Quiz of the Day, September 2012

September 1, 2012

 A liturgical gesture is a way of including our bodies in the act of worship. Which is not a liturgical gesture?

a. genuflection (acknowledging the presence of Christ in the Reserve Sacrament or for some at the incarnata of the Creed)

b. reverencing (a half bow) of the cross and altar

c. signing the cross on head, lips and heart at the Gospel reading

d. sign of the cross

e. beating the chest

f. standing

g. kneeling

h. sitting

i. processing

j. prostration

k. kiss of peace

l. bowing

m. raising of hands in orans or ancient prayer posture

n. closing of the eyes

o. turning off one's cell phone

September 2, 2012

Summertime Quiz

The Purity Codes found in the book of Leviticus include definitions of states of uncleanliness and prescribes rites to restore the state of cleanliness because to approach God one had to be respectful since God is absolute cleanliness or God is:

a. One

b. Holy

c. Creator

d. All Powerful

September 3,  2012

Summer time Quiz

Labor Day is,

a.   a minor feast day in the Episcopal Church

b.  a major feast day in the Episcopal Church

c.  has its own Collect in the Book of Common Prayer

d.  two of the above

September 4, 2012

Bishop Paul Jones was

a. a pacifist during World War I

b. founded the Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship

c. resigned his position because of his pacifist views

d. all of the above

September 5, 2012

Summer time Quiz

What is the "official" teaching of The Episcopal Church on Private Confession or Reconciliation of a Penitent?

a. the rubrics in the Prayer Book that introduce the rite

b. it is mandatory

c. it is optional

d. all may, no one has to and some should

e. three of the above

September 6, 2012

Summertime quiz

Which two books of the Bible begin with the words, "In the beginning?"

a. Revelation and Genesis

b. John and Revelation

c. Genesis and John

d. Genesis and Luke

September 7, 2012

Solo Scriptura refers to

a. a founding principle of Protestantism

b. Scripture alone being used to establish doctrine

c. a rejection of tradition being a source to establish doctrine

d. all of the above

September 8, 2012

Summertime Quiz

In Anglicanism, the Lambeth Conference is

a. a meeting of all bishops in the Anglican Communion

b. a meeting that occurs every 10 years

c. a meeting of bishops invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury

d. an events that gets it name from Lambeth Palace the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury

e. all of the above

September 9, 2012

Chartres Cathedral is a pilgrimage place to view

a. the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at Christ's birth

b. the relics of St. Paul

c. the relics of John the Baptist

d. the relics of St. Terese

September 10, 2012

Today is the lesser feast of Alexander Crummell;  he was a pre-Civil African American Episcopal priest who,

a. went to Liberia as educator

b. tried to encourage African-Americans to move to Africa

c. preached abolition of slavery

d. all of the above

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Crummell

September 11, 2012

Summertime Quiz

Lapsarianism, prelapsarianism, post-lapsarianism, infralapsarianism, supralapsarianism have to do with doctrines and beliefs about

a. the afterlife

b. the perfection of Christ

c. the perfection of Mary

d. the fall

September 12, 2012

What happened in the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559?

a. Book of Common Prayer was restored

b. Elizabeth was declared head of the Church in England

c. People were required to attend the Church of England on Sunday

d.  all of the above

September 13, 2013

Summertime Quiz

In English History, the Non-Conformists were

a.       Hippie-like folk called Lollards

b.      Christians Protestants who did not conform to the Anglican Church

c.       The Welsh and the Scots

d.       None of the above

September 14, 2012

The restored use of the Book of Common Prayer in 1552 occurred in the same age as playwrights who derived benefit from the interest of Queen Elizabeth I in the theatre.  Which playwright(s) benefited Her Majesty’s interest in drama?

a.       Shakespeare

b.      Marlowe

c.       Spenser

d.      Jonson

e.      All of the above

September  15, 2012

Samuel Seabury was

a. the first Episcopal bishop in the United States

b. an American bishop consecrated by the Scottish church

c. the second presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church

d. all of the above

September 16, 2012

Summer time Quiz

Bishop William White was

a. a professional baseball player who later became a bishop

b.the  first presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church

c. the fourth presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church

d. b and c

September 17, 2012

Summer time Quiz

In contrast to the Roman Catholic Church's canonization process for the official recognition of a "saint," the Episcopal Church has had a process for remembering people of faith who have been exemplary in their faith.  This process ends with ratification in the General Convention and has resulted in publication of a book of a calendar of "saints" days.  The book is entitled,

a.  Lesser Feasts and Fasts

b.  Holy Women, Holy Men

c.  Formerly Lesser Feast and Fasts, and now Holy Women, Holy Men

d.  The Episcopal Book of Saints

September 18, 2012

Summertime Quiz

Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast day is September 17th was a

a. 11th century German writer

b. composer

c. botanist

d. mystic

e. Benedictine abbess

f. future to be declared 35th Doctor of the the Church on October 7, 2012

g. all of the above

September 19, 2012

Summer time Quiz

Today is Feast of Theodore of Tarsus.  He was

a.  a Greek speaking bishop from Cilicia who ended up in Canterbury England

b. the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury

c. known for reforming the English Church and forming the Canterbury school

d. all of the above

September 20, 2012

Summertime Quiz (Autumnal Eve)

The Gradual in the Holy Eucharist is the sung portion before and after the reading of the Gospel. The gradual meaning and practice include:

a. derivation from "gradus" or the step to the ambo where the deacon reads the Gospel

b. May include the seasonal sung alleluias and verses

c. May also include a prose-like Sequence or a "following on" singing

d. all of the above

September 21, 2012

Today is the feast of St. Matthew. He is often identified with what Gospel figure?

a. Thaddeus

b. Bartholomew

c. Levi, the tax collector

d. Zacchaeus

September 22, 2012

Autumn Quiz

What book of the Bible does not mention God?

a.  Song of Solomon

b.  Ruth

c.  Esther

d.  Ecclesiastes

September 23, 2012

Autumn Quiz

St. Thomas a Becket was murdered at what church in 1170?

a. Chartres Cathedral

b. Notre Dame in Paris

c. Westminster Abbey

d. Canterbury Cathedral

September 24, 2012

Autumn Quiz

What Jewish feast derives from the event recorded in the book of Esther?

a. Hanukkah

b. Yom Kippur

c. Succoth

d. Purim

September 25, 2012

Autumn Quiz

In the Book of Common Prayer, the Psalms are numbered but they also have a title.  Their title derives from

a.            their Hebrew title

b.            a late developed poetic designation

c.             the first words in Latin as recited in the monastic prayer office

d.            King David who wrote them

Autumn Quiz

In the Book of Common Prayer the Holy Eucharist is divided into two sections. They are

a. The Word of God

b. The Holy Communion

c. The Prayers of the People

d. The Procession

e. a and c

f. a and b

g. b and c

September 27, 2012

Autumn Quiz

Another name for the Ten Commandments is

a. Torah

b. Pentateuch

c. The Divine Law

d. Decalogue

September 28, 2012

Autumn Quiz

Why is there a Rite I and Rite II for many liturgies in the Book of Common Prayer?

a. To give liturgical choice

b. To acknowledge differences in the aesthetics of language

c. To introduce the new while comforting those familiar with the old

d. To introduce the results of new liturgical scholarship

e. To introduce ecumenism in our Prayers

f. all of the above

September 29, 2012

Autumn Quiz

Today is the feast of St. Michael and All Angels.  What four Angels are named in the Bible?

a. John, Paul, George and Ringo

b. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel

c. Michael, Gabriel, Belshazzar and Raphael

d. Michael, Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel

September 30, 2012

Autumn Quiz

The Sunday Lectionary Cycle is divided into how many years?

a. Four, for spreading the reading between the 4 Gospels

b. There is only one repeating schedule of reading each year

c. Two, Matthew and John for one cycle, Mark and Luke for the other

d. Three, Matthew, Mark and Luke Cycle with readings from John in all three years

Most Frightening Meaning of Hell: Waste!

Youth Sermon for September 30, 2012  9 a.m. service

Lectionary Link

Kalum: In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  You may be seated.

Kalum: Did you ever have to submit to your teachers a writing assignment?

Connor: Yes, of course.  Why do you think that I ended up nicknaming many of my teachers Mr. and Mrs. Red Ink.

Kalum:  So you get lots of unsolicited corrections on your paper?  Just think of it as free advice.  What kind of free advice do you get?

Connor:  Well, Miss Red Ink will throw some Latin at me.  She’ll write, Non sequitur…which means that she does not think my conclusions follow from my premises.

Kalum:  What other free advice does she offer?

Connor:  She’ll write “run on-sentences.  New Paragraph.  Too many topics in one paragraph."

Kalum: I guess she wants you to be a better writer.

Connor:  It’s a shame that she doesn’t appreciate my intellectual property?

Kalum:  Are you sure?  She’s aware of Wikipedia too, you know.

Connor:  But speaking of too many topics in one paragraph, did you read today’s Gospel?  It seems as though the editor just wanted to cram together lots of topics.

Kalum: Are you saying that the writing style is not inspired?

Connor:  Well, my teacher does not always think that my writing style is inspired.  But it could be that the Gospel is a collection of various sayings of Jesus that were edited and put together by a later editor in the early Christian communities.

Kalum: So they just wanted to preserve the sayings of Jesus and it did not matter that the original situations of the sayings were not remembered.

Connor:  Let us look at some of the topics.  First, competition in the community.

Kalum:  Well, we do have lots of silly competition in religious communities.  Does food that is given to a hungry person taste better if it is given by an Episcopalian or Lutheran or Baptist?

Connor:  Of course not.  I think that we can ruin even a good deed, if we think that our way of doing a good deed is better or more effective than the way someone else does the same deed.  We can ruin a good deed with our pride.

Kalum:  Yes, is that like that man who was extremely proud of his humility?  Did I ever tell you how humble I am????

Connor: It is perhaps sad that today we have so much competition between Christian churches and between different religions.  Some religious people want to say, “Our way of praying is better than yours!”

But the pride of thinking that one is better than others actually overturns the goodness of the religious act.

Kalum:  Jesus was telling his disciples to just be thankful that a person was healed of a painful emotional and spiritual disorder.  It did not matter if it done by someone who was sanctioned by the twelve disciples.

Connor:  Another topic of Jesus had to do with a rather heavy necklace.

Kalum:  Did Jesus talk about jewelry?

Connor:  No, but Jesus often used extreme language to make a strong point.  How many people today say they don’t believe in God because they see some of the bad things that happen because of the fighting of religious people?

Kalum:  People can be offended when they see religious people behaving badly.  And that might actually keep them from faith in God.

Connor: A millstone around the neck and tossed into the sea; that is a very punishing piece of jewelry.

Kalum:  Is that like what the mob used to say about wearing concrete boots in Lake Michigan?

Connor:  Perhaps, but the severity of the image was Jesus’ way of saying that it is a terrible thing to be responsible for turning another persons away from knowing and believing in God’s love.  And especially if it is a “little one,” a child.

Kalum: Well, Jesus did have a knack for severe illustrations. 

Connor: What do you mean?

Kalum:  If we were literal about the words of Jesus we would have to have every parking place at the church designated as handicapped parking.

Connor: Why do say that?

Kalum:  Well, if we had to cut off our hands and feet every time we went wrong or did something wrong, we’d all be physically impaired.

Connor:  So, if Jesus is not being literal what does he mean?

Kalum:  I think that he means that we have to learn how to use all of the gifts of our lives in the right way.  And if we use them wrongly, we need to fast and give up an activity until we learn self control.

Connor:  So, I have to give up eating brownies until I can stop at just eating one or two?

Kalum:  That's partly so.  But everything in life has many uses and God has placed us a managers and stewards of our life resources.

Connor:  Jesus uses severe images to shock us into the right use of all of our functions in life.

Kalum:  And now we get to the most shocking word of all.  Hell.  My mom told me I could not say that word, but the Gospel and this sermon gives me permission:  Hell, hell, hell, hell.

Connor: Don’t over do it or we’ll have to add some censor beeps.

Kalum:  Actually hell and fire may seem like they are severe punishment but it could be that they are productive teaching metaphors.

Connor:  What do you mean? 

Kalum:  Fire is about purification.  Things are sterilized or purified by fire.  The Bible writings often use fire as a symbol for the purifying process of life.  The purpose of our trial and error in this life is like a purifying fire and that is a good thing.  The painful things that we learn in life because of our mistakes can be like the fire that helps us to leave our mistakes behind and take up new behaviors.

Connor:  But what is good about hell?  It is used to talk about an endless place of fire and punishment for bad people or perhaps a place that freezes over if the Cubs ever win the World Series.

Kalum:  The word for hell in the Gospel refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.  It is where the waste was burned. 

Connor:  So, Jesus was saying that the most frightening thing that we can do with our lives is waste them.  We should see the fires of the trials of life as a way to get rid of what is wasteful in our lives.

Kalum:  Yes, that is quite an awesome notion about hell.  Jesus is saying to everyone, “Really be frightened by the notion of wasting your life.”

Connor:  I have to admit that is more effective than hell with little devils prancing around with pitch forks.

Kalum: Yes, Jesus was warning his disciples about wasting their lives through pride and petty competition.

Connor:  And we waste our lives and other people’s lives if we don’t live our lives showing others that God is love and that God is interested in salvation and health no matter how it comes or who brings it.

Kalum:  So, in the harsh words of Jesus we are shocked to remember some important things.

Connor:  We need to recognize goodness, no matter who does it. 

Kalum:  We need to learn self control and if necessary fast and give up things completely until we learn self control.

Connor:  And the thought of hell and fire can be very useful.

Kalum:  Jesus says in a very strong way, “Do not waste your lives!”

Connor:  Amen.

Kalum:  Amen. 

Hell As Wasting One's Life

18  Pentecost Cycle B Proper 21 September 30, 2012

Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29  Ps 19

James 4:7-12        Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48

 Lectionary Link

  In Mark’s Gospel, the writer goes to great pain to show how immature and unenlightened the 12 disciples were when they walked with Jesus.  In a sense these unenlightened disciples are straw men for the writer to show what people were like before and after the post-resurrection experience and the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit.  The early church knew what the 12 disciples minus Judas had become; but they weren’t always heroes and martyrs.  They were sometimes clueless when they walked with Jesus. In a real sense, the disciples only became truly aware and informed after Jesus was gone.  So the intent of the Gospel is show how even the believing disciples had to go through repentance and growth in life.  The Gospels highlight that repentance and growth are the natural process of spiritual life.

  In the Gospel of Mark, we have been reviewing some of the pre-resurrection  behavior of the 12 disciples:  Peter confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, but he was ignorant of what that meant.  The disciples argued about who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  The disciples offended Jesus when they tried to keep children away from him.  And what were our keystone cops up to in the Gospel for today?

 They were seized with rivalry and jealousy.  Someone else was casting out demons and doing good works and it wasn’t officially sanctioned by them. Like tattling little children the disciples went to Jesus and said: They’re casting out demons, we told them to stop, and they didn’t obey.  They didn’t follow us. And what did Jesus say?  “Whoever is not against us is for us.”  Guys, you’re wasting your time picking the wrong battles.

  The pages of Church history are full of this kind of rivalry.  We can get very jealous by the good deeds that are done by people of other religious groups or denominations.  Why was this good deed not cleared by me in advance?  Imagine other people doing something good and not getting my sanction first!  Somehow the good deed can’t really be good unless it is sanctioned by someone on our side.  This only goes to show you that adults can behave in very childish ways.  It also shows how truth and defining good can end up being about more administration and party loyalty than about the actual benefit to people.

  I think what Jesus was trying to say to his disciples is that rivalry is just wasted energy.  Rivalry is also counter-productive; it can offend and turn people off to the Gospel.  If we preach the Gospel without Gospel behavior then our behavior will turn people off to our message.  Jesus had very harsh words for those who were stumbling-blocks; those who did not perform the Gospel and thereby kept others from knowing the benefit of the Gospel for their lives.

  And then we have the exaggerated language of Jesus:  If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.  If your foot causes you stumble, cut it off.  If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out.  This sounds very severe and barbaric but such shocking language is often found from the lips of Jesus.  It reminds me of something my father used to say to me very often: “Cut it out Phil.”  And I never took that in a literal way.  “Cut it out, simply means, stop it!  I wonder if the origin of this phrase isn’t from the Gospel?

  The Gospel lesson is also a warning about wasting our lives.   What is rivalry and jealousy?  It is essentially a waste of the energy of our lives that could be used better elsewhere.

  The literally meaning of the word hell is waste!  Gehenna is one of the New Testament Greek word for hell, along with Hades and Tartarus.   Actually, it is a Hebrew word for a location that is transliterated in Greek.  Gehenna refers to the garbage dump near Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom.  It was where the animal carcasses were disposed of and burned.  It was a despised place because of all of the purity code legislation against touching dead things and human waste.  So the most literal, and in my mind, the most shocking meaning of hell is “waste.”

  The sad thing in life is to be given the energy of life and to use what we’ve been given in ways that harm others and ourselves.  That is horror of waste.  In the strongest terms possible, Jesus was saying, “Don’t waste our lives.  Don’t waste our energy on petty rivalry.  Eyes, hands, feet: Seeing, working and living are symbolic of the human vocation.  If our work does not honor God and serve people and fulfill our lives; then we need to stop it.  If the way we see life (our doing nothing about our state of ignorance), does not honor God and help us make wise decision for ourselves and others; then we are acting as though we are blind.  If our life’s path, the way in which we walk, does not honor God and take us to excellence; not walking at all would at least not take us in a bad direction.  It is better not to walk at all, than to cause harm to others.  While all of this sounds very harsh, it really shows the belief that Jesus has in the human capacity to take corrective action.  One of the aims of the Gospel is to promote repentance.  Jesus believed in the power of the individual to repent.  I think that Jesus was more optimistic about the human ability to repent than either St. Paul or Martin Luther.  The belief in repentance is an optimism about what a person can do when energized by God’s Spirit.

  The words of Jesus indicate that corrective behavior is not always easy.  Cut it off.  Tear it out.  These are radical term, because sometimes behavior can only be changed by beginning a total fast from a previous behavior.  In AA, alcoholics know that sobriety is achieved only by never taking another drink.  It requires a total fast from alcohol to restore order to their lives.  Addictive behaviors sometimes require a total fast to prevent something from becoming the controlling idol of life.

  The message of the Gospel today is a challenge about waste.  Are we wasting our lives?  With petty rivalry?  With the misuse of any human capacity or ability?

  Jesus calls us to repentance, and if that means a radical fast, to change addicting and destructive behavior, then we are commanded by Christ to do it.

  Jesus only commanded what he believed was possible.  And he believed that we can transform wasted lives into fruitful and productive lives that both please God and serve the people in our lives.

  Hell-fire and brimstone preachers; don’t be afraid of their hot air.  But be very provoked by the literal meaning of hell as expounded by Jesus of Nazareth.  Hell is waste.  Jesus confronts us about wasting our lives.  And he provoked us to do something about it, because he believes that we can. By turning to him, we can find the Spirit as the higher power within us to help us reclaim every area of our lives that have been affected by wasteful behavior.

  Let the shocking language of Jesus be for us a message of hope for us that we can reclaim our lives from all effects of wasteful behavior.  Salt has several purposes in life but if those purposes are never discovered then salt cannot express its purpose.  Each person has a God-purpose in life and each of us need to find our God-purpose.  If we find our God purpose in life we will be like salt.  We will help to preserve life and we will help to make life much tastier. May the words of Jesus help each of us to find our God-purpose in life.  Amen.

A Child As a Teaching Occasion

17  Pentecost Cycle b Proper 20   September 23, 2012

Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22Ps. 54

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37      

Lectionary Link

    One could make the case that the goal of the entire biblical tradition is to train a person in wisdom.  Some have found that the most suitable way to characterize the way in which Jesus presented himself was as a wisdom teacher.  He used parables and riddles to stimulate the learning event for his followers.  Wisdom is more than information and more than knowledge; wisdom pertains to the complete art of good living.  It is knowledge in the pragmatic action of ones lives.  Wisdom involves the integration of all of the best ways of being human.  The writer of the letter of James is within this wisdom tradition of Jesus.  He writes:  Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. …. the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.

  In the wisdom teaching of the Gospel one can find some overarching metaphors that provide us to the hints of what Jesus of Nazareth was trying to leave as his legacy to the art of good living.  We are so used to our doctrines that perhaps we are not practiced in imagining how they must have functioned in their original settings.  Take for example the notion of God as Father.  A rather important notion in our Trinitarian doctrine, but what does it mean when Jesus refers to God as his Father and why would that parental title be important in his context?  Could it be true that Jesus found in his setting that the general level of nurture in Palestine to be completely lacking?  What was the model of adult caretaking in Palestine?  Well, the ultimate adult of the time was the Caesar in Rome and his nurture through all of his surrogates was the brute expression of power.  People like King Herod and Pontus Pilate and all of their agents were the eyes and ears and boots on the ground for the Caesar.  The most impressive experience and modeling of adulthood in Palestine was the experience of having power and positions over others.  And in their oppressed communities, Jesus perceived the religious leaders to be emphasizing the power aspect of their religious authority.  So idealized adulthood in Palestine was seen has having obvious power over other people.

  And that kind of thinking also was present in the disciples of Jesus?  What did they want?  What did they argue about behind the back of Jesus when he was gaining a following?  “Well, Jesus is getting to be well known.  He may be the one who will be the next great leader.  And so it is time to think about what my position will be in the administration of Jesus.”  So even the disciples were presented as being power hungry; after all that is the adult task in life, to wield power over others.

  We find in the wisdom tradition of Jesus some interesting emphases.  The Fatherhood of God is revealed in the face of profound failure of the power of nurture of dependent people in Palestine.  And if people have been very poorly parented what do they need?  They need to be re-programmed; they need to be re-parented and in such a drastic way that they need to be re-born.  What did the skeptical Nicodemus ask?  How can I be re-born?  How can I get back to my mother’s womb?  As skeptics we might ask, how can I be a child again?

  In the wisdom teaching of Jesus he constantly uses the motif of the child.  The kingdom of heaven is hidden from the wise and revealed to infants.  Jesus performed lots of his miracles on children and often those who were designated as “possessed by unclean spirits.”  One can note that traditional religion can be presented in a way to give bad parents an excuse to inflict trauma on their children.  The book of Leviticus gives the permission to stone an insolent child.  Others writings in the Hebrew Scriptures warn parents about “sparing the rod and spoiling the child.”  I highly suspect that Jesus came into an environment where children were often abused or traumatized, even to the point what we today call “dissociative disorders” that may have had the general diagnosis of “demon possession” in the time of Jesus.

  I find in the Gospel that Jesus of Nazareth is presented as having a great affinity for children.  He must have been aware of their vulnerable situation so much so that his recommendation for anyone who offended one of these little ones was rather harsh: put a millstone around their neck and cast them into the sea.    In his fascination for vulnerable children, Jesus also found the perfect metaphor for his teaching.

To understand the kingdom of God or to understand how the invisible presence of God is all around us, one has to be able to access the child-like capacity of wonder.

  Jesus found in Palestine and even amongst his disciple those who could not access their child-like capacity of wonder.  They perhaps had it beaten out of them by the adult world of power.  And so they had conformed themselves to the adult world.  To be adult is to have power and to use it.  So the disciples imagined a kingdom with Jesus in charge and where they would be able to exercise authority and power.

  Jesus said, “Forget guys, look at this child here.”  Why have you missed the point?  If you welcome this child into your care, then you’ve understood how God is my Father and parent to all. Life isn’t about being important in my administration; it is about using one’s power to help the vulnerable.”

  I invite us to this wisdom of Jesus today.  As people who grow up we are gradually surpassing ourselves in age.  We may see ourselves as always leaving behind us the former ages of our lives but if I am 62 I include in myself all states of being the person named Phil from my conception.  And I include in my years memories of how I was Phil at different ages.  I include in myself the experience of being happy and helpful and joyful for no reason at all.   So in my severe adulthood, I need to learn how to access receptive aspects of my personality to awaken the kind of wonder and curiosity that is needed for me to see behind what is presented to my eyes.  This is the kind of seeing that is needed to know God’s presence in the world.  This is the kind of sensitivity with which one can identify the sublime.

  We often need re-parented and re-programmed when we've gotten ourselves caught up in the severe adulthood trap of life being about grabbing power for ourselves rather than receiving the power that we have as power to care for others.

  I believe the wisdom of Christ and the child motif is a part of intergenerational age therapy that we all need.  How many people sit in skilled nursing centers who feel like they have no worth because they are no longer strong to compete?  In intergenerational age therapy a person accepts one’s own age as a public witness to the world of what it is like to be 82, 72 or 52 or 12.  We all need to model our age to each other as the age that we all once were or might be some day.  But at any age, we need to learn how to be the receptive child to the presence of God and at the same time we need to take up the gifts that we have at any age to serve the community.  And our gifts are not measured in dollars and cents.  A baby can just plain delight us without earning a dime, and each person can represent their age with delight of their worth and gift to the world even as they are always in the child-like receptive mode for the wonder of God’s presence that morphs itself in myriad ways into our lives.

  Let us accept the intergenerational reality of our lives and represent our age well, even as we access a child-like receptivity to the Sublime behind the ordinary.  And where we have come into our adult power and maturity, let us use that power and maturity to be a part of God’s effort to re-parent persons in this world who have not had the advantage of beneficial nurture.  And in so doing we will understand why Jesus came to teach his disciple about his relationship with God as his Father, his parent who sent him to re-parent those who fell through the full blessing of effective parenting nurture in this world.

  Let the Gospel today give us new insights in how we might be better adults in the art of living well and and living with wisdom.  Amen.

Having a Patient Tongue

A lesson in Patience  from the Letter of James

Characters:  James and Kerry

Video Link: Click here

James:  Boys and girls, welcome to chapel today.  My names is James.  And I wrote a letter that became a part of the famous book called the Bible.  Can you saw Bible?  And I….

Kerry: Hi!  How are you doing?  My name is Kerry.

James: Kerry, I was trying to talk to the children…

Kerry: Can I go outside and play?  Can I have some ice cream?  Can I go to the store?

James:  Kerry, we are not doing any of that today.  And you need to stop interrupting.  You need to wait your turn to speak.  In fact I was about to teach these boys and girls something.  Do you think you can be silent for a few minutes.

Kerry: I don’t know if I can.  I just want to talk all of the time?  How do I stop talking?

James:  Well, that is what I am going to talk about today.  I would like to give you a riddle.  Do you like riddles?

Kerry:  Yes, but what is a riddle?

James: A riddle is a problem that you have think about.  And my riddle is this: What is a very small muscle that might be the strongest muscle of the body?

Kerry: That’s hard.  Is it the stomach muscle? 

James: No, Kerry.  Boys and girls, what do you think your smallest and strongest muscle is?  Is it your arm muscle?  Let me see your arm muscle?  Is it your leg muscle?  Let me see your leg muscle?  No, those are bigger muscles.  Do you know what muscle I am talking about?

Kerry: No…please tell us.

James:  The smallest but strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.  Let me see your tongue.  What do you use your tongue for?

Kerry:  I use it to lick an ice cream cone. 

James: But do you use your tongue to talk?

Kerry:  Yes, I use my tongue to talk.  But how is my tongue strong?

James: Our tongue is strong because when we speak we can do some very strong things.  A general can talk and all of the soldiers will go into a battle.  And that is strong.  But our tongue is so strong it can hurt people.  Do you like bad things said to you? 

Kerry:  No, I don’t …bad things can hurt my feeling and make me feel sad and cry.  I guess the tongue is strong enough to hurt our feelings.

James:  But a tongue is also strong enough to help people and make them feel better.  What if I say to you that you are a very good girl and you are growing up to be strong.  What if I say that I like you?  What if I say can I help you?  What if I say nice and kind things to you?

Kerry: I would like that.

James:  Do you see how strong the tongue is?  It can do nice things and very bad things.  But the tongue has to be controlled.

Kerry: Sometimes, I want to talk all of the time.  How do I stop my tongue?

James:  Well, you need to have a patient tongue.  If your tongue is patient, you wait your turn to speak.  When you are patient, you raise your hand in class before you speak.  If you do that you will have a patient tongue.

Kerry: But it is hard to have a patient tongue.

James:  Kerry, I believe that you and these boys and girls are superheroes?

Kerry:  How are we superheroes?

James:  You are superheroes because you are strong enough to control what your tongue says.  You are strong enough to have a patient tongue.  You are strong enough to say kind and nice things and to wait your turn to speak.

Do you think you can be that kind of superhero?

Kerry:  Well, I’ll try.

James:  Good, then you and all of the boys and girls repeat after me:  “I am a strong super hero.”

Kerry:  I am a strong super hero.

James:  I have a patient tongue.

Kerry:  I have a patient tongue.

James: Good so now you can practice being a super hero today because you are strong enough to have a patient tongue.