This week, we pray for Elena Huegel, our missionary to Chile. She serves the Pentecostal Church of Chile with expertise in both the environment and Christian education.
You can read more about the mission to Chile here, including a lesson about nurturing faith in the form of protecting dropped eggs.
There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in 70 countries around the world. Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Coming Up Sunday, December 30
REMINDER: This Sunday, worship begins at 10:00 am. There is no Sunday School.
On Sunday, we continue our Christmas celebration. Just because the presents have been opened, we do not have to stop remembering the birth of Christ. In worship, there will be plenty of Christmas music, and the beautiful decorations will still be hung to enjoy.
We will also continue our sermon series, "Looking for Home: Faith in the Holiday Season." This week, we'll consider the Christ child's first trip to Jerusalem, shortly after his birth. Following Torah, Mary and Joseph took their new baby to the Temple, where they made sacrifices and presented their eldest son. Looking back at this "Dedication Day," we'll not only witness this traditional Jewish ritual, but hear the surprising prophecies made about Jesus on this day. And we'll consider what this practice might tell us about finding our spiritual home.
On Sunday, we continue our Christmas celebration. Just because the presents have been opened, we do not have to stop remembering the birth of Christ. In worship, there will be plenty of Christmas music, and the beautiful decorations will still be hung to enjoy.
We will also continue our sermon series, "Looking for Home: Faith in the Holiday Season." This week, we'll consider the Christ child's first trip to Jerusalem, shortly after his birth. Following Torah, Mary and Joseph took their new baby to the Temple, where they made sacrifices and presented their eldest son. Looking back at this "Dedication Day," we'll not only witness this traditional Jewish ritual, but hear the surprising prophecies made about Jesus on this day. And we'll consider what this practice might tell us about finding our spiritual home.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Book Review: "Acedia & Me"
Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life by Kathleen Norris (Riverhead, 2008), hardcover, 352 pages
Kathleen Norris, bestselling author of such well-received books as The Cloister Walk and Dakota: A Spiritual Biography, turns her poet's eye to the difficult subject of depression and spiritual emptiness in Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life. Struggling to accurately identify the emotion exactly, she turns to the earlier Christian idea of acedia, described by the Church father Evagrius as "the noonday demon."
Tracing the discussion of acedia through Christian writings, she explores this spiritual sin as it particularly affected monks seeking to pray the daily afternoon prayers. Often, such monks found their attention turn listless and unfocused, perhaps by hunger or fatigue, to the point that they did not care to pray; worse, they discovered that, at these times, nothing could encourage them to fulfill their calling to pray with any real emotional investment.
While the recent psychological term "depression" has largely eclipsed common usage of the term "acedia," Norris strongly believes that it accurately describes the noonday demon that significantly challenged her relationships and her writing. Going far beyond mere writer's block, she describes a persistent numbness against which she struggled to find the will to write.
Norris is a skilled writer and a sensitive memoirist. There is sophistication and nuance to her introspection, and the reflections offer a rich and subtle confluence of many emotions and ruminations on subjects like the nature and definition of sin and the impact of modern psychology on self-image and self-assessment.
For me, the book is most engaging when Norris applies these considerations to her marriage and its challenges, especially through sickness and health. One chapter title beautifully encapsulates the wisdom of Norris' approach: "The Quotidian Mysteries." In vignettes and tone, she considers the day-in/day-out necessities that sometimes left her feeling empty in her marriage, but which also eventually seem to have given the relationship with her husband David a deep meaning that continues after his death at only age 57. Despite its frequent tedium, its frustrations, and the frequent medical challenges described, she evokes unexpected beauty in the description of her own marriage.
Other parts of the book are less interesting, and many readers may find the early chapters -- which offer the bulk of historical context for the book's focus on acedia -- rather mind-numbing. While this is partly unfair, it is clear that Norris' explorations of acedia in her own life are more evocative than her attempts at clinical description of acedia in general. Still, the persistent reader is rewarded with several chapters of great beauty and insight.
Kathleen Norris, bestselling author of such well-received books as The Cloister Walk and Dakota: A Spiritual Biography, turns her poet's eye to the difficult subject of depression and spiritual emptiness in Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life. Struggling to accurately identify the emotion exactly, she turns to the earlier Christian idea of acedia, described by the Church father Evagrius as "the noonday demon."
Tracing the discussion of acedia through Christian writings, she explores this spiritual sin as it particularly affected monks seeking to pray the daily afternoon prayers. Often, such monks found their attention turn listless and unfocused, perhaps by hunger or fatigue, to the point that they did not care to pray; worse, they discovered that, at these times, nothing could encourage them to fulfill their calling to pray with any real emotional investment.
While the recent psychological term "depression" has largely eclipsed common usage of the term "acedia," Norris strongly believes that it accurately describes the noonday demon that significantly challenged her relationships and her writing. Going far beyond mere writer's block, she describes a persistent numbness against which she struggled to find the will to write.
Norris is a skilled writer and a sensitive memoirist. There is sophistication and nuance to her introspection, and the reflections offer a rich and subtle confluence of many emotions and ruminations on subjects like the nature and definition of sin and the impact of modern psychology on self-image and self-assessment.
For me, the book is most engaging when Norris applies these considerations to her marriage and its challenges, especially through sickness and health. One chapter title beautifully encapsulates the wisdom of Norris' approach: "The Quotidian Mysteries." In vignettes and tone, she considers the day-in/day-out necessities that sometimes left her feeling empty in her marriage, but which also eventually seem to have given the relationship with her husband David a deep meaning that continues after his death at only age 57. Despite its frequent tedium, its frustrations, and the frequent medical challenges described, she evokes unexpected beauty in the description of her own marriage.
Other parts of the book are less interesting, and many readers may find the early chapters -- which offer the bulk of historical context for the book's focus on acedia -- rather mind-numbing. While this is partly unfair, it is clear that Norris' explorations of acedia in her own life are more evocative than her attempts at clinical description of acedia in general. Still, the persistent reader is rewarded with several chapters of great beauty and insight.
Monday, December 24, 2012
December 23 and Christmas Eve Worship: "Returning Home" and "Making a Home"
In the days before Christmas, we have enjoyed two warm worship services. We gathered on Sunday morning (a little bit earlier than usual), a bit more relaxed, with extra family and visitors among us. Then we joined together for a beautiful Christmas Eve service, filled with music and ending with "Silent Night" sung by candlelight. It has been a wonderful way to anticipate and celebrate, again, the birth of Jesus Christ.
The meditations for the two services are closely related, drawn from the familiar story in Luke 2 about the birth of Jesus. On Sunday, we considered the lessons for us in Joseph and Mary returning to Bethlehem, Joseph's ancestral home as part of King David's lineage, in "Returning Home." In particular, I reminded people how odd it is that the parents-to-be don't visit anyone, which is an odd homecoming, to say the least. On Christmas Eve, we considered the birth of Jesus in a stable in "Making a Home," and we imagined how we might learn to "pitch our tents" wherever we are.
If you missed either of these sermons, if you'd like to listen to them again, or if you'd like to share them with someone else, you can find an audio file of "Returning Home" here and of "Making a Home" here.
The meditations for the two services are closely related, drawn from the familiar story in Luke 2 about the birth of Jesus. On Sunday, we considered the lessons for us in Joseph and Mary returning to Bethlehem, Joseph's ancestral home as part of King David's lineage, in "Returning Home." In particular, I reminded people how odd it is that the parents-to-be don't visit anyone, which is an odd homecoming, to say the least. On Christmas Eve, we considered the birth of Jesus in a stable in "Making a Home," and we imagined how we might learn to "pitch our tents" wherever we are.
If you missed either of these sermons, if you'd like to listen to them again, or if you'd like to share them with someone else, you can find an audio file of "Returning Home" here and of "Making a Home" here.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Christmas Eve Service, Monday, December 24
Tomorrow evening, we will have a special candlelight worship service to celebrate the birth of Jesus. There will be special music, a Christmas Eve meditation -- "Making a Home," and celebration of the Lord's Supper before concluding with a candlelight singing of "Silent Night."
It should be a memorable and meaningful way to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel, "God with us," this Christmas.
It should be a memorable and meaningful way to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel, "God with us," this Christmas.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Prayer for Mission in South Africa
This week, we pray for Scott Couper and Susan Valiquette, our missionaries to South Africa. Both Scott and Susan serve various important roles at Inanda Seminary and Scott also serves as a pastor in a United Congregational Church of South Africa congregation.
You can read more about the mission to South Africa here, including some of the things that continue to inspire Scott and Susan's service.
There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in 70 countries around the world. Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.
You can read more about the mission to South Africa here, including some of the things that continue to inspire Scott and Susan's service.
There are Christian missionaries serving on our behalf in 70 countries around the world. Each week, Global Missions highlights one of these missions and asks the wider church to pray for its continued vitality in spreading the Gospel.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Coming Up Sunday, December 23
REMINDER: This Sunday and next, worship begins at 10:00 am. There is no Sunday School.
As we draw closer to Christmas, we will again celebrate the birth of Christ by enjoying special music and hearing again the story of Jesus' birth. We will continue our series "Looking for Home: Faith in the Holiday Season" by journeying with Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, as recorded in Luke. In "Returning Home," we will look at the meaning of Jesus' birthplace for him and for us.
As we enter the heart of this holiday season, many of us will return home, or welcome family members returning home. This important part of Christmas, making the effort -- and travelling -- to be with family, reminds us how we value the people who make home what it is (even if we sometimes grumble about them).
As we draw closer to Christmas, we will again celebrate the birth of Christ by enjoying special music and hearing again the story of Jesus' birth. We will continue our series "Looking for Home: Faith in the Holiday Season" by journeying with Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, as recorded in Luke. In "Returning Home," we will look at the meaning of Jesus' birthplace for him and for us.
As we enter the heart of this holiday season, many of us will return home, or welcome family members returning home. This important part of Christmas, making the effort -- and travelling -- to be with family, reminds us how we value the people who make home what it is (even if we sometimes grumble about them).
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