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Prayer for a colleague

2/24/2014

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      Yesterday I attended the ordination of my friend Chris Honig. He is now a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (ELCA) Even though I am not ordained, I feel profound grace in the ritual moments of this rite. One of the moments I look forward to witnessing is when the other clergy lay hands on their newest colleague in a moment of blessing.
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     All pastors present also prayed for Chris, one at a time, coming forward and taking their own moment to lift up Chris and his ministry to God. I was shocked how much this affected me.  I think it is because we are at a moment in time where we are highly connected to each other but only at arm's-length...or cyber arm's-length! We rarely make physical contact with other people. We keep a respectful, germ-free distance with one another. But in this sacred moment pastor after pastor broke through our cultural issues of "personal space" and was physically present for Chris.

      As each took their turn I noticed the pastors that Chris knew personally and have helped shape his sense of ministry for the church and the world. There were some that he knew through his family as he grew up in the church. And then there were the ones who Chris does not know yet but will be great models of humble service and joyful leadership. I can't wait for him to get to know each of them better - and for them to know Chris!
     This new pastor is surrounded by men and women who intimately know this call and what it means to live it out. They know the joys and frustrations of being a spiritual leader. They have prayed with and for people in a hospital room and the aisle of a grocery store. The have been present for the profound moments of people's lives: births, deaths, marriages, illness and healing, unemployment, heartache, forgiveness and reconciliation, and moments of deep questions about God. They trust the Holy Spirit works though them even when they themselves are spiritually dry.

      Each called and ordained minister brought these experiences with them when they prayed for Chris. I imagine, as they put their hands on his head and leaned in close, they prayed for strength and wisdom, peace and understanding, energy and calm, and that Chris would always be listening for the loving and challenging voice of God in his ministry and his life.

At least....that is what I pray for Chris.


~ pam

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Imagining all the ways God is near

2/16/2014

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     I don’t have much to say about Family Day at church today…except I left feeling really good!
     About 20 families joined together to answer the question – Who is God?     

     To answer that question we needed to imagine God. In the end, we did not have just one right answer. We came up with lots and lots of answers because God is so many things and with us in so many ways.

     We talked about how for years artists have imagined Jesus. We looked together at paintings and sculptures of Jesus: Jesus as a boy, Jesus eating with friends and Jesus weeping.


      And then we shared how we feel when we know God is with us: happy, peaceful, calm, unsettled, excited, prayerful, energetic, quiet. We feel this way when we are in creation and see all the things God made.
     Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. God is close. The Holy Spirit moves in and through us every day. The Holy Spirit helps us comfort and care for each other. The Holy Spirit inspires us to be artists and create our own beauty.

     So that each family could continue to imagine God at home, they received a book: Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval. The book is filled with more beautiful ways to imagine God close to us ~ God is breath. God is secret. God is joy. God is our tears. Every night they will pick out one page to read and look at the picture together. That will be the image they take to rest with them. A new and yet familiar image to remind them that God is with them.

     And that makes me feel really good ~ all of our families close to each other and close to God.

~ pam



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The Answer to the World's Longing

2/5/2014

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      Last weekend at a women's retreat, we did a hymn study on one of my favorite hymns: Christ, Be Our Light. (A perk of planning the retreat.) The imagery in this hymn both comforts and challenges me.

      The hymn spells out the longing that so many people feel. We long for light, truth, peace, hope, food, water, shelter and warmth. Some of those are immediate needs for daily survival. Others are big picture, existential needs, in which we long for a good life.
      In either situation, the writer, Bernadette Farrell, reminds us that we are the answer to the world's longings. We are God's sign of peace and reconciliation, hope and compassion for the world. As we repeat the phrase, "Make us....", the hymn speaks our invitation to God to use us to be a sign of his grace.
      The idea that we are God's response to the world's longing can be overwhelming. We think of the whole world wonder if we have what it takes to respond to other's deep needs. But what if we made it more personal?
    

     Imagine this: What if we all wore our longings on our sleeve? What if we could see what each other was dealing with every day? What if we saw who was sad, or lonely, or in physical pain, or betrayed, or heartbroken? Our response would be much different. We would immediately know their pain. We acknowledge: I know that feeling of depression and sadness. I know what it means to move through the day and every step is agony. I know the loss of a husband, a child, a best friend.
      In that moment, God makes us a sign of healing. In the moment of our knowing, we are God's gift to the world because in our compassion we do not stay silent. We say "Tell me" to the other person. We sit and listen over a cup of coffee. We acknowledge they are not alone and their experiences are not happening in a vacuum. God gives us each other as a sign of God's great love for the world.

      As we sing the refrain, we affirm that the Christ-light shines in our relationships and our communities.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts. Shine thought the darkness.
Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.

      So many times we pray and ask God for a sign: a sign for how to handle a relationship, a sign to know what is next, a sign that God still cares.
      God is listening. God cares more than we can ever know. God sent a sign...and if you miss that one, there is another right beside you. Or....it might be you.


~ pam




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    Pam Voves

    On my own journey as a dabbling artist, a lover of stories,
    and grounded by my call to accompany people on their journey of faith.

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