Oct 10: Putting the Testament in Your Last Testament

My Peace I Leave You, My Peace I Give to You

Writing Your Spiritual Last Will and Testament

Jesus’s Last Will and Testament

     John 15-18 are Jesus’s Last Will and Testament to his disciples. 

     My peace I leave to you, My peace I give to you.

                                  John 14: 27

Workshop I

—What spiritual legacy to you want to leave to those who love you?

—How do you express to them what your spiritual life has meant?

—Imagine a reading with your loved ones gathered around, not eager to find out which jewels you left them, but what spiritual gifts you have bequeathed to them.

—The “Ethical Will”

The Ethical Will Homepage

This Resource does not avoid, but does not emphasize spiritual gifts that you want to express. There are some wonderful examples, however, of ethical wills written by people of all ages and in all circumstances.

—What do you want to avoid in your last testament?

—How do you stay away from the general, the platitudes, the clichés?

—If you leave “instructions,” how are these embodied in your spirituality and theology?

—What about forgiveness?  What might be some pitfalls here?

—What else?

Here is a wonderful example of a last testament that I found on Beliefnet:

To my children, family and friends:

—When you come across a trinket of mine tucked away in a drawer what will you remember of me? Nothing.

—When you stand there in my living room and see the pictures on the wall, what will they say about me? Nothing.

—When the final check arrives from the insurance company and you are holding it in your hand, what will it say to you? Nothing. My will says nothing about who I am.

—So this is what I want you to know. This is what I want you to remember about me when I'm gone.

Did you know...?

—I was sentimental. Old songs, romantic movies, and happy endings made me cry. I leave for you a sense of caring.

—I loved the sunshine but treasured rainy days too. I leave for you a desire to see the good in everything.

—I stopped my car to look for rainbows whenever I thought there was even a slight possibility of seeing one. I leave for you a positive attitude and the desire to search for beauty when it's not so obvious.

—I often stopped to help someone stranded on the roadside. I leave for you compassion.

—I paid for the meals of perfect strangers just because I thought God wanted me to and I did it anonymously. I leave for you the sound of the still small voice within to guide you in things of the heart. 

                                    (Bob Perks, “Where There’s a Will,” beliefnet.com)

Homework—

—Write out some notes, some ideas

—Make an outline, if you need or want to.

—Write a draft, thinking all the while of your audience. Write to that audience, as if you were talking to all you are writing to.

—Put the draft down—in a drawer somewhere—for a week.

—Next Sunday: Part II

Sunday Sept 26: Blessing of the Animals

This Sunday, the 26, we will have our annual service of the Blessing of the Animals. For our adult education time together, we will look at Animal-Related resolutions from the Episcopal Church, including developing a liturgy for the loss of a companion animal. These resolutions will be available as handouts. We will also look at some liturgies and prayers for animals and have a discussion, ask some questions.  We could consider, perhaps:
1.  What is the theology behind The Blessing of the Animals? What does it mean to us to bring our canary, dog, cat, horse, iguana for a blessing?
2.  What is our spiritual connection to our companion animals--and to all animals, for that matter?
3.  What, if we had a memorial service for our pet (didn't all of us do this as children?), would we want to be said, sung, prayed?
4.  What stories do we have about our companion animals, their deaths and their impact on our lives?

You and your (well-behaved) animals are invited to join us in the classroom at 9:15--or outside on Lindisfarne Green--we'll make that decision at 9:15.

Here are some interesting websites:

Pet Blessings and Animal Blessings

Animal Related Resolutions of the Episcopal Church

Sept 12: Blessings

Here is a summary of our discussion in Adult Ed on Sept 12.

What does it mean? To live with sacred purpose? To be blessed, and to be among the blessed, among things, literally, that have been blessed? What does it mean to us? What are we seeking?

Blessing: consecrating for sacred purpose

Or

Being a channel for a sense of God’s love and grace, eg, blessing some person.

Or

blessing - benediction: a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection

or

infusing with divine purpose, with holiness

or

think of how the term is used in a secular way—and why? 

The closing blessing of the Eucharist—“And now the Blessing of God Almighty…”

Biblical Blessings

Psalm 34

Psalm 67

Matthew 5: 2-12

In the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and The Book of Occasional Services (BOS):

Marriage:

The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage (423, 430-31 BCP)

Blessing of a Civil Marriage (433 BCP): there are requirements to this blessing—not freely given to all those who have had civil marriage,

Blessing of tangible things: Do you own anything that has been blessed?   We set objects apart for sacred purpose, infusing them with spiritual meaning—

The rings are blessed (434) 

Over food:  (835 BCP)

Over all vessels and linens and brass , ornaments, organs, pianos, candlesticks, the font, the altar (BOS)

The Blessing of the Backpacks: Beginning of School Year in Port Neches, Texas.

Of a Home (BOS)

Blessing of a Pregnant Woman  (157 BOS)

Thanksgiving for birth or adoption of child: (439 BCP)

Birthdays (830 BCP)

Travelers (831 BCP)

Retirement: (327 BOS)

Natural Blessings:

Rogation Days: (103 BOS)

The Blessing of the Fleet: A catholic tradition since the Middle Ages

“Let Us Bless the Lord.”

Fall 2010: Living with Sacred Purpose

Fall Christian Education Series

St. Aidan's Classroom

Sundays, 9:15 am

How can we live more fully into the sacredness of our Christianity? How can we find the sacred in all that we do in our lives: in our profession, in our daily activities, in our planning for the future, in our families? How is our very living on this earth a sacrament in itself, or how can we work toward making it one? And where do we start?

September: In the Episcopal Tradition: Blessings for all Occasions.

Let’s take a look at the way Episcopalians bring the sacred into their daily lives through creating liturgies for specific and special occasions. We will look at sections of The Book of Occasional Services as well as The Book of Common Prayer and other approved liturgies

• Sept 12: Blessing of a Home, Blessing a Pregnant Woman, Commissioning of Lay Ministries in the Church, Blessings Over Food at Easter, and more. You may be surprised at the number of blessings for all occasions that our liturgy offers. 
• Sept. 19: A Public Service of Healing ; Come and see how we created sacred space in our chapel for this service through color, icons, prayer stations, intercessors, and music
• Sept. 26: Blessing of the Animals: Did you know that the 2009 General Convention of the Episcopal Church included three resolutions about animals? They are “Support Ethical Care of Animals,” “Liturgy for Loss of Companion Animals,” and “ Merciful and Humane Treatment of God’s Creatures.” We will look at these resolutions and liturgies as we talk about our unique relationship to all living things, most especially our companion animals.
  

Coming in October: Sacred Relationships. We will offer a presentation from the Colorado Episcopal Foundation; a workshop entitled “Where is your testament in your last will & testament; and sessions in honor of Mental Illness Awareness Month—continuing the conversation we began in Lent.

April 11: Playing “52 Card Pick Up” with Our Ministries

April 11: Playing “52 Card Pick Up” with Our Ministries

“We are called to be a school of redemption, a concert of testimony. God is calling us to let our boat be shaken. It is time for us to let go of those things that are not working .”

Based on the sermon of February 7. . Our gospel was Luke 5: 1-11: God calls Peter to be a fisher of people. M. Mary Kate said that she had a dream that at our annual meeting we played 52-card pick up; each card would have a ministry written on it. We would pick up only those cards that named the ministries that we are joyfully connected to. 

To Listen to this sermon click here:

Feb 7, 2010 Sermon

In fact, that's what we did--filled out cards with our ministries written on them. and placed them on the floor, at which point we were invited to move around the room picking up only those ministries that we felt passionately connected to. 
But here's the dilemma: there are ministries that are essential to the church, especially altar guild, but also Sunday School.  How do we differentiate between the need and the passion when the two are not necessarily wed to one another. And, then, there is the gap between the enthusiasm and the passion and the actual work required by a ministry. How do we deal with that.
We recognized also that we live in a culture stressed and stretched for time. Yet, our group this Sunday (the choir, as in "preaching to the choir") eagerly named other ministries that did not appear on our lists: Group Spiritual Direction, service projects, dinner groups, mental health ministries. 
Another question arose: Who's in charge of saying yes or no to a new ministry? If I come to the rector with an idea for a new ministry, can't I just go ahead and do it, or must it be approved? What if I say that I want it to be just a small group of people I've already talked to? 
What about the ministries I do outside the church? Don't those count, too?


Stay tuned for next week: The power and seduction of choices.

Straight Talk about the Church: Our Eastertide Series

Straight Talk About the Church

Adult Christian Formation

Classroom: 9:15 am

A Response to M. Mary Kate’s Sermons in the Month of February, 2010

M. Mary Kate announced a series of sermons in February entitled “Straight Talk About the Church.” At that time, she said that we would have a chance to respond to and discuss those sermons in the future. And now that opportunity is upon us. Please join us for some “Straight Talk” about who we are, where we’re going at St. Aidan’s.

April 11: Playing “52 Card Pick Up” with Our Ministries:  
Based on the sermon of February 7

“We are called to be a school of redemption, a concert of testimony. God is calling us to let our boat be shaken. It is time for us to let go of those things that are not working.”

__________
April 18: The Power, the Seduction, and the Intoxication of Choice: 
Based on the sermon of February 14

“We can’t get close to God if our world continues to get in our way.”

__________

April 25: St. Aidan’s: The Church of the Third Temptation? 
Based on the sermon of February 21

“It is hard for me to ask for help.”

___________

May 2: Either All Life Is Valuable or None Is:
Based on the sermon of February 28

“We enter into the realm of death when we say that not all life is valuable. “

Do you want to listen to these sermons again? Just go to the podcast site:
St. Aidan's Sermons 

Sunday March 21: Toward Acceptance and Discernment

We will begin this Sunday with the handout from last Sunday. On March 14, we discussed the quotation that Troyanne sent. Her question was about the term "redemption," and what it means. What, in other words, does it mean to be redeemed, and how are we redeemed through our suffering? I'm not sure we came up with satisfactory answers, although we did spend time discussing the passage (see post for March 14). If you would like to expand on our discussion of last week and on the handout, please do so by clicking on "comment" below, writing your comment, and then clicking on "post."
We did reach the conclusion that moving from the agony to acceptance and discernment is best done by prayer and community. What we know from the scripture that we shared at our first  "Agony in the Garden" meeting is that Jesus's own acceptance came through prayer, although he was alone, the disciples he brought with him sleeping, others soon to betray him. But, indeed, he did discern God's will through prayer.
There are many ways to form prayer communities. If you do not have the handout from last week, here is the website for group spiritual direction as conceived of by Sr. Rosemary Dougherty (from whom I took my training).

Group Spiritual Direction

Comments, questions?

Sunday March 14: Moving from Agony: Group Spiritual Direction

For March 14, I want to pick up where we left off last Sunday--and that was with the question of how? We agreed that words alone will not help us (as we read the scripture in which Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow because today has troubles of its own). One person mentioned prayer and community, and then I made a suggestion about group spiritual direction.
Troyanne has posted an interesting reading and some provocative questions that I've copied below. Let's begin with her reading and those questions, then move into the introduction for group spiritual direction. I have a handout on it.

From Troyanne Thigpen:

Dear Friends,

Here is an input I read this week that seemed perfectly appropriate for the discussion that we were having when I was last there two weeks ago, on Sunday Feb 28.  I hope you agree.  Please share with anyone not included on the addressee list;  for example, I don't have Don Burt's email address.

It certainly offers some ideas to consider.  For starters:
       (1)  This sounds wonderful, even beatific, but what exactly does he mean?
       (2)  What do you think of offering this approach to somebody who is suffering?  Would it be difficult to present to them?  Would it be comforting to them or perceived as unsympathetic?
       (3)  How does this compare with the traditional Roman Catholic idea of offering up our sins?

from Touchstone, A Journal of Mere Christianity  March/April 2010, p.5

The Power & The Suffering, Donald T. Williams

       Every one of us has known a measure of suffering. The happiest and most successful person knows from experience the meaning of words like loneliness, fear, disappointment, rejection, and failure.  If we live long enough, we will add the death of loved ones, betrayal, ill health, and the feeling of uselessness to the list.

      Some people suffer bitterly;  some pitifully;  some grievously;  some needlessly;  all inevitably.  You cannot avoid suffering.  You can muddle through it blindly;  you can make it worse by rebelling against it futilely or you can understand it biblically and bear it redemptively.  Therefore, we need to learn the joy and privilege of suffering for the gospel   There is great power in suffering.  There is no more irrefutable testimony to the truth of the gospel than the Christian who bears suffering and affliction joyfully, without bitterness, with love.  For only God could produce this kind of spiritual reality, and without suffering, it could never be seen.

     I pray that God will grant us continued peace and prosperity and protect us from all unnecessary suffering.  But I also pray that when he does send us affliction, he will help us accept and understand it biblically, and bear it redemptively.

Sunday, March 7: Acknowledging the Agony

I am posting Anne Doyle's comment on this summary page of our session on March 7.  During our time together, we talked about ways that we emerge from agony into acceptance. I mentioned my friends whose son died las September. While I had offered to go see them then, they declined, saying: "We can't see anyone now. We will let you know when, if ever, that will change. I understood completely, even the "if ever" part. And then, last week, a message in my mail box: "We remember your kind offer to come. we are emerging from that first awful trauma, and now think it would be good to see old friends." I made my plane reservations immediately. They are emerging from agony.

I had brought in a copy of Henri Nouwen's book, The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey through Anguish to Freedom. I had planned to use his writing on "Going into the Place of Your Pain'" but we got there with Anne's and others' comments about understanding the need for feeling the pain before healing the pain. The quotation Anne provides below says it well.

From Anne Doyle:
At our gathering on Sunday, 7 March, I mentioned a reading from Fr Richard Rohr's daily meditation. I thought folks might like to read what it actually says instead just hearing my summary:

"Our remembrance that God remembers us will be the highway into the future, the straight path of the Lord promised by John the Baptizer (Luke 3:4). Memory is the basis of both pain and rejoicing: We cannot have one without the other.

Do not be too quick to heal all of those bad memories, unless it means also feeling them deeply, which means to learn what they have to teach you. God calls us to suffer (read 'allow') the whole of reality, to remember the good along with the bad. Perhaps that is the course of the journey toward new sight and new hope. Memory creates a readiness for salvation, an emptiness to receive love and a fullness to enjoy it.

Strangely enough, it seems so much easier to remember the hurts, the failures and the rejections. It is much more common to gather our life energy around a hurt than a joy, for some sad reason. Remember the good things even more strongly than the bad, but learn from both. And most of all, 'remember that you are remembered by God.'"

This is the reference provided: Adapted from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 26, day 25 (Source: Sojourners, “The Energy of Promise”)

I especially like the idea of "learning what they [the bad memories] have to teach you."

Anne

We have often talked about the need for community in healing; on Sunday the 14,  we will talk about group spiritual direction.

Feb. 28: Agony in the Garden: From Suffering to Acceptance

Here are the scripture readings we discussed on Sunday, as we looked at Christ's own agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. We discussed the meaning of the word agony--agonia, which in the Greek relates to a physical preparation for a coming event. For example, athletes before the Olympics exercised agonia in preparation for the athletic event the next day. How does this meaning of the word relate to Christ's agony and to our own?

We focused on the sentences in the three Gospels, a variation on: ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ I have suggested that we, as sufferers, often exist in the space between the two sentences--a desire to end the suffering--and yet not ready to hand it over to God.

For the remaining Sundays in March, let's talk about specific agonies and suffering. What will these topics be?


Agony in the Garden: March 2
9:15am: classroom

Today we look at Christ’s own agony and suffering as we try to find something there that will guide us in and through our own agonies.

1. Read the passages of the Gospels on Christ’s agony in the garden (see attached sheets). As you’re hearing these passages read aloud, underline or make a quick note about whatever it is you see in each passage that you want to talk about. After each passage, we will have silence for you to make some notes, bring up some questions, offer some insights.

Perhaps these questions might be helpful:

a. If Christ’s suffering and acceptance are our spiritual guides to our own suffering, what are we to do? How are we to find peace and acceptance?

b. What is agony? Passion? What are its physical manifestations? What is Jesus’s specific agony (noting that he has come from table fellowship—the “last supper” with his disciples?

2. Jesus did not suffer in silence, and we take that as a sign we are not meant to do so either. Please write in the space below what agonies you wish to offer to this group as we, all of us, seek a peace that passes understanding in those situations we live through daily. I have mentioned physical illness, mental illness, adult children. How might these Sundays in Lent offer a safe, Christian community as we each seek the transformation of suffering in our lives
 Matt 26: 36-44

 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ 37He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ 39And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ 40Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;* the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ 42Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ 43Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.
_______

 Mark 14: 32-36

 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ 33He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. 34And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’ 35And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36He said, ‘Abba,* Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.’
_____

 Luke 22: 41-46

 41Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.’ [[ 43Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. 44In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.]]* 45When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, 46and he said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’*

 John 18: 7-11

 7Again he asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’* 8Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he.* So if you are looking for me, let these men go.’ 9This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, ‘I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.’ 10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?’

Feb 14: From "Carnal Lusts" to Being One in the Body of Christ

This Sunday, Feb 14, we will move from the 1928 prayer that formed our series on carnal lusts to a look at Romans 12, Paul's statements about what it means to be one in the body of Christ. For the past three sessions, we have explored  what blocks us from this oneness, and this Sunday, we will look at, specifically, Romans 12: 5-8:

Romans 12: 5-8  NRSV
5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

We will look at various translation of this passages, concentrating specifically on how we "are members one of another," as we explore the unity in our diverse gifts that Paul talks about in this passage.

Jan 31: "Carnal Lusts": Lust and Greed

God punishes us best by giving us too much of what we want most.  J. Swift

      Sunday's interesting discussion centered first on lust and then on greed, challenging and uncomfortable topics in our lives. We thought about lust in the ways it separates sex from love and how it manifests a certain giving into temptation that leads us to the immediate  fulfillment of bodily desires, such that the fulfillment becomes our God. In our first session in this series, we also talked about the etymology of lust--that, in fact, it originally meant robust health--a lusty baby for, example, or the title of Van Gogh's autobiography, Lust for Life.  but clearly, it has been associated with licentiousness from early biblical translations.
     As we moved to our discussion of greed, we once again came back around to the very center of our discussion of carnal lusts: Greed manifests itself, someone said, when owning things becomes more important than God. We spoke of gambling, for example (and that would include buying lottery tickets and possibly playing the stock market,  as, in our rector's words:

A misappropriation of hope.

Someone asked this question:

Is it greedy to want more money so that you can give away more money?

And this one:

Is it greedy if you're not hurting anyone else by what you're taking?

And then the quote from Michael Douglas's character in Wallstreet:

Greed is good!  

We discussed the  theory (and rejected it) that a limited amount of greed IS good because people are motivated to invent things out of their desire to get rich.

We brought up the parable of the three servants and the one who did not invest the master's money, but rather hid it. Parables, of course, are complex and many-layered. We cannot assume, can we, that God expects monetary reward for his servants' (that would be Christians) "investments."

Adult Christian Ed continues on Feb 14, with a look at Romans 12: how are we to be, then, God's hands and feet?

Jan 17: Part II: "Carnal Lusts" & Luther, Gregory the Great,, Aquinas

These interesting quotations are the source of Carol's research on carnal lust, especially gluttony,  according to prominent church leaders and theologians.

“The scholastics take the lust of the flesh to mean [only] carnal lust. . . . I do not deny that the lust of the flesh includes carnal lust. But it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desires with which the believers are more or less infected, as pride, hatred, covetousness, impatience. Later on Paul enumerates among the works of the flesh even idolatry and heresy.”—Martin Luther on Galatians 5:16

Gregory the Great's 5 types of gluttony:

      1. Eating outside of meal times to satisfy the palate (not from hunger)

      2. Seeking delicacies and a better quality of food (to gratify the "vile sense of taste")

      3. Seeking sauces and seasonings for the enjoyment of the palate

      4. Eating more than necessary

      5. Eating with too much eagerness, even when eating the proper amount and when the food is not luxurious.

Thomas Aquinas' addition: 
    6.  Being a picky eater (eating with too much delicacy)

 

Jan 17: Part I: Carnal Lusts: Gluttony and the $2 Burrito

     We began this provocative session by recalling the "Seven Deadlies" as expanded upon by Thomas Aquinas and Pope Gregory the Great (there are deadly sins outlined as early as the 4th century; Proverbs and Galations both outline "bad" behavior).
Here's the list: gluttony, lust, greed, envy, avarice, sloth, pride.
We also determined the characteristics of "venial sins," which can be forgiven through the rites of the church (as opposed to the more deadly "mortal" sins.)
     Carol, our leader, decided to focus this session on gluttony because it is an attribute that begins with the very basic human need: nourishment.
     During the Medieval Period, Carol told us, gluttony was the "gateway sin," opening the door and making the person vulnerable to all the other sins. The Medieval world view was that the human being is in a constant battle against sin, most of all gluttony.
She noted that while the Bible does not have much to say about gluttony, Gregory the Great did. What is interesting is his definition of the aspects of that word, far different from (but including) excess, too much, or over indulgence.
     Carol held up a chart that outlined Pope Gregory's categorization of gluttony. We will try to post that chart soon. What is very clear, is that, for him, gluttony included far more than merely overeating: enhancing food  with sauces and spices was one example.
     What we understand about sin, including the sin of gluttony, is that it is a rebellion toward God's will for us. As with all that we consider sinful, gluttony blocks our access to God and to God's grace. It becomes our idol, our God.
     The discussion was lively as Carol posed several questions for us as we considered the complexity of our own participation in gluttony.  This question prompted an interesting discussion:

Is there a sense of gluttony when we spend several hours preparing a balanced meal for our family, having shopped for the food carefully at, say, Whole Foods, when, in fact, we could have purchased a burrito for $2 each for each family member. What is the tradeoff here in time spent (over-consumption of time?) and in actual dollars spent, when a $2 burrito would suffice in terms of nutritional needs and hunger?

 Of the many comments and questions raised by this question were the following:
  Does the $2 burrito really cost only $2, or have those businesses that produce the $2 burrito been so heavily subsidized that the true costs are much greater?
     We looked at, for example, the cost of transporting such foods, which led us to another observation about gluttonous behavior: We are gluttonous when we don't choose wisely. Buying berries out of season, no matter how good for us they are, amounts to an enormous over-consumption in terms of transportation costs. (And also, I might add, deprives us of that beautiful and delicious anticipation of the first ripe berries of summer; we have instant gratification when we have those foods available to us at the snap of a finger--or credit card).
  Another question posed: For populations living in poverty, does gluttony occur?  Possibly, yes, if someones hoards food.
   And that question gave rise to this question: Are people more generous (less gluttonous) in scarcity?
    That question reminded us of the "We Can Live with Less" project in which certain parishioners lived on $2 a day for a week. (You may learn more about that project by going to the website by clicking on its title, above.)
     Another question: I've agreed to go to lunch with my friend, but am surprised to find us at a restaurant whose prices far exceed what I consider "reasonable." In fact, the menu is over-priced. What is of greater value here?  My friendship and the table hospitality that we share? Or my principles? Do I tell her that I'm offended by the price-gouging? Ask her to go someplace else? Or order my meal and enjoy her company?
Some responses:
--Whom are we helping out when we pay for a meal we think cost too much? Does that price allow the waiter, the host, the dishwasher to make a better wage?
--It does not matter how much money you spend. That is not the question with gluttony.
--The question remains: is my eating, drinking, spending blocking the light of Christ so that it cannot shine through me into this world in need? Am I causing an eclipse of that light? Wearing too much sun block, so to speak?
Comments?

Jan10: New Year's Resolutions, "Carnal Lusts," and Christian Disciplines: An introduction

Join us Jan 10 at 9:15 am as we explore the above provocative topic, focusing on the prayer from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:

Grant us the true circumcision of the spirit; that our hearts and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will (105).

I will begin that session with a general discussion about the nature of resolutions, posing the question that M. Mary Kate asked:  how do these resolutions speak to our "carnal lusts"?  I would like to spend some time hearing reactions to that phrase--rather shocking for us latter day Episcopalians, I think.  And I would also like to pose the question: what accounts for the change in our 1979 Prayer Book for Jan 1 to: " Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ" (213)
Jan 17 and 24. 
We will continue the series by looking at our culture of over-consumption, or, calling a spade a spade, as M. Mary Kate suggested, "gluttony" ; both terms, of course, really do encompass all that we stand for when our focus is inward rather than outward, material rather than spiritual, self rather than community.
A summary of our discussion will appear after shortly after our Sunday meeting.