Ministry Musings

Homecoming!

Last day of classes.

Tomorrow morning I will leave The Mountain and head home. And I cannot wait to get home! Two more classes today a VERY short stay in a hotel in Monteagle and 5 am airport shuttle and these three wonderful weeks will come to a close.

Of course, I will have some homework to do. And then there is the doctoral project that I have to wrap my head and heart around which will need to begin to take shape over the next 11 months before next summer's classes. But that can wait until the bags are unpacked and the family reunion happens. I am going home.

The old adage tells us that "Home is where the heart is." That is true. But it is not complete. Home is also that place where our calling is made visible. Home is the place where our life's meaning and vocation is manifested and brought to flower.

Home is where our vocation is.

God calls us each by name. In baptism we are "marked as Christ's own forever" and we are named "Beloved." We are beloved in Christ. We are a part of God's life. We are deeply, deeply loved and God desires nothing less than us. US. You. Me. US.

Our true home is in the presence of God in Christ. And in between our birth and the time of our homecoming, we are given glimpses of home. These are the places which bring deep joy and meaning into our hearts. These are the places in we have those "mountain-top" experiences that shape our lives in new and exciting ways. And while it is a temptation to stay and re-experience those "mountain-top" moments again and again, we would do well to remember that Jesus said "No" to tents and went down the mountain to the "real world."

I wonder if Jesus models this in order to remind us that through our vocations we are to offer glimpses of the True Home of all of God's children. When we respond to the call of God in our lives and exercise the gifts of the Spirit given to us to equip that response, we offer others a glimpse of home.

So, I have had a great Mountain-top experience during my time at Sewanee. And, I look forward to the future times of learning, fellowship, worship and joy. But, it is time to go home. I am being called to go home and offer the glimpses of the Homeland and the Homecoming to which God invites us all.

Time for class. The last class. And, then home. Home to family. Home to friends. Home to answer God's call. Home where heart and soul and vocation meet God's desire for the world.

Prayers for Independence Day

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, pg. 242)

May the Lord our God bless our nation and our nation's leadership and lift our eyes to a greater vision of freedom and hope for our nation, our selves and our world.

May we remember what God requires of his people - that "love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God."  (Micah 6.8)

May we do all in our power as followers of Jesus to bind up the brokenhearted, encourage those running low on hope, give food and water to those in need, clothe the naked and do all such good things as would be pleasing to God.

Let us pray for our nation to move beyond narrow and short sighted public policy to grasp a larger vision of what our country and our world can be for our children and our children's children.

Let us pray that the Holy Church of God would become a beacon of light shining in the darkest of our days calling and leading the way for people to set aside their individual differences and work for the common good.

And let us pray for all those who have sacrificed the everyday life that many of us take for granted to service in the armed forces and for those who have laid down their lives for the safety and freedom of their family and friends.

May our Holy God, upon whom we depend for so much, receive these our prayers on this Independence Day.  Amen.

Ecce, quam bonum!

"Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity!"

(Psalm 133.1, BCP pg.787)

The Mountain is pretty unique.  Unless you have lived in a small town or village you probably will have a difficult time relating to what I am about to write.  But stick with it for a bit.  And do not think I am deceived into thinking that there is no brokenness or imperfections on the Mountain.  It's here even if one does not easily see it.  That being said, there is much here upon which to reflect and from which to learn.

I walk to the seminary just about everyday.  In fact, I walk just about everywhere.  Yesterday I walked to "downtown," also known as "The Village," to catch up with a friend over yogurt from the only chain food place in town (although you would be hard pressed to recognize it as such).  As we visited, people, some of whom we knew and some of whom we did not, walked by (it was a pretty busy little place) and acknowledged us.  And by that I mean they said "Hi!"

People here help one understand what is meant by the term "Southern Hospitality."  They will look you in the eye and say "Good morning!" and "Hi!" as they walk by.  Standing in line in the dining hall, a perfect stranger will engage in a conversation about their day.  And it will be interesting since there are so many conferences and camps happening that draw people, both young and old, from all over the country.

I have met many folks participating in  a myriad of activities.  The rector of a parish from Maryland in the Letters program.  A high school student attending a three week math and science camp.  School alums of all sorts visiting friends or participating in conferences. I am getting reacquainted with folks I knew when I was here and planning of visiting with still others whom I have not seen yet.  I have even been reunited with folks from the Diocese of West Texas and I get to have coffee and coversation with a young person from the parish who has grown up, married and move on to another part of the country.  I have met several gifted muscians from their teens to college aged who are here as part of the Music Festival.  And, of course, I have met a host of new friends and colleagues who are in classes with me.

"Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity!"

Ecce, quam bonum!

This verse is a part of the University seal.  Unlike the "tag lines" of many companies and, sadly, many churches, one can see this verse being lived out in classrooms, dining halls, bookstores, yogurt shops, streets and in the several worship spaces which dot this 13,000 acre campus.  Brothers and sisters living in unity is not an ideal, not a pipe-dream.  Rather, it is a practiced habit of noticing and acknowledging, of speaking to the person and to the "Imago Dei" ("Image of God") that animates that person.

Whom have you noticed today?  What stranger received a smile and a gracious "good morning" from you?  What words of kindness did you speak to the person at the cash register?  In what ways did you work to make real and tangible in the places you "live and move and have your being" the joy of brothers and sisters living together in unity?

The Mountain may be a unique place.  But it is not the only place where deep and gracious community can happen.  In fact, God offers this little glimpse of what could be to those of us who wander on this holy ground for short intervals of time so that when we venture back home we can take a bit of Sewanee with us to share with others.

I am experiencing much joy in being a part of the community on this Holy Mountain.  But I am also looking forward to the joy of reuniting with the communities I have back home.  With God's grace I will be able to bring a little Sewanee home and help others begin to understand just how good and pleasant it is when sisters and brothers can look beyond their differences and live together in the perfect unity of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Ecce, quam bonum!

I wonder...

I wonder.

I wonder if the weather will now become rainy and cool instead of dry and hot.

I wonder if all this extreme weather is the fault of human carelessness with nature.

I wonder if my garden will start to re-fruit.

I wonder if my grass is happy.

I wonder if the wife and kids will be able to get the lawnmower cranked up.

I wonder how God feels about the way we treat his creation.

I wonder how God feels about the way we treat each other.

I wonder how God feels about the way I treat myself.

I wonder if there will be professional football this fall.

I wonder how much money is enough.

I wonder if the abundance of money stifles the abundance of God.

I wonder what God thinks about all my stuff.

I wonder what God wants me to do with all that stuff.

I wonder if God has a big dumpster outside the gates of heaven for us to dump our "treasures" before we enter the Kingdom.

I wonder how God will speak today in class, at worship and through others.

I wonder what God has in store for this day.

I wonder how I will be moved.

I wonder how God will transform me to be more of what he wants.

I wonder.

I wonder.

"Immersed in God"

Day one is completed and I must say that my brain feels pretty full already.  The remaining 12 days of classtime should be interesting!

I have heard some really intriguing things today.  Probably the most compelling is the Eastern notion of the baptized life as being "immersed in God."  Our instructor added that there is "no shallow end in God's pool, only the deep."

This place is in deed a holy place.  It is holy, not because it is a place where God is glorified in architecture or in worship, but rather because many of us are actively listening for and responding to the call of God in our lives.  There is a tacit acknowledgement that we are placing our very lives in the hands of the Living God who desires for us "more than we could ask or imagine."  In doing so we become aware of God's presence in our lives when we thought he was far from us - or to put it more accurately, when we were far from him.

Probably the most wonderful thing I heard today is that no matter what is going on in my life or in the lives of those around me, we are immersed in God.  God is not just carrying us across the sandy beach leaving footprints.  God is in fact bathing us in the waters of his love, holding us in the protective womb of the baptismal waters.

I cannot help but think of the joy of jumping carefree into a swimming pool.  Can you imagine doing a cannonball or watermelon into God?  For me a "preacher's seat" might be appropos.  Of course, I have belly flopped on many an occasion - and sometimes on purpose!  That image of free flying into God and getting immersed in him is as inviting as a swimming pool on a 105 degree San Antonio day!  It sounds fun.  It sounds joyful.  It sounds refreshing and reviving.  There is no shallow end in God's love, only a deepness both satisfying and terrifying to those of us called to jump on in.

Immersed in God?  Sounds like a plan!

Who's ready to jump on in?

From The Mountain...

Today is registration day!

I am about to toss all my stuff in a van loaned to me by a seminarian family from the diocese and head up to get myself registered for school.  Then I am going to move myself into my dorm room - yes, I am staying in a dorm room for the first time ever in my life - and get ready for three weeks of community worship, classes, lectures, study groups, papers, writing sermons for grades and who knows what else.  I will once again walk the wonderfully holy ground in Sewanee and explore that important spiritual topic of vocation and call.

This time around will go much faster than the last time I was here pondering vocation and call.  It will also not be as nerve-wracking.  To be a seminarian in seminary with the question of whether or not all this effort and sacrifice will end with ordination is a stress-inducing activity.  I have felt the weight of the bishop's hands and the nauseatingly powerful stirring of the Holy Spirit that made me a deacon and priest. So that pressure is not there for me this time.  I can enjoy learning for learning's sake.  I can use this time in those specific ways of which one can on become aware after some time "in the saddle."

Yet, I cannot but help to sense that this is God's time to teach me as much as it is my time to learn.  I cannot say why, but this feels "right."  This feels like "God's time" to open my eyes to see what it is that he desires me to see.  This feels like "God's time" to redeem and heal the tough times of ministry past and offer a glimpse of a "ministry future" which redeems, heals and builds.

Today has begun and I am about to officially become a student again - even if the school term is only three weeks.  I am ready.  I have my books.  I have my paper and pens.  I have my laptop.  I have all the stuff I need (and then some) to go back to school.  But even more importantly, I am ready to let God teach me what I need to learn to be whom God desires me to be so that I can do what God desires me to do as his servant and priest in his Church.

Time to go....