Caption Contest: So what were they really talking about?

So now you can all channel your inner MadPriest: Caption Contest: what's the best headline for this picture?

RFSJ

I'm of mixed opinions on this

The Rt. Rev. Paul Moore was Bishop of New York from 1972-1989. At one time he was also Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, my home parish. He was considered a true liberal man and one who did much for the Church and society. He was married twice, and had several children. He also led a double life as a bisexual man. This was revealed in a biography of Bishop Moore released in March by his daughter, Honor Moore. An except was included in The New Yorker a few months back and The New York Times has reviewed it today.

One hesitates to review a reviewer rather than the book, but I haven't read the book yet. But I think the reviewer does a fair job of reflecting the conflict arising from Ms. Moore's "outing" of her father when he did not wish that to happen. Now, I personally thinking outing a politician who is voting against measures designed to protect GBL people from discrimination, etc., is fine. But for most people, even most public people, one's sexuality is one's own business. And I would argue, from what I know of Bishop Moore's record, that he was a staunch advocate of gay and lesbian people in and out of the Church. he ordained the first openly gay woman, as I understand it. So as far as I'm concerned he doesnt deserve to be outed. If Ms. Moore has demons to exorcise, seems to me that its better doing so privately with a therapist than publicly via a book.

RFSJ

Thursday Funnies

Here's a new set. Click on any image to enlarge, and enjoy!

Ah, the horror!

Hmmm, coming right on Trinity Sunday too - I wondered about the author.

Ya gotta get The Godfather to get this one....

I'm thinking of getting a dog, and I do love my New Yorker!



RFSJ

Get Your Sunset Fix

From the website:

Eternal Sunset endeavours to ensure you can enjoy the sunset live from any location, at any time. As the sunset moves westward, Eternal Sunset continuously tunes into different webcams, chasing the sunset around the globe. This service is currently provided through the use of 257 west-facing webcams across 46 countries.

Eternal Sunset is a virtual space where time is passing but where the daily cycle of day and night has come to a freeze at sunset; a space where the sun is always going down but never goes under. Complementing the increased efficiency and productivity associated with the internet, Eternal Sunset celebrates the romantic beauty enabled by that same technology.

Ever since I discovered Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, and then was priveleged to live it four evenings a week while at seminary, I have had a special fondness for the setting sun. Now I can get my sunset fix no matter what time Evensong happens to be!

O gracious light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven; O Jesus Christ. Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behond the vesper light, we sing your praises, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Here's a nice setting of O Gracious Light (Phos Hilaron) courtesy of Chantblog.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: Trinity Sunday

On this final Principle Feast for a while, we celebrate the Mystery of the Undivided Trinity. Ever thought about that phrase? Logically, it's an oxymoron. But that's where the mystery part comes in! It's the only one of the Seven that's based on an idea, rather than an event in the life of Jesus and the church.

Without further ado, here's what I offerred at St. Thomas' today. I do welcome your feedback and comments!

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Vernon
Trinity Sunday 2008 (BCP)
Genesis 1:1 – 2:3; Psalm 150; 2 Cor 13:5-14; Matthew 28:16-20
The Rev. R. F. Solon, Jr., Vicar


In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

How often we hear those words! We open our worship with them, we receive a blessing at the end with them, and nearly every prayer we utter, including the climactic Eucharistic Prayer with its Great Amen, ends with them. Many of us cross ourselves when we say them. It’s one of the most common phrases we Christians use. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity means “three” and on this Principle Feast of the Church, we celebrate and especially honor the three-in-one and one-in-three, the Holy and Undivided Trinity.

But how can one God be three? How can there be three persons in one God? How is it that God the Creator can be unique from the Son our Redeemer and the Spirit who Inspires us, and the Son be unique from the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit be unique from the Father and the Son? I could just throw up my hands and say, “Well, it’s a mystery, on to the Creed!” But of course the Creed has three sections in it, each one corresponding to, you guessed it, one of the three Persons of the Trinity. So that’s not very much help at all.

At the ten o’clock service this morning I’m going to talk to the Sunday school kids about the Trinity. I probably should be approaching this with fear and trepidation, since preaching on this particular Feast is supposed to be hard. The duty has traditionally been given over to seminarians and junior curates. Bu, fool perhaps that I am, I’m going to wade right in, and I’m going to say something like this:

Here’s a cup of water with some ice in it. Pass it around, but don’t drink it because I didn’t make enough for everyone. But go ahead and stick your fingers in it. Feel how the water is wet but the ice is hard? Did you know that ice is actually water? When you go home today take an ice cube and put it in a bowl. Come back in about ten minutes or so and the ice will be gone but there will be water in the bowl. Water can actually be take three different forms. If it’s really cold we call it ice, and it’s hard, and if there’s enough of it it’s strong enough to hold up a person. Most of the time water is a liquid – it’s wet and runs all over everything if you’re not careful. Liquid water is so powerful that it made the Grand Canyon – ask you parents to show it to you on the Internet. And when water is really hot, it’s called steam and most of the time, steam is invisible. Steam is really strong too – it can push a person down, and it can move a gigantic ship through the water, and do all kinds of other very useful things.

So whether it’s a liquid, a solid, or what we call a gas like steam, it’s still water. Do you see in the cup how there’s ice and some water too? I couldn’t bring steam with me, because it’s so hot it burns. But God is kind of like water. We know God the Father, who created everything. I know it was long, but today we heard the story of creation just now, and it’s God who called everything into being, including you and me. The Bible doesn’t tell us how – we have science for that. But it does tell us who, and that’s God. God our Creater and Father is like liquid water – it’s everywhere. And you know Jesus, right? He is God too, just like God the Father. But he’s also unique from God, because he was once a human being just like you and me. You might think of Jesus as like ice – still water, but a different form of it. And have you heard of the Holy Spirit? That’s like steam – really hot and can move anything. But it’s still water too. So the Father, our Creator is God, and Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Just like ice, and liquid and steam are all water. What do you think of that?

Now, depending on what the kids say, I might talk a little but about what a mystery is. We can’t completely describe God as water, or as any other analogy either. Ultimately, of course, our thinking of God as three-in-one and one-in-three is kind of our best guess. True, we get a lot of help from Scripture, of course. Today’s first lesson is the story of creation itself. It has not only the direct action of God the Creator in it, but hints of the Holy Spirit as well. “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” Older translations translate that word “wind” as Spirit, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And in the second lesson, at the end of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he uses an explicit Trinitarian greeting. That letter was probably written no later than two generations or so after the Ascension, about AD 57 or so, and so we know that very early on, believers began to discern that there were multiple aspects to the one God they worshipped. And of course, the end of the Gospel of Matthew contains the Great Commission, where we are commanded to make disciples in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The best guess for Matthew is around AD 80 or thereabouts, maybe three generations after Jesus lived and walked among us.

No matter when all this was finally written down, it’s quite obvious that we began describing God as the Undivided Trinity early on. The most difficult controversies in the early church were held over the nature of God and what this Trinity thing is all about. All three Creeds that we say are a direct result of those battles. You know the first two, the Apostles Creed that we use at baptisms, and the Nicene Creed we recite on other Sundays. Ask me about the third creed over coffee.

Now the history of we got “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” is all very nice. But what’s vitally important, what’s most important, is what Trinity says about God and about us. What it means, very simply, is that God is Love, or better yet the Lover from whom the whole universe burst forth in the force of that Love. But even before the universe began, the Lover had the Beloved, because Love, like a spoken word, must come out and be separate from that which loves. And it is Love itself that - envelops - the Lover and the Beloved and binds them together in the never ending and ever-deepening relationship of one to another. The Trinity simply is our expression of the God that is Love, the eternal Beloved who always existed, and the Spirit of Love itself. And when you think about it, you can’t really say what’s the beginning, which came first. You can’t have a Lover without Love. You can’t have Love without a Lover. And having a Beloved means there is One who Loves. It’s all about relationship, about being in relationship and wanting to be in relationship.

We – the members of St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church - are in essence enveloped by that same Lover, Beloved, and Love that binds them. Because it binds us together too. We are part of the great circle of Lover, Beloved and Love. We who are the body of Christ here in Vernon Township become one with Christ and so we too feel the power of that all-encompassing Love of the Beloved. We, you and I, are drawn into the never ending dance among the Three Persons of the undivided Trinity, the dance of life itself that existed before time and space, and will exist long after both time and space have ceased to be.

And we can take the Trinity as a model for our own lives as well. We know, because we have felt and continue to feel it, that the Three-in-One is always with each of us, loving us with that total love that forgives absolutely everything, no matter what. In our baptism we are incorporated into the network of the Trinity. That network of love will never break and we will never be cast out of it. But sometimes, the love we try to model to others isn’t always enough. We try to imitate it, but we still get angry, frustrated, upset with each other. We sin, sometimes horribly, against one another, the earth, ourselves. Although our relationship in the network of the Trinity is forever, our own relationships with one another sometimes are not. We try to love and sometimes, perhaps often, we fail. I have had personal and professional relationships bend or break, even after much struggle to work things out. I know some of you have as well. But let me tell you, throughout the pain and anxiety and struggle that I have felt in the past and perhaps you have felt as well, I’ve always known, in the depths of my mind and my heart, that God stills me and still loves all those others whom I have hurt or have hurt me. Our brokenness, too, is drawn into that network of Love that is the Three-in-One. That has been a great comfort and even joy. The Good News after all, isn’t complicated. It’s pretty straightforward. There doesn’t have to be much mystery about it. Lover. Beloved. The Love between them. And we’re part of it, permanently. That’s the Good News in a nutshell.

On this day we celebrate this great mystery of Three-in-One, the Undivided Trinity. You and I, each of us, are bound up eternally in that network of love. I invite you to think of all your relationships as also part of that same network. Not just your relationship to God, but also your relationships to your family and friend and stranger, and the physical world around you, and your own inmost secret self. How can you model that love between Creator, Word, and Spirit, in your own life? How can you show the same love that you receive from God in all your relationships? Where are the threads of your own network of love frayed, bent, or broken? Can you use the unbreakable threads of the love that holds you to God to tie back together those that aren’t so strong? You’re being here is a start, because the Body and Blood of our Eucharist repairs those bonds and makes them strong again. Not the bonds to God – those can never be broken, can never bend. I’m talking about the bond to other people, to the earth, and to your self.

Enter in again to the love of Lover, Beloved, and the Love that binds all of us to God and to each other. Feel the mystery of the Trinity in your heart and soul, and then leave this place and draw others into that same mystery. As Jesus commanded, make disciples, first of yourselves, and then each other, and then even the world is not too much! We might not be able to describe the Trinity, but each of us can certainly live it.

Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

PS - thanks to Elizabeth Kaeton who came up with the water analogy!

"The Bible is not a Science Book"

I missed this earlier in the week, and actually only found it when this editorial cartoon said "Vatican says it's OK to believe in aliens." This was actually part of a wide-ranging interview with the Vatican's astronomer. The far more important quote is:

The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."

Well said, Fr. Funes! The Bible contains Truth, but is not Factual in many senses. And it is God's word. But it is Jesus who is The Word.

RFSJ

A Tradition: Saturday Funnies

Hmmm, I think somebody doesn't quite get the picture, although there is the Thummin and the Urim (point to the first person who identifies them correctly....)


OK, this was just funny....but you have to be of a certain age and a bit of a computer geek (sigh) to get it....

Shades of algebra and calculus.....I loved it!

Oh dear, they have me pegged....

I love Red and rover, and this was just cute!

RFSJ

A Site Update

I can't believe I did not have Episcopal Cafe linked in the sidebar, but it is now. It has news and commentary and excellent spiritual discussion on matters of the day. Check it out.

RFSJ

Marriage Equality Gets a Lift!

(Jim Wilson/The New York Times)

The California Supreme Court decided yesterday that the state's "separate-but-equal" scheme for civil unions was unconstitutional based on the California Constitution. This is pretty big news, because A) California is the most populous state in the US; and B) the California Supreme Court is considered to be the most influential state supreme court there is - it's decisions get cited more frequently than any other state supreme court:

(From the NYT) The California Supreme Court, striking down two state laws that had limited marriages to unions between a man and a woman, ruled on Thursday that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

The 4-to-3 decision, drawing on a ruling 60 years ago that struck down a state ban on interracial marriage, would make California the second state, after Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriages.

The decision, which becomes effective in 30 days unless the court grants a stay, was greeted with celebrations at San Francisco City Hall, where thousands of same-sex marriages were thrown out by the courts four years ago.

I myself am of mixed mind about the term "marriage." First I'd like to find a partner or at least someone to date regularly! After that, something forever and of course monogamous. I don't know if I want to get married per se. Have my relationship blessed by the Church? Yup, absolutely. I know there are lots of gay and lesbian folks of all ages who want marriage in all its forms, including the name itself. I absolutely respect those who do, and I wonder at my own ambivalence. I want all the same legal protections as a man and woman who marry; I just want them for me and my guy. I'm not sure why I'm hesitant to call it marriage per se. It's not that I do not believe in loving and monogamous lifelong relationships; I most definitely do. And I want the church eventually to witness and bless my relationship whenever it happens. I think I'll need to explore it more and reflect on it. The Cal. SC decision is a good impetus to do some of that work.

In the meantime, read it all here.

RFSJ

A Late Mothers' Day Tribute

RFSJ

AIDS Walk is This Sunday

No long speech or recital of the facts here. I simply ask you to contribute what you can, if you haven't yet done so, to the 2008 AIDS Walk by using the secure donation button to the left. Episcopal Response to AID will use whatever is raised to make grants to Episcopal/(Anglican) organizations in New York and New Jersey who are doing direct AIDS ministries.

Thank you!

RFSJ

Somebody's Not Quite Getting It

So I'm watching the Mets play the Nationals this evening and Vargas, the new Mets pitcher, is doing OK but not great, although it is 0-0 in the 3rd. Anyway, an ad comes on for Jeep - they're pitching a "2.99 Gas Guarantee." I'm sure there are details involved, but the gist of it is they will somehow subsidize gas when you buy a new Jeep and make sure your net cost is no more than 2.99 per gallon for three years, 12,000 miles per year. Seems like a nice idea, huh?

Except that the whole point of higher gas prices right now is not because anyone is hoarding, but because demand has increased. And, of course, Jeeps are big ole things and guzzle a lot of gas. So when it is now clear that climate change has and is happening, Jeep is encouraging us to buy those big gas guzzlers and just keep on our profligate ways.

That's just so wrong on so many different levels.

RFSJ

PS - I just sawa Dodge add with the same pitch. Sigh.

Baseball Update

A sample box score.

Well, RFSJuniors is currently in fifth place. This year I have a feeling my team will be in the pack. I will strive hard, as I've said, to stay in the top half. This morning I entered into a trade agreement to take Hunter Pence and Brandon Lyon for Vladimir Guerrero. I have to drop Braden Looper to keep my roster complete. It will definitely increase my saves, which I will need in order to stay competitive. Although my offense is weak, it can't hurt much more to trade away a marquis player like Guerrero (he's a "can't cut" player, meaning I can never drop him for a free agent; the only way to get rid of him is to trade him away), since he hasn't been producing too much and Hunter has. So it seems like a fair trade - and if it isn't, oh well. I'm still having a good time!



RFSJ

The Proper of Yesterday: The Day of Pentecost

This past weekend was a busy one for me. In a joyful ceremony presided over by the Bishop of Newark, the Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith, we at St. Thomas's renewed our ministry in Vernon and Sussex County and I was inducted officially as Vicar, although I began my ministry here on March 3. My good friend C. Davies Reed, Associate Rector at St. Christopher's in Carmel Indiana, served as deacon for the Eucharist. He and I have managed to attend every ministry-related function either of us has had, and it's my hope we can continue that. I was grateful, too, that several friends from Trinity Parish in Bergen Point attended as well. Afterward, we had a festive reception in the community room, and there was more food than I have ever seen at a chruch function, ever! it was wonderful. My Dad is in from Toledo and it's been nice spending time with him. We've been doing some exploring and geocaching and generally having a good time.

Yesterday, of course, was The Day of Pentecost, the Fiftieth Day and the last of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. We celebrated it fully and honored the mothers, mothers-to-be, and mothers-in-spirit as well. Because I was a little tired, I did not fully write out my sermon, but the part I ad-libbed I leave as an exercise for the reader :-)

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Vernon
The Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:25-32; 1 Cor 12:4-13; John 20-19-23
The Rev. R. F. Solon, Jr., Vicar

Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

May these words be in the Name of and under the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

This is Pentecost, the 50th Day after Easter. “Pente” means five, like Pentagon, the five-sided headquarters of the Defense Department. It’s one of the Principal Feasts of the church, and it’s the day when we especially remember and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Luke records that it was on the fiftieth day that in a very real way the disciples were filled with that Holy Spirit. It was a physical thing that everybody could see, and could hear, too. Folks from all over the Roman Empire could hear the disciples speaking in different languages about Jesus. And in fact, for a long time in the church, the ability of speaking in tongues, as it’s sometimes called, was considered a sign that someone was truly saved. The apostle Paul wrote about speaking in tongues to the believers at Corinth in today’s second lesson, and mentions speaking in tongues as one of the gifts of the Spirit that the believers there showed.

Some Christians even today actively seek these spiritual gifts. Some wonder why so few people seem to have these gifts in this day and age, that they seem to have died out after the first few generations. Some thought that since it was promised that believers would have those specific gifts, when it didn’t seem to be happening, some concluded they weren’t truly saved. How can we be Christians when none of us to my knowledge have seen a tongue as of fire descend on anyone like it happened on the fiftieth day? What’s wrong with us? Hasn’t the Holy Spirit, the Advocate that Jesus promised us, not come to us after all? Are we just deluding ourselves into thinking that we are reconciled to God in Christ when in reality we’re not? What about this Holy Spirit anyway? How do we know this is for real?

My friends, I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is indeed active and working in our lives, in your life and my life. We are indeed brothers and sisters in Christ, united with God and one another forever. I know this with every fiber of my being. Now, I have never spoken in tongues nor performed miraculous signs of healing. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that The Spirit is in this place. Let me tell you how I know. It’s the story of how I came to be called here. Now I know that yesterday, many of us helped celebrate the renewal of our ministry here at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church. Part of that was my official induction as your Vicar by the Bishop, but you’ve heard me say that yesterday was not about me. It was and is about us. So keep that in mind as I tell how I know the Holy Spirit is moving – because it’s me that got moved in the process!

[Recount story of call from June of 2007 until March 3.]

So that why I know a little about the Holy Spirit, because I felt her at work. But it might be natural to think, yes that’s all well and good, but you’re a priest and you must get special training or something to have been able to figure all that out. I don’t believe that to be true. Just because I’m ordained doesn’t give me any special access to the Spirit. It’s just as hard for me as for anyone else. But the reality is, it isn’t that hard. It may not have been so obvious to you, but I’ll bet you can think of instances in your life that seem in retrospect to clearly have been God working. And I think that, when that’s the conclusion you come to, it’s often indeed the case. The best way to double check what you’re thinking and praying is to ask others about it. Just like it took– deliberately, it’s supposed be this way – the search committee and the Executive Committee and the Bishop, and me, to agree that this call seems to be of God, any time you think you feel the Spirit moving in your life, it’s good to ask others about it. The Holy Spirit will always inspire you to actions that are for the building up of your own self and the community you live in. The Spirit is never a negative thing. She never tells you not to do something. She urges you on and up toward more positive things, the things that are of God and not of evil.

You may also be wondering what gifts the Spirit has given you. St. Paul wrote in today’s excerpt one list of spiritual gifts that he and the Corinthian believers discerned were of the Spirit. Just because we don’t see some of those same gifts manifested in 2008 doesn’t mean the HS is inactive. It just means, as we look around, that the gifts needed in our communities in AD 2008 might be different than those needed in AD 68. St. Paul noted: "All gifts given by the Holy Spirit are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses." Why should we think that what the Christian believers in Corinth needed would be the same that we Christian believers in Vernon need now? What might some of these gifts look like today in your life?

I can see many of them at work powerfully right now on this community. I see gifts of organization. I see gifts of hospitality and welcome. I see gifts for building and construction. I’m aware of gifts of generosity in time and money. I see gifts of comfort and healing. As Bishop Mark noted to our credit yesterday, I see an overall gift of energy and passion for this worshipping community. I know many of you want to continue to offer what you can for the good of this parish. I’m going to suggest a practical way to do so.

As many of you remember, we have set for our selves five goals for this parish for the next few years.
- Energize for growth. That’s hospitality. If we want to attract new members we have to create new patterns on how we think about the next person who walks in the door.
- Inreach and Outreach.
- Christian Education.
- Becoming a parish.

The Exc. Comm will be meeting for a mini-retreat in June so we can do some deep thinking and praying and planning about how we want to go about reaching these goals. I have suggested that a way to keep us focused on these goals is to form some what I am suggesting we call commissions. A “commission” is to “mission with.” That’s what “co-“ means, after all. Commissions are groups of members interested in offering their gifts in a particular area. In addition, Commissions can be, well, commissioned, that is, formally recognized and charged with performing the work they’ve undertaken. We’re talking about having a commission for each goal, splitting inreach and outreach because those are pretty big by themselves. A lot of work still needs to be done on this idea before it’s ready to roll out. After all, remember that when you think the Spirit is working, it’s good to check with others. The Exec. Comm and I will be depending on the Holy Spirit to guide us as we test whether this is a positive way to begin to realize the great potential that I firmly believe exists here. I believe we can achieve parish status within two years. We have, after all, the greatest gift there is, the gift of the Spirit’s presence in, with, and among us, here at St. Thomas’s. Like the spiritual goes, I know the Spirit is in this place!

In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Notice the order here. Jesus greets us with peace, and actually gives us his peace before sending us out to do the work he has given us to do. I am mindful that there are lingering tensions here among some of us at St. Thomas’s. I’m starting learn some of the details and the history as I continue to get know you a bit. As Bishop Mark pointed out so well yesterday, all communities have tensions and disagreements. However, remember that Jesus gives us a command – as the Father has sent me, Jesus says, so I send you. But before we can be sent, before we can fully be the beacon of life and hope for this township and Sussex County that I’m convinced Jesus is indeed sending us to, we must accept and embrace God’s peace first. We cannot move ahead if we are divided. And so I invite you to continue to reach out in the power of that same Spirit to others with whom you might have had a disagreement in the past. It’s hard work, and if you need me to help, please come talk to me. I don’t expect us to never disagree or even fight. It’s not conflict itself that is a problem, it’s how we deal with conflict that reveals whether we’re letting the Spirit really work in our lives or not.

Mt brothers and sisters, I know the Spirit is working here! And I invite you to awaken or re-awaken to that same knowledge and begin to let the Spirit work in your own lives. Each of you here today is making a wonderful continuing step by your presence, by being in community one with another and worshipping at this Altar. Even when we do so at more than one time, we do so at one Altar. Let that be for us a symbol of the unity we already share, as fellow members of the household of God in Jesus. The work of the Spirit is not always as a tongue of fire that appears instantly and causes you to do miraculous things. That was right for that age. For us here today, the Spirit’s work is more often quieter and more subtle. On this fiftieth day, let’s be glad for the work of the Spirit that brought us together, and that powerfully inspires us in our parish goals. We’ve got much to do, and by the power of the same Spirit, I know we can do what we have set out to do. Because that’s of the Spirit, and that means nothing will be impossible for us.

Here's a wonderful song celebrating the power of the Spirit:





Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

We Must Never Forget

Recently, the photo album of a Nazi officer who served a Auschwitz, the death camp, was uncovered in Frnakfurt and donated to the American Holocaust Museum in Washington. there was an extensive article about it in The New Yorker a few months back, and The New York Times has produced a slide show about the album, with background, and pictures.

It's bizarre how ordinary-looking people can perpetrate such horror on the world.

Check it out here.

RFSJ

AIDS Walk Is Coming Up!

As many of you know, the 2008 AIDS Walk is on Sunday, May 18. AIDS is still a worldwide, national, and local epidemic in the Greater New York area, and I am asking your support for Episcopal Response to AIDS, for which I serve as Treasurer. Our goal is to raise $70,000 for grants to Episcopal organizations doing AIDS-related work for this year, and my personal goal is $1000. I'd very much appreciate if you would take five minutes and click on the link to the left and make a secure online donation. Any amount is helpful and will be beneficial!

If you've already done so, I thank you and you will receive confirmation from me directly.

Thank you very much!

Bob

Did You Know?

As an Xer, I am one of the first of the cross-Internet generation. I actually remember a time before the Internet. As I look around the vicarage, I realize a lot of aspects of my life haven't changed. I don't have robots cleaning for me, althogh Roomba and his colleagues do exist, and I still cook over gas using real meat and vegetables and all that. Paper books still exist and are in no danger of going away. I still watch a big TV in the evening. I still have a toaster and sit on furniture from my grandmother's house and I have a car that runs on gasoline. In many ways my life hasn't changed from when I was growing up in Toledo.

And yet the Internet has changed the world, in ways we do not yet even have much of a clue about. Here's an excellent video called Did You Know that asks some very pointed questions. Unfortunately, there's one question it did not ask that I think continues to be relevant today. What question do you think needed to be asked and wasn't? I'll tell you my opinion after you've weighed in.

Check it out:




RFSJ

More funnies

Courtesy of Grandmere Mimi. Perhaps I can get some of them to write my upcoming sermons.

Wisdom from first-graders.

RFSJ

Tuesday Evening Funnies

Is it envrionment or heredity?

Of course that's what they do! that's why courthouses often have inside courtyards!

This seemed funny at the time....

I don't get it. Anybody?

May is a very important month in Indianapolis. In their honor, here's one for Race Month:

And a rare treat - a video, this one courtesy of a friend:

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Can you believe that Eastertide is seven weeks old already? I can't. It feels like Easter was just yesterday. But no, it was Ascension that was actually three days ago, not Easter. Time flies, even during the Great Fifty Days. Although today's Gospel is from my favorite Gospel chapter, John 17, I found myself reflecting more on absence and presense than anything else. Here's my sermon for today:

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Vernon
The Seventh Sunday of Easter 2008 (BCP)
Acts 1: 1-14; Psalm 47; I Peter 4:12-19; John 17:1-11
The Rev. R. F. Solon, Jr., Vicar

May these words be in the Name of our Risen and Ascended Lord, Amen.

Hello, My name is!

Those stickers they make you put on at conferences and stuff. I hate those. Maybe I’m just getting crotchety, but I don’t necessarily want to say Hello to everyone who passes by. It seems like it’s a bit forward. I’m naturally shy, especially in big groups, and so to be forced to greet each person, even if it’s the sticker and not me personally, gets my ire up.

Of course, names are really important. Most of you know I’ve been working on learning all of your names. It’s a slow process, even with the picture you all have so graciously given me. You have all been uniformly patient with me as I work on this. And it’s so important for each of us, isn’t it? Calling someone by name honors them. None of us like to be called “Hey You!” or “You there” or even worse epiphets. We can hear our name spoken aloud even from across a crowded room. Each of us has a name and it’s ours. It’s a shorthand description of everything there is to know about us. More so than an identification number, which may indeed be statistically unique but isn’t very human, we’re proud of our names. Our name denotes who we are. Robert Francis Solon, Jr. That’s my name. Sure, I have a title, also. Many of us do. Titles communicate function or rank or both, but ultimately it’s one’s own personal name that is the important thing. Behind Her Royal Majesty, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, is plain old Elizabeth Windsor. That’s the name God know her as, and it’s our names that God know each of us through baptism by as well.

And we believe that names are so important that when we pray for people in our worship, we name them. Yes it takes a little time. But ours is a solemn duty, to recite the names of those who cannot be physically present with us. We do this either in the Prayers of the People or within the Eucharistic Prayer itself, the more ancient placement in Christian liturgy. When we do so, when we remember them in this way, we make them present even if they are hundreds or thousands of miles away. We know, [as we have been singing,] that we are one body because we all share in the one bread. And very early on, within just a few generations of the Ascension that we observed on Thursday, Christians began to take the Holy Communion to the sick and others who could not be present. If they can’t be with us, the thinking went, we’ll go to them, because we’re all part of one single community. Naming those in the liturgy who cannot be with us makes them present in our hearts and minds, and then we, or our representatives, make ourselves present to them later when we bring them Communion.

This naming of names, this connecting us to those who are absent, does not only extend through space. It extends through time, as well. Not only do we name those who are ill or travelling or otherwise can’t be with us today, we are always invited to name those who are cannot again join us in this earth. We pray every Sunday for those who have died, named or un-named. We don’t do that to intercede for them to God, because we already know God is doing for them far better than we can ask or imagine. We do so because our connections to our honored dead don’t end at the time of death. We believe we will be with them in our own times, and we rejoice that they are in the nearer presence of God already. In the Creed that we will recite in just a few moments, we affirm the communion of saints as a present reality. Our naming of them makes them in some sense present to us now, even though we know that presence is transitory at best.

One of the most profound ways I’ve ever seen to honor those who have died is done at the monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, where I’ve gone on retreat. On the anniversary of the death of every monk of the order, the superior reads out his obituary at the end of Compline, the night service, before the monks retire for the evening. The last line is always, “We pray for our absent brother.” Absence implies and is in some ways the opposite of presence. To be absent means something temporary, like in school, when you’re marked absent, everyone knows you’ll be back again.

This Sunday, the Seventh Sunday of Easter, is a little strange because on this day we observe that Jesus is no longer with us physically. According to the Acts of the Apostles, on the 40th day after his resurrection Jesus was taken up to heaven. That 40th day was this past Thursday. The Ascension is a Principle Feast, one of only seven, including All Saints and Pentecost, because it is by removing his physical body from this universe, Jesus completes the Incarnation by not only uniting God and humanity here on earth, but also by bringing humanity to God in God’s nearer presence. The Ascension says that the Incarnation wasn’t just one way, but both ways. Not only God-meets-humanity, but humanity-meets-God as well.

But at the same time, we acknowledge that in a real and physical way Jesus is not with us. He is, like our honored dead, absent from us. And so we remember him. We remember who Jesus was and what he did for us while he was with us. We remember him every Sunday first in the reading and meditation on Holy Scripture and what it says about Jesus and how that makes sense in the world today. We do it secondly in the Holy Communion itself. In fact, we’re commanded to do so. “Do this in memory of me” is what Jesus asked the disciples to continue at the Last Supper. And it is that special remembering that makes Jesus present to us. It’s similar to how our brothers and sisters who are not with us either in space or in time are absent to us, but our naming them does not make them present except in our hearts. Our naming of Jesus, our remembering what he did for us, does make that once-for-all action real, right here and right now. What we are about to do at the Altar brings forward from 2000 years ago to today that same salvation, so that it continues to work inside us, even as we take into ourselves the very Body and Blood that Jesus first gave for us.

Remember the Where’s Waldo books? In these books for children, readers are invited to find Waldo in the pictures of intricately drawn people. Sometimes it’s easy to find him, sometime’s it’s not. This Sunday might well be called “Where’s Jesus?” Sunday. We, like the disciples, look for him but he’s not here. We celebrate that he is not only absent, but also present. He is not physically here in body, but he is physically here in you and me, who are his body and blood. It’s a strange season, this period of Ascensiontide. Jesus promised his disciples that God would send his Holy Spirit in place of Jesus, and that’s what we remember next Sunday at Pentecost. But right now, we’re on the cusp. Jesus is not here, and the Holy Spirit has not yet arrived. And yet we celebrate Jesus being right here in our midst all at the same time.

Our names make us who we are. The naming of names is powerful. In some societies one has a public name and a private name that one give to only one’s closest friends and family. For us Christians, our names identify us to God and to each other and to ourselves. Our names, when spoken, make us present when we’re absent, and we honor those who are not or cannot be present with us, by naming them in the midst of our worship. We name the name of Jesus in the same way. We make him present by and through his name, and his presence then infuses each of us, so that we, each of us, become little extensions of him. Our very lives, the day-to-day stuff we do every day, becomes a proclamation of the Good News. And so, although we don’t all go around wearing “Hello, my name is” stickers all the time, those around us can see Jesus’ name in our names. It’s Jesus’ name, after all, that is inscribed on us when we are sealed by the Holy Spirit at baptism. That name is an indelible mark on our very souls that names us as belonging to Jesus, now and forever.

Names are powerful. I invite you to let that power work in your life so that, even though Jesus is not here, everyone will see and know that he is here, in each and every one of you.
Amen.

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

RFSJ

God Dropped the Paint Can

A real place outside Bakersfield, CA. Thanks to Jerry Pisani at Trinity Parish.

RFSJ

Baseball Update

Well, RFSJuniors is in 8th place, after dropping all week. I made one error on my part by benching one of my pitchers who was scheduled to pitch. We did great and got the win but it didn't accrue to me. It's the risk I run - first time I've had more than two pitcher start in one day. We're only allowed 1250 innings pitched over the course of the season, and last year I really blew my IPs out and had to bench most of my starts throughout September. This year my rule has been no more than two starters per night, and of course the first time that happened, all three of them did really well.

What's really been hurting is my hitting. Very bad this past week. Average is low, not so many RBIs or HRs and precious few - 1, I think - stolen base. So that has really hurt. I've got some good players, but they aren't hitting well. I only hope that changes. I'd like to move back into the top half of the league if I can.

Well, hope springs eternal. I'm gonna go look at the waiver wire, to see which players I might be able to pick up who would be good to have.

RFSJ

More Saturday Funnies

I laughed out loud. Anyone get the joke besides me? (Bizarro is getting a bit dated, I admit):



I wonder what kind of eggs I would have gotten.....tell me in the Comments!

I don't get it. No really. Can someone exlain it to me?

Oh, the power of beans!

RFSJ

Saturday Funnies

American Idol meets Ceasar....


Makes sense to me (click to enlarge if needed):


Ladies, don't get mad....

RFSJ

It Was Really Cool!

In Eastertide at St. Thomas's we're using Eucharistic Prayer D because it's the most ecumenical of the prayers in the Prayer Book. Last evening, during our celebration of the Ascension, was a very cool moment. There's a line in the prayer that thanks God for the ministry of Jesus who "to the poor proclaimed the good news of salvation, to prisoners, freedom, to the sorrowful, joy." What was excellent and wonderful and very joyful was the fact that a member of our congregation who had been incarcerated and who had been released just the day before. Last evening was the first time he had been in church for several months!

I almost wept.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: SS Phillip and James

SS Philip and James, from the Breviary of Martin of Aragon

Today we remember the ministry of the apostles Philip and James, two of the Twelve. Their feast day is normally May 1, but got bumped by yesterday's Feast of the Ascension. I've always considered Phillip quite the Anglican evangelist because he keeps bringing people to Jesus, but always in a "come and see" way, rather than a push-Jesus-in-your-face way. His way is to invite people and let them make up their own minds and hearts. He did that with Nathaniel in John's Gospel, and also brought the Greek speakers to Jesus when they wanted to see him.

It turns out there a lot of people named James in the New Testament. The one we commemorate today is one of the Twelve (James the Less, son of Alpheus) but not the same as James of Jerusalem, the brother of Jesus. We know nothing about him. There's also a James the Greater who is the other James listed among the Twelve who is a member of the "inner three" of Peter, James, and John. Today's James is not him, either.

Phillip is patron of hatters and pastry chefs, among others, while James is patron of fullers and pharmacists.

Almighty God, who gave to your apostles Philip and James grace and strength to bear witness to the truth: Grant that we, being mindful of their victory of faith, may glorify in life and death the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: The Ascension of Our Lord

Ascension Icon from Orthodox Wiki

Today is actually one of the seven Principle Feasts of our Church, which makes it rank as high or higher than Sundays. We celebrate one of the strangest mysteries of the Gospel, the truely bizarre claim that Jesus, after his resurrection, did not die a natural death again, because how could he? "Christ, being raised from the can never die again; death has no more dominion over him." It's reported in Mark and Luke that in the presence of his disciples, Jesus was somehow taken bodily from them into heaven and "now sits at the right hand of the Father."

This is an observance that has taken me a long time to live in to. I think it's becoming a favorite for two reasons. One, it's neglected by most Christians. Frankly, it's inconvenient enough at Easter to have all that "raising from the dead" language going on. But now we have to do this bit about him rising into heaven? I think it strains the incredulity of most people. The RCC transfers this feast to Sunday next, rather than observe it on its 40th day, which is today. Many denominations, even if they have it on their calendars, don't observe it. But I think it's telling that it is considered by Episcopalians as on par with Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. We're supposed to face up to the incredulity of it and talk and discuss and pray about it, and finally, celebrate it even if we don't undestand it. We'll do so at St. Thomas's tonight as 7:30 PM with Lessons, Carols, and Eucharist for the Ascension.

The second reason I like this feast is that it completes the Incarnation. Jesus, the Word, who was with God from the beginning, became a real human being to be with us for a short time in this world. Then, after rendering death meaningless, he took his humanity with him into the next world. He didn't leave it behind, but completed the joining of God and humanity in heaven. I finally realized this a few years ago when, at Seminary I believe, we sang hymn 215 "See the Conqueror mounts in triumph!" from the Hymnal. Verse three was what finally gave me a clue what the Ascension was really about:

Thou hast raised our human nature on the clouds to God's right hand;
There we sit in heavenly places, there with thee in glory stand;
Jesus reigns, adored by angels, Man with God is on the throne;
mighty Lord, in thine Ascension, we by faith beyond our own.

Sometimes - often! - those hymns say it far better than I can.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.


RFSJ

What Spice Are You?

Your Score: Salt

You scored 50% intoxication, 0% hotness, 50% complexity, and 25% craziness!

You are Salt! You may be bland, but life just wouldn't be the same without you. You're plentiful and you come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colours. You bring out the flavour in whatever you touch and have been the world's best preservative for millennia. You rock.

Link: The Which Spice Are You Test written by jodiesattva on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(jodiesattva)

Thanks to Grandmere Mimi!

RFSJ

Wednesday Funnies

(Click on any image to enlarge.)


So recently I've had a lot on my back too...



If only - where are the dot.com gurus when you need one?

OK, so I was feeling a little creeped out by the spring bugs...

Welcome to the 21st Century!

RFSJ

PS - one of my cartoon sites has apparently spiked their cartoons with something that causes Blogger to not allow my to upload them. (I pay for email feeds that come daily.) So I have a number of very funny cartoons I might not be able to share any time soon, but I'll try to figure something out.

Disturbing on a lot of levels

The NYT has an article today about how a ground-breaking school in NYC that would have taught Arabic, similar to other schools that teach in various foreign languages, including Chinese, was shut down by opposition fearing it was promoting terrorism.

Battle in Brooklyn A Principal’s Rise and Fall
Critics Cost Muslim Educator Her Dream School
By ANDREA ELLIOTT
Published: April 28, 2008
The fight against a school in Brooklyn was led by an organized movement to stop Muslim citizens who are seeking an expanded role in American public life.

I'm disturbed by what appear to be the massive assumptions that were made throughout. We Christians are called to "respect the dignity of every human being" and I think, at a minimum, that means accepting people at face value without making assumptions, without profiling or stereotyping. And face it, we Christians are in the minority too. This may be a nominally Christian nation, but the key word is "nominal." The values of society at large - witness this purge! - do not match the values we espouse as Christians.

Read it all here.

RFSJ

I want this.

I find myself really envious. Here's an article in today's New York Times Magazine about younger gay men in their 20s and early 30s who are getting married. I want this too. I'm 41 and I want a relationhip that will last the rest of my life, too. I've been through it once - we took vows and everything - and I was devestated when it didn't work out. And I see friends and former boyfriends always with a date - it seems so easy for them!

LAST NOVEMBER IN BOSTON, Joshua Janson, a slender and boyish 25-year-old, invited me to an impromptu gathering at the apartment he shares with Benjamin McGuire, his considerably more staid husband of the same age. It was a cozy, festive affair, complete with some 20 guests and a large sushi spread where you might have expected the chips and salsa to be.

Read it all here.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: The Sixth Sunday of Easter

As always, the community gathers on the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, for nurture and sustenance and community and to renew connections to God, each other, and ourselves. In Eastertide on this Sixth Sunday of Easter we continued to hear from the Acts of the Apostles and the First Letter of Peter. And in the Gospel we continue to read from John, this time the very enigmatic metaphor of Jesus as the Vine. We're the branches, Jesus says, and in what I suspect is typical Johannine hyperbole, those branches that aren't making grapes get cut out and burnt. The others get pruned (the same Greek root also means "cleansed") so that there can be even more grapes. There's always so much we can say about the Johannine Easter images, but this week I had food and hunger on my mind:

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Vernon
The Sixth Sunday of Easter (BCP) 2008
Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 148; 1 Peter 3:8-18; John 15:1-8
The Rev. R. F. Solon, Jr. Vicar

May these words be in the name of the True Vine, Jesus our risen Lord. Amen.

This past week you may have heard that the United Nations has declared a food emergency globally, and has requested an additional half billion right now in order to help purchase food needed in those areas where it is scarce. Apparently, it’s a combination of high fuel prices, bad harvests, and the instability of the value of the dollar that has led to this situation. Many are blaming the US for a lot of what’s going on. I admit to having somewhat of an understanding, at a high level, of everything that’s happening, but I also confess that I haven’t felt too much of the pain that millions are facing now. The price of beans for the Sudan, for example, was around $200 per ton less than two years ago and is now $1100 per ton. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen any prices in the A&P quintuple. So listening to the news on this has been a bit theoretical. Even in this age of global connection, it’s kind of hard sometimes to really feel affected.

And yet, we have been affected, there’s no doubt. I’m sure you’ve noticed, as have I, that the prices of dairy products have gone way up in the last few months. I happen to like eggs and cheese a lot, so I definitely have been aware of the rising prices. And at least one store I was in recently had a big sign up in the dairy case, explaining that the costs had risen beyond the control of the store and they were sorry they had to raise their prices. And I’ve noticed what seems like a few more calls than earlier from folks locally, who need food and are hoping we can help. I’m always pleased that I can invite them to our food pantry, but almost always they also want to know if I can help with dairy or meat. I feel uneasy when I can’t help, although sometimes I can if we have food cards from A&P at hand. The Sparta Ecumenical Council Food pantry confirms this. Where they used to give out 15 or 20 bags of groceries a week, now it’s more like 90 or a hundred. And you will have seen the insert we’ve been putting in the bulletin about ways to help right here in Sussex County. So the global food crisis is definitely affecting us here as well. It’s not just something we see in the news. It’s real and it’s personal.

I’m reminded of all this not only because I drive past the Super A&P regularly. I don’t know exactly how much food there is in there at any given time, but I imagine it’s enough to feed the entire township of 25,000 people for several days or even longer. But this Sunday, the Sixth Sunday in the Great Fifty Days of Easter, has traditionally been know as Rogation Sunday. Now, it has nothing to do with how long the hair of the disciples was or anything like that! Rather, it’s because in the gospel for today, Jesus says, “ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” The word “ask” in Latin, the language the Church used for hundreds of years, is “rogare.” And the next three days, the three days before Ascension Day, are called the Rogation Days, or the Days of Asking. It was traditional that on these days there were special celebrations of the Eucharist to pray for the harvest that, even this year when everything is so early, is just being prepared and planted. It originally came about nearly 1700 years ago in what is now France, when there were severe food shortages in the area. Sound familiar? The practice eventually spread throughout the Christian west. And even our own Book of Common Prayer offers liturgies for these days. On Monday is the commemoration for fruitful seasons, on Tuesday for commerce and industry, and on Wednesday for stewardship of creation. I used to think of the Rogation Days as quaint, hardly needed in the 20th and 21st centuries. We’ve solved hunger, right? Well, now I’m not so sure.

I think there’s a real tension within our spiritual lives regarding asking God for things. True, every Sunday we pray for all sorts and conditions of people in the Prayers of the People. And we have special celebrations like the Rogation Days and Rogation Sunday that are designed to encourage people to pray for their needs. And there are several passages in Matthew, Luke, and of course John that all seem to encourage us to “bring it to the Lord in prayer.” “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock, and the door will be opened.” is a famous passage from the Sermon on the Mount. And of course in the Lord’s Prayer itself we are told to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Last week, you might recall we heard, “I, Jesus, will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” And today, from John, “ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Asking God for our needs seems like a reasonable, even laudatory, thing to do.

The tension, the problem is, of course, that often it seems that, no matter what the Gospels seem to promise, we often, even usually, don’t get what we ask for. And there is a strand of Christianity that even goes so far as to suggest that if you don’t have all the material things in life – because surely that’s what everyone wants and what God wants for you too – then you must not be a good Christian, because God rewards good people in this life with abundance, and does not reward those who don’t deserve it.

The problem with this is that it turns God into a giant ATM machine. It implies that you only have to be good enough, only have to pray enough or in the right way, to get what you want. It takes God’s grace right out of the picture. Salvation becomes something you can earn if you just pray hard enough. But of course, that isn’t how God works at all. In every one of the passages that encourage us to ask for what we need, ever notice that’s only about the needs of this life and not the wants? We’re never encouraged to ask for more than what we need. And the Gospels are very very clear about what excessive stuff can do to one’s life with God. When we orient our lives towards things we can’t orient them toward God.

More than that, Jesus actually reminds us that God already knows that we need the things of this life. And that, for me, begs the question: why pray at all? God already knows everything. He doesn’t need me to tell him that I’m hungry, or that my best friend is ill and needs healing, or that my job might be ending and I’m worried about how to pay the bills.

I think there are at least two answers for this. The first one, the simple one is, “Because Jesus told us to.” And he did. “Give us this day our daily bread” is a prayer we Christians pray all the time, even in the midst of our Eucharist when we thank God for what God is doing in Jesus in our lives. We pray that because Jesus commanded us to. And we who claim to be followers of Christ try to do the things he commanded. Not because we’re in trouble if we don’t, but because we know that Jesus, the embodiment of Wisdom incarnate, intends only the good for us in the things he asks us to do.

The other reason is perhaps a bit less obvious. We pray because in doing, so we practice orienting ourselves to God. We don’t pray because God needs it, we pray because we do. In all our prayer we are, consciously or not, renewing our connections to God thought Christ. We often pray more frequently when we can sense that our connection is weakened or fraying.

Sometimes, like on Sundays, we pray in thanksgiving as well as intercession. Sometimes all we can do is cry out to God in anger or frustration or fear or sadness or simple begging. Sometimes our prayers might be for things more than our daily needs. I’m pretty sure that God really doesn’t care too much whether or not my Mets win this series against the Braves, but I sure would like them to. And that new whatever it is you’ve had your eye on? Perhaps you’ve asked God for that, too.

I truly believe that, at its most basic level, in the act of prayer itself the content doesn’t much matter. What’s most important is that in the act of prayer we are consciously reaching out for God. We are aligning ourselves with God when we pray, and in doing so, we open ourselves up to God’s will and purpose for us, even when we don’t know it.

Notice I didn’t say that what we pray for doesn’t matter at all. It does. In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Jesus is telling us that the prerequisite for asking for whatever we wish, is each of us being first in the mind of Christ and having Christ’s words in us. What are those words? We hear them a bit later in this chapter of John. Christ’s words are that we are to love one another as he has loved us. Then we are abiding in Christ and then his words are abiding in us. If we are truly loving one another, if we are truly always seeking the best of the other knowing that he or she is doing the same, then what we ask for is going to be for things that are needed by those we are in relationship with, those people we are loving. And God will be pleased to do that. That’s the kind of prayer – prayer on behalf of others – that God gets into. We aren’t going to be asking for the new car, or the next version of the cool but expensive video game, or anything like that. We will be asking for food, and clothes, and shelter, and stability, and health, and wholeness for those whom we are trying to love as Christ already loves each of us. That’s the more excellent way. That’s the good fruit that Jesus alludes to in his metaphor of the Vine and the Branches. Our prayers for others become the seeds in us of the good fruit we will eventually produce. As Jesus said, “My father is glorified in this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

And there are two really good examples of what that good fruit looks like, those spiritually delicious apples and pears and plums and oranges. Recall that we’ve been hearing from the Acts of the Apostles during Eastertide. We do that every year, to remind us in vivid picture, with real people doing real tings, that in the season of new life that the Church was once new and experienced that new life directly. The sacred story of what the first generation of apostles said and did is meant to inspire and ground and encourage us. They started with nothing, and look at what fruit they bore! Can you imagine what Christ’s new life can do for this community of St. Thomas’s?

And we also continue to hear from the First Letter of Peter. Today we heard, “Now all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called-- that you might inherit a blessing.” Now those are some very specific ways to recognize the good fruit that Jesus invited us to be. Aren’t sure if you are living out a fruitful life in Christ? Check the list. Do those things describe you? If not, time for more prayer. If they do, don’t rest on your laurels. Pray for more!

My friends, prayer is important. In fact, it’s critical to a renewed life in the Lord. The Good News is that God can and does take all our prayers and makes good use of them. Even if you’re afraid your prayers aren’t worthy, that they aren’t selfless enough, don’t worry too much. Yes, we have lots of guidance about what are better ways to pray. And it’s good to examine ourselves and see what and how we are praying. But God has big shoulders. God can take whatever we pray. Whether it’s for our needs, those of others, or seemingly more blasé, like that new computer or hitting the lottery, remember that God did ask us to pray. Our prayer first and foremost keeps us online with God, connected to him even in the midst of this ever-more-dangerous world that wants nothing more than for us to forget God and lose our connections to him. And so we pray. This week we pray for our own needs and the needs of the world in the traditional Rogation Day prayers. Hunger is on the rise, in the entire world, here in the US, and especially right here in Sussex County. It is a good and noble thing to pray for those needs, even for the billions of people we will never see otherwise. Yes, God knows what we need before we ask. But it is the asking itself, and especially who we are asking, that’s the important thing. That asking, that rogare, our prayers, are the seeds of the good fruit we are already becoming. And as Jesus tells us, “Our Father is glorified in this, that we bear much fruit and become his disciples.”
We - you and I, this community of St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church - are the good fruit that can feed the hungry world, this hungry nation, this hungry township. Won’t it be wonderful to see what kind of good fruit each of us will bear in the days and weeks to come!

Amen.

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ