Belonging and Becoming

Belonging and Becoming

by Rev. Kate Atkinson

Recently, at our monthly clinic for homeless people, I had a conversation with a man who was waiting to see the doctor. I told him I was going to share with you what he said to me:

“This is a wonderful church,” he said.  “This is what a church is supposed to be.  It’s warm and accepting and loving and non-judgemental.  I’ve made some bad mistakes in my life, but when I got out of prison, you welcomed me.  You fed me and you gave me the clothes I needed.  And now, you’re helping me get the medical care I need.  This is the best church I’ve ever known – and a lot of people agree with me.”

When I asked him his name, he said, “It’s Steve; Steve the Grateful!”

People often tell us how welcome they feel when they come to St. Paul’s.  “I didn’t have to pass any tests,” one woman said. “You just opened your door and invited me in.”  And many people comment on our mission statement: “It really is a place to belong, whoever you are, just as you are.” 

Starting on October 1^st, we’ll be offering the spiritual formation series we call “Belonging and Becoming.”  That title is significant because it describes the two most important elements of being a part of this faith community.  The first part, “belonging,” is how we want people to feel from the moment they first enter our building.

I believe that people feel welcomed and accepted at St. Paul’s because they experience the love of God, expressed through God’s people in this place. That gives them a real sense of belonging.

That brings us to the second part of “belonging and becoming.”  If, as it appears, we’re successfully living out our mission statement and welcoming newcomers into the St. Paul’s community whoever they are, just as they are, why do they need to become anything different?  The simple answer is, they don’t.  A genuine, non-judgmental welcome, by definition, means that we accept people as they are; we make no attempt to mould them into something different.  But God is a different story!

As we become more and more at home in this community, God’s Holy Spirit goes to work in us. God never rejects the person we are, but God does empower us to develop our potential. “Becoming” doesn’t mean striving to meet standards set by other Christians; it means opening ourselves up to become fully the person God created us to be. 

At St. Paul’s we can journey together to become more and more the people that God is calling us to be – and our “Belonging and Becoming” series can help with that process.  It is especially valuable to people who are new to the Episcopal Church, and those who are considering being confirmed or received – but everyone can benefit, even if you are a “cradle Episcopalian!”

The series takes place every Wednesday evening in October, beginning with a simple supper at 6:00 and finishing by 7:30.  The first five sessions concentrate on spirituality, the person of Jesus, the image of God, reading the Bible, and the history of Christianity.  The last three sessions, looking at spiritual gifts and a “rule of life,” will take place during Advent.  You are encouraged to sign up in advance so we know numbers for the meal.

We belong together – and together we can become even more effective members of the body of Christ

Kate +

Becoming a Believer in SCRIP - and Helping Our Church

by Kathy Gray

When I first heard about the SCRIP program I wondered - with the economic situation as it is, where would we find the extra money to begin to participate?  After spending time with Ray Fournier and Theresa Neves on Sunday mornings for about a year I decided to give it a try.  We had changed banks and this helped make starting the program easier.  I told Ray we would participate as long as the budget allowed.  Everyone at coffee hour cheered when I announced I was going to buy SCRIP cards.

Since then it has been a joy to participate knowing that we are helping the church.

The SCRIP program is an easy, painless way to help the church which involves no extra money.  We all budget for groceries, restaurants, home repairs, and numerous other things.  When you purchase a gift card through SCRIP, the retailer has agreed to give a percentage of the purchase to St. Paul’s, while they honor the card at face value.  This can be helpful when preparing for a vacation.  I bought restaurant coupons to use when we travel as many retailers have locations nationwide.

SCRIP is also great to use for Christmas and birthday gifts, and any other time you might want to present a gift card.  One might also buy cards weekly in small amounts to plan for a larger purchase without stressing the budget – and you are making an extra contribution to the church as well.

Personally I think the best thing about the program is that using the cards at a store is “identity theft” proof – just like using cash.  That is very helpful with a last name like “Gray” and some of the security breaches that have occurred recently at large retailers.

Stop by the SCRIP table and talk to someone.  You will see how simple, easy and do-able the program really is.

Sharing of the Spirit Through Vocation: Holistic Veterinarian

Vocation: Holistic Veterinarian

By Cherie Greene

I first met Wendy Jensen, DVM at the Farmers’ Market shortly after adopting my cat Cara, who was then still spending about 23 hours a day under the bed. I was curious about the phrase “holistic veterinarian” on her business card. Even more intriguing was the fact that Wendy has no traditional veterinary clinic but operates exclusively through house calls. This sounded like the best possibility for getting medical care to my reclusive, hypervigilant Cara.

Next week we honor Francis of Assisi, a man who respected the beasts for themselves in an era that saw them through human eyes only: as object lessons, machines, food, and occasionally servants of evil. Because Wendy treats animals as total beings, I asked her to offer her perspective on the inner lives of our animal companions.

Wendy doesn’t have an office. The home visit gives Wendy the chance to observe the patients in their own environment rather than under the inherently stressful situation of a clinic setting. Especially for cats, the experience of being stuffed into a travel crate, carried like luggage and driven to a place full of strange smells almost guarantees that their behavior will be different from how they usually are. For a homeopathic practice, the patient’s mood and affect are critical indicators of her state of health.

According to the theory of energy-based healing, Wendy says, sickness starts with malaise in the emotional and physical energy. Symptoms appear later, and then if the condition is left untreated, the energy imbalance can lead to tissue damage. Although her diet recommendations and customized natural remedies have been successful in resolving conditions as serious as diabetes, hypothyroidism and even tumors, Wendy’s focus is not so much on battling disease as on increasing the animal’s strength and well-being. Whether cured or not, she says, her patients always feel better.

This brought me to the question of how we know how an animal feels. When we talk about holistic healing for humans, most of us think of an approach to health that addresses the mind and spirit as well as the body. I asked Wendy, “How do you view the mind and spirit of an animal, and how do you approach treating those?”

Her primary tool is observation. She sees the animal’s mind in his behavior, in “How they have decided to be and where they have decided to be.” For instance, Cara darting under the bed when a guest walks into the house is a behavior that indicates she believes any humans who aren’t me must be viewed with caution.

An animal’s spirit, in Wendy’s view, is shown through how they move and look, their overall demeanor. She once treated a horse that was described as highly energetic, one only an advanced rider could manage. Yet when Wendy entered the stall, the mare was listless, her lower lip sagging with ennui. Taking the horse outside completely changed her affect because, as Wendy put it, “Her spirit needed to be outdoors.”

When I asked Wendy what wisdom she has learned from observing and interacting with her patients, she surprised me by saying they have shown her how to die. (In her practice, Wendy offers palliative care rather than euthanasia.) Animals, she explained, are at peace about the end of life. They have no fears, expectations or regrets because they live in the present. People fight death. People have guilt and disappointment. Only humans worry about heaven and hell. And we are the ones who are dreading tomorrow, when we’ll have to wake up to a household without our pets, wondering whether we will see them in the next life.

What, I wondered, does she imagine the next life to be for an animal? She’s pretty sure they have souls and continue somehow, but she doesn’t bother about the specifics. This is how her observations of her patients’ calm deaths have taught her to face the unknown. We can’t control it; it will be what it will be. The past was what it was. At this moment, while there are tails to wag, ears to be scratched and friends to love, nothing else is all that important.

Cherie's feline companion - Cara

St. Paul's will celebrate all of our animal companions with animal blessings at all three services on October 4 and 5 - Saturday 4:30 PM and Sunday 8:00 and 10:00 AM- in honor of St. Francis Day.

We are also offering an outdoor animal blessing on Saturday October 4th at 3 PM on the State House Lawn, with our friends from Grace Church, Concord.  We do hope you will join us.

A Summer Breeze...

The Adult Formation series at St. Paul's this summer, appropriately called Summer Breeze, focused on different ways of discerning the breath of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

Each of us has different needs, different gifts, and different ways of being inspired.  At the first session we each completed a Spiritual Profile, choosing the statements that best described our preferences in regard to worship, beliefs, and relationships. 

Then, over the next four sessions, we explored different ways of connecting more deeply with God.

We learned how we can pray with the body, breathing deeply, with arm and body movement, increasing in us an awareness of God's presence. One approach involved movements and breathing with each line of a psalm. 

Study and reflection can also bring us closer to God, and St. Paul's offers an opportunity for this with the Education for Ministry program.  In our third session we took part in an EfM Theological Reflection, reflecting on a passage of Scripture and the meaning it has in our lives. 

For our fourth session our guest, Larry Steffler, introduced us to Laughter Yoga.  As we laughed together, being playful and silly, we experienced God's presence in our joy and friendship. 

Centering Prayer was the theme of our final session.  After listening to a passage of scripture, we each chose a sacred word as a symbol of consent to God's presence, then closed our eyes, and let go of distracting thoughts and feelings.  We learned that objects, such as prayer beads or holding crosses, can help us focus our minds during these times of Centering Prayer. 

The Summer Breeze series taught us that there are many different ways to connect with the power of the Holy Spirit and to feel the presence of God in our lives.

- written by Jean Gillespie

Forgiveness

Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Text:  Matthew 18:21-25

I would like to begin my reflections on the appointed gospel with this poem by Jan Richardson, a United Methodist Church minister and visual artist**.  I think it accurately describes the experience of practicing forgiveness.

The Hardest Blessing

If we cannot
lay aside the wound
then let us say 
it will not always 
bind us.

Let us say 
the damage
will not eternally
determine our path

Let us say 
the line of our life
will not forever follow
the tearing, the rending
we have borne.

Let us say
that forgiveness
can take some practice,
can take some patience,
can take a long struggling time.

Let us say
that to offer
the hardest blessing
we will need
the deepest grace,
that to forgive
the sharpest pain
we will need
new strength
for every day.

Let us say
the wound
will not be
our final home;
that through it 
runs a road,
a way we would not 
have chosen
but on which 
we will finally see
forgiveness,
so long practiced,
coming towards us
shining with the joy
so well deserved. 


Archbishop Tutu reminds us that we are made in the image of God and so we are to strive to come as close to that perfection as we are humanly capable of achieving.  When we engage in acts of forgiveness we are involved in the work of God.  “In forgiving we are engaging not just in a mundane act, we are sharing in the divine enterprise with cosmic consequences to advance or retard the work of bringing all things to a unity in Christ, to help draw all into the embrace of the Christ throwing out his arms to draw all to himself.”
Forgiveness is a theological necessity.  Forgiveness is central to who we are as followers of Christ.  Forgiveness is central to forming right relationships with each other and being in right relationship with God.  We can choose to be chained to a hurtful past or we can choose to allow God’s grace to enter us, to bless us and to free us.  Or we can choose the alternative that the slave in today’s parable chose.  To be forgiven one must practice forgiveness consciously on a daily basis.  If we take anything away from today’s gospel it should be that God’s forgiveness is endless and so should our forgiveness in this life be endless.  Forgiveness should be paid forward.  If one wants to be reflective of God’s abundant radical acceptance and radical grace then one must practice forgiveness.  

Keith +

**Jan Richardson is the author of the blog The Painted Prayerbook which may be accessed by clicking here.  This poem is from her post from September 9, 2014, The Hardest Blessing.

“Homecoming” Rally

Welcome! With pie! What could be more homey, especially to someone whose parents have passed and kids have scattered?

Sunday’s Rally on the State House Lawn warmed me like going home to family after my first few weeks at UNH, a return to my sanctuary of unconditional acceptance – and homemade goodies. (Doughboy was right: Nuthin’ says loving’ like something from the oven’!) Though I’ve been a member of St. Paul’s for only 5 years, I am increasingly aware that I belong at St. Paul’s as securely as I belonged in my childhood family.

For example,

My family knows my name. Sure, I wear the nametag, but from the get-go folks at St. Paul’s have troubled to learn my name. I matter. Sat Sunday’s rally,  I still quietly thrilled to be checked off  the parish list, to be a “validated” member. A place to belong….

My family needs my skills and talents. By trial and error, I have found arenas for my gifts: my writing, singing, and cooking. And as a wise woman from the Netherlands taught me, you can wash dishes in any language…I grab a dish towel to do my share. Whoever you are…

My family feeds me, calories optional. Not just luscious, creative, pies which demand hours of work, but socially, as well. Smiles. Hugs. Listening ears when things aren’t going so well. My St. Paul’s family nurtures my soul.

My family needs my nurturing, too. Even at our joyous rally, I learned a friend had suffered a wrenching tragedy. I could offer comfort. I could share the love of our community.

Yes, St. Paul’s Sunday rally reminded me how much I cherish my church family – and fabulous pies. Just, please, don’t ask me to bake one. I’d rather do the dishes! ###

 - Gail Schilling

Kids4Peace - Love is all there is...

In early August Kids4Peace camps took place in several locations across the country including, for the first time, a Vermont and New Hampshire camp near Hillsboro.  At our Ageless Worship service on September 7, three of the participants from that camp shared their experience of that camp, emphasizing the important lessons they learned about conflict resolution and appreciating the differences we encounter in others.  Perhaps someday young people in these programs will take these lessons to the world stage, and peace will indeed be a reality.

Lola, a member of Temple Beth Jacob, shared this:

“The 36 kids who came to camp were as different as you could get. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Americans, Arabic speakers, Hebrew speakers, boys, and girls. Just about every characteristic that we had set us apart from the other campers. Differences like these are known to set people apart. They’ve caused innumerable wars in the Middle East, as well as Europe, China, Africa, and even the Americas.  They’ve driven families apart, and changed love to hatred. Though that is not, and has never been, inevitable. 

“…Differences can make things difficult.  However, above that, it makes connections run deeper, makes friendships last longer, and it adds depth to the people we meet.”

Tyler, a member of Bow Mills United Methodist Church, described a game the campers played where they were assigned conflicts and given two choices for how to approach them: to cooperate or to compete.  “As our discussions and understanding developed, we used the skills we learned to solve conflicts with tether-ball and gaga ball. We realized that this was a model of how global conflict resolution can be.  That was made really clear when Yuval, a Jewish camper from Israel, said “We shouldn’t be at war.  Our leaders should be sitting down face to face and talking about peace. It … amazed us that a 12-year-old said that. That was the most intense thing we talked about. Also the most important.”

Georgia, a member of St. Paul’s, told of another activity where the kids took turns giving positive affirmations to all their fellow campers.  “It felt good to know that other people thought well of us,” she explained.  “That day we all learned that loving and appreciating one another is an important step in bringing an end to conflict.”

The three children ended their presentation by singing a song in Hebrew, Arabic and English: God is all; God is love; Love is all there is.

Take Up Your Cross

Text Matthew 16:21-28

Just what does it mean to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus? 

Jesus tells Peter and the apostles about what one must do be a follower of his:

“If any of you wants to come after me you should pick up your cross, and follow me!  Remember by trying to save your own life, you are going to lose it, but by losing your own life for my sake, you are going to find it.  After all, what good will it do if you acquire the whole world but forfeit your life?  Or what will you give in exchange for your life?”[1] 

Jesus uses paradox to get his point across.  A paradox is something that doesn’t make sense.  A paradox is something that is true even if you think it can’t be true.  A paradox is something that goes against common sense.  Curtis Almquist, a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist explains that the word “paradox” has its source in the Greek.  Para- meaning other and –dox meaning glory.  The word doxology comes from this source.  “When we hear paradox on Jesus’ lips, he’s talking about the glory of God being revealed in a way other than what we might have imagined.”[2]

When we choose to become followers of Jesus we will pick up our cross, we will lose our individual lives, we will deny ourselves, and we will go against the grain of our consumer-driven, egocentric, society.  We will exist in a word become countercultural.  By going against the grain, living in a paradox, being comfortable with paradox, we will find something of greater value. 

Keith +

---

[1] The Complete Gospels-Annotated Scholar’s Version, Robert J. Miller, ed., Matthew 16:26-26

[2] Holy Cross Day- Br. Curtis Almquist, http://ssje.org/ssje/2013/09/14/holy-cross-day-br-curtis-almquist/

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