Reflections for 5/7/11

"The joke of it is that often it is the preacher who as steward of the wildest mystery of them all is the one who hangs back, prudent, cautious, hopelessly mature and wise to the last when no less than Saint Paul tells him to be a fool for Christ's sake, no less than Christ tells him to be a child for his own and the kingdoms sake."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" pp.116-117)

I'm not a good judge of my preaching.  People tell me they find my sermons interesting, that they always give them something to think about.  And of course there's always the nice sermon Father, really enjoyed the message.  I have been told that I clearly don't know Jesus once by a Baptist. I didn't know what to do with that one.

I probably am cautious and prudent in my preaching because there is a part of me that doesn't wish to offend from the pulpit.  I rarely give any political opinions and try to find a reasonably common experience from the bible readings appointed that day.

I certainly have been known to be funny and a little bit crazy from time to time, but not in a way that would divide the hearers.

Could I see a time when I might take bolder steps in my preaching. Maybe. But I try to know what my congregation needs to hear and what they can bear.

Blessings,
Ed

Reflections for 5/6/11

"Who can say when or how it will be that something easters up out of the dimness to remind us of a time before we were born and after we will die?"(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 116)

I saw that phrase easters up and had to pause for a moment and think about it. I'm pretty familiar with the big "E" Easter, the day and the season, but have never seen it used as a verb.  For me it brings the idea of something coming back to life that hadn't been for awhile. either in thought or deed.

I know that hearing a song on the radio can often take me back to a different time in my life.  And at the same time, because my musical taste hasn't changed much it also is a part of my present.  Certainly pictures do this. When you see an old photo and try to recall what was going on.  And I suppose just about any of our senses do this for us.

It is part of that bringing the past into the present.  I try not to make it an escape from my present back to something in the past, that probably wasn't as grand as I recall, but still important.

Having just been back to my seminary, I'd have to say that it didn't have the same hold on me. I saw some familiar faces, but not a lot of them.  The buildings are the same physically but are not the same emotionally.
I hope this summer to visit my college in Iowa.  I understand that much has changed physically.  It will be interesting to see if being there easters anything up.

Blessings,
Ed

Reflections for 5/5/11

"When Jesus is asked who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, he reaches into the crowd and pulls out a child with a cheek full of bubble gum and eyes full of whatever a child's eyes are full of and says unless you can become like that, don't bother to ask."(F.Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 115)

I'm blessed to have kids.  Yes they can sometimes be a challenge. Sometimes they know how to push my buttons, but just as often, if in fact not more often, I enjoy their company.  Part of it may be that I watch them try to maneuver awkwardly through life, just as I did.  Part of it is that we happen to enjoy the same things, sports, loud music.

Not every thing they do reminds me of me.  Nor should it. But when  I observe their interaction with their world in all its goofiness, there are times that I'm reminded that there's still basically a big kid in me.

I still want to have fun. I still believe I know everything, and yet continue to learn.  I still basically want to be loved and accepted.  There is an enthusiastic energy in many kids, and we adults would do well to become like that.

There are certainly challenges and temptations that my kids face that I didn't.  And while I have no wish to go back to my own childhood, I wouldn't mind tapping into some of what I see going on with young people.

I said at the beginning that my sons can sometimes be challenging and annoying, and push my buttons. Funny thing, there are adults who do the same thing.  And yet like my sons, I still enjoy their company quite often.

Blessings,
Ed

Reflections for 5/4/11

"Then during a lull, one of the men turns to the other and recites a speech of Caliban's out of the Tempest."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 114)

Have you ever had a quote or a lyric pop into your head for no apparent reason?  Or perhaps when you're in the middle of a discussion and something similar occurs.

When my whit is at its best, I can do it rapid fire.  I'm sometimes surprised by what song, or quote enters the part of my brain that controls the speech and sends it forth.  Hopefully in ways that are insightful, or at least elicit a laugh.

Of course there are also times when I get that look of where did that come from.

The more we read, and the more we engage culture at different levels, the more we have to say. Sometimes for the good, sometimes for a good laugh. And then again sometimes because we need to show just how smart we think we are. Those are the times to avoid.

Blessings,
Ed

Reflections for 5/3/11

"We do our twenty minutes of meditation a day in the hope that, properly stilled, our minds will stop just reflecting back to us the confusion and multiplicity of our world."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p.113)

I wonder what it would be like to actually have 20 minutes to intentionally sit still and be quiet.  While I do have times in my day that get quiet, they are not intentional.  I am usually waiting for something to happen.

I think that having a set time for meditation or prayer is actually essential to make it work.  I'm not sure that there is a specifically ideal time for it.  Mornings are nice because we can clear our mind in order to face the day ahead.  Midday has the advantage of decompressing what the morning brought.  Night time helps to let the day go in order to fully shut the mind off, in order to get to sleep.

I do know that the times when I can keep the discipline of prayer or meditation, I feel stronger mentally and physically.  Priorities become clearer and anxieties lessen.  It is those kind of things that make prayer and meditation not just a Christian activity, but an aspect of just about any religious traditions.

Blessings,
Ed

Reflections for 5/2/11

"There are two ways of remembering. One is to make an excursion from the living present back into the dead past. The old sock remembers how things used to be when you and I were young, Maggie. The faraway look in his eyes is partly the beer and partly that he's really far away.  The other way is to summon the dead past back into the living present. The young widow remembers her husband and he is there beside her."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p.112-13)

I was up late watching the Phillie's game last night, when the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by a well executed military assault.  I won't say that I was sad to hear that he was dead.  The man was my generations face of evil.  I also will admit that hearing chants of USA at the ball game didn't do much for me either.  Yet the more I thought about it, I began to understand how this death really stirred memories for many folks.

For those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks and in  the continuing "wars" that we are engaged in across the globe, there will be the reminder that this person was the primary mastermind of their loss.  And perhaps his death brought their memories into even more of focus.  Hard to imagine they are ever truly forgotten, just as this death will never bring complete closure.

For someone like me his death brings back the images and memories of that moment. It reminds me that while one individual might be dead, the causes he believed in did not die with him. 

Part of me would love to go back to the pre-9/11 America, at least the parts where I didn't feel threatened. Yet another part knows that here in the present is where I am.  What we do once the euphoria of Bin Laden's death dies down, remains to be seen.

Blessings,
Ed

Reflections for 5/1/11

"But the best part of the story is the short, no-nonsense prayer with which he married her. 'And now I take not this my sister for lust, but in truth,' he said. 'command that I and she may find mercy and grow old together. Amen'(Tobit 8:8-9) Never has the knot been more securely or simply or eloquently tied, and it's small wonder that it lasted them through a long and happy marriage that did not come to an end until Tobias died in peace at the age of one hundred and seventeen."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p.112)

There was a wedding this weekend. Well there was probably more than one, but certainly the most talked about wedding was the one in England between Will and Kate.  The couple certainly looked marvelous.  The day seemed filled with joy throughout the realm.  While I didn't see the service, by all accounts it was very reverent and what a wedding should be.  No surprise really, we Anglicans know how to do liturgy.

I hope for them and for every couple that started their lives together yesterday that it will be "until death do them part."  Is there a secret to such success?  That I don't know.  I suppose a good part of the potential starts with a right beginning.  Why is that person you are choosing to hopefully spend the rest of your life with, the right one?

As I look back on my own courtship etc., what did I see in Gail.  Certainly she's pretty, but what I really remember about our first date was how she showed an interest in the Bush-Dukakis debate.  Current events and an intelligent conversation were also present. 

When we got married there was more than just a physical attraction, though that was certainly there.  We also had the Tobit passage read at our wedding.  That prayer continues to be the foundational hope for me, that she and I may grow old together.  I suppose in our mid 40's we're not quite old, but we're still together and seem to be heading towards fulfilling that promise.

For those reading this who might be married or partnered, what about your husband, wife, life partner caught your fancy? What keeps you wanting to grow old together still?  How do you keep each day feeling like it was your first date?

Blessings,
Ed