I hate clocks and watches - they become a prison for me that I can’t escape. I become obsessed with, “what time is it” and “being on time” and meeting “dead” lines. For me living by the clock or watch makes me “times” prisoner rather than a means to “keep” time. In fact clocks and watches often prevent me from entering fully the precious moment I am in– as I am always trying to grasp the next moment to come (playing “beat the clock”). Many years ago (about 10) I gave up the “wrist manacle” and began to live free from a time keeper.

In light of that… I have stopped watching watches and offer the following little bits and piece I have picked up over the years on the mechanical ticking that can tie us up.

“Clocks slay time… time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.” ~William Faulkner

“…being attentive to the times of the day: when the birds began to sing, and the deer came out of the morning fog, and the sun came up. The reason why we don’t take time is a feeling that we have to keep moving. This is a real sickness. We live in the fullness of time. Every moment is God’s own good time, His kairos (gk. for opportune time). The whole thing boils down to giving ourselves in prayer a chance to realize that we have what we seek. We don’t have to rush after it. It was there all the time and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.” ~Thomas Merton

“One act is required - and that is all: for this one act pulls everything together and keeps everything in order… This one act is to stand with attention in your heart.” ~Theophan the Recluse

“Nevertheless I am alway with you: for you hold me by my right hand.” (Psalm 73.23)

That last verse from The Book of Psalms is one that I like to keep in mind - when I “instinctual” want to look at the clocks time - to remind me - no watch on my right hand, but God is with me! So enter into the NOW - for “there” is where time is full and God is present.

Those closest to Jesus were confused during this final week of his life (not able or wanting to come to terms with the finality of Jesus’ language during this week) and even one would be used by evil to deliver him to death; but one disciple would bring him a moment of joy during this extremely difficult week. It was not one of the usual suspects - Peter, James or John - or any of the other “Twelve.” It was Mary of Bethany (according to John) that brought a years worth of quality perfume and anointed Jesus in the midst of his time at an evening dinner. She just lavished him; anointed him with sweet smelling perfume as an act of devotion and an act of surrender to cast her lot with Jesus’ mission (not to be overlooked she also probably just spent a good deal of her inheritance on Jesus). This act a moment of beauty and extravagance, a moment of clarity and a moment of confirmation in the midst of Jesus’ week was one that seemed to be profound in the Messiah’s estimation - as he declared, “wherever the Gospel is preached in the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered.” (Mt. 26.13)

Epistle: Hebrews 9.16-28

Gospel: Matthew 26.14-25

Psalm: 22 and 26

Prayer: from Psalm 22:

I will proclaim your name to my brethren: in the midst of the assembly I will praise you; “You who fear the Lord, praise him; all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him; revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not spurned nor disdained the wretched man in his misery Nor did he turn his face away from him, but when he cried out to him, he heard him.” So by your gift will I utter praise in the vast assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him. The lowly shall eat their fill; they who seek the Lord shall praise him: “May your hearts be ever merry!” All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; All the families of the nations shall bow down before him. For dominion is the Lord’s and he rules the nations. To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth; Before him shall bend all who go down into the dust. And to him my soul shall live; my descendants shall serve him. Let the coming generation be told of the Lord that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown.

Unexpected. We get jaded. We have heard it all. Few things surprise and startle us anymore - we get real time feedback of every tragedy and every news worthy story - we hear it as it unfolds; and over time nothing really shocks us. Forecasts of everything from the future stock price to the weather prepares us for anything. We woke up to a covering of snow this morning and just 60 or so years ago - before doppler radar and computer weather modeling - it would have been “unexpected.” Israel expected a king - a king like David and they expected a prophet - a prophet like Moses; but the Son of God? God in the flesh sent by the Father above? How? God is one. Unexpected, to say the least. It is all coming to a head on this Tuesday of Holy Week as Jesus makes his words more clear, bolder and as he confronts the religious leaders, sealing his fate.

Old Testament: Isaiah 49.1-6

New Testament: John 12.37-50

Psalm: 22 & 25

Prayer: We cast our prayers at the feet of Christ our saviour, who has redeemed us by his death and resurrection:

Almighty and ever-living God, make us celebrate the Lord’s passion worthily
and thereby deserve pardon for our sins.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

An extremely busy and active week unfolds for Jesus as he approaches the pinnacle of his purpose for coming to live among us. One of the Psalm’s that is rehearsed on every Monday of Lent (an old tradition) is Psalm 23 and I can’t help but think how comforting that song of David might have been to Jesus as he progressed through this week. I also am challenged to think, “Are our churches places like David describes in that Psalm?” My experience unfortunately has been to find the Church competing with the culture around it to gain peoples attention with full calendars and endless activity. Maybe being distinct from our culture and offering a haven of quiet and a refuge of rest is what our stressed and adrenaline-addicted world needs.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 63.1-19

New Testament Reading: John 12.20-36

Psalm: 22, 23, & 24

Prayer: Please, Lord, guide my mind with your truth.
Strengthen my life by the example of Jesus.
Help me to be with Jesus in this week
as he demonstrates again his total love for me.
He died so that I would no longer be separated from you.
Help me to feel how close you are and to live in union with you.

note: Artwork by Michael D. Obrien

Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem for His last passover and it is quite an event. Jesus enters as King of Peace (riding astride a Donkey in contrast to conquering kings who would enter on a horse of war). Entering the City of Peace (Jerusalem) as a King who is bringing peace. In the midst of anything but a calm and tranquil entrance - Jesus comes to bring peace - the Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. Shalom is a state of wholeness, completeness to be at peace with all things - God, self, others and creation. This certainly wasn’t grasped - in the midst of the shouting and singing this Sunday morning - don’t miss the King of Peace - allow Him again to enter your world bringing wholeness.

NT Readings: Mark 11.1-26; Philippians 2.5-11

Psalm: Psalm 22

Prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards mankind sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature and to suffer death upon the cross so that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility, grant that we may both follow the example of his patience and also have our part in his resurrection, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I feel an affinity to Celtic Christianity for a variety of reasons:

-it was indigenous - first Christian mission that was not first Romanized (Civilized) before being Christianized
-it was about community / very tribal (belonging to the community often preceded having faith in the Christian message)
-it saw hospitality as a means of being Christ to another and placed a high value on the practice
-monasticism was at the center of their practice of Christianity and integral to its expansion
-it celebrated natural revelation
-it sacramental-ized every day acts - the folding of clothes, the making of beds, the awakening of fire/coals, etc (making them acts of praise/prayer)
-it provided a place for beauty and aesthetics
-it was unequivocally trinitarian
-the openness to God’s activity in revealing Himself right NOW

These are things that readily come to mind as I consider what the Celtic Church offers [and much of what they offer is needed in our world today]. For this reason I celebrate today with many in the Church who thank God for St. Patrick and his faithfulness in carrying on God’s story of redeeming and restoring this world.

The prayer that follows is very famous, The Breastplate of St. Patrick (note it’s themes of protection) - it is a prayer of lyrical beauty and carries many of the themes discussed above. I encourage you to pray it today as we remember St. Patrick.

The Breastplate of St. Patrick
(also referred to as St. Patrick’s Lorica)

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

I want to continue considering the legacy of Youth Ministry - I am wondering in our current regime, “what are we passing on?” In the first post we looked at what we are leaving students in the area of content. I suggested maybe we need to revisit the tradition of the Catechism. (Read the post here)

In this post I would like to raise (or rant about) the question of: what are we passing on through our approach to youth ministry as it relates to ecclesiology?

How are students leaving our youth ministries thinking about, The Church? Are our youth ministries grounded in a healthy image and theology of The Church? I believe this question is vital in measuring or evaluating the health and value of our ministry to youth. The likelihood of a young person being a part of the Church in the future will be tied I think in large part to this question.

My observation is that in youth ministry we have not done a great job in helping teens be aware of the importance of participation with all the people who are part of the Body of Christ. Equally I don’t think we have helped students see their necessary and unique role in the local expression of The Church. I think we do great at getting kids to come to a church building and be active in the church building (via attraction-al activities; great programs; etc.) - but too often these are age specific experiences sequestered from the rest of what is taking place in that community. In my mind this doesn’t do the church (the priority of and purpose for) justice. This is a very truncated and impotent view of the church (the church as a building or a place to hang out with people like me).

Isn’t the church about being Christ’s body on earth? Isn’t the church mandated to continue the work of Christ in announcing and demonstrating His Kingdom on Earth? Isn’t the Church the gathered people of God - all His people a diverse group (of all races, shapes, ages, and gifts) of sinners in process of becoming saints? Isn’t the Church about gathering to communally demonstrate and celebrate the goodness, greatness and glory of God and then scattering to be the hands and feet of God in the midst of our community?

So what are we passing on to students about the church through our youth ministry? Are they getting it? My prayer is that we will pass on a vibrant picture and experience of the Church so they don’t decide to pass on it when they graduate.

Peace.

This prayer of St. Teresa of Avila kept going through my mind as I was writing so I add it here for all our benefit:

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,

Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.

I love this prayer from Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours for the second week of Lent:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

I find the power in that prayer behind the fact that Jesus who was tested by temptation to go another way - instead chose willingly and obediently the walk to the Cross. I find hope that the one who chose the cross is mighty enough to empower and assist me in facing my temptations. I find great love underneath the phrase - as you know us.

A wonderful prayer to accompany us this second week of lent.

Lent is an anglo-saxon word which best defined means Spring. The Spring was greeted by another season of the Christian Year the time of Lent (just as Winter sees the beginning of Advent; Pentecost leads us into Summer and Autumn - Ordinary time). Lent is definitely the most solemn of the Christian seasons. A time for serious reflection, repentance and thus renewal. As I have reflected during this first week of Lent and journeyed with the Lenten Guide (Journey Into Wholeness by Christine Sine) it has pushed me to look at my self. It is never pretty.

I don’t often plan well. This lenten season though I had decided to observe an old lenten practice of praying The Litany at least once a week (The late Robert Webber suggested Saturday’s were the tradition in his book, The Prymer, so I said, “why not?”), and that was just what I needed this week.

The Litany is a L-o-n-g prayer. It is really a kind of prayer service. I used a protestant version (without the invoking of the Saints) from An English Prayer Book (published by Oxford as a potential Alternate Alternative Service Book!?). In this version of the Litany it is a seven-fold prayer moving from Inviting God to hear to repentance (personal) to petitions to intercessions to the Lord’s Prayer to corporate repentance and to benediction.

A wonderful prayer. A needed time this past Saturday. It helped me repent. To change my way of thinking. To see with new eyes. To feel like I found my position and place again. This Lenten practice, setting aside and taking time to reflect and repent is something I realize I don’t naturally move toward. I am more apt to “keep going” and put things behind… Lent calls us to put some of life aside and reflect on who I am becoming and how am I living. This is good. The Litany helped me in facing some of that. I look forward to this and it is good.

At the same time I feel strangely alone.

Lent is meant to happen in community and the Litany is written to be said in community (I guess I will be exploring this theme throughout my Lenten experience) but my current Christian community doesn’t observe Lent, so I am observing it solo.

Today officially begins the liturgical season of lent. This is a forty day season of preparation and repentance that precedes the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Before we feast though, we are called to fast and before we celebrate newness of life and the power of God, we are called to let go, surrender and remember the humility of our Lord. This season of Lent I am going to attempt to enter into this walk of letting go, surrendering and remembering; I have been giving this a bit of thought and am ready for it to begin.

As I mentioned - I am going to be using Christine Sine’s Lenten Guide titled, A Journey Into Wholeness and I will be sharing some of how that is enhancing and informing my observance of Lent. I also will be:

Praying the Hours using - Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours (Prayers for Springtime)
Praying The Litany from An English Prayer Book - each Saturday Evening

And praying this daily as my lenten prayer:

I beseech You, Jesus, Loving Saviour to show Yourself to all who seek You, so that we may know You and love You.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit our All in All, Amen. (From A Celtic Primer compiled by Brendan O’Malley)

To lent,
To less,
To laying down,
To letting go!
Unto the Lord.

Other Participants in the Christine Sine’s Lenten Synchroblog:

Julie Clawson
Rev Cheryl A Durham
Henriet Schapelhouman
Rebecca Gagne
Leena Prindle
Steve Lewis
Carol Collins
Tim
Michele Morgan
Barbara
Gilbert Purtee
Monica Paper-Bridges
Traci
Steve Fouch
Carolynn
Lyla Lindquist
Todd Hiestand
Joel Daniel
lfbatista
Joan Ball
Banu Moore
A J
Randy Siever
Mak
Maria
Bethany
Rose Swetman
Eric
Taeler Morgan
Thomas Turner
Chris Olson
JR Woodward
Tom Grosh
Karen B.
Kathy Escobar
John Chandler