Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson

Workin’ on a World

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Lent 2A, 5 March 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Genesis 12:1-4a. Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house.
  • Romans 4:1-5, 13-17. Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
  • John 3:1-17. How can these things be?

O God of grace, 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.

Some Sundays are harder than others to give thanks and praise to God in response to the scripture readings; don’t you think? Perhaps you have an experience similar to mine of knowing these lessons from a standpoint of in-versus-out, us-versus-them, or ours-and-not-yours. Perhaps you’ve heard these lessons as being about tests of who measures up because of what they think or don’t think. If not, just wait for the end of today’s cantata! All this makes people flee religious practice, and for good reason.  As many of you know, rather than skipping over or speeding through scripture that is offensive, off-putting, or terrifying, my Bible teachers taught me that even the worst passages will bear fruit if I slow down and wonder what they have to say to me. It takes some practice (and some nerve) to learn to go from fight or flight to rest and digest. Continue reading →

Interfaith Honoring of Earth Cycles

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Is it Lent or Pisces season? While it may not seem like it from the sudden dip in temperature, spring is officially around the corner. March 21st marks the spring equinox, which is both the first day of spring and the astrological new year, when old Pisces is reborn into fresh baby Aries. The equinox is also Nowruz, the Persian new year; and this year Ramadan will begin the following day. Just a couple weeks later are Passover (April 5th) and Easter (April 9th). While many religions, cosmologies, and belief systems are left out in this short list, I believe it’s safe to say that this earth-cycle period is celebrated internationally and inter-faithfully.
On Ash Wednesday I was struck by how many of the rituals and teachings surrounding Lent reminded me so much of how I have always honored Pisces season every year: self-denial, spiritual detox, abstaining from social media and more, spending more time alone meditating, praying, etc.. In fact, I have traditionally always tried to align my vacation time with Pisces season so as to deeply honor this cycle. It was pleasantly surprising to learn that Christian tradition has so many practices that naturally honor the wisdom of the ancient astrological water sign.
So, happy end of winter, everyone! We’re almost out the other side, just about to be reborn with the spring. I hope each of us has some time to go inwards, tend to seeds we may be growing, and, despite the cold, enjoy the process.                            |+| EAS

Let the art speak.

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I first visited my internship site on Ash Wednesday a year ago. I still remember how nervous I was that day and so quietly hid among the people. Reflecting on myself this year, I have learned a lot from our community, about such things as my leadership skills, the history of its diverse cultures, cultural competence, nonverbal communication skills, and different life-stage experiences. The joy of self-growing also includes knowing so many beautiful souls here. They have welcomed me to join, even if it has taken time.

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Need

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Lent 1A, 26 Feb. 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7. You will not die.
  • Romans 5:12-21. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
  • Matthew 4:1-11. Away with you, Satan!

O God all gracious and all merciful, 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.

We have just crossed the threshold into the season of Lent in the Church, for period of forty days, not including Sundays (hence our special reception after our service today)! The forty days are set aside for Christians to examine our estrangement from the grace and mercy of the Holy One and to return to right relationship with God and one another. Although each person is called on to do their own Lenten practice, as a congregation we come together for mutual support and encouragement as we go through a this period of intensified self-examination with a call to increased generosity in almsgiving, praying, fasting, and studying scripture. Continue reading →

An Auspicious Day

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Last Sunday after the Epiphany (A), 19 Feb. 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Exodus 24:12-18. Come up to me on the mountain.
  • 2 Peter 1:16-21. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place…until the morning star rises in your hearts.
  • Matthew 17:1-9.  Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”

O God of majesty, mercy and mystery, [1] 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.

Today is an auspicious day, the last Sunday after the Epiphany, the Sunday we tell the story of the Transfiguration, the story of Jesus and his friends and their majestic, merciful, and mystical mountaintop experience. But if you heard the Gospel lesson last week, you (like me) might still be stuck in the weeds of a different mountain, pondering Jesus’ hard teachings, even after our seminarian Lisa’s marvelous sermon. Last week, we heard Jesus teaching things like: it’s not only murder that violates God’s law (or Love’s rule), it’s being angry with another or insulting another that will make one liable to the flaming trash heap called Gehenna, also known as hell. It’s not only adultery that violates God’s law (or Love’s rule), it’s looking at another person with lust in one’s heart. It’s not just swearing falsely; it’s swearing at all. Although we didn’t hear it last week, what follows is about turning the other cheek, giving away one’s extra cloak, going the second mile, giving to everyone who begs from us, and loving our enemies. Continue reading →

Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn

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February is the national Black History Month in the United States. This is a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. I understand so many hurt souls have been mistreated for a long time. As it is never too late to have a space for discussion of social justice, this week in common art we started a group-based art project focused on it. Using a black marker to draw a line, each person connected to the line of the next person. After creating a group image of a line, we created art to express our intention toward a social issue we cared about. ( I want to thank my professor for bringing our class the idea of the structure for this exercise.)

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The Space Between: On the Healing Power of Gaze

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For the last three years, many of us have socialized and worked on Zoom, which, while convenient, is simply not the same as in-person, human-to-human contact, particularly in therapeutic contexts, particularly when it comes to affect regulation. This last Sunday at Tikkun Time, wanting to gently introduce a gazing exercise, I drew from Marina Abramovic’s work The Artist is Present as well as classic theater works. Gazing is a powerful, and often very hard, exercise. Trauma-informed bodies and neuro-divergent brains often struggle to sustain eye contact.

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The Value of Giving

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This weekend (February 3-4) when record-breaking cold was coming to Boston and surrounding areas, the topic of weather kept popping into every conversation at Boston Warm, common art, and Cafe Emmanuel. I noticed people reminding each other to take care of themselves and to close the windows as best as they could. My instinct told me that the deepest part of myself wanted to do something as a part of the community before the cold came.

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How shall we live?

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Epiphany 5A, 5 Feb. 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 58:1-12. You will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
  • 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. Those who are spiritual discern all things.
  • Matthew 5:13-20. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

O God of mercy, salt and light, 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.

As tempting as it is to preach about salt and light, I am so struck by Jesus’ teaching that he has not come to abolish the law (that is, Torah) or the prophets (that is Isaiah and the others). Jesus says, “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away [which, by the way, has not happened yet], not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law.” Just last week a visitor was marveling at the fact that a parish and a synagogue share this sacred space as well as sharing teaching, pastoral care, and outreach. The person said, “But Jews are waiting for the Messiah, right? And Christians believe the Messiah has already come.” I replied that Jews are waiting for the first coming and Christians are waiting for the second coming. We’re all waiting and wondering how (and whether) we will recognize the Messiah. Meanwhile, at 15 Newbury Street, we’re doing what we can to repair the world, which we all agree is in desperate need of healing. [1] Continue reading →

On the Fear of Stepping into Ourselves

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All year long, I have navigated resistance that seems to get heavier by the day, at times feels like depression; shape-shifts as needs be; takes on oh-so-many elusive forms; mutters in my ear that I can’t do it, that I shouldn’t do it, and even questions what is the point of doing it; finds excuses, blames others, drains me of all willpower to go forth. Resistance!

Where is it coming from? Anyone who has known me for a long time can attest that I am pretty much as strong-willed as it gets. I have never had any issue plunging into the unknown if intuition strongly told me to do so, never doubted my purpose, my path, or my mission. Only now, as the start of my professional life, which I have strived for for so long and in so many ways, draws closer, do I find myself pulling back. Shrinking. Disappearing. Resisting.

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