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Wind Chimes: 14 Feb 2013

Listen. … What do you hear?

Listening to the creativity and spirituality of others and …?

One of my favorite blogs simply bears the title of its author: Rachel Held Evans. You can learn more about Rachel here. Have you ever tried

  • making a Thorn Wreath, a Way of Light Wreath, or an Easter Tree?
  • giving up all drinks except water and donating the money saved to an organization providing clean and accessible water in a place far from your home?
  • spending 10-20 every day OUTSIDE in prayer and meditation?
  • walking barefoot (as much as possible) for the 40 days of Lent?

You’ll find elaborations on all of these ideas, book recommendations, and prayers in Rachel’s 2013 version of 40 Ideas for Lent. Here is her introduction to the Ideas:

As has become a tradition here on the blog, I’ve compiled a list of 40 ideas that I hope will help you make the most of this season of reflection, penitence, and preparation. […] Thank you so much for your input and ideas! They made this year’s list one of the best. 

Rachel held evans

Go to: 40 Ideas for Lent (2013) by Rachel Held Evans (and friends).

Perhaps you will better hear the Holy One as you explore one (or more)
of these ideas.

Image: Man-ucommons on WikimediaCommons

Ash Wednesday and Lent 2013

Here’s a quick summary of Ash Wednesday and Lent. Produced by bustedhalo video ministries the perspective is Roman Catholic but the teaching is, well, catholic (as in universal) in its scope.

Wind Chimes: 12 Feb 2013

Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

Luke 9:35 NRSV

“Listen, listen, listen,” it is the music of the chimes this week. What do you hear?

What we most need to hear

Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, “Prove that you are a good person.” Another voice says, “You’d better be ashamed of yourself.” There also is a voice that says, “Nobody really cares about you,” and one that says, “Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.” But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, “You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.” That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen. That’s what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us “my Beloved.”

Nouwen, Henri J. M. (2009-03-17). Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (p. 14). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Let us practice listening to the Chosen One this week.

keep-learning

You may want to read Beloved! Can you believe it? a previous post (with additional links) exploring both Scripture and what Henri Nouwen learned while listening for the still small voice.

Wind Chimes: 11 Feb 2013

Cloud_touching_the_tip_of_the_mountainx640

How often the chimes sing out, “Listen, listen, listen.” What do you hear?

Listen: a theme of the week

Last week I shared the opening words of The Rule of St Benedict, “Listen carefully, …” Through his words and the example of Anne Hutchinson we were invited to listen. This Sunday (2/10/2013) we heard the account of the Transfiguration as shared by Luke. The voice from the cloud picked up the theme of the previous week and sets on a course for this week:

Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

Luke 9:35 NRSV

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Let us practice listening to the Chosen One this week.

Image: Veera.sj on WikimediaCommons

Wind Chimes: 9 Feb 2013

Jimmy Carter at Mercer University, November 2012

Grace is freely given. Grace sings of expansive love. Grace sings of inclusive love. The chimes are singing of Grace today. What do you hear?

Anne Hutchinson would have liked Jimmy Carter

We’ll walk one more day with Anne Hutchinson. See the Wind Chimes for February 7 and February 8, 2013. Anne was at odds with the male leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  She courageously was true to her heart. Though she spoke well and presented a well-reasoned description of what she believed, in 1638 Anne Hutchinson was both excommunicated and banished from the Colony. Nearly 400 years later, in 2000, Jimmy Carter parted ways with the Southern Baptist Convention. I believe Anne would have liked Jimmy Carter.

As the US Congress once again decides whether (and how) to renew the Violence Against Women Act Anne’s witness and Jimmy Carter’s words and witness are reminders of a foundational Christian belief (shared by other world religions as well): “God saw that [all of creation and every part of creation and all that was and would be created by God] was very good.”

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views. —Jimmy Carter

Source: Losing my religion for equality, The Age, July 15, 2009.

Image: Woody Marshall for The Telegraph, November 2012

Wind Chimes: 8 Feb 2013

“Listen carefully to my instructions …
With the good gifts which are in us,
we must obey God.”

From the Prologue in the Rule of St. Benedict and quoted in The Monastery of the Heart:
An Invitation to a Meaningful Life (p. 3) by Joan Chittister

The chimes invite us to listen today. Pause and listen. What do you hear?

Walking another day with Anne Hutchinson

As I do understand it, laws, commands, rules and edicts are for those who have not the light which makes plain the pathway. He who has God’s grace in his heart cannot go astray.

Anne Hutchinson as quoted in Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers (1907) by Elbert Hubbard (“Anne Hutchinson” on Wikiquote)

Anne Hutchinson on TrialAs shared yesterday: on February 6, 2013, in the “Spiritual Day Hike” (which wanders far and wide in the world without actually leaving St. Margaret’s in Palm Desert, CA) we walked with Anne Hutchinson for a time. Anne is now remembered by The Episcopal Church annually on February 5th.

Born and raised in the faith of the Church of England Anne accepted the teachings of the Puritans and added her own touch.

As you read the excerpt from the Prologue in the Rule of St. Benedict you can easily understand that Anne would have been right at home in the Rule of St. Benedict. Her ‘touch’ added to her Puritan faith was to listen with the “ear of her heart” for the voice and the wisdom of God.

Confident that God was constantly in dialogue with her, confident that she could hear and understand God within her own heart, Anne chose to follow the One who called to her, spoke to her, and led her in Love. She continues to offer her witness to us—listen, listen carefully, trust what you hear in your heart: “You are my beloved child. Always. Everywhere. In every circumstance. Beloved.”

Anne has left quite a legacy. Allow yourself to be amazed by her courage and her confidence in God as you read her story:

Image: Wikimedia Commons and JSS Gallery

Wind Chimes: 7 Feb 2013

You must be holy in every aspect of your lives,
just as the one who called you is holy.
It is written, “You will be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16 which quotes Leviticus 19:2 CEB

The chimes seem to be sounding a song of joy and freedom. What do you hear?

The grace of God

As I do understand it, laws, commands, rules and edicts are for those who have not the light which makes plain the pathway. He who has God’s grace in his heart cannot go astray.

Anne Hutchinson as quoted in Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers (1907) by Elbert Hubbard (“Anne Hutchinson” on Wikiquote)

Anne Hutchinson on TrialIn the “Spiritual Day Hike” (which wanders far and wide in the world without actually leaving St. Margaret’s in Palm Desert, CA) on February 6, 2013 we walked with Anne Hutchinson for a time. Anne is now remembered by The Episcopal Church annually on February 5th.

Some 450 years after her death she continues to have a profound impact on us as we listen for the Spirit within our hearts. Our group, as we walked with Anne, was affirmed in actively forming and following a conscience illumined by the light of Christ and emboldened by the Holy Spirit. Anne has left quite a legacy. Allow yourself to be amazed by her courage and her confidence in God as you read her story:

Image: Wikimedia Commons and JSS Gallery

Wind Chimes: 2 Feb 2013

Justin Welby in Prayer
Bishop Welby is joined by his wife, Caroline, as members of the Vineyard movement ‘lay hands’ on them as they prepare to move to Lambeth Palace. Photo: Trent Vineyard

The wind picks up. There is change in the air. What do you hear?

The (almost) new Archbishop of Canterbury

This Monday, February 4, 2013, Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, will become the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. In January, speaking to an audience at Trent Vineyard near Nottingham, Bishop Welby said,

Quote . . .I think we are in the greatest moment of opportunity for the Church since the Second World War, … In 2008 we had the most significant financial collapse in this country, in terms of the banking system, since the mid-19th century. One of the reasons the recession has been so deep and may be going into a triple dip is because there has been such a loss of confidence. … But the side effect of that has been that the state has run out of the capacity to do the things it had taken over since 1945. All the idols on which our society was based have fallen, they have been toppled. They have been toppled by the financial crisis, by scandal. Trust has broken down.

As reported in The Telegraph, 1 Jan 2013: The Church must fill void left by failing state, says new archbishop Justin Welby

Please keep Justin Welby and the entire Anglican Communion in your prayers.

More information about the (almost) new Archbishop of Canterbury

Image: The Telegraph

Wind Chimes: 1 Feb 2013

The chimes were down for a time, for rest and repair. With the wind blowing and the chimes up again, what do you hear?

Missional

The Acts of the Apostles was the subject matter for a recent teaching series presented by Brian D. McLaren.

Quote . . .I was at Claremont Seminary last week with a vigorous and energetic group of Methodist leaders (along with a standing-room-only public panel with my friends Philip Clayton, Diana Butler Bass, and Mark Whitlock). I concluded my time at Claremont leading a study from the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. From childhood, I was taught to read Acts as a manual for ecclesiology … to prove that our denomination was the only true and biblical one, of course (a common theme in Protestant Bible reading). But now I read Acts as a missional account of how Jesus continued his work – his Spirit alive in the bodies of growing numbers of his followers who constitute – quite literally – his body on earth.

And the message is the same – the message of the kingdom (or reign, or commonwealth, or sacred ecosystem, or new love economy, or regeneration network, or creative community, or …) of God. You could think of it like this …

Acts 1: The risen Christ teaches the apostles, as he always has, about the kingdom of God. The apostles learn to stop waiting for the kingdom to appear in the future, and instead, wait for the Spirit who will empower them to live in the kingdom here and now.

Acts 2: The Spirit comes – and demonstrates that God is not monocultural and monolingual, but that God speaks all languages, and God is concerned with the poor and rich alike, everywhere … a profound, revolutionary discovery!

Acts 3: Peter demonstrates how the Kingdom begins with those who have been marginalized and excluded (kept outside the gate) by conventional religion – starting with the physically handicapped.

Read the rest of his post here: I love the Bible

In our Prayers of the People, Form III we petition God:

“Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake; [so] that our works may find favor in your sight.” BCP, p. 387. May it be so, even as it was for the Apostles and the early Church.

Read more about the Book of Acts:

Books by Brian D. McLaren

Image: Amazon.com Book Cover for Dust off their feet

Wind Chimes: 25 Jan 2013 — Day 8

A Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Readings for Day Eight — Walking in celebration

Habakkuk 3:17-19 | Celebrating in a time of hardship
Psalm 100 | The worship of God through all the earth
Philippians 4:4-9 | Rejoice in the Lord always
Luke 1:46-55 | The Song of Mary

Quote . . .To walk humbly with God means to walk in celebration. The visitor to India is struck by the hardships and struggles endured by Dalits, but at the same time by their sense of hope and celebration. 2013-WPCU-Readings-and-Prayers

Prayer on Day Eight

2013 Week of Prayer (Cover)Gracious God, may your Holy Spirit fill our communities with joy and celebration, so that we can cherish the unity we already share, and zealously continue in the search for visible unity. We rejoice in the faith and hope of peoples who refuse to allow their dignity to be diminished, seeing in them your wonderful grace and your promise of freedom. Teach us to share in their joy and learn from their faithful endurance. Rekindle our hope and sustain our resolve, that in Christ‘s name we may walk together in love, raising a united voice of praise, and singing together one prayer of adoration. God of life, lead us to justice and peace. Amen.

divider lineImage: School of Theology & Ministry, Seattle University