Claimed, gathered and sent

I was moved to tears by Bishop Mark Hanson's closing charge at the end of this afternoon's plenary session of the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA. O vercome by emotion himself, he pleaded that we in this church refrain from labeling each other; that rather we remain in conversation with those whom we may disagreee with, that we tell the story of what God in Christ Jesus has done. The particular label Bp. Hanson referenced was fearful. After the decisions made this week at the assembly, there are those who are fearful of what this means for our church. With Bp. Hanson, I would call each of us to lay aside the labels: conservative, liberal, progressive, fearful, bold...whatever they may be that we so dismissively affix to ourselves and others. Once labeled, we don't have to listen to these people because we think we already know what they're going to say by virtue of the label we have classified them with. For shame! Such diminishing of one another as God's children i...

I have followed most of today's and some of previous days' online coverage of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. My opinions have changed radically not just in recent years, but in recent days. I was impressed with the passion and hearts of all who spoke for and against the proposed ministry policies. A while back an online petition was circulated that was a letter from seminarians to the ELCA in support of LGBT persons in monogamous relationships to be included in rostered ministry in the ELCA. At that time, I could not in good conscience sign said petition. I could not come down on one side of the other. God kept challenging my long held positions. Particularly today, however, as I prayed and listened to the CWA plenary session, I had to add my opinion to that of the majority. Listening and hearing people's hearts is something I have learned during CPE this summer. As I practiced that skill today, the issue was not one of sexuality, but of love, the fruit of the Spirit, and th...

My CPE supervisor right from the beginning told us the residents of BV would be our teachers. CPE is now complete and I couldn't agree more. This is the story of a relationship with just one of them. When I first met R, she was pretty well bed-ridden and on hospice care in her apartment in assisted living. I went to her room in response to a note from the associate chaplain that she was not doing well. R didn’t speak much when we met as she was struggling with pain, but still managed a few words and looks of communication. Her eyes were bright clear blue and were warm in spite of the soreness she was experiencing. As one of her two daughters introduced me to her as one of the chaplains, she smiled in response and seemed glad to see me. The conversation we carried on was very limited due to the medications she was being given for pain. They made her sleepy and she would nod off. She was remarkably warm and welcoming given the circumstances and her own suffering. When awake,...

Take a peek at this blog. Very interesting. The Necessity of Faith - Science and the Sacred Shared via AddThis flickr photo

Yesterday we celebrated two anniversaries. The first was our wedding anniversary. Six years ago yesterday Ray and I got married. It's been an awesome journey together so far, part of which brought us to our second anniversary. One year ago yesterday we were on our way to Gettysburg to begin seminary. Now the first year of seminary has been completed, including the crazy world of summer Greek which a new group of students will soon be experiencing. Teaching parish is done. Now my classmates and I are completing CPE and will be starting our second year of seminary. Many of of never would have imagined that this is where we'd be. I'm grateful for anniversaries, for those times to look back over the year or years and rejoice in God's grace in the blessings and the difficult times. "Great is thy faithfulness."

I first became acquainted with the hymn "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" at my home church in RI. It was while in the process of discernment, not long before I left for seminary. Since that time, I have found it to be evocative and laden with meaning. Shortly after CPE began, I discovered that this is a particularly meaningful hymn to this community as well. The last couple of weeks I have spent much of my time with the resident mentioned in my previous post.Walking and waiting with R and her daughters has been an amazing, life altering experience for me. Each time I went to her room, I had to listen carefully to what the Spirit was saying. Sometimes I thought I was going for Rand it ended up being for one or both of her daughters. Other times, like the last time I was with R, I initially thought I was there for her daughters. For a while I had been praying that God would take R home to be with God. Each day I would check and she was still with us, though that much cl...

My recent absence from blogging has not been because nothing is happening. Much is happening, but much of it is confidential. That which can be shared has taken some time for me to process before I could write about it. The last few weeks have been full of encounters of all kinds, events, and personal reflection. It has been a roller coaster ride full of tears and joy--moments of "Aha" and others of "Oh crap." Here is a bit of what can be shared. The retirement community I'm doing CPE in, being a chaplain this summer in, is a truly amazing place. Volunteers abound and those volunteers are residents of the retirement community. My weeks have consisted of times in one area to "Chat with the Chaplain." Wednesday mornings I do the devotions that are broadcast to all areas of the community. Friday mornings is a Bible study in memory support. Memory support encompasses a variety of abilities--some appear fully functional cognitively while others do not even ...