Tag: Church of the Good Shepherd

An Epiphany From Tortellini Soup

We’re hosting the monthly gathering of Episcopal clergy tomorrow at The Church of the Good Shepherd. We meet at lunchtime and our meal is handled in different ways: sometimes we bring a brown bag, sometimes something is ordered from a sandwich or pizza shop that delivers, and sometimes the host church prepares the food.

I was about to order a sandwich platter when I realized that today is a holiday and I wanted to spend some time in the kitchen. I might as well prepare something for the gathering with colleagues. But what? We’re kind of a cozy group so some kind of cozy, comfort food might be in order, especially something that would be good for a cold winter day.

The first thing that came to my mind was Jerry's Tortellini Soup. There’s a story behind that.

About this time in 1987, I came down with a horrible case of the flu. Gay confined me to the house and that is where I stayed for a week. Toward the end of that week, when my fever had broken, I was improving but was weak, bored, and had absolutely no appetite.

Our friend, Jerry Jones (the REAL Jerry Jones, not the owner of that Dallas football team) called to say he’d be dropping by with a pot of soup. I was grateful but unsure what kind of soup would restore my faith in my poor, dead taste buds.

Jerry arrived and delivered the soup to the kitchen stove. On his way out of the house, he said in his finest United States Marine tone of voice, “This is tortellini soup. Heat it up, eat it, and you’ll be on your feet in no time. I left the recipe.” With that, he was out the door and headed off on the next mission of mercy. Semper Fi!

I followed Jerry’s instructions, heated up the soup, sat down at the table, and put a spoonful in my mouth. Instantly, my dead taste buds were restored to life! It was the first time in a week I had tasted anything. The flavor was amazing and I don’t think I’ve ever had any kind of “comfort food” that can equal that bowl of soup. It was an epiphany for me.

I cherish that recipe. The soup and the act of kindness that brought it to me did indeed have me on my feet in no time. And the flavor of both has remained with me all these years. I love Jerry’s Tortellini Soup! Whenever I prepare this soup, the memory his gift is rekindled in me. I always hope that anyone who tastes it will detect the subtle flavor of the primary ingredients in Jerry's unwritten recipe – generosity, friendship, compassion, kindness, and love. Those are the ingredients that make Jerry’s Tortellini Soup such a healing concoction.

I love to share it with others and always do so in the spirit of Jerry, one of the world’s finest examples of a faithful friend and brother in Christ. Semper Fi, Jerry!

Download Tortellini Soup Recipe

P.S. I have developed a vegetarian version of this soup, which will be available tomorrow. The meat is omitted, but not the primary ingredients!

January 16, 2012
Here am I…Let it be

I'm listening to the Beatles' song "Let it be" as I read Luke's account of the Angel Gabriel's announcement to the Blessed Virgin (Luke 1:26-38). The song tells us Mary's words are "words of wisdom." Who would have expected wisdom from one so young?

Frederick Buechner, in his book Peculiar Treasures, has this to say about the Annunciation:

She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let along this child, but he’d been entrusted with a message to give her and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. “You mustn’t be afraid, Mary,” he said. And has he said it, he only hoped she wouldn’t notice that beneath the great golden wings, he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.”

The future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl. Imagine all the angels looking down and holding their breath, wondering what she would say. We know her answer: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

Mary wasn’t the first to say these words. She stands in a line of witnesses who said “Here am I” to God’s request. Noah said, “Here am I,” and God told him to build a floating zoo. Abram said, “Here am I,” and God told him to get his wife, pack his things, and go to a land God would show him. The boy Samuel said, “Here am I,” and began a career of speaking truth to the powers that be. Isaiah said, “Here am I,” and God sent him to deliver a prophetic message promising deliverance by a Messiah who is to come.

When we say the words, “Here am I,” and are open to hearing what it is God is asking of us, we take our places in that long line of faithful people. We are liberated and given the necessary strength to do what God is calling us to do.

Mary has already given birth to the Messiah, so God isn’t asking us to do that. Still, the angels in heaven are holding their breath to hear our answer when God draws near and calls us. We won’t need to find new words to say because the old ones still work just fine: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.”

Gay and I are blessed to spend another Christmas with the people of Good Shepherd. May your Christmas and the coming year be filled with joy, peace, and blessings in abundance.

December 15, 2011
Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ December 11, 2011

Third Sunday of Advent Year B

Listen to the Sermon for December 11, 2011

Read the Sermon for December 11, 2011

December 12, 2011
An Epiphany From a Ginko Tree

The leaves on the Ginko Tree outside my study window are turning yellow. This is not a rare or disturbing phenomenon. The tree is not dying. What is happening is the predictable effect of photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar. The word means “put together with light.” Chlorophyll gives plants their green color and helps make photosynthesis happen. As summer ends and autumn arrives, days become shorter and there is not enough light for photosynthesis.   So, during autumn and winter, the trees stop producing food. They rest and live off the food they stored during the summer. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves and other colors are visible.

Soon, the leaves will fall to the ground and add nutrients to the soil that will benefit the tree when spring and a new era of growth arrives. This annual process of change is necessary in order for the tree to thrive.

Human life also involves change. But we do not have to regard ourselves as “victims” of change. Unlike trees, which do not have the privilege of deciding how to manage change, humans have choices. We have options! The greatest options involve intangibles such as attitude, inspiration, perspective, and spirit. After all, the inner life of a child of God is different from that of a tree. The kind of light we “put together” with the elements of our lives is a different kind of light, one we can seek in any season. Enlightenment is the human equivalent of photosynthesis.

We regard our Creator as changeless. Creation, on the other hand, is made alive by change. Of all God’s creatures, humans have the most options for managing change in purposeful ways that impact the unfolding story of creation. When we are able to work with changes that impact our lives, they are more likely to become springboards that propel us into the next stage of growth. Learning to live creatively with change allows us not just to survive but to thrive.

So, in the light God gives, let us relish opportunities to explore changes that are thrust upon us and to purposefully initiate changes that will promote life and growth. In learning from change we expand our lives and become more fully human. By exercising our faith in God to guide and protect us through transitions, “we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life” will find rest and refreshment in God’s eternal changelessness.



October 8, 2010