Tag: Christianity

Wind Chimes: 14 Mar 2013


Francis: what is in a name?

Thomas Reese (a Jesuit priest and Vatican observer) begins his short article in the National Catholic Reporter this way, “In picking the name Francis, the new pope sent his first message to the world, but what is that message? Four possibilities come to mind, and perhaps they are all true.”

He then describes the possibilities:

  • First, St Francis of Assisi was known for his life of poverty.
  • Second, early in his career, St. Francis heard a message from God: “Rebuild my church.”
  • Third, Francis was also famous for his love of animals and nature.
  • Finally, Francis was known for his peaceful and positive attitude toward Islam.

He concludes, “Yes, there is a lot to learn from a name.”

You’ll want to read his fuller description of each of these possibilities: Francis: What is in a Name? in the National Catholic Reporter. You will have much to think about; I know I did.

DivLine360x12 Do the chimes sing of hope and possibility today? What do you hear? Please leave a comment.

Photo: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Wind Chimes: 12 Mar 2013


What do you hear in the chimes?As the conclave to elect a pope begins …

Today (3/12/13) 115 Roman Catholic Cardinals will share the Eucharist in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10am CET. At 3:45pm CET the cardinals will file into the Sistine Chapel; shortly after they are seated those who processed with them will then be ordered out and the cardinals will begin their work to elect the next pope. Around 7pm the results of the first (and only) ballot of this day will be made known to the public via the black or white smoke leaving the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.

This is an important election for all Christians, not just Roman Catholics. The man who becomes pope and leads the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide will influence, for better or worse, the work of all Christians. Please join me in praying for the cardinals as they work to elect a pope, and please pray for the man who is soon to be elected. May God be glorified in the work of electing and in the man who becomes pope; may the nurture and welfare of all God’s people and, indeed, all of God’s creation be a joyful ministry of the new pope.

To see a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel click here. This is where the cardinals will meet and pray and elect the next pope.

DivLine360x12 We know “the wind blows where it will” and the sound in the chimes defies prediction. How like the Spirit this is. What do you hear? Please leave a comment.

Wind Chimes: 11 Mar 2013

What do you hear in the chimes?A “Going-home” Prayer

Yesterday (3/10/13) was the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C). Jesus, that great storyteller, spoke through the centuries with his story of a man and his two sons. For many years it has been called the story of the Prodigal Son. Within my lifetime the story has also been called: The Story of the Prodigal Father, The Story of the Loving Father, The Story of the Lost Son, and more. In sum, it is an amazing story. See Luke 15:11-32

Some have said that the point of the story is, “You can go home again.” I believe this is at least one of the points contained in this very rich story. As you consider this ‘point’ I offer a prayer for your meditation as you and I journey “home” together.

Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening, into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity; in the habitations of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.

John Donne (1571 – 1631) in Pocket Prayers for Pilgrims

DivLine360x12 Come home. Come home. You are beloved, come home. A most welcome song in the chime today. What do you hear? Please leave a comment.

Wind Chimes: 4 Mar 2013

Then the Lord said,
“I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt;
I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.
Indeed, I know their sufferings, and
I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land
to a good and broad land,
a land flowing with milk and honey…

Exodus 3:7-8 NRSV

Soacer40x20Friendly and intimate sounds come from the chimes today. What do you hear?

A God who is friend

On Sunday (3/3/13) we heard a lesson from Exodus 3:1-15 and we discussed this further in the Sunday Morning Forum. Believing that the scriptures reveal all that we need to know “for salvation” we focused on the truth of the intimate involvement of God with a whole People and by extension with individuals like you and me. Oscar Romero understood this and opens it further:

This is the beauty of prayer and of Christian life: coming to understand that a God who converses with humans has created them and has lifted them up, with the capacity of saying “I” and “you.” What would we give to have such power as to create a friend to our taste and with a breath of our own life to make that friend able to understand us and be understood by us and converse intimately–to know our friend as truly another self? That is what God has done; human beings are God’s other self. He has lifted us up so that he can talk with us and share his joys, his generosity, his grandeur. He is the God who converses with us.

Source: The violence of love as quoted on inward/outward: a project of the church of the saviour

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The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem

The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem

A second book recommendation was passed along by Stan in our Sunday Morning Forum. The Last Week is authored by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Follow the link to the book on Amazon (available in both paperback and Kindle formats). “Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, Borg and Crossan present a day-by-day account of Jesus’s final week of life. They begin their story on Palm Sunday with two triumphal entries into Jerusalem.” (Publisher’s Book Description)

Wind Chimes: 2 Mar 2013

Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand
in all your works

I never tire of watching and sharing the work of Louie Schwartzberg.
Every time, with the following prayer in mind, it is new and wonderful.

A song of beauty today. What do you hear?

Open our eyes

O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Moving Art a website to delight you by Louie Schwartzberg

Wind Chimes: 1 Mar 2013

Listen. What do you hear?

Be thou my vision

A Friday treat. A different arrangement (different from our Hymnal #488) of one of my favorites, “Be thou my vision.”

The Spirit does amazing and wonderful things with talent, don’t you think?

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Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art
Be Thou my best Thought, in the day or by night,
Both waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art
Be Thou my best Thought, in the day or by night,
Both waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, be Thou my true Word;
Be Thou ever with me, and I with Thee, Lord;
Be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son;
Be Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou, and Thou only, the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure Thou art;
O Sovereign of heaven, be Thou my Vision;
Be Thou my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Choir: St Mary’s Cathedral Choir
Music: Bob Chilcott
Words: Irish (8thC) versified by Mary Elizabeth Byrne

Wind Chimes: 28 Feb 2013

Just then some Pharisees came up and said [to Jesus], “Run for your life! Herod’s on the hunt. He’s out to kill you!” Jesus said, “Tell that fox that I’ve no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I’m busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I’m wrapping things up.

Luke 13:31f in The Message

Sometimes the sound of the chimes is baffling. I wonder at both the beauty and the ‘terror’ of the sounds. How about you? What do you hear?

From the Gospel (Luke 13:31-35) of 2 Lent in Year C (RCL)

Warned, Jesus nonetheless continues on to Jerusalem, Herod, enemies, and death. And at the same time offers one of the most tender images of who he is and what he wants to do.:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings… Luke 13:34 NRSV

Once again, I quote Steve Garnaas-Holmes on Unfolding Light as he opens this vignette and invites us to enter more deeply into the life of Jesus:

Jesus, my man, my hope, my strength,
why did you have to go and say that?
[…]
Why don’t you be a lion,
roaring over her cubs,
why not a mother bear
nobody wants to mess with?
Why not be mighty? Why not last?
[…]
Why tell that fox, that fox,
his bullying eyes, his greedy teeth,
why tell that fox you want to be
a mother hen?

Please, read his entire meditation, You tell that fox, on Unfolding Light—I believe you will like the ending; I did.

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Image: L.Kenzel on Wikimedia Commons

Wind Chimes: 21 Feb 2013

As I listen to the chimes I hear a constantly changing melody. It is a delight and a wonder which leads to contemplation. And contemplation leads to remembering. What do you hear?

Do you believe this?

The original context of the question is a meeting between Jesus and Martha on a road near Bethany with both Jesus and Martha grieving the death of Lazarus. Jesus declares some pretty amazing things about who he is and what he has to offer and concludes by asking Martha, “Do you believe this?” (See John 11 especially verses 17-27)

His question is the one my heart hears over and over again, “Do you believe this?” On Sunday we heard these pieces of scripture:

When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; (Deuteronomy 26:6-8 NRSV)

[God says] Whenever you cry out to me, I’ll answer. I’ll be with you in troubling times. I’ll save you and glorify you. I’ll fill you full with old age. I’ll show you my salvation.” (Psalm 91:15-16 CEB)

And this puts me in mind of this confession of faith (which sets a pattern, don’t you think):

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…. (Exodus 3:7-8 NRSV)

And the question I heard Jesus ask on Sunday and the question I hear today is “Do you believe this?” Today I continue to work out my answer, how about you?

Wind Chimes: 19 Feb 2013

On Sunday (2/17/13) we heard about the Temptation of Jesus. Periodically that same tune plays through the chimes we hear. What does such a tune stir up in you?

Temptation. A reflection by Pastor Steve.

In our Sunday handout I included this meditation. For those of you not able to be around the table in real life (= irl), I share the beginning of Steve’s meditation here:

Dear Gentle God,

I am not tempted to turn flint into rye, to be able to fly—or even drift nicely—or to bow down to some guy in a red suit and a tail so the kingdoms of the world worship me. Jesus knew he couldn’t do magic, defy gravity or make people like him. But I do want to have power and to be in control of my life, to avoid suffering or struggle, and to manage what other people think of me. I am tempted to make of things something that they aren’t. I’m tempted to take the comfortable route. I’m tempted to expect that you should protect me from difficulty. And I really want to make people like me.

In this sere land of desire, God, rip these idols from my hands.

You’ll want to read the rest; you can find the complete meditation here: Temptation by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, February 15, 2013, on his blog, Unfolding Light.

Image: Leo za1 on Wikimedia Commons