Lazarus: New Life (A midrash)

 

The first thing I noticed was the change in the silence.  From the absolute silence of death, suddenly I could sense silence waiting—for what?  Had I missed something?

 Then I noticed that I was breathing again, and I could feel my heart beating, blood flowing, my arms and legs tingling as life returned.

 "Lazarus, come out of there!”

It was Jesus, and he sounded just a little impatient, as if that wasn’t the first time he had called.  I couldn’t see anything, but I could follow the sound of his voice.

Suddenly, the rock sealing the mouth of the cave shifted a bit, and light seeped in.  If my eyes hadn’t been wrapped, the change from utter darkness would have been painful.  But all of me was wound round with linen strips and I could smell the spices in their folds as I began slowly, stiffly, to sit up, then stretched, and put my feet to the ground.

Then I realized:  I was alive!  But I had died—the last thing I remembered was Mary weeping as we realized that Jesus would not come in time to save me.  When Martha told us she had sent a messenger to Jesus with the news, we thought surely he would come in time to lay his hands on me, as he had done for so many strangers, to take away their illness and send them on their way to a new start in life.

Surely, the man around whom our lives (Martha's, Mary's, and mine) had centered since first we met him, whom we all loved so, and who loved us and had become such a part of our household, surely the news “Lazarus is dying, please come” would have brought him to do what all the doctors could not, and heal all that was wrong with me.

But now, he was waiting for me, along with Mary, Martha and the neighbors I could hear wailing as the opening slowly widened under the muscles of the men shifting the rock from the exit of the tomb.

Oh Lord!  Now that I realize I’m alive again, and you are waiting for me to rejoin life outside the tomb, can I take a few minutes to think about this?  It was actually very restful to let go once I knew I was really dying, to know that I could not do any more to comfort Mary, or placate Martha, or even wait for you one more moment.  Coming back to life is not something I’m prepared for.  Mary will weep, Martha will scold and laugh, and how will the neighbors react to my coming back to life?  They have their doubts about you anyway, you know, Jesus, and raising me from the dead is going to be hard for all of us to come to terms with.

 But I know you are waiting for me, and the gap between the stone and the cave entrance is almost large enough for me to walk out into the sunshine and learn to live again.

John 11:1-44 

11 ^1-3 A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord’s feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Master, the one you love so very much is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus got the message, he said, “This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.”

^5-7 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

⁸ They said, “Rabbi, you can’t do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you’re going back?”

^9-10 Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn’t stumble because there’s plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can’t see where he’s going.”

¹¹ He said these things, and then announced, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I’m going to wake him up.”

^12-13 The disciples said, “Master, if he’s gone to sleep, he’ll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine.” Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap.

^14-15 Then Jesus became explicit: “Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn’t there. You’re about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let’s go to him.”

¹⁶ That’s when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, “Come along. We might as well die with him.”

^17-20 When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.

^21-22 Martha said, “Master, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you.”

²³ Jesus said, “Your brother will be raised up.”

²⁴ Martha replied, “I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time.”

^25-26 “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.”

²⁸ After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”

^29-32 The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, “Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

^33-34 When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, “Where did you put him?”

^34-35 “Master, come and see,” they said. Now Jesus wept.

³⁶ The Jews said, “Look how deeply he loved him.”

³⁷ Others among them said, “Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.”

^38-39 Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”

The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, “Master, by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead four days!”

⁴⁰ Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

^41-42 Then, to the others, “Go ahead, take away the stone.”

They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Father, I’m grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that you sent me.”

^43-44 Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.

Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.”

 

How I Observe Lent

 

For years, rather than “giving up something for Lent,” I have prayed for a word or a phrase to focus on during Lent. The word(s) have surprised me sometimes. One year it was “Rejoice.” Another year it was “Play,” something I’m not very good at (still). The point of “giving up something” or doing something each day of Lent is to help us focus throughout each day on God when we reach for what we have “given up” or for me, how my Lenten phrase recalls my attention to what God is asking me to do.

 One year I started writing down the ways I observed my “victim identity” shaping my personality. That Lenten observance lasted for seven years of Lents and helped me to let go of many of them. I’m far less likely to fall into “victim thinking” now.

 This year’s phrase is “Let go.” I can think of many things I need to let go of, but I’m trying to take this one of the 40 days at a time and not “think my way through” to Easter (something I’m really good at but it leaves God out of the conversation. What do you think I need to let go of, God?)

 Today, I’m trying to let God help me let go of using this day in ways that are not good for me or for who I believe God is calling me to become. I have been saying for years that I have a lot of writing I want to do, so writing this blog and another writing project are my focus for what to do with my time today as I let go of doing nothing.

 There’s nothing inherently wrong with doing nothing, it’s sometimes how I am open to new insights and clarity about who I am, but I’ve done way too much of it lately. So today I’m letting go for this moment. I may need to let go of it several times today…letting go is harder than it sounds, and I can only do it with God’s help. I’ll be interested tomorrow to see what I need to let go of tomorrow, not trying to figure it out today.

     Do you do anything as a way of observing Lent? I’m interested to hear!

Now I Become Myself (May Sarton)

 

I've been on a  journey, you know, looking for who I am, what my priorities are.
Lately I've had a lot of time for recognizing who I am: child of God, created in the image and likeness of God (yes, even me!), and spiritual director, writer, blogger.  This poem speaks so clearly to me at this season!

Now I Become Myself by May Sarton

Now I become myself. It's taken
Time, many years and places;

I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people's faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
"Hurry, you will be dead before—"
(What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)
Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!
The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.
All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.
As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.
Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

Journey to Jerusalem through Lent 1

         Today we begin our journey through the 40 days of Lent. Many of us will receive and wear our ashes to remind us that we are mortal, and as a sign of our desire to follow Jesus all the way to Jerusalem and the cross. Jesus recognizes that it is time to start that journey:

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

        The disciples are also on this journey with us and with Jesus.  They have been following Jesus for the three years of his ministry, watching him heal, teach, and challenge the religious authorities of his day. He has told stories (parables), and he has shown his dependence on his Abba, God-the-Father, who sent him, God-the-Son, to show us new ways of understanding God’s tremendous love for us. Now, the disciples will walk with Jesus toward all that will happen in Jerusalem.  They don’t know what will happen, although we do.  And they still have a lot to learn from him, just as we do. Each Wednesday until Holy Week, I will post one of these reflections on how Jesus continued teaching along the journey to Jerusalem.

In the very next verses of Luke 9 (9:52-55), two of the disciples, James and John, angered because the Samaritans will not allow them to rest in their village, urge Jesus to call down fire from heaven to destroy the village. Clearly, they understand that Jesus has the power from God to do this; just as clearly, they don’t understand that is completely inconsistent with his mission.

Then, others wish to join Jesus and the disciples (Luke 57-62), but they have other priorities: desire to be comfortable and secure, to first bury a father, to say farewell to those he is about to leave. But Jesus makes it clear that following him must always take priority:  “Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

For the most part, we will all be comfortable and secure during this Lent, and we will be able to fulfill our responsibilities to ourselves and others. But as we choose to observe Lent this year, may we be reminded of our commitment to follow Jesus by how we live our faith. If we have chosen a practice for Lent, whether we have chosen to deny ourselves something or to fast from some negative emotion (anger, complaining, resentment, or another) or to do some special reading or prayers, may we be reminded each day of our vocation as his committed followers.                                                                                                 

Prayer (by Satish Kumar): May God kindle in us the fire of love to bring us alive and give warmth to the world. Lead us from death to life; from falsehood to truth. Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.

 

God's Playfulness (Celebrating Mardi Gras)

 

God’s Playfulness

        Have you ever thought there may be a playful side to God? As I watch some of the festivities for Mardi Gras, your playfulness and joy are delightful! I believe God is delighting in your joy, too. There is a lot of evidence in creation that God has a sense of humor! These are just a few of the insects that tell me so!

ADEGSM/Getty Images

                                   Shawn Thomas/Getty Images

Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday” in French) has become one of the most playful days of the Christian year. Lent has been and continues to be for some, 40 days of “giving up” something as way of reminding ourselves of our dependence on God. The day before Lent starts has become a day for extravagantly colorful playfulness. 

       God plays, too, with extravagant colors and combinations of creatures:

There is the sea, vast and wide, with its moving swarms past counting, living things great and small. The ships are moving there and the monsters you made to play with. (Ps 104:25-26, NABR)

        Children NEED to play to learn. But some of us feel that to please God as adults we must be serious all the time. Jesus says this:

²He called a child, whom he put among them, ³and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:2-4)

Humility is one of the keys to being like a little child, to relax enough to be silly, playful, open to delight as God has created us in His image and likeness.       “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.” (Psalm 149:4) There is no room for pride in play and laughter! So let’s play and laugh to the glory of God!

Prayer Suggestion: Beloved Lord, you created us with delight and the gifts of playfulness and humor. May we cherish and enjoy these gifts, especially on this “Fat Tuesday” as we celebrate playfulness.  Amen.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself Devotional Thursday 3/26/20

        Many of you at St. Mary’s Woods may remember this line from FDR’s first Inaugural Address.  I woke up with this line in my head this morning, and I spent some time talking with God about things I am sometimes more afraid of than fear.  We do have reasons to be fearful in these days, I will not deny it.  But (you knew I would say “but,” didn’t you?) something I have learned about fear and anxiety in my spiritual journey is that I ALWAYS have a choice to make when I feel fear.

        “Do not be afraid” occurs more times in the Bible than anything else except “God is love.” So many people in the Bible respond initially with great fear to the appearance of an angel, so God knows that we will feel fear.  But we can choose to focus on the fear, or we can choose to turn our attention toward our Lord who loves us with such great love that Jesus our Savior went all the way through suffering and death to overcome our fears and forgive our sins.  When we are feeling stuck or helpless or afraid of what may happen, turn toward God and God’s “perfect love will cast out our fear.” (1 John 4:18a) It may not be instant, we may have to keep turning toward God, but God will cleanse us of our fears. And that will be a gift from God, and through it God will reduce the effects of fear on our body and our mind and our spirit.

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

2 Timothy 1:6-7 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you… for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Luke 12:22, 25-26 [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. … And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?

Prayer Suggestion: As you continue to pray for protection and health for yourself and your family members, add a prayer today for God to ease the fears of so many people who may not know that they have a choice to turn away from fear toward God.

I Wonder What God is Doing with Us in This Time Devotional Wednesday 3/25/20

        I am getting very curious about all the ways that God is with us and working in us and in our world during these difficult days.  We know that God is with us, God is suffering with us, and I believe that God is working all over the world. 

        I’ve seen some good news about ways that people are helping one another. A lot of companies are working to find treatments and cures, while other companies are changing what they make.  Fashion companies are making protective gear for health care workers, distilleries are making hand sanitizer.  People are finding many ways to help one another get what they need. Teachers are learning new ways to educate their students.  Many people are learning new ways to live at a distance and still be happy. 

        None of this means that this is not hard, or that it will stop being hard soon.  But I do need to hear good news even on days when there is a lot of hard news. So I give God thanks and praise for many blessings, even some we don’t know about yet.  I believe we will look back on this time and see how God is healing, creating, and blessing us.

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

Prayer of Thomas Merton: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen. 

Prayer Suggestion: As you continue to pray for protection and health for yourself and your family members, add a prayer today for those who are unable to understand what is happening, like young children and people with intellectual disabilities and people who do not understand English.

God Knows All the Things We Do Not Know Devotional Tuesday 3/24/20

        One of the things that can be hardest during this time, especially as it becomes a longer time of not knowing, is that many of the things we thought we could be certain about, we cannot be certain about in these days.  We don’t know how long these restrictions or the virus or the separations from family and friends will last. We don’t know if any of our friends or family might get sick.  So many things are not normal in these days, and that can add to our discomfort.  We may even feel some sadness because we cannot plan to do things we are used to doing.

        I am finding it helpful to remind myself that God DOES know everything that we don’t know.  At the same time, we can be part of how God is working in this difficult time by the ways we participate in keeping all of us healthy.  Keeping a safe distance from one another (six feet is the recommendation), staying in the building, finding ways to stay calm, staying connected to God, praying for our families and one another, these are all ways that we cooperate with God’s work.  We know you are doing everything you can to cooperate with the ways we are asking you to do things differently, and we appreciate that VERY much.

        After the Prayer Suggestion, I’ve included a prayer entitled “Waiting,” which I have found to be helpful.

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19, 21-23

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. …. hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer Suggestion: When you go to the Lord in prayer today, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer for every person who does not have faith in God, so that each may hear somehow that God loves each one very much.

“Waiting” by Sharlande Sledge

Look upon us gently, Lord,

for waiting is not our forte.

So many other things are...

Things like moving ahead,

fixing what’s wrong,

planning what’s next,

diagnosing the problem,

cramming more into a day

than one person can possibly do

before the sun goes down.

But waiting...

When we are waiting for the light to shine,

when we are waiting for the Word,

when we are waiting for the wound to heal,

nothing in all the world

is harder than waiting.

So, in your mercy, Lord,

Wait with us.

Be our very present help in waiting.

Heal our frenzy.

Calm our fears.

Comfort those who at this very minute

are with every anxious breath and thought

waiting for they know-not-what.

Transform our in-the-meantime

into your time,

while we wait with each other,

sit with each other,

pray each other into hope,

surrounded by your presence,

even in the darkness.

Especially in the darkness.

From Prayers and Litanies for the Christian Seasons (1999)

Spiritual Nourishment When We Are Unable to Gather Devotional Monday 3/23/20

For many of us, we have relied on being present at church to receive spiritual nourishment.  For Catholics, receiving the Eucharist is the most important way to do that. For Protestants, although we don’t talk much about it as nourishment, we receive nourishment from hearing scripture and the proclamation of the Good News in sermons.  I know that many of you also receive spiritual nourishment in your personal devotionals of prayer and scripture reading.

        In these times when we are unable to gather, staying connected to God and to each other through prayer is the best way for us to remain nourished and growing in our relationship.  We do not want to let this difficult time starve our faith!

        Faith leaders around the world are calling us into a time of fervent prayer for God to help us and to show us how to overcome the coronavirus.  We can join in and know that we are part of the worldwide Body of Christ at prayer.

As our faith is strengthened by prayer and leaning in to the strength of the whole faith community, a poet in San Francisco wrote the poem I have put after the Prayer Suggestion. God can use this time in many ways, if we let Him!

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

Matthew 4:4

…Jesus answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’

John 6:35

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Prayer Suggestion: When you go to the Lord in prayer today, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer for patience and understanding as we all learn about how to love one another at a distance.

Pandemic By Rev. Lynn Ungar

What if you thought of it

as the Jews consider the Sabbath—

the most sacred of times?

Cease from travel.

Cease from buying and selling.

Give up, just for now,

on trying to make the world

different than it is.

Sing. Pray. Touch only those

to whom you commit your life.

Center down.

And when your body has become still,

reach out with your heart.

Know that we are connected

in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.

(You could hardly deny it now.)

Know that our lives

are in one another’s hands.

(Surely, that has come clear.)

Do not reach out your hands.

Reach out your heart.

Reach out your words.

Reach out all the tendrils

of compassion that move, invisibly,

where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love–

for better or for worse,

in sickness and in health,

so long as we all shall live.

God is Always Always With Us Devotional Weekend 3/21-22/20

We breathe because God breathes life into humans, from the beginning of creation throughout all time.  The poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (English) said “Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet—Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.”  In this time when so much is changed and changing, when we live with so much uncertainty, every time you breathe in and out, know that God is indeed with you.  In every moment of every day, in every part of creation, and in your hearts, God is with you.

         On Sunday, I hope you will find a worship service on TV or on the internet which will help you to feel the connection with the Body of Christ, all of the believers all over the world.  We are all learning that church is not so much a place we go to as a time when we are in prayer and worship together, wherever we are.  I pray you will sense the presence of God during worship and in every moment and with every breath you take.

Nancy Waldo

Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult…. ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Prayer suggestion:

When you go to the Lord in prayer this Saturday and Sunday, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer for all those whose ability to earn a living is being disrupted, that they may turn to God and learn to trust God’s provision even when they can’t see how.

How Do We Rejoice in the Lord Always? Devotional Friday 3/20/20

Last night I was reminded in prayer about one of the ways that the Lord has taught me to refocus when I feel anxious.  Making gratitude lists—and making a habit of finding things for which I can be grateful—turns my attention away from negative feelings of any kind toward God whose blessings are so abundant in everything around me and within me.  Sometimes when I start, I have to keep things very simple, “Lord, thank you for my pillow, Lord, thank you for my bed, Lord, thank you for….”  As I do this, I start seeing more and more things to be thankful for, and my anxieties start fading.

         The beauty of spring is more and more evident all around us, so thanking God for sunshine, flowers, the greening of the trees, and the singing of the birds (all things which cannot be affected by the troubles around us) flows from the practice of being grateful.  Keep thanking God, turning to God in praise, and rejoicing will flow, also.

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

Philippians 4:4-8

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Prayer suggestion:

When you go to the Lord in prayer today, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer of thanksgiving for all the many ways that God is with us and working in and through our prayers.

We Are All In This Together Devotional Thursday 3/19/20

Even as we are all learning more about “social distancing,” we have opportunities to learn more deeply than ever before that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that the ways we love each other, even when we can’t be face-to-face, are ways that God is working in and through us. 

        I am heartened by many stories surfacing about ways people are helping each other.  There are many school districts where the food that many children depend on is being made available, in some places being delivered by bus drivers, so that children who usually receive their best nourishment at school are being fed.  These are only some of the stories of courage and selfless service that I am seeing, so many instances of the best of humanity being brought out for the love of one another.

Even in keeping distance between us to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, we are loving one another “as Jesus has loved us.”  I give thanks for your courage and your love as we all learn to lean into God, perhaps in new ways, perhaps more deeply, and find our strength in God’s love for us.

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

Romans 8:38-39 “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.”

John 15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Prayer suggestion:

When you go to the Lord in prayer today, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer for all health care workers, first responders, and those who serve in public places.

Connecting with One Another Through Prayer Devotional Wednesday 3/18/20

As the days without seeing family in person may feel like we are separated from one another, praying for loved ones, our community, and the world can connect us in mysterious ways.  I once “heard” that I was to pray for a woman missionary in the Philippines every morning.  I knew her name from a newsletter, and that she was having a very hard time sleeping at night because of an illness.  So every morning (which was nighttime in the Philippines) for 18 months, God reminded me to pray for her.  Much later, in a newsletter she sent out after she returned to the United States, she said that she felt the prayers (not just mine!) and they had helped her to sleep. This time of being physically separated can become for us a time of learning how God connects us in prayer.

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

From St. Teresa of Avila (Spanish, 1515-1582)

“Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee:
 All thing pass; God never changes.
 Patience attains All that it strives for.
 He who has God Finds he lacks nothing:
 God alone suffices.”

Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body.

Prayer suggestion:

When you go to the Lord in prayer today, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer for children home from school and their parents who are trying to keep them well and provide emotional support as the children’s routines are disrupted.

The "Sacrament of the Present Moment" Devotional Tuesday 3/17/20

One of the most important spiritual disciplines for me has become staying in/returning to the present moment, in body, mind, and spirit.  As I have learned to deal with my own anxieties, this has become a really helpful way to stay focused on THIS MOMENT.

As soon as you become aware of your anxiety, in your mind or in your body, here is a simple exercise to try:

1.  Put both feet flat on the floor.

2.  Wiggle your toes for a few seconds. Feel the floor under your shoes.

3.  Take a deep breath in and out.

4.  Raise your hands and offer up to God whatever is concerning you in that moment.

5.  Repeat as often as necessary.

(P.S. My toes became VERY strong as I practiced this!)

Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Prayer suggestion:

When you go to the Lord in prayer today, in addition to praying for protection for your health and that of your loved ones, add a prayer for those who do not have the kind of resources that we do.

"I Will Never Leave You or Forsake You" 4/15/20 Devotional

“I Will Never Leave You or Forsake You”

        A pastor friend of mine made a comment about the Resurrection announcement in the Gospel of Matthew that made me think.  When the women came looking for Jesus, there was an earthquake and an angel who told them:

…‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ (Matthew 28:5-7)

My friend said that the good news in that moment was that Jesus was not there, dead in the tomb, but risen from the dead.  The better news was and is that Jesus remains with us always.  His last words in the Gospel of Matthew are “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

        Jesus’ words are a different way of saying what God says several times throughout the Bible.  God promises never to leave us or forsake us, as Moses relays the message:

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ (Deuteronomy 31:8)

I am comforted by these promises, especially when there is so much uncertainty around us. It helps me to remember God’s everlasting presence with us, among us, in us, and through us. 

As the disciples continued trying to understand what had happened when Jesus rose from the dead, there are quite a few stories of Jesus’ appearances to some of the disciples and to others who had followed him.  These stories are passed down to us in the Gospels as part of God’s reassurance not only that He is always with us, but that He overcame death in ways that people experienced during the forty days after the Resurrection, and that we continue to experience as we seek to follow Jesus.                                                   Nancy Waldo, St. Mary’s Woods

Prayer Suggestion: Ask God to comfort you with assurance of His everlasting and pervasive presence with you, with us, in this difficult time.  And give thanks for His promises and His presence. Amen.

Review: Reborn Again: Crucifying Christendom & Resurrecting a Radical, by Christopher VanHall

Reborn Again: Crucifying Christendom & Resurrecting a Radical

Christopher VanHall

I found this a fascinating and challenging read.  My fascination is with the process he is describing.  The author is very open about how his painful journey out of conservative evangelicalism wounded and drove him to explore very different understandings of Jesus, the Gospel, and the “place of the church in the 21^st century” (from the back).  His passion and his enthusiasm radiate throughout the book.

Reading the book felt like an energetic conversation with a brilliant and inquiring mind with which I did not always agree. What I found challenging as I am on my own journey of trying to articulate new ways of understanding Jesus and the Gospel is that he makes a number of statements that stopped my reading and raised questions for which his answers made me question his scholarship. VanHall’s “answers” raised more questions yet.  Some of his interpretations of biblical passages I found enlightening, others raised my eyebrows high as my own knowledge of the Bible, biblical studies, Christian history, and theology made me dubious of those statements, and some made me hasten to search for where he might have gotten it. One example that really raised my eyebrows was that “John’s understanding of the gospel is a massive distortion of the good news that the historical Jesus preached.” (p. 56) I don’t see it that way, but it’s an interesting statement that will make me look again at the Gospel of John. But that is part of the challenge of this book and this author’s journey. (He does provide a short list of books that have been important to him along the way.)

Reacting to his wounds appears to still be a major thread of who he is becoming and how he is processing; I understand that, as I have spent many years seeking healing from trauma.  I don’t know that we ever completely heal from trauma.  He is honest at the beginning that he will be using a lot of language that is not usually acceptable in faith circles, and why. I understand that these words seem to help him articulate what he is saying. Although I certainly have used these words on occasions, his use of them gave me the impression that he is still so angry at the distortions of evangelicalism that he uses these words rather than articulate his challenge in ways that would deepen his critique.

It seems to me that his theology is still in fairly early stages of development. It will be interesting to read a book that he might write in 10 years. I would recommend this book for believers who are questioning all that they have been taught about God, and who are seeking help in that process. I would hope, however, that they not take everything he said as a “final conclusion,” but let the book challenge them to explore the ideas and make up their own minds.

There are a few ways that the structuring of the book fell short of helpful.  Almost none of the scripture passages are identified, which I found disconcerting even though I have a fairly thorough knowledge of scripture.  And the lack of footnotes or endnotes was very frustrating.

I appreciated his anecdotes, as they were excellent and engaging illustrations of his journey.  The book is well-written and would be an enjoyable read for anyone on a similar journey.  I would encourage such readers to let it stimulate their own questions and search for answers.

As I was reading, especially toward the end of the book, I was saddened to recognize my own belief in the limitations of the Church’s ability to change.  I felt that VanHall’s hope may be unrealistic:

“My desire for the Church is to admit that it is past time for us to strive to become better. The Church must endorse humanity’s continued pursuit in the discovery of new scientific truths while helping society navigate our future with the ancient moral truths of love and justice.  This is our calling, because God’s story did not end with the Scriptures.” (p. 197)

However, his vision, as the many varied hopeful visions are arising, I see as part of the growing call of God for the Church to change (even if it means some traditions will have to be jettisoned in order for the Body of Christ to become a more viable way of serving God’s purposes).

#RebornAgain

I received a copy of this book from speakeasy for review purposes.