Holy Week

I began this week last Friday night attending the "Ignite" Conference that our pastor's cluster worked to plan. Although I haven't done anything since the sabbatical I was glad that I could join Pastors Sheila, Trevor, Anton & Chris by at least attending. The goal of this is a prelude to the "Dunamis" training in the work and power of the Holy Spirit. We were grateful for the 50 plus who attended and saw Jesus taking us deeper into receiving the fullness of His Holy Spirit.
 Sunday morning I slipped into the early worship service at Cannan Baptist Church but Rev. Graham still spied me and called me out but allowed me to stay in the congregation. It is good to be neighbors in Christ as we carry out Jesus mission.

This  week I also spent 2 days at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, NY. This is only 75 miles away and in a beautiful setting on the Hudson River just across from Hyde Park.  This is a Episcopal/Anglican Benedictine Community that I only recently found out about from Tom Postema.

The motto of the community is found here above the main entrance in Latin and means " The Cross is the Medicine for the World." How true. It has existed for 100 years and now has about 15 monks. I had a wonderful time of worship, eucharist, quite, Liturgy, Scripture and reading. I also am praying that one of the monks will be willing to serve as a spiritual director for me.  I hope to continue to make us of this monastery in the future to better keep my commitment of a day a month for the Lord. I think I'll go here. While there I spent one morning praying for our entire congregation by name...calling their names to the Lord. I also memorized a Psalm for Holy Week. I offer it to you as your own prayer.  Psalm 67

"May God be gracious to us and bless us, 

and make His face to shine upon us. 

so that your ways may be known on the earth,

your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, God

may all the people praise you.

May the nations be glad and sing for joy, 

for your rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.

May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

Then the land will yield its harvest and God our God will bless us.

God will bless us and all the ends of the earth will fear Him. 

Scripture Engagement:  During this sabbatical I have been trying not just to read Scripture but to engage it by Reading- Reflecting- Praying - Responding.  To this purpose I have been using some different Bibles to help me do this. I have been using a large print calligraphy copy of The Psalms for reading out loud 10 Psalms a day. 8 in the morning and 2 before bed. This has been a great blessing that I hope to continue. This means that I read/reflect/pray/respond to all 150 Psalms twice a month. 

 This past week I used a special edition of the Four Gospels - Matthew- Mark - Luke - John to read one each day at one sitting. This is a profound way to experience Jesus and his life and takes less time than watching a moving. Try it sometime. In addition I have been continuing my Bible reading in chronological order. I'm just up to the end of King/Chronicles and Isaiah and Jeremiah. I'm working at not "getting through" the Bible but the Bible "getting through" me.

 For Good Friday I decided to go the the St. John the Baptist Cathedral live  Stations of the Cross. This begins inside and then goes to the street. The Stations of the Cross also called the
"Via Dolorosa" or "Way of Suffering" have been used as a devotional practice by Christians for thousands of years. It begins with Jesus condemned to death and ends with him placed in the tomb. Usually there are 14 different stations but the numbers vary.   We began at the Cathedral, went up Grand St. to Marshall St. and then back around. There were thousands of people attending and it was all in Spanish.

 I was very personally touched when Monsignor Mark Giordani the Pastor of the Cathedral saw me in the crowd and stepped out of the procession to give me a hug. It reminded me of how important it is for us to support each other in the body of Christ.

In addition to this I have been doing alot of reading the last two week. Here's a list of the books with a comment on each

Geography of Grace - Doing Theology from Below: Kris Rocke & Joel Van Dyke:  A profound book exploring learning from the poorest of the poor and Jesus presence with them. Joel is a missionary/pastor/teacher/friend in Guatemala City.

The Heart of the World - An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity  Thomas Keating.  Keating is a foundational teacher of Centering Prayer & contemplation. Great intro.

The Imitation of Christ: Thomas a'Kempis.  This Christian classic explores all aspect of the Christian life. What I love is how he writes as the Lord speaking to us.

Space for God: Study and Practice of Spirituality and Prayer: Don Postema.  Don is the dad of former Madison Ave. member Tom Postema. This is not a book to read but to do. I took a chapter a day to meditate on and practice. Wonderful.

Coming Home to Your Ture Self: Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions. Albert Haase. I reread this because it is so profound. He reminds us so well that God hasen't gone away but is home is us. We are the ones wandering. Outstanding book.

The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society. Henri J. M Nouwen.  As the other subtitle state "In our own woundedness, we can be a source of life for others. This is a Christian classic.

Passage through the Wilderness: A Journey of the Soul: Zeb Bradford Long: This explores the wilderness not of the wild but of our lives and how we experience God presence or absence in them. Great book.

Christian Outdoor Leadership: Theology, Theory and Practice: Ashley Denton. Still reading this one and it gets at some practical applications of disciplemaking in wilderness places.

I will post another blog in a few days with details of our trip to Jordan, Israel & Egypt.