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🎶 Let It Go 🎶

Christians are people of the almost, but not yet. In scripture we hear about how Israel was waiting for a messiah, and the messiah arrived in the form of the baby Jesus born in a stable. In Mark’s thirteenth chapter, Jesus tells his disciples to be ready for the coming of the kingdom and names off all of the terrible things that are going to happen that will be signs. Wars, rumors of wars, famine, earth quakes, and woe to those pregnant or nursing during these times. Like the generations of those who have come before us, we are waiting, but is what we are waiting for something we should look forward to or dread? The end times, the coming of the Kingdom of God, Christ coming back all seem to be tied to terrible things, and paradoxically, salvation itself. I think the two worst things we can do is try to quantify what we are waiting for, or to reject the fact that we are indeed waiting for something. Perhaps the most important thing is to acknowledge the fact that we are waiting, and to be ready for whatever is to come. Regardless of the lessons we can gleam from these lessons, I think I have recently gotten a glimpse into why conversations around the ends times seem so incredibly dissonant as they are simultaneously filled with hope and despair.

Spiritual Autobiography: Dawn McMillin

God loves you. Love God and love your neighbor. Fear not. Peace be with you. Those were the first things I learned about God. Simple messages, but not always easy. In my early years, those Sunday school messages that God loves you and is always with you helped me through some scary times and some lonely times. It’s a comfort to know that when you’re alone you’re never truly alone.

Outrage < Redemption

On Monday evening I was accidently part of the social media outrage machine. I strongly believe that social media should either be plainly informational or downright silly. When it comes to debating current issues or broadcasting opinions, I simply do not believe that Facebook is conducive to nuanced and compassionate discussion. With that being said, I posted a satirical video on Monday evening for Giving Tuesday pretending to be outraged that St. Luke’s does not sell access to online worship or charge to attend Christmas Eve services as a light-hearted way of encouraging people to financially support our ministries. Little did I know that at the same time the National Cathedral announced they were charging a seven dollar administrative fee to attend their Christmas services.

In advance of Commitment Sunday

Friends,

I would like a moment to talk to you plainly about our stewardship campaign.

In order for us to thrive as a Church we need many things. The most important thing that we need is people who are called to gather to worship and do ministry. Another thing that we need is money, because without it, we cannot support the people in their ministry. People are far more important than money, and I would say that as a Church, we have our priorities properly aligned. On the people front we are thriving. We have seen many new faces come into the Church over the course of the past year, and a large portion of them have stayed to make St. Luke’s their home. I really do feel that we are doing something right, and there is something special happening at St. Luke’s!

Spiritual Autobiography: Skip Jones

In preparing mine, I reflected on at least a dozen years of memories of Sunday School, church camp, youth group and folk group at Grace Methodist Church in Wilmington, Delaware. It was here in a very uni-cultural, middle-class, Protestant, largely white environment that I acquired the basics for my understanding of Christian faith and community.

Greater maturity in my own spirituality came naturally with reading, prayer and life experience. A good part of the latter involved coming into contact with a wider, more multicultural society. As a Boy Scout, I interacted with other Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, and Baha’i Scouts and Scouters. We obviously shared ethical values in Scouting, and discussions I had with them about their faith beliefs caused me to conclude that their own religious convictions, sometimes quite different from my own, contributed to this similarity in personal ethics. This pushed me in the direction of considering how the God of my upbringing might be understood entirely differently by other faithful people. I found this to be reassuring, as I had struggled with the thought of people whom I knew and respected being cut off from God’s grace and the opportunity to abide in God simply because they believed differently from me.

May the Gourd always be with you

I cannot believe that pumpkin season is over! It feels like it as just yesterday when we met the massive truck filled with 2546 patch pumpkins, 5 large bins of spookies and snowballs, 59 boxes of decorative small pumpkins and gourds, and 75 Swan gourds. Over 40 thousand pounds of gourdage!! The past few weeks have been a glorious whirlwind of learning from the pros, teaching the newbies, and helping people make memories in our patch. Many of you reading this had something to do with our pumpkin patch, whether that was working shifts, baking pumpkin bread, or just buying a few gourds. Regardless of what your involvement was, thank you.

This would be an appropriate time to highlight the ministry of those who have always gone above and beyond, and those who have recently stepped up to the plate. Behind each of these people is an interesting and compelling story about their ministry. For the sake of brevity, you’ll just get a little snap shot. Kim Witzman is often found at the patch making sure everything runs smoothly and getting things organized, all while crocheting perfect pumpkins to be sold in our patch. I honestly do not know how she does it. Melissa Brunton is arguably the most seasoned gourdonaut, and is the standard fallback person when something goes awry. Lisa and Richard Maple are our omnipresent tech gurus. Martha Beckford magically tallies our totals every single night the patch is open. Her updates always populate my inbox, and I have no idea how she does this magic. Alan Hope is the master pumpkin bread baker, and the orchestra conductor of the pumpkin unloading symphony. Tom Hargrove holds no special title, but if you need a shift filled, he is there with gusto. There are also the dozens of other longtime members that step-up year after year, not because their children will benefit from the proceeds, but because they find enjoyment and meaning in helping this ministry. Thank you all for making this possible.

All Souls

I had a bad dream last week that I was back home for the funeral of a friend who died over twenty years ago now. In real life, we had had a funeral for him, of course. But in my dream, the family wanted to have another funeral — so I showed up.

Twenty-four years had passed, and in the dream I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was sad, but I knew it wasn’t because of loss. His death was something I learned to live with years ago. I don’t have many memories of my friend left, the sound of his voice and his laugh have gone. But in the dream, his family still wept in the way they always have, and I felt guilty for losing something so precious to the wear of time.

Al Ahli Hospital on the Feast Day of St. Luke

I just started reading a BBC Verified article about the bombing of Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Generally, I soak up any piece of information that I can about things like this as some sort of coping mechanism, but this time I couldn’t finish. Two experts looked at footage of the explosion and said that it is likely not an intentional hit, but rather a piece of rocket that fell from its intended route, or something like that. Everyone seemed to agree that the facts are pretty sketchy and we are likely not going to get any satisfactory answers. The lack of truth and decisiveness in this matter and the assurance that this will keep the cycle of violence spinning made me close the browser window and take a break.

Stewardship

Friends,

It is that time of year again to start our stewardship campaign!!

I know you must be excited, not because you like to be asked for money, but because you are excited at all of the wonderful things that are possible for our congregation. The past two years have been dynamic. We have tried many new things. Most have worked out tremendously, while a couple of things have been consigned to the category, “well, that was a nice try”. I am genuinely energized by our Church’s willingness to listen to what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do, and to strive for growth, joy and to be a healthy community.

St. Francis the Radical

I love the connection of St. Francis with animals. He is the patron saint of animals after all. And I love animals, having two of my own! It is fun to hear the cute stories of St. Francis preaching to a school of fish or taming a vicious wolf. I love the blessing of the animals every year and I look forward to ours October 8 at 8 am and 10 am. I hope you bring your pets or stuffed animals for a special blessing on Sunday. My dogs had their blessing on Wednesday and loved coming to church!

It’s Almost Pumpkin Season

It is nearly pumpkin season, and I am quaking with anticipation in my St. Luke’s branded loafers (which you can buy here), because this is arguably the most active and joyful time of the year in the life of our Church. You would think this title would belong to one of our high holy days, like Christmas or Easter, but upon some reflection, I think this makes perfect sense.

Bearing Witness by Being You

It is a fairly common occurrence that I will surprise someone when they find out that I am a priest. I guess it is not a common occurrence to run into a clergy person, and many people tell me that they feel the encounter is divine providence. This always feels a bit off to me, because from my perspective, it is always just another day, and talking about God and stuff is pretty much all I do. The conversations are almost always very meaningful and sacred. Sometimes people tell me why they stopped going to Church, and I always make sure they know that I’d love to see them on Sunday. Sometimes they tell me about their Church, and I love to hear the reasons why they feel called to their community. Sometimes they tell me why they don’t believe, and this can often feel like an opening salvo for some sort of ideological battle. I generally counter with an invitation to our grill night and a sincere promise that I won’t secretly baptize them. This generally evaporates any perceived tension, and then we continue our conversation like normal people.

Running the Race

Christianity, especially it’s more liturgical manifestations, provides a tremendous constant throughout history in every culture that it touches. That constant element is the older generation bemoaning the lack of interest in Church in the younger generation. If you dig into the writings, diaries, sermons or other musing of Anglican clergy you find hundreds of years’ worth of concern that the Church will not survive the upcoming wave of apathy that seems to be rapidly approaching. This seems to be part of a much larger theme of older generations complaining the behavior of the younger, than it is about the future of the Church. Religion was all but dead in Eastern Europe, but it has experienced a resurgence since the time I was in elementary school. While Christianity still continues to decline in the West, we can see that Christianity has proven hard to snuff out, and that the Holy Spirit has a habit of reinventing her Church.

There is a Place for You

I am so excited and even a little nervous for this Sunday! This is our big kick-off Sunday where we mark the beginning of our program year. Sunday school will come to life, the J2A group and Sacred Ground will be meeting. It is going to be a joyous occasion as we celebrate all of the potential for the coming year. There will be a lot of very obvious signs that we are trying to draw people in. Probably the crown jewel of Sunday’s festivities is a Peruvian food truck that Wendy Joachim and her intrepid helpers have arranged to serve the congregation lunch after the 10:00 am service. We hope this will be a draw to get people in the door for the first time, or maybe back after a long absence. With luck and a proper welcome, they may make it to the third floor at 9:00 am to see the Sunday School rooms and meet the teachers, which is where we really hope people will end up. Unless you have a young child or volunteer as a Sunday School teacher you probably have not been to the third floor on a regular basis. Over the summer we have put forth significant effort to spruce it up, and make it look like the happy place that it is. The hallway now is missing much of the clutter that occupied it’s space, it has a fresh coat of paint, and several beautiful (and occasionally hilarious) murals made by our own Cara Omohundro. Teachers have been in the classrooms preparing for our guests, and across the board we are preparing the way for growth and vibrancy.

Pausing in the In-between

As of writing this reflection on Thursday morning, it feels like fall. I know it is not, but I love the cool temperature and the crisp air of early fall. I love fall activities and the nostalgia of starting school, going to Shrine Mont, or other fall memories. But, like always, I am rushing it. Fall does not officially start for almost another month. Probably next week it will be unbearably hot again, as is common this time of year.

But I cannot help it. With all seasons, I get too excited for them, especially summer and fall. I bring out all clothes I had tucked away the season before and start getting ready for all the seasonal activities I have missed.

A Chance to Grow and Thrive

Every spring, the Horticultural Society at River Farm hosts a native plant sale. The first of these that I experienced came at a perfect moment to have a disproportionate effect on my life. We had not been living in Alexandria very long, and I was coming to terms with the fact that my yard is less than ideal for tomatoes, which was my plant of choice before our move. With all of the chatter about local plants, a war I was beginning to wage on the wisteria that was killing our trees, and a desire to grow something fun, I was interested to see what I could learn and get from the native plant sale, just a few blocks away from our home. The biggest variable that drove me to the sale was my two year old son’s recent procurement of a riding electric John Deere tractor complete with a trailer. The weather was terrible that morning, and a long line of cars began to form to grab the few spaces that were not giant puddles, and I could not resist the temptation to have my son drive past them all on his tractor to load up that tiny trailer with whatever plants we could find. It was hilarious.

Why recognize the Virgin Mary as a Saint

Episcopalians have saints. You might already know that or you might not. Either way, like St. Luke himself, we recognize and celebrate many saints throughout the year. There are martyrs, holy women, holy men, and doctors (theologians) of the faith who we have canonized over 2000 years of Christianity. There is value in recognizing saints in this world, who despite their brokenness, found ways to follow and serve God in ways which can be an example for us.

Clutter

Since my wife’s cancer diagnosis, our house has been filled with extra clutter. Historically, clutter has been an issue that my wife and I have a habit of aggressively resolving. You might think our clutter issue is due to the vulnerable nature our of circumstance, and that housework is simply not getting done. The case is actually quite the opposite. When she began her treatment, the troops were mustered, and we have more help than we have ever had at our home. Nearly every day there is someone at our home to lend an extra hand with childcare and cleaning the home. This extra help is an outward and visible sign of the love our family, friends and thoughtful neighbors have for us, and so is the clutter.

Welcome, Hip-Hop, and Baptism

I want to build off what Father Nick wrote about in last week’s newsletter, partly because I love hip-hop and partly because I have been watching the show Atlanta in my spare time. Atlanta, created by Donald Glover, on the surface, is a show about the career of a hip-hop artist – from struggling to start his career, all the way to post-stardom. But what the show is really about is a group of people starting their life on the bottom of the socio-economic ladder because of history, politics, geography and so many other factors. It is about how they navigate the world as African Americans, in spaces that are for them and spaces that are against them.

Welcome to the Table

In 2015, I met up with my three best friends in Alabama to go backpacking for a couple of nights. The trip was great, and that is a whole story within itself, but I want to talk to you about the trip back. I carpooled with a friend, who lived close by at the time, and he insisted that I listen to Hamilton, the extremely popular musical that was exploding into the mainstream. I told him that I didn’t really care for musicals, but he insisted. To my shock, I was completely enthralled before the end of the first act, and we were both in tears by the conclusion of this masterpiece. When I got back from the trip, I was obsessed. I was so obsessed that I annoyed my wife to the point that she refused to listen to it. It took waiting until she was trapped in a car with me for a road trip (much like I was that fateful day in Alabama) for me to compel her to listen to it all of the way through, and like me she was immediately taken away with the narrative. We cried all the way through the production at the Kennedy Center a few years later, and we still find ourselves singing the songs from the musical.