Bedtime Prayer

                      Mothering God, 

Eternal presence of wisdom, 

watch over us in our slumber, 

comfort us through any fears, 

assure us of your overflowing love. 

                                                            Amen

Rainbow Connection

I started my morning in the usual pattern...

I got a text from Tim, updating me on his schedule...working a 24 hour car we never know if he will be up all night or have the good fortune to catch a few hours of sleep.

"Meet you at the gym"

"Ok" I replied.

I fed the cat, began to make my breakfast, washed the dishes...

felt a momentary wave of sadness about my sense of unfulfilled call to the priesthood...

and shrugged it off... nothing can be done about that now.

Went to check in on email, news media stream and facebook while I ate my oatmeal.

Ready to head out the door...later than I like but in time to synch our schedules at the gym.


At 8:05 I headed out the door, got in the car, drove down my street two blocks and turned west onto
Del Oro.

I look ahead and am struck by this tremendous full arching rainbow. The beauty is so intense I want to take a picture but hate the development that will be captured in the picture so I keep driving slower than usual so that I can continue to soak in the beauty.  And then it hits me

"Do not let your heart be troubled!" Spirit whispered words of comfort and encouragement.

The Gospel of John bringing solace and hope in the midst of my frustration and disappointment.

Suddenly too, something else occurs to me.

I'm two blocks away from our new residence... driving on Del Oro Road, the "Road of Gold".

"What riches "that exceed all that I can desire"  (words from the Collect for yesterday) lies in the future?"

I cannot imagine. All I can do is rest in the hope found in the story of the Covenant of the Rainbow and the Book of Revelation. All that I can do is be faithful in discipleship with that which has been entrusted to me.

Lord in your mercy, make it so.

"I Bind unto my self this day the strong name of the Trinity. 
By Invocation to the same, the Three in One, the One in Three."
The Breast plate of St. Patrick rises in my heart as I continue on toward my destination.

As I turn to the north, the intensity of the rainbow changes, diminishes, as I shift my perspective in relation to the sun and rain that falls in the west.  The momentary transcendence of the encounter with the Holy also begins to recede into my memory as I continue to make my way, by a different route to my destination..

Waiting at the intersection without anyone behind me and streams of traffic to my right and left,  I hear the notification bell on my phone...

I've already missed hearing one notice come in when I glance down.

I have 2 messages from Tim.

"Got Call"..."At st.m. no bed delay"

Onward to the Gym.

As I travel west on Bear Valley I drive right into the rain shower.. a spring rain, gently reminding me of the days spent in Ireland, and the sweet saying Monseignor Murray offered Tim and I on our wedding day.
"Rain, surely a sign that God will be showering you with blessings."

You have to love how an Irishman can highlight the good in the most common of occurrences for the people of the Emerald Isle, and shared that tradition with the descendants of immigrant Irish Catholics.

Surely we will be blessed
and have been blessed
and are called to be a blessing to others.

Let It Be So, Lord.
Amen

Let it be.

Study peace

Several weeks ago I wrote briefly about being commissioned to serve in my parish as a healing minister.


I have not shared how or why I came to the place where I would be open to accepting such a title, but think it would be helpful for others to "hear" the story of my journey.

The story starts with a clergy convocation in Pendleton, OR while I was serving as Pastor.

The purpose of the convocation was focused upon training for Healthy Boundaries in ministry. More pointedly, the training addressed a case within the Conference Order of Elders which had brought great pain to many. Clergy as well as lay members experienced profound injury. 

The continuing Education was conducted by Faith and Trust Institute. The remainder of the day included a listening session and a closing worship service which included anointing and prayer as well as the consecration of Holy Communion.

The day of listening touched a place deep within me. While I personally had not been a "victim" of the perpetrator which triggered the need for our gathering, I did realize a wounded place within myself that was in need of similar balm. I left the place knowing in a new way, through my own experience, that pastoral ministry must be about bringing healing and comfort just as much as it offers a challenge and charge to transform the world. Healing is the source of transformation, the salvation which all the world so desperately needs.

In the period since that one powerfully charged experience I began a quest for information about healing ministries. At first the quest was very spotty. But as time passed I became more intrigued and insistent to make a connection with an existing organization outside the church. In spite of the strong urging from the Holy Spirit to learn about and develop my own healing ministry, I also found more obstacles, or perhaps I should just call them resting places between each exploration.

As I searched for information I was reminded of a long before whispered response from the Holy Spirit; Study peace.
                                                                 SHALOM 

                                                                                RECONCILIATION
                                                PEACE
 
                                                               WHOLENESS 

HOLINESS AND WELL-BEING 

                  TRANSFORMATION 

                                                                          REJUVENATION

When our interim priest arrived, he and I formed an immediate affinity and mutual concern to explore the topic of the healing ministry of the Church with one eye  focused upon the opportunity to develop a lay pastoral team of healing ministers.


Serving as a healing  minister allows me the profound opportunity to be a source of peace, very much in the tradition of St. Francis.

Each week, as I take my place at the Lady Altar, ready with the blessed oil, I say a prayer of thanks for the congregation which Christ has drawn me to become attached to in ministry. I am blessed through their acceptance of many of my gifts. But none quite so much as when I am able to be in prayer with a brother or sister in Christ.

Study peace.... be at peace...bring peace

A is

A is for August

and Ants all around!

B is for Barbara

hunting them down.

Summers in the desert have always included ant invasions.

I suppose those earthquakes that I sleep through shake things loose just enough to give them entry.

Thinking of earthquakes.... seems that we may have forgotten that Haiti still has large numbers of it's citizens living in make shift emergency type shelters, two and half years after their devastating earthquake. Now, to add insult to their vast injuries, tropical storm Isaac is bearing down on the island nation.

C is for cranes
folded and strung


Last August we began an Origami crane folding project. We collected donations for Haiti's rebuilding efforts through the Episcopal Relief and Development. I taught children and adults about the Japanese folk tradition that when someone folds one thousand cranes, their wish would be granted by a crane. Our folding would become a body prayer, a form of art as prayer. The folded cranes would be a visible sign of the community in prayer for the people of Haiti. The time that it would take to reach the goal of one thousand, a reminder of the long process of rebuilding which our Haitian Brothers and Sisters would have to endure. 

The goal of folding 1000 Cranes, as prayers of peace for the people of Haiti was completed in April, just after Easter...

But there is not yet a great arising from the devastation, no Communal Resurrection yet for Haiti.

Most reliable sources say that it will likely take ten years to rebuild the country, perhaps longer..if ever.

C is for cranes
folded and strung
D is for one Thousand DONE.

E is for eternity
the time it takes to rebuild a nation.

F ..feeling forgotten
G is for God
H is poor Haiti
which calls up to the heavens
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!?!

I is for Isaac
Horrible Hurricane barreling down.

Unfortunate nation. Why must mother nature hit you while you're still down?
 
The People of Haiti are still struggling along.

Our attention has drifted away to other projects; Nets for Life to eradicate malaria.

I worry about ants invading my kitchen.

The people of Haiti, barely aware of the brutal force heading their way, make due day by day without permanent housing, running water, and still carry with them the grief of loosing family, friends, and livelihood.

J is for Jesus
Sent from the Father

King of Kings
Lord of Lords
Merciful savior
Near to us through others
Open our hearts to be servants
People of love
Quick to respond
Reacting with kindness, compassion and love .
Send us your Spirit
Topple our grasping

Unite us in service
Victorious Christus
Warm our cooling passions