Giving Thanks for Mom - Don't Worry!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
If my mother had heard me proclaim these words of Christ, she wouldn’t have said anything, but her actions would have spoken volumes. She would have been quiet on the ride home and once back in the kitchen, she’d still not say a word – but bang the spoon on the pot, shut the oven door a bit too forcefully, and just stare me down – I’d get what my high school sweetheart called, “la musa dura;” the hard look, and eventually she’d say in her deep, low voice, “Yeah right, already. What do you mean, ‘Don’t worry?’”
This is a woman who worried all of her thirty-nine years for good reason. She worried about where the money was going to come from for clothes and food for six children, worried about paying the rent on time, worried about the utilities being paid up in full, worried where the next job was going to come from when she lost a job, worried about what would happen to us when she was gone.
Forty years after her death, and in this, the year, and on this, the day on which she would have turned eighty, I’m proud to stand before you, my sisters and my brothers, and tell you that Jeannette Ekstrom’s kids managed just fine using what she taught all of us, and we turned out okay.
But the worrying hasn’t gone away. We worry about the same things. Raise your hand if you haven’t lain awake nights worrying about the necessities of life.
It’s very hard in these tough economic times to hear these beautiful words of Jesus, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’” Is he saying to us that we should just pull the covers over our heads at dawn’s first light and snuggle down for a few more hours of sleep, not bother to get up and go to work if we have jobs, not look for work if we don’t, and not worry about the past due notices piling up?
Here’s what I think – no.
Jesus asks us in this incredibly beautiful passage from the Sermon on the Mount that we should turn to God and to strive to enter the Kingdom first before we turn to the difficult task of daily life. Note the word, strive – work towards it, make it a goal. Make it a priority. What I am suggesting is make it the very first item on your to-do list, even before you turn on the coffee maker, or take up your place in the queue at the coffee shop. He knows that the task is daunting and road is rough. But once we surrender our hearts to God’s unconditional love, set our minds on what we are called to do in Christ’s name, then we have the means to provide for and help those who cannot provide for themselves, and to provide for ourselves. God comes before mammon.
This passage is very difficult, isn’t it? When one ponders and puts to prayer what we should do in light of these charges, it’s easy to come up feeling very insecure, very unsure. And yet, the good news is right before us. Our father in heaven will reward us if we turn to him. Our burdens are at sometimes extremely heavy, and we have moments where we can’t keep going, but who is behind us, beside us, above us, beneath us, all around us, to take those burdens from us?
Christ.
Mom, don’t worry. My friends, don’t worry!
Easy to say, but it’s true.
Christ, working in us makes all things possible, and even when we’ve hit rock bottom, he is there and consoles us when we come up short, encouraging us to dust ourselves off and get back on the road. Christ is our thanksgiving.
This afternoon, or evening, when we join our families and friends at our Thanksgiving tables, when you and I gather in Hodgkin Hall, we will literally break bread, and we will feast on love and give thanks. And not just on this holiday, but every day, when we gather together. The fellowship of this table brings Christ into those circles of friends and loved ones and the redemptive love He brings feeds us, loves us and supports us and we are thankful for it.
As has been my custom, on this day of feasting, I’ll offer a prayer called “Brigid’s Feast”:

I should like a great lake of finest ale for the King of Kings;
I should like a table of the choicest food for the family of heaven.
Let the ale be made from the fruits of faith,
And the food be forgiving love.
I should welcome the poor to my feast, for they are God’s Children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast, for they are God’s joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place,
And the sick dance with the angels.
God bless the poor, God bless the sick,
And bless our human race.
God bless our food, God bless our drink,
All homes, O God, embrace.
Amen.

Wonder, Love and Praise

Once again, we are shown how the Lord chooses the most unlikely of candidates to demonstrate the power of God’s love working in life and praise to the Lord. We have the examples of Ruth and a Samaritan Leper.
Both are on the edge of societal norms. Ruth is a widow and a foreigners in a foreign land. The Leper is considered unclean, under judgment by God and a Samaritan. Despite these societal restrictions, they show us faithful living. They are models of faith and love. Ruth’s words to Naomi proclaim her love and loyalty, not only to her mother-in-law, but to God: “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”
In the Gospel lesson, that love and faith is demonstrated through the actions of an outcast. He is one of ten lepers who call out to Jesus as he travels between Samaria and Galilee. As we’ve heard, Jesus sees them.
Jesus sees them.
Lepers were those with skin diseases, usually, and they were thought to be contagious, they were shunned and for all intents and purposes, invisible.
But Jesus sees them.
Imagine that those with him are averting their eyes, walking a little faster to get away, pretending not to notice, or fearful of contagion. Jesus’ recognition of the lepers shows us his compassion for the suffering and marginalized people in the world. Here is God’s love in action.
Then, something unexpected happens. One of them saw that he was healed and, rather than go and show himself to the priests as Jesus directed, he turns around and praises God – again, imagine the scene. The praises to God are probably shouts and cries of joy and amazement. He goes back to Jesus and throws himself at his feet, giving thanks. As Ruth’s words proclaim love of God, so too, are the Leper’s. Ruth and the Leper are doing what the Lord requires of all God’s children – worshipping and loving God.
We know that Ruth’s life improved and she went on to marry Boaz and bore Obed, who was the father of Jesse, the father of David, and we trace that family line to Jesus. We don’t know what the Tenth Leper might have done. Perhaps he was reunited with his family, or started one, and continued to praise God and give thanks for all the blessings of his life, as I am sure Ruth and Naomi did. Perhaps he grew to old age and could tell his grandchildren about the teacher named Jesus who cured him, who was crucified as a criminal and yet rose on the third day.
What we can take from these two wonderful stories of love, faith and renewal is that God gives each one of us new lives and opportunities for praise. Each morning when we wake and thank God for yet another day to do His will, each time we receive the bread and wine, we receive a new life. How we praise God depends on our circumstances, and where we are in our lives. We may do as Jesus requires and keep his commandments – to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds and that we love another as Christ loves us.
That is praise indeed.

Go in peace, dear ones,

Ellen+

Who's First?

Wisdom is again our theme. The Hebrew scripture outlines the qualities of a wise woman. The psalm shows us the wisdom of choosing righteousness over wickedness and the letter of James, our epistolary reading, posits the argument for who is truly wise, and shows us that true wisdom is pure, peaceable, without partiality or hypocrisy – and then we have the Gospel, which illustrates what happens if we ignore wisdom and put our status in the world before the Word and what Christ calls us to do.
What is it about us that makes us want to be first?
Didn’t you want to be at the head of the line in Kindergarten? Called first for the softball team? Be the person the manager thinks of first to head up a new project? When I was a little girl, I wished my name was Abigail, or Anne, or Alice, so I could be at the head of the line, or the first person in the roll call. And I was always picked last for the softball game – the team captains would fight over who would have to take me. I’m sure you all have stories like that to share.
Being first, after all, is being noticed, gaining acceptance to whatever social circles we wish to belong, being important, the person everyone goes to, or thinks of. Being first is being successful.
No one likes to be last. The last are sometimes thought of as losers or the weakest. We all want to be number one, right?
The disciples were debating that very issue when Jesus asked what it was they argued about. They were shamed to silence, for despite the pressure to be alpha-whatever, they and we have been taught that that is immodest, pushy, or selfish to focus on getting ahead. Their silence is followed by a powerful statement:
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all, and servant of all.”
Who would be the last of all in the first century? That would be children. A child, being powerless and defenseless, relies on others for care. Children have no power or standing until they are old enough to work in the fields or shop. Acceptance of a child, then, is accepting Christ, and ultimately God, who sent him.
Today, by and large, we treat our children with respect, and care for them as Jesus would have us do. But there are other children of God. The poor, and by that I mean the people in our society who have incomes below the so-called poverty line, or no income at all, whether they are working or not, whether they have a place to live, or not. They are powerless and defenseless, and they must rely on others for care. They have no power or standing. Acceptance of someone who is without a voice, without standing, without power is once again accepting Jesus and the One who sent him.
Now, is Jesus telling us that to be first, to be a leader and to have authority is wrong? I don’t believe he is – but I do believe he is telling us to get our priorities straight. Putting the interests of others before our own. That is how one becomes a true leader. He is speaking to the body of Christ then and now – do you want to be great? Alrighty then! This is what you must do!
Every day we have opportunities to get at the back of the line, as it were, to be wise and act on Jesus’ advice to be last of all and servant of all. What might they be? Volunteer time to read to at-risk children, serve up a tasty meal for the hungry, the list is endless and if you put it to prayer and look around, you might find something suited to your gifts and time. It could be as simple as signing a petition to increase funding for after-school programs, or signing a letter to a legislator to encourage support of economic reforms that will find the money to feed the hungry, improve local economies, both here and abroad.
I’ll ask you what the disciples asked one another: who is truly the greatest? Obviously, the Lord - and Jesus, of course. But among us, who is truly the greatest? In the Kingdom of Heaven, our human idea of worth, of merit, is given a three-hundred and sixty degree spin. The greatest is the one who follows the example of Jesus and puts aside worldly concerns to become the servant of all – as vulnerable and as a little child or the poorest of the poor, and open to the transformative love and acceptance that is Jesus, our Lord.

Coming in from the Desert

Sabbatical ended and I returned to St. Mark's. I didn't wander far during the 4.5 months I was gone - that was impossible, having been laid off work right as sabbatical started. I spent time resting and praying - and looking for work.

So what did revelations came to me?

To be receptive, open. Just as the theme in this morning's gospel was "Be open." Jesus heals the sick daughter of a gentile woman, a Syrophoenician, and heals a deaf mute. "Be open," he says to the man.

To us, he says, be open - with the heart and mind. Take chances, just as the woman did. She was a stranger in the community but her faith made her go to Jesus. She knew that he could heal her daughter if he wanted to, because she believed that to be so.

Openess begins with ignoring petty differences and jealousies, childish behavior. I write that because I witnessed and experienced this today. And I let go of it, and let it go - said a prayer instead.

Openess is being willing to love unconditionally and believing wholeheartedly.

How will you be open this week?

Mobilizing

Today was the second hottest day of the year in the capitol, and it was definitely hot at the convention center when the Sojourners met with White House personnel and listened to what the Obama Administration wants to do to eradicate poverty in America, heard from President Obama and Jeffrey Sachs via video appearances and then gathered in state groups for our trip to Capitol Hill tomorrow, planning our strategies for discussing three important issues with legislators: health care reform, domestic poverty and fully fund the president's foreign affairs budget request.

We learned that a budget isn't just an Excel spreadsheet of numbers and bottom lines, but a moral contract that outline our nation's values and priorities.

How is it that the most powerful nation in the world, and the wealthiest cannot take care of its poor and defenseless? Can bail out banks and insurance companies, but cannot offer its citizens medical insurance so that people needn't go bankrupt trying to pay the cost of medical bills if they lose their insurance?

Rep. Lewis told us yesterday that Christians have an obligation to get in the way of injustice. Today one speaker said it in plain English - he said he was sick of "dumb, stupid, poverty" and wanted to do something.

Tomorrow I'm sure he'll be on the Hill with us.

I don't have a large bank account that I can use to contribute to food banks and shelters, but I have a gift that we all have - the gift of having a voice that I can use to speak with those in positions to make laws and change laws, to ask them to consider the needs of the poor and struggling middle class when allocating money and programs.

The President addressed the conference via video feed, encouraging us to speak out and fight for those without voices. Mr. Obama was proud that our government takes the problems of the poor seriously and want seriously to turn things around, e.g. the Half-in-Ten resolution put forth by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Cal.Dist.9): that the United States should set a national goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years.

Impossible? Idealistic?

Perhaps.

But remember what thirteen colonies of Great Britain did over two hundred years ago?

Remember what a rabbi from Nazareth started up with 12 of his friends?

Go in peace, dear ones.

Ellen+

Excuse me, but get in my way . . .

So it's at least 75-80 degrees still in Washington DC and it's 6:30 p.m. There really isn't an inch of seating left in Shiloh Baptist Church at 9th and P Streets - the place to be. Tonight is the opening of the Mobilization to End Poverty Conference and I've never been in a room so charged with energy and the holy spirit. I thought the place was going to explode when Rev. Ferguson stood up and witnessed his life of struggle and redemption. If there is any proof that a loving God exists and works through us, it is in Rev. Ferguson, who as a young man was incarcerated but turned his life around thanks to the Holy Spirit. And then Rep. John Lewis preached eloquently and passionately. We've got to find a way to get in the way. It's time for us to do something about ending poverty.

Another comment heard tonight from another speaker was that God is not outside Hell pulling people in, but standing outside pulling people out. Rep. Lewis asked why the government could bail out Wall Street but not Main Street.

So many people in that warm, crowded church, but so much powerful faith, too. This is the faith that truly can move mountains and bring positive, equitable change.

It used to be that we were safer staying out of the way of challenges, adversity, discord - now it's in our best interest to get in the way of those who will not live out the Gospel and help their fellow brothers and sisters build new and better lives for themselves and their families, for all us for that matter.

Go in peace.

The Deacon Has Landed

Okay, yes I WAS scared to death and almost in tears getting on that plane this morning, but here I am in Washington DC at my friend Rebecca's lovely brownstone, in an attic bedroom with a friendly tabby named Gabriel - Julian, you have competition for my heart!

The flight gave me an opportunity for evangelism. When people chatted about their destinations and I mentioned the conference, heads nodded and a few said, "Wow!" Comments like "If they (the government) can bail out the banks, auto companies, what about helping people feed their kids, pay the rent?" went around.

It's a larger than life issue and the answers won't come easy, but that's why we're meeting - to find scripture-based answers to the problem.

I'm still on California time, though it's 11:49 p.m. here, and that would be way past my bed time. But I can't sleep for the excitement of being in Washington DC for the first time - I saw the Capitol lit up as we drove into the city and I got chills. If anything good can come out of Washington DC it will be people getting together and working for a solution that will benefit everyone. Isn't that a great way of living out the Gospel?

Back to the flight - I sat by a window - the best way to get over fear is to confront it - and stared down at the landscape when it wasn't covered by clouds and fog. It was one incredible way to admire God's creation. I can't tell you how excited I was to see the great Mississippi River snaking through states. The man sitting next to me teased and said I needed to get out more often. That's as may be, but it really showed me what a small place I take up in Creation, and even though I am not as grand as a mighty river, or as majestic as the mountains and canyons I saw from the plane, I have a place and I have work to do. We all do.

Go in peace,

Ellen+

Ending Poverty - One Step at a Time

In three hours I'll be leaving Oakland Airport for Washington, DC. I haven't flown in 18 years and I've never been a fan of the mode of transportation, but I felt this conference, The Mobilization to End Poverty, was important enough to suck up the fear and loathing and just go - just go and join my diocesan colleagues and sisters, Shari, Linda and Salying, and thousands of other people of like mind to get together and figure out how we can end this epidemic of poverty in this, the most wealthy nation, and throughout the world. Day One is Sunday evening. Before the conference, I'll sightseeing and serving at St. Paul's Rock Creek - including a visit to their historic cemetery - on Sunday morning.

So pray with and for me on this trip, and when I get back, we can work together to turn things around. We already said, "Yes we can," now we have to show that words have action behind them.

Go in peace, dear ones!

Ellen+

Believe!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

If you responded with the words, "The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!" I bet you wouldn’t have said that if you didn’t believe. Brothers and sisters, you do believe Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, right?

Okay, so where do we go from here?

A week has passed, but the excitement, the joy remains. You want to flip that page in the Gospel of John and find out what those other signs were that Jesus did. You want the story to continue, and it does, in the Book of Acts, the epistles and in the lives of everyone who has heard the Good News and proclaimed it. The greatest story ever told has an epilogue, and we are it.

How is this possible, when you and I weren’t there when the stone was rolled back and Jesus walked out of the tomb?

It’s possible because Jesus said so.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Certainly good news for us, a slap on the wrist, perhaps for Thomas.

Thomas is one of those less-than-perfect disciples that one can find kinship with, for how many can truly say they’ve never questioned anything we’ve been told or seen, especially when the hour and the day are dark and feel without promise?

Those moments come, and then God puts into play or reveals something that turns one from being faithless to faithful, like the Resurrection. It happened to a group of scared, determined and faithful followers who kept the momentum going, from that morning to this.

I don’t buy into the dictum that you’ve got to see it, to believe it. We can't see the air, but it is all around us. We see its action - in the movement of Creation when the wind blows, we feel it on our skin. It is there.

God is there. God came to us in the form and blessing of Jesus. So many prophets came before Jesus claiming to be the Christ, the redeemer and savior. They slipped away into obscurity, some suffered ignominious deaths. What made Jesus so different?

He was who he said he was. He did what he said he was going to do. The resurrection of Christ gave new life to the followers of the Jesus movement. What was promised by Jesus in his teaching, was and is being lived out. The apostles, the first followers of Jesus, proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom - what Jesus promised in his teachings and ministry was made true. The followers of Jesus live out the new commandment - that followers love one another as Jesus loved them, and in attending to the needs of one another, what Jesus commanded was made tangible and real.

The apostles became the leaders of the movement and strived to live as they were taught, showing that “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a great family of different people, living together, loving one another and all living in equality.” What Jesus demonstrated in his ministry was kept alive by the faith, belief and right action of the Apostles.

And this is where we come in.

We are now the disciples, called to keep the Good News in play, to keep the Word in our hearts and minds, and to keep it alive. How you and I do this depends on the gifts God has given each one of us, and how the Spirit moves within us.

I’m pretty certain we’re always looking for new ways to proclaim the Gospel - some have been quite successful haven’t they? And some, abysmal failures. What keeps us going is belief. If Jesus can die for our sins, we can return the favor by keeping at it, trying harder. I believe he is with us every step of the way - sometimes we have to open our hearts and minds a bit wider to see him, get past our own wounds so that we can see his. No, we haven’t seen the five wounds of Christ except in artwork and in scripture, but we know they are real. I believe that every time we say ‘peace be with you,’ Christ says it to us.

It’s time for us to write the next chapter of the greatest story ever told. I intend to put my mark on the page this week when I begin my sabbatical and travel to Washington for the interfaith conference hosted by Sojourners - the Mobilization to End Poverty. I’ll gather with three of my diocesan colleagues in ministry and others of like mind to find ways of ending the epidemic of poverty in America. When I return from Washington, I’ll spend some time with the information and tools I receive so that when I return from my sabbatical in September, I can offer new resources and ways that my congregation lives out the new commandment and follows Christ’s dictum that when we feed and clothe and attend to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, we do the same for Him.

What will you write on the page?

The Stuff of Life

What will it profit us to gain the whole world and forfeit our lives? What can we give in return for life? These are questions appropriate for this contemplative and penitential season of Lent, but truly, questions important to consider every single day of the year.

In speaking to his disciples, Jesus warns against putting earthly concerns and goods over the promise of eternal life. To these followers of Jesus, earthly concerns and goods meant home and family, financial security, perhaps standing in the community, and a peaceful life. And to us, his message is no different, even with the passage of a millennium. The everyday concerns have changed, but the goals we put before us are pretty much the same.

Might the ‘whole world’ be the ‘stuff’ in our lives? We all have it. Sometimes, it replaces or masks what’s important or crucial, or we’ve bought in to the idea that it’s what we need to be successful or happy because for so many generations the “American Dream” was to be acquisitive, have the best and the biggest and in all four different colors; sometimes, we let it get out of control.

When it gets out of control, the downward spiral begins, doesn’t it? And what better time than this to rid ourselves of that which we do not need, whether it be material, physical goods, or clutter in the mind and soul. It’s time given over to reflection and prayer, when we decide, with Christ’s help, what is truly important in our lives. Once we take that first, very painful step, the rest falls into place. Get rid of the clutter in life and you just may have a sense of order and enough room for prayer and a life that can be enriched by a deeper commitment and relationship with God and one another. And who knows? Perhaps you will discover all that all the stuff, that clutter, is a barrier. It’s a wall built up to hide behind, to keep us from being what God through Christ has called us to be.

We know that being Christian isn’t always warm and cuddly. Jesus tells us exactly what he expects of us. He says that if anyone wants to follow him, they will have to expect hardship, difficult choices, and, in the disciples’ time, perhaps death. To be a disciple is to act and live selflessly, to be willing to give up as well as give. Jesus calls us to an abundant life through love and belief, not of an abundance of earthly goods that pile up and clutter, get in the way of action that proclaims the Gospel.

What can we give in return for life? Our hearts, our minds, ourselves, freely - as freely and unconditionally as we are loved by God. Give them over into the loving care of Christ Jesus. But first, we need to get rid of the clutter so that we are receptive to the Word. Then we will be ready to shoulder the cross, and go and undertake work that make our community and world a better place that models the Kingdom of Heaven and not shame us before Jesus; work that shows that we are not ashamed of him.

I’ll leave it to you to discern what it is that Christ calls you to do. I dare you to look about and see, really see, what part of the ‘whole world’ is cluttering up your life.

I can guarantee it isn’t Jesus.