Happy Easter

Well, we got through Holy Week.

So many people helped this week go so well.

We started of with the Adult Sunday School taking parts in the Palm/Passion Sunday drama from Luke.  We read most of the end of the gospel while Melanie and Rebecca stripped the church bare of all adornments and draped the cross at the end.

Wednesday a few of us gathered in the chancel of the church to remember Maundy Thursday, the remembrance of the last supper.  Bread and juice and grapes and conversation and story in an odd setting for most of us.

Friday, the Eel River Ministerial Association (we decided to stop calling it CLEMP because that name sort of precludes others from joining in) hosted a non-traditional Good Friday service.  Instead of remember Jesus death, we used the time to guide the community through a time of remembrance for people who are suffering.  We had readings for hunger, homelessness, victims of racism and family abuse, drug addiction and joblessness.

And finally today we had Easter to a full house.  Uri Schulevitz's wonderful book, The Treasure, helped both the children and adults discover the treasure that Jesus starts appearing in us and the whole world comes alive in God's presence.  What a delight to have the children on the floor during worship drawing where they find treasures in their lives.  Sherri making the already fun choir anthems come to a new life.  Three younger members and three older member reading scriptures of praise back and fort after Melanie read the Easter story.  Velma leading singing and Pam keeping us moving along with her great piano playing.  I think we would all like to be a kid sitting on Faye's knee as she reads stories.  And a host of others welcoming, feeding and flowering the congregation.  A great day.

What would Jesus say to you to get you to follow?

I was stretching today to a time when I knew a whole lot more about music and conducting than I do now.  What would draw me away from something that I loved and still love so much?  Answer for me, a call to what I loved about making music and to a world that made a difference somehow.  My mentor, Dennis, ignited my own passion and loves into a context that filled my world with hope.  So many people are afraid God will call them to what they fear, but my experience is that God calls us to what we love most, using the gifts we value most, in a context that startles us into hope.

I used one of my favorite pieces of music, the fourth movement of Brahm's German Requiem.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RetKt6RgleAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RetKt6RgleA , or a wonderful recording of The Sixteen doing a version with a few voices and piano, much slower than I am used to but with marvelous scope http://www.lala.com/#album/1657606138214280278http://www.lala.com/#album/1657606138214280278). I didn't leave music and conducting, I changed the setting. I may never conduct the Brahm's Requiem, and there is a lot of stuff in the ministry that I don't do that well either. But, I can help people hear the symphony of God's Presence in almost all of their lives, can help a church work together to play a bit of that music, and can help people hear in the old Masters a bit of the Gospel they may not hear now or maybe have never heard before.


That is the word that God speaks to us when we are called.


It is what I find so special about Volunteers in Mission, or Habitat for Humanity, or the folks making food in our kitchen for people living on the Riverbank. "Hey, I like building things. Come build houses for people who would otherwise never have a stable place to live" "I love to cook. Come feed the world." "I love to host parties. Come and throw a Thanksgiving Feast for my fragile ones."


People who invite us into mission tell us that there is so much hope in the world and our gifts matter. And when the world is suddenly filled with hope, anything can happen.


What word might God speak to your heart that will call you to a new life that changes the world?

The Gypsy Rover

We sang the Gypsy Rover in church on Sunday and talked about the soul and had a great time reading Isaiah 60 with everyone with loud uproar.  Kaye whistled in church, and we had a bunch of new folks.  And we played with Twelve Days of Christmas -- the legend about it being a code of some kind appears to be wrong, so we just had fun making up our own ideas for what all the images might mean.

For those of you who haven't come across him, C.G. Jung, who was a disciple of Freud, is one of the great gifts to the church in the last century.  He and his followers have looked deeply at the language of image and dreams, and especially the collective archetypes that govern much of our life journey.  When we look at the insights this field of study has given to anyone dealing with spirituality in the last seventy five years, we can't thank him enough.

On Sunday, we used the story of the Gypsy Rover to highlight some important points about the journey of the soul.  This particular myth describes vividly the awakening of the soul that often happens during our teenage years, the loss of the soul as human being concentrate on developing some mastery of the concrete world in the formative working years, and something of the mess that occurs when people begin to discover in later years a deep hole where the soul used to be.  This can begin a discovery process in the last half of life that can lead to a deep sense of peace and creativity -- where a whistle of spirituality can turn into the music and richness of a full life.  This growth only occurs if we learn new things about our lives and walk in those places we have not gone before.

There are piles of books written by C. J. Jung and his followers.  A great one to start with is his autobiography Memories, Dreams and Reflections (written around 1956 but reprinted constantly since it was first written).  For books looking into deeper meaning of stories and myths see books by Robert Johnson (like "He" or "She").

Christmas

Wow!  Busy as usual and no blogs for the entire Advent season.

Check out the website if you are interested in an end of the year reflection.  I preached on it and presented a paper which is in the church to help guide through the process.  But, if you want to find it, I put it online on the website.  My reflection is based on a weekly spiritual report I learned from the Church of the Saviour in Washington DC and have been doing myself for decades now (that is included).  The yearly reflection is a list of some of the things I use as guides for my reflection, a reflection on basic needs in my life, a reflection on the three basics of the spiritual journey (poverty, chastity and obedience) and some other questions I have found helpful.  Remember Ted's Rule for the Spiritual Journey #457 is guilt is worthless -- our reflections cannot be motivated or result in guilt.  Growth is built on a desire to follow God's call in our lives.

Advent was good this year.  We focused on three stories that help guide our paths through preparing for the Christ to enter our lives.  We looked at Zechariah and thought about what it means to be silent before the work of God in our lives.  We looked at John and  his call to sharing as a way to prepare for the revolution that is incarnation.  Finally, we thought about Mary and what it means to ponder or think deeply about our lives.

Christmas was a grand intergenerational service telling the story and singing the songs.  There were as many Teddy Bears as people and a wonderful time of light in the building and in our lives.

I am grateful for all the people who helped make it such a great season.  We also raised $1,800 in the Christmas offering and a huge pile of school supplies for the special education class in Miranda.  Well done everyone.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a great day, or should I say, days. A bunch of church people from various churches in Fortuna have been planning with the River Life folks, especially Ginny, to get ready to serve a community dinner and bring in folks who either would have nothing to eat that day at all, or who don't have a community to belong to in that day. It was a week of working together, a week of seeing what this church does best, of people cooking, but also preparing a welcoming feast.

We serve over a hundred people with maybe another fifty dinners going out to people who couldn't make it and more food to those who would take our ample leftovers home.

We had people dressed for a special occasion and some who came as they were, or in what they could find. We had people from around the corner and some bicycling in from Chicago. Everyone was greeted with enthusiasm, served with grace and generosity and sent off with blessings and armloads. Conversations were so engaged that we left our program out completely and just let the wonderful mix of people talk.

Ham and Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, stuffing, drinks and apple and pumpkin pie. Hand-made name tags, and Christmas ornaments crafted by some of the kids.

I was so high coming home I couldn't get my feet to touch the ground. Happy Thanksgiving.

Madonna revisited

It is the third week of November and Madonna is still very present. No comments on the blog but lots flying around the church. A few angry notes and whisperings.

I always like good discussion on topics even, sometimes especially, when they disagree with me and this one has taken on some rather interesting edges. The congregation seems split itself about this. Some hated it. Some disliked it but see the reason for it. Some thought it was inspiring or could be helpful for reaching their kids or grandkids. Reactions all over the map.

The discussion revolves around a few important questions:

What is appropriate in church? And, more specifically, what is appropriate in communicating the gospel?

How do traditions and patterns in the church invite or keep away people who are not now coming to church? This is especially important in two arenas: how does the music we do invite or separate us, how open are we to the language and methods of communicating in the culture around us. Should we be radically different and speak radically different than the culture around us?

All the Saints around Us

First Sunday of November, All Saints Day.  All the ghosts are back in the ground and only the good spirits of love can stay in this celebration of the ones who form our faith.  We think of dead treasured ones, we thing of those who taught us to believe, and the ones that "let the light shine through".  On this day, three of our Stephen's Ministry saints (Linda, Jean and Sharon) shared a bit of their story with us for the sermon.

I have been recording the worship services for a month now.  At some point with a purpose of podcasting the sermon if not the worship service -- can't figure out how to negotiate the privacy issues.  But, we are just now starting to take the DVDs we make to people who couldn't make it to the service.  And, all of a sudden, we become their saints, their contact to the church community with prayers and songs already a weeks past, but still alive and kicking in the minds and hearts of those who now have access to the whole worship service.  The picture is taken for a long way away and that brings some distance, but nearly everyone is amplified in the worship service so the sound is good and clear.

We took communion to homebound this week, an idea gift from Judith in her consultation.

Saints all over the place.