Earth Day 2008

Earth Day was yesterday, and my mind has been busy thinking about our relationship with the earth, and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Our Book of Common Worship has a wonderful prayer in it, written by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky:

Lord, may we love all your creation,
all the earth and every grain of sand in it.
May we love every leaf, every ray of your light.

May we love the animals;
You have given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
Let us not trouble it;
let us not harass them,
let us not deprive them of their happiness,
let us not work against your intent.

For we acknowledge unto you that all is like an ocean,
all is flowing and blending,
and that to withhold any measure of love
from anything in your universe
is to withhold that same measure from you. Amen.

I must confess that I have some difficulty putting my heart into this prayer as it relates to mosquitoes, poison ivy, and viruses, but I also must confess that my understanding of all the ways God’s world works together is a mystery to me. I am challenged to remember always that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it; the world, and those who live in it.”

Iraq Misson Update

As Christmas grows closer, I have received word about some of the gifts that you have shared with Iraqi families as part of the humanitarian mission of Aaron's MiTT (Military Transition Team) at KMTB in Iraq. I would like to say thanks to all of you for your support of this wonderful effort, and would like to share this message from Capt. Galus, a member of the MiTT about it all:
"We have been accumula- ting supplies from back home for many months now and all the donations were put to good use earlier this month! Thank you very much to you and all the members of your church that sent out so many wonderful donations. The school supplies were invaluable and the children at the school loved them. We were able to make small kits of school supplies, toys, and candy for 400 children at the school. The Iraqi Army helped us to assemble and sort through the supplies and then delivered them to the children. For one day at least, they were heroes in the eyes of their countrymen . . . We would of course appreciate further donations. We don't know if we will do another Humanitarian Mission before we leave, but for sure if you do pass along donations, we will be sure to pass it along to the next team so that they can continue this kind of good work that pays off for us over here in Iraq. School supplies are great and anything for children such as toys and candy. Thank you again for all your contributions. We really appreciate it and it is motivating knowing that there are so many fine Americans back home that really do care about what happens abroad with the troops and needy people of the world."

Joy to the World! The Lord is come! May you all have a blessed Christmas, and journey into 2008 as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ!

Advent Time Warp

It is the Monday after the second Sunday in Advent, and I am looking forward and backward at the same time. I am also experiencing the phenomenon that occurs every Advent and Lent, when I am planning a long series in advance--I don't know "when" I am! With all four weeks of Advent, Christmas Eve, and on into January swirling around in my mind, I am unsure what today really is! Perhaps that is helpful as I reflect on the eschatological passages in scripture that are "up" each week in the lectionary.

As a human, time-bound person, I sometimes struggle with the concept of eternity. Just how long is that? And in periods of Advent waiting, just how long do we wait for God to bring in the peaceable kingdom promised in Isaiah and the Gospels? When will the Lord return again? It's hard to be patient.

In one of C.S. Lewis' Narnia books, the lion Aslan asserts: "All times are now." Maybe that is what eternity is--the now and then and not-yet all merged into the "eternal now." Not know which week of Advent it is may just be my own silly glimpse into that reality. My question, then, is how do I live in that eternal now? I'll be pondering this as I prepare for Sunday's sermon, whichever week this happens to be!

Roaming Again

This afternoon I finished spending three days at the PC (USA) Moderators' Conference in Louisville, KY, for those who have been elected to serve their presbyteries or synods as moderators. It's been an outstanding experience, and I feel privileged to have met, worshiped with, and interacted with folks from all over our denomination, as well as our denominational leadership. I realized this afternoon, that, although my sabbatical is long over, I am still roaming, sometimes physically, but always spiritually.

God is leading, always, but I am always on the journey. So I have decided to take up the pen (or the keyboard) as the saying goes, and resume my blog. Perhaps it will be particularly significant--at least to me--for the upcoming year as I learn what it means to be Moderator of the Presbytery of the Peaks. Perhaps it will just be theological or spiritual wandering.

Last time I blogged, I invited you to listen. Now I invite you to respond, if you like. Reflect with me on the ways God moves in our lives.

As the old hymn goes:

"O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above."

So here I go, roaming again, but bound to God in Jesus Christ.

Countdown

Dear Friends,

We are in the "home stretch" of the sabbatical now, and I am turning my thoughts toward our ministry together. Doug and I spent last week traveling--first, with my parents after the latest round of Dad's chemotherapy; then with Chris (our son) and his wife, Heather in Raleigh; finally with Aaron and Mary in Chester, VA, where Aaron is stationed for Captain's School at Fort Lee. We worshiped with the saints at Chester Presbyterian Church Sunday, and met with the Music Director/Organist and the Chair of the Worship Committee after church. It has been such a great experience to spend time with Christians all over the Southeast. People who are involved in planning worship have been greatly appreciative of the opportunity to "talk worship." This is such a central part of our life as followers of Jesus--everyone seems to want to talk about about how we can worship in a more authentic and engaging manner.

This week, I will be getting ready to be back to the "usual" at Northside. I can't wait to hear from you all about what has been hapening in your lives since I have been away. I hope you will all come by to get me up to date. I'll be back in my study on Monday, August 28, and back in the pulpit Sunday, September 3. I have so much to tell you all!

See you in a week!

Peace,

Linda

Home, sweet home

Dear Friends,

Our week at Massanetta Springs is over, and it was outstanding in many ways.

First, the music! The adult, youth, and children's choirs, and the handbell choirs made me so thankful that God has given us music, and voices and gifts with instruments to praise God with, and to delight our senses with the beauty of melody.

Second, the preaching! So many excellent preachers opened God's Word to us during the week.














Finally, the HEAT! With temperatures reaching 97-98 degrees from Monday to Thursday, we literally melted in the un-air-conditioned Hudson Auditorium every morning and evening. It surely takes great love of music to stand jammed together in a very large choir and sing with fervor!

I hope you enjoy these pictures from the week, thanks to some of the dedicated photographers snapping photos during our events.

We are home now, and hopefully will have a quiet week of catching up on laundry, household chores, and a visit from a very special friend from Florida.

Grace and peace to you all,

Linda

Having a Hot Time!

Dear Friends,

The Massanetta Springs Conference Center's Music and Bible Conferences are interesting and fun, but we feel like boiled shrimp in the heat! We have been in the upper 90's most of the week, and Hudson Auditorium, the site of all the preaching, is not air conditioned. We've been roasting as members of the congregation, but my heart goes out to the folks who are leading--the preachers, worship leaders, and the choirs! They have to work hard in the middle of all that heat! Yesterday, the new moderator of General Assembly, Joan Gray, met with us to discuss the meeing in June, and current issues facing the church.

It has been nice to see several of our hometown crowd here: Liz Allen (who is on the Music Conference planning team), Constance and Quinn Hull, Ann Marie, Sylvia, and Maria Conner, and Ann Marie's mother-in-law, Jackie. We've had a little mini-reunion. It shows me how much I miss you all.

Sunday we worshiped at Trinity Presbyterian Church, and met yesterday with their worship committee chair and parish associate, Polly and Jim Cushman. Their church structure is very different--they use house churches to structure the mission, study, and fellowship of the church. Today I meet with their pastor, Ann Reed Held. I think the people in that church are the absolutely FRIENDLIEST people I have ever met! I can't even describe how much they went out of their way to welcome us after worship. Dick Bethune is a member of that congregation, so it was nice to see him, too.

We will be here for a couple more days, and then head home Saturday. I am ready to be at home for a while.

I pray that you are all well, and that Christ is empowering the church's mission and ministry to continue during this long, hot summer. It is only a few weeks until Doug and I return to your midst, and to the time when we "crank up" for the Fall.

Grace and Peace to you all,

Linda