Pine Island Pastor Musings

Eastertide beckons us to contemplate the meaning of Jesus' resurrection and ours.   Jim Friedrich, an Episcopal priest writes of it, "Don't explain it....The central question of Easter is not 'What happened to Jesus way back then?' but rather 'Where is Jesus now--for us?'  ...The resurrection, although breaking into history on a specific temporal occasion, is not the property of the past.  As God's future showing itself in our present, it belongs to all times and seasons.  Jesus is alive, still showing up as a transfiguring presence in a world fraught with absences.  Jesus is not over, and his story is not over.  It will only be completed in the divinization of the cosmos, when God is in all and all are in God.  Easter isn't something we remember.  It's something we live and breathe.  Resurrection has consequences. The resurrection is more than an idea we talk about or believe propositionally.  It's something we become, something we...

This Holy Week as I ponder the Jesus' passion and write our nation is sharply divided as we await Attorney General Barr's release of Mueller's Report to congress.  Investigating and finding the truth is under fire.  Pontius Pilot's rhetorical question looms large, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) Fears mount as we witness the rise of authoritarian rule and sectarian self-interests gain strength around the globe.  This stands in stark contrast to our core values of freedom, justice and respect for all lifted up in democracy.  This democratic republic of ours is a fragile experiment and is at risk!  The continued denial of climate change is tragic!  Now more than ever humanity needs to come together.  Our survival as a species depends on our unified collective response to address the disruption and chaos climate change is already reeking on us.  Add to all this the devastating fire on Monday at Notre Dame Cathedral, WE COULD USE A REDEMPTION STORY! ...

Our gardens beckon to us.  I spadded my small plot on Monday.  Gerrit Scott Dawson writes of this annual voiceless call which beckons us.  " I asked her one twilight, 'Why do you suppose this gloaming light makes me so sad?' Without hesitation she replied, 'Because of the time when God once walked the earth in the Garden with the man and the woman, and now no longer does.'  And I knew that I longed for the days of the Garden.  I, who so often avoid, even flee, the God who desires to come to me, actually yearn for a communion that has been lost." In Genesis chapter 3 we are given a hint of an intimacy that once was commonplace, as we are told the story of how that intimacy was lost.  God came in the evening, in the cool of the day, to walk in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  In the twilight described, however, Adam and Eve hid at the sound of God's approach.  "Where are you?" asked the Lord God.  The man replied, " I heard the soun...

It is a bit early for spring fever.  I drove through a snowstorm getting Eileen to the hospital the night our second child was born on April 9th.  Ever since, my family anticipates an early April snow.  Nonetheless, spring fever has hit me! After spending the winter months staring out windows at gloomy gray sky, leafless trees and a snowy windswept landscape, when the sun shines in clear blue skies like today, and the crocus emerge in the flower beds, my spirit lifts and my heart beats a bit faster.  I relish getting outside and seeing the earth reawaken from its winter slumber. How about you?  My muscles are still a little sore from raking my lawn last week.  My flower beds are still waiting to be cleared of leaves which have found a resting place there  for the winter.  I plan to spade my vegetable garden soon and get it ready to plant some early snap peas, greens and radishes.  The ground is still too cold, but it's time to get ready....