Getting Outside Myself

I have been reading An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor; in it she provides a beautiful reflection on the practice of "encountering others" that I shared with the congregation this past Sunday. Yesterday I realized how I had experienced this - not really from doing anything on my part other than "showing up," but through the grace of others. There is great power in simple encounters.

I will confess that Wednesday I started out feeling a little irritable. It was one of those days I would have preferred to just stick to myself. However, whatever was irritating me was soon erased after the greetings I received at The Largest Table. The moment I came downstairs I was greeted by someone who had not been here for awhile and shared with me how much he missed it, and how he was glad to see me. Everyone was raving about the chili and baked potatoes from Wendy's that the staff and students from The Wellington School had brought for lunch. The news must have spread outside our building because I met a couple of people who told me that they had come because someone had told them what a great meal they had just had. And the music! Wellington also brought several students who played brass instuments and keyboard for our lunchtime entertainment. They were fantastic and the fun atmosphere prompted smiles, laughter, and applause. All of this served to pull me out of my own worries and recognize how much there is to be grateful for.

That evening there were several people at my home for a meeting. While we attended to business, there was also laughter and much genuine give and take about what was going on in our lives. Simply talking with others about concerns I had in my head suddenly made them seem much smaller and more manageable.

There is great power in simple encounters.

"Healthy 09!"

Those who are close to me know my most recent mantra, "Healthy 09!"

I have never been one for new year's resolutions, but I have been one to set goals for myself. As 2008 was coming to a close I was noticing the effects of physical neglect and I knew I wanted to do something to reverse what I saw as an unhealthy trend. My efforts to get more sleep, consume fewer calories, and get regular exercise did not kick in until the week of February 15. For the first several weeks it took real determination to get myself to the gym when there was a long to-do list for work or the prospect of another hour of sleep. I never thought I had the time, but my mantra, "Healthy 09!" would rise in my mind and (most of the time) I made the time.

Now, 9 weeks later, new habits have finally emerged. For the first time, I am experiencing a restlessness when something gets in the way of my workout. I am appreciating how much more energy I have and how much more I can get done in a day when I make the time to get my heart rate up for awhile, and when I have small but frequent boosts of protein and veggies.

This week I find myself also reflecting on how healthy living is so much more than diet and exercise. As my mother has tried to tell me from the time I was a young child, "moderation in everything!" Last Monday I was tempted to sit at my computer most of the day because there was much on my plate this week and I thought it would be a great idea to use my day off to get a jump start on the week. Instead, Dale and I slept until we woke up, went to the gym together, did some errands, succumbed to a nap in the afternoon (at least I did!), and enjoyed a quiet evening together. At the end of a very full week (as I am looking at a very full weekend), I continue to be grateful for the renewal that came on Monday.

It's taken awhile but I think I am finally taking to heart the lessons of my mother, and the prophet Ecclesiastes, "to everything there is a season and a time for everything under heaven."

Anticipation!

Tonight is Body & Soul, our annual fundraiser for The Largest Table. I woke up early and easily like a child often will when it is Christmas morning, or when he anticipates a full, fun day with his best friend! I know today will be full and fun.

This is the 6th year for Body & Soul. Every year the event has grown, and with growth always comes new challenges. One of the challenges was simply finding a large enough space! This year we are "coming home" to St. John's so that we can accommodate extra people and extra items for our silent auction. I have been amazed at the large number of people who have offered their gifts and expertise to make this a truly wonderful event. From donating or soliciting items, creating a catalogue, decorating, cooking, or simply offering wonderful helping hands, I think we have more people than ever involved in all of the behind the scenes work involved with any big event like this. Susan Olson, the chair of the event, has done an amazing job of pulling forth those gifts and inviting wide participation. I sense the reason so many people are so glad to help is that they care so much about The Largest Table. Watching it all happen reminds me of Feeding the 5000. If we bring and share what we have, there is not only enough - there is abundance!

Pictured here are Pam Yost and Susan Olson working on decorations yesterday. Pam has coordinated them - I have never seen Fellowship Hall look so elegant!

If you don't have your ticket yet ... no problem! Call our office today, or just show up at the door! Body & Soul will begin at 7:00 p.m. I can hardly wait!

What is important about worship?

One of my favorite hymns is Bring Many Names by Brian Wren. I like it because the lyrics challenge and broaden the images we have for God. "Strong Mother God" and "Warm Father God" are two of the names Wren uses to describe God.

Just as there is not one name for God, there is certainly not just one way to worship. At St. John's we have three distinct forms of worship and within those three different types of services there is also some variety. And that is just one congregation! Throughout the UCC, let alone other denominations, are many, many variations of worship services. I am always interested to hear what others find most inspiring and most important in a worship service.

This question is heightened in its signifiance for me this week as I have been asked speak on "Worship in the UCC" to a group of seminary students next week. I would love it if you would share your thoughts on what is most important to you about worship. Is it the music? If so, what does good worship music mean for you? Is it the sense of community, the sacraments, the prayers, or the preaching? Again, what about these things make worship feel as though you have really been in worship? And, why should we worship in the first place?

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with me!

Nana

Some wise person once said, “We are living in someone else’s dream.” I discovered the truth of this statement anew this past Thursday.

Thursday I went to visit someone in Dublin Riverside Methodist Hospital. It was the first time I had ever entered this relatively new hospital and as soon as I arrived I found myself thinking about Nana, my maternal grandmother. I remember my Nana as a vivacious, energetic, hard-working, creative, optimistic, and faith-filled woman. It wasn’t until more recently that I realized that Nana was a woman of great vision. She could see what other people could not. Back in the 1950’s, Nana had dreamt of Dublin Riverside Methodist Hospital.

Nana was the head Registered Nurse for a hospital in Chicago. She would go to work in her pressed and starched white uniform, white stockings, and cap, and she would work in a hospital that was sterile and austere; hygiene was a huge priority!

Intuitively, Nana appreciated the importance for a more holistic approach to healing. When she would come home at night, she would often journal about how hygiene alone doesn’t heal. Through her writing she would paint vivid images both of the sterile environment in which she worked and how she envisioned hospitals could be. She dreamt of natural light and elements of nature – plants and trees and running water within close sight so that patients could draw strength from nature, and from God’s creation. She dreamt of more human touch, and sounds that would soothe rather than irritate patients who were trying to muster their own internal strength to get well.

As I entered Dublin Riverside on Thursday I felt like I was entering a greenhouse, and I immediately thought of her. Pictured here are the living trees and wall of water that are found in the lobby, a flower in a vase that is outside every patient door, and a tree made of glass that is in one of the many atriums.

In the 1950s we didn’t get it; but we do now. Entering this hospital was a resurrection moment for me. It made me wonder what else God may be creating in our midst that I just can't see right now.

Good Friday

Jesus did not come to explain suffering nor to take it away; he came to fill it with his presence.

Paul Claudel

On this Good Friday, I am holding in prayer all those for whom suffering feels unbearable. I am holding those in prayer who can't sleep at night because their anxiety is so high, their loneliness too sharp, or their fear so gripping that peace seems impossible.

I am praying for those who feel so betrayed by life that they consider killing others in retaliation.
I am praying for those who are desperate enough to steal for food to eat, or money to purchase medicine.

I am praying for those who could not return to their home after the earthquake in Italy, and those in our community who have no place to call home and no secure place to rest their head at night.

I am praying for those whose own lives, or the lives of a family member, have been turned upside down with a sudden and difficult diagnosis.

Today - even as I seek forgiveness for the times I have been unable to stay present to the pain and suffering around me, I am saying a prayer of thanksgiving that in the darkest times, when all seems lost, God is still with us.

Thanks be to God.

Loving One Another

Today is Thursday of Holy Week, often called "Maundy Thursday." Maundy comes from the Latin word Mandatum meaning commandment and Christians remember Jesus' famous commandment to his disciples to "Love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12

This morning in my email box was a meditation by Richard Rohr who was reflecting on the gospel of John and how there is no Last Supper scene in John's gospel. Instead we have the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet.

Rohr writes, "Perhaps John realized that after seventy years the other Gospels had been read. He wanted to give a theology of the Eucharist that revealed the meaning behind the breaking of the bread. He made it into an active ritual of servanthood and solidarity... Peter symbolizes all of us as he protests, "You will never wash my feet!" (John 13:8). But Jesus answers, "If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me." That is strong! We all find it hard to receive undeserved love from another. For some reason it is very humiliating to the ego. We all want to think we have earned any love that we get by our worthiness or attractiveness. So Jesus has to insist on being the servant lover. Thank God, Peter surrenders, but it probably takes the rest of his life to understand."
(Drawn from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr, p. 143, day 154 Source: The Great Themes of Scripture).

We often get the "love others" part of this commandment, but it is often difficult to recognize that "loving one another" is a two-way street involving both giving and receiving. As I am thinking about this, the refrain to one of my favorite hymns comes to mind:

Won't you let me be your servant

Let me be as Christ to you

Pray that I may have the grace

To let you be my servant, too

Not a bad prayer for this Holy Week.

Gloria

I woke up this morning before my alarm clock went off to a nice breeze through the window, the sound of birds outside, and the opening measures of Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi in my head. It was a beautiful way to begin the day.

Last night we had the final rehearsal, with orchestra, for Vivaldi's Gloria which will be part of our worship service this Sunday, April 5th. There were a few times during the evening when I could close my eyes and listen to the orchestra playing, or the beautiful solos being sung. As I listened, I could actually feel stress leave my neck and shoulders and a peacefulness settle in. Hearing it all come together, I realized why the Gloria is so well-loved. It is beautiful, soul-stirring music!

Following the rehearsal, May, our Minister of Music, asked us to reflect on what singing in the choir meant to us. I heard people say that the choir was like an extended family, that the music helped them get through the week and helped them feel God's presence. Several of us commented on how May made such a difference by always being positive and bringing out the best in each of us. (She is one of the most positive and uplifting people I know!) And, like me, there were others who found that the music would often replace stress with peacefulness, and stay in their heads throughout the week.

On Sunday, the Gloria will provide the sermon-in-song. I am sure it will be a message that people remember!

#44

The number 44 has taken on great significance for me during the past eight years. The number refers to the page on which the hymn, "God Will Take Care of You" appears in the Elmhurst Hymnal, published in 1921 and used by our congregation for many years. I know this not because I research old hymnals, but because of my relationship with the Davies family.

"#44" is a code in the Davies' family. #44 appears on every greeting card that is sent to a loved one and #44 is a greeting that is shared when a loved one departs for the day, or for a trip, that will take him or her away for awhile. #44 is shorthand for the message of this hymn: remember that God is with you, loves you, and will take care of you.

This past Sunday, our east lobby was dedicated to the memory of Jack Davies. It was heartwarming for me to hear the testimony of several of our members who remember the gracious and exuberant welcome Jack offered to everyone who entered our doors when he served as our "doorkeeper" for many years. I heard about how just anticipating the love and warmth which which someone would be received helped them make it through the week.

Today Jack's son, Jim, serves St. John's in the formal role of "doorkeeper" and is beautifully carrying out his father's legacy. I have often thought that the name "doorkeeper" doesn't quite fit the openness and graciousness with which he greets all who enter our doors. Jim is fantastic! While Jim has a formal role at St. John's, he is just one of many people who now extend the extravagant hospitality that is regularly experienced at St. John's. On Sunday, when I heard about how people could remember a specific greeting from decades ago, I realized anew how very important hospitality and welcome are.

There are many ways we can communicate welcome, love and care. One way is through special code.

#44