Dare We Go? - Easter Sunday

On this morning long ago, a small group of dedicated disciples huddled together anxiously awaiting the Passover Sabbath to end. They yearned to go tend to the dead body of their beloved friend, Jesus. The one who saved their lives could not or did not save his own, nor could they prevent his death. Jesus was dead. 

This impossible truth mutates into something more gruesome when one realizes the accessories to Jesus’ death. He was betrayed by beloved friends, tortured by “good, religious folk,” and executed by the law and order of the state. The cruel forces of the world crushed his life, and in the process sideswiped the lives of a small band of followers. 

On this morning long ago, those disciples, mostly women, hid away. Their reality felt broken. Their lives appeared hollow. So, they clutched onto each other, heartbroken, unmoored, yet determined to compassionately care for Jesus’ body. What a challenge it must have been to take the first step out the door from their bleak homes toward his tomb. 

Before the events of the last twelve months — global pandemic, racial reckoning, economic hardships, divisive election cycle, attempted coup, and countless personal struggles — were we collectively in a place to identify with the grief and loss of those brave women and men? Probably not, but now we wait like them — not sure of what the sunrise brings.

On this morning, this day, this time, we are to be strong like Mary and the other women. We are to run like Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved. For God’s creative, life-giving, and life-saving love is not locked in the past. We always wait on the edge of Resurrection. Dare we go with the disciples to look into the tomb? 

The Rev. Seth Olson

To Faith - Holy Saturday

Old Testament: Job 14:1-14
or Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24
New Testament: 1 Peter 4:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 27:57-66
or John 19:38-42
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16

In English, faith is a noun. My New Testament professor who, according to legend, was fluent in at least thirteen languages, often lamented that there is no English verb, “to faith.” Greek has such a verb, and when we translate it, most often as “to believe,” we are improvising. 

On Holy Saturday in the year of Saint Matthew, we are taken before the borrowed tomb in which the abused corpse of Jesus has been wrapped in a clean linen cloth and laid on one of the carved ledges. In Matthew, we stand before a sealed tomb with a small contingent of armed troops, set by order of Pontius Pilate, to keep Jesus’ followers from taking the body away. The words of Rowan Willams in The Wound of Knowledge come immediately to mind: 

“Christianity ... is born from men and women faced with the paradox of God's purpose made flesh in a dead and condemned man.” 

On this particular Holy Saturday, the complaint of Job that he is “A human, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,” takes on particular meaning. We are in the company of Father Paneloux in Camus’ The Plague, who was profoundly aware of the suffering of the victims of the plague, and “was well aware that at any moment death might claim him too.” In the light of the “high and fearful vision” emerging from innocent suffering, his faith was transformed into affirmation—the classic meaning of faith, articulated by St. Paul in the Lesson for the Burial of the Dead:

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Rev. Dr. Roy Wells

Today is a Day of Hope - Good Friday

In preparing to write this meditation, I read sections of three writings: the Book of Job, Second Corinthians and a book titled Hope for the Flowers.

The opposite of hope is despair, a state of life that many people live in all of the time. Hope is both a spiritual feeling and a state of life when we are changed by strength from a higher power.

In the first book to the Corinthians, Paul writes of hope as a spiritual value that goes along with faith and love. In fact, there can be no hope at all without faith and love being experienced.

Reflect on Job’s story -— without his faith in the invisible God and without his love of others, Job would have long given up any hope for further life.

As I began reflecting a central theme to share on Good Friday, I went to a book long kept in my home library. The title of the book is Hope for the Flowers. It is a story about a caterpillar who one day thought that “there must be something more to life than just eating and getting bigger.”  He was seeking more but nothing satisfied him. One day as he started climbing he joined with other caterpillars, but it was still not enough. Then he met another caterpillar and they began to climb together. Finally, they found out that they should hang upside down to become a butterfly, which feeds the world by carrying seeds of love from one plant to another.

Today is the day when a hope of resurrection rules the day with seeds of love.

Today is the day of hope.

The Rev. Bill King

Love, Hope, and Faith - Maundy Thursday

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,  since you have given him authority over all people,[a] to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”  John 17:1-3

Who is this Son of God? … this King of Glory? This is the One who knelt in the dust to wash the feet of his disciples. This is the One who taught that love is the sum of the Law… the greatest commandment. He offered himself up as example… as sacrifice… as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. What are we to do with this mandatum… this new commandment to love one another as Christ has loved us? This is not a fleeting love…a passing affection… rather it is the heart-wrenching knowledge that this is love unto death. In this love is all hope in the possibility of change for the better. In this love is all faith in the unconditional devotion of God in whom all love is founded.

The love of God in Christ Jesus is not a feeling but a power… the power of light that pushes back the darkness… the power of compassion that binds us together in mutual affection and understanding…. the power of fidelity… for this love is forever. All truth is rooted in this love… all good grows from this root…by its fruit we will be known.

In our modern world where everything is made a commodity love remains the one constant… it cannot be bought or sold… only given and received. When the powers that be have lost their authority and the structures humanity has created have crumbled to dust, love will remain. In this everlasting love is the glory of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. In this love we find our identity as the followers of Jesus… In this love we find our purpose… in this love we find our hope for eternal life in Christ.

The Rev. Robyn Arnold

It Tolls for Thee

 John Donne (January 21, 1572 - March 31, 1631)

Today is his Feast Day (Anglican Priest and Poet, Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

Love, Forgiveness, Faith

 From the EfM Table in 2021

Dear God, who gave us the commandment to love one another as Jesus loved us, 

thank you for the gift of empathy which allows us meet one another where we are. 

Help us to actively listen and give us patience to love those with whom we disagree, 

so that we may offer compassion and understanding. 

In Christ’s name,  Amen.

Dear God,

            Who created us in your image,

both divine and human,

You…

Offer us forgiveness and grace daily.

We pray that…

As you forgive us, we learn to continually forgive ourselves and those that we believe have harmed us.

So that…

We can share the love of God in our community with hearts that are open, loving and forgiving and not scarred with pain and resentment.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.    

Linda Foster

From the EfM Table in 2020 

In an EfM class last year, we reflected on faith during uncertain times. Following is the group’s collect based on our reflection.

Dear God, who allows our faith to be tested, 

thank You for an opportunity to look again at all you have provided for us. 

Help us to remember Christ’s example of how to live from birth to Gethsemane to the Cross,

so that we may follow that example and hold steadfast in our faith, using this devastation and turning it a new vision of Easter. 

In Christ’s Name, Amen.

Moved by the Spirit

 A few random thoughts brought on by today's readings:  

In Hebrews we encounter Christ, the high priest of all good things already in being. John tells a rather abstruse tale of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with expensive perfume; what are we to make of this? Earlier in the book of John he wrote, “When all things began, the Word already was. The Word, then, was with God at the beginning.” Richard Rohr, in his book The Universal Christ, posits that Christ was not Jesus' last name; it is the unity of matter and spirit from the very beginning and through time, until the very end. Isaiah tells us of a servant moved by the Spirit and called to make justice shine upon the nations. So are we moved by the Spirit and called by Christ to do justice, to be a part of the Light? Each of us must ask, “How does this manifest in me?”  Like Paul, I sometimes feel that though the will to do good is in me, sometimes the performance is not. An old friend of mine told me recently, “You know, when I was younger I wanted justice. Now I want compassion.”

I like the words of Wendell Berry, who responds to the question, “How do we live in today's world?” by answering, “Look for the right thing, and do it.”

Ben Johnson

Abba God at Our Side

Psalms: 24, 29, 103
Zechariah 9:9-12 & 12:9-11, 13:1, 7-9
1 Timothy 6:12-16
Matthew 21:12-17

As I write this on a muggy January morning after a night of torrential rain, I have no way of knowing if we will be virtual in observance of Lent this year, but I think so. Our journey with COVID-19 has led to changes in how we do many things, including worship. What this journey has taught us is that life can change, abruptly and dramatically. Not always, but we sometimes have a little warning, if we pay attention. We knew for example, that the virus existed and was causing sickness and death overseas and then in the northeast and west coast weeks before it hit home.

Just as I know that despite today’s balmy weather a cold front is moving across the country and should arrive here sometime tomorrow. Heeding this warning I have noted in my calendar to bring my lemon tree in from the deck to keep it from freezing tomorrow night. Staying awake, paying attention, and heeding the warnings by doing right action is a good thing.

On this Palm Sunday, what have we learned from our Lenten Journey about the warning signs for Jesus to prepare him for this week ahead and what does that and our Gospel reading for today tell us?

While our Sunday worship today focuses on Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem to cries of “Hosanna!” our reading is about what Jesus does immediately after he enters the city. He enters the temple and boldly confronts those who are profiting from ordinary folk, some blind, lame, or poor, who were trying to obey the law by worshiping in the temple. Jesus knew this was perilous action. He had many warnings in other encounters with the religious leaders. He knew they were looking for ways to kill him and that this action was a grave provocation.

So why did he do this? Why did he overturn the money changers and sellers of doves, then heal the lame and the blind and lift up the children as those to be listened to? I believe this is the core of his ministry and a message to us as to what our ministry should be. With Abba God ever at his side, Jesus used his voice to confront corrupt power and greed. He used his hands to heal and offer comfort, and he reminded the powerful that the innocence of children has not yet been corrupted by seeking power and wealth.

So shall we seek to find the innocent child within, in our hearts and souls? And shall we speak truth to power by joining our voice with and for the marginalized among us. Shall we also find what is ours to do in ministry?  Ever with Abba God at our side shall we listen to and for God’s will?  

The Rev. Gerri Aston

Love Is the Way

 Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has written a book Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times. Below is an excerpt from an interview about his work found on episcopalnewsservice.org. 

On All Saints Day 2020, the bishop preached at the National Cathedral a sermon called “Holding on to Hope: A National Service for Healing and Wholeness,” which can be accessed online for a great listening experience. (https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/presiding-bishop-michael-currys-sermon-from-holding-on-to-hope-a-national-service-for-healing-and-wholeness/)

Also, Dr. Brené Brown interviews him on her Unlocking Us podcast. She says that in it, they, “…talk about love. Messy, hard, complicated love. I ask him how we can transcend fear in a scarcity-based culture and what we can learn from those who came before us. We also talk about the church, how to develop beloved community and the scrappy, gritty, work of love that is my definition of faith.” This chat is also a wonderful audio adventure. (https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-bishop-michael-curry-on-love-hope-in-troubling-times/)

Bishop Curry:

“I’m here to say there is power in the kind of love that is unselfish, even sacrificial, that seeks the good and the well-being of others as well as the self – enormous untapped power in that kind of love that can help both to give us hope in troubling times and to help us find our way and navigate our way through… Jesus said the supreme law is the law of love. He was very clear about that, Matthew 22. There can be no debate about that. The New Testament was absolutely clear about that: to love God and love the neighbor, that is what the will of God calls for.

What is love? The love most frequently talked about in the New Testament is ‘agape' love, which is a kind of love that is not selfish. It actually seeks the good and well-being of others as well as the self, but it’s not a selfish kind of love. It’s giving, not always taking. If that is the case, and we who are the church are a Jesus movement of people who have committed their lives to the way and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, then love must be the dominant chord of the music, of the life of we who are the church. That means that we by definition are a community of people who are bidden to love, to live for the good and the well-being, not of the institutional church, not of ourselves, but for the world for which Christ died.”

Bond of Love

At this point in the liturgical year we find ourselves between Christmas and Easter. Looking back to Christmas we see God's perfect love embodied in a small, helpless infant. God loves us to the extent that He/She came to fully live a human experience to show us pure light and love. We see this love in the way with which Jesus related to people in touching, healing, feeding, and being present. This is the kind of love he said we should show one another, to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” 

We experience God's love through these kindnesses, when we are kind and caring. I experienced extravagant love through participation at St. Andrew's. We worshipped, ate, grieved, and rejoiced as a family. We feed those in our community through Community Kitchens and St. Andy's Pantry. We address inequity. 

Then we move forward to look at Easter. Jesus made the ultimate human sacrifice through his death. Fortunately the story didn't end there. He was resurrected, bringing full realization of light, love, and continuation of life, our souls are immortal. As Jesus followers we are to share this light and love with others in our lives. We share a common connection through human life and experience. Let us make this journey through Lent with renewed awareness of our universal bond of love. With love to all of you, my brothers and sisters! 

Patty Cline 

Leap of Faith

 There is an innate, inherent yearning in each of us for something more, to be what our Creator means for us to be. In order to attain that oneness with Christ, being filled by the Holy Spirit, we must be drawn outside of the person we believe ourselves to be, to do more than we believe we are capable. This truth of taking a leap of faith and the resultant fulfillment is beautifully articulated by John Neville Figgis, English historian, political philosopher, and Anglican priest and monk:

               “You can never win any kind of peace or self-possession unless you have risked all to get it. Ask yourself for one moment what have been your feelings on the eve of some act involving courage . . . have you not felt something like this? ‘I cannot do this. This is too much for me. I shall ruin myself if I take this risk. I cannot take the leap. It is impossible. All me will be gone if I do this, and I cling to myself.’ And then supposing the spirit has conquered and you have done this impossible thing, do not you find afterwards that you possess yourself in a sense that you never have before, that there is more of you? . . . You know you are something different from what you were before, and something more.”

I challenge you, in this new year, to prayerfully consider your leap of faith and let God weave the magic that he placed within you to fruition. Where does your deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?

Bridget Tytler

Faith, Hope, and Love

quotes by Vincent van Gogh - 1853 – 1890

“For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, “What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.” Yes, evil often seems to surpass good by far. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I still have hope.”

“I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things.”

What Would You Have Me Do Without?

It is customary, Lord
to give something up during the season of Lent.
What would you have me do without?
I who have so much.
Chocolate?
Wine?
Sweets?
Swearing?
The list is endless
and I could give up all those things
for the span of 40 days quite easily and almost painlessly.
In your 40 days, you emerged, stronger and more attuned
to all that had to be done,
despite a time constraint
that to our eyes would have seemed hopeless.
We too live in stressful times.
Demands are made of our time,
that leave so little for the important things of life.
We are easily distracted in the wilderness of our lives,
What would you have me do without?
I who have so much
Selfishness?
Conceit?
Envy?
Pride?
I know before I ask,
that the answer might be 'yes'
and the giving up
would be all too real, Lord.
It would be difficult,
painful,
sacrificial,
a real cross to carry for 40 days,
and more?

Forgive me, Father, when I get distracted from my task.
Forgive me those times when I try
to be all things to all men, and fail to be anything to anyone.

Betty Nelson

On Hope

This will be a lot more like a meditation if you go read Luke 10: 30-37 first. Otherwise, it’ll just seem like a brilliant bit of television writing from Aaron Sorkin, but you make your own choices.

Leo:  [after Josh finishes an intensive therapy session set up by Leo with a trauma therapist, Josh walks past Leo in a nearby hallway of the White House] How'd it go?

Josh: Did you wait around for me?

Leo:  How'd it go?

Josh:  He thinks I might have an eating disorder.

Leo:  Josh . . .

Josh:  And a fear of rectangles. That's not weird is it? [Pause]     I didn't cut my hand on a glass. I broke a window in my apartment.

Leo:  This guy's walking down the street when he falls into a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, “Hey can you help me?” The doctor writes a prescription and throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, “Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?” The priest writes down a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. The guy shouts up, “Hey Joe it's me — can you help me out?” and the friend jumps down in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you stupid — now we're both down here!?" The friend says, “Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.” [Pause]    As long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?

                                           West Wing, Season 2 Episode 10

_____________________________________

I know in this pandemic, togetherness and hope are fleeting, but let’s find ways to go and do likewise.

Elin Glenn

Kindness and Love

I will never forget an interview I heard on NPR with Rowan LeCompte who started designing stained glass windows for the Washington National Cathedral when he was just 16 years old. Scott Simon interviewed him April 11, 2009. Then at the age of 84, LeCompte was still working on windows for the Cathedral. Simon asked him, “Do you believe in God?” LeCompte replied, “I believe in kindness and love, and there are those who say that those are God. I don’t know but I respect and love kindness and love and I worship them. And if I am worshipping God, I am delighted.” 

Kindness and love — what I believe after the season of discernment and contemplation — are what are revealed with Easter. For God so loved the world. 

Susan McAlister

 

We Sing a Song for this New Day

 Oh Happy Day!

What a joyful experience, this first day of Spring.

A time of new birth, growth, and wonderment.

To be inspired by the sun and the Son and his Grace and his glory.

Sing a song for this new day.

Sing a song of praise and of thanksgiving!

Halleluiah! Halleluiah! 

We have been like the Israelites wandering…wondering…

Will this darkness end? Will we find our home?

Will we be safe? Will we be delivered?

God always answers us with “Yes, my beloved” though not always in words.

We sing a song for this new day.

We sing a song of praise and thanksgiving.

Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

David exclaims “Confitemini Domino”

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!

For “He is good and his mercy endures for ever”

And ever and ever and ever…

We sing a song for this new day.

We sing a song of praise and thanksgiving.

Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

Our Lord, our awesome God, leads us out of “darkness and deep gloom.”

We, who have cried out to our Lord in distress.

We, who have rebelled and “despised the counsel of the Most High.”

We are delivered from our darkness…our gloom. 

We sing a song for this new day.

We sing a song of praise and thanksgiving. 

Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

“Whoever is wise will ponder these things and consider well the mercies of the Lord.”

He is the most merciful God, Almighty! 

We are brought through the “stress of adversity and sorrow”

And are lifted from our misery by his Grace and his love.

We sing a song for this new day.

We sing a song of praise and thanksgiving.

 Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

Mallie Moss Steele - Inspired by Psalm 107

A Prayer to St. Joseph in the Time of the Pandemic

Saint Joseph, Hope of the Sick, pray for us! 
Faithful Joseph the carpenter,
who was raised up from the family of your servant David
to be the guardian of your incarnate Son
and husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
the Son of God placed his life in your hands. 
With the Virgin Mary, our Blessed Mother,
you cared for the Child Jesus,
who is the force of life in our world.
May your compassion embrace our fragility 
and bring us the comfort of the divine presence.

Loving Saint Joseph,

we join with you in prayer by crying out: 

Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God,

say a word for our healing!

Make us sensitive to the illnesses

of those closest to us.

Support us in our efforts

to care for our sick brothers and sisters. 

Hopeful Saint Joseph, 

Give us courage in facing life.

Help us to find meaning

in God’s great project for humanity

beyond the sickness and suffering that blind us. 

May the Love of God be with us,

because our best hope is in our faithful Lord.

We make this prayer

through the intercession of Saint Joseph

to Christ Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

A Special Prayer from the Abbey on the Isle of Iona

O Christ, you are within each of us.
It is not just the interior of these walls, 
it is our own inner being that you have renewed.

We are your temple, not made with hands,

We are your body.

If every wall should crumble, and every church decay,

Still, we are your habitation.

Nearer are you than breathing,

Closer than hands and feet, 

Ours are the eyes which you, in the mystery,

Look out with compassion on a broken world.

Yet, we bless you for this place,

For your directing of us, your redeeming of us,

your indwelling in our hearts.

And now, take us outside, O Christ,

Outside of holiness,

Out to where soldiers curse and nations clash,

out into the crossroads of life.

And by so doing, may this building continue to be justified.

And all this we ask for your love’s sake.

Amen

Martha Dameron

Variation on St. Patrick’s Breastplate

I arise today through a mighty strength, through the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness, 
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the majesty of God’s creation,

Through love for the heavens and for the earth, for the seas and for the rivers,

Through love for the sun and moon and for all the stars,

Through love for high mountains and low valleys and for all creatures.

I arise today through the power of Christ’s example,

Through the hope of seeing Christ in my neighbor,

Through the hope of living in Christ’s Kingdom in this life,

Through the hope of resurrection when I die.

Christ with me,   Christ before me,
Christ behind me,   Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,   Christ above me,
Christ on my right,   Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,   Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

In hope for wisdom,

In hope for truth,

In hope for intercession.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness 

of the Creator of creation.

Amen

Fergus Tuohy

Do Not Be Afraid

The Gospel:  John 6: 16-21 

It was a dark and stormy night on the Sea of Galilee, as the old Evangelist John remembered.  

He and his fellow fishermen — Simon, Andrew, and James — had been in the hillside crowd earlier that day on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, when their young rabbi and friend, Jesus, taught about a new way to live. His teachings had inspired five thousand hungry people to be generous and share their baskets of fish and bread. After the inspiring teachings and the miraculous meal, evening was approaching, and the crowd began to disperse. Jesus decided to stay with some of the folk and walk with them back to Capernaum. Meanwhile, John and his fellow fishermen got into their boat to row back to Capernaum, while fondly seeing Jesus watching them from the shore.

On the sea, darkness settled in and winds began to stir the waters. Old John recalls the anxiety of his friends as the storm worsened. They became terrified. With three or four miles to reach their destination, the four of them looked up and suddenly saw something startling: Jesus walking on the waters toward them. Then they became more anxious. Jesus came close to them and said calmly and compassionately, “I am.  Do not be afraid.” Immediately, they arrived safely at their destination.

 When Jesus proclaims “I am,” He asserts that He is One with The Divine Father (as Moses so long before had heard the “I am” declaration from Yahweh). Today, when our own fear, distress, and darkness may drive our lives, we can be calmed, comforted, and made faithful and steadfast, day by day, knowing His Presence in the very Heart of our Existence. “Do not be afraid.”  Likewise, the grand chorale hymn “Jesu, Meine Freude” comforts our hearts: “Hence all fear and sadness! for the Lord of gladness, Jesus, enters in. Those who love the Father, though the storms may gather, Still have Peace within; Yea what-e’er I here must bear, Thou art still my purest pleasure, Jesus, priceless Treasure.” (Hymnal 1982, 701).

John Stanley Rich

Faith Is Love

“The simple path:

Silence is prayer

Prayer is faith

Faith is love

Love is service

The fruit of service is peace.”

Mother Theresa

Angela Williamson

Alive Together with Christ

“But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”
Ephesians 2:4-5

This writing is inspired by Philip Shepherd’s Radical Wholeness, in which he talks about the contrasts of western culture and the culture of the Anlo-Ewe of Ghana.

In western cultures we feel ourselves contained within a personal boundary that keeps our life separate from that of the world. It’s so interesting to consider our view of self by comparing it to another culture, such as the Anlo-Ewe in West Africa.

When we consider ways to enhance our personal well-being, we would probably begin setting strategies to include dietary supplements, perhaps eating more organically, an exercise regimen with a focus on more quality sleep. These rituals are all good, and all do the right things for the body. Something like “improved maintenance of a machine,” this practice sees the body as an independent entity separate from the rest of the world.

For the Anlo-Ewe, well-being is something quite different. They experience self as porous rather than self-contained. Their belief reflects an understanding of being itself: not stable, highly changeable, always in transformation, and having a radical indeterminacy of self. In keeping with this world view, well-being is understood to be dependent upon interactions between the self and others; interactions that include the flow of energy, matter, and information. In the Anlo-Ewe culture well-being is ardently sustained by dynamic relationship.

I’ve been considering the idea of dynamic relationship since reading about it, and right now I think of it as love, as the source of our well-being, as the love of God which makes “us alive together with Christ.”

Roger Conville

God’s Pure Love

Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14
Psalm 51:15-20

After reading the lectionary for today, a theme made itself known. He who thinks himself whole is broken and he who acknowledges himself as broken can be made whole through Christ.

The only gifts on earth worthy to give God are pure Love and our Life, lived as the hands and feet of Christ. For those are the two most precious gifts that God gave us.

We are all God’s children. First, God created His Garden of Eden planet. Then, He created inhabitants to rejoice in His land, water, and sky. Last, God created stewards for His creation... humans. 

Who is a steward? He, who tenderly cares for and cultivates the life God infused into His creations’ cells and tissues, is living his true purpose as a steward. It is God’s spirit that courses through all of His creation, and I do mean ‘all.’ If you held a jar of God’s physical entity, wouldn’t you care for it the best possible way? Each living being on land, sky, and water is God’s entity. 

Humans, the last of God’s creation, are the only life forms that have lost their place in creation. We were expelled from the Garden of Eden, smote time and time again in the Old Testament, and cast out of God’s temple in the New Testament... all because we forgot our place. We did not obey and love as we love ourselves. That is our core brokenness. 

We either acknowledge it, repent, seek healing, make amends, then resume the purpose God gave us... or, we believe ourselves self-sufficient and remain broken. It’s our choice... the third precious gift God gave us. 

Amen.

Anne Mancer Westbrooke