGBzRzt5ejLfdxE0ZbvTvFKQW88wqdBrQlixVCja4u_cr6emYVD_0wWFCqtxwY6OLT4vdZY8BHE35dVOqebY_ihXsh2U6vAw6iZJ-FCqyHG5xheQqBww1dfYF4yNxL/s841/day%20%204%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="637" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IzPJ_mX1oGr55GPF7pvbaqpB3z5iJqav28k9CmLLEppeRWh5E5jtXxUn6jhvicCGBzRzt5ejLfdxE0ZbvTvFKQW88wqdBrQlixVCja4u_cr6emYVD_0wWFCqtxwY6OLT4vdZY8BHE35dVOqebY_ihXsh2U6vAw6iZJ-FCqyHG5xheQqBww1dfYF4yNxL/s320/day%20%204%201.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>Isn’t this what becoming free is all about? Aren’t God’s precepts and Jesus’ teachings and Paul’s theological ramblings in fact questions we must ask ourselves every day? Isn’t this the constant hard and holy work of our lives? <br /><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Some years ago, I visited the Galleria dell’ </span>Accademia in Florence where the famous statue of David lives. It is stupendous and unforgettable. But most arresting to me was not this masterpiece, <span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">but the sculptures of “prisoners” emerging from </span>blocks of stone that lined the corridor into the <span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">main chamber. Michaelangelo famously said that </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">“the sculptor’s hand can only break the spell to </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">free the figures slumbering in the stone.” I like to </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">think of our </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">becoming</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> as this kind of release. God </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">generously, lovingly, hopefully breaks the spell, </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and we emerge from our slumber in mesmerizing </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">fashion from the stones and earth of our origins. </span>But we hold onto the rock, and through our growing <span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">understanding of ourselves and our place in the </span><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">world, we live into our God-gifted freedom— </span>with God’s cosmic memory our lasting embrace.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </em></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-10857043141787177282024-03-03T13:53:00.000-08:002024-03-03T13:56:26.815-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Third Week of Lent -- The Inward Journey<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKef5YrjvZC-N3JZgAb_v78Rj7He4TW9Fy2SRxVwqmgokHvALRQK7FaCfE33Uv-hGwFogtzBzWO3sgc1GVZGhdNM3K22c54xIBxv078LvqDL6OwJRrw0yIthJWgideP8zU6QLwZe-YXosseMEieJfxvR2h40F7WllEcRbbkmEBwctGEh6pI7LWsI57wbn/s566/day%203%20%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="566" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKef5YrjvZC-N3JZgAb_v78Rj7He4TW9Fy2SRxVwqmgokHvALRQK7FaCfE33Uv-hGwFogtzBzWO3sgc1GVZGhdNM3K22c54xIBxv078LvqDL6OwJRrw0yIthJWgideP8zU6QLwZe-YXosseMEieJfxvR2h40F7WllEcRbbkmEBwctGEh6pI7LWsI57wbn/s320/day%203%20%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the wilderness</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">a brilliance of bloom awaits</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">punctured eruption</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Photo from Riardo, Italy</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">During these early days of Lent, we have been thinking about journeys into the wilderness, about taking risks, and about how God’s commandments provide a powerful guide to spiritual freedom and community responsibility. I hope you have used the good weather to be outside and to visit the places of peaceful isolation that inspire contemplation—places that open your mind, heart and soul to God’s presence within and around you. </p><p>As I watch the tulips emerge in my garden, listen to the spring wind, and laugh at the antics of my birds and squirrels, I feel myself beginning to open up again, too. I feel freer, more gregarious, more social. It’s not just my muscles stretching, but my spirit unbending in welcome. As an introvert, these feelings can be a little unsettling. I am comfortable alone, and the inward journey for me is one of spectacular discovery—not always easy, but ever illuminating. I know that’s not true for everyone, and I am so deeply grateful for my more extroverted friends who insist that I come back from my self-imposed wilderness sometimes!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTo-S4C26BDktmLgp_cRC4UHULbzWckDOBOOR4X2ff6llM-YVDY4kqn1hmrDoXDt24dLXvciMtSRgTq_RCgfjbncYusfytJGof4XriRvtbF6Z_9-yYCy6Vqq8I4CD5murltUhrUAsTQet0ROfRgvG3tE57HhJKfmQBk65OyXy6e1up1t-5GuoVjzwVikM/s556/day%203%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="421" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTo-S4C26BDktmLgp_cRC4UHULbzWckDOBOOR4X2ff6llM-YVDY4kqn1hmrDoXDt24dLXvciMtSRgTq_RCgfjbncYusfytJGof4XriRvtbF6Z_9-yYCy6Vqq8I4CD5murltUhrUAsTQet0ROfRgvG3tE57HhJKfmQBk65OyXy6e1up1t-5GuoVjzwVikM/s320/day%203%202.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Torn edges of self--</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">raw revealing of desire</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">sings of bold frontier</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Photo from</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Dauphin Island, Alabama</span></p></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I’ve just finished reading </span><u style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Great Alone</span></u><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> by Kristen Hannah about a family that moves to the Alaskan wilderness. Life there is full of external danger, physical struggle, and sacrifice. But this landscape is metaphorical. The real wilderness is the one within, and the violence that lurks there—within and among individuals—leads to loss, even death. The good news is that there is also love, self-discovery, and the power of community to heal. The internal wilderness is indeed a complicated place—both frightful and awe-inspiring, threatening and healing. For those of you who have been watching “The Bear,” it feels a lot like the last episode in Season Two when Carmy is locked in the freezer (a kind of industrial wilderness) and faces his personal demons while the restaurant spins on without him, his only conversations with the external world happening through the door. Consider that metaphor for a moment! Unable to guide his crew through the restaurant’s test run on “friends and family night” (another great metaphor), he has lost control of his dream, as well as his relationships. It feels like a kind of spiritual violence, and we are left with a sense of loss and heart-break. Is there healing to come in Season Three? Stay tuned!</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> It's not easy to venture inside ourselves, but it is necessary if we are to truly grow our spiritual capacity. And I would be bold, perhaps, in saying that growing our spiritual capacity is critical to fulfilling God’s expectations of us. To travel into our deepest selves—and to be self-conscious about it—is to approach the real frontier: to embrace our public selves as well as our shadow side, to enter the liminal space where we meet God and where God brilliantly expresses God’s love for us, and to experience the freedom to become who God wants us to be. It is the ultimate risk-taking thrill ride. I encourage you to go back and read Exodus Chapters 19 and 20. When Moses takes the Israelites out of the camp to meet God, there is “thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all of the people who were in the camp trembled.” For some, the temptation might be to stay there in that space, enjoying the excitement; for others, the inclination might be to run away as fast as possible. Neither response is really possible. As they say, we can neither run nor hide.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjME5XuFynSXnBn2c9j40f0XGhc8CNre1R8h_QQ8DuBBCsNTOAFcV7BsbbqGzZLJnwTx90LV8zSV7ku2sgk3Wib56n8UYrq62XL_eS5Hjf9CSGB6HupYqvp4jcu0sKoUOJn_yuu9cuv1Hve6J01u86skEdX4bpn1GMNFXbaZLrBs1A3WgjndyT66abmqk0H/s605/day%203%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjME5XuFynSXnBn2c9j40f0XGhc8CNre1R8h_QQ8DuBBCsNTOAFcV7BsbbqGzZLJnwTx90LV8zSV7ku2sgk3Wib56n8UYrq62XL_eS5Hjf9CSGB6HupYqvp4jcu0sKoUOJn_yuu9cuv1Hve6J01u86skEdX4bpn1GMNFXbaZLrBs1A3WgjndyT66abmqk0H/s320/day%203%203.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Empty path unfolds</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">as journey invites wonder</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">beneath rocks and dirt</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Photo from Riardo, Italy</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">So how do we take this inward journey? One way is to participate in the powerful centering prayer that Adam leads on Sundays. Another might be to follow the Lenten Guide or join the Wednesday night book study and discussion on Kirk Night. Journaling, spending time in meditation and reflection, cutting down on activities and distractions, sitting alone on the porch or in the woods….there are many ways to begin the process. It takes effort and a brave soul, but I promise you will be richer for the journey. Whatever you choose to do—whether finding the random opportunity or establishing regular intentional practices—your choice should be infused with purpose, desire, awareness, and hope. God will surely meet you there.</span><br /><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKHwK7deyZjFIZqLQ6CKGHoExu7gwFcL49J6qzusHcl_b9g65JfiMI64oBJtgrCj0KHLAfuCsopnZ9fSUPpug_fI4p69ln2OZQ2rdPWY989wWczGOnuE9vmQV8uVpDjjeqaFbskRJn_TksDGWgGNro8RNGaYBcw9NKW0gRNlMRD9Xv7LuDqkPPk86_qMyn/s448/day%203%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="338" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKHwK7deyZjFIZqLQ6CKGHoExu7gwFcL49J6qzusHcl_b9g65JfiMI64oBJtgrCj0KHLAfuCsopnZ9fSUPpug_fI4p69ln2OZQ2rdPWY989wWczGOnuE9vmQV8uVpDjjeqaFbskRJn_TksDGWgGNro8RNGaYBcw9NKW0gRNlMRD9Xv7LuDqkPPk86_qMyn/s320/day%203%204.jpg" width="241" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black;">Where fences confine</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black;">Where abundant hope insists</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black;">Where blooming resides</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black;">Photo from Riardo, Italy</span></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>One of the things about inward exploration is that it is both a journey to everything and a journey to nowhere—a visit to the “great alone.” That’s what’s so scary AND so exhilarating about it. One of my favorite poets is John O’Donohue, an Irish writer and Celtic spiritualist who died unexpectedly in 2008 at the age of only 52. His hauting poetry evokes both the external beauty and mystical dimension of his Irish home and the inner world of self-examination, love and blessing they awaken. Both earthy and spiritual, his poems are radical expressions of the hope and longing that emerge from the human soul. I share this poem which, to me, celebrates the power of going nowhere and everywhere. May it inspire you in your own journey.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> They are to be admired those survivors</div><div> of solitude who have gone with no maps</div><div> into the room without features,</div><div> where no wilderness awaits a footstep trace,</div><div> no path of danger to a cold summit</div><div> to look back on and feel exuberant,</div><div> no clarity of territories yet untouched </div><div> that tremble near the human breath,</div><div> no thickets of undergrowth with deep pores</div><div> to nest the litanies of wind addicted birds,</div><div> no friendship of other explorers</div><div> drawn into the dream of the unknown.</div><div> </div><div> No. They do not belong to the outside worship</div><div> of the earth, but risk themselves in the interior</div><div> space where the senses have nothing to celebrate,</div><div> where the air intensifies the intrusion of the human</div><div> and a poultice of silence pulls every sound</div><div> out of circulation down into the ground,</div><div> where in the panic of being each breath unravels</div><div> an ever deeper strand in the web of weaving mind,</div><div> shawls of thought fall off, empty and lost,</div><div> where only the red scream of the blood contiues unheard</div><div> without anonymous skin, and the end of all exploring</div><div> is the relentless arrival at an ever novel nowhere.</div></div></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1244x9Pa0EbI-3eRMqdptbXIw4vzvnQ2TFK3xljv_xAu9E0rRF6ntQH3M14bPd8k5hvPuG9Li1ZmQu7Y4oFeCFbA6X4Z9TN9zitD0pxbfmrHJIp2RbqD5XXc0WHMrSXNv85iilhmCplriBkg_4tot99Nl0EIqBXtkw6kenSOtjTK3K4x27sQvaOISprCf/s693/day%20%203%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="525" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1244x9Pa0EbI-3eRMqdptbXIw4vzvnQ2TFK3xljv_xAu9E0rRF6ntQH3M14bPd8k5hvPuG9Li1ZmQu7Y4oFeCFbA6X4Z9TN9zitD0pxbfmrHJIp2RbqD5XXc0WHMrSXNv85iilhmCplriBkg_4tot99Nl0EIqBXtkw6kenSOtjTK3K4x27sQvaOISprCf/s320/day%20%203%205.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Web of weaving mind</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">risks the interior space--</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> in deepest silence</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">(for John)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Photo from Kickapoo Park</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p></div></div>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-32693172535986387302024-03-03T13:41:00.000-08:002024-03-03T13:42:08.554-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Monday of the Third Week of Lent -- Becoming Free Psalm 119<p><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></strong></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE3u8DoSNXS0wVph-R4cpEvO9fxYOkFrusVyeeJHNIpO5zVpnf9NiILfgJDjXGzmtakN2USY47HfOmREn9_oUiRvByd-VZB2YSvTXf405XFr8x2je3CtTRHKd-7bSHcpk01agVFuSZBnpIWC251qe2lGcq3qh2s2678BlWxavj9ThqLIajdCr3mY8SqtE/s504/Picture2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="504" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE3u8DoSNXS0wVph-R4cpEvO9fxYOkFrusVyeeJHNIpO5zVpnf9NiILfgJDjXGzmtakN2USY47HfOmREn9_oUiRvByd-VZB2YSvTXf405XFr8x2je3CtTRHKd-7bSHcpk01agVFuSZBnpIWC251qe2lGcq3qh2s2678BlWxavj9ThqLIajdCr3mY8SqtE/s320/Picture2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">This photo was taken on one of my morning walks in Italy last summer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">I often found </span><span style="color: #0e101a;">myself taking pictures of places where life emerged from rocks,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">fences and other structures that might seem to inhibit growth. Instead, what</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">I came to see was the free interplay between structure and imagination. </span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Becoming Free</strong></strong><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Psalm 119</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart,</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> (Psalm 119:1-5)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This week begins with Psalm 119—a full 176 verses of almost desperate pleading to God. The psalmist acknowledges the importance of steadfastness in following God’s statues; offers praises and gratitude; manifests delight in God’s decrees; promises faithful observance, meditation and witness. The psalm is an exercise in saying the same thing in as many different ways as imaginatively possible. It gives the word “implore” a whole new dimension! The words are so repetitive and insistent that they almost suggest confession—and indeed they are confessional. What has the speaker done to make him beg God repeatedly, “Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart….Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.” From where does his insecurity arise? What arrogance has left him so alone? Why does he believe God has abandoned him to be pursued by enemies? Why is the touchstone of God’s law so important to him?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">When I enter the achingly persistent language of this psalm, I am reminded of a line from </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Hamlet</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks!” Yet, unlike Queen Gertrude, who ironically hides her own guilt in this protestation, the psalmist pleads his case to God with a kind of innocence, humility and trust that borders on wonder. His insistence, his efforts to convince God of his good intentions, are almost childlike. He clearly believes in the power of God’s law to shape him, free him, save him from his persecutors. He confesses that God’s “judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.” Even while his soul “languishes” and his “eyes fail with watching for (God’s) promise,” he prays for his heart to remain “blameless.” He writes: “For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.” Even though his suffering makes him shrivel with sorrow, he returns in hope to the guiding love expressed in the laws of God. Haven’t we all felt such withering?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As we make our way through this week, we are called again and again to rely on God’s commandments—words of help and instruction about how to live meaningfully—our anchor in times of distress and confusion—the place from which our creativity and imagination thrust themselves into purposeful being. These are not laws that carry the threat of punishment or abandonment, but rather promises of salvation and freedom—of fulfillment in what it means to be human and loved by God. God’s promises are “exceedingly broad,” says the psalmist. They give life, make us wiser, provide a “lamp unto (our) feet.” Theologian Tripp Fuller tells us that we sometimes confuse ascension and resurrection, and that we underestimate salvation. Salvation, he says, should be seen not as leaving earth in some mystical cloud, but rather about being resurrected within a moral structure that pursues restoration and justice here and now—the kin-dom of God that Jesus came to announce. We know what happens when we forget our foundational teachings, and both the psalmist and the writers of the gospels return us repeatedly to our dependence on them for renewal, discovery, becoming, and, indeed, resurrection. We, like the psalmist, have the freedom to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">choose</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. We are not imprisoned by the Word, but instead are liberated and made new by it. Jesus shows us that. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I love Psalm 119. It bears reading slowly and attentively. It requires a quiet “sinking in.” It acknowledges our doubt, fear and guilt at stumbling from the right path. At some point (and for some of us, often), we all find ourselves in the position of the psalmist—when we feel lost and acknowledge the need for God’s guidance in very tangible ways—when our “eyes shed streams of tears because (God’s) law is not kept”—because </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">we</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> have not kept it. We recognize our shortcomings and failures, but we are also free to offer to God our good intentions if that’s all we have. As Thomas Merton famously wrote:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></em></p><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead </em><br /><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, </em><br /><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am </em><br /><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact </em><br /><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that</em><br /><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this </em><br /><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Despite the psalmist’s distress, Psalm 119 is an incredibly hopeful song full of love and justice and faithful promise for those who delight in God’s ordinances. If nothing else, it reminds us that the instruction God has given us is not a burden, but rather a liberating framework that releases our best and truest selves. Not a burden, but a source of peace, delight, deliverance, justice, and love. Above all, Psalm 119 is a prayer—and one that feels both agonizing and joyful—a lot like being human. As Thomas Merton wrote: “To pray in spirit and in truth enables us to enter into contact with that infinite love, that inscrutable freedom which is at work behind the complexities and the intricacies of human existence.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">May you rest in your beautiful humanity today. I offer you this collect for contemplation:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">God whose gift of freedom sometimes frightens me,</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I turn to you in my confusion and uncertainty, acknowledging the moral failings of </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the world and of my own actions.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Light your lamp, placing in my hands the promises of my essence and of my flowering,</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">reminding me that your abundant love contains all that is and all that ever will be.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Help me find delight and joy in your commandments. AMEN</em></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-28940227873540813872024-03-03T13:35:00.000-08:002024-03-03T14:19:23.502-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Third Week of Lent -- Becoming Free<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSoa0IacY8j9LPn11jLORF8JxgkprRzAyrs8Ya8Fbfc9-lfoAAuiA4PqqUKOoTgClJ3LlTfiz99bDqM_8igY50rmrFwBsiBXnjButeSOHzMua2CNe0fNixSlTQ-ldDCSOwkAFBDo4nl5GIyfmtOKZv0C-gZoO0OgmuVvFLUZLX-XDdkq7nugiBCqEWIiC/s350/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="318" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSoa0IacY8j9LPn11jLORF8JxgkprRzAyrs8Ya8Fbfc9-lfoAAuiA4PqqUKOoTgClJ3LlTfiz99bDqM_8igY50rmrFwBsiBXnjButeSOHzMua2CNe0fNixSlTQ-ldDCSOwkAFBDo4nl5GIyfmtOKZv0C-gZoO0OgmuVvFLUZLX-XDdkq7nugiBCqEWIiC/w270-h297/Picture1.jpg" width="270" /></a></strong></div><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br />The Third Sunday of Lent </strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A brother came to visit Abba Moses and asked him for advice. The old man said to him, “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.”</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Reflection Title: Becoming Free</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the fourth century, the desert fathers and mothers went to live in isolation, far from the cities they believed corrupted the soul and distanced them from God by celebrating personal indulgence over self-discipline. Today, we live in a world where everything seems permissible, where slogans about individual freedom have become the public mantra, and where we are conditioned to believe we can say anything we want, whenever we want, to whomever we want—our unfettered will and personal passions the only guides to behavior. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As Christians, we see the world differently. We know there is a responsibility attached to God’s gift of free will; there is a structure that defines our lives, a creative tension between our chronic individualism and God’s stabilizing ordinances. In Exodus, God shapes the beloved community—not with a threatening set of rules that tell us to “do this or else,” but with an ethical instruction guide to living in loving relationship, a kind of touchstone we embrace against our lesser instincts. “More desired are (God’s ordinances) than gold…sweeter than honey and drippings of the honeycomb,” says the psalmist. God celebrates our ability to choose freely </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">precisely</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> by offering us a liberating framework through which we can live into our best selves. As James Finley writes, “Our deepest freedom rests not in our freedom to do what we want to do but rather in our freedom to become who God wills us to be.” </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Discerning who God wills us to be…that is the existential question we grapple with all our lives as Christians. What are our special gifts and talents? How do they intersect with the needs of others? How must we put ourselves at risk (remember </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">risk-taking</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> from last week?) for the beloved community? In our questioning, we know and understand that we are and always will be “works in progress.” </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Unpolished…unfinished…always emerging…free to become more tomorrow than we are today</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. This “becoming” is what we mean by spiritual development, and it is the work of a lifetime—freely awarded and guided by God. Thomas Merton reminds us that “it is a superficial freedom to wander aimlessly here or there, to taste this or that, to make a choice of distractions…it claims to be a freedom of ‘choice’ when it has evaded the basic task of discovering who it is that chooses.” If we see the commandments handed to Moses simply as rules and regulations for us as individuals, they become only about our personal success or failure, and it is easy to avoid probing our relational identity too deeply. If, on the other hand, we consider the commandments as ethical teaching, we are drawn into the broader context of community and of our individual responsibility within it. Our individual freedom is relevant only in the context of our relationship to others, and God’s teaching becomes about invitation and sharing, not exclusion and judgment. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">When Jesus disrupted the temple, he turned the world upside down. Rampant and untethered individual freedom had distorted community life and ignored God’s precepts. As tables flew, it must have felt like the situation Walter Brueggemann describes when he says, “The world for which you have been so carefully prepared is being taken away from you by the grace of God.” This is indeed liberating grace—grace that sweeps our ego-constructed worlds away, reminds us how to live, and gives us more freedom than we could ever imagine or realize on our own. Our responsibility—our challenge—is to engage in the kind of self-reflection and self-examination that will enable us to use our God-gifted freedom wisely.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Like the desert fathers and mothers, we, too, must regularly “go into our cells” to discover ourselves again—to hear anew God’s promise to show “steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Lent is a call to do that work again and again and again. May you have the courage to enter it with joyful abandon!</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Questions for the Week:</span></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How do the popular slogans we hear about freedom penetrate our cultural life and shape our attitudes toward ourselves and others? What ethical considerations, if any, are embedded in them? How do they relate to God’s instructions to the Israelites?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">When have you felt most free? What adjectives would you use to describe these feelings? What do you need to do in your life to sustain your own sense of liberation? How does this intersect with your role in community? How is it different from the superficial freedom Merton describes? How do you feel God living God’s self in you?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Dietrich Bonhoeffer called his prison confinement a “steam bath for the soul.” How do </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">you</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> live with God’s commandments? Are they restrictions that elicit fear? A warm blanket of comfort? An awakening of opportunity? Or something else?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Mark Nepo writes, “It is difficult to fly from the birdcage if you see the bars as branches on which to rest.” Where do you find yourself substituting your own ideas of freedom from the ones God has provided you? How might you disrupt the comfort offered by your own ego?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How are you taking time during Lent to move into emptiness, to be mindful of the Holy Spirit, and to risk using your birthright gifts in service to community? </span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Practices for the Week:</span></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Create a prayer or meditation space in your home or garden—a kind of “cell” where you can peel away the layers and let the cell tell you all you need to know. Keep a journal of your discoveries.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Explore the ways that form and structure create freedom of expression by writing Haiku, an acrostic poem using words like </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">free, becoming, precept, wisdom, or other words from the scripture readings</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">; a collect; a sonnet; etc.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Honor the Sabbath. Turn off your devices—TV, phone and computer—and throw away your “to do” list of things you’ve saved for the weekend. Try not to drive anywhere. Don’t find time for “work.” See what freedom you can discover by resting with God and in relationship with those around you.</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Prayer of the Week:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be still and know that I am God.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be still and know that I am.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be still and know.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be still.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Be.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-16321506604919086152024-02-28T08:09:00.000-08:002024-02-28T08:12:52.725-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCD4ZHPU4qeIF4FgNJ_DZtMReTr0xN-GeK7DfLUOSzixaa-KPiJXcVg_BbChAx1v40GwqieR0KnaNMIlC_NePJhEo1zAQYN78B1Dr8FakLSdIZa-B-v0pkBuciqO3e1ESfT2k349J2h9DIjy6KbBi7Guk3evEBg4RfYMX_hOtM-QjxI7cz0FQ-hT1onN-t" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCD4ZHPU4qeIF4FgNJ_DZtMReTr0xN-GeK7DfLUOSzixaa-KPiJXcVg_BbChAx1v40GwqieR0KnaNMIlC_NePJhEo1zAQYN78B1Dr8FakLSdIZa-B-v0pkBuciqO3e1ESfT2k349J2h9DIjy6KbBi7Guk3evEBg4RfYMX_hOtM-QjxI7cz0FQ-hT1onN-t" width="180" /></a></div> My backyard is wild right now.</div><div><br /></div><div> I mean that literally and metaphorically.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Sparrows, House Finches, Gold Finches, Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and the occasional Starling have taken up residence. When it was 75 degrees yesterday, Robins stealthily tilted their heads, listening for their next meal beneath the Eairth. Today, with the wind howling and Winter reminding us that it isn’t Spring yet, chonky Squirrels suspiciously enter the yard, one eye fixed on the door looking for Tecumseh and Brigid, the other on the scattered birdseed on the ground. I love all these visitors!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"> In the wind, last year’s Sunflower stalks sway. Leaves rustle, occasionally rising and swirling, forming tiny tornadoes. My backyard probably annoys some. I didn’t rake all the leaves or turn over the garden. Yikes! I know! All the judgment. Instead, I wanted to leave the dead Plants and leaves for cover. Insects and other critters see our annoyances as places to dwell during those long Winter months. While my neighbors have, on multiple occasions, started up their small engines to rid their yards of Winter’s residue, I have not. I don’t mind the dead things in my yard. I love the process of becoming unfolding in my little patch of Eairth.</div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAtFfEFGVm46BZBwbsYFEK3SE0jXff6W0aqaUKdogrlFUJmJ4DHUy9H2CuFA_Ba19Ig8W3s59miX-gUzxXelk7zAF0tRcdYtbZjcgmfHR5K8srJ9tuJo5gBAg8EHYqVNW-O6F012dpdogA31GYP8Nr8N2NMXs52YL9ugFczahT23iE2LbCnsm3QL2YRHji" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAtFfEFGVm46BZBwbsYFEK3SE0jXff6W0aqaUKdogrlFUJmJ4DHUy9H2CuFA_Ba19Ig8W3s59miX-gUzxXelk7zAF0tRcdYtbZjcgmfHR5K8srJ9tuJo5gBAg8EHYqVNW-O6F012dpdogA31GYP8Nr8N2NMXs52YL9ugFczahT23iE2LbCnsm3QL2YRHji" width="180" /></a></div> Our second week of Lent entry, written by Kelli Owens, gets to the heart of what this season asks us, “What is asking to die?” Dead Flowers and barren Trees are a noticeable reminder that there is a season for everything. The wind blows, and my windchimes sing, while the hanging Flower basket blows to and fro, a mere relic of what it once was last Summer. Things have died, but beneath and within, new life is happening. What is dead has released nutrients and is becoming life for other creatures. Returning. Reciprocity. Dare I say, Resurrection?</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Across the way, a Maple Tree is budding. Beneath the leaves on the other side of my fence, something green emerges from the tans and grays. Death, yes, and life! Is this not Lent? We contemplate our mortality not as some spiritual masochism. “On the contrary, Lent is the one proof we have that the end of everything we face, all the struggles required of us, it is really meant to become new life in us.” (Joan Chittister)</div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> I took a risk and opted not to ‘clean up my yard.’ Okay, that’s not a risk and is more dramatic than anything. But the dead Plants in my yard invite me to consider how I’m risking my life for the sake of Love. They ask me to consider what needs winnowing in my life so the fruits of the Spirit may emerge. Even in dying, a new thing is coming forth. It’s like what Paul says in Philippians 1, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” To resist dying leads to deeper suffering. The good news of our faith is that in dying and rising, what happens in the waters of our baptism, death is transformed!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> My yard won’t win me any awards. No one will mistake me as a meticulous gardener. But it is a place for the wild things of Logan County—a place where death and life intersect and where Resurrection occurs. And, to me, that’s pretty wild.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The top left photo is of Brigid carrying a piece of a Sunflower root.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second photo on the right is of a Tulip emerging through a pile of leaves.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The last photo centered below is of Tecumseh chatting with one of his many Squirrel friends. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHzD_6gMG8M1WREXcw9VK6nLP8VS80g12BaEoJuapTWGifYFl5V-E1tfRzYy8zHLwJL_Pwoj4hc7Ru9_f0ODXpHaaecnCYBPtoqxALcF9pwbEeH8GB_8qGUL4VYk_12KGrlCdO6IeIACOOKz-njJj0rJHukV04kLjcY6OYHlJAUSg6bEkXspqkrFvUHLN2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHzD_6gMG8M1WREXcw9VK6nLP8VS80g12BaEoJuapTWGifYFl5V-E1tfRzYy8zHLwJL_Pwoj4hc7Ru9_f0ODXpHaaecnCYBPtoqxALcF9pwbEeH8GB_8qGUL4VYk_12KGrlCdO6IeIACOOKz-njJj0rJHukV04kLjcY6OYHlJAUSg6bEkXspqkrFvUHLN2" width="180" /></a></div></div>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-64064991562954897592024-02-26T13:26:00.000-08:002024-02-26T13:26:55.726-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Second Week of Lent -- Becoming Risk Takers<p><span style="color: #800180;"> <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Second Week of Lent</strong></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; The market only wants to buy and sell you; Fight to stay awake; Choose the path you take; Even if you don’t know where it’s going; Trust your own unknowing; (Don’t go back to sleep)” Jan Garrett</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Reflection Title: Becoming Risk-Takers<br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16 & Mark 8.31-38</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>Abraham and Sarah were not young in today’s Old Testament reading. In fact, the Biblical narrative records the almost insulting observation that at the time of this Genesis text they were “as good as dead” (Romans 4). This fascinates me since Jesus also talks about what it means to be willing to die in the Gospel lesson from Mark 8. What do these deaths have to do with each other? Some would say the answer is risk-taking faith. Just as Abraham and Sarah stepped into their faith in the seemingly absurd promise of God to give them a son, so the words of Jesus invite us to a similar risk-taking – perhaps even reckless - posture.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>This adventure we call our Lenten journey requires a bit of grit. When we read Jesus’ words and begin to sit with the concept of what in us might need to die, we get uncomfortable. And rightly so! Risk, by very definition, asks us to step outside of the norm. Or maybe better: the known. Some have found it helpful to intentionally center a prayerful question when that familiar discomfort arises. One that often accompanies me is this: “What is asking to die?”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWismOfWMH2-NF2S9XS5C-e73KwEipT9fWbHcEdLk-6_PV85l_58ZQxhM5-76mhhFIEONOAYR9Yc-Mg47UGzS6YF5pRkTHjJO0qgQRPpjAwBPDr4MI1IR8490gTvR3KGFSu9dcxXbisP0rmZUTqTr5jGtRnBPwAmlPVzFOH1vJNyVv5LppmYi24vzzMNM6/s864/KalLent2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWismOfWMH2-NF2S9XS5C-e73KwEipT9fWbHcEdLk-6_PV85l_58ZQxhM5-76mhhFIEONOAYR9Yc-Mg47UGzS6YF5pRkTHjJO0qgQRPpjAwBPDr4MI1IR8490gTvR3KGFSu9dcxXbisP0rmZUTqTr5jGtRnBPwAmlPVzFOH1vJNyVv5LppmYi24vzzMNM6/s320/KalLent2.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>And while that may seem abrupt for some, to me it’s a way to recognize that just as the life flows generously in my happy pansies in Spring, they also have their day when it withdraws and they die each Fall. They tell me when it’s time, just as your tomato plants or cucumber vines tell you. In honoring the limited lifespan of all growing things, we recognize that God, who is the Source of life, has made everything appropriate in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>Perhaps what it takes for us to become risk-takers like our ancestors in faith is to recognize that what inspired them can also inspire us. We, too, can envision and participate in working toward the day when “all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well,” even if that day is not today. Even if today we only see death.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>Perhaps it is the process of both reckoning with death but then choosing to participate anyway in this work of faith that we become prophets of a future not our own.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Questions for the Week:</span></strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">What do you feel when you read the words “risk-takers”?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How could you intentionally center the concept of God as life-giver and death-bringer this week? Does that raise tension for you?</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Practices for the Week:</span></strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Spend time touching, looking at, being present to a living being – maybe a houseplant or a pet. (A human, only if they give consent.) Use this experience as a prayer point to thank God for the risk of imagination and participation it took for them to be alive.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Spend time with something that reminds you of a being who is no longer alive. Let the feelings well up, whatever they may be, and know that risk-taking faith never asks us to be stoic. It’s always okay to grieve. See if any shifts happen inside you as you meditate on the life that was and how its time is over. Perhaps try noticing how you have changed due to this life and its passing. This, too, is part of becoming.</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Prayer for the Week:</span></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Giver of life,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">While alive, we are yours.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Bringer of unknowns,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">We surrender, knowing this too is of you. Amen.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-52809762707922229832024-02-19T12:16:00.000-08:002024-02-19T12:16:04.548-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Monday of the First Week of Lent -- Centering Prayer<p style="text-align: justify;"> <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Centering Prayer for Lent – Emptying to Become Full</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Sunday, February 18, 2024</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Lent Week 1</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2.5-11&version=NRSVUE" target="_blank">Read: Philippians 2.5-11</a></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">Want to learn about Centering Prayer first hand? Watch the video below. The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault explains this practice and then leads centering prayer. Most of what Cynthia says in the video is found below. We gather as a community to practice centering prayer on Sundays at 3 p.m. during Lent at 1PC Lincoln. </p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1aQmQu4lufo?si=Rkl3gkexs84wuyS5" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The theme for our Lenten journey at First Presbyterian Church [1PC] Lincoln is "Becoming." Lent asks us, "Who do you/we want to become?" Into the wilderness of the season, we join Jesus as we journey towards our true selves. The Lenten season always begins with the same Gospel of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. He has gone into the desert for forty days for his initiation, as it were, and this is a beautiful telling of the demons we all must face to grow up and become mature. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Out in the desert among wild beasts and angels, Jesus was tempted. Like Jesus, we are often tempted to deny our identity as one created in the image and likeness of God. Once we doubt that, it's all downhill from there. It seems that Jesus was special because he never doubted he was God's beloved son. Power is at the heart of the temptation stories [in Matthew and Luke]. The first temptation is to misuse power; the second is to co-op religion for one's gain; the third is political power – and the temptation to receive power for power's sake.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> How did Jesus resist these temptations? While we don't have all the information, we know he fasted and prayed. We also know that the Holy Spirit ministered to him at the end of these spiritual disciplines. By God's grace, which was poured out upon him – and us – at baptism, Jesus emptied himself of his wants and was filled with God's presence. Jesus let go – practice emptiness – and welcomed the Spirit as a companion to his life. At the end of the fasting and praying, Jesus emerges, pointing toward the reign of God and the invitation to see beyond our mind's eyes.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Centering prayer allows us to repent and return to our belonging to God. Jesus found his way back to his belonging through prayer, so we can, too. Centering prayer invites us to return to this place within us, too. The focus of centering prayer isn't words but our abiding in God. Centering prayer is difficult in a world where words constantly bombard us, both without and within. However, it is also a forgiving one that, in reality, requires of us little: simply our consent and the willingness and faith to continue to create space when we face distractions.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> We must understand ourselves to become who God longs for us to be. Centering prayer is a practice that invites us to empty ourselves of whatever prevents us from being who God calls us to be. In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul described this pathway of descent as </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">kenosis</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. The Greek word kenosis means "emptying" and, as a theological principle, calls us to empty ourselves of everything to receive God's presence. Practically, it means living simply so as not to be distracted by "things" and letting go of judgments and prejudices to move toward unity with all of creation and, ultimately, with God. Paul expresses it in the following way: </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Although he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God as something to be grasped at. Instead, he emptied himself, being born in the likeness of humanity…</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> So, now that all the theology is behind us, why centering prayer for Lent? Centering prayer is a pathway of return – to our true selves, which is the journey we embark on for Lent. And we return to our true selves – the hidden point of Divinity dwelling with us – whenever we let go of our thoughts and welcome the presence and action of God. The starting point for centering prayer is remaining open and saying to every distraction, "Not my will be done, but God's."</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> In centering prayer, everything begins with and keeps returning to intention. What am I </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">really</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> up to in this prayer? What is my aim as I sit on my chair and set this practice in motion? To be entirely open to God is a good approach. Remember, your thoughts and distractions are part of the process. The deal in this prayer practice is this: </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">if you catch yourself thinking, you let the thought go. </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Return to a sacred word to help you release yourself from a thought. Notice it isn't a mantra because a sacred word is a placeholder for your intention. It's the spiritual equivalent of a little red string tied around your finger to remind yourself of your willingness to 'do the deal.' Unlike a mantra, you don't repeat it constantly; you only use it when you realize you've gotten tangled up in a thought. In centering prayer, this gentle release of your thoughts helps us 'consent to God's presence and action within.' It doesn't have to be a sacred word. It can be a breath or a sacred image. Visuals and breathing are classic meditation methods, but they are not centering prayer.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">Here are the steps to centering prayer. </span></strong></p><ol style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your willingness to consent to God's presence and action within. </span></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within. </span></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">When engaged with your thoughts, return gently to the sacred word.</span></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">At the end of the prayer period, remain silent with your eyes closed for a few minutes. </span></strong></li></ol><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Centering prayer is putting on the mind of Christ – which is what Paul is writing about in the Book of Philippians. Jesus did not cling to power for himself in the wilderness or throughout his ministry, life, and death, but he released himself of such controlling thoughts. Consider his teachings that often begin with: Let go! Don't cling! Don't hoard! Don't assert your importance! Don't fret. This teaching is the same core gesture of centering prayer. This form of prayer isn't about attaining a clear mind, conscious presence, a strong witnessing 'I,' some desired state. In centering prayer, you merely practice the core motion of kenosis: "Let go, make space, unclench" – thought by thought.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Centering prayer is accepting God's presence and action in your life. Empty the doubt and wade into the waters of your belonging.</span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-8890002360496037592024-02-18T16:14:00.000-08:002024-02-18T16:15:41.652-08:00Through Stained Glass: The First Sunday of Lent<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #800180;"> <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The First Week of Lent</strong></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">“The emptiness of the desert makes it possible to learn the almost impossible: the joyful acceptance of our uselessness.” </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Ivan Illich</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Reflection Title: Becoming Who We Are</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Genesis 9.8-17 & Mark 1.9-15</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The first Sunday of Lent always sends us into the wilderness. We read Mark’s account of Jesus’ forty-day stay in the wild this year. Unlike the other Gospel accounts of Jesus’ temptations, Mark provides little detail about what happens there. We know that the Spirit sends Jesus into the wilderness where he is tested, or tempted, by </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Satan, and it ends with Jesus resisting these temptations, revealing that whatever keeps us from being on the right path can be dislodged.</span></p><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEji1BkGCA5tA3kejHI0RgJk6oEaDgiFBv455nKmuKB2RqA_wAnxqp2zBhjR_8W9GchqvYqpjlky3zJHWTqbUKRxjIBAM2I8BS7_r7fsxsRVzALsybxJ-QU6yPIe_oCk5yVqAqBIpE82CpeaWnsYo_Bp3HrwaaS-ieYnJO9_JngGqA0zh9hJrw5LEpP82WCE" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1350" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEji1BkGCA5tA3kejHI0RgJk6oEaDgiFBv455nKmuKB2RqA_wAnxqp2zBhjR_8W9GchqvYqpjlky3zJHWTqbUKRxjIBAM2I8BS7_r7fsxsRVzALsybxJ-QU6yPIe_oCk5yVqAqBIpE82CpeaWnsYo_Bp3HrwaaS-ieYnJO9_JngGqA0zh9hJrw5LEpP82WCE" width="320" /></a></span></div><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness references other stories within the Bible. The story of Exodus tells of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years as they moved toward the land of promise. The testing of Jesus also recalls the story of Elijah and<br /> their forty-day journey to Mount Horeb. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were all tested. All prophets are since going with the status quo is easier than fighting for justice. The wilderness journey is not one of punishment but one of becoming.</span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Like all of Israel before him, Jesus is forced to take the wrong way, going directly from his baptism into the wilderness of temptation. Being thrust into the desert and its promises of death, he sounds the keynote of his whole mission in advance. The wilderness in Mark’s gospel is always a desert. Out there in the desert, a place of death, it becomes a place of miraculous nourishment and hope. In the wilderness, Jesus gains a deeper understanding of who he is – as God’s beloved and as a human, like you and I. Lent invites us into those wild places of our lives – physically and metaphorically – where we insist God doesn’t dwell. And yet, in those places considered God-forsaken, our identity is found.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Out in the wilderness, we find the way toward God – we become who we are as God’s beloved, too. The emptiness of the wilderness reminds us of our interdependence with God and creation. We find our place among the wild things. Out there, where we truly become, we are invited, like Jesus, to envision a kind of holy disruption grounded in the longing for God to set things right.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Questions for the Week:</span></strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Please read this week’s lesson from Genesis 9.8-17. Why does it matter that God establishes a covenant with all creation and not just humans?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How do you define ‘wilderness?’ Why do you think Mark leaves out the specific temptations of Jesus, unlike the other synoptic details, but explicitly notes Jesus was with the wild animals and that the angels, which can be translated as both messenger and birds, waited on him after his time in the wilderness?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Hebrew word for wilderness is </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">midba, </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">rooted in the verb </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">dabar</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, which means ‘speaking.’ </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Ba-midbar</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, translated in most cases as ‘the wilderness,’ also means ‘the organ which speaks.’ The wilderness is understood to be a voice that speaks to us. God guides the Israelites from Egypt to the land of promise. How might the wilderness speak to their becoming?</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Practices for the Week:</span></strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he went into the wilderness to pray. Take this week to go into the wilderness and pray. Maybe you drive to Kickapoo Park, Madigan State Park, or your favorite lake, and while remaining safe, spend time conversing with God and the wild beasts around you.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Research ‘forest bathing’ and Terra Divina. If weather permits, and while being safe, sit against a tree and wait for the Living God. Take a camera with you to the local park and look for the places where creation is becoming new.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Find crayons, colored pencils, markers, or items to collage with. Spend 30 to 60 minutes creating your favorite wilderness place. Maybe it’s your favorite mountain in Colorado, beach in Florida, or loch in Scotland. As you create, allow the Spirit to tend, uplift, and pray for you.</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Prayer for the Week</span></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You have made all your works in wisdom.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Including the wilderness – where we become.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Minister to us, speak to us with your Birds</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and wild Beasts – make wise our lives.</span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-33834524176543737092024-02-16T14:53:00.000-08:002024-02-16T14:56:49.753-08:00Through Stained Glass: Lent Day 3<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Ash Wednesday</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">February 14, 2024</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">"Lent is about becoming, doing, and changing whatever it is that is blocking the fullness of life in us right now. Lent is a summons to live anew."</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> Sister Joan Chittister</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Reflection Title: Becoming Empty</span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Scripture: Joel 2.1, 2, 12-17 & Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent. The forty days of Lent are often associated with penance – an act of self-abasement. While a worthy practice, Lent offers much more to our faith journey if we allow it. The Joel reading takes us back to a hard time in the life of God's people.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbDZdhjeHAfy7m_7dDp1RKrPJZYWJNwEBhjgMsGfhsNZxOf02jtECzJGCX2OqiS3hUWtBJnxjRi2LVISdiy26F9ibMMt9SXkAd7GAWD-XAimEAHo4eT_e65B6o3bt9uej_N1cHjxDD62Zji-mlps2jyfE9cyrZBpU9RtcG0OERdA31KUwVtWqxPl5QnegQ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbDZdhjeHAfy7m_7dDp1RKrPJZYWJNwEBhjgMsGfhsNZxOf02jtECzJGCX2OqiS3hUWtBJnxjRi2LVISdiy26F9ibMMt9SXkAd7GAWD-XAimEAHo4eT_e65B6o3bt9uej_N1cHjxDD62Zji-mlps2jyfE9cyrZBpU9RtcG0OERdA31KUwVtWqxPl5QnegQ=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div><span> </span>Locusts have ravaged the land. The crops are failing. The very life of the population is in question. The prophet Joel, convinced that the people had brought the disaster upon themselves by virtue of their unfaithfulness, summons the House of Israel to repent its ways. But he does not call them to attend penance services in the synagogue. He does not require them to make animal sacrifices in the temple. He does not talk about public displays of remorse, the time-honored tearing of garments to demonstrate grief. No, Joel says, "Rend your hearts and not your clothing."<p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>Sister Joan Chittister writes, "Lent is a call to weep for what we could have been and are not. Lent is the grace to grieve for what we should have done and did not. Lent is the opportunity to change what we ought to change but have not. Lent is not about penance. Lent is about becoming, doing, and changing whatever is blocking the fullness of life in us right now."</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span> </span>Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality. We need not wait until our deaths to know the fullness and abundance of God. We have life now – and God is with us in this life. Lent is the time to let life in again, to rebuild the worlds we've allowed to go sterile, to "fast and weep and mourn" for the goods we've foregone. Lent is a season for becoming – to return to our belovedness by emptying ourselves of whatever stands in the way of it and by filling our life with the goodness of God.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Question(s) for the Week</strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Who is God calling you to become? What is preventing you from saying 'yes' to God?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How might Lent be a season for us to consider who we need to become in a world not as it is but as God longs for it to be?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Lent is not about feeling bad about being human. Instead, it reminds us of and directs our attention to God's mercy and goodness. Write about how you experienced God's goodness, compassion, and love. Could you share it with a friend?</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Practices for the Week</strong></p><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Prayer helps us empty ourselves so we may embrace the Christ dwelling within us. Center prayer includes gently letting go of any thoughts that come during that time, not pushing them away but letting them go to return to God's presence. On Sundays at 3:00 p.m. in Lent, Adam will offer centering prayer at the church.</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the space below, take ashes and draw a circle. Spend time reflecting on your life. How does the concept of impermanence make you feel?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Take a drive through a cemetery. When you find a quiet spot, take in the names on the headstones. Recall these words from Genesis 3.19, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." What would those who have gone before you in death want you to know about life? Consider the gift God has given you – YOU. Consider this reality: we all have one life with limited time. What will you do with this time?</span></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The poet Rilke once wrote, "You are not dead yet. It is not too late to open your depths by plunging into them and drink the life that reveals itself quietly there." Write these words on a piece of paper and put it somewhere you will encounter it daily. Lent is about living!</span></li></ul><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Prayer for the Week</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">God, you are near.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Focus on breathing in and pray: </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I breathe in the breath of life.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Focus on breathing out and pray: </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I breathe out what separates me from God.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Have mercy on me, O God, and shape my becoming into your image.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Amen.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-33832430931578195632024-02-16T07:00:00.000-08:002024-02-16T15:01:25.901-08:00Through Stained Glass: Lent Day 3<p> The refrain of Ash Wednesday comes from Genesis 3.19. </p><p>"...you are dust, and to dust you shall return." </p><p>I -- you -- all of us -- will die. </p><p>Dust. The thing of Stars. Here's what I mean. And I can't say it any better than this photo: </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMh-R1b6uebgklIBR2Na5jzvkj4j8WVDMDkAfFFy-Fn0w4Bz-vtL5p-6KuVzu4kI52_3WjcnaVla1YncIOemt3aqzGVhVDpGMMxaU3mjw4ghjT5zmro0aIQ22GEyAfcaMwKbDY6pI3UIwdPjOH4Ku4GRQvB-lhBELaq53OSOJvWKcChnZSqF5Hgi0MPgKZ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMh-R1b6uebgklIBR2Na5jzvkj4j8WVDMDkAfFFy-Fn0w4Bz-vtL5p-6KuVzu4kI52_3WjcnaVla1YncIOemt3aqzGVhVDpGMMxaU3mjw4ghjT5zmro0aIQ22GEyAfcaMwKbDY6pI3UIwdPjOH4Ku4GRQvB-lhBELaq53OSOJvWKcChnZSqF5Hgi0MPgKZ" width="240" /></a></div>We are made of stardust. <p></p><p>We are cosmic. Everything is. I love <a href="https://www.jjwarren.org/blog/blog-post-title-four-c3k55-hsa6a" target="_blank">what this pastor says</a>:</p><blockquote><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro" style="background-color: white; font-size: 19.2px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>We are ALL dust. And, in fact, we are all stardust! When God caused the Big Bang (in my opinion), a little dot of matter (scientists say it was no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence) exploded into a beautifully complex and diverse universe. All of the original “dust” of the universe is the result of stars that have “died;” they have come to the end of their cycles, and their matter is scattered. This matter helps create something new. This star dust was then knit together by gravity (and Divine intervention) to form Earth. And this stardust makes up you and me as well.</i></span></p></blockquote><p>We are dust, and to dust, we will return. And in the meantime? We live. </p><p>And as a people of faith, we commit ourselves to the way of love taught by Jesus. Lent is the season we are intentional about becoming the Beloved Community. We live and love as God in Jesus from Nazareth loved -- the Spirit enabling us to embody it. </p><p>Though dust means other things, too. </p><p>When I was going from one stage of faith to the next, the writings of Rob Bell were influential. I remember when I first saw the video I'm posting below. I remember thinking, "But who am I to co-labor with God in bringing about the reign of Love? I'm so ... mortal." After watching the video, I felt -- as if God could work with my dustiness. I separate [which is the definition of sin] myself from God way too much. Still, God calls me God's beloved and says, "You are my beloved. You belong to me -- I created you in my image and likeness." </p><p>I am made of dust, and I will return to dust. Until then, I've got a baptismal identity/vocation to embrace. I hope this video 'blesses' you as much as it did me some twenty years ago. </p><p>Ashes to ashes, dust to dust -- still at our grave, we proclaim 'ALL...'</p><p><br /></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BkOZEt-KwZw?si=FafXiKdXdTogbR0q" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-10902595147968567662024-02-15T18:09:00.000-08:002024-02-15T18:09:45.800-08:00Through Stained Glass: Lent Day 2 <div style="text-align: left;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDHg4eo1aPAhJe1mX9m7B7dZ13IEN-rFa0cHxOsNQBMqiAG-Qzfm9lJcToD-N5N_Ij0npLjfgZxQG5QT2shwKOKXKW7eNqCG1ZB6cI5sy9ijZdSchXkNNp_X-_-SizwccVg6BwviuDRJVeqZcgthu9G8ma-SuDH2mukH6LPrbC7-Lbrt4kv0ZPe8R2DI15" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDHg4eo1aPAhJe1mX9m7B7dZ13IEN-rFa0cHxOsNQBMqiAG-Qzfm9lJcToD-N5N_Ij0npLjfgZxQG5QT2shwKOKXKW7eNqCG1ZB6cI5sy9ijZdSchXkNNp_X-_-SizwccVg6BwviuDRJVeqZcgthu9G8ma-SuDH2mukH6LPrbC7-Lbrt4kv0ZPe8R2DI15" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brigid gazes into the burnt prairie at Kickapoo Park. <br />She would walk on some of the ashes, turning her<br />white paws black. A reminder of her mortality, too. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span> </span> </span>Lent is an ancient word for springtime; it designates a season of burgeoning inner and outer life. Too often, Lent has been misunderstood as a time of grim repentance, but it is meant to be a time of joy, the joy of a fresh start, the joy that greening meadows and blossoming trees proclaim each spring. It is a season to remind us of God’s goodness and mercy. Just as God cares for the flowers of the field and the Bluebirds of the air, so God cares for us – you and me!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. I love this holy day in the church. It helps me to remember that one day, I will die. That one day, I will complete my baptism, and as the liturgy assures us, I will “gather at the life-giving river” that flows from God’s presence. From the cradle to the grave, in this life and the next, we belong to God – this is what we proclaim in our baptism liturgy – and why we remember our baptism every week. Ash Wednesday reminds us that as much as we want to identify with our career, relationships, or material goods, none of those matters. Impermanence is real, and like those flowers of the field, our stuff, and ultimately us, will wither and fade away.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>But that’s not the end of that line, right? It’s from Isaiah 40 and reads in its entirety, “The grass withers; the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” These lines are part of a poem written to a people returning from exile proclaiming to them that God will deliver on Their promises. I love how Corrine Carvhalo puts it when she writes, “[The people] have sinned, but God has remained true. They have sinned, but God has stayed true.” [<a href="https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-of-advent-2/commentary-on-isaiah-401-11-6" target="_blank">The Working Preacher</a>] The story they tell, however, is that God doesn’t care if they live or die – I mean, they are in exile, after all!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>And yet, the poem begins back in verse 1 about comfort – and God’s movement to comfort God’s people. Instead of punishing or placing the people on some naughty list like a divine Santa Claus, God comforts the people. The movement of God is one of care, concern, and compassion. God does not want God’s people to suffer. And though this text isn’t promising that suffering will end, it does speak to the good news that God enters our suffering with us. I like what my professor Greg Hillis says about this when he writes, “If we come to understand that God suffers alongside us as one who truly knows what it means to suffer, our anger morphs into love, and our suffering mysteriously becomes a means of transformation.” [<a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/02/05/hillis-prayer-julian-norwich-suffering-247036?fbclid=IwAR0Bm1DITmvKTZCgKWvw-H1anoUiXynXbz4bodCaTCXxauYevjSqGCjT1xA" target="_blank">America: The Jesuit Review</a>]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>Lent is about transformation. And the promise of God’s presence in it – the withering and the growing, the living and the dying. I thought about this when I walked Tecumseh and Brigid at Kickapoo Park. Yesterday, I believe, the rangers did the yearly control burn on the prairie part of the park. The faded flowers, dead grass, and yellows accompanying this time of year were black – like the ashes on my forehead yesterday. As the wind blew, I could see ashes form tiny twisters that rolled across the prairie. But I also saw Bluebirds that looked like those mythical winged animals rising from the ashes!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>The image is dramatic, but it is appropriate for Lent. Burning the prairie helps Native Plants outgrow the invasive ones and weeds. I understand that weeds and other annual plants are set back by burning the above-ground vegetation in early spring to give room for the hardy, preferred prairie plants below. Lent is this for us as a people of faith. It is time we ‘burn’ back whatever stands in our way of becoming who God longs us to be. It is a time to remind ourselves that everything we insist on defining us will wither and fade away – but our belovedness will remain! Lent is when we empty ourselves of all the expectations and ‘shoulds’ we tell ourselves to tend to the garden of our being – fanning the flame of the Risen Christ dwelling within. It is when we plant the seeds of our becoming and then tend to them the way God tends to us – with tenderness, gentleness, and mercy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>The prairie field at Kickapoo Park is all ash. But from that death, new life will soon emerge. Red-winged Blackbirds will perch on Sunflowers, and Rabbits will burrow in the brush. Transformation is happening – even if it looks ashy and dead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>The flowers fade, and the grass withers, but the word of God remains.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span>We live, and we die, but God’s presence remains.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span>Lent always gives way to resurrection. Still, the weeds grow. Let us be courageous in emptying ourselves of all the invasive thoughts so we may hear that still, small voice that declares to us, “You are my beloved!”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2lTmS_H3ZVep5HrKC1s4Qs7YEqGPm6k-WBNdvCEtr5ICdIa9Ly5SsfAgVdHSZrwM1hgb1k-wuwXf3MDLmoSZ-fM9tHIMIBiIJp-Q39Spfyw6YIvkVmdBYNUVqul98Kv32-s7nVmsySs72SdLtX0umC_ng_-gmCkVMfuQ41fFYcu4DKu5bdQKzgMTqvvTf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2lTmS_H3ZVep5HrKC1s4Qs7YEqGPm6k-WBNdvCEtr5ICdIa9Ly5SsfAgVdHSZrwM1hgb1k-wuwXf3MDLmoSZ-fM9tHIMIBiIJp-Q39Spfyw6YIvkVmdBYNUVqul98Kv32-s7nVmsySs72SdLtX0umC_ng_-gmCkVMfuQ41fFYcu4DKu5bdQKzgMTqvvTf" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bluebird perched on a Sycamore tree at Kickapoo Park</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-84453243232038424672023-10-16T07:35:00.001-07:002023-10-16T07:35:20.434-07:002023 1PC's Halloween Parking Lot Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below are a few snapshots from Saturday's Halloween party. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen. If you have photos from the day, please send them to me [Adam].</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqspCDOlxxAo3A8-nqsCl7vhUJzfk9lownv-rDOX_bhD1ayBuqrAW9kBT_txdPT5Nq1TTpNsLPnspp372oi-mw3jHHNmpa5GERURChbd3A6ZSFlUzYPvsz26wU10F45DMqw6CxUjvVWMx2S3VvYZyv3e_K-HgutV2y0XIu1j8ofjZR022JUph2IJakHqH/s4032/IMG_1326.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqspCDOlxxAo3A8-nqsCl7vhUJzfk9lownv-rDOX_bhD1ayBuqrAW9kBT_txdPT5Nq1TTpNsLPnspp372oi-mw3jHHNmpa5GERURChbd3A6ZSFlUzYPvsz26wU10F45DMqw6CxUjvVWMx2S3VvYZyv3e_K-HgutV2y0XIu1j8ofjZR022JUph2IJakHqH/s320/IMG_1326.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwytE_d5M8qdbckXeFsOn2MZ_MBeheQO5yDZc7sFHiihqQSps-lYUXRdQylZJboI6s_WV7uZHm7etb_L4ij2OnuS9AYq3eAljRA0NXpwExcDaXAVL-SG-DcQxXvbjioPIrHfBf2iFs8OGlOE6Hup79jAfFj_kkI4bk58br5giNPVIq2VELxWtOGLyn4mQL/s4032/IMG_1327.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwytE_d5M8qdbckXeFsOn2MZ_MBeheQO5yDZc7sFHiihqQSps-lYUXRdQylZJboI6s_WV7uZHm7etb_L4ij2OnuS9AYq3eAljRA0NXpwExcDaXAVL-SG-DcQxXvbjioPIrHfBf2iFs8OGlOE6Hup79jAfFj_kkI4bk58br5giNPVIq2VELxWtOGLyn4mQL/s320/IMG_1327.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4foZLE1ipc_rtTWYon6z8BHouuzlsW5WsTRgEhsXSpyXdEEr522IsFlWN7ayhyphenhyphenMArdyI3CqqVs7C_8oTgJue-IxeJGvuf0gBFvih6GHKUWzw0Pwmbdh5AHkahlWjdtk2UtU9bZ_oTdtrDlc8wrcJlAJcJmqFjOhO9PxVzTSHSHFTlVX4yNZJNMNT1DTI/s4032/IMG_1330.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4foZLE1ipc_rtTWYon6z8BHouuzlsW5WsTRgEhsXSpyXdEEr522IsFlWN7ayhyphenhyphenMArdyI3CqqVs7C_8oTgJue-IxeJGvuf0gBFvih6GHKUWzw0Pwmbdh5AHkahlWjdtk2UtU9bZ_oTdtrDlc8wrcJlAJcJmqFjOhO9PxVzTSHSHFTlVX4yNZJNMNT1DTI/s320/IMG_1330.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPkZMtdcL_hjvYgYR57CyPCeMDywNtU0W-l079Uvu4RuMOVFVvfcyBbI7BsIekMDFbfzk0nRifdLcVzlH2x5D4G3Mscalfy6uqH9wfbmnCvC2VNd7kmTzQAbtF542ijzdlini4fgLguJ9acBU1fKU9-gtckk4avGy-tEFh6YvSLS5VAXsuENJqPDaCzhZ/s4032/IMG_1331.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPkZMtdcL_hjvYgYR57CyPCeMDywNtU0W-l079Uvu4RuMOVFVvfcyBbI7BsIekMDFbfzk0nRifdLcVzlH2x5D4G3Mscalfy6uqH9wfbmnCvC2VNd7kmTzQAbtF542ijzdlini4fgLguJ9acBU1fKU9-gtckk4avGy-tEFh6YvSLS5VAXsuENJqPDaCzhZ/s320/IMG_1331.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HvLtc4ng8M8-VLRgVRCYs5di-2u-Al4VpQzWodgwi669ywrhQnUaIpqduvms4bmgrJQ-3_JgdZqRaTNXlJMuCmZt3f44ZCENoXUXPknz27tTzXSHx8Qv6VbfuFJflwqc8VzYUHI2z5sN1UJ3hvsPIMB47Pu35qgOnuGIaStyPf8gj-xmuX3lRJvDIIrd/s4032/IMG_1333.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HvLtc4ng8M8-VLRgVRCYs5di-2u-Al4VpQzWodgwi669ywrhQnUaIpqduvms4bmgrJQ-3_JgdZqRaTNXlJMuCmZt3f44ZCENoXUXPknz27tTzXSHx8Qv6VbfuFJflwqc8VzYUHI2z5sN1UJ3hvsPIMB47Pu35qgOnuGIaStyPf8gj-xmuX3lRJvDIIrd/s320/IMG_1333.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4x7a0Vf-afXUfbKm5H9ordb3CWkBkKTIDpKvPeed2EnDsBaBmbi_W86J5HWKFjla0Xmy7dQ8pT6PMfglUIks63ycpGuMMpmrLTu4na9t5rsIzNV74LshjU0FJDfOmFOVdQWhmpP_lmZS8j-FUPUFzOQ-lmfNBBYKt8ExCFYDBjVZagpqWk9pTTBa0huD7/s4032/IMG_1334.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4x7a0Vf-afXUfbKm5H9ordb3CWkBkKTIDpKvPeed2EnDsBaBmbi_W86J5HWKFjla0Xmy7dQ8pT6PMfglUIks63ycpGuMMpmrLTu4na9t5rsIzNV74LshjU0FJDfOmFOVdQWhmpP_lmZS8j-FUPUFzOQ-lmfNBBYKt8ExCFYDBjVZagpqWk9pTTBa0huD7/s320/IMG_1334.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUxXYhsOwe19T0-HaEhypCQT9MdS2m1HIMJCy2P5SRTRnR71ZDjL71wpZSH_tPEh4AlBf62Po6vkq9XG4bjY7G12iIPl8-WUPPbVDdM2o7-j_c2ly7PO0NhsH0KU9rZDS1GHsxqFVysH0puUt7FpqJC5UzkrGL9mUYa8GF7ckqZYc0VjJkGQiVV63VbzG/s4032/IMG_1336.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUxXYhsOwe19T0-HaEhypCQT9MdS2m1HIMJCy2P5SRTRnR71ZDjL71wpZSH_tPEh4AlBf62Po6vkq9XG4bjY7G12iIPl8-WUPPbVDdM2o7-j_c2ly7PO0NhsH0KU9rZDS1GHsxqFVysH0puUt7FpqJC5UzkrGL9mUYa8GF7ckqZYc0VjJkGQiVV63VbzG/s320/IMG_1336.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWfPIWDexHOU_ut-DdX36THaeoni6MGmxQoN1VDDoDBSr1Q6ipxv1-zDIiCPqXqQEgprUV1cNJkPiWerYqX2MIe4pLPVUQt-BSx5zU5paEtM9FotG9iNI-YhWMLQnjtNqqDUbXML4fLE23fbKP2hs9mcj1fshmQdyV0_UT8Whxcc-ytvuyLv0fCDWQ4oL/s4032/IMG_1338.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9Aj3fIBsCHjfas90MUrQIe1clSkTxKvRORXzIYV12r4MDAuP_ObIkgIxfL2Q31oSfK-P8uTG2cRSx8TbygiudZeufPSOOzXXFi0PZC0f2gDaNOFb_VAH6uIbY71qY_xLO1zPRsT-0SAxjnNPoCyCA07_ztYTVIusu1rvlzSYGkOB8QICbQQCVTbv-nQh/s320/IMG_7766.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYs-raBH9mZ9XnIlLMbAXMtdODn0ewVVSx_Ypa7grTki8DJROASsQh-Jzf7sYhM4PW5HKY6Z7iw6a9OQrtndFolKIS1paCdeliJj1EUEBPH73B2wHUNTTd1WP-zen9B8QVoAU0NqFsYVszz5dpGXizTkpE3XEjidFvpEOYweOFjr2Xe6Y4eR_YPh-_weH/s4032/IMG_7769.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYs-raBH9mZ9XnIlLMbAXMtdODn0ewVVSx_Ypa7grTki8DJROASsQh-Jzf7sYhM4PW5HKY6Z7iw6a9OQrtndFolKIS1paCdeliJj1EUEBPH73B2wHUNTTd1WP-zen9B8QVoAU0NqFsYVszz5dpGXizTkpE3XEjidFvpEOYweOFjr2Xe6Y4eR_YPh-_weH/s320/IMG_7769.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br />LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-2107763370716251442022-12-27T10:10:00.009-08:002022-12-27T10:10:47.264-08:00Through Stained Glass: The Final Advent-Word-a-Day--Emmanuel <p> <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Emmanuel</strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivbNhiTssfCxZVJTMtMquva719xXGNhQGtjRL2tXgHhcLM62nRG98Pa31qNec2ALMhFMCU2-S6LwBn9bShES4jQhcrwvnK5R3S01E-gI2lwYpfsjOzYg7CE7i6sPpxUIT6hEieiSoy9cvstKIGXd0WizkOOq50BruuUHNxufegWE0GmCFJlL5KANcfew" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivbNhiTssfCxZVJTMtMquva719xXGNhQGtjRL2tXgHhcLM62nRG98Pa31qNec2ALMhFMCU2-S6LwBn9bShES4jQhcrwvnK5R3S01E-gI2lwYpfsjOzYg7CE7i6sPpxUIT6hEieiSoy9cvstKIGXd0WizkOOq50BruuUHNxufegWE0GmCFJlL5KANcfew" width="192" /></a></strong></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">God with us. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Christmas is the season we celebrate the birth of the Christ child -- the Incarnation. The Divine doesn't dwell elsewhere apart from creation -- but the Divine is flowing in and through creation! Our Advent journey reminded me of this reality: the nearness of God, the hereness of God, and the nowness of God. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Remember what we heard when we listened to the angels on Christmas Eve? That peace has been achieved not through Jesus's death and resurrection but through Jesus's birth: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to humanity (</span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">anthropois</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">— the object of God's favor." </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">From here on out, we will read Scripture lessons that bring us to the fullness of the Living God's presence here. We will read about Jesus speaking of the future -- but he'll tell us this: don't worry about it (see Matthew 6:25-34)! Salvation is here -- God with us draws us out of our separations and into the fullness of Love and Life. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4-7_MPoD3pCEVNdjTWOf0FENH_J7dibpzltZD7EnEmUh_azrMREcUBfIn-L89UoFKdrbVRTI_tuQHXgY3ruAfGdqnRKccMWmmLzewsWKEeBi8AH2Vysx-NI0nown8MirOOjkvGX4Oqir9uELOeyVgqgh0KMwuHc5qOVSsZ_WqGSE195ADyetdZQJDkw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4-7_MPoD3pCEVNdjTWOf0FENH_J7dibpzltZD7EnEmUh_azrMREcUBfIn-L89UoFKdrbVRTI_tuQHXgY3ruAfGdqnRKccMWmmLzewsWKEeBi8AH2Vysx-NI0nown8MirOOjkvGX4Oqir9uELOeyVgqgh0KMwuHc5qOVSsZ_WqGSE195ADyetdZQJDkw" width="192" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Remember, if this is confusing or there is some unlearning that has to happen -- that's okay! Mary took time to ponder the perplexing proclamations before consenting! Listening to the Christmas message, I hear the good news: God shares this life with us. The Christmas season reminds us that </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">all</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> of this life is sacred. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Near the beginning of our Advent journey, my beloved Golden Retriever, Chloe, was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Chloe has responded well to her treatment. The day the test results came back, I remember my heart sinking deeper than I knew was possible. I found comfort in reading the prophets as they preached that God's salvation includes all creation and the peace of Immanuel includes all living flesh. I know soon the treatment will wear off, and cancer will do what cancer will do. Still, in the presence of death, Chloe has taught me about life. She has brought me to the present, living here and now -- fully aware of the love of the Living God in her. The Living God is present in our dying and our living. The Incarnation testifies to this good news. In this season, Chloe, who is the most anxious dog I've been a companion to, lives wholeheartedly. She is teaching me that death is not an evil to get rid of but rather a central ingredient to a life of wholeness and abundance. We've gone slow these last few weeks and will go even slower in the days ahead. However, we do so not with fear but with deep faithfulness, trusting that we belong entirely to God in life and death. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhI3214ioIlB1gjkCnHxo3PCBJXfNrTyL-VxvpirD_MKgVDfLVFQOIi-aCjIKX1SPk3gup7heYN0sDAP1j7cIZ-swCGpEhjs5O_pFgmAVT8gUfepB9bnZ68lYfqwJzRsLFuaYk-uy_cOYk0S3DSITRv3KTKYDyqi8lVWTUKxrRyqJ_fOrpJ1I9auJvqhg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhI3214ioIlB1gjkCnHxo3PCBJXfNrTyL-VxvpirD_MKgVDfLVFQOIi-aCjIKX1SPk3gup7heYN0sDAP1j7cIZ-swCGpEhjs5O_pFgmAVT8gUfepB9bnZ68lYfqwJzRsLFuaYk-uy_cOYk0S3DSITRv3KTKYDyqi8lVWTUKxrRyqJ_fOrpJ1I9auJvqhg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Chloe is teaching me that life and death are necessary for the energizing Spirit to become embodied in our world. The fullness of life is </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">now</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Christmas is not over, friends. We are on day three of twelve, counting down until Epiphany -- when the Magi from the East arrive at the Holy Family. Listening to the Epiphany story sheds light on the reality that this journey we call faith rarely takes a straight path. For our </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">hearts</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">hands</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">, and </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">resources</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> to transform, we must listen deeply to the Living God and trust the process. We anticipated the good news of God's dwelling </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">with</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> us during Advent. Christmas is the proclamation that God is here, now, with all of us and all creation. Our next stage in the journey invites us to leave familiar places for new ones -- which will require humility, letting go, and moving bravely in a new direction. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijOyYN9P29ta_3GA4w7jv-l4-aklHJvP-a2vcHJqtib4eKNS5KJZw9BH7RlSzzv3AXxnNdYs6kLAUshYteSH18KsV9_mXrtLemYDy0zvQ8qv6G9tkHanSOMZqJDDGHOdW2Q42eaFb6CBgFsOqBpGa8fvoJgU_qn-caxdEX3ZfEOtvhn5Mm4yi11qBWEA" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijOyYN9P29ta_3GA4w7jv-l4-aklHJvP-a2vcHJqtib4eKNS5KJZw9BH7RlSzzv3AXxnNdYs6kLAUshYteSH18KsV9_mXrtLemYDy0zvQ8qv6G9tkHanSOMZqJDDGHOdW2Q42eaFb6CBgFsOqBpGa8fvoJgU_qn-caxdEX3ZfEOtvhn5Mm4yi11qBWEA" width="320" /></a></div>I'm thankful for those who followed along on this Advent Word-a-Day journey. Your likes and comments, shared pictures, and stories not only encouraged me but brought me great comfort in this season of mystery. I thank God that I do not go alone in the days ahead. Not only do I have the promise of God's presence, but I will see it embodied in the ways we share our lives. In my bones, I have courage knowing that as the Living God reveals to us more of God's fullness, I have you all as companions. <p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">May we embody the good news of our faith -- that God </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">is</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">with</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> us -- and as we go forward, we move towards our desires for Love with intentionality and a commitment to listen with all that makes us beloved. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Merry Christmas, friends. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">God is with us! </span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-65861873546407762522022-12-23T10:20:00.007-08:002022-12-23T12:32:55.717-08:00Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day-Restore<p><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_B7XZsS_0khlHKKpYotFCQBvqqX4EJUMi1Yq6FTQPVlMPKY85ZQoqvp_AwwMSyIycropR307vFOlYuGBncaG_hVfrmiPD2gJOGXQdUHmPD6IlVqNtMuIF0azdlJZRsHlMPuIBISaT6DxBHZd9ELravyARnwmC0Vq7km6Cd6aVUdeI3BAHgxPA9LyO_g" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_B7XZsS_0khlHKKpYotFCQBvqqX4EJUMi1Yq6FTQPVlMPKY85ZQoqvp_AwwMSyIycropR307vFOlYuGBncaG_hVfrmiPD2gJOGXQdUHmPD6IlVqNtMuIF0azdlJZRsHlMPuIBISaT6DxBHZd9ELravyARnwmC0Vq7km6Cd6aVUdeI3BAHgxPA9LyO_g" width="192" /></a></strong></div><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br />Restore</strong><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Except for one or two photos, I try to post a picture from the day as it relates to the Word-A-Day prompts. Doing this today is challenging. I'm heeding the advice from First Responders and Weather people to stay inside during this Winter storm. Thus, I'm not sure what I'll capture today for </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">restore</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I did venture out to grab something from the store. As I was out, I saw an Ameren truck, and I thought, "Goodness, I hope the power doesn't go out, and these workers don't have to be outside in this weather to restore our power." Then, I offered a quick prayer for those working today: First Responders, State and City Workers keeping our streets free from snow and ice, medical folx, assisted living staff, and the many others I'm forgetting right now. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Of course, I'm mindful of our unhoused neighbors in the community. To my knowledge, Lincoln / Logan County doesn't have a designated warming center for folx to come to during these extreme temperatures. I am thankful for the agencies in town that provide assistance and care for the most vulnerable in times such as these. I keep thinking about Mary's Magnificat and the portrait it paints with these lines: </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">He has brought down the powerful from their thrones</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> and lifted up the lowly </strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">(Luke 1.52)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNK8y8MpNAvi9Ft7rt-ILiB4eS1jp87LlmcBVrQLdoGHtpYpd50_OSUdVypC4lQBs0Wd_Enbq6TBiBuSoh2-BGrHoiD0E-c6P4qskrhB5N0mUkQJvlxInW1lqRCeKaTwPUhaNeQ6JgwBSRaNtrsJC9TTrziphe1GLiqJJNFbmcbCLJtafbMkKrpF-dpQ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNK8y8MpNAvi9Ft7rt-ILiB4eS1jp87LlmcBVrQLdoGHtpYpd50_OSUdVypC4lQBs0Wd_Enbq6TBiBuSoh2-BGrHoiD0E-c6P4qskrhB5N0mUkQJvlxInW1lqRCeKaTwPUhaNeQ6JgwBSRaNtrsJC9TTrziphe1GLiqJJNFbmcbCLJtafbMkKrpF-dpQ" width="192" /></a></div>What captures my attention in this line, and all of Mary's Magnificat and Jesus's ministry is its concern with embodied people. The love of the Living God is moving to restore harmony here on earth! I recently read it put this way, "God fills the hungry not only with hope but with food. Rather than being satisfied with comforting the lowly, Mary's Lord lifts them up, granting them dignity and honor, a seat at the table, and a voice in the conversation. At the same time, God shows strength by disrupting the world's power structures, dethroning rulers, and humbling the mighty." (Judith Jones) Her words and the Incarnation story remind me of Living One's invitation to join Them in restoring and re-creating our beautiful world. Every time these occur, the Christ is born in our midst. The Incarnation bears witness to the liberating love of the Holy Three, while the Resurrection points towards the reality that the Holy Three's love can and will always find us! <br /><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As I write, my Bird friends are busy storing energy as they eat the seed off the feeder and ground. On my fence sits a floofy Squirrel. Let me clarify: this Squirrel sits after stretching to grab sunflower seeds off the feeder. My thoughts turn to our more-than-human kin who live outside and hope the stray animals find warmth and shelter. I'm thankful for those who work to care for these family members of ours. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I hope you all continue to stay warm and safe. If your internet goes out, remember to turn off your modem to restore it. [What a lousy attempt to use the word of the day!] Embrace these days inside to restore your interior life -- pay attention to your body, enter into the silence and solitude of your space, and listen to the still, small voice of Love whispering to you, </span><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.presbyterianmission.org/devotion/daily/2022/12/23/#first-reading" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">"Surely, I am coming soon!" </span></a></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Chances are, you'll experience what we are waiting for -- God </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">with</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> us. </span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-78707682641432045452022-12-22T15:40:00.004-08:002022-12-22T16:21:00.997-08:00Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day-Choose<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigWZNyZ9Md4n2ESbU2TmQ4_Vv2Y5xkvi27rlpw_pYkMPTk3RTJ5CcGK-HKTqhs4aIB2alQdfF_K8us4xYpmSlD6RdGiwHOKBmx4x5jTeufnYxe0rGt880_vCECTTEdINoSh3IX3zKLKTHErxri7GuGfFK7CTEJ-zUCGOgfQ3cRif123hrMI_NeBknqgQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigWZNyZ9Md4n2ESbU2TmQ4_Vv2Y5xkvi27rlpw_pYkMPTk3RTJ5CcGK-HKTqhs4aIB2alQdfF_K8us4xYpmSlD6RdGiwHOKBmx4x5jTeufnYxe0rGt880_vCECTTEdINoSh3IX3zKLKTHErxri7GuGfFK7CTEJ-zUCGOgfQ3cRif123hrMI_NeBknqgQ" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p></p><p></p><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Choose<br /></strong><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">What will you choose to do this weekend?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I know, a pretty lame question and entry into today's Advent word-a-day post. The wind is howling outside my window. It appears to no longer be snowing. However, the temperatures are still dropping. I read somewhere on the interwebs today that we will experience a 60-degree difference in temperature from this morning to this evening. The Birds were active this afternoon. Tecumseh and I went out twice to fill up our feeders. I haven't seen them since 3:30 pm. I imagine they are roosting somewhere to stay warm like the rest of us. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p>Speaking of Birds, did you know they can choose to puff out their feathers? [Again, sorry for forcing the word-a-day!] I notice on days like today, our Bird buddies are rather floofy. I won't bore you with the science of it all, so I'll tell you this: they fluff their feathers to keep warm! This method works because air pockets are created between a Bird's skin and the feathers when it fluffs its feathers. The heat generated by the Bird's body is trapped in these air pockets. In turn, the combination of the feathers and air pockets is excellent insulation. They also will choose to stand on one leg, tucking the other leg under them, then switch -- most often seen in Canada Geese. Like us, Birds shiver to stay warm. <p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Before it got cold, the dogs and I decided to go to Kickapoo Park for our morning saunter through the woods. We saw two Bucks and watched a Kingfisher couple fly up and down the creek! By the time we reached the end of our walk, the Trees were getting cranky. The wind had them all in an uproar! </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGEog5Lt07UnG6pNqo6g09O9yZbD6xs2TkeUgXiPr_6eFOVUq3C1S8TkhEy1E7UGfjgpIrPXHHcX5njarbVnQPS7pGU5UDpPgcX91_awmwuJbjYefDEVOxmbgIWS6cNmfPoRgJRtCopKhzQoEJ57eR0zkhuRX8ZQYXWvLA4iexgOF0yxlrQ8CrGfovgg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGEog5Lt07UnG6pNqo6g09O9yZbD6xs2TkeUgXiPr_6eFOVUq3C1S8TkhEy1E7UGfjgpIrPXHHcX5njarbVnQPS7pGU5UDpPgcX91_awmwuJbjYefDEVOxmbgIWS6cNmfPoRgJRtCopKhzQoEJ57eR0zkhuRX8ZQYXWvLA4iexgOF0yxlrQ8CrGfovgg" width="192" /></a></div>We made a good choice going early. <p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The weather outside is frightful. While I don't have a fire inside, I have two Golden dogs keeping me warm. The weather doesn't show signs of stopping -- and I'm okay with this reality. We are coming to the end of our Advent journey. The beautiful events at church that contributed to our waiting and anticipating the birth of the Christ child has left me tired. I welcome this opportunity to end these final days of Advent doing a type of 'roosting' myself. <a href="https://www.presbyterianmission.org/devotion/daily/" target="_blank">The Gospel lesson assigned for today</a> is Mary's Magnificat. Her song is a beautiful one of praise, proclaiming the Living God's greatness and rejoicing in God as Savior. What I love about Mary's song is how it invites me to think about the activity of the Living God in my life. God chose Mary to be the Mother of the Christ child, so God chose/chooses us to join our voices with Mary's, singing of God's liberating love for all flesh. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgenjtetuh5Mj7edXPv0q4RN5a0VPPrMgP-VmaNXmI3QhM8cvnGJPK3dQ40lXmluRHMBEOwvQQJ3opU7Q50SHJNhOwiXUS_tdHKLjtwORTfdM9lrEdxi_wSPHpeKS0aRf1-T1psEbka4zGWUI8RWMbdJfSOoRSvdb8zBcjs3xOW3oo2m4NVh_uFjkoySw" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Tonight I choose to ponder the profundity of the season. I'll light the candles of my Advent wreath, make some tea, and journal, reflecting on how Mary's song magnifies the Savior who loves the whole world with a love that makes creation whole. And I'll think about how I'll choose to do the same. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">But first, supper. It's 5 pm, and Chloe is letting me know it's time to choose which dish she'll be having tonight. </span></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-6271375136715784622022-12-20T18:37:00.001-08:002022-12-20T18:37:02.431-08:00Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day-Sign & Hear<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafmVKPvsTt94YrR5SxONnG4Y6v3sT1lJ-lA7u7FPE9YQl72XrlkX3aA5KsQhNyUtAGs9tRGBr2esjbkiXczOszH_G1GfgwIXFjahG0t7NSTh4WzOLzP4gKAfWNJSwnQ0_qPYnMQB1vJSBgpoFL2yJKX9f7o9Qe3YRStfJL8_uOJReORVlg-JqiU2-hQ/s1440/hawk%20sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafmVKPvsTt94YrR5SxONnG4Y6v3sT1lJ-lA7u7FPE9YQl72XrlkX3aA5KsQhNyUtAGs9tRGBr2esjbkiXczOszH_G1GfgwIXFjahG0t7NSTh4WzOLzP4gKAfWNJSwnQ0_qPYnMQB1vJSBgpoFL2yJKX9f7o9Qe3YRStfJL8_uOJReORVlg-JqiU2-hQ/s320/hawk%20sign.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Sign </strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">& </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Hear</strong><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is your sign to slow down, pause, set down your worry, lay the burden down to be all the things -- and rest. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is your sign to allow the darkness of Advent to hold you. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is your sign to remember what Advent is about: waiting, expecting, and hoping in the dark. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is your sign to remind you that the </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">signs</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> and </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">miracles</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> in Scripture point to the Living God's activity -- creation, liberation, and salvation. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is your sign to realign the rhythm of your life to the heartbeat of Love. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is your sign to name all of what you're carrying around -- to acknowledge feelings of brokenness, lostness, and hopelessness. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8I7D3XwPET5nzOZr7i40YY-UX3PmA0u6PzqLZM6-aTb6FAg7tJzgNq8Uts12Nu7D3BYTjTBgGkVJr45z68ZBxwVg0X8itVxe_s7WP6a-JYQPnX5eSeIXvk--Bn3HRnjCne9PXbb2sv6a3Ftbs9KP8Lzzwk1vaWxnkU72LYjk2qyvj__GFNJxZ4rGdVA/s1440/hear%20picture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8I7D3XwPET5nzOZr7i40YY-UX3PmA0u6PzqLZM6-aTb6FAg7tJzgNq8Uts12Nu7D3BYTjTBgGkVJr45z68ZBxwVg0X8itVxe_s7WP6a-JYQPnX5eSeIXvk--Bn3HRnjCne9PXbb2sv6a3Ftbs9KP8Lzzwk1vaWxnkU72LYjk2qyvj__GFNJxZ4rGdVA/s320/hear%20picture.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Also, here is a sign to rejoice in all that is filling your cup these days. </span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is a sign to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">hear</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> the stories of our faith again -- listening to the prophets and poets proclaim the promises of the Living God. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is a sign to light your candles, get comfy and turn inward -- slowing down, breathing with intention, and listening for Wisdom's whisper. Hear the stillness and the silence of the season -- you are here -- and God is with you. And me. And them. And us. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">All is not lost. Love is here. As we wait, we celebrate who and whose we are -- the One who loves us so much that They don't know how to stop giving.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here is a sign to listen and hear Advent's message -- we need not fear the dark ...</span></p><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p></p><br /><br /><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-81024860643318728512022-12-16T16:01:00.000-08:002022-12-16T16:01:02.796-08:00Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day--Catch Up<p><b>Words</b></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzi84bAeDFwXz6a0ac2iaR3t-fbgEduRbIi0Zk_s02OAujiTkTuplOVvJ-WK0tjBgixVh2WyjXyLYKrQlVSTRmu3dy4T-hWL5Pwpn0a72mH0M3zyq-rcMkI1xDxJ3MdGaqRO82wOztzkUledd7syHsMUPp8LlMVB76oplvWUc2Xm9c9oeWFXLXx24ZYg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzi84bAeDFwXz6a0ac2iaR3t-fbgEduRbIi0Zk_s02OAujiTkTuplOVvJ-WK0tjBgixVh2WyjXyLYKrQlVSTRmu3dy4T-hWL5Pwpn0a72mH0M3zyq-rcMkI1xDxJ3MdGaqRO82wOztzkUledd7syHsMUPp8LlMVB76oplvWUc2Xm9c9oeWFXLXx24ZYg" width="320" /></a></div>Advent happens for us in the Northern Atmosphere at a perplexing time. Outside in nature, things are lessening. Most leaves have fallen, except for the brown ones on Oak and Beech Trees. The green in my yard is nearly all gone except for a few blades of grass. The days are shortening -- a part of the season I welcome. Temperatures are slowly dipping, with next week looking pretty cold! Even the Deer are slowing down. Today, on my walk with the dogs, we were less than twenty yards away from a few that were bedding. I like to think we are no longer strangers to them. Before technology, this was the time of year we would huddle up in our huts, recovering from harvest and preparing for the Winter. <p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Now, there are exceptions. For instance, yesterday and today, my Bird feeders were busy not only with Chickadees and Sparrows but those chonky Squirrels who snack with one eye glued to the backdoor. Their activity isn't leisure. They are preparing themselves for those days when food isn't readily available. In their busyness, they are preparing, too.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuMStMdT8MVCkIMYeFc8B9zPXmp7iQJqF2uc5EZMQIQjBAbH7vC0QVQRQuvO2rh_Sz0B7r2IIIPoffMieF863QQHoXIlzJbFIwr2ZYUFgOjl0UeIk5Jbf3diBZEN1BKIfqN4blqbyeT9qL2dAL_cKwBYYKB4xHQeiWjCW17IwybNKSy5ggOQ5VRVdT1w" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuMStMdT8MVCkIMYeFc8B9zPXmp7iQJqF2uc5EZMQIQjBAbH7vC0QVQRQuvO2rh_Sz0B7r2IIIPoffMieF863QQHoXIlzJbFIwr2ZYUFgOjl0UeIk5Jbf3diBZEN1BKIfqN4blqbyeT9qL2dAL_cKwBYYKB4xHQeiWjCW17IwybNKSy5ggOQ5VRVdT1w" width="320" /></a></div>The perplexing part? I've not slowed down. The opposite is true. A lot has been going on: meetings and visits, Kirk Nights and cookie exchanges, ministry, and ... meetings? Did I mention those yet? Although I find time to pause, reflect, and pray, I've had to speed up my days, leaving me exhausted by the end of the day. It doesn't help that when I listen to the radio or get online, messages bombard me with reminders of how close Christmas is and that I still have time to buy all the things! On my Facebook feed, events are popping up left and right. This game is happening tonight; that fundraiser is tomorrow; Ash Wednesday is just over two months away! I tip my hat to those with kiddos in sports, band, and plays. <p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the Northern hemisphere, as the earth turns inward, the demands from culture to turn outward are many. If you enjoy the hustle and bustle of the season, please don't read this as a critique. My intentions are not to offend but to name the irony of our rhythms to those of nature. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">But I do want to say this -- I hope we don't busy ourselves so much that we miss the Christ in our midst right now. I hope we aren't so overstimulated that we miss the Messengers declaring "Joy to the world!" even as we wait. I hope we aren't so consumed with the pressures of consumerism that we miss the deep Incarnation right outside our windows -- inside our very homes. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As I write this, the darkness of the night settles on my house. I can't see the stars, but I see the glistening lights from my neighbor's house across the way. It brings me joy to reflect on the day they put those lights up. I don't know their story, but I know they were laughing and having fun while they did it. I hope they are enjoying the spirit of this season. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpqBLaC3RyRZO2XRYtO3Su-rNLla2bY6HIiSx4kPKpVjQIIsjYrf-caXfUyzq-DKOTDY92wKMSrdkh5ySzhmw4DiNWsDCGXNHVj_0keJl617s7tPH5w98rfvdV7CavW2-DgJHxSxWZsyFEOiICPgSjGrHSNjMq4D4ZlgJQZmd6lktCnKZyk4GYAEAY9Q" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpqBLaC3RyRZO2XRYtO3Su-rNLla2bY6HIiSx4kPKpVjQIIsjYrf-caXfUyzq-DKOTDY92wKMSrdkh5ySzhmw4DiNWsDCGXNHVj_0keJl617s7tPH5w98rfvdV7CavW2-DgJHxSxWZsyFEOiICPgSjGrHSNjMq4D4ZlgJQZmd6lktCnKZyk4GYAEAY9Q" width="320" /></a></div><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Friends, despite how busy I've been, I'm joyful. My heart is whole as I write with two Golden Companions resting at my feet, one the doctor said wouldn't be here. I'm smiling as I think about what awaits us in these next few days: celebrating the Love candle, caroling, and receiving hospitality from friends on Sunday, bearing witness to each other's grief, and making space for the shadow of the season on Wednesday, and of course, preparing our hearts for the good news of the Living God's promise to us next weekend -- that They are </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">with</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> us! </span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNAukY4e0NndXVW0yqr08XnlaXzN7krnxIKbNUC-3M-vOqUsJCLrEEepogkmdf2jxqDuK8NP_GHCP1kLwGDLT08UdzAFp5Gw4QiYNQLZ80z6oD-Z8FnAQeV-Nj-QKc-d3bRcA0JZbC8kv3b0hRimigV4i8TyHXnUHYypPXpS9H8jcd48EvxfJCsuGWFw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNAukY4e0NndXVW0yqr08XnlaXzN7krnxIKbNUC-3M-vOqUsJCLrEEepogkmdf2jxqDuK8NP_GHCP1kLwGDLT08UdzAFp5Gw4QiYNQLZ80z6oD-Z8FnAQeV-Nj-QKc-d3bRcA0JZbC8kv3b0hRimigV4i8TyHXnUHYypPXpS9H8jcd48EvxfJCsuGWFw" width="320" /></a></div>Below are photos from the last few days. Each picture represents a specific word from the week. Those words are stranger, beloved, thirsty, and traveler. As I ponder these words in my heart, I thank God for the strangers I meet who reveal the presence of Christ right now -- like little children who enthusiastically 'shopped' for their loved ones. I rejoice knowing that all of us -- yup, especially you -- are named, claimed, and declared by God as beloved! I acknowledge my longing for wholeness, thirsting for liberation from all that separates me from Love. And I smile with delight, pondering all the ways I encounter the Incarnation -- as I pray, "Come, Savior, come!"<p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I invite you between now and the 25th to sit in the darkness. Let the cold air remind you that you are alive. Welcome the ways creation speaks to us of our faith's mysteries. Light a candle and as it dances, remember the Living God has not abandoned us. Acquaint yourself with the fullness of this life. Need inspiration? Read the Song of Songs and indulge in the pleasures of this life! </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Slow down. Speed up. Find your rhythm. Just remember, the world is about to turn! </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to it. </span></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287382847179512456.post-38333903984968880952022-12-12T17:35:00.001-08:002022-12-12T17:35:19.217-08:00Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day--Wilderness<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENUgG6DG2GifdpPaVrl4J8MNGehdorpesvgsOnJEM2ZdofAvRMS1FhUTEapngeuTZjievJkbMAfU9rTgHIJkLsY9Ubfns0vig5qZOpvytkR9Eo7feTl-i8XIVLoQDNtruJNJj5Sdz2AUJKeMH9JvgQoWepGdZFuMKt1OK-n-nzI8YjgxizEwFImUPTA/s960/wildnerness%201.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENUgG6DG2GifdpPaVrl4J8MNGehdorpesvgsOnJEM2ZdofAvRMS1FhUTEapngeuTZjievJkbMAfU9rTgHIJkLsY9Ubfns0vig5qZOpvytkR9Eo7feTl-i8XIVLoQDNtruJNJj5Sdz2AUJKeMH9JvgQoWepGdZFuMKt1OK-n-nzI8YjgxizEwFImUPTA/s320/wildnerness%201.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Wilderness</strong><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I want to geek out about this word. And I want to share all the photos from the wild places I visited in 2022. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">But, friends, I'm tired. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Instead, you'll get a couple of photos. The first is a photo shared today on the Wild Church Network on the Facebook. It is a poem about our intricate connection to the natural world. Also, you want a good intro into the rewilding of your faith? Check out the book <a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/church-of-the-wild-how-nature-invites-us-into-the-sacred_mirabai-starr_victoria-loorz/28441320/?resultid=6b5d1d7d-590c-41a5-931c-fb7094757505#edition=59285201&idiq=46020612" target="_blank">"Church of the Wild."</a> This book taught me that the Hebrew word for wilderness, <i>ba-midbar, </i>also means "the organ which speaks." The wilderness is the place where the Divine speaks to us.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I want to tell you how John Muir hated the word 'hike.' And I want to tell you about my week spent with Presbyterian professor <a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-solace-of-fierce-landscapes-exploring-desert-and-mountain-spirituality_belden-c-lane/421091/?resultid=85e508e7-57df-4709-a5f9-6952dfcf60fa#edition=5656512&idiq=33829285" target="_blank">Belden C. Lane </a>at Ghost Ranch the lessons he taught me about the fierce landscapes of our lives. And I want to share with you the wisdom of Mirabai Starr and the "<a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/wild-mercy-living-the-fierce-and-tender-wisdom-of-the-women-mystics_mirabai-starr/19898266/?resultid=f692f7fc-8039-4966-a273-353407c4c016#edition=21184573&idiq=31621534" target="_blank">Wild Mercy of God.</a>" </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">But instead, I'll leave you this cute photo of an opossum the dogs and I encountered in the 'wilderness' of Lincoln. And this prayer from Catherine of Siena, "Consecrated."</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinBduC3jy_iC36kt_B5QhAM-jY2TuhWCvyRGerbRH0NNMZNnmCM9J-yFw-svMzz84RYwHoLyZcxzODNmpbMXYROzs9dIADb9KoTCgUcBNRNJlWLWygRDTO3XF4lqxXbtFKNzvtRvilc_3YNFSLmCbZwb0xvfxF7hQ5Snj7a_m-9Ru3NLGiH9jkdBabQ/s6000/wilderness%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinBduC3jy_iC36kt_B5QhAM-jY2TuhWCvyRGerbRH0NNMZNnmCM9J-yFw-svMzz84RYwHoLyZcxzODNmpbMXYROzs9dIADb9KoTCgUcBNRNJlWLWygRDTO3XF4lqxXbtFKNzvtRvilc_3YNFSLmCbZwb0xvfxF7hQ5Snj7a_m-9Ru3NLGiH9jkdBabQ/s320/wilderness%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">"All has been consecrated.</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The creatures in the forest know this,</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">the earth does, the seas do, the clouds know</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">as does the heart full of love. </em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Strange a priest would rob us of this</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">knowledge</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">and then empower himself</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">with the ability</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">to make holy what</em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">already was." </em></p>LincolnFPChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527598859963939967noreply@blogger.com0