Prison

I've been visiting a woman at Lancaster Co. prison. She has been in for almost a month now. She was charged with a probation violation with a failed drug test. She is not a user. The probation officer failed her. While she is there, she is mistreated. She is not allowed access to her prescription meds. When she is, she is prescribed a double dose, which she stops taking after two days. She is told nothing after her arrest. Two weeks pass before she knows anything about her own situation. Three weeks pass before she sees a lawyer that friends on the outside retain for her. Another week passes before she finds out a court date. People who are charged with more serious crimes are processed faster than she. She sits. She waits. Why?
We are praying for her release on May 29th, her birthday. She is ripe to know the God of liberation and release. She is ready to meet the rescuing God. Now would be the time for God to act on her behalf in a decisive way. She will remain patient until the day comes. but may it come on May 29th or sooner.
The goal of the system is not release but retention. To keep people in, rather than to reform and free. Shouldn't the goal be to improve people's lives before they are released? Shouldn't prison create opportunities? Shouldn't we care what happens to people on the inside?
Like all large institutions, however, membership is everything. Nonmembers don't tend to care what happens therein, unless they are connected or invested in some other way. Church people are like this too. We want to keep people in. The goal is to send people out better than when they came in. With God's blessing, instentions, forgiveness, and missional love. The goal is to send people out, not keep them in. But institutions are flawed. They are centripetal in nature. God is a centrifugal force---pushing out from the center to the margins. People are closed. God is open. People are limited. God is infinite. People are isolated. God is all-embracing.

Walking to School

I walked to school today--a short walk on a beautiful day. I hope to walk or ride bicycle to work in the spring and summer. Perhaps for an entire week! Walking is healthy, changes one's pace and capacity to be productive. It takes longer to get from place to place, so less can be accomplished. Less is sometimes more.

I spent two hours at Lancaster Co. Prison on Monday, visiting two 20-somethings who are in trouble. They need healing and hope and a way to live that is better than what they have been living. They need an Exodus from the life they are in. Jen from the legal system itself and from probation; Justin from relationships and from a negative self understanding. He also needs to be freed from addiction. I spent time talking about Baptism, God's grace, etc...I will visit them again next Monday. Prison is a deeper experience than the cell one is confined to. It is in ones mind. I will visit more regularly with news of God's Exodus plan for those in prison.

Tomorrow I need time to focus on God's Word. I will be with Rodney Martin in the morning to listen and pray. In the afternoon I will be at school and then at the Beck's before the council meeting. I am looking forward to council. I think the meeting could be fruitful, if people are willing to accept that the church's focus is on making disciples who follow Jesus and serve neighbors. It is that simple. I'm not here to keep members happy or content. If they aren't open to learn the way of Jesus, then they ought not to get in the way of those who are. I'm here to make members into disciples of Jesus. But I've already run into members who think that they call the shots, without experience or understanding behind it. Disciples are willing to experience God's gifts, even when they become uncomfortable, becasue they trust that God is the one in charge. Sheep prefer to wander off on their own with their heads down. Shepherds are called to lead the flock to the pastures and waters ahead, that they cannot see. No wonder the sheep metaphor works.

marketing and church

My friend, a colleague, wants our missional leaders group to talk about marketing techniques and church. I am eager to do so. Here's why:
Marketing the church is like selling doves in the temple. It betrays an ecclesiology sold out to consumer, market-driven ecomomics. The sacraments, prayer, mercy, serving, God's Word are not for sale. And we are not in competition with other gospels, other churches, other religions, other spiritualities, other ways of living. Attractional modes of church require marketing strategies today, in a market that is overloaded with religious and pshyco-spiritual self-help. Since Christianity isn't the most popular kid on the block, especially mainline Christendom, then we feel like survival is dependent on becoming more trendy and relevant---and to do so requires a rebranding of ourselves and a new marketing strategy. Savvy consumers will recognize that to market Christianity is to dumb it down, simplify it, and understate it. Can't market theology of the cross in a culture that avoids suffering and death at all costs. Can't market creation stewardship in a culture unwilling to reject so many idols, whose byproducts destroy clean air, water, ecosystems, etc...Whose ready to sell their possessions and give their money to the poor? Try marketing that!

It's a false ecclesiology, a failing one, that will go the same way Christendom went (though it took 11 centuries). when we start talking marketing, we start talking about advertising. How long will it take consumers to realize that we aren't selling cheap latte's, but cheap grace? Cheap grace is grace without the cost of discipleship.
I'm all for sharing the hope that is in us. But I don't think it's about a marketing strategy. I think its about love and love is about realtionships and relationships are harder than making a striking 'ad' or radio spot. Unfortunately we have a single model for building church: People live like Jesus. Some people are repelled by that, others gravitate toward it. We invite those people to come and follow, too. They learn to live like Jesus. Some are repelled by them and others are inspired by them. They are invited to join us, too. And some do.
It begins with how we live as public witnesses. Missional Christians love their neighbors and friends unconditionally. They also seek to go deeper into the mystery of divine presence through ancient spiritual practices. And they invite others to experience the same mystery.

Laps for Loose

How does separation of church and state pertain to a church's supportive involvement in a local elementary school? I have a parishioner, a beloved servant and disciple of the Lord,who is opposed to any overt involvement from the church. For example, we are going to provide an end-of-the-year thank you gift to the faculty---Fair trade coffee and chocolate with a note of gratitude for their "inspiring devotion to Akron's children." This parishioner is opposed to such a gesture. I don't believe this is a breach of the separatin clause. And the ELCA has an entire social statement devoted to our calling in education, including a fine section on public education and our supportive role therein as a church.
Now, every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon I am a classroom helper in our local elementary school. I was assigned to Mr. Bonagura's hird grade class in the late Fall. I'mnot as consistent as I would like to be, but most weeks I am able to be there. I help them with math and writing. There are students who need some extra encouragement to keep motivated. there are students who need someone working with them one-on-one in order to keep up. I gravitate toward them. I love being in the class. They're a great group of kids. And Adam is a good teacher.
So, I come as a Pastor. I sometimes dress in clerics and a cross. They all call me Pastor Lenahan. Its no secret that I amthe leader of a local congregation. but I am not there to pray with the kids, to invite them to church, to start a bible study, or to engage in church-focused activity. I am there to assist them in their academic achievements. But I am also a Pastor, called and sent to embody the message of the gospel. I remember Paul's words in romans 1, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for those who believe." I amnot ashamed to be who I am there. The kids know that I am safe, caring, kind, funny, helpful, and loyal. I come back.
There is a third grader who is dying from cancer. The students are walking laps on the track in compassionate response to Brandon. One of his dream destinations is Mt. Rushmore, so the kids are walking the equivalent miles in a virtual trip with Brandon to the tourist attraction. Last week, I walked with them. One girl, Tori, walked with me. we held hands and walked together, talking a lot about cancer. Brandon's chances are not good and some of the kids are talking about it. She said, "He might not make it." How do we talk about death with kids? How do we talk about the injustice of cancer and why their friend is suffering? All I could say is that cancer is dangerous and deadly, that fighting it is hard, and that we ought to be hopeful and encouraging despite knowing that truth. I did not share what my hope is in. If they asked me, I would tell them.
When their counselor came to the class to help them process their thoughts and feelings, Daniel said, "We have a Pastor."
This week I intend to contact brandon and his family as offer encouragement, prayer, even prayers for healing with anointing. I hope they might take me up on it. I'm not sure if they have spiritual care or not. in what do they have their hope? I'd like to share mine with them.
I suspect the faculty will receive these little token gifts well. I don't believe we are infringing on their religious liberty. We are not asserting any belief, save one: Christians are called to love and to serve with grace.That means we do so free of conditions, free of charge, free of ulterior motives. I have no motive beside that of a servant. I do not believe that my presence at the school is meant to be seen as a marketing technique, an opportnity to invite, or a way to promote Zion Lutheran. The church is sent on a mission. Working on attracting people is a distraction from our higher purpose and calling. If people come on account of the way we live and serve, good. if they don't, at least we lived faithfully in commmuity. As for Brandon, I am praying that God provides a healing miracle so that His glory and power might be revealed in Akron. And if not, then we'll keep on doing math together.

“The earliest reference to the resurrection is Saint Paul’s, and he makes no mention of an empty tomb at all. But the fact of the matter is that in a way it hardly mattes how the body of Jesus came to be missing because in the last analysis what convinced the people that he had risen from the dead was not the absence of his corpse but his living presence. And so it has been ever since.” Frederick Buechner, Listening to your Life, p. 102.

“This, then, is the more or less universal witness of the early Christians; that they are who they are, they do what they do, they tell the stories they tell not because of a new religious experience or insight but because of something that happened; something that happened to the crucified Jesus; something that they at once interpreted as meaning that he was after all the Messiah, that God’s new age had after all broken into the present time, and that they were charged with a new commission; something that made them reaffirm the Jewish belief in resurrection, not swap it for a Pagan alternative…” N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking heaven, the resurrection, and the mission of the church, p.57.

How do we embody this resurrection community? We are fearless, bold, humble, and generous. We are alive with hope, not hopelessly dying. I do beleive that nihilism is the last enemy of the gospel. When people lose hope, the will to live follows. Or at least the will to truly live the life that is life; abundant life, eternal life, kingdom of God life. People with little or no hope live exclusively for the now, wallowing in the past--past joys, past regrets, past experiences. Congregations can become nihilistic in their self-perception. There was a golden age. And rather than plan for tomorrow, 'we can't' becomes the paradigm for movement. And we get stuck in a time that has passed. Zion is trying to live like they did 30 years ago. It won't work.

To live in hope is to live free from the sins of the past. It is also to live with a sure vision of the hoped-for future--a reality that is better than now. It is to live now as if that future were already taking hold of us, as if we were already there. To live in hope is to dream with the God who raised His son from the dead. Death does not finish us. Jesus is the end and the beginning. I am alive with hope because something happened that makes no sense but changed the world on a Sunday in first century palestine. May believers come to embody this living hope for a world desperate for a new future, a new story, a better life.

church

I wonder what people see when they see "the church", and by that I mean our building and the few people who come here on Sunday mornings. Do they see a dead tree? A wintered tree? A tree without leaves? And how might we become leafy to our neighbors? How might we soak up the sun/son and emit the breath of life like tree leaves do? Is that not our task and calling as church? To abide with Jesus in such a way that we can't avoid the light,the water, the wind. To let those things cause in us the emergent growth of spring and to provide shade for the weary and breathable air for all. I suspect that the challenge is to get people connected with Jesus as the source of their life first. We need to create a space for hospitality to take hold and welcome people. And we need to create space for holy conversation, prayer, and listening to occur. We need to create space where people can encounter the holy, sacred, otherness of GOD present to us in the ways God promises to be. "I am the vine, you are the branches." This weekend I hope to call our attention to that John text as a source of our spiritual nourishment.May those Words of Christ bear muchfruit in our hearts, minds, and lives.

help

What do we do with a family of six who are not making enough money to pay their bills? They have a 910.00 electric bill and a 62.00 truancy fine for unexcused school absenses. We've already given them Christmas, a new stove, a way out of a bad storage contract, gas heat, food. I don't regret doing any of these things. but how far do we go? We don't want to create a relationship of dependence, but we don't want the children to suffer either. Electric shut off is in 15 days, by which time 600.00 is due or else. Thet can't pay that bill. Without us, they will have no electricity. have they been irresponsible? And what if they have been? When did it start? High School? When they bought this place? And how can we get at the root of the matter? I think its time to talk with them about Jesus, sin, death, and the way of life. I'm not sure how open they will be, but I think the turnaround only happens when they face the truth in light. I hope to speak the truth to them in love. And I hope my invitation to live is received.
And I hope this congregation continues to pour themselves out to people like them, undeserved and a little lost. It is in a generous out-pouring, an unexpected and surprising, unreasonable outpouring of himself that Jesus rescues us all. May we love as he loves us.

Signs of the holy

I'm working my way through Tony Jones' book "The Sacred Way" in preparation for this weekend. I find myself, as usual, attempting to intellectualize and package spiritual disciplines in order to give a presentation or an education to a group of people. This comes from my own sense of inadequacy abuot this. I am asked to offer contemplative prayer. They went to become immersed in a spiritual experience. What I hope to do is to create a space whereby people can gather and share an experience of God's presence through the contemplative arts.
I think we will cultivate silence, lectio divina, and some centering prayer. We may talk about Luther's way to pray the catechism and I'll show them the Lutheran Rosary we do.
One of the things I've noticed is that my preparations for this weekend have forced me to be alone in the office all week. prep for worship and workshops is time consuming. I feel largely cut off from others. I suspect that effective spiritual direction has always required that one balance the solitary with the communal. Bonhoeffer's book "life Together" attests to that very balance of life in community and life apart. They are complimentary and are needed in equal doses. It may be that my solitude this week is partly so that I can be very present to those in attendance at this retreat. Even though this is a continuing education event for youth workers, I'm treating it as a spiritual/vocational retreat whereby those present will be renewed for their journeys.
Tomorrow Rodney and I will begin a new step in the apostolic journey, as we begin a time of prayer coupled with a time of engagement with some new neighbors. "The Sacred Earth" is a new gift shop in our town. We wonder if it has neo-pagan roots. We are interested in the place and the people there. So we'll go there after we pray to see what we see and to introduce ourselves. May the LORD be with us.

new website

Zion Akron has a new website! It's under construction but will be in good shape by the end of next week. I'm excited about it. I think we are beginning to emerge. Now I pray that God sends others to us to continue the journey with us. Church emerges slowly from the ashes of the institutional malaise. But if we are faithful and spiritually rooted in the Vine of Christ, life will be ours.
Check out the site in the next week or so. And let me know what you think.

April Fools' Day

I thought today would be a good day to return to the blogger universe, it being the first of April.
5 weeks ago my wife gave birth to our third son, a svelt 6 pounder named Elijah Peter. He is a serious chap with a set of vocal chords that Sarah Brightman would covet. Unfortunately, instead of Pucchini or Wagner at the Met, he belts out shrill, glass-shattering, ear-piercing screams. He does not discriminate between day or night. And he also has some serious gas. I've never heard a baby with so much gas. He sounds like four beers and a plate of baked beans and a chili dog after the seventh inning stretch---nasty.
We hope that within the next month he begins to act more like a human being than some small beast in the wild. He tends to cling to his parents much like Koala bears or orangutans do, especially at night to sleep. So I "sleep", and I use that term loosely, on the la-z-boy recliner couch in the family room with Elijah snuggled on my chest/stomach listening to my heart and lungs for comfort. Someday he will not want me around at 1:00 am. Someday he will not need to be held by his dad. So in the meantime, I intend to enjoy what I can of this. I'm no fan of sleep deprivation. I see why it is used for torture or interrogation (as our current government calls it). Sleep loss is akin to over- exercising, under-eating, and excessive drinking. The affects play havoc with your ability to think and feel reasonably. Last night I got into my own bed at 4:00 am and practically wept because of exhaustion. Ah, the memories we're making...

This weekend I am the chaplain/workshop presenter at a spiritual retreat called "Gathering in the East" for youth workers. I am supposed to provide spiritual worship, prayer, a workshop on the via contemplativa, and a workshop on a narrative approach to the use of Scripture. Admittedly, I'm feeling a bit behin the eight ball. Five weeks ago, I sort of got off a moving train, got on another moving train, and am now trying to somehow get back on the other track, while still in motion. I need a Sabbath. Unfortunately my wife won't have one now. She needs rest too. I have some guilt about the event, but it was planned before we were pregnant. And it is good for me to offer my gifts there too.
In planning I picked up Tony Jones' new book "The Sacred Way", in which he explores the history, theology, and practice of Christian spirituality in its various forms. Its a good read. Simple, not exhaustive, and interesting. He tells about his journey into these disciplines and uses the words of the desert fathers to guide his pilgrim path. I can appreciate his quest. I think it is a Christian disciples' journey into the mind of Christ and the very heart of God. Silence, devotional reading of Scripture, prayer, interior reflection, fasting, and giving/serving have been key pieces of the monastic life for centuries. Today, our culture cries out for monastics to lead us into the depth of divine truth, into spiritual union with Jesus. I was always a fan of the medieval mystics.
So I am preparing to lead, to listen, to make space for the holiness of God to dwell among us. I have to remember that much of what is needed is for me to get out of the way and encounter God in the midst.

Sicko provokes questions

Michael Moore, controversial documentary film maker, has done it again. His newest film,"Sicko" is about health care and insurance. He raises some pretty serious questions about the nature of US health care versus socialized medicine found in countries like Canada, France, Great Britain, and Cuba. The question he asks is, "if these countries can provide universal government sponsored health care, then why can't we? Anyone can walk into a health care facility in those countries and be treated with no charge, no id cards, nothing. Americans have moved to these places for their health care and child care services. He talks about insured Americans who have struggled to pay their enormous medical bills. He doesn't even talk about the 50 million uninsured Americans. While insurance companies call the medical shots and raise the costs of medical care here, so that middle class americans are becoming impoverished by their medical debts, other countries provide for their citizens medical needs as if their governments have a moral obligation to provide for everyone. Sounds democratic to me. I frankly think I like democratic socialism better than the broken system we have here. And Moore makes the point that many systems of American life are socialized---i.e., public schools. Why not health care? If we believe that everyone over the age of 5 should be able to go to school, then why shouldn't everyone receive health care? Not just basic puiblic health,but total universal care? Hillary Clinton would have movede us toward that during President Clinton's tenure, but she was shut down by the conservative republicans using anti-socialist rhetoric to scare Americans away. Their argument being that government should not be able to choose your doctor. So why do we allow HMO's to choose for us? (He reminds us that the history of the HMO program comes from the Nixon administration). I would prefer that I have to go to a government-approved doctor, if I knew that my poor neighbor could receive the same health care as I do. There is a moral obligation that Americans do not realize, because the god of our culture is 'mammon'. Someone once said that the love of money is the root of all evil. Our idols have distracted us from our obligations to the poor and the needy in our midst. Won't someone heed the words of the prophets? Won't someone listen to Jesus,"When you did these things to the least of these, you did them unto me." When we serve the poor, we serve the living GOD. We serve Jesus by caring for the poor. Mother Theresa said, "Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."
Sicko provokes strong feelings--the main one being, what is and from where do we collectively receive our sense of moral obligation to provide for the neighbor's needs? Who is my neighbor? And how do we level the playing field so that all are offered a sufficient, sustainable livelihood? Watch "Sicko" and tell me what you think...Do we have an obligation to see to it that all people have access to quality health care ands that non one is turned away becaus they can't pay? Whose in charge? Insurance companies, HMO's, big businesses? or are we, the people in charge? What about big oil? And green energy? Why don't we demand that big oil use its record profits to develop greener energy now? And why don't we demand cleaner fuels now? If we know that the US has fallen below the Kyoto agreement and that we have a global climate crisis directly related to our consumption of carbons, why don't we demand another way? What if the Christian movement is meant to resist, reject these corrupt ways of living in order to promote global harmony and peace? How might Christians unite under certain moral criteria? hat we are all equally under sin. That God loves the world. That Jesus' death and resurrection reveals God's saving intentions for everyone? That participating with Jesus in the healing and redemption of the world is a faith-initiated task that leads to alternative ways of life? That Christians have the responsibility to steward counter- culturally. That the church's mission is for the poor to be made rich, the hungry to be filled, and the captive released? We are Jubilee workers, kingdom builders, mustard seed planters.God requires our participation in the global enterprise to renew the face of the earth, because love requires a lover and a beloved in a living union of purpose. We are in covenant with God. And it is with God's grace and power that we are free to love by our actions. We have a moral calling to love and heal the world, to provide for the least, and to share what God has given. And we must advocate. We must speak the truth to power. So, thanks Michael Moore for doing what Christians are called to do.

Patrick's poem from my daily prayer book

"I sing as I arise today!
I call on my creator's might;
the will of God to be my guide,
the eye of God to be my sight,
the Word of God to be my speech,
the hand of God to be my stay,
the shield of God to be my strength,
the path of God to be my way. Amen." ---St. Patrick

daily desert

I received a new devotional book in the mail. It's a compilation of wisdom from the desert fathers, monastics and ascetics from the early centuries of the church. I think the reading for today is appropriate given the last post from this morning:

Proverbs 25:6-7: "Do not put yourself forward in the king's preence or stand in th place of the great; for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble."

"A brother asked Poemen, "How should I conduct myself in the place where I live?" Poemen answered, "Be as careful as a stranger, and wherever you are, do not expect the things you say to be taken seriously. Do this and you will discover peace."

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I am not comfortable entering an unfamiliar place and explaining myself. Yesterday, I stopped in to the pottery shop down the street to introduce myself. I felt like a fish out of water, like I wasn't wearing clothes. And all I wanted to do was meet them. Its hard to meet people, to face them with nothing to sell or buy. People want a good reason for you to come.
I did ask a couple of good questions. She and her family have lived in Akron for 40 years. She teaches ceramics, works with kids,and is open to working with small groups. I'd love to get more involved with throwing pottery. Actually, I'd love to commission a communion set---a chalice and small bread plate, maybe a pitcher too. Nice to use indigenous materials, local artists.
Apparently there is not much art happening locally. I wonder about plugging into her work as an event for young adults...
Often when we read that Jesus was a stranger that we welcomed, we are thinking about our hospitality toward others. But what if we, Jesus' sent ones, were meant to embody the way of the stranger. What I mean is, what if we are called to place ourselves in the position of the stranger in search of hospitality? What if we are supposed to be the one who feel uncomfortable in our own skin? Being incarnational means becoming a stranger. Only by becoming a stranger can you become a friend or a messenger or a servant. Missional life is initiated by our willingness to be a stranger in a strange land, a foreigner, a resident alien (as Stanley Hauerwas said). I hope to actively engage in this mission to be the stranger in the room. What might come of it? I believe there is great potential in doing so, in engaging people where they are. It is the stranger whose intent is love that reveals the resurrected Jesus. So, go and be a stranger somewhere. but be a stranger with compassion or with joy or with peace or with grace in your heart and speech and actions. See what that feels like and how God is present to you through it.

Derek Webb and "One Zero"

I bought a CD the other day at a Christian bookstore. I rarely go in there. And I hardly ever listen to "Christian" music. I prefer to listen to excellent music and, if the people making it happen to be influenced by their faith in Jesus, even better. Nonetheless, I bought "One Zero" an acoustic set by Derek Webb of the band "Caedmon's call". I love his blend of chords and thoughtful lyrics.
"Take to the World" strikes me as the perfect missional anthem. These are the lyrics:

"Go in peace to love and to serve
And let your ears ring long with what you have heard
And may the bread on your tongue leave a trail of crumbs
To lead the hungry back to the place that you are from

And take to the world this love, this hope and faith
Take to the world this rare relentless grace
And like the three in one
Know you must become what you want to save
'Cause that's still the way
He takes to the world

Go and go far take light deep in the dark
Believe what's true use it as all, even you
May the bread on your tongue leave a trail of crumbs
To lead the hungry back to the place you are from

missio dei

What is God up to? I believe its a bigger project than keeping small, self-serving congregations afloat. Call it the in-breaking of the Kingdom, or the righteousness of God received by faith, or the dream/vision of a new creation--God has begun a global project to reach humanity and invite us to participate with Jesus in the reclamation of all that belongs to God. Big project. Likely not through one denomination or expression of Christianity. Likely carried out in subtle, hidden, incarnational expressions of love. Like a man starting a neigbor's lawnmower because her husband is gone and she can't start it. Like an hour on the phone with a woman sobbing because of the nastiness of the custody hearing. Like an hour with 3rd graders doing math and a half-day moving a friend from the old house to the new one. Like a simple gift brought to the new young family, less than 24-hours after the baby is born.
The missio dei is a way of life. It is how we live together, how we respond to God's love and grace and how we show that same love and grace to our neighbors. It is forgiveness, praying for enemies, non-violent truth-telling, patient endurance in suffering, rejoicing and mourning, comforting and encouraging. It is to have a deep hope in the God who raised Jesus from the dead--that life is eternal, and God's love is stronger than death.
I hear and read alot about the mission of God. But I wonder how many of us are trying to practice living in it, being a part of it.
May God's ways consume you and become your ways. May you have the mind of Christ. May you live with Jesus and become like Him in his death and resurrection. May you declare in word and deed that the Kingdom of God is at hand!

ONE Campaign

On Sunday, Nov. 11 at 9:15 we will watch a presentation on the ONE campaign and the Millenium deveopment goals. We will write an offering of letters to send to our U.S. senators. We will sign the declaration and distribute wrist bands. For more information on the ONE campaign to make poverty history, click on the link to the right.

theology

"Theology is the study of God and his ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study man and his ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that God feels likewise." --Frederick Buechner

3 year-old questions

How can we hear Jesus? Where is God? How is Jesus God? Is David good or bad? Why does he hurt people? Why do wolves eat sheep? can I have a yogurt drink? Why not? But I didn't have one today. Can I have a yogurt drink? Why not? What time is it? Is this the last meal of the day? Why? Why is it getting dark so soon? Why is the moon only a sliver moon tonight? Can I stay up late and watch a movie? can I watch Diego? Can I play Geo Trax? Can I have a yogurt drink? Can I have a snack? is it a bath night? Is it a hair night? can I watch a show? Are we going somewhere today? Can we go to the park? is this breakfast or...? Can we snuggle in your bed? Can I just play with my friends in my room? can we go see Andrew? Why not? Can we go see if Katrina and Amy can play? Can I have a yogurt drink? Or a drink of water? Can I have PB & J? can I have a yogurt drink?

Apple gleaning and CROP walk

Saturday is Apple gleaning day. We leave Zion at 8:00 am for Sycamore Spring orchard in Lebanon. We pick apples for a few hours, which are donated to local food banks. Join us by showing up at Zion by 7:45 am.
Sunday at 1:15 pm we will enjoy the annual CROP walk. We leave from Ephrata Church of the brethren. It's a 3 mile walk around Ephrata neighborhoods. Join us by emailing me. Bring donations to add to the team envelope.