REFLECTIONS BY THE REV. DAVE MARSHALL
Likewise
January 14, 2020
The discussion group topic this week focused on an article by Peter Wehner that highlighted how Jesus listened to the outcast and the excluded in a way that would teach the privileged about humility and justice. An example of this is found in the parable of the Good Samaritan, which, in short, is a story of a man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead. Two privileged men, a Temple priest and a Levite, saw the man but did not help; but, an outcast, a Samaritan, did. He applied first aid, paid for his room and board so he could recover, and promised to return to pay any additional costs. As a result of this story we now have hospitals, churches, and even laws named for the Good Samaritan. But, like everything Jesus did and said, there is more to it.
This story from Luke, chapter 10, originated from a situation where a legal expert interrupted Jesus with this question, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus replied, “You’re the expert, what does the law say?” He replied, “Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “Correct! Do that and you’ll live.” The legal expert rebutted, “But who is my neighbor?” The Good Samaritan story is a result of the question. At the conclusion of the story, Jesus asked the expert, “What do you think – which of these three people was a neighbor to the man in need?” He replied, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus looked him straight in the eye and said, “Go and do likewise.”
This story exemplifies that the excluded – the beaten man and the Samaritan – taught the privileged; in this case, the legal expert. My question to you is this: how did it teach the privileged. There is a pedagogical thought that adults learn out of need or identification. If an adult can identify with something in his/her past in what is being taught, it will be learned. Or, if an adult has a need to learn something, then it will be learned. Bearing that in mind, how did the legal expert learn – was it need or by identity. I’m going to suggest it was both. His question, what must I do to gain eternal life, shows a need – life eternal. Yet, I think the legal expert also identified with the story – specifically, the beaten-man, who was passed by, or un-helped by, religious leaders. Maybe he felt excluded by religion. If so, his deeper question is this, how do I become included. Jesus gave him what his heart needed to hear, “Go show mercy.” Another way to look at it is this – go, identify with the unheard and outcast, show them mercy.
Sociologists have pointed out that individuals or groups who feel excluded, left out, or unheard, may harm others out of, or because of, their own exclusionary pain. This is believed to be a cause of school or work place shootings. Could it also be a cause for riots? Although I have never been mistreated by the police, maybe Jesus is calling me to identify with those have been. Likewise, I do not have grievances against our government, but what if Jesus is calling me to identify; to listen to; those who do. Certainly for those who have broken the law, they need to be punished. But what about the non-violent demonstrators. What if he is calling me to show mercy by listening to someone who feels unheard or excluded. There is mercy in that; especially considering God listens to me when I feel unwelcomed or unheard.
Jesus felt drawn to outcasts. He listened to and cared for the excluded. What if the being a Good Samaritan today is to listen to those who feel excluded, left out and unheard. What if Jesus, through his words and deeds recorded in the Gospel, is telling us to “Go and do likewise.”
- Fr. Dave
This story from Luke, chapter 10, originated from a situation where a legal expert interrupted Jesus with this question, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus replied, “You’re the expert, what does the law say?” He replied, “Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “Correct! Do that and you’ll live.” The legal expert rebutted, “But who is my neighbor?” The Good Samaritan story is a result of the question. At the conclusion of the story, Jesus asked the expert, “What do you think – which of these three people was a neighbor to the man in need?” He replied, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus looked him straight in the eye and said, “Go and do likewise.”
This story exemplifies that the excluded – the beaten man and the Samaritan – taught the privileged; in this case, the legal expert. My question to you is this: how did it teach the privileged. There is a pedagogical thought that adults learn out of need or identification. If an adult can identify with something in his/her past in what is being taught, it will be learned. Or, if an adult has a need to learn something, then it will be learned. Bearing that in mind, how did the legal expert learn – was it need or by identity. I’m going to suggest it was both. His question, what must I do to gain eternal life, shows a need – life eternal. Yet, I think the legal expert also identified with the story – specifically, the beaten-man, who was passed by, or un-helped by, religious leaders. Maybe he felt excluded by religion. If so, his deeper question is this, how do I become included. Jesus gave him what his heart needed to hear, “Go show mercy.” Another way to look at it is this – go, identify with the unheard and outcast, show them mercy.
Sociologists have pointed out that individuals or groups who feel excluded, left out, or unheard, may harm others out of, or because of, their own exclusionary pain. This is believed to be a cause of school or work place shootings. Could it also be a cause for riots? Although I have never been mistreated by the police, maybe Jesus is calling me to identify with those have been. Likewise, I do not have grievances against our government, but what if Jesus is calling me to identify; to listen to; those who do. Certainly for those who have broken the law, they need to be punished. But what about the non-violent demonstrators. What if he is calling me to show mercy by listening to someone who feels unheard or excluded. There is mercy in that; especially considering God listens to me when I feel unwelcomed or unheard.
Jesus felt drawn to outcasts. He listened to and cared for the excluded. What if the being a Good Samaritan today is to listen to those who feel excluded, left out and unheard. What if Jesus, through his words and deeds recorded in the Gospel, is telling us to “Go and do likewise.”
- Fr. Dave
More Perfect
January 7, 2020
This was not the reflection I intended to send to you. The piece titled Fins Matter – about a recent experience Elijah and I had with a model rocket – was supposed to be printed today. But, the events that happened at the capital on Wednesday, the Day of Epiphany, requires me to write something different to you.
Christi and I were watching with aching hearts as the US Capital was under siege, and the constitutionally required joint-session of congress was stopped. At the same time, in a different room, our 10-year old, Elijah, was memorizing the preamble of the constitution. When I was in 5th grade, we too had to memorize it. To this day, I recall the words with the tune from School House Rock. And, like how Christi and I learned it, we too are passing the tune along to our son.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This 52-word preamble took six weeks to create during the hot summer months in Philadelphia, 1787. It was these five objectives that the framers could agree upon:
Justice, Tranquility, Defense, Welfare, Liberty.
The process to create a union more perfect is still under construction. All the while, our united call is for justice, peace, defense, welfare, and liberty. These are not objectives that can be completed or checked off as complete; rather, it is a desire, a movement, an experiment, and at times, a desperate struggle.
At 8 pm Wednesday night, the Senate was called back to order, and, in some ways, they brought the country back to order. It was a visible sign that although chaos took over for a brief period, our desire for a more perfect union remains. The Marshalls gathered around the television to watch. Ethan had his calculus homework on his lap, Elijah was on my lap, Christi had a cat on her lap; and on the day of Epiphany, by the glow of our Christmas Tree, we watched Senators from both sides of the aisle speak from their heart about unity and our shared responsibility to bring justice, tranquility, defense, welfare and liberty.
The catechism in our Book of Common Prayer teaches that the mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. The Church purses that mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love. We carry out the mission of the Church through the ministry of all its members. Like the preamble, the Church has five objectives – to pray/worship, to proclaim, to promote justice, peace, and love.
The pursuit of the five objectives of the preamble to make our Union more perfect is similar to the pursuit of the Church to bring unity. It cannot be completed but rather the mission, the struggle, the pursuit is passed from generation to generation.
- Fr. Dave
Christi and I were watching with aching hearts as the US Capital was under siege, and the constitutionally required joint-session of congress was stopped. At the same time, in a different room, our 10-year old, Elijah, was memorizing the preamble of the constitution. When I was in 5th grade, we too had to memorize it. To this day, I recall the words with the tune from School House Rock. And, like how Christi and I learned it, we too are passing the tune along to our son.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This 52-word preamble took six weeks to create during the hot summer months in Philadelphia, 1787. It was these five objectives that the framers could agree upon:
Justice, Tranquility, Defense, Welfare, Liberty.
The process to create a union more perfect is still under construction. All the while, our united call is for justice, peace, defense, welfare, and liberty. These are not objectives that can be completed or checked off as complete; rather, it is a desire, a movement, an experiment, and at times, a desperate struggle.
At 8 pm Wednesday night, the Senate was called back to order, and, in some ways, they brought the country back to order. It was a visible sign that although chaos took over for a brief period, our desire for a more perfect union remains. The Marshalls gathered around the television to watch. Ethan had his calculus homework on his lap, Elijah was on my lap, Christi had a cat on her lap; and on the day of Epiphany, by the glow of our Christmas Tree, we watched Senators from both sides of the aisle speak from their heart about unity and our shared responsibility to bring justice, tranquility, defense, welfare and liberty.
The catechism in our Book of Common Prayer teaches that the mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. The Church purses that mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love. We carry out the mission of the Church through the ministry of all its members. Like the preamble, the Church has five objectives – to pray/worship, to proclaim, to promote justice, peace, and love.
The pursuit of the five objectives of the preamble to make our Union more perfect is similar to the pursuit of the Church to bring unity. It cannot be completed but rather the mission, the struggle, the pursuit is passed from generation to generation.
- Fr. Dave
Merry Christmas
December 31, 2020
“On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, three French hens.” I am surprised that Amazon has not picked up on the my-true-love-sent-to-me theme as a way of delivering packages after December 25th. What is often referred to as Christmas Day – the 25th – it is a bit of a misnomer. The season of Christmas goes for twelve entire days; not just a 24-hour period. After all, if it were not so, why would we have the 12 Days of Christmas song. Does this mean that you can deliver a Christmas present or Christmas card on January 2nd and it technically is not late; you bet!
My parents tried to establish in our household the reign of Christmas over twelve days. One year, they came up with the idea to open a present or two on Christmas Day – the First Day – and then open a present for each succeeding day until the 12th. I think we made it to three French hens and then opened the rest of them. Reflecting back on it, I imagine my brother and I were probably pretty insufferable for the first three days of Christmas. … and we were not in the middle of a pandemic. I couldn’t imagine trying to do that now. Well, frankly I couldn’t imagine doing it then either.
The next year, when we were all back on speaking terms again, my parents allowed us to open all the presents on Christmas Day but held one present for the 12th day of Christmas. None of us received 12 drummers drumming but I imagine my brother and I were a bit of a drumming headache until that day. The next year, my parents held a present for the 12th day but did so in secret so my brother and I were surprised to find one more present under the tree.
My parents were in our church choir and they were a larger troupe of Gilbert & Sullivan performers. To this day, I can sing the alto and tenor parts of the Macado, Pirates of Penzance and, my favorite, HMS Pinafore. In keeping with the driving-the-12-days-of-Christmas philosophy into our heads, my parents would throw a Twelfth Night Party. We would take down the tree, eat all the rest of the Christmas cookies, and, most importantly, sing. I remember one year, it must have been the G&S production troupe at our house, because someone passed out the SATB sheet music for Handel’s Messiah. I distinctly remember waltzing around our connected living and dining room and hearing each section sing the well-known Hallelujah chorus. That was truly a way to celebrate Christmas and the end of the season. I cannot listen to the Messiah today without thinking about that group and experience. Hallelujah for Christmas and for all of its 12 days!
- Fr. Dave
My parents tried to establish in our household the reign of Christmas over twelve days. One year, they came up with the idea to open a present or two on Christmas Day – the First Day – and then open a present for each succeeding day until the 12th. I think we made it to three French hens and then opened the rest of them. Reflecting back on it, I imagine my brother and I were probably pretty insufferable for the first three days of Christmas. … and we were not in the middle of a pandemic. I couldn’t imagine trying to do that now. Well, frankly I couldn’t imagine doing it then either.
The next year, when we were all back on speaking terms again, my parents allowed us to open all the presents on Christmas Day but held one present for the 12th day of Christmas. None of us received 12 drummers drumming but I imagine my brother and I were a bit of a drumming headache until that day. The next year, my parents held a present for the 12th day but did so in secret so my brother and I were surprised to find one more present under the tree.
My parents were in our church choir and they were a larger troupe of Gilbert & Sullivan performers. To this day, I can sing the alto and tenor parts of the Macado, Pirates of Penzance and, my favorite, HMS Pinafore. In keeping with the driving-the-12-days-of-Christmas philosophy into our heads, my parents would throw a Twelfth Night Party. We would take down the tree, eat all the rest of the Christmas cookies, and, most importantly, sing. I remember one year, it must have been the G&S production troupe at our house, because someone passed out the SATB sheet music for Handel’s Messiah. I distinctly remember waltzing around our connected living and dining room and hearing each section sing the well-known Hallelujah chorus. That was truly a way to celebrate Christmas and the end of the season. I cannot listen to the Messiah today without thinking about that group and experience. Hallelujah for Christmas and for all of its 12 days!
- Fr. Dave
Christmas/Mess
December 24, 2020
Today’s reflection is from the Rev. Kate Heichler from her message “Getting to Bethlehem” from Water Daily.
I labored long under the illusion of the “perfect Christmas” which is all shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating done; perfectly chosen gifts on their way to everyone. Well, thanks to our pandemic, a lot of that pressure has been lifted this year. Will I manage to be calm and serene and so ready for Christmas Eve that I will have a spiritual encounter with God? Who am I kidding? If Luke’s story has any historical accuracy, the Holy Night we celebrate was a mess, its protagonists exhausted, scared, lonely, anxious, no doubt cranky. And at least one was in agonizing pain, delivering her first child in a stable, with only her betrothed to help her – and he more helpless than she.
Mary and Joseph didn’t want to be in Bethlehem, especially not so close to her time. They were there at the behest of a cruel tyrant seeking to squeeze yet more taxes out of a conquered people. Luke is specific about the people in power at that time – Caesar Augustus, Quirinius – and the towns Mary and Joseph traveled from and to – Nazareth in Galilee, Bethlehem in Judea. His specificity reminds us that the gift of God in flesh, Emmanuel, God-with-us was not general or vague, but personal, bounded in human time, space and history. And emotion.
Jesus didn’t come into this world on an eiderdown comforter. He came into a mess, a chaotic night in which a young couple desperately sought lodging in a strange city, finally accepting the offer of space with household livestock as the woman’s birth pangs grew in urgency. Jesus came into a political and religious mess. And he comes into our mess. If you are sad, or maybe even messed up this Christmas, you are ONE with the Christmas spirit, the original one. If you are feeling blue, invite Jesus to be with you in what you’re feeling. As we accept his presence in our turmoil, we become readier to identify with what he experienced as a newborn – complete vulnerability, confusion, cold, uncertainty.
Getting to Bethlehem can be a stressful slog, and a journey full of pain and expectation. But, like Mary, Joseph and Jesus, the light will shine where it needs to be.
I labored long under the illusion of the “perfect Christmas” which is all shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating done; perfectly chosen gifts on their way to everyone. Well, thanks to our pandemic, a lot of that pressure has been lifted this year. Will I manage to be calm and serene and so ready for Christmas Eve that I will have a spiritual encounter with God? Who am I kidding? If Luke’s story has any historical accuracy, the Holy Night we celebrate was a mess, its protagonists exhausted, scared, lonely, anxious, no doubt cranky. And at least one was in agonizing pain, delivering her first child in a stable, with only her betrothed to help her – and he more helpless than she.
Mary and Joseph didn’t want to be in Bethlehem, especially not so close to her time. They were there at the behest of a cruel tyrant seeking to squeeze yet more taxes out of a conquered people. Luke is specific about the people in power at that time – Caesar Augustus, Quirinius – and the towns Mary and Joseph traveled from and to – Nazareth in Galilee, Bethlehem in Judea. His specificity reminds us that the gift of God in flesh, Emmanuel, God-with-us was not general or vague, but personal, bounded in human time, space and history. And emotion.
Jesus didn’t come into this world on an eiderdown comforter. He came into a mess, a chaotic night in which a young couple desperately sought lodging in a strange city, finally accepting the offer of space with household livestock as the woman’s birth pangs grew in urgency. Jesus came into a political and religious mess. And he comes into our mess. If you are sad, or maybe even messed up this Christmas, you are ONE with the Christmas spirit, the original one. If you are feeling blue, invite Jesus to be with you in what you’re feeling. As we accept his presence in our turmoil, we become readier to identify with what he experienced as a newborn – complete vulnerability, confusion, cold, uncertainty.
Getting to Bethlehem can be a stressful slog, and a journey full of pain and expectation. But, like Mary, Joseph and Jesus, the light will shine where it needs to be.
The 4th Week
December 17, 2020
I’d like to give a shout out to the 4th week of Advent. It’s the week that really gets overshadowed by the looming and unstoppable presence of Christmas Eve. Starting on December 20th this year, the 4th week ends abruptly on sundown on the 24th. That is usually how the fourth week of Advent goes – it’s never a full week. Most people, myself included, start saying Merry Christmas during the 4th week. I’ve been trying my best to say, “Happy Advent” this year but honestly, after Sunday, that all goes out the window.
The 4th week of Advent is when we remember the stories of Elizabeth and Zachariah – surprise parents of John the Baptizer, and Mary and Joseph – surprise parents of the Messiah. The main emphasis for this week centers on the Biblical phrase, “How can this be?!” The first to utter that phrase was Temple priest Zachariah, who in his old age, had been unable to give his wife Elizabeth a child. The culture back then had it so that being childless was a negative thing; especially so if one held such a high esteemed position as Temple priest. As the story goes, Zachariah was randomly chosen to bring the incense into the high vault of the Temple. It was the highest honor of any priest to do. While in the room, an angel spoke to him and said that he was going to have a son. “How can this be!?” he exclaimed.
This week we hear about the angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her she is going to have a son. Again, same reaction – how can this be – but for a different reason. Zachariah believed he was too old to have a child; Mary believed she was too young. God saw it differently.
I am writing this to you on my son Ethan’s birthday. He turns 18 years old today! I remember vividly where Christi and I were when she told me that she was pregnant. It was our own, how can this be, moment. We had just adopted our two girls from Russia. We were trying to settle into being brand new parents with kids who had recently turned 16 and 11 years old. And now this! How can it be?!
When Zachariah found out he was going to be a dad, his life, and the world, was never the same. Likewise, when Mary found out she was going to be pregnant, her life, and the world, were never going to be the same. That feeling is echoed through every family that finds out they will be parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents. … and the world will never be the same.
The 4th week of Advent is the shortest and frankly gets very little credit; but, this week may be the most important of the Advent season because it is when we, and the world, find out we will never be the same.
- Fr. Dave
The 4th week of Advent is when we remember the stories of Elizabeth and Zachariah – surprise parents of John the Baptizer, and Mary and Joseph – surprise parents of the Messiah. The main emphasis for this week centers on the Biblical phrase, “How can this be?!” The first to utter that phrase was Temple priest Zachariah, who in his old age, had been unable to give his wife Elizabeth a child. The culture back then had it so that being childless was a negative thing; especially so if one held such a high esteemed position as Temple priest. As the story goes, Zachariah was randomly chosen to bring the incense into the high vault of the Temple. It was the highest honor of any priest to do. While in the room, an angel spoke to him and said that he was going to have a son. “How can this be!?” he exclaimed.
This week we hear about the angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her she is going to have a son. Again, same reaction – how can this be – but for a different reason. Zachariah believed he was too old to have a child; Mary believed she was too young. God saw it differently.
I am writing this to you on my son Ethan’s birthday. He turns 18 years old today! I remember vividly where Christi and I were when she told me that she was pregnant. It was our own, how can this be, moment. We had just adopted our two girls from Russia. We were trying to settle into being brand new parents with kids who had recently turned 16 and 11 years old. And now this! How can it be?!
When Zachariah found out he was going to be a dad, his life, and the world, was never the same. Likewise, when Mary found out she was going to be pregnant, her life, and the world, were never going to be the same. That feeling is echoed through every family that finds out they will be parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents. … and the world will never be the same.
The 4th week of Advent is the shortest and frankly gets very little credit; but, this week may be the most important of the Advent season because it is when we, and the world, find out we will never be the same.
- Fr. Dave
The Parable of the Good Samaritan-Canadian
December 10, 2020
Did you read the story about the family from Georgia who drove to Alaska? If not, here’s a summary. Lynn Marchessault packed up her two kids – 13-year-old son Payton and 10-year-old daughter Rebecca – a pair of elderly dogs and a cat named Midnight, and drove to be with her husband who is stationed at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. They were supposed to move in September; but, with the Canadian border closed, her travel documents were not ready until the end of November. Undeterred by the delay, they packed up their 4x4 truck, and rented a U-Haul trailer, and set off.
The first 3,000 miles were uneventful. The kids and animals were well behaved and the truck performed well. At the Saskatchewan border crossing, the Canadian authorities let her in under these pre-arranged conditions: keep to the main roads; stop only when necessary for food or gas; no eating in-person at restaurants; they had just five days to get to the Alaskan border. The drive northwest through Canada was okay until heavy snow started to come down. Being from the south, Lynn had never driven in whiteout conditions. By the time they made it to Wonowon, British Columbia, she was at her wits end. 1070 miles from the Alaska border, Lynn had been run ragged from the constant slipping and sliding. She stopped at a gas station and, while her kids were in the bathroom, she broke down in front of a complete stranger. The Canadian woman checked her tires and said they were good summer tires but won’t get any traction on snow especially towing a trailer. The good Samaritan/Canadian helped the Marchessault’s get to a tire store for winter tires and then a motel for the night. Lynn called her husband and, in her words, “threw in the towel.” She was so tired and frightened she cried that the US border patrol will have to pick her up in Wonowon.
The good Samaritans/Canadians of the town put out a plea on social media that evening for help to get this family to Alaska – which is a two-day trip for someone who knows how to handle the Alaskan Highway in snow. Gary Bath read the post and answered the call to help. He dropped what he was doing and drove the family the rest of the way.
At the end of the Advent season, we hear of weary travelers who have no place to go. The kindness of a complete stranger gave Mary and Joseph a place to rest and to give birth to the One who later on told the story of the Good Samaritan. I wonder if Jesus had in mind his own birth story when telling the story of the Samaritan who dropped everything to help a stranger. Did he think of the stable owner when telling the story of the people who asked, “When did we see you in need?” Regardless, we now have a modern version of that story. It seems to me that when the good Samaritan-Canadian Gary Bath drove the Marchessault’s to Alaska, that he did the same for Jesus.
- Fr. Dave
The first 3,000 miles were uneventful. The kids and animals were well behaved and the truck performed well. At the Saskatchewan border crossing, the Canadian authorities let her in under these pre-arranged conditions: keep to the main roads; stop only when necessary for food or gas; no eating in-person at restaurants; they had just five days to get to the Alaskan border. The drive northwest through Canada was okay until heavy snow started to come down. Being from the south, Lynn had never driven in whiteout conditions. By the time they made it to Wonowon, British Columbia, she was at her wits end. 1070 miles from the Alaska border, Lynn had been run ragged from the constant slipping and sliding. She stopped at a gas station and, while her kids were in the bathroom, she broke down in front of a complete stranger. The Canadian woman checked her tires and said they were good summer tires but won’t get any traction on snow especially towing a trailer. The good Samaritan/Canadian helped the Marchessault’s get to a tire store for winter tires and then a motel for the night. Lynn called her husband and, in her words, “threw in the towel.” She was so tired and frightened she cried that the US border patrol will have to pick her up in Wonowon.
The good Samaritans/Canadians of the town put out a plea on social media that evening for help to get this family to Alaska – which is a two-day trip for someone who knows how to handle the Alaskan Highway in snow. Gary Bath read the post and answered the call to help. He dropped what he was doing and drove the family the rest of the way.
At the end of the Advent season, we hear of weary travelers who have no place to go. The kindness of a complete stranger gave Mary and Joseph a place to rest and to give birth to the One who later on told the story of the Good Samaritan. I wonder if Jesus had in mind his own birth story when telling the story of the Samaritan who dropped everything to help a stranger. Did he think of the stable owner when telling the story of the people who asked, “When did we see you in need?” Regardless, we now have a modern version of that story. It seems to me that when the good Samaritan-Canadian Gary Bath drove the Marchessault’s to Alaska, that he did the same for Jesus.
- Fr. Dave
Lion or Lamb?
December 3, 2020
One of my favorite posters is a collection of biblical phrases that describe God. The background of the poster is purple and the words are in gold; except for the bright white bold phrase in the center that reads I AM. It reminded me then, and now, that God has many names. The same is true with Jesus. He is master, Lord, savior, Christ, friend, shepherd, Messiah, and, as our Eucharistic prayer names him, Firstborn of all creation, Head of the Church, Author of our salvation. There are two names, however, that I would like to reflect on – Lamb of God, Lion of Judah.
How can Jesus be both lion and lamb?
God is described in psalm 84 as both sun and shield – the one who makes the day hot and the one who covers/shields/protects one from the harshness of the sun. In the early church period, when followers were trying to figure out what they had experienced, some had suggested that God is the sun and Jesus is the shield from God’s burning hot anger and wrath. Thankfully that theology didn’t survive long; nevertheless, God is so big that titles and names fall short of describing our Creator, even a poster full of them. But that still doesn’t explain how Jesus can be both lamb and lion, prey and predator, herbivore and carnivore, friend and feared adversary, overt and covert, both pet and apex predator.
The title, Lion of Judah, has many Biblical references. Judah is the southern territory of Israel, containing both Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The “lion” is the one who is in charge, like a king. Matthew’s Gospel tells of the Wise Men who traveled to Jerusalem looking for the Messiah. They were told he is to be from, or is to be born in, Bethlehem. Thus, the Lion of Judah is a way to describe the Messiah.
The Lamb of God reference is from John’s Gospel and the Book of Revelation. The overtones are of the Passover lamb that is sacrificed for sin. There is, of course, the additional imagery of the kind, warm and fuzzy God-in-Christ in contrast to the vengeful angry image of God.
One way to solve the lion and lamb riddle is to look at it through the lens of who someone is and what someone does. The Lion of Judah is a title for the messiah that expressly describes who Jesus is. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, is an aspect of what Jesus does. St. Paul, in his wonderful use of imagery and language that transcends time and peoples, brought the two distinct images together by describing Jesus as the Crucified King. In other words, both lion and lamb.
- Fr. Dave
How can Jesus be both lion and lamb?
God is described in psalm 84 as both sun and shield – the one who makes the day hot and the one who covers/shields/protects one from the harshness of the sun. In the early church period, when followers were trying to figure out what they had experienced, some had suggested that God is the sun and Jesus is the shield from God’s burning hot anger and wrath. Thankfully that theology didn’t survive long; nevertheless, God is so big that titles and names fall short of describing our Creator, even a poster full of them. But that still doesn’t explain how Jesus can be both lamb and lion, prey and predator, herbivore and carnivore, friend and feared adversary, overt and covert, both pet and apex predator.
The title, Lion of Judah, has many Biblical references. Judah is the southern territory of Israel, containing both Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The “lion” is the one who is in charge, like a king. Matthew’s Gospel tells of the Wise Men who traveled to Jerusalem looking for the Messiah. They were told he is to be from, or is to be born in, Bethlehem. Thus, the Lion of Judah is a way to describe the Messiah.
The Lamb of God reference is from John’s Gospel and the Book of Revelation. The overtones are of the Passover lamb that is sacrificed for sin. There is, of course, the additional imagery of the kind, warm and fuzzy God-in-Christ in contrast to the vengeful angry image of God.
One way to solve the lion and lamb riddle is to look at it through the lens of who someone is and what someone does. The Lion of Judah is a title for the messiah that expressly describes who Jesus is. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, is an aspect of what Jesus does. St. Paul, in his wonderful use of imagery and language that transcends time and peoples, brought the two distinct images together by describing Jesus as the Crucified King. In other words, both lion and lamb.
- Fr. Dave
A Breath of Advent Air
November 27, 2020
Don’t look now but Advent is here. The season that is most commonly known for Advent calendars, it is the time of year where we await and anticipate the arrival of Jesus. It is a many-sided season because it ends with Christmas which, on one side, means that we were waiting and preparing for the yearly celebration of Jesus’ birth. Another side is that we are waiting for the return of Christ and that no one knows the day or the hour of when he returns; even if our calendar shows his birth is on December 25th. A third-side is that Advent can be treated like a mini-Lent. In many churches, purple is the color for Advent which is also the color of Lent. Some religious traditions have Advent participants give up things; just like in Lent. The fourth side of Advent is that it is a perpetual season. We are always waiting for the return of Christ. We wait during Christmas, during the Easter season, and during the dog-days of summer, we are waiting and expecting Jesus to return. Regardless of the many ways to look at Advent, by the time Christmas finally arrives, I often feel winded.
If you are wondering what the real meaning of Advent is, I’d have to say it is up to you to determine that. If you’d like to treat it like a Lenten season, feel free. If your tradition is to light a candle, one for each week, that’s great. If you breathe a sigh of relief on Christmas morning, that’s fine too. However it is that you decide to treat Advent, it is up to you. Nevertheless, we should be aware that Jesus is scheduled to return someday, maybe soon.
Advent comes with a warning – at least one from me to you. Prepare for the Gospel lessons in Advent to be on the harsher, judgmental side of God. Don’t blame me for this, we are following along with the Revised Common Lectionary, Episcopal Edition. This Sunday, we are hearing that the return of Christ will start with the sun darkened and the stars falling from the sky. Advent II and III is about John the Baptizer who wore camel’s hair and ate locusts – which are symbols of God’s judgement. Advent IV is about Mary, thankfully. Often I will hear this after a service in Advent, “Well, those reading don’t sound very Christmassy.” I suppose the point is they are not supposed to.
For me, Advent is about preparing for Christmas, for birthdays during December, for one of the biggest seasons of the Church, for end-of-the-year reports, for holiday parties, and, somewhere along in my list, for Jesus. This year, like the other years, I’d like to move Jesus up on my list. Maybe because we’re not going to, or hosting, any parties, I have a little more room this year; or maybe it is because 2020 is calling us all into a deeper relationship with God and in participating with our spiritual life. My weekly Advent practice this year will be to read a portion of Joan Chittister’s book, The Breath of the Soul, Reflections on Prayer. I’ll put each reading up on-line so that you can read with me. Regardless of how you see this multi-sided season of Advent, I invite you to take some time to reflect on prayer and how it lets the soul breathe.
- Fr. Dave
Don’t look now but Advent is here. The season that is most commonly known for Advent calendars, it is the time of year where we await and anticipate the arrival of Jesus. It is a many-sided season because it ends with Christmas which, on one side, means that we were waiting and preparing for the yearly celebration of Jesus’ birth. Another side is that we are waiting for the return of Christ and that no one knows the day or the hour of when he returns; even if our calendar shows his birth is on December 25th. A third-side is that Advent can be treated like a mini-Lent. In many churches, purple is the color for Advent which is also the color of Lent. Some religious traditions have Advent participants give up things; just like in Lent. The fourth side of Advent is that it is a perpetual season. We are always waiting for the return of Christ. We wait during Christmas, during the Easter season, and during the dog-days of summer, we are waiting and expecting Jesus to return. Regardless of the many ways to look at Advent, by the time Christmas finally arrives, I often feel winded.
If you are wondering what the real meaning of Advent is, I’d have to say it is up to you to determine that. If you’d like to treat it like a Lenten season, feel free. If your tradition is to light a candle, one for each week, that’s great. If you breathe a sigh of relief on Christmas morning, that’s fine too. However it is that you decide to treat Advent, it is up to you. Nevertheless, we should be aware that Jesus is scheduled to return someday, maybe soon.
Advent comes with a warning – at least one from me to you. Prepare for the Gospel lessons in Advent to be on the harsher, judgmental side of God. Don’t blame me for this, we are following along with the Revised Common Lectionary, Episcopal Edition. This Sunday, we are hearing that the return of Christ will start with the sun darkened and the stars falling from the sky. Advent II and III is about John the Baptizer who wore camel’s hair and ate locusts – which are symbols of God’s judgement. Advent IV is about Mary, thankfully. Often I will hear this after a service in Advent, “Well, those reading don’t sound very Christmassy.” I suppose the point is they are not supposed to.
For me, Advent is about preparing for Christmas, for birthdays during December, for one of the biggest seasons of the Church, for end-of-the-year reports, for holiday parties, and, somewhere along in my list, for Jesus. This year, like the other years, I’d like to move Jesus up on my list. Maybe because we’re not going to, or hosting, any parties, I have a little more room this year; or maybe it is because 2020 is calling us all into a deeper relationship with God and in participating with our spiritual life. My weekly Advent practice this year will be to read a portion of Joan Chittister’s book, The Breath of the Soul, Reflections on Prayer. I’ll put each reading up on-line so that you can read with me. Regardless of how you see this multi-sided season of Advent, I invite you to take some time to reflect on prayer and how it lets the soul breathe.
- Fr. Dave
Pilgrimage
November 19, 2020
There has been so much change happening all around us that it is easy to let things slip by. I’d like to take a moment and highlight a change that occurred on Sunday. For the first time in All Angels’ history, the terrace was open for people to enter and worship on Sunday. We had four souls who were willing to be test subjects; and, the results are in – they loved it!
The original plan for the church had a wraparound walkway that extended around the church from the memorial garden to the terrace. That would have allowed for the terrace to be used as an emergency exit. But, as buildings and plans go, the walkway did not materialize so the terrace remained a closed space. After decades of having members of the altar guild and flower guild get stuck out on the terrace, after the door closed behind them and locked, three things happened all at once – a global pandemic temporarily restricted indoor worship to 10 people, All Angels started broadcasting our services outside the church, and the Vestry decided to improve the entrances for people of any mobility. In order to improve our ingress/egress plan, we (probably) had to add an emergency exit. The logical place to do that was through the terrace. With the rising popularity of worshipping at All Angels outside, a bold plan was made. A contractor cut into the terrace walls at both north and south ends and then poured an ADA compliant cement walkway that connected into our existing garden pathway. Lastly, all-weather outdoor speakers were installed that carry the audio from inside the church to the outside. And voila, a new era has begun.
The Albert and Bette Spaeth Meditation Terrace has a plaque that reads as follows: Enter + Rest + Pray
From 1994 until 2020, the only way to enter the meditation terrace was through the doors in nave of the church. And, if they locked behind you, the only way to exit was to jump over the wall. Nowadays, pilgrims seeking to rest and pray can enter through the walkway; any time of day, any day of the week. We are living into the vision that folks had back when the church was made. The speakers make it so that congregants can sit on the terrace, enjoy fresh outdoor air, and participate in the service. And, for the first time in anyone’s recollection, communion was served on the terrace this past Sunday. The first communicant was a parishioner who just celebrated her 97th birthday, Marge Stapleton.
Change can happen like a swinging pendulum. Other change is like passing a threshold from which one cannot go back or like a navigation point of no return. All Angels has now passed a threshold. Now that the terrace is open for anyone to take time to enter, rest and pray, there is no going back. Our proverbial door has been set in the open position with cement. It is another step that all the pilgrims of All Angels are taking to bring the living Christ to those inside and outside the church.
- Fr. Dave
If you would like to follow in the footsteps of Albert and Bette Spaeth and help underwrite the costs of our continuing pilgrimage,
click here. https://onrealm.org/AllAngelsBySeaE/-/give/now
The original plan for the church had a wraparound walkway that extended around the church from the memorial garden to the terrace. That would have allowed for the terrace to be used as an emergency exit. But, as buildings and plans go, the walkway did not materialize so the terrace remained a closed space. After decades of having members of the altar guild and flower guild get stuck out on the terrace, after the door closed behind them and locked, three things happened all at once – a global pandemic temporarily restricted indoor worship to 10 people, All Angels started broadcasting our services outside the church, and the Vestry decided to improve the entrances for people of any mobility. In order to improve our ingress/egress plan, we (probably) had to add an emergency exit. The logical place to do that was through the terrace. With the rising popularity of worshipping at All Angels outside, a bold plan was made. A contractor cut into the terrace walls at both north and south ends and then poured an ADA compliant cement walkway that connected into our existing garden pathway. Lastly, all-weather outdoor speakers were installed that carry the audio from inside the church to the outside. And voila, a new era has begun.
The Albert and Bette Spaeth Meditation Terrace has a plaque that reads as follows: Enter + Rest + Pray
From 1994 until 2020, the only way to enter the meditation terrace was through the doors in nave of the church. And, if they locked behind you, the only way to exit was to jump over the wall. Nowadays, pilgrims seeking to rest and pray can enter through the walkway; any time of day, any day of the week. We are living into the vision that folks had back when the church was made. The speakers make it so that congregants can sit on the terrace, enjoy fresh outdoor air, and participate in the service. And, for the first time in anyone’s recollection, communion was served on the terrace this past Sunday. The first communicant was a parishioner who just celebrated her 97th birthday, Marge Stapleton.
Change can happen like a swinging pendulum. Other change is like passing a threshold from which one cannot go back or like a navigation point of no return. All Angels has now passed a threshold. Now that the terrace is open for anyone to take time to enter, rest and pray, there is no going back. Our proverbial door has been set in the open position with cement. It is another step that all the pilgrims of All Angels are taking to bring the living Christ to those inside and outside the church.
- Fr. Dave
If you would like to follow in the footsteps of Albert and Bette Spaeth and help underwrite the costs of our continuing pilgrimage,
click here. https://onrealm.org/AllAngelsBySeaE/-/give/now
Hear Ye, Hear Ye
November 12, 2020
I am writing to you on Veterans Day. We have a small hurricane, parked off the coast and it is dumping rain and lots of wind. At the same time, I am listening to patriotic hymns – from outside the church! Our brand new, six speaker, all-weather, 180 watt sound system is now broadcasting outside the church. Rotary volunteers wearing parkas, shorts, flip flops and face coverings are keeping the soaking flags from falling and greeting veterans as they drive by. The soundtrack to this event is provided by All Angels.
In Washington State, where I grew up and went to college, there is a tradition to play music outside when the weather gets nice. On those rare days, neighbors, college students, anyone really, will put speakers into the open windows and play their favorite tunes. I would shoot baskets while listening to an album by Duran Duran. My brother would wash his car to Lynard Skynard. In college, on sunny days, the dorms would erupt with music all designed to be heard outside.
As a camp counsellor, we would have a dance on the final night of each camp session. Our preferred place was the outdoor basketball court. Can you guess who would set up the speakers outside; yep, yours truly. I imagine the camp’s neighbors prayed for rain.
Flash forward to 2020, southwest Florida. I conducted an Easter morning service in front of Blake Hospital because the country went into a lockdown. For the rest of the Easter season, we held in-church services but they were not open to the public. Bob Erker and I hauled some old Pevey loudspeakers out of storage and, with Ethan’s help and ingenuity, we set up the drive-up and outdoor church. As the season of Easter moved into Pentecost and the season after, we realized outdoor church was going to continue. The Vestry dreamed up all sorts of possibilities including having fellowship outside, the Mardi Gras party outdoors, and other events. They decided we needed something permanent. This is southwest Florida, after all, and unlike Washington State, we have lots and lots of nice days especially in the “winter” season.
After some discussion with the city of Longboat Key, we now have outdoor speakers that will be used on Sunday morning for our services, for the upcoming Blue Christmas and Christmas Eve service. We are offering organ music in the park every Thursday from 11 am to noon for the public to come by and enjoy uplifting music. I can see us offering quiet Advent/Christmas music for pilgrims to Longboat who want to rest in the evening under the shade of our beautiful oak trees. And, just imagine this: we can actually start next year’s Palm Sunday procession outside. I do not have a crystal ball, but, I imagine that even on the last Sunday of March, 2021, there will be people who prefer to remain outdoors to worship.
If you had told me when I was 17 years old that what I learned about playing music outside would one day fit into the mission statement of a church that I would serve and lead in Florida, I would have thought you were nuts. And now, we’re running around in a near-hurricane, listening to organ music and thanking veterans for their service; I guess we are pretty nutty after all.
- Fr. Dave
In Washington State, where I grew up and went to college, there is a tradition to play music outside when the weather gets nice. On those rare days, neighbors, college students, anyone really, will put speakers into the open windows and play their favorite tunes. I would shoot baskets while listening to an album by Duran Duran. My brother would wash his car to Lynard Skynard. In college, on sunny days, the dorms would erupt with music all designed to be heard outside.
As a camp counsellor, we would have a dance on the final night of each camp session. Our preferred place was the outdoor basketball court. Can you guess who would set up the speakers outside; yep, yours truly. I imagine the camp’s neighbors prayed for rain.
Flash forward to 2020, southwest Florida. I conducted an Easter morning service in front of Blake Hospital because the country went into a lockdown. For the rest of the Easter season, we held in-church services but they were not open to the public. Bob Erker and I hauled some old Pevey loudspeakers out of storage and, with Ethan’s help and ingenuity, we set up the drive-up and outdoor church. As the season of Easter moved into Pentecost and the season after, we realized outdoor church was going to continue. The Vestry dreamed up all sorts of possibilities including having fellowship outside, the Mardi Gras party outdoors, and other events. They decided we needed something permanent. This is southwest Florida, after all, and unlike Washington State, we have lots and lots of nice days especially in the “winter” season.
After some discussion with the city of Longboat Key, we now have outdoor speakers that will be used on Sunday morning for our services, for the upcoming Blue Christmas and Christmas Eve service. We are offering organ music in the park every Thursday from 11 am to noon for the public to come by and enjoy uplifting music. I can see us offering quiet Advent/Christmas music for pilgrims to Longboat who want to rest in the evening under the shade of our beautiful oak trees. And, just imagine this: we can actually start next year’s Palm Sunday procession outside. I do not have a crystal ball, but, I imagine that even on the last Sunday of March, 2021, there will be people who prefer to remain outdoors to worship.
If you had told me when I was 17 years old that what I learned about playing music outside would one day fit into the mission statement of a church that I would serve and lead in Florida, I would have thought you were nuts. And now, we’re running around in a near-hurricane, listening to organ music and thanking veterans for their service; I guess we are pretty nutty after all.
- Fr. Dave
All Things New
November 5, 2020
Several Fridays ago, our organist and music director, Dale, sounded troubled on the phone. He asked if I was sitting down and then explained to me that the organ didn’t start. It sounded like he was describing a death in the family. He went on to explain that the organ repair company said that we’re looking at a possible $20k repair, or substantially more; the repair could take months and we would need a loaner organ at $1,000 per month. Dale prepared to conduct Sunday’s service on the piano.
The next day he called and sounded much better. He tried the organ again and it worked. Since that time, the organ works when it wants to. This past Sunday, he was supposed to play a music reflection after the prayers of the people. After the prayers, I didn’t hear any music so I started to stand for the announcements but then I heard the hymn so I sat back down. As it turned out, Dale had started playing right after the prayers at the appointed time, but the organ decided to wait and then play.
As far back as theologians and anthropologists can tell, music has always been a part of worship. Many people read the beginning of Genesis this way: “God sang, ‘Let there be light.’” Scripture references heaven as a place with lots and lots of music. In our church, music is important to our worship. Even with the 8 am service, that has no formal music, the silence and reverence felt in the service is its own music.
The Vestry reviewed two bids to replace the organ – one from Allen and the other from Rogers which is a new version of our existing organ. In their factory just outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Allen Organ is the last 100% American made organ manufacturer. They are one of the finest electronic organs companies in the world. Although the bids were similar – both around $125,000 – we decided on the Allen. It will be ready by the end of March. Until then, we have a loner Allen organ that was installed on Monday. When I heard it, I thought we actually had pipes in the church. The sound is amazing… and this is just the loaner.
Our mission is to bring the living Christ to those inside and outside the Church. Our new organ will plug directly into our on-line streaming system and into our soon-to-be installed outdoor speakers. This will substantially improve the sound of the organ for those outside of the church.
Starting on Veterans Day and then running every Thursday morning from 11 to noon, Dale will play an outdoor organ concert. Each week, he will offer a different theme. Stay tuned for the music calendar selections. We will offer our garden-like campus as a place of rest with uplifting music each Thursday. With Christ, all things are made new. As we bring the living Christ to others, it makes sense that we will be creating familiar tunes and ancient hymns in old and new ways.
- Fr. Dave
The next day he called and sounded much better. He tried the organ again and it worked. Since that time, the organ works when it wants to. This past Sunday, he was supposed to play a music reflection after the prayers of the people. After the prayers, I didn’t hear any music so I started to stand for the announcements but then I heard the hymn so I sat back down. As it turned out, Dale had started playing right after the prayers at the appointed time, but the organ decided to wait and then play.
As far back as theologians and anthropologists can tell, music has always been a part of worship. Many people read the beginning of Genesis this way: “God sang, ‘Let there be light.’” Scripture references heaven as a place with lots and lots of music. In our church, music is important to our worship. Even with the 8 am service, that has no formal music, the silence and reverence felt in the service is its own music.
The Vestry reviewed two bids to replace the organ – one from Allen and the other from Rogers which is a new version of our existing organ. In their factory just outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Allen Organ is the last 100% American made organ manufacturer. They are one of the finest electronic organs companies in the world. Although the bids were similar – both around $125,000 – we decided on the Allen. It will be ready by the end of March. Until then, we have a loner Allen organ that was installed on Monday. When I heard it, I thought we actually had pipes in the church. The sound is amazing… and this is just the loaner.
Our mission is to bring the living Christ to those inside and outside the Church. Our new organ will plug directly into our on-line streaming system and into our soon-to-be installed outdoor speakers. This will substantially improve the sound of the organ for those outside of the church.
Starting on Veterans Day and then running every Thursday morning from 11 to noon, Dale will play an outdoor organ concert. Each week, he will offer a different theme. Stay tuned for the music calendar selections. We will offer our garden-like campus as a place of rest with uplifting music each Thursday. With Christ, all things are made new. As we bring the living Christ to others, it makes sense that we will be creating familiar tunes and ancient hymns in old and new ways.
- Fr. Dave
Lift a Cup
October 29, 2020
The theme of the discussion groups this week was happiness. The article we discussed was written by Arthur Brooks, a Harvard Business School professor, who opined that when it comes to happiness, we are measuring the wrong indicators. Typically, American household happiness is measured by how large our houses are, which have increased by 1,000 feet since the early 1970’s; disposable income in relation to how often we eat out; available and use of technology – over the past two decades the availability and use of the internet has increased from 52% of households to 90%. Yet, the General Social Society, which has been measuring social trends among Americans since 1972, shows a long-term, gradual decline in happiness – and a rise in unhappiness – from 1988 to the present. Apparently we are measuring the wrong indicators.
What is happiness to you? How would you define it? The cynic in me says that if we shrank the average size of homes, removed the internet, and ate out less, our happiness would not increase. So, what then is happiness? Is it even measurable?
Water generally makes me happy. Drinking water, boating, swimming, ice in my drink; I like water. After watching Hurricane Zeta, and the other hurricanes this year, slam into the north Gulf Coast, too much water can bring lots of unhappiness. Does happiness come down to balance? No internet would generally make me unhappy. Too much internet time would probably make me unhappy too. Probably. St. Benedict and his rule of life would say that struggle is a part of happiness. We need to labor at something, to work and struggle at something, to find happiness. Although this might blend satisfaction with happiness, there certainly is an element of struggle and balance when defining happiness.
Many find happiness in golf. At the same time, golf is a struggle. Others find happiness in tennis, which, at the same time, is a struggle. Working on a puzzle brings happiness to others but there has to be a balance – it cannot be too easy nor to difficult. The same applies to crossword puzzles and reading a good book.
The happiest moments captured in the Gospel for Jesus is when someone answered a question correctly, when he was blessing children, and, frankly, when wine was involved. Jesus gave great praise, and seemed to have a smile on his face, when wisdom was hidden from the intellectual in society but when children knew the answer. I can see the smile on his face when he said, “Let the children come to me because to these has been given the Kingdom of Heaven.” When his mother, Mary, approached Jesus at a wedding they were attending in Cana, and said, “Son, do that thing you do.” I can see Jesus smiling when he said to the servants, “Fill every pot and bucket you have with water and watch what happens.” I also think that Jesus finds happiness in surprising people. His post-resurrection appearance in the locked room, the two disciples who didn’t recognize him until he sat at a table and broke bread in front of them (and then subsequently immediately disappeared), and on the shoreline calling out to the disciples, “You haven’t caught and fish, have you.” I think he was happy in each case of surprise.
During none of these happy times was Jesus indoors, on the internet, or eating take-out food. Instead, he was involved in connections with others – through conversation and wine. Maybe he was reminding us to find happiness with each other when he lifted up the cup and said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” I think that means that we can find happiness indoors, on the internet, and ordering take-out food if we are doing it in connection with God and others. Even if that cup is on the golf course.
- Fr. Dave
The theme of the discussion groups this week was happiness. The article we discussed was written by Arthur Brooks, a Harvard Business School professor, who opined that when it comes to happiness, we are measuring the wrong indicators. Typically, American household happiness is measured by how large our houses are, which have increased by 1,000 feet since the early 1970’s; disposable income in relation to how often we eat out; available and use of technology – over the past two decades the availability and use of the internet has increased from 52% of households to 90%. Yet, the General Social Society, which has been measuring social trends among Americans since 1972, shows a long-term, gradual decline in happiness – and a rise in unhappiness – from 1988 to the present. Apparently we are measuring the wrong indicators.
What is happiness to you? How would you define it? The cynic in me says that if we shrank the average size of homes, removed the internet, and ate out less, our happiness would not increase. So, what then is happiness? Is it even measurable?
Water generally makes me happy. Drinking water, boating, swimming, ice in my drink; I like water. After watching Hurricane Zeta, and the other hurricanes this year, slam into the north Gulf Coast, too much water can bring lots of unhappiness. Does happiness come down to balance? No internet would generally make me unhappy. Too much internet time would probably make me unhappy too. Probably. St. Benedict and his rule of life would say that struggle is a part of happiness. We need to labor at something, to work and struggle at something, to find happiness. Although this might blend satisfaction with happiness, there certainly is an element of struggle and balance when defining happiness.
Many find happiness in golf. At the same time, golf is a struggle. Others find happiness in tennis, which, at the same time, is a struggle. Working on a puzzle brings happiness to others but there has to be a balance – it cannot be too easy nor to difficult. The same applies to crossword puzzles and reading a good book.
The happiest moments captured in the Gospel for Jesus is when someone answered a question correctly, when he was blessing children, and, frankly, when wine was involved. Jesus gave great praise, and seemed to have a smile on his face, when wisdom was hidden from the intellectual in society but when children knew the answer. I can see the smile on his face when he said, “Let the children come to me because to these has been given the Kingdom of Heaven.” When his mother, Mary, approached Jesus at a wedding they were attending in Cana, and said, “Son, do that thing you do.” I can see Jesus smiling when he said to the servants, “Fill every pot and bucket you have with water and watch what happens.” I also think that Jesus finds happiness in surprising people. His post-resurrection appearance in the locked room, the two disciples who didn’t recognize him until he sat at a table and broke bread in front of them (and then subsequently immediately disappeared), and on the shoreline calling out to the disciples, “You haven’t caught and fish, have you.” I think he was happy in each case of surprise.
During none of these happy times was Jesus indoors, on the internet, or eating take-out food. Instead, he was involved in connections with others – through conversation and wine. Maybe he was reminding us to find happiness with each other when he lifted up the cup and said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” I think that means that we can find happiness indoors, on the internet, and ordering take-out food if we are doing it in connection with God and others. Even if that cup is on the golf course.
- Fr. Dave
A Stole and A Hard Hat
October 22, 2020
I used to be an audio and video sales manager for a home electronics retail company that started with two stores and grew to more than 40 (before they were bought by BestBuy). I was a part of the team that opened our 7th location, it was the flagship store in a highly coveted retail area just south of Seattle. While the store was under construction, it was required that we wear hard hats.
The morning of our grand opening, our store manager held a meeting with the entire 80-person staff. He walked into the meeting wearing his hard hat. He said, “Before most of you got here, the leadership team had to wear these helmets to protect our heads from falling objects; it’s like we expected something to fall. Now that we have this brand new, shiny retail store, it would be a surprise if something fell. Although we are structurally sound, I want you to wear your hard hats, not on your heads but in your mind. I want you to be ready, and to expect, something to break or fail. I want you to expect that something will go wrong so that we can quickly come up with a work-around. This is my fifth new store and I can tell you from experience something always, always goes wrong.” Sure enough, the following week, on a very busy Saturday afternoon, we lost power to the entire point-of-sale system. We quickly pulled out the paper forms; the ones we used to say, “Can I write this up for you?”; and got back to work.
When you look at All Angels, you wouldn’t expect it to be a hard hat area; but it is. Starting the Sunday after Easter, the complexity of delivering our Sunday morning worship service has increased 5-fold. We now publish three weekly bulletins – one in print and two on-line bulletins, regular and large print. We went from having one way to worship – in person, to having these five ways to worship: drive up church on the radio, walk up church in the garden area, live-streamed church on YouTube, Zoom-in’ church, and in person. This means we should be wearing hard hats in our mind every Sunday because something might go wrong. The last two Sundays in a row, our audio cable got kicked which disabled Zoom, the outdoor speakers, and the radio. The last time, however, we got it back up and running within a minute because we were ready and expecting something not to work. In the 21st century Church, it’s like Jesus is saying, “Pick up your cross, put on your hard hat, and follow me.”
-Fr. Dave
The morning of our grand opening, our store manager held a meeting with the entire 80-person staff. He walked into the meeting wearing his hard hat. He said, “Before most of you got here, the leadership team had to wear these helmets to protect our heads from falling objects; it’s like we expected something to fall. Now that we have this brand new, shiny retail store, it would be a surprise if something fell. Although we are structurally sound, I want you to wear your hard hats, not on your heads but in your mind. I want you to be ready, and to expect, something to break or fail. I want you to expect that something will go wrong so that we can quickly come up with a work-around. This is my fifth new store and I can tell you from experience something always, always goes wrong.” Sure enough, the following week, on a very busy Saturday afternoon, we lost power to the entire point-of-sale system. We quickly pulled out the paper forms; the ones we used to say, “Can I write this up for you?”; and got back to work.
When you look at All Angels, you wouldn’t expect it to be a hard hat area; but it is. Starting the Sunday after Easter, the complexity of delivering our Sunday morning worship service has increased 5-fold. We now publish three weekly bulletins – one in print and two on-line bulletins, regular and large print. We went from having one way to worship – in person, to having these five ways to worship: drive up church on the radio, walk up church in the garden area, live-streamed church on YouTube, Zoom-in’ church, and in person. This means we should be wearing hard hats in our mind every Sunday because something might go wrong. The last two Sundays in a row, our audio cable got kicked which disabled Zoom, the outdoor speakers, and the radio. The last time, however, we got it back up and running within a minute because we were ready and expecting something not to work. In the 21st century Church, it’s like Jesus is saying, “Pick up your cross, put on your hard hat, and follow me.”
-Fr. Dave
Practicing Presence
October 15, 2020
Back in Jesus’ day, it was believed there were three planes of existence, heaven, earth, and under-earth. Like dinners plates stacked, the planes touched but there was no interaction between them. One of the early symbols of Jesus is the V shape – he was from heaven, lived on earth, went to under-earth, then back to earth, then returned to heaven. The belief came to be that through Christ, we can enter the “plate” of heaven. But, more than that, the spiritual focus of the early Church was belief that there are no plates, just the constant, daily presence of heaven/God because the Holy Spirit. Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, we can experience heaven in the here and now.
Experiencing heaven on earth gave rise to the notion of “thin places” where the plate of heaven feels closer to the plate of earth. Sometimes those thin places are church; most often, however, they are in nature. The downside to the thin-place theology is that if we feel closer to God in some places, then we don’t know of God’s presence in all places. St. Benedict believed that to be untrue; he believed we are always in a thin place with God because of the Holy Spirit. What we need to do is first recognize or believe that the presence of God is with us at all times.
Benedict wrote that the chief thing that separates us from the presence of God is the thought that we are separated from God. To practice the presence of God is to first let go of the thought that we are separated and then to trust that God is indeed present in all of life around us. The second step in practicing the presence of God is to accept the fact that we can find God’s presence in the ordinary stuff of life – in the beauty of the day, in the voice of a family member, a smile from a stranger, kindness from a neighbor, or in an opportunity that beckons us. The third part of the practice is to accept that practicing the presence of God happens gradually over time.
One person told me that she was wondering what the presence of God was doing while she was watching news on the television. It was a particularly depressing and disturbing news cycle. Fully embracing the belief that the presence of God is with her at all times, she said out loud, “Where is your presence in this!?” The immediate feeling she got back was, “Turn it off.” Feeling a bit shocked, she immediately turned off the TV. In the silence that followed, she heard the sound of the breeze coming in through her sliding door. She got up and looked outside. Unfolding in front of her was the setting sun over the gulf – the yellow hues of the sun reflecting off turquoise water framed in by red clouds and white sand. She gripped the slider door, acknowledged God in the beauty of nature, and whispered “thank you.” The thought that crossed her mind was this, “Hey, you are the one who turned off the TV.”
-Fr. Dave
Experiencing heaven on earth gave rise to the notion of “thin places” where the plate of heaven feels closer to the plate of earth. Sometimes those thin places are church; most often, however, they are in nature. The downside to the thin-place theology is that if we feel closer to God in some places, then we don’t know of God’s presence in all places. St. Benedict believed that to be untrue; he believed we are always in a thin place with God because of the Holy Spirit. What we need to do is first recognize or believe that the presence of God is with us at all times.
Benedict wrote that the chief thing that separates us from the presence of God is the thought that we are separated from God. To practice the presence of God is to first let go of the thought that we are separated and then to trust that God is indeed present in all of life around us. The second step in practicing the presence of God is to accept the fact that we can find God’s presence in the ordinary stuff of life – in the beauty of the day, in the voice of a family member, a smile from a stranger, kindness from a neighbor, or in an opportunity that beckons us. The third part of the practice is to accept that practicing the presence of God happens gradually over time.
One person told me that she was wondering what the presence of God was doing while she was watching news on the television. It was a particularly depressing and disturbing news cycle. Fully embracing the belief that the presence of God is with her at all times, she said out loud, “Where is your presence in this!?” The immediate feeling she got back was, “Turn it off.” Feeling a bit shocked, she immediately turned off the TV. In the silence that followed, she heard the sound of the breeze coming in through her sliding door. She got up and looked outside. Unfolding in front of her was the setting sun over the gulf – the yellow hues of the sun reflecting off turquoise water framed in by red clouds and white sand. She gripped the slider door, acknowledged God in the beauty of nature, and whispered “thank you.” The thought that crossed her mind was this, “Hey, you are the one who turned off the TV.”
-Fr. Dave
A Garrison of Peace
October 8, 2020
If you have seen my liturgical style, you may have noticed that I do not pray the Eucharistic prayer by memory. Some clergy recite it from memory, but, I choose not to. Some of this style has to do with being an underwriter in a corporate culture that insisted one is not to memorize the insurance policy; but rather to read it. It didn’t matter if we had read a particular section hundreds of times, we must read it when making a determination. In college, I studied a Supreme Court case that decided whether a police should read or recite the Miranda rights. The court ruled that the arresting officer must read the rights, not recite it from memory.
In seminary, we were advised to memorize two parts of the service – the absolution and the benediction. In the bulletin this Sunday, the benediction isn’t in print, it just says, “The Blessing”. I don’t memorize stuff well; in fact, some have made fun of me for not remembering the lyrics to the most common Christmas hymns. But, for the benediction, I will be just fine as long as I remember these words: the peace of God. If I can remember those words, I can recite the rest from memory – “[the peace of God] which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The words of the benediction came from Sunday’s reading — chapter 4, verse 7, of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This past Tuesday, I was reading the chapter in Greek. Normally I’d speed through the words I already know but something made me stop and look at them in verse 7. Wouldn’t you know, I saw something that I’ve never seen before. The word that stuck out for me is the verb “to keep”. The Greek word Paul used is phroureo; it means to keep, to guard, to set-a-garrison. The transliterated Greek reads this way: the peace of God which exceeds all thought set-a-garrison-around your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Upon reading that, my mind was blown. I had never imagined God’s peace setting a garrison/fortress around my heart and mind in Christ. Visually speaking, the peace of God for me had always looked like a tranquil lake, or an orange setting sun over a blue ocean, not a stone wall. In fact, when I think of the verb to-keep, I think of it in in a possessive transaction; like keeping something. But, medieval architecture shows a keep is a strong tower. Here I was thinking that God’s peace keeps-transactionally our hearts and minds in Christ. Where, in Paul’s day and time, he wrote that God’s peace sets a garrison or a strong tower to hold our hearts and minds in Christ. Now, that certainly does pass all understanding!
-Fr. Dave
In seminary, we were advised to memorize two parts of the service – the absolution and the benediction. In the bulletin this Sunday, the benediction isn’t in print, it just says, “The Blessing”. I don’t memorize stuff well; in fact, some have made fun of me for not remembering the lyrics to the most common Christmas hymns. But, for the benediction, I will be just fine as long as I remember these words: the peace of God. If I can remember those words, I can recite the rest from memory – “[the peace of God] which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The words of the benediction came from Sunday’s reading — chapter 4, verse 7, of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This past Tuesday, I was reading the chapter in Greek. Normally I’d speed through the words I already know but something made me stop and look at them in verse 7. Wouldn’t you know, I saw something that I’ve never seen before. The word that stuck out for me is the verb “to keep”. The Greek word Paul used is phroureo; it means to keep, to guard, to set-a-garrison. The transliterated Greek reads this way: the peace of God which exceeds all thought set-a-garrison-around your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Upon reading that, my mind was blown. I had never imagined God’s peace setting a garrison/fortress around my heart and mind in Christ. Visually speaking, the peace of God for me had always looked like a tranquil lake, or an orange setting sun over a blue ocean, not a stone wall. In fact, when I think of the verb to-keep, I think of it in in a possessive transaction; like keeping something. But, medieval architecture shows a keep is a strong tower. Here I was thinking that God’s peace keeps-transactionally our hearts and minds in Christ. Where, in Paul’s day and time, he wrote that God’s peace sets a garrison or a strong tower to hold our hearts and minds in Christ. Now, that certainly does pass all understanding!
-Fr. Dave
Replate! Replate!
October 1, 2020
My friend Tim, after finding out that All Angels needed to have our chalices replated, wrote this joke:
A pastor had two chalices that were in need of refinishing — the silver lining had worn away after years of wear. He found a business that did such things and decided to try them out with one of the chalices and if it worked out okay he would take in the second one. But it turned out the owner of the business was a crook and instead of using silver, he used tin. Upon picking up the poorly refinished chalice, the pastor said to him, “Replate, replate, and tin no more.”
One hallmark of seminary training is field education – doing hands on service at various churches in the area and then reflecting about our experience each week in class. Many of the parishes near the seminary pride themselves on being training churches. There are some, however, that are not used to, nor inclined to, be a teaching parish. I’ll call one such church Smokey Steve’s – an anglo-catholic parish that uses a lot of incense. A friend of mine shared her experience serving at Smokey’s. It was her first time serving with the chalice. Half way through the administration of the cup, the altar guild director reprimanded her by the altar and said she is, “Wiping the chalice wrong” and that she will “wear out the chalice.” When my friend retold this story in class, our professor became indignant. She said, “We SHOULD be wearing out our chalices. What good news: the Episcopal Church actually wore out a chalice from using it too much! Hallelujah!”
My professor would be pleased with All Angels. We have worn out both of our chalices. By some divine design, it happened at the same time. And, it happened during a global pandemic when we are offering only the bread and therefore not using the chalices. What a perfect time to have them replated. Hallelujah!
I am thankful for many things including the fact that we have actually used our chalices enough to wear them out, that we have so many generous parishioners that we have the funds to replate immediately without financial constraint, and, I am thankful that we are passing refinished chalices to the next generation so that they can wear them out too. Hallelujah indeed!
-Fr. Dave
A pastor had two chalices that were in need of refinishing — the silver lining had worn away after years of wear. He found a business that did such things and decided to try them out with one of the chalices and if it worked out okay he would take in the second one. But it turned out the owner of the business was a crook and instead of using silver, he used tin. Upon picking up the poorly refinished chalice, the pastor said to him, “Replate, replate, and tin no more.”
One hallmark of seminary training is field education – doing hands on service at various churches in the area and then reflecting about our experience each week in class. Many of the parishes near the seminary pride themselves on being training churches. There are some, however, that are not used to, nor inclined to, be a teaching parish. I’ll call one such church Smokey Steve’s – an anglo-catholic parish that uses a lot of incense. A friend of mine shared her experience serving at Smokey’s. It was her first time serving with the chalice. Half way through the administration of the cup, the altar guild director reprimanded her by the altar and said she is, “Wiping the chalice wrong” and that she will “wear out the chalice.” When my friend retold this story in class, our professor became indignant. She said, “We SHOULD be wearing out our chalices. What good news: the Episcopal Church actually wore out a chalice from using it too much! Hallelujah!”
My professor would be pleased with All Angels. We have worn out both of our chalices. By some divine design, it happened at the same time. And, it happened during a global pandemic when we are offering only the bread and therefore not using the chalices. What a perfect time to have them replated. Hallelujah!
I am thankful for many things including the fact that we have actually used our chalices enough to wear them out, that we have so many generous parishioners that we have the funds to replate immediately without financial constraint, and, I am thankful that we are passing refinished chalices to the next generation so that they can wear them out too. Hallelujah indeed!
-Fr. Dave
Praying the Psalms
September 24, 2020
I’ve been asked who is writing the prayers of the people for Sunday – it’s me. Several events have converged to make this happen. In order to limit exposure and spreading of the virus, we have not rotated our Sunday servers. Our prayer leaders, Rev. Maggie, 10 am, and Alison Jones, 8 am, have been leading us in in prayer for long enough that I have become familiar with how they pray out loud. This has allowed me to shape the prayers with their voice in mind. Because of the upside-down-ness of 2020, prayers are both paramount and a source of great comfort. Doing the same-ol’-same-ol’ prayers didn’t seem to fit the urgency and uniqueness our time. Thankfully the prayer book allows for, and in many ways encourages, prayers to be written and said during the peak of the liturgy of the word.
The Lutheran Coalition for Renewal provides scripture-based prayers each week that follow the lectionary readings. I use them as a resource. The last few weeks, however, I have taken it one step further; we are now praying the psalms. Elijah’s Bible class at Bradenton Christian School is studying the psalms which includes having students write their own. The 5th grade materials show the five categories of psalms. In seminary, we learned the seven psalmic categories in four forms. Yet, at 8 pm, on the night before the assignment was due, both child and parent were tired. I said, “Look, this is how I see the psalms – they say either ‘thanks’, ‘wow’, or ‘help’. Which prayer do you want to write today?” His answer: “Thanks.” That event was the inspiration for praying the psalms with our Sunday prayers.
There are lots of books on how to pray the psalms. Here’s the Marshall version – read a line of the psalm and then say to God what it means to you, right here, right now. For example, Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd,” says to me right now that God is guiding me. As such, my prayer is, “Thank you Lord, I have no want nor worry because you are my shepherd.” If you were to literally open the Bible to the Book of Psalms – it is easy to find because it is right in the middle of the book – read any line, think about what it means to you right now, and say that to God, then you are praying the psalms.
Last week, we had this prayer:
One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your power.
Make the Church a place where all may find shelter in Jesus’ widespread arms; grow in faith and joy, and labor fruitfully to his glory and for the benefit of others.
I wrote it because when I read Psalm 145, verse 4 – one generation shall praise your works to another – I thought of the Church.
This Sunday’s psalm, 103, has to do with angels. As such, each prayer begins with a verse from the psalm and has something to pray about with angels in our midst. In that sense, the voice of Alison and Rev. Maggie will carry the voice of the angels to our ears and from our hearts to God on the wings of angels.
-Fr. Dave
The Lutheran Coalition for Renewal provides scripture-based prayers each week that follow the lectionary readings. I use them as a resource. The last few weeks, however, I have taken it one step further; we are now praying the psalms. Elijah’s Bible class at Bradenton Christian School is studying the psalms which includes having students write their own. The 5th grade materials show the five categories of psalms. In seminary, we learned the seven psalmic categories in four forms. Yet, at 8 pm, on the night before the assignment was due, both child and parent were tired. I said, “Look, this is how I see the psalms – they say either ‘thanks’, ‘wow’, or ‘help’. Which prayer do you want to write today?” His answer: “Thanks.” That event was the inspiration for praying the psalms with our Sunday prayers.
There are lots of books on how to pray the psalms. Here’s the Marshall version – read a line of the psalm and then say to God what it means to you, right here, right now. For example, Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd,” says to me right now that God is guiding me. As such, my prayer is, “Thank you Lord, I have no want nor worry because you are my shepherd.” If you were to literally open the Bible to the Book of Psalms – it is easy to find because it is right in the middle of the book – read any line, think about what it means to you right now, and say that to God, then you are praying the psalms.
Last week, we had this prayer:
One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your power.
Make the Church a place where all may find shelter in Jesus’ widespread arms; grow in faith and joy, and labor fruitfully to his glory and for the benefit of others.
I wrote it because when I read Psalm 145, verse 4 – one generation shall praise your works to another – I thought of the Church.
This Sunday’s psalm, 103, has to do with angels. As such, each prayer begins with a verse from the psalm and has something to pray about with angels in our midst. In that sense, the voice of Alison and Rev. Maggie will carry the voice of the angels to our ears and from our hearts to God on the wings of angels.
-Fr. Dave
Code Enforcement
September 17, 2020
I found myself at a boat ramp on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Maybe it was curiosity, or a rite of passage, or maybe it was a break in the thunder and rain that made me want to take the boat out; regardless of the reason, and despite the stories of Florida boat ramps, I decided to launch the boat on the busiest weekend of the year. We put our boat, Epifinny, in at the south ramp of Coquina Beach, near the Longboat Pass Bridge. Designed to launch two boats at the same time, with a dock on the left and right side, that morning, many boaters decided to launch straight down the middle. The via-media side of me appreciated their middle of the road approach. Nevertheless, it did cause a backup. We were the third boat in line to launch, which, in retrospect, was a good way to watch how others performed the tricky maneuver of reversing a boat and trailer into saltwater. Getting the boat out of the water was a different matter entirely.
The boys and I planned on being home for lunch. I figured that the boat ramp would be full by mid-morning so that very few would use it at noon. Unfortunately, that was not the case; I was the fifth trailer in line at noon. By the time I was on deck, as it were, the ramp was nearing the intersection of chaos and anarchy. Fortunately, the Code Enforcement officers rolled in. Driving a golf cart that remembered to eat Wheaties in the morning, three officers started barking directions to drivers and boaters before their feet touched the ground. It was a welcome sight.
The boat owner in front of me had just launched his Sea-Doo jet ski and drove off to park the trailer. Unfortunately, his watercraft was blocking the ramp. The code enforcement officer told me to drive into the launching lane and wait for them to tell me when to go. I did as I was told. With the jet ski still in the water, the officer motioned for me to reverse in. With my empty trailer, it was easy to see where the vessel was so I started backing until the wheels were almost in the water. The officer motioned for me to stop and then joked, “Hey, if this guy doesn’t come back, do you want a jet ski?” The owner came back and, seeing the scene, hurried to his personal watercraft. All three officers were watching him with their arms folded over their chests. To lighten the mood, I asked the officer nearest to me, “Are you putting money on whether the jet ski starts?” The officer replied with a smirk, “Nah, it’s not going to start. The key is in but he forgot about the kill switch.” After several attempts, and some swear words from the operator aimed at his passenger, the officer unfolded his arms, walked over and said, “Listen brother, you gotta...” And then it fired up. Shortly thereafter, my boys and I were at home eating lunch.
I believe in angels. After watching the Code Enforcement officers, it makes me wonder if angels watch us in the same way – speaking only when having too, and, being a presence of calm when frustration takes over. According to the City Bradenton Beach, their CE officers have the difficult assignment of balancing the general public’s welfare with the rights of individual owners and operators. It must be a thankless job; as such, I sent them a note of thanks for their help on Labor Day weekend. Come to think of it, I should probably thank my guardian angel too.
-Fr. Dave
The boys and I planned on being home for lunch. I figured that the boat ramp would be full by mid-morning so that very few would use it at noon. Unfortunately, that was not the case; I was the fifth trailer in line at noon. By the time I was on deck, as it were, the ramp was nearing the intersection of chaos and anarchy. Fortunately, the Code Enforcement officers rolled in. Driving a golf cart that remembered to eat Wheaties in the morning, three officers started barking directions to drivers and boaters before their feet touched the ground. It was a welcome sight.
The boat owner in front of me had just launched his Sea-Doo jet ski and drove off to park the trailer. Unfortunately, his watercraft was blocking the ramp. The code enforcement officer told me to drive into the launching lane and wait for them to tell me when to go. I did as I was told. With the jet ski still in the water, the officer motioned for me to reverse in. With my empty trailer, it was easy to see where the vessel was so I started backing until the wheels were almost in the water. The officer motioned for me to stop and then joked, “Hey, if this guy doesn’t come back, do you want a jet ski?” The owner came back and, seeing the scene, hurried to his personal watercraft. All three officers were watching him with their arms folded over their chests. To lighten the mood, I asked the officer nearest to me, “Are you putting money on whether the jet ski starts?” The officer replied with a smirk, “Nah, it’s not going to start. The key is in but he forgot about the kill switch.” After several attempts, and some swear words from the operator aimed at his passenger, the officer unfolded his arms, walked over and said, “Listen brother, you gotta...” And then it fired up. Shortly thereafter, my boys and I were at home eating lunch.
I believe in angels. After watching the Code Enforcement officers, it makes me wonder if angels watch us in the same way – speaking only when having too, and, being a presence of calm when frustration takes over. According to the City Bradenton Beach, their CE officers have the difficult assignment of balancing the general public’s welfare with the rights of individual owners and operators. It must be a thankless job; as such, I sent them a note of thanks for their help on Labor Day weekend. Come to think of it, I should probably thank my guardian angel too.
-Fr. Dave
The Church's One Foundation
September 10, 2020
I recently received an email of a local house listing from a friend, Tim, in North Idaho. Here is the description: A floating wedding chapel has been transformed into a luxury houseboat and is on the market for $400,000. The unique two-bedroom property is currently docked on the Manatee River in Palmetto, Florida. The vessel was formerly a wedding venue known as Chapel On The Bay but now it can be your dream home.
Just think of the possibilities of a floating church – it is a rectory, a portable office, a commuter car during the busy season, a vessel of outreach, a blessing barge and ark wedding center. I could skipper it to the annual Diocesan convention held in Port Charlotte which just happens to have a dock. In fact, I could even dock at DaySpring Camp and Conference Center, located conveniently on the Manatee River, for clergy conference or when I have a meeting with the bishop. In fact, I could have him over for lunch and a swim. How about a Bible study with lessons on walking on water or casting nets on the other side of the boat. I could hang a sign on the side of the church/boat that says, “Get your fishing license blessed here.”
There is a famous church hymn that begins with, “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by water and the word.” If I could take “by water” literally, it would make sense to have a floating church. Speaking of the foundation, the church-houseboat is 33 tons and sits upon a 30’x60’ fiberglass catamaran hull. A dual hull design is similar to the dual nature of Christ, right? She is powered by two Cummins diesel engines for a max speed of 6 knots (just about 7 mph – a holy number). I can imagine that instead of a baptismal font, there would be a baptismal water slide. We could even install holy water cannons to bless unsuspecting boaters at local sandbars. The last thing I have to say about this is if All Angels by the Sea wanted to have a satellite campus, a boat would make sense. Her name would be, of course, All Angels on the Sea.
For as much fun as it would be to tie up to Plymouth Harbor in a floating chapel, it does sound a little dinghy. In all seriousness, we have a church with a strong foundation, Christ is the chief cornerstone. We are fellow travelers on this journey through life. We don’t need a floating church because Christ goes with us wherever we are – on land and on water. But, holy water cannons do sound fun.
-Fr. Dave
Just think of the possibilities of a floating church – it is a rectory, a portable office, a commuter car during the busy season, a vessel of outreach, a blessing barge and ark wedding center. I could skipper it to the annual Diocesan convention held in Port Charlotte which just happens to have a dock. In fact, I could even dock at DaySpring Camp and Conference Center, located conveniently on the Manatee River, for clergy conference or when I have a meeting with the bishop. In fact, I could have him over for lunch and a swim. How about a Bible study with lessons on walking on water or casting nets on the other side of the boat. I could hang a sign on the side of the church/boat that says, “Get your fishing license blessed here.”
There is a famous church hymn that begins with, “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by water and the word.” If I could take “by water” literally, it would make sense to have a floating church. Speaking of the foundation, the church-houseboat is 33 tons and sits upon a 30’x60’ fiberglass catamaran hull. A dual hull design is similar to the dual nature of Christ, right? She is powered by two Cummins diesel engines for a max speed of 6 knots (just about 7 mph – a holy number). I can imagine that instead of a baptismal font, there would be a baptismal water slide. We could even install holy water cannons to bless unsuspecting boaters at local sandbars. The last thing I have to say about this is if All Angels by the Sea wanted to have a satellite campus, a boat would make sense. Her name would be, of course, All Angels on the Sea.
For as much fun as it would be to tie up to Plymouth Harbor in a floating chapel, it does sound a little dinghy. In all seriousness, we have a church with a strong foundation, Christ is the chief cornerstone. We are fellow travelers on this journey through life. We don’t need a floating church because Christ goes with us wherever we are – on land and on water. But, holy water cannons do sound fun.
-Fr. Dave
Virtually Blessing Pets
September 3, 2020
I sat near the sidewalk along Bay Isles Road on October 3, 2019 and blessed pets as they walked by. Several folks stopped by to ask what in the world I was doing. “Blessing pets,” I’d reply.
A volunteer at the Temple heard my answer and asked, “Why?” I explained, “The Episcopal Church blesses all sorts of things – cars, bikes, glasses, jewelry, relationships, businesses, boats, churches, houses, driver’s licenses; really, anything you can think of we bless; so, why not pets?” In reality, we didn’t start it. St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was known to have great love for animals and the environment. Every year around the anniversary of his death, October 4th, it is traditional to bless animals as a reminder of the love that God has given us through these special creatures and, we take time to reflect on our roles of stewards of God’s creation. My question for this year is how are we to bless animals during a pandemic?
This past week, our discussion groups tackled the topic of uncertainty. One thing we are certain of is that uncertainty can be a catalyst of innovation and creativity. I was reminded of that fact when I found myself researching and then adjusting the bit rate of our main church camera from 5,280 bps to 2,500 to match YouTube’s new encoding and metadata protocol. For those watching YouTube on Sunday, you undoubted noticed that about halfway through the service the video paused/buffered. Unfortunately, the audio didn’t buffer which resulted in the audio signal being 40 seconds ahead of the video. It’s been fixed and I never imagined I’d know how to do it. For the other complications, we had a visit from our a/v installation company. Like a car tune-up, our system is now running better than before. During the pandemic, YouTube, Zoom, and every other organization in the modern world has had to make adjustments. By comparison, in St. Francis’ life, he saw the invention of the blast furnace and wheelbarrow. Can you imagine a world without a wheelbarrow? My kids ask the same question about the internet.
Back to the question – how to bless pets during a pandemic – we believe that when two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, he will be with us. I believe that gathering in Christ’s name can happen both in person and on-line. Fred and Diane in Maine and Linda in southern California are gathered in Christ’s name through All Angels and the help of the internet. Is Christ with them even if they are not gathered under one roof? I believe so. After all, God’s roof is much bigger than we can imagine. Likewise, with blessings of pets, do my hands need to touch each pet? Of course not. St. Francis blessed birds, yet he did not touch them. Were they blessed? I believe so because it’s God who does the blessing.
Here is what I am thinking about pet blessing:
May God bless us as we strive to bring his love and mercy to those inside and outside the church.
- Fr. Dave
A volunteer at the Temple heard my answer and asked, “Why?” I explained, “The Episcopal Church blesses all sorts of things – cars, bikes, glasses, jewelry, relationships, businesses, boats, churches, houses, driver’s licenses; really, anything you can think of we bless; so, why not pets?” In reality, we didn’t start it. St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was known to have great love for animals and the environment. Every year around the anniversary of his death, October 4th, it is traditional to bless animals as a reminder of the love that God has given us through these special creatures and, we take time to reflect on our roles of stewards of God’s creation. My question for this year is how are we to bless animals during a pandemic?
This past week, our discussion groups tackled the topic of uncertainty. One thing we are certain of is that uncertainty can be a catalyst of innovation and creativity. I was reminded of that fact when I found myself researching and then adjusting the bit rate of our main church camera from 5,280 bps to 2,500 to match YouTube’s new encoding and metadata protocol. For those watching YouTube on Sunday, you undoubted noticed that about halfway through the service the video paused/buffered. Unfortunately, the audio didn’t buffer which resulted in the audio signal being 40 seconds ahead of the video. It’s been fixed and I never imagined I’d know how to do it. For the other complications, we had a visit from our a/v installation company. Like a car tune-up, our system is now running better than before. During the pandemic, YouTube, Zoom, and every other organization in the modern world has had to make adjustments. By comparison, in St. Francis’ life, he saw the invention of the blast furnace and wheelbarrow. Can you imagine a world without a wheelbarrow? My kids ask the same question about the internet.
Back to the question – how to bless pets during a pandemic – we believe that when two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, he will be with us. I believe that gathering in Christ’s name can happen both in person and on-line. Fred and Diane in Maine and Linda in southern California are gathered in Christ’s name through All Angels and the help of the internet. Is Christ with them even if they are not gathered under one roof? I believe so. After all, God’s roof is much bigger than we can imagine. Likewise, with blessings of pets, do my hands need to touch each pet? Of course not. St. Francis blessed birds, yet he did not touch them. Were they blessed? I believe so because it’s God who does the blessing.
Here is what I am thinking about pet blessing:
- Bring your pets, in person, Thursday October 1,
at 2 pm in front of the bell tower. - Gather your pets on-line, Sunday October 4, at 10 am on either YouTube or Zoom.
- Bring your pets to either Walk-up or Drive-in Church, Sunday, October 4, at the 10 service.
May God bless us as we strive to bring his love and mercy to those inside and outside the church.
- Fr. Dave
Cautionary Practices
August 27, 2020
A group of concerned citizens convinced the Manatee County Commission to modify its mask mandate to exempt churches effective immediately. Although I have some strong feelings on this exemption, it does not affect All Angels for many reasons – first and foremost, we’re in Sarasota County (Longboat Key is oddly in both counties), the city has a mask mandate and the Bishop has said each rector and Vestry should continue in cautionary practices.
We are dealing with a contagious airborne virus that is often spread by non-symptomatic people. Most of the congregation would self-identify as being in a high risk category. Just because Manatee County is reporting a 4% infection rate doesn’t mean we are in the clear. Speaking of infection rates, Longboat Key has gone weeks without a new reported case. Despite that success, the city commissioners have wisely, in my opinion, decided to continue with the cautionary practices that have kept the infection rate at or near zero.
There is an interesting case from a Starbucks in South Korea. An unmasked, asymptomatic customer enjoyed her drink while sitting underneath a blowing a/c vent. She infected 27 people in the establishment. Contact tracing has shown those 27 have infected 36 more, so far. The customer and the 27 people most likely had masks but were not wearing them because they were eating and drinking. Yet, the four Starbucks employees who wore masks did not become infected. Epidemiologists have shown masks significantly reduce the chance of asymptomatic spread; this particular case, however, shows how non-N95 masks can even hold back the virus from the wearer. It seems as if wearing a mask helps your neighbor and yourself.
Manatee County Commission said there has been no evidence of virus transmission stemming from church participation in the county… thus, masks are not required. Unfortunately, evidence suggests otherwise; churches around the country have experienced blooming transmission from unmasked church participation. It raises the question for me that perhaps no Manatee County church transmission has occurred because masks are required. I get little comfort knowing that epidemiologists in the future will study what happens here.
The group of concerned citizens against wearing masks in church said that it was governmental overreach, prohibited free worship, and, if the government could dictate what they could wear, perhaps the government could limit the number of people who can attend. This author would like to point out that those clauses – clothing and maximum number in a building – currently exist. Also in existence is the fact that mask or no mask I still cannot visit parishioners at Sarasota Memorial Hospital or Plymouth Harbor. To our brothers and sisters of the faith in Manatee County, we are all members of one body. The Apostle Paul writes that we need to weep with those who weep and celebrate with those who celebrate. I think he’d also write that we need to wear masks for those who medically cannot wear them and for those who are at the most risk. Perhaps the best expression of free worship is this: to voluntarily practice cautionary practices, like wearing a face covering, to help others.
- Fr. Dave
We are dealing with a contagious airborne virus that is often spread by non-symptomatic people. Most of the congregation would self-identify as being in a high risk category. Just because Manatee County is reporting a 4% infection rate doesn’t mean we are in the clear. Speaking of infection rates, Longboat Key has gone weeks without a new reported case. Despite that success, the city commissioners have wisely, in my opinion, decided to continue with the cautionary practices that have kept the infection rate at or near zero.
There is an interesting case from a Starbucks in South Korea. An unmasked, asymptomatic customer enjoyed her drink while sitting underneath a blowing a/c vent. She infected 27 people in the establishment. Contact tracing has shown those 27 have infected 36 more, so far. The customer and the 27 people most likely had masks but were not wearing them because they were eating and drinking. Yet, the four Starbucks employees who wore masks did not become infected. Epidemiologists have shown masks significantly reduce the chance of asymptomatic spread; this particular case, however, shows how non-N95 masks can even hold back the virus from the wearer. It seems as if wearing a mask helps your neighbor and yourself.
Manatee County Commission said there has been no evidence of virus transmission stemming from church participation in the county… thus, masks are not required. Unfortunately, evidence suggests otherwise; churches around the country have experienced blooming transmission from unmasked church participation. It raises the question for me that perhaps no Manatee County church transmission has occurred because masks are required. I get little comfort knowing that epidemiologists in the future will study what happens here.
The group of concerned citizens against wearing masks in church said that it was governmental overreach, prohibited free worship, and, if the government could dictate what they could wear, perhaps the government could limit the number of people who can attend. This author would like to point out that those clauses – clothing and maximum number in a building – currently exist. Also in existence is the fact that mask or no mask I still cannot visit parishioners at Sarasota Memorial Hospital or Plymouth Harbor. To our brothers and sisters of the faith in Manatee County, we are all members of one body. The Apostle Paul writes that we need to weep with those who weep and celebrate with those who celebrate. I think he’d also write that we need to wear masks for those who medically cannot wear them and for those who are at the most risk. Perhaps the best expression of free worship is this: to voluntarily practice cautionary practices, like wearing a face covering, to help others.
- Fr. Dave
The Garden
August 20, 2020
All Angels has a splendid group of gardeners who are willing to lend their talents to beautify our campus. From our hanging orchids to the memorial garden to the walking path through the park-like setting where people come and rest, we have a wonderful, angel-filled grounds.
Anglican tradition believes God is revealed in Scripture, in nature, and reason. Using that our theological tradition, I’d like to introduce you one of our more recent plants. Pictured here is a plant that was on the back side of the church in a spot where it wasn’t growing well. The blue vase was in the angel fountain entrance but has been relocated while we imagine a new, more accessible entrance. One of our angel gardeners took the opportunity and transplanted both the plant and the vase so now it is on display on the walking path toward the church entrance. One thing gardeners do is transplant; they take a plant, replant it, and it usually thrives. In a theological sense, so does God.
We have been given a garden and plants as well as memory/reason/skill. We are called to use all of those for the growth of God’s garden-gift. Just like a gardener who sees a plant not doing so well in one environment and moves it to a better place, the Holy Spirit, who is The Master Gardener, also transplants us and helps us grow. I was reminded of this the last time I was out on our boat. Elijah drove the boat for the entire outing except for launching it and putting it back on the trailer. Elijah has been transplanted from the San Diego area where he used to ride his bike around the lake by our house. Nowadays in Florida, he is driving a boat around the bay. I think God saw in him something more than a bike rider.
Thinking about the congregation of All Angels, I’d have to say we are all transplants. We have been plucked up from somewhere and established here. Some of our congregation transplants every year – from Florida to the north and then back to Florida again. Yet, whether a parishioner is a year-rounder or a seasonal resident, there is God-given growth in the transplant.
I give thanks to God who has given us a garden and the ability to care for it. I also give thanks to God, The Master Gardener, who transplants and provides for growth.
- Fr. Dave
Anglican tradition believes God is revealed in Scripture, in nature, and reason. Using that our theological tradition, I’d like to introduce you one of our more recent plants. Pictured here is a plant that was on the back side of the church in a spot where it wasn’t growing well. The blue vase was in the angel fountain entrance but has been relocated while we imagine a new, more accessible entrance. One of our angel gardeners took the opportunity and transplanted both the plant and the vase so now it is on display on the walking path toward the church entrance. One thing gardeners do is transplant; they take a plant, replant it, and it usually thrives. In a theological sense, so does God.
We have been given a garden and plants as well as memory/reason/skill. We are called to use all of those for the growth of God’s garden-gift. Just like a gardener who sees a plant not doing so well in one environment and moves it to a better place, the Holy Spirit, who is The Master Gardener, also transplants us and helps us grow. I was reminded of this the last time I was out on our boat. Elijah drove the boat for the entire outing except for launching it and putting it back on the trailer. Elijah has been transplanted from the San Diego area where he used to ride his bike around the lake by our house. Nowadays in Florida, he is driving a boat around the bay. I think God saw in him something more than a bike rider.
Thinking about the congregation of All Angels, I’d have to say we are all transplants. We have been plucked up from somewhere and established here. Some of our congregation transplants every year – from Florida to the north and then back to Florida again. Yet, whether a parishioner is a year-rounder or a seasonal resident, there is God-given growth in the transplant.
I give thanks to God who has given us a garden and the ability to care for it. I also give thanks to God, The Master Gardener, who transplants and provides for growth.
- Fr. Dave
DVR
August 13, 2020
It’s not often I get to say the words, “Fixed it.” My vocation is an on-going mission and ministry, and, like teaching, or management, or accounting, it doesn’t have a lot of moments where I can sit back and say it is fixed, or done, or completed. Jesus’ last words on the cross, “It is finished,” are important because ministerial life is often just the opposite. My wife’s side of the family includes fire fighters and vineyard owners. Although they can finish a season, both occupations always seem to be on call. My clergy mentor and friend, Brian Prior, would mow the lawn of his church perhaps for the sole reason of seeing something completed at church.
About six years ago, we cut-the-cord from cable and bought an over-the-air DVR and digital antenna. It had an expensive, upfront cost, but the past six years have been free television heaven. While we miss watching HGTV and cable news networks, the exchange – paying nothing – has definitely made it worth it. On Monday, however, our digital video recorder stopped working. The recording part of the DVR is on a hard drive identical to the one used in computers and laptops; and it just failed. On the DVR were 40 Nova programs, 32 Nature on PBS, 4 Father Brown episodes, a bunch of cooking shows and other things we enjoy watching. In an attempt to get the DVR to work, I had to reboot it which erased everything. But alas, unlike Fr. Brown solving another murder mystery, this ended unfinished and justice was not served.
After spending a little time on-line finding out what others have done, I bought a 2 terabyte external hard drive, plugged it into the DVR, rebooted, and… viola, it worked! While our past recorded shows are gone, we can now begin recording again to our heart’s desire. This new drive can store four-times what our old one could. In a year from now, we’re going to have a Rick Steves’ Europe binge watch! And, in addition to being able to record again, this project has allowed me to say the words, “fixed it.”
I wondered if this is how a surgeon feels after completing a surgery? And yes, I do know there is a difference between fixing a broken hard drive and replacing a heart valve. But is the satisfaction the same? I have yet to find a surgeon who has replaced a hard drive, and likewise, an IT tech who has replaced a heart valve, so I can only guess that the answer is yes.
After Jesus fed the 5,000, was there a point when he sat back in the grass and watched the people eat, and said to himself, “Fixed it.” I hope so. On the 7th day of creation, when God sat back and rested, was the satisfaction the same as a potter who completes an entire dining set? Again, I hope so. I wonder what it was like to eradicate polio. I imagine that satisfaction must be better than heart surgery or home repairs. Will there be a time in human history when the Covid-19 virus is eradicated that we will get to sit back with unmasked mouths and say, “Fixed it.” I sure hope so.
About six years ago, we cut-the-cord from cable and bought an over-the-air DVR and digital antenna. It had an expensive, upfront cost, but the past six years have been free television heaven. While we miss watching HGTV and cable news networks, the exchange – paying nothing – has definitely made it worth it. On Monday, however, our digital video recorder stopped working. The recording part of the DVR is on a hard drive identical to the one used in computers and laptops; and it just failed. On the DVR were 40 Nova programs, 32 Nature on PBS, 4 Father Brown episodes, a bunch of cooking shows and other things we enjoy watching. In an attempt to get the DVR to work, I had to reboot it which erased everything. But alas, unlike Fr. Brown solving another murder mystery, this ended unfinished and justice was not served.
After spending a little time on-line finding out what others have done, I bought a 2 terabyte external hard drive, plugged it into the DVR, rebooted, and… viola, it worked! While our past recorded shows are gone, we can now begin recording again to our heart’s desire. This new drive can store four-times what our old one could. In a year from now, we’re going to have a Rick Steves’ Europe binge watch! And, in addition to being able to record again, this project has allowed me to say the words, “fixed it.”
I wondered if this is how a surgeon feels after completing a surgery? And yes, I do know there is a difference between fixing a broken hard drive and replacing a heart valve. But is the satisfaction the same? I have yet to find a surgeon who has replaced a hard drive, and likewise, an IT tech who has replaced a heart valve, so I can only guess that the answer is yes.
After Jesus fed the 5,000, was there a point when he sat back in the grass and watched the people eat, and said to himself, “Fixed it.” I hope so. On the 7th day of creation, when God sat back and rested, was the satisfaction the same as a potter who completes an entire dining set? Again, I hope so. I wonder what it was like to eradicate polio. I imagine that satisfaction must be better than heart surgery or home repairs. Will there be a time in human history when the Covid-19 virus is eradicated that we will get to sit back with unmasked mouths and say, “Fixed it.” I sure hope so.
Kəˈmyo͞onyən
August 6, 2020
After a long, pandemic-driven hiatus, Holy Communion is being offered again at All Angels. The hiatus came from this question: How do we share in communion but breathe different air? It is inherently difficult to answer because the sacrament says we are one body because we share one bread and one cup. … just not the same air?
The solution required some retooling of the service itself. In an environment where we are required to wear masks indoors, I couldn’t understand how we were to receive the bread with masks on. To make matters more difficult, some of the communicable airborne disease material I read indicated that one should spend the least amount of time possible sharing indoor air. Since we are unable to create an indoor environment like in commercial airliner or ICU where the air is recycled seven times per minute, I came up with a 45-minute Morning Prayer service. Since communion adds twenty minutes to the service; I had to go back to the basics. Here are the requirements for Holy Communion: proclamation of the Gospel, the Lord’s Prayer, the saying of the Nicene Creed (on Sundays), and the Eucharistic prayer. With the help of our worship team, we came up with a Holy Communion service, with music, that goes just over 50 minutes. However, we still had the eat-while-wearing-a-mask problem.
This might sound strange, but I had a dream of administering communion next to a baptismal font. The church in my dreams is always the same – ancient, wooden with tall ceilings, and overflowing with people. Although it is not any church I have ever physically seen, the important part is that in my dream I was giving out communion standing next to the baptismal font. During the day, something triggered a memory of my dream and that’s when it hit me, I need to administer communion next to our baptismal font; which, in our awesome church, is outside.
One unique aspect of All Angels is that our baptismal font is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone can visit at any time. Every other baptismal font I have seen is locked inside a church. Ours is exactly the opposite and is much more representative of the river Jesus was baptized in – outside, in nature, fed by rain water, with leaves, and God’s creatures all around it which includes the black snake that lives in the garden – that’s not figurative, we actually have a friendly black snake which I believe keeps away poisonous snakes and rodents. Anyway, the point is, where others have been baptized, we now receive the Body of Christ. Communicants are invited to take and then eat somewhere on campus in their own individual outdoor air.
Unofficially speaking, the other requirement of Holy Communion is fellowship. That unofficial but important part of communion we will be working on next. Perhaps it’ll take another dream to see the answer that is right in front of me.
- Fr. Dave
The solution required some retooling of the service itself. In an environment where we are required to wear masks indoors, I couldn’t understand how we were to receive the bread with masks on. To make matters more difficult, some of the communicable airborne disease material I read indicated that one should spend the least amount of time possible sharing indoor air. Since we are unable to create an indoor environment like in commercial airliner or ICU where the air is recycled seven times per minute, I came up with a 45-minute Morning Prayer service. Since communion adds twenty minutes to the service; I had to go back to the basics. Here are the requirements for Holy Communion: proclamation of the Gospel, the Lord’s Prayer, the saying of the Nicene Creed (on Sundays), and the Eucharistic prayer. With the help of our worship team, we came up with a Holy Communion service, with music, that goes just over 50 minutes. However, we still had the eat-while-wearing-a-mask problem.
This might sound strange, but I had a dream of administering communion next to a baptismal font. The church in my dreams is always the same – ancient, wooden with tall ceilings, and overflowing with people. Although it is not any church I have ever physically seen, the important part is that in my dream I was giving out communion standing next to the baptismal font. During the day, something triggered a memory of my dream and that’s when it hit me, I need to administer communion next to our baptismal font; which, in our awesome church, is outside.
One unique aspect of All Angels is that our baptismal font is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone can visit at any time. Every other baptismal font I have seen is locked inside a church. Ours is exactly the opposite and is much more representative of the river Jesus was baptized in – outside, in nature, fed by rain water, with leaves, and God’s creatures all around it which includes the black snake that lives in the garden – that’s not figurative, we actually have a friendly black snake which I believe keeps away poisonous snakes and rodents. Anyway, the point is, where others have been baptized, we now receive the Body of Christ. Communicants are invited to take and then eat somewhere on campus in their own individual outdoor air.
Unofficially speaking, the other requirement of Holy Communion is fellowship. That unofficial but important part of communion we will be working on next. Perhaps it’ll take another dream to see the answer that is right in front of me.
- Fr. Dave
Cone of Uncertainty
July 30, 2020
Reporting on Tropical Storm Isaias, The Tampa Bay Times said that our region has entered the “cone of uncertainty” – the yellow cone that depicts the probable track of any given storm. To most Floridians, the cone of uncertainty means this: It is time to check on supplies for a hurricane, to prepare the exterior of homes and businesses, and to go on with life as normal.
At All Angels, we had a two-month head start on the cone of uncertainty. In June, our maintenance committee made sure all branches were trimmed back from the buildings and that any dead limbs that could turn into projectiles were removed. This morning, on a property walk with Ed and Bob; junior and senior warden; all we had to do was move our flower pots inside and take down the beautiful hanging pots from the trees.
On the home front, tomorrow I will do a property walk to make sure that all things around the house are ready. I think our cat, Oscar, is making hurricane preparations too. Starting about a month ago, he started bringing in various creatures to the house – salamanders, lizards, and a snake. Much to our displeasure, he has brought in three bunnies during the past week; the second one he brought in (which may have been the same bunny as the first) either had PTSD or had an injured front leg. The boys and I brought it to a wildlife rescue and rehab facility. The bunny that Oscar brought to us on Monday, however, was fully intact. I was thankful it was uninjured because, to be frank, I wouldn’t know what to say to Ed Straight of Wildlife Rehab Center if I brought another injured bunny to him. Each night we are uncertain what Oscar might bring to us. Here is one thing that is certain: Oscar’s freedom to go outside at night is uncertain.
My Florida life has taught me that life goes on during a cone of uncertainty. If tropical storm Isaias changes direction and causes an evacuation of Longboat Key, Sunday’s service certainly will go on – online, of course.
In a spiritual sense, we can find hope and love at the center of our faith; especially in uncertain times. In faith, we hold onto the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote that nothing can separate us from God’s love. I am certain that if Paul were writing in our day, he would write that nothing can separate us from God’s love – not hurricanes, wildfires or earthquakes, not cancer or surgery, not physical therapy, not pets bringing us gifts, not contentious election cycles, protests, or pandemics – nothing can separate us from God’s love.
- Fr. Dave
At All Angels, we had a two-month head start on the cone of uncertainty. In June, our maintenance committee made sure all branches were trimmed back from the buildings and that any dead limbs that could turn into projectiles were removed. This morning, on a property walk with Ed and Bob; junior and senior warden; all we had to do was move our flower pots inside and take down the beautiful hanging pots from the trees.
On the home front, tomorrow I will do a property walk to make sure that all things around the house are ready. I think our cat, Oscar, is making hurricane preparations too. Starting about a month ago, he started bringing in various creatures to the house – salamanders, lizards, and a snake. Much to our displeasure, he has brought in three bunnies during the past week; the second one he brought in (which may have been the same bunny as the first) either had PTSD or had an injured front leg. The boys and I brought it to a wildlife rescue and rehab facility. The bunny that Oscar brought to us on Monday, however, was fully intact. I was thankful it was uninjured because, to be frank, I wouldn’t know what to say to Ed Straight of Wildlife Rehab Center if I brought another injured bunny to him. Each night we are uncertain what Oscar might bring to us. Here is one thing that is certain: Oscar’s freedom to go outside at night is uncertain.
My Florida life has taught me that life goes on during a cone of uncertainty. If tropical storm Isaias changes direction and causes an evacuation of Longboat Key, Sunday’s service certainly will go on – online, of course.
In a spiritual sense, we can find hope and love at the center of our faith; especially in uncertain times. In faith, we hold onto the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote that nothing can separate us from God’s love. I am certain that if Paul were writing in our day, he would write that nothing can separate us from God’s love – not hurricanes, wildfires or earthquakes, not cancer or surgery, not physical therapy, not pets bringing us gifts, not contentious election cycles, protests, or pandemics – nothing can separate us from God’s love.
- Fr. Dave
Call Me Al
July 23, 2020
They say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. For clergy, it’s both what and who you know. Experience matters a lot in my vocation; so does knowing people who have been-there/done-that and are willing to share their experiences. As such, I am proud and thankful that I know The Rev. Dr. Al Stott.
Tall, barrel chested and handsome, I met Al in 2012 when I started at Saint John’s in Chula Vista. The church and school had gone through tremendous upheaval. Sunday services were lovingly held together by its two retired pastors, known affectionately as the Jack and Al show. Fr. Jack Tolley is a retired Episcopal priest from the San Francisco bay area and Al is a retired Lutheran pastor. Jack and I went to the same seminary and have many things in common. Al, however, is different because, as mentioned, he is a Lutheran pastor who helped save an Episcopal church. But, there is more to it than that. In addition to being a reverend, a professor, and a counsellor, he retired at the rank of captain in the Navy. A Vietnam combat veteran, he, as legend has it, singlehandedly changed the protocol for chaplains in the conflict to be allowed to wear a sidearm. As the story goes, traveling between bases in Vietnam, a roadside bomb flipped his Jeep. He and his driver survived but had one weapon between the two of them and found themselves pinned down under fire until, as he said, “the Calvary arrived to save this sailor and his frightened Army driver.” After the Navy, Al started a counselling service in Japan – in a culture that, at the time, thought very little about talk therapy. And, last but not least, he likes muscle cars and has owned multiple vehicles for most of his life.
Prior to meeting him, I had heard of his background and his various titles. When we first sat down together, I asked him what I should call him. He thought about it and replied, “You should call me… when you need to talk; I’d like to be a pastor to you, someone to listen and occasionally offer advice, but, most of all, I’d like to be your friend.” And then he said with a smile, “Call me Al.” He was each one of those people to me – a pastor, a friend, and someone who gave me great advice.
I was with him when he went through heart surgery and when he celebrated 50 years in ministry. We would have lunch just about every month. He always ordered an open face steak sandwich, rare – very rare; barely warm, as he would call it. And, this is not an exaggeration, he’d go through nearly an entire lemon in wedges with his iced tea. Every year he would invite the men’s group to his house for Octoberfest which always featured plenty of meat, beer, desserts and the occasional vegetable. He could robustly sing in German, tell jokes, and, listen with a well-trained ear to hear the whisper of God in depths of a saddened and battle-weary soul.
A couple of weeks ago, I was told that he had a very bad case of pneumonia, non-Covid related, and was on a ventilator. Last night, he passed into glory. There are not many people like Al in this world and I am very glad that I got to have him in my life. The last thing he said to me is that God grant me fair winds and following seas. And now, with tears in my eyes, I say to him, Bravo Zulu sailor, Bravo Zulu.
Tall, barrel chested and handsome, I met Al in 2012 when I started at Saint John’s in Chula Vista. The church and school had gone through tremendous upheaval. Sunday services were lovingly held together by its two retired pastors, known affectionately as the Jack and Al show. Fr. Jack Tolley is a retired Episcopal priest from the San Francisco bay area and Al is a retired Lutheran pastor. Jack and I went to the same seminary and have many things in common. Al, however, is different because, as mentioned, he is a Lutheran pastor who helped save an Episcopal church. But, there is more to it than that. In addition to being a reverend, a professor, and a counsellor, he retired at the rank of captain in the Navy. A Vietnam combat veteran, he, as legend has it, singlehandedly changed the protocol for chaplains in the conflict to be allowed to wear a sidearm. As the story goes, traveling between bases in Vietnam, a roadside bomb flipped his Jeep. He and his driver survived but had one weapon between the two of them and found themselves pinned down under fire until, as he said, “the Calvary arrived to save this sailor and his frightened Army driver.” After the Navy, Al started a counselling service in Japan – in a culture that, at the time, thought very little about talk therapy. And, last but not least, he likes muscle cars and has owned multiple vehicles for most of his life.
Prior to meeting him, I had heard of his background and his various titles. When we first sat down together, I asked him what I should call him. He thought about it and replied, “You should call me… when you need to talk; I’d like to be a pastor to you, someone to listen and occasionally offer advice, but, most of all, I’d like to be your friend.” And then he said with a smile, “Call me Al.” He was each one of those people to me – a pastor, a friend, and someone who gave me great advice.
I was with him when he went through heart surgery and when he celebrated 50 years in ministry. We would have lunch just about every month. He always ordered an open face steak sandwich, rare – very rare; barely warm, as he would call it. And, this is not an exaggeration, he’d go through nearly an entire lemon in wedges with his iced tea. Every year he would invite the men’s group to his house for Octoberfest which always featured plenty of meat, beer, desserts and the occasional vegetable. He could robustly sing in German, tell jokes, and, listen with a well-trained ear to hear the whisper of God in depths of a saddened and battle-weary soul.
A couple of weeks ago, I was told that he had a very bad case of pneumonia, non-Covid related, and was on a ventilator. Last night, he passed into glory. There are not many people like Al in this world and I am very glad that I got to have him in my life. The last thing he said to me is that God grant me fair winds and following seas. And now, with tears in my eyes, I say to him, Bravo Zulu sailor, Bravo Zulu.
Black Butterfly
July 16, 2020
On Sunday morning, before the 9:15 service, the largest butterfly I have ever seen – larger than the cover of the prayer book – was flying around the stained glass window. In addition to its size, another striking feature about this creature was its black coloring that absorbed light so it looked like a flying shadow; which was quite a contrast to the rising sun shining through the window and the bright white of our recently repainted ceiling. As I was worrying about the butterfly disrupting our upcoming service, it changed course, flew towards me, and then out into the narthex, and then outside through an open door into the angel fountain courtyard.
This is what I have experienced regarding out-of-place animal sightings: they can be interruptive, unexpected, and a sign from a deceased loved one expressing love, comfort and peace. Diane Gustafson, a parishioner at Saint John’s, Chula Vista, and retired college librarian and professor of research skills, wrote a wonderful book titled, “I’ll Bee There.” In it, Diane shares stories of how the essence/soul of people who have passed make their presence known. Through conversations with her, I have come to accept that this phenomenon is something not to be scared of but rather to take such sightings in the spirit of God – in particular, they remind us of eternal love. As such, I had a hunch that seeing an out-of-place butterfly meant something to someone. Thus, to start the sermon, I asked, “Does a black butterfly mean anything to anyone here?” Much to my surprise, no one responded so I proceeded with my sermon.
After the service, Barbara, who is one of our outdoor ushers, told me this story: A couple of days before, a black butterfly flew around her lanai pool area, landing occasionally on exterior windows as if to be looking inside. She cracked open a screen door and it flew out. Then, on Saturday, on the balcony of a friend’s house, after the sun had set into the Gulf, a black butterfly landed near them. It flew around a bit, landed again, and then flew away. And then, Sunday morning, she was sitting on a bench in the columbarium garden listening to the service and she heard me ask if a black butterfly means anything to anyone listening. She asked me if it was a sign of her (deceased) husband checking in on her. I believe it is and the butterfly is typically the symbol of new life. As a follow up, this week it kept on appearing to her and it likes to be near her dog who was her husband's companion and stayed by his side during his entire illness.
Linda, a friend and former parishioner in Chula Vista, who participates on Sunday morning on Zoom, emailed me this story: She got her first teaching job at the age of 21 to 5th graders in Brownsville, Texas. That year, a student told her a story that when her family lived in Mexico, a black butterfly flew by and they chased it all afternoon. She was told that it was the soul (“alma”) of her grandfather who was playing with them.
Scripture tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. I think there are signs all around us of love, remembrance, hope and peace. Sometimes it takes something out of the ordinary, like a large black butterfly, for us to stop and take notice of God’s eternal love.
-Fr. Dave
This is what I have experienced regarding out-of-place animal sightings: they can be interruptive, unexpected, and a sign from a deceased loved one expressing love, comfort and peace. Diane Gustafson, a parishioner at Saint John’s, Chula Vista, and retired college librarian and professor of research skills, wrote a wonderful book titled, “I’ll Bee There.” In it, Diane shares stories of how the essence/soul of people who have passed make their presence known. Through conversations with her, I have come to accept that this phenomenon is something not to be scared of but rather to take such sightings in the spirit of God – in particular, they remind us of eternal love. As such, I had a hunch that seeing an out-of-place butterfly meant something to someone. Thus, to start the sermon, I asked, “Does a black butterfly mean anything to anyone here?” Much to my surprise, no one responded so I proceeded with my sermon.
After the service, Barbara, who is one of our outdoor ushers, told me this story: A couple of days before, a black butterfly flew around her lanai pool area, landing occasionally on exterior windows as if to be looking inside. She cracked open a screen door and it flew out. Then, on Saturday, on the balcony of a friend’s house, after the sun had set into the Gulf, a black butterfly landed near them. It flew around a bit, landed again, and then flew away. And then, Sunday morning, she was sitting on a bench in the columbarium garden listening to the service and she heard me ask if a black butterfly means anything to anyone listening. She asked me if it was a sign of her (deceased) husband checking in on her. I believe it is and the butterfly is typically the symbol of new life. As a follow up, this week it kept on appearing to her and it likes to be near her dog who was her husband's companion and stayed by his side during his entire illness.
Linda, a friend and former parishioner in Chula Vista, who participates on Sunday morning on Zoom, emailed me this story: She got her first teaching job at the age of 21 to 5th graders in Brownsville, Texas. That year, a student told her a story that when her family lived in Mexico, a black butterfly flew by and they chased it all afternoon. She was told that it was the soul (“alma”) of her grandfather who was playing with them.
Scripture tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. I think there are signs all around us of love, remembrance, hope and peace. Sometimes it takes something out of the ordinary, like a large black butterfly, for us to stop and take notice of God’s eternal love.
-Fr. Dave
Shalom 'Olam
July 9, 2020
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
I have been singlehandedly trying to bring back a word from the 1840’s. The word is “agreeance.”
If you look up agreeance, you’ll see these two facts:
1) it is a word, and 2) “agreement” should be used instead.
I disagree with #2 for this reason: agreeance is a state of mind; agreement is a binding course of action between two parties; the words are similar but are not synonymous. For instance, the couple was in agreeance to skip making dinner and go out instead. They agreed upon Thai food. Over dinner, they signed an agreement to buy their dream house in Florida.
One of my favorite radio shows, A Way with Words, on NPR, talked about the word agreeance. The clip is here https://soundcloud.com/waywordradio/1350-caller-sadie-agreeance They initially told the caller, Sadie, that she should use the word “agreement” because usage of “agreeance” tends to make hearers think the person is less educated. Nevertheless, after a fruitful discussion, the hosts threw caution to the wind and said it might be time for agreeance to make a comeback. I wholeheartedly agree.
The New York Times, this past week, published the word “embiggening” for the first time in its 168-year history. The verb embiggen means to make larger. The Simpsons cartoon featured that word in an episode in 1996 in the (fictional) town motto, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” It was one of two words the writers made up for the episode; the second word being “cromulent.” Much to their surprise, after the airing of the show, they were informed “embiggen” was used once in 1884. Despite not actually creating it, The Simpsons made the word popular. It was used in later episodes and has since coined this popular social media phrase, “You need to embiggen your vocabulary.” Merriam-Webster did just that and in 2018 included the word in their dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary followed suit. I’d say it was quite cromulent of them.
Sunday’s lesson from Isaiah features this phrase, “You will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.” (Is 55:12) “Celebration” in Hebrew is simchah, which at its root means “joy”. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Joy and peace can be felt internally and seen externally and expressed both individually and corporately. Yet, how many times have you went out with joy and returned with turmoil? We tend to get our hopes up and then get disappointed. What makes this joy and peace different is found in the next verse that says joy and peace will be an “enduring reminder.” Enduring in Hebrew is “’olam” – a noun which means “forever.” With God, when we go out with joy, we will not return with disappointment, but with shalom ‘olam (everlasting peace).
So much happening today seems to be passing, fading or fleeting. Celebration, joy and peace seem to have gone out the proverbial window; but not so with God. The Lord plans for us to go out with joy and return with everlasting peace. I think we can be in agreeance that joy and peace would be a welcome and embiggen change.
July 4th
July 2, 2020
For people like me who grew up in Washington State, the real start of summer is the 4th of July. Growing up with a sailboat meant that we would be up early on the 4th getting the boat ready and then staying out on the water until midnight. Patience, our boat, was moored in Commencement Bay, across from Tacoma. The distance is a little more than two miles, but, as sailing goes, it could be a ten-mile trip. Like a massive amphitheater, the steep streets of Tacoma make Commencement Bay a wonderful place to celebrate Independence Day. Every year there was an impressive fireworks display launched from a barge just off the Tacoma waterfront. The display would cap off a spectacular day of airshows, boat shows, and the usual Americana-celebration found in military towns like Tacoma. Every year it seemed like the Air Force and Army would try to outdo each other with thrilling displays of aerobatics. For as hard as they tried, however, the Navy always took the cake with the Blue Angels. One year I swear the lead Blue Angel captain used our mast as the centering point of the performance. My ears are still ringing. In between aerial performances, the fireboats would turn on their massive water cannons that can throw 20,000 gallons of water per minute more than a football field high and three football fields out. One year, a hook-and-ladder fire truck sprayed their cannon over the beach to see if they could reach the fireboats. Everyone in-between got drenched.
Dad would tell us to always be on watch for dumb boaters which he put into these three categories: drunk boaters, inexperienced boaters, and the showoffs – which can be a combination of the first two. More than once we had to offer a hand to someone in trouble; it was just a part of the 4th of July on Commencement Bay. Dad never treated dumb boaters with anything but compassion and a helping hand. It gave me an example to live by.
By the time it was dark enough for the fireworks show, the drunk and inexperienced boaters had either been towed, arrested or sank, so the trip back to the dock was usually uneventful. There was one year, however, when a showoff in a 30-foot in/out drive cabin cruiser decided to go full speed across the bay after the show. They struck a floating and invisible-at-night log which tore off the entire “out” of the drive. One of the fireboats responded and managed to keep it afloat.
Like everything else in 2020, the Marshalls will have to wait until next year to watch fireworks from the deck of our boat and instead will start a new tradition of setting off fireworks in front of our house. Teaching my boys compassion for helping dumb boaters on the 4th will have to wait until next year.
There is no mention of a pandemic in the Bible. Nevertheless, there were many disruptions that either modified, or invented, religious traditions. This year I have given more thought to what Independence Day means to me. While it is true that not all were made free on July 4, 1776, it began a movement, or process, where our struggling 13 colonies began to shine the light of liberty for others to see. We have come a long way and we have more to go; but this year, I will be thinking about what I am doing with my own freedom to help others.
Dad would tell us to always be on watch for dumb boaters which he put into these three categories: drunk boaters, inexperienced boaters, and the showoffs – which can be a combination of the first two. More than once we had to offer a hand to someone in trouble; it was just a part of the 4th of July on Commencement Bay. Dad never treated dumb boaters with anything but compassion and a helping hand. It gave me an example to live by.
By the time it was dark enough for the fireworks show, the drunk and inexperienced boaters had either been towed, arrested or sank, so the trip back to the dock was usually uneventful. There was one year, however, when a showoff in a 30-foot in/out drive cabin cruiser decided to go full speed across the bay after the show. They struck a floating and invisible-at-night log which tore off the entire “out” of the drive. One of the fireboats responded and managed to keep it afloat.
Like everything else in 2020, the Marshalls will have to wait until next year to watch fireworks from the deck of our boat and instead will start a new tradition of setting off fireworks in front of our house. Teaching my boys compassion for helping dumb boaters on the 4th will have to wait until next year.
There is no mention of a pandemic in the Bible. Nevertheless, there were many disruptions that either modified, or invented, religious traditions. This year I have given more thought to what Independence Day means to me. While it is true that not all were made free on July 4, 1776, it began a movement, or process, where our struggling 13 colonies began to shine the light of liberty for others to see. We have come a long way and we have more to go; but this year, I will be thinking about what I am doing with my own freedom to help others.
Baby CD
June 25, 2020
The discussion group participants defined rage with phrases like “unbridled and blind anger,” and “irrational, without-restraint.” We talked about experiencing rage, how it felt, and how it can cause destructive action. One of the most common experiences is road rage – a blind, irrational anger against another (usually clueless) driver. Another example is computer rage – a blind, irrational anger against a computer, phone, tablet, or the entire internet that may end with a particular device being thrown.
After successfully live-streaming our 9:15 service on Sunday, I received a “flag” warning from YouTube – we had used an unlicensed song. Now, to be fair, this can, and does happen. On Palm Sunday, I played a prerecorded song, You Say, by Lauren Daigle. YouTube flagged it and gave me the choice to not monetize the video – which means I can’t run ads on it – or they can remove the song from the video. We don’t run ads so I went the non-monetized route. For this past Sunday, however, we were flagged for our closing hymn, Be Thou My Vision (#488 in the 1982 Hymnal) performed live by our accomplished organist, Dale Hooey. Suddenly, I felt a flash of rage. I thought, this is a CHURCH hymn performed in a CHURCH for CHURCH goers. After the brief flash of rage passed, I looked up the particulars of this hymn. The name of the tune is Slane and is an old Irish folk tune. It was first published in a 1909 hymn book titled, “Old Irish Folk Music and Songs” with Patrick Joyce being credited as the composer. The words themselves are based on an Irish monastic litany of prayers from the 8th century. The hymn book from 111 years ago of self-described “old Irish music,” and the lyrics themselves, clearly have passed the 100-year mark, generally considered to be longest covered under copyright law.
The complaint came from CD Baby Sync Publishing. Thinking that someone’s CD-for-baby music claimed the rights to the song, I wrote a strongly worded response to YouTube about how we have every right under the sun to play that hymn and, if I might go so far as to assert, some fly-by-night CD company who recorded that hymn for babies to fall asleep to are the ones who should cease and desist from using it! Okay, I admit, not very priestly of me.
Still fired up about it on Wednesday, I decided to look up this Baby CD company. As it turns out, it is worse than I thought. From what I can gather on their company website, one could buy the licensing for particular songs. I believe artists should be paid for their work and distribution companies should also receive compensation for what they do. However, this seems to have gone too far.
Still angry about the situation, I sent a tersely worded email to the company just stopping short of saying, “How dare you…” Surprisingly, I received an answer back within an hour. After having a friendly, multi-email exchange, I sent them the link to the video where it clearly shows Dale playing the hymn. They removed the block.
Rage affects relationships and our own being. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Be angry, but do not sin.” (4:26) I’m not saying rage is a sin, but, it can cause me to sin. However, focused anger, as I have learned through this exercise, can make positive change.
-Fr. Dave
After successfully live-streaming our 9:15 service on Sunday, I received a “flag” warning from YouTube – we had used an unlicensed song. Now, to be fair, this can, and does happen. On Palm Sunday, I played a prerecorded song, You Say, by Lauren Daigle. YouTube flagged it and gave me the choice to not monetize the video – which means I can’t run ads on it – or they can remove the song from the video. We don’t run ads so I went the non-monetized route. For this past Sunday, however, we were flagged for our closing hymn, Be Thou My Vision (#488 in the 1982 Hymnal) performed live by our accomplished organist, Dale Hooey. Suddenly, I felt a flash of rage. I thought, this is a CHURCH hymn performed in a CHURCH for CHURCH goers. After the brief flash of rage passed, I looked up the particulars of this hymn. The name of the tune is Slane and is an old Irish folk tune. It was first published in a 1909 hymn book titled, “Old Irish Folk Music and Songs” with Patrick Joyce being credited as the composer. The words themselves are based on an Irish monastic litany of prayers from the 8th century. The hymn book from 111 years ago of self-described “old Irish music,” and the lyrics themselves, clearly have passed the 100-year mark, generally considered to be longest covered under copyright law.
The complaint came from CD Baby Sync Publishing. Thinking that someone’s CD-for-baby music claimed the rights to the song, I wrote a strongly worded response to YouTube about how we have every right under the sun to play that hymn and, if I might go so far as to assert, some fly-by-night CD company who recorded that hymn for babies to fall asleep to are the ones who should cease and desist from using it! Okay, I admit, not very priestly of me.
Still fired up about it on Wednesday, I decided to look up this Baby CD company. As it turns out, it is worse than I thought. From what I can gather on their company website, one could buy the licensing for particular songs. I believe artists should be paid for their work and distribution companies should also receive compensation for what they do. However, this seems to have gone too far.
Still angry about the situation, I sent a tersely worded email to the company just stopping short of saying, “How dare you…” Surprisingly, I received an answer back within an hour. After having a friendly, multi-email exchange, I sent them the link to the video where it clearly shows Dale playing the hymn. They removed the block.
Rage affects relationships and our own being. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Be angry, but do not sin.” (4:26) I’m not saying rage is a sin, but, it can cause me to sin. However, focused anger, as I have learned through this exercise, can make positive change.
-Fr. Dave
He Sets the Prisoners Free
June 18, 2020
This Friday is the 155th celebration of Juneteenth. The Commonwealth of Virginia recently declared Juneteenth (June 19th) a paid state holiday. Music star Pharrell Williams spoke with the Governor of Virginia who together made this holiday a reality. In a news conference, Pharrell said “Every year, as a nation, we mark the Fourth of July, 1776, Independence Day, celebrating our independence from English colonial rule. … But that freedom we celebrate did not include everyone.” He added, “It’s time we elevate [Juneteenth], not just a celebration by and for some Virginians, but one acknowledged and celebrated by all of us because that’s how important this event is.” He ended his statement by addressing Americans whose ancestors, like his, came to Virginia 400 years ago aboard a slave ship. He said, “So here is our day. And if you love us, it’s your day too.”
The history of the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery is this: on June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger’s union troops landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free – this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation which had become official January 1, 1863. Although Lincoln’s executive order had little impact on the Texans at the time, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to make emancipation a reality.
If you can imagine having lived your whole life as a slave, and knowing your family ancestry is made up of slaves, to wake up on Friday and find out that you are free – it was a cause for celebration. Today, the principle celebration of Juneteenth for all Americans is this – America can’t be a beacon of freedom and liberty until all Americans are free. Starting on June 19th, 155 years ago, America’s torch of freedom grew brighter for all other nations to see. It has been a rough, rocky, and uncertain road since then, but, the torch has been lit and it has not gone out. From the diary pages of Episcopal clergymen in Georgia, who in the 1840’s wrote about freedom and how white Americans can only be free when all in the nation are free, it is Juneteenth that makes that dream a reality.
Juneteenth church celebrations often cite Psalm 68, verse 5 and 6,
“Father to the orphan, defender of widows --
this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”
There are many ways to celebrate Juneteenth. What I will do on Friday is to remember that the Father to the orphan, the One who sets prisoners free, has placed the torch of liberty in our nation to burn as a light for others.
I will pray that the torch of liberty will continue to burn brightly for others to see. And, I will recite the Pledge of Allegiance and reflect upon these words:
One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The history of the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery is this: on June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger’s union troops landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free – this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation which had become official January 1, 1863. Although Lincoln’s executive order had little impact on the Texans at the time, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to make emancipation a reality.
If you can imagine having lived your whole life as a slave, and knowing your family ancestry is made up of slaves, to wake up on Friday and find out that you are free – it was a cause for celebration. Today, the principle celebration of Juneteenth for all Americans is this – America can’t be a beacon of freedom and liberty until all Americans are free. Starting on June 19th, 155 years ago, America’s torch of freedom grew brighter for all other nations to see. It has been a rough, rocky, and uncertain road since then, but, the torch has been lit and it has not gone out. From the diary pages of Episcopal clergymen in Georgia, who in the 1840’s wrote about freedom and how white Americans can only be free when all in the nation are free, it is Juneteenth that makes that dream a reality.
Juneteenth church celebrations often cite Psalm 68, verse 5 and 6,
“Father to the orphan, defender of widows --
this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”
There are many ways to celebrate Juneteenth. What I will do on Friday is to remember that the Father to the orphan, the One who sets prisoners free, has placed the torch of liberty in our nation to burn as a light for others.
I will pray that the torch of liberty will continue to burn brightly for others to see. And, I will recite the Pledge of Allegiance and reflect upon these words:
One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The Process Oriented God
June 11, 2020
Have you ever heard this prayer, “God, grant me patience, and give it to me now!” Funny thing, that is not how patience works; nor is it how God does things. In the Anglican world, we often say that we believe in a God of structure and order. As such, our particular style of worship is structured and ordered. Just before processing in one Sunday morning, I joked with the choir, “Well, let’s see what happens this morning.” The choir chuckled because that is not how we do things.
This past Sunday, we heard about Day 6 of creation – when animals and humans were made (chapter 1, Genesis). You and I both know that it took more than a “day” to make all creepy crawly things as well as humans, but, the author(s) of Genesis set out to show the orderliness of God’s creation. It’s not like God said, “Well, let’s see what happens this morning,” and then created fish before the ocean was made, or birds before air. That’s not how God does it. God Almighty seems to have a process and a plan; or maybe vice-versa.
In 2009, in California, I participated in an interfaith march to object to Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget that greatly reduced walk-up health clinics for the poor and marginalized. Once we reached the clinic, one of hundreds in the state that was scheduled to close, I was asked to start us off with prayer. I opened my prayer book and started – orderly and structured is our way, after all – and was followed by a Franciscan monk who volunteers as a chaplain at the clinic. Standing tall in his brown robe, he invited the large crowd to raise their palms in the air and face them toward Sacramento. He then gave a rousing and spontaneous prayer about the Lord who watches over the least and that our wealthy-movie-star-turned-Governor should do better. After the “amen” he said, “There we have it, God hears every prayer, and our clinic will be saved.” … which it was, after a lengthy process of negotiations and input from the citizenry. In fact, all the clinics in California were spared. It did not happen overnight, but rather, it took a process.
Healing prayers often work in the same way. There are times when instantaneous healing occurs; which are quite noteworthy; but they are the exception, not the rule. Often when we pray for healing, it occurs after a process of medical intervention and rehabilitation. Some would ask, “Why then pray at all?” The answer is simple – because prayer works. Study after study shows that those who have a good prayer life, and/or have others praying for them, spend less time in a hospital bed. Why is the ever-cost-conscious VA is so hospitable toward their chaplains? It is because the chaplaincy core reduces expenses way more than they cost.
God, who created everything, including the planets in their courses and this fragile earth, our island home, did so by an orderly process. Humans have memory, reason and skill. We learn, become wise, and pass skills onto to others – all by process, not instantaneously. There are much needed changes and reforms in this country; in particular, that all citizens should be treated uniformly by their government. But, it can’t happen overnight. Change is a process that can be ugly and messy, often times slow and unresponsive; nevertheless, it is a process.
May God sustain and strengthen our country as we go through the process of change.
This past Sunday, we heard about Day 6 of creation – when animals and humans were made (chapter 1, Genesis). You and I both know that it took more than a “day” to make all creepy crawly things as well as humans, but, the author(s) of Genesis set out to show the orderliness of God’s creation. It’s not like God said, “Well, let’s see what happens this morning,” and then created fish before the ocean was made, or birds before air. That’s not how God does it. God Almighty seems to have a process and a plan; or maybe vice-versa.
In 2009, in California, I participated in an interfaith march to object to Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget that greatly reduced walk-up health clinics for the poor and marginalized. Once we reached the clinic, one of hundreds in the state that was scheduled to close, I was asked to start us off with prayer. I opened my prayer book and started – orderly and structured is our way, after all – and was followed by a Franciscan monk who volunteers as a chaplain at the clinic. Standing tall in his brown robe, he invited the large crowd to raise their palms in the air and face them toward Sacramento. He then gave a rousing and spontaneous prayer about the Lord who watches over the least and that our wealthy-movie-star-turned-Governor should do better. After the “amen” he said, “There we have it, God hears every prayer, and our clinic will be saved.” … which it was, after a lengthy process of negotiations and input from the citizenry. In fact, all the clinics in California were spared. It did not happen overnight, but rather, it took a process.
Healing prayers often work in the same way. There are times when instantaneous healing occurs; which are quite noteworthy; but they are the exception, not the rule. Often when we pray for healing, it occurs after a process of medical intervention and rehabilitation. Some would ask, “Why then pray at all?” The answer is simple – because prayer works. Study after study shows that those who have a good prayer life, and/or have others praying for them, spend less time in a hospital bed. Why is the ever-cost-conscious VA is so hospitable toward their chaplains? It is because the chaplaincy core reduces expenses way more than they cost.
God, who created everything, including the planets in their courses and this fragile earth, our island home, did so by an orderly process. Humans have memory, reason and skill. We learn, become wise, and pass skills onto to others – all by process, not instantaneously. There are much needed changes and reforms in this country; in particular, that all citizens should be treated uniformly by their government. But, it can’t happen overnight. Change is a process that can be ugly and messy, often times slow and unresponsive; nevertheless, it is a process.
May God sustain and strengthen our country as we go through the process of change.
Discerning the Times
June 4, 2020
If you, like me, are troubled by our times and wonder if any of the past marches for rights and protections have done any good, I find comfort in the words of our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, “The Christian race is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Our work for justice, healing, and truth telling must be unceasing.”
A crowd gathered around Jesus looking for him to perform a miracle. He said that although they could look to the clouds and predict when it would rain, they couldn’t understand the times they were living in. In other words, the sign from heaven is the incarnation of God in human flesh; Jesus himself. That is the only sign they needed. Too often, however, they, like me (and perhaps us), look with our eyes up to the clouds looking for a sign from God, and wonder if God is even listening, when Jesus is right in front of us.
As we, individually and as a nation, struggle with the death of George Floyd; as we struggle with the call for every American to have equal protection under the law, George’s death, along with so many others, is a sign to us that equal protection has not materialized in our day. Are the prayers we say on Sunday – give peace O Lord because only in you can we live in safety – abdicating our responsibility to offer peace to everyone? Asking God to guide us into the way of justice and peace; is this our modern way of looking to the clouds of heaven for an answer?
Jesus said the top priority for all his followers is to love others as he loves us.
In our day, this priority can be viewed as outlined here in the letter to the Romans:
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else.
Associate with people who have no status.
Don’t pay back evil actions with evil actions,
but show respect for what everyone else believes is good.
To the best of your ability, live at peace with all people. Romans 12:15-18
How do we do this today? One way is the cross-shaped principle – move ahead intentionally with accountability. Systemic changes need to occur in our country and it starts locally with the transformation of individual hearts. There are many resources for people of faith to act. Please contact me if you would like some ideas. Again quoting Presiding Bishop Curry, “We need not be paralyzed by our past or our present. We are not slaves to fate; but rather, we are people of faith.” Meaningful change in our country has always started with people of faith. As we take steps on this marathon of faith, let us be lifted up by God and strive to do the work of Jesus by weeping with those who weep, by considering everyone as equal, by associating with people who have no status, by not paying back evil actions with evil actions, and, to the best of our ability, by living at peace with all people.
May God bless us along this marathon journey of faith,
-Fr. Dave
A crowd gathered around Jesus looking for him to perform a miracle. He said that although they could look to the clouds and predict when it would rain, they couldn’t understand the times they were living in. In other words, the sign from heaven is the incarnation of God in human flesh; Jesus himself. That is the only sign they needed. Too often, however, they, like me (and perhaps us), look with our eyes up to the clouds looking for a sign from God, and wonder if God is even listening, when Jesus is right in front of us.
As we, individually and as a nation, struggle with the death of George Floyd; as we struggle with the call for every American to have equal protection under the law, George’s death, along with so many others, is a sign to us that equal protection has not materialized in our day. Are the prayers we say on Sunday – give peace O Lord because only in you can we live in safety – abdicating our responsibility to offer peace to everyone? Asking God to guide us into the way of justice and peace; is this our modern way of looking to the clouds of heaven for an answer?
Jesus said the top priority for all his followers is to love others as he loves us.
In our day, this priority can be viewed as outlined here in the letter to the Romans:
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else.
Associate with people who have no status.
Don’t pay back evil actions with evil actions,
but show respect for what everyone else believes is good.
To the best of your ability, live at peace with all people. Romans 12:15-18
How do we do this today? One way is the cross-shaped principle – move ahead intentionally with accountability. Systemic changes need to occur in our country and it starts locally with the transformation of individual hearts. There are many resources for people of faith to act. Please contact me if you would like some ideas. Again quoting Presiding Bishop Curry, “We need not be paralyzed by our past or our present. We are not slaves to fate; but rather, we are people of faith.” Meaningful change in our country has always started with people of faith. As we take steps on this marathon of faith, let us be lifted up by God and strive to do the work of Jesus by weeping with those who weep, by considering everyone as equal, by associating with people who have no status, by not paying back evil actions with evil actions, and, to the best of our ability, by living at peace with all people.
May God bless us along this marathon journey of faith,
-Fr. Dave
Summer Reading List
May 28, 2020
The Manatee County library has been closed for months and the Marshalls are running out of books to read. We are now sharing books we have at home and discussing them as a family. One of my favorite summertime books is one that Elijah read; simply titled, “Skink.” Set in coastal Florida, it is a fictional story of a teenager who befriends a crazy man, named Skink, who also used to be the governor of Florida. So, in some respects, it is not far from reality. It is a wonderful summertime read and led to a discussion about the ethics of what happened, or should have happened, to the antagonist in the story.
A book that is too mature for Elijah was read by the three of us. It is an assigned reading book from Ethan’s AP English class, titled, “Zeitoun” (pronounced Zay-toon). It is set in August, 2005, in New Orleans and is the real-life story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun – a Syrian Muslim,
successful business owner of a home repair company, who is a father of three, married to a white American, who was raised Southern Baptist and converted to Islam prior. The award winning book, written by Dave Eggers, is well researched and documents the real-life struggle of
what happens when Zeitoun decides to stay home to watch over his business while his family evacuates because of Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun’s family, religious, and business life is interesting enough, but, add the hurricane and it becomes a riveting story that involves the largely untold story of civil rights violations brought on by an alliance of a for-profit prison with untrained National Guardsmen. Ethan read it for class and found that it provided fruitful discussions with his school mates and their teacher. Likewise, we had many fruitful conversations at home about it.
One of my seminary professors said the Bible shouldn’t be read alone because it comes alive in discussion. We are experiencing that in the study of the Book of Revelation. I’m wondering if we should expand that idea. If you have read something that you’d like to share, please email Maria (marialove@allangelslbk.org)
I’d like to compile a summer reading list for All Angels. I am interested in getting together on Zoom once in a while to discuss a book.
For as much as I enjoyed Zeitoun; for the summer, I’d have to stick with Skink.
Blessings to you on all your summer readings,
-Fr. Dave
A book that is too mature for Elijah was read by the three of us. It is an assigned reading book from Ethan’s AP English class, titled, “Zeitoun” (pronounced Zay-toon). It is set in August, 2005, in New Orleans and is the real-life story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun – a Syrian Muslim,
successful business owner of a home repair company, who is a father of three, married to a white American, who was raised Southern Baptist and converted to Islam prior. The award winning book, written by Dave Eggers, is well researched and documents the real-life struggle of
what happens when Zeitoun decides to stay home to watch over his business while his family evacuates because of Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun’s family, religious, and business life is interesting enough, but, add the hurricane and it becomes a riveting story that involves the largely untold story of civil rights violations brought on by an alliance of a for-profit prison with untrained National Guardsmen. Ethan read it for class and found that it provided fruitful discussions with his school mates and their teacher. Likewise, we had many fruitful conversations at home about it.
One of my seminary professors said the Bible shouldn’t be read alone because it comes alive in discussion. We are experiencing that in the study of the Book of Revelation. I’m wondering if we should expand that idea. If you have read something that you’d like to share, please email Maria (marialove@allangelslbk.org)
I’d like to compile a summer reading list for All Angels. I am interested in getting together on Zoom once in a while to discuss a book.
For as much as I enjoyed Zeitoun; for the summer, I’d have to stick with Skink.
Blessings to you on all your summer readings,
-Fr. Dave
Safe Church
May 21, 2020
I have read stories of churches that recently have disregarded the ten-person indoor limit, parishioners became infected, and they had to close. One such church may never open again. Church should be a safe place. To be a safe church, we have complied with the state mandated stay-at-home order for ten or less people to be gathered inside a house of worship. Since that time, I am excited at what our leadership team, church staff, and volunteers are doing to bring the living Christ to those outside of the church during this unparalleled time.
Data about the virus is becoming clearer; and unfortunately, it doesn’t look good for keeping churches safe. You may have read about the choir in Washington State’s Skagit Valley that, during one choir practice, one non-symptomatic infected member caused more than 60% of the choir to become infected. Two of the choir members have died. I imagine you are familiar with various meat processing facilities that temporarily closed because many workers became infected. It seems that singing and yelling (like in a processing facility) are ways the virus can spread quickly.
On Tuesday, the diocesan clergy had a Zoom meeting with the bishop to discuss keeping church safe. In preparation for the meeting, we were assigned material to read that took about 90-minutes to complete. Each piece of data seemed to be more alarming than the next. Covid-19 is an airborne virus that spreads on exhaled water droplets. Sneezing and coughing produce the most aerosol particles. But, the best way to spread it is by singing or yelling because it is a longer duration of exhaled air. This is very bad news for school choirs and band programs, for barbershop quartets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. To be frank, I don’t know what my rising senior in High School is going to do with his plans to play his clarinet and baritone sax in band during the fall school semester.
The second piece of bad news is the equation of exhaled aerosol particles with regards to time. If you walk past a non-face masked shopper at CVS, you will get a small amount of virus particles into your system. Let’s say the body can take 1,000 particles before getting sick; this brief shopping encounter could get you to 200. However, if you were sitting in a room for an hour with that person, just breathing the same indoor air could bring you over the 1,000 threshold. Add talking, and it takes less time. Add singing, and, well, you get the idea. As a result of this data, the state is allowing small indoor gatherings that typically take a short duration of time. If you have noticed, waiting rooms have been eliminated because of the equation of time and aerosol particle. Oddly enough, bars, churches, and indoor sporting events seem to be most at risk because people congregate, talk or sing/yell, and typically spend more than fifteen minutes.
One more piece of the equation – location (location, location). There is a big difference with indoor and outdoor air. Imagine if Marjorie Stapleton sat in her normal seat; right side, second to last row, second to last chair; and I was up by the organ. I don’t smoke, but, for the sake of example, let’s say I lit a cigarette. How long would it take for Marjorie to smell the cigarette? I’m not sure but I think eventually she would. Likewise, let’s say she opened a box of chocolates. Eventually, I would be able to smell chocolate. Using the same scenario, let’s say she and I are outside. In order to smell the chocolate, or the cigarette, we would have to be a lot closer. Also, the smell of each would be diminished when compared to being inside. This is why there is only one case of virus transmission outdoors (and that case is rather suspect, it probably occurred inside a bathroom at an outdoor event).
The missing part of the equation, when talking about an airborne virus, has to do with particle size. We know that when talking, rather large exhaled droplets can travel three feet. The six-foot distance rule was set up in order to double that range. The big question has to do with small particles that can remain in the air for quite a while. The chocolate particle that tells our nose that someone has opened a box of candies is small and can stay airborne for more than thirty minutes. … just ask any child who has eaten some candy and then hid it from their parents. Based on data collected from a restaurant in China where the air conditioning unit seemed to help spread the virus from one table to another, and a different study from a call center in an office building where one person spread the infection to more than 90 other employees on the same floor, we know that distance and time are a major factor (restaurant – short time, close distance; office – eight-hour shift, long indoor distance). How does this relate to All Angels?
Right now, we are limited to ten people or less inside, and 50 people or less outside with six-feet of distance between family units. To produce (for lack of a better churchy term) a service, it takes 8 – 10 people; thus, we are allowing only those who are scheduled to serve inside. We currently have more than 10, but less than 50, congregants outside either in their cars, or sitting on benches, or on beach chairs. This is keeping us safe. Sooner rather than later, Episcopal churches in this diocese can consider holding indoor worship services up to 25% of capacity. For us, this is 35 people (45 total including those serving). Although Sunday attendance is lower in the summer, I don’t recall a Sunday where we had less than 45.
While we are learning more about the virus and how to be a safe church, there are many more questions to answer about going to 25% capacity. I don’t have the answers to these questions yet. The Vestry and our leadership team are looking at a whole variety of options for when the time comes that we can go to 25% occupancy. Please know that we are working diligently and praying fervently to do this right. I welcome your thoughts and feedback on this. We are all in this together and we are bringing the living Christ to those inside and outside the church. And, we are doing it safely.
-Fr. Dave
Data about the virus is becoming clearer; and unfortunately, it doesn’t look good for keeping churches safe. You may have read about the choir in Washington State’s Skagit Valley that, during one choir practice, one non-symptomatic infected member caused more than 60% of the choir to become infected. Two of the choir members have died. I imagine you are familiar with various meat processing facilities that temporarily closed because many workers became infected. It seems that singing and yelling (like in a processing facility) are ways the virus can spread quickly.
On Tuesday, the diocesan clergy had a Zoom meeting with the bishop to discuss keeping church safe. In preparation for the meeting, we were assigned material to read that took about 90-minutes to complete. Each piece of data seemed to be more alarming than the next. Covid-19 is an airborne virus that spreads on exhaled water droplets. Sneezing and coughing produce the most aerosol particles. But, the best way to spread it is by singing or yelling because it is a longer duration of exhaled air. This is very bad news for school choirs and band programs, for barbershop quartets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. To be frank, I don’t know what my rising senior in High School is going to do with his plans to play his clarinet and baritone sax in band during the fall school semester.
The second piece of bad news is the equation of exhaled aerosol particles with regards to time. If you walk past a non-face masked shopper at CVS, you will get a small amount of virus particles into your system. Let’s say the body can take 1,000 particles before getting sick; this brief shopping encounter could get you to 200. However, if you were sitting in a room for an hour with that person, just breathing the same indoor air could bring you over the 1,000 threshold. Add talking, and it takes less time. Add singing, and, well, you get the idea. As a result of this data, the state is allowing small indoor gatherings that typically take a short duration of time. If you have noticed, waiting rooms have been eliminated because of the equation of time and aerosol particle. Oddly enough, bars, churches, and indoor sporting events seem to be most at risk because people congregate, talk or sing/yell, and typically spend more than fifteen minutes.
One more piece of the equation – location (location, location). There is a big difference with indoor and outdoor air. Imagine if Marjorie Stapleton sat in her normal seat; right side, second to last row, second to last chair; and I was up by the organ. I don’t smoke, but, for the sake of example, let’s say I lit a cigarette. How long would it take for Marjorie to smell the cigarette? I’m not sure but I think eventually she would. Likewise, let’s say she opened a box of chocolates. Eventually, I would be able to smell chocolate. Using the same scenario, let’s say she and I are outside. In order to smell the chocolate, or the cigarette, we would have to be a lot closer. Also, the smell of each would be diminished when compared to being inside. This is why there is only one case of virus transmission outdoors (and that case is rather suspect, it probably occurred inside a bathroom at an outdoor event).
The missing part of the equation, when talking about an airborne virus, has to do with particle size. We know that when talking, rather large exhaled droplets can travel three feet. The six-foot distance rule was set up in order to double that range. The big question has to do with small particles that can remain in the air for quite a while. The chocolate particle that tells our nose that someone has opened a box of candies is small and can stay airborne for more than thirty minutes. … just ask any child who has eaten some candy and then hid it from their parents. Based on data collected from a restaurant in China where the air conditioning unit seemed to help spread the virus from one table to another, and a different study from a call center in an office building where one person spread the infection to more than 90 other employees on the same floor, we know that distance and time are a major factor (restaurant – short time, close distance; office – eight-hour shift, long indoor distance). How does this relate to All Angels?
Right now, we are limited to ten people or less inside, and 50 people or less outside with six-feet of distance between family units. To produce (for lack of a better churchy term) a service, it takes 8 – 10 people; thus, we are allowing only those who are scheduled to serve inside. We currently have more than 10, but less than 50, congregants outside either in their cars, or sitting on benches, or on beach chairs. This is keeping us safe. Sooner rather than later, Episcopal churches in this diocese can consider holding indoor worship services up to 25% of capacity. For us, this is 35 people (45 total including those serving). Although Sunday attendance is lower in the summer, I don’t recall a Sunday where we had less than 45.
While we are learning more about the virus and how to be a safe church, there are many more questions to answer about going to 25% capacity. I don’t have the answers to these questions yet. The Vestry and our leadership team are looking at a whole variety of options for when the time comes that we can go to 25% occupancy. Please know that we are working diligently and praying fervently to do this right. I welcome your thoughts and feedback on this. We are all in this together and we are bringing the living Christ to those inside and outside the church. And, we are doing it safely.
-Fr. Dave
Jerks
May 14, 2020
American cartoonist, and creator of the single-panel comic strip Far Side, Gary Larson, created a cartoon that I have included in this reflection. Pictured is a caricature of God who is cooking up the earth in his kitchen. On the shelf are various ingredients – humans, insects, birds, tress. Like a master baker, God has one last ingredient to put onto his masterpiece. Over the earth, he has a shaker and the ingredient is labeled, “Jerks”. God is pictured saying, “Just to make it interesting…”
It made me laugh – yet, it is also true. There are jerks on every continent, every business and government, and, may I dare add, even in religious organizations. Whether or not God placed them on every continent is a different reflection altogether.
The discussion groups this week read three articles that focused on the intersections of government, the pandemic, and religion. One article quoted Christian religious leaders in the U.S. who claimed the Coronavirus was politically motivated, it was propaganda, and an illusion or mirage. The second article highlighted how leaders of Islam were reacting to the pandemic. I found it interesting that some Islamic leaders said things similar to what the U.S. Christian leaders said about the virus. I would like to point out, however, that just like most Christians leaders, the majority of Islamic leaders worldwide are working with public health officials and are modifying their practices keep their people safe. Moderate voices, nevertheless, do not seem to make it into the press as much. Take for example how the local media reports on a public school board meeting. Considerate and well-thought out arguments rarely make the news. The voices we hear on the evening news are usually, if you don’t mind me saying, jerks. Maybe God did give us jerks to make things more interesting.
So, how about this for a new spiritual practice: next time I’m at Publix and I encounter a jerk, or I get passed while driving the speed limit on GMD Drive, instead of getting angry, maybe I should see the encounter as God making life interesting.
It made me laugh – yet, it is also true. There are jerks on every continent, every business and government, and, may I dare add, even in religious organizations. Whether or not God placed them on every continent is a different reflection altogether.
The discussion groups this week read three articles that focused on the intersections of government, the pandemic, and religion. One article quoted Christian religious leaders in the U.S. who claimed the Coronavirus was politically motivated, it was propaganda, and an illusion or mirage. The second article highlighted how leaders of Islam were reacting to the pandemic. I found it interesting that some Islamic leaders said things similar to what the U.S. Christian leaders said about the virus. I would like to point out, however, that just like most Christians leaders, the majority of Islamic leaders worldwide are working with public health officials and are modifying their practices keep their people safe. Moderate voices, nevertheless, do not seem to make it into the press as much. Take for example how the local media reports on a public school board meeting. Considerate and well-thought out arguments rarely make the news. The voices we hear on the evening news are usually, if you don’t mind me saying, jerks. Maybe God did give us jerks to make things more interesting.
So, how about this for a new spiritual practice: next time I’m at Publix and I encounter a jerk, or I get passed while driving the speed limit on GMD Drive, instead of getting angry, maybe I should see the encounter as God making life interesting.
Spiritual Communion
May 7, 2020
This is a strange time. One thing I have learned from it is that I have taken two things for granted about church – socializing and receiving communion. The two go hand-in-hand and there are times when I’d be hard pressed to say which one is personally more important. What I do know is that I value, and miss, both socializing and communion now.
This is a strange time, and having church on-line is not easy; but, I am learning how my clergy friends lead services. And, thanks to an alert on my Facebook feed, I found myself watching a service at St Patrick’s in Dublin (yes, the very same cathedral in which Oliver Cromwell stabled his horses to show his disdain for Anglicanism). Another learning opportunity of our strange time is that the clergy of the diocese are in a Zoom meeting with the bishop every two weeks for mutual support and communication. Last week we talked at length about Eucharistic theology (Eucharist = communion). I imagine for most passers-by it would be a pretty boring conversation; but for us, it was important. The main question was this: how/when will we have communion again? The bishop restricted us from offering “virtual Eucharist” which allows people at home to hold up bread and wine in front of their computer screen while the priest consecrates it on-line. There are Eucharistic rubrics (rules) that prohibit that. However, our Bishop allowed for “spiritual communion” which recognizes that there are times when one can’t physically receive communion but can spiritually receive the benefits of it. The concept of it comes from a prayer book attributed to St. Augustine (354-430). Although from the 5th century, it addresses our time now when we can’t receive physically receive communion.
My personal Eucharistic theology prohibits me from receiving communion unless it is offered to all baptized people. As such, I have been offering Morning Prayer. On the flip side, several clergy colleagues are offering a Holy Communion service. They receive the consecrated host but do not offer it off the altar. Although that practice is not my particular theology/ecclesiology, I don’t think what they are doing is wrong; rather, it is simply not how I feel called to celebrate the Eucharist. In this strange time, I don’t know how to offer the Eucharist off-altar because it requires that we share the same air. I suppose I could serve my family off the altar because we share the same air at home. But, that seems pretty exclusive for a sacrament in which Jesus gave us no bounds when he said, take, break, eat, share. This is a liminal time – there will be a day when we will be able to receive communion again. It may not be until we are all vaccinated, but the time is coming when we will all be able to share in the body of Christ through the receiving of bread and wine.
This Sunday, taking a page out of St. Augustine’s prayer book, we are going to participate in spiritual communion, which, is worth repeating, is receiving the spiritual blessings of communion when one can’t physically receive it. And, unlike traditional Sunday morning Eucharist services, you can receive spiritual communion whenever and wherever you would like by watching and participating in Sunday’s service. It is a strange time indeed, but, there are some things we can learn, perhaps receiving spiritual communion is one of them.
-Fr. Dave
This is a strange time, and having church on-line is not easy; but, I am learning how my clergy friends lead services. And, thanks to an alert on my Facebook feed, I found myself watching a service at St Patrick’s in Dublin (yes, the very same cathedral in which Oliver Cromwell stabled his horses to show his disdain for Anglicanism). Another learning opportunity of our strange time is that the clergy of the diocese are in a Zoom meeting with the bishop every two weeks for mutual support and communication. Last week we talked at length about Eucharistic theology (Eucharist = communion). I imagine for most passers-by it would be a pretty boring conversation; but for us, it was important. The main question was this: how/when will we have communion again? The bishop restricted us from offering “virtual Eucharist” which allows people at home to hold up bread and wine in front of their computer screen while the priest consecrates it on-line. There are Eucharistic rubrics (rules) that prohibit that. However, our Bishop allowed for “spiritual communion” which recognizes that there are times when one can’t physically receive communion but can spiritually receive the benefits of it. The concept of it comes from a prayer book attributed to St. Augustine (354-430). Although from the 5th century, it addresses our time now when we can’t receive physically receive communion.
My personal Eucharistic theology prohibits me from receiving communion unless it is offered to all baptized people. As such, I have been offering Morning Prayer. On the flip side, several clergy colleagues are offering a Holy Communion service. They receive the consecrated host but do not offer it off the altar. Although that practice is not my particular theology/ecclesiology, I don’t think what they are doing is wrong; rather, it is simply not how I feel called to celebrate the Eucharist. In this strange time, I don’t know how to offer the Eucharist off-altar because it requires that we share the same air. I suppose I could serve my family off the altar because we share the same air at home. But, that seems pretty exclusive for a sacrament in which Jesus gave us no bounds when he said, take, break, eat, share. This is a liminal time – there will be a day when we will be able to receive communion again. It may not be until we are all vaccinated, but the time is coming when we will all be able to share in the body of Christ through the receiving of bread and wine.
This Sunday, taking a page out of St. Augustine’s prayer book, we are going to participate in spiritual communion, which, is worth repeating, is receiving the spiritual blessings of communion when one can’t physically receive it. And, unlike traditional Sunday morning Eucharist services, you can receive spiritual communion whenever and wherever you would like by watching and participating in Sunday’s service. It is a strange time indeed, but, there are some things we can learn, perhaps receiving spiritual communion is one of them.
-Fr. Dave
Solving for X
April 30, 2020
Now that Elijah and Ethan are learning-from-home I get to see more of Elijah’s day-to-day school work. The math that the fourth graders are doing is different than what I learned. I suppose the fundamentals are the same – two plus two still equals four – but the mechanics of it are different. One thing I struggled with in my math lessons was solving for X. Luckily, I have a patient mom who also taught math. I used to get frustrated and say, “Why don’t they just tell me what X is?!” As I learned, there are important lessons that one has to go through to figure out what is hiding behind the X.
I thought about this the other day when I felt as if I was risking my life at Publix. Coffee creamer is essential, right? There were two different brands in the cooler. One was on sale but usually has a higher price. I found myself solving for X to see which one was the better buy. Could it be that all those years after I complained about why do I have to learn this, could it be that I actually needed to know how to do it?
That got me thinking about the other times in life I had to solve for X. The first thing came to mind was being an underwriter for an insurance company. X is the rate of loss. I knew information on the insured, what they wanted covered, and how much coverage they needed. But, what I didn’t know, is if they would have a loss. As it turned out, I had a pretty good sense on how to solve that equation. Likewise, as a sales manager for a home electronic retailer, I got pretty good at approving checks. I saw the customer, what they wanted to purchase, and their check. Solving for X is this: would the check clear or not.
The leadership team at All Angels has been working diligently on solving for X in our time. X consists of a balance of safety, gathering for public worship, spacing and timing. It’s a pretty complex X. There will be a time when our doors will be open, but when? People, both those familiar to us and strangers, will be welcomed in. Where will everyone sit? How will we do communion that incorporates both touch and sharing the same air space? These are the X’s that we are solving. One of the lessons we have learned in our solving-for-X time is just how important it is for the people of All Angels to be together. I, for one, took for granted the weekly gathering together. The so-called “welcome line” that we did after the service probably won’t happen until after 2021’s flu season has ended. That “X” is partially solved. What remains is how to greet one another warmly, at a safe distance. Going back to the book of Ecclesiastes, “there is a time for embracing and a time to refrain from embracing.” Church history has had to deal with a number of X’s; starting with the first one – what to do with a crucified Messiah? From the early Church to now, we continue to solve for X, with God’s help. I believe that God is behind the X, in front of the X, to its left and to its right, God is above it and below it, and God is in us as we solve for X.
-Fr. Dave
I thought about this the other day when I felt as if I was risking my life at Publix. Coffee creamer is essential, right? There were two different brands in the cooler. One was on sale but usually has a higher price. I found myself solving for X to see which one was the better buy. Could it be that all those years after I complained about why do I have to learn this, could it be that I actually needed to know how to do it?
That got me thinking about the other times in life I had to solve for X. The first thing came to mind was being an underwriter for an insurance company. X is the rate of loss. I knew information on the insured, what they wanted covered, and how much coverage they needed. But, what I didn’t know, is if they would have a loss. As it turned out, I had a pretty good sense on how to solve that equation. Likewise, as a sales manager for a home electronic retailer, I got pretty good at approving checks. I saw the customer, what they wanted to purchase, and their check. Solving for X is this: would the check clear or not.
The leadership team at All Angels has been working diligently on solving for X in our time. X consists of a balance of safety, gathering for public worship, spacing and timing. It’s a pretty complex X. There will be a time when our doors will be open, but when? People, both those familiar to us and strangers, will be welcomed in. Where will everyone sit? How will we do communion that incorporates both touch and sharing the same air space? These are the X’s that we are solving. One of the lessons we have learned in our solving-for-X time is just how important it is for the people of All Angels to be together. I, for one, took for granted the weekly gathering together. The so-called “welcome line” that we did after the service probably won’t happen until after 2021’s flu season has ended. That “X” is partially solved. What remains is how to greet one another warmly, at a safe distance. Going back to the book of Ecclesiastes, “there is a time for embracing and a time to refrain from embracing.” Church history has had to deal with a number of X’s; starting with the first one – what to do with a crucified Messiah? From the early Church to now, we continue to solve for X, with God’s help. I believe that God is behind the X, in front of the X, to its left and to its right, God is above it and below it, and God is in us as we solve for X.
-Fr. Dave
Patient/Endurance
April 23, 2020
I had a very interesting Revelation Bible study class I’d like to share with you. The last book in the Bible seeks to answer four questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Why are the wicked not punished? What is the meaning of suffering? Where is God’s justice?
Our current pandemic has led many of the faithful to ask similar questions.
In Class 2, we read the following verse, “I, John, your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and my witness about Jesus.” (1:9)
The approach I took on this passage was to show who the author is and where he is writing from. Several people on the Zoom study stopped me and said their Bible translation read, “I, John, your brother in the suffering and patient endurance…” Their question was why did my translation leave out “patient” when describing endurance. I was baffled. I quickly pulled up different English translations and found some had “patient” and others didn’t. I then shared my screen with them that had the Greek version (the original language) and the English equivalent underneath so we could read it together. Nowhere in the original did it show “patience”. Nevertheless, I did some research into this; here is what I found.
At issue, is the word ὑπομονή (hupomonḗ) which is translated “endurance” in the Common English Bible. It means to persevere, remain under; a bearing up under, patience, endurance as to things or circumstances. Hupomonḗ is associated with hope and refers to that quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. Generally meaning endurance, patience, perseverance or constancy under suffering in faith and duty. In the context of Rev 1:9, it means by the quality to which one perseveres.
The big question is how to translate that into English. Can one patiently endure? I am in the presence of some folks at All Angels who are patiently enduring with a health condition of themselves or of their partner/spouse. They know there is nothing they can do about their condition. Daily, they choose to persevere instead of falling prey to negativity, anger, and bitterness. Now, they’d be the first to tell you that there are days… but, for the most part, they are enduring, patiently. A friend wrote to me about the Bible study and said that patiently enduring requires consent on the one who is being put to the test. John, therefore, is writing to those who consent to call Jesus Lord and, as such, they are consenting to endure with him, patiently.
One last thing – the Greeks of the 1st century, like today, are into endurance sports like long distance running, wrestling, and swimming. It should be no surprise they are credited with creating the Olympic Games. Endurance activities are individual sports that, if done to a high quality, can lift a nation. Each one of those sports requires patience as well as endurance. What John is describing, in his Revelation is that no matter what we are facing, God is patiently enduring with us. Whether one is trapped on the exile island of Patmos, or physical distancing at home, God is with us. And, through hope that there will be an end to suffering, God is helping us to endure, which, could lift a nation.
-Fr. Dave
Our current pandemic has led many of the faithful to ask similar questions.
In Class 2, we read the following verse, “I, John, your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and my witness about Jesus.” (1:9)
The approach I took on this passage was to show who the author is and where he is writing from. Several people on the Zoom study stopped me and said their Bible translation read, “I, John, your brother in the suffering and patient endurance…” Their question was why did my translation leave out “patient” when describing endurance. I was baffled. I quickly pulled up different English translations and found some had “patient” and others didn’t. I then shared my screen with them that had the Greek version (the original language) and the English equivalent underneath so we could read it together. Nowhere in the original did it show “patience”. Nevertheless, I did some research into this; here is what I found.
At issue, is the word ὑπομονή (hupomonḗ) which is translated “endurance” in the Common English Bible. It means to persevere, remain under; a bearing up under, patience, endurance as to things or circumstances. Hupomonḗ is associated with hope and refers to that quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. Generally meaning endurance, patience, perseverance or constancy under suffering in faith and duty. In the context of Rev 1:9, it means by the quality to which one perseveres.
The big question is how to translate that into English. Can one patiently endure? I am in the presence of some folks at All Angels who are patiently enduring with a health condition of themselves or of their partner/spouse. They know there is nothing they can do about their condition. Daily, they choose to persevere instead of falling prey to negativity, anger, and bitterness. Now, they’d be the first to tell you that there are days… but, for the most part, they are enduring, patiently. A friend wrote to me about the Bible study and said that patiently enduring requires consent on the one who is being put to the test. John, therefore, is writing to those who consent to call Jesus Lord and, as such, they are consenting to endure with him, patiently.
One last thing – the Greeks of the 1st century, like today, are into endurance sports like long distance running, wrestling, and swimming. It should be no surprise they are credited with creating the Olympic Games. Endurance activities are individual sports that, if done to a high quality, can lift a nation. Each one of those sports requires patience as well as endurance. What John is describing, in his Revelation is that no matter what we are facing, God is patiently enduring with us. Whether one is trapped on the exile island of Patmos, or physical distancing at home, God is with us. And, through hope that there will be an end to suffering, God is helping us to endure, which, could lift a nation.
-Fr. Dave
Cobividpolar-19
April 16, 2020
A High School friend on Facebook posted this question:
Have you heard about Cobividpolar-19? It’s a new disorder manifested by weeks of pandemic self-isolation.
These symptoms include:
Feelings of anger, fear, hope, judgement and empathy all within a 30-minute span of a national newscast.
Being happy to Zoom with people you miss and also angry that you have to put on a decent shirt.
A slow building dread as each new toilet paper roll is put out.
Hiding the good candy because you’re tired of sharing EVERYTHING ELSE.
Helping your kids with math and when they ask why they have to learn this you say, “Because when you are older you might be stuck at home during a pandemic and have to teach your children.”
And, lying in bed pondering the philosophical question of 2020: To Pants or Not to Pants.
It made me laugh and I wanted to share it with you so that maybe you’d get chuckle too. But, there is nugget of truth in there that stuck out for me – going through a variety of thoughts and emotions; including hope and judgement; while watching a nationally televised news program.
On a good day, I struggle with judging. The news cycle these days doesn’t help at all – I can judge our government on every level and what they have or have not done to help us, how businesses are responding or perhaps making the situation worse, and I watch how others are selflessly helping others and then judge myself for not doing more. None of this is good for myself or for others. I could blame Cobividpolar-19 or I could take a deeper look at the issue.
I can’t control the behavior of others; the car tailgating me on GMD Drive, the person who stands too close to me in line, or the cougher without a mask on aisle 9. They are responsible for their own behavior, and likewise, I am responsible for my behavior toward them. What comes to mind is control. I can’t control the driver nor the shopper. In fact, there is a lot going on around me that I am not in control of. But, my faith says that God knows what’s going on. The tailgater who suddenly turned into the post office and ran up the steps with a package. The cougher who placed bags of groceries in three different cars. The close-stander who smiled at me with kind eyes, thanked me for wearing a mask, and said he hasn’t talked to anyone in a week. After experiencing that, my judging side started slipping away and I found empathy and hope lurking underneath.
We are not rewarded for how well we judge others. What is rewarding, however, is to find hope and empathy loitering around us. The upside of Cobividpolar-19 is the ability to feel empathy and hope; even better is responding to those feelings.
Over the last couple of weeks, All Angels has written checks - $5,000 to Children First, $5,000 to Meals on Wheels-Plus, and another $2,000, that came in on our Good Friday electronic offertory plate, will go out next week to another local charity in need. We had a full barrel of food picked up today for the Manatee Food Bank. I imagine it’ll be full again after Sunday. I am hearing stories of parishioners who are standing up to the feelings of fear and judgement and instead of putting the stimulus money into savings they are putting it directly into the economy by helping others through the church, local food banks, and as cash to people who have been laid-off.
Instead of harshly judging the effects of Cobividpolar-19, when looking at our situation through the lens of empathy and hope, I am starting to think that is a time of resurrection, hope, and new life.
-Fr. Dave
Have you heard about Cobividpolar-19? It’s a new disorder manifested by weeks of pandemic self-isolation.
These symptoms include:
Feelings of anger, fear, hope, judgement and empathy all within a 30-minute span of a national newscast.
Being happy to Zoom with people you miss and also angry that you have to put on a decent shirt.
A slow building dread as each new toilet paper roll is put out.
Hiding the good candy because you’re tired of sharing EVERYTHING ELSE.
Helping your kids with math and when they ask why they have to learn this you say, “Because when you are older you might be stuck at home during a pandemic and have to teach your children.”
And, lying in bed pondering the philosophical question of 2020: To Pants or Not to Pants.
It made me laugh and I wanted to share it with you so that maybe you’d get chuckle too. But, there is nugget of truth in there that stuck out for me – going through a variety of thoughts and emotions; including hope and judgement; while watching a nationally televised news program.
On a good day, I struggle with judging. The news cycle these days doesn’t help at all – I can judge our government on every level and what they have or have not done to help us, how businesses are responding or perhaps making the situation worse, and I watch how others are selflessly helping others and then judge myself for not doing more. None of this is good for myself or for others. I could blame Cobividpolar-19 or I could take a deeper look at the issue.
I can’t control the behavior of others; the car tailgating me on GMD Drive, the person who stands too close to me in line, or the cougher without a mask on aisle 9. They are responsible for their own behavior, and likewise, I am responsible for my behavior toward them. What comes to mind is control. I can’t control the driver nor the shopper. In fact, there is a lot going on around me that I am not in control of. But, my faith says that God knows what’s going on. The tailgater who suddenly turned into the post office and ran up the steps with a package. The cougher who placed bags of groceries in three different cars. The close-stander who smiled at me with kind eyes, thanked me for wearing a mask, and said he hasn’t talked to anyone in a week. After experiencing that, my judging side started slipping away and I found empathy and hope lurking underneath.
We are not rewarded for how well we judge others. What is rewarding, however, is to find hope and empathy loitering around us. The upside of Cobividpolar-19 is the ability to feel empathy and hope; even better is responding to those feelings.
Over the last couple of weeks, All Angels has written checks - $5,000 to Children First, $5,000 to Meals on Wheels-Plus, and another $2,000, that came in on our Good Friday electronic offertory plate, will go out next week to another local charity in need. We had a full barrel of food picked up today for the Manatee Food Bank. I imagine it’ll be full again after Sunday. I am hearing stories of parishioners who are standing up to the feelings of fear and judgement and instead of putting the stimulus money into savings they are putting it directly into the economy by helping others through the church, local food banks, and as cash to people who have been laid-off.
Instead of harshly judging the effects of Cobividpolar-19, when looking at our situation through the lens of empathy and hope, I am starting to think that is a time of resurrection, hope, and new life.
-Fr. Dave
Social Distancing?
April 2, 2020
I have just finished up a week of Zoom meetings. If you are not familiar with Zoom, you will be soon. It is a web-based program that allows for up to 1,000 people see each other and talk all at the same time on either a computer or a smart phone. On Tuesday, I had a Zoom meeting with the Men’s Discussion Group. Later that day, I had a Zoom meeting with the Bishop and 145 members of the diocesan clergy. On Wednesday, I had a Zoom meeting with 115 treasurers and rectors from around the diocese to talk about the impact of Safer-at-Home and church finances; and, in the afternoon, with 12 clergy members of our area deanery. Thursday, I had a zoom meeting with the Women’s Discussion group and a practice session with my senior warden to get music and other things to share in with the discussion; similar to what you are seeing on television. If you are wondering, Zoom is a publicly traded company and has nearly doubled in stock price over the past two months. This week, I have been socializing, if you will, with nearly 300 people. Yet, we have been physically distant.
Because of the Safer-at-Home declaration by Florida’s governor, I have been pondering how All Angels should react and comply with the letter and spirit of the law. The governor has declared church services (for all faith traditions) to be essential and therefore admissible. At the same time, we are restricted to have 10 or fewer in groups and, if you look at a previous declaration, it seems like people over the age of 65 can’t do anything but go to the store, get prescriptions, and take a walk.
I feel as if I have been caught flat-footed with this. It’s like we have been reacting and pivoting to the restrictions. In reaction, we started the Drive-in church where folks drive onto the campus and can hear the service through 99.9 FM or over the outdoor loudspeakers. We started with something like 0 cars, to 9, to 17 last week. Likewise, we are having more walk-ups who are either siting on our benches or bringing their own chairs. With this type of growth, we will easily go above both the spirit and letter of the law for the number of people in attendance. … which is great, but probably not the best idea at this time.
As such, we are putting the Drive-in church on hiatus for this month. Instead, we are going live on Zoom this Sunday at 9:15. The service will be recorded and then posted on the YouTube channel like normal. Proactively speaking, if (or when) an executive order from either the Longboat Town Council, the Bishop’s Office, the County Commissioner, the governor or president, which takes the gathering number from ten to zero, we will be already doing our worship services in our homes.
In the future, I imagine that restrictions will be gradually relaxed. That means we will start up the Drive-in church and then, hopefully just a couple of weeks later, be able to open the doors for all to gather. On that great and glorious day, we will still be live-streaming on the internet, broadcasting over 99.9 FM for those who prefer to stay in their cars, broadcasting through our loudspeakers to those who prefer to be outside, and, videotaping the service for viewing on YouTube.
They say we should be socially distant for a while to stop the spread of the Covid virus. I prefer to think of it this way: to stop the spread, we should be physically distancing ourselves yet finding new ways to be socially connected.
- Fr. Dave
Because of the Safer-at-Home declaration by Florida’s governor, I have been pondering how All Angels should react and comply with the letter and spirit of the law. The governor has declared church services (for all faith traditions) to be essential and therefore admissible. At the same time, we are restricted to have 10 or fewer in groups and, if you look at a previous declaration, it seems like people over the age of 65 can’t do anything but go to the store, get prescriptions, and take a walk.
I feel as if I have been caught flat-footed with this. It’s like we have been reacting and pivoting to the restrictions. In reaction, we started the Drive-in church where folks drive onto the campus and can hear the service through 99.9 FM or over the outdoor loudspeakers. We started with something like 0 cars, to 9, to 17 last week. Likewise, we are having more walk-ups who are either siting on our benches or bringing their own chairs. With this type of growth, we will easily go above both the spirit and letter of the law for the number of people in attendance. … which is great, but probably not the best idea at this time.
As such, we are putting the Drive-in church on hiatus for this month. Instead, we are going live on Zoom this Sunday at 9:15. The service will be recorded and then posted on the YouTube channel like normal. Proactively speaking, if (or when) an executive order from either the Longboat Town Council, the Bishop’s Office, the County Commissioner, the governor or president, which takes the gathering number from ten to zero, we will be already doing our worship services in our homes.
In the future, I imagine that restrictions will be gradually relaxed. That means we will start up the Drive-in church and then, hopefully just a couple of weeks later, be able to open the doors for all to gather. On that great and glorious day, we will still be live-streaming on the internet, broadcasting over 99.9 FM for those who prefer to stay in their cars, broadcasting through our loudspeakers to those who prefer to be outside, and, videotaping the service for viewing on YouTube.
They say we should be socially distant for a while to stop the spread of the Covid virus. I prefer to think of it this way: to stop the spread, we should be physically distancing ourselves yet finding new ways to be socially connected.
- Fr. Dave
Where is God in all of this?
March 30, 2020
Where is God in all of this?
How long, Lord? Will you ever remember me?
How long will you hide from me?
How long must I wrestle with internal thoughts and have sorrow in my heart? Daily?!
How long will this enemy triumph over me? Psalm 13:1-2
Of the 150 psalms, 42 are of lament – 30 of which are personal. These laments ask where God is in a particular situation, or where is God in the center of government, or in our communities. Quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, Jesus famously said from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”
It seems these days we are writing our own psalms of lament. How long will we have to live like this? Why is God allowing this to happen? Has God forsaken us? What is next for us and will God be there with us? Although I do not have a definitive answer for these laments, I do have some thoughts and some faith.
Although non-believers use times of challenge, like the current pandemic, to “prove” that God doesn’t exist. They will even say that ancient writings in the Bible show that people have historically reached out to a non-existent being with no solace. But, if that were actually the case, wouldn’t our faith traditions have ended long ago.
We often wonder why God allows for evil to happen; but, what if God is a response to evil? I wonder this because it seems like after a bad thing happens, something good happens. Now, I understand there is no way to know of the evil that God stops before it happens, but what if we have it in reverse. Would you look at the news differently if God was a reaction to bad news instead of the gatekeeper who allows it? Would that make you look at God differently too?
Intertwined in the bad news of the day, there are shining bright spots. The images of children holding home-made signs of love for their grandparents; health care professionals working as hard as they can to help; compassion coming from neighbors helping other neighbors; weddings that are still happening; Sunday’s in-home concert by today’s top performers to raise money for those in need; houses across the country putting their Christmas lights back up so they can shine a light of hope at night; congress unanimously passing a bill; animal shelters bringing adoptee pets out to perspective fur-ever homes; Germans singing songs on their balconies in tribute for those in Italy; free-book libraries turning into free-food pantries. What if this is God’s reaction to Covid-19? What if this is the Spirit of God blowing through individuals to do their best to help others.
For every psalm of lament, there are more psalms of joy and thanksgiving. It seems as if we need to have the lament to then have the joy. What if God reacts to things in that manner and perhaps in that order. Like the alcoholic that celebrates more than 30 years of sobriety, or the stage 4 cancer survivor giving thanks for the sunrise; there are victories of God in and around us. So, with our pandemic, where is God in all of this? I see God showing up in all sorts of signs and actions of people helping one another and of finding new and innovative ways to connect, even though we must remain apart.
Jesus’ last words were not, “Why have you forsaken me.” The joy of his resurrection came shining through in the way that he revealed his resurrected self by baking fish for the disciples on a lake shore. The joy of his resurrection came when he was ascending and told his followers to take his peace and “Go, to the ends of the earth.” … which they did, and are still doing. God further revealed the power of resurrection on the Day of Pentecost which shines through at every baptism today. The words Jesus said on the cross were not his last words and neither will our laments about Covid-19 be God’s last word on us.
The Book of Psalms ends with this:
Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah! (Ps 149:1;150;6)
We are singing new songs, and old songs in a new way, and giving praise to God. Although it is different, because of the pandemic, we are gathering together in unique ways to praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
May the Peace of the Lord be with you,
- Fr. Dave
How long, Lord? Will you ever remember me?
How long will you hide from me?
How long must I wrestle with internal thoughts and have sorrow in my heart? Daily?!
How long will this enemy triumph over me? Psalm 13:1-2
Of the 150 psalms, 42 are of lament – 30 of which are personal. These laments ask where God is in a particular situation, or where is God in the center of government, or in our communities. Quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, Jesus famously said from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”
It seems these days we are writing our own psalms of lament. How long will we have to live like this? Why is God allowing this to happen? Has God forsaken us? What is next for us and will God be there with us? Although I do not have a definitive answer for these laments, I do have some thoughts and some faith.
Although non-believers use times of challenge, like the current pandemic, to “prove” that God doesn’t exist. They will even say that ancient writings in the Bible show that people have historically reached out to a non-existent being with no solace. But, if that were actually the case, wouldn’t our faith traditions have ended long ago.
We often wonder why God allows for evil to happen; but, what if God is a response to evil? I wonder this because it seems like after a bad thing happens, something good happens. Now, I understand there is no way to know of the evil that God stops before it happens, but what if we have it in reverse. Would you look at the news differently if God was a reaction to bad news instead of the gatekeeper who allows it? Would that make you look at God differently too?
Intertwined in the bad news of the day, there are shining bright spots. The images of children holding home-made signs of love for their grandparents; health care professionals working as hard as they can to help; compassion coming from neighbors helping other neighbors; weddings that are still happening; Sunday’s in-home concert by today’s top performers to raise money for those in need; houses across the country putting their Christmas lights back up so they can shine a light of hope at night; congress unanimously passing a bill; animal shelters bringing adoptee pets out to perspective fur-ever homes; Germans singing songs on their balconies in tribute for those in Italy; free-book libraries turning into free-food pantries. What if this is God’s reaction to Covid-19? What if this is the Spirit of God blowing through individuals to do their best to help others.
For every psalm of lament, there are more psalms of joy and thanksgiving. It seems as if we need to have the lament to then have the joy. What if God reacts to things in that manner and perhaps in that order. Like the alcoholic that celebrates more than 30 years of sobriety, or the stage 4 cancer survivor giving thanks for the sunrise; there are victories of God in and around us. So, with our pandemic, where is God in all of this? I see God showing up in all sorts of signs and actions of people helping one another and of finding new and innovative ways to connect, even though we must remain apart.
Jesus’ last words were not, “Why have you forsaken me.” The joy of his resurrection came shining through in the way that he revealed his resurrected self by baking fish for the disciples on a lake shore. The joy of his resurrection came when he was ascending and told his followers to take his peace and “Go, to the ends of the earth.” … which they did, and are still doing. God further revealed the power of resurrection on the Day of Pentecost which shines through at every baptism today. The words Jesus said on the cross were not his last words and neither will our laments about Covid-19 be God’s last word on us.
The Book of Psalms ends with this:
Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah! (Ps 149:1;150;6)
We are singing new songs, and old songs in a new way, and giving praise to God. Although it is different, because of the pandemic, we are gathering together in unique ways to praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
May the Peace of the Lord be with you,
- Fr. Dave