this country and praying, hmmm?

One morning, at our Bible Study group--we are five women who've been getting together at some un-godly time of the morning for more than fifteen years--when talking about prayer requests, someone said, "Pray for our country." And it struck me that I didn't know what that meant, what were we praying for.

The five women in this particular group had different political views and we were coming up to an election--so were we going to be praying for a Republican view or a Democrat's view, in effect canceling out each others prayers like we would each others votes. Were we praying that the United States would be richer than, stronger than, mightier than, smarter than other countries.

Were we praying that our country would believe as we did- middle class, middle aged, midwestern women who believed fairly simply but strongly in the overwhelmingly predominant faith of our families and communities.

Are we reminding ourselves to pray that God's will be done? How do we know it's not being done now, how will we know what it is when it is done--how is my discernment of God's will better than your discernment?

Sometimes the simplest of things can just set me going for quite a while.

I don't know what to pray for...for our country. And while I've spent probably far too much time thinking about this, I keep thinking about the Bible verse that says

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." Romans 8:26

Funerals--theirs and mine

Another visit to the funeral home tonight. I must be getting to that age. Its getting to be a regular thing. I'm not being flippant, its just something that I've noticed--especially when my daughter noted that she hadn't been to a funeral since her grandpa died a few years ago. It used to be something I could measure in years,, then months, now its every other month or so, and in a few years it will be monthly and then a few times a month and then who knows...

I've thought about my own funeral or memorial service--on my good days, I can even go along with calling it a celebration of life. Mostly I want good music, fun stories, and a few tears. But then, is it just me, or does everyone want to know that they are going to be missed.

That egotistical part of me wants wailing and keening and fighting over the ashes to alternate with laughing and vodka shots and pictures of all the fun my life has been. My kids can tell you all the lies I told them, John can tell you all the silly things I've been afraid of, friends can go on and on about how I always thought I was right no matter what the topic.

Living, dying, heaven, hell, other possibilities? Iris Dement, in her song, "Let the Mystery Be" says:

Everybody's wondering what and where they all come from
Everybody's worrying 'bout where they're gonna go
When the whole thing's done
Nobody knows for certain
And so it's all the same to me
I think I'll just let the mystery be.

Last night, at the bi-weekly Discussion on the Deck, which was mercifully moved inside due to the heat, the topic was heaven and hell. There were about 12-14 people present. I am fascinated by the variety of opinions. We were a pretty homogeneous group, all middle class, Midwesterners, all belonged to the same ELCA Lutheran church, all white, yet our thoughts on heaven and hell were different enough to keep us talking for a couple of hours.

Of course, we went off on a few tangents. People shared personal experiences, people listened, people encouraged each other and we laughed together. All in all, it was a good night. And it is exactly what will strengthen the faith community of First Lutheran. The topic was almost irrelevant.

I believe that worship is necessary, prayer essential and the churches that get their members interacting in small groups for whatever purpose--discussions, cooking, service projects, craft, study, softball etc., will find that those members will see their church as an integral part of their life--not just a Sunday morning obligation. It is the relationships.

Ship of Fools

I'm not sure how I stumbled onto the website www.ship-of-fools.com but I've been having a great time exploring it. In the about us section, the editor says, "Our aim is to help Christians be self-critical and honest about the failings of Christianity, as we believe honesty can only strengthen faith."

The site has people volunteer as Mystery Worshippers--they go to different worship services, leave a Ship of Fools business card in the offering plate and then fill out and post a pretty extensive survey about the service. The review includes a physical description of the church, the comfortableness (or lack thereof) of the seating, the first words of the service, the content of the sermon and the quality of the speaker, what was most heaven-like and what was most like the opposite place of heaven. The review even includes the coffee after the service (or tea as the site originates in the UK).

The Mystery Worshipper reviews that I read covered all kinds of denominations and sizes and types of services. It was interesting to get a knowledgeable visitors opinion. The business card is left in the offering plate so the congregation can go online and see the review on-line.

Another favorite part of Ship of Fools is the Gadgets for God--the store with some hilarious gifts. Some of my favorites are the post rapture greeting cards that say things like, "You should have listened to Jesus": the Mormon doorknocker--designed to save wear and tear on the missionaries knuckles; the holy trinity Lego set featuring the father, son and a perfect child's rendition of a ghost--holy or otherwise. There is also a bible that has a flame that shoots out of the top so you can impress tepid listeners with the "fiery" words of God. And how much fun could you have with your own inflatable church--its 47 feet tall! A great gift for that seminary bound college student.

Ship of Fools also actually reports on news relevant to the worldwide Christian church and has a lively discussion area. I haven't spent (wasted) near enough time at this site yet. I haven't ordered anything yet either though I love the snarkiness of the "You should have listened to Jesus" cards. They're right at my maturity level.

Giving up Gin

School kids giving up gum, a party girl giving up drinking, not playing on the computer for 40 days, no meat on Fridays (except fish of course)-- minor inconveniences really. Nothing compared to giving your life for another--which is what the sacrifice in Easter is all about--but I think God understands that we are still the foolish and weak people that Abraham and Moses had to deal with. Just as any parent gladly accepts the bouquet of dandelions from their child, so God accepts our simple attempt to show our intention for Lent.

Its Ash Wednesday today, the beginning of Lent. People are talking about what they're going to give up--I always find it interesting to hear the variety of ideas people have about it. From true sacrifice to flippant throwaways, people of all ages and religious affiliations seem to respond to the call of the church to deny ourselves of something to prepare for the Easter season.

I realize that many people don't understand the meaning behind the "What are you giving up for Lent?" question but answer it anyway and I think that God appreciates the uneducated, unsophisticated, and sometimes puny attempts at sacrifice. He also recognizes the heartfelt desire of some people to walk the road of self-denial and sacrifice through Lent and meets them on their journey as well.

In my mind, that is one of God's greatest gifts--He takes us each where we are, takes our gifts such as they are, and loves us all equally. Now if we could only do the same for each other.

women in church

I was sitting in the balcony at church today during the worship service with two of the little darlings. I think it was during the sermon when it hit me that all the "up front" participants in worship today were women. All three pastors-our regular one (though sadly for us, she's leaving in a week), the interim pastor, and a visiting preaching pastor were all women, the music leader was a woman and the lector was a woman. Even the acolyte was a girl.

Now, I'm not bringing this up to say that this service was any better or different just because it was run by women. I'm only noting it because I think its the first time in my life I've ever experienced an all-woman-run service (of course, I'm counting on the members of the trinity being asexual). And it made me thankful that my children are living in a time when such an event isn't even noticed by them or if I pointed it out, they'd probably say, "yeah, so?". I think the LCA, one of the groups that joined to form the ELCA, started ordaining women in 1970 and sadly there are still a lot of denominations that don't ordain women.

Even with all those women up front, teaching and preaching, and leading men and women alike and doing it with their heads brazenly uncovered, (1st Corinthians 11:1-16) God was present and His work was being done. It was remarkable only because it was unremarkable to all those at that service this morning.

What's in a name?

Doubt is good. There are so few things in life that I am 100% sure about and I'm always amazed when others present themselves as absolutely certain about their ideas. My dad gave me a book, maybe 15-20 years ago, called "The Myth of Certainty" by Daniel Taylor and I remember that I liked the book but what has really stuck with me is the title. It gave me "permission" in my Christian faith to be comfortable with the questions and doubts that kept pestering me-- without feeling disloyal or less faithful to God. What a relief. Having spent a lifetime in a more liberal arm of the Protestant church and two years at a Bible college, its possible that that information had been presented to me in some form before but with this book it finally sunk in.



So here I am, this many years later, still reminding myself that questioning is okay, uncertainty is normal and doubt is good.