Falling Leaves, a death scene or a musical dance?

“Glory be to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:21)

As we enter into the Fall season it is tempting to feel somewhat depressed as the sunlight lessens and the air becomes cooler. Recently I have discovered that I am susceptible to seasonal mood changes. Doubt tends to creep in along with the chill. We may doubt God’s presence in the midst of struggles we face, especially in times when we feel too busy to spend time praying. It may seem hard to believe that God can be present when we are confused, tense, or frustrated. At times such as these it is good to pause and just breathe in the Holy Spirit, allowing our minds and hearts to focus on the hope that results when we turn to God’s strength and goodness. It is all about perspective. As I watch the leaves begin to fall I can see this as a sad death dance or a joyful precursor to renewal. Joyce Rupp in her poem, The Falling Leaves, there is a stanza that goes:

“this gigantic death scene of leaves

does not smell of sorrow and sadness,

rather, the earth is colored with joy

and the leaves make music in the wind.”

Now that is the way to turn a negative falling leaves death scene into a joyful musical scene! I love Rupp’s way of reframing what could be perceived as depressing into beauty. It is a great honor to be invited into your lives in times of struggle and to pray for you when you are in need. Some people say it must be depressing to always be going to the hospital or to be hearing about people’s problems. But I say: "What a blessing it is to be given the opportunity to act as an agent for God’s tender loving care and as a messenger of God’s hope and comfort in times of distress!" I hope you will never hesitate to invite me to pray with you, for you, or for those you are concerned about. I know many pray for the staff here at PCM and we appreciate it so very much! Your prayers keep our PCM ship afloat in the rough and calm seas of church life. Blessings for a beautiful Fall!


(Falling Leaves image, Jeremy Montalvo)

How to Do Centering Prayer

www.readthespirit.com/explore/2011/8/22/join-in-a-911-prayer-i-hope-for-a-world-where.html

Let the Lord lead you to new depths of prayer. Let God give you fresh insights as you pray. Know that Jesus Christ is with you, now and always.

Centering prayer is a method of prayer designed to develop contemplative prayer. Contemplation is not meant to replace other forms of prayer. However, it can bring a new perspective to the other methods of prayer. Centering prayer gives you a fresh sensitivity to God's presence everywhere, all of the time.

God - Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit - lives in the center of your being. Centering prayer allows you to experience God's presence now, to be touched by the Lord where you need it the most, and to be transformed in your inner being by the God who loves you.

The Centering Prayer process:
1. Sit quietly and relax. Enjoy your own inner silence. Be calm. The Lord lives in the midst of your silence. Listen to hear whatever God wants to share with you. Savor God's presence and open your heart, allowing yourself to be touched by God in the deepest part of your heart.

2. Respond to God's presence with an act of faith. Do not allow your thoughts or feelings to get in the way. When thoughts come into your mind, gently let go of them and focus on a single word, such as - Jesus, Lord, Love - or a phrase that is meaningful to you, such as - Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me; Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. This sacred word or phrase is a symbol of your intention to allow God's presence and action within you.

3. Put your faith and love into the word or phrase. Whisper it softly. Repeat it slowly and effortlessly, letting it lead you more deeply within your being. God is in you and you are in God. Surrender to God's refreshment and re-creation.

4 Center your attention and desire on God. Leave your thoughts and feelings peacefully. Let Jesus draw you into His perfect prayer of adoration, love, and praise. Let it happen. Don't try to force it, simply go with God's leading. Whenever you become aware of any distracting thoughts or images, gently return to your word or phrase.

5. When you end this prayer time, move slowly to a silent awareness of God and then move to a conscious prayer such as The Lord's Prayer. Say it slowly. Savor the words. Listen to their meaning and make them your own.

6. Centering prayer may be used once or twice daily for 20 minutes. If you are faithful to pray, you will soon experience the fruits of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. You will abide in God and God in you.

Reference: Bette J. Shellhorn, Ph.D., Spiritual Director
www.prayingchurch.org/centering.html

Building Resilience - 10 Ways

Some of my parishioners have asked for the list of suggestions about developing resilience that I gave in my sermon entitled: "Risk Getting Wet" on August 7th. 
Here they are: 

Studies show that those who survive failures and stressful times often become stronger as a result. Stress and failures can actually be good for us as they humble us while teaching us lessons that we can use to be stronger in the future.

Here are 10 ways to build resilience: 

(1) Create and maintain good relationships with family members, friends and co-workers.

(2) Avoid seeing stressful events as unbearable problems.

(3) Accept circumstances that cannot be changed.

(4) Develop realistic goals and move towards them.

(5) Be a forgiving person and ask for forgiveness.

(6) After a loss - take time for self-reflection.

(7) Practice your faith and get actively involved in a supportive network.

(8) Have a long-term perspective with an attitude such as: “this too will pass."

(9) Maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things in the future.

(10) Take care of one's mind and body, and spirit.
All of these ways can be found in guidance from the Bible. Our scriptures link to the development of resilience. Jesus came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. The ways of Christ are ways that build resilience. 

(To hear the whole sermon - go to the audio recordings of my sermons at: www.pcmorristown.org and listen to the sermon given on 8/7/11.)

All is Not Lost -- God is Love

All is Not Lost - special message: "God is Love"   Fun video message...

Body, Soul, and Spirit in Harmony

“I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.”          
(3 John 2)

How do we find harmony in our body, soul, and spirit? Are humans created to be three entities in one as God is in the Trinity? What is the distinction in the functions of each of our three parts? Instincts tell us we sometimes just "know" something without any concrete evidence of it. Where exactly is our spirit?  How do the soul and spirit interact? A conceptual figure of the body, spirit, and soul relationship is illustrated below.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body."             (1st Corinthians 6: 19)

To live in harmony with ourselves and one another we must first care for ourselves holistically in body, soul, and spirit. When your life is not in balance your body may show the signs by succumbing to disease or by experiencing a life crisis. This is a universal concept. Each one of us has a physical body that reacts to fear, stress, abandonment, loss, betrayal, anger, joy, excitement, and we all hope for love.

We are all matter and spirit. Our Creator God dwells in and reaches out to the world with love through us. All of our souls hunger for truth, justice, love, and forgiveness. With all the worlds economic greed and injustice we may feel there is no hope for our spirits and souls to make a difference in the world for peace and harmony. Yet, there is hope. Our spirits call us to healing within and healing outside ourselves. We are called to take steps towards wholeness and oneness; not to be destroyed by depression and hopelessness.

In the book, A Hidden Wholeness, Parker Palmer recommends that we slowdown, do more with less, and pay attention to life's rhythm. He says the soul wants to keep us connected to community for it understands that relationshipas are necessary for us to thrive. And the soul wants to give us life and to pass that gift along, "to become life-givers in a world that deals with too much death."

A new small group is being developed in our church community. It will have a theme of: Harmony in Body, Soul, and Spirit. We will be reading inspirational Christian readings that inspire us to promote our own wholeness and seek ways to help our precious world be made whole as God intended it to be in the beginning. Contact me through my email: calloway@pcmorristown.org if you are interested in joining our small group.

Creating and Sustaining Lord, thank you for giving us the hope for wholeness in body, soul, and spirit. Grant us all a spirit that joyfully celebrates your love. Unite us in Oneness as the global family of God who cherishes the gift of life on our precious earth. May your Peace that surpasses all understanding dwell in our hearts and souls from this day forward. Amen

(Illustration at top from http://www.faithandhealthconnection.org/the_connection/spirit-soul-and-body/)

Joplin Tornado Recovery Mission Trip June 2011

(click on the picture to see photos of the PCM Joplin Tornado Recovery Trip)

On May 22nd around 5:25pm an EF-7 tornado 1 mile wide ripped and tore it's way into the small city of Joplin, Missouri. The estimated strength of this monster was 300mph vortex winds leaving a devastated area 13 miles long. Imagine a huge blender with 4 vortexes inside a huge cell of rain coming over the horizon shredding and hurling into the air everything in its path. The vacuum action of the tornado combined dirt, shingles, steel, tin, glass, wood, siding, and fiberglass, along with all the belongings inside and outside businesses and homes as it ripped and tore a path destroying 8000 residences, cars, people, businessses, schools, electrical transformers, gas lines, a hospital, an adult learning center, and playgrounds along the way.

As we carefully worked our way through all the debris, under the direction of Americorps and the families who had given us permission to cleanup their property, we found pieces of photos, torn up children's toys, jewelry, clothes, cash, perfume, social security cards, watches, keys, half finished craft projects, DVDs, appliances, and many other personal items such as a wedding invitation,  a child's pacifier, and the celtic cross in the photo above. This cross in the photo above was caked with mud but we were able to brush it off and set it up on top of the other items we thought the homeowner might  keep.

Joplin is a town of 50,000 and all the residents in and around this area have been affected by this supernatural tornado. The mixed blessing from this disaster was to see so many from around the US and (even all the way from Japan) respond with an outpouring of generosity and love. Our team of 10 was also inspired by  how well the victims and volunteers were being cared for.

During the day we worked in the 95 degree sunshine cleaning up and sorting the debris with rakes, shovels, and our bare hands, always wearing masks to guard against inhaling the fiberglass filled dust, and lots of sunscreen and long sleeved shirts and long pants to guard our skin as well. The most common injury was from nails sticking up randomly on the ground or poking out of broken boards. It was a blessing that our team members recieved tetanus boosters prior to the trip because nearly all of us ended up with minor puncture wounds by the week's end.

In the afternoons our team would escape the bright sunshine (since all the trees are gone and there is little shade to be found in the area of devastation), by going to work in the warehouses that received the truck loads of donations coming in from all over our wonderful US of A! We were amazed to see the outpouring of donations of food, clothes, work gloves, tools, furniture, toys, carseats, strollers, cribs, diapers, household cleaning supplies, and on and one. Our team helped to sort and organize the donations in two locations. It was memorable to see the families come in and help them find the items they were most in need of. I will always remember a little boy named Dylan who was looking for a superhero toy. I am sure during the tornado he was hoping a superhero would save his family. Thank God, his family all survived but none of their belongings were savable. Some of the downed trees were being chainsaw-carved into reborn creations of hope. And the Joplin High School sign illustrated this with new letters renaming it "Hope High School" with the "H" and "e" created out of gray duct tape...

What a great honor and blessing it was to our mission team to be invited into the lives of the citizens of Joplin in the aftermath of this disaster. We will remember the Grandma's story of her little 5 year old granddaughter and her mother who miraculously made it to the bathroom of the Walmart and came out to find the rest of the huge store totally destroyed. And we were told the sad story of the young father who had just returned from serving in Afghanistan who took refuge in the Home Depot with his two little girls. He was found still clutching onto them crouched in a corner of the store. Sadly all three had died in the destruction.

Our team members will always remember the afternoon we spent with the Miller family to plant a memorial rosebush for Tripp Miller who lived in a group home for the disabled. Tripp and his buddies were all killed along with one of their caretakers. The home was located beside the Joplin High School that was also destroyed. His parents, were so thankful that we came from New Jersey to comfort them in their sorrow. We all mourned the loss of Tripp with his parents as we planted a tree and a rosebush. They are long time active members of the First Presbyterian Church in Joplin that partnered with us on our first tornado disaster response trip. After spending time with the Millers we felt we knew Tripp well. He was a very special man and his contagious smile will be remembered always.

The Americorps banner (below) is a hopeful statment that we witnessed everywhere we went: "The Miracle of the Human Spirit." As Christians we also acknowledge that it is the Holy Spirit that inspires and bonds people together in times such as this. Many of the people in Joplin communicated that our presence had an impact on their lives. One warehouse worker said, "We know God cares when people like you come all the way from New Jersey to help us."

It was a great privilege to be the hands and feet and loving arms of Jesus for these people. They loved to tell us story after story of survival and of loss. We listened and tried our best to share the burdens with them. Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." We hope that our presence gave a touch of loving comfort and a sense of God's peace to those we served. It will be many years before this area recovers. But our faith in the resurrection assures us that God who is faithful will restore our souls. Whether or not we regain our material possessions, we trust that our souls will be restored - if not on earth then in heaven. And we know that through it all, NOTHING, not even the most monstrous tornado can separate us from the love of God that was demonstrated by the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Almighty and everlasting God, the comfort of the sad, the strength of those who suffer, let the prayers of your children who cry out of any tribulation come to you. To every soul that is distressed, grant mercy, grant relief, grant refreshment; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

(from the Liturgy of St. Mark)

Created in the Image of Our Triune God

The Trinity and the relational three character of creation is so fascinating! Patterns of three are all around us! If you look you will see "3s" everywhere! The illustration above is a "quark" which is the fundamental constituent of all matter in our cosmos. This points out that the very fundamentals in our universe reflect the Trinitarian nature of God. A quark is never found in isolation, it is found in relationship with two other quarks. A proton is made up of three quarks. The proton can be seen as a reflection of the Trinity, God's Divine triune self providing the building blocks of creation. Atoms are made up of a relational three: protons, neutrons, and electrons. And the recently discovered fractal geometric way of viewing the design of the universe uses the division of 3 to break down the fragmental makeup of matter. Three base pairs of amino acids in DNA make a codon which makes protein, an essential component of all biological life. How can it be denied? The Triune God permeates all of creation from the tiniest known parts to the grandest places.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer; Loving Parent, Sacrificial Role-model, Wise Comforter - there are so many ways to describe our God but they still don't quite grasp the magnificence and mystery of our Yahweh who is intimately interwoven in all of creation. With an emphasis on the relational character of God our early church leaders were inspired to comprehend part of God's majesty and workings with the concept of the Trinity, which became a doctrine of the Presbyterian church.

According to to the Reformed tradition, our God is a Triune God - One God in three persons. The Nicene Creed was the first to define the Trinity in our confessions. Saint Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of the early church, described the Trinity as comparable to the three parts of an individual human being: mind, spirit, and will. They are three distinct aspects, yet they are inseparable and together constitute one unified being. Looking at the whole cosmos through the lens of the Trinity, we see many patterns of three. Land, sea, and air. The earth's biosphere is made of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The rhythm of our days are trinitarian in nature: morning, noon, and night. Our Universe is made up of three intricately related parts: space, time, and matter. God has placed her stamp on the structure of the Universe. The trinity is illustrated in the connective relationship of time, space, and matter.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin identified the three aspects of our triune god as: Power, Word and Fire. In his, Mass on the World, he explained his scientific view of the Trinity: "In the beginning was Power, intelligent, loving, energizing. In the beginning was the Word, supremely capable of mastering and molding whatever might come into being in the world of matter. In the beginning there was not coldness and darkness, there was Fire." Ted Peters, in his book: God and the World's Future said, "God is personal only through one and another of three persons, not as a single ineffable entity. The net effect of the doctrine of the Trinity is to understand the divine reality as a unity of relation."

God's goal for us is to be in "unity of relation" as God demonstrates in God's loving relational self. 1st Corinthians 12: 26 reminds us, "When one part suffers, every part suffers and when one part is honored every part rejoices with it." We are all connected to one another from the quantum quark level to the space, time, and matter level. "So now faith hope, and love abide, these three. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Trinitarian prayer of the Cosmos
Our Triune God, You who are the Creator of all things, bring forth from us an awareness of our relational nature made in the image of your nature. Help us live in the Trinitarian pattern you intended for us, that connects us to one another as Jesus is with you and the Holy Spirit. May all your children of the cosmos know that we belong in relationship with you and in unity together. May our longings for Oneness bring peace, justice, love, and wholeness to the world. Amen

(Quark illustration from: http://www.aip.org/png/images/quark-spin-png.jpg)