On Vacation

I'll be on vacation for a few days.  Here are the upcoming readings.

Thursday, June 30, 2011 -- Week of Proper 8, Year One

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 972)

Psalms 131, 132, [133](morning)      134, 135 (evening)

1 Samuel 13:5-18

Acts 8:26-40

Luke 23:13-25

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Friday, July 1, 2011 -- Week of Proper 8, Year One

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer and Prophetic Witness, 1896

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 972)

Psalms 140, 142(morning)      141, 143:1-11(12)(evening)

1 Samuel 13:19 – 14:15

Acts 9:1-9

Luke 23:26-31

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Monday, July 4, 2011 -- Week of Proper 9, Year One

Independence Day

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer)

EITHER the readings for Independence Day, p. 998)

Morning Prayer:  Psalm 33;  Ecclesiasticus 10:1-8, 12-18;  James 5:7-10

Evening Prayer:  Psalm 197:1-32;  Micah 4:1-5;  Revelation 21:1-7

OR the readings for Monday of Proper 9, p. 974

Psalms 1, 2, 3 (morning)      4, 7 (evening)

1 Samuel 15:1-3, 7-23

Acts 9:19b-31

Luke 23:44-56a

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Tuesday, July 5, 2011 -- Week of Proper 9, Year One

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 974)

Psalms 5, 6 (morning)      10, 11 (evening)

1 Samuel 15:24-35

Acts 9:32-43

Luke 23:56b – 24:11

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Wednesday, July 6, 2011 -- Week of Proper 9, Year One

John Hus, Prophetic Witness and Martyr, 1415

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 974)

Psalms 119:1-24 (morning)      12, 13, 14(evening)

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Acts 10:1-16

Luke 24:13-35

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Thursday, July 7, 2011 -- Week of Proper 9, Year One

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 974)

Psalms 18:1-20 (morning)      18:21-50(evening)

1 Samuel 16:14 – 17:11

Acts 10:17-33

Luke 24:36-53

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Friday, July 8, 2011 -- Week of Proper 9, Year One

To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:

http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 974)

Psalms 16, 17 (morning)      22(evening)

1 Samuel 17:17-30

Acts 10:34-48

Mark 1:1-13

Peter and Paul

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 -- Week of Proper 8, Year One
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles
To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer)
EITHER the readings for Sts. Peter and Paul (p. 998)
Morning Prayer:  Psalm 66;  Ezekiel 2:1-7;  Acts 11:1-18
Evening Prayer:  Psalms 97, 138;  Isaiah 49:1-6;  Galatians 2:1-9

OR the readings for Wednesday of Proper 8, p. 972
Psalms 119:145-176 (morning)      128, 129, 130 (evening)
1 Samuel 12:1-6, 16-25
Acts 8:14-25
Luke 23:1-12

I chose the readings for Saint Peter and Saint Paul

"Come and listen, all you who fear God,
     and I will tell you what God has done for me." (Ps. 66:14)

We celebrate two of our great founders today, Peter and Paul.  The iconography of their friendship is an image of unity in diversity as well as a picture of reconciliation after conflict and, maybe, competition.

Peter was an uneducated fisherman from Galilee who was a close friend of the earthly Jesus.  Paul was a well-educated urbanite who persecuted the church before his encounter with the risen Christ.  On occasion, Paul rebuked Peter for his non-inclusive behavior toward the Gentile Christians.  It seems they found a way out of some of their conflict by defining separate markets -- Peter becoming the apostle to the Jews; Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.  Yet, when the time for decision came in the meeting of the Apostolic Council, Peter came through for Paul and for the Gentiles.  His story of the vision of clean and unclean animals helped turn the tide for Paul, giving "official" authorization for the ministry Paul had already initiated among the Gentiles.

For me, the key to understanding Paul was that Christ gave him freedom from his crippling anxiety about his own performance.  He was a scrupulous and observant Jew.  He tried to do his best.  He tried to be perfect.  But he found it only left him anxious and self-absorbed.  Am I really right?  Am I really righteous?  He was left haunted by the push of perfectionism, feeling rebellious toward God whom he regarded as an ever-demanding and unblinking parental judge. 

Paul could point to his discipline and accomplishments, but they gave him no satisfaction.  He was always just one slip-up from failure.  Trying to measure up only left him feeling anxious.

Enlightenment knocked Paul down and left him blinded by a new realization.  Justification -- a right relationship with God -- is a gift, a free gift from God.  We need do nothing to earn it -- in fact we cannot earn it.  It is given to us with no strings attached, except that we accept the gift.  Accept the fact that you are accepted.  This is the gift that Christ gives to Paul and to all.  Relief from anxiety.  Peace.  Deep appreciation.  Through God's prevenient loving acceptance, we are freed -- free to do good and to love because we have been loved first.  We can be confident and empowered because we have already been given everything we need as an unearned gift.  This is Paul's gospel.

Although he had been an observant Jew, Paul was quick to recognize that this gift of acceptance transcended Judaism.  He found a responsive audience among the godfearers attending synagogue -- Gentiles who were attracted to the moral teaching and monotheism of Judaism, but who were unwilling to undergo circumcision or practice kosher laws and some other traditions peculiar to the Jews.  Naturally, Paul encountered resistance when he began to steal these Gentiles from the synagogue.  Many of these Gentiles were prominent in civic life and generous in support of the Jewish community.  These conflicts occasionally became violent.

Paul also had the complication of uniting within the Christian fellowship people who brought with them very different traditions and practices.  Many Jewish Christians observed kosher and other dietary laws as well as some Jewish holidays and other practices.  Gentile Christians brought different scruples and opinions.  Many of Paul's letters deal with the conflicts and complications of melding these two traditions into a coherent community.

Peter's defense of the inclusion of Gentiles was a crucial turning point in the early history of the Christian movement.  The vision of clean and unclean animals that God gave Peter changed his inherited paradigm.  "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."  When Peter recognized the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested among the Gentiles, he immediately included them into the Christian fellowship through baptism. 

That was a profound act.  Standing over against Peter's experience was the witness of scripture and centuries of tradition.  Yet, the Apostolic Council confirmed Peter and Paul in their testimony on behalf of inclusion of the Gentiles. 

In our generation, we've faced similar issues.  Are women to be fully included?  Are gay and lesbian and transgendered Christians to be fully included?  Happily, our apostolic council seems to continue to follow the example of our ancestors.  We continue to hear the words, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."  When we have seen the Holy Spirit manifested in these others "just as it had upon us at the beginning."  Our church has confirmed those who have testified on behalf of inclusion of these "others." 

The gift of acceptance that Paul so profoundly articulated in his Gospel is our message as well.  God loves us, frees us from anxiety and self-centeredness, so that we can confidently live generous and loving lives.  The icons of Peter and Paul, the embrace of two very different men and the synergy of their passions, is an image of unity, reconciliation, and energy for us today.  They show us how to transcend our scruples and differences with the inclusive power of the Holy Spirit. 

Happy Saints Peter and Paul day!

Lowell

Psalms

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 -- Week of Proper 8, Year One
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 202
To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 972)
Psalms [120], 121, 122, 123 (morning)      124, 125, 126, [127] (evening)
1 Samuel 11:1-15
Acts 8:1-13
Luke 22:63-71

We begin today's readings in Psalm 120, with the cry for deliverance "from lying lips and from the deceitful tongue.  [From] the sharpened arrows of a warrior, along with hot glowing coals."  (One wonders if this last is a reference to a form of torture.)  The psalmist feels surrounded by enemies, Meshech (in the north) and Kedar (in the south).  "Too long have I had to live among the enemies of peace.  I am on the side of peace, but when I speak of it, they are for war."

We've passed the $1 trillion mark in direct financial costs for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  How can we put a number on the human toll?  I've seen it here in our town among veterans returning with deep psychic wounds.  Ask anyone who works with the homeless how many combat vets they encounter.

Not one dollar of special revenue has been appropriated for these wars.  It's all been put on the federal credit card.  Now we live with the strain of deficits, from war and from a financial meltdown.

I remember the 2008 PBS "Frontline" documentary "Bush's War," a factual inquiry into the story of how our nation was led into war against Iraq.  Using exaggerated fear as a weapon of persuasion, lying lips and deceitful tongues drowned out every word of peace.  Our leaders sharpened their arrows and heated their hot glowing coals, aimed toward a pitiful nation that was thoroughly contained and deterred.  Our leaders could speak only of war. 

Then we bent so far away from our moral compass that our own White House orchestrated a calculated process to ignore Geneva Conventions as well as the advice of our military in order to attempt legal rationalization for torture.  Some are say we perpetrated war crimes.

I recall those crucial early days following the attacks of 9-11.  So many voices called for restraint.  We could have used the moral credit we had earned and the international outpouring of sympathy to forge a world-wide cooperative response of compassion and healing.  We could have called the world together for a global plan to reach out to heal the suffering of the marginalized and poor.  We could have given power and voice to the moderate expressions of religions and governments in the wake of the world's horror at the spectacle of what militant extremism can lead to.  We might have encouraged an earlier expression of the deep longings that have only now emerged as the "Arab Spring."  Instead, we became militant to the extreme.

So when virtually every national and international religious body spoke out in opposition to the Bush plans for war (with the notable exception of the Southern Baptists), when so many prophet-sentinels warned of dire consequences, this proud group ignored all words but their own.  And what suffering and catastrophe they have wrought. 

Since that time we have suffered another arrogant attack, this one from within our own financial sector.  Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend about the 2010 Academy Award winning documentary "Inside Job."  The film traces how deregulation of the financial industries removed the boundaries that protected us from certain forms of systemic risk.  Deregulation and greed fueled systemic corruption in the financial services industries and provoked the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression.  Although the stock market has rebounded and many companies are now flush with cash, unemployment remains painfully high and there is little economic energy in the middle class.  Money and power is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.  We have become a plutocracy.  Some say we still have failed to restore regulation that would prevent similar financial abuses in the future.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?  My help comes from God, the maker of heaven and earth."  How beautifully Psalm 121 gives hope to the anguish of Psalm 120. 

Then we read Psalm 122, and a new vision of harmony comes to us from the center of the conflict.  "Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity with itself."  Can we imagine Washington as a city that is at unity with itself?  Grounded.  Centered.  "Peace be within your walls and quietness within your towers."

Psalm 123 completes the hopeful prayer.  Again we redirect our gaze:  "To you I lift up my eyes... as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Holy One our God, until God shows us mercy. 

"Have mercy upon us, O God, have mercy, for we have had more than enough of contempt, Too much of the scorn of the indolent rich, and of the derision of the proud."

Amen.

Lowell

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Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer. Evening Prayer begins on p. 117 An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at missionstclare.com -- Click for online Daily Office Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html --  Click for Divine Hours Discussion Blog:  To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, or click here for Lowell's blog find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts.

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love. See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org Our Rule of Life:  We aspire to...     worship weekly     pray daily     learn constantly     serve joyfully      live generously. Lowell Grisham, Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church Fayetteville, Arkansas

Peter's Failures

Monday, June 27, 2011 -- Week of Proper 8, Year One
Cornelius Hill, Priest and Chief among the Oneida, 1907
To read about our daily commemorations, go to the Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 972)
Psalms 106:1-18 (morning)      106:19-48 (evening)
1 Samuel 10:17-27
Acts 7:44 - 8:1a
Luke 22:52-62

There is something reassuring about the story of Peter's denials.  Peter holds a place of unique leadership in Christian history and memory.  He became the leader of the post-resurrection movement.  Yet part of Peter's story is the remembrance of his failure at a crucial moment.  When Jesus most needed his trusted friend, Peter denied him three times.  Peter's healing and restoration is a comfort to all of us who have failed, who have not lived up to our intentions and our relationships.  It is also an inspiration to all of us who have been betrayed. 

Sometimes we do not live up to our values.  Under pressure, we sometimes cave in and do destructive things.  Save us from the time of trial. 

There is a temptation in failure to allow conscience and pride to turn a transient and momentary failure into something permanent and defining.  Peter's resilience is a model for us.  Yes, his failure was great.  Like Judas, he failed and betrayed Jesus.  When his time of testing arrived, his courage withered.  All true. 

But Peter did not let that failure define him.  He was able to reclaim his principles.  He was able to stand tall again and act as a leader, with courage and confidence. 

I like the story in John's gospel when the resurrected Christ meets Peter on the sea shore (Jn. 21).  There is an intimacy and poignancy in their conversation.  Three times Jesus asks him, "Peter do you love me?"  Three times Peter confirms his fundamental commitment, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you."  Three times Jesus commissions him to service:  "Feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep."  The text says that Peter felt hurt when Jesus asked him the question for the third time.  Maybe it was the memory of his three denials. 

But the past is healed for him.  He is forgiven; he accepts forgiveness.  Peter is empowered for leadership.  And there is a hint that he will not fail when the time of trial comes to him again in the future.  Jesus tells him, "When you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you wished.  But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go."  I wonder if this is a allusion to the movement of the Holy Spirit taking a willing Peter into difficult and challenging places.  The parenthetical interpretation in the text says that it is a commentary on Peter's martyrdom.  "After this, (Jesus) said to (Peter), 'Follow me.'"

The denier is restored.  The betrayed forgives.  Full reconciliation and empowerment. 

The facts of the past do not change.  On the night of Jesus' arrest, Peter betrayed him three times.  The meaning of the past and its effect on the future can change.  Peter becomes the courageous leader of the Church, a paragon and inspiration.  The Rock. 

Hamlet soliloquizes "Conscience doth make cowards of us all."  But repentance, forgiveness and the reclaiming of our virtue makes mountains of us also.

Lowell

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Audio podcast:  Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week.  Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer. Evening Prayer begins on p. 117 An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at missionstclare.com -- Click for online Daily Office Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html --  Click for Divine Hours Discussion Blog:  To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, or click here for Lowell's blog find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts.

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love. See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org Our Rule of Life:  We aspire to...     worship weekly     pray daily     learn constantly     serve joyfully      live generously. Lowell Grisham, Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church Fayetteville, Arkansas