Rev. Valerie's Reveille

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Luke 12:1-5 After a very busy Holy Week (the week before Easter), I want nothing more than time to rest. Indeed, as I mentioned last week, rest is an important and necessary part of our spiritual life and formation.   Jesus modeled for us that rest was not a luxury, but an integral part of a healthy pattern to life.   And Jesus also taught us that after resting, there is much work to be done and we must GO and do it!   During Holy Week and Easter, the Church reminds its...

And on the seventh day God finished the work that God had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that God had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation. Genesis 2:2-3 Rest is fundamental and foundational in our faith.   God ordained it in creation when even God rested on the seventh day from all God’s labors – creation is hard work!   And yet we live in a day and age where there never seems to be enough time for rest – true rest, a time of respite and renewal.   As the secular world demands more and more of our strength and energy, nothing seems to be left over to offer to our rest and refreshment.   Rather our attention is caught up in screens of some sort – playing video games, binging TV or movies, even watching sports – it’s all DOING something rather than BEING.   And yet we are called human BEINGS, not human DOINGS. As with most aspects o...

“I will bless you . . . so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2 As children, we learn to say, “God bless you” after someone sneezes – or, if you are like me, it sounds more like a one syllable word, “Gablesyu.” Originally, the saying was to help ward off sickness and offer support, but over time this response has becomes habit rather than a courtesy. And in this day and age of quasi-political correctness and fear of offending anyone (or admitting we believe in God in the first place!), we might say something less “religious” like salud (Spanish: to your health) or gesundheit (German: health) when someone sneezes. How multi-cultural of us. Unfortunately, such responses remove us from our God-given power to offer our neighbors a blessing. Similarly, in our Episcopal tradition (from our Catholic heritage), one of the attributes bestowed upon priests at ordination is the ability to offer God’s blessing on people (and to a lesser extent, things).   The unintentional co...

“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”   Psalm 29:2 The next ancient practice in following Jesus is worship.   Worship is a unique activity that invites mortals – the created – into a sacred space with the divine – the Creator.   It acknowledges our need, our dependence, on God to be loving, liberating, and life-giving.   We made the time to show our love and adoration through prayers and music, hearing the Word of God and reflecting on it, and then (in our tradition) enacting the sacred Feast to which we are called to partake and take with us into the world. Our Catechism offers this reflection: Q. What is corporate worship? A. In corporate worship, we unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God’s Word, to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments. As a sacramental church, we believe in the sanctity of the seven Sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Ordination, Holy Matrimony, Reconciliation of a...