Starting Small, June 12.2012

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Mark 4:30-32 
Jesus also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable will we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed, which,
when sown upon the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs,
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

I don’t know about you but I love making big plans. I love to dream big, to cast a wide net and imagine that anything is possible. Sometimes this serves me well, it helps me to think outside the box and to set high standards and reach for what seems impossible. But there are also moments in which we get so caught up in the dream that we forget to make small steps in the right direction. Or we become overwhelmed with the magnitude of an enormous goal and give up before even getting started.

Sometimes we do this with our personal lives. We set new goals for changing relationships or personal behaviors. I tell myself every year on my birthday that I’m going to start going to the gym every day. I hate going to the gym. I never do it. This is a silly goal, it’s too big. I should set a goal of walking the dog three times a week, that would be a bit more manageable!

We do this in communities as well. We dream big and make big plans but we must not’t forget the small steps to getting there. Kingdom work is hard word, it’s overwhelming work. When I imagine what Jesus means when he talks about God’s kingdom coming near or coming to fruition here on earth I imagine an end to war and violence. I imagine an end to hunger and homelessness. I imagine a place where each person know their own worth and belonging. I imagine a world in which we’ve learned to love not just one another but the earth itself. That we nurture, care for and create life rather than destroy it. These are big dreams that many of us share. And then we’re faced with the news of violence and death in our own city and across the world. We’re faced with the news of depleting resources across the globe. We’re faced with words, sounds, images and experiences of anger, fear and hatred.

In the face of all of this we can become overwhelmed. I think to myself, “Jesus, you’re mustard seed kingdom needs to grow bigger and faster!” But it doesn’t. Jesus points out to his disciples and to us, God’s work in the world comes in the shape and size of the mustard seed. It comes in the tiniest of glances. A look of love that replaces fear or mistrust. It comes in the tiniest of gestures. A gentle touch; a moment of our time, freely given without expectation or regret. It comes in the tiniest of bit knowledge, shared or used to make the space for peace, justice or understanding between strangers. It comes in the tiniest hint of compassion, the ability to love in the face of hate, to mend torn relationships and broken communities one conversation at a time. It’s slow incremental work. Work that pushes roots down first, deep into the ground. Work that builds networks of life and nutrients undetectable to the human eye. Work that pushes towards the light one day, one year, one lifetime at a time.

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Tiny, stubborn, strong, pushing and pushing us towards God’s big dream for the world.

May you find your place in the kingdom work in this world,
May you take joy in the small pieces that are yours,
May God’s big dream for the world inspire and sustain you,
and may you sit in the shade of God’s big dream,
knowing that you belong even as it continues to grow.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

Musical Meditation

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What happens to the harvest? June 11.2012

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Mark 4:26-29 
Jesus also said,
“The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,
and would sleep and rise night and day,
and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.
The earth produces of itself, first the stalk,
then the head, then the full grain in the head.
But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle,
because the harvest has come.”

Farmers know. Farmers know how to count the days of growing by weeks and rains. They know to watch the colors and texture of the soil, to breathe deep and smell the life of the field. Farmers know. They know when it’s time to scatter the seeds. They know to wait for the mystery to unfold from beneath the ground. They know that while they irrigate and wait and count the clouds and do chores by the rising and setting sun the wheat is rising and will push through the earth and reach for the sun. Farmers know the age of stalk of wheat or corn by it’s height, by how far it reaches for the sun. And when the seeds or fruits begin to spill out onto the ground, they know it’s time. When life is overflowing, bursting forth, they know it’s time to begin the harvest.

Jesus points us to the parable of the planting and harvesting, giving us a beautiful image of the spiritual life, or a life in God. It’s cyclical, it’s interconnected and dependent on our life in relationship to all that surrounds us, it’s a mystery where growth and meaning happen in the darkness, underground, where only God knows what’s going on. And like the grains and fruits of the harvest our lives also come to a head. The nurture and mystery, the relationships that cultivate, challenge and strengthen us lead to a time of bearing fruit.

What fruits have you born in your life? Can you remember a time when life or love or new life sprang forth from your own story? When your hard work or attention to Holy Spirit bore an unexpected or beautiful moment of peace or joy or deeper understanding? Was it a painful labor? Or one marked by love and support? What have you done with the harvesting moments in your life?

The farmer’s harvest goes to feed the animals, or the people, the family around the table, to the local or global market. Sometimes the harvest goes back in the ground to live yet another life-cycle. Where does the harvest God is tending in your life go? There are times in my own life that I’ve wasted a harvest moment, that I’ve allowed a moment with rich potential for deepening a relationship or paying forward a grace-filled moment fall on the ground. Other times I’ve witnessed God’s exploding harvest and managed to fall on my knees with thanksgiving. To name and celebrate it with others.

May you experience the work of God in your lives as unfolding mystery,
May you recognize and give thanks for the bounty in front of you,
May God sustain you through what at times feels like a famine,
May we celebrate one another’s harvest,
and share it with one another, with the hungry of belly and the hungry of heart.
and may we continuously replant the seeds of God’s creation for future generations.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

Musical Meditation

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Rethinking Family, June 8.2012

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Mark 3: 34-35 
Looking around at those seated around him in a circle, Jesus said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers.
Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.”

I was adopted when I was a tiny thing and in the church I grew up in we practiced believer baptism so instead of baptizing babies we dedicated or welcomed them into the ‘family’ when the were just born or in my case when we ‘arrived’. When my sister and I came to live with our adoptive parents we were dedicated or welcomed to the family of faith and we sang a hymn called the Family of God. We sang the same hymn on the day that I was baptized at the age of nine, and because my mom was the church musician the same hymn turned up on other important milestone moments as well. It’s a hymn that has come to symbolize what it means to be part of a family of faith for me, so much  that wherever I go I have sought ‘family’ to sustain and nurture me as I continue to grow in my own life of faith.

There is one verse of the hymn that has always stuck with me and it goes like this:

You will notice we say “brother and sister” ’round here,
It’s be-cause we’re a family and these are so near;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And re-joice in each victory in this family so dear.  

In these verses from Mark Jesus points us to an important truth: in our commitment to our communities of faith, in the moment of our baptism and at the table when we break bread together we are reorienting ourselves to what it means to be family. We all come from particular families, from particular tribes, cultures and communities but in our lives of faith we claim another kind of family. We claim our place in the family of God and this is what Jesus is pointing us too when he identifies those around him as his mother, brothers and sisters.

Who have been your siblings in your journey of faith? Who has mentored, taught, mothered and fathered you in your faith development? Who has offered to sit vigil with you in times of heartache? Who has celebrated the movement of the Spirit in your life?

May your lives be filled with the family of God,
May you receive the love and support
of a familial bond in your community of faith,
May you be a spiritual friend, a mentor,
a mother or father, a daughter or son to another,
And may this family in Christ sustain and nurture you
alongside your family of origin now and forever.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

Musical Meditation

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Is It Life-Giving? June 7.2012

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Mark 3: 23-30 
 I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. 
But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” 
He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

When I read these words I wonder, “but how do I know the Holy Spirit when I see it?!” It seemed as if the legal experts from Jerusalem weren’t able to know the work of God from an evil spirit. How do we discern in our own experiences where it is that God is working? How do we know when we are responding to the Spirit and not to our own wants and needs? How do we see the Spirit of God in one another? Even when it’s different that our own experience of God?

One of the pieces that might have tipped off the legal  experts of Jesus’ day and might be a good indication in our own is to pay attention to what Jesus was up to. His words and actions, his ministry and interactions with others resulted in health and healing. Someone touches Jesus or asks for a prayer or word of comfort and they experience new life, healing where the was only brokenness and afflictions. Jesus words inspired and encouraged the sick and forgotten. It’s worth paying attention to the news that wherever Jesus went he seemed to leave a wake of healing behind him.

When we can’t find our way or are caught up in the day-to-day chaos of our lives its sometimes difficult to discern what gives us life and what is sucking us dry. But the work of the Spirit often points us in the direction of life. Can you remember a time when you realized that a task at hand seemed to be draining the life from you? And when have you experienced a swelling up of life, of  joy, of energy? Was the Spirit at work? We are presented with a multitude of choices on a daily basis. We are overwhelmed with options of how to spend our time and resources. Today’s text invites us to dig deep and to ask ourselves, “is this life-giving? Or is it life sucking? Is the Holy Spirit at work here?” Don’t be surprised if she turns up in unexpected places!

May the Holy Spirit reveal herself to you today,
May your head and heart be open to her invitation and
May you move in the direction that God is calling you.
May you’re own experience of the Spirit give you life and
When you encounter the Spirit working in another may you celebrate
Knowing that we each encounter the Spirit according to our own need.
And that is what makes for a wonderfully diverse and curious world!
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

Musical Meditation

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It’s opposite day, so get ready to color outside the lines… June 6.2012

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Mark 3: 20-22 
 Jesus entered a house [with his disciples]. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat.
When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!”
The legal experts came down from Jerusalem. Over and over they charged, “He’s possessed by Beelzebul. He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.”

This week is ‘spirit week’ at my two youngest boy’s school which includes a theme for each day. We’ve had rock-star day and movie character day and tomorrow is opposite day. Opposite day is a little trickier than the other days. It takes some thought; if we were all participating we might ask ourselves what do I usually do, or what do I consider normal? Then we do the opposite, right? My youngest thought that meant he could skip school (it is the opposite of what he’s suppose to do… very clever, right?)

In today’s scriptures we find Jesus accosted not only by the legal experts from Jerusalem but his own family. That’s crazy right? Jesus comes into the house, maybe his house, maybe someone else’s and is immediately overrun with the crowds begging to be healed or exorcised. He’s been traveling on foot, he’s been teaching and healing the sick and broken and has finally come home maybe with the hopes of resting or at the very least for a meal and instead of being met with a warm welcome he’s met with a family intervention. What? Is it opposite day?

As the readers we’ve been following Jesus since his baptism but imagine being a member of Jesus’ family. Imagine being an expert in your religious tradition. And here comes Jesus returning from a long absence and he’s being mobbed by a crowd and speaking to what seems like demons and even has the power to transform the broken into beings of health and wholeness. What would you think? Jesus is the unexpected, untrained and unimportant man from Nazareth.What? Is it opposite day?

When things take an unexpected turn, when someone we’ve known for years makes an unexpected life decision, when our parents up and move to Florida or our child leaves college midterm to live on a farm in the middle of Nebraska we respond by saying, “that’s crazy!” When something or someone deviates from what we’ve long considered the ‘norm’ do we wonder if they are sick or maybe even possessed? How do people in your life respond when you choose an unusual path or make an unexpected decision? Jesus begins his ministry by shocking John the Baptist with the news that his come to be baptized rather than to do the baptizing and it’s been opposite day ever since. Jesus says you want a ruler? How about a servant? You want to be right? How about you ask forgiveness instead? You want to know God? How about you learn to love one another? Welcome to the crazy, opposite, upside-down Good News story.

May God shock you with the depth and breadth of God’s compassion,
May the deviant, upside-down, transformational message of Christ inspire you to color outside the lines,
May your own people, your own family, tribe, communities or friends love you for your whole self,
and if you are ever lost, rejected or diminished may the power of the Holy Spirit burn brightly with in you and heal your broken heart.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

Musical Meditation

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Power & Choice, June 5.2012

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Genesis 3:11-13 
God asked Adam, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”

As I read through this familiar story I can’t help noticing how the buck keeps getting passed around. First God asks the man to explain what has transpired, but the man quickly turns God’s attention towards the woman and then without skipping a beat she tells God, it is the serpent that tricked her. Each of the characters in this epic and symbolic story from Genesis are quick to pass off the burden of responsibility for their actions and this makes me wonder; Are they also passing off their own power?

The power to make a choice can be liberating or it can paralyze. Sometimes we face choices with curiousity and imagination, anxious to explore possibilities. Other times we face hard choices with fear and trembling. There are times when things don’t go the way we planned or expected. Maybe we reach for more than we can manage; maybe we didn’t see clearly what would become of our choices. Or maybe in our longing for something more we were willing to take a great risk. How do we respond when we fail or fall short? How do we respond to God or others when our choices have unexpected consequences?

The Genesis story of creation tells us that God created human beings in God’s own image. God imbued human beings with the ability to love and care for creation, to care for one another and to make choices. Is this the way we are created in God’s image? The Genesis story begins with God’s power but God shares that power with humanity. As human beings we’ve used our powers for both amazing good and horifying evil. I wonder how this epic story might have unfolded differently if the woman and the man had stood up and said, “here we are God. We ate from the tree and now we are filled with knowledge.” What does it mean to name and claim and be honest about the power we have and to take responsibility for when and how we choose to use it?

How does our unwillingness to take responsibility for the misuse of our power simply replay again and again the broken relationship between God and humans in our Genesis story? Can we write a new story? A story where we name and claim our power and use it for good and share it just has God first shared with all of creation?

May you hear God calling your name and not be afraid,
If you feel powerless may you know and claim the power God shares with you,
May you also be filled with the humility to seek God’s guidance
and to seek forgiveness in the times and places your own power goes unchecked,
May God be with us all, as we work for justice and the empowerment of all people.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

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Hiding From God, June 4.2012

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Genesis 3:8-9 
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,
and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

In my child imagination the Garden of Eden described in this Genesis story of creation was always quite small. I always thought to myself, “why do they even bother hiding from God? God can see them and knows exactly where they are.” But the two humans in this story don’t hide from God because they don’t think God can’t find them. And surely they don’t think God will just give up or forget about them like my sister used to do when we played hide and seek as kids. Can you imagine God saying, “you know, I could have sworn I created a couple of humans… they must be around here somewhere.”

No, these two human beings, the woman and the man hid from God because they afraid, embarassed and ashamed. They had been created in God’s image and yet they had fallen short. They had been given everything and yet yearned for more. Sound familiar?

Do you ever find yourself hiding from God? Well, forget about it. From the begining of time God has searched us out and called us my name. “Where are you?” God says, over and over again, until we remember that we cannot hide from God, no matter how hurt or tired or terrified God will accompany us on this journey of life. There are times God will enter into the darkness of our quiet caves and sit with us until the light shines in through the cracks. Other times God may push and prod and gently tug at us, moving us towards wholenss and reconciliation. But in all times and places God will not cease to find us, even in our best hiding places.

May you remember to stop and
hand over your life to that which is bigger than you,
May you remember that God will not give up the search,
God will find you and love you and call you home.
And may your worry, your feelings of guilt or shame
be overwhelmed with the power of God’s love.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

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Blowing In the Wind, June 1.2012

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JOHN 3:7-8 

[Jesus, still speaking to Nicodemus,] “Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Much like Jesus’ words to Nicodemus I find the deep mystery of the Spirit’s movements beautiful, comforting, overwhelming, hard to describe, frustrating and at times hard to decipher. When I read these words from the Gospel of John (a book well known for it’s mysterious and ethereal sensibilities) I wonder how then do I recognize the Spirit? If I can’t see it then I have to rely on my other senses. What does it mean to hear, smell, taste or feel the movement of the Spirit? Once again we’re given the metaphor of the wind to describe the indescribable.

As you may have noticed I add an image each day to my reflection and I’ll tell you, looking for an image of wind is a lesson in itself. Obviously, as Jesus says, you cannot see the wind. So images of wind by itself would be quite boring wouldn’t they? Instead I had to think creatively searching for images that give evidence to something happening that is not readily visible. I had to stop and wonder, what evidence is there for blowing wind and then look for that evidence such as blowing branches or flowers floating in the wind.

In a similar way we work to decipher the movement of the Spirit by seeking the evidence of God moving in, with and around us. Where have you seen evidence of the invisible and mysterious Spirit moving around you? In your family, your neighborhood and communities, in other parts of the world? What are the signs that God is blowing new life, troubling waters and shaking things up in order to remind you of where you come from and to whom you belong?

May the invisible breath of the Holy Spirit
be made visible through the evidence of
God’s love and compassion in your life,
May the winds of the Spirit be gentle where you need comfort,
forceful where you need a divine push,
and lively in the place you most desire new life.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

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Born Again & Again & Again… May 30.2012

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JOHN 3:1-4 
Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 
Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? 
Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 

It may be because I have three boys or because growing up I watched the movie E.T. over and over again but when I read this passage from Jesus’ interaction with the Jewish leader, Nicodemus my first thought is always extraterrestrials. I know it’s a little weird but stick with me for a minute.

The word extraterrestrial comes from the two latin words: extra, which means ‘beyond’ or ‘not of’ and terrestris which means ‘of’ or ‘belonging to earth’. So Nicodemus comes to Jesus with all kinds of questions about his relationship to God, where he comes from and how he seems to know so much about God and Jesus says, “yeah, I’m not from around here” and even better he tells Nicodemus he’s not from around here either.

Jesus invites Nicodemus to reorient himself towards God, towards the mystery of the Spirit, towards a part of him that doesn’t belong to this world but comes from God.

The sixteenth century Kabbalistic rabbi Isaac Luria tells a beautiful and mystical story about the light of God at the beginning of the world. In his story the world begins with the Or Ein Sof or “God’s infinite light” but then the vessel that holds the light breaks open and the light of God is scattered throughout the universe into an infinite number of holy sparks. According to Rabbi Luria these sparks are hidden deep in everyone and everything. One of my favorite authors, Rachel Naomi Remen who is also jewish says, “there is God spark in evryone and everything, a sort of diaspora of goodness.”

I imagine Jesus trying to get Nicodemus to think outside the box, to imagine that there is a spark, a piece, even the most essential part of himself that does not belong to the earth, but that is “born from above.” Jesus invites Nicodemus to claim a life that’s bigger and more brilliant, that’s lit from within by the abiding presence of God. The words ‘born again’ have begun to carry the notion that this reorientation to God is a one-time experience, but it’s not. It’s an ongoing turning and re-turning to God. Jesus’ invitation to Nicodemus, and to us, is an open invitation to be born or grounded in the knowledge that we belong to more than we can see, touch, taste or even fully understand.

May you be born and born again,
To the knowledge that you belong to God,
That in belonging to God you belong to more than this world,
And may your knowledge of God in and with you bring you peace,
And may you see the spark of God in everyone and everything.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

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Late Night Visitors, May 29.2012

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JOHN 3:1-2 
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
He came to Jesus by night and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God;
for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 

Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. He is a leader among the Judean Elite and Jesus is the enemy. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus’ teachings challenge the most powerful in the Jewish Temple system and if those who hear and follow Jesus grow in numbers their religious and political system will be at risk. They could lose everything.

And yet Jesus’ teachings, his ministry of love and healing has drawn Nicodemus to him. I wonder how many others like Nicodemus sought out Jesus under the cover of darkness; curious, suspicious, fearful and yet longing for more, longing for wholeness and healing. How often do we wait for the cover of darkness to seek healing or reconciliation? There is a certain comfort to the anonymity that night time brings. Have you ever sat in the dark with someone and felt safer asking hard questions or sharing your deepest self?

Jesus didn’t seem surprised or annoyed at his night time visitor, in fact he immediately engages Nicodemus, ready to answer his questions, to meet his needs. What are your night time prayers to God?

May you seek God in the night time,
May God welcome you graciously and lovingly,
May your fears and suspicions abate and may you have the courage to reveal your whole-self,
May you know that even under the cover of darkness God is with you.
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

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