My Blog

Category: Religion

  • Do prayers really help?

    We've been asked to pray for those who are suffering in Haiti and those who have gone to their aid.  People have been praying for a member of our parish who is a Haitian student living in Lawrence.  A mother came by the office yesterday to place her daughter's name on the prayer list because she has gone to Haiti to help out in the relief effort.

    Do our prayers really help?

    The following message from former Presiding Bishop Ed Browning speaks to this question.

    "Almighty God, you have promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in your Son's Name…"     (For the answering of prayer, BCP p. 834)

    Some researcher somewhere has determined that people who pray, or who have people praying for them, have such-and-such better chance of recovery from gallstones than people who don't. Good. I often pray that sick people will get well.

    But I also pray for many people who don't get better. If my prayers do not turn these things into the releases and healings for which I long, does that mean they've failed? Does it mean I didn't pray right? Didn't pray hard enough? Only if the narrow test of immediate historical change is the only test of prayer's efficacy. If the only useful prayer is a prayer that works right here and right now, in just the way I want it to work, we're in trouble.

    Prayer is not a way to get around human sorrow, a special incantation that produces a desired result God would otherwise withhold from us. It is a thread of holy energy that binds us together. It enables the communion of my soul with the souls of others, whether I know them or not. "I could feel myself lifted by all the prayers," someone will often tell me after a serious illness. Get enough of these holy threads wrapped around a person, and she will feel them, quite apart from the issue of whether or not she gets what she wants.
     
    – From A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer by Bishop Edmond Lee Browning.

    May God use our prayers as a "thread of holy energy that binds us together" with one another and all those for whom we offer prayers!

    Ron

  • Where is God in the Haitian Earthquake?

    Evangelist Pat Robertson said earlier this week that he believes the earthquake in Haiti is the result of a pact with the devil made by Haitians long ago.  Here is a thoughtful response to Mr. Robertson's viewpoint.  I hope it lifts your heart and strengthens your confidence in our compassionate God.

  • Prayers for Haiti

    Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Haiti has sent shock waves around the world.  We've asked our people to pray and we are asking for contributions for Episcopal Relief and Development to sustain their efforts on behalf of the people of Haiti.  Other people in other churches and in other countries, heads of state and legislative bodies, rescue and military personnel, health professionals and engineers – all sorts and conditions of people -  are responding in ways that show us the spirit of compassion knows no boundaries.

    Haiti Cathedral Wedding at Cana The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church with somewhere between  100,000 and 150,000 members in 168 congregations.  Yet they have only 40 Priests and one Bishop.  Many of our churches, including Holy Trinity Cathedral and School have been destroyed.  I have posted the photo of a mural in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port au Prince, painted by a Haitian artist.  I was inspired by this mural when I visited Haiti in 1972 and lived for a week in St. Peter's Episcopal School.  The mural depicts Jesus' first miracle at Cana, this Sunday's gospel.

    Even in the best of times, the people of Haiti struggle, living in the poorest country in the hemisphere.  Now this.

    We will pray for the people of Haiti and those who are helping them.  Our prayers are powerful because the One to whom we pray is powerful. "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested" (Hebrews 2:18).  The words of William Bright's hymn sum it up,

    At your feet, O Christ, we lay / your own gift of this new day; / Doubt of what it holds in store / Makes us crave your aid the more; / Even in a time of loss, /Mark, it Savior, with your Cross.

    And, among our prayers will be the appeal that the Savior of us all will show us how to become a part of the answer to our prayers for those who are hurting.

    Ron

  • e-piphanies about Epiphany

    Yesterday, January 6, was the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord.  For the next six weeks, we will continue to reflect upon the epiphanous events in Jesus’ life.  This is a good time for me to explain how my blog came to be called e-piphanies.com.

    First, let me make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the meaning of the word "epiphany," especially as Christians use it.  Answers.com offers a pretty comprehensive definition if you are not sure what I'm talking about.

    Our Christian concept of epiphany starts with the manifestations of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, and continues in our own lives as we recognize the reality of his reign.  In other words, he is not finished manifesting himself to us!

    Brian McLaren’s book, The Secret Message of Jesus, heightened my awareness of the kingdom of God as the core of Jesus’ message.  Moreover, I realized that I was not alert to the signs of the kingdom all around me.  McLaren writes, “I think that the best glimpses of the kingdom of God come to us unexpectedly in everyday life – and the sermons we hear (or books we read) help us keep our eyes open so that when those moments come, we don’t sleepwalk through them.”

    With that prompting, e-piphanies.com was born.  I intended it to be an interactive online journal of glimpses (epiphanies) of God’s hand at work in our lives.  Sometimes, my postings must suggest that I just have a firm grasp of the obvious.  However, that’s what is so amazing about the kingdom in our midst, isn’t it?  It is hidden in plain sight!  What may be obvious to some of us may be an epiphany for the rest of us.  Jesus went around pointing out signs of the kingdom in what often appeared to be ordinary.  That's what I want to do in e-piphanies.com.

    So, I hope you will enjoy reading and contributing to e-piphanies.com.  Use the comment feature (below) to share your own insights, glimpses, and concerns.

    I also hope you will take advantage of the season of the Church wherein we are reminded of ways the kingdom was manifested in Jesus’ life and his invitation to us to be witnesses of that kingdom.  Our testimony will be more believable if we've actually seen it so we can tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

    And, I hope you will find a copy of The Secret Message of Jesus and read it.  Your eyes may be opened a little wider to discover glimpses of God’s hand at work.

    Here's a wonderful passage from the book:

    Earlier in the season, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a flock of cedar waxwings passing through on their way north.  I never saw them, but by the high chatter of their unique song, I knew thy had passed by as I lay in bed.  Before I learned the distinctive call of these common birds, I heard the sound, but I didn't know what I was hearing. . . I wonder if the secret message of Jesus isn't like that.  Maybe you've been hearing it all along, but you didn't realize it.  Maybe you've been seeing it or seeing signs of it, but you didn't know what you were seeing.  Maybe the best outcome of this book is that your ears and eyes – your heart and mind – will have been in some way "born again," so that you will now and forever know it when you hear it or see it, when it comes near and sings its song in the high branches.

    And, in its own way, maybe my e-piphanies.com will provide for you a similar outcome!

    Ron

  • January 1, 2010

    Hour Glass

    The top of the hour glass is full again.

    Maybe today really is different in certain ways.

    I'll look more closely today and tomorrow.

    Maybe there will be some e-piphanies.

    Ron

  • Will the “New Year” really be “New?”

    As I sit here on New Year's Eve, reflecting on 2009 and the past decade, with enormous help from the media, I'm faced with this question:  Will the new year really be new?

    What's the difference between December 31 and January 1?  Really?  Will January 1 be any different from December 30 or June 30 or last January 1?  Why is it we make such a fuss over the changing of the year or the decade, for that matter?

    The fact of the matter is that even those among us who are most committed to maintaining the status quo will be engaged in some degree of revelry tonight.  I suspect even many of the "stay the course" brigade will have a list of resolutions.  Our lists might include things like losing weight, getting more exercise, having a healthier diet, doing a better job of recycling, gaining discipline in attending worship and saying our prayers, spending more time with the family, reading more books, joining Facebook, and being a generally all around nicer person.

    I have friends who are dead set against new year's resolutions.  They believe having them only sets one up for failure.  That may be so, but then any resolutions, goals, or objectives do the same thing, don't they?  Any attempt at change, growth, or progress involves some risk of failure.  I happen to like resolutions because I believe it is better to fail trying to do something worthy than to succeed trying to do nothing.

    So, with or without resolutions, I ask again, how will January 1 be any different than December 31 or any other day?

    If there is a difference, maybe it is one of perception.  The slate is not really going to be wiped clean, but we like to try to see it that way. And, in so doing, perhaps there is at least some extra room for something new to emerge in our consciousness, in our pattern of behavior, or in our way of life.  Maybe, just maybe, looking at this particular tomorrow opens up room for something new and different. If that happens, we may understand God's words to the Prophet Isaiah, "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isa. 43:19)"

    So, I'm going make some resolutions.  And, I'm going to look at January 1 as a different kind of day and as the start of something new – something new in my life and in the lives of those around me – and pray with all my might that God will have something to do with it so that it will not just be up to me and you.  Maybe my first step, or yours, will create space for grace to see things through.

    Ron

  • The Vocation We Share

    On Tuesday evening of this week, I attended the ordination of William Breedlove to the Sacred Order of Priests at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Mission, Kansas.  A fine congregation of lay persons, priests, deacons, and the Bishop of Kansas were there to set this man apart for priestly work in Christ's one holy catholic Church.

    Throughout my ministry, the hangings and vestments used for ordinations have been red, symbolizing the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Apostles.  However, on this occasion, we were asked to wear white.  The explanation that was given was that it was to emphasize the relationship of Holy Orders to Holy Baptism.

    Perhaps it was the change of color that nudged my consciousness and caused me to hear certain elements of the service in new ways.  For example, at the beginning of the portion of the liturgy referred to as The Examination, Bishop Wolfe read these words from the Book of Common Prayer:Ordination Breedlove

    My brother, the Church is the family of God, the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy  Spirit.  All baptized people are called to make Christ known as Savior and Lord, and to share in the renewing of his world.

    It was as if I heard those words for the very first time.  Everything that follows in the liturgy emphasizes the priestly work of nourishing Christ's people from the riches of his grace for the building up of the family of God so that all may fulfill the calling we all share by virtue of our Baptism, to "make Christ known as Savior and Lord, and to share in the renewing of his world."

    These are truly powerful words about a powerful force set loose in the world!  May we reflect on them as we enter the time of Advent when we offer Ember Day prayers for those in Holy Orders, those discerning a call to ordained ministry, and all Christians in their vocation.  December Ember Days are Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following December 13 (St. Lucy's Day).  The Book of Common Prayer offers three prayers for use on those days.  Here is the one that applies to all the Baptized:

    Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    Ron

  • Gathering around the family table is good for us!

    Many of us have just spent some time gathered around the table with our
    families and close friends for a Thanksgiving feast.  This may be a
    teachable moment, when we can connect the dots that form a picture of
    family life and family identity.

    Families seem busier now than
    when I was a child.  It's easy to understand, particularly with more
    two-career households, more activities for children and youth, and
    significant shifts in cultural values.  When something has to give,
    family meals may fall by the wayside. And yet, family meals are not
    only a time for strengthening family ties and keeping track of your
    children's lives, they can actually lead to better physical and mental
    health for your children and for the entire family.

    Studies in
    recent years have concluded that family meals are a central feature in
    better nutrition, mental health, academic achievement, vocabulary,
    parenting, and family life in general.  Many of us can recall how we
    learned the story of our family and came to an understanding of our
    place in that family while sitting at the table with our families.

    Have
    you noticed that as the trend away from family dining has increased,
    worship patterns on Sundays have also changed?  I suspect the same
    factors that make it more difficult to gather the family around the
    dinner table also make it more difficult for Christians to gather
    around the Lord's Table.  I invite you to consider that the health and
    well-being of the Church is impacted by regular worship in ways that
    are similar to ways our families are impacted by regular family meals. 
    When God calls us together as to recall the family story and share in
    the family meal, we are nourished and formed as Christians.  We remember who and
    whose we are.

    Maybe the adage, "The Family That Prays Together
    Stays Together," is not so trite after all. I do understand that many
    people do not have good memories of family and home.  Many have not
    found the church family all that wonderful either.  However, there is
    universal hunger for a sense of belonging and identity that we might
    call "family feeling."  Those who have found surrogate families will
    tell you how much it means.  Those who have returned to their church
    families or found new ones will tell you how it has impacted their
    spiritual journey.

    Now is a good time to pause and reflect on
    the busyness of our lives and consider what valuable times with our
    families and our church family have been crowded out.  If we are too
    busy to gather around the table – at home or at church – maybe we are
    just too busy for our own good and the good of those whose lives are
    closely linked with ours.  At home and at church, we need that time
    together!

    Ron

  • Last Supper ~ Revisited

    While at the Diocese of Kansas Gathering of Presbyters last week at the Spiritual Life
    Center in Wichita, I saw The Last Supper depicted in some small
    porcelain figurines around a small table on a shelf near the
    Refectory.  Someone (probably one of my colleagues) had rearranged the
    figures in an interesting way.  Instead of Jesus being seated in the center and all the disciples gathered around him, Jesus was positioned at the corner of the table, extending bread-filled hands outward, while the disciples were all centered on themselves.  There is an epiphany here!

    Last Supper Revisited

    Do the disciples of Jesus have a tendency to mistake deliberation for mission?  Are we too busy with our meetings to offer the Bread of Life to the world at our doorstep?  Are we too focused on feeding ourselves to be useful to our Lord in feeding the multitudes?  How can we who receive him become a sacrament to a world in need?

    Ron

  • One Voice!

    I just returned from the Diocese of Kansas Gathering of Presbyters.  We met at a very nice Roman Catholic retreat center in Wichita from noon Monday until noon Thursday.  Shortly after we convened on Monday afternoon, one of our presbyters told us that she and her husband were observing their wedding anniversary.  She asked us to sing a stanza of I Can't Help Falling In Love With You into her mobile phone as their home answering device was recording her call.  The idea was that her husband would receive the message with our singing when he arrived home after work.

    Today, she told us the result of that call.  It seems her husband was very tired when he arrived home and he'd listened to the message with the singing but didn't think too much about it.  She had left another message explaining that the singers were her fellow presbyters.  He did not hear the second message.  Later in the evening, after he rested awhile, he returned to the voicemail and listened to the explanatory message.  He called her and told her that, not having had the explanation before he heard the song, he thought she had held her mobile phone near a CD player with the music playing on it.  He was very touched and amazed when he learned it was actually about fifty presbyters singing the song.  He said, "I thought it was one voice."

    One Voice!  A metaphor for Christian unity!  An affirmation of the unity and collegiality we share!  A testimony to the tether of the Spirit drawing us together.  A sign of promise for our Church when her priests are able to join their voices into one!  A relief from the discordant tones we've heard so often! Distinctly different voices wondrously joined into one!

    One Voice!  May our song continue and may many others join the chorus!  I am grateful for the experience of collegiality of these priests and Bishop Dean Wolfe who shepherds us.

    Ron