Wisdome from Rohr: It's not about being correct. It's about being connected

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation Life as Participation In Christ Thursday, September 18, 2014

Most of us were not raised to understand that we are participating in something that is already happening. Rather, we were given tasks to accomplish individually and completely. This placed the entire burden on the single isolated person. That’s not participation. That’s perfectionism—thinking I have to do it all or that I can do it all (the American myth). I’m convinced that’s why we have so much of what we call negative self-image in the West—because of this impossible spiritual burden put on the separate individual. The Good News is that it’s not about being correct. It’s about being connected. When the Spirit within you connects with God’s Spirit given from without, you are finally home. Now you know that your deepest you is God, and Christ is living his life in you and through you and with you.

Bible Study and Living in Faith offerings

Here are Christ Church, we have started offering two ways in which we can deepen our faith each week.

Living in Faith is a series each Wednesday night in the Chapel from 7-8 p.m.  We use a book only to enter into conversation and prayer.  But it is not a book study. Come: try it out.

Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m. is our BibleWorkbench group meeting downstairs in the parish house. Again, give it a try.  We look at one of the lessons for the upcoming week. Grab a cup of coffee and stop in. 

Last Sunday the materials cited this wonderful Walt Whitman passage from "Leaves of Grass" (1855). I commend it to you.

This is what you should do:
Love the earth and sun and animals,
despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
stand up for the stupid and crazy,
devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence toward the people...
reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book,
dismiss what insults your soul,
and your flesh shall become a great poem.

Punctuation matters

From my sermon on August 24

Punctuation changes everything: 

I'm sorry you can't come with us.


I'm sorry. You can't come with us.

The Democrats say the Republicans will lose the election.


The Democrats, say the Republicans, will lose the election.

Call me fool if you wish.


Call me, fool, if you wish.

Do not break your bread or roll in your soup.


Do not break your bread, or roll in your soup.

This book is dedicated to my roommates, Oprah Winfrey, and God.


This book is dedicated to my roommates, Oprah Winfrey and God.

A woman without her man is nothing.


A woman: without her, man is nothing.

The Christians in Iraq and their ancient community

A few years ago I read Phillip Jenkins book about the lost history of the church in the Middle East. Fascinating account.  Today, with more Christians and others being threatened in the ancient city of Mosul, I thought I would link an article of Jenkins for those who might want to learn more.  

And do pray for these communities.  

Click here to read article

The World Needs to Bucket of Cold Ice Water

Have you seen the videos?  The Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, has caught on unlike anything I have every seen.  It matches fun, fundraising and awareness into a perfect summer sensation. 

Click here to learn more about Ice Bucket Challenge

In all honesty, I have not yet taken the challenge myself. My stewardship and charity goes to many places -- the work of God in and through Christ Church Exeter being the main recipient.  My wife and I support various institutions, give to Episcopal Relief and Development to support development work and emergency aid, support the work of the church in Cuba, assist a clergy family in Colombia, and some friends along the way who need a helping hand. 

What I hope about this summer phenomenon is that it calls us to do something that is rarely videotaped and posted online for our friends to see. Compassion. May we think and act with compassion towards a world that is looking more ominous and out of control than ever.  The news this past summer has been relentless and dire: the war in Gaza, the shooting down of the airliner over Ukraine and the loss of some many innocent lives, children fleeing violence crossing our southern border from Central America, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that is spreading, and Iraq coming unglued and a demonic terrorist group ravaging northern Iraq oppressing Christians and other religious minorities.  It's all bad. Really bad.  The world is on fire and is in need of a cold bucket of ice water to put out the flames. 

How can we as individuals make a difference?  Isn't that always the question?  The path forward is found in the many ways that Jesus pointed to in how he promised to be present in the world.  The least, the vulnerable, the widow, the child, are forever present and near to us. We begin with those who are near and hope to touch those who are far away.  Invite a friend to lunch. Engage a stranger in line at the store. Buy a child a backpack for school. Rescue a dog or cat in need of a home. And/or donate to a worthy cause.

So if you are anything like me -- on the verge of calamity/bad global news overload and leaning in to turn off the television -- say a prayer before you do. Ask God to do what God always promises to do -- to listen to God's people and free them from oppression, fear, violence and disease.  Now and in God's time. 

Humanitarian Crisis at the Border has many Faces

First things first. This is not a blog about partisan politics: who's to blame and what went wrong.  My hope is to call your attention to the work of the Episcopal Church in one of the poorest countries in Central America, Honduras, and highlight the good work being done there.  

Matt Engleby was my classmate in seminary. I got the opportunity to spend some weeks in Guatemala with him in 1988, where he had served for two years a Peace Corps volunteer in the 80's. He and I went on to do years of parish ministry but have stayed connected with Latin America.  Matt took the plunge in a truly courageous way some years ago when he began living a great deal of the year in Honduras as El Hogar's Executive Director.  When he is back in the States reconnecting with his family in New Jersey, he is tirelessly visiting churches and spreading the news of the hope and the tragedy that fill his day. People are making a difference in many lives. 

Please read Matt's letter, watch the video, and pray for the many children's who flee such terrible poverty and crime.  And if you are able and called, I commend this vital ministry to you for your generosity.  

Mark+

Watch video here: El Hogar Vimeo Video

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

These past few weeks have seen significant and appropriate attention being directed toward the plight of vulnerable immigrants crossing the US border. We are seeing unaccompanied children and young mothers fleeing to the US at an unprecedented pace.  The attention being directed toward this tragedy has been both compassionate and condemning.

Those of you familiar with the conditions of life in Central America are well aware that what we are witnessing is nothing new. Certainly the proportions are higher than before, but this exodus has been a tragic part of the life of the tragically poor in places like Honduras for years. While I, for one, am grateful for the concern directed to this matter, I am also well aware that the attention span of the media and individuals in the United States is relatively short.  This issue may soon fade from the headlines, but regrettably, the causes that lie at the root of these immigration issues will remain for years to come. And I ask you to hold fast to these concerns and seek resolution in the US and support for organizations like ours in Honduras.

I take this opportunity to remind you all of the importance and incalculable value of the work of El Hogar Projects in Honduras. As an effective ministry of the Episcopal church in Honduras, we strive to provide a preventative approach to the concerns being addressed in the United States at this time. The children fleeing Honduras are motivated by a desire to survive. I ask you to imagine the desperation that a parent must feel when the only option for a child’s future is to send them into the wilderness. Such is life here. No one desires this outcome, but for many it is the only choice.

So, while we do what we can on the northern side of our border to create a just and compassionate response toward the unaccompanied children, in the end, these activities will only serve as a Band-Aid and not address the real causes that are the poverty and violence so present in everyday life in Honduras.  

What must happen is that children who have no hope, who have seen parents gunned down before their own eyes, must have hope restored and a new future structured before them.  That is our goal.  The work of El Hogar is to lift children out of poverty that they may become productive members of the Honduras community.  That is what we do, and we do it well.  We give children an education, life skills, and a new sense of hope such that their future does not depend upon a desperate journey into the wilderness but rests, rather, on a new community formed of loving and caring people.  

Please note that this is the only viable solution to the issues being played out at the US borders.  Please remain faithful to us and these vulnerable children.  I know for many of you, these summer Sundays are less engaging and lower in attendance, but please convey this hope to your communities as best you can.  

I am attaching a few links for you to see.  First is the presiding Bishops response to the immigration crisis.  The second is a recent article written by Lynette Wilson of the Episcopal News Service about El Hogar, a link to our video on El Hogar and finally a New York Times article about the desperation in Honduras.  Read them, learn them, inwardly digest them.  As the salvation of these children depends upon such.  As does yours.

The Rev. Matthew Engleby

Executive Director

El Hogar Projects

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

www.ElHogar.org
mengleby@elhogar.org

Presiding Bishop Letter

ENS article on El Hogar Honduras

NYT refugee Crisis

No Turning Back

Vacation in Acadia National Park in Maine 

For anyone who knows me, the picture above is a head scratcher -- for I am famously afraid of heights. I mean palm-sweating, nearly unable to speak afraid. Thus I can barely ski anymore because of my fear of getting stranded on the lift. Which means I do not climb ladders and will never bungee jump, nor parachute, nor even go up in a nice tranquil hot air balloon at sunrise over the plains of Africa.  

So why did I hike up the Beehive Trail last week at Maine's gorgeous Acadia National Park with my wife Leslie?  It's not like I didn't research the hike. I went online and did hear that one should stay away if one is afraid of heights, but it was "doable" and six year old reportedly easily did the hike.  I told myself: I could do this.  Yet I walked right by this sign at the base of the climb... Bad first move. 

When we ask for signs from God, we don't always expect to see visual signs... (Note to self: read warning signs next time!) 

So Leslie and I made our way up the mini-mountain -- only 520 feet high but straight up. At one point we did say to ourselves that this was a foolish idea: how could we reach the top with our nerves so frayed? We were actually near the top -- about 50 feet away -- when we paused and questioned ourselves.  And then an angel appeared in the form of a hiking park ranger.  She saw our misgivings, yet also our determination and hope to find a way to reach the top. She warned us of the dangers (i.e. asked us if we saw the above sign!) and gave us a choice: head back down or move forward. She also told us that if we wanted to keep going that, "I'll go with you."  THE sign!

She was the encouragement we needed, but also the assurance and the company that sealed the deal. When she learned of what I did for my job/career/vocation, we joked that a few sermons would come out the day and I'm sure she's right. 

For now, this is what I learned:

1. Obstacles, and fear, are real.

2. It's hard to know when it's time to pause, re-assess and perhaps head home.

3. Sometimes we only need a little encouragement, especially when we are so close to our goal. 

4. It sure helps if someone walks with us and we are not alone.

5. Psalm 121 is true: I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where is my help to come? My help comes from... 

6. An angel in the form of a park ranger. 

7. The view is pretty nice from "up there."