“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.”—Pamela Haines
The journey from Easter to the Ascension and Pentecost invites us to consider and to spend time with Jesus and his teachings. When you consider that Easter is an invitation to a deeper life and not simply a ritual to be remembered and celebrated each year, it can challenge and transform you. However, we must be willing to open our hearts and our lives to the possibilities and the challenges.
In last week’s reading from 1 John 4:7-21 the author talks about what selfless love looks like. In the opening verse, we read: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (verse 7) In the gospel reading from John 15:1-8, Jesus reveals that he is the vine and that we are the branches. Our purpose as branches is to produce much fruit. What is that fruit? I believe the fruit is centered in love. God’s love for us, our love for God, and our call to love one another.
This week the gospel reading from John 15:9-17 continues the theme of what this call to love looks like. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (verses 12-13) This love that Jesus is talking about is not self-absorbed. It is the sort of love which asks us to look beyond ourselves and considers our neighbors. Is this sort of love easy? In a word, no. For whatever reason, humankind’s first response it to take care of our own needs first. The desire for self-preservation is strong and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can be when the focus is selfish and self-serving.
During my last two assignments with the Air Force, I worked closely with the Air Force Special Operations forces. The motto of these “Air Commandos” was both simple and complex. “These things we do that others may live.” A great deal of their mission involved search and rescue along with other battlefield missions. The Para Rescue Commandos (PJ’s) were specifically trained to be inserted into a situation where a military member needed rescuing and medical care. Their first objective was to care for the wounded or injured military member. The second objective was for the rest of the air crew to safely evacuate the wounded to a place of safety where they could be medically treated.
When I was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, one of our units assigned to the base was a rescue squadron. One day, they were alerted to an unusual mission. A civilian had made their way to the edge of the Stratosphere tower (like the Seattle Space Needle) and was preparing to jump. At the last minute, the realization of what they were doing struck them and the individual changed their mind and didn’t want to jump. The problem was, how do they get away from the ledge. The rescue helicopter lifted off from the flightline and made its way to the Stratosphere. The winds were up and the conditions were not exactly favorable. The helicopter hovered as the PJ was lowered on a cable to the edge of the tower. The PJ was able to secure the individual and they returned to base after completing the successful rescue operation. The entire mission crew had a single focus. The focus was on saving the life of a fellow human being who was in danger. They didn’t ask why the person did it. Instead, they responded to the mission as they had been called to do.
I had the opportunity to serve alongside of Air Force Special Operations Command rescue personnel during my deployment to Afghanistan/Uzbekistan and during my last two assignments in the Air Force. Were these Air Commandos superhuman? No. They were highly trained military personnel They weren’t superhuman but they were dedicated to something greater than themselves. These things we do that others may live.
So, what does this have to do with abiding in love? In John 15:1-17, Jesus uses the phrase “abide in me” or “abide in my love” ten times. The Greek word for abide is “menó” which means to stay, abide, or remain. It doesn’t mean stay with me until things get rough and then run away. This means staying with someone through thick and thin. Jesus would live out the meaning of “abide with me” from the cross. After the resurrection, Jesus lived it out as he came to the disciples and loved them even though they had abandoned him on the night when he was betrayed.
Denise and I drove to her hometown of Florence, Alabama on Friday to attend the celebration of life for the mother of two dear friends of hers whom she had known since high school. It was a good day which included spending a few hours with her dad. Instead of staying in a hotel as we had planned, we drove back to Carrollton that night. It was a long drive and we were tired. As we rolled in just after midnight, we were happy to be home. Our house… the place where we abide… the place where we find comfort and rest… our home that we love!
When we are invited to abide with Jesus, to abide in his love, we are invited to a place that is safe and secure. However, we are not called to remain in that cocoon. That place is where we find nourishment and replenish our spirit before we go back out into the world to share the love of God in Christ with all whom we meet. Abide in love… abide with Jesus… from there we can and we must go forth and reach beyond ourselves as we seek to follow the command to love God and love our neighbor.
“So, I hear Camus asking me, ‘In the midst of this murderous world, what do you choose?’ And my answer is, ‘I choose life. I choose active nonviolent resistance to all forms of violence, all forms of oppression and exploitation, all the inhumane forms human beings treat other human beings.'”—Piero Falci
We want to be seen, to be known, to be loved as the work in progress that we really are
Our Longing for Friends
A wonderful blog from Malcolm Guite!
The 8th of May is the feast day of Julian of Norwich, sometimes known as Mother Julian or Lady Julian. She was an English Mystic of the late fourteenth Century, living as an anchoress in Norwich. Her life as an anchoress, finding Christ in isolation, and then finding that Christ transfigured that isolation into a communion of love, has been an inspiration for many in the current lockdown.…
Icon of Julian with her cat by Br Robert Lentz OFM
The 8th of May is the feast day of Julian of Norwich, sometimes known as Mother Julian or Lady Julian. She was an English Mystic of the late fourteenth Century, living as an anchoress in Norwich. Her life as an anchoress, finding Christ in isolation, and then finding that Christ transfigured that isolation into a communion of love, has been an inspiration for many in the current lockdown. Her ‘Shewings’, or Revelations of Divine Love, a series of mystical visions of and conversations with Jesus, remain a source of profound wisdom and a gift to the church, present and future. For a good introduction to her work I recommend Julia Bolton Holloway’s website, she is herself an anchoress in Florence, and Robert Llewlyn’s classic work ‘With Pity, not With Blame, now reprinted by the Canterbury Press.
This poem…
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The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It was a long day of driving but well worth the trip
To spend time with friends who are family
To remember and celebrate the life of their mother
To share hugs and quiet presence
Lord, thank you for your guidance on the long trip home
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
As I consider the wonders of Your creation, Lord
Your Spirit speaks to my heart and soul
Words of encouragement and strength
Words of courage and peace
A Sabbath calling to Be Still
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Thirty-five years ago this month, I graduated from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (UTS) with a Master of Divinity degree. Fifteen months later I began my first call as a Presbyterian Church (USA) Minister of the Word and Sacrament. Two friends and classmates of mine from UTS will retire in October from active ministry after a combined sixty-years of ministry (thirty years each). That announcement made me pause and reflect on my own years of ministry. This past Sunday I was installed as the Designated Pastor of Carrollton Presbyterian Church in Carrollton, Georgia having already been serving here for nine months. This is my third call following my retirement from the USAF after 21 years of service. When I think about where God has led me over these past 35 years I am amazed. The picture above is from Bury St Edmunds in England which was near my duty station, RAF Mildenhall where I was the Wing Chaplain (senior ranking chaplain on the base and on the Commander’s staff). It was a challenging and incredibly rewarding assignment.
I continue to be surprised, challenged, and encouraged as I seek to live out my vocation now as I was when I began my first call in two, small, rural churches in West Central Minnesota in 1987. I have learned a lot about leadership from a military perspective, and more importantly, from a servant-leader perspective as I continue to respond to God’s call in my life. I know that I am older (trust me, my body with its aches and pains reminds me each day that I am not the young chaplain that I was years ago), but thanks to the Spirit’s continued presence and leading, hopefully I am also wiser than that young chaplain!
Today I found myself reading and reflecting on Thomas Merton’s thoughts about vocation in his book, No Man Is an Island. Reflecting on his own calling and vocation as a Trappist monk at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani outside of Louisville, Kentucky, Merton wrote the following about his own call.
Each one of us has some kind of vocation. We are all called by God to share in His life and in His kingdom. Each one of us is called to a special place in the Kingdom. If we find that place we will be happy. If we do not find it, we can never be completely happy. For each one of us, there is only one thing necessary: to fulfill our own destiny, according to God’s will, to be what God wants us to be. (p. 131)
My prayer for each of you, dear readers, is that you hear and respond to that call of God in your own life. She will guide you in discerning and following that call just as She guided my mentor and brother Thomas Merton. In that calling, whatever it may be (our calling is as unique and as individual as each one of us is as a child created in the image of God), may you find contentment, joy, and happiness.
“Now is the time we must shake off the great mantle of night which has enveloped us, and reach for the light. The new day which is dawning must find us determined, enlightened, and resolute.”—Frantz Fanon
| Verse of the day I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war. – Psalm 120:7 |
| Voice of the day And when the pain of gun violence begins to overwhelm me, I remember nature, that it groans with us and sings with us. Even the rocks cry out. – Cassidy Klein |
| Prayer of the day Guide us in the path of discipleship, so that, as you have blessed us, we may be a blessing for others, bringing the promise of the kingdom near by our words and deeds. – From Revised Common Lectionary Prayers |
