Yesterday, as my husband and I were driving down towards Baltimore, Chris asked if I'd be willing to bring along a Bible and read Mark during the trip down. After all, you might as well use that hour in the car...it's not good for much else! Mark is the reading this week for our DISCIPLE class, and though we're not always good at doing each day's reading, it's no fun to wait till Thursday to try to pack it all in before class. Since I'm leading the class, I am not using the reading for my own devotion...trying to honor that rule that pastors need to have devotional time that has nothing to do with preaching, teaching or otherwise being pastor-y.
That said, it was a neat treat to be able to read Mark as a continuous story. I've always loved the Gospel of Mark...a remnant of having my seminary Intro to the NT professor be a Mark scholar. I love the activeness of the story telling, and I always point out to people how well-suited Mark is to being told as a story around a campfire. Pack in the midst of "immediately" is a fast pace, low on words account of Jesus' life. It is certainly the gospel that has maintained the closest form to what would have been the earliest oral traditions about Jesus.
For all these reasons, this gospel really comes alive in Eugene Peterson's translation The Message. In fact, at points I laughed in the reading of it, as the phrasing lifted forth some humor or sarcasm that can get lost in liturgical readings of small sections of the text. Flowing forth in the entirety of the account is a sort of pacing that is pretty cool.
One of the passages that made me chuckle was the account of the disciples panicking when a storm comes upon their boat, and Jesus is asleep on the boat! The disciples are freaking out, and run to Jesus to ask why he's not up and taking care of things. Peterson's translation continues, "Awake now..." Maybe it's just me, but if you read the whole flow of that, it comes off like what happens when you walk in or call someone who is sleeping and ask, "Are you awake?" and their response, "I am now." It's pretty mundane, but Mark (esp. in The Message) really captures the very real like-us-ness of Jesus and the others in the account.
My favorite part of Mark, in the context of this fast paced account laced with the secrecy motif is the very end. After people being constantly told not to tell about Jesus, the women are told to go and tell. But the Gospel explains that they were afraid and went and told no one. (Though in reality, they must have told someone, because that part of the story is included!) Scholars believe the original text ends there. I love it, because the oral tradition part of it seems vividest there. The story ends by begging this statement and question: "But you know the story. Will you have the courage to go and tell?"
We didn't make it through Mark...we've got a few chapters left. I don't know if we'll finish off with a read-through. I'm kind of hoping we do though. It really brings it all to life. And maybe some day, I'll even get to read or hear Mark around a campfire...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Sacrament of the Holy Casserole
I was reminded of this humorous (and completely dorky) writing of mine last week when it was mentioned by my DS' previous secretary...I think I wrote it after making some joke when talking to her about something, and then I went home and in a fit of dorkiness, wrote this. I hunted it down because my husband hadn't seen it, and though it points out how dorky I am, I still get a chuckle out of it!
__________________________________________________________________
The Sacrament of the Holy Casserole
Historical Reflection by Rev. Sarah Andrews
From the very first generations of the Christian Church, the celebration of the Holy Casserole (or in Latin, casserolis sacridis) has been a hallmark of Christian tradition. Though the sacrament was lost for many centuries, in eighteenth century England, a man named John Wesley created a spiritual awakening, based largely upon a renewed and regular celebration of Holy Casserole.
Critics of John Wesley cited the centuries of lapse in the celebration of Holy Casserole as an indication of the lack of importance of the practice. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church had long practiced casserole-in-one-kind, limiting lay participation in Holy Casserole to those dishes without cream of mushroom soup. Protestant reformers, however, had themselves re-introduced the celebration of Holy Communion with the cream of mushroom soup included for all people.
Since the time of the Reformers and of John Wesley, Holy Casserole has remained an important sacrament in all major Protestant denominations, though its place of honor in the United Methodist Church is without question. Indeed, the 1968 union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church finally united those two traditions which had a shared value of Holy Casserole, and who from their first days in the American colonies had shared many a potluck supper together.
Today there is a great importance in recapturing the theological and scripture value of Holy Casserole. Though Jesus is nowhere directly cited referring to Holy Casserole, scholars have long seen his miracle of the loaves and fishes as being a reference to an ancient casserole recipes including fish, bread crumbs and cream of mushroom soup. Scholars also believe, though not mentioned in the scriptural descriptions of that miracle, that goat’s milk as well as goat’s cheese would also have been included in the casserole on that miraculous event.
As we seek to make disciples for Jesus Christ, let us never again fail to place the sacrament of the Holy Casserole at the center of our worship and practice. And may we never forget the importance of cream of mushroom soup in our liturgies!
__________________________________________________________________
The Sacrament of the Holy Casserole
Historical Reflection by Rev. Sarah Andrews
From the very first generations of the Christian Church, the celebration of the Holy Casserole (or in Latin, casserolis sacridis) has been a hallmark of Christian tradition. Though the sacrament was lost for many centuries, in eighteenth century England, a man named John Wesley created a spiritual awakening, based largely upon a renewed and regular celebration of Holy Casserole.
Critics of John Wesley cited the centuries of lapse in the celebration of Holy Casserole as an indication of the lack of importance of the practice. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church had long practiced casserole-in-one-kind, limiting lay participation in Holy Casserole to those dishes without cream of mushroom soup. Protestant reformers, however, had themselves re-introduced the celebration of Holy Communion with the cream of mushroom soup included for all people.
Since the time of the Reformers and of John Wesley, Holy Casserole has remained an important sacrament in all major Protestant denominations, though its place of honor in the United Methodist Church is without question. Indeed, the 1968 union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church finally united those two traditions which had a shared value of Holy Casserole, and who from their first days in the American colonies had shared many a potluck supper together.
Today there is a great importance in recapturing the theological and scripture value of Holy Casserole. Though Jesus is nowhere directly cited referring to Holy Casserole, scholars have long seen his miracle of the loaves and fishes as being a reference to an ancient casserole recipes including fish, bread crumbs and cream of mushroom soup. Scholars also believe, though not mentioned in the scriptural descriptions of that miracle, that goat’s milk as well as goat’s cheese would also have been included in the casserole on that miraculous event.
As we seek to make disciples for Jesus Christ, let us never again fail to place the sacrament of the Holy Casserole at the center of our worship and practice. And may we never forget the importance of cream of mushroom soup in our liturgies!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wind
Something is in the air this week. And it's not just the leaves getting blown around in the wind outside today!
I thought it was just the UMC, but apparently this is a time of transitions for many...churches...groups...people. Maybe it's because, despite the "new year" celebrations of January, we don't get too into new beginnings until the cold of winter starts thawing out. Here around camp, the ground that once was frozen solid has become messy mud. I suspect winter will return for a time, but for now, this reminder of changing seasons seems to be taking hold of many lives.
For Chris and I, all of these transitions is also tied into the big transition in his family of the (forthcoming) birth of a baby! His sister Rebecca and her husband Matt are expecting their first child, a daughter, any day now! It will be the first grandchild for Chris' parents--a role I am sure they will excel at.
So though we're still square in the midst of winter, the winds of spring are upon us. And the reminder of how God brings new life even out of what was once frozen solid is a wonderful message as we thaw into a new year!
I thought it was just the UMC, but apparently this is a time of transitions for many...churches...groups...people. Maybe it's because, despite the "new year" celebrations of January, we don't get too into new beginnings until the cold of winter starts thawing out. Here around camp, the ground that once was frozen solid has become messy mud. I suspect winter will return for a time, but for now, this reminder of changing seasons seems to be taking hold of many lives.
For Chris and I, all of these transitions is also tied into the big transition in his family of the (forthcoming) birth of a baby! His sister Rebecca and her husband Matt are expecting their first child, a daughter, any day now! It will be the first grandchild for Chris' parents--a role I am sure they will excel at.
So though we're still square in the midst of winter, the winds of spring are upon us. And the reminder of how God brings new life even out of what was once frozen solid is a wonderful message as we thaw into a new year!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Dreary Day
Yesterday my husband and I started what seemed to be a promising week with a nice, relaxing stroll on the towpath on our day off. We did some driving around, exploring towns we'd heard of but not yet had chance to see, and ventured home. He watched TV, and I finished a quit I'm making for my sister-in-law's soon to arrive daughter (Valentines Day due date!).
Our casual day was interrupted when I noticed a glow across the way in the woods. Now, a glow doesn't always mean anything major, nor would this one have been all that alarming were it not that we just couldn't quite tell if it (we decided it must indeed be a fire) was on camp property or not. Long story short (and one night-hike by the light of a full moon later), it was not on camp property, but was a house completely destroyed by fire. The man who lived there got out, which is the best news of all, but the marks of the fire remain. We rode over to see the remains with Scott, our camp maintenance director, who was one of the firefighters who responded. I keep trying to convince Chris we should get a scanner, but he seems content to know Scott has one and would call us if anything came up. There really is nothing left.
I've been thinking of this, and of ashes, as I work on some material for Lent this year. There never seems to be quite enough time to work the details of Lent out, but I'm giving it a good hard try this year, so we'll see.
I've also been struck by the juxtaposition of change and status quo in my own life as Lent approaches. While this season is a "fast," albeit reflective time in the church year, my own life seems to be in a bit of a standstill season. Or perhaps I've merely adapted to the pace of change where I am right now so that it hardly seems noteworthy. I don't know. But lately I've been thinking of an idea my preaching professor used often in describing the sermon-prep process: fallow ground. He used this to explain that when you prepare a sermon, you can just be go, go, go. You've got to make room for quiet, calm, and barrenness so that God can take hold of your preparations and really turn it into something.
So that's my latest line of reflection. Aside from sermon prep, do we also face times of fallow ground in our lives? Times when our great desire to be useful and hectic and such are frustrated? Are these necessary times for reflection or indications of times to find new fields? And what if there seems to be only fallow ground all around? I don't know. What do you think?
Our casual day was interrupted when I noticed a glow across the way in the woods. Now, a glow doesn't always mean anything major, nor would this one have been all that alarming were it not that we just couldn't quite tell if it (we decided it must indeed be a fire) was on camp property or not. Long story short (and one night-hike by the light of a full moon later), it was not on camp property, but was a house completely destroyed by fire. The man who lived there got out, which is the best news of all, but the marks of the fire remain. We rode over to see the remains with Scott, our camp maintenance director, who was one of the firefighters who responded. I keep trying to convince Chris we should get a scanner, but he seems content to know Scott has one and would call us if anything came up. There really is nothing left.
I've been thinking of this, and of ashes, as I work on some material for Lent this year. There never seems to be quite enough time to work the details of Lent out, but I'm giving it a good hard try this year, so we'll see.
I've also been struck by the juxtaposition of change and status quo in my own life as Lent approaches. While this season is a "fast," albeit reflective time in the church year, my own life seems to be in a bit of a standstill season. Or perhaps I've merely adapted to the pace of change where I am right now so that it hardly seems noteworthy. I don't know. But lately I've been thinking of an idea my preaching professor used often in describing the sermon-prep process: fallow ground. He used this to explain that when you prepare a sermon, you can just be go, go, go. You've got to make room for quiet, calm, and barrenness so that God can take hold of your preparations and really turn it into something.
So that's my latest line of reflection. Aside from sermon prep, do we also face times of fallow ground in our lives? Times when our great desire to be useful and hectic and such are frustrated? Are these necessary times for reflection or indications of times to find new fields? And what if there seems to be only fallow ground all around? I don't know. What do you think?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Conferencing and New Things
Chris and are are back from a week and a half of traveling. For us, the trip began with a few days of vacation--first San Francisco, then Napa--that was just wonderful (and needed after Christmas!).
It was both of ours first visit to the West Coast, though rain in San Francisco meant we didn't get to see the Pacific till we'd been in CA for several days!
While in Napa, we trekked to Sonoma and worshipped at Sonoma UMC, where people were very nice and Chris even got asked to read the scripture for their (early, contemporary) service.
After all that, we headed for what was a real reason for being in CA: the National United Methodist Camp and Retreat Leaders Conference. The conference was held at Mt. Hermon Center near Santa Cruz, and it was great to see old friends and make new ones.
We ran into Dan Randall, one of my seminary classmates, who with his wife is director of Camp Wesley in Latvia. We got to spend time with Chris' former camp colleagues from the Minnesota Annual Conference, and spend time with colleagues from our own conference. Sadly, Meg, our cook at Manidokan, had to fly back home the first day of the conference because her boyfriend Jody was badly injured in a car accident--the good news is he had successful surgery to repair his stomach wall, and is now home resting and recovering from that and some broken ribs and a sprained ankle.
The conference was a chance for me to get some CEU (Continuing Education Units)...since I'm now ordained, I have to get a certain number of these each quadrennium, and I got a whole 2 at the conference! Yay! The workshops were great, and the only one Chris and I went to together was one led by Bob Ditter, a child psychologist, who we've heard on video before, but was just incredibly dynamic in person.
There was a lot more at the conference worth note, but for now, I'll move on to the final stop of our voyage: ROCK.
ROCK is our conference's annual youth retreat in Ocean City, Maryland. This year we had the task of promoting this summer's (and first annual) ENCOUNTER event at Manidokan. It's an outdoor youth festival/retreat. We led two workshops along with Stephen Gallaher of Salt'n Light Youth Ministries. Encounter is July 15-18 this year, and the buzz was pretty cool. Check out www.bwcumc.org/encounter for more info (registration should go live later this week).
Now I'm back "in the office" trying to get things done...things seem to have been somewhat calm at church while I was away, but with meetings this week and Lent starting in a few, it's been a busy day already!
I'll plan to post in more detail about some of my experiences, but for now, it's off to get my feet back under me after being away for so long...
It was both of ours first visit to the West Coast, though rain in San Francisco meant we didn't get to see the Pacific till we'd been in CA for several days!
While in Napa, we trekked to Sonoma and worshipped at Sonoma UMC, where people were very nice and Chris even got asked to read the scripture for their (early, contemporary) service.
After all that, we headed for what was a real reason for being in CA: the National United Methodist Camp and Retreat Leaders Conference. The conference was held at Mt. Hermon Center near Santa Cruz, and it was great to see old friends and make new ones.
We ran into Dan Randall, one of my seminary classmates, who with his wife is director of Camp Wesley in Latvia. We got to spend time with Chris' former camp colleagues from the Minnesota Annual Conference, and spend time with colleagues from our own conference. Sadly, Meg, our cook at Manidokan, had to fly back home the first day of the conference because her boyfriend Jody was badly injured in a car accident--the good news is he had successful surgery to repair his stomach wall, and is now home resting and recovering from that and some broken ribs and a sprained ankle.
The conference was a chance for me to get some CEU (Continuing Education Units)...since I'm now ordained, I have to get a certain number of these each quadrennium, and I got a whole 2 at the conference! Yay! The workshops were great, and the only one Chris and I went to together was one led by Bob Ditter, a child psychologist, who we've heard on video before, but was just incredibly dynamic in person.
There was a lot more at the conference worth note, but for now, I'll move on to the final stop of our voyage: ROCK.
ROCK is our conference's annual youth retreat in Ocean City, Maryland. This year we had the task of promoting this summer's (and first annual) ENCOUNTER event at Manidokan. It's an outdoor youth festival/retreat. We led two workshops along with Stephen Gallaher of Salt'n Light Youth Ministries. Encounter is July 15-18 this year, and the buzz was pretty cool. Check out www.bwcumc.org/encounter for more info (registration should go live later this week).
Now I'm back "in the office" trying to get things done...things seem to have been somewhat calm at church while I was away, but with meetings this week and Lent starting in a few, it's been a busy day already!
I'll plan to post in more detail about some of my experiences, but for now, it's off to get my feet back under me after being away for so long...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Great Song
Last night my husband and I went to the Edwin McCain concert at Wolf Trap in VA. My mom, knowing I'm a huge fan of his, had gotten us the tickets for Christmas. I've long loved his music, and it was awesome to see him in concert--and hear many of my favorite songs. Edwin McCain is one of those musicians with so many great songs he can't play all of them in one concert.
There were, though, a couple songs that I either hadn't heard or maybe just hadn't paid enough attention to. One that both my husband Chris and I really like is called "White Crosses," written about the experience of people crossing the border from Mexico. It's pretty powerful.
I wanted to post the lyrics in case you might be touched by it as well. If you want to listen to the song, you can try Googling it, and it's also available on iTunes.
Well I packed all of my things into this blanket
To call this year to earn coyotes fill
Kiss my wife and kids goodbye choke back the quiver in my breath
And took my first steps into this corridor of death
If I'm lucky I will make it to a drain
With 500 of my brothers, I would share the strain
Of standing in this boxcar praying for rain
It's the only the way we will quench our thirst
[Chorus:]
In these gardens of white crosses
Growing in the California sand
In these gardens of white crosses
We are the children of poverty trying to a make a stand
If we make it past the border, we will scatter
Vanish just like smoke in autumn wind
I will run until my color will not matter
Hopin' I can find some work or possibly a friend
There are others who have made it here
They will show me how to find a job and a place to lay my head
And I cannot be concerned with dreams of my children
For there are 5 others in line for my bed
[Chorus:]
In these gardens of white crosses
Growing in the California sand
In these gardens of white crosses
We are the children of poverty trying to a make a stand
I will gladly pick your peaches or clean your hotel rooms
I will do the jobs American won't do
With cell phones to their heads and $700 dollar shoes
I will risk my life 'cause it's all I have to lose
Let the devil in the mountains promise me a ride
Found an 18 wheeler and put all of us inside
And just outside of victory, 19 of us died
None of our bodies hit the floor
And so my wife she still wonders when I'm coming home
The riches that I promised her for leaving her alone
I said I would send her all that I could save
But I ended up in California in an unknown grave
[Chorus:]
In these gardens of white crosses growing in the California sand
In these gardens of white crosses we are the children of poverty trying to a make a stand
[repeat]
There were, though, a couple songs that I either hadn't heard or maybe just hadn't paid enough attention to. One that both my husband Chris and I really like is called "White Crosses," written about the experience of people crossing the border from Mexico. It's pretty powerful.
I wanted to post the lyrics in case you might be touched by it as well. If you want to listen to the song, you can try Googling it, and it's also available on iTunes.
Well I packed all of my things into this blanket
To call this year to earn coyotes fill
Kiss my wife and kids goodbye choke back the quiver in my breath
And took my first steps into this corridor of death
If I'm lucky I will make it to a drain
With 500 of my brothers, I would share the strain
Of standing in this boxcar praying for rain
It's the only the way we will quench our thirst
[Chorus:]
In these gardens of white crosses
Growing in the California sand
In these gardens of white crosses
We are the children of poverty trying to a make a stand
If we make it past the border, we will scatter
Vanish just like smoke in autumn wind
I will run until my color will not matter
Hopin' I can find some work or possibly a friend
There are others who have made it here
They will show me how to find a job and a place to lay my head
And I cannot be concerned with dreams of my children
For there are 5 others in line for my bed
[Chorus:]
In these gardens of white crosses
Growing in the California sand
In these gardens of white crosses
We are the children of poverty trying to a make a stand
I will gladly pick your peaches or clean your hotel rooms
I will do the jobs American won't do
With cell phones to their heads and $700 dollar shoes
I will risk my life 'cause it's all I have to lose
Let the devil in the mountains promise me a ride
Found an 18 wheeler and put all of us inside
And just outside of victory, 19 of us died
None of our bodies hit the floor
And so my wife she still wonders when I'm coming home
The riches that I promised her for leaving her alone
I said I would send her all that I could save
But I ended up in California in an unknown grave
[Chorus:]
In these gardens of white crosses growing in the California sand
In these gardens of white crosses we are the children of poverty trying to a make a stand
[repeat]
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year, New View
It's a pretty standard understanding (well, it seems to me) that ministers are often preaching to themselves. The things they have to say come as much from their own experience and where they are at any moment as they do from the experience of the congregation. Probably more so, in fact.
So I've been thinking a lot this week about last Sunday's sermon when I saw in the story of Simeon and Anna an example for us as we enter the new year--watching not for what we're doing (or have done or will do) but what God is doing.
As I look ahead at this year, I think it will be a big one for me both personally and professionally. My first full year as a wife, Chris and I both with new opportunities and challenges in our work, etc. And I have to admit that already this year (yes, in two and a half days!) I've had moments where it's stuck me just how major all these things are. And I doubt my ability to make it all work out. Which is, I think, precisely as it should be.
This year, like every year, isn't really about what I'll be up to, but what God will do in and through me. So my only resolution this year, I think, will be to work on really orienting my focus, view and expectations to what God is and will do...and I know I won't be disappointed!
Of course, like everyone else, I want to eat less, exercise more, and make sure to cherish each moments...but I think I'm going to need God's help and lead there as well!
So I've been thinking a lot this week about last Sunday's sermon when I saw in the story of Simeon and Anna an example for us as we enter the new year--watching not for what we're doing (or have done or will do) but what God is doing.
As I look ahead at this year, I think it will be a big one for me both personally and professionally. My first full year as a wife, Chris and I both with new opportunities and challenges in our work, etc. And I have to admit that already this year (yes, in two and a half days!) I've had moments where it's stuck me just how major all these things are. And I doubt my ability to make it all work out. Which is, I think, precisely as it should be.
This year, like every year, isn't really about what I'll be up to, but what God will do in and through me. So my only resolution this year, I think, will be to work on really orienting my focus, view and expectations to what God is and will do...and I know I won't be disappointed!
Of course, like everyone else, I want to eat less, exercise more, and make sure to cherish each moments...but I think I'm going to need God's help and lead there as well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)