Closer Than Breath

Good evening, Loved Ones,

It's barely hump day still. Another 57 minutes here in Central time. It's getting more difficult for me to get this done on Wednesdays. I'll try to figure out a way to get the e-mail posted earlier in the day. But until I do, I hope that you will be patient and continue to respond, even if it's Thursday or Friday or any day.

Our quote today comes from the Rev. George MacLeod. George MacLeod was a pastor in the Church of Scotland. He pastored a church in the Govan neighborhood in Glasgow during the 1920's and 30's. He saw that most pastors were disconnected from the poor. During the depression many skilled blue collar workers were out of work. Pastor MacLeod arranged for seminary students to work alongside these workers to help rebuild the chapel and abbey on the western isle of Iona. Today the Abbey is a place of welcome and peace for people from all over the world. His life and theology was incarnational as is this quote.

God is at the heart of all life, in both the visible and invisible. We don't have to try to reach God through acts of devotion, for God is closer to us than our very breath. We have been given union with God whether we like it or not. Our flesh is his flesh, and we can't jump out of our skins. The Rev. George MacLeod

Much to be thankful for . . .

Twenty-five years of partnership, family and love with my wife and best friend, DeDe.

Seventeen years of getting to know Lucas, the youngest of God's two most tremendous gifts to our family. Happy B-Day, Pato Lucas!

Two more weeks before Sam heads back to Oberlin. Another great summer with Sam the Yeoman.

A Wednesday night prayer group with more than 30 people singing, praying, eating and celebrating.

Charlie the Honest One who gave it to us straight in an impromptu interview in Clyde, MO. Woven through the f-bombs and bull he told us what was important to him and helped us to understand the community.

God's incarnation in Jesus and in each of us at one and the same time keeping us humble and pointing us toward glory.

Gimme cinco!
Pastor Rick

Good evening, Loved Ones,

The evening psalm for today is number 33. Here are the first few verses.

Psalm 33:1-5

Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
Play his praise on a grand piano!
Invent your own new song to him;
give him a trumpet fanfare.
For God's Word is solid to the core;
everything he makes is sound inside and out.
He loves it when everything fits,
when his world is in plumb-line true.
Earth is drenched
in God's affectionate satisfaction.

Thank you for the new songs of youth that challenge my 50 year-old presumptions and preferences -- for the Lady Gagas, the Frightened Rabbits, the Arcade Fires and the Los Amigos Invisibles. New songs are new songs and God is in them.

Thank you for new songs from young people who are supposed to be old. Mavis Staples at 70, still belting out the good news through new melodies and words and even making the old tunes like Freedom Train and I'll Take You There new.

Thank you for new songs echoing through the concrete canyons of Chicago coming from young people who gathered by the thousands to be inspired by and to share the gift of music.

Thank you for new songs in the hearts of those of us who aren't so new. New visions and messages from the likes of Pastor Alfonso bring hope and faith.

Thank you for new songs that remind me of God's affectionate satisfaction.

Gimme cinco.

Pastor Rick



Suddenly Doing the Impossible

Good evening, Loved Ones,

Ran upon this quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Francis of Assisi

Every day we are surrounded by people who are doing the necessary, the possible and the impossible. Let's give thanks.

Thank you, Lord, for a Sunday full of puppets and kids.
Thank you, Lord, for summer full of young people from as far away as California, New York and Canada who lived in the church and served in our neighborhood.
Thank you, Lord, for Eric, Cassie, Jesse and Katie who gave their summer to leading those 700+ young people.
Thank you, Lord, for our eldest son, Sam, who turned 21 last Friday.
Thank you, Lord, for the impossible opportunities that surround us.

Gimme cinco!

Pastor Rick

Tell the World

Good morning, Loved Ones,

The psalm for this Sunday is 107.
Psalm 107:1-3 (The Message)
Oh, thank God—he's so good! His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
from the four winds, from the seven seas.


I thank God that I have been rounded up with folks from the four winds to be one of God's children.
I thank God that I have been set free from labels and labeling.
I thank God for youth who are jazzed and energized by a trip together with other youth from all over the place.
I thank God for traveling mercies and homecomings.
I thank God that underdogs win more often than we expect --- KC Wizards 2 - The Mighty Manchester United 1 --- Wahoodles!

Tell the world! Gimme cinco!

Pastor Rick

Your Secret Garden

Good afternoon, Loved Ones,

Two quotes to consider for tonight. The first is from Sarah Ban Breathnach who has written a great deal on the subject of gratitude. The second is attributed to Buddha and I think establishes the sort of baseline gratitude we express when working in 100 degree heat we say, "Well, at least it's not raining!"

“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” — Buddha

So, whether you are tending your secret garden of abundance or simply happy you didn't die today . . . whatever inspires your expressions of gratitude, know that gratitude is not gratitude if it is not expressed. If you don't say it here, then say it to someone near you. "Thank you!"

Thank you for . . .

. . . twenty brave Dream Act young people who are tired of living in the shadows and risked arrest and deportation to make a case for the DREAM Act.
. . . the coalition of leaders who came together and planned and executed the Love Conquers Hate rally last week in southern Johnson County.
. . . the cool rooms to which I am able to retreat after a day of working in the hot sun.
. . . Cofi the Border Collie who always greets me with love and is a great swimmer.
. . . the 5000 youth and adult leaders from Grandview Park and many other churches who have gathered at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium at Purdue University to learn and be inspired.

What's in your secret garden today?

Pastor Rick

What's Coming to You

Good evening, Loved Ones,

The daily lectionary gospel passage for today is one I cannot resist. Here's a portion.

^{Matthew 25:31-46
34-36}"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

Today I am thankful for those who have fed me . . . those who take the time to make a meal to share, those who bake the bread, make the tacos and set the table.
Today I'm thankful for ice water on 100 degree days, for sun tea brewed a day ahead to share, for coffee handed to me loaded with cream and sweetener and a dram of scotch shared over good conversation.
Today I'm thankful for people who welcome me in their home, their city, their town, their hearts.
Today I'm thankful for thick clothes on cold days and thin clothes on warm days and the variety of hands that toil in areas of poverty around the world so that I can dress appropriately and cheaply. (God forgive us!)
Today I'm thankful for those who have cared enough to stop and share words of hope when my spirit is sick and touch me with healing hands when my body aches.
Today I'm thankful for my faith family whom I know will be there to help liberate me from whatever evil may capture me.

For the promise of a blessings that come when we share our common humanity with each other . . . I give thanks.

Gimme cinco!
Pastor Rick

Cultivate Thankfulness

Good morning, Loved Ones,

Welcome to Wednesday. Your passage for the day . . .

Colossians 3:12-17 (The Message)

^12-14So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

^15-17Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

The thankfulness I cultivate today . . .

. . . the canceling of a political rally at a local Christian University. The rally was not consistent with the values of the passage above and the president of the University changed his mind and canceled an event that would have brought dissension and hate to our community. Thanks be to God for an administrator who listens.

. . . the opportunity for training which will come to our elders this Saturday and over the next 3 months. This training should help us to be in tune and in step with each other.

. . . three beautiful days of day camp. This tradition of 30+ years has not grown old or stale. For Lone Pine shelter, circles of songs, stories and prayers, swimmers and keep away games, smores and hot dogs and watermelon, soccer and kickball, hikes and buses . . .

. . . the last 4 weeks of a church bursting at the seams with activity, children and youth.

. . . the perfect storm of rainy day + work at home + Tour de France in the morning + World Cup Germany v France in the afternoon + prayer group at Pastor Alfonso's in the evening = "Happy, happy, joy, joy!"

Gimme cinco!
Pastor Rick