Casting and KeepingMay the Lord bless you and keep you. May God make her face shine upon you and give you peace. We are now in the season of Lent, a time of reflection and repentance in preparation for the death of Christ. It is a good time to reassess, to slow down and look around, to prioritize anew. Along that line we have our ongoing Lectio Divina class on Wednesday nights, complete with soup and bread for supper. This meditative approach to scripture invites God to speak to us through scripture. We gain insight into our personal spiritual life. On Friday mornings for the next two weeks, through our reading of "The Great Emergence" by Phyllis Tickle, we are taking a much, much broader perspective, and discussing our place and future in this emerging postmodern world.
Last week I took time to update some of my technology and my ability to use it. The networks available and ever more necessary continue to astound me. After updating hardware and software on three computers and my telephone, with the help of Dell, Microsoft, Verizon, Nellie and a local computer guy, I settled down on my couch one night and spent a bit of time blogging on beliefnet. I thought I would do my best to write something subtle and deep. What I failed to realize is the way the net unites people with very little in common. What I shared, filled with implicit scripture reference and historical inference was completely misunderstood by people who knew neither the scripture nor the history to which I referred.
There is no meta-narrative, no common cultural understanding which we can assume as a common language. This means, it seems to me, that the Gospel message must be communicated in the simplest language possible. On the other hand it is possible to reach too far — to send invitations to the virtual world to people who we could never come to join and live the real live community here at St. John's Berkeley. It is also quite possible that in trying to be all things to all people, we fail to be ourselves for ourselves. It would be easy to spend three hours blogging with folks from Australia and New York about family values, for instance, and miss, live, in the flesh, relation with people of our own family and community.
Don't get me wrong, I can also follow my brother's blog in Peru, and see pictures taken at my niece's birthday party in AZ. In this mobile world where families no longer live nearby, it is nice to be able to keep in touch any which way. And I love the speed with which I can cross-check information. For instance, last weekend attended the Sabeel Conference at First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo. Sabeel is an organization working non-violently for an end to the Israeli occupation in Palestine. The conference was well organized and loaded with knowledgeable and passionate speakers. Israel, with great aid from the USA, continues to dispossess Palestinians of land in the West Bank and Gaza, pretending it is security and not colonialism which motivates the injustice. Of course as more people are robbed of their farmland, houses, jobs and lives, their anger is more likely to become a security threat, thus justifying indefinite occupation and anti-democratic policy.
Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions made reference to a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to a joint meeting of the US Congress. I googled the speech and had it before me to read within one minute. I can locate and read a scripture passage online faster than I can flip through a Bible before me. Yet that seems a bit strange somehow to lose the tactile connection with the written word.
I remember our Adult Forum on the Torah taught by Rabbi Diane Elliot, of Aquarian Minyan synagogue, which shares our space on Holidays. She brought their Torah, which had come down to them through WWII from Europe. It is called a Sefer Torah, handwritten on sheets of parchment made from a kosher cow. There is something nice and comforting about tradition, about holding onto that which has shaped our identity. Ecclesiastes 3 says "there is a time to keep and a time to cast away." Surely we are in a time when a little of both is needed. May the Spirit guide us with wisdom and grace as we discern, in our personal, technological and political life what to change and what to keep.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Max
First annual Berkeley CROP Hunger Walk
Sunday afternoon (2 pm), April 25
A 5 K walk starting at YEAH Shelter/ Lutheran Church of the Cross and stopping by Berkeley sites where the community is serving the homeless.
Benefiting hungry people throughout the world through Church World Service,
and locally YEAH and Dorothy Day House (25% of the funds raised).More info at: http://www.crophungerwalks.org/berkeley/
Walk goal: 20 congregations/organizations/ 200 walkers, $20,000 raised!
Max and David McPhail will be walking--if you want to join them, please let Max know. Your donations in support of Max's walk will be happily received in the Church Office. Make out your check to Church World Service and note it for the Crop Walk.
By request, the lyrics to the "Song of Ruth," sung by Carrie Lefeber in the Women's Worship service held this past Sunday. This song comes from "The Eternal Road," music by Kurt Weill, text by Franz Werfel, 1937.
Nay where thou goest will I go also,
And I shall dwell wherever thou abidest.
For thy God is my God
And thy folk is my folk.
Until the grave then let the bond endure
Thy God is my God,
and thy faith my faith.
May God reward me happiness or sorrow,
As death alone can tear us two asunder
And where thou goest will I go also,
And I shall dwell wherever thou art.
Women’s Bible Study, Thursday, March 11, noon to 2pm
Outsiders Become Insiders: Rahab and the Gibeonites. Read Joshua 2:1-24; 6:25; 9:3-27. A prostitute named Rehab helps the Jews, therefore saving her family, and is taken into the Nation of Israel, a sign of hope for all who are lost and outcast. We will finish the previous lesson about Holly War, vs. Augustine’s idea of Just War. Bring your lunch and your Bible. Marietta Harvey
Youth Sleepover for all St. John's Youth is scheduled for this Saturday, March 13 at 5:00pm through church Sunday, March 14. A jump house plus pizza, pancakes, movies, popcorn, hide and seek, and planning for a Palm Sunday drama. Please let Fred Harvey or Kathy Pratt know if you will attend.
Adult Forums during Lent
For the next three Sundays, forums will be lead by Dr. Bruce Willats, who did his doctoral dissertation on the Doctrine of the Atonement for GTU. He will share with us both the three main orthodox theories of the atonement and two heretical ones. Perhaps we will also begin to develop our own understanding of how God was at work in Christ "reconciling the world."
DVD movie recommendation for Lent: We just saw “Jesus of Montreal,” a story of actors in conflict with the church regarding their portrayal of the life of Christ and the Crucifixion. It is in French with subtitles. Marietta and Fred Harvey
Plan to attend St. John's All-Age, All-Church Retreat, May 21, 22, 23!
Pastor Max and Intern Pastor Jason Guy will be our leaders on "Your Spiritual Journey: Psychological and Spiritual Growth. The retreat will be held at the Monte Toyon Conference Center near Aptos (about 1½ hours from St. John's). For the layout, please see the brochures available in the church office. Plan to arrive on Friday, May 21 after 5pm / Dinner's at 6:00. Price includes 2 nights lodging and 6 meals. Costs: Adult $160, youth 5-17 $90, children under 5 free, maximum family charge $396. No one will be left out! (Scholarships available. See Max.) Contact Linda Bostjanick for more information, and let her know if you can drive or need a ride. Deadline: March 29.
Come one, come all to our seasonal, essential Work Parties.
There is lots of fun to be had as we work alongside each other, while we spruce up the grounds and facility. Bring your talents and skills as we trim/prune/weed the garden beds, paint the silver conduit brown in the Sanctuary and elsewhere, dust, clean closets and windows, spot-treat carpeting, assemble shelves or add your special project to the list on Saturday, March 13, April 3, May 8 from 9:30am to 1pm. Come for a couple of hours or stay the whole time. Many hands make light work. Bring your tools (trowels, weeders, pruners, rakes, gloves, dusters, paint brushes) and your merriment. FREE bagels and cream cheese, coffee and juice will served between 9:15am until 10:30am in the Narthex/Campbell Kitchen.
St. John's Presbyterian Church • 2727 College Avenue • Berkeley, California 94705