March Madness

In case you missed it - it is indeed that time of year - lots of people were tied to t.v. screens - and here in Buffalo we played host to lots of basketball fans routing on their teams.

I think that one of the things that people like about the NCAA tournament is that there is always the opportunity for the underdog to win - like this weekend - with Northern Iowa beating the top seeded Kansas - it's those kinds of stories that make March Madness what it is.

So while we are looking for underdogs to cheer on - it occured to me that the story of the beginning of Christianity is kind of a Cinderella story - we are going to hear next week that the disciples all scattered when Jesus was arrested and that they spent alot of the next couple of weeks hiding - but that little group hiding from everyone in two generations spread the story of Jesus to the then known world and were a force that threatened the Roman Emperor himself - just a thought

The Prodigal Parish

We heard yesterday about the prodigal son - but actually in the parable it isn't the son who is prodigal, it is the Father. The word prodigal means overly generous or perhaps more accurately, the overwhelmingly generous.

I just want to reflect on how prodigaly generous the people of St. Paul's were this weekend. We collected over $300 in the Day of Change collection - which is supporting a refugee family the Eastern Erie Deanery is adopting.

We also had a highly successful dinner in support of the youth mission trip - people were prodigal both with their money and their time.

In the midst of this we are participating in the ECS campaign and are doing well in those collections and people are painting the parish hall and the classrooms and the hallways.

Well done prodigal parish - making the Grace of God visible here.

Our time - God's time - Nature's time

I have just begun to be able to sense that the days are getting longer - for me that is the first sign of spring - it comes just before the whiff in the air that is a combination of thawing earth, slightly warmer air and melting snow.

But it's not quite spring yet - which is perfect, because it's not quite Easter yet - we aren't quite ready to celebrate the new life that is represented by both Easter and spring - we get a whiff of it here or there, but it's not time quite yet.

Of course this will all take a large leap forward in two weeks when we change the clocks -

But until then there is something nice about having time cycles coincide - about having the church year's cycle at the same place as nature's time cycle and my own - it doesn't happen very often, but it's nice when it does.

The difference between winning bronze and losing gold

I've been watching the winter Olympics - I'm a sucker for them - and one of the things that I have noticed is the difference between athletes.

There are those for whom just competing truly was all that they were hoping for and when they place third and actually get to stand on the podium and receive a medal it is clear that this was far beyond their wildest dreams and something that they will cherish their whole lives.

Then there are those who clearly expected to win and placing second or third wasn't winning a silver or a bronze medal - it is losing the gold. It is not having the thing that they expected happen for them. They are the ones standing on the podium with a scowl on their faces, glaring at the winner - or gamly trying (and failing) to cover their disappointment.

I wonder what are the things in our lives where just competing is joy enough and placing third is the icing on the cake. And what are the things where we expect to do so well that being the third best in the world is a failure? And how can we move from the second category to the first?

This is most certainly true

I went with a group from Calvary to see the play "Church Basement Ladies" at the Riviera in North Townawanda. If you ever get a chance to see the play - go it is very funny and for any of you who have spent any time at all in a church kitchen - in a basement or not - you will be sure recognize several of the characters.

One of the continuing tropes in the play is that the women quote the line from Luther's small chatechism - "This is most certainly true" - and apply it to many, many facets of church life.

That got me thinking about the Episcopal lines that we could use in a play that everyone would get.

The first that came to my mind was that if you ever need to get an Episcopal crowd quiet say "the Lord be with you" everyone will respond either "and also with you" or "and with thy spirit" and fall silent.

The other one that occurred to me was the phrase "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest" this comes from one of the collects - but gets used regarding just about anything that we want people to take deeply on board.

What are some of the other "Episco-speak" that you think of?

Where does the time go

I can't believe that January is almost over - it was just yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas - and Lent is coming very fast this year.

St. Paul's folk - please remember that the annual meeting is at 9 a.m. on Sunday - please come and hear about what went on this year.

Youth group parents - also remember the parents meeting after the 10 a.m. service - we have all (or at least most) of the information about the mission trip - come and hear the details.

Why, O Lord

I think that all of us looking at the pictures and hearing the stories from Haiti this week can't help but ask "why, God." Why these people? Why this? Why now? Why are their earthquakes at all? Why do people suffer?

I wish that I could say that there are easy answers (or indeed any answers at all) for those questions. But if there are I certainly haven't found them.

I think that situtations like this bring the question of faith into focus. We say that we believe that God loves and cares for his children. That is easy to say when all goes well, it is more difficult when things go badly.

But I think the challenge is to seek the presence of God in the midst of the things we don't understand - to look for the face of God in the rubble and see where the light of God shines through the darkness. It isn't a very satisfying answer, but it's the best that I can do right now.