tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147103442024-03-07T01:56:38.931-05:00RevGalBlogPalsVisit our new site at <a href="http://revgalblogpals.org">revgalblogpals.org</a>.Stephanie Anthony/She Revhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089531643725874239noreply@blogger.comBlogger3416125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-13625237171707608052013-09-29T21:02:00.003-04:002013-09-29T21:02:44.009-04:00Visit our new website!<div style="text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-3300412263343038422013-09-21T20:49:00.004-04:002013-09-21T20:49:56.421-04:00Late Night Preachers, Looking for the Party?Come to the party at our new site, <a href="http://revgalblogpals.org/">RevGalBlogPals.org</a>!<br />
Same great times, same late nights.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-88152663937644174422013-09-18T10:07:00.004-04:002013-09-18T10:07:43.819-04:00RevGalBlogPals Has a New Home on the Web!RevGalBlogPals has a new home on the web:<br />
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You'll find old-fashioned favorites like the 11th Hour Preacher Party, Tuesday Lectionary Leanings, Ask the Matriarch, daily prayers and the Friday Five at our new home. You'll also find new features such as Narrative Lectionary, WitsEndsDays and The Pastoral is Political. Come and see! And let us know what you think of our new digs by leaving a comment at the new blog.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-55082019140085085802013-09-12T12:29:00.003-04:002013-09-12T12:29:50.033-04:00RevGalBlogPals has moved!Looking for Ask the Matriarch? RevGalBlogPals has a new home on the web:<br />
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<a href="http://revgalblogpals.org/">RevGalBlogPals.org</a></h2>
<div>
You'll find old-fashioned favorites like the 11th Hour Preacher Party, Tuesday Lectionary Leanings, Ask the Matriarch, daily prayers and the Friday Five at our new home. You'll also find new features such as Narrative Lectionary, WitsEndsDays and The Pastoral is Political. Come and see! And let us know what you think of our new digs by leaving a comment at the new blog.<br />
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Be sure to update your feed readers and blogrolls. Thanks!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-40291125265499658302013-09-05T10:32:00.000-04:002013-09-05T10:32:23.691-04:00The Matriarchs Have MovedLooking for Ask the Matriarch? RevGalBlogPals has a new home on the web:<br />
<h2>
<a href="http://revgalblogpals.org/">RevGalBlogPals.org</a></h2>
<div>
You'll find old-fashioned favorites like the 11th Hour Preacher Party, Tuesday Lectionary Leanings, Ask the Matriarch, daily prayers and the Friday Five at our new home. You'll also find new features such as Narrative Lectionary and The Pastoral is Political. Come and see! And let us know what you think of our new digs by leaving a comment at the new blog.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-2900881671414656512013-09-04T12:44:00.000-04:002013-09-04T12:44:46.469-04:00Are you looking for RevGalBlogPals?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gvTpISBhVl6BE4XiEkXB1rXdZD_FiPn8mcWROyadgZJXxnZ_HyENLPO75MnRnTyRFgf1r2OKZeCwF5ViW6uCvTjguBPtaNFoNdJyDBRDNAJMcisR-yiWrg2CErS713eb9cFmWA/s1600/new+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gvTpISBhVl6BE4XiEkXB1rXdZD_FiPn8mcWROyadgZJXxnZ_HyENLPO75MnRnTyRFgf1r2OKZeCwF5ViW6uCvTjguBPtaNFoNdJyDBRDNAJMcisR-yiWrg2CErS713eb9cFmWA/s320/new+home.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
RevGalBlogPals has a new home on the web:<br />
<h2>
<a href="http://revgalblogpals.org/">RevGalBlogPals.org</a></h2>
<div>
You'll find old-fashioned favorites like the 11th Hour Preacher Party, Tuesday Lectionary Leanings, Ask the Matriarch, daily prayers and the Friday Five at our new home. You'll also find new features such as Narrative Lectionary and The Pastoral is Political. Come and see! And let us know what you think of our new digs by leaving a comment at the new blog.<br />
<br />
Be sure to update your feed readers and blogrolls. Thanks!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-78206620224963966782013-09-03T08:13:00.002-04:002013-09-03T08:13:25.896-04:00Tuesday Lectionary Leanings and Tuesday Prayer: Now at a New Location<h2>
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All our features have moved, and we have added new ones, too! Be sure to change your blog links and feed readers.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-4930876239761216292013-09-02T05:00:00.000-04:002013-09-02T05:00:02.751-04:00Moving Monday: Our New Home<h2>
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RevGalBlogPalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05800876859446473356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-15631046490866937012013-09-01T02:00:00.000-04:002013-09-01T02:00:08.088-04:00Sunday Prayer: Our New Home<h2>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-7663406866630738182013-08-31T06:00:00.000-04:002013-08-31T06:00:07.412-04:0011th Hour Preacher Party: Our New Home<h2>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-52211112391123440032013-08-30T05:00:00.000-04:002013-08-30T05:00:00.312-04:00Friday Prayer: What Name Shall I Call You? O transcendant, almighty God,<br />
What words can sing your praises?<br />
No tongue can describe you.<br />
No mind can probe your mystery.<br />
Yet all speech springs from you,<br />
And all thought stems from you.<br />
All creation proclaims you,<br />
All creatures revere you.<br />
Every gust of wind breathes a prayer to you,<br />
Every rustling tree sings a hymn to you.<br />
All things are upheld by you.<br />
And they move according to your harmonious design.<br />
The whole world longs for you,<br />
And all people desire you.<br />
Yet you have set yourself apart,<br />
You are far beyond our grasp.<br />
You are the purpose of all that exists,<br />
But you do not let us understand you.<br />
Lord, I want to speak to you.<br />
By what name shall I call you?<br />
<br />
<br />
- Gregory of NazianzusPastor Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01483149432826000955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-84651645141984078372013-08-30T02:00:00.000-04:002013-08-30T02:00:04.495-04:00Friday Five: First Times<i><b>Ah, I have a tear in my eye...this is the last post I will make at this blog location, because the RevGals blog will be moving to its new location TOMORROW! Come right back here to this spot for the Preacher Party and you'll find a link for the redirect. </b></i><br />
<br />
<b>And for today, here's a Friday Five looking at the other end of things: <u>Firsts</u>. With so many folks starting school, college, seminary, etc. I've been thinking of a lot of other firsts in my life. Share with us, if you will:</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Your first "place" - whether it was an apartment, dorm room, or home with a new spouse, the first place where you really felt like a grown-up:</li>
<li>Your first time away from home. Construe this any way you want. College? Girl Scout Camp? Study Abroad?</li>
<li>Your first job in your field of endeavor (so, not babysitting, unless you are A Professional Babysitter today):</li>
<li>Your first time hosting. Again, construed broadly, this could be a dinner for the in-laws, your first time to have guests for a holiday meal, etc.</li>
<li>Your first love.That can be a person or something else!!</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />Mary Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970052534402740820noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-4716844742589351532013-08-29T08:17:00.000-04:002013-08-29T08:17:38.922-04:00Ask the Matriarch - QueuelessDear Readers,<br />
This time next week you will find RevGalBlogPals at a new address, to be announced Saturday. We will have a special Ask the Matriarch next Thursday with an all-star panel of published RevGals.<br />
For this week, our question queue is empty. If you have a question for our panel of Matriarchs - all clergywomen with more than ten years experience in ordained ministry - please send it to askthematriarch@gmail.com or leave it here in the comments.<br />
Faithfully,<br />
MarthaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08235049965406944684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-38588818984595075612013-08-29T06:30:00.000-04:002013-08-29T06:30:04.295-04:00Thursday Prayer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You keep us loving.<br />
You, the God whose name is love,<br />
want us to be like you--<br />
to love the loveless and the unlovely and the unlovable;<br />
and most difficult of all, to love ourselves.<br />
So thank you. . . for the loving time.<br />
<br />
And in all this, you keep us,<br />
through hard questions with no easy answers;<br />
through failing where we hoped to succeed<br />
and making an impact when we felt we were uselss;<br />
through the patience and the dreams and the love of others;<br />
and through Jesus Christ and his Spirit,<br />
you keep us.<br />
So thank you . . . for the keeping time,<br />
and for now, and for ever. Amen.<br />
<br />
~~Iona Community, Scotland</div>
Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08061517211101084120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-38527253810509093392013-08-28T10:46:00.003-04:002013-08-28T10:55:51.589-04:00Wednesday Festival: Marching to ZionI admit that I went looking for a particular theme as I browsed our RGBP network for the Wednesday Festival. Today is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and that historic march -- along with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech -- has become one of the stories that we remember and retell to give us perspective on this journey toward God's realized kindom.<br />
<br />
The March on Washington is like any one of our biblical faith stories that we study, read aloud and sermonize to remind ourselves and our faith communities of what the journey looks like...and where it is going. We share these stories when we feel lost. We sing them when we feel embolded. We question them when we need new vision.<br />
<br />
So for our Wednesday Festival, I perused our blogs for journey stories and faith stories and not-sure-where-I'm-going-but-this-moment-holds-me-up stories. Here is a brief sampling (only because my internet browser has crashed twice now amidst posting). If you have a particular story about what sustains your journey, please share in the comments!<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://sallysjourney.typepad.com/sallys_journey/2013/08/vulnerability.html">Sally's journey is marked by a hug</a> that is shared without too many extra words or advice, but simply offered to recognize life's strains and vulnerabilities.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Following a move, <a href="http://godismakingaway.blogspot.com/2013/08/autopilot.html">Laura is acclimating to a new space</a> -- such a critical factor in our experience and daily perspective! She reflects on the realization that many of our daily routines function on "autopilot." </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://heartontheleft.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/for-what-its-worth/">Tony shares two favorite scripture verses.</a> A memorized verse or song or poem or prayer can secure our souls when we feel weary or lost.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Returning to photograph the church where she was ordained, Michelle reminds me that the <a href="http://33namesofgrace.blogspot.com/2013/08/return.html">sensory markers along our journeys</a> (not only the stories) become important icons that we revisit as well. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Deb provides a reminder that the journey is not the enemy; she is building a labyrinth using bricks in the backyard, because so often <a href="http://unfinsymphony.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/solvitur-ambulando-it-is-solved-by-walking/"><em>solvitur ambulando</em>: it is solved by walking</a>.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Blessed walking and marching, friends!<br />
<br />
<br />Rachel Hackenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10493276400768920835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-35518000777264167682013-08-28T02:00:00.000-04:002013-08-28T02:00:11.211-04:00Wednesday Prayer: Let us leave a little roomAugustine of Hippo said: <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let us leave a little room for reflection in our lives, room too for silence. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let us look within ourselves and see whether there is some delightful hidden place inside where we can be free of noise and argument. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let us hear the Word of God in stillness and perhaps we will then come to understand it.</span></span>Mary Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970052534402740820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-14355128875527683732013-08-27T19:31:00.000-04:002013-08-27T19:31:10.270-04:00Tuesday Evening PrayerSeen on a co-worker's bulletin board (so forgive the grammar)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Blessed </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">are those who laugh at themselves</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">for they will be</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">amused forever!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
amen. </div>
revkjarlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03516266924883899536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-68547526372173635582013-08-27T00:00:00.000-04:002013-08-27T08:26:59.360-04:00Tuesday Lectionary Leanings~~Entertaining angels unaware edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJFoSan1WX1d5KqY2zEUblxmNKkEFSnbAfm4o9urnkilS4QhjeKr63_C1kPZ5SZC8PVtFcl6AWe2ItiZ4rUadJndcanVotAbZdndka9iqSBBabir-SSZ_wryshw2pVz3n3Q1zkg/s1600/entertaining+angels.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJFoSan1WX1d5KqY2zEUblxmNKkEFSnbAfm4o9urnkilS4QhjeKr63_C1kPZ5SZC8PVtFcl6AWe2ItiZ4rUadJndcanVotAbZdndka9iqSBBabir-SSZ_wryshw2pVz3n3Q1zkg/s320/entertaining+angels.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Lord Jesus Christ, make those who love you, and who love you in return, mirrors of you to those who are unloving; that being drawn to your image they may reproduce it in themselves, light reflecting light, love kindling love, until God is all in all. Amen. <span style="font-size: x-small;">After Christina Rossetti, 1894</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Frank T. Griswold. Praying Our Days: A Guide and Companion (Kindle Locations 800-802). Kindle Edition. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
September 1! NO way.<br />
<br />
I am so not ready for the end of summer (in fact I am still on vacation as I write this,) but here we are. In the U.S. we will be celebrating Labor Day weekend, many of us are gearing up for a new program year, and kids have either returned to school or will be doing so in the next few days. My oldest granddaughter is starting kindergarten tomorrow! This weekend my congregation will be joining others in our deanery for an end of summer picnic and outdoor Eucharist, complete with baptism. Appropriately enough our <a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277">RCL readings</a> for this 15th Sunday after Pentecost focus (in part at least) on the theme of hospitality.<br />
<br />
Our Hebrew scripture reading from the prophet Jeremiah finds Jeremiah voicing God's lament that the people God brought out of Egypt have in essence abandoned the hospitality that awaited them in the promised land--both the abundance of the land and the largesse of God's love. Instead they have defiled the land and worshipped false gods, ex<span style="background-color: white;">changing "their glory </span><span style="background-color: white;">for something that does not profit," and digging</span><span style="background-color: white;"> out "cisterns for themselves, </span><span style="background-color: white;">cracked cisterns, </span><span style="background-color: white;">that can hold no water." How much do those charges apply to the ways we choose to live today? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvutBzaZPS4IbNZg9rbvkG6Ea5sjimSP2KAxDZF3NgmvdA3a8VjtDL33rupYDJ2wluXlsuaEUXXlXmy3SK2D5e7Ytj6mvZ8jfW7oiLZKKYq5-uXTU1ebQm9oAtAM0qDxhIVV4Zw/s1600/lowest_place_at_feast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvutBzaZPS4IbNZg9rbvkG6Ea5sjimSP2KAxDZF3NgmvdA3a8VjtDL33rupYDJ2wluXlsuaEUXXlXmy3SK2D5e7Ytj6mvZ8jfW7oiLZKKYq5-uXTU1ebQm9oAtAM0qDxhIVV4Zw/s320/lowest_place_at_feast.jpg" width="316" /></a></div>
Our new testament reading continues with the letter to the Hebrews. This section echoes the call to radical hospitality we hear in Jesus' teaching in the gospels (it especially brings Matthew to mind for me, but perhaps that is because Matthew is my favorite gospel.) This passage also hearkens back to Abraham's visit from the weary travelers, who were in fact angels in disguise. How often might we entertain angels unaware? And how often have we turned them away?<br />
<br />
This week's gospel finds Jesus under close scrutiny as he joins some Pharisees for a Sabbath meal. Sabbath meals were times for gathering together family and friends, and in a culture where status was extremely important, one can imagine that there might have been some jockeying for invitations, and for the seats of honor. Jesus wants no part of that; in fact in counsels the arriving guests to take the lowest seats, and advises his hosts that in the future they should invite not those who will reciprocate in kind, but rather the poor and lowly who have no way of returning the kindness. How often is our hospitality tied to at least an implicit expectation that we will get "credit" for it? And can we let go of that?<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXtHf0jqOdiuIkZOfojguJ5uVdf335emN1t_puw5JRAjvmh66ZUteV39Sca2wjCFMlftTBgmF02LKR2S5Ksh8KIf6wJs_6Qa1GgFdXaoYeAKS0cbaScKHPgYZwzzLhpMiwqrMQg/s1600/Luke14v01&07to14_2007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXtHf0jqOdiuIkZOfojguJ5uVdf335emN1t_puw5JRAjvmh66ZUteV39Sca2wjCFMlftTBgmF02LKR2S5Ksh8KIf6wJs_6Qa1GgFdXaoYeAKS0cbaScKHPgYZwzzLhpMiwqrMQg/s400/Luke14v01&07to14_2007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
So where are you headed on this first Sunday in September? Are you winding up a summer series? Having a fall kick off? Riffing off Labor Day? Perhaps you'll choose the alternative readings from Sirach or Proverbs or focus on a psalm. Join the conversation whether you have questions, inspiration, or just want to say hi! The welcome mat is out, and the coffee is on!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-48795419602115942962013-08-26T00:01:00.000-04:002013-08-25T22:39:51.967-04:00RevGalBookPals: Love and Salt<div class="p1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUi9waIsALq4B2n9qtx9M_vR2ANuK9__waZ_iQ-ze_aD_uxeSTWXZ7FkCrVzyG0Rpm6ZGqBjv-L2P2t8abIunNukxm0RXamFVNwFNdF9ldLaVFyrMauAiYwnfOR344cWBJK2gjgA/s1600/love+and+salt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUi9waIsALq4B2n9qtx9M_vR2ANuK9__waZ_iQ-ze_aD_uxeSTWXZ7FkCrVzyG0Rpm6ZGqBjv-L2P2t8abIunNukxm0RXamFVNwFNdF9ldLaVFyrMauAiYwnfOR344cWBJK2gjgA/s200/love+and+salt.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
I have to confess that I'm an inveterate writer of real letters, the sort where you scratch out words, twine a last minute addition to a paragraph around the edge of the paper, and tenderly fold up to slip into an envelope. I love the physicality of putting pen to paper, and delight in the thought that this object I have put my hand to will land in the hands of someone I care about. And to find a letter or a postcard in my mailbox in return is a unlooked for but utterly delightful grace. </div>
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So when I heard Amy Andrews and Jessica Mesman Griffith, the authors of <i>Love and Salt: A Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters </i><a href="http://peopleforothers.loyolapress.com/2013/04/one-question-with-amy-andrews-and-jessica-mesman-griffith/" target="_blank">talking about their exchange of letters last April</a> I added it to the top of my summer reading list. </div>
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Amy Andrews and Jessica Mesman Griffith met in a creative writing workshop while they were graduate students in Pittsburgh. On a class trip to New York City, they came across a copy of the Book of Ruth and were captured by the line<br />
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<i>Whither thou goest, I will go<br />Thy God shall be my God.</i></blockquote>
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A few months later Amy moved to Chicago to teach math and Jessica took a job at Notre Dame. When Amy, who had grown up with a religious bent in an agnostic household, decided to become a Roman Catholic, she asked Jess to accompany her through the process, to be her sponsor. Jess vows to write a letter (not an email!) to Amy every day during Lent, and Amy decides to write in return. They continued to write to each other intermittently over the next five years, writing they say,</div>
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"...to preserve and make sense of our daily lives; we wrote to confess and console, to rant and grieve. But more than anything else, we wrote because it was the only way we know how to pray...In our letters, we wrote ourselves back to belief." [p. xi]</blockquote>
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I suspect many of us who blog and preach have walked this path. Writing is a way into a relationship between God and ourselves, our friends, our congregations and our readers. We write, to paraphrase CS Lewis, <span class="s1">because we can't help ourselves; we write because we're helpless; we write because the need flows out of us all the time — waking and sleeping; we write, not to change God — but to change ourselves. </span></div>
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In these letters, Jess and Amy share their joys and concerns around faith and God and religious practice, the whole of it wound into the fabric of their everyday lives: birthdays, basketball games, and baptisms. Above all it recounts their journey of faith; not one that is piously placid, but one that takes them through lands that are green and through howling deserts. It is not a journey that leaves either Amy or Jess unscarred. There is love and there is salt.</div>
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Though there is a natural narrative arc to the collection of letters, loosely organized around the liturgical calendar — Lents, Easters and Ordinary Time — it is not a book to be drunk too quickly. I read it in short pieces over two months, and even then it felt like I was moving too fast. I wanted to hold this faith journey gently, to listen to Jess and Amy's story, to hear in it echoes of all our faith lives. At this point, I couldn't share my copy with anyone, I wrote so many notes to myself in the margins. </div>
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[<b>Spoiler alert</b>: Since this isn't a novel, I'm not sure there is anything to spoil, but just in case you want to let the journey unfold in its own way, without knowing much about the events that shape it, skip to the last paragraph.]</div>
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If you are still with me, know that the second part of this book is what makes the title so apt, and for me, so powerful. Both Jess and Amy become mothers in 2006. Jess to Charlotte, Amy to Clare. Clare dies just before she is born. Amy struggles with God, with fear, with rending grief, as she mourns Clare and then becomes pregnant with a son, John. Jess struggles with being alone with a newborn while her husband is away working in another city. Through their letters, and in person, they walk with each other, grieving, listening, a ministry of steadfast presence, <i>whither you go: </i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Again, the consolation was not of relief, but accompaniment." [p. 254]</blockquote>
says Amy of two aunts who drove miles to be with her at Clare's burial.</div>
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The letter format means that the raw roller ride of grief is very evident, as good and bad days are swirled together. Having lived through a similar period of wrenching grief in my twenties, I can remember the odd way that joy and pain wound around each other in those days, and wish that I had known that this storm tossed pattern was normal, or as normal as anything can be in such times. </div>
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In summary, this is an exquisite book. Read it if you want to see how faith looks when it is clothed in doubt, rings with joy, is rent by grief, when it comes alive in our messy human lives. I'm hoping it inspires a host of similar exchanges, whether on paper or electronically or shared over coffee. </div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>What inspires you to put pen to paper and add a stamp?</li>
<li>Have you ever carried on a sustained correspondence, either through email or on paper? or dreamed of doing it?</li>
<li>Thomas Merton noted in a journal, "To write is to think and to live — even to pray." Do you find writing to be a way to pray? </li>
</ul>
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Share your thoughts in the comments!</div>
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______</div>
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<div class="p4">
I bought a physical copy of this book from Amazon, and page citations refer to that version.</div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617476463347663364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-68330500579164691322013-08-24T20:52:00.001-04:002013-08-24T20:52:37.593-04:00Prayer for P 16C / O 21C / P +14Lord as we come before you today in prayer and worship,
We are ever mindful that we have been created by your Lord.
You knew us even before we were born.
Sometimes we forget that Lord and go about our days thinking of ourselves as just a lump of clay.
But according to your word we are much more than a lump of clay.
We are your children.
We are the ones you have called to speak your word to all people.
We are the ones you have called to open the doors for justice in our world.
We are the ones you have called to feed the hungry.
We are the ones you have called to pour your healing oil on aching and hurting persons.
So Lord we pray for your forgiveness of all our sins.
We pray for healing of our diseases..
We pray for the redemption of us all.
We pray that you crown us with love and mercy.
We pray you wrap us in your goodness.
We pray you that you renew us.
We pray that you make everything right in this world.
We pray you put victims back on their feet.
We pray for the healing of the brokenhearted.
We pray for healing of our broken world. Amen
cross posted at rev abi's long and winding roadAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14654861033242845082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-77900403507204034312013-08-24T00:00:00.000-04:002013-08-24T00:00:07.492-04:0011th Hour Preacher Party: Stand up straight edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A walk on the beach</td></tr>
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On this side of the pond, our schools have started back and many families are establishing some kind of routine again after the long summer break. To keep things simple in church, though, we continue with shorter, earlier summer services until the end of the month. That means that it is September before we get back to "normal" and our adult and youth programmes get going again.<br />
This summer I've simply journeyed with the Lectionary gospel readings, offering brief reflections each week. This will be my last Sunday of that and I'm pleased at the gospel that I get to finish up on. The story of the woman bent over to whom Jesus brings healing, encouraging her to stand up straight on the sabbath.<br />
<a href="http://revgalblogpals.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/tuesday-lectionary-leaningscan-i-do.html">Tuesdays Lectionary Leanings</a> provide a good starter for this weeks readings - from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hebrews or Luke.<br />
I'm looking forward to getting back to the old schedule of later worship and longer ramblings. Sometimes its harder to preach for a shorter time - or maybe its because I don't spend as much time preparing as I should in the summer.<br />
Where are you? Still in that space between summer worship and getting back on schedule? Or do you maintain momentum all the year round? And how are you fixed for preaching this week? Are you bent over with the burden of the task or standing up straight, lightened by the gift of words to preach? Come and party with us as we share what we have and ask for what we need so that, together, we can "walk those dogs proud".liz crumlishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17261486774607168533noreply@blogger.com99tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-35976302572794183042013-08-23T02:00:00.000-04:002013-08-23T02:00:19.979-04:00Friday Prayer: Let it outGod,<br />
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You know the secrets of my heart. </div>
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So, why do I have to pray? If you already know, I'd hate to put the Holy Spirit out of a job. </div>
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Yet, the words pour forth. </div>
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My concerns... my fears... my needs... my joys... my desires...</div>
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The foremost thoughts tumble out and they are slowly caboosed by the truths that I cannot hide from you. </div>
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I cannot help, but pray. </div>
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You can help and do. </div>
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Thank you. </div>
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Thank you. </div>
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Thank you. </div>
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Amen. </div>
Pastor Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01483149432826000955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-57926074900445582732013-08-22T22:00:00.000-04:002013-08-22T22:00:00.946-04:00Friday Five: Packing or Packrat?We are 90% done with the<i> pack-em-up-and-move-em-out week </i>here are our hacienda. One daughter is moving to her first apartment, the other daughter to her dorm for her freshman year of college. Not gonna lie, it was an adventure these last few days!<br />
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As a part of the process, we let our daughters manage their own packing (with our input and support.) Part of that educational experience (for all of us) was letting them figure out how to create their own organization, make choices, and consolidate what they were packing. And also pack carefully enough so that they could still get everything in the car -- and in the dorm/apartment!<br />
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It made me realize that there are some elements to packing and moving that are learned, and some that are innate. So let's talk <i>"packing or pack rat?"</i> for this week's Friday Five.<br />
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1. Are you a sorter or a pack rat? What I mean by that is, do you select what you are taking with you (on a trip, a new assignment, a vacation), or do you pack with abandon (overweight suitcases be damned!)<br />
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2. Who first helped you learn how to pack? Or did you just come into it by osmosis or natural gifting (and need)?<br />
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3. What's your favorite kind of suitcase? Duffle? Soft-side? Wheels? (I am personally a fan of my "expanding zipper" wheelie suitcases. Saved my bacon on many a return trip home!)<br />
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4. Do you have that "packing gene" -- or do you pack and cram what you need into every available space?<br />
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5. What's one thing you've learned in traveling, packing or storing your belongings that you think everyone should know?<br />
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Be sure to put your link in the comments so we can visit and glean from or wisdom (or sympathize with your conundrums!) If you need to learn how to link, the instructions are <a href="http://revgalblogpals.blogspot.com/2006/12/so-you-want-to-post-direct-link-to.html" target="_blank">here!</a>Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12169805543154662247noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-56972044435579866792013-08-22T07:00:00.000-04:002013-08-22T07:00:04.810-04:00Thursday Prayer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lord, make me like crystal that your light may shine through me.<br />
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~~Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923)</div>
Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08061517211101084120noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710344.post-13637602877964798542013-08-22T06:00:00.000-04:002013-08-22T07:36:16.226-04:00Ask the Matriarch: Taking It Personally<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is there one of these for everything?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Somewhere along the way, someone surely said it to you, too: "Don't take it personally."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It almost doesn't matter what area of ministry is our specialty, or how long we have been engaged in the work. Everything we do feels personal, and every negative response we get has the potential to feel personal, too. This week's questioner tells a story we might all recognize. The longer you stay in one ministry setting, the deeper the relationships become, and the more personal feeling is potentially at stake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've been serving my current parish for almost seven years. The Head of Staff has been here about three times as long. I recall that when I first began serving here and would ask about some folks on the membership rolls who I learned had left our parish to attend elsewhere (some without telling us) he'd remember them and express disappointment and almost take their departure personally - especially the ones he'd served through intense pastoral care (death of a loved one or severe illness.) I remember thinking how strange he should take it personally that someone would leave our church, even if he did provide them excellent pastoral care in years gone by. As churches grow and change it is natural that some folks will move on.</span></i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, now I'm regretting those early thoughts, as I find myself in his shoes! One family stopped attending our church in April and is now attending another local church. I emailed to check in on them and learned in the reply that they'd enjoyed the decade they spent at our church but, "Changing churches was a big decision that had been on our hearts for a couple years...and we feel strongly that where we are now was God's plan for us."</span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My first thought thought was, "Really, it's been on your hearts for a couple years? Because if you'd moved on a few years ago it sure would have saved me a lot of gas visiting your family at the hospital an hour away when your daughter was born and spent months in the NICU." I know that is an absolutely terrible thought/feeling to have...and I realized that I was taking it somehow personally that someone I'd invested so much time caring for changed churches and had felt that need "for a couple years."</span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm still trying to sort out my feeling about investing such time and energy into pastoral care situations and then feeling as though those relationships are essentially meaningless after a time. (Maybe I'm mostly bothered that they "slipped out quietly" and didn't bother to let us know they'd found another church home until I contacted them?) Thanks to any matriarchs who've worn these shoes before and can offer wisdom!</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">We have a great set of responses this week, so many thanks to the Matriarchs!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></i></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: inherit;">First, some thoughts from Sally-Lodge Teel, <a href="http://stcasseroleblog.blogspot.com/">aka St. Casserole</a>:</span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: inherit;">I keep a special place in my heart for members who move to other churches. I miss them. Most slip away and I don't find out why until they tell another member. Only once did I get a letter explaining why they dropped us and moved to a new congregation. That family felt I didn't talk about hell enough and wanted to find a place with the "real truth". For those who know me, when did I ever preach with hell as the focus? Even so, I miss this family, too.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: inherit;">I leave people, too. When I finish a pastorate, I'm gone. All the conversations and closeness of a pastoral relationship end. I do not return for weddings or funerals or a visit, without the permission of the current pastor.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT000riLsG9xbvgX269rRaSuPUlpm0DkgeuTJQk6S3_o36WlNZkBaHEyzowZtNG3d8_q5Y9D-9jO1D4JvMbB4-7Mvzm8qPJYECjGorc6ai0ggin2TO6OLdkH0P3NCmj9EZD6452Q/s1600/community+gardeners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT000riLsG9xbvgX269rRaSuPUlpm0DkgeuTJQk6S3_o36WlNZkBaHEyzowZtNG3d8_q5Y9D-9jO1D4JvMbB4-7Mvzm8qPJYECjGorc6ai0ggin2TO6OLdkH0P3NCmj9EZD6452Q/s320/community+gardeners.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: inherit;">Consider yourself, as pastor, one of the many workers in a garden. You offer your love, time and abilities, then someone later takes up the work of loving the people. You can't be replaced, you were there for the NICU but now you commend the family to God's good care and trust/hope they will find the growth they seek.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Next, a regular contributor, <a href="http://stoneofwitness.blogspot.com/">Muthah+ say</a>s:</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">It is normal to take someone's leaving personally, but is not helpful when it does not come from your own failure. People change; their family needs change. You did not visit them for you. You ministered to them because Christ called you to do so. Rejoice that they are finding Christ elsewhere. Many don't. </span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Many do not see the pastoral relationship as central to faith. They see it as our job. Lamentably many of our judicatories see it the same way! Sigh! But you know differently. </span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">All I can say is to thank you for your fidelity and ask you to continue to share your faith. We often think that membership is up to us. It isn't. It is up to us to proclaim the Gospel, be faithful, help others act upon the Gospel in their lives. Jesus didn't say anything about keeping them in the pews. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">Sharon adds:</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">When members leave the church, it hurts. It even sucks. They do tend to leave at times of crisis, theirs or the church's. They tend to sneak away &/or leave a trail that stinks. Every time, it's painful. I wish that your members could have told you how much your ministry surely meant to them, even if they did feel they had to leave.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">The hardest part -- you identified it! -- church members quite often don't get what we do, why we do it what it costs us, and what they mean to us. They don't consider that their leaving is a re-membering of the very Body of Christ. From where they sit, their church-shopping decision has nothing to do with you. It's not anything you did; it's not anything you needed to know about; it's not personal. This is how they may see it. We clergy can feel betrayed because "we are here until we find something better over there" is not the deal that was made between God and member at baptism and in church membership covenants. And we gave until it hurt.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">The ministry approach that is helpful to me is this: The ministry things I do, especially the "above and beyond" things, I do in response to God going all out for me. I minister to them as a gift to God, not as a gift to church members. Church members will disappoint and betray, and they very often don't intend to. And then they will go and do something amazing and be the church, for a moment here or an hour there, beyond what you dared to pray for. Noticing those miracles and shining the light on them -- that's the antidote I've found to becoming cynical about church members who disappoint, or worse. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">Let them go, and keep the faith!</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">New addition to the Matriarch group, <a href="http://www.rutheverhart.com/blog/">Ruth Everhart at Work in Progress</a>, has these words:</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">Oh, I feel your pain! Every now and then our pastoral role can take a real toll. It's the nature of the beast. The pastoral role feels like friendship, but it's not (it lacks an easy reciprocity). The pastoral role feels like a professional exchange, but it's not (it lacks clear boundaries and a fee structure). Instead we are spiritual leaders to a community, often working among people who are overwhelmed and confused. Sometimes our efforts don't generate the return we expected, so of course our feelings get pinched up in the middle of it all, we are not automatons. </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">But you don't know anything about what this family is thinking/feeling. It sounds like the family is in the middle of changes that they're not able/willing to communicate to you. You will need to be okay with that. Their leaving isn't a referendum on the quality of your ministry, even though it might feel that way at the moment.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">Good for you for expressing your disappointment, hurt and anger. Perhaps this is an opportunity to reconsider the boundaries of your role, I can't tell from the letter. But I do know this -- none of what we do is about us, even when it feels that way. Peace to you!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdIzr_KZzjQXEyTa1Mf6FP7AgtSeGa190P11u3CemA4VuGiUNkVntCXIzmz_Hd4UIio7nYo6jd9zR7tyqfRiwIsTc-esfIrIu8lVLXQMbXvfreGOzPdP3IXYFoqJmEseEfIf7JEQ/s1600/God+Bless+You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdIzr_KZzjQXEyTa1Mf6FP7AgtSeGa190P11u3CemA4VuGiUNkVntCXIzmz_Hd4UIio7nYo6jd9zR7tyqfRiwIsTc-esfIrIu8lVLXQMbXvfreGOzPdP3IXYFoqJmEseEfIf7JEQ/s320/God+Bless+You.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">And Jan Edmiston (<a href="http://achurchforstarvingartists.wordpress.com/">a church for starving artists</a>) recommends offering a blessing:</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">Leaving a church is complicated and it happens in countless ways: from slamming doors and throwing keys to "slipping out quietly." Sometimes it happens because someone merely got out of the habit, and after choosing bed over pew too many Sundays in a row, it stopped being an option.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">It's natural to take it seriously and we've all done this. Who wouldn't feel hurt to "lose" a family that we've invested our very best skills and time in - not to mention the lost relationships? But the bottom line is that this is not about us. It's about the reign of God and if people can connect better with God in another congregation, we should bless them on their way. It still hurts - but that just means we loved them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Readers, what do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">If you have a question for our panel, please send it to askthematriarch@gmail.com. </span><br />
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