A Little Cheating on Retreat

I am on retreat this weekend and am supposed to be "fasting" from technology.  I'm not doing terribly well with that.  I am addicted to posting my daily photos, and I really don't want to lose my blogging momentum.  I don't have the time to write a full post today, so I am sharing a daily devotion that I wrote that was published today.

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Today's devotional is written by Kris Baker, Order of St Francis & St Clare, at #cohdallas, a United Church of Christ congregation, based on the following scripture:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2

A Word of Hope
Today is the feast of The Epiphany, the day when the three kings from the east, who had traveled afar over field and fountain, moor and mountain following yonder star, made their way to Bethlehem bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn king. The word epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphainen, meaning to shine upon, to reveal, to manifest, or to make known. On this day we celebrate the manifestation and revelation of God in Christ. We celebrate the Christ child who is the light of the world.

Are we not like those three wise men on a pilgrimage to find Christ? Have we not asked, perhaps many times, where we can find him and pay homage to him? As modern day Christians, our call is to keep our eyes and heart on that guiding star, on Jesus, the light of the world, and to let that star be our guide. That is not easy. Stars are sometimes hidden by clouds; clouds of fear, despair, insecurity, and hopelessness obscure the light. And even when we can see the stars, they often appear far beyond our reach. We need to remember that Jesus is never beyond our reach. He is with us in every step of every day. Jesus is the light that shines in our darkness. He is the star that, like the one that lead the wise men to Bethlehem, guides us through our daily lives. The three kings came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for Jesus. In the words of Christina Rosetti, "What can I give Him, poor as I am?...[I can] give my heart." That is enough. The only thing that Jesus desires of us is our hearts. In giving Christ our hearts and following Him, the light of the world, all things are made possible.

What do you see when you look at the stars? Do you see stars of hope, peace, love? Stars of compassion, justice, mercy? Stars of contemplation, prayer, action? In the words of Paul to the Thessalonians, "You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart." (MSG)

Prayer
Creator of the stars of night, help me to always trust in You and be guided by Your light. I pray that I will be a beacon of that light for others. Amen

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In other news, we had snow in Texas today!  There was only a light dusting where I am, but at home, apparently there was quite a bit more, enough to wreak havoc on the roads at rush hour.  I did manage to sneak outside long enough to snap today's picture of the day, "Where I Stand."

Brooke is at home dog sitting.  Today's snow was Piper's first time ever to see the white stuff.  Her "big sister" kindly sent me a video.

 I was sad not to be there. I hate to admit that  I felt like a parent who was missing a significant first in her child's life.

Obviously it it cold here in here in Texas!  Despite that, Weber was excited last night to get to drive the golf cart back to our cabin.  Apparently, I am not a woman who chooses a guy based on the "car" he drives. :-)

I am going to stop here and go repent for my rule breaking sins.  I wish you all a blessed Feast of the Epiphany.

This was a light on the foot path and the pattern that it cast.  Perfect for today!

Where I Stand

Every month, the Capture Your 365 photo prompts include this one - "Where I Stand."  I have pictures of my bare feet, my sock covered feet, my feet in comfy shoes, funky shoes, and dressy shoes.  Throughtout these photos I can be seen with my feet curled around the base of my desk chair, propped up on the couch relaxing, standing side by side with the one I love, on rocks and mountains,  close to home, and faraway.  Each photo tells a story of where I was physically in that particular moment on that particular day.

This week I was prompted to focus on where I stand not through my camera, but through my heart.  I was faced with examining where I stand emotionally, spiritually, theologically, and morally, not though pictures, but through my actions..  It is much more diffucult to create an image of where the inner me stands than it is to show where the physical me has planted my feet.

The week began with awakening last Sunday morning to the devestating news of the attack on the Pulse Night Club in Orlando.  Such an attack is horrifying in its own right, but when I learned that the attacker specifically targeted  the LGBT community, it felt like salt being poured into wounds that were already quite deep and painful.  The LGBT community is my friends, my family, my church.  If such an incident were to occur here in Dallas, I have no doubt that someone I know would have been among the dead or injured.

I actually went to two different church services last Sunday morning, the Episcopal church, the church in which I grew up, the church in which my children were baptized, and the church in which I was married...twice. :-)  Sadly, the events in Orlando were not mentioned during that Sunday morning service.  I then went to Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ, the largest LGBT church in the world.  There the events in Orlando were on the hearts and minds of everyone.  The response, however, was not one of hate, but of sadness for the great loss of life and a need to extend our love to a commuity that is grieving and in pain.  There was an outpouring of love for the victims and families in Orlando and for the LGBT community here in Dallas.  Yes, there was anxiety and some outright fear, but when we came together as a community a faith, that fear was lessesned a bit during that time when we all stood together in prayer and praise.

On Monday, I received emails from both churches.  The one from the Episcopal church sadi that the regularly scheduled Wednesday night Eucharist would be a Requiem offered for those who lost their lives in Orlando, but because the sanctuary was being used for another event during that time, they did not know yet where that service would be held.  Interestingly, I never recieved any further information about that particular service.  

From Cathedral of Hope came an anouncement that The Turtle Creek Chorale, a premier men's chorus here in Dallas, and the Cathedral of Hope Sanctuary Choir were going to offer a concert entitled "Songs of Healing" on Tuesday evening.  I was honored to be asked to sing as part of that concert.  In a time when I felt helpless, music was something that I had to offer.  

That Tuesday night concert was attended by 1600 people and watched by 500,000 more via live streaming broadcasts.  In addition to the gift of music offered by the collective musicians, those who attended the concert, through generous hearts, gave $18,000 to be sent to agencies Orlando who are helping the families of the victims with final expenses.  The people of Dallas showed their love for the people of Orlando.

This event was engineered and executed in forty-eight hours thanks to the hard work and commitment to the cause by many, many people, not the least of whom was the Dallas Police Department who sent sixty officers to keep us all safe that night.  For that ninety minutes, fear subsided.

I have no idea how many attended the service at the Episcopal church that I assume ocurred Wednesday evening in some undisclosed location.  

It should come as no surprise that because of Cathedral of Hope's position in the Chritian church and the LGBT faith community,  our head pastor was sought out by reporters for his thoughts and commentary on the week's events.  As ones who are proud of the work of our church and its leaders, we shared many of those articles and videos through social media.  I was no exception.

I was surprised yesterday when my Facebook feed included a "rant" against our pastor's words by someone I consider to be a good friend.  At first I was hurt.  Then I was sad.  I then felt God's hand on my shoulder and words in me ear telling me that this was my chance to show where I stand.  When I am hurt or upset, I generally have one of two responses - withdraw completely from the situation, or fire back in "unpleasant" discourse.  I knew that neither of these responses was acceptable this time.  The person who wrote the post in question is someone who I believe God intentionally brought into my life.  We have had several different, all positive, encounters prior to this.  And as I said, this is someone I consider to be a good friend, so withdrawing would be a personal loss to me.  And now more than ever, as is evidenced by the political climate in this country, I know that angry discourse is a coward's response.  It is a response from the head, not the heart.  The heart responds with love as its guiding force.  With God's help, I did my best to respond in love - balancing my love for my church, my pastor, my faith, myself, and my friend.  I received a gentle response saying that we could agree to disagree.  Indeed we could and that was ok.  I honestly believe that responding to the initial post was God calling me to articulate in a respectable way, where I stand not for my friend, but for me.

As if all these things weren't enough to make one question the goodness of life, on our way to Cathedral of Hope this morning we received a text from a friend saying that the building had been evacuated because of "suspicious packages" left on the premises.  The worship service was moved to a safe spot outdoors, away from the packages.  Amidst the Dallas bomb squad and a number of other police officers, worship went on.

I have written here many times that I am not a risk taker; yet despite all that was going on, it never crossed my mind that I should not attend the worship service at Cathedral of Hope this morning.  Another opportunity to show where I stand.  This morning I stood with my closest friends, surrounded by lots of love and police officers.  And it was good.

As it turned out, the "suspicious bags" were harmless, clothes and a cell phone.  We were able to return to the building, and the air conditioning,   There was an amazing sense of community as we all held hands and sang, "How great is our God" after breaking bread together.   Love will conquer hate. It may take awhile, but love will win.

As is the case with our "village" of friends, we headed to brunch after church.  On the way, I checked my Facebook feed.  There were lots of posts about the morning's events at church.  Hidden amidst all of that was a notice that my friend, with whom I'd had the exchange yesterday, had tagged me in a post.  In it, she said that she had misinterpreted the article that was posted, responded without fully processing what was said, and after some time to let it settle, now understands what was really being presented and what I was trying to say in my response.  Wow!  The Spirit is at work!

There was a huge lesson in this for me.  First of all, I neither retreated or responded from the wrong place when faced with, what was for me, a challenging situation.  Nor did I judge my friend, because I have done the very same thing...replied to someone or something without taking time, without listening to God guide me through to the place where I should be.  I also learned from my friend how to admit when I have made a mistake.  I hope that I have the courage to do as she did the next time I find myself having jumped to a conclusion too quickly.

So as a new week dawns, where do I stand...

• Still deeply saddened by the loss of life in Orlando
• Grateful for the healing power of music
• Proud to be part of a community of faith that not only talks the talk, but walks the walk
• Thankful for the support of the Dallas police department throughout this week
• Truly blessed by friends both far and near
• Certain that love conquers hate
• Confident that God is good.

All Saints Day

A year ago today was my dad's memorial service.  The readings, the hymns, and the day for that celebration were all details that I carefully orchestrated.  What better day for a memorial service than All Saints Day?  As today, November 1, 2015, comes to an end, I have now passed the year mark of life without my dad.  Every anniversary date that  comes along from now on will no longer be "the first."  I was blessed to have had the opportunity to sing a Choral Evensong for All Saints Day with my church choir this evening.  What a meaningful way to mark the passage of this last year.

I miss my dad, but I know that he is among the great cloud of witnesses, ever present and ever watchful.


Today's photo prompt: Who Am I

I am very much my father's daughter.  The humble life that he led is my inspiration.

Consonance, Dissonance, Division, And Union

Yesterday's sermon at church was preached by our new youth minister. He has been on the staff less than a month and this was his first time to preach to our congregation. Like most who are making a first impression, he "put on his best hat" (or in his case, alb) and gave it his all.

He is a charismatic speaker, so he grabbed my attention immediately. He also used a music metaphor, which kept my attention, maybe too much so. Below is the Gospel reading that he spoke about.

Luke 12: 49 - 56 (NRSV)
12:49 "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
54 He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, "It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, "There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

In his metaphor, the preacher considered division, as it is used in the above passage, and dissonance as synonyms. The more I think about this notion, the more I believe his premise to be faulty, especially since he chose to use dissonance as it relates to music.

The way I see it, division is the opposite of union - either things are divided into parts or they are one. They are two unique things. Consonance and dissonance are not opposites - they are the extremes of a single thing, that being harmony. Harmony contains both consonance and dissonance and both are equally important to the overall effect of the musical composition. Are both union and division equally important to the significance of a single thing?

In the above passage from Luke, Jesus says that "I come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already kindled. I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed." Jesus has brought the power of the Holy Spirit and until all people on earth are filled with it, He will feel the stress of the division which exists between those who have been touched by the power of God, and those who have not. I don't think that it is dissonance that is sounded between these two groups; it is division. Until this division becomes union, there will not be peace on earth. Consonance and dissonance, however, will still be present even when division ceases. Each one of us has a unique relationship with God;therefore, how we each are called to serve God is also different. God may come to you in the perfection of a major triad and God may come to me in the beautiful dissonance of an augmented sixth chord. The point is not when or where God comes to each of us, but that the Creator comes.

In the last few verses of this passage, Jesus gives examples of the unfailing human ability to predict the negative outcome of particular weather conditions. He asks why then can we not accurately interpret the present time? Is He asking us why we can't see that division is like the rain cloud - a storm is inevitable. If we could rid our world of the clouds of division, the "weather" would be much more tolerable. Though there may no longer be devastating storms, dissonance will be found in the extreme temperatures of summer and winter while consonance resides in the mildness of spring and fall.

Perhaps I am over thinking this whole issue, but isn't that what a good sermon is supposed to do - make me think. Even if I don't agree with what was said, if I am forced to look closely at the words of Scripture and what was preached, the sermon was successful. My disagreement with our youth minister's premise does not create division, it creates dissonance. Musically, and perhaps theologically too, dissonance always yearns for and finds its own meaning in resolution whereas division remains true only to itself.

May the ebb and flow of consonance and dissonance fill your world with beautiful music.