Monthly Archives: February 2021

Falling toward Life

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Lent 2B, February 28, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, 18. Then Abram fell on his face.
Romans 4:13-25. hoping against hope.
Mark 8:31-38. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?

O God all sufficient, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Once upon a time, when Abram was 99-years old (in other words, when he was as good as dead), he had a vision of the Divine. When the One-Whose-Name-is-too-Holy-to-be-Spoken appeared with a message for him, Abram fell on his face. Was it intentional or unintentional; was his belly-flop in the dirt solely an act of reverence or did he completely lose his balance when the Holy One appeared and spoke? Did his knees buckle; did his equilibrium vanish? The scene is a little funny to me. The voice said, “I am El Shaddai.” This is the first time this term is used in the Torah. El is the Hebrew word for God, but the meaning of shaddai is unknown. Scholars don’t agree about whether it might have to do with wilderness mountains or feminine breasts; but there is wide agreement that it’s inaccurate to translate shaddai as almighty.

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A Place in This Seedpod

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Lent 1B, February 21, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Genesis 9:8-17. I will remember my covenant.
1 Peter 3:18-22. An appeal to God for a good conscience.
Mark 1:9-15. The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

O God of Love, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

I always love praying the Great Litany with you on the first Sunday of Lent, and I’m sad not to have prayed it chanting in a solemn procession that surrounds and enfolds the congregation in this prayer written for, and intended to be used during, times of great duress, danger, or devastation. I’ve been thinking about and hearing from some of you about how right it feels to be back in our liturgical, spiritual season of Lent. Lent is a season that aligns with much of what we are experiencing: a season of self-sacrifice, a season of recognition of when, where, and how we’ve missed the mark of Love, which is the Biblical definition of sin. Continue reading →

Continuing On

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Two weeks ago, for the first time, I helped to lead the morning meeting at common art. This was a really exciting opportunity to put my skills to the test and learn more about myself as a facilitator. With the Reverend Mary on vacation, artist-in-residence Allie and I came up with a plan for the morning meeting to address the month’s theme of self-control.

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Covenantal Connectedness

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Last Sunday after the Epiphany, B, February 14, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

2 Kings 2:1-12. “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”
2 Corinthians 4:3-6. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Mark 9:2-10. He did not know what to say for they were terrified.

O God of Revelation, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We have come to the end of the season of Epiphany, the season of celebrating sacred gifts and divine disclosures. In our Hebrew Bible lesson this morning we have the wonderful story from 2 Kings about how Elisha got the power and the authority to carry on Elijah’s work after Elijah was gone, after he was “taken up.” Elisha had been travelling with and learning from Elijah for many years. He had burned his farming equipment and slaughtered his oxen, thus destroying his means of income, his livelihood;  he had left his home so that he could travel with the prophet Elijah (much more dramatic than leaving the boats and nets with Zebedee and his hired hands to follow Jesus).

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Look up at the stars and see Who!

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Epiphany, 5B, February 7, 2021. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Isaiah 40:21-31. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these.
1 Corinthians 9:16-23. I do it all for the sake of the Gospel, so that I might share its blessings.
Mark 1:29-39. Everyone is searching for you.

O God of Blessing, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Our readings for today raise more questions than they give answers, but that’s okay with me because I love the questions. Our first reading, from the 40th chapter of Isaiah, follows the famous plea from God for comfort and consolation for a people who have been devastated and who are despairing.

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and call to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is more than fully paid…In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in a desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all people shall see it together. God is going to gather up the lambs and carry them and gently lead the mother sheep.

What we hear today in Isaiah is the last part of a tender overture to an opus of consolation, a love song written to bring relief to people who had been far from home, in exile in Babylon for more than half a century.
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Vaccinations & Anniversaries

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Over the past few weeks, I have found myself settling into new routines after the holidays and beginning of the New Year. Yet as we move into February, it has occurred to me that we are at the one-year mark of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how feelings about this anniversary will arise within community members and will show up in their art and their behavior.

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