Earth Day

I’ve found that today has been a rather busy day. But I’ve found time, nonetheless, to savior moments and rejoice in being alive. Watching the sun rise. The wind blowing surf upon the beach. Budding and flowering trees. A storm cloud rolling in and seeing the streaks of rain underneath. Mt. Baker in the evening lights glory.

I hope your Earth Day was well.

As many of us extend Earth Day into a week, here are some things I found myself reflecting upon today, as well as a poem celebrating the gift of Life – the gift of Wisdom – the gift of the Spirit.

Enjoy.

Joel

+ The new creation story speaks of a Super Nova who died in an explosion and gave birth – its Resurrection Power birthed all the elements with in us and the world.

+ We breath the Divine breath.

+ Is the art of savoring lost/buried under consumerism?

+  Revelation comes in two volumes: scripture and nature.
- St. Thomas Aquinas

+ God is the Mind of the Universe – the Self-Organizing Principle
- Eric Jantsch The Self-Organizing Universe

+ Doxa = Glory or Radiance.
+ Everything has it’s own radiance. – Hildegard of Bingen

And the Poem:

And the gift was with God and the gift was God.
And the gift came and set its tent among us,
first in the form of a fireball
that burned unabated for 750,000 years
and cooked in its immensely hot oven
hadrons and leptons.
These gifts found a modicum of stability,
enough to give birth to the first atomic creatures,
hydrogen and helium.
A billion years of stewing and stirring
and the gifts of hydrogen and helium
birthed galaxies – spinning, whirling, alive galaxies
created trillions of stars,
lights in the heavens and cosmic furnaces
that made more gifts
through violent explosions of vast supernovas
burning abright with the glow
of more than a billion stars.
Gifts upon gifts, gifts birthing gifts, gifts exploding,
gifts imploding, gifts of lights, gifts of darkness.
Cosmic gifts and subatomic gifts.
All drifting and swirling, being born and dying,
in some vast secret of a plan.
Which was also a gift.
One of these supernova gifts exploded in a special manner
sending a unique gift to the universe,
which later-coming creatures would one day call
earth,
their home.
Its biosphere was also a gift,
wrapping it with beauty and dignity and just the right
protection from sun’s radiation
and from the cosmic cold.
And eternal night.
This gift planet was set as a jewel
in its most exquisite setting,
in this case the exact distance of 100 million miles
from its mother star, the sun.
New gifts arose, never seen in such forms in the universe –
rocks, oceans, continents,
multicellular creatures that moved by their own inner power.
Life was born!
Gifts that had taken the form of fireball and helium,
galaxies and stars, rocks and water, now took the form of Life!
Life – a new gift of the universe, a new gift in the universe.
Flowers of multiple color and sent, trees standing upright.
Forests arose offering places for all manner
of creeping, crawling things.
Of things that fly and sing.
Of things that swim and slither.
Of things that run on four legs.
And, eventually, of things that stand and walk on two.
With thumbs that move to make still more creativity –
more gift making –
possible.
The human became a gift, but also a menace.
For its powers of creativity were unique in their potential
for destruction or healing.
How would humans use these gifts?
Which direction would they choose?
The earth waited for an answer to these questions.
And it still waiting.
Trembling.
Teachers were sent, divine incarnations
birthed from the soil.
Isis and Hesiod, Buddha and Lao Tzu, Moses and Isaiah,
Sara and Esther, Jesus* and Paul,
Mary and Hildegard, Chief Seattle and Buffalo Woman.
To teach the humans ways of compassion.
And still the earth waited
to see if humanity was gift or curse.
Trembling.
Have you ever given a gift and then regretted it afterward?
Earth wonders and waits.
For the gift has been made flesh
and dwells everywhere among us
and we tend to know it not.
And to treat it not as a gift but s an object.
To be used, abused, trampled underfoot – even crucified.
But to those who do receive it as a gift
all is promised.
All shall be called children of the gift,
sons and daughters of grace.
- Matthew Fox Creation Spirituality. 1-4

*Fox writes "This attempt to place Jesus in the context of world religions does not diminish his unique role in Christianity."

Happy Easter

I hope you have had a good Easter and a chance to worship with a shore side community. If not, I'm posting an Easter service for you to use. Some things I've been thinking about this year:

+ In many ways the Easter morning readings ("At dawn ...") are the women's gospel - in particular, each one includes Mary Magdalene as a key player.

+ The gospel writers are not talking about Resuscitation (the story of Lazarus in John's Gospel is an account of reviving the dead) but a Resurrection. How are we called to live as Resurrection people? Do Resurrection Communities call forth new ways of living prophetically - changing even our society? While I appreciate Kin-dom's gender-neutral language, Kingdom does carry a political implication.

Blessings on this day of Resurrection!

Joel

Vesper Easter Service (Hymns are from the United Methodist Hymnal & If you participated in the Tenebrae service of extinguishing lights, you are always welcome to light a candle after each reading - reversing the process)

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.

PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE

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

1st Account: ~70 AD Mark 16:1-8a

Hymn: “Christ Is Alive” #318 v. 1-3

1st Account - Amended: ~70 AD Mark 16:8b-20

Hymn: “Christ Is Alive” #318 v.4-5

Another Account: ~80-95 AD Matthew 28:1-10

Hymn: “Easter People, Raise Your Voices” #304

Another Account: ~85 AD Luke 24:1-12

Hymn: “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” #302 v.1-2

Yet Another Two Accounts: ~85 AD Luke 24:13-35

Hymn: “On the Day of Resurrection” #309

Yet Another Account: ~85 AD Luke 24: 36-53

Hymn: “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” #302 v. 3-4

Another Account: ~80-90 AD John 20:1-18

Hymn: “In the Garden” #314 v.1

Yet Another Account: ~80-90 AD John 20:19-25

Hymn: “Christ Is Risen” #307

Silent Reflection (or Your Account ~2007 AD)

Good Friday - Tenebrae Service

Having just finished our Good Friday Service of Tenebrae at the marina, I thought I would share the template I have used for those of you traveling, and finding yourselves away from a community with which to worship. A few words about the service. There are seven candles lit, and after each reading - during the hymn - a candle is extinguished. The service then concludes in darkness. You might also notice that there is not a benediction - rather everyone leaves in silence. This comes from the history of the liturgical events surrounding Easter, in which there is no benediction until an Easter service. The separate services are seen as continuous with what we might call long pauses.

Blessed Good Friday to each of you.

Joel

PS - the hymn numbers correspond to the United Methodist Hymnal

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, 20th 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.”

HYMN: Eat This Bread #628The 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.

HYMN: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross #298
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.

HYMN: Were You There #288

Palm & Passion Reflections

Palm/Passion Sunday always gets me thinking about the events leading directly up to Holy Week, especially Good Friday through Easter. The reading of the Passion leaves us wondering, just like the disciples, how this will all turn out. We, too, find ourselves waiting and watching. Even though I know the end of the story, I find myself waiting, each and every year.

This year, I'm also finding myself reflecting once more upon violence and brutality. This past weeks news events have high lighted that for me. In particular they remind me of the spiral of violence. When a violent act is responded to with another violent act which is in turn responded to in violence, the spiral continues. Not even a month ago I was listening to commentary regarding the Israel-Palestinian situation. The commentator was saying that due to the recent violence, yet another generation of Israelis and Palestinians are growing up exposed to violence and seeking revenge. The spiral continues. How to stop the spiral of violence?

What struck me this year, was how Jesus chose - Jesus responded - with no-violent resistance. Just as his entire ministry was based upon non-violent resistance, Jesus remains non-violently prophetic to the end (and looking from the Easter perspective, the beginning). Jesus seeks to break the spiral of violence. Even if it means that the spiral of violence breaks upon him.

This year, I am left waiting, and pondering, what it means for me to live peacefully, and respond to life's events in ways that help to end the spiral of violence. How is our wounded God calling us forth into new ways of peace and justice and compassion?

April Fools and Hope

Perhaps it is for our own good that we have developed April Fools’ Day in the midst of our Lenten Disciplines. It reminds us to not take ourselves all that seriously. Throughout the Middle Ages, today marked the day when the world was turned topsy-turvy. The laypeople became the priests and cardinals, and vise-versa. A day of levity that sometimes turned also to violence, alas. Perhaps it is not so unlike the throngs of people protesting at the G-20 summit in London. The news interviewed one individual saying he was having loads of fun holding his picket in the crowds, others who said they just didn’t trust the way the banks have been run and were peacefully marching and chanting slogans, and then turned to report the Royal Bank of Scotland window being broken. I don't condone violence. But I do think that humor can be a way at poking at our unjustices - especially when we are first aware of our own inner ironies.

How are your Lenten disciplines going? While they are serious work, remember not to take yourself too seriously. Just keep at it with a sense of humility and humor. After all, we are practicing our disciplines that the Divine might change us, not us the Divine.

On this day of levity, I also want to shed a bit of hope. I know that these economic times can be extremely tough, not only on the job market, but also psychologically as people wait to find out who will be the next to loose the job, and just because jobs are cut doesn’t mean the workload goes down.
One story of hope comes from a work place. A certain business is in the consulting field. One of the managers was telling me that he is putting in long hours, searching for projects to keep the staff going, so that the business can retain all the staff possible. I read this as management, in this case at least, understands having staff brings an ethical responsibility to the staff.
Another story also comes from a work environment. A colleague of mine works in a hospital as a chaplain. The hospital needed to cut $N from the budget. As the head chaplain, his responsibility was to call the meeting in which they would find out what to do. Either they all cut some hours, or one person was going to have to be let go. They prayed, and passed around a prayer bowl into which each person placed a small bit of paper marked “0” “1” or “2” depending upon the number of days they would be willing to cut from their own work week. “I didn’t tell the budgeting committee that we actually came up with 1.2, I figured we could use that .2 later if we needed to bargain,” my friend told me. By working together they had saved a person's job. “It turns out the entire hospital was working that way, too.” To me, this brings a sense of community that transcends the industrial complex many of our jobs have turned into. It is a reminder that our true security lies in our relationships with one another, rather than in an industrialized market economy.
I’ll close with a third bit of hope I see in the reading I’m doing, in the internet browsing and research I’m engaging in, and in discussions I have had with folks in the food industry (in particular). There is a grass roots movement that is changing the way we think, feel and especially act around our own personal economies. One of my friends in the food retail business was commenting about the move towards eating local food via purchasing local food at local grocery stores. This choice to buy-live-act/eat locally has impacted the food retail business in ways that have benefited the smaller stores. The nation wide corporations can’t adapt to the local market fast enough, nor do they have the local connections to make such a shift in rapid manner.

Where are you seeing hope?