Thursday, June 25, 2015

Through Stained Glass: A Mid-Week Reflection-Sandburg

Water, water, everywhere.
Water under here and over there!

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy remembering my baptism and giving thanks.

But 2 weeks of it in the form of rain is about enough. If I wanted to live in such an environment I'd move to the Bayou! 

It would be one thing if it was a steady rain but these storms, they are a bit much.

Especially for my sweet Chloe who has become an expert in the army crawl. You see, anytime it begins to rain, she takes her positionunder the bed. Even if it is at 3 in the morning and I’m sound asleep, on her belly she goes and squirms and squeezes until only the tip of her tail sticks out!

Even now as I sit typing this at By the Bean, someone commented, “How about this weather?” Which was quickly followed up with, “But we shouldn’t complain. We could live in California where water is scarce.”

As we lament the back-to back-to-back days without the sun, we also pray for our brothers and sisters near and far who are enduring a difficult drought. We pray that water will find the dry lands where seeds have been planted and fruit will spring forth. May God pour out Her mercy upon those who’s lips are parched and long to have their thirst quenched.

“Life in us is like the water in a river.” 
― Henry David Thoreau
As for us, as we listen to the rain fall and watch the water gather in puddles, as we groan at the report more rain is on the way, may we take the time to be renewed, refreshed, and cleansed by God’s healing rain. May the opportunities to sit and ponder the showers of the summer lead us to a better understanding of God’s graces poured out upon our lives. May we remember the words from scripture, as a deer longs for living streams, as a weary traveler longs for the waters of life, so our souls long for God. May God pour out God’s Spirit upon all creation so that justice might roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Sure, while rain may dampen our plans, it is also a good thing that leads to life.

It also slows us down. It reminds us of our belovedness. It is an invitation to payer, not only to give thanks and to pray for neighbors.

But also rain gives us time and space to care for our selves. 

Rain is a time to tell stories and sing songs, to reminisce and to play.

What is your favorite rainy day memory? What is something you like to do during stormy days?!

Have a good weekend, everybody. Don’t forget your umbrellas!

I’m including a poem by Carl Sandburg. You can find this poem among others in our library!

What is the name you called me?--
And why did you go so soon?

The crows lift their caws on the wind,
And the wind changed and was lonely.

The warblers cry their sleepy-songs
Across the valley gloaming,
Across the cattle-horns of early stars.

Feathers and people in the crotch of a treetop
Throw an evening waterfall of sleepy-songs.

What is the name you called me?--
And why did you go so soon?


~Evening Waterfall by Carl Sandburg

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Through Stained Glass: A Mid-Week Reflection-Street Celebration


Street Celebration

My dad loves to tell stories.

Now granted, most of them require a LOT of creativity.

Like the one about how he invented snowboarding

In downtown Peoria

On Marquette Street

In the 60’s

Oh, when you have time, ask him about his decade long reign as the checkers king of Marquette Street.

Whether or not he intends to be, my dad is a master storyteller.

As a boy I always loved it when he told stories about the block parties his neighborhood threw. While I can’t remember exactly what he said, I remember the pictures that were painted in my head. Actually, what I am probably imagining is the 4th of July scene from the 3rd greatest movie of all time, The Sandlot.

What I remember picturing in my head was children playing in the streets—whiffle ball or that game y’all refer to as kick-the-can (and I’m certain if you ask my dad if he played those games, he’d tell you yes and how he was the champ of those as well)—while their parents sit in their aluminum lawn chairs catching up on the latest gossip or exchanging their best casserole recipes.

Folks would stand with Lucky Strikes hanging from their mouths and cool beverages clamped in their sweaty hands. The heat from the setting summer sun causing condensation to form on the cans. The streets would be filled with celebration and laughter, community and love. You wouldn’t be able to hear the hum from the streetlights because there was so much playing going on.

In my head, I understand why people refer to them as “the good ole days

This past Saturday, the stories I was told as a boy came to life as we at First Presbyterian Church had a block party of sorts. Now, despite the unexpected thunderstorms that rolled across Logan County late Saturday afternoon, the party went on and a great time was had by all. Friends and strangers, children and adults, Presbyterians and Lutherans, among so many others, gathered around tables, including the picnic kind, and shared life.

What was the reason? Why did we spend money to do something like this? What mission organization will benefit from this?

Well, we had a party because we wanted to.

And we had hotdogs and games, art and music.

And it was a great time!

What a joy it was to see people gather together for the sake of gathering and breaking bread on a day that wasn’t Sunday.

As a community, we have something good happening among us.

Our space, it is a warm and inviting one.

You know something, though? What we did Saturday night wasn’t new. The church has been doing this for quite some time. In chapters 14 & 15 of the Gospel of Luke we see how many party scenarios there are: 

  • Lessons at a dinner party - 14:1-14
  • Parable of the party - 14:15-24
  • Party over finding one lost sheep - 15:1-7
  • Party for finding one lost coin - 15:8-10
  • Party for the return of a son - 15:11-32

Jesus went to parties. Jesus talked about parties. Jesus loved to party!

Celebrating and being neighbors for the sake of being neighborly is important for the development of community. It is necessary for the love of God to manifest here and now. By celebrating in parking lots and in the pews, in the streets and in sanctuaries, we are reclaiming a lost art, the art of life together.

Not only as a church but also as a neighborhood.

You never know, we might invent a new game. Or at least be known on the block as having the best neighborhood block parties!

And that’ll be a story to tell!

Party on church!

But do so responsibly!

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Through Stained Glass: A Mid-Week Reflection-statement

statement

Prayer.

What is it?

How do we pray?

Are there right words to use when praying?

Today, is today a day for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or supplication?


Who do I pray for?

Does it matter how long I pray?

Prayer.

Actually, in scripture and in the lives of the faithful, we see that prayer isn’t just one style.

Prayer of the heart may use few words or none.

All that is required needed is an attentive heart.

A heart that is attentive to the world, yes the world, around you:  locally, globally, nationally, and/or personally.

Don’t think too so much and pray.

Where do we begin? How do I begin?

How about this piece of advice:

One of my favorite writers and theologians, Thomas Merton, taught that simply walking with God is one of the surest ways of developing a life of prayer. Prayer such as this unveils the presence of God everywhere; God in the everydayness of life, in the body, in nature, and in the people we encounter.

Pray.

All occasions are opportunities for prayer:  preparing a meal, working in the garden, reading a book, taking a walk in the woods, playing with children or with your pets. Prayer is not about words or postures, though these aspects are important. Prayer is about living with a sense of God’s presence in all our lives.

Here comes a bold statement.

The real purpose of prayeris the deepening of personal realization in love, the awareness of God (even if sometimes this awareness may among to a negative factor, a seeming ‘absence’).

Prayer then not just a formula of words, or a series of desires springing up in the heart—it is the orientation of our whole body, mind, and spirit to God in silence, attention, and adoration.

So pray.

However you need to or want to. But you need to.

We all do.

Need help?

Think about this poem by Mary Oliver titled, “Praying.”
“Praying

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”

Prayer.

By reading this, you’ve already done it.


Be well.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Through Stained Glass: A Mid-Week Reflection-Sacred Singing (Tuesday 10)

Sacred Singing

Here is a bit of truth I’m sure you all probably didn’t know about your pastor.

Before I confide and confess to you this truth about myself, I encourage you to sit down.

Are you sitting?

Take a deep breath.

Ready?

Here is my confession: 

I

Can’t

Sing!

Phew. I feel better now that I’ve shared this with you.

Despite the fact that I can’t sing well, I love to sing. It is one of my favorite things to do when I’m cleaning the house, taking a long drive, or when I’m out on a run. Singing is important to me. The best way to explain why I love singing so much is share a quote from poet Maya Angelou who said this about ‘singing’: 

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

We all have a song to sing. Just like we all have a story to tell. What matters is not how well we sing, but that we make the space to sing and allow others to join their voices with ours.

It is this very reason why I love church, especially our church. We sing and we sing beautifully. Now it helps we have a fantastic music director and a pair of organist who can really tickle those ivories. But what makes worship so enchanting and reverent is the song of the congregation.

Do you know why we sing in church? Song is a response, which engages the whole self in prayer. Song unites the faithful in common prayer wherever we gather for worship whether in church, home, or other special place. Throughout scripture we can find the people of singing as a way to worship and thank God for God’s presence in their lives.

So we sing.

And we use music. Music may serve as presentation and interpretation of Scripture, as response to the gospel, and as prayer, through psalms and canticles, hymns and anthems, spirituals and spiritual songs.

Essentially, music imparts spiritual truth to one's mind, heart, and soul.  It displays a dimension of meaning and feeling that mere words cannot. Or as Martin Luther once said, “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.”

With that said, this week’s mid-week is a top ten:  Adam’s Top Ten Hymns!

(In no particular order.)

1.    O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (#88)—This is my favorite hymn of all time. If I could, I would sing this song every Sunday during Advent. “O come, thou Wisdom from on high, who orderest all things mightily:  to us the path of knowledge show; and teach us in her ways to go.”

2.    My Song is Love Unknown (#209)—“My song is love unknown, my Savior’s love to me, love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be. O who am I that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh, and die?” This opening line is a path into a vivid and poignant reflection on Christ’s passion.


3.    What Wondrous Love is This (#215)—The melody is haunting. While I may not like all the theology in this hymn, the last line offer great hope and encouragement in the life of our faith:  “And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on.”

4.    Let us Build a House:  All Are Welcome (#301)—At the heart of Christ’s ministry was his radical hospitality. He welcomed everybody. This is my greatest hope for the church:  that all will know they are welcome at Christ’s table in our church. “Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard and loved and treasured

5.    We Shall Overcome (#379)—Though now associated primarily with the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century, this spiritual most likely dates from the days of the slave trade. We need to sing this because it reminds us of what we are to do:  march for justice. It is not a marching song. It is not necessarily defiant. It is a promise: "We shall overcome someday. Deep in my heart, I do believe."

6.    Here In This Place:  Gather Us In (#401)—This song is a great source of comfort. No matter where we have been, God gathers us in. God gathers us in through the bread and cup, giving us compassion to drink and Godself to eat.

7.    God Be With you Till We Meet Again (#541/542)—Growing up, this song was the last hymn we sung every Sunday. To this day whenever I hear it, I’m taken back to the third pew on the right, sitting next to my brothers at Bethel Presbyterian Church.

8.    O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (#610)—I love John and Charles Wesley. Charles wrote it about his conversion and now it is customarily the first hymn in Methodist hymnals worldwide. “To God all glory, praise, and love be now and ever given by saints below and saints above, the church in earth and heaven.” When we gather for worship, we gather with that great cloud of witnesses, in the company and communion of saints!

9.    I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art (#624)—It is the only hymn attributed to Presbyterian John Calvin. “Our hope is in no other save in thee; our faith is built upon thy promise free

10.                  Will You Come and Follow Me (#726)—Our faith is a journey. It is a process that is to be walked with others. Daily God calls us to be the light and love of Christ. “Will you love the ‘you’ you hid if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?” Christ dwells in us. We must seek the risen Christ in all we meet!

Close calls:
11.                  Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine (#839)
12.                  A Mighty Fortress is Our God (#275)
13.                  I Love to Tell the Story (#462)

There you have it. My top 10 hymns/songs in our Presbyterian Hymnal:  Glory to God!

What would be your top ten? What have I left off!?

Have a wonderful week.


And see you at Kickapoo Park on Sunday for Worship in the Park!