It Never Snows in Seattle

I think of that statement every time it snows around here.

In 1971 when my Dad was being transferred from New Jersey to Washington State, we were eager to learn about what things were like out in the Pacific Northwest. We were told many things about what to expect, most of which turned out to be untrue.

Like many of the uninformed from the East Coast we found that it was not like the Hollywood "cowboy and indian" movies. It was not totally uncharted wilderness. It was not far removed from civilization. It was, however, very rainy.

One of the funniest things we were told was that it NEVER snowed in Seattle. This is because Seattle is too close to the Puget Sound which stays an even warm temperature.

So every time it snows in Seattle, I chuckle.

Only this past week with temps hovering in the teens, I've had to chuckle inside for fear my breath might freeze. OK, so I know it's not as cold as Minnesota where my brother is (sub ZERO!) but for us moderate weather PNW'ers it's darn cold - and snowy!

So for those of us not used to this white stuff - Yes, Virginia, it does snow in Seattle - so wrap up in your woolies and be careful out there!

PJ

Audacity of Hope

In 1981 I got caught up in the economic down turn of the time and as a result found myself unemployed for eleven months. This challenge was compounded by the fact that my wife and I were anticipating the birth of our first child. As a typical male, my identity was tied to my occupation and I struggled through a time of depression while I rediscovered who I was. This was a dark time for me, but I emerged from this challenge a stronger person, better prepared for other tough times that might lie ahead. What helped me get through this time was the love of family and the support of my faith community.

From my faith community I learned about the audacity of hope. Time and again people of faith look to Biblical examples of those struggling through tough times, but persisting in their hope because of a trust in God. To outsiders this hope seems counter-intuitive particularly when all evidence of change is to the contrary. Yet, I believe this is the essence of faith - hoping when all seems hopeless.

The audacity of hope is the message of Advent.

I continue to be amazed by the insight of the Church that celebrates the coming of the "Light of the World" at the darkest time of the year. This, at it's core, is a symbol of the audacity of hope. A hope that persists no matter how dark things may get. A hope that reminds us that the Light of the World has come to us, and abides with us, through even the toughest of times.

My mind flashes back to 1981 as the prophets of doom and gloom predict a prolonged season of challenge. My prayer is that we might trust instead in the One who continues to bring light into the darkness, and in faith live with the audacity of hope.

PJ

Degrees of Separation

I'm wondering if I've moved up in the game. You know, the game called "6 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon."

In the game you try to figure out the closest link you have to Kevin Bacon. For example if you are related to Mr. Bacon that would be 1 degree separation, if you are friends of a relative that would be 2 degrees, etc... The theory is that no one is more than 6 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. Why they chose him for the game I have no clue, it's just part of the game.

The reason I'm wondering if I'm closer is because of what happened to me this past weekend.

I had the privilege of performing the marriage of a another young woman who was part of the youth group in my former church. She had a lovely intimate wedding in a small historic chapel in a tiny town on the Washington State peninsula. In youth group I remembered her mentioning once that she was related to a famous actress, but brushed that off as simply a youth trying to gain attention. After all I once claimed to be related to Martin Short, just for that kind of attention.

Well Stephanie Reed wasn't joking. Her aunt is the actress Pamela Reed who just so happened to attend her niece's wedding this weekend. Needless to say, I enjoyed my crow. The thought had crossed my mind to do the star-struck thing and ask for an autograph or get a picture with her, but felt it better for Ms. Reed to enjoy the wedding of her niece like a "normal" person.

But this brings me back to my original thought.

Does presiding at the wedding of Pamela Reed's niece move me up in degrees nearer to Kevin Bacon? The preliminary checking I've done indicates that Ms. Reed has not done any acting with Kevin Bacon, but does the mere fact that she's and actor and he's an actor mean that she is 1 degree of separation ergo I am now 2 because I performed the wedding for her niece? I haven't found rules to the game to tell if I'm on the right track.


But if this counts, then I've been 2 degrees of separation for a while because I once saw Donald Sutherland in a Barnes and Nobles in Topeka, Kansas.


Don't worry, I'm not letting this fame go to my head...


PJ

10/22 - update. According to the "Oracle of Bacon" both Pamela Reed and Donald Sutherland are 2 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon - so I guess that puts me at 3 degrees.

PJ

Ancient-Modern Endeavors

I don't know how the Tacoma Art Museum was lucky enough to swing it, but the museum is hosting two exhibits until September 7 that are a must see (and hear). I had the good fortune of visiting recently and the experience was truly spiritual.

I mainly wanted to see the display of "The Saint John's Bible." This is a Bible that has been commissioned by Saint John's University that is being done in the medieval style of the Benedictine Monks. It is all handwritten and illustrated on vellum. When it is completed in 2010 it will be seven volumes at the cost of about 4 million dollars.

It is the vision of one man, Donald Jackson, who has been working with a team of calligraphers and illustrators since 2000 and six of the seven volumes are complete. The Bible is being written using the New Revised Standard Version and the illustrations are laced with gold a symbol of the presence of the Divine. The illustrations capture the essence of the various Bible books, for instance Genesis has a seven panel picture depicting the creation story, the Gospel of Luke has an illustration that depicts several of the "lost" parables.

One of my favorite illustrations is for the Gospel of Matthew which displays Jesus' family tree in the shape of a menorah. It includes Hagar at the base next to Abraham with her name written in both Hebrew and Aramaic as Mohammad's lineage is also traced through her. I feel inadequate in expressing the beauty of the pages. I encourage you to visit the Saint John's Bible web site to see and read more about it. The Bible will be housed at the Saint John's University in Minneapolis, Minnesota so I especially encourage my mid-west friends to check it out in person.

The other exhibit that I "heard" at the Tacoma Art Museum was a project done by Janet Cardiff. She reworked a Tallis Motet into forty parts then recorded the forty voices performing the piece in a German Cathedral. Each individual voice was recorded and the display has forty speakers, arranged in groups of five, in a circle. There were only male voices and the high soprano parts were sung by a boys choir. Standing in the center of the circle of speakers I got chills from the beauty of the sound, but it was also fun to walk around the perimeter and hear each individual voice.

The sound was amazing as it echoed through the Art Museum. The spiritual high came as I enjoyed the stunning visual imagery of the Saint John's Bible while hearing the rich sounds of the Tallis Motet - I was taken to a wonderful place - and I plan on going there again - Today!

For the Beauty of the Earth

One of the great pleasures of being a pastor is the opportunity to perform the marriage cermony of good friends. It's even more pleasurable when the wedding is for someone you have watched grow from youth into adulthood. This was the case this past weekend where I had the pleasure of performing the marriage of Abby Curtis to Joel Zaspel.


I first met the Curtis family in 1988 when my family transferred from a church in the south end of Tacoma to Mason United Methodist Church in the north end of Tacoma. This was prior to my journey exploring my call to ministry. At this time I was still "running" from the call.


Mike Curtis, a warm and gregarious man, was hard to miss and quickly made my family feel quite at home in the new church. Mike and his wife Debbie had two girls - Casey and Abby - who were a little older than our children, but our families enjoyed many church events together.


When I finished seminary in 1998, it was my delight to discover that I was being appointed as an Associate Pastor to my home church - Mason UMC. We returned to serve our friends and were blessed to re-connect. By this time, Casey and Abby were in high school and part of the high school youth group. My responsibilities as Associate Pastor included Youth Ministry so it was fun to be their Youth Pastor.


In 2005, I began serving as the pastor for the Federal Way UMC, but have been blessed to know that my ministry had a positive impact on the lives of the Youth I served. I've been able to perform the marriage for Casey and, this past weekend, her sister Abby.


Abby's wedding took place on Mineral Lake near Mount Rainier. I had never been to Mineral Lake before. It was a beautiful setting and I am still riding high on re-connection of friends, the celebration of marriage, and the beauty of God's creation. Just one of the many perks of this pastor profession!

Life Is Not Fair!

I must admit that I have harbored just a little bit of pride about the fact that I was not as motion sensitive as my wife.

I was the one to take the kids on the rides at the fair. I was the one comfortable going out on the Sound in a small boat to go fishing. I was the one who didn't need to take Dramamine to ride in an airplane. But all this has changed and I'm just a little humbled by the fact.

Karen and I had been talking for a few years about taking a cruise up the inside passage to Alaska. Well this year we decided to stop talking about it and do it. Being the truly compassionate one, I approached the cruise with more concern about how Karen would handle it than how I would do - after all, Karen is the one who can make herself carsick while she's driving.

All this changed the second day into our cruise.

As the ship entered open sea it encountering a little bit of chop with the water. We were experiencing the wonderful up and down sensation of a large ship on a choppy sea and I was not doing well at all. Truth be told - I tossed my cookies! Karen, however, was doing just fine. I ended up spending the rest of the cruise doped up on Dramamine "just in case."

But the most frustrating part of the whole experience were the four days after the cruise I spent nauseated and dizzy waiting to get my land legs again. And how was Karen doing? You guessed it! Just fine.

She is eager to go on a cruise again, but I'm not sure I can endure the "pleasure."

I don't wear humility very well and I just a little bummed about how unfair life is in this instance.

PJ

Me to We

Moving from Me to We.

I picked up this book simply on a whim. I was cruising the book aisle at Costco and it caught my eye. I've only just begun reading it, but would recommend it to everyone.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are the founders of an international children's charity called Free The Children that works to raise awareness of global child labor issues as well as empower young people to become involved in social issues.

The book not only has Craig and Marc's amazing stories, but stories from others like them who have been working for change either locally or around the world.

But the main thrust of the book is to help people move from a self-centered life (Me) to one that is focused on reaching out and helping others (We). The premise being that as each of us reaches out to help others we find true happiness for ourselves.

I think this will preach...

PJ

Too Long Since My Last Confession

I have this image of going into a confessional and asking forgiveness because it has been so long since my last blog. "Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been over three months since my last confession-er-I-mean blog."

I apologize for not blogging in the last three months, and I know of at least one person who has vainly looked day after day to see if I've submitted a new post, only to be disappointed time and again.

So it is out of guilt and love that I dedicate this blog to you!

During Lent I shared a sermon series called "A Way of Discipleship." The series focused on six disciplines that I believe will help Christians more closely follow Jesus' commands to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul - and to love your neighbor as yourself. If you want to know more about the disciplines click here. Hopefully, the sermon series will be on the church web site soon.

The Sunday I spoke about faith sharing I began by sharing in David Letterman style the Top Ten Reasons people don't share their faith. Several folks have asked for the list so I thought I'd publish it here. (No, DL's writers didn't help me with this)

10. All the good street corners are already taken
9. Sharing about the weather and sports are more important
8. Everyone I know is already a Christian
7. If everyone knew I was a Christian, I’d have to behave like one
6. My soapbox is in the shop
5. It’s impolite to discuss religion with my friends
4. People are put-off by knowing that God loves them
3. That’s what we pay the preacher to do
2. I’m afraid I’ll mess it up
1. I just don’t think about doing it

I really have very little excuse for not posting sooner. My story is that I was thrown by Easter being so early and since that won't happen again for another 200 years, I think I'll do a little better...

PJ

Resisting Resolutions

Each time the New Year rolls around people start talking about making New Year's Resolutions. Indeed the start of a New Year is a great time to think about what one can do new or differently in the coming year to improve one's life.

Many of the folks I talk with, however, no longer make New Year's Resolutions. I suspect it's because they've made resolutions in the past and found that after about two weeks the resolutions end up being forgotten or broken.

I confess that I will usually think about making resolutions for the New Year, and I may even come up with some great stuff, but I typically resist committing to a resolution because I don't want to feel guilty about not being faithful to the change. And I never share my "proposed resolutions" with anyone for fear I might actually have to hold myself accountable to a change.

I've found, however, that the flip side of my resisting resolutions is that instead of feeling guilty, I worry that I won't commit to anything. I fear that I'll have wasted another year making no real improvement with my life.

It seems to me that the reality of life is that if we aren't intentional about what we do, we'll usually end up taking the path of least resistance; we'll settle for the mediocre; we'll live less fully than what we are capable of living.

So if you've made a New Year's Resolution I hope that you will find the tenacity to stick with it. If your like me and you haven't (or you've made closet resolutions) think about ways to live with intentionality. Start small - one simple act - and then maybe work your way up to a full blown resolution.

PJ