Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged;
parents are the pride of their children (Proverbs 17:6).

Over the last several months Deb and I have received so many words of encouragement and affirmation as we waited and prayed for our daughter and her husband’s (Rebecca and Nate) first child to be born.  “You’ll love it!”  “There is nothing like the joy of holding your first grandchild.”  “Your lives are about to change all over again!”  “This is the best time of all!”  We were intrigued by the ebullient manner in which these sentiments were shared with us.

Now we know why.  Nathaniel Walker Gibson, son of Nate and Rebecca Gibson, was born on Tuesday, July 28 at 8 pounds and 20 inches.

It’s hard to comprehend loving someone as much as your own child, but it becomes immediately possible when you hold your grandchild for the first time. Those curious eyes awaken in you a surprising sense of continuity as you realize the emerging spirit of this child has come from a long line of human living and loving of which you are just one small part.  The parental desire to provide and protect overwhelms you all over again!

The experience of receiving the gift of little Walker into our lives, has left us with a fresh awareness that life, in all its wonder and complexity is (as I am wont to say), a “windfall,” something we did not anticipate or engineer.  It’s the recognition that we would not be who we are or where we are without the love and generosity of others.  It has given me a fuller understanding of the word “stewardship,” and it has given me a renewed sense of partnership with all of you and our participation in God’s mission of healing and reconciliation in the world.

In the midst of our joy, I invite us all to renew our prayers for pregnant mothers within and beyond our reach and for God’s compassion and mercy on those who are mourning the loss of a pregnancy or a child in recent months. May God renew their hopes for the future with quiet confidence and peace.

Rick+

P.S. I like the “crowning glory” of the above verse in Proverbs.  Not quite ready for the “aged” part!

Several months ago, I came across an arrangement of the theme from the film Schindler’s List, the 1993 American epic film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories.  The arrangement is by the renowned Australian guitarist, John Williams.

I was intrigued by the dropped G & C tuning as well as the Spanish flavor of the transcription and thought I’d give it a try on my new Alhambra 5c cw directly into Logic with the Fishman Prefix pickup system onboard.  If I were to record it again, I would probably add a condenser mic near the sound hole to provide it a bit more “live” touch to the the overall sound.

The Alhambra, which is handmade in Spain,  features a solid cedar top, laminated rosewood back & sides, ebony fingerboard, mahogany neck, wood inlay rosette, wood bindings, gold tuners, lacquer finish.  The icon on my oratory table is a replica of Christ the Pantocrator from the School of Moscow, 16th century.  I’m sure St. Augustine would not mind if I adapted his famous quote to read, “He who plays a stringed instrument prays twice.”

Just a quick post to say that I’m enjoying some sabbath rest – letting my soul catch up with the rest of me.   I’ve been working on some guitar repertoire that I hope to record and post on the music projects page while I’ve got the time.  Look for one later this week.  Thanks for dropping by from time to time.

Rick+

It is an odd word, ubuntu, even difficult to pronounce.  It’s oddness, however, reveals more about our own perceptions and our need to continue to learn and grow, to overcome a propensity to lock down our souls.

What is the meaning and significance of ubuntu? It points to a quest of the human heart, to heal, to unify, to rediscover a larger whole that respects the dignity of every human being.  It’s a rich, non-Western word that my friend and writer, Brian McLaren defines as, “one-another-ness,” “interconnectedness,” “joined-in-the-common-good-ness,” and “profound commitment to the well being of all,” (see “A New Kind of Christianity,” p. 233).

The quest for ubuntu, I want to say, resonates deeply with the quest and vision of Jesus that I read in the Gospels.  And it is a timely quest as we consider the state of Christianity in the world today.  One can look out on the horizon and surmise by observing the actions and words of some who claim to follow the way of Jesus that there are other “quests,” at work – quests for survival, security, and ego-centered power.

It’s been a very fragile couple of weeks within the Anglican Communion, indications that a quest for ubuntu may be on very thin ice indeed.

What has dominated the Anglican blogosphere lately is the story of the pressure placed on our Presiding Bishop by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office to provide documentation of her ordination status and to refrain from wearing the symbols of her office (mitre) while visiting Southwark Cathedral in the Church of England. This was unexpectedly described as standard “policy” for our Primate following her numerous similar visits (and those of her predecessors) with no such requirements. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was calm and even courteous about the whole silly episode now dubbed “Mitergate” (see Ruth Gledhill’s article at the Times Online here).  It’s difficult for me to believe that such a shift in policy represents the deeper hearts of those who have applied it in this case.

We all know that theological debates and provocative actions over the issues of human sexuality as well as issues of authority and provincial autonomy, have torn deeply into the fabric of our beloved Anglican Communion. I do not for one minute want to minimize the complexity of the issues, nor the importance of seeking common agreements by which we maintain mutual regard, consistency of practice, and common faith and order within our Communion. But I do wonder at times, if in our exhausting attempts to preserve our institutional structures, we are missing a critical opportunity to discover a new and more inclusive way of being the Church in the 21st Century.

We live in the movement from modernism to postmodernity (a term we will live with until we can look back and name what has really happened); it is a time of great uncertainty but also a time of great possibility. Anglican Christians today, and all Christians who have eyes to see, find themselves living in a border land, somewhere between what has been and what is yet to be. We face the delicate balancing act of holding on to the best parts of our traditions while seeking distance from those things that prevent us from being a positive and transformative voice in our culture today. The truth is that we need both to have integrity, and maybe that is what the quest for ubuntu is finally all about.

I pray we can find the courage to pursue that quest with less fear and more charity.

The blogosphere is once again alive with the latest developments among provinces within the Anglican Communion.  It breaks my heart to see some of my faith heroes backed into defensive corners over institutional matters that I believe are not consonant with their deepest hearts (my humble opinion).  This morning I read an essay by Brian McLaren that holds up the historic Anglican instinct of avoiding extremes when any number of controversies might cause us to turn on each other, rather than turn with each other toward a world in great need.  Brian offers these helpful words:

In its aspiration to be one global community the Church will not find it easy to resist being divided by denominational and nationalist ties.  In cherishing the beauty of holiness, the Church will need to work hard to resist having its soul reduced to a list of correct doctrines.  To resist these constrictions and reductions, the Church must hold to another ancient value: catholicty.

There are two models of catholicity.  One is a colonial or imperial model: unity and universality are maintained by submission to one dominating will.  The other is the humble or charitable model: unity and universality are maintained by a generous spirit of inclusion.  The spirit of inclusion is, at its core, a refusal to practice elitism (from Ancient Faith, Future Mission, p. 15).

I continue to believe, somewhat naively I’m sure, that Anglican Christians (read all Christians) around the world can find a center that will hold.  That center, I believe, is not a doctrinal or ecclesiastical consensus, but a person, Jesus the Christ, and his call to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as well as we love ourselves.

This week, I came across an article by James Martin, a nationally known Jesuit priest, who spoke to the popular phrase “I’m spiritual, just not religious” and explained that this kind of thinking might be a way of saying that religion means, “abiding by arcane rules and hidebound dogmas, and being the tool of an oppressive institution that doesn’t allow you to think.”  Martin wonders if people who identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious” imply that faith is something solely between you and God. But is that really true? We cannot simply relate to God alone. That would mean there is no one to whom we are accountable with regard to our “spirituality,” or to suggest when we might be drifting into troubled territory.  Martin writes:

“We all tend to think that we’re correct about most things, and spirituality is no exception. Not belonging to a religious community means less of a chance of being challenged by a tradition of belief and experience, less chance to see when you are misguided, seeing only part of the picture, or just wrong.”

What happens when our “spirituality,” hits the wall?  What happens when life circumstances overwhelm us and we feel that no one understands our situation or would want to?  What happens when our faith gets knocked out of focus and what we thought was a solid spiritual world view no longer makes sense to us?  What then?

For those of us who are connected with a mainstream Christian community, we are frequently reminded that suffering and doubt are part of the life of even the most devout Christians we know. Without the wisdom of a faith tradition we miss the encouragement and tested practices of those who have walked similar roads in ages past.  No matter how intentional we might be about the spiritual dimension of our lives, we are human and make mistakes. And when we do, we can rely even more deeply on the wisdom and grace of a religious tradition. We may not fully understand or agree with all aspects of that religious tradition, but on the whole, the grace and stability it offers are invaluable. The irony is that we most often feel like giving up on the community of faith precisely when we need it most.

I commend Martin’s article to you – a helpful reminder for ourselves as well as a bit of wisdom to pass on when you engage with those who see little value in the mainline church today.  Turns out you can be “spiritual” and “religious” and nurturing that relationship appears to be the better part of wisdom.

Last Sunday was an extraordinary celebration of faith and common mission at Holy Comforter. It doesn’t get much better on Pentecost than having a former Bishop of Jerusalem as your celebrant and preacher.  Bishop Samir Kafity graced us with inspiring and confident words as we renewed our baptismal promises to engage God’s mission in the world today.  It was also an added pleasure to welcome Canon John Peterson, former Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and dear friend of Bishop Kafity. I can say that Mthr. Libby, Fr. Jody, and I felt honored to be in the company of such distinguished and globally aware servants of God.  Their joy and sense of humor was infectious!

In Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, the long Arab-Israeli conflict continues to take a dramatic toll on Palestinians. Political turmoil and socio-economic pressures have led to an increasingly sharp decline of the indigenous Palestinian Christian population. By way of comparison, Palestinian Christians represented approximately 23% of the total (non-Jewish) population of pre-1948 Palestine. Now they make up less than 2% of the population and face possible extinction as a result of these sharply declining rates in the course of the next few decades, most notably in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Bishop Kafity reminded us of the importance of preserving a living indigenous Christian presence in the Holy Land and the Middle East. We know all too sadly, that the Christian presence is threatened by those who are consumed with extremism. It is clear that the Christian community in the Holy Land has a crucial role to play as a moderating element in the social and cultural fabric of the Middle East and they deserve our continuing prayers and support.

In gratitude for Bishop Kafity’s ministry, our Diocesan Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, asked that the loose offering from Sunday’s liturgy be designated to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.  AFEDJ raises funds for and promotes the humanitarian work of the Diocese of Jerusalem and its institutions so that it may better serve in building bridges of dialogue, peace and understanding between East and West, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

It was a Pentecost I shall not long forget.

Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the third great feast of the church year after Christmas and Easter for which the Church of the Holy Comforter is named. It reenacts the story of a small group of disciples who were still confused and adrift after the death and resurrection of their Lord. All they knew to do was to keep their routines, getting together, waiting, and hoping that God would do something new. They did not have to wait long.

Into that quiet room where the disciples gathered, St. Luke tells us there came a sound like the rush of an irresistible wind, tongues of fire in the air, and a startling capacity for the disciples to be able to speak in other languages (Acts 2:1-13). It was as if the life of the Spirit had been smoldering within them all along, waiting to be released. God breathed on the disciples and they knew the Holy Spirit as God’s energizing presence among them. They found themselves growing. Such “spirited Christianity” began at Pentecost. This does not mean that we must undergo some ecstatic Pentecostal experience in order to become a spirited follower of God.  It does mean that we can receive and continually know Christ’s personal presence, awakening our minds and hearts to the adventure, wisdom, and peace that moves us beyond ourselves into engagement with God’s mission in the world. Anglican priest and author, Dave Tomlinson writes:

Our postmodern world longs for numinosity: for a sense of awe and mystery, for sacredness, spirituality and enchantment, for something ‘more’ than the purely rational or cerebral. If the Church fails to engage and cater to this longing, it has no real future (From “Re-enchanting Christianity“).

At Holy Comforter, we are growing in our awareness that we cannot simply rest and wait for people to cross our threshold. We are called to engage with those in our immediate surroundings who are longing for something ‘more’ in their lives.  As Episcopalians we know we must become better conversation partners with those who want to explore questions of faith and purpose. We have a unique balance of mystery and rootedness to offer those who seek a spirituality that grapples honestly with our contemporary experience in the world. We often conclude the liturgy with these words: “Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Oh, that it were so!

Working Preacher.org sponsored by Luther Seminary offers this Video with insightful commentary that a certain preacher may include in his sermon this Sunday.

Two of the most prolific and successful recording artists of all time are close friends and are together again.  To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of a venue that calls itself home to such notables as Elton John, The Eagles, and Joni Mitchell. Carole King and James Taylor performed there together in November of 1970 and again in November of 2007.  Carole King and James Taylor — Live at the Troubadour is a CD/DVD collection of fifteen classic numbers chosen from the 2007 shows.

It’s great to hear Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar and Russell Kunkel as the back up band again.   Wonderful commentary between the songs expressing the deep connection these two folk icons have with their fans.  This enduring music will put a smile on your face and quicken your step.  Go on, you know you need it.

www.caroleking.com www.jamestaylor.com iTunes