United Church of Christ: Email - August 29: Love endures

I thought this was good, from the United Church of Christ's "Stillspeaking" daily devotion:

United Church of Christ: Email - August 29: Love endures

Remembering Connie

I see it’s been a long time since I posted anything to this Blog. I was away on vacation for two weeks, then at Synod School, where I chose not to take my computer so I could focus on worship, the main presentations, and the classes I was taking. I came home with a fever and cough that set me back for a few days, then Kathy’s mother died August 11 after a long battle with cancer.

Connie was first diagnosed a little over two years ago, and we all went through the stages of shock, cautious hopefulness, waiting and watching. There were more and more trips to Tarkio, Missouri to help arrange things, more phone calls to keep abreast of the latest developments, and finally the word we had all been dreading: there’s nothing more that can be done medically. We enlisted the help of the local Hospice and began the really long wait as Connie’s condition slowly deteriorated. She went from sleeping in a recliner to a hospital bed in the living room to a room at the local care center, which was where she died, peacefully, early on a Wednesday morning.

Nearly all her family was able to gather for the funeral. There are three ordained ministers in the family, counting me, and we all had a part in the service, as did Kathy and her brother Paul. Kathy’s brother Jeff preached on the resurrection and got through with only one pause to compose himself, which was more than I would have been able to do. Some folk from our congregation here came down for the service, which was a great comfort and support for both of us. I had to leave shortly after the funeral lunch to get back to Westside for a wedding, but I was able to come back to Tarkio Sunday to spend some more time with our kids before they headed home on Monday.

As pastors, we get to spend a lot more time with dying people and their families than almost anyone else. In some ways it prepares you for the time when the dying person will be a loved one, but in other ways it doesn’t. We grieve for those with whom we minister and serve, but it’s not like the grief we feel when we lose a family member. I grieve for Connie but even more, I think, I grieve for Kathy’s grief, and for the grief of my father-in-law, my brothers-in-law and their families, and my children. For a time it becomes the dominant thing in your life, the sun around which all the planets orbit.

We do not grieve, Paul says, as those who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13) The mood Friday and Saturday was somber, but joyful, if I can put it that way. We know that for Connie, this is not the end, but the beginning. Thanks be to God.

Op-Ed Contributor - Congregations Gone Wild - NYTimes.com

Haven't posted here for a month, I see, due to a variety of circumstances--vacation, Synod School, illness--so am easing back in with a link to a New York Times Op-Ed piece by a UCC pastor. Would be interested in your comments: Op-Ed Contributor - Congregations Gone Wild - NYTimes.com

From My Daily Reading

Lately I've been reading in The Message, Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of the Bible. Today I ran across this, Peterson's take on Romans 9:30-33, emphases in the original:

How can we sum this up? All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could them miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:
Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can’t get around.
But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me,
you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.

Vacation

I will be on vacation July 12-25 and at Synod School July 25-31. I may or may not post during Synod School.

Nouwen: More on the Elder Brother

Here I see how lost the elder son is. He has become a foreigner in his own home. True communion is gone. Every relationship is pervaded by the darkness. To be afraid or to show disdain, to suffer submission or to enforce control, to be an oppressor or to be a victim: these have become the choices for one outside of the light. Sins cannot be confessed, forgiveness cannot be received, the mutuality of love cannot exist. True communication has become impossible.

I know the pain of this predicament. In it, everything loses its spontaneity. Everything becomes suspect, self-conscious, calculated, and full of second-guessing. There is no longer any trust. Each little move calls for a countermove; each little remark begs for analysis; the smallest gesture has to be evaluated. This is the pathology of darkness.

Is there a way out? I don’t think there is—at least not on my side. It often seems that the more I try to disentangle myself from the darkness, the darker it becomes. I need light, but that light has to conquer my darkness, and that I cannot bring about myself. I cannot forgive myself. I cannot make myself feel loved. By myself I cannot leave the land of my anger. I cannot bring myself home nor can I create communion on my own. I can desire it, hope for it, wait for it, yes, pray for it. But my true freedom I cannot fabricate for myself. That must be given to me. I am lost. I must be found and brought home by the shepherd who goes out to me. - Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, p.82

The Case Against Marriage

Here's something to think about, from the June 21 issue of Newsweek:

Comments, anyone?