This week at First Pres
In one of the gospels, Jesus famously gives Peter the Keys to the kingdom- a sign of authority and power. One never really appreciates the power of these scraps of metal we are inclined to take for granted, until one is without one. Or, as luck would have it, one receives a new one.
Which is what happened this week: the whole church campus is finally re-keyed. Old keys no longer work, and new ones work like a charm! We are more secure and more responsible than we were. This project was done with money left to us by Norma Lunn when she died, and I think she must smile from where she now sits, knowing this place she loved and cared for is secure, and we no longer have to puzzle over the reason for the dozens of keys we found on her ring.
I am saddened by how death touches us all. Don Inloes, pastor of Immanuel Methodist Church died this week. He was a faithful, justice-seeking saint, and I miss him- even as I celebrate the way he lived his life. After a long season of waiting, Marion Wiens’ mother Anne finally passed into the Light which guided her days. Grief mingles with gratitude for the end of suffering. Today I got word that Jo Subject, who has been living near her son in Calistoga CA, died at 93. Her life was a blessing to this community, we are both diminished and blessed at her home-going.
And there was life: I was struck by the sound of laughter at the Session meeting last night, as I was preparing soup for supper. I was moved by the tenderness that came to the surface as we met with the Keiper family and approved the baptism of baby Addison. I was grateful when one of the elders noticed that we are building trust with one another- a sign of the Spirit at work.
On Sunday, we will have our Annual meeting, a chance to sing and to reflect on what God has accomplished among us in 2008. To pray over the annual report is a humbling and joyful task.
But the report tells only part of the story. This week I got a letter from someone talking about the struggle to reveal what’s going on inside and the joy of using one’s gifts in ministry. I also sat and talked with a faithful leader about how discouraging ministry can be, and what keeps us coming back for more. And I got a note from someone rejoicing in being ‘seen’ and loved in this community. These things remind me that there are spiritual struggles and questions and victories taking place just under the surface all the time that I know nothing about. the Spirit is always at work among us, making us whole, bringing the Kingdom nearer, offering us the keys. Thanks be to God.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
1-25-09 Doing Chapel Outside
Doing Chapel Outside
“Didja know you could DO chapel outside, Miss Lynette?”
The 4 year old beamed with his new-found knowledge.
“We just did chapel time, and we did it OUTSIDE!”
It’s true. Last week I forgot to turn the heat on in the chapel, and at chapel time it was below 50 degrees. I knew that my fidgety friends and I would never make it through 15 minutes of singing and story and prayer under those circumstances, and so we gathered on the plaza, in the warm sunshine, and sang our songs and admired God’s creation, and read a story. It was lovely- the warm sun making the chilly winter morning more bearable, the voices raised in song making it bright in another way.
When our chapel time was done and the kids returned to our child care center, one of them encountered the director, and informed her with glee of his new discovery: you can do chapel outside!
I have been doing a fair amount of thinking about ‘chapel outside’ lately.
Nancy Wiens, a daughter of this congregation, organized a quest for clergy and spiritual directors seeking sustenance from God. She gathered them for a couple of days of preparation, and then they went out to the Borrego Springs area of the desert, as pilgrims have for millennia sought clarity in the desert. The group of about 10 spent time camping, eating, praying together, and then each of them went out for 4 days of solitude.
They slept under the stars, and they prayed. Each of them fasted, drinking only water during their solo time. They faced their fears and settled into the silence. And they watched and listened to and dwelt in the kind of chapel that you can only do outside. Their companions were the moon and the stars, the rising sun and the solid stones, the tiny signs of life and the wide sky.
When they returned to the world in which all we usually dwell, I went to greet them and welcome them back. Though most of them were strangers to me, it was clear to me that each of them had sensed the presence of the Holy One, had heard a response to the Question they had brought with them, had been filled with a blessing they were eager to share with the world.
While that kind of rigor does not feel like something I am called to at the moment, I have found myself drawn outside often for my daily prayer of late. I sit in the fresh (sometimes cold!) air on my back porch and watch the sky grow light, watch the sun bring its gift of warmth and life back to us. Or I rest there at the close of a day, giving thanks for what has been, and for the promise of rest, and for the chance to begin again tomorrow.
And here is what I have to report: God is out there. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, the world, and all that dwells therein. Did you know you could do chapel outside? Give it a try.
Peace to you- Sandy
“Didja know you could DO chapel outside, Miss Lynette?”
The 4 year old beamed with his new-found knowledge.
“We just did chapel time, and we did it OUTSIDE!”
It’s true. Last week I forgot to turn the heat on in the chapel, and at chapel time it was below 50 degrees. I knew that my fidgety friends and I would never make it through 15 minutes of singing and story and prayer under those circumstances, and so we gathered on the plaza, in the warm sunshine, and sang our songs and admired God’s creation, and read a story. It was lovely- the warm sun making the chilly winter morning more bearable, the voices raised in song making it bright in another way.
When our chapel time was done and the kids returned to our child care center, one of them encountered the director, and informed her with glee of his new discovery: you can do chapel outside!
I have been doing a fair amount of thinking about ‘chapel outside’ lately.
Nancy Wiens, a daughter of this congregation, organized a quest for clergy and spiritual directors seeking sustenance from God. She gathered them for a couple of days of preparation, and then they went out to the Borrego Springs area of the desert, as pilgrims have for millennia sought clarity in the desert. The group of about 10 spent time camping, eating, praying together, and then each of them went out for 4 days of solitude.
They slept under the stars, and they prayed. Each of them fasted, drinking only water during their solo time. They faced their fears and settled into the silence. And they watched and listened to and dwelt in the kind of chapel that you can only do outside. Their companions were the moon and the stars, the rising sun and the solid stones, the tiny signs of life and the wide sky.
When they returned to the world in which all we usually dwell, I went to greet them and welcome them back. Though most of them were strangers to me, it was clear to me that each of them had sensed the presence of the Holy One, had heard a response to the Question they had brought with them, had been filled with a blessing they were eager to share with the world.
While that kind of rigor does not feel like something I am called to at the moment, I have found myself drawn outside often for my daily prayer of late. I sit in the fresh (sometimes cold!) air on my back porch and watch the sky grow light, watch the sun bring its gift of warmth and life back to us. Or I rest there at the close of a day, giving thanks for what has been, and for the promise of rest, and for the chance to begin again tomorrow.
And here is what I have to report: God is out there. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, the world, and all that dwells therein. Did you know you could do chapel outside? Give it a try.
Peace to you- Sandy
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