Help for the Lenten Journey

While many people look forward to New Year’s Day to start over and establish new practices, I confess that Lent is the time I rely on for just that – it is MY time to start over with myself, and establish good habits that are beneficial to my heart and soul.  Whatever you choose to do, and whenever you begin, remember that there are many other travelers on the journey with you.  Take up your cross, and do not fear – just follow Jesus.

In the season of Lent, it is common to hear references to “Lenten Disciplines” – those practices (at times austere) – that mark a time of self-reflection.  As I prepared to write about suggestions available to those searching for Lenten ideas, I looked up definitions of the word “discipline”.  Though many of the connotations surrounding it may sound harsh, or even painful, I was reminded also of the disciples, and the discipline that comes from good instruction and practice.  So fear not, practice and instruction need not be something negative, but instead renewing and beneficial.

For those of you who like to utilize the computer for your work and social communications, there are many sites containing beautiful ideas for Lent.  Here are just a few:

The Society of St. John the Evangelist offers for Lent short (less than 2 minute) videos of thoughts from the brothers around the theme: Stop, Pray, Work, Pray and Love.  You may subscribe to receive the daily meditation in your e-mail, or visit their website and you may utilize the entire set of videos as they are released.  Visit http://ssje.org/ssje/time/ .

 (If you subscribed to their Advent series, you have automatically been receiving the Lenten series as well)

If you like the idea of taking time to learn about historical figures – saints and the “saintly” – and do not mind a dash of humor mixed in, then “Lent Madness” may be just the thing for you!  Rather than a basketball bracket, there is a Lent Madness bracket, and votes which advance these prominent individuals until at last someone receives the coveted “Golden Halo”.  Past winners include Charles Wesley, Frances Perkins, Mary Magdalene and C.S. Lewis, and this year’s bracket includes such names as Frederick Douglass, Molly Brant and John Wycliffe.  If your interest is peaked, then go to http://www.lentmadness.org/ and  find out all the details.

If you prefer a list of ideas to draw from, you might like the blog post “40 Ideas for Lent 2015” from writer Rachel Held Evans at http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/40-ideas-for-lent-2015 .  There are so many wonderful ideas here, and many are tied to current events.

While she has a Lenten online “retreat” that requires a subscription, Methodist Minister and artist Jan Richardson also posts regularly on her blog http://paintedprayerbook.com/  .  She shares poems and artwork along with her reflections, and the site is worth a visit at any time of year.  Archived posts are there as well, and many are quite inspirational.

If you would rather have something you are able to hold in your hands as an alternative to “electronic” media, then St. Paul’s has something for you as well.  Available at the rear of the church are Lenten Bags.  These are great for families with young people, but also for adults who enjoy having objects to help them focus.  Inside the bag are six items with brief suggestions and questions for discussion and reflection.  We ask that a household take only one bag, as there are limited quantities – but we will gladly make more if there is a need.

(The Lenten Bags are adapted from an idea shared at buildingfaith.org)

Again, whatever you do, and however you choose to do it – I pray that you will take this opportunity to have a Lenten season that is transformative for you, in the most positive ways possible.

 If you have thoughts to share this Lenten season, please submit them to office@stpaulsconcord.org for consideration.

Lent has begun!

by Marjorie Hascall

ASH WEDNESDAY

FEBRUARY 18.2015

As I have done yearly since retiring I attended the 7:30 a.m. Ash Wednesday Service.  It had been advertised as an Ecumenical Service, including our BishopRob, and a Lutheran bishop and clergy representing other Christian Denominations.  This left me a bit unsure of what the service would be like. 

When I entered the church, there were clergy bustling about, obviously making final preparations, and the service bulletin contained the entire service.  In fact I did not open my Prayer Book at all. 

The procession of clergy and Bishops was inspiring.  You do not often see that number of clergy participating in a service.  The service itself was from the Book of Common Prayer, and was typical for Ash Wednesday except for those participating.  In fact I found the service more meaningful then in the past.  It had been raised above the simple service of Imposition of Ashes and the Holy Eucharist. 

Respecting those in the congregation who were not Episcopalians and not accustomed to kneeling at the Altar Rail we were directed to one of several stations to receive ashes.  At the Eucharist elements were available for both Episcopalians and for those who usually received grape juice rather then wine, again at several stations around the Nave.

All this somehow made this service special, and I would hope that it could be continued in the future.  Lent has arrived.

Pictured L to R are The Rev. Dr. James Hazelwood, bishop of the New England Synod (ELCA), Ms. Clare Chapman, the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, the Rev. Kate Atkinson, the Rev. Gary Schulte. Duncan MacIntyre (acolyte), the Rev. Jonathan Hopkins, and the Rev. David Abbott.

Ash Wednesday - a reflection

This post is offered to us by a reader of our blog who asks to remain anonymous.  

To write about this day is to confront it.  We are told in Ash Wednesday material

(Book of Common Prayer p. 265) that Lent is a time when those who "because of notorious sins, were separated from the body of the faithful" can be "reconciled by penitence and forgiveness."  Appointed psalms for today and this coming Sunday remind me of my sin.   "Blot out my transgressions," pleads the psalmist in Psalm 51.  "Wash me. . .purify me of my sin. . . .Against you alone have I sinned/and done what is evil in your sight."  I hear much of this psalm in the "Daily Devotions" section of the Book of Common Prayer (p. 137): "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.   Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me."

 

My spiritual journey started over 20 years ago.   My professional life was going well, but my spiritual life was a mess.    Where I lived, the local Episcopal Church was very "high church" (as are many Midwestern parishes) and the parish encouraged the sacrament of confession as it appears in the Book of Common Prayer.   When my wife became very sick,  a colleague suggested that I ask Father R, the Episcopal priest, to come to the hospital for prayers. I did not at all consider myself a believer, but I did ask him, and I was surprised to be grateful for his prayers.

 

Later, I went to his office to talk.  I told him that I had been a militant atheist for all my adult life, and I had often poked fun at religious people.  At times I could be downright mean.   But I had heard much talk from evangelical Christians (not from my family!) and pre-Vatican II Catholics that many of us were bound for Hell, perhaps the majority of us.  I embraced atheism because I would be better off, I thought, if there were no God at all.  And I drank a lot for years to forget the whole thing.  "If there really is a God," I said to Father R, "I am going to be in big trouble."   He replied: "God is infinitely loving, infinitely forgiving, infinitely patient, and infinitely tenacious."   Thanks be to God for him and for those words!   Later at home that night I did not hear any words, but I felt like something was saying to me "glad to have you back."

 

A while later came Ash Wednesday.    I attended a very small service, received the imposition of ashes.  Communion followed.  I hesitated, the old skeptical part of me saying, "this is nuts."  But I felt drawn to the altar rail, almost by a kind of magnetic force.  I told my skeptical mind, "look -- something happened in Palestine about 2000 years ago that had to be very powerful.  Let's just go along here and see what happens."  Again at the rail, I had that "glad you're back" feeling.

 

Penitence came frequently, often suggested formally when I actually did confession as a sacrament.  At one time, it was suggested that I become an oblate with a Benedictine community, which I did with great pleasure.   Other acts of penitence were, I think, suggested by the Holy Spirit whom we beg for in that psalm.   One time I heard a call for volunteers to help with an AA meeting inside a prison.  I have been claustrophobic my whole life, and was a law-abiding citizen partly because the idea of being locked up terrified me.   Yet, that same magnetic force drove me to volunteer (as I walked up to offer my name, I thought, "I do NOT want to do this!").  My wife went with me to that prison meeting almost every week for three years, and as I look back I find it one of the most rewarding times of my life.  

 

Later, we moved to New Hampshire and I learned that there was a need for volunteer work in the Secure Psychiatric Unit at Concord State Prison.  I really did not want to go in there!  At the same time, I was getting to be depressed and irritable, and I decided I had better do that job too.  Pardon my language, but I later told a friend, "The Holy Spirit kicked my butt till I went in there."  I did that for a year, until the guys in my group were either discharged or moved to other facilities.

 

As I face Ash Wednesday for 2015, I recall more of the psalm, in the KJV: "purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean."  Well, I've been sort of clean, I guess, but I have a way of getting grubby again.   There's a lot more work to do, and this time of year is a great reminder to get going.

 

 

Anyone interested in sharing their own stories or reflections on the season may submit their work to office@stpaulsconcord.org  for consideration.  We appreciate and celebrate our community of believers, wherever they are in their personal journeys.

Lenten Light

by the Rev. Kate Atkinson

As we move from Epiphany into Lent, we’re treated to a wonderful foretaste of Christ’s radiant light in heaven. When we’re trudging through the stresses, the losses and the disappointments that can be so much a part of our life in this world, the story of the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-9) reminds us of what we have to look forward to: eternal life in God’s glorious presence. 

The Transfiguration also reminds us that Christ’s light breaks into dark places here and now.  Our faith in a living God gives us access to Christ’s healing, strengthening, inspiring light every day.  Whether or not we call them mountaintop experiences, we’ve all encountered Christ’s glory at some point in our lives and we could tell amazing stories of the difference that has made.

But there’s another aspect of the Transfiguration which is perhaps the most important one for people of faith today. This past Sunday we prayed these words: “Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of (Jesus’) countenance, may…be changed into his likeness from glory to glory…” (Collect for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany) In other words, “help us become like Christ.”

We’re not just asking God to help us survive in a difficult world, we’re asking God to help us make this world better.

God said, “Let light shine out of darkness!” (2 Corinthians 4:6) 

When Christ’s light shines in the world, it reveals things that are wrong.  As followers of Christ, we can distinguish between what’s right or wrong, good or evil, honest or dishonest, because we have the light of the gospel to guide us.  Lent is a perfect time for us to stop handling the gospel as if it were cheap merchandise, and to recognize it as a priceless treasure that can enlighten and transform our lives.

We’re moving from the holy, light-filled season of Epiphany, into the holy season of Lent – which is filled with light of a different quality.  It is light that can help us seek out and illuminate the dark corners in our lives; light that can reveal to us those things that we need to change.  Then, with God’s help, we discover that we have the power to change them.  

Unusual places - finding God

by Rev. Keith Patterson

God is used to showing up in unusual places—like a stable at Christmas.

I remember reading a story in the Huffington Post about an ordination to the diaconate occurring in a laundromat!  Surely God could be present in a laundromat just as well as in a church building. 

Scott Classen, the ordinand, stated that ordinations that he attended in the past usually took take place in a cathedral.   Scott runs a street ministry called Thad’s for the oft forgotten apostle, Thaddeus.  Thad’s offers a monthly outreach ministry called “Laundry Love.”  Each month machines, quarters and soap are offered to the homeless so that they might have the dignity of clean clothes.  So a laundromat to Scott’s thinking was a fitting place as any church for an ordination.

I am sure when the Holy Spirit was called down at the laying on of the hands, it did not matter that it was in a crowded laundromat with people going about the business of doing their laundry and not a cathedral with stained glass windows and flickering candles.

So it was in the midst of wash cycles and the whir of large dryers that the first ordained order in the church, the diaconate, which emphasizes service, would be held in an unexpected place—a laundromat—and God was surely present.[1] 

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[1] Los Angeles deacon Ordained in Laundromat as Part of Street-based Ministry, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/02/deacon-ordained-in-laundromat_n_5248371.html

One Talent, Plus Interest

by Gail Schilling

And to one he gave five talents … and to another one,

to each according to his own ability. -- Matt. 25:15

True confession: When my friend Cynnie emailed that St. Paul’s was cranking up the Ten Talents Challenge again this year, I was glad to be in Florida and off the hook. When it comes to turning profits, I’m a dud.

That first Challenge year, I decided to decorate a fancy Valentine cake and bake some Swedish limpa rye bread to sell. Only 15 minutes into the baking, however, I smelled smoke -- a melted oven element. By the time the landlord fixed it, the cake had collapsed, and the bread dough ballooned into useless, yeasty blobs.

The next week I again spent hours making crusty, fragrant rye loaves and squash rolls. Wow! Six loaves plus 4 dozen rolls. I can make a dent in the church deficit! Alas, it was not to be. That Sunday morning snow and icy rain made me fear driving to church. Could I walk with a 15 lb. basket? With no shoveled sidewalks? I dunked a squash roll in my coffee and gazed at sleet pelting the windowpane. I could freeze the bread, but I could not in good conscience sell it defrosted the following week.  By week four, I quit trying and pondered anew the “unprofitable servant.” When the challenged ended, I returned my original $10 and slunk away, for I had made no money.

The next year, I knit hats.  Each took five hours and generated $10. I turned in $30 and would have turned in even more if the cat I babysat hadn’t used the last hat for an angora commode. So much for the Ten Talents Challenge. I tried. I really tried. But my God-given talent is writing – hardly an impulse buy like artwork, bread, and BBQ sauce.

Then this morning, I thought – Just write a check for Ten Talents and be done with it!  I remembered that Daily Guideposts had recently paid me for a piece that takes place at St. Paul’s.* Not only is that check worth a pile of hats, but the story describes my unlikely interim as church secretary in 2012, another time I felt marginally useful at St. Paul’s.

So I’m donating the entire Daily Guideposts payment to this year’s Ten Talents challenge in lieu of a cash ’n carry item. It’s taken a while, but I now discern that God richly blesses me with this, my One Talent, and leads me to use it in unforeseen ways. I just need to remember that return on Investment takes place in God’s time, not my own.

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*to be published in 2016

For more information on Gail’s writing visit :  http://www.guideposts.org/daily-guideposts

Advice for all who serve as ministers of the word

by the Rev. Keith Patterson

Here are some words of advice given to me on my ordination to the Sacred Order of Priests, January 18, 2014 the Confession of St. Peter.  Good advice for us all who function as ministers of Christ’s good news.

……. We charge you to use well the gifts God has given you for silence, for hearing and telling truths.  We ask you to keep a place of deep stillness within you, so that you may listen for God’s truth in whatever form it might take whenever and wherever you may find it…. Listen for it in all the places that you find yourself….. And when you hear it, speak it clearly to the world, confessing those truths to the world.  Tell it out for all to hear.  Be mindful of your own self-care because in order to care for others you must care first for yourself.  Remember God is with you every step of the path that lies ahead, leading and guiding you and always providing for you...... May God be with you in all of the places we send you and where God calls you.  May God give you the patience to keep listening and the courage to speak the truth as God shows it to you.[1]         Amen.

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[1] The Rev. Scott Neal, Ordination of Keith Patterson to the Sacred Order of Priests, January 18, 2014.