Posta Online

In Mark's gospel we have experienced Jesus very much on the move. The last Sunday of October, Jesus entered Jericho with his disciples and left with them and a crowd and healed blind Bartimaus on his way to Jerusalem . Jerusalem is the place where the central mystery of the Christian faith will take place: Jesus' death and resurrection, the Paschal Mystery.

As Jesus and his disciples walked the roads and paths of the Holy Land , so walking has been important throughout history. For health reasons to be sure, but also because walking is a way of prayer and physically participating in the life changing event that happened at the destination of pilgrimage. People began to walk the way of the cross in Jerusalem , and those who could not get to Jerusalem wanted to walk that way also and so today we have Stations of the Cross in many churches and especially during Lent walk the Way of the Cross.

Men and women wanted to travel to other holy sights like Canterbury , Santiago de Compostela, and Rome , and when this was not possible labyrinths became a way of locally replicating those longer journeys. One of the first of these was on the floor of the Cathedral in Chartres , France . Today they can be found in churches and on church grounds as well as retreat centers.

Encoded in the labyrinth are twelve circles quartered by a cross. It is a single winding passage that leads to the center. You cannot get lost walking it, though you may not know where you are at any given point in your journey to the center or on your journey out. Every opportunity I get, I walk the labyrinth and hope, when my home begins to be used as a retreat center, to have one in my yard.

All of this is an introduction to say a word about the Christian year and stewardship. Both of them are, I want to suggest, like walking a labyrinth. The Christian year is drawing to an end and since April 16, we have been walking out of the center, the Paschal Mystery, and applying it to our lives and the world. On December 3, we begin the journey into the center again. Our destination is the death an resurrection of Jesus and entering into the Paschal Mystery more deeply. In 2007, April 8 is the date of Easter.

The practice of stewardship also helps us enter into the Paschal Mystery. As we freely give of ourselves, our time, talent and treasure (money), we die to ourselves and allow the risen life of Jesus Christ to be born in us more deeply.

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Before becoming a school teacher, I used to work as a reparatory therapy technician in a local hospital. I often worked third shift which meant I was frequently called to the ER. One night is particularly etched in my mind to this day as clearly as if it happened yesterday, and its image haunts me.

My pager buzzed, calling me to the ER “stat.” Arriving in the trauma room, we were told that the EMTs were bringing in a person from a house fire up in Michigan . We could hear the ambulance’s siren coming in, and we could smell the smoke before the gurney came around the corner. An EMT straddled the victim, frantically pounding on his chest as another “bagged” him with oxygen. The team swept the body off the gurney and began trying to revive him, but it was of no use. The ER doctor pronounced him dead and the trauma team quietly dispersed.

Since I was the low man on the shift, it was my duty to restock the room after a trauma. A nurse and I stood momentarily with the man saying silent prayers for him and his family then started about our duties. The nurse detached the medial apparatus that had been used during the code, preparing the body to go to the morgue.

Suddenly she gasped. Startled, I turned quickly to see the victim lying on the gurney. The man was clinging—literally with a death grip—to a glass jar of coins. He had lost his life trying to save perhaps $5 of coins from the fire.

Apocalyptic means confrontation. Against endless claims of worldly power we struggle to be the humans we were meant to be. For this work God has given us the strong weapons of exorcism and glossalia and both are integral to our life together as ministers to the world.

Exorcism is simply our resistance to two identical horns of fallen power: falsehood and violence. The church prays daily to be delivered from such evil and daily we declare our faith that it will be done. The act of giving signs of Christ’s peace to a sister or brother is not just a “warm-fuzzy”; it is exorcism of the dreadful beasts that assail us and animate us to sin. Not exactly what a handshake was invented for but look out! The God of Saul recycles stuff.

Glossalia (speaking in tongues) is the beautiful companion to exorcism. It represents our vibrant evangelical compulsion to sing and say the truth to power. It is a nice alternative to stones that suddenly shout "Glory and Honor". But glossalia need not be gibberish to us or to the world. When a faithful people stand together and recite the creed they clearly witness to the vitality of the word of God. Of course the lords of this world are a little slow to "get it" but it is our job to provide them with an interpretation. Part of that interpretation is to gather at Olive and Prast to make welcoming signs of Christ's peace. The creed, once merely political diatribe of an oppressive state, now declares our allegiance to the Realm of Heaven. The church is God's junkyard. We must always expect new beginnings.

I am reminded too, at this season, that a simple pledge of our wealth is apocalyptic. Pledges to the church exorcise money and distinctly pronounce truth to the Pharos of consumerism. Yeah, well maybe that’s not exactly what pledges are supposed to do but it's just another case of holy recycling.

John Wesley wrote these instructions for congregational singing when the Methodist Movement was still within the Church of England. These directions have been printed in nearly every Methodist Hymnal published since they first appeared in Select Hymns. John and his brother Charles, who wrote some six thousand hymns, were both Anglican priests. Their feast day in the American Prayer Book is March 3.

I. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.

II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.

III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a single degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, then when you sung the songs of Satan.

V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

VI. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Holy Trinity is collecting women’s and children’s hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves to decorate the Mitten Tree during Advent. The winter garb will be donated to Saint Margaret’s House. Please place your donations on the Mitten Tree at the back of the church by Sunday, December 17.

	From the Rector
	From the Wardens
	Directions for Singing
	Outreach Opportunities

	Hats, scarves, mittens, and gloves for women and children
	Winter coats, especially sizes 2X, 3X, & 4X
	Christmas gifts for women and children
	Stroller, baby car seats
	Towels, sheets, blankets
	Twin beds for children
	Underwear & socks
	Personal care items such as deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.
	Diapers sizes 3, 4, 5, & 6
	Non-perishable foods
	Money donations & volunteers