Associate Rector's Note: Sustained Advocacy Training

On Saturday October 13^th, we are sponsoring a Sustained Advocacy Training day here at St. Martin’s. Spearheaded by the Climate Action Team in partnership with Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, this is an opportunity to learn how to become active in advocating for social justice issues. While this session is dedicated to climate change, the tips and teachings can be utilized for any issue that you feel strongly about but aren’t sure how to become involved in making a difference.

When we care about something deeply but feel unable to act, we can become despondent or depressed. Many people find that even small actions help them engage with the world in a more positive manner because they are acting rather than sitting by silently (or not so silently).

The last few weeks, our lectionary reading cycle has taken us on a journey through the book of James. As I reread the book, this verse stood out to me, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works,” (2:22). James is referencing the story of Abraham obeying God’s command to take his son Isaac up the mountain and sacrifice him.

What is the relationship between faith and works that James is referencing? The apostle Paul also addressed faith and works, but he did so in the context of obeying Jewish law. James is focusing on everyday interactions rather than the legal requirements of religious tradition.

If we go back to the verse above, I begin to wonder, does this mean that faith can only be complete when works happen? The integration of our faith with our actions is an essential step in our journey of faith. In the education world we would call this praxis. No matter how much time we spend talking, writing, thinking, about our faith, praxis is the key to truly learning. There is a Chinese proverb that I used to reference when I was working the in the experiential education field: “I hear, and I forget/I see, and I remember/I do, and I understand.” Maybe James would modify it to be, “I hear and I forget, I see, and I remember, I do and my faith is complete.”

The question I ask is: what does it take for us to act on our faith? What is the catalyst? For each and every one of us, it will be different. Perhaps it is day-to-day interactions that are the focal point, or perhaps there is a Chinook wind that sweeps in one day, pushing us forward into a new way of being. Regardless of what the catalyst may be James is teaching us that we must be intentional about living out our faith through our actions.

God calls us to create God’s kingdom here on this earth, in the here and the now. In what way do you see yourself advocating for this kingdom? Perhaps it is climate change or refugee resettlement or food access or education. 

This advocacy training is a wonderful opportunity to learn the tools to put your faith in action. I’ll be there on October 13^th. Join me!

Blessings,
The Rev. Anne Thatcher

From Our Interim Rector: Elijah and Walking with Angels

We come across the prophet Elijah in our first lesson this Sunday. He is in a sorry state. He has dismissed his servant and friend and gone out alone, a day’s journey into the wilderness. He is sitting under a tree as solitary as he is. He says he has had enough. He asks to die and lies down to wait for his prayer to be answered.

What is the matter with him? How did he get in such a state? We don’t know. 

Perhaps he is simply exhausted from the stress of being a prophet. We know from the previous chapter that he spent the entire day competing with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel for the souls of his people. He and the Baal’s prophets traded insults and taunts all day like children on a playground: “My God is stronger than your God!” “Your God is a joke!” “My God is going to whoop your God but good!” At the end of the day, the true God sent fire on the sacrifice Elijah had prepared for him, while the sacrifices the prophets of Baal had prepared for their false gods still sat there, a soggy, bloody mess. God won the contest for Elijah, but it took a lot out of the prophet.

Perhaps Elijah is out there in the wilderness because he’s afraid to go anywhere else. Queen Jezebel has put a price on his head. She has not taken kindly to what Elijah did to the prophets of her god Baal. The wilderness is the only place he feels safe.

Perhaps he is in the wilderness because he is depressed. He has, after all, the classic symptoms: he has withdrawn from everyone, even those closest to him; he has no energy for anything except lying around; he has given up eating; he can’t see any way out of his misery but death.

Perhaps he is angry at God. In the following passage he complains that God has let him down. He has tried to do what was right, he has done everything God asked him to do, and his reward is that there is a price on his head. Where’s the justice in that?

Whatever the reasons Elijah is in the state he is in, our hearts go out to him.

Then comes the good news. An angel from God shows up. He touches Elijah, then puts some food and water in front of Elijah and says nothing but, “Get up and eat.” Elijah does, but then he lies back down again. The angel shows up again with food, again he touches Elijah, but this time, besides serving the food he says to him, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” The angel is offering Elijah not just food for his body, but also whatever help Elijah may need to get himself out of the state he is in.

This time Elijah gets up, eats and drinks, and then uses “the strength of that food” to journey back to Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) to encounter his God and figure out with God what he needs to do to get his life back on track. In the rest of the First Book of Kings Elijah goes from strength to strength, until the chariots of fire come to carry him away. It’s an inspiring story.

When I attended my first SUPPER at St. Martin’s, I realized how well the members of this congregation “get” this story. They had invited the whole community to SUPPER, no questions asked, no money requested, no commitment demanded. The community arrived with family, with friends, alone; parishioners, neighbors, perfect strangers. Who knows why they came, what burdens they were bearing. Angels from St. Martin’s met them at the door, clasped them by the hand and welcomed them by name. Other angels filled their plates with truly delicious food prepared by yet more angels, and seated them at tables with interesting folk. Information prepared by other angels was readily available on the opportunities available to them at St. Martin’s. When SUPPER was over, they were sent on their way, hopefully strengthened for their journeys.

I went home walking on air. I had been with the angels. I was so proud.

Blessings,

Rev. Phyllis Taylor

What's Next After St. Martin's?

Some years before I came to St. Martin’s, I attended three cooking classes taught by Christina Pirello, the host of WHYY’s Christina Cooks. In these classes, I learned how to cook in what Christina calls the “whole foods way”. “Cooking the whole foods way” means using fresh vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, and avoiding processed food. I was excited to be in Christina’s class because it took me back to my childhood days when I used to watch my mother cook. Interestingly, I learned that my mother also cooked in the whole foods way. You might say that Christina’s course was an advanced version of, what for me is, back-home cooking. So her class enabled me to refine my cooking skills. In particular, I learned different ways of chopping vegetables, how to
use my intuition when combining ingredients to make a recipe, and how to use appliances like a pressure cooker. I was also excited by the abundance and diversity of vegetables and legumes: so many colors, shapes and sizes with which to experiment. My choices of ingredients expanded. I now include leeks, rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, collard greens, kale, quinoa, flax seed, and many other ingredients in my recipes. 

Christina has inspired me since I took her classes. When she was 27 years old (some 30 years ago) she was diagnosed with terminal leukemia and did the most courageous thing. She opted to forego conventional treatment because, she told us, she saw how her mother suffered as she underwent chemotherapy. Around the same time of her diagnosis she met her future husband, Robert, who introduced her to Macrobiotic cooking and the macrobiotic lifestyle. A major part of her treatment was a matter of nutrition, and she credits her healing to eating in the way Robert taught her. She went into remission after a year and a half! As a nurse I was amazed by her recovery and by her trust in the power of nature to heal. Our body has the capacity to heal itself. We all have a healer-within, if we but trust in the power of our body to heal itself. 

I’ve heard and read similar courageous healing stories like Christina’s that inspire me and my husband to adopt their eating lifestyle to complement the traditional treatment he is receiving.

Some of you asked me about what I am going to do when I leave St. Martin’s. Well, I am going to take some Sabbath time and cook. I am going to cook like I’ve never cooked before. That is, I am going to devote more time to cooking than I ever did in the past. I have a collection of recipes from a stack of cookbooks that have been on my shelf for quite a while now just waiting to be cooked! These recipes are calling to me. And I plan to create some of my own recipes as well.

Lately, I have been spending much of my time in the kitchen when I’m home. I have come to consider my kitchen a sacred space in which I prepare holy food for nourishment and healing. Cooking has become a prayer exercise in which I thank God for the abundance God has given us and I ask God to bless each ingredient I am using for that meal. I also ask God to bless the fire, the pots and pans, and my hands.

I am looking forward to new possibilities during my Sabbath time and beyond. God willing, all will be well.

- The Rev. Harriet Kollin

The Rev. Harriet Kollin, Associate Rector, is leaving her employ at St. Martin's at the end of June. We'll celebrate her ministry with us these past three years, and wish her a blessed and fond farewell at the Pentecost worship services on Sunday, June 8, 2014.

What's a post about ice cream doing here?

I posted a request to our Facebook page the other day - did anyone have any questions about us, even silly ones? The folks over at DioPA Youth wanted to know how the staff would answer, "The best ice cream flavor in the world is…" So, I took a poll at our staff meeting yesterday. 

The first person to respond was Harriet. "Ben & Jerry's Pistachio," she answered quickly. Carol went next with Bryers' Mint Chocolate Chip - a classic. Jarrett then responded that he was having a hard time deciding but chose Thomas Sweet's Vanilla-Strawberry-Banana Blend-In. Callie chose a local small batch producer/food truck - Zsa's Salted Caramel (a flavor, by the way, that always sells out quickly at the twice-annual Food Truck-a-Thon at my local Co-op in Swarthmore). Connie didn't know the brand of hers, but the flavor for sure - Mocha Chip.  I named Ciao Bella's Key Lime Graham.  It turns out that both Erik and Angelique aren't big ice cream eaters so they had trouble with this. Erik finally named a banana milkshake and Angelique chose simple strawberry.  Just as we were closing out, Jarrett changed his mind. "No, not the blend-in. Change mine to chocolate soft serve from…what's it called...that gross roadside place…" (laughter around the table).

We had a great time talking about our small distraction from regular business. It got me thinking some more about ice cream. A few years ago I embarked upon making my own ice cream. My husband had bought me a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer for a birthday and there was a special deal where it came with a bonus attachment of his choosing. Smart man, he chose for me the ice cream maker attachment.  However, I had let a couple years pass before giving the ice cream making a try. I imagined it would be complicated. I thought I'd try what seemed a simple enough French Vanilla from the accompanying recipe book. The custard base was involved, and though I got through it and even tried again to make a few variations - it was more than I'd bargained for, especially on my own, and the results were only okay.

Then my co-op offered an ice cream making class. I signed up and that's when I met Philadelphia-style ice cream. Much less cooking required. Very simple recipes. Now this was going to be a lot easier! I can do this regularly! And I can play around too!  I was excited to jump in and soon I was even creating my own flavors with my new found methods - Blueberry Buckle ice cream. Strawberry-Basil-Balsamic ice cream. The fantastic thing about Philadelphia-style ice cream is that it starts off with only 3 key ingredients: Cream, sugar, and your flavoring (you add an acid if you're using non-citrus fruit as the flavor). To make Strawberry-Basil-Balsamic, for example, my total list of ingredients was: Fresh strawberries, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar (my acid), sugar and cream. Simple. Fresh. Cold, creamy wonderfulness.

It was a revelation to find that I could do this myself. We're told in so many ways by our current society that we're too dumb to make or do things ourselves. I've become much more interested in making my own food from scratch since reading the following quote by a friend of chef Michael Ruhlman, "Americans are being taught we’re too stupid to cook and it’s simply not true."(from his blog post: America: Too Stupid to Cook).  

It has changed my thinking about food, for sure, but other things too. What else have I been taught is more difficult than it really is? Praying? Reading and understanding the Bible? Talking to others about what I understand things to mean, and what that means for my faith and my life. All of those for sure. 

I have a hard time starting a prayer. Where to begin? Well with ice cream it is cream, sugar, flavor. With prayer, you can start with thanks, confession, and asking (actually, prayer can be even simpler - you could just do one piece to start with!) Reading the Bible? Well, with ice cream I started with a recipe. Take it from the top. Just open it up and start in. Or, even better like I did - find a class. Some other people to read the recipe over with and ask questions, someone else who's done it before to guide the way. Before you know it, you're reading on your own! 

It turns out that it doesn't have to be as hard as it might at first seem. Start off slowly, get your feet under you, and you'll be making ice cream with ease and enjoying an enriched faith life you weren't sure you could have. And you can always move up to custard-style ice creams later when it feels right. ;-)

~ Natalee Hill  

PS: I didn't intend it this way when I came up with my blog post idea, but this post feels like a good plug for our Biblical Studies at St. Martin's. So, I'll just mention that we currently have three sessions running. NO experience with the bible and NO homework is required for any of them. This is your ice cream class!

PPS: Some ice cream recipes to get you started
1: The absolutely most-simple ice cream recipe ever - perfect for kids! (NO maker necessary!)
2: When you're ready to commit to an ice-cream freezing device. (There's a link for how to make it if you don't have the ice cream maker too - it will take longer, but it can be done!)
3: Custard-style for the truly committed. (From Food & Wine Magazine, so it must be good, right?)

Burnt Buns and Gratitude

Brown ‘n Serve rolls, slightly charred. Two varieties of cranberries (even though there were only three people in my family and I didn’t partake in the cranberry consumption): sliced jellied and whole, both straight from the can. Tablecloths and goldware in the formal dining room with the grandfather clock ticking away.

There are certain traditions and foods - prepared in very specific ways - that we associate with holiday meals. I’ve come to realize that these things are different for everyone, and that we tend to hold onto them rather tightly. Hence the sweet potatoes prepared in three different ways at some family feasts. When I think of Thanksgiving, my senses are immediately filled with memories of everything mentioned above. But I also think of my family’s tradition of going around the table before the meal and saying what we are thankful for. An unsuspecting guest at our table might get caught off guard by this practice, but it was always included, right before the prayer. In the past few years through social media, I’ve noticed that people have extended this practice of naming gratitude to the entire month of November. On Facebook, many people post something that they are thankful for each and every day. I believe this helps people intentionally focus on gratitude and go beyond the “I’m thankful for my family” or “I’m grateful for this bountiful feast” that usually come up when people are excitedly awaiting their first bite of gravy-laden turkey.

At St. Martin’s many of our children learn the basic prayer form of thanking and asking prayers, wherein we begin by naming things we’re thankful for - blessings that God has bestowed upon us - and then name things we’d like to ask God for (which often range from “a new rocket ship” to “my neighbor who is sad because her cat died.”) My family has started using this practice at home before meals and at bedtime. It’s not just a simple practice that my nearly-3-year-old can grasp; I’ve found that it’s also a helpful discipline for me. Sometimes in the midst of a difficult week, I am challenged to articulate something for which I’m grateful. Having to do this on a regular basis opens me up to experiencing and acknowledging gratitude more readily.

On Saturday morning, I awoke before the sun to drive my husband to catch a 7 a.m. train out of 30th Street Station. As I drove home, I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude: the sunrise was casting pinks and purples over the city and creating unique lines in the sky; a single rower was silhouetted against the Schuylkill River; and as I navigated the curves of Lincoln Drive, a gust of wind sent hundreds of leaves swirling around me. Instead of grumbling about not getting to sleep in or anticipating the potential complications of three days of solo parenting, my heart was bursting with joy and appreciation that I got to be me, seeing what I was seeing and feeling what I was feeling at that exact moment. I thanked God for opening my eyes and heart to Her abundant and beautiful presence all around me.

This Thursday, as I reminisce over the burned biscuits of Thanksgivings past and take stock of my blessings over the past year, I pray that I am overcome with this same gratitude. I pray that I remember not just the obvious and expected thanksgivings but the many small moments that fill me with the Spirit each and every day. 

What will you thank God for?

- The Rev. Callie Swanlund

Hospitality Lessons from a Preschooler

It was a typical evening coming home with my son. It was a day that we were headed home just the two of us, my husband working a late shift. As we approached home, the initial request came, "I want to go see Alex." Alex is the high school freshman girl who lives across the street from us and with whom my son is enamored. "Okay," I say, "let's go home, put our things down, and we can go say hi for a few minutes while dinner cooks in the oven." He agreed, and he very cooperatively waited while I got out the fish sticks, sweet potato fries tossed them on a cookie sheet and into the oven. I set a timer on my phone for a couple minutes shy of the oven, and off we went across the street.

We spent a lovely 12 minutes in our neighbors' home, he on the sofa chatting and watching some TV with Alex, me by the door chatting with her mom. When my timer went off and I declared it time to go home for dinner, he was ready. But we exchanged that "we should do dinner sometime" thing that you do. You know that - you mean it, sort of. But when I got home, suddenly I was called to account.

"I want Alex to come over for dinner."

"Yes, sweetheart, I said we'd do that sometime soon."

"NO. I want Alex and her family to come over to dinner right NOW!"

I began thinking how unreasonable his request is. The house is a mess; I haven't vacuumed up all the cat hair. Do they have allergies? I only made enough fish sticks and fries for two, maybe with preschool sized leftovers. Nate isn't home. I don't know what their dinner plans are. I don't know what they eat. 

I offer a perfectly reasonable alternative. "How about Friday?" Yes, Friday is perfect. Several days to get ourselves together. Nate will be home. No choir rehearsal or other things on the evening agenda.  Perfectly reasonable.

"But I want them to come over for dinner TONIGHT."

Now, I know there was some typical preschool impulsiveness at play here. But I was suddenly struck by the insistence for radical hospitality that he demonstrated. I heard Gospel in my son's frustrated words.

I actually stopped in my tracks and considered for a moment: Isn't that what we're called to - relationship, in the here and now, immediate? Isn't that part of what Jesus was trying to tell Martha when she complained about her sister Mary not helping to get ready for the guests? Come. Sit. Be with people. Yes, it is important to have food. Yes, it would be great if the floor was cleaner. But don't let it get in the way of the relationship that is so much more important. Why also should I worry about the food? Did not the loaves and fishes multiply to feed everyone the two times in the Gospel that the crowd needed feeding? When we are together in Christ, there is enough to go around and all are fed. Fed not only by the food, but by the gathering and the sharing of the meal.

Jesus showed us how to invite anyone, everyone to our table; tax collectors, fishermen, the poor, the rich, the sick, the healthy, sinners, and saints. Jesus showed us how to sit with them; to be with them. It is amazing how presence alone is healing. And, indeed, Jesus invites all into his presence and to the table each Sunday morning.

So, why should a little cat hair in the carpet and a handful of fish sticks stop me from inviting over people I already know a bit? What's stopping me from showing a tiny fraction of the radical hospitality that I've been taught?

Flowers from our neighbors.

I failed that night. I failed as an example of Christ to my son, and I failed my call. I heard it, but I ignored it and did the "reasonable" thing. I invited them over for dinner on Friday. My son was thrilled - he told everyone he saw on Friday about our dinner plans. Our neighbors came, and we had a lovely time. Just the other day, Alex's mom came over to deliver flowers in thanks for dinner. I'm glad we had them over. I'm glad we were all there. It was a blessing and I hope I made up for not following when first called.

I'm blessed that I'm forgiven, and that I have a chance to try again anew.

So, what's your hospitality challenge? Do you have a story of failure or success of your own? What tiny fraction of a difference could you add to your faith journey? Add your thoughts below!

- Natalee Hill

(cross-posted to NataleeOnShuffle.blogspot.com)