The Way of a Pilgrim...

Good morning everyone!   It is good to be back home!  That was a long drive to the SF Bay Area and back!   But not as long as the drive to Minnesota that I know many of you will be making very soon!

In our gospel reading for today, in John, we heard a portion of what is known as The Farewell Discourse.  Jesus is talking to his disciples, and the words of Jesus are not very inspiring.  he says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Hmmm.   We have all known people who talk as though their love for us was conditional. "If you loved me, you would (dot, dot, dot, fill in the blank)”. 

 

What are we to think?  This seems totally opposite from the unconditional love Jesus teaches and lives!   

However, rather than assuming that Jesus requires a “militaristic” (I just had to use that term “militaristic”, as I just came back from military duty!)   …. militaristic obedience with conditional love, what were Jesus’ commandments?

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you".   And the other, ‘love your neighbor as yourself”.  

It's not complicated!

LOVE!   It’s not complicated!   

That commercial "it's not complicated" pops in my mind here.  You know, where the guy is talking with some kindergarten aged children, he asks them a question and getting all sorts of wild answers from them and says,  "It’s not complicated!"

OK, so it really can be & is complicated...and challenging!  For so many of us!  

One thing for sure, to really live and walk in love take lots and lots & lots of practice.  Years.  A lifetime.  We just can’t take an on line class in this or learn it from reading a book.  It takes doing it, practicing it, living it….until hopefully, it becomes us.

Some days we do pretty good, other days, well not so much.   

Think of your past week, how did you do?    Hmm.  Perhaps we held our temper as someone was rude to us.  Perhaps we did not.

One thing for sure, we will get many opportunities in life to practice living and walking in love! 

Me playing bass, back in the '90s

I thought about bringing my bass guitar in to show you.   I actually have four of them.  So many years of playing bass in bands over the years.  I had long hair back then.   Those were fun times paying music all those years!

For those of you that have ever learned or tried to learn to play a musical instrument, you know it takes lots & lots of PRACTICE.  That first year or two is very trying.   I remember when I was 17 years old, first learning the bass, practicing in my room, so many times I would get frustrated, and throw the bass on my bed and need to walk away for awhile.    Ugh!

The book and story of The Way of a Pilgrim also comes to mind.   Have you ever read it?

The story takes place in Russia in the late 1800ds.  A Russian man (a pilgrim) 

seeks to deepen his spirituality and get closer to God after he hears the words of scripture in the liturgy “to pray without ceasing”.

After wandering to many towns, churches and monasteries, he eventually finds a Starets, a Spiritual Director, who teaches him the Jesus Prayer, (AKA Breath Prayer).  This is what the Startets taught him:

Be alone in silence.  Calm yourself and your mind.  Invite the Holy Spirit to be with you.

Breathe gently, deeply and slowly.  Imagine yourself looking into your own heart.  Carry your mind, that is your thoughts, from your head to your heart. 

As you breathe in, say to yourself “Lord Jesus Christ”.  And as your breathe out, say to yourself  “have mercy on me…a sinner”.  Try to put all other thoughts aside.  Be calm, patient and repeat.

The Starets told the pilgrim to repeat this prayer 3000 times per day!

How many breaths do we breathe in a minute?  Imagine, as we tend to breathe 8 to 14 breaths per minute, how long this actually took!  It would take at least 4 hours of his day!

And so he practiced and practiced, breathing and

praying as he walked and traveled from town to town.   

At first this takes great concentration and labor to do this consciously as he walks & travels.   But he keeps at it.

Months later, when he visits the Starets again, he tells the pilgrim to increase the prayer to 6000 times per day! 

The pilgrim consciously does this in earnest.  Months go by, with many more travels. 

And again when he visits the Starets, he tells him to increase the prayer to 12,000 times per day!  

You do the math here.  It is pretty much the entire waking day!

Small Russian Church

In time, what was once laborious actually becomes the pilgrim.  He transfers from doing this prayer consciously to subconsciously, feeling /thinking of God with every breath he takes!

Of course, this process does not happen overnight, it takes many years and many travels.  But over time, it is he, the pilgrim that becomes a man of deep spirituality.

Have you ever met someone like this?  Their inner peace and spiritual wisdom radiates from them and their very being.   Oh how we wish we could have such peace & wisdom!

And here we are, this Memorial Day weekend, the traditional beginning of summer. 

For so many who have served in the military, have loved ones in the military, and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, we pause to remember…and give thanks. 

And upon perusing the Internet, I saw that our Commander in Chief has issued a proclamation for tomorrow.  He proclaims that tomorrow, Memorial Day be a day of prayer for permanent peace.   He asks everyone to pray for peace tomorrow at 11 am. 

And so, we pray for peace …in our world, in our nation, in our community here in Casa Grande, in our church community here at St. Peter’s….and within our hearts.  

Seems like an impossible thing, to really have peace on the entire earth. 

How can we ever have peace of earth?   It begins with us.  Right here in our hearts….in every step and breath we take.

Let us pray…

Almighty God, kindle, we beseech thee, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with thy wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility thy dominion may increase till the earth is filled with the knowledge of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

___

[This was a sermon given at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Casa Grande, AZ, Sunday MAY 25th, Sixth Sunday of Easter.]

Miltary Duty with the 129th Rescue Wing!

Chaplain Adelia w guitar

The month of May, it was off to the wild blue yonder.   Military duty at Moffett Airbase, CA , Mountainview, CA (southbay SF Bay Area). 

Photo of the Chaplain team below.  Left to right, Chaplain Capt Schenone, an Assemblies of God Pastor of many years, MSgt Brian Henrikson chaplain assistant and jazz keyboardist, MSgt Beth Sanders, chaplain assistant and music teacher in civilian life, yours truly, MSgt Joe Munar, our NCOIC and works for the FBI in "regular" life, and SSgt soon to be TSgt Javier Merced, chaplain assistant, works full time for the Guard.  And my dogs Hannah and Hope, who are by the way "rescue" dogs!

The Chaplain Team at the 129th Air Rescue Wing, California Air
National Guard, Moffett Airbase, CA.

Air Force One at Moffett, President visiting Silicon Valley.  The oblong
looking metal thing is old Hangar One, a former blimp hangar from
back in 1930s!

Drumming!

With the deactivation of the 129th Military Band last year, we inherited many of the instruments.  Me and my two NCOs jamming on conga drums.  These two NCOs came to us from the band, and we are blessed to have them.
There is also a bass guitar, an electric guitar, a bass amp, and a guitar amp in squeezed my office!

Be Not Afraid

Have you have wondered, what do eggs and rabbits have to

do with Christ’s resurrection & Easter?    

Notice too, that Easter is always about the same time as the Jewish Passover.  In fact, that was what Easter was originally called, Pascha, meaning “Passover” in Greek.  Pascha is derived from the Hebrew word Pesach for Passover.  In Spanish, Easter is Pascua.   In Romanian, it is called Anastasis, which means “resurrection” in Greek!

So you may have also wondered, then how did we get the word “Easter” for Easter?   

Well, as early Christianity spread into northern Europe, it incorporated many folk & cultural traditions.  The word “Easter” actually comes from the ancient Anglo Saxon / Nordic goddess of the Spring, Eoster.  Celebrations to her were held in April, & included eggs, rabbits, egg hunts, flowers, lots of food including ham!  Eventually the celebrations to Eoster became part of Pascha, and here we are centuries later with eggs, butterflies, rabbits and flowers and all as part of Easter celebrations!

All these things are symbols of new life.  Transformation.  Triumph.  Recovery.  Awakening.  Resurrection!

This Byzantine icon is very ancient.  It is called “Anastasis” meaning, “Resurrection“.   It is one of my favorite icons.  It is also known as Christ’s Resurrection and the Harrowing of Hell.  In it you see Christ rising out of the depths Hades, or hell.  The picture tells the story of the risen Christ, with Jesus rescuing Adam and Eve from the depths of hell & defeating Satan.  It also depicts the Apostles Creed, “He descended into hell, on the third day he rose again…”

This icon hangs on the wall of one of the rooms in my house.  One day, I had a guest over, and as he looked at the icon he asked, “What's the deal with this picture?”

I responded, “It tells a story.  Have you ever felt like you have been in the depths of hell, a time of extreme darkness and pain in your life?  And then somehow miraculously made it out of there?    He looked at me thoughtfully and nodded.   You see, my friend had battled drug addiction.     

Our own resurrection stories are many;  I am sure many of you have had your own resurrection experiences.         Facing death & healing from a major life threatening illness or injury.    Enduring & surviving war, combat, or some other traumatic event, going through the pain of the loss of a loved one….  the list goes on. 

And from these life events, we are no longer the same person.  We see things differently.  We are changed.  Transformed. 

Christ’s resurrection is a mystery.    As we know, not everything can be explained.  Or understood.  But on a very deep level, we all experience the mystery of the resurrection.

In Matthew’s gospel story, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary find Jesus’ tomb empty.  An angel appears to them, and reassures them saying, “Do not be afraid!” 

And when the women leave to tell the disciples what had happened, Jesus himself appears before them and says….    “Do not be afraid!”

Jesus too.  Quite a number of times in the Gospels, Jesus says, “Fear Not!”

But when the angels say “Do not be afraid, or when Jesus says “Fear not”, it is not assurance that nothing will go wrong, because as we know, often times, things DO go wrong.

Rather, it is the assurance that whatever may happen to us, whatever a day may hold, God has the power to strengthen us & uphold us, that whatever we must face, we do not face it alone.  Nothing we encounter is stronger than God’s love. 

But as we know, the road to Easter goes thru Good Friday. 

A grandmother tells this story… “I personally witnessed an amazing example of resurrection hope in the midst of suffering through my granddaughter Jessica. When she was a sophomore in high school, she began to experience some tiredness and pain. Her mother took her to the doctor. The news was devastating. Jessica had leukemia. The prognosis was not good.   When Jessica was diagnosed with leukemia, she knew that death was a possibility. She had to face the prospect that at age fifteen, her life might be cut short. Yet the hope of resurrection was clear in her testimony, as expressed in her journal":

“God is in control of all things!  He has a plan for me that is being carried out as I write this.  Angels are watching over me.  What have I to fear? Death?  That is only one more step to HEAVEN!  GOD IS IN CONTROL!”

Yes, the road to Easter goes thru Good Friday.    

Out of the darkest of days...comes new life.

Be not afraid! 

Christ is Risen!     Christ is Risen!     Christ is Risen! 

Amen!

[Note:  This was the Easter sermon given at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Casa Grande, April 20, 2014.]