Who is your stronghold? - Psalm 46

While praying the Daily Office this morning, Psalm 46 came up as the reading for this day of Epiphany. If ever there were words that we need to hear in anxious times, it would be Psalm 46, which begins: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." And, of course, we all are in "trouble" and "fear" at times in our life. Things in our life do cause the "earth to be moved" and trusted mountains "topple into the depths of the sea." Whether it is our present uneasiness with the current economic crisis, or our confusion and sadness about ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the seemingly intractable conflict between Hamas and Israel, events seem beyond our control, and peace and security seem so far away. Where is our stronghold? Where do we go for strength? Psalm 46 makes the striking and audacious claim that we are to turn to the Lord, quite an amazing claim in the somewhat relativistic and atheistic (or at least agnostic) and secular age!

"The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold." This assertion is repeated three times in this psalm, are we ready to turn to prayer, are we willing to "turn aside" as Moses did when he passed the Burning Bush? Are we willing to recognize the great gift that God has given us, the gift of God's presence, the gift of God among us - Emanuel?

We move to the end of the Christmas Season, and into Ephiphany, but the miracle and the wondrous gift of the Incarnation is with us still, and abides with us always. God is our stronghold, and is a very present help in trouble! God has been through this with us, and we will get through it as well (whatever "it" may be).

God is our stronghold!

May we have the curiosity and courage to "turn aside" and see this very present help in trouble!

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey


Psalm 46 Deus noster refugium

1	God is our refuge and strength, * a very present help in trouble.
2	Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, * and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;
3	Though its waters rage and foam, * and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
4	The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
5	There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, * the holy habitation of the Most High.
6	God is in the midst of her; she shall not be overthrown; * God shall help her at the break of day.
7	The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; * God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.
8	The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
9	Come now and look upon the works of the LORD, * what awesome things he has done on earth.
10	It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; * he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire.
11	"Be still, then, and know that I am God; * I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth."
12	The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Mourning Cathedral College, by Kathy Staudt

My friend and former teacher, Dr. Kathy Staudt has written a wonderful and beautiful piece about mourning the loss of the Cathedral College, formerly called the College of Preachers. I have my own thoughts and reflections about my time living nearby and spending time at this institution, and about the wonderful people that I got to know who work there, and those who visited there in my time around that place. However, I have not been able to write about it just yet, for reasons that are a bit unclear to me. In the meanwhile, I commend Kathy's piece to you, her observations are something like my own.

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

I've posted a bit below, and you can read it all HERE or HERE.


(Also on Episcopal Cafe)
By Kathleen Staudt

Like many people I have felt great sadness at the news that the Washington National Cathedral will be “suspending” programs at the Cathedral College beginning March 31, and until further notice. Sad, certainly, about beloved staff members who will be laid off. Two programs that I’m involved in with Esther de Waal, are still a “go” for the month of February – “Approaching God Through Poetry” from February 2-6, and a weekend conference on “Faith, Art and Poetry in a Post-Christian Age” February 27-1. I wouldn’t ordinarily “plug” these except that I think people may not realize that the conferences being offered before March 31 are still a go this year, and may offer a last chance for awhile (we hope not forever) to be in this very special place. But the closing of the College feels to me a bit like a death in the family – and it has me reflecting on what the place has meant to my own spiritual growth over the years.

The College has been a part of my inner spiritual landscape for many years. I first visited there on a Saturday in June, perhaps in 1995 or 1996, for a Quiet Day in honor of Evelyn Underhill, a yearly event that we have held at the College whenever we could reserve the space. We met in the book-lined library, with its black chairs and red cushions, worn but homey rugs, and those high casement windows, facing out on the “garth” at the center of the place, and the thick stone walls that turn out to be soaked with prayers. Especially as we shared communal silence, I was aware that this was sacred space. If you have been there when there aren’t many people around, you may know that feeling—walking into the foyer of the place, one experiences a resonant silence, and a sense of being at home.

Read the rest HERE or HERE.

Prayers for Peace - a Jewish Prayer for Peace

"Peace and Joy to you in 2009"

As many of us sent and received Christmas and Holiday cards that had words such as "Peace" and "Joy" and "Hope," I thought it would be a good time to explore some of these deep concepts. Beginning with "Peace," we might also begin by praying for peace.

My friend and colleague, Jim Richardson, who is the rector of St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church in Charlottesville recently had a Day of Peace, in which he and his congregation gathered on a Saturday to pray for peace, and they used prayers from a variety of sources. While I was unable to attend this day, I did "follow" it a bit online. Jim, and those who attended, offered a beautiful variety of prayers for peace. I know only too well that while we strive to work for peace with justice, we also are in deep need of God's grace as we pursue this lofty (and difficult!) goal of bringing peace to our lives "nearby" and "far away."

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Jewish Prayer for Peace

Grant us peace, Your most precious gift, O Eternal Source of peace, and give us the will to proclaim its message to all the peoples of the earth. Bless our country, that it may always be a stronghold of peace, and its advocate among the nations. May contentment reign within its borders, health and happiness within its homes. Strengthen the bonds of friendship among the inhabitants of all lands, and may the love of Your name hallow every home and every heart. Blessed is the Eternal God, the Source of peace. AMEN

Gates of Prayer (Reformed Jewish), p. 695

And, do check out Jim's blog, "Fiat Lux" HERE.

Peyton Manning, NFL MVP, and model of nonanxious presence?

I was bummed that Peyton Manning and the Colts lost yesterday, not so much because I'm a big Colts fan, but I think Manning is really a pretty great person - and a terrific quarterback. I really love his commercials ~ they get me cracking up. The most recent one, in which he counters three insults with a positive attitude, and a response that shows that he is assuming the best (and is not defensive) from these three would-be jerks. On one hand, he appears to be naive that they are even insulting him, but, really he has the last laugh - he isn't going to let their pettiness and insults ruin his day. I couldn't really understand why I love it so much until I realized that it actually reminded me of a Christlike response to some of the insults and arguments in the gospels, and also reminded me a bit of the great ministers and priests who I have known - who assumed the best from people, and even when someone else was having a bad day, and was being rude or insulting, they were able to reflect that rudeness away...I've probably gotten way to deep into what are just some silly and fun ads, so stop reading, and check this one out.

Have a great Sunday!

~ Rev. Peter M. Carey

John 10: 10 "I came so that [you] might live, and live abundantly!"

From today's Morning Prayer, John 10:7-17, which contains one of the key summary verses from John, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Also can be translated, "I came so that YOU might live, and live abundantly." Quite some words to live by! John's gospel makes it clear that Jesus came from the Cosmos to live among us, to be "incarnate" - to be "enfleshed" here amidst us, coming from the Father, but now amidst and among and within us. And, because of his work on the cross, to follow God obediently, Jesus has taken up our failings, our brokenness, our hurt, our sin, and we are left with the promise of an abundant life here on earth, and a fuller abundant life in the beyond that Jesus has opened up for us. "I have come so that YOU might LIVE, and LIVE ABUNDANTLY." In these days of "New Year's Resolutions," of handwringing over the economy, of strange hope in the new year based on wordly leaders taking power, we would do well to remember that Jesus came so that we might have abundant lives, and so that we might have these abundant lives NOW, beginning NOW, and no New Year's resolutions are needed to receive this gift.
What would this mean in our family lives? What would this mean in our work? What would this mean in our giving to others? What would this mean for the Church? What would this mean for our local churches? What would this mean for the Anglican Communion (whatever, indeed, that is?)? What would this mean for racial reconciliation? What would this mean for our work for peace with justice? What would this mean for the stewardship of creation?

"I came that they [you] may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

I pray that we all will have the eyes to see and the ears to hear these words so that we can receive the gift of abundant lives today, and in this New Year, and in every year!
Peace and Blessings,
~ Rev. Peter M. Carey

John 10:7-17 (NRSV)

7So again Jesus said to them, 'Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came
before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate.
Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief
comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly. 11'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming
and leaves the sheep and runs away-and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The
hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good
shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know
the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to
this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock,
one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to
take it up again.