Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

July 1, 2009

For everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;
And you are exalted as head over all.
---I Chronicles 29:11---
Thanks to Thee, God,
Who brought’st me from yesterday
To the beginning of today,
Everlasting joy
To earn for my soul
With good intent.
And for every gift of peace
Thou bestowest on me,
My thoughts my words,
My deeds, my desires
I dedicate to Thee,
I supplicate Thee,
I beseech Thee,
To keep me from offense,
And to shield me tonight
For the sake of Thy wounds
With Thine offering of grace.
---from The Celtic Vision---

"Let the Doors be Opened"

This morning we had a service of dedication for our new Meditation Chapel doors. Bishop John Rabb stood in front of the doors, with about 26 people behind him, rapped on the doors three times, and said, "Let the doors be opened." Charlie+ and I opened the doors, and all came in.

This is the traditional beginning of the Consecration of a Church, found in the Book of Common Prayer. Today, as Bishop Rabb said those words, I thought of the numbers of people who have already come into the chapel, where the door is always unlocked, so that people can come and pray at any time.

We have had people come for our healing Eucharist, classes from the Academy meeting there with Charlie+, Godly Play classes, people coming for contemplative prayer, Christian Formation Festival workshop participants, attendees of our Lenten Series, and others who come to find a quiet space apart.

For such a small space, it has a vibrant life. In some ways it is an icon of this parish: Our attendance doesn’t always reflect the true size of this place. There are many things going on at any given time, many ways to enter in to the work and worship of God.

My prayer is that the our doors, not only to the chapel, but to the life of the parish, will always be open to new people, new possibilities, and new experiences of the Sacred.

Everliving Father,
Watchful and caring,
Our service and our end:
All that we are and all that we have is yours.
Accept us now,
As we dedicate this place to which we come
To praise your name,
To ask forgiveness,
To know your healing power,
To hear your Word,
And to be nourished by the Body and Blood
of your Son.
Be present always to guide and to judge.
To illumine and to bless your people.
---Consecration of a Church, Book of Common Prayer---

Troubled Water
A Story of Healing

Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
John 5: 2-9

Can you imagine 38 years of illness culminating in day after day beside a pool waiting for one magic moment of possibility? This is where we find our man of Bethesda. Lame-so he cannot enter the water quickly and he must rely on others to care enough to fight through the crowds and get him in just as the waters are troubled by the healing energies of God.

A picture of deep hopelessness, I think, and yet our man continues to show up day after day. A spark of hope still exists within his ailing soul, but that hope is directed at a system of healing which is bound to failure. He has but one way of perceiving the possibility of healing and even when Jesus asks him if he wants to be healed his answer is not yes or no; it is an explanation of why he isn’t being healed.

I think this often happens to us when we long for healing. We have a pre-conceived notion of what healing looks like and are not open to the healing power of Christ. We want to do it our way!

When Jesus confronts the blind man and gets a sidelong answer, Jesus heals him anyway. The compassion of Christ moves into the heart of the matter and heals what is dis-eased. The healing takes place next to a pool of water that has healing properties. Christ does not need to use the water of this pool for healing. He is the living water, himself.

From the first chapter of scripture when God breathed order over the waters of chaos, to baptism in the Jordan River and the streams of water flowing from the throne of God in Revelation; God uses water to heal and support the spiritual journey.

An old spiritual about "troubled water" sums it up in this way:

Wade in the water, Wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water, God's agonna trouble the water.

The spiritual encourages us to enter the place where healing is possible, rather than wait on the sidelines. Sometimes wading in the water requires a good deal of courage.

When we ask others to pray for us, we are letting them see into our fears. When we confront the reality of our situation, we are acknowledging, at least to ourselves, that we are not in control.

Wade in the water, Wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water, God's agonna trouble the water.

The people who first sang this song were singing hope born of pain and struggle—encouragement from despair. They knew that God would hear them, but they also knew that they would have the power to wade into the water and meet God.

We share the faith that makes it possible for us to sing, today, about getting into the place where our souls and bodies can be washed with the healing power of God’s love and compassion.

Wade in the water!

Blessings,
Debra

Daily Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer

This Week at St. James

Friday, July 3, I leave for vacation. The Pax will resume on August 5th.

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For Matt Rogers, Postulant in the diocese of Maryland.

In Closing:

Pray we then, O Lord the Spirit,
On our lives descend in might;
Let your flame break out within us,
Fire our hearts and clear our sight,
Till, white-hot in our possession,
We, too, set the world alight.
---Michael Hewlett, from the Hymnal 1982---

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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