All Saints

Second Sunday in Lent

March 5, 2023

Rev. Pam Fahrner

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit:

​

Well, I’m not going to talk about being born again-been there and talked about it before! It’s a funny thing-religion. Strange indeed, for the basis of a faith to be belief in the unbelievable, reward based not upon good works, but upon grace…when we as humans, seek control. And then, when mankind clearly was not up to the task, God sent his only son to us. A sacrifice for us, un-asked for, but a sacrifice given and an obligation with which we live-for all of our lives. Strange. God sent his son with full knowledge that he would take on the mantle of humanity, necessitating some loss of divinity. Because of God’s choice, his son would experience what was like to be human, to feel pain, hurt, anger…and the joy that comes from relationship with other human beings. These readings do not say anything about death-only that God gave his son, so that the world and its people might be saved through his son.  The line prior says only that God so loved the world, again that he gave-so that we might not perish but have eternal life.

​

That said, our liturgy is filled with the idea of that Jesus died in order to buy us eternal life. Were the authors of our liturgy wrong? Or were they influenced-to the point of blindness- by the culture of the Old Testament, the culture of appeasing gods to gain favor or buy forgiveness? Expiation is “the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing”.  Propitiation is the act of appeasing or making well-disposed a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution. While some use the term interchangeably with expiation, others draw a sharp distinction between the two. And the remnants of these ideas echo through our faith. But-when you think about it, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense does it? Sounds a bit like the indulgences Luther protested against…the practice once common in the Catholic Church, sort of a barter system of money or property or things of value traded for favor with God, or political advantage or even buying monks time in personal prayer. It all comes from the old idea of atonement-“reparation or expiation for sin”. So are we talking about a sacrifice on the altar here? Is God’s willingness to offer his son like Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac? Burnt offerings to obtain blessings from God? Or appeasement to the devil? To me, that too, is an Old Testament way of thinking…a primitive way of making sense of the world, a belief  system of appeasing gods who have power over our lives. Really?

​

Much of the time, in religious studies, getting to the nugget of truth takes some digging! “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” What does make sense to me is this idea, the idea that Jesus Christ was sent to us SO THAT WE MIGHT BE SAVED THROUGH HIM. BUT PERHAPS HIS DYING DIDN’T SAVE US! RATHER, LIVING AS HE TAUGHT SAVES US! Living, loving the world and the people in it, saves us. Living as God taught us, saves us. Living as Jesus taught us, makes life worth living. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3: 16. In a recent commentary, The Rev. Carl Gregg, pastor of a Church in Maryland makes the point that “the very first word in Greek is outos. In the vast majority of English Bibles, this word is translated as “so,” as in “God so loved the world.”   The problem is that many of us hear that “so” in the wrong way.  We hear it in terms of degree: “God didn’t just love the world; God loved the world a LOT.” But that’s not the way the original words meant. Another meaning of the English word “so” is the sense of “in this way” or “in this manner.”  He suggests that it is more helpful if we “Try to hear the “so” in that sense: “God so loved the world. God loved the world in this way. God so loved the world. God loved the world in this manner.”

​

But I’d still like to go deeper. I can get a flash of the type of love God feels for us when I imagine soldiers on a dangerous field somewhere with bombs exploding all around them. One of them realizes a pattern-where the mines have been laid out and the timing of their explosion pattern. He comes to the realization that his buddy, his comrade -in-arms is sitting right where the next one is due to go off. With no time to waste, the soldier with newly opened eyes to the extent of their danger, he goes for broke and throws himself on the exact location of the mine and yells for his buddy to run! The mine goes off and the buddy realizes that his life has been saved. The hero didn’t stop to weigh the consequences. Didn’t stop to judge his fellow soldier to figure out if the soldier was worth dying for. He saved his fellow countryman because he cared and could. As stated by theologian Cynthia Bourealt “It was not love stored up but love utterly poured out that opened the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven”. There are a million examples of course, parents, medical workers, everyday heroes running toward danger to help others. In often impulsive acts of courage or truth or valor or …just gorgeous beautiful love, we experience that kind of love in our lives. It is not an everyday thing, but it is a thing to behold. We can live our lives this way too-sacrificially, motivated by love. This is what God intended and hoped for when he sent his son to us-SO that we would learn how to love each other the same way. What/who do we care for and can help? What holds us back? What price do we pay by continuing to act according to the world’s standards? What beauty and heart-busting glory do we miss out on by not following our hearts? By trying to blend the world’s standards with our own religious beliefs and practices, we live lives of compromise, cheating ourselves out of living into uncompromised bliss of radical love for our fellow man, given lavishly without consideration of self-interest.

 

Some Christians have called John 3:16 “the Gospel in a nutshell,” but John 3:16 is not enough to form a fully mature Christian life. Look instead to passages such as Micah (which Denise preached upon a few weeks ago).  It says, “God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does God require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Or Jesus’ own summary that all the law and the prophets hang on the two Greatest Commandments to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself”. These slogans should never be for us the focus of our belief systems alone. Richard Rohr put it this way, “Authentic Christianity is not so much a belief system as a life-and-death system that shows us how to give away our life, how to give away our love, and eventually how to give away our death. Basically, how to give away—and in doing so, to connect with the world, with all other creatures, and with God.”  It is not enough to believe with our lips that salvation comes from doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God — and from loving God and neighbor.  We must live in such a manner every day.  May we learn to love the world in this way — as God so loves the world. Amen.

 

 

 

 

Ash Wednesday, 2023

Rev. Pam Fahrner

Wow. If anyone ever says that the scriptures do not tell it like it is, you can quote them something from the passages we’ve heard today! Matthew in particular, really lays it out and calls out hypocrisy in capital letters. It seems to me that the whole thing boils down to self-image. If you think you’re pretty hot stuff, watch out. If you and your life revolve around boosting others’ opinions of you, well-that’s a pretty shallow way to live. Today, Ash Wednesday, is all about recognizing that all we are and all we have and all possible to us is because God chose to give it to us. We did nothing, nor can ever hope to do anything to “earn” our good fortune. For us on this day of marking, it would be sinful for us to go around hoping people will notice and see how pious we are-wearing the cross on our foreheads as a sign that we are somehow better than those who have not been to church.

​

The idea of marking reminds me of the ways we have throughout history, marked those who sinned-an adulteress woman for example...as her accomplice walks free. Or people some deemed inferior in some way-like Jews in WWII-marked because they looked like everyone else…and a distinction had to have been made. In our world, we are marked in other ways too. A slovenly appearance, dirty or disheveled clothing marks us as poor or without a home or lower class. And of course, many are marked from the moment of birth-people of color or with distinguishing features, whether the slant of an eye or the broadness of a nose, they are marked as belonging to a group…and carry the baggage of association with them for their entire lives. How do markings affect us? If we were marked-not by choice and not for just a day once a year, how would being marked-for all to see-affect our image of ourselves? Would we feel shame? Humility? Anger? Defeat? I got the smallest taste of this in a church. I was attending a Catholic Church with my family on Christmas Eve. I was introduced as an Episcopal priest by my daughter-in-law to the priest. I went up for communion-which I have done many times over the years in Catholic churches (unknown to the priest) after he preached a sermon about inclusion and good will. It was Christmas, for God’s sake! He patronizingly put his hand on my shoulder and told me (as if I didn’t know) that our churches were not in communion with each other and therefore, he could not give me communion! He did not even offer to bless me. I knew when I went up there that there was a possibility he would do this, but I hoped he were a bigger man. But it was not anger I experienced, it was shame. In that instant, I felt what it must have felt for those divorced to be denied the sacraments. I knew what it must feel like to be told that you were not good enough to receive God’s grace if you loved someone of the same gender. I nearly cried because it felt so bad and I felt such pain for all the people marked by others’ cruelty and ignorance. I’ve never set foot in that church again. On this day at the very least, let us take some time to ponder what it feels like to be marked. Perhaps it may open our minds and hearts to see those hurt every day of their lives.

 

So yes, we will be marked today to remind us that we are blessed to be alive, blessed to be free, blessed to have choices, blessed to enjoy company along the way, blessed by skills and I could go on and on. Everything we have comes from God. So we really can’t go around patting ourselves on our backs or showing off. We may be able to fool those who don’t know us well, but we can’t fool God and chances are, we’re not really fooling anyone-even ourselves. So what are we then to do? Put on the cloak of humility, carry grace in our hearts and love toward every living thing, take time to notice and cherish the gifts given us absolutely free AND lastly, but most importantly, be GRATEFUL. AMEN.

 

 

 

Sixth Sunday After Epiphany

February 11, 2023

Rev. Pam Fahrner

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

​

Well, now for some more cheery news! I keep trying to figure out how to work the Super Bowl into this! There’s no escaping it my friends.

 

I’ve often heard people speak harshly of sermons that don’t really speak to them, those that drift around the edges of real life, those that use pretty words and outline beautiful concepts, but are so distant from everyday life that they are not easily remembered-nor have they earned respect enough to be remembered. Today’s gospel does not allow much of high-fallooting talk. Rather the gospel calls out those present who talked-the-talk perhaps, but did not walk-the-walk! My friends, there is nothing new under the sun of people shooting off their mouths in false piety as their actions tell a different and much darker story. Do you all remember when Jimmy Carter admitted that he’d been guilty of adultery by being attracted to another woman while married to his wife Rosalynn? By that standard, we are all doomed, right? Not just on the issue of adultery, but surely we have all committed some of these other things at one time or another…swearing, anger, resentment or jealousy.  Or perhaps there is truly a saint among us! But it does not say that we are forever doomed, just that we need to be reconciled with those we have or would have liked to have harmed-even inadvertently. It is a cliff note version of the ten commandments, the RULES for life written on a tablet millenniums ago. In reality, sins, big or little hurt us and not just those we sin against. For we forever carry the burden of unforgiven sin. The action of forgiveness is an action taken to obtain freedom-for both parties. And usually when people speak from their hearts, forgiveness is easier than we imagine.  In our passages from the Old Testament, it sounds like we all have choices-easy to make-sin or not, death or life. ….But we all know it is not that simple, right? And let me take a moment to define the word sin. In a very broad sense, sin may be defined as anything one chooses (and that is key) that is clearly NOT in accord with God’s will or wishes for us. It is a conscious turning away from God and from the way of life outlined by Jesus Christ. A complicating factor is that we find ourselves sometimes between a rock and a hard place and discerning God’s will or wishes for us is not clear.

​

But this passage as you see, is actually much more about how to deal with sin rather than avoiding sin altogether. It is about reconciliation after sin has been committed. We recreate this scenario each week when we offer the peace to one another. It is done right before holy communion, specifically then because we are not to come to the Lord’s table with guilt or anger or any unreconciled issue on our hearts. From a practical standpoint, it must be a symbolic gesture. But the importance is clear for us all. We cannot live happy fulfilling lives while carrying the burden of sin on our backs. Eventually, it will catch up with us. I’m reminded of a movie I saw as a teenager. I know I have spoken of it before from this pulpit, The Portrait of Dorian Gray. In it there is a young, wealthy, handsome man-about-town-a bachelor living the good life. He makes a deal with the devil (can’t remember the details), but his sins show only on his portrait and he remains a handsome man. The young man lives his life of sin by living selfishly and destroying anyone-everyone in his way. The sins started out as small and insignificant but end up as major-mortal as the Catholics would say. The portrait was covered up when it began showing the signs of the man’s sin and remained so until the main character, aware of the compromises to his character, but not to the extent, became curious. He is revolted as a truly hideous man is shown in the portrait. To a much lesser extent, the same thing happens with us. A small decision-to cheat or lie (even to ourselves) becomes easier with time. Rationalizations come easy as we attempt to justify our actions. Few choices it seems, are black and white and there is frequently wiggle-room around the edges for corruption of our souls to creep in. No one escapes this world unscathed.

​

But it’s never too late or too hopeless…for us or for Dorian Gray. If my memory serves me, he amended his ways-as all old-fashioned movies did-and reconciled with those he had hurt-as best he could. We must do that too and ask forgiveness, accept forgiveness and grant forgiveness. The bottom line is that we all answer to God in the end. We cannot fool God and really, deep down within ourselves, we can’t fool ourselves. The choice of free will was given to us and the bottom line choice is pretty clear after all. Life or death. Peace or torment. We choose what, how and who we serve. We choose who we love and whether the focus of our lives is outward or inward (selfishness or selflessness). It is because of free will that we live in an incredibly complicated and divided world. Choosing to follow the example of Jesus is our choice.  Submitting to God’s judgement is a choice we do NOT have. We also have the choice of whether to be reconciled with those we have harmed. So-choose well my friends. Choose life and peace and love, generosity of spirit…and forgiveness …..to those whose choices have hurt us. We must do all we can to bring peace and love to this broken world. Let our ‘sharing of the peace’ be an example for us all sinners-as we gather to come to the Lord’s table for that reenactment of food and wine and fellowship. Let us come at peace with God, with each other and with ourselves. Amen.

 

 

Second Sunday After Epiphany

January 15, 2023

Rev. Denise Trogdon

​

"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven," Amen.

 

  Why did you come to church today? Did you come to give thanks or to receive forgiveness? Maybe you wanted to hear the scriptures or beautiful music, or you simply wanted to slow down and let your soul catch up to you. Many come to church to be  surrounded by a faith family and nourished in the sacraments. No matter the reason, you have accepted Jesus' invitation to come and see and let the love of God be revealed to you, and through you. 

​

Come and See! It was the invitation Jesus gave to John and Andrew as he began to call disciples to ministry. So intrigued by this stranger who John the Baptist called, the "Lamb of God," they followed immediately. That phrase, loaded with meaning for observant Jews, hearken back to the lamb as a sacrifice for sin made upon the temple altar, and in scripture, the one who was given to Abraham in Issac's place. The lamb of God was a reconciling and atoning offering. When John the Baptist said, Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, it certainly caught the attention of those first century Jews.

​

Jesus' invitation was clear and simple, not intrusive but relational, come and see. It offered something far different than what we imagine evangelism to be. When Jesus asked, "What are you looking for?" he encouraged his new friends to consider their longing, and invited them into the mystery of relationship. Jesus is asking us today, what are you looking for? Are you longing for deeper meaning and purpose? Is something missing in your life?  Are you trying to fill a hole only Jesus will satisfy?

​

We too are invited to come and see. Each of us is called in baptism, and that call to relationship is persistent. It will trouble our sleep and whisper in our ears. It will grow dim and burn with urgency at times. It is the Lord calling us to life, to justice, to joy and  true peace. But we must look for the signs to see the unique manifestations of Christ in our world and follow the voice of truth as it is revealed to us. We can live day to day so mired in stress or anxiety or busyness that we become oblivious to Christ in our midst.

​

The season after the Epiphany is filled with stories of the manifestation of Christ as the light of the world and divine hope.

We hear of the magi drawn by the light of a star to the manger, the baptism of Jesus where God proclaims him as his beloved son, and the stories of Christ’s  healing ministry, beginning with his call of the disciples. After the chaos of the Christmas season is past, Epiphany sheds light on who Christ was and is and is to come.

​

It is fitting that we would celebrate modern manifestations of Christ’s light in the world; those who through actions great and small, further God’s vision of justice, reconciliation and peace. This weekend our nation honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Dr. King was a disciple in his time, with a vision of equality and justice for all people. Faith in God’s promises led him to work tirelessly for those who did not have a voice.  His actions of civil disobedience challenged a dominant and oppressive culture. King wrote in one speech, “I choose to live for and with those who find themselves seeing life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit signs. If it means suffering a little bit, I’m going that way. If it means sacrificing, I’m going that way. If it means dying for them, I’m going that way because I heard the voice saying: ‘do something for others.’ Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

​

Martin was profoundly shaped by his upbringing in the Baptist church and the African American community. He learned the art of preaching at his father’s side, and used his skills of expression to teach the values of the social gospel. Martin studied with civil rights leader Howard Thurman, and his practice of nonviolent resistance was grounded in experiences in India with Gandhi and in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He was a voice of reconciliation in the midst of bitter division and offered forgiveness in the face of hatred. Martin believed that the culture of his day had lost its spiritual compass and had turned away from God’s vision. Neither the degradation of jail, nor threats to his life shook Martin's commitment to Christ's call to love. I wonder if Martin knew that he too was a lamb of God.

​

 In 1963 Martin Luther King gave a sermon in which he wrote these words: “In a sense every day is judgment day, and we, through our deeds and words, our silence and speech, are constantly writing in the Book of Life. Light has come into the world, and every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” I pray that this will become our question and that each one of us will answer it with courage and commitment. Martin was faithful to his calling and Christ's light was manifest through his actions. God’s love shining through us could be the sign that invites another to come and see.

​

In this quiet season after the Epiphany and before we enter into Lent, let us sit with the questions, why have you come here today?  What are you looking for? As your soul catches up to you, see the many ways Christ's love is revealed to you and can be manifest through you. 

I will close with this poem by Teresa of Avila I have shared before, but it is particularly poignant in this season of signs of Christ in the world. “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” Amen.

 

 

First Sunday after the Epiphany

The Baptism of our Lord Year A RCL

Pam Fahrner

​

 

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

​

Here we are-a brand new year. I feel somehow as if I’ve been thrown into it. It feels to me like the beginning of Advent was just a few weeks ago. Christmas was suddenly thrust upon us and we sort of jump over-as a culture-the savoring of Christmas only to focus on New Year’s celebrations, resolutions and putting everything away. Many of us are left vaguely frustrated that this important season wasn’t quite what we hoped for. Some focused on Advent disciplines, reading the daily meditations and taking the time to ponder BIG issues-like our existence here and allowing our imaginations to stray to the return of Christ. For those who were able to maintain this discipline, Christmas showed up at the door and found us unprepared. On Facebook, a friend posted a request to be nice to retail workers…as it is not their fault you waited until Mary’s water broke to shop! For others, our culture won out. Presents were carefully selected, wrapped and mailed. Cards went out on time. Houses were lovingly adorned with treasures brought forth each holiday season. We put on our glittery clothes and partied a bit. But for this group, it was all a bit shallow and lacked meaning-depth. For many and perhaps most of us-even clergy-that delicate balance was left an elusive goal rather than a reality realized. Those of us who celebrate the 12 days of Christmas and leave decorations up until Epiphany have JUST returned our homes to normal…just in time for Jesus’ baptism-as an adult yet! Is it any wonder we feel….discombobulated? But here we are, ready or not.

It's visible with every baptism isn’t it? The possibilities…this could be THE ONE or at the very least, we imagine unlimited potential with every child born. Of course, it isn’t really very likely that the second coming of Jesus would take place as a rerun of his birth. That’s already been done after all! But when we see babies, we see within them little bundles of possibilities. What difference will this child make? What/who will this child grow to be? How will the Holy Spirit-entering this child during this simple ceremony-manifest itself in this child’s life? Clearly Jesus thought it to be important enough to have John baptize him. There have been many discussions of course, about why Jesus made this choice. After all, Jesus had no sins to be washed away. But then, unless you are a believer in the concept of original sin-the idea that we all carry the sins of our ancestors-even back to Adam and Eve- little babies don’t have any sins to erase either. And of all beings on the planet, he didn’t need any holiness! We, on the other hand, can use all the holiness we can get. Per theologian David Lose, “Yes, Baptism washes away sin. Moreover, Holy Baptism promises ongoing forgiveness of sin and relationship with God. And this is both important and central to our understanding. But baptism also provides something more: a name – Beloved – and with that name, an identity – child of God, one to whom God is unfailingly committed. And that name and identity has never been more important.”

​

Many of us live our lives seeking meaning, seeking to make a difference, seeking the sacred, seeking holy ground on which to center ourselves. The very idea of living as one beloved by God makes a difference. Rohr’s book, Falling Upward, stated that we spend the first half of our lives figuring out who we are, putting our energy into educating ourselves, learning how we fit in, building our careers and forming families and bonds. During the second half, we realize just how powerless we are, how fatefully selfish, how flawed, how vulnerable, and how sweet life can be-just as it flows away from us-like the tide going out each day. The quest to figure out our value becomes more desperate as we age and as time runs down. This is when it does make a difference that we hold the Holy Spirit within us. Our lives, our very lives, have meaning and are in themselves holy/sacred when we realize that we are more-and always have been more-than cells stuck together in variations and combinations unique as the stars. Our spirits, the embodied holy spirit within us all gives us the power and desire to leave this fragile earth better than we found it. The holy spirit-all bound together with love-for God and for each other-is the omnipotent inside each of us. It is the force with which we all carry within us, the force which looks outward, seeking justice and kindness and satisfaction and honor and peace and joy….for all. It is that force, the combination of love and the holy spirit, given to us by God, that many of us seek our entire lives. Like most blessings from God, it was right there within us from the moment we were….BAPTIZED. In that moment, we became among those beloved by God. When the holy water touched our heads, we too were recognized by God as HIS own, His beloved. No matter how we may have failed at being part of perfect advent and Christmas, we come here together-as the people of God at All Saints Episcopal Church-to remember and refresh our own baptisms. And there is simply no better place to be, recognized as beloved by God. THANKS BE TO GOD. AMEN.

 

 

 

Pam Fahrner

First Sunday of Advent

Year A RCL

Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44, Psalm 122

 

There’s just no getting around it-all of the threats in the readings today. Advice too for sure, but chuck full of not-so-thinly veiled threats. And I really don’t know folks-2000+ years of talking…where are we? Where are you? I’m kind of a tough-love kind of person. You can pretty up the language. You can tell yourself that we’ve got a loving judge-who never gives up on us. You can tell yourself that you will do better when you have more time, when you have more energy, when you are more inspired, when you are in a better spiritual place, when….At some point, accountability comes into the picture. At some point, we must be worthy of God’s love and mercy. We must be people-as God’s people-of integrity, honesty, honor. I know it’s confusing. Because there are those who would tell you that the price has all been paid for us by Jesus Christ. That Jesus’s sacrifice bought eternal salvation and that’s it. We’re home free. But it doesn’t make total sense to me. If that is the case, then why did Jesus teach about behavior at all? If we’re all justified by just believing, then what difference does it make if we go through life on this earth putting ourselves first? It sounds like manipulation to me, kind of like Constantine postponing his baptism until just before his death so his sins would be erased in the water. You see that way he could sin throughout his life all he wanted and possess the get-out-of-jail card of baptism-to be exercised just before his death. I’m sorry. It just doesn’t seem like it ought to work that way.

​

Everyone-or most of us anyway-love stories about second chances, new beginnings-you know-it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Most of us would welcome a do-over or maybe even lots of do-overs! If only we’d known then what we know now…Our readings are filled with images of preparation, of warnings, of  works of darkness, but also some pretty great and inspiring images, “put on the armor of light; let us live honorably” and the enticing hope-filled promise, “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”Wouldn’t that be great?

​

So what are we to do with all of this? Are we to live in fear-knowing that our actions could never qualify us adequately for the reward of eternal life? I suspect most of us and really most around the world, fill our lives with just trying to live each day the best we can. Some days are glorious and fill us full of light and others? Not so much-dragged down by the massive problems the world presents. I guess the real question is how should we live instead of how do we live? Given that we are human and not divine, how do we live and act closer to that standard? And what would our lives look like if we did?

​

I follow Bishop Steven Charleston on Facebook-of all places. He is native American and carries within him the philosophy/theology embodied by folks who inhabited what-we-call OUR land long before us. In general, his tone is that of comfort and patience of urging all of us to trust God and not be burdened by the discouraging things we see in the world around us. Recently he posted: Ten Signs You Are On The Spiritual Path. Now presumably he meant the spiritual path heading in the direction toward the life and ways of God.  So-I’m going to share his 10 signs, but expand upon them a bit. (1) you laugh a lot more than you used to. It makes sense that we would demonstrate more cheer in general if we trusted God more and the works and machinations of men less. (2) you listen more than you speak. For us, relationships-with God and each other are really the only things which are important. By listening to each other, we learn all there is to love within each other-and that applies to listening to God too. (3) you don’t need to remember to pray. This is an interesting point. Prayer after all, is a conversation/communication with God. It needn’t be formal or beautifully worded. Remember, we were created in order to have relationship with God and each other. Conversation with those we love doesn’t have to be scheduled or disciplined. It comes as naturally as breathing.  (4) you may fear but you do not hate. Fear is a part of our warning systems and not in itself, bad. Hate however, born from fear, is harmful to us and of course, to those we hate. No good, no good, EVER comes from hate.  (5) you are grateful each day. We shouldn’t need to be reminded-on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend or ever, that we need to be intentionally aware of our blessings. With us in the west, we share the majority of the world’s gifts-natural and man-made. We in America have oceans on our east and west-borders which lend us protection just by their presence alone. We have friendly nations to our north and south with only one border with issues we need to resolve. (6) you feel in kinship with all living things. As a biology major originally, I learned early to appreciate the symbiotic relationships between all living things-not only human beings, but animals and plants-the absolutely beyond anything any of us could begin to imagine-way that we are all intertwined with each other. We have been late to the party of recognizing that our earth has not unlimited resources, but it is not yet too late to vote and act with integrity to protect this world for our descendants. (7) you are happy with enough not more. Well, this is a big one that I’ve addressed before, the concept of enough. How much do we need to be happy? How many houses, how fancy, how large? How many clothes do we need? How often do we need to go out for meals and recreation? How much do we use that country club membership? Could those resources be used for the benefit of others? You know this. (8 you depend on love. That’s really all there is, right? (9) you treat every person with respect. From genuine conversations-even brief-with wait staff or gardeners or essential workers-everyday tiny encounters-do we address them as valuable human beings? Does an encounter with us raise their spirits? It’s a chance. (10) you see things others do not seem to notice. It has a way of taking your breath away-when we step back for a moment and observe our lives, the grace and number of times we’ve been saved or graced or blessed. Maybe this advent, instead of resolutions or innovative new practices, we might consider just stopping in place for a while. We’ve been through a lot over the past few years and perhaps a pause could put us a bit further on our own spiritual paths toward God and a closer relationship with God. Maybe we just need to breathe and savor-not forever, but more often. Maybe we need to take ourselves out of this world and see what it would feel like to live in the kingdom of God. Let’s consider beginning with Bishop Charleston’s wise counsel. Amen.