An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

Then he took a loaf of bread,  and when he had given thanks ,  he broke it and gave it to them, saying,  “This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper. Luke 22:19-20 United Methodists practice open communion, meaning all at worship are invited to partake. The church proclaims that the table of Holy Communion is Christ’s table. The table is open to anyone who seeks to respond to Christ’s love and seeks to lead a new life of peace and love. Communion is God's gifts to God's people given through Jesus Christ which Methodists call a "means of grace".  My Pastoral education taught me that who does or does not receive communion is not up for discussion.  Communion begins with God’s grace and love as seen in Jesus Christ who didn't make any decisions about who received God's gift. All the disciples present, Judas included, received. He just gave. Period. End of discussion.  That's wh...

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased,  and there was a dead calm" Mark 4:38-39 Click here to read the complete story here. People go down to sea for many reasons. Some for recreation; making a living; escaping oppression; a ferry for transportation.  In this familiar story, Jesus and the disciples get in a boat to cross to the sea. A storm nearly swamps the boat as Jesus sleeps. They wake him. He rebukes the sea. The storm ends. However, this isn't a story about "the storms of life" or and facing them by trusting Jesus in your fears.  The deeper story is Jesus silencing the storm and rebuking it. Those "silence" and "rebuke" are exorcism words Mark often uses in Jesus’ ministry. As strange as it sounds, Jesus is not offering therapy for our fears but an exorcism for a world out of whack. The point of this story is a revelation. The stilling...

"It is good to praise the Lord     and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning     and your faithfulness at night,." Psalm 92:1-2 (Read all the  verses  here) Liturgy was a passion in my ministry. The passion included finding ancient prayers, prayers from other cultures, and contemporary ones. I would dig deep into the history of hymns, chants, and songs and their best uses in worship. For me it was and continues to be an ongoing journey. Part of that ongoing journey includes several learnings.  For example, what is acceptable in one church is not in another.  It's necessary to explain the meaning of an addition to the worship service or it will be misunderstood.  For some, the Sermon most important part of worship, for others its the singing of hymns. What liturgy provides is a structure in the midst of crisis. The world may literally be falling around you, but the liturgy in Sunday's service is the same. F...

California Redwood "All the trees of the forest will know  that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree  and make the dry tree flourish ‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’” Ezekiel 17:24 It was an amazing experience standing among the majestic California Redwoods. Their unbelievable height and the width at their base suggested strength. For me, the majesty and strength is a sense of the sacred, a feeing of a holy place, of God's presence. Just as a sunrise, a panoramic mountain view, or being by a peaceful ocean creates a sense of God's presence, so do the Redwood trees. The most familiar visions in Ezekiel are the Wheel representing his prophetic call and the Valley of Dry Bones Representing a revitalized Israel coming home. But there is a dark story. Nebuchadnezzar ordered King Zedekiah deported to Babylon, destroyed the city walls of Jerusalem, looted, burned, and leveled the temple. In the wake of these simu...