Trouble and Grace

"The world is Trouble...and Grace.  That is all there is."

So concludes Henry Smith in Gary Schmidt's young adult novel, Trouble (pg. 296).   Trouble tells the story of Henry's family's failed attempts to avoid Trouble, and how they find Grace instead.  The Smith family is old money in Massachusetts.  They live in a home that has stood strong for 300 years.  Henry's father always said, "if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you" (pg. 1). 

You know when that is the first line of a novel, their existence will soon change, because Trouble is lurking just around the corner in this world.  Trouble does come and it changes the family forever.  I don't want to spoil the novel for you, but Trouble comes in the form of cars, history, prejudice, arson, love, and death.  The family discovers you can't actually avoid Trouble.  It is everywhere, whether you like it or not.

But as they live with the Trouble, the Smith family also finds Grace.  It turns out to be harder to see and more nuanced than their initial reaction to Trouble: just saying everything is "fine." Grace means making hard decisions about who to love.  Grace means doing things the hard, but right, way.  Grace means taking a hard look at each other and seeing the truth.  It comes in with a whisper, and it changes the Smith family.  In the end, Henry finds Trouble and Grace are all that's left.

Trouble and Grace.  These are also the two words that frame the method I learned to preach.  In

seminary, our basic preaching textbook was called The Four Pages of the Sermon.  The four pages are not literal, but four figurative moves of a sermon (an outline of sorts).  In this method you start by discussing the Trouble in the text and then a parallel Trouble in the world.  Then you move on to the Grace in the text and Grace in the world.  Some of my classmates hated this method (and some of the non-preaching profs weren't that fond of it either), but I found that it worked well for me, especially as I got started.  I'll freely admit it works much better with some types of texts than others--as I preached through the Sermon in the Mount this year I preached very few strict four page sermons.  But even when I use an alternate structure, these rhythms of Trouble and Grace remain.  

The Bible is full of Trouble and Grace. Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless, and God gave them a son.  The writer of Psalm 46 felt like his world was falling apart, and trusted that God would keep him safe.  The foolish man built his house on the sand, and the wise man's house stood strong.  Like the Bible, our lives are full of Trouble and Grace. God brings hope in the midst of dashed expectations. God keeps us safe despite the chaos of our world.  God helps us to build our lives on God.  Even if our lives seem full of one or the other at a particular time, when we think about a congregation, it is inevitably full of both.  Someone who just lost their job sits next to someone who just got promoted.  Trouble and Grace.  And God working in the midst of both.  Sometimes God's Grace is presence with us as we walk through times of Trouble, and sometimes Grace means God removes the Trouble.

For the Smith family, God is present with them through Trouble (although they don't articulate that in the novel).  And God brings them Grace.  That's one of the reasons I have found the rhythms of the Four-Page Method helpful: "The world is Trouble...and Grace.  That is all there is."

Personal Photo at Lake Michigan Recreation Area, June 2013

A Prayer for My Office

As you may know, my current pastoral call is coming to an end soon.  I am a Resident Pastor, which is a two year first call.  Those two years will finish at the end of the month.  This morning, at the start of my last full week in my office, this is my prayer.

Gracious God,

Thank you for this office.
Thank you for the books that line the shelves and the wisdom they've shared with me.
Thank you for the pictures that remind me of people and events that have shaped my life.
Thank you for the children's art inspired by my sermons, reminding me they are listening, too.
Thank you for the table and chairs where I've had so many conversations.
Thank you for the robe and stoles and your call to serve the Church as an ordained minister.

Thank you for this place to pray, study, talk, cry, think, and serve.

As I box it all up soon, I pray for the place I'll unpack it.
I don't know where that is yet, but you do.
Show me where it is.  And help me to wait patiently in the meantime.
Help my new congregation to wait, too.  
Guide our steps as we get to know each other.  

This room will be empty for a day or two, waiting for the new occupant to move in.
Bless him and his ministry here.
May this place and the people here be as much of a blessing to him as they've been to me.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: We Will Not Be Afraid

My prayer this afternoon is Psalm 46, which was my sermon text this morning, for my last sermon at COS.  It is a prayer of trust for people whose world is changing.  

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.
 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Personal photo, Muskegon State Park, April 2013.

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: All Things Bright and Beautiful

Lake Michigan from a trail along one of the dunes
 at Nordhouse Dunes National Wilderness Area

I did a lot of thinking while I was in the woods this weekend. Besides my gratefulness to my mom, I thought about this hymn, "All Things Bright and Beautiful," a lot. When I got home I looked it up and discovered: "Cecil F. Alexander (PHH 346) wrote a number of hymn texts on articles of the Apostles' Creed. This text, whose biblical source is Genesis 1:31 ("and God saw all that he had made, and it was very good"), is Alexander's explanation of the Creed's phrase "Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalter Hymnal Handbook, from hymnary.org).
This afternoon, may we raise our voices to praise the maker of heaven and earth.

Refrain:
All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.


1 Each little flower that opens,
each little bird that sings,
he made their glowing colours,
he made their tiny wings: Refrain

2 The purple-headed mountain,
the river running by,
the sunset, and the morning
that brightens up the sky: Refrain


3 The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden,
he made them every one. Refrain


4 He gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God Almighty,
who has made all things well. Refrain

Source: Church Hymnary, Fourth Edition #137a

Personal Photo, June 2013

Thanks, Mom!

Recently my sister wrote this lovely post for “Papa Bear” (aka our dad).  I spent my Sabbath time this weekend camping at Lake Michigan Recreation Area, part of the Huron-Manistee National Forest between Ludington and Manistee.  While I was camping and hiking and reading on the beach, I thought about her post, and also that I didn’t only learn about the outdoors from my dad.  I learned a lot from my mom, too.

My campsite this weekend

Mom taught me that you always take your shoes off before you go inside the tent and you always sweep it out before you take it down.

Pizza tonka/hobo pie/sandwich cooked in a pie iron

Mom taught me how to cook not just in a kitchen but over a fire and camp stove.

Mushroom at my campsite

Mom taught me to spot the fungi and pay attention to details in the woods.

 

Reading at Holland State Park, August 2012

Mom taught me to read and to love reading (indoors, outdoors, it doesn’t matter as long as the book is good!).

Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington State Park, April 2013.  I still like this one, even though Mom made us hike 5 miles through the sand to get there the first time (or so the story goes).

Mom taught me to love history and pay attention to lighthouses.

Porter Creek empties into Lake Michigan

Mom taught me all about the awesome state of Michigan.

White birch behind my campsite

 Mom taught me the difference between a white birch, white oak, and white pine tree.

On a hike in the Nordhouse Dunes National Wilderness Area

Mom taught me to be strong and confident so I can have adventures on my own.

Thanks, Mom!

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: A Prayer for Summer

Summer just officially arrived this weekend in the Northern Hemisphere, and today kicks off my church's summer worship schedule (which allows a bit more time for people to get to know others who usually attend different services).  And so today, a prayer for the beginning of summer.

Thank you, God, for summer,
For the warmth of the sun,
The power of thunderstorms,
The many shades and hues of green,
The bounty of the earth.

Thank you, God, for the feelings of summer:
Freedom,
Expansiveness,
Openness,
Adventure.

Help us, gracious and hospitable God,
To use these gifts of summer to bless others.
May we use the freedom we find in our schedules to build relationships with others,
May we extend the expansive feeling, inviting people who are different than us into our lives.
May we have a special openness to others and to what you might do in us and through us.
May we be adventurous--following the Spirit's leading outside of our comfort zone.

God of Life--rich, abundant life--
Give us your abundant life in this season of abundance.
Give us life to the full because we have been transformed by you.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Personal photo, June 2013.

On Sacred Rhythms

Life has rhythms.  The rhythm of leaves budding, growing, coloring, and dropping.  The rhythm of people growing up, leaving home, marrying, having children, raising children, retiring, and dying.  The rhythm of the sun coming up and sun going down. 

And the spiritual life has rhythms, too.  The rhythm of advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and ordinary time.  The rhythm of baptism, profession of faith, serving the church.  The rhythm of prayer and Bible reflection. 

Ruth Haley Barton wrote a book called Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation.  It is a book about what are classically called spiritual disciplines.  We might also call them spiritual practices or spiritual rhythms.  They are the practices that give a rhythm to our spiritual life.  Sometimes that rhythm is imperceptible, or we wish that we had a faster rhythm.  But even when we’d choose a different rhythm, God works through them.

Another one of my favorite books about spiritual practices is called Flunking Sainthood.  The author, Jana Riess spent a year focusing on a variety of spiritual practices.  She starts the year as a “lighthearted effort to read spiritual classics while attempting a year of faith-related disciplines like fasting, Sabbath keeping, chanting, and the Jesus Prayer” (pg. ix).  Each month she picks a discipline, reads some spiritual classics related to that discipline and attempts to practice it.  And she struggles, even fails, with all twelve. 

After a few months and a significant life experience, she found that “Although I didn’t see it while I was doing the practices themselves or even while I was writing the chapters in this book, the power of spiritual practice is that it forges you stealthily, as you entertain angels unawares” (Flunking Sainthood, pg. 168).  God used both her attempts at these different practices, and even the process of failing, to shape her to become more Christ-like and more able to reflect Christ to the world.  She, like thousands of Christians before her, discovered the power of spiritual practices, sacred rhythms, to shape Christian life.

Growing up, I don’t remember hearing about spiritual disciplines or spiritual practices as a group or term.  And yet, we had plenty of them.  We read Bible story books or other devotional material after dinner.  My dad sang to us before we went to sleep.  We went to church twice on Sunday.  My parents taught me to tithe.  We took an extended family spring break trip to do hurricane relief in South Carolina.  There were Christian rhythms in our life.  They shaped my Christian life and how I practice my faith. 

As I grew up, some of my rhythms have developed and changed. They have shaped the rhythms of my life as a single woman.  Like Riess, I have certainly failed some.  Over the summer, I’m going to be reflecting on some spiritual practices that have been important in my life, or that I would like to experiment with.  I have plans to explore writing prayers, meeting with a spiritual director, keeping the Sabbath, and doing justice, among others.  I hope that I, and my readers, will learn new rhythms and that those rhythms would shape us to become more Christ-like.  

Drum picture by Martha Riley, used under a Creative Commons License.

Praying hands picture by C Jill Reed, used under a Creative Commons License.

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: Psalm 42 & 43

This song has been my prayer this week.  I woke up with the chorus on my heart Monday morning, and it has continued throughout the week.  Greg Scheer, the composer, describes it: "Psalm 42 and 43 are set to a haunting, melancholic melody that mirrors the poignancy of the original Psalm text."  You can listen to Greg sing the song on his website.

I think this song is on my heart right now because it both captures the longings of my heart in a challenging time and my trust that God is faithful and will see me through.

1. As the deer pants for the water
so my soul longs for you, my Lord.
When can I come to You again
to praise You as before?

Chorus
Why should I let this sorrow fill my soul?
My life is in His Hands, my hope is in the Lord;
and He, I know, will be my Savior still.

2. Day after day He sends His love
I feel His peace come raining down.
I raise a song to Him at night
like fire from the ground.

3. Send me Your light and truth to guide me
as I travel through this land.
Lead me to Your holy dwelling
at my journey's end.

If you would like to sing this song in your congregation, music is available on Greg's website and it is included in the recently released Lift Up Your Hearts hymnal.

Photo by Paul Gorbould.  Used under a Creative Commons License.

Bones and the CRC Synod

One of my favorite TV shows is Bones, a show about a FBI agent and forensic anthropologist who team up to solve murders.  The FBI agent, Seeley Booth, is a tough guy with an instinct for reading people.  He is a practicing Catholic who believes there is more to life than what we can see.  The forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan aka “Bones,” is a committed scientist.  She thinks with her head through the scientific process and believes only in what can be proved scientifically. 

These two opposites have to learn to work together.  In the first seasons, they fight a lot.  As time goes on, they learn to appreciate each other’s strengths.  Brennan can tell things from the bones of murder victims that Booth would never be able to.  Booth can tell when a suspect is lying and pick up subtle social interactions.  Together they make a great team.  After a few seasons, they start to rub off on each other.  Booth starts to appreciate what science can tell them about the murder.  Brennan starts to become better at people interactions.  Getting to that point is not without its conflicts, though.  Booth and Brennan fight and hurt each other, again and again.  But they stick to it; they forgive each other and keep working at it.

This week is the Christian Reformed Church’s Synod, our highest governing body.  They have covered many topics this week: homosexuality, capital punishment, the role of deacons, ethnic diversity in leadership, and how to live with our decisions on women in office.  These are big issues that we do not all agree on.  As I watched the discussion that related to the ordination of women, I was struck with how thoughtful most of the dialogue was.  The issue at hand this year is what classis (regional group of churches) two churches who do not believe in women in office should belong to.  Our official denominational position is that you can read scripture with a good Reformed hermeneutic and come to two valid interpretations of the Bible—that women either can be ordained or should not be ordained.  This sounds like a wonderful compromise, but it is often difficult to live out, for people who hold both positions.

Three years ago, these two churches asked synod to move from their classes in Michigan, both of whom seat women as delegates to their classis meeting, to a classis in Minnesota/South Dakota that does not seat women as delegates.  At that time, synod said no for a variety of reasons.  This year, they came back with a new overture (proposal) to create a new classis in Michigan for churches who do not believe in women in office.  Synod denied their request to create a new classis but did permit them to move to the other existing classis.  

The overwhelming majority of speakers who spoke were most concerned with how we can live together despite our differences.  These churches don’t want to leave the denomination, and I am thankful for their commitment, even though I disagree with their interpretation of scripture.  At the same time, I don’t want to have to leave the denomination because no church will call me, because I love the CRC, too.  We need each other, like Booth and Brennan.  Our differences can make us stronger.  We don’t all have the same gifts.  And it is hard to work together.  Delegate Rev. Doug Bouws said it well: “Doing church together is a whole lot harder than doing church by yourself.”  We fight.  It is hard.  But we need to find unity in Christ and forgive one another.  I also really appreciated the comments of Rev. Timothy Howerzyl of Classis Zeeland, which I know has struggled hard with this issue.  He said, “I hope there are not churches thinking about leaving our classis…In our classis we have a great diversity of opinions, but we’ve forged a careful policy of holding together.”

I pray for our denomination, that we would continue to work together for unity in our diversity.  I pray that we will continue to work together, even when we don’t agree with one another on this, or any number of other issues.  I pray that we will offer grace and forgiveness to each other, even on those days when it is hard and we just want to leave.  I pray that we will stick it out and do church together, even when it is the harder thing to do.

Photo from amazon.com

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: How Long, O Lord?

"How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?"  (Psalm 13:1)

This is one of my favorite musical settings of Psalm 13, which is one of my favorite psalms.  I know the song from the wonderful collection Psalms for All Seasons.

How long, O Lord, will you forget
an answer to my prayer?
No tokens of your love I see,
your face is turned away from me;
I wrestle with despair.

How long, O Lord, will you forsake
and leave me in this way?
When will you come to my relief?
My heart is overwhelmed with grief,
by evil night and day.

How long, O Lord? But you forgive
with mercy from above.
I find that all your ways are just,
I learn to praise you and to trust
in your unfailing love.

Text: Barbara Wollett

Tune: Christopher Norton

More information at Hymnary.org

Tahquamenon River Vacation

After the wedding last weekend, I continued farther north to Paradise! 

Paradise, MI is on Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior, just north of where the Tahquamenon River flows into the lake.

 

Whitefish Bay at the Rivermouth

I went for an outdoor, camping getaway.  I stayed at Tahquamenon Falls State Park’s Rivermouth Semi-Modern Campground.  It is a beautiful campground, right along the Tahquamenon River.  I also liked the semi-modern aspect—that means it is a rustic campground with vault (pit) toilets and water faucets, but no electricity or paved pads.  It is right next to the modern campground, so I was just a short walk away from a modern bathhouse with showers, which is my big campground criteria.

I spent lots of time watching the river in different weather and at different times of day, whether there was bright sun or drizzling rain.  I also observed a beaver in the river and a number of different kinds of birds.  I think that was the first time I’d ever seen a beaver in the wild and it was pretty cool to watch it right across the river eating grass and bushes.

The real reason for Tahquamenon Falls State Park is, of course, the famous Tahquamenon Falls.  They really are a beautiful part of God’s creation!  There are the magnificent Upper Falls, which are some of the tallest falls east of the Mississippi River.  The river is the orange/brown color because of tannin that leaches into the water from Hemlock, Cedar, and Spruce trees in the area the river flows through. 

Although the Upper Falls are the more famous ones, I actually think that the Lower Falls are more interesting.  They are a set of five smaller falls cascading down around a small island.  There are trails along one side of the river, but the better way to see them is to rent a row boat and take it to the island.  From the island you can get close to the falls and even wade into them when it is warmer and the water is lower.  You can also see the falls that are on the opposite side of the island from the trail.

I also hiked between the falls.  The trail follows the river, sometimes high above the river and sometimes right alongside of it.  It is about a five mile hike, so I used a shuttle service to spot me to the beginning and hiked back to my car.

One day I also drove up to Whitefish Point, which extends up into Lake Superior.  The stretch of Lake Superior to the west of Whitefish Point (to the Pictured Rocks area) is one of the most dangerous areas of the Great Lakes.  There is a museum about the many shipwrecks in the area on the Point.  We went there when I was kid on family vacation, but somehow I was picturing the shipwrecks happening because of horrible storms and ships alone at sea.  Actually, many of the shipwrecks happened because of collisions with other ships.  I also found the additional buildings really interesting, especially a volunteer who does a lot of diving on shipwrecks.

 

All in all, it was a great vacation.  I was blessed to be able to get away, have some quiet, and enjoy the sunshine, rain, and outdoors.  I came back feeling much calmer and able to engage life.

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: For a New Marriage

 

Relational God,

Thank you for being a Trinitarian relationship.

Thank you for creating us for relationships with other people.

Thank you for the calling of marriage, for the calling to live in a life-long relationship that reflects you.

Bless this new marriage relationship, and may it grow and flourish.

May it be a place of trust, joy, hospitality, and service.  Give them grace for the hard times, when they wonder if the relationship is worth it.

May this marriage be a witness to you.

Sacrificial God,

Thank you for your sacrifice—you became human and were obedient to death, even death on the cross.

Help this couple as they learn to sacrifice their own desire for the good of the other.

Help them to forgive each other when necessary.

May anyone who comes into contact with them see your sacrificial love through them.

Loving God.

Thank you for your great love for us.

May this couple know your love more and more.

May each of them grow their roots deeper into you.

As they know more and more of your love, help them to share that love with others—with each other, any children they may have, their church, their families, and their neighbor.

May their marriage be a glimpse of what it means that Christ loves the church.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Personal photo, May 2010

We Will, God Helping Us

I just came home from a vacation to the U.P. (Michigan’s Upper Penninsula).  One of my best friends got married in St. Ignace (just across the bridge) this weekend.  We had all of the usual wedding “stuff”—pretty dresses, special hair, a rehearsal dinner, wedding party photos, a ceremony, reception dinner, cake cutting, and dancing. 

The happy couple!

The thing that really stands out to me about this weekend is community.  Liz and I are part of a group of friends that she also asked to be in the wedding.  We all lived in Grand Rapids for a while, but many have moved away—Chicago, Laramie, St. Ignace.  We miss spending our Saturday evenings watching TV and having deep discussions with each other (yes, those two things can happen simultaneously, but are not necessarily related).  We miss having holiday parties together and celebrating birthdays (birthday dinner before a Good Friday service and birthday cake after, yes we did that once).  We miss laughing and crying as we did life together.  We have walked together through the rigors of grad school and ordination, finding and starting new jobs, and relationships progressing from dating to marriage to pregnancy. 

This weekend was a beautiful reunion for us.  Four of us drove up north together and then we stayed in a hotel suite together.  We watched parts of random movies on cable, explored St. Ignace, celebrated the coming children, and laughed together.  It was a wonderful continuation and renewal of our friendship and the community that has meant so much to us.  

     

Friends with the Mackinaw Bridge!  (I'm behind the camera)

This community is important for my own life in many ways.  And it is also important for the health of the new marriage that we witnessed and celebrated.  Even though our culture often says that marriage is all about two people, marriage doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  Marriages need community, too.

The groom had a group of friends and family gathered, too, along with many people from the churches that he serves.  Together, I hope all of these communities take seriously the promises we made as part of the wedding:

“Families, friends,

and all those gathered here

with Jeremy and Liz,

will you support and care for them,

sustain and pray for them

in times of trouble,

give thanks with them

in times of joy,

honor the bonds of their covenant,

and affirm the love of God

reflected in their life together?”

We promised “we will.”  We will, God helping us, live out these promises.  We will be a community that will support this couple in their marriage.

As their symbol of unity, we celebrated communion together.  This is common in Lutheran weddings (Jeremy’s Lutheran).  It was a beautiful act of worship to celebrate how Christ brings us together in love.  We are united with Christ in baptism.  And through Christ, we are united to each other.  Some are united in matrimony, and we are all united in the Church.  This unity was the joy we celebrated this weekend in a wedding ceremony and late night chats.

The St. Ignace lighthouse outside the reception site

Photos from several friends, shared on Facebook, except for the final photo which is a personal photo, all May 2013.