blog site move

Thank you for following me on blogspot.

I hope you will continue to follow my posts on my new site at
www.sacreddirt.com.

All of my posts have been moved to this new site.

I look forward to hearing from you in the New Year!

Blessings,
Beth

This little light....

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth -- all you see, all you don’t see.
Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness.
God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
God spoke: “Light.”
And Light appeared. (Genesis 1:2-3) 

What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. ( John 1:4-5)

The days are growing shorter in this season of waiting and we are in darkness. Two shootings this week; children and loved ones innocently gunned down.  North Korea and Iran are close to being able to kill millions through nuclear arms.  People are still out of work and homeless. Many go to bed hungry. Entire villages in Syria no longer exist and AIDS continues to devastate Africa.

O God, why have you forsaken...?
We are poured out like water and all our bones are weak.
Our hearts are like wax melting within our breasts.
Our strength is broken like shards of pottery.  (Psalm 22)

Today it is dark.

I had plans today.  Put on some Christmas music and wrap gifts.  Maybe bake some bread and write our family Christmas letter.

But today is dark -- a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness, a soup of nothingness.

And the only word I have in this darkness is “Why?".  A word spoken by all people.  A word even spoken by Jesus while he died on the cross.

“Why?”  has to have its way with us.  It is a word that introduces us to the depths of despair, injustice, forsakenness, terror.  It is a process that needs to be honored, felt, lived. It is the void of utter meaninglessness that we are made to bow to in order to shatter our illusion of control and embrace our humanity.

Today it is dark.

Today I don’t claim much, but I do know this.  The way of Jesus is the way of letting go and being broken open.  The way of Christ is through the valley of the shadow of death.

Christ calls us through the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School as well as the Clackamas Town Center Mall.  And as he walks with us, he becomes the Light -- a way in the darkness.

“Peace I give to you, but not as the world gives. Do not be afraid.”

What is a House Church?

About 6 years ago two families who had been members of one of the churches that I had served as a pastor asked me to meet with them because their teenagers no longer wanted to attend church.  The parents, however, wanted to raise their children in the Christian faith and did not want to do it alone.

When I met with the families I asked each one to share how they connected with Spirit/God/ the Holy, and each one of them had different answers.  Here are some that I remember.

• “I connect with God when I walk in the woods.”
• “For me it is when I am making music.”
• “I feel connected when I cook a meal and share it with others.”
• “I like helping other people and feel like I am a part of something bigger when I volunteer.”
• “I connect to God when I watch a movie that expands my vision.”
• “I like to study scripture and talk about it.”
• “I feel connected when I do yoga and meditate.”
• “Reading poetry helps me to pause and know that I am connected to beauty and that for me is spirit.”

After listening to each other, we decided to experiment with a way of being a community of faith that honored all of these ways of connecting to God. We knew we wanted to learn more about God through sharing our passion for, and way of being with, the Holy.  Each one of us committed to take turns leading the group once a month.  I played the role of resource and support person so each leader did not feel alone as they planned an experience that helped us awaken to Grace.

Here are some of the things we have experienced together.

• Hiked in Forest Park in the Fall while contemplating life transitions through poetry readings and walking meditation.
• Cooked a meal together and talked about life. “Garlic and onions can be strong and bitter, but when sautéed  become soft and sweet.  What are some times in your life where your bitter moments have softened and become sweet with time?”
• Volunteered at the local food bank and at a shelter for homeless teenagers.
• Listened to our heart’s desire through guided meditation and then made vision boards  for the new year.
• Watched movies and talked about them.
• Celebrated Christ’s birth through sharing good food, reading the Christmas story, lighting the Advent candles and singing carols.
• Studied the Bible together

Some folks might say, that’s not church.  But I beg to differ.  Churches in the New Testament were often small gatherings that met in homes and remained rather simple until the emperor Constantine changed Christianity from a persecuted movement to being the religion of the Roman empire.

For me, church in the best sense embraces 3 movements:

• Connecting to each other
• Connecting to God
• Connecting to the larger community 

The gift of being in a small community is that each group can flesh out how those movements get expressed in ways that are meaningful and appropriate to them.

Our house church was such a gift to all the families involved, helping to shape and form us in the ways of Christ.  Now many of those teenagers are in college and it is time to share the gift of that experience with others.

This is my call and passion -- to help form communities that can grow together in the ways of love and peace one house church at a time. Will you join me?