“Upended” might have been an understated description of 2020, but it captured my last week pretty well, too. On Tuesday, it was an iconic fall day — breezy, sunny and not too warm. I spent the morning working on the patio outside. At noon I took my lunch out on a tray, reluctant to waste a moment of this day inside. As I stood up to go inside, I lost my balance, knocked the tray, and sent my plate and favorite mug crashing to the concrete. I caught the $3.99 IKEA plate before it hit the ground. I did not catch my mug. 

Thursday, I managed to upend things again. I had a stack of books at the back of my table in my office, lined up to read for the pastoral cohort I am in. There were fresh flowers on my desk, too. My desk was clear, working space well organized, reading underway…and flowers! I reached for a book, the whole set tipped over, hitting the vase which then tipped a pool of water over my desk and the open book and notes on it. Whoops.

Neither of these events are by any measure catastrophes. My life — and those of many others — have been upended in far worse ways. But these little reminders how quickly things can turn from serene to chaotic have kept me grounded in the present, eyes open for joys in the here and now. Like another beautiful early fall day to read on the patio. I’d rather view this week as bookended by joy than by grief. 

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

“The joy of the Lord is my strength.”

Monday
Psalm 19.8 “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.”
There is joy in knowing God’s will, and how God wants us to be and to act and behave. Sometimes we worry about how we will know God’s will; this Psalm is telling us to do what we DO know God wills: to live a life close to God, to love God with all we are and have, to care for our neighbor, and to bear witness to Christ.
Tuesday
Psalm 4.7 “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”
Hah! Says the Psalmist. Sure, there’s happiness, entertainment and a lot to enjoy in food and drink and parties. That’s not wrong, but it can never be enough. There’s a deeper joy in knowing God, in living a meaningful life of love to God, and service to Christ, who lives in us and through us. And the greater joy in being made new in Christ.
Wednesday
 Psalm 48.1-2 “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God the holy place. It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth.”
We need our minds expanded when we think of God and his purposes for this God-loved world. The whole earth shall see the glory and greatness of God. The good news is to be the bringer of joy to the whole earth. Remember Jesus' command: “Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel…and I am with you always and everywhere.” Jesus, the joy of the whole earth!
Thursday
Psalm 92.4 “For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.”
All around us, every day, the clouds and the stars, the trees and the fields, our children and friends, every one of them the work of God’s hands. The blessings we count and the blessings we take for granted, but all the works of God’s hands. And the greatest work of God’s hands are seen in hands nailed to the cross, for love of every one of us – and it is out of that sorrow, sinners like us sing for joy, from grateful and forgiven hearts.
Friday
Psalm 100.1-3 “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”
The New Testament knows nothing of miserable Christians! One of the obvious characteristics of the early church was the joy that was bursting from the seams of these young communities. I’m wondering if one of the ways of recovering from the whole pandemic experience might be heartfelt prayer for a baptism of joy, a rediscovery that we are a resurrection people, the gift of an inner spring of gladness that composes songs of joy from the circumstances of our lives.
Saturday
Psalm 126.5-6 “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
We’re only human. Life brings us joy and sadness, peace and worry, health and illness, gain and loss. No, we can’t feel joy all the time. But if we are in Christ, and Christ in us, joy is a deep-seated reality because out life is held in the firm grasp of God’s loving purposes. In the whole story of our lives there are tears – of sorrow, and of joy. But our lives will be fulfilled in the harvest of those tears; like the sower carrying sheaves, our lives will bear the fruit of the Spirit, and the harvest of Christlikeness.
Sunday
Psalm 149.4-5 “For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.”
I love this! Lying in bed singing hymns of joy. I’m wondering when any one of us last did that? That’s the thing about the Psalms – emotions are not to be suppressed, but to be either cried or sung, lament or praise, complaint or thanksgiving. It’s about being real before God. These words are about real joy, lying in bed with thoughts of gratitude, praise and the serious joy of knowing the Lord takes delight in us.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in Christ Jesus,
that you may overflow with hope
in the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

THE CALL OF THE DISCIPLES

He calls us all to step aboard his ship,

Take the adventure on this morning’s wing,

Raise sail with him, launch out into the deep,

Whatever storms or floods are threatening.

If faith gives way to doubt, or love to fear,

Then, as on Galilee, we’ll rouse the Lord,

For he is always with us and will hear

And make our peace with his creative Word,

Who made us, loved us, formed us and has set

All his beloved lovers in an ark;

Borne upwards by his Spirit, we will float

Above the rising waves, the falling dark,

As fellow pilgrims, driven towards that haven,

Where all will be redeemed, fulfilled, forgiven.

-Malcolm Guite

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Sweet nothings

When we listen for the voice of God

we don't usually hear big revelations

or great pronouncements.

We hear God's patter,

divine murmurings

as God goes about the house—

like,

“Well, look at that,”

or “I see you.”

A mother murmuring to her infant,

small talk,

terms of endearment,

sweet nothings.

Listen for that.

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Maybe we all have our go to texts when we are searching the scriptures for wisdom, guidance, a word from the Lord, a nudge in the right direction. I often turn to Paul’s prayers. His prayers are always for the churches as they face all the ups and downs, tensions, blessings and demands of community life.

So, I turned to Colossians 1:9-11, what some scholars call one of Paul’s wish prayers. No, not wishful thinking, but Paul’s wish list of blessings for the Christian house groups in Colossae:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Paul asks for knowledge of God’s will, all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives so that…. two things —so that they might live a life worthy of the Lord AND so that they may have great endurance and patience. Now there’s a surprise. Yes, we would expect to ask God for knowledge, wisdom and understanding when we are seeking to know God’s will. But patience? A willingness to wait often requires more faith than the rush to action or the exciting risks of new ideas and rapid change.

Here’s why I think Paul’s prayer for patience helps us where we are right now. The long, slow, and stuttering emergence from Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions will require of us courage, risk-taking and a huge amount of goodwill and understanding. To think and pray, to share ideas but listen to each other’s fears, to begin to rebuild differently but also to discern what should change and what we should keep and enhance—that’s a process that works best when we have been empowered with patience.

Paul’s prayer comes from one who knows the wisdom of the gardener who waits for growth, the builder who gets the foundations right, the doctor who doesn’t rush to a diagnosis, and the shepherd who guides but does not chase the sheep. Patience and endurance are very similar words in Paul’s vocabulary. Together they describe the ability to work things out and work things through. Patience is God’s empowering presence, the resilience of the risen Christ strengthening his people.

So perhaps the prayer, “God give us patience” is the prayer for a time like this. I sense and fully understand the urgency, intensity and yes, even impatience, to get started, to get doing, to get the show back on the road. Except the church is not a show, it is a community of the Spirit, a fellowship of believers, and a local expression of the Body of Christ. Together we are the real presence of Jesus, his risen life flowing through and among us as together we seek to serve Him in the power of the Spirit, whose fruit is patience.

This emergence from pandemic coincides with our yearlong celebration of God’s (patient) work through 100 years of Pasadena Covenant Church. What a fabulous legacy we have! Our Centennial team has prepared a blog with images and stories of the foundations of PasCov, beginning this month with focus on the buildings and properties. Read more at :
https://www.pascov.org/centennial

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

So many have been sharing recently that they are exhausted. Tired of being tired. Chronically weary and threadbare from 18 months of over-functioning in pandemic and with so many pivots. There have not been the usual rhythms of rest and relaxation, work and vacation, school year and summer. We all need deep days of rest and renewal to continue to sustain all that is before us. I came across Pete Greig's Sabbath Blessing on Lectio 365 recently:

May this day bring Sabbath rest to my heart  and my home.

May God's image in me be restored, and my imagination in God re-storied.

May the gravity of material things be lightened, and the relativity of time slow down.

May I know grace to embrace my own finite smallness in the arms of God's infinite greatness.

May God's word feed me and His Spirit lead me into the week and into the life to come.

And then there is Jessica Kantrowitz's benediction:

Peace in your exhaustion

Peace in your collapse

Peace in your rising

Peace in your second wind

Peace in your plodding on

Peace in your soaring

Peace in your wrapping up

Peace in your giving up

Peace in your resting

Peace and rest

Peace and rest

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Open Invitation from Isaiah the Prophet (2nd part)

Isaiah 55.6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call to him while he is close at hand.”
Isaiah is the poet and prophet whose life work seems to have been issuing invitations on behalf of God. Many of us who have been on the road of faith for years can be tempted to think we have ‘found’ God, and no longer need to seek Him. True enough, in one sense. But we will always find ourselves in hard places, or times when hope is low and light is dim. He is near, call upon him; seek God because if you ask you will receive, if you seek you will find, and if you knock —doors open.

Isaiah 55.7 “Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the evil their thoughts: let them return to the Lord, who will take pity on them, and to our God, for he will freely forgive.”  
This verse isn’t about other people; it’s about us. Read it alongside these words: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (I Jn.1.8-9) Forgiveness is always God’s preferred option.

Isaiah 55.8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We can never out-think God. Whatever is happening in our lives God knows more about it than we ever could. Our horizons are limited, our line of vision restricted. But God sees the end from the beginning. Faith is to trust when we can’t see, and to go on hoping in the God whose thoughts out-think us, and whose ways are always faithful. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s thoughts display heaven’s wisdom in finding the One way of salvation we would never have thought of.

Isaiah 55. 10-11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah is the poet and prophet not only of invitations, but of promises. He describes a cycle of blessing under which all who seek God flourish. Rain and snow, the watering of the earth, the sowing of seed and the baking of bread – God’s promises are like that. Life-giving, dependable, a continual cycle of blessing and flourishing. God’s words are sent for a purpose, – and they are words of blessing, creation, fruitfulness and life.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation 

Open Invitation from Isaiah the Prophet

Isaiah 55.1 “Come for water, all who are thirsty; though you have no money, come, buy grain and eat. Come, buy wine and milk, not for money, not for a price. 

Three times we are invited – ‘Come’. Sometimes we are so concerned to exalt the power of God and his sovereign call, we forget that God’s love doesn’t compel our love. He invites us to come to Him for all that we need. Money, our capacity to pay our own way, doesn’t matter. God already offers what we need—if we come.

Isaiah 55.2 “Why spend your money for what is not food, your earnings on what will not satisfy? Listen to me and you will fare well, you will enjoy the fat of the land.”

Sometimes we don’t know what’s good for us. We think we do, but we make wrong choices. We yearn to be satisfied with our lives, content, safe, and nourished. Isaiah warned the people of God that they can only be satisfied by the Creator who made them. Instead of pursuing ‘what is not food’, pray “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Isaiah 55.3 “Come to me and listen to my words, hear me and you will have life. I shall make an everlasting covenant with you, to love you faithfully, as I loved David.”

When Jesus poured wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”, he had in mind verses like this. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God has made an everlasting covenant to all who come in faith and trust. Once again, this is the God who says, “Come to me, and listen to my words.” This is the God whose love has the strength of an everlasting covenant. We have God’s word on that!

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation 

Called to Say Yes

We are called to say yes.
That the kingdom might break through
To renew and to transform
Our dark and groping world.
We stutter and we stammer
To the lone God who calls
And pleads a New Jerusalem
In the bloodied Sinai Straights.
We are called to say yes
That honeysuckle may twine
And twist its smelling leaves
Over the graves of nuclear arms.
We are called to say yes
That children might play
On the soil of Vietnam where the tanks
Belched blood and death.
We are called to say yes
That black may sing with white
And pledge peace and healing
For the hatred of the past.
We are called to say yes
So that nations might gather
And dance one great movement
For the joy of humankind.
We are called to say yes
So that rich and poor embrace
And become equal in their poverty
Through the silent tears that fall.
We are called to say yes
That the whisper of our God
Might be heard through our sirens
And the screams of our bombs.
We are called to say yes
To a God who still holds fast
To the vision of the Kingdom
For a trembling world of pain.
We are called to say yes
To this God who reaches out
And asks us to share
His crazy dream of love.

Edwina Gateley

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Ordinary chitchat is not the stuff of intimacy, but regular contact is because, as the chitchat is going on, something deeper is happening (for good or for bad) under the surface.

Imagine you live in proximity to your mother and you make a commitment to visit her three times a week. Over the course of a year, that means you will be visiting her about 150 times. How many times, among all those times, will you have a deep conversation with her? A dozen times? Five times? A couple of times?

This is also true of our prayer lives and our relationship with God. If we make a commitment to sit in private prayer every day for half an hour, how many times might we expect that we’ll feel a deep movement of soul, a stunning insight, or an affirmation that really warms us? A dozen times a year? Five or six times a year? Perhaps.

Most of the time though our prayer time will be a lot like those visits we make regularly to our mothers. We will treasure those times when something special breaks through, but those times will not be what’s really important. What’s really important will be what’s growing under the surface, namely, a bond and an intimacy that’s based upon a familiarity that can only develop and sustain itself by regular contact, by actually sharing life on a day-to-day basis.

In describing one of the deep movements within mature prayer, John of the Cross writes: “At this point, God does not communicate himself through the senses as he did before, by means of discursive analysis and the synthesis of ideas but begins to communicate himself through pure spirit in an act of simple contemplation in which there is no discursive succession of thought.”

Think about that the next time you are talking trivialities with your mother – or get bored in prayer. Log that time together and relish the sweet moments when they surprise you.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation