Rev. Valerie's Reveille

I love our Anglican sensibility of not “checking our brains at the door” of the Church.  We are called to bring all of ourselves, including our minds, into our relationship with God.  In fact, God gave humans the ability to reason and learn, which makes us different and special among all of God’s creatures.  We have used the knowledge we have gained since Creation began to bring us to where we are today, with all the modern conveniences of technology, health care and lots of other things that Jesus never talked about! Human’s ability to learn is innate – we start from the moment we are born interacting with our environment and learning how to get our needs meet.   We cry and someone takes cares of us – awesome!   We learn to use our physical bodies and develop language – all forms of learning.   But how to do we learn about God and develop a relationship with our Creator?   The Church’s hope is that parents will bring their children up in t...

I hope you are familiar with our Presiding Bishop’s, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, theme of “The Way of Love.”  Following up on his message at the royal wedding last May, Bishop Curry and his staff created a detailed, yet easy to follow program about how to live our day-to-day lives as Jesus did – by living into daily practices that inform and shape our faith and relationship to God and each other.  This work has been adapted into a Lenten program, which the New Brunswick clergy will be offering during a one-day Quite Day on Saturday, March 23 rd from 8:30 am – 3:15 pm at St. Alban’s.   You can take a look at that information here if you would like.   You can sign up for the Quite Day in Hubbard Hall.   This is a great way to meet some other Episcopalians in the area and make some time during Lent to reflect on your spiritual journey. For my blog during Lent, I will be focusing on each of the seven actions mentioned in the “Walk of Love” Cross, ...

A Blessed Ash Wednesday to you!   Lent – the Church season of repentance and renewal – started so early in 2018 that it seems late this year!   Many people connect these 40 days (or 46, if you include Sundays) with giving something up, like sweets, or alcohol, or Facebook.   However, I like to engage Lent as a time for spiritual renewal – getting my inner temple cleaned up in order to welcome the Risen Christ at Easter.   There are several ways to do that, and I will list some below, but please note that I am not suggesting anyone does ALL of these things.   Select one or two that you want to do and do well, to nurture your relationship with God. Lent shouldn’t be about feeling bad about yourself.   Yes, we need to be aware of how our lives fall short of doing God’s will, but in God’s mercy, we are offered the benefit of rededicating ourselves to loving our neighbor as ourselves and as God love’s us.   Confession and repentance are about new life...

Each year, no matter how long the season of Epiphany is, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday is when the Lectionary appoints the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration.  I think of this as the Church’s way of preparing the faithful for the intense journey of Lent by reminding us of what waits at the end – being in the glorious presence of God manifest in the Resurrected Christ.  No matter the trails that we encounter in life, we are empowered with that knowledge that God is with always. The paradox we encounter is that we humans want to be reassured of God’s presence in our life and yet terrified of the revelation of God’s glory.   We see it in the story of Moses covering his face with a veil because he glowed after being in God’s nearer presence.   In the story of the Transfiguration, Peter is so befuddled by the experience that he wants to build booths for Jesus, Moses and Elijah to live in rather than acknowledging his deep fear of what God needs him to do – follow J...

I am grateful to The Episcopal Network for Stewardship for the great work they do in providing research and materials on stewardship.  For 2019, they have chosen "Shining Our Light" as the theme, which is fantastic, especial for the season of Epiphany.  Here is the Epiphany message from the Executive Director, Richard Felton. The light of God’s love as manifest in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus can shine brightly only through us — through our worship, our service and our generosity. The season of Epiphany is a pathway to discovery. We see this first in the three sages who represent “different parts of Asia, Africa or Europe” in the words of David Keck, chaplain at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, writing in Christianity Today: “Since Jerusalem is at the intersection of these three great continents, it is easy to understand how the three can represent the three portions of the known world coming together to pay homage. “There is, then, th...

Today is the “Hallmark Holiday” Valentine’s Day.  Some of us will mark the occasion by wearing red or remembering at the last minute to buy a card or flowers of one’s beloved.  But my thoughts and prayers are with the 17 families of Parkland, Florida who mark today as the first anniversary of living without a loved one who was killed in a shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  It seems hard to believe a year has past since that awful day, which also happened to be Ash Wednesday.   Due to that fact, I was not as “plugged-in” that day and only got snippets of information between services.   As the details emerged, it was tragic and heartbreaking, taking on a surreal shimmer as most unthinkable acts do. Unfortunately, it was quite real, and the aftermath will be felt forever. I don’t know any of the victims, however I feel a connection to Carmen Schentrup, who was a 16 (almost 17) year old senior with big plans. She was also Episcopalian. ...

I thank Bobbi Gorman for all she did in coordinating having Mr. Lawrence Walker come to St. Barnabas last Saturday to share his documentary “Sweet Georgia Brown.”   It was wonderful to share this forgotten chapter of American history with our community.   The great work of our Ministry for Racial Diversity continues to inspire me, and I also thank Pauline Devonish and Leon Merriweather for their continuous efforts to engage us in ethnic and cultural awareness. As my mind sometimes does, I’ve gotten caught up in the title for this documentary.   It reminded me of the theme music that the Harlem Globetrotters use, which seemed odd.   What connection did black women serving in the military in World War II have with a team of fun-loving basketball players, other than the color of their skin?   And then when I heard the music in the documentary, I was convinced it was a completely different song.   The HG theme that I recalled was an upbeat, whistling ...