Come join us tonight at Guero’s Taco Bar in South Austin (1412 S. Congress) from 5:00-6:15 p.m. and then stay if you can for some great live music with Erin Jaimes at 6:30!  Ask the host for “Creative Spirit” and call Carla with questions at 527-4455.

I hope to see you there!

If you read nothing else of this post, skip to the end and learn more about Randy Pausch and watch his “Last Lecture”…trust me, you’ll not regret it.

As some of you know, I’ve been doing a great deal more work for Hospice Austin as a chaplain this summer, and it’s given me much to think about.  People almost always say, “That must be so hard”. At times it is, but over all it’s actually a tremendous priviledge and I am humbled by the work. 

At Hospice, we say we don’t help people die, we help them live as fully as possible as long as possible so they can enjoy every moment they can doing what they love.  So every day, I get to experience Life, not death; real, honest, nitty-gritty, gut-wrenching, poignant LIFE in all its messyness and mystery, chaos and beauty. 

I get to see people discover and focus on what really matters to them.  I get to see people putting aside the petty to focus on what’s truly significant.  I get to see them work to resolve internal and interpersonal issues and struggles.  I get to see them forgive and accept forgiveness.  I get to see them reconcile their faith, find meaning in their life, and pass on the best of themselves to their loved ones.

Of course, it’s not always that pretty.  I also do funerals where at least one family member shows up drunk to cope with their grief, and see some of people’s worst selves come out in greed and bitterness, and any pre-existing dysfunction or mental illness can simply get worse with the stress.  Luckily, in death as in life, this is the exception and not the rule, but just like in life if you focus on the negative you can become jaded thinking that’s all there is. 

I get to see Life.  In the process, I get to learn more lessons than I could ever teach or preach.  Rather than try to pass them on here, I encourage you to check out an ordinary man doing extraordinary things as he lives, and prepares to die. 

His name is Randy Pausch.  He’s a former computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who learned he was dying of very aggressive pancreatic cancer.  The 47-year old father of 3 has chosen to spend his remaining days teaching the rest of us what it means to really live.  He states his motivation is to leave a legacy for his children, imparting his wisdom now so that as they grow they can still learn what he wants to teach them.  In the process, he’s teaching all of us invaluable lessons.

He was invited to be part of a lecture series where top academics were asked to consider what matters most to them and based on that give a hypothetical “final” lecture, i.e., “what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?”  Randy’s “Last Lecture” has inspired millions and this Spring was published as a book of the same title. 

CLICK HERE to go to Randy’s website where you can see his “Last Lecture” (76 minutes long), an ABC special Diane Sawyer did about him (which is where I learned about him), and more about his inspirational and on-going story.

Then share YOUR wisdom…come back here and post your thoughts.  We’ll all be enriched as we consider together what it means to truly live.

I took my rescued border collie, Hank (yes, like the cow-dog!), kayaking for the first time today.  So many things scare him that I wasn’t certain how he would do, but he jumped right on the boat and settled in like he knew exactly what he was doing!

As we were first floating around in a shallow area so I could be sure he was okay to go into deeper water, we came across a family swimming in the clear waters just below Barton Springs.  The youngest girl wanted to pet Hank, so her mother held her up to him. 

Hank is affectionate, but I’ve never, *ever* seen him respond as he did.  He first licked the little girl a few times and then stretched as far as he could off of the boat to the mother and absolutely covered her surprised face with gentle kisses.  Watching him continue to kiss her I said, “Wow…”, but before I could say anything else, I realized the mom had big tears in her eyes. 

She took a deep breath and, when she could speak, she said, “Our dog died this morning, and he must sense it.  Thank you, Hank.  Thank you…”  I just kept quiet and let him do the pastoral work as he and the woman loved on each other.  

We said our goodbyes, and as we paddled away into deeper waters, I had to wonder, if dogs can be open and sensitive enough to notice the pain of others, why can’t we?  It was a humbling reminder of all the times I’m too distracted, too busy with “important” things, too caught up in my own struggles to notice that someone needs a gentle smile, a quiet hug, or some simple acknowledgment of their pain. 

In Matthew 25 we read, “For I was hungry, and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

Then the righteous will say, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?”

And the Lord will say to them, “Surely I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers (or sisters!) of mine you did for me!”  

May we remember to be open to the divine, and the all-too-human and frail, in those around us and use whatever simple gifts we have to offer them a moment of peace. 

This evening, I went to see “The Visitor“, about a man who once again finds passion for life while struggling with a family dealing with being undocumented immigrants in America.  I won’t ruin the ending, but I will say it isn’t easy as we face the dehumanization of thousands upon thousands of people and families and it left me saying, “What do we do now?”

Most will agree that our current immigration system is broken, but many of us feel helpless to do anything to fix it.  So I came home looking for answers, which I’ll share with you in a moment.  But first, before I even got home, I found my hope.

After leaving my friends at the movie exit, I found I had a flat tire.  Thinking it not wise to try to change it in a darkened parking lot by myself at 10:00 at night, I drove around the corner to a well-lit gas station.  Just as I was jacking up my car, I heard a heavily accented voice say, “Ma’am, do you need help?”

My good Samaritan did not ask me my documentation status, my religion, my sexual orientation, or what I do for a living.  He simply helped me and only asked, “Do you live here in Austin?”  When I told him I did, he said, “So you won’t have far to drive home, and you’ll be okay, right?”

We read of Jesus answering a lawyer who challenged him with, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The lawyer and Jesus agreed that the answer was to love God and love our neighbors.  But the lawyer wasn’t through arguing and asked, “But who is my neighbor?”  Jesus’ answer was the story of the Good Samaritan.  He finished by asking which of the men in the story was a neighbor to the man beaten and left for dead on the side of the road.  The lawyer answered, “The one who showed him mercy”, to which Jesus responded, “Go and do the same.”

I needed mercy tonight.  My brother born of another country, whether documented or not, went out of his way to show me mercy.  Who is my neighbor?  The one who needs mercy.  I left remembering the hope that I can go and do the same. 

But how?  My answers to ”What do we do now?” came from www.takepart.com, a social action network where we can find facts and figures from amnesty international, an iPaper we can download to have discussion with others about the film, and groups with whom we can get involved to make a difference.

It may not seem like much.  The issues are very overwhelming.  But as one of my favorite seminary professors (a Filipino man who was a Jesuit Priest, studied and taught about indigenous religions in Japan, became a Zen master, fell in love with and left the priesthood to marry a German woman, and now teaches World Religions at a U.S. Protestant seminary!) often said, “Do not be overwhelmed so that you fail to act, even if you just do one thing.  Write one letter.  Say one prayer.  Make one phone call.  If we all do this, we will make a difference.”

Sounds to me like another immigrant, the apostle Paul, who wrote to the Christians in Rome, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).  As people of faith, we are called to love, to hope, and to action.  Paul goes on in chapter 13 to writes that it is time to wake up and to love our neighbor.

My friends, let’s wake up from our helplessness-induced apathy and take up the challenge, because we have neighbors who need mercy.  So write one letter.  Say one prayer.  Make one phone call.  But for the love of God, for the love of our neighbor, and for our own salvation, let’s DO SOMETHING!

Peace…

Bring your intentions and join us at Creative Spirit as we seek to “do good” in the world by first, creating together and then reflecting on the art in our midst and how it calls us to action to make the world a better place. 

We’re still experimenting with our worship format and would love to have other creative minds help figure out how to have a meaningful worship experience that has some structure and yet makes room for people to create and view creation (which I call “art”).

Whatever your gifts, whatever your journey, we believe nothing can make God stop loving you, and we are excited to learn with and from you, so join us each Saturday evening just to see what’s going to happen next!!

Peace,

Carla

Tonight was absolutely one of the most incredible things of which I’ve ever been a part!!

As some of you know, one of my forms of worship lately has been to be a part of a women’s drumming group.  Tonight, that class culminated in a fundraiser/performance that included us (the Drum Sistas), the Djembabes, Bells of Joy, and Rattletree Marimba. 

The whole evening was dedicated to raising money for the Sankofa Center for African Dance and Culture, a non-profit which uses African drumming, dance, etc. to draw villagers from miles around and then provides education about and services for HIV/AIDS.

Our group had the first set.  As we played, people cheered, clapped, smiled, and (eventually) danced.  Women and men of all ages, shapes, sizes, abilities, and backgrounds joined their spirits together and the sense of community and good will and Spirit running through that room was chill-bump inspiring! 

This weekend, as you may know, is the time in the Christian Church when we celebrate “Pentecost”, or the story recorded in Acts about God’s Spirit settling upon the first “Christians who could suddenly all understand what one another was saying, even though many different languages from around the world were being spoken by the persons there!!

I was touched by the common spirit that pervaded the experience tonight.  In drumming, the idea is that the vibrating energy of the sound of the drum goes out into the world and can carry our prayers and intentions toward the world with it.  So, we frequently decide before we drum a rhythm what intention/prayers we wish to put out into the world at a given moment. 

Tonight, as each group played, several hundred people joined their hearts and minds and prayers and intentions together and focused them on the healing needed in the AIDS crisis in Africa.  I don’t know yet how much money we raised, but it was substantial.  Perhaps even more important was the energy of our hearts joined together in one common goal, even though we were all so very different.  Kind of like Pentecost, we didn’t need to speak the same language to be understood.  The rhythm, the vibrations, and the prayers were one–one heartbeat, which Ibelieve was the heartbeat of God inspiring us, drawing us together, and focusing our collective power on doing something good in the world.

What would happen if we lived that intentionally, with that much focus on our common goals of making this world a better place?  What if we listened so closely to God that we translated the language of other people with God’s eyes and ears and heart.  It could lead to greater understanding, greater peace, and greater health for us all.  How quickly could we solve hunger, poverty, war, injustice, illness, and so on if we took such a united, hearts-beating-as-one approach to working together?

Let’s start, somewhere!  This week, I challenge each of us to find our own rhythm, find others to join, and together let’s do something incredible and transformative to change this world, one radical act of love at a time. 

Friends,

This evening, PJ is graciously sharing her home with us for our First Saturday Potluck!  We meet from 5:00-6:15ish and the only request from tonight’s hostess is to bring no meat, so pull out those old vegetarian recipes or swing by your local grocery store and let them put together something for you.  Regardless, it will be a great time of food, fun, and connection with a group of friends.

Next week, we continue our worship services at 1122 S. Lamar next to Alamo Drafthouse South from 5:00-6:15 (again…ish!).  We are still experimenting with formats that work for our community, but each week persons feel warmly welcomed and immediately like part of the family, we have great discussions or experience wonderful times of creative play, and we are drawn closer to God each in our own way.

The only thing missing is you and the gifts you have to bring.  Call Carla at 527-4455 for details.

Peace…

Apologies for the late notice, but our First Saturday Potluck venue has had to change given a work conflict for one of our members.  

We will meet at 5:00 p.m. at Casa Garcia at 1100 S. Lamar.  It is in the same shopping center as our regular meeting place, to the right as you face the Alamo Drafthouse south, right on S. Lamar.

Please call me at 527-4455 to RSVP so we will know how large of a table to get for us!

 

Also, this Thursday, April 10^th from 2:00-3:00 p.m., listen to KOOP, 91.7 FM as I’m interviewed by Rev. Chuck Freeman on “Soul Talk Radio”.  Chuck is the Minister of Spiritual Life with Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church.  Chuck is also a certified chaplain and, in 2006, co-founded the Austin chapter of the Network of Spiritual Progressives!!  You can listen live on streaming audio at http://www.koop.org/?page=streaming!!

 

If we miss you tonight, we’ll look forward to seeing you next Saturday for a regular service at the Eternal Way Center!  We have new musicians interviewing with us even now as Sean Michael must take time off to focus more on his music program at school.  We are sad to lose his talents, but support him in dedicating himself fully to his studies, and we’ll look forward to seeing him when he can take a study break and join us!!

 

Peace!

Carla

 

 

Each week, I prepare a message, but it’s delivered informally with folks welcome to add their comments and thoughts in more of a discussion format.  No one is pressured or put on the spot and persons are welcome to just listen.  To get an idea of what our services are like, see the copy of last week’s worship guide! 

March 29^th Text: John 20:19-31  Topic:  “The God of Scars”–My thoughts…Even when we experience doubt and fear or hide behind locked doors, God is with us.  God welcomes our questions and understands our struggles.  Through our own healed scars, others will see evidence of God’s faithfulness and power to transform.  Bring your questions and thoughts Saturday evening or e-mail Carla even now!   

Songs— You can hear “Testify to Love” on YouTube.  I have a cd of our other song, ”And That My Soul Knows Very Well”, but haven’t purchased the space on this blog, yet, to post it here.  E-mail me if you would like it! 

I hang out with a very, very wide variety of people.  When people discover I’m a pastor, they often start to apologize for themselves–the way they speak, the way they dress, what they believe, etc.  I find it frustrating and sad that either a.) they feel so disconnected from God that they feel they have to be ashamed when anything about God is around, b.) they are so accustomed to being judged and shamed by Christians they automatically expect this to be my reaction to them, or c.) all of the above!

One country gentleman recently cussed around me.  He turned bright red, ducked his head in shame, and apologized to me profusely.  I leaned over, put my arm around his back and said, “It’s okay.  I don’t think God gives a shit what you say (insert country gentleman almost choking on his plug of chaw).  I think God cares a lot more about what’s going on in your heart and how you’re treating other people.” 

More times than I care to count, I’ve had people “confessing” to me that they either had previously or are currently ”living in sin”.  That continues to be the Southern way of saying someone is living with his or her partner, which is another way of saying they’re having sex with someone they are in relationship with without being married. 

When they say this, I ask them, “Is your relationship commited to love, respect, and support for each other and do you make life better for each other?”  To which they’ve each said, “Yes.”  I then ask them what’s sinful about that? 

Healthy and loving relationships are a beautiful thing, and need the church’s support.  For whatever reason, not everyone has had a ceremony or gotten a piece of paper that gives them “license” to be intimate.  For those in same-gender relationships, there is no piece of paper “legitimizing” the relationship.  Do we want them to feel drawn to church so we can support them and their relationship, or do we want them to feel so rejected and shamed by us that they avoid us?!

CERTAINLY, my preference is for people to have a ceremony or holy union before the church, but not so that WE can feel okay about what THEY do in their private relationship.  I PREFER that so that WE can support THEM in maintaining a relationship that is strong and healthy and happy. 

I believe God created all life.  As the Creator, I believe God values anything else that gives life or enhances our living and is against only that which destroys or inhibits life.  “Sin”, in my book then, is anything that goes against God…the Creator…hence anything that goes against full and wonderful life.  Life, by my definition, cannot therefore be sinful. 

Sex has been made into something ”shameful”, but it is a natural part of who we are that God meant to be wonderful and enjoyable.  By NOT teaching people healthy ways to express their sexuality and value it as a gift from God, I believe persons then resort to unhealthy means of sexual expression by lying to themselves and others and not making good decisions for their bodies and their hearts. 

It’s like the great debate around sex education for teens.  Research demonstrates that providing contraception to teens and teaching them how to use it not only DOESN’T encourage them to have sex, it actually DELAYS the onset of first intercourse and, when they do engage in sex, increases the liklihood they will use contraception.  This is because provding information is empowering.  In teaching teens how to use contraception, they also learn how to communicate with their partner about its use.  They learn to respect themselves and others.

In the church, we’ve sent sex underground where people of faith often don’t feel they can talk openly about it.  Without open communication, and the respect it requires for ourselves and for others, we’re left vulnerable to making poor decisions by not being clear if everyone is on the same page emotionally, by not checking sexual histories and/or getting tested to make certain that any necessary precautions are taken.  

Living isn’t sinful.  True and real life is, in my view, about openness and respect and joy and love… and includes sex!!!  Silence can result in hearts that feel deceived and bodies that suffer harm.  So in our relationships, let’s live fully by having the conversations, even if they are difficult, in our homes and churches and relationships.  It’s a shame to keep something so beautiful living in the shadows, so let’s bring it into the light and enjoy this gift with responsibility, but FREE from shame!