Words from the wise...

Ran across this quote today and though it quite apprapo for my last post...

"All human wisdom is summed up in two words — wait and hope." — Alexandre Dumas

Bad Hair Day - Of All Days

Well, I am learning very well how to wait patiently. This past Sunday the Call Committee from the congregation I have been in conversation with came to hear me preach at my home congregation. I felt/feel that my sermon was strong, God's word was proclaimed, and I was true to who I am as a disciple.

But I have a nagging voice in my head, that has resurfaced from internship. You see on internship during my first quarter evalaution by my committee, one of the committee members shared a critique of a congregational member. It seemed to this person that I touched my hair too often when I preached or led the liturgy (pushing my bangs back behind my ears.) Well, as luck would have it, my hair was completely out of control this past Sunday and my bangs just didn't stay in place (despite the extra hair spray I had used.) I caught myself mid-way through the sermon and tried to get myself to ignore the bangs, but they were right in front of my face. So I tried to hold my head in such a way that they wouldn't cover my face. To no avail.

OK, so not huge right? Well, to my pysche, in light of the critique on internship (which I might add would never have been made of a man, regardless of hair length!), I have been freaking about this. And to top it all off the committee video taped this because two of the members were not able to be there. Ugh. I didn't sleep well at all last night, tossing and turning, just having a nightmare about my hair. Today, I think in response to this, I just pulled the hair back in a pony tail.

Really, could hair cause this to 'fall'? I mean, I guess if a congregation doesn't feel that they are to call me because of my hair creeping in front of my ear, is that really the place for me? But really, am I making too much of this. I think yes, over-paranoid thanks to the previous experience. But human beings are finicky.

So, we will see. I sit and wait to hear from the committee (they as a committee must be unanimous in order for this process to continue) and see what's next. I pray that God's will is done in this process and that all involved are open to the movement of the spirit (if not the hair ;-) - and next time I will have a bobby pin in my pocket, ready to go!

Please keep praying with me, for the committee, the congregation, and this process as it unfolds across the country.

Living the Dream...

We all have them. Dreams. Things we hope, wish, and desire to do, just to do them. Well, as I have commented not too long ago, for some odd reason I have always wanted to be a grocery store cashier. And being in limbo land - aka, the Call Process (being patient doesn't mean losing my sense of humor, laugh with me) - I have been afforded (pun intended) the opportunity to pursue this dream at a brand new grocery store in Bristow, VA.

Well today the dream became fully realized as I worked the cash register for several hours on my first day on the floor! Wow, the rush of excitement, the nervous twinge in my stomach as I signed onto the register, the giddy, "Hi! Did you find everything okay? Do you have a VIC card?" that rolled off my tongue. This was it, the full realization of a dream long dreamed.

Granted, there were still many codes that this machine (the register) spit out that I had no idea what they meant (at one point it actually reminded me of some of my time in Hebrew class), but I was doing it. I was a cashier at a grocery store today, and I will be tomorrow, and Saturday! Woo hoo.

Okay, so the excitement and giddyness lasted for maybe 30 minutes, and now the reality of doing this has washed over me. It is really not 'bad' because all I do is interact with people all day, but I have often found that when one lives into a dream, we often wish we had kept it in the cloudy and star filled imagination of which is was born.

There are many plusses to this. I now have two striking new blue polo shirts (with the company logo) that I will be paying for out of each pay check for the next six weeks (what if I don't work that long?) I have met some new people. And I believe there is much for me to learn in my time behind the register, my time gathering carts, my time cleaning the toilets (one of the many tasks for cashiers when traffic is 'low'). Life lessons. Great recipes. Sermon fodder. Ah yes, it all comes back to vocation, vocation, vocation.

Still chewing...

Well, I have done some more reading of documents related to the document released yesterday by the RC regarding the 'church status' of non-RC communities. And after some further reading I ask the question - is there really anything new in this document? This is a question I have right now, and the critique I jotted down earlier this morning, while it still is part of my thinking, I ask, "Why has this issue been picked up by the mainstream media now?" This is not revelatory stuff (I don't think) but will this recent release and commentary on it deter or hinder current conversations taking place amongst various church bodies and the RC?

Out of the Vatican - An "Official" Blow at Ecumenical Unity

I am an avid proponent of Ecumenical conversation/community and the report out of the Vatican today all-but dashed major moves towards ecuemical respect and fellowship between the Roman Catholic community and Protestant/Anglican communities. An article from the AP notes,

The commentary repeated church teaching that says the Catholic Church "has the fullness of the means of salvation." "Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy's Dolomite mountains. The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles — and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.

Additionally in a report from the Reuters it is noted,

The document said the Council's opening to other faiths recognized there were "many elements of sanctification and truth" in other Christian denominations, but stressed only Catholicism had all the elements to be Christ's Church fully.The text refers to "ecclesial communities originating from the Reformation," a term used to refer to Protestants and Anglicans. Father Augustine Di Noia, Under-Secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the document did not alter the commitment for ecumenical dialogue, but aimed to assert Catholic identity in those talks. "The Church is not backtracking on ecumenical commitment," Di Noia told Vatican radio.

I am all for asserting one's identity, but feel this is a jab and a crush of other's identity, as though the Roman Catholic Church has the authority to declare once-and-for-all whose identity is legitimate or not. Ugh! I don't know what else to say. My hope, my prayer, my dream for the global church is to see the Protestant/Anglican communities (all, but Lutheran being my slant) to be able to join together FULLY in ministry, to worship together and share in the meal of Christ as one body, distinct with varying traditions and theology, but together in Christ through Christ. My prayer continues now more fervently and I ask you to join me. One body....one diverse and beautiful body!

Here's a link from the Vatican to the report that brought all of this out (on the Feast of St. Peter/Paul no less!)
Watch for more links and commentary as I dig a bit more into this.