Rev. Valerie's Reveille

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:37-40 On Sunday, 7 youth and 3 adults will leave for Washington D.C. to help serve the homeless and hungry in our nation’s capital, and I, finally after 3 years at St. Barnabas, will be among them.  It is a joy to participate in a Mission Trip and I have no doubt that those involved with get out of the experience more than they expected, even though we won’t get as much sleep as we would like, it will be hot, and, at times, we will be dealing with people and situations that may be uncomfortable.  Y...

According to the Church calendar, we move into “Ordinary Time” this week (based on the word ordinal , as in 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd etc. Sunday after Pentecost).  During Ordinary Time, the Lectionary gives us the opportunity to hear a (mostly) continuous narrative of certain stories from the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the “meat and potatoes” of Jesus’ earthly ministry (preach, teaching and healing).  This week we enter into the Old Testament narrative a bit late (since Easter was rather late this year).  It is the story of the dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael by Abraham through Sarah’s insistence.  This is one of Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror , as it is one of the harshest stories in the Bible.  It is a very important story for us as modern Christians to know because it is the foundation for the ancient rivalry between Jews and Muslims (Ishmael is an ancestor of the prophet Muhammad, and ergo the reason why the 3 religions claim Abraham as our common ancest...

The sublime nature of the doctrine of the Trinity can be a bit daunting to explain.  As Trinitarians, we believe in one God with three expressions, while still proclaiming adherence to a radical monotheism. Our critics do not believe this tenet is truly monotheistic since we talk about the three “persons” of the Trinity in distinct terms (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  The point is valid as far as it goes, but there is so much more to this doctrine that gets lost when we try to simplify it or talk about it in metaphorical terms, like water existing as a solid, liquid and gas.  While most of us probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the Trinity, such contemplation does offer us the opportunity to stretch our spiritual foundation by focusing our attention of how we understand God and what God does in the world.  As the diagram above shows, we understand each person of the Trinity as distinct from the others, yet working in harmony with them.  Perha...

I’m not sure where the past 50 days have gone.  While the season of Lent is only 40 days long, that seemed to take much more time than this season of Easter.  And yet this Sunday is the day of Pentecost and with it the season of Easter is ended.  It strikes me that it is part of our human nature that enjoyable events seem to “fly by,” while things that are difficult or testing seem to take “forever.”  I am sure the 10 days in between Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit felt much longer than that for the apostles and other faithful, as they waited, but not knowing for what.  Similarly, the following 10 days must have sped by “in the blink of an eye” as they experience the indwelling of God’s Spirit in new and awesome ways. Being aware of this seemingly fickle passage of time is what is most important, regardless of the events, as it reminds us to be reflective in the midst of joy AND sorrow, pleasure AND pain, the good times AND the difficult ...