Palm Sunday

Passion

Today is Passion Sunday and as we read the Passion Narrative during the service I saw in my mind the various places in Jerusalem. It was a combination of those places I visited in 1985 when I went to Israel on a spiritual pilgrimage and the Jerusalem of 2008 with walls and soldiers. The passionate struggle of both Palestinians and Jews to find a land and a home; a shared existence in a land we call "holy." I am listening once again to the book Exile by Richard North Patterson (published in 2007). I listened to the book several months before I went to Israel in November 2008 but I am finding it far more meaningful now. It is a very contemporary book about the Arab/Jew struggle. The experiences I had in Israel / Palestine - going through checkpoints, having guns pointed at me, and visiting many of the West Bank towns that Patterson writes about - makes the book far more plausible and real. It's worth reading.

In my very brief sermon today I suggested that each person find a "face" - a person - in the passion story to follow during Holy Week. There are so many "stories" that could be told about following Jesus through this week. How different the week must have been for each person who followed the drama of Jesus entering the city like a conquering hero. After seeing such an entrance I would want to meet this man and find out what he was about. Most of the time when I hear the Passion Narrative read I am overwhelmed with the emotions of the story, but this time I really tried to focus on individuals. I think I want to follow Jesus this week as a Jerusalem woman encountering Jesus for the first time as he enters the city on a donkey. I see her as someone who was pulled out of her shop by friends, "Come with us, something is happening! Someone is coming into the city from Bethany and people are saying that he is the Messiah!" If I heard those words today, I would want to go and see what was happening, even if I didn't believe my friends! Can you imagine getting to the spot where Jesus is passing by and seeing that he was riding on a donkey. Perhaps starting to turn away with laughter but then catching a look from his eyes and realizing that there was something there that held you. It would be hard not to spend the rest of the day trying to find out everything you could about this man. And so I believe the story of her "holy" week begins...

From the "holy" to the very, very ordinary things of life: I finished the rag rug I crocheted for my bathroom. It turned out pretty good and is nice and thick under my feet. This is a picture of the finished product:

Life Happening

Hand Felted Pin

I have been on a "creating jag" lately. This is a pin created out of wool roving. The felt background was made by layering roving onto a brush and felting it with a 5 needled tool. Then other colors of roving was needle felted onto the background and a french knot added and a couple of beads. I tried to texture the pin by adding felt into areas and it worked out pretty well but I think I need to add more felt to achieve a more visible texture. Now I'm working on a rug for my bathroom. I finally found some bright colors in a shower curtain (one that was affordable!) and I have enough rag strips of colors that match (somewhat) the curtain so that I can crochet a rug. I just wanted to brighten the bathroom up for summer. Some of the most beautiful shower curtains I have seen were in The Pottery Barn catalog - bright reds, oranges and yellows. They were quite pricey however and after looking around I found a bright blue, yellow and green curtain at Target. I'm using a bright piece of cotton fabric that I brought home from South Africa in 1998 for the center. It's a wonderful way to remember that magnificent country. I will "picture it" when it's done.

Julia Betz deciding which necklace to wear!

Michael Betz loving Katie!

Saturday morning I cleaned out some drawers - my continuing search for a simple life - and I found a bag of Mardi Gras beads. I put them by the door to take with me on Sunday for Michael and Julia Betz - our organist, Cynthia Betz's 3 year old twins. After coming in from working in the yard I found a message on my answering machine from Jerry Betz, Cynthia's husband inviting me to come and play at the playground with them. So I took Katie and the beads and we spent some time playing. New Harmony is blessed with a wonderful Playtopia playground - a wonderland of things to do for kids. My little friends, Julia and Michael, talk their parents into driving over from Fairfield, Illinois to play! It was such a beautiful day and fun to see them having fun. So, I wonder when was the last time you sat with your legs like Julia's....?

New Life

Trying Hard!

It is that time of year when it feels like we are standing on the train platform waiting for the right train to arrive. The cold weather comes in waves now interspersed by periods of warmer breezes and sunshine. And all of creation is poised ready for spring. The daffodils are through the ground but still encased in their coats waiting for a sunny day to unveil their beauty.

Today is the 4th Sunday of Lent and the lessons were all about new life. The Revised Common Lectionary includes all of Jesus' parables about "lost things" - the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son. As I read the rather long gospel I was amazed at the powerful reminder they are of God's unconditional love. I think there is something quite disturbing about the way God offers love and acceptance to us. It is comforting for sure but the fact that God accepts us as we are can be unsettling. I told the story of Chuck Colson's conversion this morning. He was a criminal about to be sentenced to prison when he turned to God. The media had a field day with his conversion. One reporter simply said it was all a "huge joke." Others thought it was ploy on Colson's part to get a reduced sentence. There's something in us that want to believe that a person needs to show up at God's door with a few "good works" in hand, and perhaps they even need to crawl up to the door showing their repentance. But God takes us where we are. And God takes us back over and over through the years as we too "wander into distant lands of self dependence.

We sang wonderful songs this morning for the lessons: "The King of love my shepherd is"; "Just as I am" and There's a wideness in God's mercy." The last verse of "There's a wideness in God's mercy" says it all:

For the love of God is broader

than the measure of man's mind;

and the heart of the Eternal

is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more faithful,

we should take him at his word;

and our life would be thanksgiving

for the goodness of the Lord.

Frederick William Faber - 1862

Lent is flying by!

Swan Family

Near our house in New Harmony is a pond that "houses" a family of swans. The baby was born last summer and has really grown over the winter. This was taken on one of the two consecutive days of sunshine we had last week - those 2 days were life giving! Katie and I walk down to this pond most every day and the swans used to swim away quickly but they have now realized that Kate is on a leash and not a threat to them. If I took Katie off the leash she would be in the water in a heartbeat. She has always loved to swim, even when the water is cold.

The gospel lesson for yesterday was so provocative (Luke 13:1-9). It is a lesson that easily fits into our contemporary situation. Jesus is teaching and someone brings up a disaster that happened in Jerusalem. Some folks from Galilee have gone into the temple to make a sacrifice and Pilate takes soldiers into the temple and slaughters them. It was of course illegal for anyone but the priests of the temple to make sacrifices, but Pilate's action is really an over reaction - this brutal slaughter was unnecessary. The people in the crown want to know why these people had to suffer in this way. Isn't that our question when we read about the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and so many other violent situations in the news? Jesus is quick to point out that these Galileans were NOT being punished by God for their sin. They were no more guilty of sin than we are. Jesus uses another contemporary picture - a tower in Siloam falls on 18 people and kills them. They were not being punished for sin...it was an accident which resulted in tragic deaths. There is a quote from Frederick Buechner that I love: "God does not reveal his grand design to us. God reveals himself." Suffering happens and it comes into our lives in so many ways. Blaming our suffering or someone else's suffering on God as punishment for our sin is not helpful, nor is it a part of Jesus' teaching. Of course suffering can be a result of sinful actions, but it is our actions and not God's desire to punish.

The parable Jesus tells at the end of this lesson is one of grace. The owner of the fig orchard inspects his trees and finds one that is barren - it does not bear fruit. This owner instructs the gardener to cut the tree down - it is taking up good ground and doing nothing. The gardener asks the owner to give him one more year with the tree - he will feed it and fertilize it and perhaps next year it will bear fruit. I can hear Jesus' voice whispering into God's ear: I know the struggles of living in the world Father, give me time with your people. I will feed them and care for them and they will bear fruit. It is a picture of Jesus' participation in our suffering. There is no suffering Jesus has not experienced and he knows our hurt so well. This is comfort in the midst of so much misery in the world.

This "chain scarf" with the felted flower is part of what I have been up to lately. A friend from Fayetteville, NC came up to Sparta and together we went to our very favorite yarn store in Elkin, NC. Ruth Hutton is the owner of Circle of Friends Yarn Shop and Fiber Arts Store. She is an incredibly gifted woman and a great teacher. She did a felting class for us and we had so much fun. I found this scarf pattern at her store. It looks difficult but is really not that hard and so fun that it is addicting! I added the flower to soften the look of the chain. I learned to make felt from wool roving and then cut the flowers out. Ruth's store can be found at http://www.circleoffriendsnc.com/ and if you ever get to Elkin, NC go and visit her on Main Street. It is awesomely inspiring!

Yummy Colors in Ruth's Store!

The beginnings of a "Felted Easter Egg"

Contemplative Prayer...again!

Stop the Snow Machine!

It is a beautiful morning here in the Smokey Mountains! The sun is shining and the sky is blue. The online weather says it is snowing in Sparta, NC and I will check that out later when I drive down into town to errands. It's seven miles into Sparta but all downhill and not unusual to find the weather different at the bottom of the hill!

I was so fidgety this morning when I sat down to pray. My mind was jumping all over the place and I could not be still. I wondered if it was alright to scratch my eye or change my position; and then, of course, I got carried away with these thoughts. I realized that I was observing myself praying and got distracted by that. I found it helpful to remember some words from Into the Silence by Martin Laird:

"We cannot reduce prayer to a technique... Contemplative prayer is a skill, a discipline that facilitates a process that is out of one's direct control, but it does not have the capacity to determine an outcome...Contemplation is a sheer gift. There is nothing we can do to bring forth its flowering, but there are important skills, without which it will be unlikely to flower."

I have not idea how long it took me to settle into a rhythm of silence because the gift of being away for rest means that I don't have to watch the clock or set a timer...I can just be in the silence. And so it was a "sheer gift" to be able to become still finally and let myself be a part of the stream of God's love. That's what it felt like for me on this cold, windy morning. I was somehow one with a river of Love that eventually wound through the cares and concerns of our lives. In Laird's book he quotes Teresa of Avila, "Beloved, there is much we can do to open ourselves to receiving his favors." God is always Self-giving; it is a question of removing the obstacles that make it difficult to receive this Self-gift. This receptivity is what contemplative practice cultivates."

I am grateful for this time of cultivation in the silence of my friends, these mountains. When I was a child living among these oldest of mountains, I called them my "purple hooded priests." That's how they looked to my 11 year old imagination in the evening light. I doubt I fully understood the concept of priest then, except I knew from somewhere that priests listened to confessions and I wanted that "listening presence." And I had it in the gift of these graceful peaks.

Lingering Winter

Icicle Outside Church Office

I love the icicle pictured above - it looks like a bird in flight. Yesterday I drove to Sparta, NC for a week of rest and quiet. Katie (my intrepid golden retriever) and I got to the house around 5:30pm after 10 hours on the road. It's not a difficult trip but long. When we got into Virginia from Tennessee it became a snowy landscape. By the time we got to Galax, VA it was obvious they had been hit by the same storm that covered the east coast. I think their snow began in December and they haven't seen the ground since!

I took the Blue Ridge Parkway from Galax to Glade Valley where the house is. There was still a good bit of ice and snow on the road and evidence of lots of fallen trees which someone had cleared. That part of the Parkway is used quite a bit for local traffic. There were deer everywhere! I was so grateful it was still daylight so I could see them. The deer here are gray colored instead of the brown beauties in Indiana. We got into the house to find a foot of snow still remaining on the ground. Katie and I spent the night without heat due to a furnace problem. Wonderful folks from the company I use came out to help and make the diagnosis. We were fine - Katie generates enough heat for a small country! And today everything is fixed and the driveway cleared. I did see a fun sign on a church in Galax - "GOD LOVES YOU SNOW MUCH!" Clever. I drove down to Elkin, NC today for a few things. It's 23 miles and when I started back it was 56 degrees in Elkin and 41 degrees at the house. Amazing what a couple of thousand feet in elevation can do!

The silence here is so wonderful. It is a wonderful place for prayer. I am amazed still at how time seems to stand still in the silence of meditation. I have been working my way towards 30 minutes of meditation each day. Twenty minutes is the most I have been able to do so far. I don't really think about the time but try to let myself end where it feels comfortable - sometimes that is 10 minutes, sometimes more or less. I keep reminding myself that this is not a contest, not a race, it is about being with God, being silent and listening. I do know that when I end my time I feel like the world is bathed in quiet. I want to whisper so as not to disturb. Wonderful!

Two Books for Lent

Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God: The Practice of Centering Prayer

by J. David Muyskens

Into a Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation

by Martin Laird

The book by Laird pictured above was sent to me recently by a friend. Many books on contemplative prayer are difficult to read and hard to follow. This book, which I am halfway through, makes contemplative prayer accessible. It is an encouraging book which gives clear direction to those of us who want to find that place of silence where we know God's presence. Martin Laird, who is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, talks about God being our "homeland" (from St. Augustine's The City of God: "We must fly to our beloved homeland"). That is just one of the evocative images that Laird uses in describing the practice of contemplative prayer. In the opening chapter, Laird talks about our desire to see the mountaintop experiences with God. Discovering God in the silence of contemplative prayer is more about becoming part of the mountain. Finding stillness is about allowing the patterns of life's weather swirl around us. We are part of that which cannot be moved. Laird points to Psalm 123:7 "Whoever trusts in the Lord is like Mount Zion: Unshakable it stands forever."

Over the past couple of weeks I have been setting aside time each day to practice this contemplation. I am still in a very beginning place with contemplation, but the encouragement and help I am receiving from this book is wonderful. A couple of times (okay, more than a couple!) I have gone to sleep after about 10 minutes of prayer. I tried to avoid feeling guilty about this and realized that the profound relaxation of this kind of prayer is something I am not used to. So, gradually I am getting more aware of that place of relaxation and how I can enjoy its comfort without falling asleep.

The other book I am going to use is the one at the top of the page which has 40 small chapters (1 to 2 pages) - one for each of the weekdays in Lent. I am longing to let this Lent be a time of finding God in stillness and quiet. I am sure in my heart and mind there are other motives for this discipline - like, it will make me a better priest, or it will somehow make me more quiet of heart and mind - but my conscious desire is to draw close to God and find a place where I can find shelter from the weather of life. I hope to write more over the days of Lent about what I am learning about contemplative prayer in my life.

On a more mundane (should I say, earthly?) plane, we had about 6 inches of snow last night. The wind was quite high with it and so I now have some places in my backyard (on the north side of the house) where snow is a good 18 inches high. I have shoveled out a path down to the lower part of the yard this afternoon. Katie was with me and at one point I looked around and she was just lying in the snow watching me. She has always loved to be "cool." I have a picture of her lying on a mound of ice where someone emptied a cooler when we lived in Fayetteville, NC...but that was in July! Anyway we got the job done and fed the birds while we were out. A good snow day here in Indiana!