"Woven Together: Salt and Light"

Reflections on Matthew 5:1-14 from Sunday 6 February 2011

Jesus turns the Ten Commandments upside down.
Rather than starting at the top, with God,
he issues blessings beginning at the bottom --
for the poor, the mourning, the powerless and the put down.

All our humble human hungers are blessed
with the promise of provision for paupers
with hands outstretched.

Jesus rubs salt into the wounds of our mortality,
making them raw and clean,
so that we can hurt, and heal.

And so that we can become light.



The second set of blessings are the ones we bring
as we own our earthy saltiness,
our blood, sweat and tears.

Then we can give mercy,
for we have tasted it.
Then we can see with the clear eyes of the heart,
for in this way, we have been seen.
Then we can extend the hand of peace,
for we have been lifted up and embraced by God.
Then we courageously and joyfully
risk body, soul, mind and spirit
for love,
for we have feasted our whole beings
at Christ's table
and at God's.

Thus we have been woven together,
salt and light,
into the fabric of universe,
into which all things are interwoven.

J. Philip Newell writes in Christ of the Celts(ix,x)

The growing consciousness is that life is interwoven, that reality is a web of interrelated influences, and that what we do to a part we do to the whole. So who is Christ for us now?...He is leading us not into a separation from the world and the rest of humanity, but into a renewed relationship with the Ground of Life, the One from whom all things come.

It is a delicate fabric that glistens,
like crystals of snow in sunlight,
like crystals of salt seen up close.
Miracles, all.

Florence theme 2011: "Woven Together..."

Our annual board retreat took place at The Hermitage on Saturday, January 29. The creative and prayerful leadership of David and Naomi Wenger made the day a joy as well as a deep deliberation on the year gone by and the year ahead.

"The Little Way" and "Woven Together" were both evocative themes for us after an intense year of much sorrow and loss, coming and going, and sabbatical.

I think of Christ as the warp and woof of our weaving:

In him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD


SNOWFLAKES NAMING OUR GRATITUDE TO GOD


TESTING VISION IN TRIADS


This board retreat was the last benefit from the Lilly Clergy Renewal Grant we received. A full report on the grant and its use is available by contacting Nina Lanctot at florence.brethren.mennonite@gmail.com


TRANSFIGURATION CHAPEL AT THE HERMITAGE AND THE WEAVING OF HOPE WE CREATED

Bryan H. Shelly remembered in Costa Rica

The Nofsinger family has just returned from a trip to Costa Rica. There they spent several days with Martha and Henry Miller. They took some of Bryan's ashes, and, as he wished, scattered them in the ocean. They shared these thoughts and photos with Kim and Mark, Ian and Todd. In turn, they are sharing them with us.

Thank you to all for continuing to embrace us all as we celebrate and grieve Bryan's life and death.





Hi Mark, Kim, Ian and Todd,

Early this morning before the sun came up I awoke to the sound of squawking parrots and the stillness of early morning. The quiet was especially welcome after on and off heavy rainstorms during the night. I remembered that exactly one year ago we gathered with you for the memorial service of Bryan at the Marcellus High School. And now we find ourselves in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica with the Nofsingers, including Gary's brother Dave and wife Dara and Henry and Martha.

After breakfast we gathered in our courtyard with Bryan's ashes and began the walk down the steep hill, past the soccer field, past the elementary school, down the busy street, taking turns carrying Bryan. I thought of all the ways in which we didn't carry Bryan when he most needed us so it was especially comforting to think that we could carry his ashes on this last leg of his journey from Marcellus to the land of Martha's birth, down the winding mountain, through the rain forest by van, plane, bus and taxi and finally by foot down to the edge of the sea.

We gathered in a circle and poured Bryan's ashes over our hands and sang a few lines of the song that we sang at Bryan's memorial service, "Here in This Place".

Here in this place new light is streaming,
now is the darkness vanished away.
See in this space our fears and our dreamings
brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in the lost and forsaken.
Gather us in the blind and the lame.
Call to us now and we shall awaken,
we shall arise at the sound of your name.

...and then the second verse which begins...

We are the young, our lives are a mystery,
we are the old who yearn for your face....
we have been sung through all of history,
called to be light to the whole human race.....

After taking some quiet moments to toss ashes into the sea, Henry and Gary dug a hole by the edge of the water to bury the remainder and we remembered how much fun Bryan had playing in the sand in Pensacola and wanted to be completely covered by sand except for his head.

As we finished, we were overcome with emotion and took some time to settle ourselves and remember how much Bryan's life and spirit is still very much alive within us. We are forever changed by our fifteen years of knowing and loving him and are honored by your request to bring his remains here to Costa Rica. It gives us comfort to know that part of Bryan will remain here with Martha's ancestors and by the sea which he so enjoyed.









Thank you for allowing us to participate in this ritual as we continue to walk the journey with you towards healing and understanding.

With all our love,

Chris, Gary, Luke, Andrew, Ben, Rose, Henry and Martha

Completing 2010 in Love and Memory: Honoring Bryan

On Monday evening, December 27, lots of us gathered at the home of Kim Henrtizy and Mark Shelly, Ian and Todd, to remember Bryan Shelly. This was the one year anniversary of his death.



Kim and Mark prepared a warm home, lots of food, photos and posters and other memories of Bryan. The T-shirt quilts that had been worked on all last year were done. And the Christmas tree was lit.

Lots of young folks gathered in the basement, the older ones mostly upstairs. And each of us took a turn to write a memory of Bryan or attach a photo to milk jug candle holders outdoors.

Thanks, Kim, Mark, Ian and Todd for opening your lives, your love and your grief to all of us. We all miss Bryan. We have all learned a lot about depression, and how to hold each other up in all circumstances. May the new year be blessed with new life for all.

December 24: Blessed Christmas to All!

"To us a child is born,
to us a son is given."

We are knit once more into God's DNA
as we embody the old, old story
of Jesus becoming flesh and bone.

May you know the peace and power of "God with you"
on this day and tomorrow and in the year to come.

peace,
Nina for Florence Church of the Brethren Mennonite

December 23: O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel:

“O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver,
desire of the nations, Savior of all people,
come and set us free,
Lord our God.”

Isaiah had prophesied,
“The Lord himself will give you this sign:
the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.” (7:14).

“Emmanuel” means “God is with us.”

The face of The Christ is always Emmanuel, God with Us.

And we are all Mary before God,
welcoming our full humanity
by agreeing to hold The Living Christ in our own cells.

Emmanuel, you are whispering
your invitation in my ear:
"Come dance!"
It is the eve of Christmas eve.
This is the day of innocence
and the gateway of New Birth.
You will need to knit this joy in your bones,
because humanity is the necessary and fleshy fabric
stretched between birth and death.
With Jesus you are swaddled.
Tomorrow, who knows, with him you may embrace
the winding cloth.

Today is always the Dance Between
of Life.

"Holy, holy, holy,"
it is all holy.

Let the Holy-Days begin again!

December 22: O Desire of Nations

O Rex Gentium:

“O King of all the nations,
the only joy of every human heart;
O Keystone of the mighty arch of humanity,
come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.”

Isaiah had prophesied,
“For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (9:5),

and
“He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.” (2:4)

In the face of The Christ we see the Desire of Nations.

"Where are the African women?"

I was in Asuncion, Paraguay for a women's gathering as part of Mennonite World Conference. The women from Latin America were our hostesses.

"Dé todos un abrazo."
"Give a hug to everyone," they said.

And like long lost friends, we were given crushingly warm embraces, one after another, all around the crowded room. Holy Spirit energy flared, faces lit from deep within.

"Where are the African women," I asked again.

I was eagerly waiting to meet the sister I had only known through a few phone calls and emails over a four year period. We had been paired to support one another as Sister-Link women theologians.

The African women had been invited her to Paraguay, to this women's gathering, to tell their story of organizing and supporting one another as gifted theological leaders. They were that morning, not too surprisingly, late.

"There they are. Sibusisiwe is right over there."

We found each other. We embraced. And floods of tears burst from both of us, beyond words. Only face to face recognition and repeated embraces could speak between us though we had a common English language.

What a well-spring of desire for this friendship, this meeting, I had! What a desire for this one heart-link around the globe. How that must be, in some deeply unrecognized way, be the desire of billions!

The hall echoed with songs and shouts of praise to the King of All, the Desire of Nations!