Snowy Mornings

After sleeping in (which I've been doing a lot of these past few weeks, since I have nowhere to be except Sunday mornings), after cuddling with kitties in bed under the warm blankets on our bed, after finally hauling my big belly out of my snuggly nest, I donned my robe went downstairs to sit in my chair and enjoy my daily cup of coffee.

I love the view from my chair, when I turn my head to look through dining room and out into the world beyond the walls of our home. Want to see?

The picture doesn't do it justice. Try as I might, I couldn't capture the light and detail of what I see with my eyes. I need to become a better photographer. Anyway- here's what I see:

The sunlight that filters in through the open shades makes the wooden floors look the color of syrup- amber and gold. The alcove is bright and inviting, and the colors of the curtains pop: red, aqua, orange, with hints of lime green on a buttery yellow background. Happy curtains. I love them. 

Looking through the windows the snow is drifting down, blanketing the world in white. The branches of the spindly, naked bushes outside reach up to heaven like arms, or bulrushes, and it's not difficult to imagine that they stand between our home and a pond, instead of the house next door. When I sit and look out the window, I can't see the other homes, or cars, or swing sets that flank on us either side. All I can see are those branches, and snow, and big evergreen trees in the distance. It is beautiful, and peaceful. I could sit and look out this window for hours.

But, alas, there are things to do. I can't sit here forever, even if I'd like to. Stay warm!

Sermon: Connect-the-Dots

**This sermon was given at The United Methodist Church in Madison on Sunday, January 19, 2014. I was inspired by Ben Lee, student pastor of the Oxford Colonial and Summerfield UMC's who first used the image of puzzles in relation to baptism.**

John 1:29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

I have always enjoyed puzzles. Not just jigsaw puzzles, although I’ve spent countless hours over the years bent over a table, trying to fit tiny pieces together to create the image on the box. What I really enjoy are word or number puzzles. I think the only reason I ever picked up my undergraduate school’s newspaper was for the crossword puzzle, and it wasn’t even very good. If I could get my hands on an extra copy of The Baltimore Sun, I could usually complete the crossword puzzles for the first half of the week (my mom could do every day of the week- in ink!). My favorite homework assignment in elementary school was completing or creating word searches with the weekly vocabulary words. I was delighted when I found an app on the iPhone that has word searches! And I loved, loved, loved Sudoku. In my home growing up the newspaper always ended up in the bathroom, probably because that was the only place my mom could get a moment of peace with four daughters. I would go in the bathroom and rifle through the paper until I found the daily Sudoku puzzle. I would get lost in the numbers, trying to fill in the blanks without duplicating anything in each row and column--- sometimes I would get interrupted by a knock on the door. Just checking to make sure I hadn’t fallen in.

I think the first puzzles I ever did, though, were in the pews of the church I grew up in. You see, every week when we first got to church we stopped by the ushers and got two bulletins. The grown-up bulletin, with the order of worship, and the children’s bulletin. Oh how I loved the children’s bulletin! The front always had a picture of the Bible story that you could color in, and the back usually had a empty, framed space with some prompts for you to create your own picture. I always drew horses, no matter what the prompt was. Inside, there were puzzles. Word searches. Another kind of puzzle that I don’t know the name of, but where letters are assigned numerical value and you have to figure out what the numbers are spelling. Or there was another kind where there was just a jumble of letters, like a word search, except you had to circle every fourth letter, then put them together at the end and they spelled something, like, Jesus, or baptism, or Peter, or the Rock. And there were connect-the-dots. I think the connect-the-dots were really the first puzzles I ever did, successfully. How about you? Maybe you don’t think that counts as a puzzle, but I think it does. When you first look at a connect-the-dots, you don’t really have an idea of what you’re looking at, of what the finished product is supposed to be. It only comes to you gradually, as you find and connect each dot in the right order, until finally you have the completed picture. And then- voila! Everything makes sense! Every bump, every curve, each one has led you to complete the big picture.

I think life is like a puzzle. I think life is like a connect-the dots.

Don’t believe me? Look at our gospel lesson for this morning. In our gospel lesson we find John the Baptist, speaking to two of his disciples when Jesus walks by. And John calls out, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” This is the one I’ve been talking about! I didn’t know it was him at first... When John first encountered Jesus, he didn’t have the full picture. All he knew was that he had been called to baptize with water, had been called to preach repentance, to prepare the way of the one who was coming after him, and that somehow, through his works, the Son of God would be revealed. John the Baptist has had many dots in his life that’s he’s been connecting, but then he finally connects the last dot once he has baptized Jesus, and seen the spirit descend and remain on him as a dove. That last dot completes the picture of John’s ministry, and allows him to proclaim, some days later to his own disciples that, “Here is the Lamb of God!” This exclamation made by John starts a whole new series of connect-the-dots for his disciples, who go off to see for themselves who this man Jesus is. It is a connect-the-dots puzzles that each of the disciples, and we as readers and hearers of the gospels, live out, piecing together puzzle pieces and connecting dots with every miracle, every parable, every teaching that Jesus says. As we journey through the gospels, we connect the dots, until that very last dot is connected, drawing the image to a close on Easter morning, with the big fat dot that is the empty tomb. And we realize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Risen Son of God, who even death cannot contain. Who is, and was, and is to come. With the realization that Jesus truly is the Christ, the one that we’ve been waiting for, we begin our own journey through life as his followers. Our own lives, that are each like a puzzle, filled with moments like dots just waiting to be connected in order to reveal a big picture.

For John the puzzle is completed the moment Jesus rises from the waters of baptism. For each one of us, the journey of connect-the-dots began with the moment the baptismal waters were sprinkled or poured over our heads, the moment when we entered into the community of faith that is Christ’s body the church. Our baptism is not the end, but rather the beginning, sending us forth on a life-long mission of loving God, loving one another, and loving all the world. Our baptism sends us forth with ears open to the voice of the Spirit; having been told that we are beloved children of God, with whom God is well-pleased, we are sent forth to follow the whispers and calls of the Spirit, often down roads that are challenging as we are called to bring forth justice for the least, the last,and the lost, to live lives of kindness, to act with mercy. Sometimes we rise up mountains and are filled with exuberance and joy. Sometimes we go down into deep valleys, and feel lost and lone. Sometimes we wonder why we’re doing what we’re doing, why we believe what we believe, and ask if it’s all worth it. It’s easy to get caught up in these moments and to see them as the big picture, as the end product, like the picture on a jigsaw box. But they’re not. They are only dots, each one connected to the one before it and the one after, each one helping to create an image that will be made clear to us, if not in this life then once we’ve passed through other waters and crossed over to the other side. And it all starts with that moment when we were named and claimed by God. It starts at the moment of our baptism.

And so, on this morning as we reflect on the places we’ve been and look ahead to the places we are called to go, we will also take a moment to remember where it all started. To remember our baptisms, and be thankful.

**Following this reflection we reaffirmed the Baptismal Covenant (UMH 50-52)**

Remember Your Baptism

**The Sunday after Epiphany is another special Sunday, during which the church celebrates and remembers Jesus' baptism as The Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The following is a story that I have used in several settings to begin various sermons the reflect on baptism.**

It was a hot, hot day in the summer of 2010, and I was a stranger in a strange land. I had travelled to Geneva, Switzerland with my classmates for a required cross-cultural experience, a brief stop on our pilgrimage to the ecumenical monastic community of Taize, located in the Burgundy region of France. We were all coming with different hopes and expectations, but on this day, as we trudged through the streets of Geneva, thoughts of our final destination were far from our minds. We were hot. And tired. Our feet hurt. The return to our hostel could not come soon enough. I was regretting the black slacks and black T-shirt I had chosen that morning, and my feet had blisters from the shoes I had worn. We were all in need of refreshment, and the prospect of going to swim in Lake Geneva later that evening may have been the only thing that kept us walking that afternoon.

We had passed a public square earlier in the morning, near a monument the immortalized the devastation land-mines had and continued to wreak in Africa. There were families everywhere, many with small children, populating the square, and the most remarkable thing was happening. Water was bubbling up and bursting forth from the ground. It rose in organized rows, alternating in time and intensity; through the curtains of water children ran laughing, and adults watched from the sidelines, sitting on benches or under the little patches of shade that were available. We watched the streams of water hungrily, no, thirstily, debating amongst ourselves if etiquette would allow us to enter into fellowship with those who danced under the waters.

We ultimately threw caution to the wind; kicking off our shoes and rolling up our pant-legs we let go of our adult inhibitions and ran across the hot cement into the life-giving water. We whooped with joy as it bubbled beneath our feet, and shrieked as the cold, refreshing liquid poured down on us from above. We were drenched. We were ecstatic. We were refreshed... and renewed.

Remember your baptism, we called to one another, laughing, and our impromptu romp of childlike abandon became holy. Amongst this community of pilgrims, with those simple words, it became sacramental. Remember your baptism.

2013: A Photo Review

2013

JANUARY- matriculation into M.A. Program 

MAY: Commencement

JUNE: Farewell to UMC Madison 

JULY: Appointed as Pastor of Asbury UMC

 AUGUST: annual trip to Starboard Cove, ME

SEPTEMBER: Happy anniversary!!!

                        surprise- it's twins!

OCTOBER: apple-picking in Maryland with the Rohrs girls

NOVEMBER: celebrated Eucharist for the first time

 DECEMBER: merry Christmas!

 Happy New Year

from Amanda, the Rev-Ev, and the two Lady Lions!

One Morning in Maine...

... this title actually belongs to the classic children's book written by Robert McCloskey, who also created other such classics as Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings, all of which reside in my future children's library. The children are in the future, not the books, which I have in my possession right now, thanks to my mother-in-love (MIL). But I digress.

The RevEv and I returned just a few days ago from ten amazingly lovely days spent on the Maine seaside. We took a lot of walks with The Girl Named Duke, ate way too many cookies and whoopie pies, slept in almost every morning, and lolled around in the sun and sea air. Want to see some pictures? Good, I hoped so. : )

 This is one of the many views from Nana's back deck in Starboard Cove. The swing-set belongs to Maya, RevEv's fabulous cousin who is one of my favorite little girls in the whole wide world.

     These flowers from my father-in-love's (FIL) garden- he knows how much I love sunflowers and planted this variety just for me. We enjoyed this sunny bouquet, along with a big pot of coffee and a rousing game of Phase 10 Saturday morning.


    

Remember I said we took a lot of walks? Here are just a few pictures from our many walks down the road.

These were taken by "the Pond"- it's not really a pond, more of an inlet that is filled with water at high tide which transforms into a mud flat once the tide rolls out.
The Girl Named Duke enjoyed getting her feet wet.

This is an apple tree that has been untended for who know how many years. Each day we tasted one of the teeny apples that cover its branches. Each day we spit our pieces out and declared them to be "Yucky!". They are incredibly tart, hard little things... I wonder if they would be good in pie?



This is an old captain's house that is said to be haunted. I think it looks rather cheerful myself.



One morning in Maine RevEv, Nana, Maya, Tracey, NuNu, Granny, and I went for a hike to the Point of Maine (The Girl Named Duke stayed behind, asleep on her blanket).

 

It was an incredibly foggy day, so the views were not as spectacular as they would have been had the sun been shining, but I think the fog and mist lends a sort of mystery to the place, don't you?

I always love going up to Maine. The Girl Named Duke enjoyed herself too.

We're looking forward to our trip in November, for Thanksgiving, when we will get to see our Maine family again.

Monday Morning Sabbath

Any person who works in the church knows that Sunday is not a day of rest. For the sake of self-care, you must carve out your own bit of sabbath time, be it a week day, a morning, or just an hour out of one day. Monday morning was my sabbath time... and it was a wonderfully calm and peaceful morning.

I woke up a little after 6:30 to a sunlit room, with The Girl Named Duke sleeping soundly beside me.

                

Instead of going back to sleep I finally finished reading this book:

Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Parker's Proverbs of Ashes.

Once finished, I
took Duke outside to do her business,
gave her breakfast,
and admired the hydrangeas Lettie,
a parishioner from Asbury,
gave me after church yesterday.

While coffee brewed I put away dishes, washed some more dishes, folded laundry, 

and visited with this guy. 

I contemplated taking out the final round of stitched on the shawl I (finally!) finished, and decided to let it be. For now.

                             


I poured myself a cup of coffee in my favorite muf, gathered my journal and pens, and sat down to write. When I opened my journal I found an entry made by Jack:

I think it's going to be a perfect Monday. Who knew such a thing existed?

Peace and love,
Amanda

7th Sunday after Pentecost

**I gave this sermon on Sunday, July 7 at the Broadway/Port Colden UMCs where my husband serves as pastor, and then at Asbury UMC where I am the summer supply pastor**

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

When I was growing up, my father worked very hard so that my mother could be a stay at home mom. He still works incredibly hard, continuing to work two, sometimes three different jobs in order to provide for his family. Ever since I can remember he has had a lawn cutting business, and in the spring, summer, and early fall he would come home from whatever other job he had at the time, put the mowers and the trimmers and the blowers onto his trailer, and then go work until it was too dark to see. Weekends were also taken up with mowing and trimming, and he always came home hot, sweaty, and bone-tired. Perhaps not surprisingly, the proverb that “the shoemaker’s children go barefoot,” applied to our lawn and gardens. He spent so much time and energy caring for other people’s yards that he had very little time to devote to our own.

While this was sometimes an annoyance to my mother, it gave ample opportunity for the multiple boys who had taken an interest in one of the four of us to make a good impression on my father and mother. There was one high school boy in particular, who clearly didn’t have enough chores to do at his own home, who spent a lot of time taking out the trash cans, stacking firewood, and weeding the flower beds. He became more of a son than a suitor, and would soon make himself perfectly at home. One evening it was getting close to suppertime and I had decided to make dinner. I am actually quite a good cook, but something went terribly wrong with this dish. I still don’t know what could have happened- it was a boxed meal, the kind that had the noodles, and the spices, and everything you needed. All you had to do was “just add chicken” -and some water and oil- and you were golden! I had made this dish before, and I was looking to impress the young man just a tad. We all sat down to dinner: me, my sisters, my mom, the boy from down the street, and another neighborhood kid who spent a lot of time under our roof. We all sat down to eat, and immediately something was wrong. The dish was horrible! My face flushed with embarrassment, and it was so bad nobody, not even me, tried to eat more than the first bite. Except Carrie, the young girl down the street, who was determinedly chewing and swallowing each unpalatable mouthful. “Well, it’s not a total waste,” my mom said, laughing. “At least Carrie likes it!” To which Carrie replied, with the honesty and bluntness of a child, “Oh no, it’s bad. My parents just told me to always eat what’s put in front of you when you’re a guest.”

We didn’t make Carrie eat anymore of the failed chicken dish. I think we ordered pizza.

It can be difficult, even stressful, to be the host. 

But sometimes it can be even harder to be the guest.

In the gospel lesson that we heard today, Jesus is once again sending disciples ahead of him to announce his arrival at various towns as he travels towards Jerusalem. Now, he had done this before, actually twice before, with varying results. First, Jesus called the twelve together, and he gave them the power and the authority to heal the sick and cast out demons. Then, he sent them out, two by two, into the neighboring towns to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal, just as he had been doing. “He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them’” (Lk 9:3-5). The twelve did as they were told, and they were successful! They had been welcomed in the towns that they traveled to, and they were able to heal the sick and cast out demons, and people were eager to hear the teachings of Jesus. Later, after the twelve have returned, Jesus sends an unnumbered group of messengers ahead of him. However, this group was not successful- at all. The gospel tells us that they were not received in the Samaritan village that they came upon. Never one to be daunted by setbacks, Jesus tries again, falling back on old tactics but with greater numbers. This time, he doesn’t send out twelve disciples, but seventy! That’s thirty pairs of disciples who can be teaching and preaching and healing in his name! His instructions begin in the same way he instructed the twelve: carry no purse, no bag, no sandals. Whatever house you enter, say “Peace to this house!”- and then stay there.

But then he continues: Don’t go hopping from house to house. That’s rude. Eat and drink what your host puts in front of you. Don’t overstay your welcome; heal the sick, teach them about the kingdom of God. Be a good guest, because you are representing me. Jesus reminds them that, for all intents and purposes, they are the hands and feet and mouthpieces of Christ, and they must act accordingly, accepting the hospitality that is offered to them, entering into each town and home with peace in their hearts and joy on their lips as they proclaim the incredible, inclusive hospitality of the kingdom of God.

Jesus sends the seventy out, just as he had the twelve, to do these things, even though he knew the potential danger they faced. The seventy went out, just as the twelve, knowing the risks that they were taking. They were taking no money- they had no way of purchasing provisions, or to offer up to thieves on the road if they were waylaid. They were taking no extra clothes, nothing to protect them from the elements other than the clothes on their backs. They were taking no bread or water for their journey, which put them at the mercy of those they encountered, giving the towns the power to give life, by taking them in- or take it away. In a world that was wracked with religious and political tension, it could be dangerous to be associated with Jesus. And yet they went anyway. They went out into the world, despite the dangers, despite the personal risk, trusting that God and the people they had been sent to minister to would provide for them. They went without anything tangible to offer, only the words of their mouth, the presence of their spirit, and their faith in Christ and the kingdom of God. And they were rewarded, as they encountered gracious hosts whose doors were open to strangers, and whose hearts were open to their teachings. And the disciples taught them many things.

Just as their hosts welcomed the disciples into their home, so too will they welcomed into the kingdom of God.

Just as we welcome the least, the last, and the lost into our hearts, our homes, and our lives, so too will we be welcomed into the kingdom of God.

We too live in a world that is often dangerous, and frightening. It can be difficult to follow where Jesus calls us when it is so easy to worry about the food on our tables, the clothes on our backs, the taxes that we pay, the lives that are needlessly lost due to senseless violence. And yet, Jesus calls us, just as he called the twelve and the seventy, to go out and be present in the world. Jesus calls us to be both host and guest, to welcome those who are sick and hurting, or hungry and naked, Jesus calls us to be the hands and feet of Christ in a broken world. But Jesus also calls us to be guests, offering peace to those we encounter, accepting whatever gifts they give us, reciprocating with acts of kindness, and mercy, and love.

Whatever road we happen to be on, whether we are standing in the doorway with open arms, or standing on the threshold with outstretched hand, let us always offer one another the peace of Christ, who calls us to follow him on this earth, with the promise that all of us will be guests in his heavenly kingdom.