Five Minute Friday :: Timing

My header poppies are from 22 June 2020 – two days after the solstice –
because the timing of the seasons always is just right.
The peaches square comes from 12 June 2022.

• Five Minute Friday :: Timing Linkup

Theology blog here, right? Greek distinguishes between chronos (ordinary everyday time we usually measure on a clock or calendar, as in "chronology"), and kairos (extraordinary one of a kind time that marks a specific event we may have been awaiting or that happens unexpectedly).

It's super ironic and surprising that the Apostle Paul writes his only birth narrative about chronos and not kairos time. Given that it's one of the most poignant verses in the New Testament, who'd of thunk it?

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law. Galatians 4:4

Which of these timing renderings in English from that verse feels best?

proper time – time came to completion – fulfillment of the time – appointed time – time was right – right time – time had fully come – appropriate time – chosen time – set time had fully come – fulfilling of the time
I'm often grateful I didn't send an email or make a phone call when I'd planned it, and my lack of preparation or another circumstance delayed it. When I finally made the call or sent the email, the timing often felt providential, close to "kairos" even for something relatively small. Then there have been a few times I ended up not contacting the person or organization at all. Has that happened to you?

When I place larger events in the chronology of my life and my relationships with other people, the ways right timing makes seemingly disparate events and people come together often astonishes me. Every time it happens!

There have been times I've instinctively known other people's suggested timings were wrong. Then there were a handful of instances i refused to follow another person's suggested timing and regretted it.

This has been a somewhat abstract five minutes. Is timing an abstract concept? Not usually. Timing most often is about the important stuff and when events that move life forward just happen to happen. And timing is about joys in life that become disappointments when we don't consider the whole timeline—like Kate's hydrangeas.

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Five Minute Friday :: Affection

• Five Minute Friday :: Affection Linkup

Only this evening I told someone else I'm everyone's Best Friend Forever, exactly like my late uncle. Is it genetic? Probably not, because quite a few people have that characteristic, but I like to identify with him.

What is affection? We think of it as emotional longing, a desire to be present with and for them, a trait that doesn't depend upon their good behavior but happens just because they are. We want to stay connected and we feel affection for them even when we're far away from them. That yearning tends to draw us back to them, so we find ways to be close to them again.

Like my uncle, I'm always for the underdog and undercat. I have so much affection for those who haven't won a chance for the spotlight that when a baseball team I don't follow and that's overall not doing well this season wins a game against one of my teams, I'm happy and excited. (My main teams are the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox with a frequent side of San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.)

As recorded in John's gospel 15:15 Jesus says we're no longer his servants but now we're his friends. Is that good news? I hope it is! Because we know Jesus as the ultimate BFF. As we read all the gospel accounts, we observe Jesus and his companions demonstrating immense affection for one another.

Following Jesus, Paul of Tarsus had deep concern, gratitude, joy, and affection for the churches he planted and served. The church at Philippi that I've written a fair amount about seems to have captured Paul to an extreme extent, although he prayed constantly for all of them. Like Paul, most pastors feel both affection and frustration for their congregations. Like Paul, most pastors pray a whole lot for the churches they serve.

In Hebrew biology and therefore in scripture we know the heart is mostly the seat of will and intention, yet it encompasses the tenderness and affection we post-enlightenment westerners identify with our hearts. Jesus and Paul showed us all of that to perfection!

How about you? What are some objects of your affection? Notice the peaches picture? Food gets a lot of my affection.

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Five Minute Friday :: Transform

Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind.
Romans 12:2
• Five Minute Friday :: Transform LInkup

This week I get to include one of my all time favorite scripture illustrations and talk about Romans again.

World here is "age," eon, era, epoch, and not cosmos.

What can we say, think, or do about the way the world and its leaders, the USA and its leaders, and so much about and around us seems to be changing, not transforming into vibrant new life from death, but from health to despair to death itself?

"Transformed" in this passage from Romans is metamorphosis. Our most familiar images in creation may be butterflies and dragonflies; I did a little research to confirm what I thought I already knew.

Butterflies symbolize transformation and rebirth. In the Christian tradition, butterflies are an icon of easter and resurrection.

Dragonflies originate in water and migrate to air as they grow and mature. Throughout their lifespan, dragonflies are at home in both water and air. In addition to change and transformation that's similar to butterfly lore, dragonflies are about adaptability. Maybe you know they can change direction amidst flight, and they can fly backwards? Somewhere I read dragonflies are about the realization of dreams.

The world and its leaders, the USA and its leaders, and too much about and around us is changing, not into life from death, but from health to despair to death. Maybe your neighborhood, your family, or your workplace has troubles that appear beyond hope. Maybe your own situation has imploded and you need to start from scratch?

Like a dragonfly we are birthed and re-birthed in water; we need to keep returning to the water for sustenance and renewal; we need to keep walking the talk still "wet behind the ears" with God's baptismal promises and claims on us, with God's baptismal charge to us to live transformed, to be agents of change and transformation to help create a world filled with justice, righteousness, newness, possibilities, and hope.

Via the apostle Paul, God calls us to "be transformed," to undergo a metamorphosis, but no human can achieve that radical change on their own, by themselves. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. It's about death and resurrection. Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Wherever we are, in whatever place we live, transformed people can be agents of change and transformation for this age, this epoch, this eon. Reborn into the cross and the empty tomb. Transformed by water and word. Amen? Amen!

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• Common milkweed in full flower this year in West Los Angeles
• Monarch Butterfly from West Los Angeles in a previous year (2018) with depleted milkweed plant. We've been planting milkweed at church for more than a half dozen years. What a ministry to creation!
• Dragonfly from hippo px

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Five Minute Friday :: Face

Facing the Pacific Ocean and unknown vistas
at Hermosa Beach, California, late December 2020.

• Five Minute Friday :: Face Linkup

When I teach, read, write (or consider in any sense) the Apostle Paul's epistles – maybe especially the ones scholars consider genuine or undisputed – I almost always remind myself and everyone else that as we read words printed on the page, "we don't have the voice; we don't have the face."

When we read a text or an email, even one from someone we know well, possibly a friend or colleague we just had lunch or another meeting with a couple of hours ago, we still "don't have the voice or the face" that well may have changed since we last saw each other face-to-face. Besides, the topic may be different.

And that means? A spoken word carries meaning and inflection far beyond the letters that form words that make sentences that sometimes create paragraphs that attempt to communicate to some degree. Or sometimes attempt to obscure communication with different kinds of double-speak, triple-speak, with unspoken subtext or subtexts.

Beyond a voice and enhancing communication even more, there's a person's face with all kinds of possible expressions that interpret the words they're saying. Sad. Happy. Angry. Puzzled. Hopeful. Aggressive.

When you're face-to-face or even side-by-side, you get the best opportunity to understand and comprehend and act upon what's being said.

I love that our host Kate admitted this was almost a random prompt and she didn't have any idea what she'd write, but then she talked about wondering how she could face some situations or circumstances. Just as with words spoken alive and aloud, when you and the problem or situation face each other so you clearly can see each other, you then have a chance to know and understand and act upon or resolve the challenge. Or live with it unresolved a while longer, just as we do with some passages in Romans.

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Five Minute Friday :: Might

The gospel came to you not in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with conviction.
I Thessalonians 1:5
• Five Minute Friday :: Might Linkup

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying,
"This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
'Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,
saith the Lord of hosts.'" Zechariah 4:6

Zerubbabel was supposed to oversee finishing rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple, but construction had slowed down and run into a glitch, as we might say. This passage reassures him that [human] resources aren't sufficient to accomplish God's work, or even to get anything done properly and completely. Cooperation and partnership between earth and heaven gets it finished, finished well, and – maybe most important – on God's timeline, not ours.

Our human power and might and effort and related gifts aren't wrong at all. After all, they are "gifts" or givens from God, and they're necessary for the ministries God calls us to. Our work in this world always partners with God's Spirit at the behest of God's call. Do you remember when Moses dialogued with God regarding "Moses, your people" or "God, your people," because it's always both/and?

Glitches in our lives happen because too often we humans try to do too much under our own steam, looking at our own clocks and calendars, too often not acknowledging the Spirit. Maybe we don't want to bother God with those smaller concerns when so much of civilization and creation needs so much healing, repair, and rebuilding?

Late December 2023 I determined to take a six month half year gap time, but as days went by and I assessed my situation, I realized a gap year made more sense. Now the chronology has spilled over a few more months into 2025, but signs and circumstances have made it clear it's finally time to move on. On God's timeline, not mine. And I anticipate more delays, possibly a roadblock or a few.

"Trust the process" has become such a cliché because that's how life works. Immerse yourself in the journey, savor each hour and each day. Ya know what? That's how humans learn and grow, how ideas develop, how dreams and visions become real. That's the way God engages us and gets things done. Not by human might, humanity's power, but by the Spirit that created the world, the Spirit that redeemed creation, the Spirit that calls us into a new creation.

Anyone who has despised the day of small beginnings
will rejoice to see the plumbline of the Lord's house
in Zerubbabel's hand. Zechariah 4:10a

Can you imagine teaching and preaching God's word without guidance from the HS? Can you imagine spreading the gospel, being the good news of God with us, God among us, without trusting in and waiting for promptings and instructions from the HS? The same holds true for every aspect of every moment of our lives. Think about it!

The gospel came to you not in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with conviction.
I Thessalonians 1:5

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Stewardship :: Sow Bountifully

Sow Bountifully :: Reap Bountifully
2 Corinthians 9:6

Stewardship :: Servants and Stewards

Servants and Stewards
1 Corinthians 4:1

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2

Five Minute Friday :: Owe

• Five Minute Friday :: Owe Linkup

Romans 13:8,10 Owe no one anything else except to love one another,
for anyone who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Love does no evil to a neighbor;
therefore love fulfills the law.

The apostle Paul insists we owe, we "ought" the love of Christ to every one another. He compares love for others to a debt, an ought that we owe them.

Whether we can do it on traditional times of Saturday or Sunday, or if our schedule requires we find another day or extended time during the week, keeping sabbath helps us experience life as gift and not as a chore, however pleasing some employment actually may be at times. We all know the human necessity of working at something and contributing to the greater good so we can earn our keep by getting legal tender in return or possibly receiving "in kind" food or shelter. And honestly, many times that exchange feels very good. It stokes our sense of well-being and worthiness. It *even* sets an example to imitate.

The Ten Words of the Sinai Covenant line out how to love one another, clarify ways our lives together don't start as sweet heartfelt emotion, but as caring concern for each other. Love that insists everyone receives the justice of food, shelter, and consistent connection with community. Love that appropriately calls out violations of another's rights and dignity. Jesus of Nazareth summed it up with love God, neighbor, and self.

When we love our neighbor as God loves us, they begin to know existence as graced rather than as a tough to navigate chore. Do we owe them? Yes. Do they owe us? Yes. Love fulfills the law. Love is all in all.


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Sermon on 07 May

On the Fifth Sunday of Easter I guest preached again. They follow the Narrative Lectionary that follows the autumn through spring academic year and gives the formal lectionary a summertime vacation. This is Matthew's year in both NL and RCL, thus my references to Matthew. They plan to study more of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount during the summer.

Instead of interpreting for the current context, I decided to introduce Romans; enthusiastic feedback confirmed that was the best decision. As before, this is more notes than it is actual preached words (because I still use notes when I need a prompt).


• Romans 1:1-17

• Grace to you and peace from Jesus Christ, firstborn from the dead and the first fruits of the new creation. Amen!

Today we're celebrating live and we're celebrating virtual on Easter five! Easter isn't only a single glorious celebration, it's a fifty-day long season that occupies about one-seventh of the year. Today is the fifth Sunday of Easter, day 29.

We've been studying Matthew's gospel, but today we start several weeks in the letter or epistle to the church at Rome. These weeks will increase our understanding of Matthew when we return to the Sermon on the Mount during summer.

Letters or epistles in the NT were sent to various churches, often in a round robin style where content and comments got added before being sent to the next place. Unlike the gospels that mostly reflect on Jesus' life and ministry, epistles tend toward teaching and doctrines that the OT and Jesus' life reveal. The letters then in turn help clarify Jesus' teachings. Technically an epistle is a sent communication.

Paul/Saul of Tarsus wrote his epistles considerably earlier than the gospels were composed. I always need to remind myself these letters were so much earlier than the gospels, yet they also reflect upon and interpret Jesus of Nazareth's ministry. The NT includes seven Paul wrote for sure; a few others bear his name as author, but weren't written by him. Back then they didn't have copyright concerns, and to attribute what you wrote to a famous person was a compliment that also would get you more readers. The NT also contains letters written quite a while later by other authors. Those would include Titus and Timothy (both attributed to Paul), Peter, James…

Letters or epistles tend toward teachings and doctrines derived from God's activity in the world, from the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ that other sections of scripture narrate.

Romans is the latest of Paul's letters. Today I'll talk about only chapter 1 that reveals some about the rest of the book. Romans includes theology of creation, redemption, and sanctification, along with words about the church. Theology about the Triune God! You could say Romans is Saint Paul's systematic theology. Systematics is the philosophical theology that outlines and structures its topics in logical ways. Among many others, Saint Augustine, John Calvin, and Karl Barth all wrote famous systematic theologies.

Although Romans' literary format is not a gospel, Paul uses the word gospel. Gospel means good news. Maybe you've seen the stage play musical, film, or TV show Godspell? That's gospel in Old English. In the Roman imperial context, gospel already was a known concept. They referred to the birth of the future emperor a gospel. Gospel most frequently described the returning conquering general's announcement of annihilating his enemies. Just as Christianity subverts, turns upside down, and redefines many existing concepts and practices, the Christian gospel is the Good News of God's redemption in Jesus Christ. Not only is it life rather than death; the gospel of Jesus Christ is the annihilation of death and the reign of life.

As Christians we usually say the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet Paul refers to the gospel of God, so this isn't something new. The good news for creation of redemption and renewal is the way God always has acted. In verse 16 Paul says the gospel is "God's saving power." Because of this, we can follow many gospeled threads through the Hebrew scriptures.

Reading the New Testament, we find different nuances and emphases of Gospel. For Paul in particular the gospel is death and resurrection. The word evangelical is gospel in Greek! As people baptized into Jesus Christ, we are a gospeled community.

Romans 1:16-17 is huge in the history of the church. These verses were a kind of hinge between the church prior to the Reformation in the 16th century and the church after that. Since Martin Luther's excitedly zeroing in on these verses, church and academy sometimes have said we only need to trust or have faith in God, that the medieval Roman branch of the church was mistaken when it claimed our works or behaviors could reconcile or make us right with God. As we study this letter and when we return to Matthew, it's important to remember that Paul never separates faith or trust from obedience or works (our actions). Neither did Jesus. Neither does any of the Old Testament.

Paul calls himself an apostle, but we know he wasn't one of Jesus' original twelve followers. In scripture an apostle is someone who has seen the risen Christ. You may remember in the book of Acts when they're voting to find a twelfth to join the remaining ones after Judas of Iscariot's betrayal, they insisted it had to be a "witness to the resurrection," someone who had met Jesus crucified, Christ risen face to face: Acts 1:21-26 You've probably read the account of Paul's Conversion (also in Acts, chapter 9) when the risen Christ encounters Paul along the road? That event gave Paul apostolic qualification, just as our encounters with the Risen One make us apostles.

Paul introduces himself as an apostle, yet insists it's about BOTH being disciples or followers who learn from the teaching of the earthly Jesus AND about being apostles or sent people of the risen Christ. We've been in Matthew's gospel, where Matthew's Jesus is the ultimate teacher or rabbi. Jesus wants us, his followers to be the ultimate students or disciples, "taught persons." Disciple or apostle, it's a gift of God's grace.

An epistle is a sent communication; an apostle is a sent person.

We'll soon celebrate the day of Pentecost and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit we receive in baptism that enables us to follow Jesus as disciples and apostles.

I hope our study of Romans will broaden, deepen, and enhance our understanding of Jesus' teaching when we return to Matthew's gospel during the summer.

To God Alone Be Glory.

Amen!

Five Minute Friday :: Many

Even as the body is one and yet has many members,
and all the members of the body,
though they are many,
are one body, so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12

• Five Minute Friday :: Many Linkup

¹² For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. … ²⁰ But now there are many members, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12

²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. ²⁷ As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3

I've thought a lot – had many thoughts – about the role, calling, function, and interrelatedness of each individual member of the body of Christ related to the whole. I've pondered each one's own sense of purpose and call that admittedly changes, expands, and at times even contracts for a while. Related to the whole means the local called-out, gathered-in assembly as well as the global church with its many many traditions, styles, denominations, disagreements, and convergences.

In scripture, the Pauline and especially the deutero-Pauline movement is not from a solitary, isolated atomized individual into an undifferentiated [blob?!] Body of Christ; it's from solitary, disconnected individuality to uniqueness and particularity within the local church, the wider council or judicatory, the global Church.

As individuals who interrelate as the one body in the Spirit with many discrete members, each of us assumes and ministers in one of many positions appropriate to our gifts and experience. It's a lively and life-giving process that often happens with some planning, that many times occurs organically without planning.

Whatever we wear, wherever we reside, whatever our age or education, whatever our culinary and entertainment preferences, we respond to God's grace-filled call and invitation as we bring practical, spiritual, intellectual, creative, and many other gifts.

What are some of your many gifts? How have you participated in the past? What are your dreams for your future, for the church's future?

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Five Minute Friday :: Testimony

• Five Minute Friday :: Testimony Linkup

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. John 20

²¹ "So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
²² beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—
one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection."
²⁶ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias,
and he was added to the eleven apostles. Acts 1

The apostle Paul called himself an apostle because he had seen the risen Christ! As the Acts of the Apostles make clear, someone who has seen the risen Christ is an apostle of Jesus Christ like the original twelve! For Paul the gospel is death and resurrection. Throughout the epistles or letters he sent to local assemblies he founded or visited, Paul shared his testimony of meeting the living Christ along with more formal theology that grew from his experiences. Paul's words would resonate through the centuries, would lead to others knowing Christ, and in turn bearing their own testimonies in word and action to a world in pain, a world enmeshed in death, a world that desperately needs hope. More often than not (almost never!) we don't encounter the whole entire world, but rather one or two individuals who may be neighbors, random strangers, coworkers, or someone else God providentially has placed in your life, you in theirs.

In my tradition, when we gather to celebrate Eucharist, together we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.

Death. Resurrection. New Creation.

The broken bread and poured out wine testify to the presence of the risen Savior. The welcome table itself testifies to the presence of the Lord of life within the assembly.

Our actions announce the reign of life despite the reality of death, but we often need to tell the story of Jesus in our life. We frequently need to describe the transformation that happens when we meet the risen Christ and become easter people. Why did you notice me? Why were you kind to me? Why did you help at the toy drive? Why do you always attend the reach out-gather in dinner? They've seen it; now you explain it!

The world needs all of our apostolic (yes, we're all apostles, because we've witnessed death and resurrection) testimonies, yet more often we get to share it with one or two residents of this planet at a time—definitely not in ways that trend worldwide. When someone asks you to bear your testimony how do you begin?

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World Rivers Day

River Celebrations

The fourth Sunday of every September is World Rivers Day; founder Mark Angelo reminds us, "Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense."

In addition, this year the fourth Sunday of September is River Sunday in the liturgical season of creation emphasis. Every year I design a Season of Creation series; here's my River Sunday design for 2017. Will the LA River, currently a.k.a. The World's Largest Storm Drain {flood control channel}, become a "river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing through the middle of the city?"

Sunday School

This double riparian party time excited me because I facilitate the {mostly-Revised Common Lectionary} adult SS at the church I attend; this morning I focused on the Philippians pericope, and began with the serendipitous start of the Philippians church. Acts 16 recounts how Paul and Timothy went to Roman colony Philippi in Macedonia, then to the river on the sabbath to find an ad hoc synagogue {if there was no local synagogue, Jews would gather at the river to form a minyan or at least to pray together}, then finding Purveyor of Purple Cloth Lydia by the riverbank, finally the baptism of Lydia and her entire family.

Acts 16

¹²and from Neapolis to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Most major cities originated and grew up alongside a river; waterways are strategic nodes of communication, commerce, immigration, and exchange of ideas. The early church always baptized in the flowing water of a river; a river is a dynamic, open system. How about our walk by faith? A participant at our August Green Faith Team meeting suggested being baptized in the Los Angeles (San Diego, Amstel, Cumberland, Chicago) River, identifying with the city beside the river banks, especially seeking the well-being of that river and that place. Decades ago the US Army Corps of Engineers contained the Los Angeles river in concrete, because as a flashy river it flooded easily and overflowed into neighbor communities. But... how will the Los Angeles River become a river of the water of life?

The second appointed reading for today, Pentecost 16, is from the apostle Paul's "epistle of joy" to that church at Philippi where the Roman caesar was the default divinity. In 1:27 he counsels the Christians to live their public, political lives "in a manner worthy of the gospel" as witnesses to Jesus' death and resurrection—not to Rome's death-dealing imperialism.

Philippians 1:21-30

²⁵...I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, ²⁶so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. ²⁷Only live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and are in no way intimidated by your opponents...

On Sunday mornings we've recently come from studying several passages from Paul's letter to the church at Rome; in chapter 8 he reminds us true children of God lovingly steward creation in ways that authentically reflect their divine origins and birthright:

Romans 8

¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

River Walking

Will the Los Angeles River soon become a bright as crystal source of life-giving water for the city? As part of my quest to learn more about its history, to find out ways I fruitfully can live baptized in the city of this river, late Saturday morning I joined a River Nature Walk that started and ended along the LA Riverside at the Friends of the LA River's Frog Spot outreach center in Elysian Valley. A US Forest Service employee introduced the activity; our guide works for the US National Park Service. When will the Los Angeles River become a bright as crystal river of the water of life? The guide told us most of its water already is tertiary potable!

Paul counseled the Philippian church to live out their baptism as public witnesses to Jesus' death and resurrection. How about us? As we frequently observe during our Sunday morning discussions, even the smallest actions add up to big ones; they're synergistic— more than the sum of their individual parts! The early church always baptized in the lively waters of a river; a river is an open, dynamic system. Maybe I wasn't {definitely I was not} baptized in the LA River, but I live here now. It's my river. I acknowledge my baptism as wide open and God's call for me to care for all creation in the dynamism of the Spirit of Pentecost—especially for the natural world that makes its home alongside "my" Los Angeles River.








Burnaby, BC is World Rivers Day founder Mark Angelo's hometown; I'll conclude with a Burnaby WRD design.


PS city paradise :: urban wilderness is my blog for notes from classes I've participated in and facilitated.

Season of Creation 3A: Wilderness Sunday

"Creation itself will be set free from bondage to decay and will receive the freedom of the glory of the children of God."
Romans 8:21

Pentecost 12A: Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Romans 12:2

Porch Stories :: 15 years

On this week's virtual Porch Stories and in their actual lives, Kristin and Greg Taylor celebrate 15 years of marriage—you can read about their very mature anniversary plans for an awesome reflection of Kristin's "Seeking God as the Author of Every Story" blog description!

desert spirit's fire @ 15: Mercy Roads

Most years I write a blogoversary post; officially and formally desert spirit's fire debuted on the middle day of July – the 16^th – but it feels providential that I didn't post closer to that day, because 2017 marks this blog's 15^th year, making it the perfect subject for my own Porch Story today.

Fifteen years ago I'd very recently finished a year-long certificate in Community Economic Development. After too many rough, tough, disappointing years, when I excitedly began the CED program I believed it would help me re-enter a life of meaningful service to the city and to society. Two months after graduation, I still held that conviction. In the decade plus since then, Planet Earth's itinerary has included a national and global economic downturn that's affected all individuals and entities other than the ultra-rich and super-wealthy. Along with financial struggles, I'm still (yes, "still") trying to grieve other losses and situations that turned out very other than I'd minimally anticipated.

And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat... Exodus 25:22a

Martin Luther tells us the cross of Calvary is God's Mercy Seat or Gnadenstuhl— God's Throne of Grace and Mercy where God meets us where we are, how we are, rains boundless mercies and offers resurrection hope.

A Porch Story tends to be the type of testimony of God's faithfulness we'd recount sitting on a porch with a friend or enjoying lunch in a kitchen or at a café. In other words, most porch stories are about the little incidents and mini-moments that remind us of God's presence, that fuel and fill us so we can keep talking the talk, walking the walk.

You know how the Apostle Paul frequently lists the many disasters, shipwrecks, and other calamitous adversities he'd experienced? At least once, maybe twice in this blog I've mentioned in passing I've been through a few "Pauline-style" catastrophes, too! {Maybe especially as a woman and} in the interest of keeping on keeping on, I've done my best to sail through and hardly mention them at all to anyone.

Let's turn that around?! Truthfully – yes, really – over the course of these fifteen years, along city streets, suburban byways, urban freeways and a few country roads, other wayfarers have offered me grace-filled surprises of welcome, hospitality, and participation. Other pilgrims have put aside their druthers to rain solace, mercy, friendship, love, and inclusion on me. Is looking to the neighbor's needs rather than insisting on our own not the way of the cross? Has that not been God's call to God's people for all times and in all places? Last fall when we had several lectionary readings from Jeremiah and Deuteronomy, I talked with my adult Sunday School class about neighborology—the word about the neighbor—that's central to Torah. Neighborology that encountered us right where we lived when the guy asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor" with Jesus' reply, "A guy was going down to Jericho..."

Who has been a neighbor to you? How have you been a neighbor? Who has shown God's mercy to you? To whom have you offered grace? What are a few of your mini-moment porch stories that fuel you along the way, fill others as they journey, to keep talking the talk and walking the walk?