Category: Kim’s Blog

In recent months I have had a series of acute structural health problems that have been extremely annoying. The last one was, according to my doctor, a “wry” neck. I simply could not turn my head and it felt like I was being stabbed in the back lower left quadrant of my skull. The pain was so bad, I told my husband, “If I was standing on the Skyway bridge, I would jump.” During the office visit with the doctor she looked over my chart: Tendonitis in the fall. A knee problem in January. The “wry” neck in February. After recounting these recent health issues, she looked at me and said, “This is how it is.” The implication was that from now on, I should just expect an acute, life-disrupting, painful structural physical problem every few months. I am 53 years old and live an active life. I cannot accept that, “This is how it is.” I am very grateful that I don’t have any severe health problems or diseases or conditions, but I still can’t accept that these minor “breakdowns” will keep occurring for the “duration.”

Our faith calls us to hope and dream and work for better things. We believe people can change. We expect society to change and become more just and peaceful. We have faith that the environmental crisis can be reversed. We work for healing and wholeness in individual lives, communities, and the life of the world. Our Christian faith is a religion of hope. We never give up on anyone. No one and no situation is beyond transformation and conversion. That is the dream at the heart of Christianity. Again and again Jesus reaches out to those whom society and religion have given up on. He does not give up on anyone, except maybe, the religious leaders.

Tomorrow is an election day in St. Petersburg and the surrounding area. It is a special election to fill the seat of Congressman Bill Young who died recently. A low voter turn out is expected. It’s a one time election with just the one contest, so not many people are expected to participate.

As Christians who believe in change and transformation, voting is one way that we have to make an impact on the wider world. It is an opportunity to act on our hopes and dreams for our life together as a society. This does not mean that we want to impose our religion on others, but it means that we want to involve ourselves in society in ways that serve the common good and voting can do just that.

Not only will I vote tomorrow, but I will also work at the polls because I want to be sure that everyone who wants to work for the common good has the chance to do so.

Prayer: We are grateful that we live in a country and a community in which we have the power to work for the common good. There are many ways that we can help make life better for others. May our involvement in the community be guided by what is best for all. Following the example of Jesus, may we be especially aware of serving the needs of those who are poor and outcast. In the spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.

As I write this, Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 is still missing. There are more questions than answers about what happened to the airplane and the 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Two days have gone by and there are no conclusive explanations about the missing flight. Every moment must seem like eternity for the families and loved ones of those who were on board. Experts say it may take months or even years to determine the fate of the flight. This kind of not-knowing can be agonizing for those involved.

The truth is, we don’t do very well with unanswered questions. We don’t like inconclusive speculation. We pretty much hate to wait for the facts. We like the answers and we like them sooner rather than later. Even if it is bad news, we would rather have the facts than languish in the unknown. The adage, “No news is good news” is no longer accepted to the degree that it once was. It seems the more we know, the less we like the unknown.

We see this trend in religion. Through the ages, religion, in its many expressions, has embraced a fairly high degree of mystery. There have been many unknowns associated with religion. God was largely defined as mystery. When inexplicable things happened, they could be attributed to the mystery of God. As the human community has advanced in terms of science, technology, and understanding of the world around us, humanity has come to expect more conclusive answers. And this desire has spilled over into religion. People want religion to have conclusive answers as well. We see this in the rise in fundamentalist expressions of all religions. It is very clear in the conservative/fundamentalist expression of Christianity in America. There are churches that will gladly give you most of the answers to life’s questions, whether you ask them or not! While people seem to want answers from their religion, many scientists find that the more we find out, the more questions there are. So the mysteries keep unfolding and compounding. It may be easier to find a scientist who will say, “I don’t know,” than a church goer willing to say, “I don’t know.” In centuries past, people of faith readily admitted, “I don’t know,” and were accustomed to attributing the unknown to the realm of God.

These days of Lenten exploration are an opportunity to ask ourselves how we feel about mystery. What degree of mystery can we accept with our faith? Can we feel comfortable saying, “I don’t know”? To feel comfortable with mystery involves a high degree of trust in our faith and in God however we may define God. To embrace mystery involves giving up control. We may discover how controlling we are by considering how willing we are to accept mystery.

Jesus and other religious figures of stature embody the ability to accept a high degree of mystery. When we know that Love is the center, the reason, the reality of existence, then our fear of mystery melts away. May we increase our ability to accept mystery this Lenten season.

Prayer: The season of Lent invites us to ask many questions that may never be answered in this life. May we learn to trust God, the author of Creation, the source of Love, so that we can live with an ever greater degree of mystery in our lives. We seek to be grounded in God so that we may be truly free to live with mystery and ambiguity. We share our compassion and concern for the families and loved ones of those on the missing airliner. May they know the embrace of Divine Love. Amen.

Thanks to the generosity of the Florida Orchestra, teachers may attend concerts with a guest for $10 each. Since my spouse is a teacher, we go to most of the Masterworks Concerts. This is something that we enjoy and look forward to. It is often the highlight of the weekend, after going to church, that is!

It is amazing to see this group of people join together to create a masterful performance time and time again. When we go to the concerts, there are the musicians on stage doing their part. But for the experience to be complete, the audience must also do their part. If I am really tired or distracted, I have noticed that I don’t fully appreciate the performance. But when I am attentive and concentrating on what is going on, it is enthralling.

When it comes to preaching, we are taught that what the preacher does is only part of the preaching event. The congregation is also needed to participate by being attentive and engaged. It takes energy from both parties for the experience to be uplifting and illuminating. This is similar to the dynamic with the orchestra.

Often worship is portrayed as a kind of spectator event. The pastor and musicians, etc. put on a performance for the congregation. There is some audience participation but mainly there are the performers and the spectators. It can be thought of like an entertainment event.

I think there is another perspective worth considering. When we gather for worship, we are all participating. We are all taking part. It is as if leaders and congregation and musicians and others are the different sections of the orchestra all working together to create a dynamic experience. And what, then, of the audience? God is the audience. God is the observer, the watcher, the spectator, the recipient. We all come and participate for God’s pleasure. So when you come to church, in whatever capacity – congregant, liturgist, usher, teacher, parent, preacher, driver – you are invited to be there for God. To perform your part for God. To be engaged and participating for God’s delight. You are needed to play your part!

See you in church.

Prayer: We are used to being entertained. We like to be served. We are so often spectators. This can be a passive role. May we remember that when it comes to worship, all have an active and vital role to play. May we work together to create an experience that is enthralling to God each and every Sunday. Amen.

Lent is a time to reflect on temptation. Remember Lay’s potato chips? Nobody can eat just one?

One of the scripture lessons assigned for the beginning of Lent is the Genesis story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden where the snake entices the eating of the apple. (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7) Well, how can you blame them, that snake was sly and crafty. He got the best of them. It’s the snake’s fault. Or should Eve be the one held responsible? After all, we are told that she gives the apple to Adam. Is it all about Eve? First she gets duped by the snake and then she leads her lover astray. But what about Adam? We are told that he was with Eve. So he witnessed the wiles of the snake. Did he stand his ground against the snake? No. Adam knew where the fruit came from and that didn’t hold him back.

When it comes to temptation, there is always the temptation to blame someone else; put the responsibility elsewhere. There was a pastor, and this is a true story, who was being examined for charges of sexual misconduct in his parish. In explaining one incident, he told how a single woman who was a member of the church had asked him to pay a pastoral call. The arrangements were made. When he got to the door of the apartment where she lived alone, she answered the door clad in a scanty negligee. In he went. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. In telling the examining committee about this, he said, “What was I supposed to do?” He felt this was her doing and he had done nothing wrong. He did not think that he was responsible for what occurred. He just went along with the wishes of one of his parishioners. He did not think he really had any viable alternative. “Turn and run,” came to my mind.

There will always be temptations. We will be tempted by people to do things we know are wrong and hurtful. We will be tempted to overeat and drink. We will be tempted to be sedentary and not take care of our bodies. We will be tempted to accept the status quo even when that involves endorsing oppression. We will be tempted to do good things for the wrong reasons; reasons that are self-serving. We’ll be tempted to abuse the earth with our consumption and lifestyle. We’ll be tempted to betray those we love in some way. We will be tempted to ignore things we should take responsibility for. Take a moment to think about what kinds of things have tempted you or are tempting you.

So, how do we respond to temptation? The tradition of giving up something for Lent is a way to practice resisting temptation. It is way to develop discipline. And as we get better at resisting small things, we work our way up to resisting big things. It’s like exercise. If you take up running, you don’t start with a 10 mile jog. You build up to that. Or think about learning to play a musical instrument. You start with easy, basic songs and gradually work on harder and harder music. Lent is a time to build up our ability to resist temptation.

Another strategy for responding to temptation is to keep yourself busy doing good. There’s that old expression, “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.” If you are suitably occupied helping others and praying and active in church and giving yourself to the common good and taking delight in creation and the arts, well, then there’s less room for temptation to creep in.

Whatever temptations we are facing, we want to remember that WE are facing them. We are responsible. We need to choose what we will do. We need to exert discipline and self-control. No one else is going to do it for us and no one else can be held accountable for what we choose to do.

Prayer: There are so many voices calling out to us and tempting us away from the abundant life that we are offered through Christ Jesus. We pray to have ears to hear the voices that assault us and to be honest with ourselves about our circumstances. We know that we need to take responsibility for our lives and not blame others for the mistakes we make. May we forgive ourselves and others for giving in to temptation. May we use this season of Lent as a time to grow in our discipline and self control. Amen.

What are you giving up for Lent? Is it food-oriented? We discussed some of the implications of giving up something food related for Lent yesterday. Today, we follow up on that theme.

I have had people tell me they are giving up sweets for Lent. Someone mentioned giving up desserts. Someone else mentioned junk food. Someone else I know is going “raw” for Lent eating only raw food that has not been cooked. There is a whole raw food movement. If this is new to you, you many want to look it up online. It is quite interesting.

I have known people who have given up smoking for Lent. Or drinking. Others have taken on an exercise regime for the season. One year, someone at church gave up TV for Lent.

I have never heard of someone giving up vegetables for Lent. Or fruit. Or water. Or exercise. When we give up something for Lent, it is usually something that will make us more healthy. It is doing something that is good for us.

The season of Lent is a time to focus on our spiritual lives, to grow in our faith and our relationship to God and the human community near and far. We undertake a Lenten discipline toward this end. If we give up a food, it is not because we want to diet or lose weight, but because we want to deepen our spiritual awareness. Attending to our spiritual life promotes our well-being and our highest good. As we become renewed and refreshed and re-centered we can better serve the common good. The point of Lent is to grow in the grace and love that we see in the life and death of Jesus for the good of the world.

So while we are giving up candy or beer or meat for Lent, we are reminded that we are giving something up ultimately for a greater good. So, what else could we be giving up for the greater good? Racism? Sexism? Ethnocentrism? Consumerism? (Anyone giving up non-necessity shopping for Lent?) Dependence on violence? Arrogance? Privilege? Exclusivism? What do you think we need to give up that will ultimately benefit the common good?

Prayer: In this season of Lent, may we pay attention. May we notice the implications of what we think and do. May we look for deeper meanings. The death of Jesus was ultimately to serve a greater good. May our spiritual growth this season enable us to make sacrifices which serve the common good. Amen.