God's Annoyances

          Some of you may have noticed I was not in my usual seat this Sunday morning. Instead, I was in my usual seat in my sunroom at home. Although I could see US 68 was clear, my car could not traverse our road as it had not yet been plowed. I was still snowed in. I had missed dinner with friends both Friday and Saturday evenings. I was yearning for food I did not have in my house. I was tired of drying dogs' paws so that they could come back into the house to go back to sleep on the couch and ottoman, only to decide a short time later they all had to go back out into the snow. God and that snow had complicated my life.

          As I settled in with my second cup of coffee to begin Morning Prayer, the sun came out from behind a cloud and began to bathe the sleeping dogs and me in its beautiful light. It was as if God was saying, "Here, I have given you this light so that you might worship in the warmth and beauty of My creation." As the dogs dreamed and snuffled in their sleep, my husband came into the room. We said Morning Prayer and shared communion.

          In the warmth of the sunlit room, after we had prayed, I languished in the silence and beauty of God's creation. Cardinals and squirrels gathered where I had left them food. The ripples of water from bubbler in the koi pond danced with reflections of the sunlight. No one seemed to be  traveling on the main road for all I could hear was the heater running, the sound of my own breathing and the rousing of my dogs as they prepared to convince me they once again needed to go outdoors to frolic in that beautiful snowy blanket God had draped over our small part of the earth.

          What began as a morning of grumbling and complaining, had become a period of time when Jesus reminded me of His constant presence in my life. What I had thought of as one of God's annoyances in my life (I shall mention some others at another time.), one that had kept me from doing what I wanted to do, became a living video of God's handiwork and a gentle reminder that all lof us must take our rest, even the earth, even a clergy person living in the netherlands of Bourbon County.

          Now, if you will excuse me, I have four dogs eager to go out in the snow and romp with me.

          PS- To you snowbirds in Hawaii, Florida and wherever else you may be, be safe and know your presence is missed.

Is The Church Relevant?

     Do you ever ask, “Is the church still relevant?”  I was given a resounding YES a few weeks ago as I gathered with those about to be baptized, their parents and godparents.  The children on this particular morning had decided on their own to be baptized after being present at the All Saints baptism.  They saw such joy in that experience that they wanted to be a part of it. 

     We began our time together that morning by wondering why we were there – “why the heck are we going through this ritual called baptism?”  The loudest resonance centered around compassion.   The antithesis of compassion surrounds us on a daily basis.  Baptism initiates us into the church which is Christ’s body.  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was and is a total 180 degree message to the rigid rules, violence, and narcissism of the culture.  We want our children and ourselves to die to these temptations and be formed through Christ’s body, the church. 

     We next explored the Godly Play story of baptism.  We unpacked each aspect of the trinity.  As the water of creation is slowly poured into a bowl we remember many stories of water from the dangerous flood, to the waters that parted which led the people to freedom, to the water that Jesus was baptized in and then to the water that we will or have already been baptized in. 

     We moved on to the light of Christ.  We all received our light from the one Light (small candles are lit from one large one).  A joyful exclamation arose on seeing how bright the room was when we all had received our light.  Amazing still was how the one Light was not smaller after giving its light away.  The light was then changed.  We observed how initially the light was held in the one flame.  After the snuffer was held over the flame, the light was changed to a spiraling strand of smoke that spread throughout the room till we could see it no more.  We knew it was there yet we could not see it.  Anywhere we walked in the room from then on, we would run into the light of baptism.  The light could not be lost.

     Then we came to the Holy Spirit.  It is like a dove that rides the invisible wind and comes to us when we need power or comfort.  Like the invisible scent of the anointing oil, we know it is there, even though we cannot see it.  Young and old remembered stories of knowing the spirit being present in tough times.

The next day, much joy was experienced in the actual baptism.  So – YES – the church is relevant.   The light is growing from each baptism. 

There is one Body and one Spirit;

There is one hope in God’s call to us;

One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism;

One God and Father of all.

Christmas to Epiphany

My former parish, Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Darien Connecticut sent a daily e-message during the 2015 Advent season. There was one that particularly moved me. I offer this message on the Feast of the Epiphany, following the glorious Twelve Days of Christmas. Wednesday, January 6, 2016.

Even described in such general terms Christmas can only be understood as a wonder. That there is this Love of which Paul can say that it never ends, is not a known fact nor some general truth symbolically represented in the Christmas message but also recognizable elsewhere. Can it really be true: God in our world, God in our world? The facts cry out against it, for they speak of God's remoteness from the world and the world's remoteness from God. It needs a confession of faith to recognize reconciliation as truth, a confession whose strength and weakness lies in the fact that it appeals only to revelation and that it can be made and received only by faith. The Creed of the Christian Church is this confession. It appeals only to revelation, it is made only by faith, it demands and expects nothing but faith when it calls the Love which never fails, an event, saying: "He became Incarnate..."

Karl Barth, Christmas