Lightbearer...

Lightbearer

Jesus, I call upon the power in Your name
to see the way my path must surely lead,
to heal the sick, to tend and feed your flock.
Christ, you are the Lord who calls us to make peace,
to strive for justice daily in your world,
to use your gifts of wisdom, patience, hope,
to be the servant-bearer of the Light.
Spirit, we worship you in truth and holiness.
We seek new ways to make the message clear,
to praise, confess, forgive and show your love
in breaking bread and sharing of our cup.

~~Chuck Shamel


This was written by Chuck Shamel, a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi, TX.

Accidental Anniversary

A year.  A year in the life.  One year ago, October 12th.  Has it really been that long?  Yes.  Yes it has.

I am much better than right after, of course.  Car accidents take time.  Any kind of accident or incident that is traumatic to the body and soul takes time.  I was so improved that, though still and always recovering, I was deemed able to return to full time work as of yesterday, the 17th by my physician.  However, my employer had other ideas.

On Friday the 14th I was informed that I was being laid off with some compensation for my devoted years of service and expertise.  So I worked the day as always, doing my usual duties and then packing up 30 minutes before my part time day was over.  The relief of being out of the most stressful working conditions I have ever experienced were over.  I knew income was my first priority, or should have been, but instead my well-being jumped to the head of the line.

I experienced a calmness, a peace, that was momentarily unexplainable.  None of the usual anxiety and speculation about tomorrow or the next day.  And when I described this to some fellow parishioners at Trinity, they all said "That's God's grace working in you and around you".  Yes.  Yes indeed.

And so, I have been running errands, on the phone making calls, canceling some appointments [my insurance stopped that day as well as my job] but it was United Health Care.  How great a loss could THAT be...no much if any.  Worst insurance ever and the cheapest my company could find.  So I was then making other different appointments for unemployment contingencies and so on.

So I have been making some fun time for myself too as other things fall into place.  Walking in this wonderful weather we are having right now, watching the leaves turn, reading outside on the patio in the sun, watering [yes, still], domestic things and also plans to visit the Growers' and Crafters' Market on Thursday mornings and then head to Trinity for the mid-week Eucharist and Healing service.  Add to that visiting a friend on hospice and walking the labyrinth at Rogue Valley Medical Center one day a week.

Keeping a routine when out of work is essential.  Doing something for others also lets you know that though not being paid for volunteering, there are other ways of getting "paid" for doing for others and at the same time, doing it for yourself too.  So I am going to become a hospice volunteer.  Class starts at the end of the month and throughout November up until Thanksgiving.  I am so looking forward to that.

And so it is.  One year in the life that was constantly changing daily and not always for the better.  Refiner's fire, and it continues.  Let it be.  I have become closer to our courteous Lord as a result, even when I felt I was withdrawing.  Pain distorts the real world, and it did so for me.  But the focus is returning and things are reaching a new clarity.

This is part of the peace which surpasses all understanding...

Bishop Hampton of Oregon: Remember the Holy Land

The interim bishop of Oregon, +Sandy Hampton, has once again written to us in the diocese, this time about providing help to our "family" in the Holy Land. Here is his letter that I share with you, especially those of you outside of the diocese.

Catherine
_________________________

A Message from Bishop Hampton

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

In her Epiphany letter to all congregations, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asked Episcopalians to continue to praying for our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land and to support the Good Friday Offering as an opportunity to demonstrate our solidarity with Anglicans and all Christians in that troubled part of the world. The Diocese, and particularly its hospital, has been unusually stressed by the recent violence between Israel and Hamas and the needs are enormous, as you might imagine. For the past 87 years The Episcopal Church has taken up a Good Friday Offering to be sent to The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, symbolizing unity with and passionate concern for those who witness to Christ throughout the region. We all realize that we live in very uncertain times, economically for sure, but by "keeping the main thing, the main thing" as the saying goes, I'm confident that your good folks will respond to this appeal generously.

A Holy and Blessed Lent to you all.
+Sandy Hampton

Wisdom from The Geranium Farm

Yet again, Barbara Cawthorn Crafton+ manages to put perspective on the unsettled waters of the Communion and life in general by taking us by the hand and leading us into her garden. I am thankful for her words and her unfaltering spirit. IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES You're very pretty, but you're out of control. This was addressed to a pretty little creeper, whom I had allowed to stay in place when she appeared and who is now carpeting the garden, trying to smother all the lavender on one side. She is pretty: little blue flowers atop nice round leaves with frilled edges. But today will be a day of ruthless weeding. You can't be emotional about weeding. Just do it. Whistling "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" while you weed helps you get through it. What gives me the right to this campaign? Who am I to decide who will remain in the garden and who will not? Nothing gives me the right, I guess, except the fact that I am the gardener. I have responsibility for a whole garden full of plants, never for just one plant. My little blue-flowered friend can't run rampant and kill other plants. Weeds are just plants, after all, plants who have a hard time with limits. They are not evil. The same things happens in groups of people, too, especially in groups of well-meaning people who want to affirm the gifts others. Churches, for instance. Sometimes a person whose need for recognition and power is deeper than the group can supply can begin to function like a weed, taking over everything the group tries to do, inserting her need for attention into every issue. She means no harm, but she can do a great deal of it. She isn't thinking clearly: her own neediness clouds her good intentions. Very careful limits need to be set, and she will not like it. She will think you're not a good Christian, that you don't understand or respect her gifts, that nobody does. This makes the group feel guilty and sad: Maybe we should just let it go, they say to each other, she's had a hard life, after all. They yield to her way. But then they realize that they don't enjoy activities in which everything has to be about her, and they stop coming. This is a time for reason, not for emotion. Whatever her needs, she is not the only one in the group whose bloom must be encouraged and protected: everyone needs his or her time in the sun. It may be that it is only by containing her can others find the sun. If she can't make the shift, she may have to leave the garden. If she can, though, she's on her way to a maturity she never could have gained if everyone had folded and given her everything she wanted. The words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic were written by Julia Ward Howe, who knew something about the loving setting of limits: she was also the founder of the American observance of Mother's Day. + Battle Hymn of the Republic Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on. I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on. I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel; “As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel, Since God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet; Our God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me: As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free; [originally …let us die to make men free] While God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave; So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave, Our God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on. Copyright © 2007 Barbara Crafton - http://www.geraniumfarm.org The woman is gifted and there is no getting around it! Catherine+