The House With The Broken Door

You decided against the same old thing
You turned right, instead of your usual left

And you saw a brightly lit house
Its door hanging open
A broken door – Askew, Unworkable.
Like it was no longer something that people closed
From inside the voices came
Laughing, singing, and debating

Smells rolled down to you too
Fresh-baked bread
Apple pie
Roast chicken
New wine

A smiling face appeared at the door
And a friendly body hurried down to take your arm
“Oh!” “You’re Here!” “We were so hoping you’d come today!”
And they were all there
Old friends and new
Their names and faces filled with joy
Filling you with joy
Hugging and kissing
Slapping your back
Welcoming you in

Silly, Silly, So Foolish
How long you walked that lonely road
The house had been waiting for you
The friends had been waiting for you
But no matter
The time was paid for
And the time is at hand for you to be honored

“But I did nothing!” you said…
“I went the wrong way!”
“I did the wrong things, again and again!”

No matter, no matter
On your way you did much good,
More than you could have known
And your mistakes,

See!

They have all been redeemed-
Turned about like an engine at a roundhouse
Like a lump of clay on a wheel
Like the sun breaking through the rain
Like a starfish regrowing its arms

The journey is over
And you are home
What was forgotten has been recalled
What was stolen has been restored
What was lost has been found

There was always room for you here
You were always wanted and needed
Always wanted at our table
Always present in our prayers
If it was not so, would we not have told you?
Welcome Back!
Welcome Back Home!

None are Unclean

From Acts 11 NRSV:

Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air.

I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.”

But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.

At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.”

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’

Hinder not God, but treat all with fairness, favoring none, poor nor rich, weak nor strong, discerning not between the races, or the sexes, or by who was born of what parents. For all are called to be Children of God, and all are desired at the great feast.

Look at yourself, and see if you truly treat all alike, repent and turn to the way of God.

Peace,
LE

Carnival or Shrove Tuesday?

Carnival has arrived this year wrapped in gauze.

Lent is early this year, arriving almost as early as it can, and today is Carnival.

And I don't feel festive.

Instead I feel in need of blankets and bandages.

Comfort and quiet.

Time to heal life's wounds.

Time to grow and seek quietly.

And so today's fog, the wet quietness of the day, the muffled shapes and sounds seem in tune with my mood.

A gauzey bandage over a bruised life.

A chance to heal.

A time of peace.

Today for me will be more of the 'Shrove Tuesday' than 'Carnival'.

Shrove Tuesday, when we confess our sins before our Lenten fast.

A time to confess and be healed.

May your Lent also start with the kind of day that you need.

LE

All Lenten Thoughts

ps: I am returning to rotating the meditation or antiphon that appears in this blog's description. I never intended to stop rotating it, but life got busy, and the one I had up seemed so appropriate; 'For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.'

pps: And look at the meditation that was up next: "I'm giving up being angry.". Great for the start of Lent, and great to follow my post 'The Others'. I think I smell the Holy Spirit in this...

Peace,
LE

The Grace of Baptism

I like baptism
I like the gathering of the community
I like the approach, the welcoming of the candidates
I like the blessing of the water
I like the vows taken by and for the candidates
I like the ritual of washing
I like the symbolism of immersion
I like the unity of the body of Christ in the church.

But baptism is a peculiar thing
We do it once
We do it for others
And not for ourselves

Baptism is the Rubicon of Christianity
Once done, we have crossed over
We belong
We are sealed as belonging to Christ

Baptism is a sacrament to many Christians

An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

The sign is the wetting, the bathing, the annointing, ...and the grace?

The grace is the forgiveness of sins available to the repentant Christian through Jesus Christ.

And perhaps this is the forgotten beauty of baptism: not its celebration of becoming a member of the body, not the spiritual vows made to actively seek to turn from evil, -these are outward signs- but the initial recognition that we are all in need of perfection, that we all have stumbled, that we all need forgiveness, and that in particular the candidate is recognizing his or her errors, and is formally repenting and seeking forgiveness.

And perhaps this is what Jesus brought to baptism that it did not have before: the authority to say:

"Rise and walk, for your sins are forgiven you."

Rise and walk, and if you stumble, pick yourself up, and walk again.

May you, dear reader, also Rise and Walk

Peace,
LE

Words of Comfort

There are many who feel rejected and judged by the faith - judged unworthy - found to be reprobate - irredeemable and vile, doomed to torment, cast out of community, shunned.

It is for them I copy out the following words of comfort. May meditating on them bring you joy in this Advent season:

From John 12:

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.


From John 3:

God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life.


From 1 Timothy 1:

This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.


From 1 John 2:

If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins.


From Romans 8:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [...] I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


From 1 John 1:

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.


May you find joy in your path this Advent season, wherever your wanderings take you.

-LE

Are you Saved?

Are you saved... ...when were you saved?
People used to ask a lot.
We do speak of salvation sometimes now,
But more often not.

Is saving what happens in this life?
Or does it happen when we die?
Can it happen a long time later,
When in the grave we lie?

Can we be saved in both,
Can we be saved again?
Do we know what saving is?
Can you please explain?

Is saving like pickling,
Or like a photo that we take?
Or is saving like a change
Like love or when hearts break?

And did Jesus save us long ago,
Or does he save today?
And when we say our God came down to save us,
What do we mean? What way?

And if the saved can fall, can they fall from grace in death?
Can you still fall from grace when you can't draw a breath?

Are these important questions,
or do we all just need
to hear God's word and do it?
That would be good indeed!

We are Created Good

We are created good;
As all God creates is;

And God asks us to work;
In his fields out of love;

Love bears fruit and saves us;
Making us fit dwellings;

For our holy Father;
And his blessed Jesus.

Who calls out to each soul;
To offer them his yoke:

"Take it upon yourselves!"
"This burden is quite light!"

Sharing his life with us;
For all of us he died.

Though many start away;
He calls them "Come inside!"

Some from the faith will fall;
And others faith attain.

Yet Jesus came for all;
And calls each one by name.

(Not a definitive work on theology, just a finger, pointing...)

Bless our Maker

Bless our Maker
Bless our Caretaker

Forgive our sin
Forgive we the sinner

Feed us what we need
Lead us in your love

Guide us in right
Guide us with might
Guide us with your light

An All-Encompassing Love

Sometime about half a century ago, a mathematician proved that for any mathematical system, there will be some problems that cannot be solved, which can be solved by other mathematical systems.

Isn't that remarkable? By extension, any one way of thinking will have areas it cannot address well - that require other approaches.

And further; the world is not comprehensible to any one way of thinking.

And any one theology will similarly have certain flaws that only others can address.

And I wonder if this is not another reason for the strange plurality of the Godhead, and the very different character of its elements: Spirit, God and Son. Because perhaps the one solution to our often troubled world requires more than one approach:

A creative force; our parent who calls us to be and grow.

A redemptive force; our friend and brother who challenges us to be true and intervenes with and for us, who shares our humanity.

A supportive force; a spirit that whispers in our ear and fills our hearts with love, guiding us back to God

No one approach could suffice, and perhaps no two was yet enough. To truly love the world in the all encompassing way, three were needed.

And if God IS love, perhaps it is useful to consider the Trinity in terms of love;

Parental Love,
Fraternal Love,
....and Passion

Filled with the threefold love of God, may we be wise in our own lives to see when new approaches are needed, hear when others point out our blindness, and act in God's will.

-Peace and Love to you in the Trinitarian God of Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, and God our Parent,

LE

After Isaiah 2:

(Subverted lightly from the NRSV)

It will come to pass that the Lord will establish his house among the nations, it shall be raised above the hills and all the world shall see it's light. Many peoples will say; ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,  to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths,’ So all nations shall stream to the house of the Lord, and out of Zion shall go forth instruction,  and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The Lord shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they study war any more.

My brothers and sisters, let us walk again in the light of the Lord! For we have forsaken God's ways and wander in foolishness.

After 2 Timothy 2

Remember Jesus in your sufferings, and if you are chained, remember that the word of God cannot be chained. Endure for the sake of the world, that the world may also obtain salvation, for if we die with Jesus, we will rise with Christ, and if we endure we will also reign with him.

Jesus cannot save us while we deny him, but he remains faithful to us, seeking us and consoling us when we despair. Even in our denial, in our guilt and sin, Jesus must remain faithful to us, because he cannot deny himself, and there is great hope in that. Jesus is our redeemer, and seeks our redemption, so seek to return to, and keep true to Jesus, even as he keeps true to you.

Yours in Faith
LE

When We Fall

Hurtful things
Done again and again
Maybe not intentionally to hurt
But not avoided
And returned to
And repeated.

Things we shouldn't do
Things we should do in moderation
That we do to extreme
Things that harm ourselves
Things that harm others

We all make mistakes
We all do things that are wrong
And we often, too often repeat them
Minor addictions
Bad habits
Sins and crimes

Sometimes they sneak up on you
You don't realize you are slipping
Sliding
Falling into sin

Try to keep God first
Keep God in your mind and make sure what you are doing is good.
And when you slip
Apologize
Try to make things right
And start anew

"I Will, With God's Help"

LE

Prodigality

The other day I watched 'Nanny McPhee' with my family. -We generally don't get to movies while they are in the theatre, due to the business of our lives. So apologies for getting to this video long after most have seen it. At any rate, 'Nanny McPhee' seems an appropriate topic on the Sunday the lectionary blesses us with 'the prodigal son'. In 'Nanny' the children are much more particularly heinous, and less amusing than in 'Mary Poppins' to the extent that no nannys will come to help their father anymore.

At this point Nanny McPhee arrives, bearing an impressive collection of warts, a snaggletooth, and a bulbous nose.

As the children learn each of the lessons on the way to being good family members, the nanny loses one of her uglifying features, until finally, at the end of the story, with the children fully remediated, Nanny McPhee is a beautiful older woman.

What is up with this transformation? Perhaps, living in relationship, with all of its strictures, looks pretty ugly from the outside, much like returning to beg forgivess from one's father after spending all your inheiritance might. But from the other side of that transition -from the in-side of that relationship, there is much beauty.

May we find forgiveness, and find it in our hearts to provide forgiveness to those who repent and seek forgiveness from us. And may we find beauty in love, where true beauty resides.