Keep the bottle sealed.....

 Even as attendnace at worship services continues to swiftly plummet, there is still a lot of rituals in place.  Persons need a tangible act to mark a loss, a transformational moment, a beginning.  Consider the placing of items to mark a tragedy or a passing. Far more than flowers, the notes and the items left speak deeply.  

One of the real kicks of being clergy is the opportunity to oversee rituals and also to create new symoblic acts for the moment.  There is nothing like a good baptism. I use a scallop shell that I brought back from the beach.  Some families have painted on the shell the name of the child and the date of her baptism.  Following a baptism, I've been asked to bless the child's teddy bear...love that!  Families have started journals for their child on the day of the baptism and themselves and others in the circle of care write reflections that day and every signficant moment in the child's life culminating with a full journal presented to the child on her graduation from high school.  Parents or grandparents of little ones, it's not too late to begin this custom!

One of the coolest rituals I recently read is on the occasion of a baptism presenting the gifts of:

• A sea shell so the child will love the water.
• A bird feather so the child will love the air.
• A flower so the child will love the earth.
• A sealed bottle with the instruction to never, never, never open the bottle so the child will love mystery.     

Living through this pandemic, I've been reflecting on the need to create liturgy and ritual as we journey ahead; words and symbols and actions.

I invite you to share any insights and ideas and will keep you posted in future writings.

Embrace they mystery ----     

Can I open my eyes yet?

Ever watch a little kid play "Hide-n-Seek?" She will stand in the middle of the room, place her hands over her eyes and stand very still; the logic is if she can't see you then you can't see her.  

Last year as the pandemic raged (...sigh it really has not quieted down....) I stopped my subscription to the daily newspaper and quit listneing to NPR.  I chose not to read nor to hear the news.  It was scary.  No one definitively knew anything. I figured if I didn't know anything, I was OK with that and could continue merrily and blissfully unaware. 

Fires burning the western United States, Louisiana with another hurricane and hundreds without power in hundred degree weather, drought in Africa, Afghanistan lost to the Taliban, Haiti having one tragedy after another.....I could go on......it's enough to make me once again cancel my subscription to the paper.  

As kids get older they begin to understand the finer points of hide-n-seek. They will actually go somewhere to hide and when they do they try and make themselves very small and squeeze into tiny spaces.

Fear makes us small. Fear can cause either freeze or flight ---- I've done both very well depending on the situation. 

In scary times, we look for persons who steady us, are our trustpoints.  During these days, I miss my mom doubly so.  She had a tool kit stocked full of ways to handle fear. Sometimes she used humor; after watching a horror movie when I was afraid someone was going to get me she said, "Don't worry, he'll drop you at the first street light."  She used reason.  She used her presence.  She used her faith as she would say, "Perfect love casts out all fear."

We are not made to be small and afraid. 

We are called to shine our light into all those dark and scary places. Even the tiniest light, the smallest candle makes a major impact.  Shine on.....