The Prodigal Pup

Today's gospel is from Luke 15 in which Christ continues to shock both pharisees and scribes by hanging out with the less desirable members of society.  In response Jesus gives them the parable of the Prodigal Son. 

Below you will find a reprint of my blog post from three years ago.  I loved it then and I love it now.  And frankly (no pun intended), my wiener dog is the perfect prodigal prop.

"Every time I return home my dog, Lucy, goes berserk. First there's that sweet moment when she realizes that I have returned from wherever I've been. Then there is that mad dash to get to me. This can occur at a dizzying level of speed. This is followed by the jumping up on me, the piddling, the squeaking, and the frantic tail wagging. And the length of time that I'm away doesn't seem to factor in to her uber-excitement. I can be gone a week or 20 minutes. It's all the same to Lucy. And I love it for who else is so consistently overjoyed just by my walking into their range of sight?

Here's what I know about my dog. She is the spittin' image of the Father in the parable of The Prodigal Son. You know the story, boy is unhappy with his lot in life, asks dad for his inheritance, dad hands it over, boy blows it all and has to crawl back home. He is expecting to hear a litany of "I told you so's" but instead his dad acts just like my dog. Running, kissing, hugging, and I am undone by such a display of love - as I'm sure that son was. Like the Prodigal Son's Father, Lucy's mercy is neverending. I continue to learn a lot from her.

P.S. Oh yeah, and about that "put-out attitude" of the older brother. Definitely cat behavior."

Season of letting go

When I was a kid this was the appropriate facial expression

for the season of Lent. Somber, Dutiful, Suppressed.

After all, we deserved wrath for our wickedness.

But this is the beginning of the season of letting go.

Letting go of all that hinders us from being who we really are.

Letting go of all that is false – not true.

For we are loved and cherished by God who never ever stops

giving to us. Recalling that we are dust and to dust we

will someday return is not all gloom and doom

but a call to wake up. Our time is short.

Love one another with a holy love.

What will that look like on your face this season?

woundology

“We are not meant to stay wounded.

We are supposed to move through our tragedies and challenges

and to help each other move through the many painful episodes of our lives.

By remaining stuck in the power of our wounds, we block our own transformation.

We overlook the greater gifts inherent in our wounds--

the strength to overcome them and the lessons that we are meant to receive through them.

Wounds are the means through which we enter the hearts of other people.

They are meant to teach us to become compassionate and wise.”

- Carolyn Myss

from her book “Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can”

– this excerpt was taken from here

 i took this photo from the reject pile at the statuary.

surely we don’t want to remain frozen in our pain.

we are not our wounds.

Jonah

Hello dear readers!

Some of you have asked for a copy of the sermon preached last Sunday at St. Paul’s.

Here is the link to the church website. I’m listed under Epiphany 2012.

Enjoy!

bending towards reconciliation

Today's Gospel is from Matthew 18: 15-20  in which we learn how to resolve conflict. (Go alone to see what you can do & if that doesn't work? Bring witnesses & if that doesn't work? Tell the church & if that doesn't work? Treat them like a Gentile or tax collector, i.e. love them!)

 "Forgiving Lord, I do not want my enemies forgiven. 

 I want you to kill them (as sometimes prays the psalmist!).

Actually, I would prefer to pray that you punish them

rather than kill them, since I would like to watch them suffer. 

Also, I fear losing my enemies,

since my hates are more precious to me than my loves. 

If I lost my hates, my enemies,

how would I know who I am? 

Yet you have bent us toward reconciliation,

that we may be able to pass one another Christ's peace. 

It is a terrible thing to ask of us. 

I'm sure I cannot do it, but you are a wily God able to accomplish miracles. 

May we be struck alive with the miracle of your grace,

even to being reconciled with ourselves.  Amen."

from Prayers Plainly Spoken, by Stanley Hauerwas, p. 95

Scripture source: Matthew 18:15-20

Cartoon source:  AgnusDay.org

it's a small world after all

"The world is becoming smaller now,

to the degree that all parts of the world

are obviously part of yourself.

Thus, destruction of your enemy is

destruction of yourself."

- The Dalai Lama



the high cost of living

"The price of anything is

the amount of life you have to pay for it."

- Henry Thoreau

photo of walden pond by benjamin meagher found here

faultlines

"It is far more useful to be aware

of a single shortcoming in ourselves

than it is to be aware

of a thousand in somebody else.

For when the fault is our own,

we are in a position to correct it."

- The Dalai Lama

forgive again

Forgiveness

Is a thousand pains

Placed one by one

In small boats

Kissed tenderly

And sent out to sea

Sometimes a few float back

The exquisiteness of the pain

Remembered

Kissed yet again

Then placed in its boat and sent out

As many times as it takes

Will they ever stop coming back

I can’t know

I can only send them out again

One by one

-Laura S. Walters

one can learn a lot from little ones about forgiveness

disruptively holy

Today's Gospel reading is from Luke 7 - the story of the woman who showed great love towards Jesus by bathing his feet with her tears, followed by drying them with her hair.  Can you imagine such a disruptively holy scene?

The following prayer is from Episcopal Cafe, Speaking to the Soul by Vicki K. Black.

"Lord, remind me who I am.
When others tell me I am nothing,
Remind me that I have been made in God’s image.
When my body has been used and abused,
Remind me that I am the temple of your Holy Spirit. . . .
When people tell me that I will never amount to anything,
Remind me that I am crowned with your glory and honor. . . .


When I cannot see any way ahead,
Remind me that I carry your light within me.
When I am afraid or confused,
Remind me that I have your power, your love and your sanity.
When I feel of no use and no worth,
Remind me that I am precious to you, that you call me your beloved. . . .


When I forget who I am,
Call me by my name."

From “When I Need Reminding” by Christina Rees, quoted in Lifting Women’s Voices: Prayers to Change the World edited by Margaret Rose, Jenny Te Paa, Jeanne Person, and Abagail Nelson. Copyright © 2009. Used by permission of Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. http://www.morehousepublishing.com/

artwork from here

Reconciliation?

"Reconciliation is to understand both sides;

to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side,

and then go to the other side
and describe the suffering being endured by the first side."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

(but even then it remains doubtful this bicycle will ever get anywhere)

9/11/09

A Prayer for Reconciliation

Gracious God,
ruling the earth and its people
not by terror but in love;
we worship you.

We confess that too often
our words hurt others
and our deeds are selfish;
forgive us.

In this time of uncertainty and fear,
help us to love our enemies
and do good to those who hate us,
in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.