Living Witnesses

From The Hermitage at Cedarfield's 2015 Lenten devotional, April 2, 2015:

 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

 

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 

- Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV)

 

I keep several reminders around of my baptism: a certificate, blanket, and dress. But more important is the constant reminder of God’s grace:  the grace that comes from a voice that calls me “beloved,” that constantly tells me I am “chosen” and marked by God’s love. That’s the true meaning of our baptism: God’s grace is with us throughout our entire journey of faith, through good and bad, and in return, we are called to be faithful disciples and examples of Christ’s love to the world.

 

From the moment of his baptism, Jesus came up from the water a changed man.  He was a man on a mission, a man bent on bringing the message of an intimate, merciful, liberating God to all people.  He took on this mission, knowing that it would cost him his life.  We’ve been given the same mission. Are we living witnesses to the power of our baptism?

 

This day and every day, dear God, help us remember the truth of our baptism: we are claimed; we are chosen as your beloved; we are empowered to step out in faith to make a difference in the world.  Equip us, God, for the mission.  Amen.

 

My baptism, April 1961, with Granddaddy "Lefty" Harrington, me and my Dad, Mom, and Grandmother Harrington

 

The next generations, Sara and Cael, with Mom today, April 3, 2015

Emitting Positive Thoughts

From Shady Grove UMC - Glen Allen's 2015 Lenten devotional, What's Your Story?, April 2, 2015

 

“Yahweh’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it.”

(Psalm 145, Eugene Peterson’s The Message)

 

I entered graduate school at VCU in 1983 with a small, diverse group of students.  We were all sure we could rid the world of injustice and hurt as professional social workers.  Eight of us had the same classes together that first term, spending 6 hours a day, 2 days a week together.  The other three days of the work week, we completed internships in state offices around Capital Square and met for lunch each Friday. 

 

Bill stood out in our group.  A Vietnam veteran serving other vets, he was a true free spirit:  long blond hair, 1960’s style clothing, and alternative world views. I admired Bill for his lack of conformity and his spirituality.  During one of our lunches, someone asked for prayer for a family member.  I clearly remember Bill’s response.  While others offered their prayer support, Bill said he would “continually emit positive thoughts” for the person. Maybe Bill’s words have stuck with me because his understanding of prayer seemed so very different from mine.  It wasn’t what I learned from family and church. But if you think about it, doesn’t Bill’s description define what prayer truly is?

 

In 1742, John Wesley published a pamphlet titled “The Character of a Methodist” which listed qualities of the Methodist life.  One reads: “Methodists pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Even when they are not in a church or on their knees in private prayer, they continually walk with God (1 John 1:7); and their hearts are ‘ever lifted up to God, at all times, and in all places.’”

 

My prayer life is a continual walk with God.  Sometimes that constant communication comes with closed eyes and head bowed.  Most of the time it doesn’t.  Sometimes it’s done corporately in a beautiful place of worship.  Other times, it’s in the sacred space right where I am at that moment.  My prayer is in each song I sing and each step I take. How we pray, where we pray, and why we pray are very personal, reflecting our individual understanding of who and what God is.  Despite our differences, prayer connects us to God and to one another.  This Lenten season and always, may our lives be rooted in prayer for one another, for our church, and for our world. 

 

Bill (looking professional with hair styled and cut), Christmas 1983

 

Fall of 1983 (Meredith friends please note the "Class to Bee" sweatshirt.) 

 

 

 

 

Another Lent, Come and Gone...

Tonight was the final night for our Lenten small group at Shady Grove based on Mike Slaughter’s Renegade Gospel study.  We were just beginning when I wrote the last blog entry.  At that point, I was making a commitment to myself to be better at posting than I had been since starting my new job.  Well, another Lent has come and gone, and my commitment lasted about as long as the ashes that didn't get imposed due to the snow on Ash Wednesday.  The blog posts never got written, but the Holy Spirit has been at work in mighty ways trying once again to teach me important lessons. Some of the things I've learned in these 40 days of Lent:

• Young adults and Boomer generation folks are more alike than different when it comes to attitudes about church.  Whether you're a "NONE" or a "DONE," a new believer of young age or old, we have a lot to share and teach one another.  And I look forward to continuing the conversations that have been started.
• Relationships are so vitally important across every age and life situation.  During Lent one of my disciplines has been to write  notes to folks to tell them the difference they have made in my life, to say thank you, or just to tell people I was thinking about them.  I've spent time listening to and writing stories of people I had not met until the last 6 months.  What a rich experience that has been!  (You'll see two of those stories in the May Virginia Conference Advocate.) I've shared wonderful times of fellowship with friends.  All have reminded me of the connections that our faith brings to and nurtures in our lives.
• I've realized that not everyone who comes to church knows the words of "Jesus Loves Me" and that makes me sad.  For 14 years working with Camp Rainbow Connection, I must have sung that little song 100 times a year.  I recently was with a group of about 30 where only 2 could sing along with me on the first verse and chorus.  Draw your own conclusions about how we "mature" Christians have failed in teaching that little understanding of God's love to others.
• You never move away from or outgrow your roots.  I walked into a meeting a two weeks ago in the Danville District and was greeted with "You're not Martha Stokes. You're Martha Ensley."  That same week I was sharing with clergy in Williamsburg that when I was little,  my cousins on Fire Island, NY used to put me on the ottoman in the living room as soon as we got to our relative's house to visit and say, "Now talk," just to hear my accent.  One of my VUMH co-workers quickly added, "She doesn't realize it but we do the same thing in the office."  I've even had the chance this Lent to try to explain to a Bishop from The Philippines how you make true southern pound cake, including the fact that you have to be very still and quiet in the house while the cake is in the oven - otherwise, you're the one in big trouble if the cake falls.  The real fun in that experience came after my description of a pound of sugar and a pound of butter going into the cake when the Bishop took his first bite of a very sweet brown sugar pound cake and said, "I understand what you mean."  And then last night I found myself telling a clergy friend who may be headed to the Danville area not to be surprised if, at the sign of first cough, a gift of a "moonshine toddy" appears at the parsonage door with a note indicating that it will cure all ills.

God has continued to amaze me during this Lenten season - even down to the fact that I submitted writings for two different Lenten devotions which oddly enough are in both booklets for the same day: tomorrow, April 2.  So...for tomorrow and Friday, hopefully I'll get those two devotions posted here.  But if not, God must have had something else in mind to teach me.