Finding Christ on my Front Porch

          The past few months have given me food for thought and loving reasons for thanksgivings to God. In mid-April, I finally gave in to hand surgery to address carpal tunnel and remove a, what I considered, huge cyst in my right wrist. Other than my aversion to anything involving an IV, the surgery was not a big deal so I tried not to make a big deal of it. Carol has the task of keeping my sane for the IVs. A friend sat with Steve and me, keeping us company until it was time for the procedure. That evening, I received text messages asking if I had survived. Two days later, I received a call from a parishioner who was not that pleased that 1) I had kept the news of my surgery to myself and 2) that I was already out and about rather than being settled at home. The following day, I received call from yet another parishioner who explained that I did not set a good example by disallowing others the opportunity to care for me, especially when I took such delight providing pastoral care to others. I was asked to drop by the individual's house to pick up a "few things". The few things was a cooler stuffed with cookies, casseroles, soup and fresh fruit.Over the next few weeks, I received a bounty of cards and calls. I learned the importance of allowing others to love and care for me even as I love and care for them. I think I have even preached on a similar theme.

          This past Memorial Day weekend seemed peppered with an unusual amount of grief, some of which struck incredibly close to my heart. I came home from a lunch engagement Monday to find a beautiful case of lilies, a contained of delicious soup and a bag with an adorable stuffed turtle and chocolate. Yes, a parishioner had driven the 30+ miles to scenic Millersburg to leave me a token of love and care of my front porch.

          Last night, as I sat in the darkness of our sunroom, listening to a late-night storm and talking to God, I gave thanks for the incredibly loving parish I am privileged to serve. I am filled with love and awe for the people who make up the Body of  Christ at Christ Church Cathedral. Gracious God, watch over your children of Christ Church. Fill them with the glory of your loving kindness all the days of their lives. And God, thank-you for allowing me to serve as their deacon. Amen..

Moving Along The Track

   This past Sunday in Children’s Chapel, the children, Bernie and I looked at a drawing of a race track that Olivia Howard had just meticulously outlined in a deep red marker on poster board.  We saw the starting gate, first turn, back stretch, last turn, home stretch and the finish line.  The more we looked at it, the clearer it became a picture of life, even though life is not to be raced through. 

     One by one, children took different colors of markers and began to write or draw significant
events along the path.  Of course there was birth, baptism, adoption, and many firsts.  There was the first step, first word, first tooth, first day at school, even the first time watching TV, not to mention all of the firsts in sports.  There were some harder firsts as we made a little distance.  There was the first death of a pet, and the first death of someone they knew.  There were even some broken friendships at such a young age. 

     The children did not get too far along the track, the farthest point was a 5^th grade graduation.  Bernie and I were able to go on for quite a while.  We are perhaps on that back stretch.  I don’t think we are on the home stretch but we never know.  Looking at the track, I could see how each point prepared me in either a positive or a negative way for the next.  I am always sad when children go through hard times but I know that if they have support and love, they will have strength to make it through even harder things later.

     This past Sunday was also Ascension Sunday.  Jesus was at the finish line and was leaving his friends.  That was sad.  The good news was that he would still be connected with them.  He told them to stay here in the city and wait for what he would be sending them.  He said it would be power from on high. Because of this power that he has sent to all of us, we can move along the track of life knowing that we are never alone and that we have what we need to get through.  We have the Holy Spirit.  We can also know that life will continue, just as his does.

     I wonder if we need to move along the track with the end in mind.  If we do this, we will live our lives in such a way that our finish could be a gift to others, just as Jesus’s life continues to be a gift to us.  

The Mango Trick

When we lived in West Palm Beach, some friends, neighbors and co-workers had mango trees in their yards. When it was mango season, we had mangos galore!

            But the one thing I always disliked about mangos is cutting them up. I’ve tried everything, but I always ended up with a juicy mess of crushed and mangled mango. A few weeks ago, Lesa our Parish Administrator, made lunch for the staff and clergy and there were these beautifully cut up pieces of mango. Lesa shared her trick with us – cut the length of the mango so that the long thin seed is in the middle. Take the 2 large pieces with skin on and score the fruit into small squares, but don’t cut through the skin. Push the skin up so that the scored pieces pop off the skin. Voila, perfect mango pieces! I tried it this morning at breakfast and it worked like magic!

            I think this is often the case in our lives too. We keep doing some things the same way, and we keep ending up with a mess or problems or difficulties each time despite our best intentions. Sometimes we need to talk with God, ask for help, find a spiritual advisor or director, worship in community, see what Scripture has to say, or connect with fellow Christians who can walk with us a while. Although our spiritual formation can happen anywhere, I think that it is when we are in community with other Christians that those “a-ha” moments are most likely to happen. And there is a reason for this – it is the Holy Spirit.

            Today is Ascension Day when we celebrate Jesus ascending to heaven. And, we are looking forward to Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, Sunday, May 24, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide and help his followers (John 15:26-27 & 16:4-15).  I think that it is with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in a church community, that we are given what we need to help and guide us in our lives and in the world.

            As we look forward to Pentecost and celebrating the Holy Spirit, perhaps there are a few questions we can ponder: Where do we need help in our life? Where would some guidance be useful? What is our spiritual growing edge? What new thing is God calling us into, or what is God calling us out of? 

Peace, 

The Reverend Brent Owens

Kenyan Girls Forward: Why Not Indeed?

The distance between Lexington and Kenya is approximately 7,939 miles—a long way and a big ocean to have much of a connection with anyone there.  But we do and I do because of the work of CCC parishioners Carolyn Witt Jones and Jo Robertson.  Through their efforts in Kenya to further education for young women, I have had the opportunity to be a little part of a young Kenyan girl’s life. Named Ruth Nyangate Onyonka, she is now working very hard as a student in a private high school in Eldoret, Kenya. 

Since there are no publicly funded schools in Kenya, most girls don’t go to school.  If uneducated, they are married young, begin having children and, like most of the population, are consigned to lives of poverty.  This is poverty that we can’t even imagine. Sometimes women with as many as ten children have perhaps a dollar a day to feed them.  If a family does have money to send a child to school, it generally is the sons who are sent. 

But now through our partner, Rural Women Peace Link (womenpeacelink@yahoo.com), girls are identified as having the potential to be successful in high school.  And because of the work of Carolyn and Jo, we have the opportunity to see that some of these girls can attend school and raise themselves up out of poverty along with as their families.  Wow!  When I found out that I could actually have a lasting impact on a young Kenyan girl AND her family—why in the world wouldn’t I?

Ruth writes me lovely letters telling me of her progress.  She’s hard on herself and says she isn’t doing as well academically as she would like, but that doesn’t disappoint me.  Instead, it lets me know that she has high standards for herself and the ambition to achieve.  And since I’ve never had to leave school to walk miles home, then take care of little brothers and sisters, haul water, prepare dinner, milk the cow or goat (if they are lucky enough to have one) and then, only then, sit down to study by candlelight—why in the world would I hold her to standards that I couldn't begin to reach?  But she IS learning and she IS making her grades and I am so very proud of her.

Knowing that Ruth is going to a good private school, dressed in her school-furnished (attractive!) uniform and being given the opportunity to learn and develop skills is a huge gift to me. It’s not often that I can have that much of a direct impact on another’s life.

NOTE: For more information, contact Jo Robertson at jobrobertson@gmail.com or Carolyn Witt Jones, cwjones@partnershipforsuccessfulschools.org.  Partners with us in this endeavor include the Bluegrass Community Foundation and the Rural Women Peace Link (RWPL), womenpeacelink@yahoo.com.

UPDATE 5/5/15 from Rural Women Peace Link: Please pray for Baringo County in Kenya, where students failed to report to various schools because of insecurity, and most schools failed to open for fear of being attacked by bandits. A demonstration was held on 5th May 2015 along the town streets in one of the areas known as Marigat against insecurity to create attention on what is going on so that the government can take action in minimizing insecurity probably through the disarmament process. Also, there has been increased conflict over cattle, water, and pasture between Pokot and Turkana tribes, but affects everyone living in the areas either physically, emotionally or psychologically. This year, according to reports, many learning institutions, health facilities, lives and property worth millions were destroyed and 2 schools closed. This menace has caused many girls to drop out of school in the area and get married at an early age because of high poverty levels encountered by most parents following sustained raids.

Susan Stempel
This article was previously published in the March 2015 Prayer & Action.