Sunday of the Resurrection - Easter Day

Alleluia! Christ is Risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Reading a piece this Easter Morning in the Wall Street Journal, James Marten, a Jesuit priest, posits that the reason Easter has resisted the commercialism of Christmas is because "whether you're a believer or not, there is no way to ignore the radical claim of the Resurrection".

He goes on to say that "if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, what he says demands a response. If you are a Christian, then what Jesus says has a claim on you.  What Jesus says are radical commands: Love your neighbors. Forgive, Care for the poor and the marginalized".

I began reading the piece because I wanted to know what the explanation might be with respect to the non-commercialization of Easter. I ended my read feeling an enormous tug, a tug that says Listen. Do.

Last night, Easter Eve, a dear friend sent me this:

The Terminus

Is not where we stay;

It is the beginning of a new journey,

It is where we reach out beyond,

Where we experience new adventures.

It is where we get off

To enter new territory,

To explore new horizons,

To extend our whole being.

It is a place touching the future.

It opens up new vistas.

It is the gateway to eternity.

     

                                                              David Adam in “Celtic Prayers”
                                                                      Former Vicar of Holy Island ( Lindisfarne),

40ACTS of Stewardship ended Lent with the challenge of going beyond whatever sacrifice you made for Lent. To commit to a life of sacrifice, to offer up one's very best to God.

It feels like I've entered new territory in my faith life. Many years ago my to-become best friend said to me, "let's see what God has in store for you". And so in this season of Easter I look anew to what is being both asked and commanded of me.  Let's just see what God has in store for me.

Good Friday

For the past 58 years I have had a special conversation with a very special person on Good Friday.  When I was a teenager with "growing pains" I reached out to my cousin for conversation and care.  She responded with her heart, with her wisdom.  And we ended that day in church- it was Good Friday.

She saved my life.  Every Good Friday after that I called her to talk, and to thank her for saving my life. We filled the conversation with how our lives had been filled since we last spoke on the previous Good Friday.

Things are different this year.  She died a few days before Good Friday.  But she left me the gift of her voice on a voice text that her daughter made.  It was the Friday before Good Friday.  So I had my conversation a tad early, and in a unique format.  That voice text will stay with me, and I'll listen to it for all the Good Friday's ahead of me.

I walked the labyrinth at my church today.  I prayed and I spoke.  I believe she listened.

Lenten Roses are planted near the entrance to the labyrinth.  Like clockwork they bloom at the beginning of Lent, and then fade as Lent ends and we have the joy of the Sunday of the Resurrection.  Promises made and promises kept.

Earlier today I walked along the river.  And adjacent to the path was this sight.

I feel her beside me on this Good Friday and I know she hears me say, "Thank you for saving my life".

Resurrection - Rebirth

This being Holy Week, I've been barraged with the life and death of Jesus.  And of the promise of the resurrection and of life eternal.

I'm in a state of heightened awareness this week.  

Just this day, these sights:

In a Home Depot parking lot...

in my driveway...

in the woods out back.

"Hard to imagine daffodils

Where I see nothing but white veils

Incessant falling of thick snow

In this nowhere, non-landscape

Which has no shadow and no shape,

And holds me fast and holds me deep

And will not cease before I sleep.

Hard to imagine somewhere else

Where life could stir and has a pulse

And know that somewhere else will be

This very field changed utterly.

With host of daffodils to show
that spring was there under the snow."

                      Blizzard by May Sarton

I stopped my car this afternoon to take a phone call.  The sight in front of me was this stone, these daffodils just recently risen, and a gurgling creek. The caller told me of the death of my dear cousin just hours earlier.  She said "my mom entered into the presence of our Lord and Savior while sleeping peacefully".

Through the death and resurrection we are promised life eternal.  I see the signs.  I hear the words.  And my faith tells me this is the truth. 

May light perpetual shine upon Diane.

Hunger Walk/Run - Atlanta

This year marks the Atlanta Community Food Bank's 32nd annual Hunger Walk and Run. 

The event brings attention to hunger in Middle and North Georgia, and raises funds to combat that hunger.  It's ecumenical in the sense that the five partner agencies represent faith communities: Episcopal, Jewish, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic.  In an even greater interfaith sense, anyone can participate as a runner, a walker, a volunteer, a financial supporter.

STAGGERING facts:

          18.7 percent of the people living in Georgia are food insecure, meaning that they             don't always know where they will find their next meal.

          28.2 percent of Georgia children live in food insecure households.  This is well over           one in every four Georgia children.

          In the Atlanta Community Food Bank's 29-county service area, 24.5 percent of
          children are food insecure.

I'm blessed to always know from where my next meal will come. My friends and family know also.

So how can I help?

For me it starts with the work of the Episcopal Charities Foundation.  And this partnership with ACFB to raise money to provide funding to ministries and organizations across the Diocese of Atlanta (Middle and Upper Georgia) who feed people.

"When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink..."          Matthew 25:35

Tybee Time Reflection

Tybee Time began twelve years ago as my friend and I sought a beach locale for Lenten retreat travel. Now thirteen Lents later, it's a fixture in our seasons of Lent. A shared place to reflect, ponder, and slow down. 

The sense of traveling small this year colored the days on Tybee Time. 

          Buying a few items at a small grocery and having them be enough. 

          Eating the food purchased rather than eating out. 

          Staying on Tybee Island with the exception of the hours of one day. 

          Walking to church. Walking to one beach.

          No shopping. 

          Making do with the lodging amenities provided. 

          Succinct and beautiful liturgies. 

Now returned home, it's another year until Tybee Time. In the meantime, I am rested and filled up with small travel.  

Day 4 on Tybee Time

Only a few hours on Tybee Time this day.

Enough, though, to walk to the beach to welcome the arrival of the sun. 

Time for a quick breakfast of our remaining provisions and then to pack up. 

Starbucks in Savannah for the road, then off to Atlanta. 

Stopping in Macon to walk the labyrinth at Mulberry Methodist Church. Pattern and rhythm. 

Then to Superica in Atlanta to feast on small bites. 

Following #40 Acts of Stewardship this Lent, today's act was to "serve the server". My friend and I chose to serve our server with a $100 tip. The look on his face...and the leap in my heart...

Ending this day with frozen custard and the exquisite movie "Brooklyn", we fell into bed. We were now on Atlanta time, and believe me, it's nothing like Tybee Time. 

Day 3 on Tybee Time

Patterns seen this morning. 

“Pay attention to the intricate patterns of your existence that you take for granted.” 

Doug Dillon, author. 

I appreciate order. Predictability. I seek a rhythm in life and often fail to find it. Yet, I continue to seek. 

Maybe that is why I'm so drawn to patterns that are seen around me. Walking the shoreline this morning, I slowed down as each new pattern presented itself. A visible sign of order.

Seeking and recognizing patterns in life, and then building upon that structure, can buffer the unexpected and the uncertain. 

In the bible, three references to pattern are found: First, when God instructed Moses how to build the tabernacle in the Old Testament, He told Moses to "make all things according to the pattern". Exodus 25:40. Again in the book of Hebrews as a reminder of doing all things today "according to the pattern."  And Hebrews 8:5. And in Ezekiel 43:7-12, "let them measure the pattern." 

As a disciple I seek God's pattern for my life. 

Day 2 continued

This was "big-city" day. Savannah. 

Feasts for body and mind. With a little soul thrown in for good measure. Excellence in all. 

Italian-traditon coffee shop for cuppas and pastries. 

Decadent spa pedicures. 

Unusual and creative exhibits at the Savannah College of Art and Design. SCAD. 

A top 50 Southern Barbecue restaurant. 

Coffee at a local roastery. 

Top-down driving to and from, skirting the marsh, and bridging the sea. 

Along the way experiencing conversation and presence with locals, whose passion for their work was obvious, and because of whom, body, mind, and soul were fed this big-city day. 

Now back on the island, and after a nap, it's time for a walk along the marsh. 

Day 2 on Tybee Time

Sustenance can take different forms. 

An early morning walk on the beach. 

 

Cappuccinos and Italian pastries. 

Body and soul. 

"Now may the God of peace sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Thessalonians 5:23

Day 1 on Tybee Time

I returned "home" last night. Thirteen years coming to the Bluebird B&B on Tybee Island makes this place home. Familiar. Welcoming. I have "home" in Taos,NM, as well. Another place of familiarity and welcome. 

It's not so much about knowing where everything is or how all things work. It's more about promise. About knowing you can trust in the security of sameness. It's about certainty of routine. I'm definitely not all about sameness and routine, but I seem to have more need of these than in years past. 

God makes promises of sameness. "I am with you."  Isaiah 41:10. "The Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

Perhaps that's my true longing for sameness. 

Still, I am home in this place this day. 

It is well with my soul. 

Tybee Time Once Again

A return to the familiar is important to me.  It's a kind of coming home.  It makes me smile inside.

Once again I'm returning to Tybee Island for Lenten Tybee Time. Nothing much happens on Tybee Time.  That's as it should be during the Lenten Season.

There will be much walking on the beach.  I'm struck by how often I look down and see beach debris that has formed itself into a cross.  Ponder that.

I'll hit the road first thing tomorrow on the way to familiar.  Come along.

Patience

I've just returned from a short trip to visit my cousin who suffered multiple strokes several months ago.  She "saved my life" a long time ago.  I'd like to save hers.  What I learned in my time with her this week, was she needs to save her own life.  I can walk with her, encourage her, prod and push her, feed her.  But it's up to her to want and choose to live, and then take on the very hard tasks of doing so.

I wanted to fix things, to shove food and encouragement.  What I learned was this is a slow fix, a very slow recovery.  IF she chooses. I know choosing life is about more than bodily sustenance and improvement.  I know it's also the choice to love God and trust that God gives us life eternal.

I learned about being patient.  Most of the time.  All of us have our own rhythms in life; mine has some impatient rhythms, some hurry-up, some what's-taking-so-long times.

So I was gifted slow-down time:  baby-bites, tiny sips, reaching back to memories times.

And nap times where I sat while she napped.  I have to confess that I wasn't always able to sit still, so I would walk the halls and did manage to get my 10,000 steps while slowing down and being patient.

Lent is a time of slowing down, and a time of reflection.  Being with my cousin provided me with lots of reflections of my life- my growing up years, my growing into years, and now my more mature years. She has a deep place in all my life years, especially the saving my life long ago years.

Words of Deuteronomy fill my thoughts. "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him."    
                                                                                       Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I know this passage is telling us that choosing life means loving God and walking in God's ways. 

For me, it also is a plea to my cousin: "Now choose life!"  On my way to my hotel one evening I found a beautiful Episcopal church nearby where I stopped to pray. 

Now Choose Life.

Sitting in Jesus' Lap

As I child I learned about Jesus in Sunday School and in books of Bible stories.  One of my favorite images was that of children gathered around Jesus, with one or two seated in his lap. My faith was more surface faith as a child, but I could picture myself in Jesus' lap.

Today, in my 75th year, I sometimes imagine myself in Jesus' lap.  If I'm troubled or scared or uncertain, I hop up in Jesus' lap.  And I'm comforted.

We all have hard stuff in our lives, some more than others.  I'm blessed to have less than what I'm certain others carry.  Sometimes I imagine I have more than I actually do.  That's where the tidying up of my spirit and my soul comes in.

Still, this day I have the real deal.  And it's not my hard stuff, rather that of a dear, dear family member who is in poor health.  I'll journey to her this day and spend the next couple of days with her.

I'll be in Jesus' lap as my flight takes off, and again as I share time and troubles with her.

Traveling Mercies.

Reflection

For me, this Lent is about reflection. Looking back as well as considering the now.

What has brought me to this day that I shall retain?

What shall I discard?

Last year during Lent I read "The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up".  I immediately set upon de-cluttering my home - my closets, drawers and cabinets.  Whatever ceased to give me "JOY" was gone- passed on so as to provide joy for another.  It was freeing!

Now I find my mind and my soul need some de-cluttering.  There are burdens I carry that are based in habit more than reality; things that I could probably release through prayer and practice. There's a lot of unnecessary clutter that plays through my thoughts.

Virginia Woolf said: "My own brain is to me that most unaccountable of machinery - always buzzing, humming, soaring, roaring, diving, and then buried in mud.  And why? What's this passion for?"

I would add, what's the need being served, and could I discard?

Grow a Holy Lent

The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, led by Bishop Rob Wright, issued an invitation this Lent to participate in a conversation about how to love like Jesus. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. To love our enemies. Love Everyone. The challenge given us is to look inside ourselves to try to see what loving like Jesus means.

Each week during Lent the conversation will focus on one specific area about how to love like Jesus. Ideas will be offered, questions posed. 

I know I don't now love like Jesus. And I know I never will. But I do want to love more like Jesus. I'm joining this conversation. 

Ash Wednesday Airborne

Much of today was travel -- driving from the mountains to the city, then flying 5 1/2 hours on a diagonal route across the country.

I was fortunate to have time in the middle of travel to pray the Litany for Penitence in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of St. Philip. 

".....we confess to you and to one another....that we have sinned by thought...by word...by deed."

Then time to gaze out the window, watching the miles pass as the sun set, pondering how to "renew a right spirit in me." 

Greeted at the end of my journey by a welcome of smiles and hugs. Then at last covered in slumber. It will be well with my soul. 

Ash Wednesday

A crucial meeting, followed by travel, keeps me from attending Ash Wednesday services this year.  In its place, I have "Ashes on the Fly" at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport.  The Reverend Donna Mote, Episcopal Chaplain at ATL, provides ashes to travelers arriving or departing on Ash Wednesday.  I found Donna on the E Concourse before my flight to Seattle.

"Remember, from dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return". 

In an essay entitled "The Weight of Ash", the Reverend Deborah Lewis writes: "It's an odd and intimate gesture, brushing someone's hair aside to mark her with death." And so in that moment I receive a reminder - of what I am, and what I will be in the end.  She says that when one receives the touch of the Imposition of Ashes, we are to listen for God's reminder, and walk away marked.  This is who you are.  Remember.

Remember.  Feels like that should be my Lenten discipline this year.