Making a Difference

This is a picture of some of the school supplies that we collected this year.

We filled 20 backpacks and two big bins with school supplies and still had a few bags of supplies too.

In addition to the basic providing of supplies - I hope that we also sent the message to the kids that receive them that there are other people who think that education is important and who think that they are important. That is so much more vital than having a new pencil - knowing that there is someone out there who thinks you are important and who wants you to succeed - that is outreach to the soul.

Thank you all.

Wealth and Riches

In the recent debates over the debt ceiling there has been lots of talk about "the rich" and what "the rich" are doing or not doing.

It got me thinking - everything depends on your perspective - I mostly don't think of myself at one of the rich - however - everyone else in the world does.

Don't believe me - go to globalrichlist.com and see where you fall in terms of the richest people in the world - I bet you'll be surprised.

Once you've done that - if you want to easily help those less fortunate than yourself go to freerice.com and by answering some trivia questions you can donate rice to people who have much, much less than you.

Twenty First Century Stuff

We are using more and more social media here at St. Paul's. Right now it's just additional ways to stay connected - but I'm hoping over the summer and into the fall to move to more spiritually focused contact as well.

We have decided to move from Facebook groups to a facebook page - you can "like" us at St. Paul's Episcopal Church - Harris Hill on Facebook. We'll be posting some thoughts for reflection as well as parish news.

I'm also going to be using my Twitter account for some thoughts and prayer tweets - you can follow me @vdzust if you use twitter - but be warned you might get some things about my life as well as the church

When Help Isn't Helpful

I don't know if you saw this article about donations flowing in to Alabama after the tornados. In brief the article says that they have received so much stuff - some of it useful but most of it not - that they are inundated and the tasks of finding storage space and sorting through the piles of used underwear and broken toys to get to the few things they can actually use is a huge challenge.

This seems to happen after every major disaster - people want to help - but in trying to help they get in the way- I remember a friend who was helping out after 9/11 at St. Paul's Chapel where the rescue workers were being fed and counselled and otherwise cared for. She talked about the 4 truckloads of stuffed animals that people sent. It was a nice thought - but they had no use for stuffed animals and had to either dispose of them (and pay for it) or figure out where they could be used and get them there.

Uniformally those who work in post-disaster relief say that the most useful thing that people can do is send money. With money they can purchase exactly what they need in ways that they can process efficiently or provide funds to victims directly - with the added benefit that purchasing things locally helps the economy begin to recover.

Our Christian instinct is to help those in need - but we need to be sure that our help if really helpful - not just what we want to give but what is really needed.

That's part of the reason I'm so proud of all of you - for example $285 for Japan just from people's donations - well done.

Great things are happening

It has been a busy couple of weeks at St. Paul's. Holy Week and Easter and then this past week which was bookended by a visit from our new Bishop on his first day as Bishop and the ECW basket auction.

It got me thinking about everything that is going on at St. Paul's. The Bishop mentioned his first impression of our church - when he was at my house for dinner and came over to see the church on a Tuesday night and met the NA group, our Stewarship committee and the Diocesan Cursillo Secretariat all in the space.

We had the basket auction on Saturday which meant nearly 80 people, most of who aren't members here, in the building for a day of fun. We have a carnival this coming Saturday (1 - 3 come!) where St. Paul's people and members of the Venture Crew and the Boy Scout troop will join together to raise money for the people in Japan. We have the last in the series of forums on care for the Elderly on the 19th. We have another coffee hour contest, the parish picnic and Sunday School awards coming up in June.

I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you - and pat ourselves on the back for a minute - we are a busy, happening place.

A New Kind of Christianity - part 5

This is the last chapter of A New Kind of Christianity that we will be looking at - I encourage you to buy the book if you want to know more. In Chapter 4 Brian looks at the way that we have traditionally seen the narrative of Scripture. In Chapter 5 he looks at a different way of viewing it. In his view - if you read Genesis as a unit what you find is not a literal history but stories that illustrate two arcs - an increasing separation from God and a beginning of a return to God. In McClaren's view the arc of separation runs from Genesis through the tower of Babel and the arc of the beginning of return runs from the calling of Abraham through the story of Joseph at the end of the book of Genesis. What do you think?

A New Kind of Christianity - part 4

The fourth chapter of Brian McClaren's book moves on from setting the stage of the changes that have been happening in the world to looking at Scripture. The way that we have usually looked at Scripture is back from our current place through the lenses of all those who have gone before. So we see Scripture through the lens of modern scholars who see it through the lens of the scholars of the Reformation, who see it through the lens of the scholars of the Middle Ages who see it through the lens of the scholars of the first 1000 years and so on. The result has been that our understanding and interpretation of Scripture has been heavily influenced by neo-Platonist philosophy and that our view of the story of Scripture is colored heavily by that. McClaren's thesis is that we should look at Scripture without those influences and attempt to read the Biblical story as one narrative and to look for the themes that run through it. More next week