Remember who you are!

William H. Willimon, the Bishop of The United Methodist Church (who will be offering a public lecture tonight at St Mary’s Anglican church in Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC) tells the story of how when he was a teenager his mother would say to him, every time he left the house, “Remember who you are!” It was not that his mother was afraid he would forget his name or address. It was her ‘maternal benediction’. It was her way of reminding him that he was the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Remember who you are!

(Singing with the choir)

May the Lord bless you and keep you

May s/he shine a light upon your face

May you feel the heat of God’s glory in your bones

May you know God’s kindness and grace

May God’s love define your ways of living

May you see God’s face among your friends

May you live your story empowered by God love

May you be comfortable walking in your skin

May you find your worth from your maker

And live in freedom all of your days

May you grow in the sense of who you really are

May God’s light show you the way

May you know that you have the power

To add salt and light into this world

May you discover all your gifts 

                   and give them generously

May you listen for God’s every word    

~ Maeve

From my farewell sermon at Trinity United Church in Kitsilano, (Vancouver) BC, 
on Sunday June 5, 2011

Believe Out Loud

Words and Music by David Lohman
© 2010 Welcome Song Music

REFRAIN
It’s time to believe out loud –
no more staying silent!
It’s time to proclaim aloud
the faith that we hold dear.
It’s time to reach out to the rejected.
It’s time to stand up and say, “No more!”
It’s time to create a church in this day
where everyone’s welcomed in the door.
It’s time to believe out loud,
It’s time to be strong and proud,
It’s time to believe, believe out loud.

VERSE 1
Our God remains unchanging,
yet in so many ways
the Holy One’s still speaking,
for this we offer praise.
Yet God’s all-loving guidance
too often goes unheard.
But there is yet more wisdom
to break forth from God’s Word!

VERSE 2
If thoughts like love and justice
are more than hollow words,
we’ll listen for the Spirit
and let our hearts be stirred.
We’ll learn to think in new ways,
the doors we’ll open wide.
The table’s set and ready,
bring everyone inside!

VERSE 3
The love of God is boundless,
we're never turned away.
So we try to be faithful,
to shepherd in the day
when everyone is welcomed,
this is our sacred goal;
when we can say together,
“The Body must be whole!”

VERSE 4
It’s not enough to keep this
locked tight inside my heart
while hiding in the shadows,
afraid to do my part.
I’ve got to stand with millions
who’ve heard the Gospel’s call,
and shout it from the mountains:
“God’s love is meant for all!”

The Emmaus Road - another walk in progress

I recently found the book, Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh. Of course, I had to buy a copy for Gloria’s and my two 6 year old grandchildren. The other day when I was reading it to one of them  we came across this poem. In the reading of it I somehow found another Emmaus Road… another walk in progress.

Explained      By A. A. Milne

Elizabeth Ann
Said to her Nan:
"Please will you tell me how God began?
Somebody must have made Him. So
Who could it be, 'cos I want to know?"
And Nurse said, "Well!"
And Ann said, "Well?
I know you know, and I wish you'd tell."
And Nurse took pins from her mouth, and said,
"Now then, darling, it's time for bed."

Elizabeth Ann
Had a wonderful plan:
She would run round the world till she found a man
Who knew exactly how God began.

She got up early, she dressed, and ran
Trying to find an Important Man.
She ran to London and knocked at the door
Of the Lord High Doodleum's coach-and-four.
"Please, sir (if there's anyone in),
However-and-ever did God begin?"

But out of the window, large and red,
Came the Lord High Coachman's face instead.
And the Lord High Coachman laughed and said:
"Well, what put that in your quaint little head?"

Elizabeth Ann went home again
And took from the ottoman Jennifer Jane.
"Jenniferjane," said Elizabeth Ann,
"Tell me at once how God began."
And Jane, who didn't much care for speaking,
Replied in her usual way by squeaking.

What did it mean? Well, to be quite candid,
I don't know, but Elizabeth Ann did.
Elizabeth Ann said softly, "Oh!
Thank you Jennifer. Now I know."

The Longing of Mary, the Mother

Beneath this withered tree – 

             branches cross the sky

My heart breaks open for even

God cannot protect the Son

from the crimes of humanity.

Beneath this withered tree – branches cross

as my heart breaks open watching

the soul of my son fly

into the sky.

Beneath this withered tree –  

hope crosses my broken - open heart

as I feel the shelter of a God  that does not control

but bears with us the sorrows of our humanity.

                    

So Much is in the Bud

A reading by John Leax has captured my Lenten imagination. John lives on a small farm in New York State and teaches writing at Houghton College. There is never enough time to do all the work on the farm, and the old orchard, planted long ago by someone on a hillside, is neglected and overgrown. One day John was driving through the large, carefully groomed orchards of central Ontario, and found himself vaguely depressed by the endless rows of well-ordered trees. He reflected on his feeling, and on the sense of being at home in his own little, poorly tended orchard. “Why was that?” he wondered. It had to do, he finally concluded, with the way a small orchard fits into the scheme of creation, with many people caring for their tiny plots of ground. The huge orchards of the conglomerates, on the other hand, were sad reminders of the commercialization of the land.

"Perhaps this is why," he wrote "though I feel my failure to bring the old orchard to fruitfulness, I feel no real guilt, why in fact I feel a sort of pleasure in watching it turn wild and useless. When I walk in it, it tells me that one's caring comes to an end. It tells me that life is lived within the boundaries of extremes, of wildness and domestication. It tells me that my order is not the only order. And in its message I feel comfort."

"We have only begun to imagine the fullness of life.

                  How could we tire of hope? So much is in the bud." 

~ Denise Levertov

 

Crocus-Minded by Jo Sorley

It takes courage to be crocus-minded.
God, I’d rather wait until June,
Like wise roses,
When the hazards of winter are safely behind,
and I’m expected, and everything’s ready for roses.
But crocuses?

Highly irregular.
Knifing through hard-frozen ground and snow,
and sticking their necks out,
because they believe in spring
and have something personal
and emphatic to say about it.

God, I am by nature rose-minded.
Even when I have studied the situation here
and know there are wrongs that need righting,
affirmations that need stating,
and know also that my speaking out may offend . . .

for it rocks the boat . . .
Well, I’d rather wait until June.
Maybe later things will work themselves out,
and we won’t have to make an issue of it.
God, forgive,  Wrongs don’t work themselves out.
Injustices and inequities and hurts don’t just dissolve.
Somebody has to stick her neck out,
Somebody who cares enough to think through
and work through hard ground,
because she believes and has something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
Me God?  Crocus-minded?
Could it be that there are things that need to be said,
and you want me to say them?         I pray for courage.

 I want to thank my colleague Rev. Karen Millard from Squamish United Church for posting this poem

An Irish Blessing (anon)

May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
...For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.