O Lord, baptize our hearts into a sense of the conditions
and needs of all men.
- George Fox

Radical Hospitality
Sunday Charlie+, Art and I traveled to Ocean City for a Clergy Conference. The conference focused on sharing our faith with those who were outside the church – that scary word, “evangelism” came up several times. At one point someone said that the church was called to Radical Hospitality. That phrase has stuck with me. It is not the first time I have heard it, but perhaps this time, I listened with more than my ears.

What does Radical Hospitality look like? How do we at St. James practice it - as a church body, as individuals, as a school? Are we radically welcoming? A few weeks ago, I spent some time with a new family at coffee hour. They were sitting at a table by themselves, so I went over to introduce myself. I was uncomfortable with the fact that they were by themselves; do we have so much fun at coffee hour visiting with those we know that we forget to seek out those that we don’t know?

How is God calling us to Radical Hospitality? As a strong introvert, I find that reaching out to new people challenges my comfort zone at times. Yet each time I do so I am rewarded by a new relationship, by meeting a fellow brother or sister in Christ.

This week, consider how God might be calling you to radical hospitality. Seek out someone you don’t know. Invite a friend to church. Let your life and faith speak to any who come your way.

Lord Jesus,
I give thee my hands to do thy work.
I give thee my feet to go thy way.
I give thee my eyes to see as thou seest.
I give thee my tongue to speak thy words.
I give thee my mind that thou mayest think in me.
I give thee my spirit that thou mayest pray in me.
Above all, I give thee my heart
That thou mayest love in me
Thy Father and all mankind.
I give thee my whole self that thou mayest
Grow in me, so that it is thee,
Lord Jesus, who lives and works and prays in me.
- Lancelot Andrews

Debra’s Midweek Meditation
"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind"

Whirlwinds, laments, voices and ceaseless wondering are the elements of the story of Job.
These are the elements of our stories as well.
Our wondering often turns to lament and sometimes anger as we pelt God with the questions of why good people, such as ourselves, must suffer.

In the beginning, God calmed the chaos and brought creative order.
God is still doing that work in our lives
and in our world.
But, this work is hard to see, isn't it?
Our vision is very small,
the amount of time we have to pay attention is even smaller.

The questions that God raises with Job indicate
that we cannot see nor can we know the extent
to which God is active in creation and in human history.

The piercing sound of God's wisdom cuts through the sound of the whirlwind-cuts through the sound of confusion.

We do not receive answers, we receive God.

God bends toward us with what is at hand, to get our attention, and to remind us that we are not in charge.

So--relax and let God be God.

Blessings,
Debra

Don't forget Christian meditation in the sanctuary at Ashland--tonight at 7 p.m.
We will enter the cloud of unknowing and rest in God's presence.

As the rain hides the stars,
As the autumn mist hides the hills,
As the clouds veil the blue of the sky,
So the dark happenings of my lot hide the shining of your face from me.
Yet, if I may hold your hand in the darkness,
It is enough.
Since I know that,
Though I may stumble in my going,
You do not fall.
- Celtic Tradition

Today is the Feast Day of St. Luke the Evangelist.

Luke was Greek, a gentile and not a Jew. It is unlikely that he ever met Jesus. He accompanied St. Paul on a number of mission trips. He was the writer of both the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Luke is generally believed to have been a physician. There are within the traditions of the church the story that Luke had a strong friendship with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and had learned of his birth first-hand from her. His gospel is the only one that records the annunciation, the visit to Elizabeth, and the rest of what we consider to be the Christmas story. (Matthew records the visit of the Magi.)

In writing of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke provided the Church with a record of the first years of the Church after the death and Resurrection of Christ. He introduces us to Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, who became the early church’s primary theologian. Beginning in Advent, our Sunday lectionary will focus on Luke’s gospel.

Collect for St. Luke:
Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the Physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN.

This week at St. James
Thursday: SJA Career day and noon dismissal.
Saturday: 9:00 Social Ministries meets in the Parish Library
Sunday: Jean Cushman from Episcopal Community Services is our guest preacher.; 10:15 Children’s Eucharist in the STM Room
Monday: 10:00 Narnia Book Study in the Parish Library; 10:00 Entertaining Angels in the Choir Room
Tuesday: 7:30 Board of Trustees meeting.
Wednesday: 8:30 Healing Eucharist; 9:15 Bible Study; 9:30 Prayer Shawl Ministry; 4:45 Seafarer’s Cruise

Next Thursday, October 26, we will be finishing the Chronicles of Narnia in our CS Lewis Book Study. During the months of November and December, we will be reading Lewis’ autobiography, Surprised by Joy. Join us!

Prayers, Etc.
For those who are deployed and their families.
For the victims of the earthquake in Hawaii.
For peace in the Middle East.
For North and South Korea.

For those on our prayer list:
Dot; Sue; Lori; Bill; Sarah; Joel
Toni; Anna; Philip; David; Brooke; Brian G.
Leib & Carlyn; Lovisah; Jeffrey; Miriam F.; Pat E.
Traskey family; Harold F.; Gus S.; Matthew D.; Sharon C.
Gage C.; Avery; Joan L. and family; Annabelle
Tom & Kathy H.; Linda T.; Allison; Louis; Matt S.
Don & Leslie D.; Nancy; Fiona; Brenda; Fritz
Valerie and her children; Prof; Sara R.; Auds

The Fowley family
Our seminarian, Laura Brecht and her husband, Lyle.

O Almighty God, the Father of all humanity,
Turn, we pray, the hearts of all peoples and their rulers,
That by the power of your Holy Spirit peace may be established
Among the nations on the foundation of justice, righteousness and truth;
Through him who was lifted up on the cross
To draw all people to himself,
Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
- Archbishop William Temple

In Closing:
All through this day, O Lord, by the power of thy quickening Spirit,
Let me touch the lives of others for good,
Whether through the word I speak,
The prayer I speak,
Or the life I live.
- Ancient Collect

May God in the plenitude of his love pour upon you the torrents of his grace, bless you and keep you in his holy fear, prepare you for a happy eternity, and receive you at last into immortal glory.

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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