"I Believe..." part 1

Every pastor I know has at some time had to write a statement of what s/he believes.  In the Presbyterian church they are called our "Statement of Faith".  It is a formal document, limited to one page, and required to cover such a diverse range of topics as the Trinity, Scripture, the Confessions, the Sacraments, the Church, and the Kingdom of God. The advice I was given when I first wrote one was "Don't just copy the Apostles' Creed--be yourself!  Oh, but don't leave anything else or say anything controversial."  Be yourself, but only within the box of orthodoxy.  Quite a feat to fit all that into one page. 


 I have a Statement of Faith which I revise occasionally, much labored over and available for all to see on my website.  It is a formal document, and I've always wanted to write something less structured, less formal and less confining.  A sort of informal list of what I believe.  I was looking at different posts on Tumblr and I was inspired by this post:

Who knew Audrey Hepburn could be inspirational as more than an actress and fashion icon? Although really, I should never be surprised when inspiration comes from unexpected places.  So tonight I've decided to start that list of what I believe.   It is incomplete.  It is informal.  And it feels wonderful to put it down at last! 


Here's my list so far:

I believe.....

....That it is more important to get things started than to get things perfect.


....That all humans were created to live and grow and learn from each other.


...That fear is the opposite of faith and the enemy of love.


...That it is greater to master the art of listening than the art of speaking.


...That God's love is real and demonstrated by Jesus Christ and specifically defined in 1 Corinthians 13 and that we are all called to imitate this love.



...That the idea of different races is offensive to God and the cause of some of the greatest evil in human history.


....That Church is a place we go to share ourselves and our experiences with others, not a place we go to find others who are just like ourselves.


....That none of us is perfect.

....That hierarchical thinking (ie, my suffering is greater than yours, or my injuries are nothing compared to yours, or your sins are greater than mine) is in itself sinful.  All of us are sinners.  All of us have troubles.  All of us are called to help each other, not to judge each other.  


....That playing games is fun in and of itself regardless of who wins.


....That it is as important to our development to learn how to lose and play again as it is for us to experience winning.


....That as trite as it is, children ARE our future.  Thus when we harm children or neglect them we are undermining the future of humanity.  


....That God's Kingdom will come and God's Will will be done.  However I think it will be a great surprise to all of us when that happens because I don't think anyone has truly imagined what the experience will be like.


....That I wish I'd said this:

That's what I've got so far.   I encourage everyone to start their own list--for clarity, for self discovery and yes, for fun!


Evermore and evermore,


Mary-Lynn

Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie

In case you've never seen it, here's the clip from "It's a Wonderful Life" I refer to in the below post.
Happy viewing!


Evermore and evermore,
Mary-Lynn

Ranting about Raving

(Warning: this is not pastoral, it's prophetic):

I'm starting to see vast parallels between the reaction to the coverage of the Supreme Court decisions and the reaction to Orson Welles' radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. 

Here's the hint--just because someone with an announcer voice says it doesn't make it true. And regardless of who is saying it, it is not the end of the world, I promise; I am 100% sure it is not the end of the world. I’ve read the Bible: you don’t have to worry about the world ending until you see plagues and rivers on fire and horsemen and such. How about we try something novel, like waiting and seeing how it actually affects us before we pack our bags and head for a camp in Idaho or someplace more remote, like Canada? Let see, that shouldn't be until about 2014, so let's all just calm the heck down before we all get collective aneurisms.

Now, for all of those friends who are declaring that they are going to "vote out all incumbents" I love you but I would hate myself it I didn’t point out 2 things.
# 1: We tried that in 2010 and look at the mess Congress is. Voting for someone just because they are against something doesn’t solve problems; it just guarantees that nothing gets done but fighting.
# 2: How about we try something really novel and educate ourselves about the issues, decide where we stand on them, and then vote for the people who best represent our view? I know it seems like a strange concept. I know it may sound like hard work, but that’s the how the system works best. At least that is what they taught me in 10th grade civics class. That’s where our power as citizens comes from; I suggest we calmly and thoughtfully exercise that power.

Every Frank Capra movie I’ve ever (which is every Capra movie) seen has a point where the powers-that-be try to stir up the mob for their own purposes and it all goes out of control. Think “It’s a Wonderful Life” when there is a run on the bank and the people go crazy demanding their money. How about we as educated people of conviction try to model ourselves on George Bailey in that scene and try to calm folks down instead of stirring up the mob with our fear and paranoia? If we join the mob we create the destruction of our society and our individual selves. Now more than ever it seems that society needs us to be calm and responsible citizens.
Ultimately, for people of faith, the future rests in God’s hands. Grace to you and Peace to you. Perhaps the words of Psalm 63 (NIV translation) will be of comfort to you:

You, God, are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you, 

my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land

where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary 

and beheld your power and your glory. 

Because your love is better than life, 

my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, 

and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; 

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;

I think of you through the watches of the night. 

Because you are my help, 

I sing in the shadow of your wings. 

I cling to you; 

your right hand upholds me.

Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; 

they will go down to the depths of the earth. 

They will be given over to the sword 

and become food for jackals.

But the king will rejoice in God;

all who swear by God will glory in him, 

while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Evermore and Evermore,
Mary-Lynn

In a Month of Sundays

I don't know if "idle hands are the devil's workshop" but I do know that I like to keep my hands busy. Thus I sew, I knit, I make jewelry, I create. Over the past year, I've been working on embroidering squares for a quilt. I was inspired by looking at various vintage "day of the week" tea towel patterns and so I decided to make a quilt of the "Sunday" images. As I was working on the individual squares they became a form of meditation on what "Sunday" has meant historically and what it means to me. These squares lead to a great discussion with all sorts of folks; kids especially love the tangible quality and the appealing images and I've found it a great way to engage them in a discussion of what Sunday means to them.






So, Which square appeals to you? How do you spend Sunday? If you were to design your own square what would it look like?

[I should note that these patterns date from the 1920s to the 1980s and some of them contain the visual stereotypes of their times. When I'm showing the squares to children (the quilt's not finished yet) I leave those out. I thought about not including them at all, but I decided that I wanted to include all of the images because I don't want to cover up the past but challenge myself to examine all the ways Sunday has been exploited as well as the ways it has been celebrated. In other words I don't want it to just be warm, or pretty; I want the quilt to make me think.]


Evermore and evermore,


Mary-Lynn

 

Starting from the Middle...

I've been intending to start a blog for a while but I just never could figure out how to start.  It seems like some kind of introduction is necessary, but I just can't seem to find the right words to begin.  Beginning has always been a problem for me.  In all honesty, most of my sermons and papers and articles start with a good story for the middle and then somewhere in the course of writing I discover the beginning.  Even back in high school when we had to turn in outlines before we even began writing papers, I would always flesh out the middle of the paper and just write "Introduction" for the first paragraph.


When you really think about it, our own lives begin in the middle.  Or at least our awareness of them.  How many people actually remember their births, or their conception (God forbid!) or even their first day of school? No one I know.  We somehow just slowly become aware that we are individuals, parts of families, members of churches and clubs.  We rely on our parents or our families to fill in the beginnings for us.  We all crave stories about what we were like as babies, what our first words were and why we are afraid of thunder.  Those around us not only shape us daily by our interaction with them, they also supply the foundational mythology of who we were.  They write our story, in a sense.  The other day I was having lunch with my mother and as I was organizing my food, she said "You always were a picky eater." She went on to tell story after story of my eating pickily.  In hearing those stories I became a picky eater.  Or, more accurately, in hearing those stories I became aware of myself as a picky eater.  There was a moment when I felt lost, as though I had no idea who I was anymore.  But in accepting the stories as true I became both more defined as a person and more liberated, able to choose if I wanted to continue to create stories about my picky eating or become something else.


Living life as a Christian is like that too--both liberating and defining.  The Christian story is another one that begins in the middle for each of us.  It's Christ's story, and He is both the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.  We become aware that we are a part of that story (either slowly or suddenly) and we are defined as members of the body of Christ, called and chosen.  We become aware, and we are liberated, empowered and emboldened.  We rely on the chorus of witnesses, the Bible and other Christians, to share THE STORY--Christ's story--and also THEIR story, their experience with the risen Lord.  Our spiritual mothers and fathers--be they Miriam, or Paul, or our beloved Sunday school teachers--tell us the stories of Jesus and teach us to be a part of God's story.  Sometimes, we hear something that shakes our self understanding to the core, and we are challenged to reconsider how we have been living.  Sometimes we are overcome by the amazing love that God gives us.   For me, being a Christian means letting God write my story.  Who could ask for a better author?


Evermore and evermore,


Mary-Lynn