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The Annunciation

The Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) Luke 1:26-38

So much of our conversation regarding faith is centered on what each of us is doing about it. We are preoccupied with human liberty, some notion of “the individual,” and overly concerned with the subjective experience of God. We tend to want to play the leading role in the story, which we are writing, and we offer God a supporting role in a cast of thousands. We like to be in control of our universe.

The Annunciation is a reminder to me that what I'm doing about my faith is always in response to what God is first doing in my life, even when I'm not thinking of it in that way. God sent Gabriel to make an announcement to Mary about the role she would play in God's story, not to ask her to "volunteer." Like Mary, we are often perplexed when God enters our lives uninvited and calls us to do what seems humanly impossible. Reflect with me on that thought in pursuit of a more God-centered and objective life of faith.

St. Augustine was aware of the divine initiative when he wrote, “Thou didst strike on my heart with Thy word and I loved Thee.” – from Confessions (397-398 A.D.) If you know anything about Augustine's life, you know he started out as a very self-absorbed and strong-willed individual. It would take a major epiphany to get his attention. God's undeserved grace knocked on Augustine's heart and by God's grace he was able to love God in response.

C.S. Lewis offers this perspective:

Christianity “does not tell of a human search for God at all, but of something done by God for, to, and about Man. And the way in which it is done is selective, undemocratic, to the highest degree. After the knowledge of God had been universally lost or obscured, one man from the whole earth (Abraham) is picked out. He is separated (miserably enough, we may suppose) from his natural surroundings, sent into a strange country, and made the ancestor of a nation who are to carry the knowledge of the true God. Within this nation there is further selection: some die in the desert, some remain behind in Babylon. There is further selection still. The process grows narrower and narrower, sharpens at last into one small bright point like the head of a spear. It is a Jewish girl at her prayers. All humanity (so far as concerns its redemption) has narrowed to that” (Chapter 14, Miracles:A Preliminary Study, Harper Collins, 2001).

And, because I love the poetry and music of our faith so much, this 19th Century hymn comes to mind:

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
it was not I that found, O Savior true;
no, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold;
I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea;
'twas not so much that I on thee took hold,
as thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole
of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee;
for thou wert long beforehand with my soul,
always thou lovedst me.

Maybe this would be a good day to say with Mary, “Let it be with me according to your word.”

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

March 22, 2019
What does it mean to have faith?

Religion has never meant quite the same thing to all persons. In history there have been essentially four ways in which religion has been meaningful to people: To some religion is inward fellowship with God; to others, religion is a standard for life and a power to reach that standard; to others religion is the highest satisfaction of their minds; and, to yet others, religion is access to God, that which removes the barriers and opens the doors to God’s living presence.

It was this fourth conception of religion that attracted the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. He found in Christ the one person who could take him into the presence of God. Jesus, for the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, was the one person who gave access to reality and access to God. That is the key thought of this letter, this book of the Bible. In the eleventh chapter we find a magnificent exhortation to have faith. What does it mean to have faith?

To have faith is to have a new way of looking at reality. Each of us is born with five senses, which enable us to apprehend reality as it appears on the surface. We see, hear, taste, touch, and smell the world in which we live. The organs that make this possible are a part of our natural equipment.

We might think of faith as an organ that takes us beyond the five senses and enables us to perceive another, deeper level of reality. By means of faith, we are able to trust the truths of God that are beyond our natural ability to understand. Thus, faith is itself a verification – the verification of the things we cannot see. So, we often speak of seeing with the eyes of faith.

Such faith, according to the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, enabled people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac to trust God’s promises and to obey God. When faith dawns and begins to develop in a person’s life, one is able to look at reality as it appears to the five senses and apprehend still another dimension that gives things a meaning and purpose they did not have before. Faith gives us a new way of looking at things.

To have faith is to have a new source of energy. The key to understanding the power of faith lies in the wonder of the human psyche. Faith is itself the power given to those who have made a decision to believe and to trust. It is the power to act. Indecision keeps all that power locked up and causes depression, anxiety, and frustration.

On the other hand, confident decisions unlock enormous reservoirs of power and energy we will need to carry out those decisions. Thus, if we want to experience the energy of faith, we have to decide what we’re going to do about the new understandings we have seen through the eyes of faith.

Finding creative solutions to complicated problems is the specialty of people of faith. Faith keeps us from giving in easily to problems and provides energy to struggle with them until they have been mastered and overcome. It doesn’t take eyes of faith to look at the past or to maintain the status quo. What about tomorrow?

I believe we can and we will keep our eye on tomorrow because we are people of faith. The kind of faith we have is the sort that guided and empowered the patriarchs and prophets and our Savior and the early Church to persevere. It will be the same for us. We have a vision and we will act on it, trusting in the promises of God. This faith is nothing less than the fuel cell of the Church! To have faith is to have a new source of energy.

To have faith is to have a new kind of security. Jesus said, “Have no fear, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom. Sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor. Provide for yourselves purses that don’t wear out and save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because no thief can get to them. For your heart will always be where your riches are” (Luke 12:32-34).

What does he mean? He means that the Kingdom of Heaven, the Realm of God, is the most valuable thing in the universe and it is God’s desire to give it to those who place their primary trust in him. Whatever we possess here is but a shadow and dim reflection of the great treasury of that Kingdom. Like Abraham, who lived in a tent, with no permanent home, we look for that city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And yet, we cling for security to so many things.

Whether or not we actually sell all that we have and give the money to the poor, the role of faith is that it produces a sense of security apart from our attachments to the present material world and our possessions. Faith gives us a new kind of security.

Finally, to have faith is to have new life. When Abraham answered God’s call to leave his safe, secure homeland and journey into a land he did not know, he began a new life. All who have such faith are the descendants of Abraham and have God’s gift of new life.

Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living trust of the heart.” To live in faith is to live under the conviction that everything and everyone belongs to God. Faith, therefore, conditions the way we relate to our world and the people in it. And what is the opposite of trust? Fear. The good news is that faith is the agent that enables us to overcome fear. It relives us of some anxiety that is produced by our idea that God won’t come through. It frees us to accept our place in the divine plan for all things.

We have a commission to live life to the fullest, equipped with this living trust of the heart. So, we have new life to live today and every day, until for ever. When, with the YES of faith, we see and greet from afar the heavenly city where life never ends, we begin to experience a foretaste of that life here and now. That vision illuminates and transforms our present reality and we are alive unto God. To have faith is to have new life.

In a Nutshell… To have faith is to have a new way of looking at reality, a new source of energy, a new security, and a new life. So, fear not, little flock. for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Don’t trust your fears more than you trust your God to keep promises. Reach out and experience the world and the persons around you with the five senses. Then, experience all of these things with the faith that comes from God so that you might see it all as God does. It will transform you and free you become all you were made to be! And, it will attract you to other people of faith in ways that overcome differences for the greater glory of God as together we work, pray, and give for the spread of the Kingdom of God.

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

P.S. I have always found these lines from this secular song to be a beautiful illustration of faith.

The Rose

It’s the heart that fears the breaking
that never learns the dance.

It’s the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.

It’s the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.

And the soul afraid of dying
who never learns to live.

When the night has been too long
when you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong

Just remember in the winter – far beneath the winter snows
lies the seed that with the sun’s love
becomes the rose.

March 14, 2019
Every Member is a Minister

One of the most important tasks we’ve undertaken during this time of transition is to foster the engagement of the members of the Cathedral community in one or more ministries. Why is this important?

• “Every Member is a Minister” is the teaching of The Episcopal Church.

The Catechism of The Episcopal Church can be found on pages 844-862 in The Book of Common Prayer. This brief summary of the Church’s teaching, grounded in Scripture, is also known as “An Outline of the Faith.” Among the teachings we find in the Catechism is a description of how the mission of the Church is carried out and by whom:

Q. Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A. The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.

• “Every Member is a Minister” is a characteristic of fruitful congregations.

Fruitful congregations understand that every member is a minister, called by and connected to Jesus Christ and engaged in one or more ministries. At St. Andrew’s, these ministries are carried out with assistance of the clergy and staff under the leadership and engagement of our commissions, committees, guilds, and various ministry groups. Some of our ministries that had become dormant have been revitalized. Others have been strengthened. Still others are new initiatives.

• “Every Member is a Minister” describes a church that is ready to enter the next era of mission.

Soon, a new Dean will arrive, ready to lead you into a future where God is calling you. He or she will expect to have a well organized, active, involved laity with whom to work because that’s how the profile you helped develop describes St. Andrew's. To have all the ministries populated with people, sleeves rolled up, called, equipped, and empowered will make a big difference.

• We’ve come a long way but there is room for more.

Several weeks ago, we sent out an invitation to participate in a time and talent survey called “I Will, With God’s Help.” The intent of that survey is to determine three things:

• Places of ministry members feel called to explore or begin,
• Places of ministry members wish to continue in the coming year,
• Places of ministry where members are serving beyond the parish.

We've developed a document describing the ministries of the parish. It is entitled “Charters for Mission and Governance” and you may see it HERE. This document was prepared in collaboration with commissions and committees and finally approved by the Vestry in February of this year. Along with those descriptions, there are brief descriptions of just about every one of our ongoing ministries in the survey itself.

If you have already participated in the survey, thank you very much! If you have not, there is still time. Click HERE to participate.

As you consider this invitation, I encourage you to read again the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians. Read them as if they were written for this community of Christ's followers in this time and place.

But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. – Ephesians 4:15-16

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

http://standrews.ms/iwill/

http://standrews.ms/charters-and-governance/

March 7, 2019
Congratulations! Keep Moving.

The Transfiguration of Christ by the hand of Gay Pogue

The official feast day for the Transfiguration of Christ is August 6. Since it is normally not on a Sunday, it doesn't get much attention. However, the planners of the Sunday lectionary have placed the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday After the Epiphany each year. You can read Luke's account here.

Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the mountaintop when they saw this itinerant rabbi in a whole new light. It was one of the most powerful and numinous of all the manifestations of Jesus as the Messiah. They heard the voice of God confirming the divine nature and mission of the Only Begotten.

The appearance of Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah the Prophet assure us that Jesus was the One who had come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. It was as if Moses and Elijah were passing their ministries on to Jesus the Messiah for him to complete.

Peter's suggestion that they build dwellings and take up residence in the experience reminds us of our tendency to want to stop the procession. When something wonderful happens, we feel as if it can't get any better than this and we want to preserve everything just the way it is. But Jesus had to come down from the mountain, respond to human need, and face the cross. Mountaintop experiences have their place. But there is always more to be done in the mission to which we are called.

I once heard about a university commencement in which the president's lapel microphone remained on as he was presenting the diplomas to the graduates, broadcasting his voice as he said to each one of them, "Congratulations! Keep moving."

Perhaps that is a message for us when we have an epiphany, a mountaintop experience. It is an important and wonderful thing, but not an end in itself. We draw inspiration and derive courage from it and we keep moving toward new opportunities God is preparing for us to walk in. "Congratulations! Keep moving."

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

February 28, 2019
Nurturing the Most Important Relationship of All

Think of the most important relationships in your life. Who are the people who matter to you and to whom you matter? How do you nurture those relationships? Do you routinely show up for meals with them? Do you communicate with them? Do you celebrate special occasions with them? Do you check in with them on a regular basis? Do you go out of your way for them? Do you feel a sense of responsibility to them? Do you delight in their company? Do you lavish gifts upon them to express your devotion? Do you tell them what they mean to you? What would your life be like without them? Do you ever take them for granted? Would it bother you if you drifted apart.

Does your relationship with God matter as much? How do you nurture your relationship with God?

One of the consistent themes of the Bible is God’s desire for a relationship with us. God went searching for Adam in the Garden of Eden. God appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him. The first two commandments God gave to Moses on the mountain have to do with putting God first. God in Christ said, “Follow me” to some strangers and formed them into a community of friends and disciples. They and their successors called to others to follow Christ and join that community, the Church, where we continue to work on that relationship today.

God wants to be first in our lives and promises to transform all other relationships. In an attempt to express the primacy of our relationship with God, the faithful do things like give the first tenth of their treasure to God and worship on the first day of the week. Because God matters, we show up for meals, communicate, celebrate special occasions, check in regularly, go out of our way, feel a sense of responsibility, delight in God’s company, lavish gifts upon God, and express what God means to us through prayers and praises. Life would not be the same without God and we don’t ever want to take God for granted.

God matters to us. But even more important is the message that we matter to God! Of all God’s creatures, human beings come first. We are the apple of God’s eye. Because this relationship is so important to God, God shows up for meals, communicates with us, celebrates special occasions with us, goes out of the way for us, feels a sense of responsibility toward us, delights in our company, lavishes gifts upon us, and tells us we are beloved. We matter to God and God never takes us for granted.

St. Augustine of Hippo prayed, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” We were created with a desire to live in relationship with our Creator as well as our neighbors. As we approach the Season of Lent, I pray that we will make a new resolve to open ourselves more fully to that relationship. This 19th Century hymn echoes Augustine's prayer. Take a moment to listen to this a capella rendition by Danny Byrum.

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me.
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
no, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold;
I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea.
'Twas not so much that I on thee took hold,
as thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole
of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee!
For thou wert long beforehand with my soul;
always thou lovedst me.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

February 21, 2019
Every Member Has a Ministry!

The Calling of Andrew Window

The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah to the gentile world. In the season following the feast, we are reminded of various ways he manifested his messianic role – miracles, healing, preaching, teaching, and calling people to follow him.

He spent time with those who responded to his call, forming them into a community, equipping them to continue his messianic work in the world. Each follower of Jesus was given gifts for this work. Some were placed in positions of leadership to provide the formative experiences for others in the generations that followed. In this way, the community of followers of Jesus, the Church, is strategically ordered to advance his mission from generation to generation.

Writing to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus in the first few years after Jesus ascended into heaven, St. Paul wrote of this way of ensuring the future of Christian mission:

“But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7, 11-13).

Notice that the “work of ministry” is entrusted to “the saints.” Who are the saints? The saints are the members of Christ’s Church, the followers of Jesus. Our Episcopal catechism expresses it this way, “The Church carries out is mission through the ministry of all its members” (BCP, p. 855).

Larger congregations, like ours, have several members of the clergy and a number of staff members. It is easy to see the clergy and staff as the ones who carry out the Church’s mission. Sometimes even the clergy and staff begin to see it that way. However, when that happens, the saints are deprived of their missional opportunities. It is our responsibility to help each member discover his or her gifts and discern ways in which Christ wants those gifts to be used, with God's help, in the ongoing mission of Jesus Christ.

Some are called to serve primarily within the life of the Church. Others are called to ministries out in the world at our doorstep. Many are called to do both! Christ calls each of us to be engaged in his mission. Every member has a ministry! Vibrant, fruitful churches are filled with people who believe that and exercise their ministries to the glory of God, thereby building up the Church in pursuit of Christ’s mission.

So, during this season when we recall those whom Christ called to follow him during his earthly ministry, we reclaim and reaffirm our own vocations. Where are you called to serve Christ in his Church? If you know, your clergy and staff are here to assist you and support you. And, if you are not sure, we are here to help you find a ministry that is right for you.

Tomorrow, I will send out a message announcing this year’s engagement campaign, “I Will, With God’s Help.” Building on last year’s campaign, we are hoping once again to have strong participation in this effort to engage everyone in the ministries of St. Andrew’s Cathedral. There is a long list of possibilities in the survey we have prepared. Please watch for the email. When it arrives, I invite you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to take some time to review the opportunities and respond to the call to serve in one or more ways.

By responding to your vocation, your call, you give us the privilege of fulfilling ours! Please let us hear from you.

The Collect for the Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany is a good prayer to offer while you are considering your call to serve.

O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

February 14, 2019
Networking

Next Sunday's gospel is Luke 5:1-11. It is the story of Jesus' encounter with Simon, James, and John on the shore of Lake Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee). You might want to read the story here to refresh your memory of their miraculous catch of fish and how Jesus told them they would be catching people.

The Greek word zogron, which means “catching,” was commonly used of teachers: they “caught” their students and brought them new life. I remember an occasion at dinner with friends when my wife, Gay, who was a high school English teacher, was talking about a new data projector she had been issued by her school. It was a somewhat novel thing at that time. She explained how she could project a movie on an entire classroom wall for the students to watch and she described their response to a movie she wanted them to see. One of our dinner companions exclaimed, “You caught them!” That is what Jesus means when he says to Simon, James, and John, “don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

The sense in which the followers of Jesus are called to “catch” people has to do with inclusion in a redemptive, prophetic, community of faith. We are woven into a network. My salvation and yours are connected. My part of Christ’s mission and yours are tied together. When we are called into a relationship with Jesus Christ, we are called into life in Christ's community. We are woven into a network through our Baptism and cast out into the world to “catch” people with the love of God.

Someone has said, “Christianity is more easily caught than taught.” Another person expressed it like this, “We belong before we believe.” Our life and witness as disciples, students, followers of Jesus Christ is not done in isolation either from Jesus or from the community of faith.

The First Baptist Church of Austin, Texas is remarkable for its progressive faith and its architecture. It is one of the few Southern Baptist Churches with the pulpit on the side instead of in the center. A large communion table sits in the center, surrounded by seats. Rising above the table in a recessed area are about four stories of organ pipes. And draped in the opening in front of the pipes are two enormous fish nets. I don't know that I've ever seen a more powerful reminder of the network of disciples Jesus has called to carry on his work in the world.

As we live and grow in our relationship with him and with one another, we are woven into this amazingly strong and reliable net that the Lover of our souls casts out into the world so that his love manifested among us may catch others, draw them in, and give them life. This net really works!

In the next few days, we are going to extend an invitation to become involved in the network of disciples at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. We are hoping some will continue in the places of service in which they are now engaged. Some may feel called to some place of ministry that is new to them. We are also hoping some who have not been involved will respond to the invitation by finding a place of service. Watch for the invitation and let us know how you believe you are called to be woven into this Cathedral net to ensure that it continues to work on behalf of Christ’s mission in the world.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

February 7, 2019
The Message of Love

The season after The Epiphany of Our Lord is one in which we consider our own calling against the backdrop of God's call to those who have gone before us. God’s call is accompanied by gifts that will be needed in order to be who we are called to be and to do what we are called to do. The life of those who are called is to be lived out in the company of others who are also called. Sometimes, as we will see in Sunday's readings regarding Jeremiah, Jesus, and St. Paul, the call is to deliver a message. And, sometimes, that message is one that people would rather not hear.

You would think that a message of love would be one that everybody wants to hear, wouldn’t you? Think of how we like to exalt love. We like to talk about it and sing about it. Of all the things God might want us to tell others about and of all the things we might want to hear about, talk of love seems like the kind of message that ought to be universally welcomed.

However, as we can see from the examples of Jeremiah, Jesus, and St. Paul, you can get run out of town pretty fast for too much talk about love – Love Divine.

The witness of Jeremiah was to call forth the best from God’s people by reminding them of God’s covenant love. His message met with a great deal of rejection. The witness of Jesus and of St. Paul was the same. It is a love that pours itself out for the other, the beloved, without regard for a return on the investment. It feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, shelters the homeless, forgives the offender, and enables us to live with ourselves and others. It is willing to risk an entire relationship if that is what is necessary to tell the truth. And, the first step toward giving this sort of love, Love Divine, is to experience it for ourselves. To be brought face-to-face with the best and the worst that is in us in the presence of the Lover of our Souls.

We may miss the point because we are so self-absorbed. There is a reservoir of love already standing within us. Like the subject of a song about love that was popular a few years ago, we are “looking for love in all the wrong places.”

When we come to the time in our lives where we do see ourselves as we really are, a mixture of beauty and beast, our only salvation is in the realization that God, too, sees both sides of our nature and loves them both. God seeks the transformation of the lower, darker side and the exaltation and maturity of the other. God’s love for us is tough, authentic, just, and unquenchable!

The ongoing expression of God’s desire to love us is the Holy Eucharist. It is also the communion of those who are willing to be open to the giving and receiving of that love.

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

January 31, 2019
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism

This will reach you on the eve of The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This annual observance always begins on January 18, the Confession of St. Peter, and continues until January 25, the Conversion of St. Paul.

Once we thought Christian unity meant all Christians should be organized into one big church. Today’s approach is summed up in a Latin phrase, “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas” commonly translated as "unity in necessary things; liberty in doubtful things; charity in all things." The phrase has often been attributed to 4th century bishop St. Augustine of Hippo, but has also been attributed to 17th century Croatian Bishop Marco Antonio de Dominis and English author and Puritan Richard Baxter of the same era. Regardless of who said it, it is worthy of contemplation as we pray and work for Christian unity.

I wish other groups of Christians could know the kind of unity that exists in The Cathedral Church of St. Andrew – an inviting, unity of heart, mind, and purpose that is in contrast to the day-to-day conflicts that plague us. It is not a unity based on agreement in everything, but is similar to what St. Paul described in a message he sent to the Ephesians, “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:1-6)

Perhaps there is some way it can be exported. Let me tell you about a place that did just that.

On November 14, 1940, much of the City of Coventry, England was reduced to rubble by German bombs. The Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels, at the heart of the city, burned with it. In the terrible aftermath that followed, Provost Howard wrote the words ‘Father forgive’ on the smoke-blackened wall of the sanctuary. Two of the charred beams that had fallen in the shape of a cross were set on the altar and three of the medieval nails were bound into the shape of a cross. The people of Coventry found the grace to overcome the anger they felt toward their enemies who destroyed their Cathedral and almost destroyed their entire city.

After the war, they decided to share that grace with others. Crosses of Nails were presented to Kiel, Dresden, and Berlin, cities shattered by Allied bombing. Out of those ashes grew a trust and partnership between Coventry and the German cities. The Community of the Cross of Nails came into being. There are now 160 Cross of Nails Centres around the world, all emanating from this early, courageous vision, and all working for peace and reconciliation within their own communities and countries. The Cross of Nails has become a powerful and inspirational symbol of reconciliation and peace. It should come as no surprise that our own St. Andrew’s Cathedral is listed among the Friends of the Community of the Cross of Nails.

The original Cross of Nails is now incorporated in the cross on the Coventry Cathedral High Altar. The twisted arms of the High Altar cross symbolize the charred timbers from the roof of the original Cathedral, which were made into a cross to replace the original High Altar cross. The nails and twisted arms also symbolize Christ's suffering on the original Cross.

As a Friend, St. Andrew's also has a Cross of Nails. It is above the Chapel Altar. Give thanks to God for our unity and pray that we will be a light to others who seek oneness in Christ. Every shining example of a community of Christians living into the oneness for which our Savior prayed is part of the answer to his prayer "that they all might be one" and all prayers for unity among all God's children.

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

January 17, 2019
Remember Who You Are!

Sunday is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ. It is one of the days in the liturgical calendar when we renew the Baptismal Covenant. We do that from time to time so that we can remember that we are God’s beloved sons and daughters whom God has invited to live in a covenant relationship. A covenant relationship is one in which each party is bound to remain in relationship even when the other does not live up to the promises of the covenant. The most important thing to remember about our covenant relationship with God is that God always remains faithful to us, even when we are unfaithful to God. God is always there, calling us back into that unique relationship.

I suppose the most impressive thing about this God of ours is the fact that, instead of sitting upon a throne, aloof and disinterested in the affairs of the people God has created, our God has chosen to enter into a covenant with us. This is a difficult thing for some to believe. I even find myself sometimes asking, when I sense my own unfaithfulness and that of the world around me, “What's a nice God like you doing in a covenant like this?”

As God's covenant promises were declared and established in the Baptism of Jesus – so God’s covenant promises are declared in our Baptism. In our Baptism we, like our Messiah who has gone before us, are anointed and our identity as God's children is established. Through Baptism we become members of God's family and are ordained to the priesthood of believers.

Whenever Baptism is administered, it is a sign of God's action and God's intentions toward us. God gets involved with us in a covenant relationship because God desires to be in fellowship with us and wants to work in and through us toward the fulfillment of our lives and the life of all creation. Who we are determines what we do, how we respond to the world and all the people and events of life.

Carl Sandburg once told a group of students at a Harvard commencement, “you need the spirit of Lincoln, who in the divided house of his day knew what to do because he knew who he was.” To be taught that we are children of God and to define ourselves in that way changes what we do with our lives. It is news we can embrace or resist. The fruit of our lives reveals which we are doing.

In Baptism we are marked as Christian disciples and heirs of God's grace. Few of us can actually remember our Baptism – its precise details. But we can remember that we are Baptized just as we can remember that we are born. In remembering our Baptism, we get back in touch with who we really are, God's children, called and set apart for a special purpose. We renew the covenant God has established with us so that there may be a renewal of forgiveness, faith, and ministry in our task as God’s own beloved people.

In Alex Haley's book, Roots, there is a memorable scene the night the slave, Kunte Kinte, drove his master to a ball at the big plantation house. Kunta Kinte heard the music from inside the house, music from the white folk's dance. He parked the buggy and settled down to wait out the long night of his master's revelry. While he sat in the buggy, he heard other music coming from the slave's quarters, the little cabins behind the big house. It was different music, music with a different rhythm. He felt himself carried down the path toward those cabins. There he found a man playing African music, his music which he remembered hearing in Africa as a child – the music he had almost forgotten. Kunta Kinte found that the man was from his section of Africa. They talked excitedly, in his native language, of home and the things of home.

That night, Kunta Kinte went home changed. He lay upon the dirt floor of his little cabin and wept. Weeping in sadness that he had almost forgotten, weeping in joy that he had at last remembered. The terrifying, degrading experience of slavery had almost obliterated his memory of who he was. But the music had helped him remember.

This is a parable about Baptism. It is a parable about how easy it is to forget who we are and whose we are. So the Church is here to remind us, to remind one another, that our freedom has been bought with a price, that someone greater than us has named us and claimed us, seeks us and loves us, with only one good reason in mind – to love us for all eternity. Whenever we see the water poured and each time we feast on the bread and wine of the Eucharist, let us renew the Baptismal Covenant, which we, from time to time, have broken. Each time someone is brought to these holy waters, let us remember our Baptism and be thankful. And each time we step back into the mission field at the Church’s doorstep, let us remember that we are beloved of God so that we can share that blessing with others.

I once had a small piece of one-way glass on my desk with an inscription that said, “Lord, make my life a window for your light to shine through and a mirror to reflect your love to all I meet.” That is exactly what God hopes will come of my Baptism, and yours as well.

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River
Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him
with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his
Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly
confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy
Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

January 10, 2019