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Pray – January 2020, St. Georgian

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The following is Rector Joe Hensley’s monthly opening message from our weekly e-newsletter the St. Georgian. If you’d like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, sign-up here.

Our theme for this month is “pray,” one of the seven steps on the Way of Love. It seems appropriate given some of the current events we have seen so far in the new year.
In early January, our nation took significant military action against Iran, and we are waiting to see whether more escalation will occur. Bushfires in Australia have been devastating and deadly. Earthquakes in Puerto Rico have left many homeless and frightened. There are more things we could name which point to a sense of living in chaotic times, and who knows what will happen before the end of this month.
At such times, I turn to the Book of Common Prayer for prayers that express my feelings sometimes better than I can express them myself. By entering into these prayers which are part of our common life, I feel part of the larger Body of Christ. The prayers section begins on page 810. You can also find the BCP online: https://www.bcponline.org/ Click on the “Prayers and Thanksgivings” tab.
Another section of the BCP which does not get much attention is the Great Litany (p. 148). This intercessory prayer covers a wide variety of conditions. There is a modern adaptation which you can find here. Some examples that apply to our current events:
“From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood, from plague, pestilence, and famine, good Lord, deliver us.”
“That it may please thee so to rule the hearts of thy servants, the President of the United States, and all others in authority, that they may do justice, love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.”
“That it may please thee to make wars to cease in all the world; to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord; and to bestow freedom upon all peoples.”
“That it may please thee to support, help, and comfort all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation.”
We do beseech God to hear us when we pray. There are also times when, as Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” My sense is that God is always praying in us and through us. When we pause to pray, whether with words or in silent surrender to the Spirit’s deep sighs, we are joining with the divine prayer that is never ceasing.
I will close with some words from The Supplication (BCP p. 154): “From our enemies defend us, O Christ; Graciously behold our afflictions. With pity behold the sorrows of our hearts; mercifully forgive the sins of thy people.… Graciously hear us, O Christ.”
Joe+

Advent-ure – December 2019, St. Georgian

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The following is Rector Joe Hensley’s monthly opening message from our weekly e-newsletter the St. Georgian. If you’d like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, sign-up here.

The Long Journey to Bethlehem by Sue Hodge

We often think of the four Sundays of Advent as a countdown to Christmas. It was not always so. In the Middle Ages, this season was more about preparing for the apocalyptic second coming of Christ. Nowadays with Christmas decorations going up earlier, it feels like Advent is more of a “nesting” time, like a parent preparing the home for a newborn. Slow down, be quiet, ponder Christ entering the world while gazing at the Advent wreath or Christmas tree.

In our world that is rushing about madly, we do need to slow down and be quiet, but not only to think about Jesus being born a long time ago. Jesus is being born again in us. Christ is incarnated, embodied in the world through us. Are we prepared for that?
A lot of what we do in Advent feels like we are decorating the nursery for baby Jesus. Are we getting ready to celebrate the incarnation of Christ in our community? When God inhabited a human body, God blessed humanity. The embodied God sanctifies our bodies as part of Christ’s body. This state of being Christ is not meek and mild, not predictable or safe but truly awesome, full of wonder and even risk. We have been warned already. The way of Jesus leads to the cross, and along the way there will likely be suffering, rejection, healing, grace, and opportunities to love in the face of fierce resistance. In short, letting Christ be born in and through us is nothing short of an adventure.
The words “Advent” and “adventure” come from the same root. What if we saw Advent as more like preparing for an adventure and planned accordingly? Consult maps and guidebooks. Listen to the stories of people who have encountered such things. Get in shape. Practice the skills needed. Pack provisions with sustenance.
One of my favorite Annie Dillard quotes reads: “It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” I wonder if she might also say that it is madness to merely light candles and open calendars at a time when the savior of world is coming to turn everything upside down (just saying though, I fully support women wearing hats in church if they choose to!).
In this new liturgical year (year A), on the fourth Sunday of Advent we will hear the birth of Jesus story told through the Gospel according to Matthew where we meet not mother Mary but step-father Joseph. Joseph has a dream in which an angel tells him not to be afraid, that his virgin fiancée is having a baby who is actually the son of God. Later in the Gospel, Joseph and Mary meet strange astrologers from the East who have followed a star. The holy family flees their home by night to travel to a faraway country to save the baby from slaughter. Talk about adventure.
Part of how we prepare for the adventure of a lifetime is by slowing down, being quiet, contemplating what it will require and whether we have what it takes. Of course, we do not have what it takes. That is why Christ is coming, to lead us to places we would never have gone on our own and to give us grace in our bodies, minds, and spirits to go there. In the quiet of Advent, we might do well to look over the territory ahead and consult those who have traveled this way before. Listen to the Gospels and the prophets, ancient and modern. We might stretch and strengthen those parts of our inner selves that do the heavy lifting of love, compassion, and spiritual endurance. Identify the daily sources of nourishment for the journey, practices and inspirations that fuel the fire.
Christ is coming. How are you preparing for the advent-ure?
+Joe

Learn – November 2019, St. Georgian

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Trellis_Learn The following is Associate Rector Areeta Bridgemohan’s monthly opening message from our weekly e-newsletter the St. Georgian. If you’d like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, sign-up here.

“God comes to us disguised as our life.” – Paula D’Arcy

‘The Way of Love’ is patterned after the monastic rules of life. I like the analogy of a rule of life as a trellis; a structure around which the rest of our lives can grow and take shape. We all have core values and commitments that we orient our lives around, sometimes these are expressed formally as in baptism or wedding vows, and sometimes they function as an internal compass, quietly shaping our decisions and responses.

The vows in the ordination service form a trellis. In preparation for ordination, I spent some time reflecting on the vows I was about to make. One of the promises that excited me the most was: “Will you be diligent in the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures, and in seeking the knowledge of such things as may make you a stronger and more able minister of Christ?” This vow articulated a commitment to a life of intentional learning about God, our sacred story, and all of God’s creation. Implicit in that promise, is the idea that we are not expected to have all the answers and that we are constantly in a process of becoming, of growth and learning, and ultimately transformation.

Learning requires a certain posture: it embraces curiosity and questions, it relies on a desire and willingness to receive, and an openness to wonder. These are helpful postures to life in general, which is perhaps our greatest teacher. My spiritual director often refers to life experiences as “earth school”. Experiences that teach us something new about ourselves, something new about God, that expand our capacity for love and healing, providing us with opportunities to grow into the full stature of Christ. I have taken earth school classes in self-acceptance, embracing solitude, to let go of control and trust God… I’ve come to suspect that the curriculum is as long as my life! Where is learning in the trellis of your faith? What class in earth school are you taking right now? How might this faith community support your learning?

May our faith journeys never cease to be a source of learning and growth.

 

Yours in Christ,

Areeta+

Turn – October 2019, St. Georgian

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The following is Rector Joe Hensley’s monthly opening message from our weekly e-newsletter the St. Georgian. If you’d like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, sign-up here.

Dear St. Georgians,

As followers of Jesus, we strive to “live the life that really is life” (quoting the end of Paul’s first letter to Timothy). Last year, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry unveiled the “way of love” which summarize such a life for Christians in seven essential actions: turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, and rest.

Post-sabbatical, I am at a turning point in my ministry. Having had a chance to reflect on my rhythms of life, I no longer want to fit my “life” around my work. I want my work as a priest at St, George’s, which I love, to blend more with the wholeness of my life and the other work that I do as a father, spouse, and as “Joe.” That means being more intentional about what I do, about my time, and about creating ongoing space for reflection and turning to God on a daily basis.

I also want to resist the temptation that our society lures before us to find worth in productivity and how much work we can accomplish. Our work as followers of Jesus is often just as much about “being” as “doing.” Turning to God is about going deeper, not farther.

In that spirit, we are shifting from a weekly to a monthly article in the St. Georgian with more depth. Over the next year, we will feature the seven actions of the Way of Love as well as themes of our liturgical seasons. The article will be printed in the first newsletter of the month with a link to the article in subsequent weeks so that more of our readers will read it or re-read it.

The first action, which I have already alluded to, is “turn.” In order to follow Jesus we have to turn toward him, turn toward God. While on retreat this summer, I observed that there are many levels of turning. At first glance, simply going on retreat was an act of turning. It required a literal turn off the main highway, down a winding wilderness road to a monastery in the desert. It was turning to God by entering a place where the goal is to become closer to God. “Step one, accomplished,” right? Once on retreat, though, there was more turning that needed to happen. In prayer services with the monks, my mind would wander. Over and over I would have to turn my attention back to what was in front of me. I got bored. My internal voice would yell at me like a drill sergeant, “Turn back!” At some point, though, I wondered, “do I have to yell?” The inner voice became more gentle and the turning more subtle. I realized that a person could spend a long time learning to turn toward God with more and more sensitivity. Going deeper, I wonder if it is actually God who turns us once we stop trying so hard.

I wonder how you experience the act of turning. For example, how do we enter a worship service? By coming to church, we have already made a significant turn towards God. Then when we enter the worship space, we have more turns to make. Our inner voice may make a fuss when our mind wanders. Or maybe it grumbles because of external distractions. The act of turning attention back to God is far from simple. I encourage us to take time to observe that inner turning. Take a breath. Turn with sensitivity to the soul within which longs to be turned by God ever so gently.

As the old Shaker song says, “to turn, turn will be our delight, til by turning, turning we come round right.” May God bless us at all the turning points of our lives.

Yours in Christ,
Joe+