One Wild and Precious Life

Sermon Time

Wow, it has been such a very long time since I've posted a sermon. I don't write them at all anymore, so we'll see how this goes, just jotting down some random thoughts and notes that I probably said today -- though since I don't even make notes, this will be the first I've written at all about these readings.  For those of you who don't know this, in the Episcopal Church we read (and preach from) readings that are assigned each week; the "assignment list," which rotates the same readings on a 3-year cycle, is called our lectionary.  And this week, the lectionary gave me these:  Exodus 16:2-15 (the Israelites getting manna from heaven) or Jonah 3:10-4:11 (Jonah's final 2 temper tantrums, after God spares Nineveh); Philippians 1:21-30; and for the Gospel, Matthew 20:1-16 (the landowner paying all the workers a full days wage, regardless of whether they worked a full day or only an hour).  I had to address both the Exodus and Jonah from the Old Testament, as I serve 3 different congregations, and one of them used the Exodus, while the other two used Jonah.  But this week that was easier than most, because the theme is the same.  I usually try to incorporate all 3 readings into my preaching; usually there's a theme, and the 3 readings all elaborate that theme on multiple levels.  But today it was mostly Old Testament and Gospel.

I love to preach about Jonah, first of all because the story is so short that I get to tell the whole thing, just to remind people about who Jonah really was.  It's a great chance to show the humor in the story, and let people know that it's okay to laugh at some of these biblical characters.  Jonah is certainly worth a chuckle or two, and I love adding a few dramatic flourishes, like clutching my chest, gazing up to heaven, and saying, "Okay, God, just kill me now!" (Which Jonah actually does say at least a couple of times.) But mostly I love Jonah because God really is patient and gentle and long-suffering in response to Jonah's stubborn self-will and temper tantrums.  Just like I feel like God's really patient and long-suffering with me in my own stubborn willfulness.  And I love Jonah for his whining and complaining and arguing with God; I think God just really wants us to be in relationship with God, and to be honest, even if it's through whining and complaining sometimes.

And for me, the Gospel was also about the laborers who worked all day whining and complaining about their pay, when they got the same as the ones who only worked an hour.  I pointed out the historical context, that Matthew was almost certainly a Jewish Christian, preaching to other Jewish Christians about how it could be that Gentile Christians could be full members of the church, without even being circumcised.  These "newcomers" get the same "pay" (or grace) as the Children of Abraham (who've been in the field all day).

So it's all about whining, and how (we see in Jonah) that it's okay to whine, and that God's response is generally a kindly, patient "It's none of your business" (how God's grace gets dispensed, and it will usually be given abundantly, even in ways that look really unfair to us sometimes).  And for my part, I'm so glad it's okay to whine (because I do so much of it), and that God dispenses mercy and grace abundantly, despite how I can be.

Of course I didn't mention all those times when God also seemed to get fed up and struck people dead.

Fall, Again

Nearly a year since my last entry!  My dental hygienist once said, "If you'd get your teeth cleaned every one year, rather than every three years, you'd be a lot better off!"  (I do that now, I assure you.). It's the same with blogging: if I'd blog every one week, rather than every 48, I'd also be a lot better off, too.  So I'll give it another shot.  Here we go!

This will just be a catch-up on my life, but I promise to post something of substance next time.  I've moved.  Living with my best friend was meant to be a short-term situation that turned into something a little more than short-term (nearly 3 years!), but the time came when I needed to have a space of my own, with more of my own things and my own energy around me.  I've been able to unpack boxes that were packed in 2014 in Tennessee; seeing my own things is like being reunited with old friends that I've missed.  There's the sweet little oak dining room table that has been with me since 1973, and the pitcher my mother bought for me in Gatlinburg, Tennessee when I was in my 20s, and so much more.  My things have way too many stories attached to them, which makes it really hard to be without them, or to let them go .  Cheryl and I are still best friends, of course -- we both agreed that my move was fully due.

So this summer was one for settling into my new digs and catching up on health care, which involved four (count 'em, four) different doctors, a battery of various tests, and waiting anxiously for results.  Health care in Buffalo sure has changed since I last saw a doctor here 15 years ago: now my entire chart is online, including test results and various scans,and I can access everything.  Amazing.  But all the rigamarole makes me feel trapped in the maw of the medical monster.  I guess it comes with aging.  However, as a result of the settling in and the doctoring, I didn't get out to the trailer by the lake one single time. Not once! I couldn't face the repairs that I know need to be made, the appliances I know need to be replaced, the work that needs to be scheduled and paid for, because I can't do any of it myself.  But tomorrow Cheryl and I are going! So I'm excited about that. The weather has been so summery and hot, clear through September (except for one short cool spell), that we're even planning to go to the beach.  I can't wait.

Aside from that, I continue with my part time work, my thrice-weekly yoga, and my sobriety. I've been off, then on again, my food program, and my weight is back on the way down.  I had 2 bicycles stolen in 4 days in my new neighborhood (including my dear French 5-speed, which I'm still grieving), and now keep my third bike of the summer inside the building.  Sigh.  Last week I broke my desktop computer, so all my work now gets done on my dear iPad, with a Bluetooth keyboard. Not sure what I'll do when it's time to print something, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll be adding my blog address to my email signature again, so who knows? I might get a few visitors.