A Year in DC, Learning to Preach

a month or so later...

2008-09-24T10:56:00.002-04:00

i guess i do miss it.

i can't decide if i miss DC
or
if i miss being a pastor.

no, i know i miss being a pastor.

i miss the rhythm of the church week. i miss getting the adrenaline rush of sunday morning worship. never thought of myself as an adrenaline junky, but i guess i kind of am.

i think i miss the intensity of DC. i have always been a little too much of a truth-sayer and doer in the midwest. in DC i was mellow! here, back in minnesota, i am reminded of how intense my personality seems. funny how different i appear in the two different places.

i am in this dual masters program.
i am doing my final social work internship. my final internship of FOUR!
and do you know...

i went into this thing, wanting to be a therapist, the pastor gig was just a thing to do on the side.

now...

i am just gritting my teeth to finish the social work degree. i know the skills are good ones. the credential is a good one.
i just love how i get to be as a pastor. it feels so much more real.

funny how four years changes things.
i can't believe i am nearing the end of four years.

i am ready.
i don't know what awaits me...
but, i am ready.

home again.

2008-08-17T14:44:00.002-04:00

i arrived home tuesday evening.

with great fanfare i left DC.

it was a bit intense for me.
i think my midwestern self was a little overwhelmed by the accolades. to be showered with praise publicly was intense. the congregation was incredibly kind and generous.

i spent the weekend packing, writing a sermon, and spending moments with the congregation.
a family that had adopted me, made sure i did not spend those strange last few moments alone.

it was much less of an adventure moving home.
no uhaul trailer attached to the marshmallow.
only 2 days of driving.
just wanting to arrive and process.

i don't like limbo times.
i don't like the times in between projects, events, activities.
i am a little antsy right now.

i feel a little strange missing DC. it was an uncomfortable home for me.
i love looking like the people around me. i love that i don't get stared at in grocery stores in mpls. i love that i can find food that i can eat and good coffee.

yet...
somehow i planted a few roots in DC. they started to grow.
i cried as i began to chant the kyrie.
somehow i made a home.

one more year of school.
a practicum.
a research paper.
some classes.

then...
i get to walk in two commencements.

but for now, i will hold my friend's newborn daughter.
as we sat in the kitchen on thursday, the little one threw her head so that she could lay in the sun as i held her. even at four weeks, she sought out the sunshine. so, i held the little one as she slept in the sun.

and...
i think maybe i did learn to preach.

the last friday.

2008-08-08T13:06:00.002-04:00

i just finished vacation bible school.

i went into this event with my feet dragging.
i am just not cut out for little kid type ministry things.
mostly i am baffled by what to do for three hours with them. once we are done with bible story time...well, frankly i am a wee bit lost.

i love talking with the kids, i just don't really get how to structure the time. i do much better when they get to middle school...

well, i made it. and...the kids had fun. they didn't seem to mind coming and even seemed to want to come back each day. which made me feel like i hadn't completely failed in my responsibilities.

it was a weird sort of blessing that vbs was in the crazy last week that i am in DC. it has kept me too exhausted to think about what it means to move home.

last night the lovely 20s-30s group from reformation took me out. they toasted me, gave me a lovely card and ...a gift certificate to barnes and noble. the comment was, "some of us remember how you brought 6 books to a 24 hour retreat." well! you don't know what you might need!!! you must be prepared for any book emergency! it made me laugh, they know their vicar well. it was so sweet.

i don't like long drawn out good-byes. it is hard to have had a few weeks worth of dinners and parties. i like to just say good-bye and get in the car. it is stressful for me to think of all the people i need to check in with before i go. yet, that is the lifestyle i have signed on to as a pastor.

it is nice, though, in a way...
i am finding out all the people that liked having me here that i didn't realize.
i am finding out all the folks that received ministry from me that i didn't realize.

now that vbs is over i am slowed down just enough to think.
it is sad to leave this place.

i fell in love with people.

nearing the end...

2008-07-28T22:44:00.002-04:00

i am nearing the end of this yearlong adventure.

tonight i had my last meeting with the intern committee. it was time to sign off on the evaluation.

i related to them the story of my entering town...

refer to one of the earliest blog posts last september...
the escaping cat, the fear of driving into the capitol, the supervisor parallel parking the uhaul/toyota echo combo...
funny, now.

a year later...

i got to see nancy pelosi speak from my lectern
i presided at my first funeral
i watched a bishop get installed
i preached at easter vigil and served communion next to the bishop at easter
i waved at the pope
i saw bishop gene robinson speak

and...
i taught those confirmation kids and had more kids and parents and families embrace me than i ever thought.

after my crazy two days with the young ones a couple weeks ago, the confirmation class had a surprise part for me. they made me a cake and gave me a jewelry box engraved with the senate seal. so sweet. then... the moms started telling me that the boys talked about reading the bible! such a proud moment. the young ones i taught retained something relating to their faith and tradition. a successful year.

quite a year.
i leave in 12 days. one more sermon and a week of vacation bible school. lots of folks looking for time with the vicar. lots of people to add into a tight schedule of 12 days.

hopefully the journey west will be a little less crazy than the journey east...
this time it feels less...something.

last year it was exciting. i knew i would go back to minnesota. i knew that i had a year of something ahead of me.
now the year is over.
now i am not sure what will be next. papers are already starting to be filled out for the final interviews for seminary...which means, i must contemplate leaving minnesota for much longer than a year. which means i really don't know where i will be after next june.

this move is a little less exciting, because i leave something, that i don't know if i will see again.

well...
we will see.

i have a little longer to see those last few museums...really need to see the spy museum before i head out.

fantastic!

2008-07-12T13:54:00.002-04:00

i have aimed to be the coolest vicar ever...

well, not exactly, but i try to keep the confirmation class on their toes.

i decided that we would do Bible studies and try to pick texts that would make sense and appeal to teenage boys. grosser the better. i was often told they weren't gross enough. really, crucifixion isn't gross?

i tried to plant seeds of hard texts. texts that are used by people to hurt others. i wanted them to hear those passages in a safe space so that when they hear them again, they aren't surprised.

we read some tough stuff.

we listened to music that worked with the Bible. i asked them to pick the music. they often picked linkin park. which made me giggle. they did a fantastic job.

very thoughtful.

they tried to explain football to me. they gave up. i tried. really, i did. it just does not make sense.

we did fun things. played football, watched football, went to starbucks. yesterday we went to see "Hancock". good film for trying to see how faith metaphors are in pop culture. i tried to get that conversation started. they are still a little young for that, but we tried. i planted that seed. the seed for seeing God in lots of places.

we talked about Sudan and Darfur. we painted a tent. a tent that will be used in a gathering on the Mall this fall. a gathering that will have leaders from major faith groups.

we talked about the difference between want and need.

and then...

i have a kid that would rather skip a trip than miss a confirmation gathering! i have another kid that has fought church and will show-up on his own to confirmation!

it makes me so happy that by just trying a few other things, we have been able to keep the kids engaged! i am just so happy about this. i am so delighted that i have kids WANTING to come!

i had supportive families and a wonderful lay person helping me. between all of that we got to a point where there was this lovely, fun group of boys that wants to come to confirmation. i have hope for the church at such moments.

today in history.

2008-07-11T19:55:00.002-04:00

one year ago today.

i received a phone call from luther seminary informing me that a certain lutheran church in washington, dc would take me on as their intern. the council had voted the night before that they were okay with issues of sexuality. the paperwork was in process.

i had been in limbo since march.

a wonderful friend had said, "we won't celebrate until we all can celebrate."
i remember emailing her and telling her we could celebrate. that statement kept me going from march until july.

that was a year ago.

i am 29 days from the end of the year in dc.
amazing what happens in a year.

whirlwinds.

2008-07-10T15:30:00.002-04:00

i went to san francisco on the first. i got back last night. i began a three day confirmation blitz this morning. not the best scheduling, but what can you do, when there is so much to teach and so little time.

san francisco was a lovely break from the routine of DC. a gathering of concerned lutherans. my worship TA from luther is now getting his doctorate in liturgics at the graduate theological union in berkeley. i ran into him at the opening worship...where i happened to be the crucifer. it was very funny. okay i thought it was funny as i constantly made fun of him for yelling at me to hold my hands the right way during worship labs (yes, labs for worship...there were experiments). and then i had to admit to him that:
1. i am bothered when i see people not holding their hands in proper prayer positions.
2. that i actually care about proper orders for rites.

it was mortifying to admit. and also quite funny. i made him happy that someone actually cared enough to remember. i just told him i was ruined. i am capable of caring about the proper way of doing liturgics. crap.

it was funny.

bishop gene robinson spoke. quite lovely as well. i found his speech helpful for giving me new frames for how i often feel in the church.

bishop john selders spoke and named my experience in the church in ways i never hear named. he named how it is for young folks to be in the church. he named how it is to be someone that does not respond to the typical curriculums and studies that the church puts out. i have never heard anyone name my experience in such a clear way. it felt like i had found a kindred spirit. i had finally found a grown-up in the church that understands that there needs to be lots of ways to be church.

i wander san francisco a bit after the gathering of lutherans.
a lovely city. my godfather is scattered in haight-ashbury. we figured he would both love it and hate it. we took him in a plastic baggie and visited headshops and music stores. places that he would have liked in life. that was in 2005. i thought about him while i was in SF. i thought about visiting golden gate park where the ashes were mostly scattered. i never made it there. oh, well. he would have liked that i never made it there. it would have given him something to complain about.

i visited a ministry to folks that are homeless. the welcome ministry is served by two wonderful people that i will soon call my colleagues. one of the two pastors is the first dual degree graduate from luther. i will be second after jay. after watching jay work, i am very glad that it is jay that i follow behind. i cannot imagine a better person to be led by. it has been awhile since i have been around a street ministry. it was comfortable feeling. far from home, but homelike.

i got back to DC and the kitties definitly were a little lonely. linus was needy. poor guy.

then, bright and early...confirmation!!! a little insane. but, we had fun. we read the first part of romans together. we didn't get as far as i intended, but we never do. we had good conversations. asked a few good questions. and the kicker..."how do you know?" i don't. but, i trust. is that a good enough answer for a kid? i just don't know.

we watched the lost boys of sudan together to get ready for more tents of hope activities. more confirmation tomorrow.

we'll see how rowdy it is tomorrow!!

super dork...

2008-06-26T13:53:00.002-04:00

okay. i know you are going to shake your heads when i tell this story...

this is the celeb i got excited about.

this morning i was walking to meet the pastor at a restaurant on the hill. like three blocks from church and maybe three blocks from my apt.

i see this guy going into a restaurant that is just opening up...

it was SPIKE from the most recent season of top chef!! yes. i do like a good episode of top chef now and then. :)

i wanted to be cool like all the other hill kids so i just sort of gawked and kept walking. i got to the restaurant and said to pastor that i had just seen spike. he looked at me like i was nuts. i proceeded to post on my friend's facebook site that i had seen one of the chefs from top chef. it was rather exciting.

and...
i am a dork.
i am willing to put it out there.

my feet hurt.

2008-06-22T12:09:00.003-04:00

okay. those who know me, know that i don't wear heels.

guess what.
i wear heels.

sigh.
i have had to buy clothes and shoes this year.
the comfy danskos didn't quite cut it.
nor did the pink pumas.
yes, i did think i could call the pink pumas dress shoes. don't laugh

well, the one pair of black heels that i have had for almost three years are starting to get a little wobbly. i bought a cheap pair to add to the rotation, but they died...

so...
i finally broke down and bought a pricier pair this week. i am really picky. i may not own many heels, but i am picky. i wanted pointy toe, black, thin heel. right. nightmare to find. i just wanted a kitten heel.

thats all.
what did i get?

a stiletto.

yes.

what has the world come to.
vicar margaret owns a pair of stilettos.

and her feet hurt.

it did take 9 months for me to crumble. 9 months for me to finally get to this point. will i ever be able to show my face again in the midwest?

i feel a bit neither here nor there.

ps the sermon went well. i don't know why.
i don't think it was of my own making.

another sermon.

2008-06-21T21:00:00.002-04:00

i don't know how i feel about this sermon.
it was a bit angsty to write. i realized that i have a sermon writing process. and that i managed to totally bypass it. crap.
so...whatever this is, it is. i found out that i was going to be preaching this sunday on tuesday. switched sundays due to some events in the congregation.

so here it is.
mostly i am putting it here since it is my sister's birthday this week and i won't get to see her. this is one of the few ways i can do something for her.

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

My little sister (who is not so little anymore) will be 25 on the 24th of this month. That is in two days. Does anyone know what saint’s feast day we celebrate that day? It is John the Baptist’s feast that day. We celebrate his birth and feast that day because it is near the summer solstice. It is near the longest day of the year and the shortest night. It is the time of light beginning to leave the world and darkness coming back into the world.

Nice story you think...why is vicar talking about her sister, John the baptist and the solstice?

Just wait.
St. John said that he must decrease so another may increase. He must become smaller so that another may become bigger. The light decreases so that we can prepare for an increase in light. Christ is the light of the world. Christ is born during the shortest days of the year. The light comes back when Christ is born. When John is born the light decreases so that we can prepare for the light to be welcomed. We can prepare for God incarnate. God in human form. God gave us a natural phenomena to help us remember that Christ is our light.

Now, my older brother and my sister were born profoundly handicapped. They both have the same disabilities. However, my sister is more severely handicapped than my brother. She is unable to care for herself in anyway. She cannot walk or talk. She is most certainly the meekest of the meek. She was born on St. John the Baptist’s feast day. She was born on a day that a saint said he must decrease so that another may increase. My sister became humble and low so that we could see Christ.

Light is in the world and so is my sister. The Gospel is here and St. John points the way. So does my sister.

For much of history folks with disabilities were hidden away in secret. They were the shame of families and communities. My brother was at the beginning of the movement to make folks with disabilities whole. To engage these folks with communities. I watched my parents fight to have my siblings “mainstreamed.” I watched them fight to have my siblings given the chance to be treated with respect and humanity. I grew-up believing it was normal to include folks with disabilities in all tasks. It wasn’t until later in life that i realized this was not the norm.

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.” Families have for so long borne the shame and fear of children that are less than. Fearful that friends and neighbors will find out their secrets. Christ is telling us that families are not a secret. The church is not a secret. God is not a secret.

Christ then says that sparrows will not fall to the ground without the heavenly Father knowing. Sparrows were the cheapest form of food in the ancient world. The meekest of sustenance for humans. Sustenance for the meekest of people. Yet, the Father knows all that happens to these little sparrows! That is how precious they are to Him. Christ goes on to teach that the Father knows the number of hairs on each person’s head. This is how much God values each human.
The littlest ones of creation are so valued by God that nothing in their lifespan is not known by God. Humans are valued so much by God that each hair is known. This is why we can trust that we can walk in the light. We can proclaim from the housetops. No matter what the repercussions are, God will know our story.

I trust that God knows all that my brother and sister have experienced. I trust that God knows all that my parents have done for my brother and sister.

I also trust that my sister’s birth on St. John’s birthday reminds us that we are not to work for ourselves, but for Christ. Yes, we do come back to works. And as Lutherans that makes us a bit nervous. But remember dearly beloved, works come from faith. When we trust that, as St. Paul says, “we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” That newness of life is speaking in the light. It is proclaiming from the housetops. It is humbling ourselves to be like the teacher. It is acknowledging the one that gives us life.

Christ does not say that this is easy. Faith is not always pleasant. It is not always delightful to be one of the followers of the Way. This is an alternative lifestyle that is 2000 years old. Just as God acknowledges the littlest ones, so must you. You are to be like the teacher.

My little sister is the most handicapped person I have ever met. I also can’t imagine anyone more perfectly made than her. We could have hid Martha from the world. We could have kept her in the dark. We could have kept her a secret. God does not want her kept a secret. John was sent to proclaim and prepare the way for Jesus. Jesus tells us to proclaim so that we can be acknowledged to the Father. Martha has taught me love. I believe that she has taught many others to love. Perhaps it is others who have in their caring for her, taught me love. We are commanded to love one another. In this way we point to Christ. It is in helping us to love that Martha has been like John the Baptist and pointed towards Christ.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote of being enticed to speak. God enticed Jeremiah and Jeremiah had no choice but to speak God’s words. There was no hiding from God’s call. My brother and sister can not hide their disabilities, nor can they hide from the world. I wonder if they feel that God has overpowered them, the way Jeremiah was overpowered. When I look at my brother and sister I am sometimes overpowered by God.

The lessons today are messy. Jesus is not warm and fuzzy. Jeremiah wants his opponents destroyed. The psalmist is estranged from their family. Only St. Paul seems to have much hope. There is conflict. There is struggle. There have been secrets. The questions are: what will the conflict be, what will the struggle be, and will there be secrets?

There need not be secret family members anymore. There need not be darkness drowning people. There does need to be work done. Proclaim Christ from the rooftops. Proclaim the good news of Christ crucified and risen. When we do this, dear ones, than we can live into the light. Than we can claim, as my sister does a st. John baptist birthday.
So, begin your life again. pick-up your cross this week again. celebrate your st. john the baptist birthday. let it be yours. amen.

i was assembled...and the parts even fit!

2008-06-18T14:08:00.002-04:00

yes. i got assembled last week and the parts fit together.
and even better...
i never thought i would say this, but,
i had fun at the synod assembly.
yes.
fun.
probably because i played social butterfly and chatted up everybody.
the pastors were quite lovely. the pastor in charge of the worship services had recruited vicars to help out. well, turns out he went to luther. i have learned to humbly say that i attend luther seminary, in st. paul, mn. i don't simply say, "i go to luther."
well, this pastor asks where i go to seminary at, i tell him. he says, "you go to THE seminary." i nod. at this point i am not sure if he is making fun of me or if he is a proud graduate. you just never know. folks get a little touchy sometimes when you are the only person that attend the BIG seminary. the pastor says, "i went to THE seminary." he proceeded to tell everyone that we both went to THE seminary.

for those of you non-lutheran types, luther seminary is the largest elca seminary. about 800 students. very big. sometimes called the flagship or THE seminary or whatever. minnesota is often laughed about as being the motherland of lutherans. so, yeah. it gets a little rough sometimes being the kid from minnesota that attends luther in the land of episcopalians and gettysburg seminary graduates.

it was a little fun to have someone to laugh with about being from luther.

we were at this lovely college in virginia. far from anywhere i have ever been before. it was beautiful. right in the blue ridge mountains. i can imagine people wanting to stay there for the beauty.

there were lutherans with southern accents and at the bar-b-que they actually had ribs as opposed to hamburgers and brats. i was so not in the midwest. another cross-cultural experience for the minnesota vicar.

so that was my experience at the metro dc synod assembly. well, the short version. lovely people. highly recommend them.

i'm getting assembled tomorrow...

2008-06-11T20:19:00.002-04:00

yup. going to the synod assembly. for those that don't know the lutheran structure, synod is like a diocese. or like a small region within a big region. you see, we have regions. multiple synods make a region.

now some places have lots of people and/ or lutherans so there a lots of synods:

Minnesota=6 synods. the minneapolis area synod has 167 congregations. i'm sure the st. paul synod is similar.

Metro DC Synod= Washington, DC, parts of maryland, parts of virginia. 75 congregations.

big difference in the density of lutherans!

and...
i am a good northern minnesota kind of lutheran...well, somedays i am. there is a strong (don't laugh) scandinavian influence. the churches are pretty sparse and so is worship. there isn't much processing. the synod assemblies in northern minnesota aren't known for fancy pants worship.

i came east....

i will wear my collar this weekend. not something i would do up north. i will be processing in both the opening and closing worships. the vicars were asked to participate in worship. i am happy to be helping out in my adopted synod. but, it feels very odd to be doing such fancy worship on a day other than Easter! or at an assembly other than churchwide. it is one of those moments when internship could be better categorized as cross-cultural. i only crossed one time-zone and stayed in the same nation, but there is certainly some cross-cultural experience.

just thought i would share my assembling experience from the...dare i say it...lutheran diaspora.

just another day in DC...

2008-06-09T19:34:00.002-04:00

i went to the apple store for my little computer lesson.
much too hot and i have signed up for computer classes to bide my time.

the conversation goes something like this:

me: so this file vault thing, what do you use it for?

apple techie: don't ever use it.

me: okay then...

apple techie: no seriously. people who store there passwords in there never get them back. if you forget it. it is gone. for good.

me: good to know. nothing i have is that secret...nothing anyone has is that secret...

apple techie: oh you would be surprised. we get people in here that need some pretty ...

me (at this point i interrupt): yes, but i don't work across the street...and most people don't work across the street. seriously. nothing i have is that secretive...

what is across the street from the mall i was in?

the pentagon.

this is the conversation you have in DC when you forget that the pentagon is across the street.
yes, i have grown accustomed to driving past the pentagon.
time for me to go home and get grounded again.

p.s.

2008-06-07T19:37:00.002-04:00

it isn't me!!!
according to the washington post online it was 98 degrees...a record for today by one degree.
AND...
the heat index (in mn we call it the heat index, you have to have the opposite of windchill) was 106!!

my whining is not just because i am a whimp.
still is too hot. but i do still feel slightly vindicated.
i just wanted you to all know that. i feel better now.

do you remember...

2008-06-07T15:18:00.003-04:00

when i first got here and i said it was much too hot?

i take that back. it is now MUCH TOO HOT!!!

97 degrees and like a million percent humidity.

i am not sure i will make it through the summer. i keep thinking my office is a bit warm. not uncomfortable, just warm...then i walk out to go get lunch...

i generally can be heard groaning as i walk out the office door. bemoaning the heat. it is at that moment that i realize i have been in a delightfully climate controlled rowhouse.

i thought minnesota was humid...nope. not like this. mn humid just means a storm is coming. this humid doesn't ever break. it just keeps going. with heat that just keeps going.

doesn't help that DC is built in a swamp.
is it bad that i think 40 below sounds more appealing that this?
i am not tough enough for heat.

baltimore take 2...the funkier side.

2008-06-03T12:49:00.003-04:00

on sunday a lovely gentleman in the congregation came to me and said, "what are you doing this afternoon?" i have learned always to ask before responding, "nothing." with a suspicious look on my face i did give the nothing answer. i learned that a trip to baltimore was being offerred. just something to do on a lovely sunday afternoon.

my thoughts were, "why not!" it is either that or take a nap.

so the lovely gentleman, his lovely partner, and i piled in the car and drove the 45 minutes or so to baltimore.
all of a sudden i hear, "oooh look, hare krishnas!"

that made my day!
it was worth the drive just to see the hare krishna set-up on the touristy inner harbor.

i was taken to the more funky section of town that the tour mobiles don't take you to.

we giggled the whole time.
i insisted that i was on vacation for 8 hours.

that said...

when it came time for dinner i was told i had to make the decision.

we happened to be back on the inner harbor where the tourist theme restaurants are...

i got a silly grin and said, "hard rock cafe...i haven't been to one in years!"
one of the lovely boys and i decided we should get matching tshirts. again, i insisted we were on vacation...
though only two of us got tshirts...

we caused a bit of a rucus.
a bit too much fun was had...

and i even remembered to put on sunscreen. a good day.

some more proclamation

2008-05-26T18:36:00.000-04:00

yesterday's sermon. i kind of liked it. one of those sermons where i figured it would either work really well, or just totally bomb. i think it worked.

it is memorial day in DC. weird.
i will tell you all about that tomorrow. this will be good enough for today.

May 25, 2008
Second Sunday After Pentecost
Matthew 6:24-34 (Isaiah 49:8-16)

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

God suffers because…
This is what I became aware of last year as I entered into my prophets class. God suffers. God suffers with, because, and for. These are powerful ideas. Isaiah gives us the gut wrenching cries of God suffering because.

Listen again to the Isaiah passage:
“But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.’
Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show now compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
Zion, the people of Israel, cry out that God has abandoned them. Listen to God’s response:
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?”

God has been rejected by God’s children. The beloved child has turned from the mother that nurtured it. This is not the child running from the abusive parent. This is the child that was raised in a loving home. A home that had boundaries, but also there was love and goodness. This child ran away. God suffers the loss of the child and desperately wants this child to return.

This is not the first time God has experienced this loss.
Nor would it be the last.

Remember the Flood?
Remember Sarah and Abraham trying to have a child?
Remember Esau and Jacob fighting over their blessings?

These were all times when humans did not trust that God would take care of them. They did not trust that God would do what God said.

Back to Isaiah.
The Lord says, “I will not forget you.”

Later in Isaiah, the Lord will say, “Here am I, Here am I,” to a nation that did not call on my name.” This is what my wonderful professor Fretheim says about this:
“Here God recalls how the divine eagerness for intimacy is ignored. God stands and offers himself in a cry that, in view of the invitation having been rejected, is almost heart-rending: “here am I, Here am I.” My heart fills with pain for God when I read this interpretation of Isaiah. Those words, “divine eagerness.” What a powerful image of God. Eager to be with us. Eager to love us. Eager to know us. Then rejected. Over and over again.

Imagine. Imagine being rejected by your loved ones. Desperately wanting a relationship. This is God’s relationship with humans. This is God’s constant relation with creation since the beginning.

Again listen to Prof. Fretheim’s description of God’s rejection:
“God is like a person who has been rejected not only by his spouse but by his children as well. God suffers the effects of the broken relationship at multiple levels of intimacy. The wounds of God are manifold.”

Eventually, God’s grief becomes so much that God sends Jesus into the world. God loves the world so much that Christ must come to heal the broken relationship.

Listen now, to Christ in today’s Gospel:
“No one can serve two masters’ for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Serving two masters is turning away from God. It is turning to a different parent for support. It is turning to a different spouse for love. Christ is reminding the community that heard the Sermon on the Mount that they cannot turn away from God.

As in Isaiah, Christ uses parental images to talk about God. God is the heavenly Father that provides. Matthew writes: “Indeed, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Matthew is referring to clothing and food. God will take care of all these needs. God knows these needs. Just as God knew these needs in Isaiah’s time.

God still knows our needs. God knows that we need food, clothing and shelter. God knows that we worry about today and tomorrow. That is why we are commanded to pray for daily bread. A few verses before this in Matthew, Jesus teaches the Lord’s prayer.

When we pray for daily bread we are praying for today. We are kept in the present and pray for the present’s needs. We do not know what our needs for tomorrow will be. God knows. God will take care of tomorrow. Christ knows that we struggle to maintain our relationship with God. That is why Christ tells us to serve one master. That is why Christ tells us to focus on today.

When we focus on tomorrow, we begin to lose trust that God will provide.
Ask yourself if God has provided for today.
Now, thank God for that.

We can begin to move back into relationship with God. Remember the Lord’s Prayer? Daily bread, forgiveness, praising God, keeping us from temptation, all the basics are covered. This prayer helps restore us to right relation with God. The relationship we turn away from time and time again.

God is waiting for us. God desperately wants to be in relationship. God is divinely eager to be in relationship with you, dearly beloved. This is why Christ was sent to die for you and me. We can trust that as many times as we turn away, Christ will be holding us. Christ will be there. God will be grieving, but there is still the relationship kept alive in Christ. It cannot be broken completely.

All of this because God grieved for so many years. God grieved and could not let go of the relationship with humanity.
Take hope that God’s grief is out of deep love for you. God loves you so much that God gave his only son. God cares so deeply that God gives you all good things you need daily. You do not need to worry about tomorrow, for God will worry about that for you. And know that when relationships in your earthly families are strained, God understands. God knows strained family relationships. God will hear your pain and have compassion.
Take heart in this line from a modern American Prophet, Johnny Cash.
Feeling unknown and you’re all alone
Flesh and Bone, by the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer
I will deliver, you know I’m a forgiver.

God is eager to deliver and to forgive. Johnny still can preach. Let God care for you! Trust and don’t worry about tomorrow. Amen

proof

2008-05-14T18:03:00.002-04:00

okay. when i moved to DC last fall, i was stunned. my poor little midwestern self couldn't quite handle the aggressive nature of the city. i had never seen such scary drivers. when i go home to mn, i don't get honked at once...and i will be home for a WEEK!

read the article...

area drivers hold spot among the nation's rudest

DC is 5th in the nation for crabby drivers.
minneapolis ranks as one of the most courteous.

no wonder i had so many issues.
i had to learn...well, you know what i had to learn.

a funny song.

2008-05-13T15:40:00.001-04:00

The Lutheran Song

unfortunately i can't embed the video on this site...
but it is a cute little song. about all the funny lutherans. it made me giggle. i like a good giggle song.

so go to youtube and watch. you will giggle.

settling

2008-05-11T18:17:00.002-04:00

i was beginning to feel settled in DC. i have not left DC since january. when i thought about it earlier this week, i realized i had not been out of the beltway in that time (well, except for a monthly meeting in vienna, va, but, you know). i had begun to wonder if i was becoming a "washingtonian." was i becoming a more aggressive, more assertive, more impatient person? would i find minnesota home still? would i know how to dress when i got home (don't laugh at that one, it has been a drama for me this year.)?

i flew home a week ago. it was good for me to have a wee bit of time off. i went to my lovely friends' house. greeted with open arms. immediately got to play in their garden. i realized, i was home. and that their home felt like the closest thing to a home i have at the moment. i have house sat for them, babysat and dogsat. clearly spent a bit of time there. plus, about half of my stuff is stored there.

the week went on.

a whirlwind of visits to the seminary, social work practicum interviews, and extraordinary lutheran retreating. topped off with time at my aunt and uncle's house. always a place to chill out and just relax.

i am down to three months in DC. it is closure time. i am now in the phase when an intern begins to look to the next place. and...i feel homeless. i have spent the week wandering. i am now going back to a place that was beginning to feel comfortable, but as i sit in the airport, it does not seem to beckon me like a home. i also know that i may have to say good-bye to my beloved minneapolis in a year as i look forward to a first call.

how did the israelites do it? wandering. looking. for how long? 40 years? it is rather uncomfortable emotionally and mentally. sigh.

and then there are those who wander everyday for many years, without God leading the way with clouds and fire.

i guess i should suck it up a little.

but, it is awfully uncomfortable being in the wandering space. hmmmm.

aren't they cute?

2008-05-04T13:07:00.002-04:00

"i could do that all day long" or was it "you can do that all day long"?

either way...

this is what a little boy said when he received his blessing at the communion rail. the little one is about 4. he also said a robust "amen" when he got his wafer. now, if that isn't trusting God's promises, I don't know what is. i laughed and said that he had made my day. it was a great bit of proclamation to hear out of a little one.

about an hour before...

i had been with three middle school boys, a lovely lay leader and a lot of cookies. there was an attempt at reading the intro to the Gospel of John. you know, "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was in God, and...blah blah blah.

i did my best attempt at reminding them of gnosticism and what not...i think i am wearing out my davinci code metaphors. then...the smart alecky kid says, "well, how can Jesus be in God?"

for starters, i knew that he was thinking that this was an obnoxious question. but, i love turning his outrageous questions into legitimate ones. however...you can imagine where this one led...

i spent 40 minutes trying to explain the doctrine of the trinity to middle schoolers. homoousious, perichoretic dance and all.

i will spare you the gorey details....

i will say that the metaphor that was used was this:

God the Father = Sumo Wrestler
God the Son = Chuck Norris
God the Holy Spirit = the Butler that attends to their needs

there were drawings too.

i prefaced the whole conversation with, "this is weird. the trinity is weird. it doesn't make much sense and you just have to go with it. the theologians that worked on this were a little odd." of course....i had to keep reminding them of this as the boys kept saying to me..."that is really weird!"

sigh. the trinity. it will outsmart all of us. of course, we could ask chuck norris to explain....hmmmm, i wonder....

yesterday's sermon.

2008-04-28T16:14:00.002-04:00

yesterday i preached at one of the episcopal churches on the hill. the priest said to me, "you might not believe this but one time there were 6 episcopal churches on the hill." i looked at him and said, "i am a lutheran from minnesota. it makes perfect sense to me."

i didn't love the lessons appointed for sunday. i didn't dislike them either. they weren't lessons that make me feel warm and fuzzy. but out of them i got a sermon i like.

Acts 17:22-31
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21

here is the sermon:

April 27, 2008
Sixth Sunday After Easter
John 14:15-21

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thank you for giving me the privilege of your pulpit today. I am always humbled by the weight of preaching and the gift of sharing God’s word with God’s people. Thank you.

I discovered when I worked for a language and cultural immersion program that I love to teach. I was the Head Cook and taught French culture through food. I loved teaching my staff how to cook and watching them get excited about successes in the kitchen. I discovered this fall that I also enjoy teaching confirmation. This was a bit more of a surprise. You see, at Reformation I have eight boys in confirmation! Only boys! When I found this out I was a little frightened of the challenge of teaching the Bible to boys. What do you talk to boys about? Soccer, football, and paintball to start with. Plus, they are the sweetest kids. I had nothing to worry about.

We began with the Old Testament. The boys grumbled about all the genealogies. “Why do we need to read another list of names?” They would say. “Well,” I would respond, “we need to know why these people are righteous. We need to know why these people are important. Do you remember that Abraham had a special promise? Well, when we know that all these people are related to Abraham, we know that they are inheriting that special promise.” The boys would grumble an assent to my answer. They still didn’t like reading the genealogies, but they understood the answer.

They thought they were done with family trees when we got to the New Testament in January. Nope. Not a chance. Little did they know that genealogies were in the near future. I decided that we would read the introductions to each Gospel and compare them.

Here is what we found:
Saint Mark gives us Jesus as a fully grown man. No genealogies there. Just a strange man that appears on the scene.
Next…
Saint Matthew begins, “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew gets more specific in the following verses and lists important ancestors. There also seem to be some numerical meanings to the genealogy, but that is for another day.

Saint Luke has a genealogy as well. He begins with Jesus and works back to, “Son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.” Luke is also considered the author of the Book of Acts that we read today.

Saint John is a little different. He places Christ at the beginning. Which is also helpful for today’s conversation, but it is not technically a genealogy.

Back to confirmation class. The boys whined about more genealogies. I reminded them that these are important. I reminded them of Abraham and righteousness. Ah, yes. What does a genealogy mean? It means an author is proving the righteousness and legitimacy of a person.

In the reading from Acts today St. Paul says, “The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him- though indeed, he is not far from each one of us.”

Dearly Beloved, from one ancestor the Lord God made us all! The Lord God made you and Christ! Abraham trusted God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Because of this, everyone who came after him was considered blessed. Yet, St. Luke took Christ’s genealogy one step further. It was not just because of David or Abraham, but because of Christ being descended of Adam, who was truly Son of God.

Isn’t that a wonderful genealogy to ponder? Finally, any one of us could trace back to those first parents. Adam and Eve. And God created them. They claimed God as ancestor. You get to claim God as your ancestor. You get to say that on the top of your family tree is God the heavenly parent. It is a delightful way of imagining the world.

When Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” It changes a little bit if we think about this like we are one giant family. Jesus is not leaving you an orphan. You are not being abandoned. And, Jesus is with his Father, who is also a part of you. It is a little strange to think about, but also quite incredible.

There is such a sense of family intimacy in this little passage. The love. The strange systems at work. Lets face it, families sometimes get a little entangled and messy. And certainly living in a person and having another person live in you sounds messy. Family systems are not always simple or healthy. Yet, we are called to love one another in the system. As the church we must broaden our system. Today we have broadened our view of the system by living into our ecumenical relationship. We must continue to broaden our view of our family system. In this way people will remember the family relationships that we encounter in God. The Gospel is messy. Yet, the love is real. And Jesus will not leave you orphaned. His family system is always there.

One more little story.

Last weekend I did the toddlers’ night at Reformation. I decided to talk with them about one of my favorite things: Baptism. I decided that since they are toddlers that I would keep it very concrete. I had water, oil, certificates, and a candle. All the fun stuff we have around to celebrate baptism.

As we finished our time together I told the boys (it seems Reformation only has boys around) one last delight of baptism. I told them that they were all my brothers and that I was their sister. A big shout of happiness came up. You see, I think this is one delight of baptism that we forget. We really are brothers and sisters. We really can go anywhere in creation and have family. We can trust that God has put family for us all over the place. The toddlers thought this was a great thing. And you know, it is. God does not leave us orphaned. God does not leave us as only children. God gives us so much community that we don’t always know what to do with it. Let’s take a lesson from the toddlers and shout with happiness for the giant family tree we have! Amen

hmmmm.

2008-04-27T19:13:00.003-04:00

well.
i always feel proud when:
1. i look like i might have a clue in DC.
2. i get asked for directions and...
3. i am ABLE to give said directions.

this week i got asked twice in a very short time frame for directions. one was for galludet. galludet is the university for deaf folks hear in town. it is kind of close to howard university. kind of. someone was driving on the hill and asked for directions. named a street...then the university...i was able to say with the certainty of a local that he needed to be in one of the other quadrants...the NE one. i was so proud. hey, i need to be proud of something!

i am going home to minnesota for a week. in that week i will be cramming: a three day clergy retreat, time with some of my good friends and their 2 year old daughter, more good friends, relatives, and my cute little church, with social work practicum interviews added in for good measure. may as well make the plane fare worth it!

i have felt a little stymied by how to dress for the interviews. i am now going into reverse cultural transitions...of some sort. i fought so hard the need to wear heels, black, skirts, business suits....blah, blah, blah. finally, i gave in. i have done a fair bit of shopping...though minus shirts, since the shirt is always picked out for me. the beauty of being a member of the clergy is that at least the shirt is picked out.

so now, i am headed back to the midwest. when i dress up now, i have it beat into my brain that i wear: heels, black pencil skirt, black jacket, black clergy shirt. i know. that is what i wear on sundays. sigh. immediately i thought, "do i wear that to my practicum interview?" this dual vocation thing just got complicated in a weird way.

today i went and got a new blouse. my mom said not to wear the clergy shirt. i honestly was totally baffled by the whole thing. thank goodness for a mom to put my head on right.
then...i had the feeling...will i over dress for minnesota now?

i just can't win. i feel neither here nor there at the moment. ugh.
i didn't think i would ever adjust to DC...now, maybe i have started to. is that scary?

we made it!

2008-04-17T12:37:00.002-04:00

so anneka and i got quoted in the times! now, some may not think that is a big deal, but i certainly have had fun today. it is in both the print and online versions. and then i got jehovah's witness reading material today too! it has been a good ecumenical week. and i have had fun.

the article

the papal experience!

2008-04-16T16:50:00.003-04:00

i got to see the pope! it was really quite fun. though, i don't much care for some of the positions he takes, it was still very cool to get to see the pope motorcade. i found myself waving to him and then thinking, "why am i waving at the pope? i don't follow anything he says." i suppose it just seemed like the right thing to do.

anneka and i (i made anneka come with me) were interviewed by a ny Times reporter. i looked her up, turns out she wrote a nice little piece on our churchwide assembly, with pictures of the rainbow stoles. a strange and small world it is.

she was a little baffled by a female, lutheran seminarian coming to see the pope. as in, "why do you care?" it was fun.

and i got pictures! and kitsch...a flag with the pope on it. it was a great day. and it was gorgeous out. perfect temperature. so i was quite happy when i went back to church.

tomorrow the traffic is going to be BAD. and i live near the nationals stadium. i really want one of the mass passes for the metro. sigh. i can't have all the kitsch i want.

it was a good day in DC.

more pope photos.

2008-04-16T14:01:00.000-04:00

2008-04-16T13:55:00.001-04:00

waiting for the pope! where is he?

here it comes!

THE POPEMOBILE! with pope.

top of popemobile.

bobblehead...pope style.

2008-04-15T10:57:00.000-04:00

the pope is coming!

2008-04-15T10:05:00.002-04:00

and he is bringing the popemobile! i live a few blocks from the new nationals stadium, which is where the papal mass will take place. they say traffic won't have been this bad since ronald reagan's funeral! 50,000 people flooding in. there are special "mass passes" for the metro the day of the mass. i really want one, just cause it sounds cool. mass pass.

i could go get a benedict bobble head. those are a hot commodity right now...i know you are all thinking that i will end up with something strange out of this.

the office manager is not surprised by my desire for a benedict bobble head.

there are two official popemobile routes. i am so going to see the popemobile...i am more excited about that then seeing the holy father.

i will take pictures of the exciting event...and share them all with you!

a tent.

2008-04-08T18:01:00.006-04:00

april 12-13 has been designated as a weekend to ask the US government to support and uphold the peace processes that were begun in Sudan. it is a time to show Darfuri people that there are americans that support them and their desire for a peaceable community.

i was asked to organize a Tents of Hope event for the congregation. a pastor at reformation works for the faith section of Save Darfur. i ordered a tent. i am buying paint with some of the confirmation boys. you know, that whole, constructive use of their paintball skills thing. we will wrangle up some food and paint the tent on the front lawn on sunday.

i am a wee bit of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. i don't stress about things too much. i know they will happen.

and then...

when i registered our group, i noticed that we are the only tent in DC being painted this weekend. the main event in DC is on the national mall. it is a rally to support folks in darfur. of course this is just short metro ride or slightly longer walk from the church. um, okay. convenient place to make a statement. right?

and then...

i got an email today. it seems some of the more national organizers have noticed the fact that we are on capitol hill and painting a tent.

now i am a wee bit freaked out! there might be media! AHHH! okay. i will just breath. it will be okay. this is not about me, but about making sure folks understand a little more about what is happening and raising a little money. maybe that will make me feel less crazy.

by the way...
Tents of Hope would like to raise $1 million this year. there are three organizations designated to take money. one is lutheran world relief. please feel free to give a little to LWR for Tents of Hope.

here is the link to the tents. tents of hope it is really a wonderful church project. it is a lovely kid friendly and family friendly way to teach about something horrorific. it is also a way to take something awful and talk about how we can have hope.

love letters.

2008-04-06T19:42:00.002-04:00

so the kids at reformation apparently think i am fantastic. now, i am not quite sure how this happened. i think i said, "hello, how are you?"

there is one little girl, who is 5 and has 2 brothers and a cousin in my confirmation class. she is a very girly girl. always in dresses and frills. BUT, very spunky and self assured. it is a great combination.

this little one has decided to call me her "teddy bear". i am not sure why. at every potluck and annual meeting she follows me around and gives me hugs. very sweet.

today, for the first time since september, we had a children's sermon. a few parents wanted one and pastor asked me to take this on. since the congregation has gotten out of this habit, the kids were a little surprised. but this little girl was the first one up front and stood right in front of me and made sure i got my hug.

and of course, i asked questions and got answers that i did not expect. children never operate on our schedules or syllabi. which is what make them so fantastic. a little boy said he had a cut on his knee. in the context of the little chat, i said that Jesus knew about the cut. the little boy looked at me and said, "wow." then, "does he know about everbody?" me: "yup. everybody." i got some big eyes from the little boy in response.

as we were recessing out during the last hymn, the little spunky girl slipped me a note from the edge of her pew. it was FANTASTIC!!

she drew pictures of me and her. i am pretty certain she drew my nose rings. which made me giggle. very realistic. and on the picture she wrote, "i love vicar margaret." very sweet. i hope she is always that loving to people. i hope that she is always that thoughtful and gracious.

things were hectic with pastor being sick through the end of lent and holy week. i have needed two weeks to recover. to get a little note from a kid definitely reminded me to hang in with the good stuff. and that the best stuff is usually very little. like a sweet little note slipped into your hands by a child.

forgiveness.

2008-04-02T11:43:00.002-04:00

here is my sermon from this past sunday. apparently it was a good one. i preached the doubting thomas story without actually talking about doubting thomas. i was quite proud of myself.

March 30, 2008
Second Sunday of Easter
John 20:19-31

Peace Be With You.

Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” to the disciples three times during this story. This story takes place during the two weeks between the resurrection and Jesus’ final appearance at Galilee. This is a familiar tale. We have heard the tale of Doubting Thomas so often we could probably recite it without a Bible in front of us. But, today let’s look at what is happening around Thomas. Let’s look at all the details that are in the tale that make the story of Thomas whole.

First, the disciples are shut up in a room. They are still fearful of the Jewish leadership. They are fearful that they too might be crucified. You see, crucifixion was political death. A form of capitol punishment reserved for the most dangerous of political prisoners. Another detail we lose sight of is that the cross and all it represented was considered shameful at first. It was considered an embarrassment that Jesus, this man that claimed to be the messiah, the anointed one, was killed. It does not matter that he was resurrected. For the first disciples it was confusing and shameful that their leader had been captured and been killed in such a disgraceful way.

So imagine the heartache of grief compounded by the embarrassment of Jesus death. I wonder if Senator Obama had similar feelings about his pastor. That struggle of having your spiritual leader publicly shamed. Wondering how to feel. Wondering what to do next. Wondering what this means.

Up the intensity of the experience. That is perhaps what the disciples were feeling in the closed room. Now enters Christ. And Christ says, “Peace be with you!” Just those words. Just his presence. And the disciples rejoiced. From pain and suffering to rejoicing! From fear to joy!

That is what the disciples received in that moment. They began to recover from their time of shame and grief. But then something new happened. Christ breathed on them. He breathed the Holy Spirit on them. This sounds much like the creation story. God breathed over the earth. God breathed spirit on the earth. Then creation began. Now Christ is breathing on the disciples and they become apostles. They become ones that are sent. Apostle comes from the verb that means to send. They are the ones that are sent by God.

This is a little part we miss when we focus on Thomas: “Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

This statement by Christ is referred to as the office of the keys. There is a tradition that Saint Peter was given the keys to heaven and the only one given permission to forgive sins. But, if we look closely at this passage we realize that Jesus was speaking to EVERYONE in the room! Everyone was given the authority to forgive and retain sins. There was not one person set aside for such a task, but the whole community was given the glorious task of forgiving.

Now let me tell you about another tradition that used to be active in many communities. The passing of the peace used to occur IMMEDIATELY after the confession and absolution. Yup. Think about it. You were expected to not only confess and be forgiven in an intellectual way, but you were supposed to live out that peace within the community. As a part of the worship service the space was made to live into the absolution. Live into the forgiveness. Live into the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

The passing of the peace can still serve this purpose. We still do it after absolution, but now it waits until you have heard a little more preaching and are about to give your offering.

So. Christ says, “Peace be with you.” He then tells the disciples they can forgive anyone their sins. Do you know my dear ones, that you can forgive anyone their sins? Do you know you have that office? You have that permission and commission from Christ to joyously forgive the sins of your neighbors? Think about that a little.

Now think about what it can mean when you say, “Peace be with you.” It is the peace that comes from God. Not us. It is the forgiveness that comes from God, not from us. It is the wholeness that comes from God, not us. It is the healing that comes from God. Not us.

This is why we do it week after week. We need help keeping peace. We need to be reminded that our peace does not last long, but God’s peace and reign is eternal. I encourage you to seek out those in your lives that you struggle to say, “peace be with you” to. Try it out. See what happens. Maybe God’s peace will take root in surprising ways. And rejoice that Christ gave you the ability to forgive. It is a wonderful gift.

they're here! the cherry blossom episode.

2008-04-02T09:50:00.008-04:00

okay. my mom has called me MANY times wanting pictures of the cherry blossoms. this is self preservation at this point! :) this is to keep the matriarchs of my family happy. grandma, mom, i suspect my aunt...

enjoy the pictures of the blossoms. they really are quite lovely. though, they have taken up residency in my sinuses. i swear there are little cherry trees growing in my face. pretty, but gross.

the jefferson memorial across the tidal basin...and cherry blossoms.

way in the back is the white house...and the cherry blossoms.

'cause it is just so silly...port a potties and cherry blossoms!

the washington monument and the blossoms.

easter, the postlude...

2008-03-23T21:36:00.003-04:00

i LOVE the vigil! it is the coolest service ever! an hour with just candles. i was the master of the readings...guiding the readers and the hearers. i got to hand a book of readings to each reader like the wise woman of the family. it was so cool to do, while the candles were held in the sanctuary.

but...

before we processed into the building we lit a fire outside and lit the paschal candle. because i was the preacher, guess what i got to wear...a cope! the big fancy cape! it was gold and floor length. it had all sorts of embroidery! the episcopal priest brought it for me to wear! it was crazy. i was looking at it wondering who would wear it, and suddenly i hear that i get to! it was pretty wild! i secretly liked it.

i was lame and did not get a photo...crap.

in the middle of the service we went outside to invite the world in for easter. we chanted the names of the beloved dead. some were close. some were a little strange. some were very famous. in the end you smile. my two confirmation boys that were there liked that part. they giggled through it. they liked hearing all the famous people listed.

and then it was easter!! it was bright and golden! we sang the messiah chorus. and then i got to preach. it was scary preaching in front of clergy from three other churches. i think people liked it. it was so much fun to do. and to be so young. i got to do the best sermon while i am still a seminarian.

i think everybody should go to a vigil...it is magical.

happy fertility celebration!

2008-03-22T13:07:00.002-04:00

i love easter! i love easter more than christmas. i think the symbols are WAY more fun!

and we are roaring up on tonight's vigil.

i bribed the congregation with candy. i needed ushers and all sorts of other participants for the crazy vigil service ASAP. so i offerred candy. now, i love easter candy. bunnies, chicks, eggs!!! oh yes! fertility symbols abound. i even found the "hubba bubba clucker", the wonderful, wind-up chicken that poops candy.

i found red peeps!!!!
i said to the gentlemen at the bookstore this morning, "red chicks must come from red eggs. and the symbol for mary magdalene is a red egg. it is just a hop, skip and a jump from red peeps to mary magdalene!" this earned me the quote of the day. glad to provide entertainment on capitol hill, oh, i was wearing my collar, so i am sure it was quite the spectical. they asked me to come back later for more entertainment.

i am preaching tonight at the vigil. it means that i introduce each of the readings. i am to act as the wise, shaman of the community leading the ceremonies. i am not sure how i ended up with this task as the youngest of all the clergy. but, i think it is going to be wonderful.

i have added my intros to the readings and my sermon. enjoy.

introductions to the readings.
Come by the fire and water. Since time began our people have gathered to tell stories. We have gathered by fire and water. There are stories of our beginnings. Stories of our family tricksters. There are stories of joy and sorrow.

Tonight we hear our story. There will be a hero. There will be adventures. There will be weeping. Will we remember the ending?

Genesis 1-2:4
There is always a beginning to any good story. Ours begins with dirt and water. Light and darkness. There are creepy crawly critters and finally, humans. Listen to how we came to be with this Earth.

Exodus 14:10-31, 15:20-21
How wonderful our creation was and is! God made us and said we are good. God made all of the cosmos and said it is very good. Our beginning was indeed good.

With any story, there is always drama. There is always evil lurking out there. Evil that will attempt to take down the protagonist. We come now to one of the evils in our story. Pharaoh had barely let the Israelites go, when he decided to attack them. God would not let this happen. Listen to the might work of God in preserving the Israelites from evil. Imagine the battle between the God of Israel and Pharaoh.

Isaiah 55:1-11
We leave the celebration by the Red Sea. A celebration of God’s mighty works. A celebration that marks God’s redeeming power.

Our story has many prophets. All good stories have a wise one to warn and advise. We are fortunate to have many. Our prophet Isaiah gives words of mercy. This is a story now of God’s love and mercy.

Ezekiel 36:24-28
From Prophet Isaiah we learned about Mercy. Let us look to another of our prophets. Prophet Ezekiel will teach us about God creating us new. He will teach us about God’s promises. Listen to his lesson.

Daniel 3:1-29
Our prophet taught us to be wary of idols. Ezekiel reminds us that we must stay away from them. It is easy for us to be enticed by other ways.

Listen now to a story of three men that did not get enticed. They trusted God just as their ancestors did. Listen to the lilt of the story. Listen to the poetry of their walk through fire.

sermon John 20:1-18

Alleluia, He is Risen!

Say it with me! Alleluia, He is Risen!

Yes, don’t be shy! He is risen, yes indeed He is risen!

There ARE no more tears!
There ARE no more cries of when?

Christ is risen TODAY!

Peter and the unnamed disciple ran away, too scared of the possibility of life.
Mary Magdalene cried out wondering where her friend was. Then, wonder of wonders! She heard and saw the Good News. The Son of God called her name and with that spoken word she knew that life had returned. Mary knew that God had conquered hell and defeated death.

All this in a name. All this in a spoken word. A story that began with God speaking a word and Creation came into being. Now, the story becomes new, amazing, and joyful when the Son of God speaks a new word.
Listen! Listen, for tonight God is calling! Oh, dearly Beloved hear God calling your name and calling you to rise up! Calling you to rise up and celebrate your new life in Christ. God called you in the beginning and said you are good. You are very good. Now God is calling you by name and calling you from your tomb. God is saying have life. Have life, right now, in the eternal reign of God.

And laugh dear ones! Laugh because you are children of the Heavenly Father. A Father that will never turn away from you. A father that will always take you. It is never too late to come to His home for the Easter Feast. It is never too late to come to this Father’s door. Have joy, because you are counted as a Child of God!

The news just gets better and better! Revel in the goodness of the Easter Celebration! There is room for everyone at this dinner table tonight. There is plenty of room and food and EVERYONE is invited. That is the amazing gift of Easter. That is the gift of life from the Cross that we receive tonight. Out of mystery, out of death, we receive joy and life. Join me. Join me in praying, singing and eating. This is for you and for me. There is nothing better! For Alleluia, Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

five years in iraq...viewed from DC.

2008-03-19T15:43:00.004-04:00

i have walked past this man a few times. i have seen him on the "house" side of the hill. he is always silent. with a sandwich board that has pictures of dead in iraq. he is one the protesters that i think is actually helpful. his silence and presence makes everyone uncomfortable. whereas the folks that yell and look ridiculous get ignored and made fun of by everyone that walks by. i even get annoyed with them, and i am sympathetic to their organizations.

hi.

2008-03-14T17:18:00.002-04:00

for all sorts of reasons my world is really zooey right now.

so just a few notes from the zoo.

it is budget season in congress and the lobbiests are out in droves. the hill is nuts. more than usual. everyone and their dog wants a bill signed. so...it is crowded.

the other night i was having a late dinner with a friend. we were looking a some pictures of politicians in the restaurant. we were giggling a little about the mismatch between dennis kucinich and his wife. we meander down the street and comment on the short man with ears in front of us...yup. i saw dennis kucinich on monday. kind of exciting.

today i was off. weekdays are good days to hit the museums. so, i went to the planetarium at one of the smithsonian museums. there are SO many school groups running around!!! it was nuts. i had to elbow through pubescent middle schoolers to watch cosmic collisions.

the cherry blossoms are just starting to peek out...in another week or two they will be all over. right now all the daffodils are in bloom.

holy week is fast approaching. it feels crazy. in part because my supervisor is sick and we don't know what the pastor situation will be for easter. i was told that i could be leading worship with the bishop for easter! oh boy.

i found out this week that i will be preaching for the easter vigil service, which is an ecumenical service on capitol hill. and i am preaching maundy thursday. it is going to be a hectic week.

substance

2008-03-02T14:24:00.002-05:00

archbishop flynn of the minneapolis-st. paul archdiocese says, "nothing of substance" will change when an alternative type roman catholic church is forced to do worship according to the roman missal, just like everybody else.

i thought worship was substantive. i thought worship was the time when the people of God gathered to be community. i thought it was the time when the word of God was proclaimed. i thought it was the time when those who don't get to feel accepted elsewhere, get to feel accepted.

but, maybe i was wrong. i just thought it was substantive. i thought giving the body and blood of Christ meant something. oops.

read about it. The push for conformity shoves away parishioners

clergy mojo

2008-02-27T10:31:00.002-05:00

okay. apparently this morning i had some sort of crazy clergy mojo going on.
since it is wednesday and lent i had my collar on. the black shirt. black pants with the cute pinstripe. cute little black heels. and...a trench coat. i know. i am so DC. sort of.

okay. i walk in to the starbucks at pennsylvania. the staff remember my drink. they smile at me in my collar and chat me up. nice.

i walk out. a guy at the corner says, "hi reverand! remember charles in your prayers." usually i get a sister or a baffled minister look. i guess today i am looking very authoratative.

on another note, while in starbucks there where tons of hill staff. maybe a few congresspeople.

lots of suits. a luther we might call it the "princeton look". i swear i saw an exact look alike of the delightful professor matt skinner. the princeton man himself. i'm serious! i had to do a double take. three piece suit and all. i had to stop myself from running to him and asking all my exegetical questions of the moment!

2008-02-16T10:00:00.002-05:00

periodically i realize just how odd it is to be on internship in dc. not just in dc, but on capitol hill.

i walk within two blocks of the capitol almost everyday.

yesterday i was getting on the freeway to come back to my apartment after a brief excursion to target.

target, obviously, makes me think of home. though, i have to drive past the pentagon to get there. on my way back to my place, i could see the giant washington monument looming in the sky. to my right on the freeway is the exit for national (reagan) airport. while between these two spaces in light rush hour traffic (ie only mildly standstill), i saw a northwest plane getting ready to land.

now, i am clearly a wee bit homesick. or a wee bit lonely. or just feeling poetic. but, seeing a minnesota company plane getting ready to land as the washington monument looms in the near distance is strange. it was a reminder of how odd i feel in the space on capitol hill. during the primaries on tuesday there was a reporter outside our church waiting to take pictures. we were a polling place. he said that it was the only place were you could talk to voters with the capitol in the background.

oh.

the only place.

i work there.

i lead worship there.

i preach there.

it is weird.

a sad, strange story.

2008-02-11T09:30:00.001-05:00

most of you know that i am a preacher's kid. i am a mission developer's kid.

for you not in the know...the back story.

the evangelical lutheran church in america is a pretty white church. lutherans aren't exactly the pantheon of multiculturalism. sigh. in northern minnesota it is particularly nordic. in my hometown the native american folks have struggled to feel safe in any of the churches (lutheran or otherwise). so, my parents about 10 years ago decided to open a church that would be culturally friendly to native people. and all sorts of other people on the margins.

now, i was about 16 when this started. i didn't really think it would happen. who starts their own church? i have since learned better. i no longer doubt. i learned to trust God from my parents.

you see, my parents mortgaged our house and bought a building. my dad continued to roof houses to pay the bills. my mom continued to be the public health nurse paying bills. they both worked unpaid at peoples church for a few years. then the ELCA decided that they would give dad a call as a mission developer. very cool.

okay. things are good. there is an official status in the church. right? things are rough for the community of peoples church. racial profiling is common. it is a struggle for the folks at my little church to get the authorities in Bemidji to see them as humans. yet, peoples church sticks it out. it is good.

about 6 months ago the big fancy Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA started courting the church. they said that a grant was sure thing if the paperwork was just filled out. great. we thought, "wonderful! we can get started on building the shelter and clinic for people!"

a few days ago the Mission Investment Fund said "No." they said that peoples church could not have the money because we do not have a constitution. we do not have a constitution, because we are a Mission Development Congregation.

so. there is a mission investment fund. they court a mission development congregation. promise money. yet, do not feel the need to invest money in mission.

i wonder. i wonder what the church thinks when they see declining numbers in churches doing the same things over and over again. yet, a church that is community oriented and creative does not merit the support of the hierarchy.

as my dad said, "the philistines down at the credit union were happy to lend me the money."

read the parable of the good samaritan, luke 10.

and again, why i love minnesota...

2008-02-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

"Minnesota has always had a reputation for maverick political thinking, perhaps as a result of the strong farm labour tradition in the state."

as published on the bbc world news website special report on the primaries.

check it out for yourselves! minnesota on the bbc...

the lutherans in mexico...

2008-02-05T18:57:00.000-05:00

here is the lovely little group that hung out in mexico for a couple of weeks in january. not a bad way to get a little bit of cross-cultural exposure.

why greek.

2008-02-03T20:36:00.001-05:00

on my favorite travel show...anthony bourdain (a delightful cynic of a man that eats his way through strange places), there was a lovely statement by a greek man.

when you want to speak english, you think in english, right? well, in order to speak to the gods you must speak greek.

there it is. professor throntveit always says,

God speaks hebrew.

umm. i think the greeks feel otherwise! so, another reason to learn greek. on cable tv a feisty greek gentleman said that God speaks greek. i thought it was amusing.

a protest

2008-02-02T08:40:00.000-05:00

in Mexico there was a fantastic group of angry and organized campesinos. they wanted the right to farm their corn and have a life. a reasonable request! this group is called UNORCA. it stands for something lovely in spanish, but my spanish is a little sad...sorry, i can't translate. i will say that my beloved city of minneapolis had hosted them for organizing farmers across borders recently. i love being a minnesotan.

anyways, we met with them near the end of our sojourn in mexico. we were told that they were going to stage a large protest in mexico. they would be protesting the lack of protections for mexican farmers from the large farm subsidies of the north (the united states).

that protest happened this past week. here is a little article about it. it gives a little glimpse into the struggle for food justice. food is one of those issues that is near and dear to my heart. i see so many issues accessible through that one issue. creation, poverty, culture, fellowship, the kingdom of God. this is why food and farming are one of the topics i want to support.

read this article. unorca!

this is what my cat must be thinking!

2008-01-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

my cousin just sent me this cartoon...

my cat linus (the big orange one) has developed a habit in the last couple months of sleeping right on my head or right next to my head. usually he tries to lick my head at some point. now, i like a nice warm kitty to cuddle with as much as the next person, but not on my HEAD! not when i am trying to sleep. i believe i have uttered the words in the comic strip.

so laugh at this cartoon: too much coffee man

weird.

2008-01-28T21:12:00.001-05:00

ummm. may i just say that it is really weird to be listening (well, trying to) to the state of the union address and realize that i could WALK to where everyone is gathered. ummmm. just a little odd. maybe people get used to it. it just is strange to be that close to power. and then to see on the little tv screen folks that were in my little church just a couple months ago.

okay. i am going to just go sit and feel weird.

chiapas...

2008-01-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

for half my life (yes i am that young), my parents have had a chiapas travel fund. i have known the image of sub-comandante marcos for many years. my parents made sure of that. the mexico trip was another one of those moments when i realized how odd my childhood was. most people's parents did not dream of visiting the zapatistas.

it was good to learn more details about the zapatista movement while i was in mexico. it was good to learn about my brothers and sisters in chiapas.

here is a link to the sixth declaration. i encourage you to read it.

when they speak of good people and good governance, i am reminded of a dakota friend at the division of indian work. he would say that we always want to make sure things are done in a "good way". i like that. have we done our tasks in a good way? i don't know. i hope so.

a fantastic ordination!

2008-01-24T18:09:00.000-05:00

And for the final installment of my most recent travels.

unfortunately there aren't any pictures that i took...plenty of pictures that were taken by some very fancy photographers though.

i went to my mentor, jen nagel's ordination! it was about time she got ordained and it was fantastic!

it was exactly what i would expect her ordination to be like. everyone involved, as many ecumenical people as possible. and fun.

it was just wonderful. i had a vision of what the kingdom will be like. lots of laughing. lots of people. always room for one more. and food. plenty for everybody. people rejoicing at all those who travelled from afar for the joyous occassion. now, doesn't that seem like a good kingdom to be headed for? it does to me. it just seems warm.

it was very cold out, but salem english lutheran church was warm inside. there was so much love. so much goodness.

the preacher was amazing. she spoke about being prophetic on the margins when jerusalem doesn't want prophets. let me tell you...i needed those words. i am in jerusalem. i have a tendency to the prophetic. jerusalem is where prophets go to die. i needed that gospel.

it was my first time vesting (wearing the clerical collar and the robe) in minnesota. it felt good to have it be at my mentor's ordination. to be surrounded by my colleagues on the extraordinary lutheran ministry roster. i felt like it was a good moment to begin assuming the marks of the office. it was right.

mexico, the photo round!

2008-01-22T15:08:00.001-05:00

diego river murals in mexico city. i LOVE diego rivera. this was one of the most exciting places for me to go.

me and quinn hanging out with frida and diego.

an obsidian block that the aztecs used for human sacrifice. so glad we don't do that (okay, so we just had one really big human sacrifice that we talk about alot!)!

a bunch of lutherans drinking a little tequila...in moderation!

the shroud that guadalupe appeared on. i did not realize that the picture of her was so perfect. this is the actual cloth that she came to juan diego on. it was so amazing to see.

a bunch of lutherans visiting the basillica of guadalupe.

the pope mobile...outside the basillica of guadalupe! oh, you know i took lots of pictures!

the pyramid of the sun...it's big. trust me.

BEFORE we climbed the pyramid...me and my new found friend amy.

YAY! I made it to the top of the pyramid...we don't need to mention how sore i was the next day...

just some lutheran kids hanging out at the lutheran center in mexico city.

Mexico, Round 1

2008-01-22T11:31:00.001-05:00

Well. I am back in DC. Back in the belly of the beast. And i missed the excitement of...Iowa, New Hampshire...and countless other states that help determine the fate of the beast as well as the other creatures that the beast tends to terrorize.

sigh. i wonder what the next few months will bring as i watch politicians scramble to hold onto precious jobs. welcome to planet earth.

i was sent to mexico city by the congregation i am serving for internship. not a bad deal. january in mexico. i did the jterm program that the seminaries offer. it was two weeks of learning about liberation theology and economic structures in latin america.

ahhh. my heart was happy. topics that i love. i got to hear about working with local farmers and how to subvert dominant trade structures. it was heart warming after my time in dc. it was good to be back in a place where people do not hold onto the ideals that hegemonic trade structures work.

i fell in love with mexico. i wish i could have stayed. i never thought i would fall in love with mexico. i am a francophile by nature, but i found myself in love with mexico.

the two pastors in mexico city were wonderful. they were just what i needed. it can be lonely as an oddball seminarian. it is good to find alternative pastors that are able to survive the church structure. i hope my path crosses their's again.

i came back to america for a delightful ordination...but, that will get its own post.

enjoy some photos.

why?

2007-12-30T21:17:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-12-24T14:28:00.000-05:00

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...

2007-12-14T10:12:00.001-05:00

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!"

2007-12-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

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.

2007-12-08T16:42:00.000-05:00

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!!!!!

2007-12-05T16:38:00.001-05:00

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.

2007-12-03T17:36:00.001-05:00

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.

2007-12-01T14:23:00.000-05:00

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.

back to dc.

2007-11-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

i went home to minneapolis for thanksgiving. no. i did not make it north during my five days home. i entertained myself in the little apple. they were such full days. i bounced into the airport that monday night. the car rental people laughed at my giddiness. but before i even got there...i had a moment.

as i waited in the dulles airport, outside of dc, i had a moment. in my excitement to see the city i love, i felt a twinge of something in my heart. "what is this?" i thought. "is it sadness?" "am i feeling a little sad to leave these people?" "oh, no! i think i am falling in love with this funny little congregation!"

it is indeed right and salutary that i should fall in love with this little congregation. that i should begin to love the people entrusted to my care. it stunned me. they are so different from me, yet my heart has begun to care for them. i have begun to worry about them and wonder about them. it is good.

and so i bounced around minneapolis, just like my boys bounce in my confirmation class. i was delighted to see the things that fill my heart with wonder. i was happy to see my favorite hairstylist, my favorite cafe collective, my favorite co-op. then, all those wonderful people that i love at home. it was the first time fiona said i love you to me. melted me.

i came back to dc. stunned. immediately felt stressed. i realized how much i reflect the culture of minneapolis and minnesota in myself. dc still feels foreign. yet, i think i am beginning to feel like i am the vicar to this congregation. so. dc...strange. reformation...good.

so that is that.

2007-11-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

this is the choir from reformation singing in paris. it is a piece that the music director wrote, a quote from luther set to music. it is beautiful. and i will shamelessly say that he has a new piece just published by augsburg fortress that is quite lovely. psalm 23. choral arrangement. very pretty.

a day of strange learnings...

2007-11-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

on tuesday the staff took me out for my birthday lunch. after we got back there were some visitors to the church office.

those visitors were the family of the founder of the congressional black caucus.
the founder, Augustus Hawkins, passed away last week and the family wanted a memorial for congress before the session adjourned...reformation was the location picked...

so. we were checked out by the cops for congress. then...rumours of nancy pelosi, speaker of the house started coming...which meant...secret service.

it was a little crazy. it was an unofficial state funeral. about as close to being a state funeral without actually being one.

speaker pelosi came. the majority leader of the house came. barney frank and maxine waters came. the chaplain for congress was there. the first roman catholic to be the chaplain for congress. a very nice man.

i had never heard of gus hawkins. i learned that he was an incredible man. he sponsored a bill with hubert humphrey (one of my personal favorites). the bill was called the humphrey-hawkins bill, but in california where mr. hawkins was from they called it the hawkins-humphrey bill. he believed that people should have:work, education, housing, healthcare, and justice. my kind of guy.

he was a new deal democrat...sigh, i have fantasies of being that kind of democrat. when being a dfl-er really meant something. when minnesota was still the land of humphrey, mccarthy, mondale, and later wellstone.

i feel like i had a good education today in american history. i learned a little something about people that worked hard to make the world a little better. i learned about a man that lived with integrity.

i also learned about...
secret service...
they really do have those little ear pieces. they really do talk into their hands! i saw one do it. anneka was really excited. she hadn't seen it happen in the four years she had lived here. she feels her dc experience is complete now! :) the secret service guys definitely scan the crowd. it is weird talking to them while they are scanning. it is also weird to know they are looking at you trying to figure out what you profile as. anneka said i didn't fit into any of their profiles...go figure (nose rings and clerical collar). but, they were very nice. especially when we had a potential issue with code pink protestors. don't get me wrong, i like a good protest, but a funeral is NOT the place. just because you are in pink does not make it okay. it really doesn't make you any different than fred phelps. it is just disrespectful.

so. that was my adventure in dc today. i stood less than 10 feet from nancy pelosi. i heard barney frank speak. pretty crazy. not bad for a girl from pinewood.

new adventures...

2007-11-15T08:10:00.000-05:00

sorry for the delay in updates...i am just a little pokey.

i was very homesick at the end of october. feeling pathetic and lonely here in dc. then i was rescued by my friend liz and her daughter fiona! fiona is the cutest and smartest kid EVER! okay...i might be a little biased...but, now i will make you all suffer pictures of the weekend i spent with liz and fiona. which are really pictures of fiona looking cute. :)

they were here the first weekend in november and it happened to be the weekend i preached. all saints' sunday. it was fun having them there to hear me preach. they came, along with max (liz's husband, fiona's papa) to hear me preach the very first time i ever preached in a congregation in minneapolis! so that was very nice to have them come.

we went on adventures to eat waffles at the coffee shop i go to in adams-morgan. liz and i get waffles in north minneapolis, so of course we had to eat them in dc! and then we went to the national zoo. we saw panda butt. and we saw elephants and hippos. we saw lots of monkeys too. fiona liked the elephants. i think it was the largest animal she had ever seen. we went into the store and she fell in love with a stuffed panda...so, fiona now has a baby panda that she loves.

fiona, liz and the elephants!

we went on an adventure to baltimore. neither of us had been there. a few wrong turns and we got there. it was fun to be in a different city. we took a duck boat tour. now, duck boat tours are an adventure. they are based on army vehicles that can go on land and in water. so you tour the city on land and then you get to see it from the water. it is a good kid friendly tour. lots of music, they give you duck caller noise makers, and the tour guide knows all sorts of stuff.

me and fiona in baltimore. we hung out on the inner harbour.

fiona in her monkey coat on the duck boat.

this is a photo of the first co-operative in the US. at least i think that is what the tour guide said. it is in baltimore. it was started by women to make baby clothes. liz and i were excited to see it.

we saw some costa rican relatives of liz and fiona (papa max is costa rican), we stalked liz's uncle owen who lives in dc. then we went to the quaker lobbiest building since it is a green building. a VERY full weekend. i felt so much better after they came. nothing like being loved by a little kid to make you feel better. i got home from church on sunday and fiona yelled, "maggie, maggie, maggie!" the world is okay when a kid is happy to see you.

and finally, 'cause i just love her so much...another picture of fiona! :)

genesis...the x rated version.

2007-10-31T10:04:00.000-04:00

you know...
i have 8 boys in confirmation. 8. i have male member of the congregation that helps me out...you know...boundaries and what not. now, genesis is filled with lovely stories of family drama. yes, baby mama drama...and more.

i wandered into...
circumcision.

yup.
8 prepubescent boys and one man, me, and abraham getting the command to circumcise all males in israel.

great.

the youngest boy in the group (10) was reading through the chapter in genesis. he got to the word circumcision, the other boys giggled, he looked up and said, "what is circumcision?"
Almost in unision the other boys said, "DON'T ANSWER THAT!!!!!!"
In all my vicarly glory i said..."just keep reading, we'll come back to that."

so...

my wonderful assistant looked at me and let me be mortified. then, i just decided to deal with it. circumcision becomes an issue in the new testament, so i couldn't just ignore the issue. plus, it is the second big sign of the covenant God has with Israel...

so...
i didn't explain the hows of circumcision...i explained the whys of circumcision. kept me from being mortified, but the boys were embarassed enough. they also learned why it was important.

then...if that wasn't enough...a few verses later...
SODOM and GOMORAH

WOOHOO!!!
and since that is a "Bible Bullet" for GLBTQ folks, i just figured i had to deal with it. except...i didn't really want to call the sin, "gang rape". oh, wait...the study Bible they have does!! easy out for me! i can blame it on the Bible. so wonderful when we can do that. :)

we keep reading...
i stopped them just before they got to...
lot's daughters sleeping with him so they could each have a kid. i figured i had made us all sufficiently uncomfortable for the morning! incest didn't need to be covered as well.

then...i decided that we needed to move on to Exodus for the next week...

so i summarized 20 chapters of Genesis in 15 minutes. tell the kids it is a soap opera and they think it is great! which...it kind of is...

i told a couple of the parents about the circumcision conversation. they laughed at me. i almost made the organist choke on his coffee as i mentioned the whole circumcision episode. i think this is a class for the record books.

on another note...
i had a moment this morning when i thought, "i am more afraid of the secret service than i am of God." is that weird?

i know that God will forgive me. i am not so sure about the secret service.

baby mama drama...

2007-10-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

yes.
i said it.

i said, "baby mama drama." i said it in confirmation yesterday.
the boys were so squirrley. finally i wanted them to reread genesis 15-19 where sara, abraham, hagar and a few boys are having a family drama. i told them to think about the baby mama drama that was playing out in the Bible. i asked them to think about how that family fight became our problem today.

how is that for making the Bible contextual? as my wonderful lay leader said, "just like the springer show!" oh, yes. i have plenty more.

our problems in the middle east can all be summed up with "baby mama drama."
probably not, but it would make foreign policy conversations more interesting!

i really hope i don't get calls from the parents about that one..."vicar margaret, did you really say 'baby mama drama' in class on sunday?"

what else...

oh yes.

the installation of the bishop.
they put a mitre on him. a mitre. the east coast clergy thought i was nuts for thinking there was something wrong with the bishop wearing a mitre! um, okay, i have never seen a lutheran put a mitre on! i introduced myself to the presiding bishop, and Bishop Hanson also thought it was a little bit amusing. he doesn't have one either. some of the east coasters were surprised when i said bishop hanson didn't have a mitre...oh, dear...i am out of my league.

i am getting to know some of the interns better. i found a few liberal confessional lutherans!!!!!! there are more of us! it was so nice to find them...apparently philly is the place to find a few.

okay...a few more photos.

this is a gps unit from one of the apollo missions...how would you like to haul that around? i was at the smithsonian air and space museum where i found this.

this is for my mom and dad...they were married just before the moon landing in 1969. july 10. and then they were travelling someplace together as newlyweds listening to the moon landing together on the car radio. also curtesy of the smitsonian air and space museum.

who's big idea?

2007-10-13T16:02:00.001-04:00

here is my question... who thought it was a good idea to lock people in a church and let them stay up all night while giving them large amounts of sugar?

any takers?

now, i may be an odd seminarian (stop giggling all you in cyber space!), i have never participated in a church youth group. i was confirmed and then proceeded to ditch all youth activities in the elca. i'm sure my parents are so proud now, having that publicly posted! i had no desire to participate in luther league or anything that resembled luther league. for two reasons: i'm a preacher's kid and that was just asking for me to get made fun of. reason 2: i thought it was dorky. it was a little too rah, rah God for me. i prefered my religion with a bit of cynicism. yes, even as a child.

lock-ins always sounded like a bad idea. all i ever thought when i was in middle school and high school was, "that sounds miserable!"

guess what i am doing tonight?

chaperoning my very first lock-in! some of you have heard about my image of God...it is the Simpsons version of God. some weird combo of homer and ned flanders. with a bizarre sense of humor. so...i am guessing that this is not surprising. God would send me packing to such an event.

the pastor organizing it is quite nice. she is barely older than me and been ordained for three years. she went to gettysburg. meredith has asked me and another vicar to lead parts of this event. i am doing a devotional in a park homeless folks sleep in. i am going to read a children's story, "dog heaven." meredith has asked me to plan the advent event for confirmation students...not the sort of thing i ever saw myself doing...youth gatherings kind of freak me out. it is a good learning experience, though. maybe it will be fun.

oh, another first this weekend...
i come from alc country (american lutheran church...for simplicity...these are the lutherans that like bishops least). i have never felt the need to hang out with bishops too much or to go to bishop installations. washington, dc has been influenced by the anglican church and came out of one of the more high church lutheran bodies...so...

people like bishops and church hierarchy.

tomorrow the new bishop gets installed. at some fancy catholic church, cause the national cathedral isn't big enough for everyone...and all the clergy are supposed to process in. plus, the partner synods are all sending their bishops...slovakia, england, el salvador. kind of crazy. i guess i am going to that. after staying up all night. the el salvador bishop is preaching at my church. which is cool.

so that is that.
wish me luck...should be an adventure tonight!

a few photos of the 'hood!

2007-10-10T13:51:00.000-04:00

This is the path between the actual church building (to the left) and the church offices (to the right). It leads into a small courtyard and the back parking lot.

This is the building the offices are in. The windows in the middle are the windows to my office! Yup. I look out onto East Capitol Street. Right across from me is the Folger Shakespear Theatre. If I lean out the window I can see the Capitol.

Another view of the church buildings. The church is to the left. The offices and such to the right.

The sign in front of the church.

This is what I saw when I was pulling up to the church my first day! I took this picture from the sidewalk in front of the church. It is still weird to me to be at a church in DC!!

why i love minnesota reason #....

2007-10-03T15:47:00.000-04:00

i'm not sure what number we're at yet for reasons why i love minnesota. i went to the pharmacy the other day to get a prescription filled. the pharmacist looked at my health insurance card and exclaimed, "i want your health insurance!" minnesota care looks pretty good in minnesota...it looks REALLY good in the district of columbia. i am discovering that part of why the schools, social services, roads, etc are so bad is because the district is dependent on the federal government for their budget. yup. so, we gripe because we don't get the extra little bit from DC...folks here gripe...well, they just don't get anything to run anything. and they don't have any representation in the federal government. it is certainly odd.

i went to a lutherans concerned banquet last friday. it was nice to be around a familiar style of lutherans. pastor bradley schmelling was there as the keynote speaker. he is such a wonderful preacher. and so pastoral. i sat with the organist and some other men from my congregation. we had so much fun. it was decided i needed a title more fitting than vicar, but could not go without a title. i am waiting to see what they come up with! should be interesting. to the little ones i am vicar maggie. to the JAG officer i am vicar mags. yup...my new found friend is an attorney in the us army...and calls me mags...and she's kind of girly. i like contradictions. and when i have a tough day i get the army treatment, "is anyone shooting at you? no? well, then you are having a good army day!" certainly keeps things in perspective...

this past sunday i went to a soccer game for the team that two the confirmation boys play on. it was pretty intense. one of the boys could not play due to an injury. when he tried to explain the game to me a little, i got the funniest look when i asked which ones the defenders were. well, i wasn't sure!!!! i laughed. i realized that the boys are coming to the age when they are trying to differentiate from their parents. so, they try to ignore them. when i am with their parents they don't talk to me. when it is class time or their parents are doing other things the boys are much more willing to talk about whatever is going on. i get more than one word answers. i think we are starting to have a rapport. we have so much fun in class. the boys never stop moving...the whole hour they are in constant motion. but, the questions they ask are so wonderful! this week we started reading about abraham and sarah. one boy asked why we had to read all the names, then they wanted to know about righteouness and about geneaologies. And why didn't God just bless everyone to begin with? what is with the going through one guy thing? All good questions....and fun to talk about. the lay person that helps me out calls it a "mini-theology class." i wish everyone could have that much fun teaching.

i preach this sunday for the first time. it is a long weekend, so many people will be gone. it makes me a little sad. since a few of the people i have begun to have relationships with will be gone. there will be plenty more sermons, though. it is good for people to rest and take care of family.

i think that is that. the kitties are well. no escapees in recent days. it is still too warm and humid here for my minnesota blood. i think i will make it though! :)

i've been busy...

2007-09-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

well. it was a full week. i meandered to a place called vienna, virginia for my first intern cluster meeting. i drove past fairfax, viriginia, where rumor has it my friend natalie's parents live! the interns were nice. some i connected with, some i connected with less. one is in DC at a cool church that i had listed as a horizon site i would go to if any came up missing an intern. another intern i connected with is at a horizon site in baltimore that i also listed as a site that i would love to have if no one was assigned to their church. alas. those churches both got lovely interns. but, i will get to see their churches and what they do.

i have decided that i like teaching confirmation. all i do is Bible studies that have a theme. the boys do such a wonderful job. they ask great questions. we read the text together and then i just try to get as many questions out of them as possible. i give a little background and guide a little, but try to let them be curious. today i got a free will question! i can barely explain free will to myself, let alone an eleven year old! it freaked me out, but was fun to try. we laugh alot in confirmation. since almost all the boys play soccer and i don't really know much about the game, i am going to a game next week. one of them is sitting out and another is playing so the one that is sitting out is going to be explaining things to me. i think it will be fun. it will at least let the boys know that i care about them as whole people.

this morning i was introduced to a little boy that is maybe 7 years old. his dad said to the boy that i am from minnesota. the little boy looked at me and said one word, "hockey!" it was the best response i have ever had to being from minnesota. i proceeded to tell the kid about skating on our ponds and how people at Bemidji State would park on the lake in winter. he loved it. in the conversation i was asked if i would go skating...i said i would if they could get a bunch of kids together....uh oh...i haven't ice skated in years. well, i may as well take one for the team. it should be fun, though i am sure i will hurt when it is all done with!

Anneka the Ole!

Oh, Yes...it is an Ole flag!

It takes about ten minutes to walk from my little apartment to this view...seriously! i live on the house side...as opposed to the senate side. i asked if the house and the senate have west side story style gangs and do street rumbles. this was not met with humor. people take politics VERY seriously here.

so, i was walking one evening and low and behold an anti war protest...now you can't really tell, but there are tourists all over the place next to the protesters. i saw one group of east indians holding up a $100 bill so they could get a photo in front of the capitol...next to them was a group of people with an upside down american flag...i wasn't brave enough to take a picture.

Biblical plants at the national botanical gardens...also only ten minutes from me...right on the mall. papyrus...good for all your prophetic rants!

castor beans...rumored to be the plant that grew up around jonah...

not really biblical...but my dad gave me a sensitive plant when i was in first grade. you touch the leaves and they move.

okay...i have never been to any professional sporting events before. ever. in DC everyone wants a new stadium...just like home!!! so, someone had free tickets to the last nationals game played at RFK stadium. a good way to see my first sporting event. the nationals even won! i had to rush there after church...ah the life of a clergy person...

God is sued!

2007-09-17T21:03:00.000-04:00

Quite a delightful little story.
suing God to prove a point...

http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1428841.html

my new hairstylist

2007-09-13T18:33:00.001-04:00

it was only a matter of time that i told you all about my new, fabulous hairstylist!
this evening i went into a salon close to the house office buildings. the woman that washed my hair said that every client was a gift from God. how is that for a witness? puts me to shame. she said that every tip is a gift from God. if only i had that sort of graciousness.

the hairstylist was from Colombia. she asked me where my hair had been dyed...she liked it. i said back home in minnesota. we talked about how i ended up on capitol hill. she asked if i worked in congress...okay, now i was dressed in my scrubby jeans and a tank top...i so did not fit in with the hill crowd! i said no. i told her i was going to seminary to be a pastor. that i was here in DC to learn about being a pastor. this opened up a fun conversation. she asked me what i thought of people here. i said they are too serious. they do not know how to enjoy life. she said, "i am from colombia. we are life!" she concurred with me. then...she talked about hugging trees and the spirit of the sun. it was beautiful. she was talking about enjoying the created world.

she finished my hair and said, "you could be in a magazine!"

and the best part...

she blessed me as i left.

she said that i could come visit her since i am new to the hill.

it was nice getting a blessing from a stranger. it was nice in a city that is so tightly wound to meet a person that could maintain her spirit.

i hope i can be that free with blessing people.

freedom and idols

2007-09-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

i began to read luther's freedom of the christian today.
i have mostly skimmed it previously...sorry to the various professors out there...i know i should have read it fully, multiple times before now!

i feel like this town is not really aware of what it really means to be free. of the trememdous burden freedom lays on us. in the introduction, luther writes, "unfortunately there are many people, especially those who are proud of their titles, who oppose the truth with all their power and cunning. admittedly it must be that Christ, set as a stumbling block and a sign that is spoken against, will be an offense and a cause for the fall and rising of many."

i am struck by the idols people here make of their titles. the title is the god that is worshiped.

a prophetic voice is needed here. i am uncertain who that may be. i will only do my best to insert the Word into this town.

i think this will be what i struggle with until the end of the year. until i am back at my cozy little church in minneapolis.

i'm melting! it is so hot here.

2007-09-07T15:46:00.000-04:00

okay. i pulled in a little after 1 on tuesday.
at 8h30 wednesday morning i was back at church to start working. shaking hands, learning names, feeling crazy.
the office manager is an ole...oh, yes...they are everywhere! for you non-lutherans that would be a person that went to St. Olaf College. but, you know, i have never been so happy to see someone from WI and a graduate of st. olaf.

anneka (the ole), took me to lunch with a friend of hers. the friend works in a senator's office. i go bumbling down the street and low and behold i am in the Hart Senate building. I was there once before, when i went to visit senator dayton. now, i still don't really know where we are going. turns out that we were headed to the back offices of the senate. the offices where all the worker bees are. anneka worked for russ feingold, so knows the ins and outs.

i thought, "well, that was a fun, first day adventure." right. there is more. still haven't been in DC for more than 24 hours. we head off to a part of capitol hill that has an open air market. eastern market is a little more my style that other parts of the hill. something was going on...we asked around...a car was about to be blown up for a movie that was being filmed. the movie includes: russell crowe and leonardo dicaprio.

okay. my brain was sort of melting down. these things really DO happen. who knew?

i was offered the tour of the capitol that senate interns get. i think i will take advantage of that.

that same night i met my intern committee. wow. they are very kind people. with intense jobs. part of me is comforted that i am meeting good people in various positions in government. i can trust that they will make good decisions on my behalf.

my committee gave me housewarming presents. one couple had been missionaries in liberia. i am excited to visit with them about liberia. i have had so many clients that are asylees/refugees from there. there are so many liberians in minnesota and i still know so little.

i met a docent for the smithsonian yesterday. she does natural history and will give personalized tours of the fossils and such. i think my dad will like that.

i have decided that people here are not homebodies. they do not enjoy putzing around their homes. maybe, because their homes are small. everyone seems to be constantly doing things. this city moves so very fast. it is difficult for me to get used to. and no one makes eye-contact. ever. i have an issue with this. i don't care if people think i am a country bumpkin. after loving God, we are to love our neighbors. now, i cannot love my neighbor if i ignore them. i refuse to ignore creation as it walks past me. i will smile. and if they don't like it, tough.

i made a discovery yesterday...
i was wearing my collar (people here like the collar, ALOT!) yesterday. suddenly, people were making eye contact. they were even acknowledging me. i may wear the collar all the time, just to get people out of their own worlds. anneka did point out that the whole package may have been throwing people. nose piercings, short hair....collar. i don't think it looks odd. others do though.

so, this morning i woke up and wanted to go home. i'm fine. but, it was a moment of just being tired and disoriented. i feel out of sorts here. i have not seen any of the alternative people i am used to. i finally found a little independent coffee place just now where they look like me.

a few photos...
lola, who tried to escape (also the one who likes to chew...).

linus. very vocal. yet, so sweet.

my cute little fireplace!

oh, dear! they dress REALLY nice!

2007-09-04T19:03:00.000-04:00

i got into dc today around 1h30. poor kitties. lola escaped when we got to the apartment. i ran her down while my supervising pastor got in my car to parallel park the uhaul. welcome to dc! the apartment not only has a fireplace, but it even works! when i drove up to the church i thought, "oh, no! i will hit the capitol before i get to the church!" not quite. the church has a nice view of the capitol dome. just turn right and there it is.

things i learned while driving east:
1. i have it REALLY good in minnesota.
2. coffee doesn't exist east of wisconsin.
3. internet doesn't really exist in pennsylvania.
4. everyone looks at me weird in: indiana, ohio, and pennsylvania. why? :)
5. an echo towing a uhaul is a bad idea in the mountains. especially when the uhaul people in minnesota put the ball on the hitch WRONG! thank God i did not have an accident, though i wish that i did not know that was a possibility.
6. linus is getting sedated when we move home next year. he meowed for hours on end.

in the last few hours i have discovered that people in my congregation have crazy government jobs that they can't really talk about. those jobs really do exist!

the best for last...
my upstairs neighbor is a lobbiest....for...WALMART!!!!!!!

oh, yes. i did just write that. i never thought those people were real. she is so nice. i came bumbling out, introducing myself as a lutheran vicar. then she said walmart. i think neither of us expected the other to say what we each said. i think my mouth may have dropped open briefly.

and so the year starts.
we waved at natalie from the freeway as we passed valparaiso. thought of colin as we slept in toledo. and discovered west-pennsyl-tucky. that is a shout out to colin and amy, who taught me that term during prophets. thanks for clueing me in. i think my friend aaron is an intern in those mountains someplace!

leaving minnesota, day 1

2007-09-01T21:52:00.001-04:00

well, the trailer can almost fit the little car (dubbed the "marshmallow" by the previous owner) inside it! oh, dear. there have been many adventures this week in trying to get my butt across the state line.

Adventures

1. Driving back to minneapolis from bemidji (after visiting my family) a great blue heron flew RIGHT over my car. now when i say right over, i mean, the bird was skimming the top of my car. there was nothing i could do! i was on highway 10. halfway between motley and little falls. i think the heron even pooped on my car...is that a good sign?

2. convincing various mechanics to order and install a trailer hitch for me. trust me.

3. getting out of my apartment by noon yesterday...ugh.

Now...i have a few questions. i have crossed into a new state or two....what does a sign mean when it says, "wisconsin fun ahead?" also, what kind of border is that between WI and IL? i realize not all MN borders are water, but it is nice to have a moat protecting us on most sides...

and a word of advice...kitties and toll booths are a BAD idea.

it has been entertaining driving through WI and the little bit of IL so far and seeing where people are from...
wausau, lacrosse, janesville, madison, menomenie, eau claire, chicago...

speaking of chicago, do you think this would attract more people to a churchwide assembly?

tomorrow will be another day of craziness in the car with the cats as we venture east to...ohio or pennsylvania. maybe waving at our fellow vicar natalie in valparaiso!

the last week in minneapolis...

2007-08-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

the good-byes really started last spring as all the seminarians began to head out for various summer adventures. the last day of classes at luther we had our last chapel service. at that service there was a blessing and commissioning service for the middlers going on internship in the fall. a list was handed out with all the names of students headed out for internship and the churches they would go to. my name was on the list...i just didn't have a church. nor, did i know if i would get a church. i looked at my friend kari and asked if i should get the blessing. kari was not interested in my hesitation. she sent me down to the altar. i received the blessing with my peers, but felt out of place. i had almost given up on going anywhere. i almost began to cry as the blessing was said.

this past week i have been beginning the final good-byes before i load the kitties into my little car. needless to say, in may, i did not think i would get to do this. today, i got my blessing. this time it was a blessing that was, for me, filled with joy. my little church in minneapolis that i have attended since i first moved here in 2003, laid hands on me. it was the kindest thing they could have done. all the people that i have grown to love in the past few years gathered around me as jay prayed. one of the words that comes to mind is, "cozy." yes, cozy. it was so nice to be wrapped in those loving arms. a sea of warm faces looking at me. i have described this to people as like "receiving a giant hug from the congregation." i am not certain that other interns got such a wonderful send-off. i feel special to have had one.

the little church in minneapolis is called bethany. there have been a surprising number of seminarians and other graduate students for such a small church. four of us have left this summer for various adventures. three to begin grad school and myself to continue grad school. each of us had prayers said over us. i was struck today by how special i was made to feel. yet, i received what the others had received. isn't this what God does for us? the gift of grace is uniquely for me, but it is not any different than what God has done for anyone else. God makes us feel unique and special, yet this is a gift for all of creation. a little lesson in grace, from a simple blessing, done by a loving community.

me and jay

one set of good-byes that i have done is to my mentors. jen and jay have only been mentoring me for a couple years, but they have been a good support for the craziness of the dual degree. it seems strange to suddenly have a year in which they won't be near by. of course, in an age of email, they aren't that far away! still isn't the same.

this will be a crazy week. good-byes, cleaning, packing...and then travel!

it will be good.

Were books included in the moving costs?

2007-08-22T17:51:00.000-04:00

I am moving from my cozy little home in South Minneapolis to Washington, DC! I always knew that I had a lot of books. I grew-up in a house with lots of books. I just seem to collect them. I thought I had managed to set aside about half of them to sit in storage for the year I am living in DC. Well...I have discovered that I may fill a small UHAUL trailer with just my books!!!! oops. just half my books! I can't imagine not hauling them cross country. It seems so sad to leave even a few behind in Minnesota. So, I have included a photo of my mountain of books. At least my new apartment is on the first floor. Everyone laughs at me when I tell them that I need to have a trailer, because of my books! I can't help it!