Tag Archives: stewardship

“The discerning Blind Man sees clearly”

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Pentecost 22 (Mark 10:46-52)  10/28/2012

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I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine and he mentioned that he hoped to soon walk the Camino de Santiago. The Camino de Santiago (or the “Way of St. James” in English) is a walking pilgrimage that has been popular for centuries. I found my friend’s story very interesting, but not because of his desire to take up a pilgrimage (we all know many pilgrims in this very place of St. John’s Church – our J2A youth just recently returning from Belize). I found my friend’s story interesting because his interest in walking the Camino de Santiago is the third or fourth mention of this pilgrimage I have heard in the past few weeks. Over these weeks, as I have heard the name of this pilgrimage repeated time and again, I have taken notice because repetition holds a particular meaning all to itself. The Bible regularly uses repetition, with stories of great significance being told over and over again. Repetition brings the story to the forefront of one’s mind, calling for special attention in the midst of the vast amount of information we encounter daily. This process of sifting is called “discernment” and discernment is a practice for everyone, not just pilgrims or people with a special concern. My friend’s story prompted me to think about the significance of this ancient walking pilgrimage. The Camino de Santiago started more than one thousand years ago and remains popular today. The earliest pilgrims started their journey from their homes and walked several hundred miles to the legendary burial place of St. James the Apostle, located in northwest Spain. Whether St. James is actually buried where legend says he is buried is not of the greatest significance, for the sacred way of this pilgrimage has long transcended any historical truth. During the many days of walking the Way of St. James, pilgrims meet others on their journey and they experience things they have never known before, and come to know themselves in new and unknown ways. Many share their stories in books, or blogs, or travel guides in an effort to help future discerning people come to know themselves in new and unknown ways. The process of sorting through all their experiences, this process called discernment, is an important element of dealing with so many stories, so many experiences. Discernment is the key to unlocking the mystery of all the stories and messages we receive; messages that urge us to stretch beyond the limits of our current understandings and expectations. Continue reading →

“Following Christ beyond the classroom”

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16th Sunday after Pentecost (Mark 8: 27-38)  09/16/2012

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Earlier this week I received my monthly college alumni magazine. I always enjoy getting caught up on the latest news about my classmates and this month I was also reminded that this year will be the 25th reunion of my college graduation; a time to remember and celebrate a milestone of hard work, an accomplishment of four years of learning. I remember four years of college was followed by another year of specialized training and then I finally arrived at my first ship. As I walked aboard the submarine I was welcomed by one of the ship’s Chief Petty Officers; he said, “Welcome to the real Navy, Mr. Perkins.” The “real” Navy, what was that supposed to mean? I replied, “I have been in the Navy for more than five years, Chief.” Unimpressed, this experienced sailor told me to keep my eyes and ears open, listen to the Chief Petty Officers and I would eventually learn about being a Navy sailor. A few years later, as I was preparing to leave the Navy and join the business world, I thought business school would be a wise decision, a way to better understand the new world I was about to enter. Business classes were very helpful in my preparation to embark on my new career, but remembering the experienced sailor’s advice, I wondered if the information I learned in the classroom would be enough? In a recent news article written by a business leader and author, that same question is considered: can the classroom provide students everything they need to know about the world of business? The author presents the advantages of classroom instruction combined with practical training in the field and asks the reader to consider this thought: “Whatever led us to imagine that classroom teaching alone was a smart way to teach anything practical, like law or business?”[i] The article holds up the medical teaching hospital as the ideal and praises the model of teaching students “where their subject is taking place in front of their eyes.”[ii] An interesting question: “Whatever led us to imagine that classroom teaching alone was a smart way to teach anything practical, like law or business”…or being a follower of Jesus? Continue reading →

“Sacred Traditions”

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Pentecost 14 (Mark 7: 1-23)  09/02/2012

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The author of the Gospel according to Mark tells us this morning, “the Pharisees, and all the Jews…observed the traditions of the elders;…and there were many traditions that they observed.” (Mark 7:3-4) As we gather on this traditional Labor Day weekend, we must admit that there are a fair number of traditions that we observe. Perhaps as we sit in the church this morning with visions of the summer BBQ or the beach or some other holiday tradition on our minds, we might look quite fondly on our traditions. Traditions ground us in many ways: they connect us to our past and they provide us with a framework of how to proceed into our future. Some traditions are rather obvious and widely practiced, while other traditions are quite obscure and practiced by a select group of people. Turkey on Thanksgiving, freshly cut trees at Christmas and cakes with festive candles on birthdays include some of the most popular traditions in the United States. Lesser known traditions, so I’ve heard, include pulling off the legs of the turkey before cooking it in the oven, serving minced pie at Christmas, or taking long family hikes every New Year’s Day, regardless of the weather. Some traditions are fun and festive while others are quite sacred. Sacred traditions are often passed along to successive generations and eventually become accepted as strict rituals of the religious community. Continue reading →

“The Wisdom of Giving”

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18th Sunday after Pentecost (Matthew 22:15-22)  10/16/2011

A little more than two years ago my mobile phone experienced a few major failures…so, off I went to the phone store and found the perfect replacement. However, technology is advancing so rapidly these days I have recently discovered that my “perfect” phone is no longer on the market. My two-year phone contract has recently expired and, needless to say, throughout this past summer I was keeping an eye on the various speculations of the newest iPhone release, which just occurred this past Friday. The building curiosity behind this iPhone release was made more intense because at the same time there was interest in the health of Apple’s co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs had been courageously fighting various health issues for several years before this past summer, but his condition caused him to once again step away from his daily duties at Apple and finally in the late summer to step down as the company’s CEO. These two stories, the iPhone release and Steve Jobs’ health, continued to be discussed as summer turned into fall. On October 4th, Apple finally released news of their latest phone and just one day later the world learned that the man behind the company had died. As the world lost Steve Jobs to an illness that he could not overcome, we were reminded of the many great accomplishments he gave the world. During the past several days people have reflected on many aspects of his career and his contributions, but I was particularly affected by his commencement address to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005. Steve Jobs was a man with worldly success giving these graduates the wisdom of life’s lessons…and many of his lessons were forged from his experiences of challenging and difficult times in his life. A graduate who was there recently wrote: “Jobs was not a rousing orator. He looked nervous as he approached the podium. As he spoke, though, his voice gained the strength of someone who knows that what he’s saying is both true and very important. And something unusual happened: we all started paying attention.”[i] Steve Jobs had captured the attention of the crowd as he spoke the wisdom that he had learned from life’s challenges. Continue reading →

“The gift of Faith – renewed and rekindled by our actions”

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Proper 22C (2 Tim 1:1-14 and Luke 17:5-10)  10/03/2010

John Westerhoff, an Episcopal priest and theologian, shared his understanding of faith development in his book, Will Our Children Have Faith? Westerhoff opens his book by stating, “It is a truism that Christian faith and education are inevitable companions. Wherever living faith exists, there is a community endeavoring to know, understand, live and witness to that faith.”[i] Throughout the remainder of Westerhoff’s book, he clearly explains that his definition of education is not limited to the classroom. The companionship of faith and education is most profoundly experienced as we learn in the fullness of our journey through life. Last Sunday morning at our forum, the St. John’s J2A pilgrims shared highlights from their trip to Scotland and those in attendance heard their profound experiences – experiences that will shape and inform their journey through life. Throughout the forum, each pilgrim came forward and shared some concerns they had before the trip (the potential difficulty of living without electronic gadgets, the discomfort of living on a vegetarian diet, and the unease of traveling with people that you barely know); and they also shared their understanding of life after the trip (garden grown vegetables are not so bad, traveling without electronic gadgets fosters conversation and friendship, and the beauty of the Scottish landscape revealed to them the presence of the holy). The pilgrimage was a profound experience for those who made the trip, but as members of this community, as people who witness the pilgrims’ journey, we encounter the holy and we are profoundly changed as well. Profoundly changed in our understanding of life and profoundly changed in our understanding of faith. The gift of faith, freely given to us from God, but a gift that is ours to grow through our discovery; our determination; our wonder of the holy. Our faith must be “rekindled” as the author of Paul’s letter to Timothy tells us this morning. Continue reading →