Humble in the Midst of Uncertainty

For several years, now, I’ve noticed that when people assume that the world in which they live and work has been developed just for them, they try to discern how matters “should be” — they look for some authority by which to measure good and bad. 

Frequently, I’ve watched people spend a considerable amount of energy trying to discover the “right answer” to some perplexing decision they face.

Often, such a person will say, “I’ve been praying about it.” Finally a decision is made and then the person goes about promulgating justifications for their actions and decisions from a variety of historical and contemporary sources. 

While drawing on the wisdom and experience of previous generations, we should be able to ground ourselves in our present reality, and then envision the long-term future, aware that each of our actions, in its own way, truly helps shape that which is yet to be.

Those who understand emergence as the dynamic for all that is, a reality that is actually unfolding before our very eyes, experience the thrill of trying new alternatives and of experimenting with diverse options knowing that some will succeed and some will fail. That is no deterrent for responsible action.

In a universe drenched with God’s love, our lives can reflect that glory.

Maynard Moore

Metropolitan UMC

And So Shall We

I’m angry.

When I read these words from the Book of Micah, I get angry because it reminds me how much we have recklessly and flagrantly ignored what God calls us to do as Christians.  I get angry because of instead of seeking justice, we ignore the plights of the poor and most vulnerable in society.  Instead of loving kindness and mercy, we are caught in a dangerous love affair with guns and warfare.  Instead of walking in humility, we have policies that protect the richest and most powerful.   When I pause to consider the state of our world today, I fear that the words of Micah have not just been ignored, but also forgotten.

In spite of this, I am not without hope.  The words of the prophet Micah not only make me angry; they also call us to a new way of living.  My prayer for you this Lent is that you, too, may get angry when you read the words of the prophet Micah.  But, because Lent leads us to new life on Easter Sunday, I also pray that this time of penitence also inspires hope and new ways of living.   Though our current world clashes so violently with God’s vision for it, I believe we can all participate in bringing to fruition Micah’s call for justice, mercy, and humility.

May this Lent be a time of responding to this call.  May this season fill you with holy anger and impatience, but also with hope.  In this time of reflection, may we all re-order our ways of living in order to answer Micah’s call.

-Kurt Karandy

AU Methodist-Protestant Community

Accepting Gentle Kindness

I am grateful for being part of the life force of planet Earth - part of a loving family – of having a name by which I am known.

Accepting this

Undeserved gift of life

Moment by moment

Ever grateful….

May my life be a gift

May it be given

Passionately, selflessly,

Joyously, tirelessly,

Endlessly

May all beings be without

Suffering

May all beings be happy

And realize their true nature

Of no separation

From the One who Is.

May it be so

………… ……… …….

I am called Robertson Work.

Robertson Work

Metropolitan Memorial UMC

Be Compassionate and Loyal

The translation of Micah 6 in The Message is,

“But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,

what God is looking for in men and women.

It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,

Be compassionate and loyal in your love,

And don’t take yourself too seriously – Take God seriously.”

 This pronouncement from an Old Testament prophet resonates in how we live today.  In our Sunday lives and our weekday lives, we are called to fairness, justice, compassion and loyalty.  That sounds about right for Christians, doesn’t it?  Then, what about the next line which deals with taking God more seriously and ourselves less seriously?

Lent is a special time to examine how this is working out in our lives.  We find extra hours for prayer and study, and we try to do something outside ourselves.

I was recently reminded of my commitment many years ago as a Hotline volunteer in Alexandria, VA.  I don’t remember a time when my “compassion thermometer” was any more elevated than it was then.  We were well-trained to handle the distressing calls that came in from people who needed to talk while an anonymous phone voice listened to their most intimate and searing problems and questions.   There were very few innocuous calls to listen to.  Many came from those who were ready to take their own life, but were ambivalent enough to talk with someone before actually doing it.  These were the most difficult.  Trainers insisted “It’s not your fault if you fail at this.  The client is responsible for his/her own life.  You just do your best!”  But, oh, the pressure when those calls came!  It took all the compassion and composure we could muster.

There are many opportunities in our church to reach out to others.  There are those in the community around us in life or death situations.  Sometimes they only need one positive word of encouragement. 

Where can you fit in and find a place to serve?  Think about it during this Lenten Season.  Let’s take God seriously as we are called to do what is fair, just and compassionate.

 Barbara Tate

Metropolitan Memorial UMC

Trash to Treasure

One of the most horrendous things I have ever experienced coincided with one of the most transcendent things I have ever experienced. In early January 2010, I found myself with other college students standing in a large trash dump in a Burma-Thailand border town. We followed a Burmese Buddhist monk down the dirt path, surrounded by the stench of rot and the blaring noise of flies, our sandals quickly blackened by the trash around us. On one side of the path, trash spilled over into a large body of water. At first, we seemed to be the only ones there. Then, out of the heaps of trash, children started to run toward the monk guiding us, calling his name joyfully. Soon, we reached what can only be called the “village;” a series of small shacks constructed out of trash items. These three hundred Burmese refugees in Thailand, both adults and children, live in this dump, making a living off harvesting plastics at the dump.

            We climbed through the trash (two garbage trucks came along and dumped their loot on the path, trapping us at the back of the dump village). But we also played with the children. Playing soccer, running with kites, or sharing the cookies that the monk had brought them, these children were undoubtedly the most beautiful children I have ever met, no matter how dirty they were. This monk could have been living in Europe comfortably, for he had been granted refugee status after the 2007 Saffron Revolution, but he was here. This monk is the kindest man I have ever met in person.

            I am a student of religions at American University. Furthermore, I am only a recent convert to Christianity; at the time of this trip to the border, I could be called a student of Buddhism. I am convinced that this monk, though not a Christian, understands Micah 6:8 perfectly. He has dedicated his life to the poor, the marginalized, and the weak. Like the Christ, this person knows what it is to “walk humbly” with God.

Anne Lynch

AU Methodist-Protestant Community

What God Really Wants

It seems so simple, and yet it’s so hard.  What does God require of us?  To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. 

Like the people of Israel, we often wish God would be satisfied with something easier and more tangible.  In this day, it would be hard to come up with a burnt offering or thousands of rams suggested in the passage, but what about the equivalent for this day?  Can’t we just send a check to that cause or organization to fight injustice for us?  Maybe we can sign up for an email action alert, and send a few notes to Congress.  If these groups prevail, can’t we take credit?  After all, they couldn’t have done it without our support, right? 

Don’t get me wrong.  As one who has worked in those organizations and causes all my life, I appreciate having the backing of people behind me, whether I’m lobbying Congress or testifying on a federal rulemaking.  And I write my fair share of checks to other organizations to fight other battles I don’t have time or interest to fight myself. 

But what does God really want? 

God wants us to get our hands dirty and be active participants in creating a better world.  We are called to DO justice, not just like or approve of justice.   We are called to LOVE kindness, not just hope that it happens.  And God wants to walk with us on our journey and be our companion, guiding our hands and our hearts, bringing us to the hurt so we can help heal the brokenness around us.  When we see injustice, our hearts are moved and we have to act in kindness and humility.

Jayne Mardock

Metropolitan Memorial UMC

Desert Places

Lent begins the supreme time in our church year for spiritual reflection.  That reflection begins with looking at those places in our lives where we have fallen short of God’s calling.    The standard theme of the first Sunday in Lent is the reality of brokenness and temptation.  The story of Adam and Eve’s fall, and of Jesus’ time in the desert both witness to our temptation to turn away from God’s will for us and the brokenness that results from that — to ourselves, our relationships, and our society.  While this process of reflection can be painful and difficult, we cannot begin to make progress in our faith journey until we identify those places where we have blocked the Holy Spirit from our lives.

The ancient teachers on prayer called this first stage of the spiritual journey “purgation” or “purification” (it is traditionally followed by “illumination” and “union”).  Purgation, as its name suggests, is about “purging” ourselves, or “purifying” ourselves from our sins.  This process breaks down the barriers that we have put up between ourselves and God and frees the Holy Spirit to move in us.

One of the wonderful tools to aid this process was developed by St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).  He developed a process called the “Examen” (short for “Examination of Conscience”).  It is a prayer meant to be said at the end of the day each day and leads us through five steps to find the places in our day where we have sinned.  The steps are:

         Gratitude – thanking God for all of the blessings that God has showered on us.

         Asking for Grace – to know ourselves well enough to identify the places where we have sinned.

         Reflection – mentally reflecting on the day, hour-by-hour, from the time we woke up until when we go to bed, on the thoughts, words, and deeds that have created brokenness in our lives and relationships.

         Repentance – We ask for God’s forgiveness

         Resolve – We recommit ourselves to doing better in this area in the day to come.

 

The journey of Lent is both rich and challenging, calling us to offer the very best we have to God.  Through the Examen, we begin this process by “preparing a way for the Lord,” and “making God’s paths straight.”  I pray that this season will be enriching and powerful for all of us.

Rev. Dr. Charles A. Parker

Senior Pastor

Metropolitan Memorial Cooperative Parish

Walk Humbly with God

Walking humbly with God is a daily living experience through praise and worship. Nothing is more important as Christians; we are People of the Christ event. Walking humbly with God is reliving what Christ did for us and recognizing it each day. It involves a recognition of God’s “Godship” in all its aspects. It acknowledges a relationship that he is our creator and we are his, the one who rescued us when we (like sheep) went astray.

When I walk humbly with God through praise, I have an awareness of God’s importance and I am thankful for the Love and mercy God shows me. As the Psalmist says, his praise will always be on my lips. I have humbled myself to do his work in the world. This takes a real commitment. Sometimes though choices must be made, when it is Super Bowl Sunday and you have been called to worship. Humility causes us to cease our work and let Christ do his work within us. It’s God’s activity that is important. We humble ourselves and see all people as one.

Humbling ourselves helps us embrace others ideas and others way of life. Humbling ourselves cause us to glorify the King of Kings who is the Great I Am, Christ in us, the hope of Glory.

Annie Butler

Metropolitan Memorial UMC, Crossroads

It’s Not Fair

“That’s not fair!”  How often have we heard ourselves say this?  We see the poor going hungry while the rich are wasting their wealth on frivolous consumption and say, “that’s not fair.”  We also say the same about a guilty criminal who gets set free without “doing his time.”  Are these both examples of the justice mentioned in Micah 6:8 when we are asked, “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  

Which type of justice are we to seek in situations like the French peasant Jean Valjean faces in Les Misérables when he brakes the law by stealing a loaf of bread to save his sister’s life and by escaping from his parole after spending 19 years in prison to pay for his “crime”?

According to French law at the time, justice was simply executing Valjean for his crime.  But as Christians we are told to seek a different kind of justice, one that operates out of compassion and love.  After all, if it were not for Christ’s loving sacrifice on Mount Calvary, we, like Valjean, would find it impossible not to break God’s impossible law. 

It is no accident then that Micah 6:8 tells us to “love kindness” and “walk humbly with your God” in addition to “do justice,” because justice without love, it is not really justice at all.

-          Zack Robbins

AU Methodist-Protestant Community

This too Shall Pass

Imagine being one of the Chilean miners trapped underground for months. 

Imagine being a victim of the floods in Pakistan.

Imagine being an unborn child moving through the birth canal.

Imagine living in a makeshift cardboard shack for over a year in Haiti.

Suddenly the universe has a different agenda for your life.

We are living in a time when life is moving us into another stage of evolution.

When the Life Forces take away our control, it can both be frightening and exhilarating.

Imagine the experience of being trapped and forced uncomfortably into a new space.

This is happening to millions upon millions of people every day.

This is a transformational event happening on the planet.

Hang on!

Let go!

Scream out loud!

Keep weaving your blanket of faith.

This too shall pass!

-Kristine Spencer

Metropolitan Memorial UMC