Tag: daniel rondeau

7/25/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

charity: water

In Advent 2011, with input from Forum members, our (online) Advent Calendar (and 12 Days of Christmas Calendar) featured different individuals and organizations dedicated to serving others (and in serving also helping others). One of the goals of the Sunday Morning Forum (online and in real time) is for us to grow/mature in faith through the actions we take. We want to allow our faith to inform our actions and have our actions inspire a deeper faith in a ever expanding way.

One of the featured organizations in Advent was charity: water. Here is my introduction to their important work:

If you have ever hiked or camped in the wilderness you KNOW how precious water is to your survival. Drink contaminated water and you become sick. Go without water, become dehydrated, and you are in peril within 48 hours. A person can survive without food for days or weeks, a person deprived of water will likely be dead within days, not lasting even a week. ~dan rondeau

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. (from the Mission Statement of charity: water)

Here is a video sample of the work being done by charity: water. The video tells Rachel’s story (have your kleenex ready), but I also encourage you to read the blog post.

Rachel Beckwith’s Mom Visits Ethiopia. from charity: water on Vimeo.

Finally, I encourage you to make a donation to Rachel’s Birthday Wish for Sienna or donate directly to charity: water and, please, leave a comment here or on their blog.

7/24/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

Thomas à Kempis

My “go-to” book on discernment is Hearing with the heart: A gentle guide to discerning God’s will for your life (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2003) by Debra K. Farrington. She begins Chapter 1 with this prayer by Thomas à Kempis whom the Episcopal Church commemorates today (July 24):

Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know, to love what I ought to love, to praise what delights you most, to value what is precious in your sight, to hate what is offensive to you. Do not allow me to judge according to the sight of my eyes, nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of my ears; but to discern with a true judgment between things visible and spiritual, and above all things, always to inquire what is the good pleasure of your will.

The wisdom of Thomas has helped and continues to help shape my spirituality. My prayer is frequently not as eloquent as this prayer, but it is nonetheless fervent in seeking to know and do God’s will.

What do you think—is his prayer something you have prayed? Something you would like to pray? Something that a Christ-follower might actually achieve (knowing and doing God’s will)? Let us know.

7/22/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people. Luke 2:52 CEB

Mary Magdalene: Apostle to the Apostles

Jesus and Mary Magdalene by Bruce Wolfe in the Mission Santa Barbara
Jesus with Mary Magdalene by Bruce Wolfe in the Mission Santa Barbara

Every July 22nd the Episcopal Church commemorates Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles. This year her commemoration is moved to Monday, July 23rd.

Misidentification of Mary as reformed public sinner achieved official standing with a powerful homily by Pope Gregory the Great (540-604).
Henceforth, Mary of Magdala became known in the west, not as the strong woman leader who accompanied Jesus through a tortuous death, first witnessed his Resurrection, and proclaimed the Risen Savior to the early church, but as a wanton woman in need of repentance and a life of hidden (and hopefully silent) penitence. Interestingly, the eastern church never identified her as a prostitute, but honored her throughout history as “the Apostle to the Apostles”. Read more at Mary of Magdala– Apostle to the Apostles
Mary Magdalene looking to the Risen Christ
The Gospel narratives give a prominence to women in the Jesus movement unusual in ancient society; this culminates in the extraordinary part which they play in Matthew’s, Mark’s and John’s accounts of the human discovery of the Resurrection. All three evangelists make women the first witnesses to the empty tomb and resurrection of Jesus; this is despite the fact that in Jewish Law women could not be considered as valid witnesses. The most prominent named woman, first in all three accounts, is Mary Magdalene (‘from Magdala’ in Galilee). She was a close associate of Jesus in his public ministry and has continued to arouse a set of variously motivated fascinations among Christians throughout the ages. Some overexcited modern commentators and mediocre novelists have even elevated her (on no good ancient evidence) to the status of Jesus’s wife.
(MacCulloch, Diarmaid (2010-02-25). Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Kindle Edition. Search word: Magdalene

7/20/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people. Luke 2:52 CEB

The wisdom of a Lutheran Pastor …

Note: The House for All Sinners and Saints is in Denver, CO.

As far as we know, all the House for all Sinners and Saints folks are safe, but many of us had friends and loved ones who were at that theater last night who are quite shaken. Kyrie. Let us pray for all those involved including the shooter. It’s one of the less pleasant elements of the Christian faith, but loving the enemy was not a suggestion.
–(The Rev.) Nadia Bolz-Weber (on Facebook)

After the killing in Aurora, CO our bishop wrote …

The horrific tragedy in Aurora, Colorado rightly brings us to our knees in prayer. Our emotions are myriad: shock, sorrow, anger, and disbelief. While we pray for those who have died, their families, and indeed the perpetrator and his family, we should pause to question the culture of violence that is pervasive in our country.

Guns, violent films and video games did not commit murder yesterday night; a very disturbed individual did. However, it is not a remarkable supposition to think that a contributing factor to this senseless massacre is the lethal combination of available guns and the relentless presentation of violent acts. The latter makes violence seem incidental and inconsequential.

As followers of the prince of peace, we must redouble our efforts to stop senseless violence before it happens. We can go a long way as a society by having sensible gun control and by saying no to entertainment through violence. This will not bring back the victims of this dark moment, but perhaps it will prevent others.
—The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes Bishop

7/18/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people. Luke 2:52 CEB

World Water Day video from charity: water

World Water Day is observed on March 22nd every year. However, the need for clean water is constant. This short video was prepared by charity: water. The video speaks volumes. The need is great. I want to be part of the solution; I hope you do, too.

7/17/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people. Luke 2:52 CEB

The Lord’s Prayer as you’ve (probably) never heard it before

The Lord’s Prayer in Lakota.

Some of you were as privileged as me to receive the wisdom, experience, and ministry of The Rev. Margaret Watson at St. Margaret’s in Palm Desert, CA. Currently Margaret is serving Episcopal churches from Eagle Butte, SD on the Cheyenne River Reservation. She has a daily blog post—leave it lay where Jesus flang it—written as part of her morning prayer time. I encourage you to check out my “Garden & Compost” note of 7/13/2012. As we listen for the whispers of the Spirit we may hear the voices of our brothers and sisters in Christ from as far away as South Dakota and as near as the Reservations in our own Coachella Valley.

7/13/12—Maturing in wisdom and age

Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people. Luke 2:52 CEB

Introducing 2 new items for our blog

Luke tells us that when his frantic parents found Jesus (who had been lost to them several days) in the Temple they reprimanded him, brought him home, that, in her heart, Mary treasured all she had witnessed, and finally that “Jesus matured in wisdom and years…” (Luke 2:52)

  1. From time to time those of us who post here will offer an “Aside, Link, Quote, Status update, or other short note” as part of OUR “maturing in wisdom and age.” These will be shorter than a full post. They will be a “quick read.”
  2. As you may remember we make our posts within a particular “category.” In the right hand column you will now find a convenient drop down list titled “Go to this category.” Use it to take you to those posts (and quick notes) in a specific category (like Art & Music).

Let us know what you think about these additions. Thanks for being part of the Sunday Morning Forum at St. Margaret’s in Palm Desert, CA.

Texts of terror

Sacred Scripture, Violent Verses: How Should We Read the Bible’s Texts of Terror?

The sacred scriptures we use contain lots of violence (just recently our Sunday lectionary texts have featured a number of beheadings and this Sunday 7/15 we hear Mark’s account of the death (by beheading) of John the Baptist).

Daniel Clendenin explores our sometimes uneasy relationship with scripture, especially these “texts of terror” a term first used by Phyllis Tickle to describe them. Go to Sacred Scripture, Violent Verses: How Should We Read the Bible’s Texts of Terror? This is the essay for the week on Journey with Jesus (a weekly E-zine I frequently visit; the archived material is wonderful, too). ~dan

“Lead us not into temptation….” Wait. What?

One of my favorite teachers, Richard Rohr, has a weekly blog Unpacking Paradoxes. On June 17th he unpacked the phrase, “lead us not into temptation,” from the “Our Father.”

This line (In Matthew’s version of the Our Father) has never made sense to me, although I continue to say it since this is the way it is usually translated; but I cannot really appeciate it as is. Sometimes, it is translated “do not put us to the test” (In Luke’s version), which still seems strange and problematic. Why would God “lead” us into temptation or “put us to the test” to begin with? Is human life an obstacle course, a testing ground? Are we all on trial? I thought God’s usual job was to lead us away from temptation! Why would we need to ask God to NOT lead us INTO temptation? Does he?

Please read the rest of his post as he answers these questions. It is a different answer than you might expect. It is humbling and it makes a lot of sense to me.

When Goliath looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy

And it’s no wonder he sneered. Goliath stood almost 10 feet tall and had been a warrior a long time. Of course this just sets the stage for God’s actions (then and now).

This Sunday (6/24/12) one of the appointed readings is the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Our Forum member, Wendy, in an informative post titled: Child Capacity: Human and Divine, leads us to these questions:

These biblical passages speak to a “both/and” view of child capacity. Children BOTH have far more capacity than modern theories have led us to perceive AND they have limitless power when they are acting in the Spirit of God. How does this understanding speak to us as children’s teachers and pastors? How does this understanding speak to us as adults learning to walk with God?

I encourage you to read the entire post. You will find (in good Episcopal fashion) a lot of questions inviting you (and me) to a deeper understanding of God and children and faith.

Come back and share what you think, your own questions, observations you’ve made over the years, anything at all to keep the conversation going.