SNOW

It rained today in Sheridan. It rained in VC today. Hard. There was also a little snow-hail mix.

As I drove home tonight, I noticed that the tops of the Tobacco Roots and the mountains around Butte were capped with snow.

I guess Fall is almost here. Maybe I won't have to wear shorts on the field afterall.

PLATES

Finally, after one year and almost two months, we have MT plates on our vehicle. It kind of adds a sense of permanence. Maybe now people will quit wondering how long I'm planning on staying here.

And because I'm a goof, we did personalize them: VKR &LW

We thought it was appropriate; The Kid, on the other hand, wanted to know why she was left out.

SERMON
15 PENTECOST
PROPER 17A

The gospel last week asked the question, "Who do you say I am?" I challenged you to answer like Peter, "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And I challenged you to make that claim not only in the midst of a "religious revival," i.e. when everyone else is doing it, but to make it in everyday conversations when you might be most at risk of embarrassing yourself.

What do we mean, though, when we make that claim? Do we view it as some sort of holy insurance policy, following the words of Paul when he said, ". . . no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit?" If that's what you think about when making that statement, then remember the words of Jesus when he said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven . . . " No, this isn't some magical incantation that, like Harry Potter, if recited properly, will open the gates of Heaven for you. Making that claim entails some hard choices; not the least of which is this:

"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

This is very important, so let's take a look at what I think Jesus is saying here.

"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

Deny yourself. We are constantly in a battle between our selfish desires and our spiritual well- being. As Paul said, "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do."

Denying yourself isn't about taking all the fun out of your life. It's not about not dancing, not drinking, not smoking, not playing cards, not listening to music, not not not not. It's about knowing yourself in a way that you can recognize what part of you takes you away from God. It's about knowing what part of you wants to push God into a corner or out of your life.

Two opposite examples here. St. Francis came from a wealthy family. That wealth threatened to push God aside, so he denied that part of himself, refused his family's money (much to the disappointment of his father), and lived a life of poverty dedicated to serving others. Compare that to St. Peter who, when confronted with a choice of doing what he wanted or proclaiming Jesus as his Savior, chose to deny not himself but Christ -- three times.

When you choose to deny yourself, then you voluntarily take up your cross in an effort to put that part of yourself to death so that the better part of you may live. Taking up the cross, my friends, doesn't mean wearing pretty jewelry or labeling an annoying neighbor as your cross to bear. When you take up your cross, it means, just like it meant for Jesus when he took up his cross, that something is going to die. Hopefully that something is that which pushes God out of your life.

"For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

In the past, this statement was used as encouragement for those about to be martyred. Imagine for a moment that you are about to be put on the rack and pulled apart, or tied to a stake and burned alive, or fed to hungry lions, or slit . . . well, you get the idea. People can be very creative when killing each other. I am sure that this passage offered some level of comfort and a deeper meaning for those about to die.

But today, in this country, we are not killed for professing our faith. So how might we interpret this for ourselves? One way is to think about gardening -- pruning specifically. Envision yourself for a moment as a plant, a rose bush to be specific. If we had it our way, we would grow everywhere, our root system expanding, thorny stems spreading out and becoming an entangled mess until we resembled something like the thorn bush that the prince had to fight through in "Sleeping Beauty." The problem is that we don't want to lose any of ourselves, so we tenaciously and selfishly hold on to everything, eventually becoming not a beautiful rose bush, but nothing more than a wall of thorns.

However, if we allow ourselves to be pruned, either by ourselves or by others or by God, then we have the opportunity to become that beautiful rose bush. We may want it all, but sometimes it is necessary to lose a few branches here and there. We go through the pain of losing pieces of ourselves, but, in retrospect, those pieces were not necessary to our well-being, nor did they add to the beauty of our life.

In other words, our life should reflect our relatinshiop with Jesus. Yes, we lose part of ourselves by being pruned; but we have the opportunity to become a well-manicured rose bush that is a joy to behold.

So, what's the point of all this rambling? Just this: find that part of yourself that is willing to deny Christ, and deny yourself instead; and be willing to lose some of yourself in order to grow and reflect Christ's love to the world.

DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO TITLE THIS

Good To Be Back -- On the football field that is. It was nice working with a crew again. Nice to watch a game from up close (although tonight was a scrimmage not a game, but you get the idea). Nice to blow the whistle for real.

I'm Old -- Well, maybe not old, but I had forgotten how quickly I need to move. "Quick" is not "fast," and "quick" is much more dangerous. Although I've been working out and walking practically everywhere, I didn't work on my quickness, and I paid for it. I strained my right hamstring, probably pulled my left inner thigh, and while trying to compensate for those two injuries, made my back sore. Oh my. I hope I can survive the season.

They Wear Shorts -- Um, yeah. I get to the scrimmage site, and the other three guys are in shorts. "Do you have any shorts?" . . . . "No." . . . . "You better get some, we wear shorts during all the day games until it cools off." . . . . Okay, I'm not in bad shape and my legs are pretty decent (someone once told me that all my best features were below my waist -- take that as you will), but I've never officiated a game in shorts. But, if that's what the crew wears ....

I Need DEET -- At the second scrimmage in Dillon tonight, the mosquitos outnumbered us by about 60-1. It's hard to officiate a game while you're swatting bugs off your face.

This Is Going To Be Fun -- Regardless of all the aches and pains, uniform changes and bugs, I'm still glad to be back on the field.

AN APOLOGY . . . SORT OF

Pat Robertson issued an apology . . . sort of. You can find the article here. He apologized for the statement, saying that he was simply trying to accommodate someone who thought the U.S. was out to kill him. More concerned with the flow of oil and soft-pedaling his statement ("Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping"), he's simply trying to protect his image, or what little of it there is left.

To me, this "apology" seems more like, "I'm sorry I got caught."

Hmmm . . . a religious leader praying for the deaths of Supreme Court justices so Dubya can put more conservatives on the bench, calling for the "taking out" of Chavez, amongst other things, and (scary as this may be) presidential advisor.

And yet, with this track record, Dubya apparently still refuses to make a statement about it. I could go on about the lack of ba**s on this particular president, but I'm trying so very hard to just shut my mouth and pray for God's mercy.

And now, I will shut up about this whole thing, because we all know that 3 out of my 4 readers come here read about the upcoming football season.

Pray for me, a sinner.

WTF???

You know, I'm a pretty easy going guy. I try not to let stuff get to me, try to stay on that even- keel-everything-in-moderation-this-too-will-pass kind of mentality. But every once in awhile, something pops up that makes me . . . . well, basically just pisses me off.

Like this morning. I jumped on the computer to check e-mail while I was up in VC, and was greeted with this headline about Pat Robertson calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Apparently Chavez' big crime is to openly criticize president bush.

So this guy Robertson -- president of the Christian Coalition of America, defender of the faith, voice of the martyrs, protector of the American Way and moral guide of paranoid heterosexuals everywhere -- has decided that the religious faith and gospel he follows mandates a responsibility to "take out" those people who a) are different from him, b) speak out against the U.S., and/or c) profess a non-Christian religion.

Not only that, but this is a guy whom -- I shudder to think about this -- millions of people look to for guidance. The familiar response of, "Lord have mercy," comes to mind.

I don't know what gospel he's reading, or what faith he's professing, but I'm pretty sure it's not Christianity; or at the least, Christianity as I've been taught.

Apostle John has a timely post on one's enemies. You'll need to scroll down a bit, but check out his post titled "Sunday School -- Am I a Child of God?" Praying for our enemies is just one aspect of this thing I call Christianity. And I'm positive I've never come across a scriptural passage telling us to take out our enemies. Okay, let me re-phrase that, I've never come across a passage in the New Testament advocating that position. There are several in the Hebrew Scriptures, such as when God demands the total destruction of Jericho, but even those are outnumbered by passages telling the Israelites to care for the widows, orphans and aliens.

So how are all of these good Christian conservatives going to react to this? They've saddled us with one of the most corrupt (if not the most corrupt) administrations in the history of our country -- in the name of God, of course. They've made a rallying point about moral issues, which involve nothing more than fighting about protecting the sanctity of marriage and right to life (which apparently means birthing all unborn children so they can go off to be killed in an illegal war), and now one of their leaders is advocating assassination.

How are they going to react to this? I'm guessing that they'll just figure he is a prophet for the ages and has a direct link to the mind of God.

God have mercy on us all.

REPOSE OF THE SOUL . . .

I heard this morning that Susie's brother passed away last night. Apparently he has had health issues all of his life, but his death wasn't anticipated at this particular time.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Susies brother John, and for all their family.

SERMON
14 PENTECOST
PROPER 16A

It's always easier to follow the group. It's always easier to go with the flow. It's always easier to hide behind the thoughts of many. Think about classic "group-think" moments: soccer fans in Europe; big city looting during a blackout, or in 'celebration' of winning the World Series; Nazi Germany; the cabinet decision to approve the invasion of the Bay of Pigs; and, yes, even religious revivals.

When I was in high school, I attended diocesan youth weekends every fall and spring. While not a religious revival by any means, it was great to be with a bunch of other Episcopalians my age, make friends, discuss things that were important to us, sing a bunch of songs that we would never sing in church, and shed more than a few tears on Sunday afternoon as we all departed back into the "real" world.

These were what we might call mountain-top experiences every six months. They made you feel good to be a Christian; they gave you support during a very difficult time in your life (I would say that they may have even saved mine); they allowed you to be silly and to take risks in a safe environment. But they also allowed you to shout, "Praise God!" simply because everybody else was doing it.

There is that sense of safety in numbers, isn't there? Do you remember the movie "Crimson Tide"? For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's a movie about a U.S. nuclear submarine crew who receive orders to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike at a Russian missile base because, during the fall of the Soviet Union, rebels have taken over the base and are threatening to launch cruise missiles at the U.S. Gene Hackman plays the Captain and Denzel Washington playes the Executive Officer (XO), and it is one very tense and scary movie.

There's a scene in the movie that revolves around dinner at the Captain's mess. All of the officers are there and the Captain is trying to figure out where the XO stands on the issue of war. All of the other officers have served with the Captain in the past, but the XO is the new guy on the ship. They talk about theories of war, how to identify the enemy, and how to win. The XO keeps hedging his bets, though. They end up discussing a famous military strategist and they have what will become the precursor to how they each handle the isue of war. The Captain says, "He says that for any army to be successful in war it must totally obliterate its enemy. You'd agree with that, wouldn't you?"

"I'd agree that that is what he is trying to say."

"What about you, though, what would you say about defeating the enemy?"

"Well, sir, I believe that, in the nuclear age, the true enemy can never be defeated."

At this the Captain sort of bristles and says, "Attention on deck! Klaus will now tell us who the real enemy is . . . Klaus?"

"Well, sir, in my humble opinion, in the nuclear age, the true enemy is war itself."

And they go on from there. But notice something in these two examples. In my experience with youth weekends, and maybe yours if you have gone to any 'revival' type event, maybe Cursillo, that it is easy to publicly proclaim Jesus is Lord when everybody else is doing it. And in the scene from the movie, the XO did everything he reasonably could to avoid giving an answer that would make him stand out amongst his fellow officers. He tried to hide behind what other people thought about war, until, finally, the Captain cornered him.

Why am I bringing all of this up? Because this is exactly where Peter is today. Jesus and the disciples have made their way to Caesarea Philippi and they are, for all practical purposes, alone, when Jesus starts this little discussion about who he is.

Let's review for a minute. In the last few weeks we have seen Jesus: feed over 5000 people with three loaves of bread and two fish, walk on water, call Peter out of the boat to walk on water, save Peter from drowning, calm the sea, heal the sick, and allow a gentile woman to receive the benefits of his mission. All of this has happened in the recent past; it's no wonder Jesus is asking his disciples, "Who do people say I am?"

This is a time to take inventory of what's going on. Remember, Jesus just had that run-in with the Pharisees where he broke from tradition. Maybe Jesus is trying to figure out what people are syaing about him. But notice, he doesn't ask this immediately after an event. He doesn't ask Peter, "Who do you say I am?" after he pulls him up form the water. He doesn't ask the disciples, "Who do you say I am?" after feeding the people or calming the sea. He asks them in a quiet place where there is nowhere to hide.

I will confess to you right now, one of the questions I hate being asked is, "What do you think about . . . " Because it means that I have to state my position for all to hear. I can't hide behind or within the crowds. Like the XO in "Crimson Tide," I try for a minute to explain what other people thought and how that plays into my decision. But ultimately, I need to take a stand and say, "This is what I believe."

How do you see Jesus? Is he part of the Trinity whom you worship freely when everybody else is doing it? Is he a great philosopher whose teachings you try to explain as being important? Or do you proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior, regardless of who is around and what other people might think?

It's easy to follow the group and repeat what they are saying. But what happens when someone catches you on the street and asks, "Who do you say Jesus is?" Be like Peter was today. Don't hide within the crowds and behind the thoughts of others. Be willing to state irrevocobaly, "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God; he is my Lord and Savior."

A FEW CHANGES HERE AND THERE

I've made a few changes around the house here. The first and obvious change is the comments. I dumped Haloscan and am now using Blogger comments. This will allow me to delete unwanted comments (because I couldn't figure out how to do that with Haloscan), not because I ever have comments worth deleting, but, you know, just in case.

Other changes around here include:

Moving my Personal Profile section up to the top. The only rational for this was that I hated scrolling down my blog-roll to get to the link to the diocesan home page, among other things. So it's at the top now (or close to it).

I've added the Apostle John to the Clergy Blog listing. He visited my site the other day (comments gone because it was on the old system) and mentioned his appreciation for my vocation (priest) and avocation (ref). What's not to like there? I've also added RevGalsBlogPals to the list. Apparently I'm some kind of honorary member, so fair is fair.

In my God Blogs section, I've added AKMA's and Trevor's Disseminary project. Lots of interesting stuff going on over there -- check it out. And, due to personal reasons, the Polar Bear has left for warmer climes and will reappear at some later point in time with a new identity. Good luck to her as she gets everything reorganized.

In the God Sites section, I've added space for Theological Discourse. This is just one of the projects of The Disseminary and it's worth a read. And in the same section, I've removed the Village Gate link. Does anyone know what happened there? The last time I tried to go there, I got redirected to some credit card site.

Well, that about sums up all the changes in my neck of the woods. Basically, when you see a post like this, it's a slow news day.

Peace

COMMENTS?

Hmmm for some reason I thought maybe I'd switch comment functions. Haloscan has been fine, and all, but I'm not a techno-geek, and I noticed that a few people with Haloscan have been hit in their comments with spam. Basically I couldn't figure out how to delete those comments, so I switched to something that I think will let me delete unwanted comments easier; and I'm posting simply to see if my new posts work like I hope they will.

FOOTBALL!

My life is almost complete. I paid my officiating dues and in return I received a bunch of information from the MHSA/MOA about the upcoming season. They have put their clinic online, so there's no traveling to a spot to be bored for 30 minutes, I can be bored in the comfort of my own computer.

I spoke with a few other officials today, and it turns out that there's a scrimmage in Dillon next week.

FINALLY!!! I get to put the striped shirt and funny-looking knickers on and go galavanting around a football field again.

I'm still new in the state and trying to figure out exactly how they do things here (so far, Spokane has them beat on pre-season organization), but at least it looks like I'm in. Game updates to come as they happen.

Naaah -- I'm not excited.

SERMON
13 PENTECOST
PROPER 15 A

There comes a point in time when things need to change. Maybe it's a point in time when some intentional act is required to get people to change. Or maybe it's a bolt from out of the blue that opens your eyes to a new way of doing things. Or maybe it's a point when you are confronted with a situation and the rabid defense of the status quo that makes you realize it's time for a change.

When I was in seminary, there was alot of discussion around the issue of racism, both intentional institutional. If you want to know a little bit about institutional racism, pay attention to catalogs and notice how many people of color are represented; or pay attention to commercials and notice that ads for higher-end products are dominated by whites. There was a room at school where most of the social functions took place and that room was decorated with portraits of, as we referred to them, "a bunch of dead white guys." Now there's nothing wrong with dead white guys, I'm going to be one someday, but what message does that send when women and minorities are neglected? Especially when you consider that Seabury advertised itself as welcoming and inclusive. During one particularly tense meeting, a faculty member finally had had enough and removed one of the portraits, and then they all came down. They were eventually redistributed around the campus and the room got a makeover. It was that intentional act of removing the portrait that got people to think about change.

Or maybe the idea for change surprises you. Some of you may have heard this, so forgive me if you have, but here's another story from seminary. I was writing a sermon for a class and was focusing on the importance of the meal. How many times do we see Jesus sharing a meal with friends, strangers, sinners, outcasts and, yes, even Pharisees? So I wrote my sermon and it just kind of all spilled out onto the paper. When I re-read it, however, I was surprised to see that I had written about allowing all people to receive communion, regardless of their baptismal status, under the auspices of sharing a meal and discussing this thing called Christianity. Much like we share our Thanksgiving meals with the family and talk about our lives. And then, after having that meal and that conversation and working towards committment, baptizing them. In other words, I preached a sermon about moving the altar to the back of the church and the font to the front of the church. That thought totally surprised me and I had to really think about whether or not I wanted to preach that sermon. (By the way, I mentioned that to the bishop and he said, "Um . . . No." So for now, they stay where they are.)

Or maybe it's a point when you are confronted with the status quo and the rabid argument of "we've always done it that way," that makes you realize a change is in order. And that, my friends, is where I think Jesus was in today's gospel.

Understand that Jesus was a good Jew. He followed the Law, knew the scriptures and could debate with the best of the rabbis. He also dressed the part of a pious Jew. Let's back up for a minute. After last week's incident of Peter walking on water, Jesus and the disciples crossed to the other side of the lake where they were met by a large crowd begging to be healed. According to Matthew, they were happy to simply touch the fringe of his cloak. A fringe on the garment was part of the Law that God gave to Moses to give to the people. It was a reminder to follow God's commandments and not your own desires. So you might call Jesus a traditionalist.

Then in the first part of Chapter 15, Jesus runs afoul of the Pharisees when they ask him why his disciples don't follow the tradition of washing their hands before they eat. This requirement was originally intended solely for the priests, but over time it trickled down into the general populace and became a tradition within Judaism. But Jesus turned their objections upside down when he pointed out that the Pharisees were more concerned with ritual and tradition and rules and regulations than they were with caring for their fellow human -- especially a human they deemed unworthy.

So now we have a situation in which Jesus broke with tradition and argued against the status quo, and he made the argument that the static laws and long-standing traditions of people must be changed by the living word of God. Whether he meant to or not, whether this was in his plan all along, I don't know, but taking into account that Jesus was fully human, let's for a moment pretend that this was a situation that he didn't expect and it made him realize that things must change. For a person who values tradition and the comfort that that brings, this can be a scary time.

And this is where today's gospel picks up. A gentile woman comes to him and pleads for her daughter's healing. Jesus doesn't answer. I think he's trying to wrap his head around what just happened. Maybe he's thinking, "Now what?" Maybe he's wondering just how deep he's gotten into this mess. Maybe he's wondering just what he has to do to convince the people of Israel about his mission and the kingdom of God.

With all of that running around in his head, this woman shows up pestering him. His disciples try to get him to send her away, so he tells her, "I was sent to the lost sheep of Israel." In other words, "I have nothing for you, go away." In both his humanity and the culture of his day, he is treating her like the gentile woman she is.

But still she pesters him. In order to make his point, he compares her and her kind to dogs. The people of Israel are the children of God, and what God has sent for them is not to be given to dogs. This is one of the few times, if not the only time, when Jesus loses a debate. She recognizes her position in his eyes, and rather than confront him about being a misogynist bigot, she skillfully points out that even the dogs get the scraps that the children leave behind.

It is in that instant that everything that has just happened makes sense. Isaiah says that the foreigners will be joined to the Lord, and those same foreigners will be welcomed by the Lord. If the house of Israel won't accept Jesus, maybe the gentile dogs will; for it is in this gentile woman that Jesus finds not a person clinging to a rigid and static tradition, but the living word of God.

What static traditions are we clinging to? What laws are we blindly following simply because "we've always done it that way?" Who are the people in our lives that challenge us to look beyond the way we've always done it and into a new way of living out our faith?

In other words: Who are the dogs that we need to feed?

LABYRINTH PHOTOS

Okay -- for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting photos of the labyrinth we put together, Rev. Jane is finally home and has them posted on her site. Since I'm officially a techno-idiot, I have to rely on other people for this kind of thing.

Anyway, go here and here for a couple of good pictures. Picture II involved a balancing act between the railing and church wall. We all survived.

The plan is to put some kind of fountain at the switchback just outside the center circle, opposite the entrance, maybe three places to sit in the center, and planters with some kind of pretty-type flowers at all of the other switchbacks.

Thanks again to Jane for the pics.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Jane and Bruce and the kids have left for home. Here's wishing them safe travels.

I really like the dynamics of my family: me, Mrs. Ref and The Kid. Growing up I had two younger sisters. When my mom remarried, that brought two other siblings into the mix. Not a huge bunch, by any means, but I told myself that I didn't want my own family to be that big.

For the past several days we have had seven people in our house. It was fun. It was sometimes stressful. At times it ran like army boot camp. It made me appreciate the quiet times. And now they are gone, leaving just the three of us again.

I almost feel bored. Almost.

And then tomorrow, Mrs. Ref and The Kid head out to Washington to visit family, friends and a doctor, leaving me all by my lonesome until next Monday. I will enjoy that. Afterall, my Meyers-Briggs was IIII.

But I also have to admit that I'm glad they all didn't leave on the same day. I think the shock of being deserted that quickly would have made me nuts. So I have yesterday, today, and tomorrow morning to ease into the quietness.

Thursday night until Monday late afternoon or maybe early evening all by myself.

Alone.

I think I'll read a book.

P.S. If you're looking for the sermon from this past Sunday, go here.

WOW

That's about all I can say after the visit by Jane, Bruce and the kids. It was one of those long weekends when time seemed to stand still, or at least slow down considerably.

I was pleasantly surprised by Jane on Thursday evening when she showed up for Eucharist in VC. She arrived just as I was about ready to head out for dinner, so we wandered down to Bob's Place, a great little restaurant featuring "Ice Cream - Pizza - Sandwiches" (yes, in that order). From there we went over to the Pioneer Bar and chatted with some local characters before heading back up to the church for service.

The original plan for Friday was to drive over to Big Hole, but we got a late start and modified that to only go to Bannack. Bannack is an old ghost town, the original Montana capital, and home base to Sheriff Henry Plummer and his Road Agents. Plummer was eventually hanged from his own gallows, and the Road Agents were hanged in Virginia City.

Saturday included an ice cream social for the benefit of a man who fell off some scaffolding and broke his pelvis in three place. Money raised will go to help him and his family while he recuperates. After dessert, we went home and bbq'd a great chicken dinner (during which I burned my index finger and thumb, but they've healed). Then it was off to VC to catch "Sweeney Todd" at the opera house. It was well done (as were the other two), and the vaudeville performance was hysterical. Not to mention the fact that we put Jane and Bruce on the end so that they might receive some "special" attention.

Sunday was two church services, as is my custom (ha!). Jane preached a heck of a sermon and all of my parishioners were duly impressed. One of them even told her of a possible opening out here and suggested she put her name in the hat. That comment, btw, was totally unsolicited on my part. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around VC, sticking our noses into shops, taking the fire engine tour, buying stuff we didn't need, and generally playing tourist. It's nice to do that every once in awhile.

Monday was a "down" day. Nothing planned so that our guests could recuperate and get ready for their drive home. Bruce continued to work on repairing our computer -- Thanks Bruce!!! Mrs. Ref and CJ watched soaps, and Jane and I explored the RC church in Laurin, the Taylor Cemetery, and a road that went really far up into the mountains for a great view and just a little nervousness from Jane while I turned the car around on a dead end.

I would be neglectful to mention that Jane's youngest and my only spent more time in a swimming pool than I thought humanly possible.

It was fun to have another morning person in the house who not only enjoys morning walks but collecting rocks.

I could probably go on, but I won't. I will close with these two thoughts:
1) I had a ball, from morning walks to mountain rocks, bbq's and ice cream socials, and even the lack of naps;
2) And for all of the dishes generated, food consumed, schedule rearranging and cramped quarters, I'm glad you came. Let's do it again sometime.

SERMON
12 PENTECOST
PROPER 14A

I did not preach this past Sunday, but my friend Jane did. It was great. No . . . not the whole "not having to preach" thing, but her sermon. She and her family were well received in my little corner of the world, and she is welcome back any time.

I'm sure she will post the sermon at some point, but the highlights were:
1) Reach out for Jesus, and
2) Get out of the boat

More on the whole weekend later.

Peace

OVERHEARD

While getting my hair cut this morning, K took a phone call that was obviously from home.

"The pigs got out? Where were they? But you got them all rounded up . . . good. Oh, so they were already on their way home . . . That's good to know. Did you see the bear? You saw both of them! Good. Well don't worry, honey, as long as they can see each other they don't think they're separated. It's probably a good thing they were keeping each other occupied, we wouldn't want them to have porkchops for breakfast. Okay, well as long as they both know where the other one is we shouldn't have a problem. Glad to know the pigs made it home. Talk to you later . . . . love you too."

Have I mentioned I really love it out here??

SERMON
11 PENTECOST
PROPER 13A

This is one of the few miracles with which I have trouble. Walking on water? Sure. Changing water into wine? Why not? Healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and causing the lame to walk? Without a doubt. But feeding more than 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish? That is hard to grasp. Especially when you consider that Matthew says, "Besides women and children." So I'm guessing that there were maybe 9000 people at this little event.

Maybe it's because the story never actually says that Jesus multiplied the bread and fish. Maybe it's the fact that Matthew is writing about ten years after the destruction of the temple and this story was written to possibly give credence and precedence for the Eucharist. Maybe it's the old line that says, "Nobody went anywhere without a little bit of food with them." And maybe you have those same doubts, so let's look deeper than just the written story.

Towards the end of the day, the disciples tell Jesus to send the crowd away so they can buy themselves food. This is really the easy way out, isn't it? People have congregated around Jesus and when it gets to the point where the disciples might have to do more than stand by and watch Jesus heal people -- oops, time to get rid of them.

But Jesus says a couple of things. First he says that there is no need to make them go away. He is recognizing that these people have come to him for a reason. They were sick, they were broken and they were lost. They were just like alot of us. We don't need to send them away, we just need to accept them as they are and help them through whatever is troubling them at the moment.

Second, he tells the disciple to give them something to eat. Jesus knows what the disciples have and he knows what they are capable of. This story makes it clear that the disciples are the Church and the Church is charged with giving to others what we have received from Jesus. It's our job to provide food for the poeple, both physical and spiritual.

The disciples hear this and they immediately think about how little they have. Only five loaves of bread and two fish. They can't possibly feed all these people with that. They are operating from a theology of scarcity, and I've talked about that before. Rather than coming up with new solutions to address current challenges, they (and we) come up with old reasons why it can't be done based on existing resources.

We need to stop focusing on the little we have. We need to stop saying, "There's not enough . . . whatever." We need to start dreaming about what can be accomplished when we work with and through Christ. I don't care if you dream big or dream small, just dream.

When we do that though, we need to remember who is at the center of those dreams and who is at the center of our theology of abundance. If we are doing it for ego, or self-gratification, or positive PR, then we are doomed to fail.

But if we remember that Christ works through us, with what we have, then we will succeed. Part of that is understanding that we work with what we've got. And part of that is remembering to give thanks for what we've got. Take what you have, give thanks for what you have, and use what you have.

My wife and I are members of the diocesan Commission on Mission Planning. Our job is to go to parishes at their invitation to help them figure out where they are going. This story fits right into that commission. What do you have and what can you do with it?

We are not all blessed with gazillions of dollars. Not all of our parishes are blessed with a large endowment fund. Not all of our parishes are blessed with a boatload of members who can support a boatlaod of programs. But all of our parishes, including us, are blessed with something.

We are blessed with dedicated people. We are blessed with women who can put together a funeral reception at the drop of a hat. We are blessed with people who are willing to do something different (like allow the vicar to put a labyrinth in the yard). My family and I have been blessed by you, the people who called us here.

I think the story of the feeding of the 5000 is less about a miraculous event and more about making us realize that it's not quantity, but quality. Look around this place. What do you see? If all you see is limited resources that can't possibly be enough, then you might as well get up out of your pews and go home now. But if you see God working through what we have, then expect to see miraculous results.

STAGE 3 -- FINISHED

It cooled off yesterday, even rained a little. That was a good thing. My helpers came back and we made one more big load of rock to finish the labyrinth. Well, almost. It turns out we were about 24 rocks short. So we had to make a run for a few more rocks to finish it up.

But it is done, done, done. I kind of feel like I did when I was finished with seminary. Almost.

Now for the beautifying of the thing. Mrs. Ref has some great ideas for flower pots, two or three benches for the center, a small fountain, and maybe, just maybe, some colored pea gravel for the pathway (but that one is a long ways out).

I'm writing an article for the local newspaper today that will hopefully generate some interest. And I'm hoping that this will eventually be considered a success, and not a dismal failure perpetrated by that wacky Vicar.