So, Here's What I Think...

...and a return to blogging. Since my last post was about Maundy Thursday two years ago, it seems fitting that today's post would reference it as well. Last Maundy Thursday (known to some as Holy Thursday), my parish priest talked about "pivotal moments" in his sermon.  Pivotal moments are those times in your life when things are irrevocably changed.  They are the events that make you define life as "before x" and "after x".  After listening to him share some of his pivotal moments, I stopped to think of my own.  I have many pivotal moments.  Some, I didn't even recognize except in hindsight.  Some examples in my own life include Divorce Remarriage Recovery from a severe depressive episode Quitting my job to help care for a family member Deciding to pursue writing as a career There are so many more I could list.  Each event, if I had decided on a different course of action, would have changed the direction of my life.  Some of these ...

Maundy Thursday, also called Holy Thursday, is the commemoration of Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. It is the event that we remember when we participate in the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. The Revised Common Lectionary includes 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 in the appointed readings: 23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for* you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 25In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The Episcopal Lectionary, which The Episcopal Church has replaced with the RCL, also included verses 27-32 as an option: 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup ...

Veiled from head to toe A gauzy film covering my eyes No one sees me, And I can't see them. (See clearly, that is.) It doesn't matter if the sky is clear Or if the clouds are out It's all the same gray.

Some years ago, I wrote quite a bit of poetry. I was even a member of a monthly poetry group. Lots of painful stuff happened then, and pain can be quite the muse for poetry, and writing in general. Today, I felt inspired to write a poem. Nothing particularly painful happened, rather, more of a wistful wondering, based on a chance encounter with a neighbor. It's a first draft, so likely it'll go through a few revisions before I feel like it's done. But here goes: "Sunflowers" Looking over the fence today, A neighbor was working in his yard. Not much different from my own Tending the lawn, Separating the despised weeds From the soft, green grass. As I watered my grass, I noticed a tall bunch of sunflowers Growing in the corner of my neighbor's yard. Lovely plants -- they reminded me of the blooms I once received as a gift. So, so tall -- The bright flowers rose higher than the fence. Then I realized what my neighbor was doing. The flow...

Maundy Thursday -- the Catholics refer to it as Holy Thursday, but we Episcopalians use the word, "maundy" (coming from a Latin word meaning mandate or command ) to emphasize the commandment given by Jesus to his disciples: " A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) This service has a reenactment of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. At a certain point in the service, the priests removed their stoles and washed the feet of any person who came up to them. My church has a nice twist to that -- at the end, the Lay Eucharistic Ministers (lay assistants at the altar) then exchanged places with the priests and washed their feet -- showing that we are all to love and serve one another as Christ. This was the first year I didn't go up for the foot washing. Instead, I felt I needed to...

As an Episcopalian, I am a member of a liturgical church. "Liturgy," or "work of the people", consists of the rituals we use in worship to bring others and ourselves closer to God. Liturgy, as the definition implies, is an interactive form of worship. Perhaps that is why I lean so much towards it. Liturgy involves most of the senses (all, if you include incense), and incorporates movement in the form of standing, sitting, and kneeling. We sing, pray silently and aloud, and respond verbally to prompts in the service. In liturgical style, I prefer "High Church," or liturgy rich in vestments, sounds, sacred music, candles and incense. Some people refer to it as "smells and bells". I find that when done well, a High Church liturgy can bring me closest to experiencing the wonder and majesty of God. That's not to say that "Low Church", a simpler form of liturgy, or "Broad Church", which tries to blend aspects of High and...

Wow. Just. Wow. I love a sermon that makes me think, that adds something new to the store of knowledge I carry. Most sermons are good in the sense that they are reminders of things I already know, but forget. This one was powerful because it added more depth to a familiar story. I had a different interpretation in my last blog entry. The familiar story is usually known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son . You know, the younger son demands his share of the inheritance, blows it, returns home humbled, and his father takes him back with great celebration. The older son is angry because his no-good brother is welcomed home without any reproach while he slaves along, unappreciated. The father tells the older brother that "all that is mine is yours." Here's what I got from today's sermon: Reconciliation -- implies that something is not right, something needs to be fixed. Think about reconciling your checkbook and finding that you're two cents off. The church, ...