Week of April 8, 2018

Dear Friends:  

You all looked pretty darn perfect last Sunday in your "Sunday-go-to-Meeting" best Easter dress!

So I was watching an episode of Kimmy Schmidt last night (Season 3 episode 9, Kimmy Goes to Church) which was a good sendup of church--but with a soft heart.  It reminded me of the old wisdom that "Church is not a Museum for the saints but a hospital for the sinners." (Morton Kelsey)  At best, church enables us to face our true and unfinished selves.  That honesty allows us to have support while we do the work of becoming something a little more blessed and a little better.  That honesty allows us to make real and meaningful connections with other people based on trust and integrity.  And finally, in the wisdom of the church we learn that we aren't meant to be perfect in the first place:  we are meant to be imperfect so that we can learn to depend on others and lean on God.  As Leonard Cohen put it-- the cracks are how the light gets in.

You all looked pretty darn perfect last Sunday, and I know we aren't perfect. Except in God's design, when we reach out to one another and are open to the Spirit's nurturance, we get pretty close!

Blessings.  Susan

Meditation

The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.

--Peter Abelard (1079-1142)

Meditation

“Jesus was called a king, albeit a different kind of king. He looked upon the world with a discerning but kindly eye. He saw human beings in all their weakness and in all their talent and worth. He chose to honor, encourage, and promote those with whom he came in contact. He guided them and nurtured them toward their own fullness of being."

Palm Sunday

Dear Friends,

Palm Sunday is upon us. On the surface, it is about Jesus arriving into Jerusalem. A large group of people seem excited. The most recent demagogue has come to town. The populace loves “bigger than life characters” that can draw a crowd. These characters are typically critical, egotistical, bombastic and full of promises. They appeal to folks who want something new and different. Our president has most of the qualities of a demagogue.

In any case, Jesus arrives in the capital city of Jerusalem. Perhaps sensing their misguided and externalized expectations, he asks for a donkey to ride. He desperately wants people to put an end to grandiosity and showmanship. Stay humble. As the country singer Tim Mcgraw writes: “Always stay humble and kind.” It’s an invitation to BE YOU without drawing unnecessary attention to you.

The journey into the streets of the city continues. Jesus looks into the eyes of his followers. They seem to want more than he can deliver; or at least, they want something very different from what he is offering. He will not impeach the Emperor. He will only suggest that the Emperor has no clothes. He will not wipe out the old religion. He will only point to a religion that moves away from the prescriptive into the restorative.

Then a strange thing happens. He stops to look at them again. He is moved to tears. His heart is flooded with emotion. He speaks to the moment: “If only they knew what makes for peace.” If only they knew ....

We might say the same thing about ourselves and the world in which we live. We don’t know what makes for peace. So we buy weapons, and material things, and rail against the system. We don’t know the way to peace so we keep doing what we have always done. We are “doers” because we don’t understand the alternative.

Ride a donkey. Get on your knees and pray. Meditate. Listen differently. Aspire to be humble and kind. And most importantly, imagine a world where everyone’s deepest desire is for peace - the inner peace of trusting your heart, AND the peace of neighbors marked by empathy and generosity of spirit.

I want for peace - mine and yours.

Carter

Week of March 18, 2018

Dear Friends,

Since it was my son's spring break we headed down to West Palm Beach with him and his girlfriend for a few days.  Our last day there, we check out of the rental house and drove to the beach.  The sun over the water turned the shallows aquamarine while the deeps were dark teals.  The sand, particularly fine, sparkled under the sun while the waves burnished the beach with various subtle patterns.  Oh this is beautiful, I thought.

4 hours later we were driving home in Norwalk at dusk. Enough snow meant that the deepening warm blue sky was reflected in the remaining patches of snow, while the trees in their dark stands bared their dark architecture.  Oh this is beautiful, I thought.  

I thank my mother for teaching me to notice.  And I thank God for creating such a beautiful, splendid and varied world.  I have too too much going on right now in my life, too much I have said yes to, and just thinking about it makes my heart beat faster.  But when I notice, just notice nature with her longer timeline and ancient structure, I breathe more restfully.  I am grateful.  This world becomes a gift and I see myself in it in the larger web of relationships.  

This time of year may make us all anxious for the spring.  Still, the mounds of spiderwort are already pushing up in the softening soil. Spring will bring its beauty to us.  

But don't wait for it.  Look now. Notice now.  (As I type this, I look out the window and see two pine seedlings blowing in the wind.  Glory be to God)

Peace and Grace,

Susan