The Law Written on Their Hearts

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.  Not like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, which they broke.  I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; I will be their God and they will be my people.  I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah, 31:31-34)

We, like the early Jews know the law as it is written.  We have read it, we have recited it and we have memorized it (sort of), and we, like the Jews, have broken it.  This law written on the heart is given to us by the presence of God, the Spirit.  The God who moved over the waters at creation, the Spirit who filled Jesus at his baptism and led him into the wilderness and protected him.

This same God will protect us in our own personal wildernesses.  The wildernesses of divorce, division, anger, fear, frustration, jealousy, jobs, and money.  This God will be with us when we are angry and frustrated and envious of those who have more than we have.  This God will be with us in our prejudice and contempt of those who are different from us or have less than we have.

This law comes from the God we experience.  It is not a law written on stone or paper, it is written within our lives and on our hearts.  It is the law of God, the Spirit, which moved over the waters at our baptisms.  It is the law of the God who allows us to be buried with Christ in His death and raised with Him in His resurrection.  This is the law that we learn through our experience of the living God.

Several years ago, when I was the Rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans, we welcomed a new family into the church.  The couple had moved from Florida to New Orleans for better medical care for the young wife who had had breast cancer for seven years.  When I visited them for the first time, I asked the woman if she would like to be anointed for healing.  She responded that yes she would and that when she was in Florida, the priest had anointed her during worship.  My first thought, was, why didn’t I think of that?  I then responded that I liked the idea and that I believed we could make that happen.  The first time we included this sacrament of healing in our worship, seventy-five percent of the congregation came forward for the sacrament of healing.  This continued for the remaining eight years I served this congregation.  The presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible.  God’s presence was real and life changing.  The experience of God, the law written on our hearts!

We also see God writing the law of life and salvation on our hearts through the life and ministry of Jesus.  Jesus says, “and now my soul is troubled.  What should I say—Father, save me from this hour?  No, it is for this reason that I came to this hour. . . .and I, when I am lifted up from the Earth will draw all people to myself.” (John 12: 20-33)

I want to go out on a limb and suggest the possibility that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was designed to draw all people to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or to God as Spirit and Truth.  Lent is a wonderful time for Christians to reflect on this possibility.  I believe that God is bigger than we are.  I truly believe that God loves all of creation and that Jesus’ life is a sacrament, an action of God that requires no action from us.  If God truly loves God’s creation, then it makes sense that God loves all people. 

Our baptismal covenant affirms what we read in scripture.  In it we are asked, “will you seek and serve Christ in All persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”  Next we are asked, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”  We answer both of these questions, “I will with God’s help!” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 305)

As God spoke through the prophet, Jeremiah, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; I will be there God and they will be my people.  I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Lent, A Time for Thanksgiving

Seeing ourselves Through God’s Eyes

Lent, A Time for Thanksgiving

I know that the idea of Lent as a time of thanksgiving may sound strange to some who understand this season of the Christian Year as a time for repentance and of giving up something that you really like with the belief that the sacrifice will make us better people or better Christians or at least stronger people.  So first, some of my history and then a look at The Litany of Penitence from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, page 267, the Ash Wednesday Liturgy.  This is a powerful exercise in prayer and reflection, which every year changes me for the better and forces/allows me to see the world and myself in a different way.

First, my history!  I lived for sixteen years in New Orleans, “the Big Easy,” “The City that Care Forgot,” home of everything from strippers to shrimp, from Mafia, to Mardi Gras, the largest two-week street party in the country.  As an Episcopal Priest and a person who enjoys “blooming where I am planted,” I participated in Mardi Gras “to the fullest:” parties and parades, crawfish and cocktails, Boudin and Bloody Marys, music and dancing, music and marching, music and…well, MUSIC!

So, by the time the clock struck midnight on Fat Tuesday and the police herded the last of the revelers off Bourbon Street, I was so ready for Ash Wednesday, for rest and reflection, and (as the prayer book says) “amendment of life,” that I was overjoyed with feelings of thanksgiving, not to mention the need to sleep just a little.  Simply put, Mardi Gras, at its best, prepares us not only for repentance, but also for the time and space for reflection and an awareness of the beauty of life and all of the people and events and opportunities in our lives for which we are thankful.

The other reason I have for giving thanks on Ash Wednesday is the opportunity to pray the Litany of Penitence.  I find that, through praying this prayer, I can focus on my relationships to God and to other people as well as my relationship with myself.  Before I share the entire Litany with you (thanks to the Book of Common Prayer) I want to reflect on my two favorite petitions from this prayer and leave them with you for your own reflection and thanksgivings.

These two petitions ask me to look at myself, at how I live my life and at how I treat others.

We confess to you, Lord, our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us.

These two petitions are so important to me because they reflect the way (at my worst) I deal with other people, all of whom are Children of God.  I either believe I am better than they are because they have more and, therefore, either do not share appropriately, gained it dishonestly, or simply believe they are better than I am because they do have more.  Or, I believe I am better than they are because I have more or am better educated (or certainly understand the world better) or, I believe that if they would just work harder, they would not be so different and we just might get along better (once they were more like me than different from me).

I leave you with these brief reflections and the entire Litany for your prayer and reflection.  I pray that it will lead you to live into Lent as a time of Thanksgiving as well as a time of Penitence.

Litany of Penitence

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

The Celebrant continues

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and
strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We
have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved
your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the
pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation
of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those
more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and
our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to
commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our
indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our
neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those
who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

The Bishop, if present, or the Priest, stands and, facing the people, says

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn
from their wickedness and live, has given power and
commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to
his people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of
their sins. He pardons and absolves all those who truly
repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel.

Therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his
Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do on
this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure
and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have a Blessed and Thankful Lent!

Ben

Epiphany--Making Visible

For many of us who call ourselves Christians, the season of Epiphany, which falls between Christmas Season and Lent is one of the most important seasons of the year.  The reason the season is so important for Christians and the Christian faith is the meaning of the word Epiphany itself.  Epiphany means to make manifest or to make known or perhaps even, to make visible.  The Gospel readings for the Sunday’s of Epiphany are selected to demonstrate to today’s Christians’ the ways in which Jesus showed himself to the people of his day and time.

We easily remember the most obvious: the Wise Men at the House bringing gifts to the baby and good news to his parents of God’s favor.  The baptism of Jesus which we celebrate on the second Sunday of the Epiphany and the declaration to the Samaritan woman at the well that he is, in fact, the Messiah for whom she and her people are waiting.

There are many other manifestations of Jesus as Christ and Messiah and I want to share just a few of them with you from the first Chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

Beginning with the verse of chapter one, Jesus and his disciples enter the synagogue in Capernaum in order for Jesus to teach.  The scripture doesn’t tell us what he taught, I wish it did, but it does tell us that the people were astounded because, Jesus taught as one with authority, and not as a scribe.  I have to assume that whatever he taught and however he said it was so powerful that the people knew they were in the presence of a person very different from any they had ever encountered in worship.  As if this wasn’t enough, a man with an unclean spirit recognized Jesus when the others there did not.  He said, “what have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”  Jesus ordered the demon to leave the man, which he did and the people were even more impressed.  The people saw Jesus’ authority and power and knew that something was different about him.  His presence and his actions in the synagogue had been an Epiphany, a manifestation of the presence of God in the world and in their lives.

This passage is situated between two other passages in Mark which show the way God acts in the world through Jesus: The first is Jesus’ calling of the first four disciples and telling them that they will no longer catch fish but that they will become fishers of people.  Jesus will teach them, how to bring about the kingdom of God in this world.  The lesson which follows our passage is Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, after which she gets up and feeds Jesus and the disciples giving them the energy and strength and power to heal all the sick and all those possessed of demons.  Surely Jesus’ presence changes us, surely his presence changes the world.

How wonderful that the Gospel shows us many epiphanies of Jesus to the people of his day.  I believe this prepares us to receive the epiphanies God gives to us in our own day.   Jesus has shown himself to the world in these manifestations.  After healing Peter’s mother-in-law Jesus goes out to “heal all the sick and those possessed with demons.”  If we reflect on the portion of  the Gospel of Mark we have talked about today, it seems to me that Jesus is particularly present in the actions of teaching, healing and freeing.  Now, as then, Jesus heals us and frees us from the chains that bind us:  physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and then teaches us how to live a new life of freedom and trust.

Jesus heals us in many ways: the power of the holy spirit directly, the wisdom and knowledge given to physicians, therapists, and other health care professionals, medication developed for physical, mental and emotional diseases and disorders, and the love and prayers of friends and family as well as our own faith communities.   I share with you two stories of healing which changed my life and my faith.

Many years ago, when I was serving as a priest in New Orleans, I was in the hospital to be with an 80 year old, dying man and his wife.  These were two wonderful people whom I had come to love, and who had been married for well over fifty years.  The husband, who had been a Roman Catholic (this is important) was in a coma, dying of kidney failure.  I cautiously asked the wife if I could anoint him for healing, explaining that healing sometimes meant leaving your pain behind and going to be in the “nearer presence of God.”  She agreed, and she held her husband’s hand as I anointed him and prayed that God would heal him, even if that healing was his earthly death.  Before being anointed he was agitated and anxious and not at peace at all.  After I anointed him he squeezed his wife’s had, relaxed his entire body and simply died.  Later, out in the hall, the wife looked at me and asked if I had seen what happened. I said that I had and she told me that she truly felt God’s presence in their lives in that moment.  I too felt God’s presence in all of our lives, God’s manifestation, God’s showing, God’s Epiphany.

The next incident was the first “healing service” we held at St. George’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans In the late nineties.   Believing that God desires our healing and having a liturgy in our prayer book for healing, the worship team decided to add a healing service once a month during our regular worship time on Sunday.  The genesis for this was the presence of a young woman in our congregation with breast cancer.  I had asked her if she would like to be anointed for healing during worship.  She replied that she had been anointed in her former church in Florida and would like for St. George’s to do this as well.  If you know the history of this sacrament in the Episcopal Church, you know that it is usually done on a weekday at an inconvenient time and that less than a handful of people participate.  When I introduced the sacrament, I explained that people were invited to come up to be anointed for healing:  for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing.  The wording of the invitation changed the whole perception of this wonderful and powerful sacrament.  From a practical standpoint, we were also blessed to have two priests and a deacon to assist with the anointing.  To my surprise, three-quarters of the congregation come for healing.  After the anointing for healing, when I moved back to the altar to begin the Eucharistic prayer, I was so spiritually and physically drained that It was very difficult to complete our worship.  What happened that day was best described by a member of the congregation who told me afterward that it felt as if a “bucket of Peace” had been poured on her head and had run down her body to her toes.

That may well have been the most powerful experience of the presence of the risen Christ I have ever had in my life.  This continued to be a monthly epiphany that changed the congregation and brought us all into the presence of God.

These are just two examples of how Jesus the Christ manifested himself in us in ways that changed us and then sent us out into the world “rejoicing in the power and the presence of the Holy spirit.”

The Holy Family, Our Holy Families

The Holy Family, Our Holy Families

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. . . . After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:15-21)

Jesus was raised in a family because it is the only way any of us can grow to be fully human, much less, perfectly human.  Even as “Son of God, Son of Man," Jesus did not come into the world with the full knowledge and wisdom of a full grown adult, much less with the full knowledge of God.  He had to develop physically, morally, emotionally and spiritually at each stage of his life.  So when we hear the words from the beloved second verse of Away in a Manger:  “The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.”  We should probably assume that we are looking at art and not child rearing. 

Jesus’ growth to maturity took place in the context of a human family.  The author, Ann Rice, after her re-conversion to Roman Catholicism wrote a very interesting and thoughtful novel, The Christ, Out of Egypt.  The book is a modern day midrash, an imaginative expansion, of the Biblical story of Mary, Joseph, Jesus and their extended family moving from Egypt back to Nazareth after the death of King Herod.  Along the way Jesus hears stories from his mother and father, aunts and uncles about his birth and the stories tied to that birth about shepherds and wise men and blessings in the Temple.  In this book, Ms. Rice helps us to think about Jesus’ budding understanding of God’s purpose for him in this life and of what this means for him and for the people in his life.

Jesus and his family suggest a pattern for us and our children and grandchildren.  The Christian family can also be the context in which we grow to physical, mental , emotional and spiritual maturity.  This is true in our personal families as well as in that entity which we at times refer to as “our church family.”  Though at times comparing a church or a congregation to a family can open us up to some of the same pathologies that other families have, it can, in fact, give us a useful way to see ourselves in relation to God and to other people.  St. Paul in his letter to the church at Galatia says that “Christians are adopted as full sons and daughters of God.” (Galatians 4:4-7).  This would make us all God’s children and brothers and sisters with one another and with Jesus, suggesting that God has no grandchildren, but only children.  This is actually a very healthy way to look at what it means to be in right relationship with God and with each other.  We are all brothers and sisters and therefore all members of the same family.  I believe that this applies not only to those of us who consider ourselves to be Christians, but to all who see themselves as children of God and related to the rest of God’s children on this planet of over seven billion souls.

Paul goes on to state that “we are heirs and family members in the Kingdom of God.”  As members of the Kingdom there are opportunities open to all of us.  We invite others to hear the good news of God’s love to us; we share with them about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and our part in that mystery.  We hope and pray for the restoration of peace and justice in the world and between people and nations who are estranged.  We have the opportunity to assist those in need of food, clothing and shelter, whether they are or ever become members of our or any other Christian community in the world.  We do this without regard to race, creed, color, national origin or legal status in this or any other nation.  The fact is, Jesus’ Mission was NOT to make Christians of all people, BUT to feed, cloth, shelter, liberate all people, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

So, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people.  This new year, this time of new beginnings may well provide a wonderful opportunity for your family, your congregation,  to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and all people.

As we begin this journey together, "May the Lord bless us and keep us, may the lord make his face to shine upon on us and be gracious to us, may God lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace.” (Numbers 6:22-27)

Resurrection—Mystery—Dreams—Mystery

Resurrection—Mystery—Dreams—Mystery

Greg Cory and I were friends for four years before his untimely death on February 1, 2010.  We will, in fact, always be friends, because as our faith teaches us, even in death life is changed, not ended.  Greg was a retired Air Force Police Officer and Dog Handler who actually served eleven of his Air Force years in Minot, North Dakota, and loved it (I never understood that).  After leaving North Dakota, Greg finished his career as a recreation specialist.  After retirement from the Air Force, Greg became a Pastor in the United Methodist Church.  When I met Greg, he was serving a church in Selma Alabama and a year later retired medically from full time ministry and moved back to Wetumpka with his wife Pat, a member of Trinity Episcopal Church where I was Rector.

At 39 years old, just after Greg retired from the Air Force, he had a massive heart attack.  His life was saved because he happened to be in the Emergency Room at a local hospital when the attack occurred.  (He was there for chest pains).  After a great deal of rehab, Greg was able to study to become a licensed Methodist Minister and serve God and the world in that way for many years.

When Greg and Pat moved back to Wetumpka he and I started playing golf together and with other friends, and eating lunch together and “solving the world’s and the church’s problems together.  Greg had a wonderful understanding of the world and of God and of people, including me.  At times, I believe he knew me better than I knew myself.  Often when I got stuck in my work as a priest and preacher, a conversation with Greg would get me back on track.  When I had tough decisions to make, Greg was a good listener and an objective counselor.  I can safely say that Greg Cory was one of the best and most faithful friends I have ever had in my life and I miss him tremendously.

On January 28, 2010 Greg and I played golf with two other friends and then had lunch together at Aw Shucks, a local oyster house.  We even got Greg to eat ONE oyster.  The first he had ever eaten.  The next day, Friday, January 29, Greg came by Trinity Episcopal Church to take me to lunch at Smokin S Barbecue for one of their real, honest to goodness hamburgers.  We had a great visit and then came back to the church, where Greg, whose sense of humor was interesting to say the least, asked my secretary, Shauna Baker, “what she was going to do when her job ended in two weeks?”  Greg thought it was funny; Shauna almost had a heart attack and then almost murdered me before I could explain that Greg “was living in his own little world. 

On Monday, February 1, Greg’s wife Pat called me at 4:00 a.m., as both her friend and her priest, to let me know that Greg had stayed up late to watch the news and apparently had another heart attack and died peacefully sometime during the night.  Lynn got up with me and we immediately headed to Pat’s and Greg’s to be with her, to pray for both of them and with both of them in this most holy and saddest of moments in human life.  Greg was 54 years old.

Two months later, I was walking “the lonesome valley” of Holy week with the congregation of Trinity Episcopal Church.  We were sharing the very human drama of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, his celebration of the Passover, his betrayal and his crucifixion.  As we entered Good Friday, one of the holiest and most mysterious days of the year, walking the Stations of the Cross and sharing in the Good Friday Liturgy I approached one of the most difficult times in the life of a preacher.  The preparation of a sermon that would proclaim the mystery of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection in a way that would touch the hearts of people and preacher, and that would not be an explanation as much as it would draw us into the mystery of “the dream of God.”

As I drifted off to sleep on Good Friday evening, knowing that on Saturday I would be preparing my sermon for Saturday night’s Great Vigil of Easter, and Sunday Mornings two celebrations of the Easter Resurrection, I had no idea how I was going to present and proclaim this mystery and this Good News!  And this is when God or Greg or both gave me this dream.

Shauna, my secretary, and I were sitting in my study trying without much success to deal with some very difficult conflicts that were going on at the church.  As we continued to run into roadblock after roadblock, Greg walked into the church, as he often did, and asked if he could join us.  We invited him in, shared with him what was going on, our frustration and our hopes and dreams for Trinity and our inability to get past the many issues we believed were holding us back.

Greg listened quietly and thoughtfully.   Then gave us his thoughts and ideas and told us he truly believed that everything would work out.  Greg then asked me for a ride back to his home.  As I drove him home, the location changed from rural Wetumpka to a much larger city (as dreams often do) and I let Greg out of the car at a downtown cul-de-sac so he could walk to his apartment.  I thanked him again for his help, he assured me again that all would be well and turned to head for home.  Just as he walked away, I called to him and said, Greg I need to ask you a question.  He turned toward me and said sure, go ahead.  I said, “Greg, your dead aren’t you?” and he smiled that wonderful smile of his and said, yes.

When I awoke, I knew that Greg was right, that all would be well, that the people of Trinity would be fine, that Shauna would be fine, that I would be fine and that with confidence I could preach the Mystery and Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of the Kingdom of God!

Beans, Rice and Blessing

After I retired on April 1, 2011, I was privileged to be invited to serve at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Anniston, Alabama during Holy Week and Easter of this year as well as a few weeks prior to Holy Week and a week during July of 2011.  I met some really wonderful people who love their Lord and had a passion for ministry and mission to the people of their city and their neighborhood.  St. Michael’s is located in a “Blue Collar” neighborhood which has been greatly affected by the economic recession of 2007 and 2008, the affects of which continue to trouble our nation to this day.  Unemployment in Alabama is still over nine percent.  Construction work, which employed a significant number of men in our state, is down and many families are reduced to one or even no income.

During my time at St. Michael’s, I was invited by many people (especially Pam Roberts, Harvey Roberts and Bette White) to participate in a ministry they were calling their “Beans & Rice Ministry.”  Pam and Harvey learned of this ministry from Trinity Episcopal Church in Clanton, Alabama, where this small church had been making a difference in their community for several years.  Finally, eight months after my first invitation, I was able to participate in this “bridge” ministry (as Harvey calls it) which St. Michael’s began during this time of economic crisis in our nation and our world in September 2010 in response to the command of Jesus Christ to feed the hungry.  Harvey refers to this as a bridge ministry because it bridges the gap between the time people run out of money for food and the time they receive their next check, whether pay check or disability or social security or some other source.

This past Saturday I left my warm bed at 4:45 a.m. to brew and ingest enough coffee for the two hour trip to Anniston.  I arrived at St. Michael’s just a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. in order to participate in the hour and a half or two hours of bagging and boxing of the food in preparation for distribution to those who would come to the church between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon to receive it.  As Harvey and Pam got us started, I had a real sense of “organized (sort of) chaos.”  Everyone appeared to know what their jobs were and what needed to be done in order to be ready to serve their “guests” by 10:00 a.m.  There were over thirty volunteers there, bagging rice, bagging beans, putting cans of vegetables and sacks of flour into bags, preparing bags of fruit, baking potatoes, and sweet potatoes; and, at this special time of year, Christmas candy and ornaments were also available to be given as a special treat for children and adults alike.

A little before 9:00 a.m., all of the volunteers held hands forming a circle around the food, and prayed that God would bless the gifts, as well as those who gave and those who would receive the gifts.  By 9:30 we were ready for the crowds.  We took a deep breath and prepared ourselves for the giving of the food to those who came looking for a blessing, both spiritual and physical, in the name of Jesus.  Two-thirds of the recipients were from the neighborhood in which the church is located.  Others came from all over the community. 

The doors were opened at 10:00 a.m. and within the first thirty minutes, 145 people, representing as many families, came through the Parish Hall and received food that will help them make it through the end of the month.  Between 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon, another 73 people showed up bringing the total families served to 218. 

As stated earlier, St. Michael’s began this feeding, caring ministry in September of 2010, knowing that there were many people in the neighborhood and the larger Anniston area who had been and continued to be affected by the economic downturn in our country and in the world.  The idea for this ministry was introduced by Harvey and Pam Roberts, who very soon were joined by over thirty members of St. Michael’s who gather once a month to put together the donations of food and the food purchased by the donations of money in hopes that the church can make a difference in the lives of people in their local community.   The parishioners at St. Michael’s have taken seriously Jesus’ command to feed the hungry among us, knowing that if they “have done it unto the least of these, my brothers and sisters, they have done it unto Jesus.” 

In addition to the people who volunteer their time to this life changing ministry, many among them as well as others make donations of food items and/or cash contributions in order to help purchase additional food.  As a “visitor,” to St. Michael’s, I feel that I have been honored and blessed to be a part of this ministry and to see the giving hearts and spirits of these wonderful people who give selflessly of their time, talents, and money to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve.  I am humbled by the invitation I received to participate in this ministry and even more humbled by the realization that the people who received the gifts that were offered in the name of Jesus, also gave a blessing to us as well.  I cannot put into words all the flood of emotions that I felt as I worked side by side with people serving God and their neighbors.  I can, however, say that it brought new meaning to a song that I learned in Sunday school so many years ago:  “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” 

So, thank you Pam, Harvey, Bette, and all my new friends at St. Michael’s for inviting me to participate in this wonderful ministry.  When I see God’s people living Jesus’ great commission, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself”, then I know that we, as people of God, will make it through this difficult time in our world’s history, restoring peace and justice to our world and sharing God’s blessing with one another, today, tomorrow and forever.

Blessings and Peace,

Ben Alford

Man—Woman—Birth—Death—Infinity

Man—Woman—Birth—Death—Infinity

(Television’s Ben Casey, 1961-1966)

Reflections after the Burial and Celebration of Life of My Friend, Johnny Harvey

(1944 - 2011)

There are times in life when we as human beings actually slow down and think about and reflect on the things that are really, really important.  The death of a friend is one of those times.  This past week I spent time at the Wetumpka Nursing Home with friend, Johnny Harvey, who was dying, and with his wife Carolyn.  Johnny had been seriously ill for a year and a half, with many, many bad days and thankfully, some good days as well.  He alternately had infections and times free from infection, times of lucidity and times of confusion.  Through it all, Carolyn and his family and his friends, both from Trinity Episcopal Church and from outside Trinity stood by him and prayed for him.  We also stood by Carolyn, and she by us.  Carolyn was a beacon of light and God’s presence among us during these times that were so difficult for Johnny and for her.

On Thursday as Carolyn and I prayed for Johnny and anointed him with Holy oil for healing, many thoughts and feelings passed through my mind.  Healing, by the way, often means a peaceful death and a perfect rest in the nearer presence of our Lord.  This was certainly true in Johnny’s  case.  As we sit in the presence of a loved one who is dying, the first realization is that we can do nothing.  It is enough to be there, to hold our dying friend’s hand and for those of us keeping vigil, to hold on to each other.  This can certainly be a time for tears, a time for laughter, a time for sharing memories and a time just to sit and be quiet.  The second century B.C. preacher says it best.

3For everything there is a season, and a time for

every matter under heaven: ² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; ³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ⁵ a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away; ⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; ⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3)

When we gathered on Tuesday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wetumpka, Alabama to celebrate Johnny’s life and funeral I, and I am sure, many others opened our hearts and souls to the many feelings that had been washing over us the past few days.  I thought about Johnny and Carolyn and their love for each other, and about their children who love them even though their lives have taken them far away.  But, I also reflected on the people in my life who have changed me and pushed me and loved me and even those who have hated me, because they all helped to make me who I am and to make me stronger.

I thought about my forty year marriage to Lynn and the trials and tribulations we have been through together and about the good times.  I thought about my feelings for me son, Seth, who lives too far away to see on a regular basis and how much I love him and how proud I am of him.  I felt the presence of my parents: my dad who died way to young and how much I miss him.  I thought of my mother who I am blessed to still have in my life, who is 88 years old and lives only two and one-half hours away and what a blessing it has been to live close to her these past five years after living so far away for so long.  I also thought about my three brothers and many wonderful friends who have made a big difference in my life and many of us have actually gotten to know each other as real people just in the past few years.

One of the strongest feelings that swept over me in these past few days has been that of life as a gift from God and the people in our lives as gifts from God as well.  Having said that, what really touched my heart is how important it is for us to live every minute of every day to the fullest.  The greatest promise Jesus ever made to us was that “I come that you might have life and have it to the fullest.”  Life to the fullest, life in all its abundance, life as gift, life in relationship with God and God’s people, this is what we are called by God to do with what we have been given.  To borrow from Robin Williams’ character in the movie, “Dead Poets’ Society,” ‘Carpe Diem,’ ‘Seize the day.”  This day is the only day we have.  We do not know how many others there will be, so love long and hard, give and receive unselfishly and “live life to the fullest!”

I close with the words from a tape of Johnny singing at his daughters wedding.  This was played before the gospel at his funeral.  What a powerful statement of the love of the man who sang it and of the presence of the Holy Spirit in all of our lives.  Thank you Johnny for being our friend, and for teaching us how to live.  “Rest in peace and may God’s perpetual love be with you always.”

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The Rose:

Some say love, it is a river,
that drowns the tender reed,
Some say love, it is a razor,
that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger,
and endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
and you, it’s only seed.

It's the heart, afraid of breaking,
that never learns to dance,
It's the dream afraid of waking,
that never takes the chance.
It's the one, who won't be taken
who cannot seem to be,
And the soul afraid of dying,
That never learns to live!

When the night has been too lonely,
and the road has been too long,
And you think, that love is only,
for the lucky and the strong!

Just remember, in the winter,
far beneath, the bitter snow,
lies the seed, that with the sun’s love,
in the spring, becomes the
Rose..