Next Theology Thursday Explores ‘Through the valley of the shadow of death’ essay Feb. 3 @ 6:30 PM in Great Hall

Our first Theology Thursday for 23011 starts at 6:30 P.M. Thursday, Feb. 3 with a pot luck supper in the Great Hall of St. Bede’s. After we dine and check in with each other we will discuss Through the valley of the shadow of death, an essay by the Rev. Donald Schell posted at the Episcopal Cafe.

At the end of the essay, Schell asks:

“Something from that night lives in questions I’ve worked on ever since: How do we form people in community? And what’s our liturgy for?”

Why do we “do” liturgy? How do we deal with liturgical change? How does liturgy help “form” us as Christians? How do we manage conflict? These are some of the questions lurking within this moving essay.

Next Topics:

Please bring your subject suggestions for our next three meetings  to the February meeting.

RSVP:

Please let our moderator know by e-mail if you will be joining us (and if you will bring anything for our meal). 

A Celebration of the Poetry of Elizabeth Goodrich Chamberlain

On Sunday 16 January St. Bede’s hosted an afternoon of poetry and music celebrating parishioner Elizabeth Chamberlain’s newly published volume of poems:

The Woman at the Ford and Other Poems, by Elizabeth Goodrich

Click here to read an interview with the poet, at inmenlo.com.

“Come and See.”

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.”

As Christians, you and I try to follow Jesus. We try to follow in the steps of our Master and those 12 who walked with him. For us, the invitation “Come and see” is as real to us as it was to those two followers of the Baptizer who decided to follow Jesus.

But how are we to know when we see Jesus?

John the Baptize has it easy: John saw the Holy Spirit descend and rest on Jesus “like a dove” and John heard a voice say “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” John is so convinced he adds:”I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” A day later he tells two of his disciples “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” But I’ve never seen the Spirit descending as a dove, I’ve never heard God’s voice speak those words. But I think I’ve seen a glimpse of Jesus in my life.

John’s disciples are the first to take Jesus up on his invitation to “Come and see.” Andrew is so sure of what he’s seen he tells his brother Simon Peter “We have found the Messiah.” But how are we to know if – or when – we find the Messiah, if – or when – we see Jesus?

Jesus says we should “come and see.” So perhaps to find him we need to go on a trip, to change our perspective. Or maybe Jesus is calling us to make our life through this world a pilgrimage. For if we see ourselves as pilgrims, we can be open to finding Jesus in the least expected places.

Sermon: Living a Hydrological Liturgy – 9 Jan, Rev. Dr. Katherine Lehman

All our doings have a butterfly effect on the ecosystem we call life.

Let us welcome the season of Epiphany, light made manifest among the peoples of the earth! One of the best gifts of scripture is that it reframes all our doings. It enlarges the stage and changes the backdrop. Today, while we are celebrating the baptisms of Joe and Joey Jackson, we, also, are reaffirming our own baptismal vows, and celebrating God’s grand scheme, made manifest to us in Christ.

Water, air and fire are fluid elements that exercise great power in our lives and so hold fascination for us. Sometimes they terrify us, and at others, they comfort us. We can’t live without them. Physics has demonstrated that a butterfly’s wings precipitate a chain reaction in the air, the effects of which are discernible around the world. And because of their metamorphic life cycle, butterflies have long been symbols of spiritual becoming, another kind of butterfly effect. What the Jackson family has come to do today is not only for them, but for us, and for the world. All our doings have a butterfly effect on the ecosystem we call life.

Toward “a spirit of wisdom and revelation”

Gandolfi, Gaetano, 1734-1802, presents this visision of one of dreams when Joseph was visited by an angel.

Today’s scriptures center on a theme of revelation and wisdom that leads to coming home to God.

In our reading from Jewish scripture, we hear the prophet Jeremiah speak of a time when God redeems the people of Israel, turning their “mourning into joy” and “their mourning into joy.”

Our Psalm continues the homecoming theme. “My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord,” the psalmist writes. “For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room, and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

In Ephesians, the author – probably not St. Paul – prays we will receive “a spirit of wisdom and revelation” as we come to know God, as we grow closer to God, as we come home to God. But how can we develop “a spirit of wisdom and revelation?”