One of my friends is sharing some brief (and beautiful) Advent reflections from past writings each day with her friends. She wrote a bit about what might ensue if we get tangled up with God. I love the image of us entangled with God, of God choosing to become entangled with us. Not God serenely dwelling within Mary, or within us, but God mixing it up with his people. Not God in a tabernacle, but out and about where the paths can be muddy, the ways steep, the risks many.
The reflection she wrote for this first week of Advent is about how Jesus is rather literally entangled with the physical world. The atoms and molecules he breathed and ate and drank, the very stuff that made up his body, is now entangled in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the wood of the cross we gaze at in the church. It's a staggering reality. But so too is the reality that we are tangled up in God in our hearts, our minds and our souls. We cannot extricate ourselves from this tangle! God decided to dwell among us, and nothing will ever be the same.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
These words from Psalm 33 are the promises and prayers which still provide a firm foundation for our own lives, the life of the Church, and indeed the future of God’s good creation:
“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our strength and shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
To wait in hope isn’t the same as giving in. Another great hymn has the lines,
Save us from weak resignation, to the evils we deplore...
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving Thee whom we adore.
We wait in hope before God because we have learned that God is our strength and shield, and we trust in his holy name. Hope is the opposite of shoulder-shrugging, I can’t help it resignation. Hope is when faith is at its most defiant. Hope is when we stand beneath the cross with broken-hearted disciples, and head with the women for the tomb with its immovable rock, and find that the immovable stone has been moved, and the crucified is glorified. And our hearts rejoice in hope.
We wait in hope because God isn’t finished with the church, and the church isn’t finished. How firm a foundation! What more can he say than to you he has said? Our church in Pasadena (like every other Christian congregation) is built on the firm foundation of God’s promises:
“You are fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” Ephesians 2.19-20.
So as Psalm 33 says, “We wait in hope…” Not wild unrealistic hope, but the settled confidence that God can be trusted. Not passive let’s do nothing hope, but hopeful living, hope-filled praying, acts of hopefulness and hope-building. Not fingers crossed and hope for the best hope, but an inner assurance that God keeps his word, and we can trust his holy name.
We are in a time of flux, unpredictability, and multiple crises. Anxiety and uncertainty can easily slide into despair. But our faith has a firm foundation, and so does our hope. What more can he say than to you he has said… “He who did not spare his own Son, but freely gave him up for us all, will he not, with him, freely give us all things.”
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
Descanso Gardens
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
Don't forget to log on to read this month's Sharing our History post about language and ethnicity on the centennial blog on our website!
https://www.pascov.org/centennial
Amazing and merciful God, how easy it is for us to forget that we are your delight. You rejoice when we follow your holy ways and envision a future of goodness and grace for all your people. We blame you for divisions and strife. We justify our wars by saying that you are on our side. We rationalize the abuse of our enemies by telling ourselves that they are not your people, that their sinfulness exceeds your tolerance. In truth, you have told us that we are to love our neighbors indiscriminately. Moreover, we are to love those with the greatest need more fiercely and more immediately. Shower us with your mercy, O God, until we live by the plumb line you have repeatedly dropped in our midst.
Patient and steadfast God, you continuously call us to live in peace, leaving none behind. We hear your call. We know that your love endures forever. What you ask of us is not beyond our reach; it is not higher than the heavens or on the outer edges of the sea. For all of Creation to live in justice is not an impossibility you hold up to tease us with what we cannot have. If we trust you, it is possible for us to turn aside from our human ways. It is possible for us to love with your love. Enter our lives anew, Holy One, silence our fears and smother our distrust that we may live in harmony with all.
God of wonder and mystery, you love us still. You love us when we are filled with fear. You love us when we are filled with hate. You love us when we are filled with judgment. You love us when we think we are better than our neighbors. You love us when we think are neighbors are better than us. You love us when we blame others for creating the chaos that flows through the world. You love us when we abdicate responsibility for engaging in justice work. You love us through all our foolishness. However, you delight in us when we act with love and seek to bring your realm into the here and now. Flood every corner of our being with the strength of your Spirit that we may have the courage to love with your love, always. Amen.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
“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