Author: vicar

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Happenings Now

Things We Want to Share about Holy Cross

We’re preparing for a second Come and See invitational evangelism campaign next February and March. Part of this will be a series of little flyers we can hand to friends we want to invite to come with us to Holy Cross. These will contain lots of pictures of Holy Cross people and activities, and short statements describing what we like about our church, what drew us there, what keeps us coming back.

Here are a series of statements from people jotted down as we talked about the project over breakfast November 7. We invite you to add your own words –just a sentence or two. We’d like to have something from everyone in the congregation to share. Use the comment feature on this post.

Holy Cross is a true family – you feel welcome even if you’re not married or don’t have kids. A great mix of young and old.

The Episcopal Church has both the Word and the Sacraments: the best of both worlds.

Our church doesn’t claim to be perfect, and it understands that people aren’t perfect.

Holy Cross is a place where you find love and acceptance just as you are – warts and all.

Holy Cross is a church that is accepting and non-judgmental.

The Episcopal Church is open and transparent. You know where the money comes from and where it goes. You know who makes the decisions (you have a voice!). The Church has rigorous “safe church” practices to protect our children.

This is a place where our children make lifelong friendships.

In a commuter society, it’s hard to make connections where we live. Church is a good base for that.

People helped me feel my way in at Holy Cross – friendly, but never pressuring.

At Holy Cross, you’re free to practice the piety that suits you – kneel, sit or stand, cross yourself or not.

The service is laid out so clearly in the bulletins, it’s easy to follow along and join in.

Beauty is important to me and I find it at Holy Cross. Our lovely new church blends in perfectly with the historic old building.

We’ve found Holy Cross a warm, welcoming, diverse congregation – informal in atmosphere but with a Catholic liturgy celebrated with great reverence.

Our kids today are exposed to drugs, sex, violence, stress, family problems. Why not fill out the play card with peace, love, faith and belonging?

Busy work schedule? Busy kids schedule? Busy social schedule? One hour of peace Sunday at Holy Cross is priceless!

Do you have little church experience? Do your children have no church experience? Give Holy Cross a chance to be your family’s link to spirituality.

At Holy Cross there’s no guilt, only understanding. We come because we want to. In the Episcopal Church you are loved for what you are. Yet we share the traditions that are beautiful in the Roman Catholic Church.

At Holy Cross, you’re a participating member. You can share your talents and really be part of the whole experience.

It’s like your favorite bar – where everyone knows your name!

At Holy Cross the Bible is revered, not worshiped.

Diversity at Holy Cross means you can knell to pray while I stand to pray and our neighbor sits – and we all respect each other.

Our church includes a few “cradle Episcopalians, many former Roman Catholics, many former Protestants, and many people with no former church experience.

Holy Cross is where we make friends. Holy Cross is where people make us their friends.

We moved to New England without any family or relatives, and Holy Cross accepted me as a member of their family. I consider them my extended family.

I wanted to be part of a church where my being divorced wouldn’t inhibit my being my nephew’s godmother.

My 90 or so minutes at Holy Cross are my time, not my work’s, not my family’s, but mine and God’s It’s a meditation for me. Here I find shelter from life’s everyday noises.

I found Holy Cross to be very open and caring, without the hypocrisy I had encountered elsewhere. Here it’s okay to make mistakes and learn to grow as a Christian.

I brought my teenager daughter to Holy Cross when she asked about God. It’s a great place to learn about Christianity and God’s place in our lives.

I have such a diverse set of friends from Holy Cross. I would never have met these people anywhere else.

Categories
2010 Sermons

All Saints’ Sunday November 7, 2010

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18                                                            

Ephesians 1:11-23                                                             

Luke 6:20-31

For the last three weeks or so, I’ve been dragging around with a cold. Nothing serious enough to ground me, but enough to make me feel tired and subpar. I was almost back to health last weekend, but then the runny nose and achy muscles and exhausted feeling returned with a vengeance. The reason: standing out in the cold and wind at the Weare polling place all day Tuesday on behalf of a couple of candidates I cared about.

Why does anyone do this? Well, maybe because the “other side” does it and you don’t want them to be the only ones out there – and, of course, they do it because you do it. There was some talk on “the line” as the day wore on and we got colder and colder that we make a pact and next year no one would stand out there! But we stand because we believe in what we stand for. We’re witnesses to something we believe in – passionately enough to risk our health. Moreover, as I discover anew every time I do this, it’s also fun to see and greet all the people in town you know. You end up feeling a sense of solidarity and community: despite differences of opinion, we’re all out there exercising our responsibility as citizens and when it’s all over and the votes counted, we come together as one country, one people.

Finally, and to me most rewarding, it’s a time to talk with people you disagree with – discover what is motivating them, what their vision is, and at a deeper level who they are. Early in the day at the polls, the Republicans were at one end of the line by the door, the Democrats at the other. The Republicans were talking with one another about their beliefs: there were people who believed that roads and highways should be privatized, that churches should take care of all the welfare needs of society, that Obama was born in Nigeria and was bent on making America socialist.

The Democrats listening to this were rolling their eyes. But of course the Democrats were sharing their vision – an income tax, more aid to education and social services – and talking about how awful Andy Sanborn and John Stephen were, while the Republicans rolled their eyes. But late in the day, when the sun was going down and the cold getting more intense, when most of the line-standers had gone home, those of us who remained began to talk with each other, across party lines. What we discovered, of course, was that we shared many of the same concerns. Moreover, there was much we could agree on about how to approach problems, how to work together. And we learned that the “other side” were really decent human beings, with good hearts and minds, who cared just as intensely as we did about our country, our state and our community. So when the day was finally over, we went home – winners and losers – feeling somehow more deeply connected to one another.

I share all this because today we celebrate the feast of All Saints’, and this annual ritual of “working the polls” is very much a celebration of what it means when we say each week in the Creed that we believe in the communion of saints.

Continue reading “All Saints’ Sunday November 7, 2010”
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Stewardship

2010 Ministry Minute #5: Pat Karpen

New parishioner Pat Karpen uses the metaphor of a new car to talk about her experience of becoming part of Holy Cross.
New parishioner Pat Karpen uses the metaphor of a new car to talk about her experience of becoming part of Holy Cross.

Pat Karpen came to Holy Cross through our Come and See invitational evangelism campaign last spring. She came, saw, stayed and became an active member of the congregation. Among her gifts, Pat brings a career as a professional actor in New York City and as a teacher at John Stark High School and, now, at St. John’s School in Concord. Her Ministry Minute reflects Pat’s gifts of imagination and expression.

 

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I wasn’t looking for fellowship.  I wasn’t looking for warmth.  I wasn’t looking for inclusion or welcome.  I wasn’t looking for friendship.  I wasn’t looking for a new path or a new destination.    I was looking for a new car.

I had pretty much been driving my car all my life.  It had always given me some problems.  Quite frankly, there were a few occasions when I parked the car and just walked the path.  Lately, though, it was starting to break down for me an awful lot.  I was having some real difficulty reconciling some of the discrepancies I was finding in the manuals.  I really wasn’t crazy about the mechanics.  It especially bothered me when they would all gather together and tell me that most of my problems with my car were probably due to the fact that I was, well, after all, just a woman driver.

I had become so frustrated that annoyance had started to spill over into anger and downright rage.  So much so, that most of the time I wasn’t focused on the path or the destination at all.  All I could do was scream at my vehicle and weep and rage and mourn.  I had stopped marveling at the scenery along the path.  I could hardly even see the path.

Then Heidi asked me to come and see.  I did.  It was not an easy decision for me.  I’d been in that same car for an awful long time.  But I kept coming back.  I like the feel of this  car.  I like how it takes the corners.  I’m reading some manuals.  I’m kicking the tires.  I like the mechanic.  I like his intelligence and his kindness.  But there’s more.

To end as I began:  I wasn’t looking for fellowship.  I wasn’t looking for warmth.  I wasn’t looking for inclusion or welcome.  I wasn’t looking for friendship.  Then I met you all. For whatever reason the particular tap dance that my DNA has always done has always kept me on the periphery of people.  Most days I’m ok with that.  Most days it doesn’t bother me.  Most days.  Then I met you all.

Your welcome has been palpable.  Some of you have invited me into your homes.  Some of you have even invited me back again.  It’s always extremely difficult for me to show up; to come in from out of the rain, but your warmth has been enticing. Since I met you all, I’ve had the strangest feeling that if ever I were to be faced with an emergency…say Weare has lost power in an ice storm and because my sump pump is inoperative my basement is filling with water…that if I called any of you up in the middle of the night that you would leave your homes and come and try to help me.  I don’t have the words to explain how that feeling has affected me.  It is a strange and overwhelming moment in my life as a periphery person.

I am in awe of this small, beautiful holy place that houses your huge hearts and minds. Since I met you I am so…something…eased, happy, inspired…I don’t know…to be here and I must say thank you.

Categories
Stewardship

2010 Ministry Minute #4 Mike Goulet

IMG_2334The theme of this Ministry Minute is the same as that of our Stewardship Campaign – transition. How it was, how it is, and how we’re hoping it will be.

So forgive me if I wax philosophical for a moment… Life is funny, huge volumes of our past come into our minds like a flash and seem like they came and went so quickly – my Madeline was tiny when we started coming here, now she’s so big. The point is, we reflect fondly on our past, but we always look to the future, and we should!  But we cannot forget to live in the present.

We all know how great Fr. John is as our priest and leader. How, with Anne’s help, he faces the divisions within our community unflinchingly and somehow brings us together. We know how important he is to us as our friend and spiritual leader, but now we need to look forward.

So where do we go from here? What will the new priest be like? Will she realize what a strong community we have? Will he accept us, with all our strengths and flaws, as we are? Will she have the patience to put up with us when we have a hard time making those commitments of Time… Talent… Treasure? I think the answer is yes. I firmly believe, perhaps fool heartedly, that a new leader will come in and take Fr. John’s place and move us forward in a positive direction, with God’s love as the foundation for all of it.

This community of people embodies so much of what is important to me and to my family. From our youngest members with their energy and innocence (and being an endless source of entertainment) to our eldest members with their experience and wisdom, I’m constantly reminded of how I want to be, how I want myself and my family to turn out. We’re certainly doing our part to keep this thing alive and kicking, or at least we’re trying. Sometimes we feel that we can’t do enough and get discouraged, but we never give up. We look to the future, but focus on the present, and make our contribution.

I’ll leave with this final thought – let’s not fear the future. Let’s trust in God and be determined to have the church that He wants us to have. Let’s continue to love each other and help our neighbors. Let’s continue to tolerate, to have patience, to have joy. Let’s be that church that picks up the broken candle and patiently repairs it, puts it back in its place, imperfect, but wonderful.*

* Mike Goulet’s young son Alex was commissioned as a new acolyte on this Sunday when Mike presented his Ministry Minute. The first Sunday Alex acolyted, he tipped the processional candle holder he was carrying and the candle fell off and cracked. Alex was upset, but we just melted some wax over the cracks and fixed the candle, putting it back, as Mike says, “imperfect but wonderful.” A lovely metaphor for Holy Cross Church!

Categories
2010 Sermons

Pentecost 23 October 31, 2010

Isaiah 1:10-20                                                                      

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12                                                      

Luke 19:1-10

 This is God’s Message: “If you’ll willingly obey, you’ll feast like kings. But if you’re willful and stubborn, you’ll die like dogs.” That’s right. God says so.

Isaiah 1:20 (The Message paraphrase)

I was tempted, thinking about this sermon, to start out by asking for you to define salvation. This congregation has become pretty good at talking together in response to the readings – as you demonstrated last week. I thought as a follow-up question, I’d ask how many of you believe you’re “saved” – and how many of you have doubts. But then I thought, no, that’s being a little too “frontal” with you. Salvation isn’t something most of us think much about.

Continue reading “Pentecost 23 October 31, 2010”

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2010 Sermons

Dramatic Response to the Gospel October 24, 2010

Breaking Through: A Dramatic Response

to the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

The following drama, written by Pat Karpen of Holy Cross, was presented in lieu of a sermon. It was followed by congregational discussion. 

Characters

Cummings – an older angel                            Marge Burke

Esmeralda – a younger angel                         Pat Karpen

Sarah – a young woman of about 17              Sonia Sculer

Colin – a young man of about 17                    Ben Harrington

The two guardian angels are poised on step ladders at either side of the stage area. We see Esmeralda (E) desperately trying to scratch her shoulder blades.

Cummings (C):  What’s the matter, Esmeralda?

E:  These wings trying to come out. The itching is making me crazy. It’s like cutting teeth.

C:  Patience, Esmeralda. Soon the itching will abate and you’ll have your first set of beautiful angel wings – a full-fledged guardian angel, ready for action.

E:  Thank God.

C:  Exactly, Esmeralda. Exactly.

E:  Sorry.

C:  We want you to go on a visit. 

E:  Me? My first guardian angel visit! God thinks I’m ready?!

C:  Yes. Now listen carefully. The young woman you’ve been assigned to needs some help. She can’t hear you because of all the noise in her life. That’s the biggest problem we have in being guar-dian angels. People these days are so full of themselves and their problems they never stop to listen to God. You’re not getting through. Take a look.

Sarah (S) is screaming into her cell phone. 

S:  Mother, be quiet and just listen. (Pause.) No, I will not come home. (Pause.) Will you just shut up and listen! I hate math! I hate school! I don’t care if I fail! I’m not interested and I don’t need it! (Pause.) Shut up!! I don’t need it in my life. I don’t want it in my life. I will not go to summer school! I will not have a tutor! It’s stupid! It’s boring! It sucks . . . good-bye! She disconnects and immediately redials.

Colin, it’s Sarah. You still wanna hook up? Meet me at the field.

E:  Oh, crap — oops, sorry! Cummings, I’m on it. I’ll do you proud.

As E twirls to earth, S and Colin move more center. E “freezes” Colin and speaks to S.

E:  Hey.

S:  Who are you?

E:  Your guardian angel. 

S:  Yeah, right. You don’t look like an angel.

E:  Yeah, well. Maybe I wasn’t always an angel. The transition takes a while. I’m workin’ on it. (She scratches her itchy feather patches.)

S:  So, angel…what do you want? I’m busy.

E:  Takes a big breath. I want to save you from the clutter of ego, self loathing, fear and a graceless existence. I want to lead you to the embrace of mercy and wisdom. Oh, man! That sounded like a heaping load of . . .

From on high.

C:  ESMERALDA!!!!!!!

E:  Sorry. Sorry. Here’s what I mean. I don’t think your problem is math or mother. I think your problem is you.

S:  How did you know about math? Who are you? Really?

E:  Leap of faith time, Sarah. I really am your guardian angel. I’ve been trying to get through to you. A lot of us have been ,but you just couldn’t hear because of all the clutter. So we decided maybe a visit was in order. So . . . It’s over, Sarah. You can’t con me. You can’t con any of us. Level with me. Level with yourself.

S:  Oh, give me a break. Pause. E does not speak. Just looks at her. What? Pause. What!?  Pause. What?!  What do you want? Did my freaking mother hire you are something?! Pause as E just looks at her.  What!? What do you want me to say? That you’re freaking right! That I’m freaking terrified! Do you think I like being stupid! There she said it. Do you think I don’t know that I’m stupid! Pause as she softens just a tad. Do you know what it’s like to sit in that classroom and watch everyone except me get it. Even the really dumb freaking ones. Do you know what it’s like to start out by thinking that you’re normal. That you’ll open the book just like everyone else. That your pencil will fly across the pages as you come up with the answers. That the teacher will smile at you and your work. That she’ll have quiet talks with you about your talent and your future. That you’ll know the answers. That you won’t have to hide. Disappear. Talk trash. Start fights. Act bored. Act up just to hide the freaking fact that you’re useless. Stupid . . . just stupid.  Nothing. A  . . . nothing. Do you know what it’s like to go from hope to knowing that you don’t stand a freaking chance. There. Is that what you wanted to hear? Feel good, angel?

E:  Pause. I don’t like to see people in pain. No. But . . . if the pain comes not from cruelty but from looking at things that are hard to look at . . . things that have to change before we can move on . . . then maybe some temporary pain now . . . to stop what will end up being a huge and permanent pain  . . . might be worth it.

S:  What?

E:  If you keep changing who you are; if you harden your heart if it was meant to be gentle; if you make yourself brittle if you were meant to be soft; if you fill yourself with anger and let it grow and consume you; surely you will lose yourself. Do your best. Your talents will emerge. Don’t measure yourself against others. Don’t masquerade out of fear. Forgive yourself your failures and shortcomings – after all, God forgives you. Present your true spirit, regardless of how fragile and vulnerable it might be to the world.  Love yourself and others because of the eternal love given to you.

S:  Are you serious?

E:  Damn if I’m not.  C starts to scream at her from above but stays himself.

S:  You really are. Pause. How about if I promise to really think about it? How about if I promise to listen more for your voice? I mean it. I’ll . . . I’ll just try.

E:  I’ll take that. She freezes Sarah and goes to Colin and unfreezes him. She is a bit angry with Colin.

E:  Hey you.

Colin:  Yeah. Who are you?

E:  Her best friend. Listen to me. Were you gonna hit on her because you wanted to, because you thought you could, or because you thought you should? Do you fell good knowing that you’re taking advantage of a fragile spirit? Does it make you feel like a man, like a tough guy to work a con like that?

Colin:  What are you talking about? We’ve been friends forever. We tell each other everything. I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do that to anyone. Who are you anyway? Who do you think you are accusing me of all that trash?

E:  Pause. She starts to babble a bit. Oh, sorry, sorry. I got carried away. I’m kinda new at this. Actually this if my first visit. I wasn’t even supposed to make contact with you. I just got carried away.

Cummings, who has been watching from above as E digs herself a hole, speaks to her gently with a smile.

Cummings:  Ask him about the books, Esmeralda.

E:  What are those books you have?

Colin:  Oh. Some used math books I found in a store. I’ve been trying to think of ways to help Sarah.  She’s not stupid, you know. She’s just beaten herself up so badly she kinda doesn’t know which way is up.  What did you mean when you said this was your first visit? 

E:  Nothing. Nothing. I’m uh . . . from the South. You really are a good person, you know.

Colin:  Nothing special. I just . . . you know . . . I want to help.

E:  Yeah, I know. Be prepared for itchy shoulders.

Colin:  What?

E:  Nothing. Nothing. Listen. Really nice meeting you. Take care. Keep on the path. She freezes Colin and twirls back to Cummings.

E:  Hey, Cummings.

Cummings:  Hello Esmeralda. What did you learn? How did you do? 

E:  I learned that there’s only so much we guardian angels can do. They’re responsible for so much themselves, human beings. It’s scary. All we can do is point and suggest and . . . I guess . . . pray. I did feel a shifting in Sarah, Cummings. I really did.

C:  You have a good voice, Esmeralda. By the way, how’s the itching?

E:  OMG!! Sorry, sorry. The itching has stopped! It’s gone.

C:  Yes, Esmeralda. You’ve got a fine set of baby wings. You did a good job down there. Thank you.  God is pleased.

 

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Happenings Now

Photo Album for October 24 Drama

IMG_2255

Fr. John McCausland leads congregational discussion of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and the dramatic response to it written by parishioner Pat Karpen. In the parable (Luke 18:9-14), Jesus shows how we are often so full of ourselves and so intent on holding ourselves up in comparison to other people that we make no space to listen to our conscience, where God can get through to us.

IMG_2262

Sarah (Sonia Schuler), feeling defeated by her math class and fighting with her mother about it, turns to her boyfriend Colin (Ben Harrington) for what could be the wrong kind of comfort.

IMG_2264

Sarah’s guardian angel Esmeralda (Pat Karpen, right) rushes down from heaven to prick Sarah’s conscience. This is Esmeralda’s first assignment as an angel, and her supervising angel Cummings (Marge Burke on ladder in rear) occasionally has to interrupt with promptings.

IMG_2269

Sarah’s boyfriend Colin (Ben Harrington), encouraged by Esmeralda, brings Sarah the right kind of help, in the form of some math books, bringing the story to a happy end.

IMG_2271

Ben and Sonia lead prayers of Confession and Intercession composed for the occasion:

First Reader: O Lord, you know the thoughts of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from you. You know that each of us is both a Pharisee and a tax collector. We confess to you the sins of pride and self-protectiveness that close us from your love and cause us to look down on other people.

Silence is observed, after which the Community sings “O Lord, hear my prayer.”

Second Reader: Lord, we know that you come to us when we are honest with ourselves and reach out to you for guidance and help. We ask you now to forgive us our sins and lead us into the ways of truth and light which you show us in your Son Jesus Christ.

Silence is observed, after which the Community sings “O Lord, hear my prayer.”

First Reader: Lord, in our arrogance we turn away from the needs of others: the poor, the sick, those who are bullied or shunned; the lost, the lonely, the unattractive and unpopular. We pray for them now, asking that you open our hearts to them, for we too in our deepest souls know what it is to be as they are.

Silence is observed, after which the Community sings “O Lord, hear my prayer.”

Second Reader: Lord, we thank you for the blessings of this life, especially those things we take for granted. Help us to share our blessings with those less fortunate.

Silence is observed, after which the Community sings “O Lord, hear my prayer.”

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Stewardship

2010 Ministry Minute #3 Heidi Clow

IMG_0005Holy Cross Junior Warden Heidi Clow is a longtime resident of Weare. With her husband Tom, she owns Colburn’s North Village Store. When the Clows retired after long careers as educators in the Manchester public schools, they bought Colburn’s and adopted a daughter, Amanda. Amanda brought Heidi to Holy Cross. Heidi is a weaver, and at the conclusion of her Ministry Minute, she presented the church with a lovely set of woven Altar clothes.

When I was a teacher, we started every day on the floor in a circle at “Morning Meeting.” We greeted each other, shared, discussed what we were learning and talked about behavior. I tried to teach the children that everyone was unique, special, and that everyone had good qualities which they could use to be contributors to the world. I couldn’t, of course, say, in a public school, that we are all children of God, but it was what was meant. Our class talked about what we were learning, how to behave in certain situations, how to solve classroom problems, and ways to help each other. I miss those meetings. Children were so open, kind and thoughtful during that part of the day, and often, other adults mentioned the way my class was caring of each other.

The bullying incidents which have been in the news lately have bothered me a lot, and it is one thing I pray about. These innocent children who have taken their own lives because of bullying had a right to be the people they were, God’s children. We are all children of God, and I do not understand why children feel they can target another child, even if that child is different from them. I pray that the children I taught remember what we discussed and that they are compassionate with others in our world. And I pray that other adults model correct behavior in front of children so that this needless bullying ends.

At Holy Cross one of the things I find extremely special is the caring way everyone is with others. When we say the “Peace” each week, sing a hymn together, pray for others in our community, or celebrate communion, sometimes I feel like crying, because it is so wonderful. I wish the world were more like Holy Cross. From the first Sunday I came here, I have felt included and I am happy to be a part of this morning meeting, in which we solve problems together, share our lives, and try to be the best children of God that we can.

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Stewardship

2010 Ministry Minute #2 Connor Houghton

connorI have truly grown up here at Holy Cross. Of course when I say this, you will immediately think, yes you have, you are very tall. This is natural; it is the reaction I get at every extended family get-together or whenever I meet someone new. But when I say that I have grown up here, I mean it in a different way. I feel like I have grown in character, in leadership, and in overall attitude during my seventeen years here. Going to church has meant a lot more than coming to a building to worship for an hour then leaving. Memories that will stay with me certainly involve getting here at seemingly unhealthily early hours for a Sunday morning, and staying well into the start of many football games in the afternoon. However now as I grow up and am preparing to head off to college, I can see that I have reaped many benefits from this time at Church. It had given me ample time to reflect on my views and beliefs in all aspects of life.

Over the past few years I have really started being able to take a side when it comes to issues of both morality and spirituality, which I do not believe I would be able to do if it hadn’t been for my time at church. It has also sparked an interest in me in church history and social justice, which coupled with my Catholic school education has given me the opportunity to study many aspects of the origins of religion as a whole and the Episcopal tradition. This study has given me a much more informed belief and has shown me that I really do believe in what we stand for here and in the Episcopal Church at large. Because I feel so strongly about the sense of community and belonging that comes from going to church here, I have dedicated my time and energy in many hours of community service to try and give back to the community here. This year, I hope to continue this spirit of service in helping with the search process and giving back in every way I can before I leave Weare for a new life in college. Overall going to Holy Cross has given me a much different outlook on life as a whole and I am sure that wherever I may end up, the lessons that I have learned here will travel with me and impact every decision that I make in the future.

Categories
2010 Sermons

Pentecost 21 October 17, 2010

Genesis 32:22-31                                                                               

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5                                                             

Luke 18:1-8

 Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. – Luke 18:1

So we’re talking about persistence this morning – persistence, commitment, a life grounded in hope and in ultimate trust in God. And while Jesus is talking specifically about prayer, in a real sense all life is prayer (or should be); so we’re talking about life, the character of life lived in discipleship with Jesus.

There are two brothers, sons of a Marine officer: The elder has followed in his father’s footsteps, a high school athlete, a family man, a major in the Marines leading combat missions in Afghanistan, about to return for another tour of duty. The younger is just getting out of prison, where he’s served time for a botched bank hold-up. He’s a drunk, a ne’er do well . . . all the rest. The father has no time for the younger son. “You know what your problem is?” he berates him. “You’re a quitter. The moment things get tough, you check out.”

Continue reading “Pentecost 21 October 17, 2010”