why?

i disagree with the U of M professor that says that we can't find the sacred in everyday life. but, the rest of the article about Christians praying for Christ to come along I-35 is....odd.

enjoy.

I-35 is road to salvation, say some Christians

a new experience

i had my first funeral today.

i am the vicar on call, so to speak. my supervisor is on vacation, so that left me in charge. wednesday the call came that a former member had passed away.

i desperately called my dad and said, "what do you do at a graveside service?"

he walked me through it.

he said, "weddings are hollywood, funerals are masterpiece theatre."

ahhh. today was a masterpiece theatre day. it was overcaste. there was a pieta statue in the cemetary off in the distance. the wind was blowing gently. the only difference was that there were southern accents not british accents.

i read from 1 thessalonians chapter 4.

the morticians at the funeral home were very nice and helped me get my bearings.

the service seemed so short. such a big moment for a family. yet, it takes so little time to do the service. i guess the service is only part of what happens when people grieve, but it does seem so little. i think it seems small in part, because the family is no longer a member of the congregation i serve. so i won't be able to check in with them regularly.

Post Christmas

okay...i preached christmas eve, it went well. i followed the little ones and their christmas pageant. sort of a tough act to follow.

now for the best part...
i got a christmas card from one of my confirmation boys.
it is the BEST CARD EVER!

and i quote:

Dear Vicar Kelly,
Thank you for teaching our confirmation class. It is a lot of fun. I hope you have a great Christmas.

when i got it, i shamelessly told everyone about my "fun" confirmation class.

i now have told all of you...those boys are so fabulous! i am so very sad that my time with them in confirmation is nearly half done.
i hope everyone had a merry christmas...i just wanted to share my lovely little card.

merry christmas!

I had a hard time getting in the mood for this sermon. I was not feeling the Christmas cheer. At first I thought it was a strange bit of proclamation. Then as I sat with it, I have realized that I like where it takes me. I hope my little congregation gets something from it.

my children at reformation are always good for a story or two...
a confirmation boy is embracing the role of joseph in tonight's pageant...he came to church yesterday wearing "movie star glasses" since he is the star.

and one little girl, when asked why she was attached to my leg said, "because i love her." it was pretty sweet. then the little girl proceeded to tattle on her brothers that i have in confirmation. it was funny.

i think we may safely say that i have fallen in love with the folks i have been called to serve. they are very different from me, but i care about them. it is good to know that we can care about those who are so different from us.

enjoy the sermon. merry christmas.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

There is a woman named Fawn who was released from the Minnesota Women’s State Penitentiary in Shakopee, Minnesota a couple years ago.

Fawn is an Ojibwe woman from Northern Minnesota. Her mother grew-up on the streets of the Leech Lake Reservation. Fawn has family on that Rez and the Red Lake Reservation that has most recently been recognized nationally as having experienced one of the most deadly school shootings. Red Lake is also one of only two sovereign Indian Reservations in the United States. Sometimes we refer to Red Lake as our “foreign nation neighbor.”

When Fawn was released from prison, she was pregnant. She had been in prison for almost the entire length of her pregnancy. She was within days of her duedate at the time of her release. It was mid-November in Minnesota. Even though Shakopee is in a more southern part of Minnesota, it is still very cold. Fawn was left at the gate of the prison with no ride home. She was left as a native woman on white land. She was left a pregnant woman with no resources.

Shakopee is about 6 hours from Red Lake. About 5 hours from Bemidji where her mom lives and attends church.

I received a call. I found out that Fawn was stranded with her boyfriend and needed help traveling. I was working at a Native American social service agency in Minneapolis. I worked with my home church in Bemidji to get Fawn a bus ticket.

Yet, like so many babies, this little one could not wait. Fawn went into labor in Minneapolis. The only inn to take her was Hennepin County Medical Center. This is the public hospital in Minneapolis. Fawn was away from home and family. Away from everyone but her boyfriend and me. And I had only spoken to her by phone twice.

Perhaps Fawn is not the person we imagine when we think of Mary, yet Fawn’s story sounds so familiar.

Mary journeyed to a land that she did not know with her betrothed. She journeyed, trusting that things would be okay, but not knowing what would happen. Mary was a foreigner in that land. I do not know if Fawn trusted the judicial system, but I do know that it is a struggle for my Ojibwe neighbors to live in the dominant culture. It is a struggle to understand all the demands that are placed upon them. Perhaps Mary would have shared with Fawn the feeling of being lost in a strange culture.

Mary depended on the kindness of an innkeeper for a space to give birth. An unexpected birth. Yet not so unexpected. I imagine Joseph and Mary hoping that Jesus would just wait a few more days. No such luck. Fawn depended on the kindness of the taxpayers in Minnesota for the prenatal care and the hospital care she received. Had this not happened, her daughter might not have had a healthy birth. I suspect that Fawn wanted her daughter to wait a few more days.

The prophet Isaiah says,

“the Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies.”

This reminds us of the Magnificat, Mary’s song. It reminds us of what the Ojibwe people might sing. The hope for justice and mercy. It reminds us of what so many people around creation long for. They long for grain that will fill their bellies. They long to be cared for and to not watch injustice rule. When Isaiah says that the Lord has sworn this by his right hand he means that God has sworn this by the hand he uses for mercy. For in the Old Testament, it is understood that the left hand of God is the hand of justice and the right hand of God that is the hand of mercy.

And again Isaiah writes,

“For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.”

We will hear from Christ when he begins his ministry an echoing of these words, Christ says,

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

What are your burdens dear ones? For Fawn, her burdens have been poverty, chemical addictions, and oppression. Mary faced being an unwed mother, a foreigner in a strange land, and eventually, being the mother of a convicted criminal.

Christ will carry these burdens with you and for you.

In these families, Fawn’s and Mary’s there is a sense of wandering. The holy family wandered, they wandered looking for a bed. And this is an ancient story. They are not the first families to have wandered.

Adam and Eve were forced to wander once they left the garden. They needed to find a new home to live in.

Hagar wandered in the desert with her son Ishmael. Hagar was abandoned by Abraham and Sarah, yet God had mercy on her.

The Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness, looking for the Promised Land.

The Holy family inherited this tradition of wandering from their ancestors.

The early church missionaries wandered. St. Paul wandered from city to city spreading the Gospel.

An American wanderer was Sojourner Truth, wandering and preaching justice and the Gospel.

My friend Fawn wandered. Trying to find a safe place to give birth and to be Native American in the 21st Century.

God came as a tiny baby so that all who came before and all who will come will have justice and mercy.

When you wander this Christmas know that Christ is with you.
Remember the hymn: I wonder as I wander how Jesus the savior could come forth to die.

It is astounding, isn’t it?
All of this for you and me.

Wonder at it.

Wonder at a few shepherds trusting some messengers.
Wonder at an innkeeper offering all he had.
Wonder at God being born where animals eat and sleep.
Wonder at the children here trusting in God’s promises and sharing them with you tonight in their play.

Wonder too, at the wandering Christ did with his family in foreign lands. When you feel lost and scared know that he has been there. When you rejoice in a safe return, know that Christ has been there too and continues to be there.

Christ was with Fawn as she labored to bring her baby girl into the world. As she struggled to be a foreigner in her own land. And finally as she rejoiced in the presence of her family.

Go in peace, welcome the stranger. And rejoice in the little baby wandering among us.
Amen.

christmas gift suggestion...

i am a shameless promoter...i think you all have realized this by now...

on october 31st lutheran lesbian and gay ministries merged with the extraordinary candidacy project and became extraordinary lutheran ministries.

there is a cd that was put together by some delightful people to raise funds for clergy debt relief.

i gave copies to my intern committee members. it is a lovely cd and thoughtfully put together.
check it out...

"that was good!"

my favorite moment of the week is when everyone gathers around the communion rail.

i love having the moment with each person to say that God is for them. it is so wonderful to share that moment with each person.

i love getting to bless the little ones. i look at them and say, "can i bless you?" sometimes they look to their parents, but usually they nod their heads very seriously.

one little red headed girl came to the rail with a sibling and woman that i am guessing was her mom. i asked if she took communion. that was a no. but a blessing was just fine. i said those good words...

may the Lord bless you and keep you in the covenant of ALL God's promises now and forever. amen, amen, amen.

as soon as i took my hand off her head, she turned to her mom and loudly said, "that was good!" the mom laughed, i laughed, my communion assistant laughed. i looked at the little girl and said, "that is good stuff, isn't it?"

the delight of the child was wonderful. i wish i could bless every person that came to communion. not just the kids. so all that good stuff could just get spread all around. so that we could wallow in goodness. roll in the goodness. revel in the goodness.

isn't it wonderful how we don't teach the little ones God? they teach us God. then...they get all the culturally rules put on them, so they forget how to see God. then they become the grown-ups that need help. i suppose that is why we all need each other.

this morning was the hanging of the greens at church. this sounds very fancy, but it was simply everyone gathering together to decorate for christmas. i was amazed that they made the wreathes themselves! now, i am an odditity in having made it out of northern minnesota without having made a christmas wreath before. i don't really know how that happened. i think it is because i never participated in youth group or girl scouts.

i told people that this is a normal activity for families and confirmation kids in minnesota. since the woods are...well, in the backyard.

one intrepid 9 year old decided to chat with me. my goodness she is a talker! i had a moment when i realized that i was probably like her when i was her age. chatty cathy.

i asked what she wanted to be when she grows up...she wants to be some sort of scientist. she really likes disecting things. i took the moment to say...ahh, i was very interested in studying neuropsych (brains), but then went to seminary. i told her i really want to disect a brain. this kid thought this was just the coolest thing. and proceded to tell everyone that the vicar wants to dissect brains. oops.


then...
she asked about the nose rings. inevitably happens. i made the mistake of telling her the very funny story about my brief flirtation with a lip piercing. the entire 5 day period. between amsterdam and berlin that my lower lip was pierced. she laughed at me and thought i was a little crazy. then...told her MOM! i tried to work the "it was not the best idea i have every had" angle. which it wasn't the best idea. it was cute though...briefly.

at least they like me!! their oddball vicar, but they like me. there are a fair amount of science people in the congregation, so i am very thankful for my psychology/research background. i may not get the same excitement from the type of science some folks do, but i get the fascination with wanting to understand.

i enjoy the congregation. they are sweet. they make me laugh. i like the energy of the kids. i like watching the families care for one another.

SNOW!!!!!

IT SNOWED TODAY!!!!
When I walked out of my little basement apartment (oh so little) I discovered a dusting of snow. I was delighted...and then...it kept snowing! It has snowed all day long. mmmmmmmm. snow. I was warned when I got to DC that if there is even the hint of snow people get a little crazy. So, the nice mennonite from wisconsin said when she was at the grocery store last night, people were stocking up on supplies. 'cause you never know when the slush might keep you indoors! :)

and then...apparently schools in maryland and virginia called off school! for just some wet stuff! it makes me giggle. there was salt on a sidewalk that had no snow or ice on it. tons of salt though. at first i couldn't figure out what it was...then it dawned on me...they had preemptively salted. i'm not sure that does any good...oh, well. made me laugh.

a picture will be forth coming.
i hope the rest of you are warm or shoveled out of 2 feet of snow or enjoying sunshine, wherever you are.

more jesus, the post script.

i guess there was enough jesus. during coffee hour i didn't move more than five feet once i got to the basement. the words "gifted preacher" were used. and "no one was making their grocery list." sort of stuns me that this thing, this fragile bit of creativity can help people. it isn't really me. the spirit most certainly intervenes and makes sure people get what they need. the spirit sees to it that i can bumble my way through a text that frustrates me.

on a lighter note...
those confirmation boys are always good for a little humor.

boy a: "I found the shortest book in the Bible!"
vicar: "Seriously! I never thought I would say this, but do I need to take your Bible away from you?!"
boy a: "no."
boy b: "you can have mine!"
vicar: "i don't want yours. you're not looking up things you shouldn't!"

later in the sacristy before the second service...
president of the congregation: "are you boys paying attention in class, doing your homework?"
vicar: smiles knowingly at the boys who are acolyting...just happens to be boys a and b.
boy b: "ummm. yeah, mostly paying attention." giving me a furtive glance...is the vicar going to rat him out to the pastor and to the president? is he going to get in trouble?
vicar: just shakes her head and chuckles. no need to embarass the kid.

but, seriously, i never thought i would say, "do i need to take that Bible away from you?"

yet, i still think they are the greatest kids.

more jesus.

all of you from luther seminary will have heard those words from gracia grindal.
"good sermon, but you need more jesus."they always make me giggle a little.
add more jesus to the sermon.


this sunday is, of course, the first sunday in advent. and has one of those weird rapture texts. i got super fixated on the text and couldn't see the jesus through the trees (if you know what i mean).

as usual, i sent my sermon to my dad to read. this morning, i get on the phone and dad says, "good sermon, but you need more jesus."

i immediately said, "okay gracia!"

he laughed. he had class with her too.

i think i took care of the jesus problem. i think even gracia would find enough jesus...at least i hope so!

and that is my strange little story for the day.