Category: Kim’s Blog

My phone would not stop ringing on my computer. It’s not a typo. It’s what happened. My cell phone was ringing. The battery was low. I was working on my laptop and something popped up on my laptop screen indicating that I had a phone call and I could answer on my computer so I tried it. I was connected with the other party and we could see each other. But my laptop kept playing my phone ringer tune over and over. I tried everything I could think of on my laptop to stop it. No luck. Surely it would stop after a minute. No. After 5 minutes. No. After 15. No. The ringing just kept going and going. I turned off my phone completely. And my computer kept on ringing.

When I was finished with the call on my laptop, I called my daughter on my phone to find out how to prevent that problem in the future. She has a similar phone and laptop, so she is my tech consultant. She was in a coffee shop. I explained what happened. She was repeating it back to me. Somewhat in disbelief. Then she told me, “Mom, just a minute. A man here in the coffee shop is telling me about what went on with your phone.” She came back on and told me that it is a bug in the latest software update. It will be fixed in the next update. In the meantime, if it happens, hang up and call the person back. Then my phone/laptop won’t ring.

I thought this was amazing. A random stranger, over a thousand miles away, with no connection to the situation, and without being asked, constructively contributed to an understanding of my problem. Beautiful. This is how the world should work. People helping each other. Working together. Open to the needs around them. Constructively contributing.

But so often, this doesn’t happen because we are closed. We think we know what we need to know so don’t avail ourselves of new perspectives. We think it’s not our business so we don’t get involved. We decide our help is not wanted so we don’t offer. We cling to fixed ideas and are not open to new solutions or explanations.

If there is no opening, then peace cannot get in. Love cannot seep through. Justice cannot make any headway. Lent is a time to cultivate openness. To new possibilities. To new perspectives. To new approaches. To new futures. Maybe God is calling and the ringing won’t stop until there’s a connection.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 107:1-16
Isaiah 60:15-22
John 8:12-20

Prayer: May we respond to God’s creative, constructive, connective universal love. Amen.

Amidst the shamrocks, corned beef and cabbage, leprechauns, and drinking, you may not hear much about St. Patrick on his feast day.

When he was a teen, living in Britain, Patrick was captured by pirates and taken as a slave to Ireland. There he was forced to tend sheep for six years. During that time, his faith in God grew and he felt that God led him to leave Ireland and return to Britain which he did. He was educated and trained to serve as a cleric in the church and then returned to Ireland voluntarily as a missionary to introduce the people there to Christianity.

While in Ireland, Patrick did not accept money from wealthy nobles or kings. Because of this, he was not under anyone’s protection. He did not want to be beholden to anyone. This made him extremely vulnerable. He was robbed, beaten and held captive. He certainly suffered for his service to the church in the name of Jesus Christ.

After learning more about St. Patrick, the feast day in his honor seems like it should be one of fasting and giving of alms rather than drinking and revelry.

How will you commemorate St. Patrick’s Day?

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 107:1-16
Numbers 20:1-13
1
Corinthians 10:6-13

A Prayer attributed to St. Patrick upon escaping an attack at Tara:

At Tara today in this fateful hour,
I place all heaven with its power,
and the sun with its brightness,
and the snow with its whiteness,
and fire with all the strength it hath,
and lightning with its rapid wrath,
and the winds with their swiftness along their path,
and the sea with its deepness,
and the rocks with their steepness,
and the earth with its starkness:
all these I place, by God’s almighty help and grace,
between myself and the powers of darkness.

From Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community, p. 350.

Many Christians believe that God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sin as human beings. The idea is that human beings are sinful. We cannot atone for that sin on our own. Nothing we can do is enough to make things right with God. So God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice that placates God for the sin of all humanity. Jesus pays the price that we cannot pay. And without that payment, humanity is consigned to eternal suffering and separation from God.

There are many problems with this construct. What about the story of Abraham and Isaac which is seen as God putting an end to human sacrifice? What about the testimony of the prophets in the Hebrew scriptures in which we are told that God does not want animal and grain sacrifices from humans but what God desires is our devotion to justice and compassion? What about the stories and teachings attributed to Jesus that completely undermine the image of God as an accountant or score keeper? And then there are all of the images and teachings that show us the generosity of God giving us far more than we could ever imagine. This just doesn’t seem like a God that would demand payment, compensation, restitution, or reparations.

In addition, this idea of paying God off must be mediated. If God needs to be appeased and Jesus made the sacrifice on our behalf this arrangement has to be overseen and implemented. Who is covered by this payment? How is it decided who qualifies to be saved under this arrangement? This gives the church an incredible amount of power. And the church is people. People who have to contend with self interest, and control issues, and the lure of power. This sacrifice for our sins concept has been used by the church to keep certain people within the good graces of God and to keep other people out of the good graces of God.

The payment for our sins arrangement is based on a God that is an account keeper. That has to be appeased. That wants the score settled. This system leads to people created in the image of that kind of God. People who keep accounts. People who expect to be appeased. People who want the score settled. That kind of model for humanity is absolutely at odds with the portrayal we have of Jesus in the New Testament and of God throughout the Bible.

God’s love is freely given and unconditional. We have only to accept it and let it have sway in our lives. And we will receive more that we could ever ask for or imagine.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 107:1-16
Exodus 15:22-27
Hebrews 3:1-6

Prayer: May we accept that the Divine Love at the heart of reality has no strings attached. Amen.

Yesterday was International Pi Day. Yes, pi, not pie. Pi is the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle. Any circle. Every circle. Circumference divided by diameter is always pi.

As we learned in high school, pi is a number that goes on forever. It has been calculated to the trillions of digits thanks to computers. The short version we learned was 3.14. The next two numbers in the calculation are 15. So this year, International Pi Day fell on 3/14/15 making it extra special.

If you don’t think pi really matters to your daily life, think again. Pi is used in engineering to design buildings and bridges that are solid and every earthquake resistant. So, chances are you benefit from the use of pi in engineering.

Pi is also used in calculating electromagnetic waves. I don’t know anything about them except that they make wireless communication possible. So, thanks to pi we have smart phones.

Pi is even mentioned in the Bible. Here’s the reference. I Kings 7:23. Check it out!

So we are actually benefitting from pi each and every day without really being aware of it. So, here’s to Pi Day which reminds us of what pi does for us.

And maybe this says something to us of God. Are we aware of the influence God is having in our lives and in our world each day? Now there’s something else to celebrate. Everyday!

Lectionary readings for today:

Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21

Prayer: May we be aware of the powerful, loving presence of God at work in our world and in our lives every day! Amen.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. We are finally having our kitchen redone. One drawer was broken. The door came off one cabinet and could not be put back on. The oven no longer worked. The color was worn off of the formica counters. Etc. So, we are redecorating. And at every turn, there are decisions. The appliances. Gas. Electric. Induction. Convection. The cabinets. The knobs for the cupboards. The counter tops. The style. The colors. The material. The light fixtures. Halogen. Compact fluorescent. LED. The size of the island. The shape of the island. The sinks. The faucets. I have looked at hundreds of faucets in person and on line. How do you choose? If there were three to pick from, I would have no problem. But there is so much of everything. And, thanks to the internet, it’s all available.

This is the case with so many things in our lives. We have more choices than any other generation before us. The diversity and range of our options can be a source of wonder and delight. It can also simply be overwhelming.

When we are overwhelmed with choices, we can shut down and do nothing. With so many church options, we can conclude, “I can’t decide where to go so I just won’t go.” We can take the path of least resistance. “That’s the closest store, so I’ll go there.” Even if it is more expensive, or won’t let the employees unionize, or isn’t part of the Fair Food agreement. We can simply go with the status quo. “All kids have video games, so I’ll let my kids have video games.” We can do what we have done in the past. “I’ve always owned a Ford, so I’m getting a new Ford.” We can simply join the crowd. “A majority of married people have affairs, so what’s wrong with a little fun on the side?”

The overload of options can lead us to act blindly and not be aware and thoughtful about what we are doing and the consequences. There are many references in the gospels to blindness and darkness. The message is not seeing clearly, not looking deeply, not living with ethical compassion.

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that with more options, we have more opportunities to choose the good and to do what is right. The bad news is the number of choices and options we have will continue to expand.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Numbers 20:22-29
John 3:1-13

Prayer: May we live deeply and thoughtfully guided by the compassionate spirit of Christ. Amen.