Lenten Reading

I forgot what I was giving up for Lent. The first time. The second time, I remembered, a little bit too late. Oh well, I said to myself. Of course it was done and that’s no excuse, but it is an explanation. And, thanks to my Lenten reading, I am reminded that that is not what Lent is about.

Lent is about forgiveness. It is not, really, in its depths, about giving up, or taking on, something, some thing or practice.

And it is not even about screwing up when you fail to keep a holy Lent. If you don’t fail, even if you keep perfectly to your practice, it is not about that. Because life with God is not about screwing up or doing things or not doing things. It is about grace. 

I’ve just been reading one of Reyna Grande’s older novels, “Dancing with Butterflies”, which, spoiler alert, is about forgiveness.

Everybody screws up, fails, themselves or each other. Ultimately, though, if you reach out for it, undeserved, or even unearned, grace is there. 

We cannot be intact and holy in our own perfection. But we can receive the gifts of imperfection, of realizing we are sinners too - people in need of grace, always imperfect, but getting better. 

It’s about forgiveness. Give it a try. 

Lent List

Stuff I would like to give up for Lent? Oh yes, I made a list. Space does not permit its inclusion here. Nor does tact. Some of it is pretty common. We have lost so much, some of us, people whom we do not see right now, people we will never see gain. Loss and gain. Anticipation and regret. Possibilities, memories. Waiting. Our current situation is unique. And we are not the first.  

A traveler waiting for a visa. A convalescent waiting for release. Parents hoping for a child, workers looking for a job, people on the move seeking a home. 

Situations that are common and simply our own. 

When I was young I saw a children’s book about Robert the Bruce, waiting in his stone room and watching a spider weave its web. It was slow work, but he had the time. Eventually as an adult I learned more about what he was waiting for as well as what he was going to do. He led a country to unity. And yet that was not the end of the story as he yearned for the Holy Land. As it was, he made it about halfway - to Spain. His heart sought Jerusalem but found its final rest at home. (His heart is buried at Melrose Abbey.)

We hear the Bible stories. A would-be mother waiting with her husband for a place to live, a child to love. A widow with no home to go to but one far away, and no family but one unknown. And a people that wants, that longs, to be free. As we do.

Lent is a season of anticipation. Of preparation. Again, so soon after the Christmas cycle has ended. Advent, Nativity, Epiphany, Presentation. Just weeks ago. And now another cycle, the Easter cycle, begins. But it begins in Ashes. 

Wouldn’t you think ashes are the end of a story, not the beginning? But so it is: forty days from Ash Wednesday, not counting Sundays, Christians arrive where other traditions already are: at Easter Sunday, another feast day of celebration, but not before plumbing the depths of Good Friday. A dreadful anticipation. So we remember our mortality - as if we could forget it! This year of all years. 

Remember that you are made of dust taken from the earth, and to the earth you shall return. And yet all along you are in the hands of God.

Always.

The Rev. Dr. John Leech is an Episcopal priest, a Benedictine oblate, and a friend of the Iona Community. He has served congregations in northern California and western Washington, and now in southern Arizona. 

https://tucson.com/you-are-safe-in-the-hands-of-god/article_2f8cbbff-973c-5bfb-aec7-a1c294536efa.html (Arizona Daily Star, February 21, 2021).

Joel 2:1-2,12-17

or Isaiah 58:1-12

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Psalm 103 or 103:8-14

Dust

We bless you, O Lord our God, creator of the Universe, for the gift of earth, from whence we come and to which we shall return. We ask your blessing on the ancient peoples who first enjoyed this land and ask your blessing upon us as we join the traditional stewards of this land in its ongoing care. And care for us, Lord, as we contemplate our mortality, our absolute dependence upon you, and as we prepare ourselves for life beyond death in the hope of the resurrection.

Remember that you are dust of the earth and to that earth you shall return.  

got ashes?

Stuff I want to give up for Lent:

Excess zoom participation (who are we where are we going what are we doing here in this meeting yet another on zoom). Use the telephone, write a letter, or meet up outdoors.

Excess indoors time: get outside! Look up! Even if you are at your desk or on facebook or both ... the mountains surround us.

The same old clothes. Some people - even under your own roof - may be changing the scenery...

Excess following the news. Should have thought of this four years ago.

Watching British people on TV - nope. Not giving that up. Imported vintage drama/comedy relief.

Daily meditation and prayer practices, putting off thereof.

Same old takeout.

Ernest but bad restaurant takeout attempts.

Inattentive cooking. Ooh, busted!

Ashes.

Ashes?

It's not about the ashes. Not even on Ash Wednesday. It is about mortality and resurrection. It is about getting ready for the Great Vigil and Easter Day. 

So we are about preparation for Baptism or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows, as we begin to claim the Christian hope of Paradise, at the end of this trial - trial of mortality, including joys as well as sorrow.

And most of all, surrounding all, love.

***

As we gather for the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday we seek some sign of mortality and penitence, some sign of preparation, for the culmination of all this forty days and forty nights is not sorrow but joy, not death but rising again.

And so today whether you receive ashes on your forehead or only wear them inside, your heart turns anew to God.

Receive, then, the gift of mortality, and the hope of resurrection, that is built into it from the beginning by our Maker.

If you self-administer ashes, please do so during the prayer following the invitation to the observance of a holy Lent. Do it slowly and respectfully - of the sacrament and the others who join you in this solemn moment - as we pray together. 

Make the sign of the Cross, or pinch some dry ashes out of a bowl. And remember - it is not about the ashes. Not even today. It is about the Cross and Resurrection. It is about Jesus, and the work he is doing in you, through the Spirit.

Have a blessed Lent. Give something up, take something on - and remember that you are loved in the mercy of God.

_____________

Dennis Michno writes: The act of receiving ashes must not become the focal point of this day but rather a sign of the day, a sign that is part of the penitential beginning of the season of Lent.

Dennis G. Michno, A Priest's Handbook: The Ceremonies of the Church, ed. 3, 1998. 154.

Howard Galley writes: Lent, the season of preparation for Easter, is a time of penitence, fasting, almsgiving, prayer, and study, which finds its proper climax in the celebration of Holy Baptism and the renewal of Baptismal Vows at Easter.

Howard E. Galley, Ceremonies of the Eucharist: A guide to Celebration. 1989. 42.

* * *

Ash Wednesday: an invitation.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have

made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and

make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily

lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,

may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission

and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives

and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever

and ever. Amen.

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great

devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and

it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a

season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided

a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy

Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of

notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful

were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to

the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation

was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set

forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all

Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the

observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance;

by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and

meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning

of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now

kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

The Book of Common Prayer, 1979. 264-265.

Spirit and Practice

For the Gospel Grapevine, Lent 2013:

Spirit and Practice

by the Rev. John Leech

Let me be clear: I’m talking about the Holy Spirit and Christian Practice – how do we make real in our lives the truth of our faith? How do we live out the call of conversion?

This Lenten season, between Pancake Tuesday and Easter morning, we are invited, as always, to step back and reflect on our life with God, with each other, and with our selves. Lent is a time, often, of sacrifice: that is, of offering something of our own choosing as a testament and dedication, an instrument, to symbolize our devotion to a holy and spiritual way of being.

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? So we begin simply, with small practices – omitting something tasty from our diet, trying on a new habit or behavior. It’s almost like a New Year’s resolution – at first.

But this will not satisfy. We’ve got to know there’s more to it.

Lent is a time to lay groundwork, to make preparations, to learn what it is, in a renewing way, to be a Christian. We know – we know, don’t we? – that Easter is coming.

Something new, something unbelievable, is just over the horizon, just beyond our seeing, our field of vision. We live in hope, but we live in the meantime, the not-yet, of expectation.

To make this a season of renewal and not just waiting we take on spiritual practices. These are ways spirit can express itself in activity. Singing, praise, prayer, worship, silence, almsgiving, charitable volunteering – the list of actions we can take personally and together is always growing.

The point is, we are growing too! Growing together in Christ, toward Christ, through and within Christ: that is what Lent is all about. As you decide what to take on or cast off for Lent, give it some prayer: that our Lent together will be one of solemn worship building into joyful celebration.

The greater mystery is ahead: it isn’t the darkness of Lent – it’s the dawning of the new life. What lies beyond Good Friday? What does Easter mean for us? Can we live as resurrection people throughout the year?

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.

[See elsewhere in this issue for an announcement of Lenten Evening Prayer .]

2013 Lenten Worship Series: Spiritual Practices in Our Lives

Once again we'll be partnering with Edmonds Lutheran Church and Bethel Lutheran Church for our Lenten worship services, but this year's version will have a twist: services will rotate across all three sites.  The overall theme for the season is "Spiritual Practices in Our Lives," and each Wednesday's service will focus on a specific theme both in its message and in its worship style.

Schedule:

February 20 7pm at Edmonds Lutheran Church: Listening & Prayer

February 27 7pm at Bethel Lutheran Church: Study & Scripture

March 6 7pm at St. Alban's: Song & Silence

March 13 7pm at Edmonds Lutheran Church: Hospitality & Fellowship

March 20 7pm at Bethel Lutheran Church: Journey & Pilgrimage

Additionally—and regardless of which site is hosting the service—you are always invited to participate in Annie's Kitchen, the weekly community meal at Edmonds Lutheran Church at 5pm before worship.

Bethel Lutheran Church, 17418 8th Avenue NE, Shoreline
Edmonds Lutheran Church, 23525 84th Avenue West, Edmonds
Carpooling from St Alban's at 6.30pm.

Click on these links for more insights:

• The value of silence (http://www.taize.fr/en_article12.html) 
• Meditative singing (http://www.taize.fr/en_article338.html)

http://stalbansedmonds.org/2013/01/lenten-evening-prayer-2013/

FOR THIS MUCH THANKS

Mona Carter, for editing and producing the Gospel Grapevine, our parish newsletter, since July 2009. John Kistner, for serving as parish Treasurer this past year, and to Morrie Tugby and Penny Curtis, for working with him on the finance committee. To ongoing, outgoing, and continuing vestry members, for their leadership, and our delegates and alternate delegates to diocesan convention, for representing St Alban’s to the wider church. To Lee Forsberg and Jim Nichols for taking the lead on keeping up the church buildings and grounds – and to many hands, including Evie Arneson, Chuck Hagen, Al Walker, and Ron Sodetani, for joining in the work.

The long strange journey of Lent is almost over –

The long strange journey of Lent is almost over –

but its destination is not of this world.

It lies beyond time, in eternity.

We do not know much about life in eternity.

What clues we have come, mostly, from Jesus –

from his own stories of the kingdom of

God to come on earth as it is in heaven, and

from the accounts in the New Testament,

of experiences of his presence after

his resurrection. What we glimpse of

the resurrected life we will come to

know through him –

But only surely in his own presence.

Until that encounter becomes real to us,

we live in the shadow of not knowing.

Peace be with you, he says to the disciples, as he

becomes present among them,

in the upper room where they

have gathered again after his death.

Peace be with you, he says to them,

as they absorb the living presence of

the one before them – there he is

among them: the resurrection

is real.

                                    Hello boys!

Got anything to eat? he greets them,

on another occasion. They seem to have

come to an end of their own resources

when he shows up, cooking breakfast

for them, there on the beach.

                                    Come to me. Come and eat.

Perhaps that is a clue to the mystery

What we hear is an invitation

what we see is a meal –

the Lord sets the Table,

the Lord invites us to eat

as in heaven

may it be on earth.

                                    Amen.

Lent 2012

The Joy of the Cross-ward Path

An invitation to a journey lies at the heart of Lent – a pilgrimage to places we could not choose to go, a journey into Christ, in Christ, and with Christ; a path that leads up to Jerusalem to the procession of the Palms and the Passion of Holy Week, and onward from Cross to glory.

We are invited onto a path of joy that looks at first like sorrow – and certainly contains it – but contains within it a larger purpose and a future with hope beyond hope.

In faith we walk with Jesus this Lent. Each week we learn more about his invitation:

1. Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the good news.

2. Jesus invites us to take up the cross.

3. Jesus calls us to true worship.

4. Jesus is lifted up for our salvation.

5. Jesus invites us to follow and serve – and this invitation he extends to all who seek him.  

This Lent we are looking at these themes of deep celebration – of joy found in following and in serving, always looking to Jesus as the source of salvation and the founder of our faith.

How will you take up this invitation? Join us on Lenten Sundays and Wednesdays, as we explore these themes, and seek together what it means to live in the joy of the journey on the cross-ward way of Christ.

Themes are drawn from Bread for the World 2012 Lenten Prayers for Hungry People 

(http://www.bread.org/help/church/worship/lent/2012-lenten-table-tents.pdf)

Reading for Passion

We often choose a study book for Lent. This year, during Holy Week, my personal devotions will be guided by The Cross and the Colliery by N. T. Wright (London: SPCK, 2007).*

Bishop Wright offers a sermon cycle on the themes of each day of Holy Week, from the Passion to Easter. In his sermon at the Eucharist on Palm Sunday, he suggests the figure of a four-part harmony to explain how we should see the Scriptures - and ourselves, in light of it.

1. The melody:  the story of Jesus from Palm Sunday to Good Friday.
2. The bass line:  underlying the gospel theme, the story of the love of God the creator for his suffering world, the Old Testament. 
3. The tenor:  the story of our own world, our own community.
4. And the alto part:  your own personal story.

So: the Gospel story, the Old Testament story, the story of our whole community, and the stories of our individual personal experiences: each of these is an essential part in the harmony we sing together as we embark on the pilgrim way of Lent. And it is the song we sing as we approach Jerusalem in Holy Week, bearing at first palm branches and human hopes, as we progress through the events of the greatest week on the Christian calendar, from Palm Sunday through the days and nights of the week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and at last the new beginning, Easter morning.

*published in the US as Christians at the Cross: Finding Hope in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus (Ijamsville, MD: The Word Among Us, 2007)

Jesus invites us to take up the cross

Jesus invites us to take up the cross  

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 – your life, your inmost being; you must take up your cross and prepare to die with me; you must follow me.

But! You are the Messiah. 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, it knows he is coming.

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.

(When I am most fully myself is when I am least full of myself!)

When I chose this passage from Genesis 17 for an ordination anniversary Eucharist, last summer, I was remembering the promise: I will make you ancestor of a multitude – of many who receive the blessing, who share in the faith; who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.  

Abram and Sarai are newly called in to covenant as parents of the promise, as parents of the faithful. They are faith-parents to faith-children; those who live in faith all are their descendants.

Our children are children of faith,

Our legacy is a legacy of hope,

Our mission is a mission of love.

The mission is the message: faith and trust and hope abide; and end in love, as they began – in Christ, in the bearing of the cross, love’s redeeming work is done.

Jesus invites us to take up the cross.

Second Sunday in Lent * March 4, 2012 

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 

Psalm 22:22-30

Romans 4:13-25

Mark 8:31-38


Jesus invites us to become his true disciples: to take up the cross and follow him

Lenten Themes 2012

1. Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the good news.

2. Jesus invites us to become his true disciples: to take up the cross and follow him.

3. Jesus calls us to true worship.

4. Jesus is lifted up for our salvation: we look to the cross for salvation.

5. Jesus invites us to follow and serve – and this invitation he extends to all who seek him. 

Ash Wednesday * February 22, 2012 

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Psalm 103

2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Week 1. Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the good news.

First Sunday in Lent * February 26, 2012 

Genesis 9:8-17

Psalm 25:1-9

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15

Week 2. Jesus invites us to take up the cross.

Second Sunday in Lent * March 4, 2012 

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 

Psalm 22:22-30

Romans 4:13-25

Mark 8:31-38

Week 3. Jesus calls us to true worship.

Third Sunday in Lent * March 11, 2012

Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

Week 4. Jesus is lifted up for our salvation.

Fourth Sunday in Lent * March 18, 2012

Numbers 21:4-9

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21

Week 5. Jesus invites us to follow and serve.

Fifth Sunday in Lent * March 25, 2012 

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm 51:1-13

Hebrews 5:5-10

John 12:20-33

Palm Sunday * April 1, 2012

Liturgy of the Palms 

Mark 11:1-11

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Liturgy of the Word 

Isaiah 50:4-9a 

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

The Passion Gospel

Mark 14:1—15:47

Maundy Thursday * April 5, 2012 

Exodus 12:1-14

Psalm 116:1, 10-17 

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Good Friday * April 6, 2012

Isaiah 52:13—53:12

Psalm 22

Hebrews 10:16-25

John 18:1—19:42

Marked for Life

Marked on the forehead. That is what we see Ash Wednesday on fellow parishioners – and some people on the street. They are marked with a cross, made of ashes, drawn with a thumb, by a priest or minister. As they were marked they heard words like these:

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The imposition of ashes serves as a reminder of mortality – and a reminder of eternal life, for at death, to God’s faithful people, life is changed, not ended.

How can this be?

In Baptism you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own for ever.

You are marked as Christ’s own forever. You are no longer your own; you are bought with a price. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

The life we live now we live no longer for our selves or of our selves, but we live in Christ, for Christ, as Christ’s own people, as the ones of his own fold whom he protects – and whom he guides – and whom he calls.

And he calls us not only into safety and refuge but also into a life that is fully alive – with threats, joys, sorrows, sheer boredom, hard days and soft hours, excitement and pain, and ultimate delight. For ultimately we delight in him and we are his own, brought into his company and welcomed home.

This home is ours – not at the end of time but now, ours from the moment of our baptism. At baptism we are welcomed into the home of faith, received into the household of God.

This household is God’s domain, the Kingdom of Christ. How to see it? How to live it? How to carry it out among ourselves? How to carry it out and make it real in our lives – and the lives of our neighbors?

Who is my neighbor? (Just checking.)

Hmm… maybe a demographic profile of my community will help. Maybe… a parable? (Substitute some stereotype unsavory and challenging for “Samaritan.”)

Or it may be that we encounter our neighbor when we find ourselves helping someone in need, or rejoice with someone in celebration, or simply share a meal.

And it may be that in encountering our neighbors we encounter something of ourselves. It may be something familiar and comfortable – or something familiar and uncomfortable!

And yet somehow Jesus welcomes us all – so that, at the last, and in the first instance, Jesus is able to say to us, with conviction, you are my own, singled out, marked for life.


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For the Gospel Grapevine (February 2012), newsletter of Saint Alban's Parish, Edmonds, Wash. http://stalbansedmonds.org

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giving up over-scheduling for Lent

What I seem to have given up for Lent is over-scheduling ... with the parish treasurer, the head of Episcopal Church Women, the parish lectionary study group, et alia, weighing in with encouragement.

We had a different kind of Lenten program this year - with lay leadership.

On Sunday mornings we have an able teacher leading group discussion based on Exodus - and "Forward to Freedom", David Adam's meditations on the 40 days (and 40 years) of the journey from bondage to freedom, exile to promise, despair to hope, sorrow to joy.

And on Wednesday evenings we have musicians and a monastic leading us in prayer a la Taizé ... following a simple soup supper potluck we gather in the church sanctuary for a candle-lit icon-rich half-hour with songs, prayers, scriptures, and silence.

What we have given up is "Too Much Information" - with cognitive overload spilling down to us from internet, cable, tube, and paper sources.... it was time to give it a rest.

And rest in silence.

And sacred space.

And ... maybe have some lasting results. Give up over-scheduling for Easter? Pentecost? ... and taking on some new discipline of silence and prayer ...

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Lent and Easter 2011

You are invited to keep a holy Lent - and celebrate a happy Easter.

Ash Wednesday services will be offered at noon and 7pm.

St Alban’s will offer a Lenten program on five Wednesdays during Lent beginning at 6pm with a simple soup/salad supper (potluck) followed by a Taizé-style evening worship service. Dates are March 16, 23, 30, and April 6, 13. (Learn about Taizé at http://www.taize.fr/en).

During Holy Week we offer services at 7pm Monday through Friday. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday services will be at 8am and 10:30 am. The Palm Sunday procession on April 17th (led by the children) will begin the 10:30 service that day. All children are invited to join in the Easter Egg Hunt after the 10:30 service on Easter morning, April 24th.

http://stalbansedmonds.org

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Forward to Freedom: From Exodus to Easter

You are invited on a journey of the spirit -

Forward to Freedom: From Exodus to Easter

David Adam has written a wonderful book for Lent. In a series of forty meditations, one for each day of Lent, he invites us to reflect on the story of Moses in the book of Exodus.

The people of God set out from bondage in Egypt to follow the promise of God to a new place. On the way through the wilderness they experience God in new and profound ways. The story of this great journey provides inspiration for us to follow the Israelites’ example – to launch out into new adventures, freeing others and ourselves from slavery and seeking God’s Promised Land.

Containing a Scripture reading, a short meditation, and a prayer for each day of Lent, this is a book to challenge our relationships to the world, to each other and to our God.

David Adam was vicar of St Mary’s Church on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and writes prayers in the Celtic stream of our common faith.

We have chosen “Forward to Freedom” as our Lenten theme this year. We will use the book to start our conversations in the adult education hour between services. Please join us for the discussions – and consider making this book your Lenten reading for the year.

If you would like a copy of the book you may find one through a lending library or buy one from a used bookseller in person or by mail order. Look online (www.bookfinder.com).

–Fr. John, Eric Hanson, and Karen Ford

(Amazon.com lists many used and new copies at low prices; so does amazon.co.uk)

http://stalbansedmonds.org/2011/02/forward-to-freedom-from-exodus-to-easter/

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Deeper into The Waters of Baptism

During this Lenten season on Wednesday evenings between Ash Wednesday and Holy Week we gather at St. Alban's for evening worship at 6 o’clock – followed by a simple soup potluck supper, and a study & reflection hour from 7 to 8 o’clock.

For our worship together we have a rich treasure house to draw upon - Taizé chant, from an ecumenical community in northern France. It is meditative, repetitive, and inviting. While singing the same words over and over may seem on paper like a profligate way to spend time, in worship experience it turns out to create a quiet time, a quiet space - just what we want to give people this Lent.

Early in the service we have a reading to set the tone, such as:

Isaiah 26:7-9

The way of the righteous is level;
O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.
In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and your renown
are the soul’s desire.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

The readings deeper in the course of the service will be tied to the Baptismal Covenant, the theme of the study and reflection hour later in the evening. The Baptismal Covenant is found in the Book of Common Prayer (p. 304-305). The first session, in February, we will have been considering the covenant as a whole - and the following weeks we can take up each of the five promises in turn (covering the last two on the fifth week.) You may attend any of the sessions or all – they will each have something different to offer.

The five questions lay before us an invitation to live in keeping with God’s holy will and commandments – and walk in them all the days of our lives. Here are the five questions:

Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

And the answer to each?

I will, with God’s help.

Amen.


--Fr. J.

The 2010 Lenten Wednesday series runs February 24th, and March 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th. Come worship with us at 6 o’clock, share a simple potluck supper at 6:30, and join us for an hour of study and reflection from 7 to 8 o’clock.

St. Alban's Episcopal Church, 21405 82nd Place West, Edmonds WA 98026 (425) 778-0371

http://www.stalbansedmonds.org/

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a place of your abiding

Right in the midst of a busy business meeting I looked at the boss and pondered, “Where do you find the silence?”

I was wondering if during all the business of the day, all that it presented, in anticipation, excitement, worry, there were times in that day of activity for reflection.

In the midst of a busy year, we find ourselves dropped into a time of silence.

What kind of silence?

It is easy enough to find the silence of absence – the all-too terrible silence after the departure of a loved one, the empty silence of the waiting room, the hole in time waiting to be filled, the vacancy where once there was activity.

The silence of presence – healing silence, fallow fields for wholeness to root and sprout – this kind of silence is precious.

And often it is hard to find.

We find it in days and hours and places and people where we did not expect to find it.

Or often enough it is the result of careful planning.

The silence of presence comes to us when we make room for it. We capture a moment of time – a moment of the day, perhaps, when we are listening and ready – and then we enter into a quiet space.

There may be interstitial moments, small in-between gaps between activity – prayers suit these crevices, arrows shot heaven-ward with brief petition, thanks, or praise – and like longer prayer-times we let go of what we send. (See Herbert O’Driscoll’s book Prayer Among Friends for more on this.) God will hold it; make it holy.

There may be moments to make holy, ordinary (ordinary-seeming) moments in your day, the beginning of activities perhaps. You may already practice these prayers – a co-worker of mine used to cross himself and say a prayer before he got out of the car to start his day.

The prayer of invocation – calling a blessing as you make a start on some task or practice — is an old tradition. In 1900 Alexander Carmichael published a two-volume collection, Carmina Gadelica, of Celtic prayers passed down by Hebridean islanders. These were the people of Harris and Skye and other Scottish islands, their prayers poems they said or sang as they began such commonplace activities as lighting a fire or milking a cow – and by this making the action holy. You can find samples of these prayers in books by teachers like Esther de Waal and Thomas O’Loughlin.

There may be quiet time set aside in your day, fifteen minutes or an hour – when you read the Bible and pray, or take aside some holy book and get lost in it.

Once when I went on retreat the monk I spoke with thought it was just fine I’d begun by reading a novel – it got me out of my every day mind set as novels may do – but then it was time to make room for the real retreat to begin.

The real retreat is within a quiet space, of time and place, and so is the real Lent.

We hope you can find some quiet time and space this season. In an hour or a day, by yourself or in good company.

During Lent, here at St. Alban’s, we offer evening worship on Wednesdays at 6 o’clock, followed by a simple soup supper (potluck) at 6:30 – at 7pm there will be meetings for some; and we plan to offer a class at that hour for others who wish to delve deeper into their Christian faith. Sunday worship will revolve around themes of preparation – the tremendous events of Holy Week (Passiontide) are not far away, from the false dawn of Palm Sunday to the final morning of celebration the following week.

Here’s a prayer for you and me, for the beginning of Lent, from the prayer book of the Iona Community (2010):

God of all life,
I lay my life before you. I give my life to you
from whom nothing in me is hidden.
You are before me, God; you are behind.
You are around me, God; you are within.

I bring the faith that is in me and the doubt;
I bring the joy that is in me and the sorrow;
I bring the hope that is in me and the despair;
I bring the hurts that I carry and the hurts that I have caused:

To join these faiths and doubts,
Joys and sorrows, hopes and despairs,
Hurts carried and hurts caused;

To the faiths and doubts, joys, sorrows,
Hopes, despairs and hurts of my sisters and brothers.

Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your liberation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
For you have shown me the paths that lead to life
and your presence will fill me with joy.

Amen.


JRL+

For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of St Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Wash., February 2010.

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invitation to the observance of a holy Lent

'For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.' - Daj Hammarskjold

The sun is out, the beach glistens, buds appear on trees: the days grower longer, the nights shorter, but it is still winter.

Advent, not long past, was a season of anticipation, expectation, and preparation, quiet yet joyous, not unlike the last month before a birth, as the solstice, and the Son of God, approach.

By Easter the earth will have a taken a quarter-turn in its yearly revolution around the Sun. Lent is the run-up to this turning. The days before the holiest of weeks are filled with another season of preparation, this one more somber, yet one of adventure and exploration - of the heart.

The revelations of Epiphany, the continuing set of showings-forth of the glory of God, from the pageant of the day of the three kings to the last Sunday of the season with its three figures - Moses, Elijah, and Jesus - on the mountain of Transfiguration, give way to a quiet time, marked by the ashes of mortality, as we prepare for the life beyond life.

The false spring of Palm Sunday, the rumbling greatness of Holy Week, the compelling story of the Passion narrative, the gemütlichkeit and scandal of Maundy Thursday, the shock of Good Friday's news, and the dawning of a brave new world on Easter morning, are all ahead of us.

(Gemütlichkeit, the Wikipedia assures us, connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic and the opportunity to spend quality time. A bit premature? There is more to come, my friends, after the dishes are taken away.)

In the meantime, the time between hope and promise fulfilled, the time between God showing forth in episodes of emergent grandeur and the astonishing dawn of the Resurrection, we call each other and ourselves into a communal season of - looking forward, looking within, of an adventure of the soul.

You may find encouragement in the idea of a solitary discipline, reading the Bible and praying every day. You may find moments of peace at a retreat or a quiet day. You may have a moment, only, to call a friend, and remember and renew an old acquaintance.

There are many ways to explore the meaning of this time of year, many ways to adventure in the souls' realm of yearning and delight, many ways to prepare for Christ. You are invited to take the path that leads your soul to him; you are invited to join us, as companions on the way. - Fr. John

Gospel Grapevine 2009 February
From the Rector's Desk

What are you taking on for Lent?

What are you taking on for Lent?

Every year it rolls around – this time of preparation, of self-examination, and of opening our hearts to the presence dawning upon us of the risen Christ.

How will you make the way open for his presence in your life? What will you want to do, to take on, as a personal or spiritual discipline, to get ready for his taking up residence in your soul?

Can you see a way to make ready the way for Christ to enter in to every day, every part of life as you know it? Is there something you can do each day to prepare your heart?

Sometimes we wish it were always Christmas: a season of joy, of fellowship, of fun, of expectation. Yet it is only the beginning of the story. This spring we move through the story of Jesus’ life, and follow him, even from Gethsemane to Golgotha and beyond.

Beyond. What will we find, beyond Good Friday? What will we see, beyond the tomb of Holy Saturday? How will we live, when morning breaks on the first day of the week?

John Pritchard, now bishop of Oxford, encourages us to live Easter all year round.

How will we come to that resurrection faith? How will we find the living presence of Jesus in ourselves? In short, how will we make room for God?

Surely we begin by realizing God has made room for us.

The world is filled with relationships based upon God’s own love, upon the relationships between Father and Son and Holy Spirit, overflowing into creating this world, redeeming its faults and false beginnings, and making holy our whole lives.

How we will take part in this holy process begins with our inviting Jesus in – to dwell within us in each room, each chamber, of our hearts. All Lent is meant to do is to help us to make our hearts Christ’s home.

And then, perhaps, we can see him dwelling in each other.

John+

For the February 2008 Grapevine
http://www.stalbansedmonds.org


Living Easter Through the Year: Making the Most of the Resurrection by John Pritchard (Liturgical Press, 2006)

unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (Baker Books, 2007)

Holiness by Donald Nicholl (Pauline Books & Media, 2005)

The Testing of Hearts by Donald Nicholl (Second edition: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1998)