Archive for the ‘sage’ Category

SAGE - Happy Birthday, Church.

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Pentecost celebrates the birth of the church by the Holy Spirit, which came (just as Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be with us) to all of his followers in a common experience.

The timing of this is 50 days (Pentecost means “fiftieth” in Greek) after the resurrection of our Lord. It mirrors the Jewish feast of Shavuot which celebrates the Holy Spirit’s gift of the 10 commandments to the community 50 days after the Exodus.

Now this great wind of the Spirit happened after Jesus had shown up in the flesh after his resurrection, visited with folks, ate meals together, and loved on them and encouraged them, and “left” (his ascension into heaven).  At the Refuge a few Saturdays ago, Karl and Kathy pondered why Jesus didn’t just stick around after the resurrection. After all, he could have lived like a rock star!  But that was never what Jesus was about. Thru him (Immanuel, God with us), he gave us one another, in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  A gift that God is with us, with each other, thru each other, a gift we share among us and to the whole world.

I’ll drop it down a couple of gears here and be personal with this.  The theology and symbolism is very pretty, but what is my experience with this stuff?

I didn’t grow up expecting much of the Holy Spirit, or of the church, but had hope that they might be real in some way.  My first touch of the power of both of them came at my surprise 1st communion (age 10) with folks from a little Lutheran church on retreat in the woods, along with some Jesus freaks who had randomly showed up in a VW microbus.

Since that time I have had just a very few more very powerful and personal experiences of being touched by the Holy Spirit.  Every one was a complete surprise. One was an overwhelming revelation of the power and beauty of the Reality of God (the kind that brings you to your knees), and another an unbelievably fiery healing experience which was really strange.

Before my experiences, I had heard about stuff like that, but doubted that it was real.  Even if those things might be real, they probably wouldn’t happen to me-  I am too much of a skeptic.  But I have been touched and healed anyway, and I am grateful.   These things are personal, but they have turned me outward–into community.  It is not all about my “personal relationship with Jesus”.  Most of life is lived in normal time anyway, normal experience, and that is how it should be.  What is amazing is how the Holy Spirit turns normal time into sacred time, especially in community.  That is something I am seeing more and more.  I don’t really know what is possible with all of this, but I think a heck of a lot more is both possible and real now than I did before.

We have been given the most intimate relationship with God (body of Christ, bride of Christ).  We are now a family built on Love.  Brothers and Sisters we truly are, and to do well with that requires a commitment to relationship.  The work of being real (not easy, but good).  The learning of justice, kindness, and humility.  And an anticipation of the Love and power of God with us, and among us, now.  Happy Birthday, Church.  You are beautiful.

Posted in church calendar, healing, holy spirit, sage | 1 Comment »

we are the refuge

Monday, August 11th, 2008

hands

this past sunday as we wrapped up our summer series on community, we wrote some identity poems related to the refuge & also ourselves. we thought we’d share the refuge ones so everyone could listen in on our heart. the first one was a community effort—each table contributed particular lines to the poem. the second one was written by sage and powerfully read during the sharing. both reflect the heart and ever-evolving identity of the refuge.

*****

we are seeking & welcoming friends

we wonder where this journey is taking us

we hear hopefulness from people we love & a fruitful silence

we see healing & chaos

we want true community, acceptance, humor, fun, realness & to make a difference

we are seeking & welcoming friends

we pretend that we’re cool, that nothing’s wrong

we feel known, uncomfortable, deeply connected, exposed, accepted, appreciated, safe & loved

we touch many lives & pressure points

we worry in our attempt to include the marginalized of society that we’ll turn our hearts back on all others

we cry with each other as we share our stories

we are seeking & welcoming friends

we understand that we don’t have all the answers

we say that relationships are intentional

we dream a lot, that we’d be a truly loving community, real people and love Jesus

we try to live our dreams

we hope for twinkle twinkle little star (stella’s addition), community & connection, honesty, equality, to be embracing, an extension of God’s love, to always be stretching outward, transparent to the world, to foster a deep sense of awareness of each person’s value.

we are seeking & welcoming friends

we are the refuge.

–written by the refuge community 8.11.08

*****

we are loving & chaotic

we wonder if we can really love one another

we hear God’s voice in and among us

we see God’s hand at work in us

we want a place to rest from our wandering

we are loving & chaotic

we pretend to be understanding & welcoming

we feel wrapped in community

we touch hands as brothers & sisters in Christ

we worry that we can’t do this

we cry when we fall short

we are loving & chaotic

we understand that God’s love is real

we say that Jesus makes everything possible

we dream they kingdom come, thy will be done

we try to make that happen for everyone

we hope to bring God’s kingdom for all

we are loving & chaotic

we are the refuge

- sage harmos, 8.11.08

Posted in church stuff, community, dreams, sage, the refuge | 1 Comment »

SAGE - Anna & Simeon: So Faithful It Was Strange

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

we’re on week 3 in the urban skye advent guide.

Since Anna and Simeon are “post creche” figures, I never paid any attention to them. The Christmas eve gospel readings left them out too. But sure enough, there they are. A couple of old folks praising baby Jesus. That is easy to imagine–like bringing your progeny to a great-grandparent, of course they’re going to be happy.

This is, however, no ordinary blessing–which is why it lives in the sacred story. It occurs as part of Jesus’ circumcision and dedication to God. And these were the elders who were present and shone on that sacred occasion. The fact that Anna and Simeon were very old is important. It calls attention to the way they have lived their lives and what that means.

Throughout this advent season we have paid attention to how the first ones who recognize Jesus as Lord were misfits. That is true of Anna and Simeon also, but for different reasons than the others. These two were super devout–way beyond basic religiosity. It is helpful to know that Jews didn’t have monasteries and usually kept themselves involved with normal community life. There was a special vow you could take (the nazarite vow, from Numbers) to bring you closer to God, but it was usually for a limited period of time. The only ones I know of in ible history who were life-long nazarites (not related to nazarines) were Sampson and John the Baptist. One of the signs of the vow is to not cut the hair, which explains a lot about Sampson’s deal.

Anyhow, to live that way was exceptional, and to live as Anna did- IN the temple for 84 years, man, that’s kinda weird. One of the gifts that come with this devotion is prophesy. Their culture apparently knew how to nurture and support people who hear God talking to them. These days, you can’t do that sort of thing…Anna would be another homeless lady with a shopping cart and frayed mittens saying “God bless you” over a cup of coffee.

This kind of devotion gave Anna and Simeon a different set of expectations for their lives. They didn’t expect to see their fortunes grow, or get a Wii, or something normal like that. They expected no less than to see the fulfillment of God’s great covenantal promise within their own lifetimes. And they waited—then recognized it when he arrived–and blessed him.

Simeon had faith that this was coming and delivered a powerful prophesy. He then gave thanks that his life’s work had been completed. In the Bible it mentions that after Anna had delivered her blessing, she went and told everyone she saw what God had done. Can you imagine it–a woman who nobody had ever seen (outside of the temple) for four generations suddenly steps out and starts praising God and announcing the arrival of the Messiah? Truly exceptional.

My hope is to be mindful of their patience, their faithfulness, their focus–and especially their joy.

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