Fr. Matthew Fox's Earth Day Sermon

Fr. Matthew Fox has long been a favorite theologian of mine (which doesn't mean I agree with everything he says). One of the things I appreciate about him is the spiritual component to what he says and teaches. If our goal in life is to continuing opening up to the Divine Presence around and within us, to continue deepening in compassion and justice-making/living, then the head and the heart and the gut all need to work together. Science and the spiritual life are not far apart - they can be very supporting of one another. Which is another piece of what I like about what Fox stresses. When I came across this video of his sermon given on the weekend of Earth Day, 2017, I thought it would be wonderful to share it with you.
Enjoy.
Blessed be,
Joel

(Fr. Matthew Fox's web-site is here: matthewfox.org)


Earth Day 2017, Matthew Fox Sermon 4/23/17 from Trinity Cathedral on Vimeo.

A Vist with Bill Garden for May Day, 2017

Happy May Day. On this First of May I thought it would be fun to "visit" Bill Garden's Toad Landing. The following video came to my attention recently, and I thought it fitting to share with you all at this time, when we are starting to clean-up boats, and/or put them afloat, and long for the sunny weather to celebrate being alive on the water.

Blessed be,
Joel

By the way, I believe that Mr. Garden is 87 in this video, which is "an excerpt from Throwbacks to a Golden Age of Northwest Boats, this tribute to the late, great naval architect was produced by videographer John Sabella in 2004."

Monday After Earth Day - 2017

Today, being the Monday after Earth Day weekend, I thought the following video and news article might be of interest. Both of these are dealing with us, and with space. But first, perhaps I should answer and obvious (to me, any rate) why? We, you and I, are created things. And the Saints have often referred to the Earth as God's 1st Book. Doesn't it make sense to care and honor such a thing?

The first video was created from photos of the Earth from space. When the Voyager was launched, Carl Sagon worked on the development of it, and he begged the NASA administration to have the Voyager turn the cameras onto Earth as it was leaving our Solar System. The administration relented and gave us the "Pale Blue Dot" photo.




This next link is a Washington Post Article about Space Junk, in particular the stuff floating around the Earth (dead satellites, etc.). It is a review of a new 12:34 minute documentary from the European Space Agency.

May we learn wisdom and perspective in dealing with one another, and the cosmos with which we are intimately connected.

Blessed be,
Joel

Happy Easter - 2017

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed! 

A number of years ago, I developed a Lesson and Hymn service that would parallel a Christmas Eve service of Lessons and Carols. For the Easter service, I have organized the readings from the earliest to the latest - as far as scholarship agrees (if such a thing is possible).

Enjoy. May the wonders of Easter Resurrection bless you this day, and always. 

Joel

An Easter Service of Readings and Hymns

Invitation to Worship

L: Alleluia! Praise be to God! Christ has risen indeed.

P: We bring our joyful alleluias to this place today!

L: The tomb is empty, and new life hovers in this dawn.

P: We praise God for the mystery and the excitement of new life present in this day!

Hymn                    “Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise” #312

Opening Prayer: 

This is the day, Lord God, that you have made! Raising Christ from the dead, and raising us with Christ, you have fashioned for yourself a new people, washed in the flood of baptism, sealed with the gift of the Spirit, invited to the banquet of the Lamb! In the beauty of this Easter morning, set our minds on the new life to which you have called us; place on our lips the words of witness for which you have anointed us. We ask this through our risen Savior, Christ the Lord. Amen.

EASTER ACCOUNTS – “ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK…”

(Note that these accounts are arranged in probable chronological order.)

The First Account: ~70 CE

Words at the Tomb........................................................................................... Mark 16:1-8a

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

HYMN: Christ is Alive (v. 1-3)...................................................................................................................... #318

The First Account, Amended

Continuation ............................................................................................... Mark 16:8b-20

And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation

Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were still mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after had had been risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of god. Andy they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

HYMN: Christ is Alive (vs 4-5)...................................................................................................................... #318

Another Account: ~80-95 CE

Words at the Tomb...................................................................................... Matthew 28:1-10

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go Quickly and tell his disciples, ‘for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him,” This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

HYMN: Easter People, Raise Your Voices.............................................................................................................. #304

Another Account: ~85 CE

At the Tomb................................................................................................... Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came tot eh tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third ay rise again.” They the remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother o James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

HYMN: Christ the Lord is Risen Today (vs.  1-2)..................................................................................................................... # 302

Two More Accounts: ~ 85 CE

Walking on the Road.......................................................................................... Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded u. They were in the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which thy were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how the had been made known to them in the braking of the bread.”

HYMN: On the Day of Resurrection............................................................................................................... #309

Yet Another Account: ~85 CE

While they were talking................................................................................ Luke 24: 36-53

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

HYMN: Christ the Lord is Risen Today (vs.  3-4)..................................................................................................................... # 302

Another Account: ~80-90 CE

In the Garden  .................................................................................................... John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have take the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together; but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings laying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings laying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not laying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

            But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” she turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

HYMN: In the Garden (v. 1) ..................................................................................... # 314

Another Account: ~80-90 CE

Evening of the First Day ................................................................................. John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

HYMN: Christ the Lord is Risen Today (vs. 3-4) .................................................... # 302

Silent Reflection (or Your Account 2012) 

HYMN: He Lives .............................................................................................................. # 310

Benediction:

Hear the Good News – The tomb is empty – Christ has been Raised from the dead. Alleluia, Alleluia.

Go in Peace and Celebration to share the Good News that has happened to us this day!

Go in Peace and with the Spirit as you Love and Serve the Risen Lord.

Amen.

Good Friday: Tenebrae Service, Holy Week - 2017

This service of Tenebrae is usually done as darkness falls (in the evening) or after it is dark. Candles are lit, and then extinguished as each reading is read. You will need seven candles. People depart in the dark - and by tradition, there is no benediction until the Easter morning service.
May you continue to be blessed by God's movement in your lives over these Holy Days.

Joel

CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER 

      (I have often started with a Lord's Supper communion service for those interested prior to the service starting.)

PRELUDE

CALL TO WORSHIP/INVOCATION

O God, by the example of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you taught us the greatness of true humility, and call us to watch with him in his passion. Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his suffering; in his name and for his suffering; in his name and for his sake. Amen.

                                                                        W. E. Orchard, England, 20^th Cent. Alt.

HYMN: O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done.................................................................... # 287

TENEBRAE – THE SERVICE OF SHADOWS

Introduction

The Darkness of Misunderstanding

Words in the Temple....................................................................................... Mark 11:15-18

Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written,

‘My house shall be called a house of prayer

for all the nations’?

But you have made it a den of robbers.”

And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

HYMN: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (vs 1, 2 & 4)........................................ #626

The Darkness of Betrayal

Words in the Upper Room........................................................................ Matthew 26:20-28

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that one not to have been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

CHOIR: Adoramus Te Christe

The Darkness of Temptation

Words in the Garden............................................................................... Matthew 26:36-46

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little further, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trail; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See my betrayer is at hand.”

HYMN: Go to Dark Gethsemane (vs 1 & 2)......................................................... #290

The Darkness of Injustice

Words of the Trail...................................................................................... Mark 14:55-64

Now the Chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am; and

‘you will see the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of the Power,’

and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death.

HYMN: Ah, Holy Jesus (vs 1 & 2)........................................................................... # 289

The Darkness of Denial

Words of the Courtyard................................................................................ Mark 14:66-72

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she started at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”  But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for  you are a Galilean.” But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

HYMN: What Wondrous Love Is This (vs 1, 2 & 3)........................................... #292

The Darkness of Rejection

Words Before Pilate.................................................................................. Luke 23:13-24

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”

Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Baraabas for us!” (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted.

CHOIR: WHEN JESUS WEPT

The Darkness of Crucifixion

Words on the Cross.................................................................................... Luke 23:33-46

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “he saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned to justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.

CHOIR & CONGREGATION: Were You There................................................... #288

A Reflection on Violence for Good Friday

This morning I'm giving you a link to a post by Bishop Robert (Bob) Hoshibata's Good Friday post: Lent 2017: A Path to a Violent Death. I found his post pertainate, especially in light of what the news brings to us on a regular basis.

A Service of Tenebrae will be posted at noon.

Joel

Maundy Thursday, Holy Week - 2017

Tonight celebrates the Passover Meal at which Jesus also "initiates" the Lord's Supper / Communion / Eucharist (according to Matthew, Mark and Luke) and at which Jesus washes his disciples' feet (according to John). Below is a service that comes from the United Methodist Book of Worship. May it be a moving event for you.

For a reflection upon Holy Week in general, and Maundy Thursday in particular, here is a past post in which my reflection includes the scriptures and some historical context from Saving Paradise (Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker. Beacon Press. 2008).

Blessing on this Maundy Thursday.
Joel

       (Hymn numbers refer to the United Methodist Hymnal)

A Maundy Thursday Service

Greeting:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

And also with you.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Christ has prepared a Feast of Love.

Hymn What Wondrous Love Is This ....................................... #292

Opening Prayer

O God; by the example of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you taught us the greatness of true humility, and call us to watch with him in his passion. Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his suffering; in his name and for his suffering; in his name and for his sake. Amen.

(W.E. Ochard, England, 20^th Cent. Alt)

Confession and Pardon

My sisters and brothers, Christ shows us his love by becoming a humble servant. Let us draw near to God and confess our sin in the truth of God’s Spirit.

Most merciful God, we your Church confess that often our spirit has not been that of Christ. Where we have failed to love one another as he loves us, where we have pledged loyalty to him with our lips and then betrayed, deserted, or denied him, forgive us, we pray; and by our Spirit make us faithful in every time of trail; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ. But Christ suffered and died for us, was raised form the dad and ascended into heaven for us, and continues to interceded for us. Believe the good news: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven!

Glory to God. Amen.

Scripture Lessons:

Exodus 12:1-14 ; Psalm 116 ; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ; John 13:1-17; 31b-35

Prayers and the Lord’s Prayer / Our Father

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins

As we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trail,

And deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours.

Now and for ever. Amen.

Communion / Eucharist / Love Feast

(Now is the time to celebrate the Eucharist. If you don’t have a clergy person present, one could celebrate a Love Feast instead.)

Hymn  Jesu, Jesu  .......................................................   # 432

Footwashing

(The first person comes forward and washes the feet of the next person, who turns and washes the feet of the next person, the last person will wash the feet of the first.)

Stripping the Church (or alter area on your boat, if you so desire)

Benediction

Go in peace. May Jesus Christ, who for our sake became obedient unto death, even death on a cross, keep you and strengthen you this night and for ever. Amen.

Depart in Silence

Holy Week - Christ as Savior ... of How Much?

This Lent we have been looking at the relationships between the Three (the Trinity). Today's post reflects a bit more on one of the Three: Christ. This being Holy Week, I thought it appropriate to then look at Jesus the Christ (Christ being a title, remember) and the issue of Salvation. Personally, I become a little nervous when the theological conversation moves to personal salvation. I'm not so much uncomfortable discussing my own salvation: that I understand. I'm quite aware of the places I still need to grown and allow God's grace to help shape me. Frankly, I often find that what I really need "saving" from is myself, and these types of discussions don't help me reduce my own "ego." Maybe its is because of the environments I have lived in for many years (seeing the stars at night, for instance) that I'm reminded of how small I really am. It is the nature of what is left out of the "salvation" discussions that I find difficult, namely all of creation. Yet, Paul especially, constantly writes about how nature is groaning in birth pains at this sense of salvation, in essence, the entire world/cosmos benefits.

 Richard Rohr's post from last week struck me, as I found he deals with this quite elegantly. So, I've decided to share his post with you.

May it give us somethings to reflect upon as we contemplate and celebrate Holy Week to Easter.

Blessed be,

Joel

[By the way, I just discovered that CAC's Daily Meditations are Archived Here.]

From Richard Rohr: Universal Salvation: April 7, 2017

A universal notion of Christ takes mysticism beyond the mere individual and private level that has been seen as mysticism’s weakness. If authentic God experience overcomes the primary false split between yourself and the divine, then it should also overcome the equally false split between yourself and the rest of creation.
For some of us, the first split is overcome personally in an experience of Jesus, but for many others (maybe even most!), union with the divine is first experienced through the Christ: in nature, in moments of pure love, silence, inner or outer music, with animals, awe before beauty, or some kind of “Brother Sun and Sister Moon” experience. Why? Because creation itself is the first incarnation of Christ, the primary and foundational “Bible” that reveals the path to God. The first incarnation of the Christ Mystery started about 13.8 billion years ago at “The Big Bang.” So some start with Jesus, but many who began with the Christ Mystery did not have that experience validated by the Church. They looked secular, humanistic, or like mere “nature mystics.” But God uses and honors all starting points!
Pre-Christian and pre-Jewish people already had access to God. This is the ecclesia ab Abel (“the church that existed since Abel”) that has been spoken of so often by the early church Fathers and in the documents of Vatican II. From the first righteous victim (Genesis 4:10; Matthew 23:35) until now, all suffering cries out to God and elicits divine compassion and community. This is a momentous and universal truth. We are indeed “saved” inside the Christ Mystery since the beginning of consciousness. Only in eventual time did this community take the form of “church.”
So we are called to love both Jesus and Christ. You can begin with either Jesus or Christ, but eventually it is easiest to love both. Too many Christians have started and stopped with Jesus, never knowing the universal Christ. Many non-Christians have started with loving the Christ by another name. I have met Hindus, Muslims, and Jews who live in this hidden mystery of oneness; and I have met many Roman Catholics and Protestants who are running away from the Christ Mystery, as either practical materialists or pious spiritualists.
Tertullian (160–225), who is called “the father of Western theology,” rightly taught that “the flesh is the hinge of salvation” (Caro salutis est cardo). [1] The incarnation of flesh and Spirit is Christianity’s most important contribution to spirituality, and this is the meaning of “The Christ,” although you do not need to name it as such.
Now “the world, life and death, the present and the future are all your servants, for you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God” (1 Corinthians 3:22-23). Full salvation is finally universal belonging and universal connecting. Our Christian word for that is “heaven.” This is why Jesus can say to a man dying in time, “This day you are with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). The Christ is now, here, everywhere, and always.
Gateway to Silence:
In Christ, with Christ, through Christ
References:
[1] Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis (Treatise on the Resurrection), 8, 2.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Franciscan Media: 2014), 223-226.

Trinity as Relationship

This morning I'm with one of my kids experiencing a college campus. It is hard to believe I've gotten to this point in parenting, but there we are. What strikes me walking around this morning are the relationships. Of course we humans are relational creatures. I have even read social scientists who posit that the reason we look back at our "college" days with such fondness, is because that is the way we are supposed to live. That we humans are supposed to live in connection with one another (and the cosmos, and the divine!). It is often in college that we "find" our life work, or passion. There is a sense of excited beginnings.
Isn't that what the Trinity is about, too? The excited relationships between the Three call us into relationship, too. These Three aren't done with the creating yet either. I'll leave you with these quotes:
John 3:17; John 5:17; and John 14:26
"God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
"My Father goes on working, and so do I."
"The Holy Spirit ... will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

Blessed be,
Joel

Welcome Home

[Sorry I didn't post something yesterday. I just realized that today is Thursday. It has been a week of fullness. Hopefully this finds your week blessed, too.]

I've been pondering how easy it is to become disconnected from nature when we humans now are considered urban creatures. (I believe it has been in the last ten years that somewhere a few more humans in the world wandered into a city to live that pushed us, as a species, over the border, as it were, from a rural to an urban population.) When we don't experience any wildness, how does that effect our understanding of ourselves, our place in the universe, who God is, our relation to the natural world ... ?

And yet, we long for wildness, in some carefully crafted safe way, because we add parks to our cities. There is a deep seated longing for the wild.

If we are disconnected from nature (or at least are unaware of our connection) how does that impact our countries' policies toward preserving natural "resources" (a biased word?); our companies' policies of extraction; our citizens' choices regarding climate change; or our religions' beliefs about salvation?

"In God we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) implies that the entire cosmos somehow exists within God. Ephesians puts this a little differently: "There is one God and Creator of all, who is over all, who works through all, and is within all" (Ephesians 4:6).

What if we took this seriously in a deep trinitarian way: celebrating the relationships (or the "web of being") that connect us all?

The crazy thing is that such an idea is in no way new within Christianity. Listen to how Richard Rohr speaks about Bonaventure  (1221 - 1274):

Bonaventure took Francis of Assisi’s lay intuitive genius and spelled it out in an entire philosophy and theology. He wrote: “The magnitude of things . . . clearly manifests . . . the wisdom and goodness of the triune God, who by power, presence and essence exists uncircumscribed in all things.” [1] God is “within all things but not enclosed; outside all things, but not excluded; above all things, but not aloof; below all things, but not debased.” [2] Bonaventure spoke of God as one “whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.” [3] Therefore the origin, magnitude, multitude, beauty, fullness, activity, and order of all created things are the very “footprints” and “fingerprints” (vestigia) of God. Now that is quite a lovely and very safe universe to live in. Welcome home!

Are you ready to celebrate being home? 

Blessed be,
Joel

_____________
Quote is from Rohr's Daily Meditations for 30 March 2017.

[1] Bonaventure, Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey to God, I, 14, trans. Ewert Cousins (Paulist Press: 1978), 65.
[2] Ibid., 5, 8, 100-101.
[3] Ibid., 5, 8, 100.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, “The Great Chain of Being,” Radical Grace, Vol 20 No 2 (CAC: 2007).

Joining the Creative Dance of the Universe

Over this last week I've been reflecting upon Cynthia Bourgeault's notion of the Law of Three  (or the ternary workings of the universe). In particular I've been pondering those times in my life where I have felt the most alive and "connected" to that Great Source of Being.

It turns out that at least two things have been present (and I'm looking for a third): a sense of creativity, and a sense of play. The more I sit in reflection about this, the more I'm becoming convinced that the/a third element is the physical body connection. For the Hebrew Bible/Old Treatment Tradition, the body was a good thing; this wasn't the case for the Platonic Ideals (in which all bodies fell short of the Ideal Body).

What has continued to sit with me are some of the following images: "A ternary system [being] asymmetrical and innovative ... corkscrews its way through time, matter, form—whatever plane is at hand—in a riot of uncertainty and new combinations, the whole of which is the fullness of divine reality";* "For the late theologian Beatrice Bruteau (1930-2014), the Trinity is first and foremost an image of relational unity. The three “God-persons in community,” as she sees it, comprise the prototype and the prerequisite for the expression of agape love—the energy of the Godhead itself. Bruteau builds a detailed case for why threefoldness is the necessary condition for agape love. She goes on to demonstrate why threefoldness is by nature “ecstatic” or, in other words, self-giving and generative. By its very threefoldness, it “breaks symmetry” (a term borrowed from quantum mechanics) and projects the agape love outward, calling new forms of being into existence, each of which bears the imprint of the original symbiotic unity that created it. “It is the presence of the Trinity as a pattern repeated at every scale of the cosmic order,” she believes, “that makes the universe a manifestation of God and itself sacred and holy.”** and "Understood within the context of a universe in motion, and with the Law of Three as its template, the Trinity becomes a dynamic mandala of God’s ongoing creativity in an evolving universe. It becomes, in fact, the evolutionary principle. The Trinity as a symbol of relationship invites us to trust the relationality of nature itself and to reconsider what we understand about the very nature of love. It is no longer a pre-existent “property” of God, but an emergent property of the whole of creation, joined in that divine dance."***

Where and when do you going yourself fully "connected"?

Blessed be,
Joel

____________

*Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of the Trinity, disc 2 (CAC: 2004), CD, DVD, MP3 download; and
The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three (Shambhala Publications, Inc.: 2013), 6, 64-65, 81. (See Richard Rohr's Mediation for 3/15/2017).
**Beatrice Bruteau, God’s Ecstasy: The Creation of a Self-Creating World (New York: Crossroad, 1997), 14. (See Richard Rohr's Mediation for 3/14/2017).
***Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, “Trinity: The Evolutionary Principle of Unfolding Creativity,” The Mendicant, Vol. 7 No. 1 (CAC: 2017), 1, 5. (See Richard Rohr's Mediation for 3/14/2017).

Reality in Nature

     Over this past weekend my daughters celebrated a friend's birthday. Their friend had just put together a Virtual Reality (VR) system. They were amazed at what it could do, and how their bodies were "tricked" by what they saw. As a for instance: one of my daughters enjoyed playing fetch with a virtual dog. However, when she went to walk outside the other side of the house, she noticed she was standing on a porch. Below the porch there was blackness. Did that mean shadow? Did that mean a drop off a cliff? She knew she was in her friend's room, but she couldn't force herself to step off the porch.
     All in all, my daughters were amazed, but also left pondering the uses/misuses of VR. I think they have read too many sci-fi books (i.e. Ender's Game) and may have listened to their Dad's thinking. The friend's Dad jokingly made the comment, "I hope this doesn't mean my child stops going skiing with me because s/he is now Olympic quality on VR!"
     Which brings me to the questions of this post: what is the nature of reality? How do we stay engaged in that Reality? How do our thoughts of reality make a difference in what we see?
     If you haven't been reading Richard Rohr's Meditations over the last few weeks, I think your missing out on some good content. This week Cynthia Bourgeault has been a guest writer continuing to reflect upon the Trinity as a source of Reality. What has particularly caught my attention is Bourgeault's statement that the Trinity is inviting us out of a binary world view and into a creative, invigorating and innovative ternary. "Ternary systems have three independent forces coming together to form something new, a fourth thing."
     Imagine the potentials here? What would it mean if we'd been tricking ourselves all along (like a good VR game) about the binary nature of reality. What if Realty was really ternary?
     Enjoy your ponderings.

Blessed be,
Joel

Micro and Macro Ponderings

I've started reading Richard Rohr's new book on the Trinity (Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016).

Did your eyes glaze over? Sorry, that wasn't the response I was hoping for. I don't mean to engage you in a long theological argument, but rather draw your attention into both the microscopic and macroscopic worlds (and everything in between).

The Trinity has to deal with these worlds because the one reflects the other. The Trinity is ultimately about relationship: the three persons are in interaction with one another; they outpour love one to another; they depend upon the others to fill them back up again, only so they can outpour once more;  they are diverse, yet cherish that very diversity; ... On a microscopic level isn't this what happens within atoms and between molecules? What about on the macroscopic level? Aren't we discovering that universe operates in relation with other universes?

It definitely happens on the human level: we are retational beings.

But what does this say about the church; about how we are to relate to the world?

So this week in Lent I marvel and ponder the implications, all the while relating. May it be so with you also.

Blessed be,
Joel

Ash Wednesday Reflection - 2017

A blessed Ash Wednesday to each of you.

While I was in Tokyo with the Blaine Wind Ensemble, we visited the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (as I mentioned in my last post). One of the interesting exhibits was on global issues facing future generations (including ours?). The exhibit focused upon the choices we have and how they effect the future. What I thought was interesting was the time spent distinguishing between "forecasting" and "backcasting". "Forecasting" gets the most press in the United States. To forecast, we extrapolate current conditions adding/multiplying (depending upon the case) a rate of change allowing us to predict (often quite accurately) what will happen. Backcasting moves in the other direction. What kind of future do we want? What type of future is beneficial? Backcasting then asks, "how do we get there?" Backcasting is goal oriented.

What does this have to do with Lent? Rather than just giving something up for Lent, why not practice backcasting?

These are but an example of the type of questions backcasting asks. What would it mean if our investments aligned with our values/kin(g)dom of God? What does a healthy mind, body and spirit look like, and what steps to I need to put into place to get there? If I truly want to lower my carbon footprint, can I continue to sail in this really light wind (challenging myself in the process)? Do I need to drive, couldn't I walk or bike instead?

So rather than give something up for Lent, I'm going to try using backcasting as a spiritual discipline. Who knows, maybe by the time we reach Easter the process will become a spiritual habit.

Blessed Be,

Joel

Below is my Ash Wednesday Service for those of you apart from a church community this Ash Wednesday.

GREETING:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
God’s mercy endures forever.

OPENING PRAYER   (from the United Methodist Hymnal #353)
O God,
maker of every thing and judge of all that you have made,
from the dust of the earth you have formed us
and from the dust of death you would raise us up.
By the redemptive power of the cross,
create in us clean hearts
and put within us a new spirit,
that we may repent of our sins
and lead lives worthy of your calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCRIPTURE:
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51 (#785 in the UMC Hymnal)
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

INVITATION TO THE OBSERVANCE OF LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
the early Christians observed with great devotion
the day of our Lord's passion and resurrection,
and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration
there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.
During this season converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.
It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins
and had separated themselves from the community of faith
  were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness,
and restored to participation in the life of the Church.
In this way the whole congregation was reminded
of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ
  and the need we all have to renew our faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church,
to observe a holy Lent:
by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;
and by reading and meditation on God's Holy  Word.
To make a right beginning of repentance,
and as a mark of our mortal nature,
let us now kneel (or bow) before our Creator and Redeemer.

(a brief silence is kept)

THANKSGIVING OVER THE ASHES
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth.
Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence,
so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift
  are we given everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

IMPOSITIONS OF THE ASHES
(as people come forward, a leader dips a thumb in the ashes and makes
a cross on the forehead of each person saying:
  Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

DISMISSAL WITH A BLESSING

Reflections on Technology and Art

Having returned to the United States a week ago, I still find myself reflecting upon my experience in Japan. But this reflection isn't so much about the Japanese experience as it is about what makes us human, and how we use technology.

We visited the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, the home of ASIMO. This was a neat interactive museum-science center. There is a display demonstrating how photography has changed to try and capture what the human eye can see. As an example, the human eye naturally picks up ridges (i.e. mountain ranges) that get lost in a 2D photograph. So the display shows how "programs" have now been written into cameras to try and high-light these. (See the following photos).

Then there were entire sections on androids (like the photo here). The builtin board even asks the question: what does it mean to be human? In this case, the question is posed in terms of how to imitate human behavior and actions (the way humans blink, gesture, move).

But I found myself asking, why androids? And if we have androids do we treat them as humans? Do we expect androids to be our servants, as a way of continuing to have slaves? Do we send androids into areas that are unsafe for humans (cleaning up nuclear waste/accidents, mines, etc)? If so, doesn't this avoid the questions about why we are engaged in these activities?

What does it mean to be human? How is a  society created that values the human (and all) beings? Isn't part of bring human creating things - especially art, beauty?

Take the following man-hole covers, for instance: aren't these more attractive than what we find in the United States? Don't they celebrate craftsmanship, human endeavor and beauty? Don't they somehow point to what it means to be human?

(More reflections next week.)

Blessed be,
Joel

Out of the Country for a bit

Sorry for not posting on Monday, I'm leaving tomorrow for Japan and I've been a little pre-occupied. Our kids are in the HS Wind Ensemble (honor band). The Wind Ensemble has been invited to play at The Festival of a Thousand People, in Funabashi. Impressive. And to think, I get to go as one of the chaperones. More when I return.  ...

Blessed be,
Joel

First They Came After ...

This Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) quote has been running through my head after the events of this weekend. Not really sure what else to add, save it has always been biblical to not only welcome but also to look after the sojourner, the widow and orphan, in fact the poor and vulnerable. So I continue to reflect upon the following quote, and to think about how we treated the Japanese-Americans in our midst during WWII (which was a particular issue on the West Coast). Then to my surprise and delight, we find Fred Korematsu as the google doodle today.

As we live in interesting times, may we all keep looking, speaking and acting with grace toward one another.

Blessed be,

Joel

Here's the quote:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Where Do We Look For the Kin(g)dom of God

This illustration is one my friend and college Roger uses. Each circle (as can be seen) refers to a specific part of the human experience: there is the Economic Realm, the Environmental Realm and the Community Realm. Each of these Realms overlaps the others to a lesser or greater extent. How much they overlap, how much they "should" overlap, and/or are any of these Realms actually outside the influence of the others (i.e. independent of the others) are questions worth pondering. 

I want to draw your attention to the center section, on which all three circles/Realms overlap. In my friend Roger's model this has the potential to be the Kin(g)dom of God. In essence, the Kin(g)dom of God influences Economic, Environmental, and Community. Just because we notice overlap, however, doesn't imply that the Kin(g)dom of God is there. So it is imperative that we ask what the King(d)om of God looks like. Are some of the following characteristics: justice, compassion, loving, caring, equality, not crucifying others? What else would you add? In no way do I see what I've mentioned as the only characteristics. 

How then do we live in a world that actively crucifying others? 'Not my country!,' I can hear you say. Really?  (To use one Realm as an example) Economic prosperity is often built on the backs of others. Some religious groups have felt that there is no way to live so closely with empire and so love apart (the Amish are one example among many). Most of us however strive to live as a part but separate, bringing the Kin(g)dom into the empire (or to put it another way, attempting to transform the empire into the Kin(g)dom) like yeast hidden in bread. But it is tough. (Tough to do, the "bread" is incredible!)

So this week's reflection isn't to give any answers, but to get you pondering how you are living your life. How are you bringing the Kin(g)dom into fruition? Where are you finding the Kin(g)dom hiding? 

Blessed be,
Joel

An Errant Circumnavigation - Russell Heath

Here is a fun video to start the new year with.

Enjoy and Blessed be,

Joel