Now it is 2009.  I wonder what our children will have in forty years to look back to and relive the moment?  My personal prayer is they have something to bring them back; to draw them like a magnet and remember.  The images, the sounds, the emotions, seeing the flag waving, hoping and praying that these men will make it back—this incredible encounter with the unknown helped in my spiritual formation.  No doubt we have God who is bigger than we can imagine and is willing to share the universe with us.

Maybe this is the real message of all of Holy Scripture.  God wants God’s people to take the risk of journeying with God witnessing the vastness of God.  God wants God’s people to embrace the unknown of creation and to simply trust that what God has in store is and will be remarkable.

Can you imagine how much has been discovered, encountered, understood and accepted since the times of Adam and Eve?  I am glad for all these  discoveries.  And yet, I am envious of those back then.  For look at how much they would experience as they relied in God to be their guide and to lead them into knowledge of God’s kingdom.
We do live in a world and society which gives us some technological advancement.  The question remains is do we still have that sense of awe and wonder stemming from the vastness of God?  I hope so.  We need the unknown of God to motivate us into continuing the walk with God.

In the Gospel of John, the disciples drop their nets to follow Jesus.  Along the way, they question Jesus as to what they will encounter.  Jesus response was always, Come and see.

Even in this day of thinking we know everything we need to know, thinking we have done all we can do, Christ in our hearts still whispers, Come and see.  There is so much more to God, to life, to this world God wants us to be a part of.  Whenever we think we have God totally figured out God, God surprises us.

Each day of our lives, instead of ruminating what has been discovered, we listen to that whisper of God’s, Come and see.  Here is we get a glimpse of the fullness of God only to realize there is more.  One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Yours in Christ,
Father Scotty+

On vacation, I had one of those precious glimpses.  On the Virginia/Tennessee border there is a small town (actually a neighborhood) that has a rather interesting event every Saturday evening.  The Carter Family Fold is the homestead of a well-known bluegrass and mountain gospel group — the Carter family.

We arrived early as advised by others who have lived in the area.  We sat down and watched the people slowly fill the place up.  All ages, all sizes, and all types of people began to make the congregation.  This gathering ranged from little infants, from those bearing bizarre tattoos, to some who wore very plain mountain clothing.  All sorts and conditions of people coming together to enjoy — no, celebrate — what the evening had to offer.  We also noticed how many of these people wore taps on their shoes.

The bluegrass band warmed up and the energy of anticipation was electric.  Finally, the group, Kody Norris and the Watauga Mountain Boys,  played their first song.  The lead singer invited all who wanted to dance, play, to do whatever to come up and in front of the stage.  It was a mass altar call.  It was as if all of the regulars drifted down to dance. There were all kinds of styles and all kinds of movements…  Yet, the amazing thing was, the tapping was completely in sync and harmonious.  It was as if it were only one sound coming from the floor.

How is this a glimpse of heaven?  We are so different from each other.  Everyone of us brings to the stage something unique and something special.  But when we come together invited by God, the presence is remarkable and the sound of glory and joy is connected. This is that small glimpse of what the kingdom of God is and is going to be.
In the back of the prayer book, there is a selection of prayers and thanksgivings.  This section contains one of my favorite prayers, For the Human Family.  There is a phrase:

break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love;
and work though our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purpose on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne.

To me, this is a glimpse of heaven.  May we put on our tapping shoes and dance.

Yours in Christ,
Father Scotty+

“for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

2 Corinthians  5:6

To be honest, there are times when I read from the works of St. Paul I feel he is writing to someone else.  In reality that is exactly what Paul has done.  He wrote to people in various cities who were trying to figure out their connection to God through Jesus Christ.  So, there are those moments in which Paul directs a particular message to a particular people in a particular area like Corinth, Rome, Thessalonica, Ephesus, Philippi and so on.

But there are those times when a pearl, a spark, an ember jumps out and drills deep into the soul.  Paul shares something that touches the part of the heart where only you and God knows of its existence.  And this is where each of need and should value the words written so very long ago by this man.

The other day I was floored by one of these pithy treasures.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  In 2 Corinthians Paul reminds me that it is I who wants to be absolutely in charge of my own journey.  It is I who wants to be in control of how I view life, how I view others, how I believe, how I think and feel, how I love, how I…..  And so easily I want to leave God out of the picture because I am afraid God in Christ will ruin a good thing, that is, me in charge of me.

As attractive as this is, me being in control of my seeing the world, it gets me into trouble.  It gets us into trouble.  We are reluctant to view the universe as how God wants us to encounter and embrace that which God creates.  But where the real beauty of life, of the world of everything is through the eyes of God and not our own.

Have you ever been on a faith walk?  This is an exercise where someone ties a blindfold around the eyes, tells you to hold onto a rope, and leads you to a destination.  Initially it scares you.  You can’t see.  You are not in control.  But then you come to realize what a joy it is to have someone care so much for you  to guide to a place where it is safe.  This is what it means to walk with God and allowing God to be the eyes.  We are blessed by God in Christ to bring us that much closer to God—a safe place.

Sure there are times when this journey is tedious and uncomfortable.  It is human nature.  It is like Peter walking to Jesus on the sea only discovering he is doing the impossible and then sinking.  But what does Christ do?  Jesus reaches out, grabs the hand and helps him get back to the boat. For we walk by faith, not by sight.

May our journeys be filled with using the eyes of God to help us to walk. May we see the beauty God wants us to see through Christ.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

There was a big shoe that was hollow inside.  It made for a great place to play hide and seek or other games which were fueled by imagination.  The only requirement was that you had to tie the lace of the shoe before you could enter it.  I had the most difficult time tying that lace.  After many days of worrying about my aptitude and intelligence, it occurred to my parents and to me that the reason why I had difficulty is that I was left-handed and would make a knot like a left-handed person would make that knot..  The lace basically looked the same and it accomplished the same purpose, but it was different in a very subtle way.

You know, I believe that God calls us to approach life, approach meaning, and even approach God like we are left-handed.  You come up with the same results, it is just from a different angle.  You have the same results, it is just from another perspective.

I don’t know why those who are considered conservative are from the right.  I don’t know why those who are liberal are from the left.  What does that make someone who is left-handed and conservative?  Confused?  I hope not.

You and I are blessed because God makes all of us unique in one way or another.  Each of us sees God in different lights.  We witness God working through us and in us and with us  in so many wonderful and creative  directions.  And yet, ultimately, the goal, and the outcome remains the same.

If I could ask God for one thing.  If I could wish for God to change me in one way.  I would want God to  make me ambidextrous!  There are times that I want to see life both with my right side and with my left.

Deep down I know God will not grant this silly desire.  Because God knows we need to be with others who see God and know God in another manner.  This is where the real beauty of being in love with God as community.  We can learn how to experience God in a new light.  This is why we need the Church.

So those who are left-handed, go and draw the world with your right hand.  Those who are right-handed, try doing the same thing with your left.  We need each other.  We need the Church.  We need God in Christ Jesus.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

Sometimes, I feel that we Christians have the tendency to approach God like my father used duct tape.  We get comfortable with one way of connecting with God. We get comfortable with one way of praying, of reading Holy Scripture.  We comfortable with only one way of looking as to how God works in our world.  It is like when something is amiss, skewed, even broken in our journeys, we cry to God and ask God to come in a manner which we are the most familiar with.  “Get the duct tape.”

God, the Father, gives us creation.  God told us that what is created is not only good.  Creation is very good.  The amazing thing about this gift is that it is always changing—evolving into God’s likeness.  Creation is not stagnant.  Creation is ever-changing.  And we changed by God the Father.

God, the Son, enters into our very souls and challenges us in areas which we need to be challenged.  If we really think we have all of God in life figured out, the Son comes and calls us to see God in a different light.  But the message God the Son tries to always get across is that everything is centered in unconditional love.  We are challenged by God the Son.

God, the Holy Spirit, connects us with the mystery of life, of creation, of God.  We witness how the impossible becomes reality.  We witness how what seems to be routine becomes glorious and huge.  We witness the same routine also become intimate and small.  We are empowered, led, and validated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  We are given the spark of mystery by the Holy Spirit.

Change.  Challenge,  Spark.  This Sunday is Trinity Sunday.  It is a time we try to comprehend the nature of God.  But, in truth, God cannot be totally comprehended; at least not yet.  It is in God we are changed, challenged and given the means by which we begin the pilgrimage of being transformed into the image of God.  God is many things in our hearts, souls and in the world itself.  May we continue to find the means God molds and shapes us during the season of Pentecost.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

A friend of ours lives in Asheville, NC..  She has a brood ranging from all ages.  It is the youngest, even though I have not met her, I have fallen for head over heals.  It is because she symbolizes that side of childhood which is a cross between Dennis the Menace and Bart Simpson.

One day, her mother told her she did not want her child to play in the living room.  “DO NOT GO IN THE LIVING ROOM!!!!”  These were her exact words after she asked her youngest nicely about 100 million times.  Melissa left to continue her housecleaning.  After about ten minutes (yes, you guessed it) her child was in the living room playing.  The mother asked her in a frustrated tone why she was in the living room when she was told not to go in there.  The child said this.  “Well, mommy, my brain told me not to go in there, but my feet told me that I had to!”  I now refer to this little girl as “Brainiac Feet Girl.”

What is sin?  It is when our brains tell us that we shouldn’t do something that we are not supposed to and our feet tell us to go and do it.  Often we respond from impulse, from desire, from forces inside us and outside us to do, to say, and to be those things God challenges us not to do, say, and be.  Most of the time we truly know better but something overrides our knowing better and encourages us to do the opposite of what we are supposed to do.  Sin is defined in the Prayer Book as “…seeking our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with others, and with all of creation.”   We listen to our feet instead of our heads.

I can see God, shaking God’s head, telling us what we have done wrong and forgiving us for what we have done.  I am sure that my friend does not hold it against her daughter for doing something she was not supposed to do.  In fact, she found it quite funny.  Maybe God laughs at our impishness when we exert our will against God’s.

God loves us, directs us, guides us, challenges us, loves us and delights in us as we constantly learn what our strengths are and our limitations.  Yes, we are a stubborn lot.  We are children of God who have a good side which blesses and a darker side which pushes the envelope. But the absolutely wonderful thing is God still loves us.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

The picture was the parent holding the child’s head in the palm of the parent’s hand.  The child was so tiny, so fragile, so beautiful and so needing to be held and loved.  Take a moment and cup your hand.  Look at it and imagine a baby’s delicate head resting in that cup.  That was how small the child was.  And yet, the interconnection between parent and child was unimaginably huge.  A mother’s love.  A father’s love.  A baby’s love.  The photo was love incarnate and it was love itself.

As you look at the cup of your hand and see a child in the palm of your hand, imagine now your own head in God’s hand; in the palm of Christ Jesus.  My brothers and sisters, this is where the true miracle of creation takes place.  God holding each of us in God’s hand.

And God saw that  everything he  made, and behold, it was very good.

Our tendency is to not pay attention of what is really important in life.  We look at negative things.   We look at destructive things.   We look at things which tear down and hurt.  We look at things which bring us pain and despair.  But we forget to look at what God offers us every day we live.  God offers us a place in God’s hand.

Jesus, the child of God, through being human shows us what intimacy with God is.  Jesus leads us the way of understanding how we are children of God and being loved by God.  We are given that place in God’s kingdom, God’s heart, God’s hand by the One who leads the way, our Lord and Savior.

God steps back after God creates the universe and deemed it not only good but very good.  You and I are seen by God and embraced by God as being very good.  What an amazing position for each of us to be named by God as being good.

Maybe this is what struck me as I looked at the picture of Marie’s beautiful grandbaby—God reckons all of us as being good, wonderful, incredible.  We are miracles.  We are children who are loved and cherished.  We are vessels in which this loved is shared.  In the eyes of God through Christ Jesus, we are not only good; but very good.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

I remember going back there when I was older.  What seemed to be miles and miles wide was only a fraction of that size.  What seemed to be an unlimited resource for adventure and play was only a small plot.  Still, the memories allowed me to simply smile and cherish those moments.

We live in a world where, at one time was a vast and huge place, now is only a tiny corner.  Traveling by fast planes enables us to jump from point to point in a matter of hours.  Communication is instantaneous via the internet and cell phones.  What seemed to be an incredible expanse of distance from one end of the world to another is no longer that large.  Part of me is excited at these new possibilities and at the same time a part of me misses the adventure and use of our imagination.

With this world of ours growing smaller, I need God to be a mystery.  I need God to be that force in my life which calls me to use my imagination, my hope and faith, my everything I have, so that I have a cornerstone that anchors me..

We will never completely figure God out.  God will side step, will put something in our way to cause us to pay attention, God will play with our souls by delighting us with God’s love and kingdom.  God will always remain a steady and constant reminder that there is something else out there left to be explored.

I guess this must have been the way the disciples felt following Jesus around.  What’s going to happen next? Where are we going now?  Why did he choose us?  The wonderful and powerful journey our Lord and Savior led his students challenged them in ways we cannot even fathom.  And we are the ones who can simply smile and cherish those moments.

My prayer for each of us is to not out-grow God.  My prayer is that we can discover the many ways in which God can be met and experienced.  The promise of God through Christ is not to figure God out.  The promise is for the mystery and imagination to being loved and in love with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

We quite often refer to God as Father.  I am discovering, as I continue this pilgrimage of growing closer to God, there has to be that element of God as Mother, as well.  God gives birth to creation.  God nurtures us through our infancy.  God will never let go of us in being in relationship with us; no matter how good or bad we act.  God is always present in every situation of life.  A lot of times, we tend to ignore this part of God—God being Mother to us.

Mother Nature.  Mother Earth.  Mother Church.  Maybe this is why we refer to the Church as being our Mother.  For it is through this spiritual institution, this spiritual and communal body, that we embrace the totality of life.  It is in the Church we find comfort.  It is in the Church we find solace.  It is in the Church where we can run to when we have fallen down and scraped our knee or we can go to for celebration in response to something incredible happening to us.

This Sunday, today, we give thanks for the wonderful vocation of motherhood.  We are blessed with many things as we lift up this special vocation—love, care, concern, forgiveness, etc.  Today, we are taken aback to recall and remember special moments in our lives in which we bless and are blessed by our mothers.

Yes, there are those moments of grey hairs popping out and wrinkles formed around the brow.  But still, these do not take away from the necessity and importance of motherhood.  As we lift up this role of mothers in our hearts and souls, may we also grasp the reality as God acting as mother in the Church.

Happy Mother’s Day, mom!  Happy Mother’s Day to all who dare to enter into the job of being a mother.  Happy Mother’s Day, God in Christ Jesus!

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+

It feels like I have said these two words at least one million times.  I have said that I believe when my conviction is strong and as if I am yelling it with bold confidence.  I have mumbled that I believe when my heart and head are filled with doubts and reservation.  I have said that I believe in times of great intention and also in times as if it was done by rote.  Yet, no matter where we are in our place in life, the words, I believe, are said over and over and over again.

For some reason, this concept to believe has called me to ponder.  What exactly does it mean to believe?  What does it mean when we advocate our willingness and devotion to God by declaring our belief?

The Old English form of believe is belyfan, the Saxon form is gelyfan.  But the real meaning stems from the German, ga-laubjan, to hold dear, to love.  When professing that we believe in God we are professing our ability to love with every fiber of our being.

The next question which should come to us is how do we believe, do we love, God in Christ with all that we are.  This is where the element of faith comes in.  At least for me, I must have faith in God to support and empower me to believe in God.  The true basis of discovering and embracing the unconditionally loving relationship offered by God and received by us is in our faith to believe.

Jesus challenges us to believe.  Jesus takes small children and places them in his lap and demands that we love God like little children.  Jesus points out to us that their belief, their faith, their love in God is not tainted by outside influences.  Their believing finds center and empowerment in God.

To believe is simple.  To believe is difficult.  To believe sometimes even seems impossible.  Yet, We are called to hold dear the One who creates, us.  We are called to believe in God as Father, as Son, as Holy Spirit.

And, we begin this wonderful spiritual pilgrimage with, We believe.

Yours in Christ,

Father Scotty+