Dear People of Christ Church:

What is your prayer for our parish?

It's not a rhetorical question. For our upcoming Quarterly on prayer, our hope is to assemble a collection of people's prayers-prayers of request, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of ..? what? We hope to take each one of our petitions and put them together in one psalm, our many voices becoming one voice.



What is my prayer? I've had many different prayers over the years that I've been at Christ Church. When I first arrived in 2005, I prayed to know what to do; I was 26, and had been ordained for just a little more than a year. Now, I pray not to get too comfortable; my large desk and comfortable habits have a nice way of lulling me into complacence that I know what I'm doing and what comes next.



In the past year, I've noticed that one recurring prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving for belief. Somehow since Holy Week this year, I've found myself witnessing the story of our faith in a different way; I could always explain in the abstract what it meant and why, and how I believed or didn't. This year, I find myself thankful both for the substance of the belief- God's creation of the world, Christ's ministry, death, and resurrection-but also the experience of belief in the first place. To believe-credo-to give one's heart to something-is an amazing gift.



The apostle Paul wrote to the Church in Rome, "The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8:26). God came to us before we came to God, and at the same time God prays in us with God's own voice. At the same time, on a psychological level, we are awfully prone to get in God's way. The philosopher William James (1984-1910) gave a lecture called "The Will to Believe," in which, basically, he says it's worse to be so afraid of being duped that we are unable to believe anything than it is to be wrong. Not deciding, in effect, is deciding. "It is like a general informing his soldiers that it is better to keep out of battle forever than to risk a single wound. . . Our errors are surely not such awfully solemn things." (The Will to Believe, Section VII).



Belief is something of a dance; part us, part God, part mystery. Belief is a gift, but that not everyone believes is hardly a sign that God has withheld this from them. What I find helpful about James' insight is that it helps us to see belief as a mutual process. We choose, but we are also chosen. (How that happens is the part where mystery comes in). What is life-giving for one must not be life-giving for all. But the One who gives life gives it freely.



So this year, I've been feeling particularly thankful for my faith, and so my prayer for Christ Church is something like this:

For belief, O Christ, for belief in you and celebration of your gifts. That we all may know your love and share it with others, within these walls and without.



Blessings,

Sara+

Salvation is near

This week, we return to our regular schedule of church in full swing, with services at 8 and 10. Since it’s the first Sunday of the month we’ll have all the kids in church with us.  Rather than the usual children’s sermon, though, we’ll get to see our Sunday School program, Godly Play, in action. Teacher Jonathan Duce will tell the Creation story in Godly Play style, so all the grownups will be able to see what it’s all about.  Christ Church has used the Godly Play curriculum for a number of years now. Based around Montessori techniques of education, it is a child-centered program that tries to respond to where the kids are, rather than transmitting some body of knowledge from “on high.”  Based around telling stories of the Bible, the children are invited to ask questions. I wonder why Noah built the ark? I wonder why there were two animals of each kind? The kids gather in a circle, hear the story, “wonder,” and then chose projects (like art or sandbox play) that help them to consider it.  After the service, we’re invited to go downstairs to the Godly Play room for an open house.

 Ideally, “wondering” is how we should all engage with our faith—the Bible is so much more a book of opening dialogue than it is a book of offering definitive commandments. Jesus taught in parables to engage his followers into his teaching, and we are called to engage, to “wonder,” too. We have to listen for the Spirit of the Scripture: what it means as a whole, not just to the letter of what any single text might say.   We are called to “wonder” about how it all applies to our lives and to the life of the world.

 We bring so much to our readings of the Bible. Individually, we bring our rich and varied life experiences. Intellectually, we bring the best of human knowledge—historical, theological, and even scientific research—to the Bible. Our experiences and our knowledge help us to frame our “wonderings” about the Scripture.  This Sunday, we’ll hear St Paul give a summary of the law—“summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Paul continues, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”  We all spend our entire lives figuring out how to love each other. Salvation is so near to us, Paul says, in this love.

Salvation is near to us.  In acts of love great and small—in writing out your pledge checks, in volunteering at your kids’ school, in working extra hours to support your family, in laughing with your neighbors, in working for peace, in praying for each other. Salvation is near as we all come back from our vacations and settle in at the altar together again.  Salvation is near as we learn new things and take on new projects this fall. Salvation is near.  Where are you nearing to your salvation?  Who are you called to love? 

July 8: Nothing can separate us from the love of God

Dear People of Christ Church,
In the Daily Office this morning, we had one of my favorite passages from Romans:

If God is for us, who is against us?. . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8: 31, 38-39)

As I read it, though, it seemed so abstract—beautiful, but abstract. I do not, on a daily basis, tend to think about angels and rulers (occasional angry thoughts about the present administration notwithstanding)—but I do get wrapped up in the task at hand, at wondering how it will all get done, the phone calls completed and the bills paid, and that one annoying person who gets under my skin is still bothering me, and wondering why Isaiah finds it so amusing to empty out the salt shaker on the rug. And also wondering if I am a bad mother for allowing him to do so, being grateful that at least he is not trying to eat the computer mouse or climb off the porch, and is also being quiet.

So I thought about a more everyday version of it, with apologies to St Paul.
If God is for us, who is against us?. . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor stress, nor dirty dishes, nor humid weather, nor senseless tragedy, nor traditionalist bishops, nor poverty, nor wealth, nor grouchy children, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God.

What would be on your list? What are those ordinary sins and mundane problems that distract you from the love of God? What would it be like to live every moment with a complete awareness of how God’s love encircles you at every turn, how God’s forgiveness follows you, as Psalm 139 says, “presses upon you behind and before?” How can you give those things that worry you to God, to entrust to God’s care those things that sidetrack you from that love?

Take a second right now to enjoy God’s all-abiding delight in you.
Amen, Alleluia!

Blessings,
Sara+