family - always a kick in the head

*sigh* so i still want to write something on the sermon experiment this morning of bringing up in pentecostal context both illegal immigration and julia child. that was an interesting sermonating process. in the meantime, however, i will just past the article i just wrote for the june/july newsletter and then i'm going to bed. yup. i have to be up much too early to go drive too far. ah, well. at least it's a 3-day thing about pastoral imagination.

and, oh. if i'm related to you, please just know that i'm quite positive you think i'm weird, i'm totally ok with this, and if i really thought you'd have an issue with this you wouldn't be able to see it. :)

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I don’t know about you, but I have a big family, and they keep wanting to get together and talk - usually over food. It’s crazy. During a memorable brunch, my mother’s cousin Joanie expounded at length on why women should not be ordained. At another meal aunt Sue leaned over and mouthed rather scandalously that aunt Alice had voted for Obama - a Republican/Democrat divide within the family we never thought would be crossed. And just this evening I had a lively discourse via text messaging with my cousin Scott, a retired army man, about gun control and immigration; I think he just fell asleep on me, by the way. I also routinely hear about Roy’s ... internal parts, George’s having given up on organized religion though he’s a retired pastor and I still can’t figure out what Tim’s relationship with his “sorta girlfriend” is. And I can assure you that they all find me just as strange and routinely have to shake their own heads in confusion as to how on earth we could be a part of the same family tree.

Does any of this sound familiar? While I actually do share genetics with the people mentioned above, the interactions are so very similar to church life. We all know each other’s business, everybody has known everybody for years, and we all put up with the oddities of others and even, when we really admit it to ourselves, we often like them - and always love them. It’s part of what we as a community are about.

We are now entering into that time of vacation and family visits and grilling out with a lot of people we may know but who inspire extreme awkwardness. The winter offers afternoons or mornings of together time, but we really grin and bear it with much longer together-time in the summer. With our families of genetic origin as well as within the church, we find ourselves with maybe not the group of best friends we would pick for ourselves, but there is deep understanding and love and compassion and fun that goes along. One of my favorite aspects of Covenant is that I know that many of us do not agree with each other about countless things, but we still come together and commit to relationship with each other. We somehow see Christ in each other, and we are rejuvenated and keep coming back on Sundays like I am an addict to annual family reunions. It is where we are home and know we have a place and are loved.

Often I try to put a challenge or plant a seed of an idea with my newsletter article. For this summer time, however, I’ll just assure that there is nothing wrong with taking a bathroom break when someone is on the verge of insufferable, and the big jugs of lemonade and iced tea always taste better mixed together. Oh, and try to avoid doing anything you know people will be talking about for years to come... like that time Uncle Sam got spanked by Grandpa (the pastor) mid-worship service there in front of God and everybody. Yeah, we still talk about that one.

the best of this daily examen

today was one of those fascinating paradoxes of ministry. i have been visiting edith for a good while now - 8 months or more. she's, oh, 83 or so, and in the meantime we've been through moving from an independent apartment into a nursing home, a foot break with many infections and follow-up surgeries, a hip break and follow up recovery from that including loss of appetite and general crappiness of life.

tomorrow is edith's birthday. we announce these in the worship service the previous sunday, and when i came across her name i contacted vicki who has been visiting edith as well and taking her to doctor's appointments and trying to figure out what to do about shoes. vicki was already taking edith to a doctor's appointment at 1:15 today, so we decided to meet at perkins for lunch beforehand, and a lovely woman from the care committee provided a blushing calla lily. we had a good lunch though miss edith wasn't as talkative as normal. she did eat quite a bit, though, which is very good for her. actually, as we were getting into the car she was just chattering away like she had no appointment at all. it was fun.

this evening as i was stringing yarn from my house on which the sweet peas can hang, i got a call from vicki. apparently the whole rest of the afternoon edith was just over the moon so very surprised by the lunch and that i was there to help celebrate it with her. in the course of this conversation vicki learned that this was the first time that anyone had taken her out to eat for her birthday since her husband died 15 years ago... on her birthday. hmm. vicki and i decided that we were decidedly humbled and honored.

facebook just reminded me that my mother's birthday will be thursday. thanks, facebook! actually i had been getting it confused since both my parents and sis were born in the month of may. now i knew that papa's was on the 14th. that was in place. but the other two dates were the 20th and the 28th which i could never keep apart. what with my sister dead now, i needed some decisive clarification on this thing. so last weekend i asked papa when, precisely, my mother's birthday would be. as it turns out nothing can come between my parents, so the 20th it is.

i know you all are just so intrigued by all of this. no really, you are. and yes, i am up too late and need to go to bed. i'm also quite annoyed at someone. ok, a couple of someones actually. whatever. my issue - not yours. ok, off to bed then... i hope this finds you all well.

today i'm just going to post this letter from the pcusa's leaders about the new immigration laws in arizona (and california as well, but nobody is talking about that). i'm doing this for two reasons: (1) i'm feeing a bit under the weather and (2) it's late enough on saturday night that i really should start my sermon's final approach. and yeah, that is kinda what it's like. it's been circling for about 5 hours now and almost ready for a landing methinks.

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April 29, 2010


Dear Members of Congress,

We write to express our conviction that you must enact comprehensive immigration reform this year. As people of faith and the leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we are keenly aware of the devastating effects our broken immigration system has on the lives of individuals, immigrant and non-immigrant families, and our communities. The bigotry, trauma, and fear that will result from the recent new law enacted in Arizona, SB 1070, which criminalizes those who are found "with" undocumented persons and requires law enforcement officers to identify and detain such persons, serves to underscore the necessity of action at the federal level.

Churches are on the front lines of caring for families being ripped apart by our broken immigration system. Traumatized citizen children left behind when parents are deported are but one example of the ways the current system destroys the fabric of community life, the integrity of healthy families, and the safety of individual persons. Church workers are also at the forefront of offering relief and services to immigrants, regardless of documentation status. Arizona’s new law will put at risk those workers and others who are called simply to offer the most basic of humanitarian assistance. As Christians, we cannot stand by idly while our brothers and sisters die on our borders from exposure and thirst or languish in poorly equipped detention facilities, nor should we be required to do so by any law.

The new Arizona law also puts in jeopardy the public safety of immigrant communities, already wary of law enforcement for fear of deportation. Instead of new laws that induce fear and distrust, immigrants should be encouraged to participate with law enforcement, reporting crimes when they are victims and offering testimony when they are witnesses. Such trust and participation is impossible if local law enforcement is tasked with enforcement of federal immigration laws. SB 1070 will only foster more fear among immigrant communities, regardless of documentation status. Comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level is essential to override and counteract the damage done in Arizona by this new law.

In the Scriptures of Christians and Jews, we are commanded, “When an immigrant resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the immigrant. The immigrant who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the immigrant as yourself for you were immigrants in the land of Egypt" (Lev. 19:33-34). The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) therefore supports congressional action in 2010 on comprehensive immigration reform that creates a process for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to earn their legal status; reduces waiting periods and upholds family unity; protects workers from exploitation; and provides efficient channels of entry for new migrant workers.

Sincerely,

Bruce Reyes-Chow
Moderator, 218th General Assembly (2008)

Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

Linda Bryant Valentine
Executive Director, General Assembly Mission Council

sent to me by an 85 year-old in my congregation ftw

Business Card
 
A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners.  At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote 'Revelation 3:20' on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned.  Added to it was this cryptic message, 'Genesis 3:10.'

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.  Revelation 3:20 begins 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.'  Genesis 3:10 reads, 'I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked.'

'A cheerful heart is good medicine' (Prov. 17:22)

this afternoon i drove down to springfield to visit my parents in their new place.  we also just had dinner at the texas roadhouse, so what i was planning on saying here might no longer make any sense due to too much food. oh, and i left my book at home damnit.  poo.  in any case, driving into town here i thought to myself: i really don't think that i'm religious enough for springfield.  which, to a great extent is quite true.  i surely don't have enough jesus in my life for these people.  so in the spirit of useless rebellion, as i drove in i was just booming along with toybox's e.t. which is this amazing song from these swedish persians who make aqua look classy.  doubt what i'm saying?  well here's your proof:

and yes, i know that the video is a different song, but i really thought that the visuals just added so much, don't you think? and jane really does love to ride that elephant.  i mean reeeeallyy.

my other profound thought on the way down here: hey, i think maybe i WOULD like to see dolly parton's dixie stampede dinner attraction in branson!  oh yeah.  from the metropolitan opera in the city of new york to this.  ooor i could just wait with baited breath for their christmas extravaganza.  they have poinsettias!

and in confession, i'm actually only half kidding about all of this.  ^_^

super-low content wednesday... oh, it's thursday? ok then.

spanish amusement parks are so much better.



i'm down south to the rents' house of questionable internet access for some birthday fun... or family dinner, whichever. i'll see about coming up with actual content later.

oh, and i really want one of these:

i really dislike the second wednesday of the month. in the morning is the ministerial alliance meeting and the evening is always committee night - ok, well neither meets in the summer, so i'll be good for a while here. in any case, today was my church's turn to host the alliance which meant me leaving at 7:30 to pick up the previously forgotten fruit i said i'd bring and then arriving at the church early in order to pull together the service for sunday for which i'd previously neglected to pick hymns, etc. oops. then the meeting opening with breakfast with my ladies who were unbelievably awesome! eggs and plates cooked to order, dude! and then of course was the meeting during which people spoke way more than they needed to... as per usual. the whole meeting was a mix, though, filled with lots of laughter, and then at the end when we finally got to the joys and concerns it was discovered that there lots of sad circumstances floating around. also? people were really friendly with me. like, why are you talking to me friendly. maybe i've proven some of my stripes. more on this topic at a later time when i'm up to it, btw...

i'm currently drinking gin and orange juice, btw. way more effective than any mimosa.

committee night this evening was... fine. better than usual, but i was sleepy and not into it. however, throughout the evening i may have only rolled my eyes twice. progress!

and miss leah (you may not know her), aware of my personal proclivities, sent me this today which i absolutely adore:

i need to write more. i need to write beyond just what gets put in the newsletter and local newspaper (that i swear has interviewed me way too much already). i need tow rite for myself. in seminary i did have a long blog on which i wrote for years. now, just with some restraint (oh, lessons from the past), i need to write again. yup.

and ok now, i've had this window open for a good couple of hours now expecting that something amazingly awesome would show up in my brain that i could write here. oh, the pressure. i hate it. so i am going to press "publish post" and move on. also, i shall endeavor to post something every day. i seem to remember that being a good idea as opposed to my not posting anything for, oh, 3 months to 2 years.

so let's see how this adventure goes....

peace out from missouri.