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Give to all who seek rest and refreshment in your shade fruits to their liking regardless of your own, and may each of your branches bear only marks of grace. ~ Jean Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment February 19, 2019
Beloved: The nuns to whom Father de Caussade wrote saved his letters and eventually published them in 1741, feeling sure they would be as much encouragement to others as they had been to them. I for one am so grateful that they did! Father de Caussade perceives God’s will as something everyday and common, toward which we merely need to turn ourselves in this present moment, trusting God is about God’s business and will use us as necessary, in ways we may or may not know. In the few dozen pages of the book, he mostly says the same thing a dozen different ways so that everyone might catch it, but every chapter spoke to me. I hear him say God’s business is just that, God’s, and we need not fret so much over our place in it. He likes the word “surrender,” as in when we surrender our souls, that is the giving up of our own agenda to make room for what God brings to the moment. Much of the book reads like prayer or poetry like the quote above. I love the image of us as trees, standing quietly together, our branches bearing marks of grace, for those who rest within our shade. I’ve chosen this little book as our Lenten devotional this year. New and used copies are available for about $10 online at www.christianbook.com and amazon.com. If you prefer to borrow a copy, let Pastor Annette know. Book discussions will begin in late March. I pray the day is gentle upon you, that you have a taste or glimpse of God’s goodness. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette PS - Three cheers for Greg T. for discovering that our Lenten devotional book, published also under the title Abandonment to Divine Providence, is available online for free in multiple formats. Here is the link: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/decaussade/abandonment.html .
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February 12, 2019
Beloved: Friends I know are worried and afraid today – for loved ones who are very sick. Others are sick themselves, and some grieve great loss. Marriages that are shaking and employment that strips away integrity leave some people exhausted and discouraged. The weather is terrible and the news is worse. Is there a good word anywhere? Everything is grace . . . says Henri Nouwen in his book Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit. The movement from resentment to gratitude is a spiritual one, formed in persistently chosen ways of thinking, doing, being. Resentment is anger grown cold and hard around the heart, a worldview laced with suspicion and sprinkled with despair – while gratitude recognizes grace, even in our most miserable moments. Were it not for love, would grief be so hard to bear? That is grace. Were it not for peace, would violence tear at us so? That is grace. Joy and suffering are made of all one thing. It is grace. It is grace. Everything is grace. For in everything God is with us, and we can know it when we find the inner quiet to be still and live in each moment at a time. Everything is grace. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette The righteous know the rights of the poor; The wicked have no such understanding. ~ Proverbs 29:7 January 29, 2019 Beloved: The book of Proverbs is my go-to devotional book for having a chapter for every day of the month. Chapter twenty-nine latches wisdom to justice. Every which-a-way, as my mama used to say, in reference to my sister’s hair. Wisdom and righteousness are closely related, if not redundant; and chosen, not bestowed. Wisdom/Righteousness as a chosen way of life, along with the worldview, lifestyle, and destiny therein – perfectly distilled in twenty-seven verses. The wicked /foolish contrast is played out too, poetically. We can’t say we didn’t know. “. . . [T]he Lord gives light to the eyes of both,” reads verse thirteen. I got a little stuck at verse seven, “the righteous know the rights of the poor.” The first time I read it, I thought for sure it said path of the poor. But path is what I wanted it to say. “Path” only calls the righteous to compassion, while “rights” calls the righteous to the work of justice. Now compassion and justice work are conflated too, however much I might wish them cleaved. Turns out that wisdom-righteousness is not an attribute we choose alongside favorite food or sports team. We are not fans of righteousness. Wisdom-righteousness is a way of life where we enter and remain, that changes everything we ever thought before. I pray you stay warm and safe in this week’s freezy weather. Watch for ways to help others who are suffering. I made this easy soup yesterday. You probably already have most everything to make it, and it really warms the belly. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette Chicken Pot Pie Soup - Serves 6 * 15 minutes Prep * 35 minutes to cook
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
Most precious over the last two weeks was the privilege of preaching Ann Damon’s funeral. Ann was a hero of the faith and pillar of the church for all her adult life. She cast a long and lasting shadow over our community and it was my joy to witness in her the daily sweetness of following Jesus. Many thanks for Fan, Rob, and the social committee for all your work putting the service and meal together in my absence. Continue to pray for Carole and her brothers as they grieve and rejoice for their mom’s long life among them. We are together tomorrow for Wednesday Night Supper! I’m making salad, bread and spaghetti. Deborah is making a dessert. I hear we might get a bit of bad weather. In the event our lot freezes over and we have to cancel, I’ll let you know & save everything for another day. Also, thanks to Sarah A. for getting the new fridge! Again, so much joy in my heart to be back with you all. I look forward to seeing you soon. Enjoy the day!
January 1, 2019 Beloved: A new year - my fifty-fifth. It feels impossible. But in no way terrible. I know things that make life easier than twenty years ago, even if a little sadder. I recognize the consequences of actions still being contemplated. The repetitiveness of history and the futility of worry. I can see pain coming, at myself and others, and am less afraid. Pain almost always washes over and we eventually recover. A little wiser, stronger, humbler, hopefully. Lean into this one, says fifty-four to fifty five. See what it has to show you, you’ve never seen before. peace & prayers, pastor annette _____ PS - I’ll be on vacation for the next two weeks. See you January 22nd! December 20, 2018 Beloved: On these dark mornings, the Christmas tree’s reflection in the picture windows creates the effect of a lighted forest throughout the living room. To make it last, I leave the lights off as long as possible. Truth be told, these short days and long nights are a trial for me. I’d be perfectly content to stay in my moose pajamas to sleep, read, knit, cook, stare at the fire, and play scrabble until early March. I can’t tell if I’m tired, cold, depressed, slightly ill, or just lazy – adjectives never used to describe grizzly bears and oak trees who themselves take the winter off to give birth and to grow in different ways. It sounds cozy enough, but the bears don’t eat a thing the whole winter long – three to four months for males, five to seven for females – a hands-down deal breaker for me. Winter has too much good food I refuse to miss. Grapefruit, oranges, and Christmas cookies. I came into possession of a beautiful green and orange acorn squash the other day. This recipe calls for two medium squash but I used one big one. I have maple syrup from a friend in Unionville who taps his own trees. It was so good and so pretty. Next time I’m adding bacon and serving it over rice as the whole meal. I guess I’ll put my shoes on and go to work after all, since it’s what we humans do. And I’ll try to ease up on the whining too, grateful for human treasures like moose pajamas and winter squash. ~ peace and prayers, pastor annette
Directions
Mocha Stars
Ingredients
1. Cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add flour, eggs, coffee, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder and mix until it forms a ball. 2. Divide batter in half and wrap each in plastic wrap tightly. Chill 20 minutes. 3. One at a time, roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut star shape. 4. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 or 8 minutes. Cookies should be slightly darker but not crisp. Cool on pan one minute then move to cooling rack. 5. In double boiler melt together baking chocolate and shortening. 6. Dip stars into chocolate, covering half of the star. 7. Lay on wax paper until well set, 2 to 3 hours. December 11, 2018
Beloved: I’ve lost our Christmas stockings and fear they may be gone forever. I ordered four of them from Land’s End twenty-three years ago, each one embroidered with our names. When I discovered I was pregnant again, Land’s End searched their clearance stock but there were no more. So my friend, Becky, sewed the fifth to match. Four years ago we added three, for my son-in-law and two boys my son brought home from college – the same stockings that held pacifiers and Hot Wheels before graduating to gift cards from Amazon and Starbucks. Maybe they will still turn up but I can’t imagine where. We had a dumpster in the driveway last fall, which had me purging high and low. The dead and broken went to the trash, but loads of stuff went to Habitat ReStore and Goodwill. I sorted boxes into piles, some to keep and some to give away. One box must have gone astray. Or maybe I stored them in some new place last year. But my 53-year-old self would have known I’d never remember. She would have written me a note I’d be sure to find this year. I love thinking some other family somewhere named Carl, Annie, Mariah, Ben, Emy, Jeremy, Seine & Yang might find and enjoy them. Or a family with their own names who thinks it a hilarious joke upon their mantel. They are only things. I can buy or make new stockings that we enjoy just as much, eventually. And all the things that matter are here, alive and warm and well: Carl, Annie, Mariah, Ben, Emy, Jeremy, Seine & Yang. I have everything to be grateful for and nothing in the world to count as loss. I pray the season is gentle to you and yours. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette
While Reverend Niebuhr titled his poem The Irony of American History, it rings with the lyrics of Advent. Hope, faith, and love are the essential skill set for life in the spirit. Without them we have only the promises and powers of this world to sustain us, a known recipe for calamity.
Advent invites us to reset heart and mind to what we believe deep down: that all we see and hear is not all there is to see and hear; that God is at work in the world right now, visible and audible to whoever will watch and listen. Where justice, kindness, and humility are thriving, God is there. Where peace persists in the midst of violence, where the hungry are fed, the prisoner set free, and the poor regarded with dignity, God is there. Where hatred fails and love thrives, where truth prevails in the face of duplicity, and evil dies by its own sword, God is there. Abide in me, Jesus tells us. The task, always, is to pray. Put heart and head, body and soul outside this world’s reach as often as we can for as long as we can, practicing the watching and the hearing so necessary for this life. I pray you are made strong in hope, faith, and love this Advent season. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette November 27, 2018 Beloved: I can see seven squirrels’ nests in the treetops out my study window, but only in the winter. Each is about half-bushel size, made of leaves and sticks. Watching the little fellows go in and out, I got interested in their lifestyle and learned a couple of things. A family of squirrels is a dray, and an unrelated group of squirrels is a scurry. A scurry of squirrels is about the most fun thing to say ever. Seven nests is no indication of how many drays or scurries might live in these woods, since the nests aren’t homes, just motels. A squirrel naps in whatever nest has room when she’s tired. The interior is tiny. A big nest has room for two squirrels at most. They rest here and there as needed and then go back to work. Apparently, they aren’t especially social and don’t care whom they sleep with, which I suppose is both convenient and a little lonely. But I still have so many questions! How many nests are really out there and do they ever run out of room? Who decides it’s time to build another? And, who cleans the rooms? Who does all that motel maintenance? Is there some bushy-tailed siding & roofing specialist out there, keeping all those nests warmer, safer, drier? On the one paw, that’s just silly. On the other -- the nest closest to my window has been there for at least two years. Someone must be maintaining it, some genius engineer whose buildings stay put when every other leaf in the woods blows down. For all my questions, one thing I know for sure. Of all the things invented by a human, none surpasses the perfection of the window. ~ peace & prayers, pastor Annette Picture I took at my daughter’s house -- Elvis & Lando watching the world   November 20, 2018
Beloved: Thanksgiving. The week I only work Tuesday and Saturday. Today it takes all my energy to stay in my chair and still I fail, running down to the kitchen to check on bread dough rising or turkey thawing. I’ve been getting my house ready for weeks and almost made it. The powder room is half wallpapered and I’ve no living room curtains, but who cares? My kids are home. The pantry is jammed. The rooms are clean-ish, and the first wave of out-of-town company is en route. Family. Home. Food. To be so rich overwhelms my heart and mind sometimes. People I know live without enough of one, the other, or all three. By choice or default, such poverty is so extra sharp this season I wonder if it’s cruel for me to speak of such things. At the very least I can resist claiming them as blessings. I have been especially lucky. I have the opportunity to be extra generous. The space between is where faithfulness is chosen. (Luke 12:48) So, much love to your house this season. I pray you have enough of all you need. If you have extra, I pray you also find the space to be generous. ~ Peace & prayers, pastor annette |
I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
Everything on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which gives you permission to copy freely, provided that you attribute the work to me, that you use the work for non-commercial purposes, and that you do not produce derivative works. Archives
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