Sometimes the Holy Spirit moves like that

For the last year or so, I've been trying out a host of different books on the market for my daily devotions. It's been my way of saying that I am familiar with what's published in the marketplace as a person concerned about Christian formation. But just prior to the New Year, I started feeling the nudging of the Holy Spirit to go back to a daily pattern of Bible reading familiar to many Christians. For almost fifteen years, it was my practice to read through Psalms and Proverbs about once a month. It isn't really all that hard if you consider that there are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs and 150 chapters in the book of Psalms. That means that it is reasonable to read a chapter from Proverbs each day of the month and 5 chapters from Psalms. I say in about a month, because sometimes I would parcel out Psalm 119 into two or three day reads. But once I got to Psalm 150, the next day I would return to the beginning of the book and read through again. Proverbs is a little easier to keep track of if you read the chapter corresponding to the day's date. For instance, read Chapter 1 on the first day of the month and Chapter 2 on the 2nd, and so on - I am sure you get the idea.

Well, even though I felt the nudging of the Spirit for a few weeks, I didn't crack open Proverbs this month in obedience. Then, Sunday morning, the pastor introduced a sermon series on Proverbs and encouraged congregants to read through Proverbs with handy dandy study sheets she was providing in the worship bulletin. And even though I sensed the Holy Spirit was now spiritually smacking me in the head to me to get back into my former discipline of scripture reading, I still managed to slack off for a few days....the kids came for a sledding overnight, I wasn't feeling well, there was an ice storm, yadda, yadda, yadda. All kinds of excuses - until till last evening, when I finally sat down, opened up my devotional Bible and got to reading Proverbs 19. When I finished, I still felt a little like a slacker, because for me, my devotional reading best happens in the morning. I knew there were additional measures I needed to take.

So, this morning, instead of reading the little devo book I was working on before Advent interrupted me from finishing it, I opened up my Bible and went to Proverbs 20 and started reading and when I got to verse 5, it literally jumped off the page at me:

"Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a person of understanding will draw it out"

The verse spoke to me on a deep personal level about the studies I have been pursuing these past years, the dissertation I am hoping to be green lighted on this spring, the academic struggles and the lessons I have had to learn on the PhD level. It cut me to the core and I felt God's presence in a mighty breathtaking way.

Then, this afternoon, a friend of mine, JD Walt, the chaplain at Asbury Theological Seminary, reflected in his daily blog on the very same verse. His take was different than mine and you can read it here.

What is so profound to me this evening is the realization that reading Scripture for my daily devotional puts me back in the middle of a community of persons to whom I belong even though sometimes we don't share the same geography. That has been very hard with the devotional books I've been reading on my own with an eye towards 'reviewing' them. I've been isolated, ascending the very ivory tower I don't always want to occupy. I'm very determined that my one-day-done-dissertation will mean something to the church as much as it means to the academy. Reading Scripture, especially my old practice of Proverbs and Psalms, returns me squarely within the Body of Christ and connects me to the local community with whom I worship. It also has the serendipitous way of connecting me with friends who live more distantly. and offers me a greater perspective than I can get on my own. I love it when Bible reading and Sunday liturgy does that. It reminds me that I belong to something bigger than myself, the local congregation and even the United Methodist denomination. I am a part of God's church at work in the world and a witness to Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. And being connected makes me far more effective than when I try to operate on my own - even in my devotional readings.

Evenings like this

make me glad that I live at The Homestead during this season of my life. I spent the day shivering in an erratically heated building with a bunch of other Methodist clergy (hmmm, I suppose that means you might say the building was strangely warmed!). So it was wonderful to return to The Homestead and find a fire in the fireplace. I think flannel pjs and a cup of hot cocoa are on the agenda to accompany the annual viewing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on television this evening.

Field Trip to Woolrich!

Today, Mom, Dad and I went for a field trip. We drove out to Woolrich, PA and visited the original company store. It was a wonderful store - not a huge box store at all. Kinda like LL Bean used to be in Freeport, ME. Not that that store isn't a great place to go visit - but it has lost the quaint charm it had until it remodeled and expanded sometime in the 1980s. This store has obviously done remodeling since it was founded 180 years ago. They don't have the factory store they used have on the premises when my grandparents used to stop here, but its stuck with what made it famous - wool products and buffalo plaids for home and outdoor use. We did some Christmas shopping, some personal shopping and found some deals we were very impressed with. During lunch at the little cafe adjoining the store, we discussed our bargains and decided to return and make another purchase or two for dad. Though we filled up the trunk with bags of treasures and bargains, I did leave the little sheep that symbolizes the store on the shelf when we were ready to leave and explore the little town.
The whole town is centered around the store and I think there are some historical markers describing the significance of the cabin - but we were tired from shopping and ready to head for home that I didn't take the extra time as we left to go read the markers.

We were interested enough to drive around the town and see how much John Rich influenced the area with his little mule cart that he used to peddle his woolen goods he manufactured at a mill in Plum Run before relocating to this spot where he had a steadier supply of water. If you know your 19th C American History and anything about the spread of evangelical denominations across the country, it will come as little surprise to you that a circuit rider made his way to the settlement that resided around the mill to bring religion to its inhabitants.

And today it is known as the Woolrich Community Methodist Church!

I just loved the little pine trees in the porch fence.

The road into town is lined with 2 miles of pine trees just on the road's edge. Don't know who took the initiative to plant all those trees years ago - but it made an impressive procession on the way in and out of town.


Mom managed to get this video from the front seat on our way out of town. Coming or going, it offers the same stately effect.

Really - this is the best stuff on earth

To say I like apple cider is an understatement. I simply love the stuff. And, as with other things, I have a discriminating taste and won't drink just any old cider on the market. I'm pretty devoted to Melick's Town Farm Cider and have been for more than 15 years. Melick's orchards are adjacent to Oldwick United Methodist Church, the congregation I attended before I went to seminary in '98. This stuff is wonderful. It's made without preservatives and is cold pasteurized. It's delicious and the only way cider can be better is to have it as it comes off the press....which you can do over at Melick's Farm Stand in Oldwick on the other end of Hunterdon County from where I live now.

Over the last decade, other people have discovered how good this stuff is. In response, Melick's stepped up production and started distributing their fabulous cider to grocery stores in western Central Jersey. That's a nice thing because Oldwick UMC merged with another congregation and I don't go to church in that area or even drive that way except on special occasions these days. And this stuff is so superior to other ciders that I would drive out of my way to have some - but I am glad I don't have to go further than the local grocery store and now there is the convenient little pint container if you can't manage to wait till you get home to have some of this wonderful stuff so you can chug it down on your drive home....whetting your appetite for more when you get there. It's just that good!
And for all those years I lived out of NJ? My mom would do me the great favor of buying the cider and freezing it till I could get home to enjoy it. We still do that with a few gallons so there will be some available in the middle of the winter. Yeah, I know I've said it before, but really - it is just that good.

Deacon Day Apart

The road trip was purposed so I could attend Deacon Day Apart with the Deacon Order of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the UMC. Even though I did travel the farthest distance (and received traveling chocolate as a prize!) I only had a 10 minute ride this morning and easily came through the flood waters that kept several people at home. It was a reflective time designed that we might remember our call and consider the unity of our common journey as we seek to serve God in the church and the world in many diverse and wonderful ways (after all, they let me, doing doctoral research and writing in NJ, be a provisional member!). We worshiped together, celebrated the Eucharist that the Bishop offered, ate lunch and fellowshipped even as we engaged in contemplative practices of the Church which included walking a labyrinth. This is a picture of the day's participants in front of a banner depicting the call of the deacon, being poured out in the power of the Holy Spirit for service in the world. Since we had to squeeze together to make it into the frame we unfortunately blocked some of the beautiful artwork. I have these great photos because I travel with my camera (as a result of this blog) and there was a little trouble with the camera that belonged to one of the organizers so photographing responsibilities were delegated to the one with fresh batteries. I'll give you three guesses to figure out who that was.....
The North Carolina Order of Deacons procured the banner following a 2007 international convocation celebrating the 10th anniversary of Deacons being included as an order of ordained ministry and 30th anniversary of the Diaconal Ministry in The United Methodist Church. The banner was presented to Bishop Gwinn on behalf of the order to be hung in the new conference building and is supposed to be displayed at Annual Conference come June.
Back in the spring, at Annual Conference, we decided to meet at St. Francis UMC at this time because the church was hosting this canvas labyrinth. Though I've walked labyrinths in a variety of places both by myself and with different companions, the opportunity to follow the pathway to the center before returning to the world as I encountered peers and cohorts in ministry was very special and will stay with me for quite some time.

Methodist Mecca by the Sea....

I had dinner with the deacons of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church - GNJUMC for short. (We Methodists - and most people in mainline denominations love making alphabet soup with our committees, boards, agencies and such!) Dinner was at conference headquarters and is simply an office building. And because traffic is what it is I either would arrive early, with time to kill or late. So I chose early and popped over to Ocean Grove's Great Auditorium. Ocean Grove is just across the creek from Asbury Park, and if you think you are suspecting a theme here, you might just be a Methodist - or know something about early American church history. Ocean Grove is home to one of the oldest Camp Meeting Associations in the country. In the 19th C, Protestants - especially Methodists and Baptists - would gather in large numbers on camp grounds in tents for a week or so of preaching and revival. Ocean Grove's Tent City surrounds the Great Auditorium and are quaint seaside Victorian era structures that are handed down generation to generation.

Tent City is only in operation between Memorial and Labor Day. These are the platforms that in summertime are covered in pretty colored canvases spanning the spectrum of a rainbow reminiscent of sherbet and salt water taffy.

Day's ice cream parlor - just your average Victorian era shopfront typical here on the streets of Ocean Grove - but the stores don't get packed away for winter.

The business of holy conferencing

It's Annual Conference time for the people called Methodist in North Carolina. That means that today and tomorrow the clergy and laity of the United Methodist Church are assembled in the Convention Center of Greenville, NC to discuss the ministry of the conference. Since the reality of denominational work includes the business of finances, pensions, and insurance, some of our time together is devoted to attending to those matters. That is exactly what we were doing in the hour before 5:00 and I was sitting with the crew from St. James UMC, the church I served before going back to school five years ago.

It's good to be able to sit with people you like, even through business meetings.