Awakening Transformation - Fr. Rob Lord+

A Morning Offering

This Advent I have been using a prayer from the Orthodox tradition as a morning offering for the day. It has been a great help to me in the demands and uncertainties of my daily life and service for God. I usually say it alone in the Mary Chapel here at All Saints. I hope it might be helpful to you.

 

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with the firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events let me not forget that all are sent by You. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering or embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of this coming day with all that it will bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray You Yourself in me. Amen.

(by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, d. 1867)

 

With you on the Journey of Transformation,

 

Rob+

 

p.s. Photo taken on the Isle of Skye, August 2003,  a morning I will cherish always.

Presiding Bishop Jefforts Shori and Bishop Bill Frey: "Healing and Reconciliation"

Bishop Bill Frey:  "We are a wounded church. There's not doubt about that, at least not in my mind. I pray for healing and reconciliation."

The Presiding Bishop and Retired Bishop of Colorado Bill Frey were speakers at a three-hour Saturday morning event which packed the 700-seat sanctuary of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in North Dallas, which brought the speakers in as part of a lecture series

I have had the blessing of serving in Colorado under Bishop Frey, and consider him one of my " heroes" of the faith within the Episcopal Church. What had been billed as a debate between the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the Rev. William Frey, retired Episcopal bishop of Colorado, yielded much common ground and no outright conflict on the identity and meaning of Jesus.

That these two Bishops, from very different perspectives were able to find " a great deal of convergence" (Frey), is ray of hope for all of us in these troubled times in the church.

If you would like to listen to this fascinating debate, here is the audio page of St. Michaels where you can download or listen on-line. Schori and Frey

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

 

Getting to the Core

David Wells in his book, The Courage to Be Protestant, recommends we abandon the term evangelical because it has outlived its usefulness, arguing that it is now sagging and disintegrating.  He writes:

“There have been just too many instances of obnoxious empire-building going on, too much in evangelicalism that is partisan and small, too much pandering to seekers, and too much adaptation of the Christian message until little remains.  Too many of its leaders have been disgraced.  There have been too many venal television preachers.  There are too many of the born-again who show no signs of regenerate life.  For many people, the word “evangelical” has become a synonym for what is trite, superficial, and money grubbing, a byword for what has gone wrong with Protestantism.  Those who still think of themselves as being in the tradition of historic Christian faith, as I do, may therefore want to consider whether the term “evangelical” has not outlived its usefulness.  Despite its honorable pedigree, despite its many outstanding leaders both past and some in the present, and despite the many genuine and upright believers who still think of themselves as evangelical, it may now have to be abandoned. If not evangelical, what?…If the word “evangelical” has outlived its usefulness, what is the alternative?  Here, I am flummoxed.  My own labels are too ponderous to be used widely.  I am reaching out for help…  I am nevertheless going to think of myself as a biblical Christian first and foremost, as in continuity with Christians across the ages who have believed the same truth and followed the same Lord” (p. 18-20).

Here is where I find the ancient path so compelling. Ultimately we must rediscover the contemplative and catholic traditions, to lead us to the journey of transformation and ultimately to ever deepening union with God. If that is not happening, something is profoundly wrong with the practice of Christianity as it is currently defined by our culture.

Awakening Transformation,

Rob+

P.S. HT to Peter Scazerro

Working From Our Rest

 I  have found the writing of Pete Scazzero (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality) to be a refreshing approach to the Christian journey and the work of pastoral leadership. Pete reminds us that we often fail to reflect on what is going on inside us, and around us, (emotional health) and are too busy to slow down to be with God (contemplative spirituality). As a result, we run the high risk of remaining spiritual infants, failing to develop into spiritually and emotionally mature adults in Christ.

Many people believe that we that we need rest so we can work - or that we rest from our work.

In emotional healthy spirituality and contemplative leadership we work from our rest, not rest from our work. What this means is acknowledging our limits, slowing down to observe true sabbath rest, and remembering that our first commission is to seek  God's presence:

One thing I ask of the LORD,
   this is what I seek:
   that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
   all the days of my life,
   to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD

   and to seek him in his temple.

When we reverse the rhythms of grace, we end up merely skimming on the surface of life and miss the true depths of the life that God intends for us to enjoy.

This is a very radical way to live in our current contemporary culture - its none other than the way of Jesus.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

Resurfacing: Embracing The Journey Forward

It has taken me a while to resurface on my blog since my fathers recent death. Grief has its stages, and the "in betweeness" from what has been to the reality of my life today, continues to be a season of waiting to discover what God will bring to birth in me and in my continued journey.

Good grieving is not just about letting go, but also letting it bless us. Our losses are real, very real. But as we pay attention and wait on God in our losses and griefs, no matter how long it takes, God over time births resurrection. Grief and loss can truly enlarge the soul if we share it with God.

I plan to begin doing more posting and want to share some thoughts about emotional health and contemplative spirituality.  Until then, here is a wonderful statement about prayer to whet your appetite:

"Prayer is keeping the memory of God alive in your heart at every moment of the day and night” (From Abbot Jamison’s Finding Sanctuary).

With you on the Journey.

Rob+

Thank you

Dear readers:

I want to thank all of the many people who have left comments for me from places and parishes I have served. It has comforted me.

My brother Rick and I had the honor of sharing a brief reflection of my fathers life at the funeral ( picture of us is from the service at Trinity Episcopal Church Vero Beach Florida, where my father was Rector for 12 years and the Rector Emeritus). You can hear our remarks and Bishop Howes sermon of September 1st here: Sept 1 Sermon. 

 We continue on the journey of life before us with gratitude and hopefulness in Christ.

Warm regards to you all, 

Rob+

P.S. Pictures by the Rick Lord Family.

The Rev. Canon David Lord 1926-2009 - On My Father's Death

Last night, my father let go into the arms of God, and died a radiant death. My wife Nancy and I had the great gift of helping him make his final journey home. It is too tender and honest to even speak about.  It was holy, peaceful, and filled with the mystery of God's redeeming love. 

The previous week, my twin brother, my mother, and Nancy and I were with him when he made the courageous decision to stop all further medical treatment as Acute Myelogenous Leukemia had diminished his ability to survive any longer.  The remaining days of his earthly life were precious beyond measure to us.

How can I express the enormity of his contribution to my life as a father and the honor it has been to be called his son? It was through his witness to the transformation of a life lived in Jesus Christ that inspired my own seeking to know Christ. It was the joy  and challenge of his priesthood that drew me and my brother Rick to our own vocations to become priests. 

His last pulpit was a hospital bed. He spoke to me and to my brother Rick with such passion about the true meaning of the Gospel of John (his lifelong study) and the gift of eternal life, that we were both stunned. When a dying man speaks of these things, you can never forget it.

Quite simply, he radiated the goodness of God and the healing love of Christ in ways that enabled thousands of people to come to faith and live more fruitful lives.

A saint is someone has the capacity to make God real.  My father did that through his humanity, his tenderness, his sorrows, his joys, his faithful devotion to his wife, his sons and their wives, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

When he looked at you, his embracing eyes and warm smile communicated such profound love and acceptance. His tears, were not without hope in the faithfulness of God.  Always human, but in Christ, he was a human being fully alive. Now he lives in the full world of God, unending and eternal life. 

I will see my own life and death differently now.  Even in my own pain of losing him, there is a stronger peace, a tested faith, and a more urgent resolve to live a life of love, for the sake of Christ.

Dad, may I be half the man you were.  I will treasure and love you all the days of my life. And I will see you once again.

Until the tide turns,

Rob+

The Benedictine Monks of Pluscardin Abbey - Scotland

Take some time to rest in the ancient ways of following Christ.

With you on the Journey, Rob+

Catholicity

One of the "words" that has caught my attention recently is the term "catholicity."

It is one of the marks of the Church and we give our hearts to it every Sunday in the  Nicene Creed as we confess our faith: "We believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church..."

It is a word that describes what is universal and the wholeness of the Christian faith at all times and in all places. Our catholicity as Episcopalians is indissoluble from our being in full Communion with the Anglican Church worldwide, and in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The word "catholic" was first used by Ignatius when he wrote that "wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the church catholic."

Sectarianism on the other hand, is that spirit which regards its own position as the right  one. I believe we have come dangerously close to losing our catholicity, both from the political actions of the extreme left and the extreme right in recent days and years.

I am under no illusion as to the complexity of the meaning of the word "catholic." However, I do believe that the fullness of Christ resides in the church universal and not in any one particular branch of the church.

For this reason, I am fully committed to the process of our life together known as the Windsor Process and the development of the Anglican Covenant.  Both Episcopalian and Anglican, I remain steadfast in the vows I have made to God and to this church. It is here that I will seek to be faitfhul as a Catholic and Evangelical christian and priest, so help me God.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+

p.s. Photo of Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld Scotland

And Now Faith Hope and Love Abide, These Three; And The Greatest of These is Love

While I have convictions that I cannot set aside, I also know I do not have all the answers. I do see gray in a world of black and white. My task, called by God as a priest of the church, is to invite you to trust in Christ, to allow God to love you.

The one thing I can see clearly is that we are called to love, even as we see through a glass dimly, and where we struggle to understand the way we are to be faithful to the heart and will of God.

With you on the Journey,

Rob+