Given the stigma of mental illness, discussing therapy in public has often been considered to be “inappropriate.” Many people are still ashamed or uncomfortable to admit they go to therapy or struggle with mental illness. For this reason, I try to normalize therapy, mental illness, and treatment by talking of such things in my everyday conversations. With that in mind, last week my therapist pointed out to me that I focus more on my perceived failings rather than my successes, as if my having made a mistake or something in general having gone wrong immediately overrides any strides I’ve made. We’d been discussing setting healthy boundaries, something I sometimes struggle with. After an initial boundary-setting success, a different boundary line was crossed, and I suddenly felt incapable and incompetent—how could I be so foolish to think I’d accomplished something? Yet, as my supervisors and therapist pointed out, just because there are “setbacks” or times when healthy boundaries must be reestablished, my success is still a success; the foundation I laid for my boundary-setting skills is still there.
Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson
Come clean!
Proper 26C
November 3, 2019
Habakkuk 1:1-2:4 Write the vision; make it plain so that a runner can see it.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12 The love of everyone of you for one another is increasing.
Luke 19:1-10 The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12 The love of everyone of you for one another is increasing.
Luke 19:1-10 The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.
O God of mercy, 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.
This morning we are celebrating the Feasts of All Saints’ Day, which was Friday, and All Souls’ Day, which was yesterday, with our music. However, we are observing the 24th Sunday after Pentecost with our readings, because I just couldn’t skip over the readings from Habakkuk and second Thessalonians, or the story of Zacchaeus from the Gospel of Luke.
God’s Story
Proper 23C, October 13, 2019. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
2 Timothy 2:8-15. The word of God is not chained.
Luke 17:11-19. Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?’
2 Timothy 2:8-15. The word of God is not chained.
Luke 17:11-19. Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?’
O God of Sacred Story, 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.
This sermon is going to include a list-making exercise – and so you might want to have a pen or pencil ready – or take notes on your phone. (Yes, I’m the priest who regularly tells people to use their phones during the liturgy.) You won’t need it for a few minutes, but I want you to be ready. Before that I want to offer some commentary on the readings from our First and Second Testaments. I want to highlight the surprising instructions from God through the prophecy of Jeremiah to the people who were in exile, far from home, captives in Babylon, because maybe some of you are in a similar situation. Jeremiah wrote the Word of God in a letter to them and said: “Plant gardens. Build dwelling places. Seek the welfare of the city where you are, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.” The Hebrew word for welfare is “shalom.” The same word in Arabic, “salaam,” forms the word Islam. Islam is often translated “submission,” and that is also an essential part of shalom – submission is obedience; obedience is radical listening; radical listening is what God, also known as Love, commands above all else. Listening to love, submitting to love, and well-being are all one. Seek wellbeing in the new and difficult place to which you have arrived against your will. God’s blessing continues even in exile. Contribute to the welfare of the city wherever you are. Be a blessing where you are, even if you are a captive.
Being Played
Proper 22C
October 6, 2019
Lamentations 1:1-6 Her priests groan, her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter…nobody goes to church any more.
2 Timothy 1:1-11 Recalling your tears…I am reminded of…a faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice…rekindle the gift of God that is within you.
Luke 17:5-10 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
2 Timothy 1:1-11 Recalling your tears…I am reminded of…a faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice…rekindle the gift of God that is within you.
Luke 17:5-10 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
O God of our weary years and silent tears, 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 first reading this morning was taken from the book of Lamentations, and I want to linger there a moment because we rarely hear anything from this book of the Bible in church, although I wish we did. It’s a collection of five dirges: poems of deep pain and suffering, of outrage and grief, of complaint and protest, in response to political calamity, social and economic devastation, and utter theological collapse. It’s a direct challenge to the notion that religious life should somehow not be political. The Bible’s response to that is “nonsense!”
Be an angel!
Proper 21C-19 (& St. Michael and All Angels)
September 29, 2019
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 The word of the Lord came to me.
Psalm 91 God’s faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.
1Timothy 6:6-19 So that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
Luke 16:19-31 If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
Psalm 91 God’s faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.
1Timothy 6:6-19 So that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
Luke 16:19-31 If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
O God of St. Michael and All Angels, 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.
Although today is the 16th Sunday after Pentecost in what the Church calls “ordinary time,” today is also the date appointed for the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, which, technically will be observed in the wider Church tomorrow since this year it falls on a Sunday. And the Jewish New Year begins this evening marking the beginning of the Days of Awe. So I want to say that this is no ordinary time. I want today to be a day to celebrate the whole company of heaven, giving thanks for the ministries of angels. Perhaps you’ve heard Jane Siberry’s beautiful folk song, “Calling All Angels.” It’s a song for us. The refrain goes, “calling all angels, calling all angels – walk me through this one, don’t leave me alone. We’re trying, we’re hoping, we’re hurting, we’re loving, we’re crying, we’re calling, ‘cause we’re not sure how this goes.”
A Giant Squander
Proper 20C
September 22, 2019
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 The summer is ended and we are not saved.
1 Timothy 2:1-7 First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone.
Luke 16:1-13 You cannot serve God and wealth.
1 Timothy 2:1-7 First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone.
Luke 16:1-13 You cannot serve God and wealth.
O God of love, 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.
Well, Happy Unjust Steward Day everyone! I am so glad that you are here to help us celebrate! Is it possible that Jesus was really telling a story encouraging dishonesty and injustice? Did anyone hear the Gospel reading this morning and think, “wait a minute, what?” Or are any of us who could be considered wealthy thinking, “uh-oh”? Are any of you hoping that I will pull a Greek translation trick out of this boxy pulpit? Alas, not today. As Jeremiah tells us, the summer is ended and we are not saved. Vulnerable people are not being properly cared for. As our planet continues to heat up, it’s the people who are the poorest who suffer the most. Is there no balm in Gilead? This anguished question in Jeremiah is the voice of God. God knows there is balm and God does not have enough tears for the disaster that is looming because the people with resources are spreading dis-ease instead of balm.
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Come to the party!
Proper 19C
September 15, 2019
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Skilled in doing evil but do not know how to do good.
1 Timothy 1:12-17 But I received mercy.
Luke 15:1-10 This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.
O God of mercy, 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.
Oh I have so much I want to say to you this morning about the ancient scriptures we’ve heard just now: Jeremiah, Psalm 14, 1 Timothy, the Gospel of Luke, and we haven’t even heard Psalm 42 yet – that will come after communion. Our oldest reading today is about 3000 years old, and the newest is about 1900 years old, give or take. Old. They tell us that in ancient times there were foolish people who said in their hearts, “There is no God.” By the way, this is not a critique of individual philosophical or theoretical atheism; this is an ethical critique of a people who did not think it mattered how the most vulnerable in society were treated: widows, orphans, and aliens. In ancient times people thought that prosperity and power and security and status were all that mattered; they were corrupt and committed abominable acts. In ancient times, there were people who profaned what was sacred, who pursued others in order to oppress them, who engaged in violence, who cheated and mistreated people, who were serving wealth instead of fidelity to love. In ancient times, people who believed that doing justice and loving kindness and walking with humility were not the ones in power very often. Maybe not ever. The staying power that these ancient texts have, the wisdom that they contain, is staggering to me.
It’s true.
Proper 18C
September 8, 2019
Jeremiah 18:1-11 Then I will change my mind.
Philemon 1-21 Though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love.
Luke 14:25-33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
Philemon 1-21 Though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love.
Luke 14:25-33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
O God of Love, 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.
So how about those readings? We have a vision of God as a vengeful potter, angry and manipulative, devising punishing plans; a story of a runaway slave being sent back to his owner; and an admonition about being fit to follow Jesus only if one hates family and life itself and is willing to give up all one’s possessions. That’s the line that strikes fear in Episcopal congregations everywhere.
Partakers
Proper 12C
July 28, 2019
Hosea 1:2-10 In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to them ‘Children of the living God.
Colossians 2:6-19 Do not let anyone disqualify you.
Luke 11:1-13 Everyone who asks…everyone who searches…everyone who knocks…
Colossians 2:6-19 Do not let anyone disqualify you.
Luke 11:1-13 Everyone who asks…everyone who searches…everyone who knocks…
O God of everyone, 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.
I want to say some things about our Gospel reading, but first, I want to say something about the First Testament lesson. Hosea – a prophet of Israel – was crying out against his people for breaking the covenant by not worshipping The Holy One alone. Idolatry and whoredom, in ancient Hebrew, are the same word – the very same thing. [1] Fidelity to the Holy One of Israel had been promised and the people have been seeing other gods. They have been engaged in moral defection, fraud and cheating, improper intercourse with other deities. They have been putting their faith in wealth and other forms of power, engaging in dishonorable and undignified behavior, rather than in compassion and regard for both neighbors and aliens. (This could be ripped from today’s headlines.) Hosea charged that economic resources are being exploited to wage war, the government is exploiting poor people. “When the Lord first spoke within Hosea, Hosea heard, ‘find a wife who is seeing other gods – because you’ll not be able to find one who is not seeing other gods – everyone in the land is doing it…Name your children Jezreel, after a place of a brutal massacre; Lo-Ruhamah meaning no compassion; and Lo-Ammi, not my people. Do this,’” Hosea hears God saying, “’because I am not your becoming; I am not your being; I am not your will be.’”
Resist!
Proper 11C
July 21, 2019
Amos 8:1-12 A famine…of hearing the words of the Lord.
Colossians 1:15-28 Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
Luke 10:38-42 She had a sister named Mary, who [ALSO] sat at the Lord’s feet
Colossians 1:15-28 Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
Luke 10:38-42 She had a sister named Mary, who [ALSO] sat at the Lord’s feet
O God of mercy, 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.
- I have an exercise for you. Choir and altar party, you too.
If you love the heat of the summer because you can finally get warm, stand on the lectern side of the chapel. - If you feel wiped out by the heat, stand on the pulpit side. (and thank you very much for being here, in spite of the heat). Now to the Gospel story we just heard.
- If you identify as more of a Martha, stand on the pulpit side of the chapel. If you identify as more of a Mary, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
- If you sympathize more with Martha, move to the pulpit side of the chapel. If you sympathize more with Mary, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
- If you really dislike this story of Jesus with Martha and Mary, stand on the pulpit side of the chapel. If you love this story, stand on the lectern side. How many of you really want to stand in the middle but there’s not enough room? Okay – you can return to your seats.
Thank you – I wanted to see how divided you are when it comes to this Gospel story, which is wedged between the story of the Good Samaritan and the story of Jesus’ teaching about how to pray, and it is trouble with a capital T packed into five short verses. I could have also asked you to stand on one side if you are aware of the divisiveness of this story and on the other side if you, prior to now, have been blissfully unaware of any conflict! This is a story that always reminds me that whenever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, there will be a disagreement! This particular story pits women against each other and invariably fuels resentment and division in groups that study it together, no matter what the participants’ gender identities. And since it is a story about two sisters, through the ages, it has had the powerful effect of stopping and shutting up women – scolding Marthas and making sure Marys stay quiet.