Rev. Valerie's Reveille

At the Women’s Retreat last Saturday, I decided to try the exercise of “Dwelling in the Word”* on a hymn text.  While I love singing and enjoy many of the hymns we use during worship, the richness of their texts gets lost in the moment, so I wanted to take some time to study the words of the classic hymn “Breathe on me, Breath of God,” written by Edwin Hatch around 1878: Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love the way you love, and do what you would do. Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure,  until my will is one with yours, to do and to endure. Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly thine, till all this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine. Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die, But live with you the perfect life for all eternity. This seemingly simple song bears great riches. Many of us were struck by a word or phrase in a way that we had not heard befo...

As a child of the 80s, I remember hearing the “War on Drugs” campaign on television, but not really understanding what it was about or how it would impact my daily life.  I will freely admit I was a naïve kid and didn’t seek out adventure that would get me into trouble, but I do remember my mother warning my sister and I about accepting stickers (a childhood obsession) from anyone near the school, especially an adult.  I would later understand that there were stickers laced with LSD & PCP that were being given to children.  Fortunately, I never encountered any. In Middle School, we had an assembly with a nationally known speaker (who was also a presenter at a church youth event I attended) who told horrible stories of people he knew, including members of his family, whose lives were destroyed by drugs.  I remember one in which he said a teen had just gotten high from huffing gasoline, then lit up a cigarette and burst into flames. I was terrified.  I ne...

I will openly admit that my heart is torn today for a couple of reasons.  On Monday, we awoke to the news of another mass shooting, this time in Las Vegas.  I’ve been trying to rationalize this irrational act, to comprehend how anyone could do such a thing. Of course that is impossible because there will never be a satisfactory answer.  And today, October 4 th , is the anniversary of my mother’s birth.  She would have been 75 (she died when she was 63).  Grief overflows my cup, but I have a choice to let grief overwhelm me or move me toward joy. In the midst of all this, the Church commemorates St. Francis of Assisi on October 4 th , and if anyone can understand being moved from grief to joy, it is blessed Francis.  Unfortunately, too often Francis’ awesome spirituality and theology gets relegated to a small statue with birds alighting on him in a garden or commemorated with a blessing of animals (not that isn’t important!).  While it is true that...