Claimed, gathered and sent

Sally at revgalsblogpals posted the following for the Friday Five: I have recently been reading a book entitled Jesus wept , it is all about vulnerability in leadership. The authors speak of how Jesus shared his earthly frustrations and vulnerabilities with a select group of people. To some he was the charismatic leader and teacher, to others words of wisdom were opened and explained and some frustrations shared, to his "inner circle of friends: Peter, James and John, he was most fully himself, and in all of these things he was open to God. So I bring you this weeks Friday 5: 1. Is vulnerability something that comes easily to you, or are you a private person? It comes to me very easily, at times too much so. I feel that I have nothing to hide. Of course, I'm in seminary with a wonderful community of faith. In the parish I suspect I will need to be more guarded in what I share and with whom. 2.How important is it to keep up a professional persona in work/ ministry? I despise p...

Corporate prayer is one of the great joys of seminary life. Along with worship, it is at the heart of why we're here, what we do, and how we are empowered for service. One of our favorite prayer times is compline or evening prayer. Each night at 10:00 we gather in the courtyard for this student led prayer service. For the Lutherans, it begins on p. 320 in the ELW. Whether spoken or sung, it never fails to move me. It's like God is tucking me in for the night. Tonight was my turn to lead compline. At 9:45, Abby stood up in our apartment and looked at me. Her expression was, "Mom, it's time to go now." Normally her sense of time revolves around meals and snacks. But tonight it was for prayer time. She enjoys it because she gets to see people that love and pay attention to her. But it was still amazing to me that she has the timing down now for compline. Thanks be to God to have such a sweet reminder. Flickr picture.

Please take a look at this post on Dream Awakener. A prayer of Walter Brueggeman's was posted which is incredible. It's not about us, was the message as we gathered today for orientation. The center of our life together in this place is worship, as it should be. Flickr picture.

Yesterday Ray left to spend 3 weeks in training for a new Seeing Eye dog. He had a great train ride from Harrisburg to Newark, NJ. and is all settled in at Seeing Eye. He will get his new guide dog tomorrow. Meanwhile, back at home, Abby is officially retired, which sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The down side is that Abby is used to going everywhere: work, church, chapel, the refectory, restaurants...there were no limitations on where she could go with Ray. As a dog of leisure, whose primary responsibility is to hold down the rug, Abby will now be spending time being left behind at home. My classmates have been wonderful. Everyone is concerned about her and have offered to help walk her and give her lots of TLC. She did really well yesterday and I have been trying to pay more attention than usual to her. This morning however, was difficult. She can no longer go to church with me. The look I got before leaving the house was heartbreaking. It was like she was saying, "You're...