Living it

This morning the lectionary pointed me to this passage from Colossians 2 (The Message version):

You received Christ, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well-constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

It occurs to me that Creation Vacation, the family camp I deaned a few weeks back at Camp Magruder, was an opportunity to try to do this--to live the life we are called to live, together. We did not focus on growing spiritually by sitting quietly to study the Bible or talk about "spiritual things," but we showed up to do what is sometimes difficult to do: live together. God has already broken down the walls (created by us and people before us) that keep us from God and from each other and we have been created to be together--so why not be together? It can be hard as heck but, as it turns out, is way more fun!

CV was transformational because we jumped in and opened ourselves to listening to and sharing ourselves with many we hadn't known before, who spoke in a different languages and had had completely different life experiences. Even more challenging (and life-giving) for some was doing these things with people we do know well--our families! We ate together, played together, made choices together, created together, shared difficult and lovely parts of our lives, enjoyed creation together, prayed together, sang together, just hung out together. And we came away filled with love and friendship and longing to continue to deepen the connections we made. The living we did together has definitely spilled over into thanksgiving. What a gift. Now, after this rejuvenating time, the opportunity we have is to learn to live well together as friends and neighbors and families in daily life in our own communities!

A few (yeah, right) of my favorite pictures...

I had such a fun time teaching these two sweet girls to row:

Salsa-making contest--sooo good...and soooo spicy!

Campfire fun. So great seeing parents getting silly with their kiddos.

The best big brother.

Collective crafting. This space was always full!

2 out of 3 of the camp donkeys are arthritic and retired now (the oldest is 30!) but they still like to walk a bit.

A gorgeous day emerging...

Craft cabin view.

New friends--love this.

Swinging!

Paper airplane making. I loved being around this kid because he was always smiling.

Sand castles! Where many boys (young and old) spent hours.

Just hanging out.

Bertha and one of her sweeties.

New friends.

:)

Practicing pulling back on the rope before wave-jumping.

The beach [happy sigh].

Good friends.

Who doesn't love staring at the ocean? Too bad we can not all manage to be so cute while we do it.

Skipping stones. Loved seeing this Family Friend making connections.

Silly songs around the campfire were awesome, but love songs in Spanish belted out happily around the campfire--the best.

Hanging out.

All the Family Friends. What an awesome group!

I was excited to see some CV families and several Family Friends at the Hillsboro UMC Summer JAM (a VBS-ish family program) and can't wait to see everyone again in a month for our Creation Vacation reunion picnic in the park!! It's so great to be looking for ways to keep living it out together with all these folks in my community who are now my friends!

Creation Vacation!

What a gift these days were! Fifteen Latinos families, fifteen family friends and every great camp activity you can imagine! I'll share soon, but wanted to post these pictures first.

Reflecting on a Father's Love

On Sunday evening, folks gathered for The Supper at Cornelius UMC, to eat and to talk and to enjoy one another's presence. We shared, over tasty sammies and decadent cheesecake, in English and in Spanish, about our fathers and about those who have been fathers to us. Some reflected on fathers who were always there and always loving. Some shared about fathers who tried hard but struggled or who just weren't present. Some had lost their fathers at a very young age. All of us gave thanks for those who have shown the love of God the Parent by caring for us, protecting us, listenening to us, guiding us, holding us, teaching us, and loving us.

With Eliser's guidance, we considered the words from Luke 11:11, from the Message version:

If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live
snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a
spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least
decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in
love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"

God the Parent has a love for us that is more profound than any human love we have experienced or can imagine because God created us. We shared together some possible ways that we can reflect this love in our communities. Who are those who need to experience the unconditional love of God the Parent? Let us seek them out and share that love that we have received and continue to receive.

Join us July 18th for the next Supper. We'll reflect on God's love as water that refreshes and gives us life and overflows into the world.

No to SB 1070

SB1070, the recent law passed in Arizona mandates descrimination and racial profiling and weakens trust between the community and local law enforcement by encouraging the latter to stop individuals simply because they "look" like they might be undocumented. Portland folks joined groups from across the country yesterday by gathering to make a public statement in opposition to this decision and calling for the repeal of SB1070.

The action opened with song and with some words by activists from local immigrant rights organizations and continued with a musical drama depicting the doomed marriage between local law enforcement and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

ICE courts local law enforcement: The wedding:The ceremony is broken up by The Community, who breaks into an alternative version of Ice Ice Baby until ICE takes him down.

Inmates then sing to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance until Local Law Enforcement revives The Community and they dance. Very entertaining. The march through downtown Portland.

El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido.

The people united will never be defeated.

For more on SB1070 and The United Methodist Church's stance, go to the General Board of Church and Society's website.

Planting seeds for a new season

The labyrinth garden at CUMC is alive and well. The first tomato starts are planted and green bean seeds are in the ground and there is much hope for what this second year of gardening will bring.

Some of the crew:

Tilling the soil:

Spreading the compost:

Our #1 volunteer:

Comic relief:

Master waterer:

It's so exciting to think of all the beautiful veggies that will be harvested and shared and enjoyed because of the hands willing to get dirty now.

A hangout for God

After a few smaller gatherings to eat and dream, The Supper made its CUMC debut. Twenty-two people (including two babies) showed and slurped scrumptious homemade soups: pumpkin black bean and chicken fajita. We had some intentional conversation over dinner about where we were each born, something we do that we'd like to do more of and something we've never done that we'd like to try. I learned lots--even about people I've known for a while! There were people at each table who are primarily Spanish-speakers, so all conversation was in two languages--so great!

After dinner, we used paper, crayons and markers to create a visual piece that expresses how we experience God's presence, then shared our creations with one another. The conversation was rich and there was love in the listening. Here are some photos of folks at work.



What a gift to sit together and attempt to point, individually and collectively, to where God is and what God is about. And how amazing to have folks from different parts of our community, some members of the church, some connected through the Community Table Food Pantry, some friends, some friends of friends, some neighbors. And two people that just showed up randomly, unaware that we were having a meal. We all sat down and ate together.

It's like the words from Paul that we shared during our supper--when we get together, especially with all different kinds of people, we make a pretty good place for God to hang out. It's from Ephesians 2, The Message:

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in
brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

The Supper / La Cena

In her book, Take This Bread, Sara Miles talks a lot about Jesus and food. In Jesus, "God rose from the dead to have breakfast with his friends." He made himself known when they broke bread together. In one story, he turned up cooking on the beach. In another, he asked for something to eat. Miles says,

All of it pointed to a force stronger than the anxious formulas of religion: a radically inclusive love that accompanied people in the most ordinary of actions--eating, drinking, walking--and stayed with them, through fear, even past death. That love meant giving yourself away, embracing outsiders as family,emptying yourself to feed and live for others. The stories illuminated the holiness located in mortal human bodies, and the promise that people could see God by cherishing all those different bodies the way God did. They spoke of a communion so much vaster than any church could contain: one I had sensed all my life could be expressed in the sharing of food,particularly with strangers.

This Sunday evening, some folks in Cornelius plan to gather to eat together and to intentionally reflect on where we see God showing up in our lives and in the world. We want to cherish all those different bodies. We want to make strangers into friends and see God more clearly and figure out together where we're called to go. And because Jesus spent so much of his time on earth sharing food with his friends, it seems to be a good place to start. If you're here, come join us.

The Supper / La Cena
Cornelius United Methodist Church, 1095 S. Beech
Sunday, May 16th (and every third Sunday), 5:00-7:00 p.m.

P.S. You should read the book!!