Chaos theory...

I saw an article in the Washington Post Local section this morning by Tracy Grant entitled, "And then, of course, there's chaos theory." She shares her amazement that everything we teach our kids eventually sinks in... Here's a piece of her article:

Today, class, we are going to talk about the science of parenting... First, let's tackle osmosis. For those of us who are more than a few years removed from high-school biology, osmosis basically is the movement of fluids from an area of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration through a barrier. Think of it as roughly an explanation of why basements flood...

But osmosis also explains how the little parenting exercises that we perform in a seemingly endless loop suddenly yield results. See, children are empty vessels. They are, by definition, the area of lesser concentration. What we expose them to, bit by bit, drip by drip, fills them up.

Those nightly prayers said by rote in a bored voice? One evening, they yield a profound conversation about the nature of heaven. Those endless hikes in the woods...? One day your child will remark, "It's great we live in a place with so many trees: it's really pretty here."...

---
As my children age, I have loved the moments when my children make it clear they really were present and  listening! I think Tracy's right. Do you have any stories of these kinds of experiences - either in your own childhood, or with your children? Lift these in prayer, and give thanks for all those who made sure what was important sank in.

So, my friends, keep at it. You're doing a great job with your osmosis!
Next week's topic: inertia...

Blessings!
Rev. Meredith

Online Retreat for Moms

I thought you all might be interested in checking out these retreats: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=4pmtngbab&v=0019K7_GMZJyC8Ko03NM1qg7CguEo0iQQ2YgCRy5VcAQY6ZdGWBNSooYn9V-dID_In4bfZd-UvSpq8DeCZU4g_rwaXijHRVPbUcKWfvnxAJXZw%3D

Unfortunately there is a cost, but you might see things in the description that intrigue you or that you might want to bring up here in our blog space. I hope you all are well!
Blessings-
Meredith

You are my beloved son...

I came across this sermon the other day and thought you might enjoy it. Tell us about your name... or how you named your children... 
Blessings this new year!
Rev. Meredith

In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, Juliet asks, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

You remember the story: Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love. Their relationship however is doomed from the start because their families are embroiled in a longstanding feud.

By asking “what’s in a name,” Juliet tells Romeo that a name is just a name - and that she loves him - the person whose last name happens to be "Montague" - but she does not have to love the Montague name, or the Montague family. So Romeo, out of his love for Juliet, rejects his family name - and vows, the play says, to be "new baptized" as Juliet's own. In this way, he takes on a different identity and becomes someone new.

So what is in a name?  And what does our name say about who we are?

My husband Doug and I named our two oldest children after family members, but by the time our son was born, most of the good family names had been taken. A few months before our son’s birth, my husband was on a business trip to Rome. He saw the name of the minor prophet “Zachariah” carved into the side of an ancient building.  He was so taken by it that he suggested that if we had a boy, we should use the modern version of that name – Zachary – but instead of using the modern spelling, “Z-A-C-K,” we would use the prophet’s spelling, “Z-A-C-H,” just like Zachariah. So when our son was born, we named him Zachary.

A few years later, when Zach was learning to read and reason in some awfully wonderful ways, he asked me this: “Mommy, what were you thinking when you named me?” So I told him about the glorious day on which he was born…About how we got to the hospital, about how quickly he arrived, about how we loved him as soon as we saw him….

But Zach asked again, making it clear that I had misunderstood his question. “No, Mommy, what were you thinking when you named me?” So I told him about how Doug had chosen his name, and about the building in Rome and the prophet Zachariah…

But this answer wasn’t good enough either. Finally, with frustration in his voice he asked again, “Mommy, what were you thinking when you named me? 

Don’t you know that “CH” makes the “cha” sound? Z-A-C-H spells “Zach”, not “Zack”!” (obviously our phonetically astute son thought his dear old parents didn’t know how to spell…)

This memory reminds me of the day Zach was born and how we knew as soon as we saw him that he was our Zach, our son: precious, loved, and named (however we spelled it). Like the play Romeo and Juliet, it makes me think about what our names have to do with our identity, what they say about who we are…

Today we learn more about Jesus’ identity. This is the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany, and the day we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord – the day that Jesus was named by God.

You’ll recall that the word Epiphany means, “A sudden manifestation…of the meaning of something.”

So in these weeks after “Epiphany” we find ourselves learning more about this Jesus – born in Bethlehem, announced by angels, and proclaimed by shepherds – We’re learning the meaning of who this Jesus is: his identity, his relationship with God; and his ministry among us.

Last week - on the Feast of the Epiphany, through the magi we learned that Jesus is the Messiah. Today, after his baptism, we learn even more as we hear God say, “You are my Son, the Beloved.”

Jesus is now not just “Jesus,” or “Messiah” but he has also been named “Jesus, God’s Son.” And so as we learn more about Jesus, our understanding of who he is changes and deepens…

But again, what is in a name?

Well, first and foremost, our names give us our identity. Our first names signify our uniqueness, while our last names signify where we belong. (Zach, for example, belongs to the Heffner family.)  Most of all, though, in being named we are told we are valuable and precious. Our names tell the world that we are beloved – that we are worth naming.

When Jesus was baptized, this is exactly what God did – in naming Jesus, he showed him his worth - “You are my Son, the Beloved.” God was not just giving us more epiphany clues to Jesus’ identity. He was saying, “Jesus, is precious. Jesus belongs to me.”

The value of being named and given an identity is echoed in our first reading from Isaiah. Listen again to the words of our Old Testament reading:

“I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you… because you are precious… and I love you.”

That passage comes from a section in Isaiah which was written after the fall of Judah, when many Israelites were being deported by their conquerors to Babylon. This was tearing them apart – not just because they were being forced into exile, but because they were being forced by the circumstances to question their identity.

See -  from the time of Abraham, God had given these people a name, a home, and an identity as God’s chosen people… But now all that was destroyed.  Imagine how those refugees felt – forced to leave their homes, to move to a foreign land – and to question who they were, wondering if they had been abandoned by God… Imagine how good Isaiah’s words made them feel…

Jesus, too, questions his identity. For the few minutes after the Holy Spirit came upon him in baptism, he knew he was – God’s Son, God’s beloved. But that certainty was fleeting. As the story is told in Matthew’s gospel, after his baptism Jesus is immediately forced to face temptation in the wilderness. There, Satan tempts him three times - encouraging Jesus to be who he is not…forcing him to question what he thought he knew about his identity.

At one time or another we are all tempted in this way. As our lives unfold, and take directions we never imagined, we question who we are… We doubt our self-worth.

We dwell on our inadequacies and failures, and we try to compensate for them through things like our lifestyles, our politics, and our professional status – instead of relying on the identity given to us in baptism…

 Yet here is our hope: like the Israelites addressed by Isaiah, and like Jesus, we too have this assurance from God: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I named you. I know you. You are precious to me.

This love is confirmed in baptism, where we are marked as Christ’s own – and through Christ, adopted as God’s children forever. Like Romeo, in baptism we become someone new.

Unfortunately, for Romeo and Juliet, their story ends with death. But in our baptism, instead of death we are given life.

This season we’ll continue to discover Jesus - God’s Son, the Messiah – the one who through his baptism, death and resurrection brings us into God’s loving embrace. For no matter what we are named or how it is spelled – in Jesus, we belong to God.

Amen