— Jelaluddin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks
Copyright 1997 by Coleman Barks. All rights reserved.
On grace
Lent is said to be a time for introspection and laying bare the warped ways of our wayward souls; a time for laying our cards on the table, admitting at least to ourselves that we have stacked the deck, cheated the Dealer and even tried to beat the House.
“For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:3)
In the death throes of a failed marriage years ago many insults were hurled from both directions, I regret to say. In a heated argument my husband charged, “You’re just like your father!” He knew that would hurt because he knew my father had hurt me. My response was absolute denial. A sense of betrayal. Outrage. Defensiveness. Humiliation. Shame.
But after a while, in a rare moment of self-awareness, I was able to sit quietly with those words: “You are just like your father.”
And I decided that I was.
I was strong. I was determined to live. I had an adventurous soul and I didn’t really care what other people thought. I had no choice but to live life my way. My spirit would not wilt, I would not lose my voice, I would find my way. I was like my father.
I also admitted to myself that some of my worst qualities and most shameful behaviors were like my father’s.
And you know what?
I was relieved.
I was relieved of the burden of trying to measure up. I was relieved of the fear of being found out. It was all out in the open. At times I was an awful human being. I could let that truth come to light. I didn’t like it, but I could live with it.
Shame lost some of its power over me that day. I felt light. I felt free.
It’s true. I am like my father – his best and worst self. I am wheat and chaff. I am daylight and nightshade. I am hot and cold. I am sweet and sour. And on my good days, I am not ashamed.
Shame tried to burn me and bury me but I found life in something I later learned was called Grace.
-Rev. Angie Wright
Lenten reflection from Fisher Humphries
“Rejoice in hope…rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep with those who weep. Romans 12:12,15
It easy to find ways to love people when their lives are desperate, but how do you love people when their lives are going along pretty well? A good place to start is to pay attention to them.
When you care for people, you join them in what they are experiencing. If they are happy because their child is doing well in school, you join them in their happiness. If they are worried because their child is acting sullen and alienated, you join them in their worry. You rejoice with those who rejoice, and you weep with those who weep.
We need this counsel because sometimes we seem instinctively to do the opposite. When an acquaintance seems to be unusually happy, we remind her that life is serious and a lot of people in our world are suffering. When a family member seems to be unusually sad, we urge him to cheer up and rejoice in the Lord. These are not loving actions.
We have to be careful about this counsel. We shouldn’t rejoice with the criminal who is happy that he is getting away with selling drugs to kids, and we shouldn’t weep with the senior adult who is experiencing clinical depression but won’t see a doctor or take medicine. We rejoice with those who are rejoicing appropriately and weep with those who are weeping appropriately.
God does this, I think. It’s pretty easy to think of God as sharing in our sadness. It’s a little trickier to think of God as sharing in our happiness. But God does rejoice with us. God is interested in happiness.
In fact, God’s intention is that in the end the happiness will be the whole story. Jesus said he will judge all the nations. We know he will do it right. He will fix the mess. In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do. As we do it, we can live with the hope that in the end Jesus will fix things. And we rejoice in this hope. We refuse to settle for too little. We hope for it all. It’s going to be all right, thank God.
-Fisher Humphreys
Lenten reflection from Marianne Dreyspring
IN GOD ALONE IS MY SOUL AT REST
I remember discovering as a child that I could float on my back if I got in water that was over my head. What a relief when I got tired of swimming just to turn over and rest on my back. I still need to rest when I get in the deep waters of life.
I am grateful that Lent comes along every year so I can get relief from the world’s pressures. I get to go for six weeks to another plane of existence, that of the spirit. There someone waits to hold me up. My Father knows and accepts me just as I am, a relief from the judging physical world.
During the Season of Lent I will take some quiet moments to pray every morning before rising:
“My soul finds rest in God alone…
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
(Psalm 62)
And I will refresh myself at regular intervals during the day with this psalm.
-Marianne Dreyspring
Double Whammy: Storm knocks roof off pastor’s Avondale church – and off her house in Homewood
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The high winds that swept through Birmingham early Friday morning knocked the roof off the Beloved Community Church in Avondale, and also knocked a tree down on the pastor’s roof at her house in Homewood.
Beloved Community Church, which is at 131 41st Street South next to the Avondale Brewery, had roofing material knocked loose including bricks that fell into the street.
Pastor Angie Wright said winds basically swept the roof off the church, causing water damage. “We had some pretty significant damage to the roof,” Wright said. “It’s a flat roof. The wind lifted off the black tar roofing cover and rolled it up and laid it on the street. It looked liked rolled up carpet on Second Avenue, laying in the street. It tore off bricks and metal flashing. It’s caused some leaks on the inside. The carpet will have to be replaced. There were a lot of bricks in the street. It knocked the tree down behind the church and the brewery.”
Wright expects the Sunday services to be moved for at least a month. This Sunday at 6 p.m., the church will meet in Avondale United Methodist Church, a few blocks away.
“We’re going to be out of the building for awhile – I don’t know how long,” Wright said. Some pieces torn off the historic building that houses the church may be put to good use. “We’re saving the bricks for souvenirs,” Wright said.
The damage at her house in Homewood may be even severe. “My house is in pretty terrible condition,” she said. “We had an enormous tree crash through the roof.”
On the bright side, it could have been worse, Wright said. “Everybody’s fine,” she said. “Nobody got hurt.”
Beloved Community Church averages about 45 people in its Sunday night services and prides itself on a welcoming atmosphere and music with a jazz flair.
“It’s a diverse congregation,” Wright said. “We welcome all kinds of folks. We have dynamic music.”
Offers have poured in from other churches willing to host the congregation. Avondale United Methodist Church will be a nice temporary home for services, Wright said. “It’s a more traditional church,” she said.
See also: ‘It was quite the scene’ after strong winds in Avondale knocked tree into patio of Parkside Cafe
Beloved Community Damaged by Storm
Click here for video of storm damage at the church from WVTM-TV, NBC 13.
Lenten reflection from Palmer Maxwell
In some Christian communities the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday, is observed with prayer services that include placing ashes on the forehead of members of the congregation. At the time the ashes are placed on the forehead the minister may use this formula: REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN.
Ashes on the forehead is, in the first place, a sign of repentance, turning back to God. We remember that this is the response that Old Testament figures took when they had broken God’s commandment: they would wear sackcloth and cover themselves in ashes and fast to invoke God’s mercy and forgiveness. The ashes also remind us of the story of creation when, in the Garden of Eden, God breathed life into Adam from the dust of the earth. As Christians receiving the ashes it is important to remember that this is not intended as a morbid reflection on the human condition and our mortality. When heard in the context of Scripture these words: REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN are an affirmation of God’s creative love and unconditional commitment to the human race.(John 3.16) How do we know this? Because Jesus experienced himself as “dust” being born and dying as all human beings do. What all human beings have experienced from the beginning of time: “dust unto dust” becomes through Jesus, the New Adam, the beginning of a new creation, what we call “Heaven” which is, in fact, a reality we already participate in. Lent is simply a time to get “in sync” with what has already been given us: “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.”(Luke 17.21) “He who believes in the Son, has eternal life.”(John3.16)
This community of BELOVED already excels in what are referred to as the corporal acts of mercy: clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, almsgiving.
What we are challenged to are the more quiet and interior disciplines of prayer and meditation and reflection on the Word of God.
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
Getting “in sync” with our “Original nature.” We are made in the image and likeness of God. This is our original nature. Our original “face.” Lent is a time to remember who we are in God’s eyes not in the eyes of society or the world. Prayer and meditation are the most effective means to remember who we are. Take time to be still. Be present to yourself and present to the silence where God speaks to us in the depths of our hearts.
COME TO ME ALL WHO ARE WEARY AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST
Getting “in sync” with God’s Word. During Lent the universal Church walks with us. We go on this pilgrimage together. And our “bread for the journey” is God’s word. We can use the lectionary on line (http://www.presbyterianmission.org/devotion/daily/2013/2/13/) to take part in that bread of life. The readings from the lectionary are the readings that all UCC and many other denominations use for each liturgical season. Last year Angie suggested using the readings throughout the day to sustain us. We may choose to fast from food but we should never fast from the Word of God, our daily bread. This way, although we may be reading the scriptures at home alone, we are really in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. It’s a beautiful thought. May God bless us during this Lenten pilgrimage and renew us in His love.
-Palmer
Sister City Connection to benefit Beloved Community Church
Children’s church at Beloved
Nugeen Aftab, a student at East Lakota High School in Liberty, Ohio, won the 11th grade art competition for this poster in the 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Art, Writing and Multimedia Contest, sponsored by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
The theme of the contest was “The Quest for Pace and Justice”, a speech that Dr. King delivered during a lecture that brought him the Nobel Peace Prize.
As the daughter of parents, Kamran and Sarwat Aftab, who were Pakistani immigrants, Nugeen has a personal experience of the American melting pot.
The writing on Nugeen’s ‘melting pot’ reads: America is One. People, we are many. Together we must resolve our problems and come together IN PEACE.
50 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his oft repeated observation that “Sunday at 11am is the most segregated hour in this nation.”
Today, fewer than seven percent of US churches are considered to be racially or economically diverse.
Since oping its doors in 2000, Beloved Community Church has consistently made racial, economic and cultural diversity in its congregation a primary goal of its mission and ministry.
Children’s Church at Beloved explores meanings and mystery in the Bible while nurturing creativity and a careful understanding of cultures from around the world.
All children and teens are enthusiastically invited to attend. No requirements expected of parents or children.
If you would like to know more about Beloved Community Church or Children’s Church at Beloved, please contact:
Rev. Angie Wright
(205) 595-6080
beloveducc@aol.com
Lenten reflection from Susan Proctor
“Whisper words of wisdom~Let it Be”
Beatles Words from Jesus?
Or other prophets?
Blood on the land from so many who speak to us as we contemplate our own place.
Martyrs~~oh SO many that we can name, and those who are unknown.
Those who did not only gaze at their navels, but spoke Truth to Power.
Yet, first, did they not reflect?
Our leaders, inspirers, and yes, our own pastor is one of these.
Because Jesus was not wrong. He did not get lynched by not being radical to his time and place. He knew he would. He knew. Yet, he Let It Be.
Let us count the names ~ yes, too many, Thank God, so many!
Do we die on the cross along side? Dare we? Should we? Must we?
Good Friday. We anticipate the Resurrection. Because now we have the story, the history, the faith. But what if we were there then; confused, frightened, intimidated, betrayed?
Jesus answered him. “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 NIV
Jesus telling “the truth” just at death? No, telling the truth always. The scary, today, truth. Truth to power. (little “p”) We have the power.
We have been gifted the Power (big “P’).
This time, as we pray, the blood must stop, the hate must end, the gift has been given of LIFE.
Let It Be!
-susan proctor
Lenten reflection for Good Friday
If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved! Romans 10:9
Confessions
I told a lie…
And the nail was hammered more deeply into Jesus’s wrist.
The devil giggled and said, “She’s mine!”
I broke a promise…
And the nail was pounded farther into Jesus’s feet.
The devil clapped his hands with glee and said, “She’s mine!”
Someone needed my compassion, but I turned away…
And the spear was plunged into Jesus’s side.
The devil smirked and said, “She’s mine!”
Then – through the blood, the sweat, the tears, the unbearable agony –
Jesus looked at me
With grace
And with steel in his eyes, he turned to the devil and said,
“Get thee behind me Satan!
“I love her. She’s MINE!”
And Jesus?
I love him.
He’s mine.
– Marcia Bentley
