the fullness of love

Let me tell you a story - a story of hope. 

There were palm fronds growing by the path and I cut them loose from the tree

when I was done with them I discarded them in the waste ground behind the garden wall

there  they lay

was I in the crowd

oh yes I am in the crowd

I’m always in the crowd

we are right he is the Messiah he is wonderful counselor Almighty God everlasting father prince of peace and he is coming

 as promised 

he arrives on an unridden colt and we cheer 

hosanna save us that’s what hosanna means save us save us anointed one expected one

the palm fronds lay behind the wall drying until the next spring when someone asked for dried palm fronds to reduce to Ash

in Jerusalem six years ago early in the morning I felt I should get up and go and I walked through the town from the Gloria hotel near the Jaffa gate to the church

the church that has two names

one is the church of the holy sepulcher

there was almost no one there

a priest gathered a small group of people at the bottom of a stair and I asked him 

I don’t know what I’m looking at what should I look at and he said

well you want to go up the stairs that’s Calvary

then you want to go over to that little building inside the building that is the chapel with the tomb

later that day I went into the chapel and lay my forehead on the cool marble slab in the inner room

my eyes closed

it was dark so dark

I felt nothing

I lost track of time

then I heard a gasp of breath and I opened my eyes leaned away got up and went out

the attendant said yes Fr.

and I walked out into the larger church which has another name the church of the Resurrection

but not yet not today

we are still at the tomb with our eyes closed waiting for the light to dawn

between then and now we gather at a table and he is there and he says to us as he breaks the bread and passes it around

this is my body broken for you

the true Paschal Lamb offers himself for us

at the end of the meal he takes the cup blesses it giving thanks to God and gives it to us and says

this is my blood the blood of the new covenant remember this

remember this whenever you drink it

and so we remember also the offering Abraham made of his own son

And God reckoned  that faith of Abraham unto him for righteousness

it wasn’t killing his son that saved him it was his faith

and so even today as we without bread or wine in our hands offer our faith as our gift to God 

and it is through that faith that he redeems us 

it is through his act in which we have faith that he has made us whole

* * *

Racism. White supremacy. Sexism. Gun violence. Madness. Human nature. Human condition. Much more for Jesus to bear than a donkey could carry more than David’s heir alone could bear could restore or return to normal. And so we are not at the happy ending yet. No headless chocolate bunny, or flowers, or colored eggs.

Until we come to know

that he came to bear the whole weight of our condition.

We are not marketing a narrative of fear - we tell a story of hope.

God showed hospitality in creating the world. God shows compassion to the world he created. He now shares in our condition. For, though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Phil 2.6-8

Where is there hope?

There is hope not because he avoided the human condition but because he took it on. When Jesus healed people he made them whole -

they became fully alive, they shined! And when he raised them from the dead it was not the resuscitation of a corpse: it was resurrection! May we listen with charity and patience. May we comfort where comfort is needed and celebrate where celebration is called for. May we meet challenges with courage compassion competence and commitment. And may we who follow him follow him,

shouldering our own crosses,

as he carries all to the cross and beyond.

And may we in the fullness of life radiate the love of God.

Amen.

Palm Sunday

28 March 2021
Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/HolyWeek/BPalmSun_RCL.html

The Liturgy of the Palms

• Mark 11:1-11
• or John 12:12-16
• Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

The Liturgy of the Word

• Isaiah 50:4-9a
• Philippians 2:5-11
• Mark 15:1-39 
• Psalm 31:9-16

JRL+

"narrative of fear" - Mark Adams, Frontera de Cristo, quoted by Tim Steller in the Arizona Daily Star, March 28th 2021, B5. 

https://iona.org.uk/about-us/prayer/outside-holiness-material-for-holy-week-2021/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrNY-DEWDx0

"Our faith is our gift to God; through it, he redeems us." Keeping the Faith, Arizona Daily Star, April 4th 2021, E3.d

Feeling God's presence in times of uncertainty

Mark 8:31-38 

It is when I am not sure that I feel God the most, said my friend. It is when the path is darkest that I’m sure the light is there. It is when I let go that I receive. 

It is when I stop guarding myself from God, when I start trusting God, when I step out in faith, into the night, that I find my way. That I find his way. It is not really my way at all; it is his. 

If you would follow me, you must deny your self – you must take up your cross and prepare to die with me; you must follow me beyond the grave to the resurrection. 

But! You are the Messiah, the expected King. What is going on here? 

It is necessary … 

Is it? 

Get behind me, Tempter! For your thoughts are not God’s thoughts nor your ways God’s way: if you try to preserve your self you will lose your self, if you lose your self, you will gain life. 

It is when I am not sure that I feel God the most. It is when I let go and trust, when there is nothing to turn to, and no light on the way, that I know I am homeward bound. 

There is a breath in the midst of the darkness, in the absence a pregnant pause: he is listening; the world is listening, he is present. 

It is when I find no purpose inside myself, and no hidden inner resource, that I am most thrown back upon God, who is faithful. 

When the promise is impossible, then it is kept. When I no longer try to keep it to myself, I fully receive it. I am most receptive to God’s leading, when I am least sure of my own. When I am not sure where to go, what to do, where he wants me to go, what he wants me to do, it is then that I feel God the most. It is when he is absent that I know he is here. It is when I give up my self, preserving my own life, my way, that I find my way, gain my life, and receive my self. 

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”―  Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude” (1956) 

"Feeling God's presence in times of uncertainty." Keeping the Faith, Arizona Daily Star, March 28th 2021. https://tucson.com/feeling-gods-presence-in-times-of-uncertainty/article_4f02e95e-6089-5ca7-bdfa-05bb4eb3b4ce.html

after the palm fronds wave

Racism. White supremacy. Sexism. Gun violence. 

Madness.

Human nature. Human condition.

Much more for Jesus to bear

than a donkey could carry

more than David’s heir

alone could bear

could restore or

return to normal.

And so we are not at the happy ending

yet.

No headless chocolate bunny, or flowers,

or colored eggs.

Until we come to know

that he came to bear

the whole weight 

of our condition.

God showed hospitality in creating the world.

God shows compassion to the world he created.

He now shares in our condition.

For, though he was in the form of God, he

   did not regard equality with God

   as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

   taking the form of a slave,

   being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

   he humbled himself

   and became obedient to the point of death—

   even death on a cross.

Phil 2.6-8

May we listen with charity and patience.

May we comfort where comfort is needed

and celebrate where celebration is called for.

May we meet challenges with 

courage

compassion 

competence and

commitment.

And may we who follow him

follow him 

as he carries all

to the cross

and beyond. Amen.

Creation Care Prayer

Here's a little prayer I wrote -

Creation Care - Invocation

May this day be holy, good, and peaceful.

May the creative spirit of the universe

enliven us with hope.

May the nurturing spirit of the universe

compel us to care for creation - and each other.

May the valiant spirit of the universe

imbue us with the fortitude

to see the truth,

and the wisdom

to act upon it.

JRL+

http://celtimergent.blogspot.com/2019/05/creation-care-prayers.html

palm fronds

There were palm fronds growing by the path and I cut them loose from the tree

when I was done with them I discarded them in the waste ground behind the garden wall

there  they lay

was I in the crowd

oh yes I am in the crowd

I’m always in the crowd

we are right he is the Messiah he is wonderful counselor Almighty God everlasting father prince of peace and he is coming

as promised 

he arrives on an unridden colt and we cheer 

hosanna save us that’s what hosanna means save us save us anointed one expected one

the palm fronds lay behind the wall drying until the next spring when someone asked for dried palm fronds to reduce to Ash

in Jerusalem six years ago early in the morning I felt I should get up and go and I walked through the town from the Gloria hotel near the Jaffa gate to the church

the church that has two names

one is the church of the holy sepulcher

there was almost no one there

a priest gathered a small group of people at the bottom of a stair and I asked him 

I don’t know what I’m looking at what should I look at and he said

well you want to go up the stairs that’s Calvary

then you want to go over to that little building inside the building that is the chapel with the tomb

later that day I went into the chapel and lay my forehead on the cool marble slab in the inner room

my eyes closed

it was dark so dark I felt as if I were looking into a darkened face looking into mine

I felt nothing

I lost track of time

then I heard a gasp of breath and I opened my eyes leaned away got up and went out

the attendant said yes Fr.

and I walked out into the larger church which has another name the church of the Resurrection

but not yet not today

we are still at the tomb with our eyes closed waiting for the light to dawn

between then and now we gather at a table and he is there and he says to us as he breaks the bread and passes it around

this is my body broken for you

the true Paschal Lamb offers himself for us

at the end of the meal he takes the cup blesses it giving thanks to God and gives it to us and says

this is my blood the blood of the new covenant remember this

remember this whenever you drink it

and so we remember also the offering Abraham made of his own son

And God reckoned  that faith of Abraham unto him for righteousness

it wasn’t killing his son that saved him it was his faith

and so even today as we without bread or wine in our hands offer our faith as our gift to God 

and it is through that faith that he redeems us 

it is through his act in which we have faith that he has made us whole

“Our faith is our gift to God”, Arizona Daily Star, March 30th 2021, https://tucson.com/our-faith-is-our-gift-to-god/article_5f031639-f5e1-58c3-9291-cd4d498961d0.html.

"Our faith is our gift to God; through it, he redeems us." Arizona Daily Star, April 4th 2021, E3.

https://tucson.com/our-faith-is-our-gift-to-god/article_5f031639-f5e1-58c3-9291-cd4d498961d0.html (updated April 1st 2021)

Both/And

On March 21st I wrote to some members of various faith groups and other nonprofit organizations... here is the original text and some of the more considered responses so far:

topics for a discussion (in person or in a zoom):

as religious congregations and other voluntary associations begin to gather in person, in ways that they may not have for awhile, questions come up about how best to continue virtual presence online - youtube, zoom, facebook live, as well as electronic media including email, website, facebook page or group, etc.

wondering what experiences people might share in a regional discussion - in person or online - a luncheon chat or more formal meeting

(one particular issue will be equipment acquisitions as we begin to move out of primarily online to mostly in person worship... so we don't finding ourselves wagging the horse by the tail and letting the chips fall where they may)

some churches (and other organizations) have made do with a smartphone propped on a pulpit or podium - or pre recorded lessons, sermons and talks, and music, supplemented by pdf emails, of bulletins for example; others have live-streamed with camera and microphone, still others add power point slides ... 

what do you think? what are your experiences? what is wise to continue, take on, Kondo at this point?

*** Various comments have come in ***

A. I think this requires a lot of thinking through. Not only for religious services but for other groups that have transitioned to online meetings and are now looking at returning in person. For some of my groups, we have expanded the number of folks attending, including folks participating from far flung places like Japan and Australia. We don't want to go back to our insular local group but we want to meet in person again and somehow include those with whom we have developed relationships and who have become important members of our groups. I am not that technologically inclined but more capable than some. I hope there will be guidance on this. It is good to be thinking and talking about this for sure. For one of my groups that used to meet in person, I think we will just remain a Zoom group and then schedule in person meetings that are more social in nature to supplement the weekly meetings. Maybe once a month we have an in person event to connect. We will see!! Take very, very good care!!

B. I belong to two groups that have been meeting via Zoom: my local church and a writers group. Fortunately, both groups were able to transition to full-on meetings via Zoom, and in the case of the church also Facebook. I was not involved in the technical aspects of the transition, so I don’t know how complicated it was or how it was actually done. At the church, a camera was installed inside the church, showing the altar and pulpit. But there also have been live readings transmitted from home computers — all seamlessly integrated. 

Certainly, for people who are not able to attend an in-person event, the virtual events will remain worthwhile and inclusive.

But most of us really miss being with our friends face-to-face. As we have learned this past year, there’s really no substitute for personal contact — all those heartfelt conversations and hugs!  One of my favorite parts of the Sunday service is when we give each other the “greeting of peace.” You can feel God’s love flowing through the congregation!

So, all in all, I’m not a big fan of virtual gatherings. They have provided some sense of community and continuity — certainly better than not meeting at all! But most of us are eager to get back to actually being together. 

Don’t know if this is the kind of feedback you are asking for? I’m not involved in either the vestry or the board-of-directors  of either group, so I don’t know what decisions are being made about future events. Oh, I just remembered, the sermons at the church have been recorded for some time, before the pandemic, and were available online. 

Hope that all of you are healthy, sheltering well, and doing well.

C. Interesting questions you pose. Let me summarize and add:

1. What kind of audio/video gear do you currently have?

2. What kind of investment have you made or do you plan to make?

3. What platform to do you use, e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Zoom?

4. Do you offer "live" worship for people to watch in real time

5. Do you make a recording of your live worship to post later?

6. Do you pre-record then post a recording for public watch?

7. Do you edit before posting?

8. Do you edit in people doing different parts of worship, e.g., readings, prayers, music?

9. What kind of help have you recruited or do you need?

10. Have you noticed people joining your online worship from afar as well as local?

11. Anyone join your online worship you did not previously know?

12. What have you learned in the last year about the way you do worship?

13. Will what you have learned impact the form of worship in the future?

14. What are your plans moving forward: continue online as well as in-person worship?

15. What are the expectations of your people?

16. What else have you done online, e.g. education, meetings, small groups?

17. Will you continue to offer these online, go back to in-person, or a combination?

18. What impact do you think this year has had on your worship ministry?

19. What impact has the year had on your other ministries and mission?

20. What has changed in the church and your congregation that is permanent?

focal point

Episcopalians are a peculiar branch of the Jesus movement. 

We follow Jesus, yes. He is the Word. 

We speak the Word, sing the Word, pray the Word, eat and drink the Word. 

Jesus is 'our meat and drink' - in him is the source of life, and to receive him is to be fed by the staff of life that is the Word.

He is the Word come into the world. And in him we find the ultimate self-revelation of God.

So what is peculiar about that? It infects our worship. We center on the table where we eat and drink. 

Everything that happens in the service leads up to that, from initial prayer and praise and proclamation, through confession and word of grace, to the celebration of the goodness of God in bread and wine.

The focus of our worship is obvious from the shape of our gatherings. Central - where all eyes follow - is the table and on it the cup and the plate, the bread and the wine, the elements of the Holy Eucharist, that is, the Great Thanksgiving. 

On one side you may see the clergy and on the other the choir or servers. The people may look at them from time to time, when they are reading or leading prayers or singing or preaching. 

But all the time the eyes of all are turning to the prize - the  Eucharist, God's presence among us - and we seek no distraction from that. 

Once we have each, as many of us as can, gone up and taken bread and wine, we go out, sent by a deacon's dismissal and a priest's blessing, to carry the Word into the world.

tree of love

Mary Holmes, professor of art history at my undergraduate college, observed that in our time the challenge was obedience. That is difficult for our generations. We don't want to be told what to do.

And who can blame us, those who remember the statue by Jack Zajac of the "Sacrificial Goat" in the courtyard of the college, commemorating a student who loyally answered the call of his country and went to serve - and die - in the American/Vietnam War. We especially, however, prefer not to obey God.

No serpents have bit us as yet - or have they?

Perhaps regardless of our herpetological challenges and enthusiasms we should consider looking again to the sign of the one lifted up - not bronze but flesh. The life and death and resurrection of Jesus. 

He did more than die for us - he led the way for us from a living death ("under condemnation" as Paul would have it) through the passion of dying and on to the eternal resurrection life - that is obedience.

That's the kicker. Eternal life starts now - if we allow ourselves to be brought into harmony with our creator, through our redeemer, in the power of the divine mother of all the spirit. 

How can we possibly manage this? Not on our own merit - or by our own power. That's where the grace comes in.

The grace that we experience in the horrifying gift of the persistent - adamant, unwavering - witness and sacrificial offering of Jesus.

Sunday 14 March 2021: Fourth Sunday in Lent
Numbers 21:4-9
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
http://edgeofenclosure.org/lent4b.html

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Dream of the Rood

What I wish to say of the best of dreams,

what came to me in the middle of the night

after the speech-bearers lie biding their rest! (1-3)

It seemed to me that I saw the greatest tree

brought into the sky, bewound in light,

the brightest of beams. That beacon was entirely

garnished with gold. Gemstones

prominent and proud at the corners of the earth—

five more as well blazoned across the span of its shoulders.

Every angel of the Lord warded it there,

a brilliant sight of a universe to come.

Surely it was no longer the gallows of vile crime

in that place—yet there they kept close watch,

holy spirits for all humanity across the earth,

and every part of this widely famous creation. (4-12)

Surpassing was this victory-tree, and me splattered with sins—

struck through with fault. I saw this tree of glory,

well-worthied in its dressing, shining in delights,

geared with gold. Gemstones had

nobly endowed the Sovereign’s tree.

Nevertheless I could perceive through all that gold

a wretched and ancient struggle, where it first started

to sweat blood on its right side. I was entirely perturbed with sorrows—

I was fearful for that lovely sight.

Then I saw that streaking beacon warp its hue, its hangings —

at times it was steamy with bloody wet, stained with coursing gore,

at other times it was glistening with treasure. (13-23)

Yet I, lying there for a long while,

beheld sorrow-chary the tree of the Savior

until I heard that it was speaking.

Then the best of wood said in words: (24-27)

“It happened long ago—I remember it still—

I was hewn down at the holt’s end

stirred from my stock. Strong foes seized me there,

worked in me an awful spectacle, ordered me to heave up their criminals.

Those warriors bore me on their shoulders

until they set me down upon a mountain.

Enemies enough fastened me there.

I saw then the Lord of Mankind

hasten with much courage, willing to mount up upon me. (28-34)

“There I dared not go beyond the Lord’s word

to bow or burst apart—then I saw the corners of the earth

tremor—I could have felled all those foemen,

nevertheless I stood fast. (35-38)

“The young warrior stripped himself then—that was God Almighty—

strong and firm of purpose—he climbed up onto the high gallows,

magnificent in the sight of many. Then he wished to redeem mankind.

I quaked when the warrior embraced me—

yet I dared not bow to the ground, collapse

to earthly regions, but I had to stand there firm.

The rood was reared. I heaved the mighty king,

the Lord of Heaven—I dared not topple or reel. (39-45)

“They skewered me with dark nails, wounds easily seen upon me,

treacherous strokes yawning open. I dared injure none of them.

They shamed us both together. I was besplattered with blood,

sluicing out from the man’s side, after launching forth his soul. (46-49)

“Many vicious deeds have I endured on that hill—

I saw the God of Hosts racked in agony.

Darkness had covered over with clouds

the corpse of the Sovereign, shadows oppressed

the brightest splendor, black under breakers.

All of creation wept, mourning the king’s fall—

Christ was upon the cross. (50-56)

“However people came hurrying from afar

there to that noble man. I witnessed it all.

I was sorely pained with sorrows—yet I sank down

to the hands of those men, humble-minded with much courage.

They took up there Almighty God, lifting up him up

from that ponderous torment. Those war-men left me

to stand, dripping with blood—I was entirely wounded with arrows.

They laid down the limb-weary there, standing at the head of his corpse,

beholding there the Lord of Heaven, and he rested there awhile,

exhausted after those mighty tortures. (57-65a)

“Then they wrought him an earthen hall,

the warriors within sight of his killer. They carved it from the brightest stone,

setting therein the Wielder of Victories. Then they began to sing a mournful song,

miserable in the eventide, after they wished to venture forth,

weary, from the famous Prince. He rested there with a meager host. (65b-69)

“However, weeping there, we lingered a good while in that place,

after the voices of war-men had departed.

The corpse cooled, the fair hall of the spirit.

Then someone felled us both, entirely to the earth.

That was a terrifying event! Someone buried us in a deep pit.

Nevertheless, allies, thanes of the Lord, found me there

and wrapped me up in gold and in silver. (70-77)

“Now you could hear, my dear man,

that I have outlasted the deeds of the baleful,

of painful sorrows. Now the time has come

that men across the earth, broad and wide,

and all this famous creation worthy me,

praying to this beacon. On me the Child of God

suffered awhile. Therefore I triumphant

now tower under the heavens, able to heal

any one of them, those who stand in terror of me.

Long ago I was made into the hardest of torments,

most hateful to men, until I made roomy

the righteous way of life for them,

for those bearing speech. Listen—

the Lord of Glory honored me then

over all forested trees, the Warden of Heaven’s Realm!

Likewise Almighty God exalted his own mother,

Mary herself, before all humanity,

over all the kindred of women. (78-94)

“Now I bid you, my dear man,

to speak of this vision to all men

unwrap it wordfully, that it is the Tree of Glory,

that the Almighty God suffered upon

for the sake of the manifold sins of mankind,

and the ancient deeds of Adam.

Death he tasted there, yet the Lord arose

amid his mighty power, as a help to men.

Then he mounted up into heaven. Hither he will come again,

into this middle-earth, seeking mankind

on the Day of Doom, the Lord himself,

Almighty God, and his angels with him,

wishing to judge them then—he that holds the right to judge

every one of them—upon their deserts

as they have earned previously here in this life. (95-109)

“Nor can any remain unafraid there

before that word that the Wielder will speak.

He will ask before the multitude where that man may be,

who wished to taste in the Lord’s name

the bitterness of death, as he did before on the Cross.

Yet they will fear him then, and few will think

what they should begin to say unto Christ.

There will be no need to be afraid there at that moment

for those who already bear in their breast the best of signs,

yet every soul ought to seek through the Rood

the holy realm from the ways of earth—

those who intend to dwell with their Sovereign.” (110-21)

I prayed to that tree with a blissful heart,

great courage, where I was alone,

with a meager host. My heart’s close was

eager for the forth-way, suffering many

moments of longing. Now my hope for life

is that I am allowed to seek that victorious tree,

more often lonely than all other men,

to worthy it well. The desire to do so

is strong in my heart, and my guardian

is righteous in the Rood. I am not wealthy

with many friends on this earth,

yet they departed from here from the joys of the world,

seeking the King of Glory—now they live

in heaven with the High-Father, dwelling in magnificence,

and I hope for myself upon each and every day

for that moment when the Rood of the Lord,

that I espied here upon the earth,

shall ferry me from this loaned life

and bring me then where there is great bliss,

joys in heaven, where there are the people of the Lord,

seated at the feast, where there is everlasting happiness

and seat me where I will be allowed afterwards

to dwell in glory, brooking joys well amid the sainted.

May the Lord be my friend, who suffered before

here on earth, on the gallows-tree for the sins of man. (122-46)

He redeemed us and gave us life,

a heavenly home. Hope was renewed

with buds and with bliss for those suffered the burning.

The Son was victory-fast upon his journey,

powerful and able, when he came with his multitudes,

the army of souls, into the realm of God,

the Almighty Ruler, as a bliss for the angels

and all of the holy, those who dwelt in glory

before in heaven, when their Sovereign came back,

Almighty God, to where his homeland was. (147-56)

https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/dream-of-the-rood/