Advent-Looking to the Life of Mary

Driving home from work in the dark last night, I heard one of my favorite traditional Christmas carols on the radio. In it, a pregnant Mary is being led to Bethlehem with Joseph and they pass a cherry tree (the hymn comes from England). Mary asks Joseph to stop and pick her some cherries, citing the baby in her womb. Joseph isn’t having it. He looks at her and says, “The father of your child can pick the cherries for you.”

How bold. How human. How often we forget, after hearing the story of the birth of Jesus our whole lives, what it must have actually been like for everyone involved.

Mary was a very young peasant girl. A girl. Some biblical scholars put her age at 13. She became pregnant out of wedlock, even though she was promised in marriage to Joseph, an older man she may have not known at all.

When I think of the story of Mary, about the Annunciation and the Nativity, I can only think of the popular political catchphrase, “Nevertheless, she persisted.”

Mary was a girl. Mary was poor. Mary was uneducated. Mary lived in a world where she belonged to her father, until she belonged to another man. Yet, Mary said yes to God. She said yes to danger, and to the unknown, and to the breaking of all the social and cultural norms of her day. She said yes.

What would it mean, this Advent, if we spent less time focusing on the coming of Jesus and instead looking at the life, choices, and story of Mary?

What could we learn about courage, persistence, and reckoning with truth if we looked to a young teenage girl from Palestine?

What we need to admit about Thanksgiving

Today is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate meaningful relationships, share delicious food with one another, and express all the gratitudes. 

It’s also a day that we can recognize that the history around Thanksgiving in the US has been told incorrectly. The real story is quite dark, and, as you might guess, involves murder and the pursuit of wealth. Oh, America.

This video is worth watching today. Please do. It’s also worth finding out what Native American land you’re on today and acknowledging that when you say thanks at your meal.

A few years ago an article in the NY Times highlighted inaccuracies in our traditional thanksgiving story. (If you can’t access it, message us and we’ll send you the text.) 

A few excerpts:

And Plymouth, Mr. Loewen noted, was already a village with clear fields and a spring when the Pilgrims found it. “A lovely place to settle,” he said. “Why was it available? Because every single native person who had been living there was a corpse.” Plagues had wiped them out.

It’s been taught that the Pilgrims came because they were seeking religious freedom, but that’s not entirely true, Mr. Loewen said.

The Pilgrims had religious freedom in Holland, where they first arrived in the early 17th century. Like those who settled Jamestown, Va., in 1607, the Pilgrims came to North America to make money, Mr. Loewen said.

“They were also coming here in order to establish a religious theocracy, which they did,” he said. “That’s not exactly the same as coming here for religious freedom. It’s kind of coming here against religious freedom.”

And the translator Squanto? 
He was captured by the English in 1614 and later sold into slavery in Spain, Ms. Sheehan said. He spent several years in England, where he learned English. He returned to New England in 1619, only to find his entire Patuxet tribe dead from smallpox. He met the Pilgrims in March 1621.
**

And this is why we need to remember correctly. Our history affects today, how we live, how we act. Colonial oppression is big and strong when we think we are the heroes, the friendly neighbors, the patrons of betterment. Let’s change that, yes?

I’ve appreciated reading this Thanksgiving Address at the dinner table:

The Thanksgiving Address (the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen) is the central prayer and invocation for the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations — Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora). It reflects their relationship of giving thanks for life and the world around them. The Haudenosaunee open and close every social and religious meeting with the Thanksgiving Address.

It is also said as a daily sunrise prayer and is an ancient message of peace and appreciation of Mother Earth and her inhabitants. The children learn that, according to Native American tradition, people everywhere are embraced as family. Our diversity, like all wonders of Nature, is truly a gift for which we are thankful.

When one recites, the Thanksgiving Address the Natural World is thanked, and in thanking each life- sustaining force, one becomes spiritually tied to each of the forces of the Natural and Spiritual World. The Thanksgiving Address teaches mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves)

Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address

Greetings to the Natural World

The People

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.

Now our minds are one.

The Earth Mother

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Waters

We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms-waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water.

Now our minds are one.

The Fish

We turn our minds to the all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Plants

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.

The Food Plants

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting of thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Medicine Herbs

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.

The Animals

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have

many things to teach us as people. We are honored by them when they give up their lives so we may use their bodies as food for our people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.

The Trees

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.

Now our minds are one.

The Birds

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds-from the smallest to the largest-we send our joyful greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Four Winds

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help us to bring the change of seasons. From the four

directions, they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.

The Thunderers

Now we turn to the west where our grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We are thankful that they keep those evil things made by Okwiseres underground. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.

The Sun

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.

Grandmother Moon

We put our minds together to give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of woman all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

Now our minds are one.

The Stars

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to the Stars.

Now our minds are one.

The Enlightened Teachers

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring teachers.

Now our minds are one.

The Creator

Now we turn our thoughts to the creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

Now our minds are one.

Closing Words

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our

intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.

Now our minds are one.

Stories Are Better When Shared

Photo by Emma Donohew of Molly the Hound

In May, 2018, Boldly Went hosted their first-ever Bellingham-based storytelling event. It turned out to be an important occasion for Emma, as she would meet another storyteller, Charis, the person who started Echoes (the funky, experimental church that hosts the blog you’re reading right now) and whom she would eventually get to share in leadership with!

Emma’s Side of Things (You can read Charis’ side here!)

One of the reasons I moved back to Bellingham, was to be closer to my home mountains, the Cascades.

I missed the proximity to this land, these trees and the paths that wind their way through them. Returning back to Bellingham 10 years later was not without its joys and challenges. Reconnecting with old friends, making new and finding your way, always takes some time. So I was grateful to find out that someone who I had been connected with in Seattle, had also moved to Bellingham and invited me to the Boldly Went Podcast when it came through town! 

I love storytelling podcasts, so to get to hear stories, particularly ones about adventure from diverse backgrounds and experiences seemed like the perfect way to spend an evening.

I wasn’t sure if I was really ready to tell a personal adventure story. Particularly this story that had not been told to anyone yet. A story about hiking up in the Cascades with my hound dog Molly, and finding a couple in need of very particular skills, ones that I just happened to have. 

So I sat with my notes in hand, and little slip of paper, trying to figure out if now was the time and place to unleash this story onto the world. I love telling stories, but the first time you tell anything, a little bit of fear creeps in. You wonder will people even want to hear this story? 

Then I recalled the words of Adventure writer, Cheryl Strayed. 

“Hello, fear. Thank you for being here. You’re my indication that I’m doing what I need to do.”

So I said hello to fear, and wrote my name down and put it into the proverbial hat. 

Well, fear once greeted, isn’t easily dismissed, so once my name was called, I had to summon the courage once again to walk up and put that storytelling microphone around my neck.

But stories, like life, are better when shared. So as I looked out on these faces of people who also had unique stories to tell, the words came (along with a few jokes too). Telling a story to a Boldly Went audience felt not only comfortable, but also truly authentic. 

While, I didn’t climb a really tall mountain, or encounter a bear (at least on this hike), my story was full of adventure too. An adventure of encountering my authentic self, and being reminded once more that you can never escape your calling. I hope you’ll take a listen here.

I loved getting to hear the other stories told that evening, So when i had to leave early to attend the finals for my Bowling League, I was sorry to miss the last few. I specifically recall a wonderful person making a point to tell me that she appreciated my story on the way out. That person happened to be Charis, someone whose story also appears on the Boldly Went podcast and is the faithful founder and leader of Echoes. I am deeply grateful that I was able to hear her story on the podcast and appreciate her awesomeness too!
i hope you’ll listen to her story here!

When you gather to tell & hear stories you never know who you might meet or what connections might be forged! Boldly Went helped connect me to Charis and ultimately to Echoes, this funky community seeking to REdefine church. When Charis asked me months later to meet for coffee because she had heard me share a story on an adventure podcast, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I had shared my story. So when Charis asked me if I was interested in helping to pastor a funky Church that appreciates people, community, the outdoors & stories, I immediately said yes! By sharing a story, I was able to find a community where stories are being shared week in and week out.

So do come and hear some stories, but better yet say hello to fear and share a story! Maybe one you’ve told before, but maybe one that is just waiting for an authentic place to be shared. 

THIS WEEK, on Thursday, Nov. 14th, from 7-9pm, Boldly Went is hosting their second storytelling event in Bellingham! Tickets are $5-$15, and the sales go toward producing the podcast. Any additional contributions during their tour will go toward the Youth Experiential Training Institute, the recipient of the Great Outdoors Youth Advocacy Award from Bellingham’s own Recreation Northwest! Location is the ever-popular Boundary Bay Brewery, specifically in the Mountain Room. Get your tickets and either work on a story to tell, or support others who will share boldly.

Tickets can be purchased here! https://www.boldlywentadventures.com/buy-tickets.html

The power of storytelling....even adventure stories!

Photo by Charis Weathers

Boldy Went is a storytelling organization that has been traveling the PNW for the past few years, hosting events where locals can tell their adventure stories. Ordinary people get to share their stories, whether they are life-or-death, or life-changing, or memorable for a mishap or a new courage. Stories are a max of ten minutes, and some are incorporated into Boldly Went’s podcast. They are seriously fun events!! Stories can connect people in powerful ways, which is why organizations like Boldly Went do what they do, and why we focus on stories so much at Echoes.

THIS WEEK, on Thursday, Nov. 14th, from 7-9pm, Boldly Went is hosting their second storytelling event in Bellingham! Tickets are $5-$15, and the sales go toward producing the podcast. Any additional contributions during their tour will go toward the Youth Experiential Training Institute, the recipient of the Great Outdoors Youth Advocacy Award from Bellingham’s own Recreation Northwest! Location is the ever-popular Boundary Bay Brewery, specifically in the Mountain Room. Get your tickets and either work on a story to tell, or support others who will share boldly.

In May, 2018, Boldly Went hosted their first-ever Bellingham-based storytelling event. It turned out to be a monumental occasion for Charis, the person who started Echoes (the funky, experimental church that hosts the blog you’re reading right now).

Charis’ side of things: (You can read Emma’s perspective here)

I’ve been an avid follower of the Moth and of other storytelling podcasts, so I was super pumped to come across the Facebook post for the Boldly Went event. Maybe I’d get to tell a story! Although I’m fairly reserved by nature, I do actually like to tell stories and observe the reactions of people listening. But would my name get chosen? I didn’t know, but I put it on my calendar, and prepared a story anyway.

The venue was the Honey Moon Cider House. A sizeable group had shown up for this inaugural event, which was super encouraging in terms of supporting storytelling, but also reduced the chances of one’s name being selected to tell a story. All of the storytellers names are put into a bag and drawn randomly. Because names are drawn on a rolling basis – a new name is drawn right after a story is told – if your name is drawn there isn’t much time to collect your nerves before you’re on.

It already takes a bit of hutzpah to add one’s name to the bag, but to be the first name drawn? That’s always more than a bit intimidating as that person will be the one to set the stage for the whole evening.

I missed the name of the first speaker. She walked to the microphone with quite a lot of poise, I thought, for someone who was just super surprised to have her name called first from of a pile of paper slips. Bellingham had never witnessed a Boldly Went event, and this person was the first-ever to share a story!

She told of a solo hike to a beautiful lake. I can’t recall many of the details, but I do remember my head snapping back when she mentioned that she was a pastor, and during this hike she was wondering about her future as a pastor. I won’t ruin the remarkable, beautiful story with spoilers (here’s the link to listen), but I will say that I sat there, supremely impressed by her storytelling skills, her courage to share her vocation with a non-churchy crowd, and dumbfounded that I didn’t know her! Who was this female pastor? Bellingham is not that big, and there aren’t that many women pastors, especially younger women pastors, so Who? Was? She? I needed to know. Meeting her became my biggest priority.

First, though, was waiting through the rest of the event to see if my name was called. It came down to the last story. I so, so wanted to share the misadventure of my friend Karyn and I canoeing on the Chattooga River, and my heart almost stopped as the LAST…name…was drawn...and…it…was….me! This particular story (listen with this link) is ridiculously funny, and it was satisfying to watch and hear the enjoyment of the crowd as they paddled along with me in this story of poor decisions, inadequate skill, and awkward professions of love from a smitten canoe seller.

The crowd was generous with their laughs, and I sat down, jittery with post-story excitement, but also aware that the event was ending, and I HAD to find that first story-teller! But where was she? I couldn’t see her, and the venue is not that big. All of a sudden it felt a little Cinderella-like – where could she have gone? I didn’t even have her name!

It turned out that someone I knew at the event was good friends with her, who I now knew was named Emma. Emma. I had to meet Emma. I wasn’t exactly sure why it felt so important other than she seemed super cool and I wanted to be friends. And then, a few months later, Echoes had a new vision of creating a collaborative structure and we needed three other pastors to help lead this church plant. Emma was the first one I thought about, and she was the first one to say yes.

So I can say without reservation that Boldly Went increases and deepens community. This is what storytelling does, and it’s why we major in stories at Echoes. From the incredibly meaningful stories we hear each month at ‘Hamster Church, to stories shared at Pub Church, to story exploration at Creative Church, to indwelling the stories of our spiritual connection with God, the created world, and each other at Indoor and Wild Church, there can’t be enough emphasis placed on the value of telling stories.

Echoes has been imminently blessed with Emma’s presence, as have I. Who would’ve known that a storytelling event could do so much? Boldly Went is hosting another one in a few weeks. Echoes even gets to be a co-host! I wonder might happen at that one? Want to put your name in the hat to share a story and see what unfolds?

 Emma’s: https://www.boldlywentadventures.com/93-on-love-and-landscape.html

Charis’: https://www.boldlywentadventures.com/86-canoe-stories.html

Gender & Sexuality Definitions To Know

We had a FABULOUS ‘Hamster Church conversation with Adrien Converse at Echoes. They provided us with some helpful definitions, which we printed and passed around to folx. Since not everyone could attend, we’re posting for the benefit of all!

Resource prepared by Adrian Converse. You can find more amazing work on their blog, deconforming.com

Definitions to know

Agender: a person who has no sense of gender. Also sometimes called genderblank or gendervoid.

Binary genders: Genders that are either man or woman. (A binary person may or may not be transgender.)

Cisgender: A person whose gender aligns with the gender they were assigned at birth; not transgender. Sometimes shortened to “cis.”

Gender dysphoria: A profound sense of unease coming from the fact that the person you are is being distorted beyond recognition.

Genderqueer: an umbrella term for a person whose gender is not strictly male nor strictly female (sometimes used synonymously with nonbinary)

Gender questioning: a person who is questioning whether or not they really are cisgender, but is not certain about their gender identity.

Gender identity: a person’s gender identity is who they are.

Intersex: a person who has a combination of male and female sex characteristics. It’s the “I” in LGBTQIA+.

Medical transition: Various medical procedures that help align a person’s physical body with the person they know themselves to be.

Misgendering: When a person is referred to as a gender that is not accurate to who they really are.

Neopronouns: a word that literally means “new pronouns.” These pronouns are used to reference people of different genders with a higher degree of nuance.

Nonbinary: a person whose gender is outside the gender binary; not strictly male nor strictly female

Social transition: The act of shifting a person’s life to align more with their gender. Includes things like changing your name, changing the gender on your birth certificate, adjusting how you dress, asking people to use different pronouns in reference to you.

Transgender: A person who was assigned a gender at birth that doesn’t match who they are.

Transgender man: a person who was assigned the female gender at birth, but who is actually male.

Transgender woman: a person who was assigned male at birth, but who is actually female.

Blessing Our Kin, the Animals, Who Bless Us

reKINdling through the Blessing of the Animals

by Victoria Loorz

This month, we at Echoes are focusing on another RE word…rekindle, as in rekindling your love for your spouse after the kids move away.  That kind of rekindle.  But I’m intrigued by another use of rekindle.  As in re-KIN.  Become kin again.  It is a call to remember that we are already kin with all created beings, with all creatures and more-than-human-others.  But, because of centuries of (what I think is intentional) perceived separation, it is urgently important to remember that we belong in a larger family than a couple of parents and siblings.  We are intimately connected with All That Is.  

Saint Francis, whose feast happened this week and in whose name the lovely Blessing of the Animals service is dedicated, was consistent in calling all Others kin:  Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wolf, Sister Starling.  Emma told a story this morning during Wild Church about how Francis went to talk to his brother, the Wolf when his human kinsmen wanted to go hunt down the wolf out of fear. Francis had a chat with his brother and the wolf didn’t bother the village again.  I want to talk to wolves like that.  Gathered among us this morning were a handful of humans, including Joanna Schmidt, our Bellinghamster guest for Monday night’s Hamster Church.  Among other gifts, she has developed a similar ability to talk to animals, and to listen to them.  6:30 pm Monday, Oct 7 at the Old Parish Hall.  Just a quick plug.  

Joanna and her husband brought two amazing friends whom they are foster parenting until someone comes and offers these two cuddly ladies a permanent home.  Charis offered kind and holy blessings for all the wolf descendants in attendance, and a few whose photos were shared to proffer proper blessings.  Oh, it was so lovely.  The pups also were the privileged recipients of Communion Jerky that Emma got permission from Molly to share.  The body and the blood of Christ offered to all beings.  

We began Wild Church this morning with a reminder from the Old Testament, from the Book of Job, that animals and the earth herself has wisdom to share with us…if only we’d listen:

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish of the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

In God's hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind.”

(Job 12:7-10)

And an invocation I adapted from my friend, Gary Nabham, an eco-theologian, a Franciscan oblate, and a farmer who launches his Wild Church in southern Arizona this weekend:

Invocation for the Blessing of the Wild Animals

Our Creator is the Elder on the trail blessing the herds and flocks.  

Let us also bless the herds and the flocks!

Our Creator is the Shepard seeking out the lost, the rare and those at risk, 

Bringing them back to safety. 

Let us also care for the lost, the rare and those at risk!

Our Creator cares for the migrants facing perils and walls along their way.

Let us also pray for safe passage for all kinds of migrants.

Our Creator listens for the ones who have taken flight.

Let us also listen & support those in flight.

Let us now, each in our own turn, offers blessings and prayers for the wild animals

Who move through the lands and waters around us, enriching our own lives.

Let us bless the wild among us.

Let us bless the wild among us.

Bless the bald eagles and the swans and other migrating birds who move cryptically among us, crossing borders and facing perils that threaten their survival. Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the Great Blue Heron who have been displaced from their nests by construction and extraction. Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the chum, chinook, pink, sockeye and coho who swim through our streams, whose life journeys have been interrupted by human obstruction. Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the deer and squirrels and raccoons, the crows, ducks, rabbits and bats, and all the creatures who adapt to human-adjusted habitat and co-exist easily with us.  Protect them from cars and poisons and may they find food and safety.  Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the orca whose hunting grounds have been decimated by overfishing and climate changes affecting the sea.  In their struggle to survive, Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the tree frogs who swim through our streams, whose life journeys have been interrupted by human obstruction. Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the cougars and owls, the coyotes and bears and other predators who need to be stealth and stay hidden to survive. Let our prayers travel with them.

Bless the domestic animals on farms and in our homes.  May we be compassionate friends and care for them, as they companion with us. Let our prayers be with them.

And, as our Benediction, we heard from Father Zossima, the great priest from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s brilliant novel, The Brothers Karamazov:

“Every blade of grass, every insect, ant, and golden bee, all so marvelously know their path; though they have not intelligence, they bear witness to the mystery of God and continually accomplish it them-selves.”

“Love all of God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light! Love the animals. Love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will soon perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”

Thank you.  What a blessing and honor to share these sacred moments with friends, human, dog, bluejay, black squirrel, and all.  

Amen.

A Few More Thoughts on Gathering

Image from UnSplash!

The Gospel text in the Lutheran Lectionary (cycle of Bible readings) this past Sunday was Luke 15: 1-10 or the parable about the shepherd who has 99 sheep that flock as they should and one sheep that wanders off into the night. The shephard abandon’s the good sheep in search for the one that has gone it’s own way. Jesus was using this story to talk to the self-righteous people of his time about why he was hanging out with sinners, the wrong sort, or the undesirables.

This text has been used by others to also stress that we are all sinners. That if you really really repent, then there will be happiness in heaven. Sometimes it has also been used to tell the people in the congregation that they need to go out and save sinners, even if it might be against their will, because well, the shepherd always knows better. Both of these readings of Luke can be off putting. Especially for many of us who have suffered at the hands of religious people who either always told us we were only sinners, or that we weren’t working hard enough to convert other people.

It is with this human-centered perspective that we often come to the text as well. We focus on either being one of the 99 well behaved sheep or maybe the one rebel sheep. Maybe you are the sheep who was inspired by Fleetwood Mac and decided to “Go Your Own Way.” And these are often the only two roles we see: good and bad. Well-behaved and troublesome. Normal and weird.

We are so focused on the sheep in this parable that we forget all about what Jesus is doing in the story. Jesus as the shepherd is gathering all of the sheep in one place. Gathering. Gathering up. Collecting. Rounding up. Congregating. Now that last word, is also related to congregation, which comes from the Latin “congregare” or ‘collect into a flock.’ A fold. The body of Christ.

Let’s focus our attention on becoming like Jesus in the coming weeks. Not to correct. Not to reprimand. Not to scold others for going astray, but simply embracing them. Gathering them into our arms. Making a larger space in our lives for other people we encounter. By doing this, we will be adding them into the worship we have here and now among one another. Adding them into the body of the Living God who continues to be among us at all times.

By Jory Mickelson

September is for RE/membering

Image from UnSplash

Most of us, when we see the word remember, will look back into our past for memories. But re-membering can have many other meanings as well. My favorite among these, is the idea of re-gathering, or bringing together again. Where member means to make whole. For it is in community, that we are truly made whole.

At Echoes gathering together each week in often its own unique experience. I would go so far as to say that at Echoes gathering is a special grace or spiritual gift that we offer to people.

Echoes is about welcome. No matter where you are coming from, no matter where you have been, we welcome you. We hold out our hand to embrace you. I know in my own discovering of Echoes, I had undergone some trauma in another religious congregation. I was not feeling welcomed.

And Echoes took me just as I was in the moment. No need to apologize for coming in emotionally messy. No need to put on anything other than street clothes. Echoes was there as something between a place of worship and a spiritual refuge.

I could worship with all of you and authentically be myself. I was seen. I was held. I was gathered together with everyone else into the embrace of the Loving One.

Lots of organizations use community as a buzzword. Even the ELCA Lutheran denomination, of which Echoes is a part, recognizes that one of the four parts of every worship service is Gathering.

But what does that look like in practice? For Echoes, it takes many forms.

-We gather outdoors for worship and deep gratitude once a month in Wild Church.

-We gather together at the pub for discussion and fellowship with Pub Theology.

-We gather together to get messy with art supplies during Creative Church.

-We gather together to meet new people in the Bellingham community through our Hamster Church.

No matter what gathering together may look like, we welcome you. Having experienced the unique spiritual gift of gathering that Echoes offers, I make it my mission to continue to offer it to you. It is my hope and my job as a member of Echoes to continue to offer this gift to others as it was so freely offered to me.

If you are feeling alone this week, if you are feeling a bit down, if you are feeling a bit off or out of place, we invite you to our next Echoes gathering. But even more importantly we encourage you to reach out. We would love to hear from you.

We would love the opportunity to embrace you, wherever you may be at in the present moment.

By Jory Mickelson

Repair Blessing

Repair Blessing
written by Emma Donohew for Wild Church, August 2019

May this blessing come in waves
waves of wonder
waves of astonishment
then waves of despair

It’s so much easier sometimes to tear it down
But then begins the long slow work of REpair

So before we begin to feel the crushing weight, that we are in this all alone,
This Blessing comes again once more 
In not one but in twos

The first wave is to remind you of the companioning that happens
and is necessary in the delicate art of healing and making things new
The sacred pairing that we hope to have
as we work towards reconciliation between all beings.

It can be overwhelming all the work that needs to be done.

We need not look hard for the cracks to appear
For in those things & relationships worth renewing 
REpair
Will always follow wear

The second wave comes swiftly and forcefully 
to remind you that all things worth saving come out of a deep relationship of love

This blessing is begging you to reconsider your role as someone who can mend

Is it ok to want to go back to when something was new?
Or at least not throw it away without trying to mend, fix or repair it?

This blessing is for a repair that goes beyond hammers and nails
Goes beyond gauze and bandages 
Goes beyond sorry and forgiveness

This blessing
Requires vulnerability to know our place in the cycle of life and death
The earth knows how to repair
To renew
To refill empty space with life

Open yourself to this blessing and it’s final wave of courage
For repairing ourselves, community and world
For you have been made holy and whole.

Amen.

August is for RE-PAIR

We are on the cusp of high summer. Our upcoming word for the month, or theme at Echoes, is re-pair. Repair. As you all know by now, I love words. Their various meanings feed me intellectually and also spiritually.

 Repair has several meanings, which means there are several ways we can interpret this word in our own lives. Perhaps if you are a pessimist like me, you immediately ask yourself: “What in my life is in need of repair?” or aka “How broken am I?”

 Most negative christian theology is focused on how broken we are as human beings. How far we have fallen from the light of God. How unworthy we are of love, how undeserving of God’s grace. But thankfully, this isn’t the only meaning of repair. This isn’t the only way we can experience our humanness in the light of the Holy One.

 One definition of repair is: A STATE OF BEING or FITNESS. Repair can ask us what state we are in. How is our spiritual, emotional, physical, financial and mental health? What kind of estate or form do we find ourselves in in the present moment? Where are we in good order in our lives? Where do we feel most together? Where do we find our deepest tenderness? Our most intimate places with the Divine?

 Another definition for repair is TO RESTORE TO A PREVIOUS STATE OR VIGOR. Instead of thinking we must be entirely destroyed or remade (calling to mind our culture’s obsession to makeover nearly everything), we can begin to think about nurturing life and greenness into areas that use to have more vigor. Instead of demolition think freshen, refresh, rejuvenate, refill, replenish. Our God is a gentle and tender-hearted one. In our upcoming indoor worship, we pray recalling the Psalms:

 When hard pressed, we cry out to You our God, and You bring us into a spacious place. Holy One, you are with us, we will not be afraid.

In the month to come, as all things are ripening and bearing fruit—as we take in the warmth of the sun—as we remember the abundance of the natural world—let us recall the gentle abundance of the Holy One. Let us find what is ripening within ourselves and see what God is bringing into fruition in our lives.

By Jory Mickelson