"To the ends of the earth..."

My Retirement Certificate

Well, I have finally retired from the military.   Served a total of twenty six + years, including 8 + years of active duty.

Yep, that will do!

It has been a wonderful career.  Been all over the world, have had many assignments, have gotten to do incredible ministry with the people of the Army and USAF, served with some incredible & amazing people, and have gotten to do things and go places I never imagined.  

Even to the ends of the earth!

Has it all been roses?  Of course not.  In many ways it was one battle after another, and I am not talking about my deployments or going to Iraq.  Sexism, the government bureaucracy, mean spirited and vicious people, and being a fish out of water as the military is predominantly very politically conservative.   I am not.    It was at times very tough to be a leader, specifically a female leader (officer), and an innovator in an establishment that is very male dominated, sexist, and slow to change.  It was also very tough at times to be a chaplain, specifically a female clergy person and religious leader in such an establishment. Some tried to block my progress and hold me back.  But I made it to the rank of Lt Col in spite of them!

So proud of my first stripe!

I started out as an E-1 Airman Basic many, many moons ago. I have been enlisted, a line officer, and a chaplain.   My first "gig" in the USAF was in Basic Training, I was in the USAF Drum and Bugle Corps, a snare drummer.  My third or so week in the USAF we were playing for some general flying in and we were the band on the tarmac as the plane pulled up and the red carpet rolled out.  After the event was over, I was carrying my drum back to the bus, and a news guy commented to me, "Heck of a way to make a living!"    I remember saying to him, "If someone had told me that I was going to be doing this three weeks ago I would have thought they were crazy!"

Been in the USAF, the Army Guard, the USAF Reserve and the Air National Guard.   Seen a few different flavors of the military.  And the years went by.

How did I survive it all these years?  By mostly having a sense of humor, and prayer!

Was it all bad?  Of course not.  In many ways I loved it and I hated it.  But there I was.    

Lt Col Chaplain

When I was deployed to the Middle East, to an air base that looked like a prison compound with a runway.  With its high walls & barbed wire all around, metal buildings and tents, the place was not at all aesthetically pleasing.  White sand everywhere, it was over 120 degrees most days & always very bright (sunny).  I had to wear very dark sunglasses and a hat everywhere I went outside.  And one day as I was walking to where I was going in this beautiful place, dark sunglasses on & sweating in the heat...I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do. 

Life is strange.

Last month I had a retirement ceremony on my last duty day.   I ended my little ceremony by reciting the oath, the same oath I said, and all people say when they join the military.  I thought it a nice way to end my time in the military, just the same way I entered it.  By saying the oath.

And now I say goodbye to the military, this giant "thing" that has so been such a big part of my life for so many years.  On to other things and a new season of life.   

Time to be a civilian and just me!


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NOTE:  This blog has now reached its conclusion.  Thank you for letting me tell my story!
Peace and good things!

Cafe du Pax (Cafe of Peace)

Cafe du Pax

Good morning everyone!  It is wonderful to be with you all here at St. James! 

Well, after hearing all these languages just now, there is no question that today is the day of Pentecost!   

Yes, today is all about the Holy Spirit.  Let's see, I just heard Spanish, and what else?  French?  Russian? German?   Did I hear Arabic? Hebrew?  Well, I know, some of us are bit rusty on our Hebrew!

You know, many preachers tend to avoid sermons on the Holy Spirit. Why do you suppose?  Because it's just so hard to describe and pin down! 

So, let me ask you, what comes to your mind when you think of the Holy Spirit?    (The people respond / share.)

I have been a military chaplain, and we speak many languages as well.   I work with an Assemblies of God and an Anglican chaplain.  So we tell people, that we speak Catholic / Anglican / Episcopal , "Thanks be to God".  And we also speak Holiness / Pentecostal, "Hallelujah!" "Praise the Lord!", plus we also we speak secular too, "Yay!"

A few years ago, I was deployed to an airbase in Arabia, & I was the “Protestant Chaplain”.  We also had a Roman Catholic priest chaplain and a Jewish chaplain.   As the Protestant chaplain I had to lead every service which meant I led just about every style / type of worship service except for the Roman Catholic mass, the LDS service and the Jewish services.  That meant I led three different worship services on Sundays, each one so very different than the other. 

There was the “Contemporary Christian” service, with rock band, PowerPoint and lots of music.  This service attracted many young people.   The service was high energy but also very heart felt, many of the attendees would hold their hands up in the air during prayers and music, they were feeling the Holy Spirit.   

And then there was the “Liturgical” service, which was pretty much like an Episcopal or Lutheran type of service.  This service is more inward, calm and contemplative. 

And then there was the “Gospel” service, which was predominantly African American and very Holiness-Pentecostal in worship style.  The energy of the service was very up-tempo, with lots of hand clapping and foot stomping.   Lots of great music, a band, a choir, and lots of “Amen’s” and “Hallelujahs” and “All right nows” being shouted from the congregation. They wanted me to preach not in the pulpit and completely extemporaneously. 

Now, being and Episcopal priest, this style of preaching took me a little getting used to.  But they were just so much fun!  Soon, I was preaching like a Pentecostal preacher…do I hear an amen? 

But as we know, the holy is experienced in many different ways.  An intense, ecstatic experience is only one way to feel the holy.

And so I ask you, how have you experienced, or felt the holy?   The Holy Spirit? (Wisdom, inspiration, calm, guidance...)  

And now, I'd like to invite you all to the Cafe du Pax, the Cafe of Peace.

A few weeks ago I went on a 4 day mini vacation down to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California.   It was my birthday present to myself.  Ordinarily I don’t give myself such treats but this time I did.   You see, it was a milestone birthday...yes, I just turned 21!   OK, just kidding.

On one of the days I took a day trip tour to the city of La Paz & the town

Cafe of Peace, El Triunfo, MX

Todos Santos. Along the way to La Paz, we stopped in a little town off the beaten path called El Triunfo.    

Built in the 1800ds, it was a cute little old one street town the length of one block.  Interestingly, the town was like an oasis in the desert, it was very green with lots of trees and plants as it had an unground spring.

And on that tiny old main street was a tiny café called “Café du Pax”, (Cafe of Peace).  It was very old world Mexico and very picturesque.  Old brick work with bright yellow adobe, and on one wall, a huge painting of a woman drinking a cup of tea.   It was the cutest, most quaint little old café.  The café was closed so I couldn’t go inside, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it.

Why did I find such joy in this cute little old café?   I’m not sure.  But the place had a presence about it.   It gave me such peace.

Well, I guess it would.  It was the Café of Peace!

And so I ask you, what would your Cafe of Peace look like?  What kind of food would it serve?  What colors would it be?   Where might it be?

Yes, there really is a peace that passes all understanding.   It comes in the calm, in the quiet…in our breath… in everyday moments…in “gut feelings”, in dreams we dream and visions we envision, and in those special unexpected moments in life.

The Holy is always present…

And as Deacon Robin just read from the Gospel, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

Amen.

[Sermon given at St. James Episcopal Church, Tempe, AZ on May 15, 2016]

Changes...

Bowie as the "Thin White Duke"

Who is your favorite musical artist?  And I mean, the artist that has been with you many years, your all time favorite?   

Isn't it amazing how some people have such incredible talent, and they touch so many of us through their art... and bring so much positive energy, happiness and joy to the world?   

It makes me reflect on the depth, the spiritual aspects of the arts.  

For me, my all time favorite artist ...is David Bowie! Yes, David Bowie.    And I tell you, I never thought I'd be talking about David Bowie in a sermon.  But here we are!

Bowie was in fact my first rock concert I ever attended, when he was the "Thin White Duke" in the '70's.   Over the years, I have seen him in concert four times, and have many of his records, er, CDs, er iTunes.  

And sadly, as many of you have heard, he just passed away a couple of weeks ago.  I am just so sad over this...his death has affected me much more than I ever thought...but to tell you the truth, it never entered my mind that someday... he would be gone.   

But the one thing that is constant in life, is change...  And for Bowie, it was all about change. His look, his music, all his characters over the course of his career, his persona never stayed the same.   He was always evolving and changing!    In fact, one of his earliest hits was ch-ch-ch "Changes", where he sang, "...time may change me, but I can't trace time..."

"Changes" One Bowie

Over the course of time, Bowie released over 25 records over a span of 40 years.  Even this past year, the last year of his life, he recorded his last record. Unbeknownst to just about everyone, including the musicians who played on his last recording did not know he was sick and battling cancer.   His record came out on his 69th birthday, and he died two days later.   A true artist, he made music right up to his dying day.

Music.  Like music, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has a kind of rhythm to it, doesn't it?  A time for this...and a time for that...'a time for war and a time for peace, a time to plant, and a time to pick up what is planted...'  It speaks of polarities and contrasts.  

For everything there is a season...   The many seasons of life, transitions, and changes.   Moving from one phase of life to the next.  

But how many of us, when it comes time to go toward a new phase of life tend to dig our heals in the sand?  Or have trouble letting go?  

And not just the seasons, but there is the time of the "in between".  The negative space.  Not just the times for "this" and times for "that", but the time of the in between.  

In between the seasons, in between the major life events...in between the beats... of the rhythm & the music of life...  

Oh, what we can learn when we are in the "in between" time!   That is, if we are open to it.  If we let ourselves feel the beat...and the music of life.

Yes, life transitions can be difficult.

Many years ago, when I was a young captain chaplain stationed at Luke AFB, one year I did what seemed like dozens of invocations for retirement ceremonies.  I would listen to the person who was retiring from their military career of 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, telling their stories when it was their time to speak.  And almost all of them would well up with emotion and tears as they spoke.  This phase of their lives, that had been for so many years, so many memories, they were now leaving...and going into the unknown.

After doing so many of these retirement ceremonies, it finally clunked me on the head, that (gulp), someday this would be me!

It was hard to fathom that someday this would come to be, for I was young and retiring was not in my periphery...

But all those retirement ceremonies made me think.   I wondered what my legacy would be...someday, when it would become my turn to retire and enter a new season of life.  A time so far in the future...

But now, that time, has come.  Very soon it will be time for me to pass the baton, leave the military ...and become once again, regular Laura.It has been an incredible career, now almost 26 years.  I have been all over the world, served with so many wonderful people. It has not been dull!   

Yes, I confess, I am hesitant.    I have been in the military so long, it is difficult to imagine what it will be like to not be in the military!  I am a little afraid. What does the future hold?  This next season of life?   As I end this season, and walk into another?

But perhaps "it" really does not end at all...

It just changes...




[This was a sermon given on January 24, 2016 at the Moffett Chapel, Moffett Airfield, California]






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Tribute to David Bowie

As Ziggy Stardust, early 70s

Most recently...

Thin White Duke, 1976

1990s?

Aladdin Sane  (early 70's)

Early 70's

1990s

As "Jared" in The Labyrinth, 1985

1980s

as the Young American, 1975

early 2000's

Thin White Duke

Black Star, Bowie's last recording, 2015

Thank you David Bowie for bringing your light and music to the world!

The Spiritual Garden

How many of you find God's peace being in nature, among trees, plants and gardens? Or in gardening? 

Yes, there is just something about plants! 

And I think it is no coincidence that the Bible is full of references and stories about plants and planting.   Can you think of a few? 

Right up in the very front, in the book of Genesis we have;  "The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good." Gen 1:12

And then there is that famous garden, the Garden of Eden.  "Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden... "  Gen 2:9

And there is also the Garden of Gethsemane.   Which, by the way is actually an olive orchard!

Stories and metaphors about plants & planting abound; crops, pruning, planting, harvesting & plucking up, even bushes that burn!   And then there are the parables...

The "parable of the sower" comes to mind.   You know, the story where a sower goes to sow seeds and some land on rocky soil and other not so good places. Plants sprout up, but they soon die due to not being able to grow well in shallow, rocky soil.  

The lesson, conditions of soil affect growth.  Literally, metaphorically...and spiritually.

Yes, plants have been particularly on my mind lately.  You see, for many years I had a beautiful, mature tree in the center of my backyard.  And my tree was a magnificent tree.   It was the focal point and shaded my entire backyard.    It had such "presence"!  

It was a tree that does not ordinarily grow in the desert.  But where I live in Phoenix, we have flood irrigation, so many of the houses in my area have huge, mature trees.   

But alas, this past year, my magnificent tree started to have trouble.  Its huge branches began to droop, and many branches began drop off.   Obviously, there was something seriously wrong with my tree.   I tried to save the tree, called the experts, arborists and tried many things, but nothing seemed to help.   Over the year, more and more branches kept coming down.   My poor tree... was dying. 

And last month, I finally had to have the tree cut down & removed.   Watching it being cut down was just heartbreaking.    The tree that was the center, the focal point of my entire backyard... is gone.  Sigh.  Now my backyard seems so... without focus...so empty...it does not even look or feel like my backyard anymore...

I know, it may sound strange, to grieve the loss of a plant.  But plants are alive.  They have a mysterious presence that we all can feel.  Remember "The Secret Lives of Plants"!

My first thought was to plant a new tree.  And right away as my backyard was so empty. Replace it with another tree that would provide nice shade, presence and greenery.

But wait.  That was the feeling I had.  It said, "wait".  And so I listened.

Why did my tree die?   Was it old age?  Did the tree have a disease?  Did pests or parasites attack it?  Or was something not right with the soil?   Perhaps it was time to thoroughly investigate this before replanting. 

Now, some of you may be wondering what my "tree story" has to do with the Gospel reading for today or the fact it is the second Sunday of Advent?    Well, I will tell you...it has everything to do with it!

For those of you that have been involved with gardening and planting, you know that preparation, specifically preparation of the soil is a big part of growing healthy plants & trees.  

Gardens are a wonderful spiritual metaphor & can have a multitude of meanings.    

What can gardens represent metaphorically & spiritually?     [Our hearts, life...transformation...]

And in today's gospel reading we have John the Baptist saying "Prepare the way of the Lord!   The voice of the one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord!...". 

Now, this passage has usually been interpreted as being that John the Baptist "prepared" the way for the ministry of Jesus. 

But what if we looked at this passage thru the lens of a gardening metaphor?

Every year we have the cycle of seasons; here we are about to go into winter.  We have the church seasons, and once again here we are in Advent.  Advent is a time of preparation, we prepare for the coming of the Lord.  To receive the Lord... in our hearts! 

As for my tree, after checking the soil in my yard, I found that indeed there was / is something wrong with my soil.  So for the next year or so, I will be preparing the soil and getting it ready.   And when I do plant a new tree, the soil will be healthy, conducive to new life and growing a new, healthy tree!

Prepare the way of the Lord.  

So, in contemplating this, I ask you, does your heart, your "spiritual garden" perhaps need some tending?

Hanging on to old anger?  Maybe your spiritual garden needs "weeding". 

Unenthused with life lately?  Stuck in a rut?   Maybe your spiritual garden needs some "spiritual" mulch or fertilizer!!

Feeling drained or a lack of energy?   Perhaps your spiritual garden may have some "spiritual parasites" that need to be removed.

How, or in what ways does your spiritual garden need to be tended?

Let us think and pray on this.

And this holy season of Advent, let us all tend our spiritual gardens...and 'Prepare the way of the Lord'!   

Amen.

[Sermon given on DEC 6, 2015 at St Thomas Episcopal Church, Clarkdale, AZ]