Pastor Annette's Blog
|
"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
|
December 31, 2019 Beloved: Sometimes I forget that once upon a time I didn’t love the winter. Once the Christmas tree is down and the new year is begun, I love the new year and the nesting I always start to feel. I love the settled-in happiness of knowing we’ll be mostly in the house for many, many weeks. I have books and magazines to read and handwork by my chair. I’m going to organize my basement storage room where all of our unwanted things eventually go to die. The leftover cookies and Christmas snacks go to the chicken coop, and my pantry gets an unflinching shakedown. (See Anne Lamott’s post about New Year’s diets here.)  I also love the food — soup and bread, especially. Also, rice with something a little spicy mixed in, with an over-easy egg on top. And every year, the grapefruit. I don’t even look at grapefruit the rest of the year, but right now I love it like I love tomatoes in the summer. Even if you think you don’t like them, buy at least one ruby red grapefruit this season and try again. They are so beautiful. They smell so good and the taste is only slightly sour with a wonderfully sweet edge. Yesterday morning we even had grapefruit muffins, thanks to Lee, the neuroscience-grad-student-baker visiting us for winter break. I love how they seem so out of place on a table with wintery food like oatmeal, but their taste is the exact thing we need when the wind blows like it’s blowing now. They taste like sunshine.
Grapefruit reminds me that winter means different things in different places, and doesn’t last forever anywhere. Now is the time we are given to enjoy every blessing. I pray this last day of the year finds you grateful for the past, present for the moment, and hopeful about the future. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette
0 Comments
December 24, 2019 Beloved: I could not be more grateful for another year of joyful ministry among the beloved community of University Baptist Church. Your graceful hearts teach me so much and our life together is the most graceful place of service any pastor could hope for. As chronos time winds down and down, kairos goes on forever in one endless loop. So we now loop back to the end of Advent (the time before time) and the beginning of Christmas. In our service this evening, prepared by our student minister, Laura Beth, I’ve been asked to share a brief reflection on the meaning of the moment to me. Below is what I’ve written. However, if you are local and you are able, I hope you’ll join us at 7:30 p.m. to share all the Lessons & Carols, along with the sweetness of the candlelight. I look forward to another year of worship and service with you all. Peace & prayers, pastor annette Christmas Eve Reflection - 2019
Some years the whole season passes and it never happens once. Sometimes it happens when it isn't even Christmas time. But every once in a while, Usually if I am thinking about something else or doing something else altogether, Some splinter of the truth of the Incarnation of God in the human person of a child Will suddenly slice through the noise of my mind, Slip past the curtain of my heart, And for just a moment - I am overwhelmed . . . . The absolute perfection of it Is perfectly plain to me. Then . . . for hours, sometimes even days, after that . . . I cannot not believe it - With all my heart and mind and soul and strength. To be so loved takes my breath away. To be a recipient of such cosmic effort - Effort put forth . . . For the sake of my happiness . . . So that I can live fearlessly . . . In a terrifying world . . . . To know myself so loved . . . Leaves me helpless . . . Wordless. Profoundly at peace. Full of joy. My eyes can see and my ears can hear What they could not before - A whole world - Cats and silverfish and grass - melting snow and traffic sounds - Even my cranky neighbor scowling at my messy yard - All of it Positively radiating, The whole universe throbbing, With that same love . . . . Breaking through here and there to replace our broken hearts With the happiness, the peace - The contentment, meant for us at the start. Think of that! Just think of it . . . For all our tinsel and our trying - The perfection of the season is already ours - Emmanuel . . . God with us. Among us and within us. The truest thing we know - In the moments when we know, we know - And all the others too. Always there, waiting to break through - In glimpses and in glances - Which may be all we can ever manage - And somehow also exactly enough. Amen? Amen. December 17, 2019 Beloved: We say things like “He’s settling in” and “He’s getting used to the dogs.” In fact, it is we who are adjusting to the multitude of rules involved in living with Otto. Here he is sitting close to me on the arm of my chair. The rules as I know them so far:
 All relationships have them, of course — boundaries. The edges beyond which our togetherness is uncomfortable or inappropriate. Some boundaries are well established and function as any other social mores. Some are written down and given official status, codes of conduct for example. While other boundaries are more complicated to decode, not unlike Otto and me. We listen to the words and cues of others and act accordingly. Speaking plainly about what is and is not okay doesn’t always work. I spray Otto with water when he jumps onto my kitchen counter, but clear, kindly spoken words seem more appropriate with people. So is respecting the boundaries they set for themselves: physical, emotional, and otherwise. In chosen relationships like friendship, romance, and roommates, walking away because one’s own boundaries are consistently disrespected is a form a self-care for which one need not apologize. In unchosen relationships like immediate family and coworkers, enforcing one’s own boundaries takes extra effort and not a little self-grace.
As I finished writing, my daughter Emy wandered downstairs to say that Otto has slept on her chest almost all night, purring like her own personal bedwarmer. So much for Rule #3, I suppose. Then again, Otto’s boundaries are just that — Otto’s. Whom he cuddles is not mine to say. And who knows? Last week he hardly came out from under the bed. This week he sat beside me on my chair. Maybe next week we will be even better friends. There is always, always hope. ~peace, prayers & merry christmas, friends! pastor annette December 10, 2019 The new prayer in my morning devotion had this line: which got me to thinking about how the way to God is through one another, all the One Anothers, most especially the One Anothers who are most different from myself, since none is so different from me as the Divine themself who cast off that difference to trail the stars and cast themself as one of us.
growling as they establish who is in charge. We all know who will be in charge. Still, it’s interesting to watch them work it out, acknowledging that it must be worked out in order for us to live together as a household.
Oh that our own species might be as wise, rather than forever pretending our one anothers don’t exist, instead remembering that we are bound together in one household, beholden to each other for more than we even know. Albert Einstein wrote, “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” (The World As I See It, New York; Kensington Publishing Corp., 1956; p. 3) More than fellow laborers, we are one anothers’ sisters and brothers, or sheep of the same Shepherd, which was today’s devotion point. Only a Shepherd made of Love would leave ninety-nine safe lambs to rescue one in danger. So in search of the one, Love stripped Itself of heaven and trailed His way to earth, ready to befriend whoever is crazy brave enough to reach for Love by loving Him. What a story friends, what a life we share. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette Church News to Remember: The Choir Cantata, Special Called Business Meeting, and Cookie Exchange are all coming up this Sunday, December 15. We look forward to hearing the cantata “Sing Christmas” by Joel Raney and Mary McDonald during our worship service at 10:45 AM. After the service, we will have a Special Called Business Meeting for the purpose of voting on the 2020 budget which was presented at the Thanksgiving Celebration on November 24. At the same time, you may participate in a cookie exchange by bringing a few dozen homemade cookies. Everyone can enjoy some cookies, even if they did not bring any. Holiday Benevolence ~ our goal is to raise $1000 to assist the small churches in Texas that are providing food and shelter for immigrants across the border, who are waiting on their legal asylum court dates in the United States. Read more about this mission and how our dollars can help, on the linked webpage. December 3, 2019
Beloved: Our bathroom rugs are grungy, seriously grungy. So I went shopping for new ones yesterday and then realized I’m supposed to be Christmas shopping. A woman at the store told the clerk she was done with hers. What had started as an errand threatened to become a full-blown obligation to the Spirit of Christmas and all the anxiety and stress therein. I didn’t find any rugs and managed to finish my errands without taking the Christmas-is-just-twenty-two-days-away bait. Instead, I’m going to exercise a yoga practice I’ve been working on. Any time an idea comes to mind, something to do or say, I first ask myself who wants me to say or do this: my ego or my soul? If it’s my ego - I try not to say/do it. If it’s my soul - I try to do/say it. Written out like that it sounds so easy. In practice, it’s terribly difficult. My ego cares about protecting my self-image, what others think of me (what I think others think of me, actually). My soul only cares about being true to my deepest self, my heart, my deep happiness. My soul doesn’t care a lick about what others think or my reputation. Naturally, I fail most of the time. Usually, I don’t even remember to pause and ask the first question, who wants me to say/do this? And when I do, my ego too often wins out. About Christmas I don’t even have to ask; I know. I know immediately my ego is the driver of that expensive, exhausting, stress-filled Christmas agenda of decorating, cooking and shopping. When my soul can get a hearing, she says stay home with your husband and your kids and gather around a crowded table. Add a few more family and friends and share some lovely eats. When my soul can get a hearing, she reminds me we don’t need a thing - except to share a big chunk of what we have. Go buy bikes and books and toys for kids who need to feel welcome in this town. Buy blankets for the shelter and groceries for MCUM, and don’t forget cash for the Holiday Benevolence at church. And make cookies, loads and loads of cookies, especially chocolate mocha stars. * Along with Advent worship, this is more than enough to fill me with Christmas joy without hanging a single ornament. And if you truly love the full measure of all things Christmas, I wish you all that joy and more. Whatever the case, do as your heart and soul lead, and discover the joy of being true to yourself this season. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette There are so many ways to help others at Christmas and all year long. Check out the embedded links for more information about the organizations mentioned here. Gifts for Latinx Children -- You can provide gifts for Latinx/Hispanic children through the City of Bloomington Holiday Assistance Program. All participating families are Bloomington residents with children ranging from newborn to 12 years old and with 1 to 6 children in a household. If you are interested in participating, please submit the sponsor application at this website: https://airtable.com/shrYAat2GTv3iFrFM . Josefa Luce from the City will send you information on the child/ren you are sponsoring. The deadline to drop off your donations/gifts at City Hall on Morton Street is Friday, December 13th. If you have questions, please contact Josefa Luce at 812-349-3860 or at [email protected]. Blankets for Wheeler Mission -- other items needed especially during the winter months can be found on the linked page, along with information about their various programs throughout the year and other ways you can help during this very busy season. MCUM list -- Sunday December 8 is the last of our monthly donation days for 2019, and we want this donation to be extra large! Most-requested items include canned green beans, carrots & potatoes; vegetable and chicken soups; canned fruit; pasta & pasta sauce; canned pasta meals; canned chili; peanut butter; cereal; hygiene & cleaning items such as shampoo & conditioner; laundry detergent, dish soap, all-purpose cleaners; razors, diapers, & pull-ups. Other items and other needs are listed on their website. Holiday Benevolence -- our goal is to raise $1000 to assist the small churches in Texas that are providing food and shelter for immigrants across the border, who are waiting on their legal asylum court dates in the United States. Read more about this mission and how our dollars can help, on the linked webpage. Mocha Stars Christmas Cookies
Cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add flour, eggs, coffee, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder and mix until it forms a ball. Divide batter in half and wrap each in plastic wrap tightly. Chill 20 minutes. One at a time, roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut star shape. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 or 8 minutes. Cookies should be slightly darker but not crisp. Cool on pan for one minute then move to cooling rack. In double boiler melt together baking chocolate and shortening. Dip stars into the chocolate, covering half of the star. Lay on wax paper until well set, 2 to 3 hours, or overnight. |
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
December 2024
|
RSS Feed