Walking the walk versus Talking The Talk

Now that I live in the Bible Belt I have been having some very interesting conversations with people about God. Most recently I had the occasion to speak to two different people on two separate occasions about the number of people who identified themselves as "Christians" who talk the talk but don't walk the walk. In other words they may quote scripture, they may attend church but they don't necessarily Walk The Walk. They don't have that personal relationship with God. There's a parable that Jesus speaks of in Matthew chapter 25  verses 14-30 about the master who gives each of his slaves a certain number of talents in other words money. Slaves go out and invest the money and then double it and bring back twice as much money to their master. The third slave goes and buries the money thereby under the law of the time claiming no responsibility for it. The master praises to slaves that double his money for him and reprimands and cast out the slave that simply buried the money. "God's grace has been given to you. What are you going to do share it or bury it?" *Father Mike st. John's Episcopal Church Fort Smith.
Much like the third slave there are people that talk the talk about being Christians but when it comes right down to it they look out for number one there by burying God's grace. Then there are those like the first and second slaves that will go out and share God's grace I loving our neighbor as ourselves and by caring for the needy. In other words investing God's grace. These people are the ones that walk the walk as Christians. These are the people that have a personal relationship with God and recognize that God's love and grace is abundant enough in their lives to share it and invested in other people.
So I leave you with the question that father Mike asked the congregation. God's Grace has been given to you. What are you going to do share it or bury it? Do we trust that God's love and grace is abundant enough and is not going to run out?

I am that I am

 "Sometimes the people in our lives who are supposed to love us, for whatever reason, aren't the people we need them to be. Family, friends, loved ones, are all human, as are we, and that means we aren't perfect. So sometimes the relationships that we are supposed to be able to count on aren't meant to be our foundation. And when that happens, we need to build our foundations on stronger stuff, like our own sense of self-worth, or relationships we choose rather than the ones we're born into. If that has happened in your life, after you assess that you have handled the relationship the best way you could, or apologized for anything that you shouldn't have done, then just know that some people aren't meant to be in your life. Some people are meant just to be lessons that we learn from so that we do better with the next relationships. And we need to be okay with that. We do the best we can, when we can, and cut yourself some slack for those times when things aren't the way they "should" be. You are enough and you are lovable. "
This popped up in my memories today. It was a post from a page that I follow called Collins friends. Some of you may be familiar with it. I am a firm believer in God the universe aligning itself so that there are no coincidences. This post came on the heels of listening to a chapter from dr. Wayne Dyer's book wishes fulfilled. In the book and in this particular chapter he discusses the " I am that I am" From Exodus 3:14. One of the things things that he encourages you to do is to never put a negative statement after the phrase I am. He points out that I am is the name of God and therefore if you put something negative after it you blasfime. This also came on the heels my friends gratitude project in which she discusses that she is grateful that her marriage ended the way that it did and how she has come out the other side stronger. It's a lesson which cost me emotionally and financially but like my friend I am stronger for it and I am coming out the other side. 

A plural society

I went to the newcomers class today St John's Episcopal Church in Fort Smith which has been my church home for a little less than a year now. In the class today we learned about how our church is part of not only the Diocese of Arkansas but that we are also part of the global Episcopalian and Anglican community. Then I get home and get on social media and I'm bombarded with three main stories on my news feed. The first one about a shooting in a church today in Tennessee. Followed shortly by speculation of terrorism given that the shooter was not born in this country and was not a US citizen. The second news item that appears on my social media page is the controversy surrounding whether or not NFL players should kneel during the national anthem. This followed by people quoting both Federal and NFL regulations surrounding the flag and the national anthem in order to support their arguments. The third item was the continued controversy surrounding symbols of the Confederacy in the south. People arguing both sides. One side being that these symbol should be destroyed because of what they stand for namely the enslavement of African-Americans. The opposing argument being these symbols need to be preserved that For Better or For Worse they are part of our history.

What strikes me with all of these is in the post 9/11 World we have forgotten that we are a plural society. That was one of the themes today in our newcomers class that head come up with members who had come from other denominations and gravitated towards the Episcopal Church because we are very plural Church. As our Minister father Mike said episcopalians are in the middle between the Catholics and the Reformation brought forth by Martin Luther. Which explains why my maternal grandparents decided on the Episcopal Church. My mom's mom was raised congregationalist and my mom's dad was a divorced Catholic when they met. This was the first time that that actually made sense to me. They raised my mom and her brother in the Episcopal Church and my mom subsequently had me baptized in the Episcopal Church and raised me in the Episcopal Church. I went to the same Episcopal Church in San Francisco for over 30 years until it became clear to my mom and I that we needed a new church home because the church was no longer aligning with our beliefs. Thankfully we found Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in Belvedere California and I continue to go there even after my mom's death. I remember that was the hardest part of leaving California was not knowing whether or not I would find a church home that would encourage pluralism deep in the heart of the Bible Belt. I researched online and found St John's Episcopal Church in Fort Smith. It took me a few months after I moved to Oklahoma to finally get up the nerve to go to St John's and to get back to the Episcopal Church. Part of it was this is the first church home that I have had that my mother was not physically present with me. As my medical intuitive told me recently I needed to stop trying to fill the void left by my mom from outside myself and instead I needed to fill that void with God. Then by Divine Providence the newcomers class came up and what struck me in between that and what I read on social media today what is this idea of a plural society and I remember to quote from one of my favorite TV shows The West Wing."So what bothers them [terrorists] about us? Well, the variety of cheers alone coming from the cheap seats at Giants stadium when they're playing the Cowboys is enough for a jihad, to say nothing of street corners lined church next to synagogue, next to mosque, newspapers that can print anything they want, women who can do anything they want including taking a rocket ship to outer space, vote, and play soccer. This is a plural society. That means we accept more than one idea." -West Wing. I wonder after reading the news feed on social media today whether we are in some ways losing our plural society? I'll leave you with some homework that I am doing this week as part of the course for mindvalley. Keep track of what judgment you make this week whether it's on your phone or on a three-by-five card keep track of your judgement even the little ones. I believe it is in part these judgments that block us from truly becoming a plural society. 

Casting a wide net

Paul's letter to the Romans tells us " the spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is in the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God.  Upon reading Paul's letter to the Romans I was once again reminded of two poems, The Difference (author unknown) and Footprints (Mary Stevenson). I first came across these poems in the gift shop in Canterbury Cathedral and they hung side by side in my room above my alter for years until time had crumbled and faded them. I share them with you here:

THE DIFFERENCE

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day. I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task. "Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. He answered, You didn't ask," I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak. I wondered why God didn't show me. He said, "But you didn't seek.: I tried to come into God's presence. I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock." I woke up early this morning and paused before enter the day. I had so much to accomplish that i had to take time to pray.
Author: UNKNOWN

Footprints in the Sand

One night I had a dream.

I dreamed I was walking along the beach
with the Lord..

Across the sky flashed scenes from my life..
For each scene, I noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand,
one belonging to me, and the other to the Lord..

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me 
and I questioned the Lord about it:
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most 
troublesome times in my life 
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why 
when I need you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied:
"My precious child, I love you and would
never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints, it was then
that I carried yo



by Mary Stevenson

Praying is a tricky business. Some people don't pray, I think because like the speaker in Footprints, they don't believe that God answers prayers because they have experienced too much pain and suffering in their lives to believe God exists anymore. Like Jesus on the cross they ask "My God, My God why have you forsaken me?" Still others have turned away from the church because they feel Christianity has become less about a personal relationship with God and more about getting some kind of insurance that you will get into heaven. If you do XYZ then you get a ticket to heaven. But the kingdom of heaven isn't up there or out there somewhere in space, unattainable until you die. The kingdom of Heaven is allowing God to come into your heart. However, like the speaker in The Difference, we don't often take the time to pray, we don't take the time needed to allow our Spiritual life to grow. However, if we cast a wide net and see what speaks to our heart. Psalm 105:4 says "Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore." A

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