Wicked is WICKED! It was great! My mom came into town last night. We tried to get tickets through the lottery. That didn’t work, so we just bought them. But it was AWESOME! It was just a great show with a great story, music, acting.
Logan Lipton is great! He’s the most successful actor that I know that I have “I remember him when” stories about. I mean…he even has an unofficial fan site! The review with his name is here. We waited for him after the show and had to wait for the mass of young women waiting to get his autograph. Even a short time was fun to catch up and see how his life is going. And since it’s touring, his entire life is just taken up with that. GO LOGAN! Break a leg!
So - my bike got stolen yesterday. So, I was really angry, got over that, and just decided to pray.
So - let us pray for the person who decided to steal my bike. I hope that s/he needed it.
But it also had my brand new lights on it...my dad just got them for my birthday and Shane just put them on the bike. They were the best part of the bike!
Thanks to the Adam Family for the loaner.
| Trinity Sunday, Year A Canterbury Northwestern |
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
Source of Love, Love incarnate, Love’s power.
The Trinity – with which part do you identify most often?
I connect with the Holy Spirit the most. Perhaps because I try to keep my life so orderly, the Spirit is the one that guides me the quickest into spontaneity and grace. In those moments that I move out of my own little world, I can experience the power of God – the abundance of God’s love for me and all of creation. I connect with that movement – God moving through the world. God moving through me to bring God’s grace, love, and word to others.
Other people seem to connect with Jesus – being the one who came to earth to walk as a human with us. They connect with knowing that Jesus suffered as humans suffered. They feel the hope in his resurrection and ascension – they are encouraged by his triumph over death and feel peace at knowing that they will join him. They want to be close to that love that walked with us.
Some people connect with the Father or Mother – feel the source of creation and power overwhelm them. They revel in the created order of the universe and are awed by the enormous love that God has for humanity. They contemplate the vastness of God – bigger than anything that can be imagined – the all encompassing love.
The Trinity – the doctrine highlighted by the church today. It’s one of the most confusing parts of Christianity. There’s no real explanation of it in the Bible – there is no cohesive theology outlined for us to turn to. But how we define and understand the Trinity affects how we describe it to other people, both in and outside of our faith.
While the Trinity has no cohesive theology written into the Bible, each person of the one substance is described in different places.
God the Creator – “Let there be light” (Genesis). God the Father – “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son” (John 3:16). God the Father sends steadfast love to the world, trying to show that in different ways.
Jesus – God incarnate walking with us. Foretold in the prophets – “the Lord God will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms” (Isaiah 40:11). Born in a manger, lived among us, and then became a teacher and prophet. We have stories about Him and His words in the Gospels. Jesus is a human who lived without sin – an example for us. God the Redeemer – God breaking through the bonds of death, and Jesus taken to Heaven in Glory. But John also tells us that Jesus has been with God forever – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) – so there is no time that Jesus was not part of God.
The Holy Spirit – breath or wind – “the earth was a formless void, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). The spirit of God breathes new life into Ezekiel’s bones. The Holy Spirit – a dove at Jesus’ baptism to empower Him. As flames at Pentecost to bestow gifts on the disciples.
So – regardless of which one you connect with most, they are all part of the same substance – a God who loves and cares for us. A God who walked with us to save us and calls us to do ministry. The God who continues to work through us.
We are called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations, baptizing people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The disciples first heard these words after Jesus’ resurrection. He’s there on the mountain, and they come to worship him. However, some of them doubted. They weren’t sure that they wanted to take the risk to open up to God fully – I’m sure that they might have been confused about the events and the significance in their lives. Jesus accepts them – their gifts and strengths, their doubts and fears. God calls them just as they are to proclaim His message.
This is our call as well – to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. God asks only that we bring our authentic selves – all of who we are. This can be awfully scary. What does it mean to walk into prayer or worship declaring all of our emotions, gifts, and faults? It means that we can come to God with all of it – God the Creator knows the creation – God knows us inside and out. We can express our love and our thanksgiving – about the beautiful day or the way we saw God in the sunset. We can also express our grief or fear or doubt. We can shout out our anger and cry out our frustration. Bringing ourselves to God opens up communication so that we can better connect to the God who has redeemed and sustained us.
This authentic self is the person who is called to become a disciple and proclaim the Gospel. As we talk with others about our thoughts and faith, we can share those experiences where we find God working in our lives. We can also talk about those times when we have felt that God has abandoned us or seems far away. We can share our convictions about Jesus Christ and how we have been saved by his death, resurrection, and ascension. We can stand up and declare, “Jesus Christ is Lord in my life.”
Now – the above words make some people really nervous. You might be still searching and trying to figure out where God fits into your life – but it’s okay, God is open to your seeking and questioning, and I hope that you find this to be a safe place to explore your faith. So, if you’re not quite ready to declare yet, that’s okay – search with us to find what you feel called to proclaim.
The other subject about which some people get nervous is when we start talking with people in our other communities. We live in a pluralistic society where people believe a lot of different things. We have friends who are Muslim, or Jew or atheist. How do I proclaim Jesus Christ to them?
For me, part of it comes from being a disciple – a disciple is a learner. As a follower (disciple) of Jesus, I am continually learning about God working in the world. In talking with others, I can share what I know and invite them to be open to learning more with me. This is really important in inter-faith dialogue. When I am convicted about my faith and my beliefs, I can share them with others. When I find other people who are convicted about their beliefs, I can learn what they know and have experienced. None of this necessarily has to do with conversion or condemnation. I am not going to condemn my brother who is a Hindu or my sister who is Buddhist. I will listen to their story and share mine. Only in knowing what I believe, however, can I express the Christian faith to another. Only in recognizing that I am not perfect and do not know everything, can I be open to hearing what others have to say about their experience and faith.
Right along with that, however, are the many people that I meet who are searching for God. I can share my story of faith and doubt – how I have experienced God through Jesus Christ. I don’t tell my stories to force or coerce, I offer my story as the way that has worked for me. I might find that my friend has had similar experiences, but no words to go with them. My friend might be searching for something to fill that God shaped hole, and if the Christian faith works for that person, he or she can become baptized and the church can rejoice in welcoming in another member.
Our faith is a gift. God has bestowed on us a great gift – and this faith changes and grows over time through times of darkness where we might feel lost, through confusion and doubt, into light and clarity. This community and others like it – the gathered church – are where we come to seek God, praise God, and ask for guidance from God. We get the support of the community – those with knowledge, those with questions, and those who are seeking. We come as ourselves to learn how to better proclaim what we know of God.
We return to the world, sharing our stories with those that we meet, learning more about God working in other people’s lives, finding that Grace is bigger than we every could have imagined. We are called to proclaim what we believe, authentically and with confidence. We are called to listen to others share their convictions with us and learn how to better live into our faith because of their insights and knowledge. Our Creator works throughout the world, our Redeemer lives, and our Sustainer gives us courage and energy to proclaim that love.
I think that Orange County was incredibly entertaining. Very funny with an interesting commentary on life in California. The family dysfunction was hilarious and the whole thing was entertaining. Great discussions about family fault/blame/connection can happen through it.
AWESOME! It holds together really well. I appreciated the cons, the way things came (and held) together. It was a great thing. Great acting and directing and fabulous cast. I was disappointed that it didn’t do better in the theater. I remember being really interested when it came out, and I’m really glad that I got to see it.
It’s weird. Still working on what I really feel about it. Parts of it were great – lots of stuff about land preservation, which I am ALL about. Give me open land any day… Then, there’s the stuff about energy conservation – especially with cars and bikes. But parts of it were just weird and not as cool as I thought that they should have been.
It does have some great things to say about urban expansion and where people’s priorities are, but was not always consistent in effectively expressing these views. It gets distracted in these little side adventures where nothing really happens and no real plot is developed.
So – I haven’t been awake enough to say anything substantial on the blog – and didn’t want to do the prepared reviews that I have…because life has been too good for just the basic review…
U2 really was amazing. Stacy and I had some discussion about the liturgical aspects of the show. Some very interesting stuff that they have put together – a headband (stole), retractable bead-like “screens”/dividers (like the beads that you find handing to separate rooms). They were actually AV equipment that showed different scenes – a man walking at one moment, flags from many different countries another. (Which made me wish that Laurie were there to tell me what they were.) I wish that I had listened to the newest albums all the way through before I went. But, it was wonderful.
Saturday was a fun adventure. Got some stuff done – a little bit of work, some grocery shopping, and then the dinner with the Seabury Women’s Board. It was great. I was very happy to have a chance to go and meet many wonderful people.
Pentecost at Canterbury was great. For Acts, we read the lesson in many different languages. It was very fun to hear. The best part was that the Hebrew and the Greek were the last 2 being read, with Greek last. It was just amazing to me. So very cool to have those as the last languages. I was so touched.
This morning, Laura and I went and got pedicures. I have never done that before. She suggested it as something to do, and boy it was GREAT! I had a great time and my toes are very cute! Very exciting and great foot massage and green tea and everything. Salon on Davis. Go there.
Tonight I went to Combofest at the University. It was very cool with some really great music. A student was playing – so, some days I’m thankful for my job!
Tomorrow night I am taking some dear friends out for a surprise dessert. It will be VERY cool. I’m very excited.
U2 ROCKS!
need i say more?
well - except - thanks, stacy!
This is my fiction for the month. I really liked In the Bleak Midwinter. So, I read this. Nothing spectacular, but entertaining. And definitely fiction…which is always a nice break from theology or Biblical/sermon study. She even writes about a woman priest. Always nice to have a protagonist that I can relate to…well, some aspects…
I’m a country girl. I grew up on a 90 acre farm in Western Michigan. It’s 5 miles to the smaller town, 10 miles to the bigger town, and 25 to Kalamazoo (a “real” city). I had horses and cows and chickens and dogs and cats and LAND. Lots of land – with trees and a creek. I love this farm. When people ask about home – that’s mine. It’s all about the land that is there. I’ve lived in different places and have enjoyed my adventures, but the true “home” is tied to the land.
Now, I live in the city, which is a great adventure. I love my membership at the Adler. I love to be able to visit the city and see the plays and walk to a movie theater. I love public transportation (and it drives me nuts that CTA and Chicago can’t figure out how to increase the usage of trains and buses). I wish that I could convince everyone to use it – and demand that more lines are built and services are increased.
Living in the city has some interesting challenges for me. There are people and buildings and buildings and people. 4 trees and very little empty land. Luckily, I have a big yard, which I appreciate every day. But no horse. The yard is almost big enough to keep a horse, but I’m pretty sure that the Evanston authorities would not appreciate me keeping one there.
And then there was the other night at 5 am with someone walking by and yelling. So much for a full night’s sleep.
| 7th Sunday of Easter, Year A St. Elisabeth’s, Glencoe |
The news seems to be full of court trials lately. Lawsuits, corporate indiscretions, and Michael Jackson have all gotten press time lately. As the media covers these stories and provides blow by blow reports, they try to give us the juiciest tidbits. Witnesses can make or break a case, and the media hones in on them, repeating what was said and guessing how those words might affect the outcome. Witnesses swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They are brought in to testify to what they have seen and heard and experienced.
Our experience of witnesses seems to revolve around how the court system uses them in trials to either free or condemn an accused person. How does this view impact how we read Acts today? Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses – to the ends of the earth.” The disciples are told to proclaim what they have seen and heard and experienced. They are to spread the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The generations over the last 2000 years have worked at being witnesses – and training others to be witnesses. Through their words, we have also come to believe – and are, in turn, called to proclaim Christ’s Word to the world.
Witnesses tell the truth in some deeply important matter. Our society has used the word to name someone who gives testimony in a courtroom, but I’m sure that Jesus never meant for our witnessing to occur only at one point in time, in one specific place. We are to go into the whole world proclaiming the saving power of Jesus Christ.
As we tell our story – the story of our conversion and belief, we are God’s witnesses in the world. Our witnessing to Jesus Christ happens through word and deed, in the work place, social time, schools, everywhere. Witnessing may happen in a public space, but is usually done in small groups or with individual people. When we claim that we are Christian, everything we do and say is our witnessing to God’s love in the world. God’s love is shown when we say a kind thing, listen to someone in need, do a favor. Others see these behaviors and may understand that our actions come from our love for God.
Witnessing happens through relationship. The best way to tell another about faith is to establish a relationship and tell people about personal experiences. This is why it is so common to witness to one other person or a small group. In getting to know the other, we share our stories of faith and hope, of struggle and pain and how God is with us through our experiences.
While we witness to many, we also need to take care to teach. This teaching about God’s love for the world comes in many different forms – telling stories, serving as examples, and giving encouragement to live and grow in faith. Every Christian learns to tell their story as they experience revelation and growth. Children learn differently than adults need extra coaching as they begin their witness. We know that children learn by example best and have seen how well they “do as we say and not as we do.” Being a good witness is a powerful teaching too, but at some point, the training needs to take another route. We need to be with children and hear their stories – help them articulate how they have felt God’s love and how they live out their faith in the world. When they have been taught well, they grow into adults who serve God by witnessing in their daily lives.
I am serving as the Episcopal Chaplain at Northwestern University. While they are not children any more, they have specific needs in their faith journey. Working with students at Canterbury has been a great chance to help them understand their role as witnesses in the world. Many of them have grown up in the church and know the stories of the Bible. Some of them had good teachers and have learned how to tell their faith stories, while others have not had practice. All of them, however, can benefit from time together to share because college creates an entirely new environment. The stress of college comes from their own ambition, the university’s stress on excellence, and parental concern that they do well. Every day involves new learning and an attempt to integrate that learning into their lives.
Canterbury has been a safe space to allow the students to sit and reflect on what they have learned and how that impacts their lives. They can talk about their classes and revelations and how their faith is developing in this environment. We tell our faith stories – how we came to the place where we are now and then how we can live out Jesus’ words in the future.
St. Elisabeth’s is a supporter in this work and your donations help us minister to the Northwestern campus. We are happy to be partners in ministry with you. I pray that we can continue to discern how God is calling us to ministry with each other. Together we can learn to be better witnesses to ensure that all those who are waiting to hear the Good News can come and find a safe place to explore faith and religion and hear how God is working in other people’s lives.
Being a witness is hard work. It takes dedication and passion to continue to speak out the truth in love. Part of our journey should involve time for rest and renewal. The end of the Acts reading has the disciples praying together. They take time in a community to support each other and reassure each other. Every Sunday, you meet here to revive your souls and prepare for the coming week. You can hear stories about others who have experienced something wonderful in the last week, or you can offer encouragement to someone who is struggling. This time together provides a place to be renewed and ready to go into the world, proclaiming the Good News. Having the church community as a source of strength can encourage you in your work of witnessing.
At Canterbury, the University world is so crazy that we schedule time to just be together. The students talk about the importance of the Canterbury connection – God provides a connection that is stronger than any of the other groups in which they participate. It’s a deeper bond than having the same major or playing the same sport, or living in the same dorm. Connecting through worship allows us a space to reflect and be filled with love. God empowers us to go do our work in the world. Our service projects take us places to share God’s love with others. During that time, we are also served.
As you worship together here, use the time to reflect on how God has been working through your life. Share your stories with others. Think about how your actions live out God’s love. Encourage others to live and grow in God’s love. Neither the church nor the world is a courtroom. We have many opportunities to tell our stories and testify to God’s love in the world. The more times we tell it, the more people can hear. The more kind acts we do, the more people feel God working through us. Our witnessing the Good News is seen in our lives – our loving actions and the words of encouragement that we offer others. Let us go forth – offering the truth of Jesus Christ’s work in our lives.
So, there has been much contemplation of how good or bad the movie would be. Should one see the movie or skip it because it is so far from the book?
Well, Marc and I went to see it. I have to say, I was entertained. It held together just fine for me. There were some things that were changed from the book (and thanks to Gary, I have actually read the book). It was an entertaining view of the book. And understanding that movies are never the same as the book, I was not disappointed or overly critical. This also has to be read through the “Heather likes movies” lens. If it’s a movie, I like it. Most other people are infinitely more critical.
Reviewers have, overall, been less than kind. Shane sent on two reviews. Another reviewer that I read often, Teddy, hasn’t read the book, so he found the movie to be a fine cinematic adventure, but does point out that it’s British humor.
So, if it’s a problem that you want the book to match the movie, don’t see it. Otherwise, go see it and be entertained…
So, some people say that small towns have nothing to do. But I’ve been hanging out in Allegan for almost a week (and a trip back to Chicago for Sunday) and I’ve stayed plenty busy.
Larry’s retirement – my boss from Camp Kidwell retired! Congrats to Larry! Get rest!
Hanging with Marc – and seeing Hitchhiker's Guide (review coming later)
Ellen’s show – my friend Ellen makes beads (for necklaces, earrings, bookmarks). She and her friends get together twice a year and hold a show. I stopped by for a surprise visit to see what was there. Ellen’s stuff is of course fantastic – and unique. I love wandering around town and seeing people wearing her beads. It’s always a fun conversation starter – “Hey – aren’t those beads by Ellen?”
ECW dinner – The ECW of the diocese of Western Michigan had generously supported me through seminary. I went back for their annual meeting and shared with them my process and current job.
Township Meeting – Well, I thought that I would be hanging out with my friend JoAnne, but that didn’t work…so I went to the township meeting instead. Not much really went on, but I got to see people and help plan where the new play equipment will go at the township hall.
Camp Kidwell – Of course I stopped by and helped out by creating more work for my dad. I looked at the old cabins that they are refurbishing and though, “Light would help these out a lot.” So, they are now working on increasing the amount of light in the cabins – by almost three times the previous light. I haven’t seen a completed one, but did get to see a partially completed one and it looks great!
Horses – there are horses in my/my dad’s backyard that belong to camp. I was going to ride, but it was too cold most of the time. I did get to brush them a lot. They seem to like that.
Delora – hanging out with a friend that I haven’t seen in YEARS. We haven’t really hung out in like 23 years…and we couldn’t name the last time that we had seen each other. But she’s back in Allegan now and we got together for dinner. Very, very fun.
A massage – because no vacation should be without one.
Target Practice – Marc and Aaron took me out to shoot guns. It’s always a fun adventure. I’m getting better each time and they are both good teachers.
Planting TREES! – this was one of the best parts of the trip. I have been planning on planting trees for a good year now and probably longer. Someone a long time ago was clever enough to line 104th Avenue with sugar maples. For all of my years growing up, we had these pretty trees along the road. Unfortunately, trees get old and these are falling apart. I’ve now been trying to figure out howt o get more trees planted along the road. Unfortunately, sugar maples seem to be hard to come by. But we did pick up some red maples for not very much money and planted 4 of them! Again, it was cold, so I didn’t get as far as I was hoping. Next trip back, we’ll start transplanting the sugars from the woods. But for now, I can at least be happy about the 4 trees.
My cousin Tina came to visit. It was very much fun. She and Phil and Shane and I played euchre several times. The first night – Tina and I won BIG. The second night, the guys did as well.
But, I won Monopoly! Now, this may not seem a big deal, but Tina and I have been playing our game together fro 25 years. We have our own rules and I don’t really like to play by the “real” rules. My mother doesn’t understand how we can play our way – but we figure that it’s our game and we agree on the rules. Anyway, since Tina is older than I am (not much, but was more significant when we were 6 and 8…), she always wins…or, almost always. Therefore, my winning is a big deal.
We also visited Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge on Davis. You all definitely need to check this place out. It’s amazing!
The big news – I learned that Blokus can be played on-line! How great is that??? Just what I need – more distraction in my day…