Pray without ceasing - or at least get it on Twitter

The fourth topic in the 2012 Lenten Series at Christ Church Cathedral was presented by Interim Dean, Ron DelBene on Wednesday, March 21. The theme of the series is Occupy Yourself: Doing Lent in an Unre-Lenting World. Prayer being a major discipline during Lent, in his presentation Ron emphasized the importance of “Living in the Present”.

The world-view of the Hebrews, for example, was of creation of heavens above where God resided and earth and the oceans below. Our knowledge today is of an unending universe, and the earth occupying a tiny space in the expanse. The world-view continues to change since July 20, 1969 when, for the first time a created being, stepped outside its habitat and looked at it from a distance.

Whereas in the Hebrew world-view, to see God meant death – and no one wants to die – in the present world-view God resides among us and to see God is to have life.

Dean DelBene gave ample illustrations of the tensions between the desire to “live in the present” in prayer, and religious establishment. Monasticism is an example of that desire to get back to the present, away from the established ecclesiastical practice.

Finally, DelBene emphasized the importance of intensity in prayer. It is necessary to ask oneself: “What do I call God and what am I asking for?”

Next Wednesday, March 28, will be the final presentation in the series. Jerry Lowe's topic will be: Lent on the Lens: Redemption and Joy at the Sinema. We will bring you a report but it is best to be there and hear it yourself.

As always your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Co-existence or interdiction?

During a local church function recently, a friend noticed a license plate in the church parking lot that read: “Co-exist”. The expression troubled him greatly, especially because it was a statement made within a church parameters and intended to send a message to other faiths, he thought.

“What do you feel about Christians declaring co-existence with Muslims?” he lamented. Yet the question before us is: Should Christians co-exist with anyone outside their faith?

Almost eight centuries ago, on March 19, 1229, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II entered into a compromise with Muslims to secure access of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by Christians. Actually, he had not been enthusiastic about the 6^th Crusade.

Nevertheless, the compromise was immediately rejected by both sides. For his part, Frederick II was excommunicated for choosing peace rather than war. Further the Church placed an interdict on Jerusalem.

That was almost 800 years ago. Today, most communities are  as pluralistic as they can be. One can even hear the muezzin's call for prayer on any street corner. Numerous diverse places of worship dot city maps on all the directions of the compass.

Would there rather be more “co-exist” license plates or interdicts? Can even Evangelism – that prized lifeline of some Christians – be otherwise possible in this pluralistic society?

Share your comments and suggestions.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere

Those are the words of Psalm 84:10 and the inspiration behind Fresh Winds Choir the touring worship group that seeks to praise God through songs, and similarly to encourage and inspire others to do the same.

This Sunday, March 18, the group was at City Gospel Mission as part of their 2012 Spring Tour. And what a worship and praise moment it was! It is unlikely that any of the twenty-plus people in the pews will forget the experience any time soon. For more than an hour and half they were on their feet, completely absorbed in the choir's message of inspiration, hope and praise.

Although that is precisely the ministry of City Gospel Mission , a special occasion like this reminds everyone of the blessings and the privilege of being called the child of God. Even more so when we settle into a routine and take it for granted.

There was also inspiration from the story of a member of the group who was once lost in addiction but found new life and meaning in God's mercy and grace and today he cannot cease to praise God.

Check out the choir's schedule; they might be coming to a church near you, and if they are, make every effort to join them in worship and praise – it is a transforming experience.

Bread is not good enough: Cake is better

The First Reading for this Sunday, The Fourth Sunday in Lent, is from Numbers 21:4 -9 where the Israelites “spoke against God and against Moses, (saying) 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food”.

“For there is no food?” Actually there was food from heaven - manna - but it was not what they wanted.

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between “needs” and “wants”. Many complaints heard everyday are not because of lack of needs but wants. Every report of good news on the media, for example, new jobs added or less claims for unemployment, there follows a counter-measure, such as, “but gas prices continue to make life difficult!”

Who would think that the Israelites would make a comparison with bondage in Egypt? Yet this Reading is a good reminder of Short-term Memory.

God desires gratefulness. Indeed, the other lessons for this Sunday – Ephesians 2:1 -10; John 3:14 -21; and Psalm 107:1 -3, 17 -22 all emphasize God's mercy and grace.

The appropriate response is “a sacrifice of thanksgiving and telling of God's acts with shouts of joy” (Ps.107:22) not complaints. Is there anything at all to be grateful for?

Meditate on God's holy Word: Discussion

The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is also a library, meaning a collection of books written by different authors.

It is true also that a community of faith made the collection scriptures. The Orthodox churches, of different traditions, have more books in their bibles than the Catholic church which has more books than the Protestants or the Anglicans.

How do we explain God's inspired Word with reference to the writers and the community of faith? Actually, there were more writers than they are in the scriptures

Add your comments and suggestions.

Meditate on God's holy Word: Is it on YouTube?

This was the third presentation in the 2012 Lenten Series at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati under the theme: Occupy Yourself: Doing Lent in an Unre-Lenting World.

When it comes to a general knowledge of God's holy Word Episcopalians rank on the bottom of the scale, even below atheists. (Incidentally, atheists have better general knowledge of the Bible than some Christian denominations – not just Episcopalians).

In his presentation on Wednesday, March 14, the Rev. Scott Gunn stressed that the Bible is God's inspired word. To underscore the significance, he informed his listeners that when deacons and priests are ordained in the Episcopal church, they sign a document to declare their affirmation of the fact.

The Forward Movement is the Episcopal national church's initiative to encourage and facilitate the study of God's holy World. The organization publishes and distributes Forward Day by Day meditations.

Click here for Rev. Gunn's notes of the presentation. The following are some thoughts and questions for discussion. You are invited to join in and next Wednesday Interim Dean Ron DelBene will present Pray without ceasing – or at least get it on Twitter.

Thoughts for the day from John Newton - writer of the song "Amazing Grace"

We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday's burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.

There is many a thing which the world calls disappointment, but there is no such a word in the dictionary of faith. What to others are disappointments are to believers intimations of the way of God.

The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient.

Cast down but not in despair

“The loss is heavy, but as traveling a road the second time is usually done with greater ease and certainly than the first time, so I trust the work will lose nothing of value...We are cast down but not in despair”.

That statement was made by William Carey, a missionary in India, whose print shop in Serampore was destroyed by fire on March 11, 1812. Everything he had labored for was suddenly gone: A whole version of the Bible, sets of types for 14 eastern languages, two grammar books and a multilingual dictionary.

On this anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku (Great East Japan) earthquake, Carey's words, of a disaster on the same date 199 years earlier, prove to be true as we witness Japan's steady and impressive recovery.

Inspired by Moses and Harriet Tubman

Cincinnati is home to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and museum. No name is more familiar with transporting slaves from the South to freedom in the North, than Harriet Tubman who died on March 10, 1913.

In a 10 year period, after escaping from slavery herself, she led more than 300 slaves to freedom.

There was a lot going against her but she prevailed because she trusted the Lord. She is reported to have said, “Twant me, 'twas the Lord. I always told him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me', and he always did”.

No wonder then, that she was known as “Grandma Moses”.

Moses had a lot going against him when God called him from the burning bush. He was a runaway murderer, a Hebrew – an enslaved people with no civil rights – he grew up in a foster home (never mind a royal household). On top of that he had speech impediment.

There is no doubt that Harriet Tubman was inspired by the example of Moses and today many can equally be inspired.

"I AM": Two most wonderful words

In Exodus 3:4 God called: “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am”.

When charged to go to Pharaoh to seek the release of the Hebrews from slavery, Moses recanted his minute-prior affirmation, and said, “Who am I...?” In effect he was saying, “I am not”. Like saying, “I am not who I thought I was”. It was a reversal of the affirmation.

He had plenty of excuses: He was a felon with murder on his record. (He could have been saying, “You don't know what I have done!). He was not eloquent, he stuttered. His upbringing, though in Pharaoh's household, was like in a foster home; he was not raised by his parents.

Moses topped his excuses by asking God, “By the way, what is your name?” And God answered, “I AM!”

The same two wonderful words!

Self-denial is for connection with others

During the second of the 2012 Lenten Series presentation, Bishop Tom Breidenthal stressed that fasting is a discipline whose goal is self-denial. Self-denial in turn is for purposes of connecting to others.

He cited St. Francis of Assisi as the best example.

Born into wealth, St. Francis gave up all material possession – deprived himself – so that he could connect not only with other people but also with nature and all creation. Thus, self-denial serves as an interruption of the distortion of who we are.

Indeed, materialism and consumerism are directed towards self. By stepping out of that comfort zone, one is reminded of who he or she is and enabled to be – and actually remain – connected. That is the purpose of fasting; that is the essence of self-denial.

The church encourages this discipline for all times but the season of Lent serves as a reminder of its importance. In Islam, Ramadhan is a good parallel.

Thus, the church serves as a school for this discipline of self-denial. Here, Bishop Breidenthal compared the church to what synagogue is, in Yiddish – Shul – which literally means “school” (Schulle, in German).

Next Wednesday, March 14, The Rev. Scott Gunn will present the third topic in the series: Meditate on God's holy Word: Is it on YouTube? As pointed out earlier, these presentations are serious and fun at the same time.

The church as a school for the discipline of fasting

In the second presentation of the 2012 Lenten Series at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati on Wednesday, March 7, Bishop Tom Breidenthal spoke about the discipline of fasting and the church as a training place.

First, fasting is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition as well as in Islam.

In Christianity, fasting is a discipline. As a matter of fact, the Greek root of the term is askein which means to work and from which we also get the term ascetic.

According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, ascetic is defined as a person who renounces the comforts of society and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.

It is a discipline which supports the belief its practice “releases the soul from bondage to the body and permits union with the divine” , according to the dictionary.

When applied to fasting, there is the emphasis on self-denial, to step outside the comfort zone for purposes of being reminded. First of who we are – the same reminder of Ash Wednesday – that we are mortal like everybody else. Second, that we are all connected. Bishop Breidenthal observed that it is incorrect when we speak of “making connections”. We are already connected by divine design. Fasting reminds us of the fact.

At this point, Bishop Breidenthal stressed that our connection is not limited to other Christians. We are connected to Jews and Moslems and Hindus and all human race. He also reminded the audience of the sensitivity of Jews towards Lent.

For European Jews, Lent was the beginning of their persecution and the horrors leading to WW II.

It is in dying that we are born again to new life: Further reflections

It was mentioned earlier that the Nazis attempts to usurp the church into their plans of racial prejudice were opposed by courageous people of faith who were willing to lose their lives to follow Jesus.

The Gospel Reading for this Second Sunday in Lent (March 4) is from Mark 8: 31 -38 where Jesus warns that “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it”.

There is a good example in the Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller who, along with another Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Reform theologian Kart Barth, led the formation of the German Confessing Church to oppose Hitler's Christian Church.

True to Jesus words, on March 2, 1938 Martin Niemoller was sentenced to 7 months imprisonment.

This is what he said about his trial: “First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me”

The call during Lent is for self-examination. We are reminded of our humanity and what makes us all the same. Perhaps such reflection will help us feel what others feel, see what they see, experience what they experience, speak out when they are hurt and defend the defenseless.

That is what it means to lose one's life for Jesus' and the gospel's sake.

Lest you forget: Part Two

This is a continuation of the discussion of Occupy Yourself: Doing Lent in an Unre-Lenting World, the 2012 Lenten Series at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati.

The theme, Occupy Yourself, comes in the context of the recent Occupy Wall Street movement and the polarization between the 99% and the 1% in income distribution. Many ordinary Christians believe they are part of the 99% and would be ready to take the 1% to task.

In the process of self-reflection we would want to remember that those numbers are relative. In a wider world view, the 99% in the Occupy Wall Street perspective are actually 1%. Thus in self-reflection, it is imperative to ask oneself: “How do I relate to those around the world who do not even have clean water, let alone running water! How do I relate to those who live on less than $1 a day?”

Such self-examination would be helpful in appreciating what one has and being thankful.

Canon Joanna Leiserson gave the example of a survey where the question was: Would you prefer to earn $50,000 and everybody else $25,000 or $100,000 and everybody else $200,000? Surprisingly – or perhaps not so surprisingly – the preference for many was the first scenario.

Clearly, there is a cultural climate of competition which chokes the spirit of appreciation and thanksgiving. It is imperative therefore, that in self-examination we identify those things that we would be thankful for, everyday.

Ultimately, self-examination becomes “course-correction” the same way rockets enable a spacecraft stay on course and not drift into oblivion.

Even in the process of self-examination, it is possible to err, but that is alright. Canon Leiserson quoted from Goethe's Faust: “For man must strive and striving must err”. She added, in the process, “sometimes we find out that God's path for us is circuitous”.

"Lest You Forget"

There is a lot of reckoning to be done throughout a Christian's life, and especially during Lent. Just as at the beginning of the season – Ash Wednesday – we acknowledge that we are from ashes and to ashes we will return, throughout the 40 days of Lent, Christians engage in self-examination. The purpose is to come to healing, to being made whole again and to restore the relationship with God.

It was a point made clear by The Rev. Joanna Leiserson, Canon for Christian Formation at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, during the first presentation in the 2012 Lenten Series.

Every year Christ Church Cathedral offers lecture series during Lent and Advent. Occupy Yourself: Doing Lent in an Unre-Lenting World is the theme of this year's Lenten Series. As posted in The (February 2012 ) Cathedral Tower, the aim is to “explore the traditional Lenten disciplines in a very un-Lenten society, offering tools and perspectives to live Lent with integrity, with joy and even humor – all with the clever and counter-cultural use of popular culture”.

All those were plentiful in Canon Joanna's presentation on Wednesday, February 29.

As we explore the traditional Lenten disciplines, we reckon with the fact that, today, we are a society of driven individuals but also stressed and frustrated. We are diverse, but also polarized. We are more connected than ever before – Facebook, Twitter, text devices – but also more isolated.

These are just some of the realities we have to reckon.

Christians are to remember, during this self-examination, that we have to be defined by God and not by society. Indeed, we live in a materialistic society driven by consumerism. It is a society that sets us into competition with one another.

Lent is a time to pause.

Does your church have anything to repent?

There have been reflections on the Salem Witch Trials which began on February 29, 1692 published on these pages before. The impetus of the reflections was, and still is, justice.

The first to be tried were all what scripture would describe as “defenseless”. Tituba, the “servant” of the Rev. Samuel Parris was actually a slave and – well – a native Indian. Sarah Good was a homeless beggar and Sarah Osborne was an elderly destitute.

They had nothing going for them, actually and they were women too.

Why did the clergy finally decide to stop the trials and executions on October 3, 1692? Because by then some respectable citizens were being accused of witchcraft!

Obviously some readers may be wondering: What has all this to do with Cincinnati, or anyone else today? Well, it took Massachusetts 300 years to acknowledge that there was something wrong with the whole business.

Recognition and acknowledgment of wrong doing is the first step in repentance, a major emphasis of Lent. There can not be true repentance where responsibility for wrong doing is not acknowledged.

The second point to note here is that the church initiated the witch hunts and it was the church that ended them. On this day, in 1692, the Rev. Samuel Parris speculated: - in reference to Tituba and Sarah Good - “In this very church, God only knows how many devils there are”. It was the Rev. Increase Mather who would later appeal for the sake of one human life.

Lent is a season of repentance. Every church and every community has a lot to repent and seek forgiveness. The first step is that soul searching process to recognize and acknowledge wrongs. And every church and every community has its own dark spots to clean up.

How does your church deal with differing points of view?

It is accepted that the conversion of Constantine had far-reaching consequences for Christianity. His conversion is supposed to have occurred after his victory in war against Licinius after seeing a vision.

Desiring to advance peace in the empire after the war, Constantine sought to unify the church which was fractured on account of the teachings of a presbyter named Arius which were in conflict with accepted orthodoxy. After his representative Hosius was unable to get Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, to reach agreement with Arius on the issue of the nature of Christ, Constantine convened the Council of Nicea in 325.

Around 300 bishops from various parts of the empire – the majority from the eastern provinces – were in attendance. Arius presented his views which were duly debated and questioned. At the end of the Council, only three of the seventeen bishops who had supported Arianism were unchanged.

Another issue discussed at the council was the date of celebrating the Resurrection – Easter.

Modern skeptics have taken issue with the Nicene Council focusing on the role of the emperor and the observance of Easter. Constantine's role was that of a mediator. The council did not enact his decrees, but the deliberations and decisions of the bishops.

Note also, that different points of view and even disagreements are not anathema to Christianity. There need be avenues – such as councils – for the different points of view and disagreements to be discussed. From the parish level, through synods and dioceses to national and international levels, avenues of discussion bring life to the church.

Some churches today are afraid of discussing or addressing difficult issues. They prefer to pretend they are not there, or use scriptures to suppress them. The Nicene Council can serve as a model in such situations.