*This blog post is my "Weekly Reflection" sent to Christ Church parishioners and friends on Thursday, July 7.
As my family and I anticipate our move to Indianapolis, we are living in the midst of transition at home as well as at church. A significant part of our preparation for the beginning of my ministry at St. Paul's in August revolves around our house. Getting it ready to be on on the market has meant not only the completion of a few projects but also, and perhaps most importantly, cleaning out the accumulation of 12+ years of stuff. A sizeable portion of this stuff has been books. We have given away 20 boxes of books (and still have plenty more!).
Going through my books I found several volumes by or about Winston Churchill. I have most of these books in my collection thanks to Jane Palmer, a long time member of Christ Church and someone, along with her husband Don, I consider to be a dear friend. Jane and I shared a love of history and of Churchill and Harry Truman. Besides the books, I have a few other reminders of her in my collection that represent this common interest.
I need these reminders because Jane died last week. Beyond a sense of personal loss, I know that Jane's death is a loss for a broad community of people who have been touched by her -- her family, the citizens of North Hampton, students at the White Mountain School, Boston University, the Diocese of New Hampshire, to name only a few. She lived her life with a deep commitment to the common good and she shared that commitment with a feistiness that Winston Churchill would have appreciated.
I found this quote from Churchill that I believe Jane would have appreciated: "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."
We complicate life a great deal, don't we? Well, perhapps I should speak only for myself. Too often, I forget that what matters in life and what makes a difference in this world is really very simple. When it comes down to it, what matters is being true to ourselves, our communities, our families, and our God. If we do this, we make the world a better place.
I think I would add faith and love to Churchill's list. What would you add?
(Since sending this out to parishioners, here is what has been added to the list: charity, memory, friendship, knowledge, and compassion)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Freedom: A Gift or a Right?
This blog post is my "Weekly Reflection" sent to Christ Church parishioners and friends on Thursday, June 30.
Did you know that in the back of the Episcopal Hymnal 1982there are five hymns in the category "National Songs" (one of which is the National Anthem)? This might seem a bit odd in a nation that so highly values the separation of church and state and the right to freedom of religion. However, Christians have always believed that God is active in society as a whole, not simply in the church. For example, here are St. Paul's words in Romans 13:1: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God."
For context, it is helpful to understand that Paul wrote this in a religiously pluralistic society with governing authorities who were most definitely not Christians. He is expressing his understanding and belief that God is the Creator of all, whatever one particular religious beliefs may be.
This brings to mind verse 3 of "My country 'tis of thee," which focuses not on the freedom we enjoy as Americans but on the freedom that is inherent in God's creation.
Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees
sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake,
let all that breathe partake,
let rocks their silence break,
the sound prolong.
Perhaps this is a good reminder that, while on Independence Day we celebrate all that makes our country great, we all recognize that, ultimately, we owe our existence in this world to our Creator. Perhaps this will remind us that true freedom -- not simply freedom spelled out in the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights but the freedom to be wholly who we are created to be -- is not simply a right but a gift from God.
As Thomas Jefferson -- who was more Deist than Christian -- wrote 235 years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Did you know that in the back of the Episcopal Hymnal 1982there are five hymns in the category "National Songs" (one of which is the National Anthem)? This might seem a bit odd in a nation that so highly values the separation of church and state and the right to freedom of religion. However, Christians have always believed that God is active in society as a whole, not simply in the church. For example, here are St. Paul's words in Romans 13:1: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God."
For context, it is helpful to understand that Paul wrote this in a religiously pluralistic society with governing authorities who were most definitely not Christians. He is expressing his understanding and belief that God is the Creator of all, whatever one particular religious beliefs may be.
This brings to mind verse 3 of "My country 'tis of thee," which focuses not on the freedom we enjoy as Americans but on the freedom that is inherent in God's creation.
Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees
sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake,
let all that breathe partake,
let rocks their silence break,
the sound prolong.
Perhaps this is a good reminder that, while on Independence Day we celebrate all that makes our country great, we all recognize that, ultimately, we owe our existence in this world to our Creator. Perhaps this will remind us that true freedom -- not simply freedom spelled out in the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights but the freedom to be wholly who we are created to be -- is not simply a right but a gift from God.
As Thomas Jefferson -- who was more Deist than Christian -- wrote 235 years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
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