World of Your Making

Ascensiontide

From my sermon yesterday:

The Feast of the Ascension is a story about endings and beginnings.  It celebrates the moment when Jesus’ earthly ministry ends and the ministry of the disciples begins.  He who shared our human nature, walked our roads with us, and gave his very life for us, was returning to another dimension of reality he had spoken to his disciples about many times before.  We overhear Jesus praying about his return in the Gospel reading from the seventeenth chapter of John, “I’m no longer going to be visible in the world; they’ll continue in the world while I return to you.  Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me so that they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind" (MSG).

Jesus is doing here what all gifted leaders do; he gives responsibility back to the people who make up the body, the organization, the community.  He did not play the role of an all-knowing expert or authority, the one who has the answer for every question and situation.  Rather, he gave the work to the people to whom it belonged.  As I understand it, that is a crucial challenge of effective leadership.

Ron Heifitz, who teaches leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School, is fond of saying, “Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they are they can stand.”  We know that leaders are tempted to try to be and do all: they are tempted to be experts who have the answer for every question, the solution for every problem.  Here we see that even Jesus, capable of extraordinary interventions, does in a sense, “disappoint people”—but at a rate they can stand.

You can see it right here in today’s reading from Acts.  In verse 6, the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”  It’s not an unreasonable question given all that has let up to this moment.  But in response to their question about time, Jesus hedges, and maybe even intentionally, disappoints them: “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”  They want to give the responsibility for the work of the kingdom to him; but Jesus gives the responsibility right back to them.  “No, you don’t get to know the time, that’s the Father’s business. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses (MSG).”

If we understand anything about the mystery of the Ascension of Jesus, we must understand that God believes enough in us to leave us.  God in Christ has enough confidence in us, more than we have in ourselves, to leave us and entrust us with a profound gift and a profound mission: as the Book of Common Prayer puts it, "to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ."  As I understand it, the Holy Spirit is the chief evangelist, the mission is God's, and the life we live offers a sign and witness of the reconciled diversity that marks the loving reign of God.  At the end of the liturgy we will have this prayer on our lips, "Send us out to do the work you have given us to do; to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord."  There is no back-up plan. Yours are the hands and feet God uses to bless the world now.

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Conversation on Technology and Faith at The Alban Institute

I spent the day as an invited guest of the Alban Institute taking part in a conversation about the ongoing development of interactive web technology (Web 2.0) and its use in congregations today.  What pulled me into the conversation was the diversity of the 20 or so people involved and the gracious invitation of Ann Van Dusen of the Alban Institute who facilitated this event. There were a few congregational leaders present, but also technology consultants, editors, a professor who teaches in the field of human communications and technology, several well known bloggers and web managers and members of the Alban Institute staff.

The day began with presentations from Heidi Campbell (Ph. D. University of Edinburgh) who now teaches a course in human communication and technology as an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University (see her blog here).  She gave an excellent overview of her research in religion and the use the internet.  Contrary to those who worry that the use of social networking technology will lead to impoverished relationships and lack of "real time community," Heidi's research indicates that interactive web media most often serves as a "supplement and not a substitute for social involvement."

Brian Brunius, a freelance technology consultant formerly of WNET Channel 13, spoke of the possibilities for congregations who want to reach out and help people connect beyond the traditional boundaries of the Sunday morning gathering.  He shared his own story as a Catholic in Manhattan who upon joining the social networking platform, Facebook, was immediately "friended" by members of his own congregation who were living in the same city block (imagine 17,000 people in one city block and you can begin to see the significance of making those kinds of connections).

The conversations that followed the presentations were informative with good questions being raised about how interactive media can potentially reach people who have no formal connection with the mainline church.  If we are committed to the notion of unconditional welcome, particularly of younger generations, we cannot afford to look the other way when it comes to the use of networking media that has become a central part of their social lives today.  How to do that in a way that preserves the integrity and values of a congregation's life and mission is the challenge congregational leaders will continue to face in the days ahead.  The Alban Institute plans a guide for faith communities on the use of new media as a result of today's conversation. For other excellent resources visit Alban's  Congregation Resource Guide website.

It was a pleasure to meet a few talented bloggers today and I hope you will have a look at their sites:

Helen Mildenhall, the webmaster of "Off The Map" has a blog here.

Helen Mosher, an editor at Episcopal Cafe who has wide experience in the web 2.0 world blogs here.

Jan Edmiston, Pastor of Fairlington Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, VA blogs here.

I plan to "friend" them all.

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Day by Day or Agnus Dei?

As any rector and parish musician know, fervently expressed opinions about musical style and what should be done about it are part of the DNA of congregational life.  My mantra, when it comes to music in the liturgy, is "artistically skillful—spiritually sensitive."  At that point, whether it comes from the 12th century or the 21st, is irrelevant so long as it reflects the context of the gathered community, the shape of the liturgy, and the Biblical readings of the day. John Bell of the Iona Community has written: "Worship is not a consumer activity in which we listen to our favorite song but an engagement of all the people of God together in the presence of their Maker."  That preaches.

So it was a delight to read an article tucked back in the style section of the Washington Post on Wednesday about medieval and folk tensions within the musical practice of the Catholic Church. Among all the excellent articles regarding the Pope's visit to Washington, this one deserves a read.

"Catholics don't argue about abortion or the death penalty nearly as much as they argue about what music is sung (or not sung, or used to be sung) at their local Sunday Mass. It was ever thus—at least since the 1960s, when Sister first shortened her habit, strummed a G7 chord and, to hear some Catholics tell it, all heck broke loose."

Read it all here.

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Remembering Maxine

It's been one year since we entered the unspeakable grief over the victims who died on April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech.  Let us take a moment today and stand in solidarity with the with those who mourn. I pray especially for the family of Maxine Shelley Turner. Her funeral took place at Church of the Holy Comforter and remains one of the most inspiring moments for me of seeing the bonds of our common humanity revealed in tragedy yet deepened in the light of resurrection hope.  Death will not have the last word.

Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: Deal graciously with the families and friends of those whose loved ones died in tragic circumstances one year ago today.  Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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When Missional is Not Helpful

One of the best resources I know for learning about new models of church life for faithful witness to the Gospel in our post-modern culture is the Allelon web site found here.  Mark Priddy, who hosts a blog on the site, recently linked an article by David Dunbar, president of the Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania in which he mentions the cycles of spiritual renewal in the Church that seem to ebb and flow through time and cultural transition.  The article reminds those of us who are zealous to see a transformation in the culture of mainline churches to beware of arrogance and impatience.  Here's an excerpt:

Throughout history God’s people have experienced cycles of spiritual prosperity and expansion followed by stalled growth and eventual decline. In such contexts, movements of renewal or revival have sprung up as the Spirit of God graciously worked to complete the cycle and restore the vitality of God’s people.

I like renewal movements. I grew up in a group that was the result of a powerful moving of the Spirit that began in the British Isles during the 19th century. My love for the Bible, my devotional life, my commitment to the church, and my approach to ministry have been deeply formed by this group. Although I no longer identify myself as a card-carrying member, I am still significantly influenced by what I learned in this tradition and I appreciate the heritage it gave me.

This may help you understand part of what attracted me to the missional church. It too is a renewal movement. I see it as a moving of God’s Spirit within the Western church at a very critical time in its history. We find ourselves (most Christians probably agree on this) in a time of decline. Churches in the West are in trouble: internal dissensions, the failure and discouragement of leadership, loss of our youth, widespread negative perceptions of Christians by outsiders, and the death of many congregations. Just the kind of dry-bones situation where the breath of the Spirit often begins to blow!

And this is what energizes me! I turn 60 this year and I realize that my life is quickly slipping away. How wonderful it would be to live into a new era of spiritual vitality and power for the church in North America! I can almost see it. I am impatient for the transformation, and that’s where the trouble begins…

The entire article can be found here:

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The Spirituality of Parenting

One of the consistently good podcasts I listen to is Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, a public radio conversation about religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas.  The broadcast this week features a timely episode on the spirituality of parenting. 

"Raising children is a great spiritual challenge that many of us live with day to day yet we so rarely call it that," says Tippett. Her guest on this episode is Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, a rabbi and a mother and grandmother. She's the author of books that help adults and children think religiously and ethically together. She is deeply rooted in Judaism, but her books have been endorsed by leaders of many traditions. She's also edited an anthology of perspectives on parenting from across the world's religions. Sandy Sasso and her husband, Dennis, were the first rabbinical couple in history to jointly lead a congregation, Beth-El Zedeck, in Indianapolis.

Rabbi Sasso admits she and her husband were beginners, too, when it came to raising their own children and teaching children in a congregation. She came to think of young children as little theologians. She discovered that they had big, deep questions.  How are parents to nourish the souls of these little ones? Rabbi Sandy Sasso offers practical wisdom on the spirituality of parenting in our time:

"I think society does a very good job in teaching us how to be consumers and a very good job in teaching us how to be competitors.  The question I think parents are struggling to answers is, how do we not just teach our children's minds but how do we teach their souls? We want our children to be gracious and grateful, to have courage in difficult times.  We want them to have a sense of joy and purpose. That's what it means to nurture their spiritual lives."

Listen to the episode here and see a good list of recommended reading here.

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Bishop Lee on the Circuit Court Opinion

April 4, 2008

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In this Easter season, we celebrate the power, hope and joy of our Lord's resurrection and the diversity of the gifts we share as one.

Life in the Diocese of Virginia is vibrant. Churches are gearing up for summer mission trips. Shrine Mont is preparing for another session of campers.  Clergy and lay employees will soon gather at Shrine Mont for our annual Clergy and Lay Employee Retreat.  Your bishops are witnessing the essential mission of the Church by visiting our sisters and brothers in the Episcopal Church in Sudan. I returned today from Sudan where I officiated at the opening of a new secondary school funded by members of the Diocese, and preached to a congregation of 1,400 in the outdoor cathedral in the Diocese of Rumbek.  Bishop Johnston will be there for the enthronement of long-time diocesan mission partner Bishop Daniel Deng Bul as Archbishop and Primate later this month.  I spent two days with Bishop Daniel, who continues to be grateful for his partnership with the Diocese of Virginia.  The Virginia Theological Seminary will award an honorary degree to Archbishop Daniel in May of this year.

In the midst of living out this mission, the Circuit Court of Fairfax County issued an opinion in our case involving departing congregations who are wrongfully occupying Episcopal Church property. While the Court decided it was appropriate for the CANA congregations to file their claims under Virginia's division statute, it recognized the importance of the constitutional questions surrounding that statute, and will consider our position at a hearing set for May. It is essential for all of us to recognize that this was not a final decision, and the Court did not award any property or assets. We remain hopeful that the Court will recognize the right of the Episcopal Church--and all churches--to govern ourselves according to our own faith and doctrine.

The Diocese is proceeding with its efforts to preserve Episcopal Church property. Beyond May, the Court has scheduled the second part of the trial concerning property rights and an additional constitutional issue for October of this year. And while it is with regret that we continue these legal proceedings, it is also with the conviction that we are ensuring an Episcopal legacy for years to come. Four Episcopal congregations continue to worship in exile from their home church buildings, and we remain fully committed to offer continued support during these lengthy proceedings.  Particularly on this day, please hold the clergy and congregations of Epiphany, Oak Hill; The Falls Church, Falls Church; St. Margaret's, Woodbridge; and St. Stephen's, Heathsville in your prayers.

The legal proceedings can be confusing, lengthy and frustrating, but your prayers and messages of hope provide the vital support needed by those most affected by this regrettable controversy.

Faithfully Yours,

Peter James Lee

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Sustaining the Enthusiasm of Easter

I don't know when I've been more inspired on what is typically titled "Low Sunday" than this past one, the Second Sunday of Easter. On Easter Sunday well over a thousand people, passed through Holy Comforter to get a glimpse of the Easter miracle, the empty tomb.  Then for most, it was back to the familiar routine of the day to day.  Usually less than a third of those who worship on Easter day will show up for the second Sunday of Easter.  Is it that difficult to sustain the enthusiasm of Easter once Easter Day is over, once the memory of it fades as we encounter the real human situation we live in?  Isn't the whole point of Easter to practice resurrection in the here and now?

In the Gospel reading from John's resurrection narrative (John 20:19-31), Jesus speaks peace into the midst of his anxious disciples and gives them a powerful commission.  In essence Jesus says, “You are no less sent than I have been. You represent me. There will be no more hiding behind locked doors, no more holding back in fear – you are sent-ones, directed toward the world in love with the message of forgiveness on your lips and in your lives.”  The disciples receive the breath of the Risen One, and are told that being a community of forgiveness is in fact a sign of new creation. 

It begs the question, "What would our church look like today if we would stay close to the mission of forgiveness which Jesus sees as the defining characteristic of those whom he sends into the world?"  Instead of the current polarization over internal matters within the Anglican Communion, might a third way emerge, a way of creating legitimate space for difference while claiming our resurrection identity given in baptism and nourished through our attempts to follow the way of Christ?

Sin is what separates God from the world and people from one another. Jesus has taken away the sin of the world, replaced the separation between God and the world with communion.  It is we, his followers, who must facilitate the conditions where forgiveness may occur.  If we hold onto sins that separate, then separation will continue.  If we let go of (forgive) those sins, reconciliation will develop, or at least have a fighting chance.  This is the power of the resurrection, the capacity to overcome separation and create a new beginning, a fresh start, a new life.

Looking into the eyes of the eight children I baptized on Sunday, I could not help but feel the eye of God glancing in my direction.  As the waters of baptism washed over the candidates and those gathered recalled their own resurrection identity and the power of forgiveness in their lives, I whispered to myself, "My Lord, and my God." 

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Easter Chant

On Easter morning, I came across a story reported by the BBC about a record label's search for a group of monks to record a Gregorian chant album.  Their search has ended after an Austrian monastery submitted a YouTube clip.  The Heiligenkreuz Cistercian Monastery, in the Vienna woods, is home to 80 monks and dates back to 1133. An album, set for global release, will be recorded next month.  I'm putting this one on my next sabbatical list!

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Holy Saturday

Quiet, waiting, seeking — for a word of life in the midst of a Good Friday world.  I reach for poetry.

Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain.
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

In the grave they laid him, Love whom men had slain,
Thinking that never he would wake again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Forth he came at Easter like the risen grain.
He that for three days in the grave had lain.
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Thy touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

“Now the green blade riseth” French traditional arr. Simon Lindley (b. 1948)
Text: J. M. C. Crum

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Good Friday

Today we remember the dying of Jesus.  He stands, as we all will, at that liminal boundary between life and death, empty and alone. Like Jesus, there will be nothing more we can offer to hold death at bay when it comes. No strength, no possessions, no relationships, nothing and no one — only our final breath, our final oblation. Jesus did what we must do. He gave his life back to the one who gives each of us life and breath and hope. Into God’s hands he gave his whole being, and so must we.

Death frightens us and fascinates us at the same time. Maybe that is why we are so interested in the last words of those we love and admire. We sense that the dying are further up the line than we are, and maybe they can see something that is on the other side, what lies ahead, so their final words have a certain poignancy. When one of my closest friends died of cancer several years ago, her last words to those of us gathered around her bed were simply, “I see freedom.” And she breathed her last.

But the reason we can face our death, is the same reason we can face the whole of our life, both its joys and its sorrows, its gifts and its demands. We can face all because we have a God who has walked our road for us, and will be with us always, and perhaps never closer than when we are called to make our final offering. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”   His entire living and his entire dying have come down to this one single moment of grandeur, simplicity, and naked trust.  “And having said this, he breathed his last" (Luke 23:46).

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.  Amen.

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Maundy Thursday

(Image by Patricia Smith)

The season of Lent ends at sundown today and we enter the Paschal Triduum, the three 'Great Days' which commemorate the Last Supper, Passion, and Death of Christ. These, together with Easter, are the most solemn and distinctive celebrations of the liturgical year.

The washing of feet and the sharing of a meal are the two transforming gestures of Maundy Thursday. The gestures are at once utterly simple and profound, speaking, as only gestures can, more eloquently than the most polished words. In the sharing of his final meal with the disciples, Jesus creates a new covenant community.   No one can be a Christian by himself or herself.  To eat this meal together is to meet at the level of our most basic human need which involves our need not just for nourishment but for each other.  This first gesture reveals our need for community, the second gesture reminds us of our need for love.

Washing the disciple's feet is a gesture of surprising reversal, and it jolts Peter and the others into thinking things out anew. The one to whom we tend to look for leadership and in whom we invest authority is seen kneeling and tenderly serving.  In John's account (John 13:1-16), Jesus is quite explicit about the gesture’s meaning.  This is a new command.  Love a new way.  Love by being available to one another.  Love by serving.  Love by literally putting our hands underneath one another’s feet, caring, helping, serving.  In this gesture, Jesus is telling us that love is demonstrated behaviorally and love is manifest when the importance of another's needs and desires rises to the level of our own.  We can “wash feet” in many simple ways, and Jesus tells us, that as we do, others will begin to recognize that we are his disciples — ordinary people seeking to live in a distinctively human way.  The gestures of Maundy Thursday remind us that the "church" is not something we go to, but something we are.

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Wednesday in Jerusalem

Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night (John 13:27b-30).

This gospel reading, which continues the lection we will use on Maundy Thursday, tells the story of Jesus' singling out Judas as the betrayer.  Coming right after the intimate moment of the footwashing, this statement of Jesus startled the disciples.  No one had any idea who he was talking about.  Judas was simply one of them and it is important to remember that Jesus had washed his feet too.

After being identified by Jesus when he gave Judas a morsel of bread, we are told that "Satan entered into him" (27).  We should not read this to mean that Judas became "possessed" in the same way as other individuals we meet in the synoptic gospels.  The word 'satan' in Hebrew means 'accuser' and is used as a legal term for someone who brings a charge or accusation against someone else.  What we do see is Judas becoming an instrument of darkness to bring a charge against Jesus, the true light. The end of verse 30 offers a powerful image as the door opens on to a dark night and Judas disappears into it.

I've always been fascinated by the fact that just 8 verses later, Jesus says to Peter, "Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times."  Not only Judas, but Peter will betray Jesus, in fact all the disciples will abandon him in the end.  Though Judas' betrayal is the most egregious perhaps, he is not qualitatively different from the other disciples, nor is he qualitatively different from you and from me.

To enter into deep friendship is also to know the wounds that only friends can give.  Love and betrayal are possibilities for each of us.  In this story, we learn that even the darkest wound is held ultimately in the greater design of God's purposes of love and redemption.  The light will go on shining in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.

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Holy Tuesday

"The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The readings for Tuesday in Holy Week include Paul's contrast of 'the wisdom of the world' with 'the wisdom of God.'  He stresses that the message about Christ and his cross carries a power of a very different order to the power of human rhetoric.  The cross does its own speaking, its own work in those who see it, not as a sign of madness, but as a sign of the true nature of reality.

The message of the cross still cuts against the grain of our frameworks of rationality and tolerance.  To believe that God shared our human nature by appearing in first century Galilee as an itinerant Jewish rabbi, and beyond that, died the death of a common criminal for the "sins of the whole world," remains as much a stretch for sophisticated moderns as it did for the people of Israel, Greece and Rome in their day. If Jesus died for any reason, some progressive scholars would say, it was because of his politics and passion for God's justice, not as something that had to happen, as a "dying for the sins of the world." 

I'm all for notions of Jesus' passion for God's justice, his wide embrace of all people, particularly those on the margins of society, but that argument alone does not square with what I know about human nature.  What I do know is that when I apprehended the astonishing notion that Jesus' life and death had something to do with my own, that his passion opened a way for my well-being, a release from shame, and inclusion in the community of faith, it changed my life.  To my own astonishment, I found joy.  And since that awakening years ago, I have seen hearts open, relationships heal, communities transform, all because they have been grasped by the "foolishness" of the cross. 

This is the transforming evidence Paul has in mind as he writes to the Christians at Corinth. This life evidence in no way diminishes the gift of human wisdom. Nor does it devalue the importance of Biblical scholarship and theological discipline, without which our faith and practice would be impoverished.  But as Augustine wisely said, "Knowledge alone cannot save us."  Tuesday in Holy Week reminds us that the cross presents a different order of wisdom, a different way of knowing. The cross bears a power that can save.

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Holy Monday - A Repost

From a meditation I gave in Holy Week, 2007:

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair" (John 12:1-3).

This touching story in John’s Gospel is one, which calls out our own Christian commitment.  What does it cost me to show my love and devotion to Christ?  What does it cost me to belong to God’s people in this faith community? What personal cost do I bear in living out the promises of my baptism and participating in God’s mission in the world?  I think these are the kinds of questions that Mary’s extravagant love and gratitude put to us across the centuries.  And it is a question we should ponder with serious intention as we travel this Great Week of Jesus’ passion.  Our salvation, our wholeness, and our reconciliation to God and one another, cost Jesus everything.

The other central character in this story is the disciple named Judas Iscariot.  He criticizes Mary and asks, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?”  John tells us that Judas really cared less about the poor, and because he kept the common purse, he used to embezzle what was put into it.  It is then that Jesus says, “Leave her alone.  She bought it that she might keep it for the day of my burial.  You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The perfume was worth a years wages. We can imagine the useful things that could have been done with such a sum of money.  There is irony here.  However useful the money gained from the sale of the perfume, would its usefulness have inspired and moved countless millions of people thousands of years later as did Mary's selfless devotion?  I think history has surely proved her right.  I think it is also important to remember that Jesus' response to the poor was not simply material, but incarnational.  We may do things for the poor, but in what ways are we with the poor?

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A Gracious Landscape

I've just returned from leading the annual parish retreat for Christ Episcopal Church, a healthy and faithful congregation in New Bern, North Carolina.  While there, I found some greatly needed solitude on the coastline near the Diocesan retreat center where we were gathered for the weekend (note the Episcopal flag in the foreground). I was struck by the power of this gracious landscape to raise my soul in contemplation and at the same time felt a longing for this awareness more often in the day to day routine of my work and ministry.

Yesterday, out on my jog for the morning, I listened to the recent interview with the late John O'Donohue, Celtic poet and philosopher conducted by Krista Tippett of Speaking of Faith which she entitled, "The Inner Landscape of Beauty."  The following exchange grabbed my attention:

Ms. Tippett: I know that "landscape" is a really pivotal word for you that you use, not just in describing the natural world but an important word in talking about how human beings know themselves and move through the world. I haven't been to precisely the place you are from; but I think the west coast of Scotland, the west coast of Ireland, it is this completely unusual, this wild raw, bleak beauty. But talk to me about how you have come to understand landscape as something that forms each of us.

Mr. O'Donohue: Well, I think it makes a huge difference when you wake in the morning and come out of your house. Whether you believe you are walking into dead geographical location, which is used to get to a destination, or whether you are emerging out into a landscape that is just as much, if not more, alive as you but in a totally different form. And if you go towards it with an open heart and a real watchful reverence, that you will be absolutely amazed at what it will reveal to you. And I think that was one of the recognitions of the Celtic imagination: that landscape wasn't just matter, but that it was actually alive. What amazes me about landscape, landscape recalls you into a mindful mode of stillness, solitude, and silence where you can truly receive time.

Such "watchful reverence" is an ideal to be sure, but even the longing for it can make a difference.  What grace will we apprehend in the unique landscape of our concrete daily life today?

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Secretary General Visits Holy Comforter

The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon and his wife Jennifer, visited Holy Comforter yesterday.  It has been my privilege to become acquainted with Kenneth in my support and participation in the Compass Rose Society, an international organization which seeks to support the ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion and provides resources for our Anglican brothers and sisters in different parts of the world.

Kenneth spoke to our adult forum and gave a comprehensive overview of his work as Secretary General in support of the various instruments of unity in the Anglican Communion: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates Meetings, and the Anglican Consultative Council.   Kenneth described the organizational preparations for the upcoming Lambeth Conference at Canterbury. Over 70% of the 800 Bishops have responded to the Archbishop's invitation, indicating a loyalty to one another and desire to strengthen their shared ministry.

Kenneth told us that the Conference this year will have two key points of focus: strengthening the sense of a shared Anglican identity among the bishops from around the world, and helping to equip bishops for the unique role they increasingly have as leaders in God's mission. The Conference will begin with a two day retreat with Bible studies and reflections led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.  Questions were invited from the congregation and Kenneth graciously responded.  His sermon on the readings for the third Sunday of Lent emphasized the continuation of the miracle of Moses providing water in the wilderness whenever the church responds to the basic needs of the poor in self-giving ways.

Bless you Kenneth in your ongoing work and travel for the sake of God's mission and for the life of the Anglican Communion.

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Brian McLaren at Washington National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral Dean, Sam Lloyd talked about the emergent church with Brian McLaren, on the topic “Everything Must Change: The Radical Meaning of the Kingdom of God for Today’s World” at the Sunday Forum last week.   Speaking about the challenge of a "generous orthodoxy" which seeks to reintegrate questions of right belief and right practice, of personal faith and social action, McLaren had this to say about the distinctive offering of Anglicans to the Christian enterprise today:

This is a great moment for the Anglican Tradition, because if we go back five hundred years to that juncture between the medieval world and the modern world, the Anglican Tradition saw Catholicism in some ways continuing the medieval trajectory, and then the Puritans and the Protestants breaking away in this modern trajectory, and Anglicans said, "let's take a via media, a middle way, and lets try to retain what we can from the past and learn what we can from the new."  They differentiated but I think tried to integrate in a beautiful way too.  And this is a great heritage I think for this moment.  I would just say to all our Episcopalian brothers and sisters here, I know these are some rather shaky times, but in the long run I think this is a great corporation to get stock in.  I think there's a good future for Episcopalians because of this rich tradition you have and many other reasons as well.

It's refreshing to hear Brian speak appreciatively like this.  By doing so, he graciously invites us into the emerging conversation so urgently needed across faith traditions today.  Thanks to Sam Lloyd and the National Cathedral for another great forum. The entire interview can be found here.

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Rabbi Sir Jonathon Sacks "The Dignity of Difference"

At our Awareness Course this past Sunday, we watched a forcefully eloquent address by Rabbi Sir Jonathon Sacks given to the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.  Sacks opens the stories of sibling rivalry in the Book of Genesis (Cain/Abel; Isaac/Ishmael; Jacob/Esau; Joseph/brothers) and connects them to  the religious histories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Listening more deeply to these narratives reveals a profound example and call beyond rivalry and violence to reconciliation and forgiveness.

If you have iTunes on your computer you can find the lecture here.  If not, you can find the video on the Duke University website here.  Quicktime software is required.

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"God's Workshop"

I'll be leading a quiet morning at Holy Comforter tomorrow with meditations on the life and spirituality of St. Benedict.  As you can read in previous posts, I've been seeking ways to make a more explicit connection with the Rule of St. Benedict as a model for our own "Rhythm of Life" at Holy Comforter.   It's an attempt to shift the culture of the parish gently and persistently toward a more intentional practice of our baptismal vows enriched by a personal engagement with the narrative of Christian faith.

A very helpful metaphor found at the beginning of the Rule of St. Benedict is that of seeing the Christian community as "God's Workshop in the Lord's Service."  We gather to learn, to seek and attempt to grow by trial and error, to encourage each other in living a life that "sounds together" with the life of Christ.  Can contemporary people really organize their lives around a Benedictine rhythm today?  Rowan Williams has said:

"In the last 20 or 30 years in particular, people have found the Rule of St. Benedict to be an amazingly contemporary document. It's about community.  It's about adapting things to peoples needs and peoples skills.  It's about the unity of working and praying—about that proper kind of mutual respect and even reverence for each other."

Most of us lead fairly scattered lives with competing demands on our time and energy.  We live with lots of centrifugal forces pulling us away from our center.  Living in the framework of the Benedictine Rule offers a way of getting back into a stability and centeredness out of which we can then live.  At Holy Comforter, we're encouraging people to do this both on a personal basis and as part of a community rhythm of worship, discipleship, and mission.  We will be exploring how we might take this rhythm from stimulating theory to intentional practice in our common life in the days and months ahead—a kind of "suburban monasticism" that can serve as a direct counterweight to the pervasive consumerism of our surrounding culture.  None of this is offered as an "outward imposition" but as invitation to a graceful acceptance shared with the support of other like minded pilgrims.

Benedictine spirituality is in the bloodstream of Anglicanism and it's a gift whose time has come round again.

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