Fr. Ron Culmer's blog

The Prayer of Archbishop Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent ent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church's mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

Citation: From Xaverian Mission Newsletter

Sick and Crazy

Being sick is one thing. Being sick and crazy is another. Here's California columnist Michael Ventura's take on a "sick and crazy" culture:

"The statistics are overwhelming: We're sick. It's not just that we have the most overweight population in the West, nor that we have the highest infant mortality rate of any industrial- ized country in the world. It's not that heart disease is the worst epidemic since the Plague, not that one in three Americans will get cancer, not that it's been documented beyond quibbling that most of this pain could be prevented by more naturally grown food, fewer chemicals in the environment, less rat-racing and more exer- cise. It's not even that our young people, in addition to being the most ignorant, are also the fattest, the wheeziest, the least physically active and the most neglected (13 million latchkey children under the age of 14) of any developed country on Earth. No, the sickest thing about us is:

"That we hear these facts over and over again (the data are undeniable and have been broadcast for years), yet as a people, we do nothing. And we tolerate elected representatives who do worse than nothing, who collaborate in causing these conditions. Their reelection coffers bulge with dollars contributed by the same corporations that, in effect, sell ill health in pretty packages.

"So we're not just sick - we're crazy. Because it's crazy to have had the information for years and to have done next to nothing."
--Michael Ventura, Letters at 3 AM: Reports on Endarkenment (Dallas: Spring Publications, 1994), 102-103.

A Place In This World

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting---

over and over announcing your place

in the family of all things.

From Dream Work by Mary Oliver

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press

Copyright Mary Oliver

The Celtic Way of Prayer

I will kindle my fire this morning

In the presence of the holy angels of heaven,

In the presence of Ariel of the loveliest form,

In the presence of Uriel of the myriad charms,

Without malice, without jealousy, without envy,

Without fear, without terror of any one under the sun,

But the Holy Son of God to shield me.

Without malice, without jealousy, without envy,

Without fear, without terror of anyone under the sun,

But the Holy Son of God to shield me.

 

God, kindle Thou in my heart within

A flame of love to my neighbor,

To my foe, to my friend, to my kindred all,

To the brave, to the knave, to the thrall,

O Son of the lovieliest Mary,

From the lowliest thing that liveth,

To the Name that is hightest of all.

From Carmina Gadelica in The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of Religious Imagination by Esther De Waal

Dreaming of God’s Church

Let me be perfecty honest: I'm a damn fool when it comes to reign of God. I believe in the core of my bones that this world is not the way God intended it...and the way God intended it is considered "bad news" for the powerful and the mighty.  Fool or not that's where I plant myself.  While working on this Sunday's sermon (Looking over Luke's 6:20-31 Blessings and Woes) I found myself dreaming about the church...not just my beloved congregation of St. Clare's, but the church in general.  What would the reign of God look like in our congregations?  The following is my list. But remember, they are the words of a foolish man!

The following are things I dream of when I think of St. Clare's Episcopal Church:

 

• I dream of a healthy church.  A church grounded in a relationship with God that allows blessings to flow through it.  A church that is an organic incarnation of the body of Christ, rather than just an organization.
• I dream of a church that is filled with faith, hope and love.  A place filled with God’s purpose, presence, and power.
• I dream of a church that embraces the sacred in deep and abiding ways and serves God in its own unique vocation. A church that seeks not to imitate, but be authentic through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• I dream of a church that is more concerned about ends than means; who longs to unleash upon the world mature Christians whose countenance reflect the citizenship of heaven more than the citizenship of Earth. It is a church that looks for the face of Jesus in everyone it meets and everyone it meets sees the face of Jesus in them.
• I dream of a church that is ready to wage peace, hope, and love, not because it is fashionable, not because it is socially acceptable, and not because it is a conservative or liberal agenda, but because God desires nothing less, and because the world can wait no longer for the “good people” of the world to do nothing.
• I dream of a church whose first language is love, whose accent is hope and forgiveness, and whose homeland is compassion.
• I dream of a church that is not content with “fear mongering,” “hate mongering,” but rather speaks and lives out a peace, joy, and hope that transcends logic or understanding.

Yours for the reign of God,

 

Ron

 

Church Leadership

In his book The New Realities (New York: Harper & Row, 1989) Peter Drucker asks seven questions of leaders. They are as applicable to church leaders as to managing directors.

1. How well do we know our people? There is no substitute for "management by walking around" -- not just in the church but in the world outside. This puts oneself in the position of ordinary people -- whether in the congregation or outside. Do we give ourselves time to think through methodically each role within the church, evaluate the people who are fulfilling it, see the strains they are under and decide what help they need? At the same time we need to look at people outside the life of the church. Is there anything in the habits of our church which makes it difficult for them to hear and respond to the gospel? Is our personal ministry to them evangelistic? Who is best placed to communicate with them? A prayerful "walkabout" can be immensely significant, either done alone or with a group of other leaders.

2. What information do we need to do our job effectively? Are we getting unnecessary information which merely overloads the system? Often churches are awash with the wrong information, e.g., finance, organization, charities and structures and not enough about people and the local community.

3. Which tasks do we do which advance the kingdom -- and which have we merely got used to doing? Cut out the latter: maximize the former.

4. Are we communicative? "Remember, what is obvious to us may not be obvious to others." The management expert, John Humble, said, "If you are an accountant, don't talk to them as though they were also accountants." He might have said that ministers should not talk as though everyone else were ministers, Anglicans as though everyone else were Anglicans, and old-agers as though everyone else had been in church for all their lives.

5. Has what we expected to happen, happened? Check that what you expect to happen has happened. If not, find out why.

6. Are we still learning? Keep learning. Continuing personal development, in spiritual depth and in human maturity, is necessary if we are not to become stale and dull. If one is working in technologically based industry, it is obvious, but no less necessary, for the Christian leader.

7. Are we taking care of ourselves? If we are, we will last a long time. (Peter Drucker is himself a good example of this. New Realities was published when he was 80 and he still keeps up a punishing routine of lecturing and writing.)

--John Finney, Church on the
Move: Leadership for Mission (London: Daybreak, 1992),
122-23, 178.

Light Your Candle

“God, help us remember that all the darkness in the world cannot snuff out the light of one little candle. Help us to keep lighting our little candles until a mighty torch of justice sweeps our nation and the world.” –Marion Wright Edelman Guide My Feet

In 2002 I spent 10 days in Washington, D.C. to study congregations and institutions who were doing cutting edge and exemplary work. It was moving to hear the stories of courage, sacrifice, and innovation. From restoring the lives of women who were destitute to heroic actions in protecting and educating children, the ten days spent in D. C. were well worth the money.

Yet among the many places visited, the most moving, the most powerful, the greatest impact was made not by the places that were well known, but by ordinary citizen. Regular people saw the needs in their community and rose up, in spite of the odds, and did something about it.  Their contributions were small, however, the impact was significant.  I pray that this message is not lost on you. We live in a time in which many of us despair. The litany of public troubles is long and that does not include the difficulties each one of us experiences daily. What is a soul to do?

Light your candle!

Here I quote again Marian Wright Edelman:

“It is so important not to let ourselves off the hook or to become apathetic or cynical by telling ourselves that nothing works or makes a difference…Tutor or mentor or speak to or smile at that one child-your own or one you teach or serve in some way. Every election, take the time to vote for leaders who put children first and against those who don’t. Every month decide to write a letter to the editor and to your representatives about a need children have in your community.”

Light your candle! Spark a movement! Do as Dylan Thomas wrote: “Rage against the dying of the light!” Choose to be an advocate for your child, for all children, for the sake of a world in which God made and loves. The light you shine will dispel your despair and raise awareness and hope!

Yours for the reign of God,

 

Fr. Ron

Carefree!

I just finished my first 5K today! My time was good and I'd dance a jig if I could...but since I can't (never did take Irish dance lessons)  I'm going to post the words to the Dick Van Dyke show!

Here we go!

 

"So you think that you've got trouble, well trouble's a bubble, so tell old Mr. Trouble to get lost. Why not hold your head up high and stop crying, start trying, and don't forget to keep your fingers crossed. When you find the joy of living is loving and giving, you'll be there when the winning dice are tossed. A smile is just a frown that's turned upside down, so smile and that frown will defrost. And don't forget to keep your fingers crossed."

A Litany in Preparation for the Referendum and Future of Sudan

Let us pray for and with the people of the Sudan:

O God, Author of Peace, stir you wisdom in the leaders of all nations that they may be guided towards peace that will grow until the world is filled with the knowledge of your love.

Help us to love peace.

O God, Rock of our salvation, we and the people of Sudan face great evil  which cannot be avoided. Keep us steadfast in your love, resisting evil and when we sin, to repent and turn  to you.

Help us to resist evil

O God, Compassionate Creator; in the world yoiu wish your children not to use swords but to turn in love towards one another in reconciliation. We pray that in Sudan and throughout the world all people may move through hatred and mistrust and find a common ground in You.

Help us to find the way to reconciliation.

O God, Source of Justice, the children and people of Sudan have suffered long against powers of destruction, intolerance and greed. May the leaders of the north and south strive for justice and peace and may the nations of the world stand steadfast with them in their goal to create a just society founded on the knowledge of your love.

Help us to stand together for justice everywhere.

O God, Fount of all Freedom, you created us to be liberated from all oppression and to live with self-determination and peace. Give power to all the people of Sudan to work for justice and security. Give them the tools of patience and understanding and the wisdom to know that greed and deception always will be lurking nearby. May freedom once attained be the bedrock of their new society.

Help us walk gently with eyes wide open.

O God, you gave us choice at our creation. Each of us must explain our actions to you. Guide the people of south Sudan as they vote for their future. Prepare them for whatever outcome may arise, giving them vigor and astuteness to take what the outcome might be and continue to strive for the highest values that you have planted deep within thier hearts. We pray in Jesus' name, who died and rose again so that when we die we might rise with him. Amen.

Enough

Autumn Leaves

Worry and stress are not hard for us, God, we do them without thinking.

There is always the potential of threat to our security,
our comfort,
our health,
our relationships,
our lives,
and we foolishly think that we could silence the fear if we just had enough money,
enough insurance,
enough toys,
enough stored away for a rainy day.

It's never enough, though;
The voice of our fear will not be dismissed so easily.

But in the small, silent places within us is another voice; one that beckons us into the foolishness of faith, that points our gaze to the birds and flowers,
that, in unguarded moments, lets our muscles relax,
and our hearts lean into loved ones;

In unexpected whispers we hear it,
calling us to remember your promises,
your grace,
your faithfulness;
And suddenly, we discover
that is enough.

Amen.

Written by John Van De Laar for Weavings  Volume XXV, Number 4