Shoved by Grace

For most people, the past four days passed by unremarked. For those of us in the United Methodist Church, who were paying attention, it has been literally life-changing. From Jan 23-26, the UMC held a Special Session of their General Conference in St. Louis to decide on a new plan for how the church relates to the LGBTQ+ community. The results, while somewhat anticipated, have been devastating for many of us in the church, our friends and family. But, somewhere, in the darkest hour of the darkest day, a glimmer of hope continues to shine through. Just for a little background, since 1972, the UMC Book of Discipline (our rulebook) has maintained that homosexuality is "incompatible" with Christian teachings. Confusingly however, we also like to say, "Open hearts, open minds and open doors." So, in other words, love the sinner, hate the sin. Along the way, the church has also made it clear that "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" shall not be ordained an...

Prayer is a fraught topic. It's hard to talk about it in the church, and harder to talk about it outside of the church. Almost everyone has an experience with prayer - prayers answered, prayers not answered, prayer stage fright (or maybe that just happens to pastors!). Prayer is such a personal topic that I think sometimes we're afraid to talk about it in fear of offending someone or negating their experiences. But here I go. Prayer reveals our heart to God...and to ourselves. It is the act of opening ourselves us and sharing our intimate selves, that changes us. And it brings us closer to God, our neighbor and ourselves. When we pray whether it's unprepared or written, we are revealing what matters most to us. Our concerns, our wants and desires, our joys and triumphs, our failures and guilt. A prayer can often be surprising, even to ourselves. Even when we're not being entirely honest, well, that reveals something important about us too. Scripture says a lo...

Some weeks, I try not to look at the news. Or, at least, try not to let myself get sucked in. But I have not succeeded recently in regards to the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. Of course, appointing a new Supreme Court justice is always an important business. A justice is appointed for life and will be hearing cases that involve us all, trying to ensure what the title implies - justice for all of us. The mere fact that justices are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate makes the process political. But this year, the process has become about more than Republican versus Democrat. It, like much of the past two years, has become a touchpoint in the national conversation regarding the balance of power between men and women. Let me start by saying I don't know what happened between Kavanaugh and his accusers. I trust that a real investigation can uncover the truth. But, what concerns me more are the reactions to the allegations and what they say about our ...

Sometimes certain themes keep popping up in front of me so often that I can't keep thinking that it is random. Is that God trying to speak to me? Or is it just that I'm really pondering a subject so I notice it more. Like when you buy a new car and then keep seeing "your car" everywhere. So, for the last few days, the topic that keeps popping up in my sight line is Unity. This past Sunday, my pastor talked about unity in a sermon about corporate prayer. This morning I heard an extended rant about party unity on my TV news show. And now, reading my devotional for the day, I come across this, from Ignatius of Loyola, "The most wonderful thing is unity with Jesus and with the Father. In him we shall partake in God if we firmly resist and flee all the arrogant attacks of the prince of this world. Unity of prayer, unity of supplication, unity of mind, unity of expectancy in love and blameless joy: this is Jesus Christ and there is nothing greater than he. Flo...

So last week was rather eventful around here. On Tuesday morning, after a lovely relaxing Labor Day weekend, I was woken up by an acrid smell and a haze of smoke rapidly filling up the house. I'm so thankful that my husband, rather than his usual "open a window, it will be fine" attitude, recognized the seriousness of the situation and got me out of bed and out of the house. I called the fire department and they soon located the source of the smoke - smoldering insulation in the attic caused by faulty wiring. We were lucky. We were home, we called the fire department immediately, they were able to locate the source and put it out before it caused much damage. Other than some charred insulation and wiring and a house that smells like a BBQ pit, we didn't suffer any lasting damage. But it was certainly scary! And, to my amazement, I was surprisingly calm through the whole thing. It brought to mind Philippians 4:7, " Then you will experience God’s peace, wh...

I think we can all agree that the political world is getting uglier and uglier. Ideological lines have been drawn over health care, tax policy, immigration and the Mueller investigation. The latest battleground is over sexual misconduct and how we should react when those we elect, or propose to elect, are accused. Now the idea that our male politicians are hound dogs (no offence to the poor puppies) when it comes to women comes as no surprise. Infidelity and sexual scandals involving our leaders go way back. King David comes to mind. And don't forget that Thomas Jefferson had children with one of his slaves (wrong on so many levels). But the cultural climate is changing. Things that were acceptable even a couple decades ago are being called into question. I admit that I voted for Bill Clinton twice and still supported him even after the Monica Lewinsky scandal. I felt that his policy positions outweighed what I felt was consensual activity among adults. I now feel differently....

Today is All Saints' Day, the traditional day upon which Christians remember all the "saints" who have gone before us. And for us, all Christians are saints, maybe not capital S Saints but saints nonetheless. They have held on to this strange faith in a resurrected God for almost 2000 years. So today, of all days, makes me wonder why? In our age of science and reason and over-explanation, why have people hung on to this primitive belief, and more specifically, why do I? We have all heard that there has been a sharp rise in "nones" over the past decade - people who claim no religious faith. Some of these people, atheists,  claim no belief in any supernatural phenomenon, while others are in that nebulous category of "spiritual but not religious." According to Pew Research, these folks make up only about 23% of the American population (much higher in Europe for some reason). So estimating that maybe 10% are the "spiritual" folks instead ...