Being Born, You Are Brave

Romans 8:12-17; 22-28
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ– if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him…We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

—

As you may know, Chris and I are expecting a new grandchild in July. Perhaps it is this that makes me extra aware of the birth/children/adoption imagery in the New Testament in our Sunday morning readings of late. On Trinity Sunday we had passages from John about being “born from above” or “born again” and a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans that rejoices in our “adoption” by God. A friend of mine from Wittenberg, Dr. Lori Askeland, wrote a wonderful meditation on birth images and the passage from Romans that in turn drew upon a TED talk by Valarie Kaur. In the TED talk, Kaur, who in the midst of labor pains, lost hope that she would be able to give birth to her child. As Kaur labored and despaired, her mother, who was with Kaur during her labor, whispered into her ear:

“You are brave,” [her mother] said. “You are brave.” And suddenly I saw my grandmother standing behind my mother. And her mother behind her. And her mother behind her. A long line of women who had pushed through the fire before me. I took a breath; I pushed; my son was born. As I held him in my arms, shaking and sobbing from the rush of oxytocin that flooded my body, my mother was already preparing to feed me. Nursing her baby as I nursed mine. My mother had never stopped laboring for me, from my birth to my son’s birth. She already knew what I was just beginning to name. That love is more than a rush of feeling that happens to us if we’re lucky. Love is sweet labor. Fierce. Bloody. Imperfect. Life-giving. A choice we make over and over.”

In comparing Kaur’s experience of childbirth to the passage from Romans, Lori writes:

“There’s a similar movement in Paul’s chapter: the world is dark and full of pain; we are both joining this act of creation–the long line of Kaur’s foremothers–waiting to give birth to something new. And we are also waiting to be born into a new relation–waiting to become, collectively mothers! At the same time, we are all waiting to be born, born again and again, and, most particularly, to be claimed–“adopted”–by the Divine into some new role in the world as we are children of God. We do not know what we will become as we hope for what is not yet here.”

“Love is more than a rush of feeling that happens to us if we’re lucky. Love is sweet labor. Fierce. Bloody. Imperfect. Life-giving. A choice we make over and over.”

What is so beautiful about Kaur and Askeland’s reflections is that they remind us that “love is sweet labor”—that there is an infinite regression of gratitude that we feel when we become aware of how so many people have nurtured us and given so much to our world, doing the “sweet labor of love”: labor that includes endurance, patience, perception, guidance, criticism, generosity, support, friendliness, attentiveness, and so much more. In these infinite regressions of gratitude, I become aware that I have been “born again”—and again, and again, throughout my life by those who have labored in love to bring about new creation and a new world in me, through me, beside me, in spite of me.

In this time between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, may you make the sweet, fierce, imperfect, lifegiving gift of renewal and care and encouragement and birth to others, even as you yourself continue to be challenged and changed and reborn by those whose sweet labor of love brings you into being.

In peace,

Jen+

You might enjoy Valarie Kaur’s whole TED talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/valarie_kaur_3_lessons_of_revolutionary_love_in_a_time_of_rage?language=en

This reflection is indebted to Lori Askeland, Advent Devotional Dec. 18, 2020, Wittenberg University.

Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day. NOTE: No drop in hours Wednesday, June 12.

In-Person Sunday Morning Worship Service, June 9, led by the The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, 10:15 a.m. You can stream the service via St. Andrew’s Facebook Page. Click on this link to view the Live Stream. We will start the Live Stream 5 minutes prior to the start of the service.

Click here for the service booklet for June 9.

THANK YOU!

A big thank you to Tim Jedele for the donation of impatiens in our Memorial Garden, and to Fred Vallowe for helping Tim put them in and leading the tending of our garden. The garden is beautiful…

CHILDREN’S UNDERWEAR AND SOCK DRIVE

We are needing donations of new socks and underwear for children to be placed in the baskets at church during the Offering the next couple of Sundays. These items will be given to children in need in our community. Thank you in advance!

OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY, JUNE 16

There will be an Open House of our shared space upstairs at Advent House after church on June 16. Please come and see our updated spaces!

JUNE 23 ORGANIST FAREWELL

We have been blessed by the beautiful sacred music that our Music Director/Organist Will Pearson has provided St. Andrew’s since November. Will will be leaving Greencastle and his last Sunday will be June 23. We are so sorry to say good-bye, and will miss Will’s organ music, singing, and choir direction. We will have a special farewell for Will at Coffee Hour that Sunday, and will offer our thanks and best wishes. Please be there!

CHARITY CRAFT – TURN T-SHIRTS INTO JUMP ROPES

On Sunday, June 30, and Sunday, July 28 at 11:30, help craft jump ropes for Operation Christmas Child. This is a ministry that sends shoeboxes full of gifts to children living in impoverished countries. Locally, New Life Baptist Church in Greencastle packed over 1,000 shoeboxes last year and hopes to do the same this year. We are going to assist by doing a t-shirt-to-jump-ropes craft after the services on both June 30 and July 28. Come join us immediately after the service for this fun and easy craft. No experience is necessary and all supplies will be provided.

NEWSNOTE ARTICLES NEEDED

We are down to our last couple of parishioner penned News Notes. If you’d like to write a short reflection to be included in the Wednesday electronic newsletter, please let Renee know. The parishioner written articles are published on the 4th Wednesday of each month.

AUGUST 4 INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS GAME

The Wabash Neighborhood is having an outing at the Indians baseball game on Sunday, August 4 at 1:35 p.m. The cost per ticket is $15 and kids eat free that day! Please get your money and reservations to Renee by July 14 so she can get all to St. Mark’s by July 21.

VESTRY MEETING MINUTES

If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the top of the piano in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!

TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY

Most weeks, the Tuesday Bible and Book group meet at 4:30 p.m. On June 18 we will continue reading the new book “Celtic Christian Spirituality: Essential Writings-Annotated and Explained” published by Skylight Illuminations. NOTE: No bible study on June 11.

THIS WEEK’S SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY

Please add Adult Depends Sizes Large & XL, 4 and 5 year old Children’s Pull-Ups, and boxes of Laundry Sheets to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of May. The laundry sheets are more popular and desirable especially for the older folk as they are much easier to handle than the bottles of liquid. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be this Saturday, June 29 from noon – 2:00 p.m.

RENEE AWAY

Renee will be out of the office on vacation June 4 – June 11.

FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL

We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.

ON-GOING COVID PROTOCOL

We continue to respond to both our county’s current CDC designation and to the current variant. Masking is optional. Decisions on COVID policy have moved from the Reconvening Committee to Rev. Jen and the Wardens.

We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week and go from Wednesday to Tuesday, except for Sunday. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!

Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.

Your prayers are asked for: