Remember You are Dust

Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

I love those words spoken as an ashen cross is marked on each worshipper’s forehead.  I love hearing those words.  I feel like I should be repulsed by them.  But I’m not.  Perhaps because they are true.   I am so easily distracted by things that wither and fade: my financial security, my health, my stuff, etc.  But all that is dust.  So much of what I think comprises “me” is just dust.  It will all pass away. 

What remains after the dust-me is gone is love.  The reason I love hearing these words is they remind me to focus on that which really remains.  Love.  God.  Love. Other people. Love. God’s Creation. Love. 

There is a life that exists within and beyond all that is.  I just have a hard time seeing it because of all of the shiny dust.

Ash Wednesday Meditation on CrossTalk

Trinity Cathedral’s CrossTalk blog will be posting a meditation for each day in Lent.  They were written by members of various congregations in the Diocese.   Here’s the one for Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday Meditation- Feb. 25, 2009

Wednesday, February 25  Ash Wednesday

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

 

Ten bare words, a brief statement, a simple matter of fact.  

 “Dust”– one word, two places.  Human being—my life—

stretched between them A little flesh, a few bones—

In sum,  brief.  But as long as I’m here, I’ll just add a

thing or two, a little flourish, here and there. 

I can do much with just a little.

(I’m famous for that—just watch.)  Can you see?

Here I am, now;  so much more:  a name, a status,

 a reputation;  all my accomplishments!  Wow!

This is just the beginning!  The sky’s the limit, 

that’s where I’m headed, just one more little reach–

Look!  Here I go! …..

 

Where have I landed?   Do I hear an echo?   Nothing. 

Nothing?!   That’s not fair.  Just a minute ago 

I was soaring on my great potential!  Goals!  Plans!  Dreams! 

What did they get me?  Nothing.  I was told this, dust to dust.

Never believed it really.  But I just thought . . . forget it.

 What a waste.  How could I have been so foolish? 

I should have seen it coming: nothing.

 

Stop.  You’re wrong.  There’s something.  Remember.

It’s easy to forget when you get lost in details—yours.

Here’s a little reminder: something to remind you:

Two small lines, crossed, on your fore head.

A few ashes, a drop of oil.  There’s something in the mix.

Dust.   Remember?   Specks.  Gods comes along,

picks up a few, makes a cup of his big holy hands

so not one is lost, then God presses the particles

together, loves them entirely the whole time.   Then:

 Everything.  Human, all being, in every direction: the whole Earth.

 

Remember.  That’s all.   It’s a matter of fact.  Simple.

Something human, being flesh, being bones– 

That’s what God wanted and created,

a work of love, filling up, spilling over, rushing back,

to fill up, spill over, rush back, over and over. 

This is a matter of substance—yours. 

Remember.                                                      Cindy Glass

The Daily Office for Lent

Derek Olsen has a great article about using the Daily Office (morning/evening, etc., prayer) for Lent.  Here’s an excerpt from the middle of it w/ practical suggestions:

We’re right on the cusp of Lent here—and I’d like to offer a suggestion. If you’re looking for a discipline to help you take Lent seriously this year, I’d like to recommend the Daily Office—or at least a portion thereof.

Let me give you a quick orientation to what we’ve got here. The prayer book has two basic forms of the Daily Office, one in traditional language (Rite I) and one in contemporary language (Rite II). The traditional language one offers the two classical parts that have been in every Book of Common Prayer stretching back to 1549—a service of Morning Prayer (p. 37) and a service of Evening Prayer (p. 61). The contemporary language one is a bit more expansive. It has Morning Prayer (p. 75), a short Noonday Prayer (p. 103), Evening Prayer (p. 115), and Compline—a short prayer office for the close of the day (p. 127). There’s also another bit, Order of Worship in the Evening (p. 108) but it’s intended primarily to be done in church whereas the others are suitable for doing with family or by yourself.

Speaking of families—there’s also a section of really short self-contained versions of the Daily Office that are especially suitable for families called the Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families (p. 136). These are one-page prayer sets for use at Morning (p. 137), Noon (p. 138), Early Evening (p. 139), and Close of Day (p. 140) and are short enough to hold even a toddler’s attention. I speak here from experience—this is what we use with our two girls.

Now—the major offices are the ones for Morning (p. 37 or 75) and Evening (p. 61 or 115). There are three other parts of the prayer book that you’ll need to make these work: the Psalms (p. 585), the Collects (p. 159 for Rite I; p. 211 for Rite II), and the Daily Office Lectionary (p. 934) which gives you three readings—one from the Old Testament, one from the New, and one from a gospel—that you can divide up as you choose.

I’ll warn you right now—there are some options, choices and decisions to be made as you learn to pray the Office. It can be tricky when you first start out. In order to help you out, let me recommend some trustworthy guides.

First, there are some great resources on the web that give you the Daily Office intact with no book juggling or page flipping required. The top two that use the current American Book of Common Prayer that I’m aware of are:

• The Daily Office blog
• Mission St. Clare

Second, if you think you’re not quite up to a full-on Office experience but think you’d like to dip your toe in, or if you’re looking for something that you can do with your kids, here’s a lightly Lent-ified version of the Morning and Early Evening prayer sets from the Daily Devotions section of the prayer book.

Third, if you think you’re ready to tackle the Offices out of your prayer book, then grab your prayer book, a Bible, and one of these handy guides. The first is a quick reference guide to the Rite II (contemporary) Office. It’s an anonymous composition that I found on the web a few years back—I don’t know who put it together, but it’s a great source for helping people learn the Office. In the spirit of that reference, I put together an introduction to the Rite I Office from an Anglo-Catholic perspective.

Read it all HERE.

The Presiding Bishop on different views of sexuality

Here’s a very interesting reflection from Episcopal Life Online.

Varied understandings

Different lenses provide different views of Scripture

By Katharine Jefferts Schori, February 24, 2009

[Episcopal Life] The primates’ meeting has come and gone, and I’m sure there will have been abundant commentary by the time this is published. I’d like to reflect on some of the deeper issues behind our conversations about sexuality, particularly the influence of our understanding of gender.

The most intriguing conversation I had in Alexandria was with a primate who asked how same-sex couples partition “roles.” He literally asked if one was identified as the wife and one as the husband, and then wanted to know which one promised to obey the other in the marriage ceremony. Several of us explained that marriage in the West is most often understood as a partnership of equals, and has been for some time.

Those of you with a few more years on you may remember that the marriage service in the 1928 (and earlier versions) of the Book of Common Prayer did indeed have language about the wife obeying her husband. It’s pertinent here to note that the 1662 English Book of Common Prayer is still the norm in many provinces of the Anglican Communion, and it uses the same kind of language about obeying in the marriage service.

As I traveled from the airport to the hotel where we met, I noticed that almost every woman on the street past childhood was veiled, with at least her hair covered with a scarf, and in a not-small number of cases, covered head to toe in a long, flowing garment. I even observed a couple of women whose coverings were so thorough that I couldn’t even see a slit for their eyes — the fabric must have been thin enough for them to see through, but not for others to see in. The hotel had only a handful of female employees, mostly professional women who worked behind the desk. Only a couple of them wore no scarf.

Read the rest HERE.

Lent on Twitter

Today is Shrove Tuesday, the eve of Lent.   The Church of England is using the internet in a creative way to help people to connect with the season of Lent and to connect with one another via facebook and twitter.  As a fairly new facebook and twitter user, I think this is a great idea.  Here’s the Lead’s article:

If Jesus had Twitter, what would Jesus tweet? The Church of England’s Love Life Love Lent outreach via social networking sites Twitter and Facebook may have the answer.

The Church of England will be using Twitter and a new Facebook application to encourage people to help each other make the most out of Lent. The idea is to reach into the real world and create a viral network of people who will observe Lent with simple acts of generosity, thoughtfulness and devotion in the season leading up to Holy Week and Easter.

According to a Church of England news release:

The new online tools will help users share daily suggestions and encouragement for small actions they can take to do something positive for their friends, neighbours or wider local community, as part of the popular Love Life Live Lent campaign that has captured the imagination of more than a quarter of million people over the past two years. In 2007, more than 130,000 people joined in with Love Life Live Lent, many of whom opted to receive the daily suggested acts of service by text message. Last year, the suggested actions were available through social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace.The Love Life Live Lent web site says:

Love Life Live Lent is a new way of marking Lent. Instead of giving up chocolate or going on a detox, it encourages people to undertake a simple act of generosity each day. The actions are small and fun to do, but make a real difference in homes, families and communities.Love Life Live Lent began in Birmingham in 2006 and since then over 250,000 people nationwide have participated.

 

Looking at the Love Life Live Lent site on Facebook, it appears that the attempt is to focus people on practical, everyday kindnesses as well as accessible forms of outreach and giving. The power of Love Life Live Lent may lie in engaging people who may never set foot in a church in Lenten observance through social networking. The effort recognizes that many people want to deepen their faith but may find it difficult to begin in the traditional parish church.

The rest is HERE.

GetToKnowUsFirst

This is a great commercial.

Sermon: Be Made Clean-Leprosy and the Economy, February 15, 2009

Jesus heals a unclean leper and in so doing, he becomes unclean himself.  In the midst of the global economic crisis, this sermon looks at poverty as our leprosy du jour  and invites the church to be a place of hope and healing.

To listen, click HERE.

Sermon: Healing, February 8, 2009

Jesus moves on from healing people because he is more interested in “proclaiming his message.”  This sermon contrasts cure with healing and highlights the role of the community in the ministry of healing.  Muffy Davis is used as an example of someone who is healed but not cured.  This sermon was preached on  a “healing Sunday” where prayers for healing were offered during the service.

To listen to this sermon click HERE.

Clergy Retreat 2009: Slideshow

The retreat was at the Bishop’s Ranch retreat center. I only took a few pictures.

Teaching w/ Lama Marut: Slideshow