Sharing Faith at Home

On Wednesday evening, November 1st, beginning at 7:30, we will begin our discussion of what it is to live a life of faith at home as a family. To helps us learn and live into forming our children's lives of faith (and shaping our own as well), we will use Elizabeth Caldwell's book Making a Home for Faith: Nurturing the Spiritual Life of Your Child.

Whether or not you can read the first few chapters before then (the book is available from Amazon and copies will arrive via Cokesbury in the Church office this week), we will begin our discussion by focusing on Caldwell's list, "What Every Parent Needs to Raise Faithful Children." She believes every parent should be able to do the following:

1. Read a story from the Bible.

2. Tell a Bible story.

3. Deal with children's questions.

4. Pray (privately and publicly).

5. Take some time daily or weekly for personal meditation.

6. Ask faith questions.

7. Struggle to understand and interpret affirmations of faith while balancing a life of faith in

mission and witness and being faithful in meditation, Scripture reading and prayer.

8. Explain the meaning of the sacraments and the liturgical year.

9. Struggle with language for God.

10. Become familiar with the basic beliefs and practices of other faith traditions.

11. Regularly participate in adult education.

12. Be layleaders in worship.

I don't know about you, but the list seems overwhelming. Seems like you would need a full seminary education to do this, doesn't it? It is rather daunting for any of us, but it is not beyond the realm of what any one of us can do. As you ponder these items this week, identify those practices you are already doing. I'll bet you have some practice of private prayer already - even if the prayer is just of the "Help Me, Lord!" variety as the bathtub overflows. Most likely, you are struggling like the rest of us to understand the affirmations of faith and balance a life of service, witness, prayer, study and reflection!

Some of the other pieces are harder. Not all of us were raised in a faith tradition and we may not know the biblical stories. If we know the stories, we may not know how to find them in the Bible or how to figure out where the ones are that we maybe heard in Church once upon a time.

We may not know what to say when our children ask us questions. And it is hard enough to understand our own United Methodist faith traditions, sacraments and the liturgical year, never mind have enough knowledge of other faith traditions to share them with our children.

All of this is perfectly normal. Not only are our children's lives of faith in process, so are our own.

Christian formation - what John Wesley called "being perfected" - is a life long process. Getting the process "perfect" is nowhere near as important as being in the process and trusting God's grace to do the work of perfecting. And as with anything else in Christian life, we are not asked to do this work alone. We have other Christians to share our struggles, our triumphs and our questions with as we grow into the image of God we are called to be.

SO . . . please bring YOUR experience to this class. Even if you haven't read the first few chapters of the book, YOU ALREADY KNOW the questions. As we begin what I hope will be an on-going conversation, please think about what you need to be better prepared to share the faith at home with your children. How can we help each other become more confident Christian parents? What specific topics would you like to know more about? What support do you need from the Church to help you share faith at home? Please come as you are, where you are in your life of faith. And if you aren't able to attend, post a comment to this blog with your questions and concerns. One of the best parts of being a Christian is that we are never on the journey alone!

Grace and peace,

Elizabeth

Happy New Year!!!

Although the secular calendar recognizes that the New Year begins on January 1st and the Church celebrates the new liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent, those of us with children or who work in academia or in the Church School KNOW that the year really begins in September!!

The Christian Education Commission, the Pastors, the teachers, the Club 67 mentors, the God Squad mentors, the CornerStones leaders and I have been preparing for the 2010-2011 program year. A LOT is happening at SUMC this fall!

Church School begins on Sunday, September 19th. With a growing Church School, we are adding two more classes this fall so that our children are in age-appropriate learning settings with the proper student-teacher ratio. This is GOOD news, but means that we need additional teachers, not just for the Fall, but for our Winter and Spring sessions. We still have several openings for the Winter and Spring and an urgent need for two more leaders for our Pre-K/Kindergarten class and one more teacher for the 2nd &3rd grade class. You can sign up on the CE bulletin board or by emailing drelizabeth@sudbury-umc.org.

Our Club 67 group (our 6th and 7th graders) needs additional mentors. This group meets on Sunday mornings during Church School time. Leadership of this group rotates monthly and has worked well with a couple leading each month. We have only one team of mentors signed up thus far. If you are interested in exploring this chance to get to know and work with some of the most energetic and enthusiastic members of SUMC, please let me know!

Our CornerStones adult education program begins on Sunday, September 26th. We have a full slate of offerings that will challenge both mind and heart. Classes range from Healthy Eating to learning about the history of United Methodism in the United States to Pastor Joel's ever-popular Disciple I class (meeting on Monday nights beginning September 13th) - and everything in between! Please check out our CornerStones brochure for more details and information on offerings, leaders and times and let me know if you would like to sign up for a class or two!

With our Youth Coordinator on medical leave until October 1st, our God Squad mentors have continued their fabulous work with our 8th -12th graders! The full schedule for the year -along with pictures and souvenirs of the June Mission Trip to Pennslyvania - can be found on the SUMC Youth bulletin board outside my office. Offering fun, fellowship, service and faith exploration, our God Squad rocks!

The beginning of the year is a BUSY time, but our purpose is not busyness for the sake of being busy. United Methodists are called to bring both our heads and our hearts into our relationship with God. Worship and Christian Education are two sides of the same coin that over time form us into the people God calls us to be. It is important for each of us - as individuals and as parents - to take a step back from our busyness and search out the space and time for worship and Christian education so that we grow evermore into the image of Christ to which we are called.

The Staff, the Christian Education Commission and our teachers, mentors and leaders all look forward to deepening our relationship all ages of the SUMC congregation and with Jesus.

Grace and Peace,
Elizabeth

Musing on Justice

I have been preparing for tomorrow's Children's Moment at the same time I have been doing some curriculum research and reading on deconstructing racism for an adult education class next February. The text for the Children's Moment is Micah 6: 6-8: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."

This is a familiar passage and lots of sermons and homilies have been preached upon it. But this time around, I am having a hard time with how 21st century Americans understand justice with the way the Scriptures understand justice - and I am particularly struggling around how we convey the difference to our children.

Americans have a mental picture of justice - the blind-folded woman holding the balanced scales. We are given to understand that justice stands above us- impartial - adding to or subtracting from each side until the scales balance. And once equilibrium is reached, the problem is solved. And we feel better.

But this NOT how the Scriptures tell us God views justice. God's justice is most definitely NOT blind: God sees the plight of the widow, the despair of the poor and the hungry, the pain of the exile and the homeless. The very first thing God's justice requires of us is that we take the blindfold off and see the dynamics of human relations for what they are; disordered, destructive and well beyond the power of fairness to fix. And once we have seen human relations for what they are, we are called not only to mitigate the damage already done; we are called to engage the powers and principalities so that we change the dynamics toward those of the Kingdom of God.

As I read through anti-racism materials, this is far easier said than done - and in all honesty, we prefer it that way. It is hard to admit that well-intentioned though we are, we are part and parcel of the unjust systems that allow some to prosper and others to barley subsist. Doing God's justice, we must LOOK at ourselves and the society of which we are a part and then having SEEN, we must CHANGE ourselves and the society in which we live. The task is daunting.

We aren't the only ones who fail to understand what God is asking of us. God's people from the very beginning fell into the trap of thinking "justice" means "just us." Cautioned by God to remember that they too had been slaves, the prophets over and over reminded the people of Israel that fairness wasn't the standard. The people were to remember the pain of what it felt to be slaves in Egypt, hungry in the desert, exiles in Babylon and not perpetrate the same upon anyone else. God's people were called then - as they are now - to change the way they lived so that there would be a place for everyone, plenty for all and so that each and every human being would be able to live out being made in the image and likeness of God.

This is pretty heavy duty stuff - and it will take us a long time to wrestle with it as adults dealing with racism in adult education. I have time and wise counsel to help me plan for that. The real question is how I am going to manage to convey this to our children in five minutes or less tomorrow morning. Come to Church tomorrow and see how it turns out.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

When Morning Guilds the Skies . . .

There is a hymn that begins, "When morning guilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, may Jesus Christ be praised!" (UMH #185). As I drove to SUMC this morning, I found myself singing that hymn.

It takes me about 35 minutes to head down 27 from my home to the Church. Most mornings when I come to work, I have just fed children and cleaned up the kitchen, gathered up my work materials and dashed into the car worried about traffice and if I have time to stop for coffee. But this Sunday was a bit different. I am on the road early on Sunday morning - I usually am in the car by 6:30 or so- and the morning was cool with no humidity and the promise of a bright blue sky. I found myself noticing just how green and lush the trees were (even though the lawns are in pretty bad shape), how bountifully abundant everything seemed in the increasing light. And suddenly I found myself singing and praising our Creator God.

We have just spent a week in Vacation Bible School celebrating the awesome nature of God's creation - from supernovas to "this fragile Earth, our island home" (Book of Common Prayer). It was a fun and busy week and I spent most of my time anticipating what needed to be done next to make things go smoothly for our children and volunteers. I didn't do much praising, never mind NOTICING just how awesome the creation really is!

My drive in this morning was a wake up call of sorts - a chance to simply BE in the presence of all that God has made and marvel at it. I wonder how many of you (particularly the Moms out there) are like me. There is just SO much to be done each day and not enough time to do it. I am never actually IN the moment that is happening right now; I am always anticipating, planning and making the next moment happen.

But that isn't what we are called to as followers of Jesus. We are taught to pray, "Give us THIS day our daily bread," to be like the lilies of the field "neither toiling nor spinning." Rather we are to relish, celebrate and reflect the goodness and the glory of God at all times.

The Bhuddist monk Pema Chodron writes, "This moment is the perfect teacher." I was reminded of that this morning as I was driving to work. Present in the moment, I was taught-again- to notice, to give thanks, to praise God for all that IS in the moment which is happening RIGHT NOW.

Children are often the best at helping us to practice this moment being the perfect teacher. Particularly during the summer months, they notice more than we do the way the light plays through the leaves of the trees, how ants can carry more than their body weight, the juiciness of a fresh, ripe berry and the delight of being in water. They live in the NOW and their joy in it can help us to remember that us grown-ups were also created to experience the delight of the creation, to know ourselves as part of it and to live in relationship with the One who caused it to be.

I hope your summertime includes lots of moments in the RIGHT NOWwith children!

Grace and Peace,
Elizabeth

Vacation Bible School

The Praiseship Galatic Blast lifted off from Sudbury United Methodist Church at 9:00 AM EST this morning. It is a much anticipated and long-prepared for mission! We began our planning back in January. After worship yesterday, our enthsiastic Mission Command Staff and I spent several hours turning our Chapel and Church School space into the flight deck of the Galactic Praise and outer space.

Our first day went well - the usual hitches; everything took a bit longer than we thought on the first day. We had one bumped lip on the playground and one child in the wrong grade. But we sang, prayed and made crafts together and explored the wonder of our Creator God as we heard the story of the Creation.

Vacation Bible School holds such an important place in my own faith journey. My Nana Windsor ran the three-town Vacation Bible School in her tiny corner of Vermont. From the time I was in the third grade until I graduated from high school, I taught the kindergarten class with my Nana. I did not know it at the time, but my vocation was being formed in those summers. VBS programming was no where near as neatly packaged and glitzy - we developed our own curriculm from the Bible and our projects consisted of mostly papertowel rolls and clothespins, but somehow, the love of God I experienced there found its way into my soul and sharing the biblical story of God's love for God's people became my life's passion and work.

It is hard when we sit down with children - most of whom are unknown to us -for a week of exploring together. As teachers and leaders we wonder just how successfully we will convey the story, what the children will learn and what they will remember. We feel RESPONSIBLE for how well it goes. And we should take our responsibility as teachers of the faith seriously, but our job is only to plant the seeds. God is responsible for the harvest - and we may NEVER know how the faith stories of those we meet this week will turn out.

But because story is such an important means of teaching and learning for me, I want to share one with you of my VBS experience growing-up with my Nana. There was a year when our theme was the Book of Daniel. We had this one little girl in our group who was an absolute TERROR. She was loud, she was uncooperative, she was downright rude in places. She interupted, wouldn't sit till and was disrepectful. We all wondered why she was there and how she could possilby get anything out of the experience.

The biggest story of the week was the tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel Chapter 3) who were thrown into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar. At our end of the week performance for the parents, we asked the children to tell us the names of these men. And at the top of her lungs, our TERROR shouted out,"Shadrach, Bushwack and Amigo." Well, it got a laugh from the parents, but my Nana and I were despondent figuring we had done our job badly.

Many years went by. My Nana died and I officiated at her funeral. As I was greeting folks after the service, a well-groomed woman with three children came up to me. I didn't recognize her as family and she seemed young to be a friend of my Nana's, but she smiled and said, "I am sure you won't remember me, but I was in your VBS class many years ago and it changed my life. I fell in love with God. I went to seminary and became a UCC Pastor and my children are being raised in the Church. I never got the chance to thank your grandmother or you." I replied that I was so glad and would she please tell me her name. She laughed, "My name won't mean anything to you, but do 'Shadrach, Bushwack and Amigo' give you a clue? We dissolved into laughter as we hugged each other. And I could feel my Nana smiling down from the heavenly choir.

You just never know what will happen to the seeds you plant!!!

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Bringing Our Gifts to the Altar

For me, the highlight of this morning's " Christian Education Sunday" was the children leading us in song. Perhaps because some of my earliest Church memories are singing with the choir (I sang in the Choir from the time I was in the 1st grade until I started doing my professional work in the Church which doesn't leave me free to sing with the Choir on Sunday mornings!), children's voices lifted in praise goes right to the core of my being.

Singing is an important part of worship - especially for Methodists. The Wesley brothers wrote over 2,000 hymns; singing to God and of God is our heritage. But standing up front and leading songs of praise as our children did this morning is NOT about performing. When anyone leads worship through prayer, praise, song or preaching, they bring the gift of themselves to the altar. When we offer ourselves and whatever gifts and talents we have, we give our gratitude to the God who made us and who delights in us.

This is an important lesson for all of us to learn. We live in a society that constantly tells us we can never be perfect enough. We feel ourselves being constantly judged. Worship is a TOTALLY different way of being. God asks only that we bring joyful hearts and the intention to offer ourselves to praise God and to be in service to each other in worship leadership. Children are some of the best teachers we have when it comes to learning what it is to be joyful in God's presence.We can be fidgety, not know the words, and forget what we are supposed to be doing. God isn't keeping track. But God IS smiling at our presence, clapping along with our joy and finding us pleasing simply because we are loving God back.

It is a lesson that cannot be learned too young. And a lesson about which we are never to old to be reminded!

Faithfully,

Elizabeth

Ordinary Time

The Season After Pentecost which begins after Trinity Sunday (today) is sometimes referred to as "ordinary time." It is "ordinary" because the weeks that follow are not associated with a specific liturgical season such as Lent or Epiphany. There are no over-arching themes for these weeks of the Church's year which makes them "ordinary." The liturgical color for the Season After Pentecost is green - and because this season coincides with Spring and Summer in our hemisphere, it has often been connected to growth in the Christian cycle. It is also a long season, lasting until Advent begins again.

Lessons each Sunday focus our attention on our relationship with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and one another, and on the Church and its mission. As the season often coincides with our vacations, it is also a season where we can reflect on the gift of time God gives to each human life.

Time is something we pretend we are in control of in the post-industrial West. We think about "managing our time," "making good use of our time" and "not wasting time." We are busy people, families and communities. But as much as we feel we are in control of time, time still remains God's, not ours.

Jeremy Taylor, an early anglican divine wrote:

"There is too little time to purchase great wealth, to satisfy the pride of a vain-glorious fool, to trample upon all the enemies of our just or unjust interests; but for the obtaining of virtue, for the purchase of sobriety and modesty, for the acts of religion, God gave us time sufficient."
- Jeremy Taylor The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650)

"Ordinary time" is the perfect time for us to reflect both on how we use time and how we can simply be in time. We are so busy most of the year pretending we control time that we forget that we have allowed time to control us. The slower pace of the summer months gives us times of refreshment - times to "be" rather than "do." I love to just sit on the beach and watch the waves roll in and out in their timeless fashion. As the days lengthen, I find myself more drawn to watching the sunrise or the sunset, to simply sitting still and breathing. I don't have to look for God the way I do when I am flying from task to task, but sitting still and letting the ancient rythyms of the creation envelop me, God finds me. I am easily in touch with the incarnate Jesus who fills my soul without my searching for him. All I have to do is stop managing time and, instead, be in time.

So - I invite you to join me in ordinary time, doing ordinary things and finding the rythym of the holy so close that all we need to do to find it is breathe.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Hooray! it's Pentecost

When we think of the major Christian festivals, Christmas and Easter are at the top of the list. We tend to forget about Pentecost which is one of the three most important celebrations of the Christian Church - we wouldn't be a Church without it!

We celebrate Pentecost on Sunday, May 11th this year (the date always changes because it is fifty days after Easter)On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples, giving them the power to preach, teach, heal, serve and love in Jesus' name. The Holy Spirit's presence within us and among us is how we are empowered to do the same.

The Holy Spirit can be hard to explain to young children. It is a more an intangible "thing" than a concrete object. The Holy Spirit is like the wind - we can't see wind, we can only see the leaves it blows. The Holy Spirit is like the wind. We can't see it, but we can see what it does. When we see someon caring for another person, cleaning up litter in the park or sharing a kind word, that is when we see the Holy Spirit in action.

"Spirit Bubbles" are a Pentecost tradition in my house. On the Day of Pentecost, when we celebrate the power of the Holy Spirit among us, my children and I head outside after Church with our bubbles and we blow them. As the bubbles rise on the wind, we offer up our prayers for each other and those we are worried about. We shout out our thanksgivings and laugh together. And then we finish with this prayer:

I am an Alleluia!
I am a Wonder!
The gifts of your Spirit, O God, make me so!
With these gifts, I can live your life, Jesus.
I can be fully alive!
Amen!

So this Pentecost, I invite you to share in our tradition. Head outside with your bubbles and shout your praise to God together! And be sure to wear red to Church on Sunday! Red is the color of the tongues of fire that came upon the disciples as the Holy Spirit descended on them and it is a color of passion in the Church. So wear your red to Church and we will be a living, breathing representation of the Spirit!

Happy Pentecost!

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Little Known, But Not Lesser

The Easter Season is full of what the Church traditionally has called "mystagogy" - explorations of the mystery of the Church. We talk about a great many things during the Easter Season - the experiences the disciples had meeting the risen Jesus, what life is like for Peter and Paul as they begin create the foundations of what becomes the Church, etc. We talk about Baptism and what it means to be born again in Jesus through water. But we tend to skip right over Ascension.

Ascension Day falls on the 40th day after Easter and the actual day was last Thursday. But today is "Ascension Sunday" on the United Methodist calendar. On Ascension, we celebrate Jesus taking his place "at the right hand of the Father." Jesus in his risen, but still human form, ascends to Heaven to be with God. This reminds us that we, too, will rise to be with God one day.

One Jesus has ascended, a new era begins for the people of God. Ten days later, as Jesus promised, he sends his Spirit to the disciples on Pentecost (next Sunday, May 23rd), and the Church as we know it, is born. Pentecost is a major Christian feast day, as important as Christmas and Easter. At Pentecost, we are empowered to go and live out our baptismal ministry to "go and make disciples of all the nations. (Matthew 20:18).

All of the feast days of the Christian liturgical year remind us of God's plan of salvation for us. Celebrating them as they come around on the liturgical calendar helps us remember our place in God's Story. Celebrating them together as a congregation and as families helps us to understand the very important work God has given human beings in transforming and re-creating the world to be as God intended it!

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Meditations on Motherhood: Mother's Day 2010

You may have heard me say it - my children have been the best teachers of faith I have ever had. As I think back on all the things I have learned about God from being a mother, I see how being Alex and Joshua's mother has changed the way I understand God, shaped the way I live out my faith and kept me continually focused on what really matters. Here are some of the things I have discovered on my journey as a Christian mother:

Life is washable: To quote the Hymnal, this “saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance" (UMH, 892): a little soap and water can cure a whole host of things, and what it can't doesn't really matter. Green footprints on the carpet (Alex put food coloring in the dog's water one St. Patrick's Day morning, spilled the water, stepped in it and THEN came to tell me he had made a mess!) DO come out with a bit of elbow grease. Sin is a bit harder, but baptismal water is REALLY effective. The major learning here was to relax and enjoy the gift God gave me in my children, not worry about the furnishings or the mistakes.

God's love really is THAT big: I grew up with the notion of God as a stern and judgmental father. In that euphoria that followed the birth of each of my children - as I was overwhelmed with unconditional love for these small and amazing beings - I realized that if I loved my children than much, how much more did God love both them and me?

The small stuff MATTERS: Not things like taking out the trash, but ants and butterflies and blueberries ripening on the vine. Both of my boys are explorers who marvel at things I take for granted everyday. My boys have taught me that the sacred is revealed in the business of birds building a nest and leaves changing from bud to full blown (did you know that the new leaves of Japanese maple trees feel like raccoon's paws? I didn't, but Alex thought they did!). Joshua's class is watching worms become butterflies and he announced, eyes full of wonder as he got off the bus yesterday, "Mama, we saw a MIRACLE today!" How much of God's goodness and creativity I would have missed had I not had these guides to point them out along the way.

Forgiveness is more than possible: As I think about the ups and downs of family life, I know both how important and how possible forgiveness is. I am often overwhelmed with gratitude for two boys who can forgive the flaws of a menopausal, most of the time tired and often- times cranky mother. They not only forgive me, they love me anyway and because of it all. They have been wonderful role models to me in how to live a life of forgiveness. I find it easier to forgive because they so generously and regularly forgive me.

These are just a few of the things to which my children have opened my eyes.I'll bet you have stories like mine where because of something your children did or said, you suddenly saw faith with new eyes and recognized God's presence in a new way. Would you share those stories with us?

On the Road to Damascus

Writing about Church School for our newsletter, I am always one week ahead in the lesson plan. A week from today, our children will be hearing and exploring the story of Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9: 1-22). In a blinding moment, Saul hears the voice of Jesus and not only does the focus of Saul's life work change- Saul's core identity as a human being and follower of God changes. His new identity is attested to by his name change - we know him as the apostle, Paul.

I have often wondered what it would be like to have the kind of dramatic faith experience that happened on the road to Damascus. No doubt, it would be frightening, but there would be a certainty about it too. You would KNOW that Jesus had spoken and you would KNOW the life you to which you were called.

My own life of faith is nowhere near as exciting as Paul's. I have been a believing Christian ever since I can remember. As I look back on the almost fifty years of my own faith journey, I can point to moments in retrospect where I heard Jesus - moments of certainty when I experienced call and vocation, and moments when I knew I could no longer be the person I had been before. Put all together, these moments have shaped my life as a believer and a disciple of Jesus.

Does your life of faith look like mine? Or have you had a "road to Damascus" experience? How does the way in which you meet Jesus shape the way you talk about and share with your children what Jesus means to you? How do you hope to pass on the faith to your children?

These are big questions -ones that for most parents are somewhat baffling. Often times the moments of confidence we have in our relationship with Jesus ebb and flow. Some days it is easier to be a believer than others. We wonder if we truly know Jesus enough to share Jesus with our children. We live in a culture that encourages us to let our kids make up their minds for themselves and that prizes individuality. We don't want to "tell" or "force" our children into what to believe - and a lot of times, we don't feel we know the content of faith well enough to pass it on. We want to honor the vows we made at our children's baptisms, but some days we just aren't sure how we are supposed to best do that.

Christian parenting is often a trial and error experience. But it it is not a journey we are asked to make alone. There is a community of faith that walks with us and we are often each other's best resources. I am beginning to plan for next year's Cornerstones program and I would very much like to offer programs next year that will support Christian parenting. It would help me plan if I knew what type of programming would be the most helpful: Is there specific information I can provide? Would having a space to talk to one another about our struggles to parent as Christians in the culture help? Would you like some tips and tools to share faith at home? Are there some suggestions you have?

Please be in touch with me about how I can support you in your parenting. You can leave a comment on my blog, drop me an email, catch me at Church or give me a call. The "good news" of Christian parenting is that we are NEVER in it alone. Jesus walks with us, the community of faith upholds us and the Holy Spirit gives us insight and wisdom when we share our experiences together.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Life Lessons of Spring

I must confess that I am hungry for Spring. We have had SO much rain and with more on the way this week, I find myself feeling frustrated. But Spring IS here. The forsythia in my yard has bloomed, as have the daffodils. On my way home from Church this morning, I drove my favorite Spring time route – and the lilacs, my FAVORITE part of Spring – which grow along this road in great profusion are just about to grace us with their beautiful blooms and scent. As the earth bursts into new life, I find myself humming over and over the third verse of one of my favorite hymns, Immortal Invisible (UMH #l03):

To all life thou givest, to both great and small.
In all life thou livest, the true life of all.
We blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but nought changeth thee.

The Easter season we continue to celebrate reminds us that the cycle of birth, death and resurrection is one that is ordained by God, the Creator. We live that story in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus during the "Great Fifty Days of Easter" (did you know Easter last for 50 days?). In this hemisphere, we are blessed that Easter always falls in the Spring and we can see the visible signs of new life coming forth from what looks like death all around us.

As Pastor John reminded us in his sermon this morning, spending time in God’s creation “restores our souls” (Psalm 23). As God’s creatures, we have a place in the created world – a place not only of stewardship, but of enjoyment. We need to be IN God’s creation – to celebrate its seasons, to learn its wisdom, to rejoice in God’s goodness in creating it. This year, I found a flock of wild turkeys not far from my house. During the school vacation last week, I took my almost- eleven- year -old son out just before daybreak to watch the turkeys fly down from their roosts. For an hour and forty minutes, we sat silently (this is my son who can’t sit still and doesn’t like being outside) and listened to the different calls the turkeys made to each other. At breakfast afterward, he said to me,“Mama, my favorite part was how golden the sun looked on the field as it came up. It made me peaceful.” It was only an hour and forty minutes, but in that time, we were part of the creation, not separate from it. And it seems to me that this is what God intended when God created “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1: 1) and human kind within it. We took an hour and forty minutes to be “amazed” as Pastor John asked us to in this morning’s message – and we, too, saw that “it was good” (Genesis 1:31)

I hope you and your family find some time together to dig in the dirt, to watch the buds on the tree branches bloom, to keep track of the pregnant cows and ewes, waiting for calves and lambs to be born, and to celebrate the miracle that is resurrection in the creation this spring. This is a wonderful way to not only celebrate God's goodness, but to help children understand that all created life is born, flourishes, lies dormant and is then resurrected in God's time. As we tune our spirits into the divine rhythms in the creation, we are again reminded that death holds no fear for us because we know that God through Jesus is at work in it and we, too, share in the new life blossoming all around us.


Faithfully,

Elizabeth

"Easter Triumph, Easter Joy"

Alleluia!!! Christ is Risen!!!!

These are the most joyful words in the Christian vocabulary - they are the Truth that defines us and the mystery that every other event in the Christian liturgical year points to. Because Christ has risen from the dead, we need fear nothing. In the resurrection of our Lord, God proves once and for all that NOTHING can destroy love. It is a huge gift and a mystery that takes our entire lives to live into.

Because Easter is such a complex mystery, the Church takes the fifty days between Easter and the Day of Pentecost to ponder together what Christ's rising from the dead means for us. We hear accounts of the resurrection appearances to the disciples and we think about the sacraments so that we can discover how we are to live our lives as members of Christ's risen body. The Sundays between Easter and Pentecost tell a story and we invite you to bring your children to Church and Church School these next several Sundays to join us in the wondering and celebration.

Here are some thoughts from Joe Russell's The New Prayerbook Guide to Christian Education that will help you share the themes of Easter with your children at home:

- Jesus has risen from the dead. We have everlasting life because of Jesus' resurrection!

- God's love is stronger than death. Because of God's love, we do not have to be afraid to
die.

- Easter is about new life coming from what appears to be death and that new life is full of surprises and new possibilities.

- We receive Jesus' new life at our baptisms, and during the Easter season, we think about
what our baptisms mean in our lives.

I hope these themes help you talk easily with your children about what Easter means. Many families have Easter traditions that help make visible to their children the importance of the Easter message. I would love to hear how your family shares in the Good News of Easter. Please leave a comment and we can share how we tell the story of the Easter Triumph as families at Sudbury United Methodist Church!

Easter Blessings,

Elizabeth

Good Friday

GOOD FRIDAY INTERGENERATIONAL WORSHIP
Friday, April 2, 2010 7:00 PM

Of all of the days on the Christian calendar, Good Friday is the one that tends to be the most difficult to observe. What is so “good” about Jesus’ dying on a cross, after all? The “good news” of the crucifixion is that the Easter Resurrection cannot happen without it. The central truth of Christian belief is that Jesus died for us on the cross and that he was raised from the dead. The Easter message has little to say to us if we have not experienced Good Friday.

Adults often have trouble with Good Friday and it is particularly difficult to observe this holy day with our children. We don’t want to frighten them. Yet, no matter how young they are, our children know that evil exists in the world. How much more important it is for Christian adults to invite our children to share the “good news” that in his dying for us, Jesus destroys not only death, but assures us that love - not evil – has the last word.

Our Good Friday worship this year will invite each of us – no matter our age – to join Jesus on his triumphal ride in Jerusalem, to be fed by him at the Last Supper and to have him wash our feet. We will carry his cross, wait with him in his tomb and finally, briefly, glimpse the Resurrected One.

This service is neither frightening nor maudlin. The events of Jesus’ last week and the accounts of his death and resurrection are told honestly, in accessible language, and with appropriate music. This is a deeply moving and powerful service that takes under an hour and is as meaningful for adults as it is for children.
We invite God’s children of all ages to join us for this worship service beginning in Hawes Hall at 7:00 PM. There will be a special activity for our children as we open, the choir will offer us their musical leadership and we will begin our journey to the cross with Jesus by walking to the Sanctuary together.

If you have any questions or would like some help discussing Holy Week with your children, please give Dr. Elizabeth Windsor a call (978-453-4351. EXT. 208) or send her an email (drelizabeth@sudbury-umc.org)

"Train Up a Child in the Way He Should Go . . ."

So begins verse 6 of the 22nd Psalm. The verse finishes,"and when he is older, he will not depart from it." As an educator in the Church, that verse is always floating around in my head, but it was the focus of my thoughts today. At SUMC, we worship this morning was led by our youth. Many of our teens offered their gifts as liturgists, ushers, preacher, children's homilists, readers and musicians. As it always is when youth stand before us in the Sanctuary, it was a special blessing to see the image of Jesus emerging in these young people whom we have watched grow up.

Youth Sunday often reminds us that time passes quickly. Many of us remember these young people's baptisms. Now, they stand before us - tall, poised, literate and accomplished. They have a message to share about their experience of Jesus and where they meet him both in the Church and in the World. They invite us to look with new eyes on the world and the faith we have passed on to them.

We are proud of our young people on Youth Sunday, but I wonder if when we look we see beyond the surface of our pride in them. Our children and youth live in a world many of us could never have imagined. In Sudbury, these young people lead lives of privilege; they play every sport known, belong to drama, choral and musical societies, they learn in an excellent school system with plenty of worthy projects in which they can be involved, they have every recreational device known to God and man, and the opportunity to travel and vacation far from home. When we look at these young people, there lives seem full of opportunity. What could they need from us?

The major task of teens is to form an authentic identity. A common myth of our culture is that teens need to move away from adults into their network of peers to do this work - and so, against our own judgment at times, we let them wander off into the Youth culture, praying they will be safe and make it back to us.

The myth is WRONG. Yes, teenagers need to move away from family for a bit during this time. But it is not only their peers they need to shape their adult identity. They need a constant group of trusted (by both kids and their parents)group of mentors who will keep them company on their journey of discovery. These adults help our young people learn the skills of adulthood; how to plan and carry out, how to make good decisions and what to do when they fall flat on their faces, how to resolve conflict, what questions to ask so that they act in accordance with their own beliefs. And they need Christian, faith-filled adults who will not tell them what to believe, but who will share what they have learned on their own journeys of faith.

It takes a special kind of adult to continue the "training up" our young people. Might you be one of those special folk with the call to mentor our youth? If you are, please let me know.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

“We Dwell in Possibility”

My maternal grandmother, my Nana Windsor, was my best teacher in the faith. She always wore an apron in the pocket of which she kept a small, well-worn New Testament. Her favorite Bible verse was Matthew 19:26b, “But with God all things are possible.” She quoted this verse so often that it became somewhat of a family joke. But when times got tough, our first response was “With God all things are possible.” And you know what? It was true.

I began my doctoral program under the tutelage of a wise, powerful, African-American, ordained Presbyterian woman, the Rev. Dr. Joan Martin. As my doctoral colleagues and I looked at the mountains for work ahead of us and ran into the usual roadblocks of dissertation writing, Joan began every pep-talk or period of taking us to task with, “We dwell in possibility” – a phrase not just from Matthew, but also found in an Emily Dickson poem. And sure enough – as we shifted our outlook from the stress of producing flawless academic prose to the work the Holy Spirit inspired within us, we did begin to see that we did, indeed, “dwell in possibility.”

My Nana and Joan taught me much about looking at the difficult, the challenging, the complicated pieces of life, through the lens of “possibility.” It seems to me that Lent is a place where we can practice “dwelling in the possible”. So much Christian teaching is full of negativity around Lent. Lent IS a time of penitence, of self-reflection, self-denial, prayer and study, but these are the tools, not the goals of Lent. Through these tools, we are invited to experience the “possibility” in being God’s people. We are invited to move away from distraction and catch the glimmers of what God intends for the new creation always in process around us. Silencing the usual din of our lives, we find ourselves called into the “possibility” of walking with Jesus and becoming co-creators of the Kingdom of God. Now THAT is “dwelling in possibility!”

“Possibility” has changed my and my family’s Lenten practice. Yes, we do the prayer, discipline and study, but we also find ways to celebrate the “possible.” It has become our tradition to begin again our family walk (discontinued in the snow and ice) as the days lengthen and pick up the trash we find along the roadside as we go. By caring for the part of the Kingdom in our corner of the neighborhood, we offer our stewardship of God’s creation as a light for others to follow. We volunteer on the Saturday’s in Lent at our local animal shelter for the same reason – we “dwell in the possibility” of God’s Kingdom where all are loved and cared for, even the tiniest of creatures. And in the living of it, we make it real for others to see and follow.

This Lent, I invite you to “dwell in possibility.” Let your prayer lead you to something concrete that you and your family can do to show others what is “possible with God.” Invite a lonely neighbor for a tea party, shop or make a meal for Rosie’s together, spend some time reading to folks at the nursing home. In each of these small ways and in countless others, we are beacons of God’s love that point to the “possibility” inherent the Kingdom of God.

Here is Emily's poem as well:

I Dwell in Possibility By Emily Dickinson


I dwell in possibility-
A fairer house than prose-
More numerous of windows-
Superior for doors-

Of chambers as the Cedars-
Impregnable of Eye-
And for an Everlasting roof
The Gambrels of the sky-

Of visitors – the fairest-
For Occupation- This-
The spreading wide of narrow Hands
To gather Paradise

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

"To Observe a Holy Lent"

I know the Christmas pageant was only yesterday, but suddenly, Ash Wednesday is upon this coming Wednesday, and with it comes the Church's ancient practice of inviting us to:
observe a holy Lent; by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word. (UMH Book of Worship, 322).

Many of us have grown up in other faith traditions that stress the penitence of the Lenten season, others of us have some vague recollections of ashes on foreheads and giving up chocolate and for some us, Lent is an entirely new experience. So here are a few thing to share with your children about the Lenten season and some practices you may choose to adopt during this season of growing closer to God that culminates in the celebration of the joyous resurrection of our Lord.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Lent seasonally makes sense. The word "Lent" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, "lencten" which means, "as the days grow longer." Increasing light fills our days as we walk the Lenten road, reminding us that although we may struggle now, we are continually moving into the light of Christ that will blaze brightly again on Easter Eve at the Great Vigil of Easter.

The color the Christian church has traditionally used to observe the Lenten season is purple - a color that represents both the kingship of Jesus and the color of penitence. "Repent," the root word of "penitence" is translated three different ways in the Greek of the New Testament. The one we are inviting God's Holy Spirit to work in us during Lent, is "metanoia" - a "turning around." The purposes of reflecting on what we have done wrong is not to make us feel bad about ourselves, the purpose is to create "metanoia" - a refocusing and turn of our hearts and minds to the love and purposes of God. Making a purple paper chain for your kitchen table can be fun to do with your kids and can remind us each day that Lent calls us to "turn around" toward God.

The tradition of giving up things for Lent arose out of the need for a practice to help us turn our hearts and minds back to God, so for generations of the Church, Christians have been invited to let go of the things that separate them from the love of God and the love of each other. The purpose of giving up something is not to make us virtuous, but give space in our lives in which the Holy Spirit might work in us. Try turning off the television, ipods, computers, blackberries,etc. one night during Lent when the entire family is home and see what happens. Some Christians do not find "giving up" things helpful, but rather take on new things that will draw them closer to God or to loving others. This is a good time of year to volunteer with your kids at the local pet shelter or reading to folks at the local nursing home. Often times we meet God in the new practices we begin during Lent and they become habits we keep even after Lent has ended.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. The ashes used for imposition are made by burning the Palm branches left over from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration. They are marked on our foreheads in the sign of the cross with the words, "You are dust - and to dust you will return." The practice of dumping ashes on the head goes back to the life of the Israelites when ashes on the head were a symbol of remorse and repentence.

Lent last for forty days, but you have to know the trick the Church uses to calculate those forty days because otherwise, Lent is longer! You count only the six days of the week - Sunday is always considered to be a "little Easter," so it doesn't count toward the forty days. And Holy Week which begins on Palm Sunday is not counted either. Does forty sound familiar? The forty days of Lent represent the days Jesus spent being tempted in the wilderness following his baptism, but forty is a biblical number: during the flood, it rained for forty days and forty nights, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, etc.

So there you have it, the short course on Lent and Lenten practices. What are some of the ways in which your family observes a holy Lent? Be sure to post a comment and share.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

"Fill the Earth and Subdue It"

"In the beginning when God created" - so begins Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The Christian story starts with the Creation. God separates the waters, the day and night, and fills the Earth with plants and animals. We are given the image of a lush and fertile world, balanced and in harmony as God intended it to be. Finally, as the crown of creation - or so we are told - God creates "humankind in our image; according to our likeness; and let[s] them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth" (Genesis 1:26). And from about that point on, things begin to go down hill.

The Creation narrative ends with the expulsion of the man and the woman from the Garden of Eden as punishment for having eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The world so lovingly created by God begins to tilt out of balance because of human disobedience.

We hear much about global warming, climate change and declining resources in our world, and there are many at this present moment who are working for ecological justice, trying to turn back the centuries of misuse and abuse of the Creation before it is too late. It doesn't take a degree in theology to wonder if humankind took "dominion over" the Creation far too literally to heart. And there is a strand in Christian theology that pushed the notion that because humankind was at the top of the created order and had been given dominion over the creation by God, humankind could do whatever it liked with the stuff of Creation.

We know now that we got it wrong. "Dominion over" was not intended to be license to destroy. We were meant to care for the Creation the way our God who created us in God's image would have. So how do we begin to do this? How do we move ourselves away from "dominion over" toward "harmony with?"

Lent is fast approaching and will begin in the middle of the school vacation week with the traditional words of the Ash Wednesday service, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." We are not set above the Creation; Ash Wednesday reminds us we are part of that Creation. Lent is historically the time when Christians have been asked to examine their lives and their practices to identify where we have strayed from God's purposes and to turn ourselves back to the life God calls us to lead. The theological term for this process is "metanoia" a Greek word that means "to change one's mind," but is interpreted in the New Testament as "repent."

This Lent, the Social Justice commission invites us to use the Lenten time of reflection and return to focus on our relationship with the Creation. We are invited to participate in a "Carbon Fast" - helping us to live in right relation with the world that God has so lovingly made and with the other members of humankind God created. Your children should have come home from Church today with material about the fast and some ideas about one thing each week they can do differently to reduce carbon emissions and help the Creation to heal and begin the long return to balance and harmony. Please spend some time with your children talking about what you can do, not only during the Lenten season, but going forward in your lives as a Christian family. The Social Justice commission will have a place set up in Hawes Hall to record your family's ideas and practices. Be sure to join in!

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Talking about Tragedy with Kids

The massive human tragedy we have been witnessing in Haiti these past several weeks gives rise yet again to what theologians have always called "the Theodocy Question": How can a benevolent, loving, all-powerful God permit evil to happen?" I suspect human beings have been asking this question since the beginning of time. In the past several weeks, I have seen newsletters and websites that offer help in talking through this question with older elementary age children and teens, but the experts have largely been silent on this question as we try and talk with our youngest children about why bad things happen to good people.

We have a tendency as parents and church professionals to want to shelter our kids from upsetting, scary and painful things - and in many cases, we should spare them from information that is not developmentally appropriate for them. I remember back to September 11, 2001 when Church professionals were advised to remind younger children that the were safe and nothing was going to happen to them. It was a natural piece of advice, but not a healthy or useful one. Children were already aware that something truly evil and horrible had happened. NOT honestly talking with them about what had happened and where God was present to us in it took neither their questions nor our Christian faith seriously. They KNEW evil had happened and it was our job then to proclaim the Gospel truth that God is with us in our suffering and is ALWAYS at work in ways both seen and unseen to redeem it.

And so it is now with Haiti. We have witnessed an humanitarian disaster of almost incomprehensible dimensions that goes far beyond the actual earthquake. One of the poorest countries of the world to begin with, bad government, abject poverty and lack of resources were already at work long before the earthquake(s) hit. What we are seeing boggles the minds of adults, never mind children. So what do we say?

Here are some things that might be helpful:

1. Children will think somewhat concretely about the facts - particularly the bodies. So many bodies - maybe some of those of people they know - will not be recovered. No one knows where they are. This troubled children after 9/11 too. Reassure your children that whether or not we know where the people are, GOD DOES!!! Every soul is know to God and God does not lose track of anybody. One of the most moving pieces of art I saw following 9/11 was drawn by a 5th grade girl. In it, the two towers were burning and people were jumping from the buildings, but they were not falling down. Above the Towers was a larger-than-life-sized Jesus with his arms outstretched and he was collecting the people in his arms. Jesus stands above Haiti too with his arms outstretched carrying souls home to the God who created and loves them in both life and death.

2. Reassure children that God does NOT will suffering. EVER. Jesus died once and for all on the cross to put an end to suffering. God does not want people to hurt each other or be hurt. No one in Haiti did ANYTHING to bring such massive suffering upon themselves. Our world does not yet look the way God intends it to be; the creation has yet to be perfected. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew's Gospel, "for He makes the the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Tragedy happens to good people; bad people experience joy. It is all a part of the human condition.

3.Christians believe that Jesus will return at the end of time as we know it and the full Kingdom of God will bloom. But that does not mean that Christians get to sit and twiddle their thumbs until Jesus' comes again in glory. As Theresa of Avila wrote in the 13th century, "Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours,Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world." WE are the ones who bear Christ to the broken and hurting in this world. so get your kids and your family involved in doing something to help. Collect cans and recycle them and then donate the money you collect to UMCOR. Help sew blankets, collect medical supplies, etc. And remember, that while Haiti is at the forefront of our attention, suffering is all around us. The local food pantry still needs staples, the local pet shelter still needs folks to exercise pets and clean up after them. There are ALWAYS opportunities to serve as Christ's hands and heart. Actively engaging in this will help your children move through the sense of powerlessness we all feel when such a huge tragedy strikes.

God is not silent when tragedy strikes. God grieves with the suffering and moves the hearts of those who can be inspired to bear witness to and to ease the suffering of others. As John Westerhoff writes, "God has created a world in which God can accomplish nothing without our help and we can accomplish nothing without God's help." YOU and YOUR children are Christ's hands in the world. Serve and remain confident in your heart that God is using you and your children in the plan for the redemption of the world.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

It's God's Story; It's Our Story

This morning, we presented Bibles to our 3rd graders. This is a tradition, not only at SUMC, but at many other protestant churches. When our children reach the age where they are able to read with some fluency, we present them with the Holy Bible.

When I asked the children this morning what they had just been given, one of them answered, "The Holy Bible." I pushed further and asked, "But what IS it?" Well, 3rd graders standing in front of a whole group of grown-ups aren't the most vocal of folks, so I answered the question, "The Bible is the Story of God's love affair with human beings. It is the story of how God comes close to us and we come close to God."

We tend to devalue "story" in our culture, thinking that "stories" are some how not quiet real. They are "make believe" and so not rational and we dismiss them as untrue. But that totally misses the point of what "Story" is intended to be. Jerome Berryman, Director of the Center for the Theology of Childhood describes the purpose of story this way:

Stories are where all of us, children and adults, find our identity, our
family. Stories are where we challenge the deadly messages of the powers-
that be; whether greed and overwork or poverty and powerlessness, that rob
our lives of relationship and meaning. Stories are where we integrate the
experiences of our lives into powerful acts of recognition, celebration and
meaning as we make our way through time and space. Through story, we invite one another to make meaning of our world and ultimately of our lives . . .to carry stories within us is to become wisdom-bearers, God-bearers.

Episcopal priest (and professor of Pastor Joel’s at Duke), John Westerhoff, builds on this understand of story as he thinks about the Christian Bible:

Sacred stories speak to our deepest, unconscious longings and questions, our
problems and predicaments, our inner and outer struggles in human life. They exist in the form of truth that only intuition and imagination can provide, truth just as significant and real as that which comes through logical analysis and scientific probing. The biblical story is a symbolic narrative. That is why it enlightens us about ourselves and fosters our growth. It offers meaning on varying levels and enriches our lives in countless ways.


The Story told in the Christian Bible – that Story of God’s love affair with us and our response of love back to God – is THE meaning-making vehicle for Christians in all times and in all places. And it is quite the Story. There is nothing any of us experience in our lives that cannot be found in its pages. As we re-read and hear yet again the Stories of our ancestors in the faith’s struggle to make meaning out of their lives, we invite their struggles to help us make meaning of our lives’ questions, struggles, celebrations and disappointments.

So – dig our your Bible and re-visit it’s pages. Did you have a favorite Bible story as a child? Re-read and see what it tells you about the adult you have become. Is there a passage that you have held on to when hope was in short supply and you didn’t know how you were going to get from one minute to the next? Is there a favorite psalm that sums up how you felt the morning your child was born or the time when your parent died? Look at those passages again. Share them with your children. Talk about what they have meant to you, what they do mean to you and what you hope they will mean to them.

The Christian Story is an on-going one. While in Church language, the canon is closed and we add no more “books” or chapters to the official Story, one book remains uncompleted and continues to be lived out by every generation of Christians. That book is the Acts of the Apostles, which directly follows the four Gospels in the New Testament. The Acts of the Apostles is the chapter that tells us of how God’s people are continuing to live out God’s Story. What will you add to the Story?

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Entering "the Doldrums"

One of my favorite children’s books is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. The story begins when a very bored young Milo returns home from school one day to find a tollbooth kit in his room. He quickly assembles it, takes the map offered and drives his toy car through the tollbooth. At once he finds himself in the Land of Expectations. Enjoying the ride he pays no attention and suddenly finds himself in a dreary place called “the Doldrums.” Every thing is colorless. Neither thinking nor laughing is permitted, and nothing much happens in this very stagnant place.

While there is a great deal more to the story (I’ll let you read it to find out how it all turns out), it seems to me that the first chapters of The Phantom Tollbooth describe exactly where we find ourselves as the Christmas season gives way to a lengthy, and what can feel colorless, Epiphany. The Christmas season gives rise to all sorts of expectations. Each year we struggle to make Christmas more wonderful than the last. We decorate lavishly, purchase lovely presents to make our children and others smile, we eat more than we should, rush around like mad people to get it all done and then, somehow – Christmas just doesn’t live up to our expectations - often times because we expected that all the bustle, glitter and gifts will fill the empty places inside us. By mid-January, the second Sunday after the Epiphany, we suddenly discover we have arrived in “the Doldrums.” The Christmas decorations have been put away, the tree has been dragged to its final resting place and the credit card bills have arrived. We find ourselves agreeing with Milo, “It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time.”

It is hard under all the clutter of what Christmas has come to be in our culture to find the meaning of what Christmas IS for Christians – that miraculous discovery that GOD IS WITH US!!!! We often feel let down in our Christmas expectations because we haven’t been expecting what we find at the manger. Milo is reminded, "Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens." Christmas is not about what we expect; it is the ultimate revelation of the unexpected. God made flesh is both far simpler and way more complicated than we thought we wanted or needed. God’s coming to us in a human baby transforms our human experience. Our lives are lifted up and made meaningful because our goodness is restored and we realize we have been invited into partnership with God in re-creating the world. Our lives become far more than a “waste of time.” But we have to be looking for that truth. Milo is told, "There is much worth noticing that often escapes the eye." Distracted by the glitter and the bustle of what Christmas has become, we miss God being born among us. What is "worth noticing" about the Christmas season, many times "escapes" our eyes.

As Epiphany unfolds, we continue to catch the glimmers of the truth of God’s transforming love for us. We yearn for the deeper meaning even though we feel sometimes that we, like Milo, are stumbling around in the colorless miasma of life without joy and excitement. What lies underneath “the Doldrums” is the fear of disappointed hope in a yearning we are afraid to name. Yet, we continue to yearn for that meaning in our lives.

As wise character in The Phantom Tollbooth speaking about meaning and purpose reminds Milo, “You know that it's there, but you just don't know where - but just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for.” And that is what the season of Epiphany is about – it is about both our deepest yearning and how we are led to look for it. But unlike Milo, we KNOW where to look. The Star that illuminated Bethlehem and led the shepherds and the wisemen to the baby Jesus, still shines for us today. Gradually, as we follow ray by ray, “the Doldrums” becomes filled with light and in that light, we see the gift we have been given in the baby Jesus and the gifts our hearts make in response. It is this light that lifts us from “the Doldrums.” We may not know what our ultimate destination will look like- and it will be beyond our wildest expectations - but as long as we keep following the Star’s light, we can be confident we will get there. The light will continue to get brighter and brighter the closer we get.

So here is your assignment for this Season after the Epiphany. Get yourself a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth. Read it aloud to your kids. Follow the light, as Milo drives his toy car towards it. His arrival at the place of light is miraculous to behold and is one of my favorite images of what it means to co-create with Jesus the Kingdom of God. Let me know what you think!

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

"We Welcome You as a Member of the Family of Christ"

This morning, we welcomed a new child into the household of God through Holy Baptism. Baptism is my very favorite thing that happens in Church- I never get through one dry-eyed. When we as God’s family welcome the child or adult being baptized into our midst and promise to support them and help them grow in the faith, I am always awed by the gift and the responsibility we are given.

The Christian truth we claim and the Christian discipline we live is a VERY counter-cultural message in our culture. Living as a Christian is not now (and never has been) a job for the faint-hearted. It requires daily practice, constant attention to the Holy Spirit’s directions, Bible reading, a habit of prayer and praise, loving and ethical interactions in our day-today lives, and an abiding sense of whose we are. We cannot do it alone. We need the company of other Christians- and that is why at our baptisms the congregation literally has our backs. The company of God’s faithful people bears witness to us as we make our baptismal promises. It is there to educate and guide us in sermons and through Church School, invites us into service on behalf of others, and while praying with us, teaches us how to pray. This loving community encourages us when we feel defeated, loves us when we fail and shares our hurts and joys. You have heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child?” Well, it takes a “great cloud of witnesses surrounding us” (Hebrews 2:1) to raise a Christian.

All of this is awesome. But what happens when that brand-new Christian (usually an infant) goes home? For generations upon generations, the home was the principal place where new Christians were made. That is a more than daunting task for many Christian parents. Many of us were raised with no faith or in religious traditions in which we have ceased to believe. The cafeteria of beliefs in the world around us calls out from our televisions, computer, ipods and from neighbors and friends. Just exactly are we to go about the task of raising Christian children at home?

Often the easiest way to begin is to set aside a few minutes at the meal time each day where the entire family is present. You may have to be creative if your family has different start, eating and end times of the day! Find five minutes in the day when you can all be together and PRAY together. In our home, we make sure that we eat together – even if it is snack – every day. This is the prayer we say, “Thank you for this food – for rest and home and all things good. For wind and rain and sun above, and most of all for those we love.” Sometimes we say it in parts, sometimes all together. But it is OUR family prayer. I even have it posted inside on the door of the cupboard where our snacks live – just as a reminder. Some families have more time in the morning or evening. The United Methodist Book of Worship has a section that includes prayers for morning, midday and evening worship beginning on page 568. Take a look through and see what might appeal to your family.

Put a “gratitude” bowl and a “help” bowl on your kitchen table. Invite your kids and spouse and jot down on a small piece of paper things they are thankful for and things they need help with. Collect them each night or once a week when you can be together and read them out loud. Pray together – it could be the Lord’s Prayer or you can simply say, “Lord, hear the thanks and needs of our hearts.”

Bedtimes are another wonderful opportunity to pray together. Is there a bedtime prayer your children already know? You can try, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Guard me, Jesus, through the night and wake me with the morning light.”

One of my most favorite parts of being a parent is blessing my children. I began when they were babies and as I tucked them into their cribs at night, I traced a small cross on their foreheads and said, “the Lord preserve, protect and defend you.” I had no idea how formative or meaningful this experience was for my children until I had been in a car accident. When I came home from the hospital full of painkillers and medicine, as I was drifting off to sleep, my then eight-year-old son crept into the room. Very gently, I felt him trace the cross on my forehead and whisper, “the Lord preserve, protect and defend you, Mama.” He said nothing else, just quietly left the room. It is a joy to bless my children but a gift beyond words or price to receive their blessing of me.

These are just some small suggestions to get you started on making Christians at home. Maybe you have some ways your family practices faith at home. I would LOVE to hear your traditions and rituals. Please consider sharing them via the comments on this blog!

Faithfully,
Elizabeth

Epiphany

The Christmas season comes to a close on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. This celebration marks the arrival of the Magi or Wise Ones in Bethlehem. "Epiphany" is a Greek word that means "manifestation," "revelation" and "showing." In the Christian context, it is a celebration that God's revelation in Jesus is for ALL people of ALL nations and tribes for ALL time.

While the Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated on one day (usually the Sunday before January 6 at SUMC), the time between the Feast of Epiphany and Ash Wednesday is known liturgically as the Season After the Epiphany. The symbol of the Epiphany season is the five-pointed star and the seasonal color is usually green representing our on-going life as disciples of Jesus. The Feast of the Epiphany is a "white" Sunday of celebration and there are two other "white" Sundays during this season: the Baptism of our Lord and Transfiguration which occurs on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

During the Epiphany Season, the readings we hear in Church focus on Jesus and his disciples. We follow Jesus through his baptism into his ministry to and with the disciples. These are important lessons as they teach us that because we are baptized as Jesus was baptized, we too are disciples who both learn from Jesus and who share, teach and preach the Good News to others.

There are many ways to celebrate the Epiphany Season at home. You can make a "Kings Cake" (see http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1841,151162-249201,00.html) and learn the varying traditions surrounding the cake by a quick reading of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_cake). Many Christian cultures emphasize Epiphany rather than Christmas as the time for gift giving. Take your kids to the library and do a little research about el Dia de los Reyes! Try out some of the customs and traditions and share what you learn as a comment on this blog!

Happy Epiphany to you all!
Elizabeth