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June 28, 2009 “Summer Letter: I Hold You in My Heart”
Scripture: Psalm 85:8-13, Philippians 1: 3-11, 4: 4-5.
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy In every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing In the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this,That the one who began a good work among you will bring it To completion by you, because you hold me in your heart, For all of you share with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless ,having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God .Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, Rejoice! Amen.
Let us pray: may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be blessed in your sight, O God, our Rock and our Guide. Amen. Her letter was simply written in beautiful penmanship, Sent in the midst of her storm of survival. She described her ordeal, and with permission, I quote from her note: “It was late at night, the ride back from the hospital exceptionally long, and harrowing. I arrived home midst the downpour. Chilled by the rain, I glimpsed into the empty house, feeling so separated from those I loved and the whole world. Once inside the door, I found flowers, notes of concern and meals from loving friends. I began to breathe easier! I looked over at the rocking chair, it was then I saw the knitted shawl. I touched the light blues, grays and greens beautifully knit into the Prayer Shawl, soft as mohair. I wrapped up in it and sat down in the rocker. I loved the warmth and the comfort , yes, but more than that my thoughts and prayers turned to thanksgiving for all I had been given, for all the blessings of my life, For all those whom I love and cherish and for the partners in this community, called church.”
Instead of tears, she found to her own astonishment, the gift of joy and gratitude stitched into the shawl That wrapped her round. Her letter captured the 19th century Jesuit poet, Gerard Manly Hopkins’ sweet hopeful words: ”I say that we are wound with mercy round and round. As if with air”. We celebrate on this brilliant day the ministry of love, to which we are all invited as partners, grateful for the good news that God is at work in and through each one of us. Our partnerships spread far and wide from Old Lyme: to South Africa, from which we will soon welcome our beloved friend, Bishop Paul Verryn, resting his heart and spirit here in Connecticut; to the Green Grass community, about whom we have heard such good words by Mattie Renn and Eliza Nguyen and Dana Colihan as they give witness to the kindness and such good stories ,new puppies, and meals and discoveries they took part in, as our travelers to North Dakota; to Betsy, our lovely, talented teacher, who represents all of us at the Storefront School in Harlem; to our Trees of Life which are growing in the US, in support of the Palestinian people and in hopes of a state of peace with their occupiers, Israel; to our partners with Habitat for Humanity, building houses of care; to our own Soup Kitchen workers, welcoming the hunger of people week after week; and last but not least to our partners working the White Elephant, so we all may live and give. Remembering the words of the missionary, Paul : “We give thanks for you, each one of you, working partners in mission, and when we pray for you, we pray with joy.” We are at heart not unlike the community of the church at Philippi of the Ancient Greco-Roman world, from where the Apostle Paul writes and reminds us that the One (our loving God) who began the good work among us will bring it to completion. How else can we explain joy, gratitude, hopefulness, and a living mercy so alive in our midst this day! Who is it that teaches joy is both courageous and contagious? Well I know Carleen Gerber, our Senior Minister as well as our Minister of Music lives joy out loud! Many of us have traveled to our partner places with Carleen watching her work her way through the crowds who always seem to welcome with great smiles. One particular time, I hold in my heart, Carleen was spontaneously asked to preach at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg. With about 45 seconds for preparation, Carleen jumped up, walked to the microphone and invited everyone to pray with her. Now let me define “everyone:” Present in the church were about 1,000 refugees.( Nowadays, there are thousands more I hear!!! ) The refugees come from different lands, mostly Zimbabwe, some are refugees from Mozambique and some from cities of South Africa. These people are incredibly poor, some are ill, all are trying to find a safe space to call home, with no job, and no support system and in many cases speaking different languages... they have found respite care at the Central Methodist Church. Carleen begins praying:” God is Good!” And the crowd stands and responds with spirit: “ All the time.” Once more the whole crowd says with Carleen: “All the time. God is good!” Then with great joy, she leads them in song. (Siyahamba /Caminando, “We are Walking in the Light of God!” The rhythms of their bodies for these moments, Stamp out the pain. The joy of the music and dance take over. God is very present in the midst of that holy place, our partner church, Central Methodist. God is present in the people, in the music, in the holy crowded space and in the leaders all-Tapping, and swinging to the beat! One of church history’s famous writers was Paul, the first and founding Apostle a leading missionary of early Christianity, With sheer determination, and an abundance of grace and hard work, Paul founded many churches in Asia Minor ,as he journeyed throughout the Mediterranean area stirring them up with a three letter word :joy. His letters often began with these familiar words: I thank my God every time I remember you and when I pray for you, I pray with joy. What a way to greet one another.! The small churches which he established , were considered to be “partner churches.” By letter writing , he continued his connection with them, sending greetings of peace and love . Sometimes though, as in his letter to the Colossians, he sternly warns them against false teachers! Paul was often in prison, in deep trouble, and in grave danger for his earnest desire to share the gospel news, the story of Jesus Christ. This famous apostle Paul was a grand letter writer! Even managing to write while in chains!! His large collection of extant letters form an important part of the New Testament. That is, these letters of Paul, which were not lost and from which we have heard often, form a vital part of Holy Scripture , which holds a living word for us, from long ago to today. Just to be clear, the Apostle Paul was a letter writer, par excellence! We, of course are not talking about email, here. We are talking about a real hand made letter. In Paul’s day, there might have been a scribe and a deliverer or a courier. No Postal Service for private letters! Yet! After writing the message, the sheet of papyrus in antiquity was folded or rolled, tied and sealed for privacy; (something that email apparently can not provide in this Post-Modern world!) To send the letter to the church at Philippi, our friend Epaphroditus (I pa fro di*tus) whom we met in print a few weeks ago, may have been entrusted to deliver the letter to the Philippians.. One source describes Epaphroditus as both charming and handsome.( It’s amazing what you can find in Bible commentaries!!) An ordinary letter these days in 2009 is fast becoming an extraordinary artifact. For those of us who still write and receive personal letters which we honor and reverence, we salute one another and need to stick together.! In the Apostle Paul’s day, a letter was as close as one gets to being there, and in most cases, a letter was meant to be shared with the small church community. Paul begins his letter with a word of blessing and a reminder to the church at Philippi to keep up the good work. He is incredibly thankful to them for supporting him and contributing to his living. Evidently, the church in Philippi, like our church in Old Lyme were known for being a very generous group! Paul was so grateful. Paul reminds them to take the initiative and shine as lights in the world. Not bad advice. These days, I have been looking through some other letters of note. In the collection of Letters to God , a small boy writes: Dear God, I know you answer my prayers but This time, You must have heard me wrong. I wanted a surprise puppy not a baby brother. Could you take the baby back quickly? Love, Billy And there are always Dear John letters… In our safety deposit box, a dear departed grandfather once wrote; ( the letter placed there some thirty years ago now).
The educated, learned black script still bold holds this profound message. It reads: Dear John, You were a gentle spirit. I have always held you in my heart. I have missed you since you left us dear son. Please forgive me if I have wronged you. Please know I will love you forever. Dad John of the sad letter remains lost. The letter never delivered. When I hold the letter in my hand, I realize I am reading someone else’s mail. I am eavesdropping .But I also hold the responsibility as outlined by the apostle, Paul: To wait for John with the compassion of Jesus Christ. And to pray also for those gone missing on your family tree. What perhaps surprised me most as I reviewed letters , was a small, new book, Letters from Leaders, Compiled by Henry O. Dormann. Most of the collection was disappointingly secular, ordinary, and predictable, with a few exceptions I would recommend Mohammed Ali’s handwritten letter begins with a quote from Martin Luther King, “The time is always right to do what is right.” And Mohammed Ali’s guiding principles are good, reflecting just plain good living, not how much money or power and control he had over others. So many of the other letters reflected 10 or 12 steps to get ahead in life. The way of expression for most of the writers of these letters lacked imagination , and creativity and I might add grace.! Not what I think Paul the apostle had in mind for his churches as they grew strong .His prayer is that their love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help determine what is best in their lives. Paul also encourages his readers from the past and into the future to produce a harvest of righteousness. We know what that challenge is : to do the deeds of love, to be convinced of the worth of truth-telling, and to ponder and to pause, mature in love and dedicated in life to follow in the ways of Jesus. I do have a letter caper story to share. The “letter fetching” routine was difficult to break for our son, Dennis. Our scrappy, special education student was 10 at the time , and loved to fetch the mail and of course, sort through for ads. There was a danger lurking in this habit for those in the family who honored receiving letters. If it was a windy day, there was no guarantee that the mail would make it safely up the driveway. If there was a catalog to be brought in to the house, Dennis would just sit down where he was and leaf through it with fascination. And so, it wasn’t all that surprising that one day in April, my father, a special weekend visitor , pointed out a letter caught in a thorny bush some distance away from our home. No doubt it had blown away from Dennis’ hand. How long had it been unopened? What would life be like if I never received that letter? Later, after sharing the letter with my father, he insisted, tongue in cheek, the letter was caught in a “burning bush” and Moses was lurking close by! The letter looked insignificant :thin, typed neatly, but signed by Randolph Miller at Yale Divinity School. The Good news for me; I was accepted as a student! A time for joy had come .Even Dennis laughed at the discovery of a letter hidden in a bush. And so because of that letter I can say with surety: ” I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for All of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.” This is the time for your joy to dawn. God will be wrapped up in your joy this summer, so keep an eye out for the dawning of some good beginnings Paul’s letter remind us that God holds onto us through others .And forever, God holds us in God’s heart. What a blessing to expect!
Elaine McNally Fitzpatrick
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