June 18th, 2006 - Sunday Service & Pastor Dayle's 10th Ordination Anniversary

When we returned from Dignity Village Saturday evening Pastor Dayle was writing her sermon. She was also excited about attending a seminar on the emerging church. The crux what she related is that the emerging church is moving from being centered in “conventional” worship to an emphasis on “intentional” worship and integrating the church into life through social justice issues. Also there was an acknowledgement of boundaries breaking down between the different denominations.

There is much more to be said and understood about this for me but it lines up with church as I experienced it in the early part of my life and church for me now. Pastor Dayle talked about the hypocrisy many people see in a church that, in essence, talks the talk but does not walk the walk. When I was young I felt that hypocrisy in me and around me. I felt then church was not inspiring me to do God’s work here but was leading me to subjugate myself to conventional good as society saw it.

I am embarrassed to admit it but I spent many years “shopping” for a church. I sought a church that would ignite or deepen my passion for the next step in my spiritual journey. Being led to Creator became a humbling experience for me and now that “shopping” seems tied up in a bit of spiritual arrogance. In essence, I looked to others to establish a church that would meet my needs rather than working to establish it.

Pastor Dayle had spent Saturday at the beach with Peter and his brother. It was the day of the annual Sandcastle competition and they were in time to see the entries and the wave that leveled them. In her sermon on Sunday she tied to this to the death of her brother and the ephemeral nature of everyone’s time here on earth.

It has been said and sung “There is a river of love that flows through all times.” Churches, with faith stories and an emphasis on love for God and fellow man, have been primary institutional conduits of love for thousands of years. Certainly they have also been conduits of human weakness. I doubt few would argue otherwise.

Communities are tied in different ways, geographically, politically, economically and ideologically. There is a common history. I don’t claim to completely understand the body of Christ but I know it binds in a completely different way. It binds here and now to the far away places on earth and to our past.

The other notable piece of the service was Kelly and his sons performing “Peace I Give To You”. Once again I was struck by the intimacy of the piece and the simple strength of the arrangement of the parts. The lyrics "Peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you, I give you peace." point us back to God for our understanding and peace.

I was watching Colin McGinn's interview with Bill Moyer on the series "On Faith & Reason". McGinn is a British philosopher whose work focuses on philosophy of mind, ethics, and philosophical logic. He is an atheist and talked eloquently and rationally why he did not believe in God. He reported he did not miss anything and there was no deep unfulfilled need in his soul for God.

Kelly's lyrics went through my mind. There is a peace beyond this world. McGinn claimed morality came before God, that basically man invented the concept of God to explain this morality. Kelly points in his lyrics to what I see in Christianity that is critical to me. There is a peace that will be outside of this world. It is so easy to try to control more than you can, it is easy to be cynical when problems in you life and the world's problems persist. This is when it is possible to gain the peace that Kelly sings about. Another verse:

Let not your heart be troubled,
Don't be afraid
You're never alone,
My spirit has come,
To tell you again all these things you have heard.

This peace seems so necessary and yet reason alone denies us comfort. That can be good at times as well but Kelly's song describes where I think I will truly find my soul's refreshment.

After the service there was the celebration of Pastor Dayle's 10th Oridination Anniversary. Bishop Paul Swanson led the gathering and memories of Pastor Dayle's ministry and observation of her talents were shared. I believe everyone left feeling very closely tied to Pastor Dayle, to each other and the church.

June 18th, 2006 - Dignity Village

We delivered the cereal and propane tanks that the congregation donated to Dignity Village and Matt, Sara and I sing for about an hour and a half. After that we receive a tour of Dignity Village.

We sang Simon & Garfunkel, Woody Guthrie, Joni Mitchell and Dylan. The folks in charge and the others were gracious in accepting our cereal and propane.

Being there cleared many misconceptions for me. I heard stories and controversy prior to going about Dignity Village and the controversy surrounding it. This is based on research from the web and from things I was told. Now I see these misconceptions can be barriers built with facts, stories and ideas to prevent us going through compassion burnout (a term I heard used at the Oregon Synod Assembly Hunger workshop).

Here is how it happens for me. I may see a pan handler on the street, hear about a person through a friend or a stranger or see something on TV. In this case Matt has worked before with someone from Dignity Village.

I have the urge to help. Then come the questions and doubts, “What if my help stops some individual bootstrap effort they need to do to permanently better themselves?” and "There are established institutions to help. How do I know how to best help?"

The stories on the web about Dignity Village insinuated they were deliberately seeking out an alternative lifestyle and snubbed those of us who were not recycling and living in the suburbs and that, in essence, they were a commune. Some articles warned that the city was wrong for sanctioning this because they were liable if there was a fire and everything was not up to code or were depending on people to organize who had shown they could not organize their own lives or they would not be there.

This was not what I observed. I saw folks with a common problem, homelessness, banded together and creating what for most will be a temporary transitional solution.

When I was young there were several events in my life that crippled my intentions of helping people. In San Francisco I gave someone who asked trolley fare because he said he lost his wallet. The man took this small amount of money and said "Never give money to a guy like me because I am not going to use this for fare. I am going to buy wine with it." and he got off the trolley.

I was angry. It was like a slap in my face. I didn't realize that it didn't matter how he used my help but that I had helped. Now, I might call out for him to wait and make a point of giving him the same amount of money for fare again to show this is not about the money passing between us but about world views.

Being at Dignity Village resurrected many memories that I can deal with differently now than I did in the past. I am thankful for the experience and how something within me was transformed.

June 9th, 2006 – A Service of Remembrance and Celebration for the Life of Doug Askey

This service centered on an individual’s interaction with the community around him. Pastor Dayle’s brother Doug grew up in Spokane but lived most recently in Portland, with his family. I was talking with one of his childhood friends who commented on the attendance, “This funeral filled a church here and could have filled a church in Spokane.”

Dan Askey gave the eulogy and the stories he told gave those in attendance a feeling for the spirit Doug brought to the family’s life. There was a deeply touching moment when he talked about how the Air Force will fly in “lost man formation” when one of their own is no longer with them, and this is the way the Askey family would be flying now.

The presiding pastor, John Reutter-Harrah of Prince of Life Lutheran Church, after some recollections of the life Doug led; told a touching story about Maya Angelou and her Uncle Willie.

He was black, poor, and crippled. Uncle Willie taught her multiplication tables by grabbing young Maya by the back of her shirt and thrust her close to the white-hot potbelly stove. Little Maya feared for her life. Only later did Angelou learn that Willie would not let a fly or a spider die in the fire, shooing them out of the stove and placing them outside.

When Willie died his niece flew to Little Rock to attend his funeral, which was going to be held in Stamps, south of Little Rock. While in the capital, Angelou met the mayor of the city, its first black mayor. He expressed his sympathy and, to Angelou's surprise, told her that the state had "Lost one of its greatest men. No, the country had lost one of its greatest men. No, the world." And this type of appreciation happened with a number of men she met from the community of Stamps which simply astonished her.

Pastor John told this story to emphasize the ripple effect of an individual’s life on the community. He went on to impress on us how Doug embodied the phrase “Carpe Diem”, taking risks in seizing the day. This certainly hit home for many of us given Doug was a couple of months younger than I am. I believe many in the service made a personal connection as well with his age.

Kelly sang his composition, “Until the Dawning”. It seemed to highlight another dimension of the service; namely following Jesus through death and resurrection. The song evoked deep emotions and there was also a time for grief as the lyrics reflected the tears being shed at the moment.

The remembrances in and out of the service described who Doug was. His brothers and sister talked about adventures and the entertainment and laughs that Doug inspired throughout their lives. We were treated to a video of Doug being interviewed as an alter-ego and the entire Fellowship Hall was laughing at his inspired performance.

It was laughter mixed with tears. At the end of the service during the prayers someone sitting next to me, in obvious mourning, leaned into a chair and pressed the buttons on his cell phone which both called out and amplified the conversation on the other end of the line. There was a bewildered “Hello? Hello?,” echoing in the sanctuary throughout the prayers. Finally the man leaned over to me and whispered quizzically, “Are you making a call right now on your cell?”

It sounded to me like Doug would have appreciated the humor in that moment.

June 6th, 2006

Received an email from Toni. Sad news.

Pr. Dayle's brother, Doug suffered a heart attack followed by a stroke, and brain hemmoraging on Sunday. He is going to be removed from life support this afternoon. This is a terrible shock to Pr. Dayle's whole family. They are coming down from Spokane and will be staying with Dayle and Peter. The funeral service will be later this week at Creator.

What can be said at a moment like this? There is a sense of closeness and distance, not having really known her brother well ( I met him around Christmas at Creator several years back) . And what is in my heart at this moment is all the courage I have seen in Pastor Dayle and Peter in how they have dealt with deaths within the congregation and encouraged others when there have been losses in their families.

Pastor Dayle helped the congregation come to terms with Dianne's death. She talked about the Communion of Saints when a group from Creator last gathered with Dianne in her house. The language so evocative I could sense something of my father's presence at that moment. It helped me be present and honor that last moment and memory of Dianne together with us in life.

I reflect on a conversation I had with Irene who was concerned that she wasn't praying enough or in the right way for families in trouble. Pastor Dayle told Irene "Aas long as they are in your thoughts they are in your prayers". I could see how much that had comforted Irene.

Pastor Dayle's eulogy for Franya's during the funeral at Creator also comes to mind. The eulogy conveyed the respect and love people had for Franya and was a springboard for sharing strong memories of a strong and devoted life. When I talked with Peter after the funeral he impressed me with the conversation we had about what was happening at that moment in so many hearts.

Lastly, Pastor Dayle's article The Community Came To Me, which was published in The Lutheran, comes into my heart again tonight. Pastor Dayle wrote about her family's reaction when her granddaughter, Makenna, had a seizure and was diagnosed with a stroke and blood clots on her brain. She also described how during this time of joy and concern that the congregation helped her family with meals, thoughts and prayers. Pastor Dayle wrote:

I’m so proud of them for their courage, their stamina, their ability to remain connected in the midst of crisis. So when that old question comes up: “Where is God in the midst of our pain?” my answer remains: “God is with us in the midst of pain, guiding us, keeping us centered, lifting us up, flooding us with tears.”

God’s love comes to us in the affection and concern given in community, the body of Christ. And so it happened for me, when I couldn’t be the pastor, the community came to me.

Our thoughts and prayers are with this whole family tonight.

Pentecost - June 4, 2006

Jesus, Name Above All Names is the first song in Creator Praise and there is something special in the chemistry between the musicians and the congregation. The singing reverberates in our ears and the sound is amazing. Great way to get into the service.

Red filled the sanctuary and Al Miller began the service by having us think about significance fire and water.

Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness, the opening hymn, echoed the lines from the prophet Joel quoted in the First Lesson;

Your sons and you daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams .

This is a spiritual statement, and could be a spiritual litmus test for a community. The Second Lesson is Romans 8:22-27, that beautiful description of how God works through the Holy Spirit.

Sara tells the children a story called The Kissing Hand. It is about a young racoon who is worried about leaving his mother for the first time. She passes on a kiss with a story that her mother gave her. She kisses his palm and tells him any time he needs to feel her love he should put his hand to his cheek and the kiss on the palm will fill him with warmth, comfort and the assurance that he is loved. Sara feels this is a story that captures how the Holy Spirit works.

Reverend Al spoke about Pentecost as being a story about connection after disconnection. “Pentecost…”, he continued, “is the conclusion of the wait, that started with the death of Jesus, for mission and certainty about what God wants from the church.”

Al spoke of his search, our search, for that certainty in our lives now. Al identified we are looking for that in song, in prayer and in the readings during the service. As far as our mission, Al referred back to individual stories of when we felt certain about God’s love and he, felt our sharing those faith stories in community was a large part of our mission.

Later in the service we recognized the high school and college graduates from Creator.

It was a service of recognition and remembering.