WAIT – Where’s the END?
Which way does it go? Leave your vote in the comments.
Really, really good movie, though. It’s been on the list for a while. Very glad to watch it. Not uplifting – not happy – but good.
| 5th Sunday of Easter, Year A Canterbury Northwestern |
I love being an Episcopalian. I know – I get paid to stand up here and say that. But I really do. I’m also have a great time as chaplain here at Canterbury. The community here is Episcopal in nature, but reaches out beyond that identity to provide a place for any student who is questioning religion, faith, and God.
In my experience, the Episcopal Church works very hard to allow for questions and questioning. There are not a lot of “right” answers – not a lot of hard and fast rules dictated by clergy and theologians. It allows for people to come in and reflect and learn and wonder about God and how God is working in our lives. It lets us have discussions where we can share faith and understanding of theology or share our experience of what God has done through us in the last week.
I think that this ambiguity – this living with questions – allows us a place to share and learn without feeling shame for not knowing the right answers. We can be open to all who are searching, welcoming them into our space of questions and discussion. Those who regularly attend can also feel the safety of questioning past assumptions – and know that it’s okay to change one’s mind. As we learn more about God and ourselves, we find new ways of articulating our faith.
I think that it is important to be open to the Spirit moving among us as we articulate our faith. However, having no answer is as dangerous as having all the answers. Friends might ask, “what do you think about this?” Some answer should be giving – and not just “I’m still processing that.” When we have thought about and talked about our faith in safe places, we are able to talk about what we believe – and the faith struggles that we might also be having. We can openly share with our friends what we believe and what are questions are. It’s always good to talk with a community of faith about beliefs. Community is the place where we share our ideas and check them out with others. It ensures that we don’t slip too far into heresy. The community helps us articulate questions and thoughts in order to share them more easily with others.
One place to begin thinking about beliefs is to think about relationship with God. God desires our friendship, our closeness. How has God been working in your life this week?
Answering this question brings us back to the Scriptures that we hear, the prayers that we pray, and the creeds that we say in this service. Combining personal experience with communal worship helps us articulate our faith.
Looking at Scripture, today’s Gospel has Jesus saying, “I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is a great creedal statement! The verse has been used to condemn people outside of the Christian Church. Instead, let us embrace these words as an understanding of who Jesus is to us. Jesus is our Lord and Savior – raised from the dead, ascended into Heaven, preparing a place for us to come. John writes these words to have the Christian community reflect on their priorities – that God comes before human desires. It assures us that God loves us and desires relationship. We can reach out to God, even when, and maybe especially when, we question or doubt.
To help answer or create questions, we say the Nicene Creed. This confession of faith has been around since the Council of Nicea in the 300’s. We’ve said it in community for a very long time. It is used as a basic understanding of what we believe, but one of the great things about being Episcopalian is that I know plenty of people who struggle and question this. I’ve talked several times in the past couple of months about the cycle of faith and doubt. Canterbury is one of the first places that people often name their doubt – “Is this what I really believe? Can I really proclaim this?” The doubt comes up, and is discussed and shared with a community. While in that moment of doubt, the person is held up in prayer by the community. All can be together and allow for the questioning and searching that occurs, and then celebrate the reaffirmation of faith.
College is one of the most common places to search about faith. Suddenly, a person is in a new space with new expectations and new people who challenge the past. College is the place to try new things, learn new things, explore new ideas. Students are able to set their own schedule, working out the best way to do the work that is needed for classes while also getting in some social and reflection time. It’s not an easy process.
Canterbury is working to be a place for respite – a place where people can take a moment out of the busy schedule to reflect and breathe. A time to gather and worship and pray together.
Our prayers throughout this service talk about the love that God has for all creation. We pray that God be with us – cleansing our hearts, being with those that we love and care for and those in pain and suffering that we may not know. We gather around the table and pray that God feed us with spiritual food to make us whole – to help us see Jesus in ourselves and in each other – and help us to proclaim His love to the world.
We are called not just to stay here – but we are called to some action – to do great works as Jesus did. This might include serving others – several of us went to St. Leonard’s House yesterday. It’s an Episcopal ministry who works with men transitioning out of prison. It might be any other ministry – clothing people, feeding people, speaking for the poor or the oppressed in society. We might be called to talk with others. We meet people all the time who are seeking and struggling with faith. We might be called to simply sit down and reassure them – let them know that they are not alone as they search for God in their lives.
Sometimes the action that we are called to is to STOP.
Our society gets awfully busy. College keeps us moving with classes and activities and requirements and expectations. Sometimes, I think that we are called to just sit and reflect on how God has been working in our lives.
After time to reflect, we can share our thoughts and ideas with our communities. We can recognize that the Episcopal Church is a place where people can come to hear the Word of God but not be shamed for not thinking or believing in the exact same way as another person in the church. Being here, participating here – even if, and maybe especially if, you’re not an Episcopalian, or even a Christian – means that you have a safe place to discover what it is that you believe. Sharing in the community might help you better articulate where God is working in your life – and what you are called to do because of that experience.
Welcome to Canterbury. Welcome to an open and safe space. What has God been doing in your life and what are you going to do about it?
This last week was full of lectures. AKMA did GREAT! Congrats on a job well done. I was sorry to not be able to see everything because of other job requirements.
Then, the official welcoming for Dean Hall. A nice service was held in Alice Millar which is an interesting change for the Seabury community. I would like to say, however, that “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is not a funeral dirge. It’s one of my favorite songs ever.
But, I did get to sit next to Trevor. It was great to see him.
So – the good news is – there is now a bus that runs from Davis Street, Evanston to O’Hare. This is a good thing – being that it only takes an hour. This means that it’s even faster than the trains, especially when it’s not rush hour train times.
I took said bus the other day to see my friend Ian that was flying from SFO to Manchester, England. It was very much fun to see him.
So – Zach Braff spoke at Northwestern’s Pick-Staiger tonight. It was way awesome! He was very down to earth and fun to see. I was happy for the opportunity to see him. He talked about Garden State and Scrubs, of course. And then finally someone asked about his blog. He said that he was glad that he started it and encouraged the people there to do them when they become famous.
Language is a funny thing. I loved the linguistics course I took in college. Should have done more with it...but I was still more concentrated on rocks.
So- the problem that I have with this quiz that AKMA pointed to is that I use more than just one of the choices. At some points, they ask "or both" but for most of them, I had to choose, even when "both" would be appropriate for me. But, it's probably pretty close.
Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 70% General American English |
| 20% Upper Midwestern |
| 5% Dixie |
| 5% Midwestern |
| 0% Yankee |
| 4 Easter, Year A Christ the King, Lansing |
Starting after World War II – people started to have a new outlook on life. They all wanted the American Dream. This included a house with a picket fence, 2.5 children, and a dog. When you had that, you were set. It was the way that people measured their success – and sometimes, their happiness. And life continued in this relatively simple manner.
That dream morphed over time – somewhere in the 80’s, we started a rapid expansion of our dreams. Now, our society seems to subscribe to the “bigger, better, faster, more” philosophy. People of all ages are looking for an upgrade. A big house, 2 cars, a computer with instant internet service, a boat, a vacation house… These all need to be obtained immediately out of college in order to entertain your friends and co-workers. And don’t forget the perfect partner with perfect children and the perfect marriage.
As we move faster and faster, people are getting more and more frantic. Everyone feels that they need to earn money to get those things that they “need.” With instant communication through the Web and 24 hour TV, you can compare yourself to not just the Joneses, but also people across the United States and other affluent countries around the world. And with a credit card, you can obtain pretty much whatever you want in a short amount of time.
As a college chaplain, I’m starting to have more and more conversation with students who are trying to figure out their futures. What their dreams look like and what is important to them. What do they want to do with their lives? What kind of lives do they want to live? They have been surrounded by the insane frenzy since they were born in the mid-80s. They have to decide if they will follow the commercialism and try to obtain as much as they possibly can or if they will create different measures for their lives. Many feel called to do ministry and be involved in their communities but are still trying to figure out what that looks like. Will they work a day job, doing outreach on evenings and weekends? Or will they commit themselves to care-taking fields or ministry? They are working on answering these questions for themselves through discussions in the classroom, with their friends, and at Canterbury events.
They know the good life – they are surrounded by it – I think especially being at the high-priced educational institution known as Northwestern. But many of them are also starting to think about what is really important. They wonder if it’s the money or the corporate ladder or something else…
Jesus says today that he came “that they might have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus never promised to bring the “good” life – Jesus brings us the “abundant” life. What does that mean? Jesus came that we might have a life without bounds. It’s not about our material possessions – it’s about overflowing with the Spirit of God. Psalm 23 can give us a great idea of what abundant life looks like. We spend a life not wanting for anything – we don’t need the material things of the world. We don’t need the “bigger, better, faster, more” because Jesus has broken those bounds. We can be like the flowers who do not worry about what they wear or the birds of the air who do not worry about what they are to eat. They are all provided for – as are we in our abundant life with God. God is with us through our low points and our fears and even in our deaths. God has given us a banquet, oil for blessing, and a cup that is never empty. We will dwell with God forever…
The gift of abundance goes on forever. Infinity can be great – there are more possibilities than we can imagine. Jesus came so that we have no divisions – we are not bound by political lines or human imposed divisions – we are all one with Christ. We live without fear of death – because we have eternal life. But it’s scary. Suddenly we start asking - How do we live with each other in this abundant life?
It’s certainly not encouraging to read Acts today. Stephen proclaims the abundant life – and we see what happens to him. He chooses to follow Jesus and to share his gifts with the gathered community. He knows that the Word that he has to offer might cause some problems. He also knows that the Word of Jesus offers hope and salvation. When people hear the good news of Jesus, they can start to live the abundant life. However, others were also scared by this talk. It was a new way of doing things – a change from the past. They cannot imagine this world that Stephen portrays and must kill him to stop him.
Knowing Jesus, and having an abundant life through Him does not take away pain or grief or danger. It is all part of proclaiming the Word of God. While we, in this country, may not have the danger of being killed for being Christian, what happens when you start talking about the abundant life to people? In a society surrounded by “good life” mentality, we often run into resistance. We might fear that talking about abundant life might result in a social death. People have been trained that bigger is better and that we all should have the best. Advertising teaches us that if we only buy some more stuff, we will be happier, sexier, and more lovable. Our words are likely to get lost in the cacophony surrounding us. But Jesus call us to keep speaking – or acting – against that noise.
If we start talking “abundant life” then we start telling about how a relationship with God will provide all that we could ever need – and more. We don’t need the tangible rewards that are purchased with money. Our currency comes from our loving God instead of buying things we can create vibrant communities, strong marriages, and healthy families. Through these relationships with God and others we can face death, enemies, and other fears. Thieves may come in, but they cannot destroy what is ours in the abundant life because there are no material possessions to concern us.
When we start talking about the abundant life, we may get a few strange looks. People may think that we are strange for ceasing to worry about the newest car, the fastest computer, or the biggest TV screen. By continuing to talk about the abundant life, we can start to make a change in our society.
When have you experienced the abundance of Jesus Christ?
God reaches out to us in love – and provides for us ways that we might never expect. We can share these experiences with others, talking about how we find God’s love and community more important than material possessions. There are times and places for the things that we have – even the disciples got to have one tunic and their sandals. But, it is also worth noting where our “stuff” gets in the way of our relationship with our God. Surrounded by stuff, we may miss the real blessing of being filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to share God’s love with others.
I think that throughout our lives, we struggle with defining the “good life” and the “abundant life.” Starting to surround ourselves with stories of the abundant life, we can see how God blesses us, through our joy and sorrow, our blessing and pain, our life and death. We can set our priorities to start living out of the abundant life and recognizing the gift that we have through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We can share our message, bringing the Good News to others. Our thanksgivings of life abundant will be infectious and our lives, and the lives of those around us, will be forever transformed.
So - a great big congrats to Jane, Jeff, and Rebecca!
A road trip...but well worth it! Though - the road trip was also fun! Thanks to Frank and Luara for that!
My friend Cathy died today.
Please pray for the repose of her soul.
For her husband, Bob, and her children: Tom, Sam, and Lucy.
What a hilarious movie! I had heard that it was funny. I really like Reese Witherspoon and Luke Wilson is really cute. A fun and entertaining movie. There is a woman using it as part of her preaching thesis at Seabury – talking about women owning their voices. She used a clip as part of her presentation.
| 2 Easter, Year A St. Gregory’s, Deerfield |
Garrison Keillor is one of America’s best-known storytellers. You can hear him on NPR spinning tales about Lake Wobegon. He describes a world with people so like us that we get drawn in, waiting to hear what happens. Listening to Keiller describe people and events, we make connections to our own lives. We remember a similar experience as described in the story, reflect on our feelings, and think about how we were changed by that experience.
In our daily lives, we share our stories to make connections with others. At the work place, we tell stories about our weekends – where we traveled, what movies we saw, how much rest we did – or didn’t – get. To our intimate friends or spouses, we talk about our hopes and our fears, where we struggle and where we find joy. With children, we share our experiences growing up – how difficult it was when we changed schools, how we didn’t pass an important chemistry test, or how happy we were when our band won the state marching competition.
Telling and listening to stories help us build relationships. When I hear about your life, I learn something about you. When I share a story where I felt a similar emotion or had a similar experience, we are bound in a special way. The more experiences we share – either because we hang out together or we talk about our lives – the more we bond.
Our stories are like Garrison Keillor’s in that we create a world as we tell a story. Our worlds have characters that add to our story and plots that develop over time. We pick the morals of our stories as we tell them. Our stories describe the type of people we are and point to who we would like to become. When we tell stories, we are sharing with others our thoughts and reveal how and why we think like we do.
Our stories are unlike Keillor in that our stories interact with others to build up community. We tell stories to each other, hearing some and telling others to create our understanding of our community. As we tell stories in our communities, the individual story becomes part of the whole. Even our communities have special stories that tell about the founding of the organization, why things are done in certain ways, and what kind of people belong to the group.
The church holds the Christian story. Our community gathers every week to tell our stories – Biblical, personal, and communal. The history of the Bible holds the basic story, the history of the church and the building of our parishes tell how people have built upon that history. In the Gospel today, we hear that Jesus told the stories of the prophets. He revisited the history of those who had gone before, building Himself into the stories. By revealing himself to the disciples, he encouraged them to expand the story to include each of them. In fact – they couldn’t tell the story without including their experience. They were able to write themselves into the story and go and tell others.
We are called to do the same thing. In our weekly gathering and celebrations, we add to our established story. We tell stories of how God has work in our lives this week and where we saw Jesus in the world. We connect to each other through the strong bond of Christ. We tell and listen to stories of grace and love.
The Christian story takes time to learn and tell. When we first come to the church, we may have experienced God and had a story to tell, or we may have come searching because we feel a longing. As we come to know the stories of the church, we can add our story to that of the Bible and the church fathers and mothers. We add our story to the parish that we join. These stories influence our lives and stretch and test us as we change who we are to better embody the Christian story that we are called to live out.
The biggest time for questioning the Christian and personal story is in college. I’m the Chaplain at Canterbury Northwestern. We gather weekly to discuss and discern God’s will in our lives. The people who come to college with a church background start to question their faith. Those who come with no church experience start to question their beliefs. Canterbury provides a safe place for all people to come and experience stories in a whole new way. Most college students have the faith of their parents – it’s what they knew growing up. They are faced with the challenge to now create their own belief system. They ask questions like “Why do I believe that? Do I really believe in God? What if there is no God?”
Their life stories change on a daily basis. They are building stories in social, educational, and religious areas. Some students totally re-create themselves in college – they start to tell different stories about themselves. In telling the story, a new future is opened up to them. Identities shift and change as they discover the best story – the story that intuitively feels right to them.
Through telling their stories, they start to imagine and create their lives. Their futures are wide open to them. As we approach the final 8 weeks of school, some of them hold a lot of fear as they struggle to discern their next steps. Now there are so many options, that some were wishing that the list of possibilities were shorter.
Canterbury provides a place where they can base their story in something bigger than just an individual experience. By grounding their lives in the Biblical story and the experience of knowing God, they are able to feel a particular connection to other people in the group. Those who participate in Canterbury may not visit with each other socially during the week, but they have expressed how much the friendships in our community mean to them. They know that their stories are connected in something profoundly more important than a sports team or a social club.
Your support of Canterbury allows for a fostering of that connection. Your donations help support the many activities that we do and we have become part of your story. Weekly, we share our meals together – both around the Lord’s table and the dinner table – and we share our stories. We listen to our history and hear stories of people who can be our models – people who have failed and succeeded in loving and serving God. This ties into our discussions at dinner as we tell stories of our experiences. We then start to talk about the people and community that we can become. We meet during the week to reflect on scripture and do outreach projects and gather around different dinner tables. Each time, stories are shared and we are able to articulate who we are and who we would like to become.
Being partners in ministry, you become part of our story – part of the larger diocese and Episcopal Church. You are worked into our story as brothers and sisters of faith who walk with us. Our stories come together to create and new worlds of possibility.
The Christian story is not just a static story found in a book. It is a living story that grows and changes. It is based on the prophets and on Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. It is explored more deeply by other New Testament writings. We then make it part of us as we share the ways in which God works through us every day.
We can build worlds that look new and different, ever imagining our futures coming more in line with God’s will. Through our stories, we can imagine and then create churches that are welcoming and hospitable for all – a place where passionate debate and profound forgiveness flourish. Our stories can encourage people to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and empower them to do ministry in Jesus’ name.
Our stories may not be as eloquent told as Garrison Keillor’s, but our stories are of faith – of connection – of communion. The stories that you tell in this parish, and we tell at Canterbury come together to create the world in which we will live and love and serve God. I am happy to be part of your story as you continue to work on what St. Gregory’s is becoming. May our stories join together as we continue to serve God’s people in Deerfield, at Northwestern, and in the world.
Congratulations to Fulton Porter - ordained priest today. It rocked!
So – is life all fate? Si and I started an interesting discussion about destiny. So – what do you think? Is there fate? Destiny? And how do we distinguish between having something happen because of “fate” and “God’s ‘coincidence’”? An example: I was sitting at my desk one day at work, doing some computer stuff. For whatever reason, I wasn’t comfortable; I was tired of sitting and needed to get up and move around. I decide to go for a walk, thinking that I would do an errand. As I start walking in that direction, I run into 3 people connected to Canterbury. We had a great discussion. Random? God’s guidance? Fate?
I have started to use the term “moments of grace.” But is there a difference between what I call “grace” and what another person calls “fate.” Is it the difference of language between a believer in God and an atheist?
My other problem is that movies like this make us wander around looking for the “perfect” person. (Really probably not the time for me watching a “romantic comedy”…) And “life partner” of course seems to be the only discussion that involves “destiny.”
But, also makes me ask – in times of divorce rates at 50% - how can we frame love and relationships realistically? Who are the people with good relationships and how can we portray that better in the media. Sure, there may be some special stuff that happens when two people meet, but then there’s always the “ever after” part.
In the deleted scenes, there was a great game called “cubing” that they play. That’s great! I really like that. It was a great game. Reminds me of another one that involved walking in the woods and a cup. Should probably find that one also.
This has been on the list for a long time. I really like Robin Williams. He’s a great guy and a great actor. And he did really well with playing a totally different character (as I had heard that he did).
It was a good movie. Definitely interesting. It asks interesting questions about people who have no friends, no community. How do we recognize and help these people? Being of a trusting person, I like to think the best of people. How do I be helpful without being taken advantage of? (or at least recognize the people that can harm me…I’m sure that I will be taken advantage of…and to some extent that’s fine. People will ask for money and may not “really need” it. But I’m not as worried about that.)
The extras were great in going behind the scenes and learning more about the movie and the creators. Interesting stories and fun information. I’m glad that I took the time to watch them. They weren’t very long and added another dimension to the movie.
So, I do a lot of weird moies that are kind of off the map. Pi, however, was extra weird. Just very, very weird. I know that there are some brilliant people out there. And sometimes have issues with life and being brilliant. And this has to be the extreme. Yeah, bizarre. That’s about all I have for this one.
The best part of plane travel is the great reading time. I read Midwives on the way to Korea. I followed it up with the Law of Similars as I traveled to New Orleans. I really enjoy Bohjalian’s work. This one moved along quickly and encouraged me to continue reading. Definitely worth reading if you have some time for fiction.