Tag: hope

Wind Chimes: 18 Mar 2013

Free will and predestination

The debate about free will and predestination is sometimes our discussion in the Sunday Morning Forum. Episcopalians tend to come into the church from a variety of Christian traditions which often provides lively discussion. The faith formation of our childhood and teen years really is “bone deep.” As adults we revisit and even question what we learned as children. Privileged to share in a group that cares, the questions and conversations invite all to keep learning.

This short essay in Religion News Service expresses the question in its basic form and the answer most of us are living with as Episcopalians: Father knows best: How do free will and predestination coincide? by Martin Elfert. Martin begins his essay with this question, “How do free will and predestination coexist?” posed by Free—or not so much (FONSM).

I encourage you to read the essay.

DivLine360x12 The sounds from the chimes seem to be asking a question today.
What do you hear? Please leave a comment.

Wind Chimes: 16 Mar 2013

Cardinal Bergoglio (now Pope Francis I) washing the feet of a woman in Buenos Aires.

“How I would like a church that is poor, and for the poor.”

In my lifetime this has been the official position of the Roman Catholic Church. What is new  is that these are the unscripted words of a pope who has cooked his own meals, rode the bus to work, and walked in the slums of Buenos Aires. Perhaps the way the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is daily lived by its pope is about to change.

Read how Pope Francis came to choose his name, and what others things he shared with journalists today (3/16/13) in Rome: How I would like a church that is poor, and for the poor by John Thavis on his blog.

DivLine360x12 Simple sounds, gentle sounds are coming from the chimes today.
What do you hear? Please leave a comment.

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: 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: 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

Wind Chimes: 15 Jan 2013

A young Golden Eagle in flight

As the chimes move in accord with the wind and make their sounds, I hear both trust and playfulness. Let the sounds create an image of an eagle soaring; imagine that eagle is you and the wind supporting you is the Spirit. What do you hear?

Trust the wind (Spirit) and soar

In our Daily Office, (Morning Prayer for 1/15/13), we read from Isaiah:

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 NRSV

Consider now this meditation from Lowell Grisham, Rector of St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, AR

What a compelling image. When the pressure is on; when we are weary and worn out; when there is more than we can handle; when we don’t know what to do… Isaiah says “Wait.” Breathe deeply. Be conscious and mindful. Wait for God.

I can see in my minds eye the next movement, an eagle beginning to mount the skies. With slow and deliberate movement, a perching eagle will spread her wings, feeling for the power of the wind. And then, gently, like sliding into water, the great bird will trust itself to the sky, throwing its arms out in a wide embrace. It catches the power of the wind and goes soaring, adjusting with modest effort as it picks up the drafts. In a similar way we can run and not be weary; walk and not be faint.

That’s the image I want to take with me today when that inevitable moment of weariness comes.

Please read the rest of his meditation, “Encouragement,” here.

You may visit the website of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, here.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Wind Chimes: 13 Oct 2012

Today the chimes sound questions. What do you hear?

Was Job an explorer?

My own peculiar task in my Church and in my world has been that of the solitary explorer who, instead of jumping on all the latest bandwagons at once, is bound to search the existential depths of faith in its silences, its ambiguities, and in those certainties which lie deeper than the bottom of anxiety. In those depths there are no easy answers, no pat solutions to anything. It is a kind of submarine life in which faith sometimes mysteriously takes on the aspect of doubt, when, in fact, one has to doubt and reject conventional and superstitious surrogates that have taken the place of faith

—Thomas Merton in Faith and Violence quoted in Seeds edited by Robert Inchausti

Was Job a mystic?

Bernard McGinn says that mysticism is “a consciousness of the presence of God that by definition exceeds description and . . . deeply transforms the subject who has experienced it.” If it does not deeply change the lifestyle of the person—their worldview, their economics, their politics, their ability to form community—you have no reason to believe it is genuine mystical experience. It is often just people with an addiction to religion itself, which is not that uncommon.

Mysticism is not just a change in some religious ideas or affirmations, but it is an encounter of such immensity that everything else shifts in position. Mystics have no need to exclude or eliminate others precisely because they have experienced radical inclusivity of themselves into something much bigger. They do not need to define themselves as enlightened or superior, whereas a mere transfer of religious assertions often makes people even more elitist and more exclusionary.

True mystics are glad to be common, ordinary, servants of all, and “just like everybody else,” because any need for specialness has been met once and for all.

Daily Meditation by Richard Rohr on September 23, 2012. Adapted from Following the Mystics Through the Narrow Gate. (CD/DVD/MP3)

A prayer

O God:
Give me strength to live another day;
Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties;
Let me not lose faith in other people;
Keep me sweet and sound of heart, in spite of ingratitude, treachery, or meanness;
Preserve me from minding little stings or giving them;
Help me to keep my heart clean, and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity;
Open wide the eyes of my soul that I may see good in all things;
Grant me this day some new vision of thy truth;
Inspire me with the spirit of joy and gladness;
and make me the cup of strength to suffering souls;
in the name of the strong Deliverer, our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A Prayer For Today  a resource of Forward Movement

Wind Chimes: 12 Oct 2012

We continue to listen to Job’s story. The Spirit moves the chimes (or not). Is it a persistent sound in the chimes? Is it still and quiet? What do you hear?

Trust

Quote . . .I remember sitting parked by the roadside once, terribly depressed and afraid about my daughter’s illness and what was going on in our family, when out of nowhere a car came along down the highway with a license plate that bore on it the one word out of all the words in the dictionary that I needed most to see exactly then. The word was TRUST. What do you call a moment like that? Something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while? The word of God? I am willing to believe that maybe it was something of both, but for me it was an epiphany. The owner of the car turned out to be, as I’d suspected, a trust officer in a bank, and not long ago, having read an account I wrote of the incident somewhere, he found out where I lived and one afternoon brought me the license plate itself, which sits propped up on a bookshelf in my house to this day. It is rusty around the edges and a little battered, and it is also as holy a relic as I have ever seen.

Buechner, Frederick (2009-10-13). Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner (pp. 326-327). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

I AM “None of the above”

Quote . . .The number of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation has hit an all-time high — about one in five American adults —  according to a new study released Tuesday (Oct. 9) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. … Pew partnered with the PBS television series Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly to survey 500 additional unaffiliated Americans. Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly will air a three-part series about the unaffiliated beginning with its Oct. 12 broadcast. —Religion News Service 10/9/2012

Whether we “like it” or not this is where we live now. As people in relationship with God we live and move and work and play among those who are not so sure or who believe there is no God. What are we to make of this new landscape? It is a topic worth exploring in our homes, in our Forum, and in our church.

Note: there is a link to a PBS Preview of the series in the RNS article: Losing our religion: One in five Americans are now ‘nones.’

A prayer

Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give me an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give me an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow on me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know Thee, diligence to seek Thee, wisdom to find Thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace Thee. Amen. —Saint Thomas Aquinas

Shannon, Maggie Oman (2009-12-22). Prayers for Hope and Comfort: Reflections, Meditations, and Inspirations (p. 10). RedWheelWeiser – A. Kindle Edition.