Category Archives: Meditation

Burnout and our Spirits

Posted on January 29, 2012 | Leave a comment
He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves
and rest awhile.’ (Mark 6:30)

That’s Jesus, inviting his disciples to retreat and rest after they’ve been doing ministry around the countryside. Trying to get away from demands for awhile, and to feed his spirit, is not unusual for Jesus in the gospels.

“Burnout” isn’t a word Jesus and his disciples would be familiar with. But they faced the human reality that we can’t constantly spend our energies, even on those things that feel most important, without balancing it with some breaks – and, in the case of our faith, times for real spiritual nurture.

Your Session recently had an impromptu conversation about exhaustion in the church; and it is real. A church which maintains an active pace like ours (and folks new to us often comment on this) requires a lot of energy. Inevitably this means that at least some committed people at any one time will have feelings of burnout, which one author as described as the body’s doing the work, but the spirit’s not present. To a busy church life, add unexpected losses, drawing on our emotional and physical resources, and the general aura of discouragement so many sense in the world at large these days, and we have a mix that leaves many folks feeling depleted and less than joyful even about service in the church.

Taking a cue from Jesus himself (!), which we church leaders should always be more attentive to than we have been, we’ll be making this a theme for 2012.

There are many more aspects to our “recovery” than I can mention here. They include much more than just “time off” for busy people, though those who have served long at the same tasks may need encouragement to do that. Also important will be some reassessing of what we’re doing and what’s most valuable to continue, and what’s not, and offering more opportunities for refreshing the spirit.

Maybe nothing’s more important, though, than seeking to welcome the gifts of volunteers in those areas which they feel most suited for, and which can make them feel most glad. You can expect (I hope!) more use of what members have shared on the time and talent commitments for this year, as areas of our life together in which they might truly feel called to join in. If you haven’t completed a time and talent form for 2012, it’s not too late to do that! They’re available in the church entryway, or just ask.

Peace,

Rod

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Joining with the Characters of Christmas

Posted on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

This year, the Sundays of Advent will be filled with people who play beloved roles in the story of God’s coming among us in Jesus. But we won’t be trying to rush into Christmas early!

Instead, we’ll explore each week the ancient Hebrew and Old Testament roots that help explain the meaning of the wise men, shepherds, Mary and Joseph. They don’t spring spontaneously onto the scene, but come filled with old understandings as well as fresh significance. They help to shape the nativity stories of Matthew and Luke in very different ways. And they reflect many of the same longings, struggles, and conflicts that are part of our world in 2011.

Our children and youth will be important in this journey. Sunday classes are preparing banners based on these characters to be presented each week, and each group will take a turn in the lighting of the Advent candles.

As you’ll see later in Crossroads, adults have an opportunity to delve more deeply into the scriptures and characters for each Sunday during their study group at 9:15 a.m. New folks are always welcome!

And the season will also have regular BPC traditions: Christmas caroling to seniors and shut-ins on December 18; and our Christmas Eve Family Service featuring children and youth in Nativity Tableaux (“scenes”).

Because Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Sundays this year, special plans are underway. On Christmas we will have a family-friendly Service of Lessons and Carols. New Year’s Day will feature a brunch, with communion around the tables, as a meaningful way to begin the new year.

Many of our members (and some friends!) will be helping to staff People Helping People’s Wish Tree at the Mall for three days during the shopping season to help bring holiday blessing to families having hardships. Our Deacons are planning a special offering opportunity, which will include assisting local nursing home residents with clothing (as you’ll see later in Crossroads).

Come, be part of the real blessings of God’s Christmas. Is there a friend you could invite to share the gift, too?

Peace,

Rod

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Presbyterian Stew

Posted on November 6, 2011 | 1 Comment

Do you know the old story of Stone Soup? There are different versions, but it focuses on some hungry folks coming to a village and finding residents fearful of sharing from their supplies. The hungry ones put a stone and some water in their empty pot, and heat it over a fire. We have stone soup, they say when asked what they’re doing. It’s very good, but much better with a few carrots, some cabbage and potatoes and spices…
Soon villagers bring their contributions, and a wonderful soup is enjoyed by all.

Here at the Presbyterian Church we have our own version of stone soup – let’s call it Presby Stew, which goes better with this stewardship season. God has gathered us together in an increasingly rich and wonderful mix of people. We enjoy lively worship and fellowship together, and special times of caring and outreach.

This life together, and our gratitude to God for it, is the reality with which we begin our thinking and praying about stewardship. It isn’t how much do we need for our church budget? It is thankfulness that God has brought us together in this special stew, and recognizing that we have been given some pretty wonderful flavor and nutrition to share with one another and with God’s world.

In coming weeks, we’ll be hearing some messages from one another about what stewardship means to us. We’ll be encouraged to take part in the annual dedication of our pledges of money, and time and talents, which we call a Harvest of Offerings, on November 20.

Let our giving, even in these difficult times, be filled with the great flavor of Presbyterian Stew!

Peace,

Rod

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Hope, Remembrance, Moving Ahead

Posted on September 19, 2011 | 1 Comment

After the recent contentious months, the nation is preparing for the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. We will be hearkening back to that time when we spoke of being united in shock, grief, and a mix of community and patriotism. As you read this, communities will be readying their commemorative events. The media will be saturated with commentary.

As I met with some clergy colleagues recently, we shared thoughts about the appropriate approach to this profound moment. Some offered the concern that many community plans could amount to an “enshrining” of a terrible event. They might have the effect of bringing us back to the memories and feelings of that day and following, but do little to help people reflect on what we have learned since – and to move ahead.

Remembering is a vital part of who we are, individually and communally. We need to continue to process the grief, and to recall deeds of heroism and kindness, as part of journeying on.

But also, what have we learned about ourselves and our world in these last ten years? About the risks and costs of our two longest wars? About living with neighbors of different beliefs in a pluralistic world? And especially, about the need for people who live with hope, and open doors to the future?

It seems right that these reflections be brought into the worship of our different traditions, apart from the plans for civic remembering.

On September 11, our worship will be a “Service of Hope and Remembrance.” It will include messages, prayers, and communion that express our faith at this anniversary moment. There are also plans for a Reflection Wall on which people will be invited to share remembrances of persons, thoughts about what we’ve learned and who we are now, and hopes for the future.

I hope you will plan to be here. And this might be an especially good time to invite friends, neighbors, co-workers who could benefit from gathering with others who are seeking hope and strength.

Peace,

Rod

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Where are our priorities?

Posted on May 14, 2011 | Leave a comment
  • Deepening our church family’s relationships
  • Furthering our engagement with the community
  • Building our ministry with youth

    • Your Session hopes our church family will join with us in making these goals realities!

    These areas of our life and work together have been part of Session’s conversations over the past few months, beginning with responses provided by the congregation at the annual meeting in January. We’re hoping to make progress in these ways in the coming months, with your support:

    Growing in our knowledge of one another and sharing our faith through such events as the International Supper that took place in February, and more personal invitations to those who are new or less active; bringing into our worship more opportunities for members to share and have interaction; and holding an all-church retreat.

    Building on our already active community involvement by seeking up-to-date demographic info, and building events around our connection to Farmer Dave’s CSA (because we’re a Community Supported Agriculture site, we’ve registered our church as a “Let’s Move” congregation with the PCUSA’s challenge to grow in healthy practices). And check out our church’s new listings at Burlington.Patch.com.

    Recognizing our active older youth by involving them more in our ongoing activities (especially on Sunday mornings) and occasional special events, and developing ministry with younger youth as they grow.

    You should be hearing more about these and other ideas. But don’t wait! Get involved, share you own thoughts with any Session member, and be part of BPC on the move.

    Other news: Session has directed $500 of the “Directed Mission” line in our budget to support this year’s MATE trip. And 2012 will be the celebration of BPC’s 50th anniversary! We’ll be looking for folks to help us plan special events.

    Peace,

    Rod

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    Easter Isn’t Spring

    Posted on April 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

    Easter Isn’t Spring
    (even if it helps!)

    With Easter coming almost as late as is possible this year, we stand a chance of having some genuine Spring beauty (a rarity for Easter in these parts). But it’s important for our faith to remember that Easter and Spring aren’t synonymous.

    It’s hard to wrap our minds around the fact, because it’s such a cultural emphasis, but Easter isn’t about Spring. Or, that is, the Christian celebration of the Resurrection (“Easter” actually comes from the name of a pagan goddess of Springtime) has nothing to do with flowers, greening grass, or bunnies and chicks. At most, Spring with its examples of new life is an analogy from nature for a Holy Day that means something much more. Remember, half of the world isn’t even enjoying the Spring season at this time.

    The Resurrection is God’s ultimate statement on the execution of Jesus on the cross. What has come to be called Easter is God’s last word on the sin, violence, oppression, tragedy, and even death itself…which characterize human life. If we don’t understand this, it makes no sense to celebrate Easter in the same world context as the terrible tragedy in Japan, the violence in the Middle East or our city streets, and the deep personal losses many of us have sustained during the past year…

    The Resurrection is God’s “something better,” which is everlasting love.
    In the midst of the worst in the world, there is Good News, if we watch, wait, and help one another to discover it.

    Jesus is risen…might be God’s theme song, with its meaning that we, too, are invited into new life. That is true whether or not it is “Spring.”

    Therefore this dancing through iron doors,
    This singing our way through blind walls…
    Therefore these hilarities, against all reason,
    And charities welling up for no cause. (from a poem by Amos Wilder)

    Let’s keep a true Easter, not a Spring festival, but a timeless gift of faith.

    Peace,

    Rod

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    Why Lent today?

    Posted on February 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

    Today, as I write, the spectacular white snowbanks of just a week or two ago have turned to big, grimy remainders. A sure sign that Lent is just around the corner (beginning with Ash Wednesday, March 9).

    In A Lent Sourcebook (ed. Baker, Kaehler, Mazar) it says, Lent isn’t tidy. Although the word originally means “lengthen,” referring to longer days of spring’s arrival in the northern hemisphere, Lent reminds us there’s much more to the changing season than a Disney-esque image of flowers, bees and birds. Our windows need washing, our temples need cleansing, the earth itself needs a good bath.

    We ourselves are part of this.

    Lent begins with a “branding” of sorts, with ashes. It continues for forty days (not including Sundays) before Easter. It was popular by the fourth century, and grew from an earlier, shorter period before Easter which was used to prepare catechumens (converts) for baptism into Christian faith. The tradition emphasizes repentance, prayer, and charity (or “almsgiving”).

    Why practice something so somber today? Don’t people need more cheering up in these troubled times? It is so easy to ignore Lent entirely, and focus on Easter’s coming, with its bright clothes, full sanctuaries, and joyful music…

    One reason is that, in the long run, it is much more rewarding to be honest about who we are than to accept the culture’s encouragement to think that we are endlessly deserving. Life doesn’t work that way; and living by falsehoods distances us from God.

    Another reason is that we are mortal. Again, our culture invites us to obsess about being eternally youthful and able to consume without limits…while faith only reaches depth among those who know that being human means knowing we will die.

    If all this sounds depressing, it is redeemed by this: Lent when it is followed can connect us with Jesus, who is the way to life. We remember the stories of his ministering, his parables, and also his struggle with those who couldn’t accept him, and ultimately, his death in which all humanity is implicated. But the final word of this journey is Life!

    So, ultimately, Lent is a journey that leads to life, and life in a way that may escape us if we aren’t willing to follow its path.

    Peace,

    Rod

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    Praying for Peace: In and Through Boston Presbytery

    Posted on February 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

    It’s a vital time for believers to pray for peace in our bruised and bleeding society.

    Christians have always prayed for peace. But an initiative in Boston Presbytery is inviting us and our church to join others in prayers for peace that focus on regional concerns, as well as beyond.

    I will be asking our Session to covenant to be part of this initiative. We will then receive weekly prayers to include in worship and at home (to which, of course, we can add our own prayers). This should begin with the first Sunday in February.

    You may recall how, during Advent, we included in our bulletin “Prayers for the City” from the City Mission Society. The new prayers will follow up on these (which are now discontinued) and be partly oriented toward Presbyterians in the Boston area.

    I’ve been privileged to be part of a small group that has been developing this process. We have felt compelled by the urgency to respond following the deaths by homicide last year that affected the Roxbury Presbyterian Church family and other Boston churches; the recent Arizona shootings; the domestic violence that can seem to erupt out of nowhere; and also, the new-found commitment to civility in Congress and, we hope, in our churches and presbytery. This “anti-violence project” will be exploring other possible peacemaking activities to offer through our churches.

    Please pray for how we as individuals and a church can live out the peace of Christ in a society that has too long looked to violence in deed and speech as an answer to conflict.

    In Christ,

    Rod

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    Singing In the New Year

    Posted on December 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

    There aren’t many hymns or faith-based songs for entering a new year – but it seems to me there should be. No, it isn’t a significant event of the Christian calendar. But it is a time when many of us find ourselves pondering a bit the meaning of time, and wondering (with mixed hope and anxiety?) what the coming twelve months hold for us, those we love, and our world.

    One hymn that addresses the changing years is in The Hymnal, #265, Great God, We Sing That Mighty Hand:

    Great God, we sing that mighty hand
    By which supported still we stand;
    The opening year Your mercy shows;
    That mercy crowns it till it close.

    With grateful hearts the past we own;
    The future, all to us unknown,
    We to Your guardian care commit,
    And peaceful leave before Your feet.

    In scenes exalted or depressed,
    You are our joy, and You our rest;
    Your goodness all our hopes shall raise,
    Adored through all our changing days.

    I would like to be able to hold on to such a spirit of trust throughout the days to come; wouldn’t you?

    And finally, from a hymn I’ve always enjoyed, All Beautiful the March of Days (#292 in The Hymnal), a stanza that raises new year notes of praise:

    O Thou from whose unfathomed law The year in beauty flows,
    Thyself the vision passing by In crystal and in rose,
    Day unto day doth utter speech, And night to night proclaim,
    In ever-changing words of light, The wonder of Thy name.

    Happy New Year!

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    Gifts of the Season

    Posted on December 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

    Without question, this will be a hard Christmas for many neighbors, near and far.

    Unemployment nationwide is still above 9 percent. The Boston Globe just this morning carried a front page article on the steep increase in requests for help from food pantries and fuel assistance. The pantry here in Burlington served 131 families in October, a new high.

    Meanwhile, the big Christmas retail push began even before Halloween this year. Many of us know that we want our celebrations to reflect a spirit of giving much more in keeping with God’s gracious gift of life, his own Son, Jesus.

    This is a very good year, then, for you and your family to continue or to begin an emphasis on Christmas as a time for giving to others.

    We are hoping that our church’s opportunities for the season will help you shape this commitment. The Advent Family Event (open to all!) on December 12 will be an opportunity for fellowship and bringing cookies to package as gifts for diners at The Dwelling Place the following Wednesday (and you are always welcome to come and help serve there). You can consider signing up for one of the shifts at The Wish Tree at the mall (another good experience for children, too). Our annual caroling expedition, planned for December 19, offers another sort of giving opportunity.

    You might also consider a personal, or family, gift to an organization that cares for people or the earth. People Helping People in Burlington is one. Heifer Project is another (catalogues available in our church library).

    Much closer to home, maybe there is a neighbor who could simply use some help with snow shoveling, or a plate of cookies…

    Whatever “gifts of the season” we may choose to share, the focus is not on our own goodness, but on the love of God. Jesus came into the world at a hard time, and in the most humble way, as the gift of life in its fullness for all people.

    Let our hearts receive this as the greatest gift we can have this Christmas.

    Peace and joy,

    Rod

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